The Quran ( ; '''', , literally meaning "a recitation"), also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God (, ''Allah'') and the Final Testament, following the Old and New Testaments. It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language. The Quran is divided into 114 suras of unequal length which are classified either as Meccan or Medinan depending upon their place and time of revelation.

Muslims believe the Quran to be verbally revealed through angel Jibrīl (Gabriel) from God to Muhammad gradually over a period of approximately twenty-three years beginning in 610 CE, when Muhammad was forty, and concluding in 632 CE, the year of his death. Muslims further believe that the Qur'an was precisely memorized, recited and exactly written down by Muhammad's companions (''Sahaba'') after each revelation was dictated by him.

Shortly after Muhammad's death the Quran was compiled into a single book by order of the first Caliph Abu Bakr and at the suggestion of his future successor Umar. Hafsa, Muhammad's widow and Umar's daughter, was entrusted with that Quranic text after the second Caliph Umar died. When the third Caliph Uthman began noticing slight differences in Arabic dialect he sought Hafsa's permission to use her text to be set as the standard dialect, the Quraish dialect now known as ''Fus'ha'' (Modern Standard Arabic). Before returning the text to Hafsa Uthman made several thousand copies of Abu Bakr's redaction and, to standardize the text, invalidated all other versions of the Quran. This process of formalization is known as the "Uthmanic recension". The present form of the Quran text is accepted by most scholars as the original version compiled by Abu Bakr.

Muslims regard the Quran as the main miracle of Muhammad, the proof of his prophethood and the culmination of a series of divine messages that started with the messages revealed to Adam, regarded in Islam as the first prophet, and continued with the ''Suhuf Ibrahim'' (Scrolls of Abraham), the ''Tawrat'' (Torah or Pentateuch) of Moses, the ''Zabur'' (''Tehillim'' or Book of Psalms) of David, and the ''Injil'' (Gospel) of Jesus. The Quran assumes familiarity with major narratives recounted in Jewish and Christian scriptures, summarizing some, dwelling at length on others and in some cases presenting alternative accounts and interpretations of events. The Quran describes itself as a book of guidance, sometimes offering detailed accounts of specific historical events, and often emphasizing the moral significance of an event over its narrative sequence.

Etymology and meaning

The word '''' appears about 70 times in the Quran itself, assuming various meanings. It is a verbal noun ('''') of the Arabic verb '''' (), meaning “he read” or “he recited.” The Syriac equivalent is '''', which refers to “scripture reading” or “lesson”. While most Western scholars consider the word to be derived from the Syriac, the majority of Muslim authorities hold the origin of the word is '''' itself. In any case, it had become an Arabic term by Muhammad's lifetime. An important meaning of the word is the “act of reciting”, as reflected in an early Quranic passage: ''“It is for Us to collect it and to recite it ()”''.

In other verses, the word refers to “an individual passage recited [by Muhammad]”. Its liturgical context is seen in a number of passages, for example: ''"So when '''' is recited, listen to it and keep silent"''. The word may also assume the meaning of a codified scripture when mentioned with other scriptures such as the Torah and Gospel.

The term also has closely related synonyms that are employed throughout the Quran. Each synonym possesses its own distinct meaning, but its use may converge with that of '''' in certain contexts. Such terms include '''' (“book”); '''' (“sign”); and '''' (“scripture”). The latter two terms also denote units of revelation. In the large majority of contexts, usually with a definite article (''al-''), the word is referred to as the “revelation” (''wahy''), that which has been “sent down” (''tanzīl'') at intervals. Other related words are: '''', meaning "remembrance," used to refer to the Quran in the sense of a reminder and warning; and '''', meaning “wisdom”, sometimes referring to the revelation or part of it.

The Quran has many other names. Among those found in the text itself are '''' (“discernment” or “criterion”), '''' (“"the guide”), '''' (“the remembrance of God”), '''' (“the wisdom”), and '''' (“the word of God”). Another term is '''' (“the book”), though it is also used in the Arabic language for other scriptures, such as the Torah and the Gospels. The term '''' ("written work") is often used to refer to particular Quranic manuscripts but is also used in the Quran to identify earlier revealed books.

History

Prophetic era

Islamic tradition relates that Muhammad received his first revelation in the Cave of Hira during one of his isolated retreats to the mountains. Thereafter, he received revelations over a period of twenty-three years. According to hadith and Muslim history, after Muhammad emigrated to Medina and formed an independent Muslim community, he ordered a considerable number of the ''sahabah'' to recite the Quran and to learn and teach the laws, which were revealed daily. Companions who engaged in the recitation of the Quran were called ''Qari''. Since most ''sahabah'' were unable to read or write, they were ordered to learn from the prisoners-of-war the simple writing of the time. Thus a group of ''sahabah'' gradually became literate. As it was initially spoken, the Quran was recorded on tablets, bones and the wide, flat ends of date palm fronds. Most chapters were in use amongst early Muslims since they are mentioned in numerous sayings by both Sunni and Shia sources, relating Muhammad's use of the Quran as a call to Islam, the making of prayer and the manner of recitation. However, the Quran did not exist in book form at the time of Muhammad's death in 632.

The Islamic studies scholar Welch states in the ''Encyclopaedia of Islam'' that he believes the graphic descriptions of Muhammad's condition at these moments may be regarded as genuine, because he was severely disturbed after these revelations. According to Welch, these seizures would have been seen by those around him as convincing evidence for the superhuman origin of Muhammad's inspirations. However, Muhammad's critics accused him of being a possessed man, a soothsayer or a magician since his experiences were similar to those claimed by such figures well known in ancient Arabia. Welch additionally states that it remains uncertain whether these experiences occurred before or after Muhammad's initial claim of prophethood.

The Quran states that Muhammad was ''ummi'', interpreted as illiterate in Muslim tradition. According to Watt, the meaning of the Quranic term ''ummi'' is unscriptured rather than illiterate.

Compiling the Mus'haf

According to Shias, Sufis and scarce Sunni scholars, Ali compiled a complete version of the Quran ''mus'haf'' immediately after Muhammad's death. The order of this ''mus'haf'' differed from that gathered later during Uthman's era. Despite this, Ali made no objection or resistance against standardized ''mus'haf'', but kept his own book.

After seventy reciters were killed in the Battle of Yamama, the caliph Abu Bakr decided to collect the different chapters and verses into one volume. Thus, a group of reciters, including Zayd ibn Thabit, collected the chapters and verses and produced several hand-written copies of the complete book.

In about 650, as Islam expanded beyond the Arabian peninsula into Persia, the Levant and North Africa, the third caliph Uthman ibn Affan ordered the preparation of an official, standardized version, to preserve the sanctity of the text (and perhaps to keep the Rashidun Empire united, see Uthman Qur'an). Five reciters from amongst the companions produced a unique text from the first volume, which had been prepared on the orders of Abu Bakr and was kept with Hafsa bint Umar. The other copies already in the hands of Muslims in other areas were collected and sent to Medina where, on orders of the Caliph, they were destroyed by burning or boiling. This remains the authoritative text of the Quran to this day.

