You Are In: USINFO > Resource Tools > Identifying Misinformation
 
 

A New American Quran?

During 2004 and 2005, allegations in several countries claimed that the United States was trying to impose a "new American Quran" on Muslims.

These claims are false. A small, private evangelical Christian group in the United States has written a book called The True Furqan, which seeks to convert Muslims to Christianity, but this group has no connection with the U.S. government. Furqan is another term for Quran.

The Allegations

Shaykh Ikrimah Sabri, the preacher of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque and Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, inaccurately claimed the United States is "forcing Muslims to renounce the Quran and adopt the book Al Furqan al-Haqq (The True Quran)," according to a July 2, 2004 Internet report by the Palestinian Information Center.

Mustafa Bakri, editor of Egypt's sensationalist, anti-U.S. Al-Usbu newspaper, made other false claims in the newspaper's December 6, 2004 edition:

• The first edition of The True Quran was published secretly in the United States and Israel.
  
• The True Quran was drafted with direct Israeli participation and with direct instructions from U.S. President George Bush.
  
• Twelve more books will be published as part of The True Quran series.

Bakri has a long history of making disinformation claims. Abbas al Janabi, who served as the personal secretary to Saddam's son Uday from the mid 1980s until 1998, said in 2003 that Bakri had long been on Saddam's payroll and was "very loyal to Saddam."

The Facts

• The True Furqan was published openly, not secretly, in the United States in 1999. It is available on the Internet.
  
• The True Furqan was not published in Israel, according to its translator, Dr. Anis Shorrosh.
  
• The True Furqan was written in Arabic and translated into English by evangelical Christian Arabs who have no connection with the U.S. government. The book contains both the Arabic and English texts.
  
• The True Furqan is a private attempt by evangelical Christian Arabs to convert Muslims to Christianity. Its translator, Dr. Anis Shorrosh, describes it as "a tool to evangelize Muslims."
  
• Dr. Shorrosh says the book is similar to the Quran "in style and substance ... but contains the gospel message."
  
• According to Dr. Shorrosh, there was no Israeli involvement in the preparation of the book.
  
• According to Dr. Shorrosh, The True Furqan is a stand-alone book, not part of a 12-book series.

The Quran is widely available for sale in the United States. In early January 2006, three large American booksellers, Borders, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble, each offered more than one dozen different English translations of the Quran on their Web sites.