The True Furqan () is a book written in Arabic that tries to imitate the Qur'an while incorporating elements of traditional Christian teaching.
Reception According to Baptist News, Al-Mahdy, a member of the executive committee of "Project Omega 2001" released The True Furqan in April 1999 saying that Muslims "have not received the true message of the gospel".C.S. Arthur, "New book answers challenge issued by Islam's holy book", Baptist News, 28 May 1999 The book is attributed to authors who go by the pseudonyms of "Al Saffee" and "Al Mahdee", and was translated into English by Anis Shorrosh, who calls it "a tool to liberate Muslims",Anis Shorrosh's home page and who believes that Muhammad is "the antichrist".Yohanna Katanacho, "Palestinian Protestant Theological Responses to a World Marked by Violence", p. 5 (also in Missiology 36, no. 3 (2008)) It contains 77 numbered chapters, plus a prologue and epilogue.Table of Contents According to Shorrosh, The True Furqan is an attempt to respond to the challenge in the Quran that none can create a work like it,Surah (none can create a work like the Quran), Surah (none can produce ten Surahs like the Quran), Surah (none can create a single Surah like the Quran) and incorporates a Christian rather than Islamic message.Yohanna Katanacho, "Palestinian Protestant Theological Responses to a World Marked by Violence", p. 6 (also in Missiology 36, no. 3 (2008)).
Christian apologist Nabeel Qureshi wrote "This book apparently reproduced the Quranic style so effectively that some who recited it aloud in public areas were thanked by Arab Muslims for having recited the Quran itself."
Christian missionary Dr. Ray Register characterized the book as an effective tool for "pre-evangelism" to help "critique the Quran and popular Muslim attitudes toward Jesus and ethical living."Ray Register, "Discipling Middle Eastern Believers", St Francis Magazine Nr. 2 Vol. V (April 2009) , p. 41
It has been described as "Christian propaganda" since its second verse "starts talking about the Holy Trinity, a thoroughly un-Islamic concept."Whitaker, Brian "The Nashville Qur'an" Guardian 8 February 2007 and The American Muslim called the book a "hoax", saying it represented "a desperate measure to find some way to convert the infidel Muslims since a few hundred years of concerted effort have brought so little success".Sheila Musaji, "The ‘True Furqan’ Qur'an Hoax", The American Muslim Other critics called it "poor in quality and ridiculous in content" and "a pathetic attempt to distort the Quranic teaching by reproducing what looks like Quranic verses."The Middle East, abstracts and index, Library Information and Research Services, vol. 4, 2005, p.456
Islamic scholars at the University of Tehran have argued that The True Furqan uses a flawed methodology in its attempt to answer the challenge of the inimitability (Taḥaddi) of the Quran.
Michael R. Licona draws a parallel between The True Furqan and the Gospel of Barnabas, in that each attempts to emulate the style of the scriptures of one religion in order to advance the doctrinal claims of the other, albeit with the respective roles of Christianity and Islam reversed.
Some Islamic believers feel The True Furqan was created by the American or Israeli governments as part of a conspiracy. The Egyptian newspaper Al-Usbūc claimed in its December 6, 2004 edition that "The True Koran was drafted with direct Israeli participation and with direct instructions from U.S. President George Bush."State Department Press Release, "A New American Koran?", 21 April 2005 The US State Department strongly rejects allegations of any US government participation in the creation of The True Furqan. According to the translator Anis Shorrosh, "there was no Israeli involvement in the preparation of the book."
Censorship The importation of the book into India is prohibited.Notification No. 78 /2005-Customs (N.T.) (Archived from the original on 24 April 2015.)
References
External links A scanned copy of the book on archive.org