The Quran in its present form is generally considered by academic scholars to record the words spoken by Muhammad because the search for variants in Western academia has not yielded any differences of great significance. Historically, controversy over the Quran's content has rarely become an issue, although debates continue on the subject.

Significance in Islam

Muslims believe the Quran to be the book of divine guidance and direction for humanity and consider the text in its original Arabic to be the literal word of God, revealed to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel over a period of twenty-three years and view the Quran as God's final revelation to humanity.

Wahy in Islamic and Quranic concept means the act of God addressing an individual, conveying a message for a greater number of recipients. The process by which the divine message comes to the heart of a messenger of God is ''tanzil'' (to send down) or ''nuzul'' (to come down). As the Quran says, "With the truth we (God) have sent it down and with the truth it has come down." It designates positive religion, the letter of the revelation dictated by the angel to the prophet. It means to cause this revelation to descend from the higher world. According to hadith, the verses were sent down in special circumstances known as ''asbab al-nuzul''. However, in this view God himself is never the subject of coming down.

The Quran frequently asserts in its text that it is divinely ordained, an assertion that Muslims believe. The Quran – often referring to its own textual nature and reflecting constantly on its assertion of divine origin – is the most meta-textual, self-referential religious text. The Quran refers to a written pre-text that records God's speech even before it was sent down.

The issue of whether the Quran is eternal or created was one of the crucial controversies among early Muslim theologians. Mu'tazilis believe it is created while the most widespread varieties of Muslim theologians consider the Quran to be eternal and uncreated. Sufi philosophers view the question as artificial or wrongly framed.

Muslims maintain the present wording of the Quranic text corresponds exactly to that revealed to Muhammad himself: as the words of God, said to be delivered to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. Muslims consider the Quran to be a guide, a sign of the prophethood of Muhammad and the truth of the religion. They argue it is not possible for a human to produce a book like the Quran, as the Quran itself maintains.

Therefore an Islamic philosopher introduces a prophetology to explain how the divine word passes into human expression. This leads to a kind of esoteric hermeneutics that seeks to comprehend the position of the prophet by mediating on the modality of his relationship not with his own time, but with the eternal source his message emanates from. This view contrasts with historical critique of western scholars who attempt to understand the prophet through his circumstances, education and type of genius.

Uniqueness

Muslims believe that the Quran is different from all other books in ways that are impossible for any other book to be, such that similar texts cannot be written by humans. These include both mundane and miraculous claims. The Quran itself challenges any who disagree with its divine origin to produce a text of a miraculous nature.

Scholars of Islam believe that its poetic form is unique and of a fashion that cannot be written by humans. They also claim it contains accurate prophecy and that no other book does.

Text

The text of the Quran consists of 114 chapters of varying lengths, each known as a ''sura''. Chapters are classed as Meccan or Medinan, depending on when (before or after Hijra) the verses were revealed. Chapter titles are derived from a name or quality discussed in the text, or from the first letters or words of the sura. Muslims believe that Muhammad, on God's command, gave the chapters their names. Generally, longer chapters appear earlier in the Quran, while the shorter ones appear later. The chapter arrangement is thus not connected to the sequence of revelation. Each ''sura'' except the ninth starts with the ''Basmala'', an Arabic phrase meaning (“In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful”). There are, however, still 114 occurrences of the basmala in the Quran, due to its presence in verse 27:30 as the opening of Solomon's letter to the Queen of Sheba.

Each sura is formed from several ''ayat'' (verses), which originally means a sign or portent sent by God. The number of verses differ from chapter to chapter. An individual verse may be just a few letters or several lines. The verses are unlike the highly refined poetry of the pre-Islamic Arabs in their content and distinctive rhymes and rhythms, being more akin to the prophetic utterances marked by inspired discontinuities found in the sacred scriptures of Judaism and Christianity. The actual number of ayat has been a controversial issue among Muslim scholars since Islam's inception, some recognizing 6,000, some 6,204, some 6,219, and some 6,236, although the words in all cases are the same. The most popular edition of the Quran, which is based on the Kufa school tradition, contains 6,236 ''ayat''.

There is a crosscutting division into 30 parts of roughly equal division, ''ajza'', each containing two units called ''ahzab'', each of which is divided into four parts (''rub 'al-ahzab''). The Quran is also divided into seven approximately equal parts, ''manazil'', for it to be recited in a week.

The Quranic text seems to have no beginning, middle, or end, its nonlinear structure being akin to a web or net. The textual arrangement is sometimes considered to have lack of continuity, absence of any chronological or thematic order, and presence of repetition.

Fourteen different Arabic letters form 14 different sets of “Quranic Initials” (the "''Muqatta'at''", such as A.L.M. of 2:1) and prefix 29 suras in the Quran. The meaning and interpretation of these initials is considered unknown to most Muslims.

In 1974, Egyptian biochemist Rashad Khalifa claimed to have discovered a mathematical code based on the number 19, which is mentioned in Sura 74:30 of the Quran. This code only manifests itself in a version of Quran that Khalifa published himself and which differs from the one accepted by most Muslims. It is the basis for the beliefs of United Submitters International, a religious group that Khalifa founded.

Content

The Quranic verses contain general exhortations regarding right and wrong and the nature of revelation.

Historical events are related to outline general moral lessons.

Verses pertaining to natural phenomena have been interpreted by Muslims as an indication of the authenticity of the Quranic message.

Literary structure

The Quran's message is conveyed with various literary structures and devices. In the original Arabic, the chapters and verses employ phonetic and thematic structures that assist the audience's efforts to recall the message of the text. Some use the Quran as a standard by which other Arabic literature is measured. Muslims assert (according to the Quran itself) that the Quranic content and style is inimitable.

Richard Gottheil and Siegmund Fränkel in the ''Jewish Encyclopedia'' write that the oldest portions of the Quran reflect significant excitement in their language, through short and abrupt sentences and sudden transitions. The Quran nonetheless carefully maintains the rhymed form, like the oracles. Some later portions also preserve this form but also in a style where the movement is calm and the style expository.

Michael Sells, citing the work of the critic Norman O. Brown, acknowledges Brown's observation that the seeming "disorganization" of Quranic literary expression – its "scattered or fragmented mode of composition," in Sells's phrase – is in fact a literary device capable of delivering "profound effects – as if the intensity of the prophetic message were shattering the vehicle of human language in which it was being communicated." Sells also addresses the much-discussed "repetitiveness" of the Quran, seeing this, too, as a literary device.

Interpretation and meanings

''Tafsir''

The Quran has sparked a huge body of commentary and explication (''tafsir''), aimed at explaining the "meanings of the Quranic verses, clarifying their import and finding out their significance."

