Word: koran
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There are seven suicides in the Bible, from Samson to Judas, and neither the Old Testament nor the New specifically forbids it, as does the Koran, which calls suicide "a much graver crime than homicide." But St. Augustine condemned it as "a detestable and damnable wickedness," perhaps to put a stop to a growing tendency of extremist Christians to seek instant sainthood via self-martyrdom. From the Middle Ages to the end of the 18th century in Europe, self-murder was stigmatized by the full force of church and state-a suicide's property was confiscated, his body...
...Pike's second. In 1938, he married Jane Alvies, a girl he had known at Hollywood High; they were divorced two years later. * Actually, the Koran says four...
...were putting together their reform proposals, another group of ecclesiastical legal experts-the ulema (scholars) of Islam-was meeting in Cairo to update the Sharia, or code of spiritual rules, which governs their own ancient faith. Since the Sharia is based exclusively upon Mohammed's words in the Koran and the equally authoritative oral tradition of his deeds and sayings, the ulema had a tougher task adapting its provisions to fit the changes in modern life...
Ninety-two of the 93 were members of Egypt's powerful 500,000-member Moslem Brotherhood, a group of religious fanatics who want to ban all liquor, movie theaters and female education and live strictly by the Koran. Twelve years ago, six of its leaders were tried and executed and thousands more jailed after an attempt on Nasser's life. But by 1960, many of the members had served their terms and were plotting more mischief. One group specialized in making bombs. Another in power-station sabotage. Another in arms smuggling. After years of planning, a new assassination...
...good deal closer to Allah, says a friend. In any case, the Shah does not like Gamal Abdel Nasser's frequent attacks calling him an infidel. So to emphasize his pride in being a good Moslem, the Iranian ruler ordered the printing of a new edition of the Koran at his own expense ($250,000 so far). Using a previously unreproduced 16th century version by Calligrapher Ahmed Neirizi, 40 experts spent a year re-checking every word; then the Shah announced that the first 3,000 copies of the ornately beautiful manuscript were ready and that a copy would...