Muhammad Ali Quotes
We cannot change the Koran or make no modifications, this cannot be done, or it would no longer be holy.
Ali, Muhammad. Interview by Richard Warren Lewis. Playboy, Nov. 1975.
“Qur’an” is another way of spelling “Koran”. The belief in the perfection of the Koran is fairly common in Islamic nations. If Sharia is the civil law, as many Muslims insist that it is or should be, then there is no system of amendment and nothing that has occurred or has been learned since 800 AD that is any reason to improve or modify the law. Modern Islamic nations cope with this problem in one of three ways. The Fundamentalists take the Koran literally in all things and nothing is ever amended or modernized. Modernists will treat the Koran and Sharia as metaphorical and interpret it in the light of the modern world. More secular nations (like Turkey and Indonesia) reject Sharia as a civil legal system or as a source of inspiration of civil law.
This quotation illustrates that in the late 19th Century, there were still very prominent American scientists who were Biblical Literalists as well—a virtual intellectual impossibility. Dana was a Yale professor, and yet he rejected Evolution and had the age of the rocks he studied all wrong. At the time, America had only 1 great world class scientist (Physicist Albert A. Michelson) and American Science really became great in the 20th century. Dana was not a total incompetent however. He had amassed vast descriptive knowledge of California and other areas and was at the time considered America’s preeminent Geologist despite his lack of understanding of many fundamental aspects of his own science which was understood by many English and European scientists.
Muhammad Ali was an American professional boxer, activist, entertainer and philanthropist. Nicknamed The Greatest, he is widely regarded as the most significant and celebrated sporting figure of the 20th century, frequently ranked as the best heavyweight boxer and greatest athlete of the century.