Tafsir is one of the earliest academic activities of Muslims. According to the Quran, Muhammad was the first person who described the meanings of verses for early Muslims. Other early exegetes included a few Companions of Muhammad, like Ali ibn Abi Talib, Abdullah ibn Abbas, Abdullah ibn Umar and Ubayy ibn Kab. Exegesis in those days was confined to the explanation of literary aspects of the verse, the background of its revelation and, occasionally, interpretation of one verse with the help of the other. If the verse was about a historical event, then sometimes a few traditions (hadith) of Muhammad were narrated to make its meaning clear.

Because the Quran is spoken in classical Arabic, many of the later converts to Islam (mostly non-Arabs) did not always understand the Quranic Arabic, they did not catch allusions that were clear to early Muslims fluent in Arabic and they were concerned with reconciling apparent conflict of themes in the Quran. Commentators erudite in Arabic explained the allusions, and perhaps most importantly, explained which Quranic verses had been revealed early in Muhammad's prophetic career, as being appropriate to the very earliest Muslim community, and which had been revealed later, canceling out or "abrogating" (''nasikh'') the earlier text (''mansukh''). Other scholars however maintain that no abrogation has taken place in the Qur'an

''Ta'wil''

Ja'far Kashfi defines ''ta'wil'' as 'to lead back or to bring something back to its origin or archetype'. It is a science whose pivot is a spiritual direction and a divine inspiration, while the ''tafsir'' is the literal exegesis of the letter; its pivot is the canonical Islamic sciences. Muhammad Husayn Tabatabaei says that according to the popular explanation among the later exegetes, ''ta'wil'' indicates the particular meaning a verse is directed towards. The meaning of revelation (''tanzil''), as opposed to ''ta'wil'', is clear in its accordance to the obvious meaning of the words as they were revealed. But this explanation has become so widespread that, at present, it has become the primary meaning of ''ta'wil'', which originally meant "to return" or "the returning place". In Tabatabaei's view, what has been rightly called ''ta'wil'', or hermeneutic interpretation of the Quran, is not concerned simply with the denotation of words. Rather, it is concerned with certain truths and realities that transcend the comprehension of the common run of men; yet it is from these truths and realities that the principles of doctrine and the practical injunctions of the Quran issue forth. Interpretation is not the meaning of the verse; rather it transpires through that meaning – a special sort of transpiration. There is a spiritual reality, which is the main objective of ordaining a law, or the basic aim in describing a divine attribute—and there is an actual significance a Quranic story refers to.

However Shia and Sufism (on the one hand) and Sunni (on the other) have completely different positions on the legitimacy of ''ta'wil''. A verse in the Quran addresses this issue, but Shia and Sunni disagree on how it should be read. According to Shia, those who are firmly rooted in knowledge like the Prophet and the imams know the secrets of the Quran, while Sunnis believe that only God knows. According to Tabatabaei, the statement "none knows its interpretation except Allah" remains valid, without any opposing or qualifying clause. Therefore, so far as this verse is concerned, the knowledge of the Quran's interpretation is reserved for God. But Tabatabaei uses other verses and concludes that those who are purified by God know the interpretation of the Quran to a certain extent.

The most ancient spiritual commentary on the Quran consists of the teachings the Shia Imams propounded in conversations with their disciples. It was the principles of their spiritual hermeneutics that were subsequently brought together by the Sufis. These texts are narrated by Imam Ali and Ja'far al-Sadiq, Shia and Sunni Sufis.

As Corbin narrates from Shia sources, Ali himself gives this testimony:

Not a single verse of the Quran descended upon (was revealed to) the Messenger of God, which he did not proceed to dictate to me and make me recite. I would write it with my own hand, and he would instruct me as to its ''tafsir'' (the literal explanation) and the ''ta'wil'' (the spiritual exegesis), the ''nasikh'' (the verse that abrogates) and the ''mansukh'' (the abrogated verse), the ''muhkam'' (without ambiguity) and the ''mutashabih'' (ambiguous), the particular and the general...

According to Tabatabaei, there are acceptable and unacceptable esoteric interpretations. Acceptable ''ta'wil'' refers to the meaning of a verse beyond its literal meaning; rather the implicit meaning, which ultimately is known only to God and can't be comprehended directly through human thought alone. The verses in question here refer to the human qualities of coming, going, sitting, satisfaction, anger, and sorrow, which are apparently attributed to God. Unacceptable ''ta'wil'' is where one "transfers" the apparent meaning of a verse to a different meaning by means of a proof; this method is not without obvious inconsistencies. Although this unacceptable ''ta'wil'' has gained considerable acceptance, it is incorrect and cannot be applied to the Quranic verses. The correct interpretation is that reality a verse refers to. It is found in all verses, the decisive and the ambiguous alike; it is not a sort of a meaning of the word; it is a fact that is too sublime for words. God has dressed them with words to bring them a bit nearer to our minds; in this respect they are like proverbs that are used to create a picture in the mind, and thus help the hearer to clearly grasp the intended idea.

Therefore Sufi spiritual interpretations are usually accepted by Islamic scholars as authentic, as long as certain conditions are met. In Sufi history, these interpretations were sometimes considered religious innovations (''bid'ah''), as Salafis believe today. However, ''ta'wil'' is extremely controversial even amongst Shia. For example, when Ayatollah Ruhallah Khomeini, the leader of Islamic revolution, gave some lectures about Sura al-Fatiha in December 1979 and January 1980, protests forced him to suspend them before he could continue beyond the first two verses of the surah.

Levels of meaning

Unlike the Salafis and Zahiri, Shias and Sufis as well as some Muslim philosophers believe the meaning of the Quran is not restricted to the literal aspect. For them, it is an essential idea that the Quran also has inward aspects. Henry Corbin narrates a hadith that goes back to Muhammad:

"The Qur'an possesses an external appearance and a hidden depth, an exoteric meaning and an esoteric meaning. This esoteric meaning in turn conceals an esoteric meaning (this depth possesses a depth, after the image of the celestial Spheres, which are enclosed within each other). So it goes on for seven esoteric meanings (seven depths of hidden depth)." Corbin considers the Quran to play a part in Islamic philosophy, because gnosiology itself goes hand in hand with prophetology.

Commentaries dealing with the ''zahir'' (outward aspects) of the text are called ''tafsir'', and hermeneutic and esoteric commentaries dealing with the ''batin'' are called ''ta'wil'' (“interpretation” or “explanation”), which involves taking the text back to its beginning. Commentators with an esoteric slant believe that the ultimate meaning of the Quran is known only to God. In contrast, Quranic literalism, followed by Salafis and Zahiris, is the belief that the Quran should only be taken at its apparent meaning.

Translations

Translation of the Quran has always been a problematic and difficult issue. Many argue that the Quranic text cannot be reproduced in another language or form. Furthermore, an Arabic word may have a range of meanings depending on the context, making an accurate translation even more difficult.

The first complete translation of the Quran was completed in 884 CE in Alwar (Sindh, India now Pakistan) by the orders of Abdullah bin Umar bin Abdul Aziz on the request of the Hindu Raja Mehruk.

