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  The heart of this talk is Dr.
Blankinship's response to the criticisms levied against the Qur'an's
authenticity as a sacred and preserved scripture from God. After
discussing briefly the two periods of revelation in Makkah and
Madinah as well as the revelation event at the cave of Hija,
the speaker analyzes the Qur'an's quality of self-reference,
the significance of knowing the chronology of revelation, and
the character of the Qur'anic text (both the written and the
oral aspects). In discussing the many fascinating qualities and
characteristics of the Qu r'an,
the speaker allows for the most sacred text in Islam to speak
for itself in answering the supposed question of legitimacy.
One highlight of this lecture is an example that Dr. Blankinship
puts forth of the unique rhyme scheme of certain verses in the
Qur'an  and orthographic irregularities that
actually prove the authentic transmission of the text! Another
wonderful lecture for Muslims and non-Muslims as well as students
of
history. The speaker's passionate style evokes very engaging
questions from the non-Muslim audience and results in many interesting
and enlightening exchanges. (Recorded at the Dar
al Islam Teachers' Institute seminar).
Other topics discussed: a comparison
between the message of the Bible and the message of the Qur'an,
hope that the Qur'an gives for a  peaceful co-existence between Muslims
and polytheists, methods of disposing the Qur'anic text, and
the question of interpreting the Qur'an vs. literalism.
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