Nevertheless, the Quran has been translated into most African, Asian and European languages. The first translator of the Quran was Salman the Persian, who translated sura ''Al-Fatiha'' into Persian during the 7th century. The first complete translation of Quran was into Persian during the reign of Samanids in the 9th century. Islamic tradition holds that translations were made for Emperor Negus of Abyssinia and Byzantine Emperor Heraclius, as both received letters by Muhammad containing verses from the Quran. In early centuries, the permissibility of translations was not an issue, but whether one could use translations in prayer. In 1936, translations in 102 languages were known. In 2010, the ''Hürriyet Daily News and Economic Review'' reported that the Quran was presented in 112 languages at the 18th International Quran Exhibition in Tehran.

Robert of Ketton's 1143 translation of the Quran for Peter the Venerable, ''Lex Mahumet pseudoprophete'', was the first into a Western language (Latin). Alexander Ross offered the first English version in 1649, from the French translation of ''L'Alcoran de Mahomet'' (1647) by Andre du Ryer. In 1734, George Sale produced the first scholarly translation of the Quran into English; another was produced by Richard Bell in 1937, and yet another by Arthur John Arberry in 1955. All these translators were non-Muslims. There have been numerous translations by Muslims.

The English translators have sometimes favored archaic English words and constructions over their more modern or conventional equivalents; for example, two widely read translators, A. Yusuf Ali and M. Marmaduke Pickthall, use the plural and singular "ye" and "thou" instead of the more common "you".

Most Quranic translations are based on human dictions, as most Arabic terms have a wide range of meanings. As an example, most English translations of sura ''Ar-Rum'' ("The Romans") state, "Certainly, the Romans will be defeated. In the nearest land". That was the only recognized explanation before the science era, considering that the Roman–Persian war—when Romans were defeated then recaptured Jerusalem—was near Mecca. Geologists proved that the Dead Sea region—the defense point of Jerusalem where the battle occurred—is the lowest elevation on earth. Concluding, the Quran was actually pointing to the ''lowest land'' instead of the inferred ''nearest land'', as all dictionaries translate the same Arabic word "أدنى" to ''lowest'', too.

Literary usage

In addition to and largely independent of the division into ''suras'', there are various ways of dividing the Quran into parts of approximately equal length for convenience in reading, recitation and memorization. The thirty ''ajza'' can be used to read through the entire Quran in a week or a month. Some of these parts are known by names and these names are the first few words by which the '' juz' '' starts. A '' juz' '' is sometimes further divided into two ''ahzab'', and each ''hizb'' subdivided into four ''rub 'al-ahzab''. A different structure is provided by the ''ruku'at'', semantical units resembling paragraphs and comprising roughly ten ''ayat'' each. Some also divide the Quran into seven ''manazil'' to facilitate complete recitation in a week.

Recitation

}} One meaning of ''Quran'' is "recitation", the Quran itself outlining the general method of how it is to be recited: slowly and in rhythmic tones. ''Tajwid'' is the term for techniques of recitation, and assessed in terms of how accessible the recitation is to those intent on concentrating on the words.

To perform salat (prayer), a mandatory obligation in Islam, a Muslim is required to learn at least some ''sura'' of the Quran (typically starting with the first one, al-Fatiha, known as the "seven oft-repeated verses," and then moving on to the shorter ones at the end). Until one has learned al-Fatiha, a Muslim can only say phrases like "praise be to God" during the salat.

A person whose recital repertoire encompasses the whole Quran is called a ''qari''', whereas a memoriser of the Quran is called a ''hafiz'' (''fem.'' ''Hafaz'') (which translate as "reciter" or "protector," respectively). Muhammad is regarded as the first ''qari''' since he was the first to recite it. Recitation (''tilawa'' تلاوة) of the Quran is a fine art in the Muslim world.

Schools of recitation

There are several schools of Quranic recitation, all of which teach possible pronunciations of the Uthmanic ''rasm'': Seven reliable, three permissible and (at least) four uncanonical – in 8 sub-traditions each – making for 80 recitation variants altogether. A canonical recitation must satisfy three conditions:

# It must match the rasm, letter for letter. # It must conform with the syntactic rules of the Arabic language. # It must have a continuous isnad to Muhammad through ''tawatur'', meaning that it has to be related by a large group of people to another down the isnad chain.

These recitations differ in the vocalization (''tashkil'') of a few words, which in turn gives a complementary meaning to the word in question according to the rules of Arabic grammar. For example, the vocalization of a verb can change its active and passive voice. It can also change its stem formation, implying intensity for example. Vowels may be elongated or shortened, and glottal stops (hamzas) may be added or dropped, according to the respective rules of the particular recitation. For example, the name of archangel Gabriel is pronounced differently in different recitations: Jibrīl, Jabrīl, Jibra'īl, and Jibra'il.

The more widely used narrations are those of Hafs (حفص عن عاصم), Warsh (ورش عن نافع), Qaloon (قالون عن نافع) and Al-Duri according to Abu `Amr (الدوري عن أبي عمرو). Muslims firmly believe that all canonical recitations were recited by Muhammad himself, citing the respective isnad chain of narration, and accept them as valid for worshipping and as a reference for rules of Sharia. The uncanonical recitations are called "explanatory" for their role in giving a different perspective for a given verse or ''ayah''. Today several dozen persons hold the title "Memorizer of the Ten Recitations."

The presence of these different recitations is attributed to many hadith. Malik Ibn Anas has reported: :''Abd al-Rahman Ibn Abd al-Qari'' narrated: "Umar Ibn Khattab said before me: I heard ''Hisham Ibn Hakim Ibn Hizam'' reading Surah Furqan in a different way from the one I used to read it, and the Prophet (sws) himself had read out this surah to me. Consequently, as soon as I heard him, I wanted to get hold of him. However, I gave him respite until he had finished the prayer. Then I got hold of his cloak and dragged him to the Prophet (sws). I said to him: "I have heard this person [Hisham Ibn Hakim Ibn Hizam] reading Surah Furqan in a different way from the one you had read it out to me." The Prophet (sws) said: "Leave him alone [O 'Umar]." Then he said to Hisham: "Read [it]." [Umar said:] "He read it out in the same way as he had done before me." [At this,] the Prophet (sws) said: "It was revealed thus." Then the Prophet (sws) asked me to read it out. So I read it out. [At this], he said: "It was revealed thus; this Quran has been revealed in Seven ''Ahruf''. You can read it in any of them you find easy from among them.

Suyuti, a famous 15th century Islamic theologian, writes after interpreting above hadith in 40 different ways: :"And to me the best opinion in this regard is that of the people who say that this hadith is from among matters of ''mutashabihat'', the meaning of which cannot be understood."

Many reports contradict the presence of variant readings: ''Abu Abd al-Rahman al-Sulami'' reports, "the reading of Abu Bakr, Umar, Uthman and Zayd ibn Thabit and that of all the Muhajirun and the Ansar was the same. They read the Quran according to the ''Qira'at al-'ammah''. This is the same reading the Prophet (sws) read twice to Gabriel in the year of his death. Zayd ibn Thabit was also present in this reading [called] the '''Ardah-i akhirah''. It was this very reading that he taught the Quran to people till his death". Ibn Sirin writes, "the reading on which the Quran was read out to the prophet in the year of his death is the same according to which people are reading the Quran today".

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi also purports that there is only one recitation of Quran, which is called ''Qira'at of Hafss'' or in classical scholarship, it is called ''Qira'at al-'ammah''. The Quran has also specified that it was revealed in the language of Muhammad's tribe: the Quraysh.

However, the identification of the recitation of Hafss as the ''Qira'at al-'ammah'' is somewhat problematic when that was the recitation of the people of Kufa in Iraq, and there is better reason to identify the recitation of the reciters of Madinah as the dominant recitation. The reciter of Madinah was Nafi' and Imam Malik remarked "The recitation of Nafi' is Sunnah."

AZ [however] says that the people of El-Hijaz and Hudhayl, and the people of Makkah and Al-Madinah, to not pronounce hamzah [at all]: and 'Isa Ibn-'Omar says, Tamim pronounce hamzah, and the people of Al-Hijaz, in cases of necessity, [in poetry,] do so.

Writing and printing

Most Muslims today use printed editions of the Quran. There are many editions, large and small, elaborate or plain, expensive or inexpensive. Bilingual forms with the Arabic on one side and a gloss into a more familiar language on the other are very popular.

Qurans are produced in many different sizes. Most are of a reasonable book size, but there exist extremely large Qurans (usually for display purposes) and very small Qurans (sometimes given as gifts).

Before printing was widely adopted in the 19th century, the Quran was transmitted in manuscript books made by copyists and calligraphers. Short extracts from the Quran were printed in the medieval period from carved wooden blocks, one block per page; a technique already widely used in China. However there are no records of complete Qurans produced in this way, which would have involved a very large investment. Mass-produced less expensive versions of the Quran were produced from the 19th century by lithography, which allowed reproduction of the fine calligraphy of hand-made versions.

The oldest surviving Quran printed with movable type was produced in Venice in 1537/1538. It seems to have been prepared for sale in the Ottoman empire, where all movable type printing using Arabic characters had been forbidden in 1485. This decree was reversed in 1588, but there remained strong resistance to adopting movable type printing for any subjects, let alone the Quran, until the late 19th century. This seems to have been partly from opposition by the large profession of copyists, and for aesthetic reasons, and fear of mistakes in the text. Catherine the Great of Russia sponsored a printing of the Quran in 1787. This was followed by editions from Kazan (1828), Persia (1833) and Istanbul (1877).

It is extremely difficult to render the full Quran, with all the points, in computer code, such as Unicode. The Internet Sacred Text Archive makes computer files of the Quran freely available both as images and in a temporary Unicode version. Various designers and software firms have attempted to develop computer fonts that can adequately render the Quran.

Since Muslim tradition felt that directly portraying sacred figures and events might lead to idolatry, it was considered wrong to decorate the Quran with pictures (as was often done for Christian texts, for example). Muslims instead lavished love and care upon the sacred text itself. Arabic is written in many scripts, some of which are complex and beautiful. Arabic calligraphy is a highly honored art, much like Chinese calligraphy. Muslims also decorated their Qurans with abstract figures (arabesques), colored inks, and gold leaf. Pages from some of these antique Qurans are displayed throughout this article.

Relationship with other literature

Torah, Hebrew Bible and New Testament

}} The Quran speaks well of the relationship it has with former books (the Torah and the Gospel) and attributes their similarities to their unique origin and saying all of them have been revealed by the one God.

According to Sahih Bukhari, the Quran was recited among Levantines and Iraqis, and discussed by Christians and Jews before it was standardized. Its language was similar to the Syriac language. The Quran recounts stories of many of the people and events recounted in Jewish and Christian sacred books (Tanakh, Bible) and devotional literature (Apocrypha, Midrash), although it differs in many details. Adam, Enoch, Noah, Eber, Shelah, Abraham, Lot, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Job, Jethro, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Aaron, Moses, Zechariah, John the Baptist, and Jesus are mentioned in the Quran as prophets of God (see Prophets of Islam). In fact, Jesus is mentioned more often in the Quran than Muhammad. At the same time, Mary is also mentioned in the Quran more than the New Testament. Muslims believe the common elements or resemblances between the Bible and other Jewish and Christian writings and Islamic dispensations is due to their common divine source, and that the original Christian or Jewish texts were authentic divine revelations given to prophets.

Similarities with Christian apocrypha‎

The Quran has been noted to have certain narratives similarities to the Diatessaron, Protoevangelium of James, Infancy Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Arabic Infancy Gospel. One scholar has suggested that the Diatessaron, as a gospel harmony, may have led to the conception that the Christian Gospel is one text.

Arab writing

After the Quran, and the general rise of Islam, the Arabic alphabet developed rapidly into an art form.

Wadad Kadi, Professor of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at University of Chicago and Mustansir Mir, Professor of Islamic studies at Youngstown State University state that:

Although Arabic, as a language and a literary tradition, was quite well developed by the time of Muhammad's prophetic activity, it was only after the emergence of Islam, with its founding scripture in Arabic, that the language reached its utmost capacity of expression, and the literature its highest point of complexity and sophistication. Indeed, it probably is no exaggeration to say that the Quran was one of the most conspicuous forces in the making of classical and post-classical Arabic literature.

The main areas in which the Qur'an exerted noticeable influence on Arabic literature are diction and themes; other areas are related to the literary aspects of the Qur'an particularly oaths (q.v.), metaphors, motifs, and symbols. As far as diction is concerned, one could say that Qur'anic words, idioms, and expressions, especially "loaded" and formulaic phrases, appear in practically all genres of literature and in such abundance that it is simply impossible to compile a full record of them. For not only did the Qur'an create an entirely new linguistic corpus to express its message, it also endowed old, pre-Islamic words with new meanings and it is these meanings that took root in the language and subsequently in the literature...

Culture

Most Muslims treat paper copies of the Quran with veneration, ritually washing before reading the Quran. Worn out, torn, or errant (for example, pages out of order) Qurans are not discarded as wastepaper, but rather are left free to flow in a river, kept somewhere safe, burned, or buried in a remote location. Many Muslims memorize at least some portion of the Quran in the original Arabic, usually at least the verses needed to perform the contact prayers (salat). Those who have memorized the entire Quran earn the right to the title of ''Hafiz''.

Based on tradition and a literal interpretation of sura 56:77–79: ''"That this is indeed a Quran Most Honourable, In a Book well-guarded, Which none shall touch but those who are clean."'', many scholars believe that a Muslim must perform a ritual cleansing with water (wudu) before touching a copy of the Quran, or ''mus'haf'', although this view is ubiquitous.

Quran desecration means mishandling the Quran by defiling or dismembering it. Muslims believe they should always treat the book with reverence, and are forbidden, for instance, to pulp, recycle, or simply discard worn-out copies of the text. Respect for the written text of the Quran is an important element of religious faith by many Muslims. They believe that intentionally insulting the Quran is a form of blasphemy.

The text of the Quran has become readily accessible over the internet, in Arabic as well as numerous translations in other languages. It can be downloaded and searched both word-by-word and with Boolean algebra. Photos of ancient manuscripts and illustrations of Quranic art can be witnessed. However, there are still limits to searching the Arabic text of the Quran.

See also

2010 Qur'an-burning controversy

Ayah

Criticism of the Qur'an

Dhikr

Digital Qur'an

Hafiz

History of the Qur'an

Legends and the Qur'an

List of religious texts

Persons related to Qur'anic verses

Qur'an alone

Quran and miracles

Quran and Sunnah

Qur'anic literalism

Quran reading

Surah

Tafsir of the Qur'an

Women in the Qur'an

Notes

}}: Actual pronunciation in Literary Arabic varies regionally. The first vowel varies from to to , while the second vowel varies from to to . Example, in Egypt: , in Central East Arabia: .

References

Further reading

;Recent translations

;Introductory texts

Robinson, Neal, ''Discovering the Qur'an'', Georgetown University Press, 2002. ISBN 1-58901-024-8

Sells, Michael, – ''Approaching the Qur'ān: The Early Revelations,'' White Cloud Press, Book & CD edition (November 15, 1999). ISBN 1-883991-26-9

;Traditional Quranic commentaries (tafsir)

Al-Tabari, ''Jamiʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwil al-Qurʾān'', Cairo 1955–69, transl. J. Cooper (ed.), ''The Commentary on the Qurʾān'', Oxford University Press, 1987. ISBN 0-19-920142-0

;Topical studies

Stowasser, Barbara Freyer – ''Women in the Qur'an, Traditions, and Interpretation'', Oxford University Press; Reprint edition (June 1, 1996), ISBN 0-19-511148-6

Gibson, Dan (2011). ''Qur’anic Geography: A Survey and Evaluation of the Geographical References in the Qur’an with Suggested Solutions for Various Problems and Issues''. Independent Scholars Press, Canada. ISBN 978-0-9733642-8-6.

;Literary criticism

Al-Azami, M. M. – ''The History of the Qurʾānic Text from Revelation to Compilation'', UK Islamic Academy: Leicester 2003.

Gunter Luling A challenge to Islam for reformation: the rediscovery and reliable reconstruction of a comprehensive pre-Islamic Christian hymnal hidden in the Koran under earliest Islamic reinterpretations. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers 2003. (580 Seiten, lieferbar per Seepost). ISBN 81-208-1952-7

Luxenberg, Christoph (2004) – ''The Syro-Aramaic Reading Of The Koran: a contribution to the decoding of the language of the Koran'', Berlin, Verlag Hans Schiler, 1 May 2007 ISBN 3-89930-088-2

Puin, Gerd R. – "Observations on Early Quran Manuscripts in Sana'a," in ''The Qurʾan as Text'', ed. Stefan Wild,, E. J. Brill 1996, pp. 107–111.

Wansbrough, John – ''Quranic Studies'', Oxford University Press, 1977

;Encyclopedias ;Academic journals

External links

;Qur'an browsers and translations

Quran.com

Online Quran Project

Tanzil – Quran Navigator

Verse by Verse Recitation and transliteration of the Qur'an

;Word-for-word analysis

Word for Word English Translation – emuslim.com

Quranic Arabic Corpus, shows syntax and morphology for each word.

;Software

Zekr: Qur'an study program available for different platforms.

Category:7th-century books Category:Islamic theology Category:Islam Category:Islamic texts Category:Medieval literature Category:Religious texts

ace:Kureu'an af:Koran am:ቁርአን ar:القرآن an:Alcorán arc:ܩܘܪܐܢ frp:Alcoran ast:Corán av:Къуръан az:Quran bm:Kuranɛ bn:কুরআন zh-min-nan:Qur'an ba:Ҡөръән be:Каран be-x-old:Каран bcl:Koran bo:ཁུ་རན་གསུང་རབ། bs:Kur'an br:Koran bg:Коран ca:Alcorà cv:Коран cs:Korán cy:Coran da:Koranen de:Koran dv:ކީރިތި ޤުރުއާން et:Koraan el:Κοράνιο es:Corán eo:Korano ext:Corán eu:Koran fa:قرآن fo:Koranin fr:Coran fy:Koaran ff:Alqur'aana ga:An Córan gl:Corán gu:કુરાન ko:꾸란 hy:Ղուրան hi:कुर॑आन hsb:Koran hr:Kuran ilo:Koran id:Al-Qur'an ia:Koran os:Хъуыран is:Kóran it:Corano he:הקוראן jv:Al-Qur'an ka:ყურანი kk:Құран sw:Qurani ku:Quran krc:Къуран la:Alcoranus lv:Korāns lb:Koran lt:Koranas hu:Korán mk:Куран ml:ഖുര്‍ആന്‍ mt:Koran mr:कुराण arz:القرآن mzn:قورآن ms:Al-Quran mwl:Alcoron my:ကိုရမ်ကျမ်း mrj:Коран nl:Koran ja:クルアーン ce:Къуръан no:Koranen nn:Koranen oc:Alcoran mhr:Коран uz:Qurʼon pnb:قرآن ps:قرآن کريم pl:Koran pt:Alcorão kaa:Quranı Ka'rim crh:Quran ro:Coran qu:Quran ru:Коран sah:Коран sq:Kurani scn:Curanu si:කුර්ආන් simple:Qur'an sd:قرآن sk:Korán sl:Koran so:Qur'aan ckb:قورئان sr:Куран sh:Kuran su:Qur'an fi:Koraani sv:Koranen tl:Koran ta:திருக்குர்ஆன் kab:Leqran tt:Qör'än te:ఖోరాన్ th:อัลกุรอาน tg:Қуръон tr:Kur'an uk:Коран ur:قرآن ug:قۇرئان كەرىم vi:Qur'an fiu-vro:Koraan wa:Alcoran zh-classical:古蘭經 war:Coran wo:Alxuraan yi:קאראן yo:Kùránì diq:Qurane zh:古兰经

name	Yu Dafu
birth date	December 07, 1896
birth place	Fuyang, Zhejiang, China
death date	September 17, 1945
occupation	Short Story writer and Poet
website	}}

Yu Dafu () (December 7, 1896—September 17, 1945). Born in Fuyang, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, was a modern Chinese short story writer and poet.

Early years

Yu Dafu's father died at when he was only three, leaving the family poverty-stricken and destitute. He received a number of scholarships through the Chinese government and went on to receive a traditional Chinese education in Hangzhou. Chronologically he studied in Jiangxing-Fu Middle School (before he came to Hangzhou), Hangzhou-Fu Middle School, Yuying Academy (育英学堂, formerly of Zhejiang University).

In 1912, he entered Hangchow University (later its major part merged into Zhejiang University) preparatory through examination. He was there only for a short period before he was expelled for participation in a student strike.

He then moved to Japan, where he studied economics at the Tokyo Imperial University between 1913 and 1922, where he met other Chinese intellectuals (namely, Guo Moruo, Zhang Ziping and Tian Han). Together, in 1921 they founded the ''Chuangzao she'' 創造社 ("Creation Society"), which promoted vernacular and modern literature. One of his earlier works ''Chenlun'' 沉淪, also his most famous, published in Japan in 1921. The work had gained immense popularity in China, shocking the world of Chinese literature with its frank dealing with sex, as well as grievances directed at the incompetence of Chinese government at the time.

In 1922, he returned to China as a literary celebrity and worked as the editor of ''Creation Quarterly'', editing journals and writing short stories. In 1923, after an attack of tuberculosis, Yu Dafu directed his attention to the welfare of the masses.

In 1927, he worked as an editor of the ''Hongshui'' literary magazine. He later came in conflict with the Communist Party of China and fled back to Japan.

Second Sino-Japanese war

After the start of the Second Sino-Japanese war, he returned to China and worked as a writer of anti-Japanese propaganda in Hangzhou, and later in Zhejiang. From 1938 to 1942, he worked as a literary editor for the newspaper Sin Chew Jit Poh in Singapore.

In 1942 when the Imperial Japanese Army invaded Singapore, he was forced to flee to Sumatra. Known under a different identity, he settled there among other overseas Chinese and began a brewery business with the help of the locals. Later he was forced to help the Japanese military police as an interpreter when it was discovered that he was one of the few "locals" in the area who could speak Japanese.

In 1945, he was arrested by the Kempeitai when his true identity was finally discovered. It is believed that he was executed by the Japanese shortly after the surrender of Japan.

Works

''Chenlun'' 沉淪 "''Sinking''" (1921)

''Riji jiuzhong'' 日記九種 “''Nine Diaries''” (1927)

''Guoqu'' 過去 “''The Past''" (1927)

his first novel?? (1928) (moderately successful)

his second novel?? (1932)

''Chuben'' 出奔 "''Flight''" (1935)

His most popular work, breaking all Chinese sales records, was ''Jih-chi chiu-chung'' "''Nine Diaries''", which detailed his affair with the writer Wang Ying-hsin. The most critically acclaimed work is ''Kuo-ch'u'' or "''The Past''", written in 1927.

References

Encyclopædia Britannica 2005 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD, article- "Yü Ta-fu"

External links

Category:1896 births Category:1945 deaths Category:Chinese expatriates in Japan Category:Hangzhou High School alumni Category:People from Hangzhou Category:Republic of China poets Category:University of Tokyo alumni Category:Zhejiang University alumni

de:Yu Dafu es:Yu Dafu fr:Yu Dafu it:Yu Dafu no:Yu Dafu zh:郁達夫

name	Geert Wilders
office	Parliamentary leader – Party for Freedom House of Representatives of the Netherlands
term start	November 23, 2006
office1	Member of the House of Representatives – Party for Freedom
term start1	November 30, 2006
office2	Member of the House of Representatives – Group Wilders
term start2	September 2, 2004
term end2	November 30, 2006
office3	Member of the House of Representatives – People's Party for Freedom and Democracy
term start3	July 26, 2002
term end3	September 2, 2004
term start4	August 25, 1998
term end4	May 23, 2002
birth date	September 06, 1963
birth place	Venlo, Netherlands
birthname	Geert Wilders
nationality	Dutch
party	Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid – PVV) (2006–present) People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie – VVD) (1989–2004)
spouse	Krisztina Wilders (1992–present)
residence	The Hague, Netherlands
alma mater	Open University in the Netherlands
occupation	Politician
religion	None (agnostic)
website	Party for Freedom website }}

Geert Wilders (; born September 6, 1963 in Venlo) is a Dutch right-wing politician and leader of the Party for Freedom (Partij voor de Vrijheid – PVV), the third-largest political party in the Netherlands. He is the Parliamentary group leader of his party in the Dutch House of Representatives. In the formation in 2010 of the current Rutte cabinet, a minority cabinet of VVD and CDA, he actively participated in the negotiations, resulting in a "toleration agreement" (''gedoogakkoord'') between the PVV and these parties. Wilders is best known for his criticism of Islam, summing up his views by saying, "I don't hate Muslims, I hate Islam".

Raised a Roman Catholic, Wilders left the church at his coming of age. His travels to Israel as a young adult, as well as to neighbouring Arab countries, helped form his political views. Wilders worked as a speechwriter for the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (Volkspartij voor Vrijheid en Democratie – VVD), and later served as parliamentary assistant to party leader Frits Bolkestein from 1990 to 1998. He was elected to the Utrecht city council in 1996, and later to the House of Representatives. Citing irreconcilable differences over the party's position on the accession of Turkey to the European Union, he left the VVD in 2004 to form his own party, the Party for Freedom.

Wilders has campaigned to stop what he views as the "Islamisation of the Netherlands". He compares the Quran with ''Mein Kampf'' and has campaigned to have the book banned in the Netherlands. He advocates ending immigration from Muslim countries, and supports banning the construction of new mosques. Wilders was a speaker at the Facing Jihad Conference held in Jerusalem in 2008, which discussed the dangers of jihad, and has called for a hard line against what he called the "street terror" exerted by minorities in Dutch cities. His controversial 2008 film about his views on Islam, ''Fitna'', received international attention. He has been described in the media as populist and labeled far right, though this is disputed by other observers. Wilders, who has refused to align himself with other European far-right leaders such as Jean-Marie Le Pen and Jörg Haider, views himself as a right-wing liberal and has expressed concern of being "linked with the wrong rightist fascist groups."

Wilders was banned from entering the United Kingdom between 12 February 2009 and 13 October 2009 by the Labour government, the Home Office saying his presence would be a "threat to one of the fundamental interests of society". The ban was overturned after Wilders appealed and he visited the UK in October 2009, and again in March 2010 to show his film. In January 2009, the Amsterdam Court of Appeal ordered Wilders' prosecution for "incitement to hatred and discrimination". Wilders was acquitted of these charges on 23 June 2011.

Early life and career

Wilders was born in the city of Venlo, in the northern part of the Dutch Province of Limburg on the southeastern border with Germany. He is the youngest of four children, and was raised Catholic. He was born to a Dutch father and a Dutch mother born in the Dutch East Indies, of Dutch and Dutch-Indonesian descent or Indo heritage through her mother's side. His father worked as a manager for the printing and copying manufacturing company Océ. His father fled the area to escape the Nazis and became so traumatised from the experience that he refused to physically enter Germany even forty years later.

Wilders received his secondary education at the Mavo and Havo middle school and high school in Venlo. Reflecting passions that came to the fore later in his career, Wilders took a course in health insurance at the Stichting Opleiding Sociale Verzekeringen in Amsterdam and earned several law certificates at the Dutch Open University.

Wilders' goal after he graduated from secondary school was to see the world. Because he did not have enough money to travel to Australia, his preferred destination, he went to Israel instead. For several years he volunteered in a moshav and worked for several firms, becoming in his own words "a true friend of Israel". With the money he saved, he travelled to the neighbouring Arab countries, and was moved by the lack of democracy in the region. When he returned to the Netherlands, he retained Israeli ideas about counter-terrorism and a "special feeling of solidarity" for the country.

Living in Utrecht, Wilders initially worked in the health insurance industry. His interest in the subject led him into politics as a speech-writer for the Netherlands' People's Party for Freedom and Democracy. He started his formal political career as a parliamentary assistant to Liberal party leader Frits Bolkestein, specialising in foreign policy. He held this job from 1990 to 1998. During this time Geert Wilders travelled extensively, visiting countries all across the Middle East, including Iran, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Israel. Conservative Liberal Party leader Bolkestein was the first Dutch politician to make an issue out of immigration because his party needed electoral gains.As his target, he choose immigrants from Arab countries, because he considers their cultures backward. The issue scored well. He set an example for Wilders not only in his ideas but also in his confrontational speaking style.

=== Personal life === On 10 November 2004, two suspected attackers were captured after an hour-long siege of a building in The Hague. They were in possession of three grenades and were accused of planning to murder Wilders as well as a fellow MP, Ayaan Hirsi Ali. The suspects were presumed to be members of what the Dutch intelligence agency, the General Intelligence and Security Service, has termed the Hofstadgroep. Since this incident Wilders has been under constant security protection because of frequent threats to his life. In September 2007, a Dutch woman was sentenced to a one-year prison term for sending more than 100 threatening emails to Wilders. Wilders remained the most threatened politician in the Netherlands in 2008.

On 18 December 2009, the Rotterdam rapper Mo$heb was sentenced to 80 hours community service and a two-month suspended jail term for threatening Wilders in a rap titled "Wie is de volgende" ("Who's next"), which included that if he met Wilders, it would be "bam bam". The rapper also called on Wilders to take back his words if he wanted to stay alive and said "This is no joke. Last night I dreamed I chopped your head off". The public prosecutor said the threat could reasonably lead to Wilders fearing for his life or that he would be subjected to violence. The court agreed with this conclusion and said the rap was threatening. "A politician must be able to do his work", the judges said.

Wilders is said to have been "deprived... of a personal life for his... hatred of Islam". He is moved by his state-provided bodyguards to a different location every night, and does not receive visitors unless they are carefully screened and escorted at all times. He is married to a former diplomat of Hungarian origin, with whom he can only meet about once every week because of security concerns. The restrictions on his life because of this, he said, are "a situation that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy".

In January 2010, Karen Geurtsen, a Dutch journalist from the magazine ''HP-De Tijd'', revealed a painful breach of security. She spent four months working undercover, posing as an intern, for the PVV party. She claimed that she had had unchecked access to Wilders. "I could have killed him", were the first words of the article that she published about this operation. According to her, she had "dozens" of opportunities to take his life.

Wilders has acquired nicknames such as "Mozart" and "Captain Peroxide" because of his flamboyant platinum blond hairstyle. Radio Netherlands calls him "the most famous bleach-blond since Marilyn Monroe".

Wilders is an agnostic, but he has stated that he thinks Dutch Christians "are my allies" and that they fundamentally should want the same thing.

Public reception

Wilders has become a controversial figure with polarized opinions on him from the world news media. In 2005, the Dutch public expressed mixed reactions to Wilders' general agenda, with 53% calling it "implausible" and 47% more supportive. He has been described as populist, labelled as both "extreme right" and far right, and defended by others as a mainstream politician with legitimate concerns saying that such labels are shallow smear attempts. Wilders himself rejects the labels and has called the new description "scandalous". He has been accused of building his popularity on fear and resentment and vociferously defended for having the courage to talk openly about the problems unfettered immigration brings with it and the incompatibility of fundamentalist Islam with western values.

On 15 December 2007, Wilders was declared "Politician of the Year" by NOS-radio, a mainstream Dutch radio station. The parliamentary press praised his ability to dominate political discussion and to attract the debate and to get into publicity with his well-timed one-liners. The editors eventually gave the title to Wilders because he was the only one who scored high amongst both the press and the general public.

In December 2009, Wilders came in second in two polls in the Netherlands for Politician of the Year. A panel of Dutch television viewers praised him as "the second best" politician this year (after his outspoken critic Alexander Pechtold), while his colleagues in parliament named him "the second worst" (after Rita Verdonk). After the last elections on 9 June 2010, Wilders holds 24 out of 150 seats in the Dutch parliamentary government.

Some Muslim critics of Wilders accuse him of using Koranic verses out of context. Because of Wilders' perceived positions on Islam, the Dutch–Moroccan rapper Appa, when interviewed about Wilders for a newspaper, said "if someone were to put a bullet in his head, I wouldn't mind". Wilders' views on Islam prompted the Muslim Mayor of Rotterdam, Ahmed Aboutaleb, to reprimand him.

Editorials by AlterNet, ''The Montreal Gazette'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', ''The Guardian'', and ''The New York Times'' have accused Wilders of hypocrisy given that, in their view, Wilders has called for the ban of the sale of the Quran while simultaneously arguing for his own personal freedom of speech. In a speech during a Dutch parliamentary debate, Wilders elaborated that he calls for the consistent application of Dutch laws restricting any act of expression that incites violence. Ideally, he would prefer to see nearly all such laws abolished. As such, he supports a European-wide constitutional protection of freedom of speech like that which exists in the United States.

Wilders has also been compared to the assassinated fellow critic of Islam and filmmaker Theo van Gogh, but he does not see himself as taking on van Gogh's mantle. Wilders has stated that he supports the free speech rights of his critics, saying that "An Imam who wants a politician dead is—however reprehensible—allowed to say so". He has responded to charges of racism and Islamophobia by stating, "I don't hate Muslims. I hate their book and their ideology".

In February 2010, the trailer of a newly published online satirical video on the website of the Dutch radio station FunX, which targets a young urban audience, spoofed a murder attempt on Wilders.

In July 2010, the magazine ''Inspire'' announced that Wilders, as well as Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Kurt Westergaard and Salman Rushdie, were mentioned on a ''"death list"'' of an international islamist terrorist network.

Shortly before this publication it was revealed in The Hague that Dutch law enforcement officers succeeded twice in smuggling a firearm into the parliament buildings and into the guarded headquarter of Wilders' party. This check was carried out by the Special Security Assignments Brigade BSB, a special unit of the Dutch Military Police. The test was carried out following a complaint from Wilders about his security being inadequate.

On 11 September 2010, 2,000 people gathered close by the site of a planned Muslim community center near the site of the World Trade Center attacks, on 11 September 2001, where they were addressed by Wilders who flew from The Netherlands to urge the crowd: "This is where we have draw the line. We must never give a free hand to those who want to subjugate us," Wilders added. "Draw this line so that New York... will never become New Mecca."

Wilders was extensively discussed in American diplomatic cables, released by WikiLeaks in December 2010. In a briefing to President Barack Obama, he was described as "no friend of the US: he opposes Dutch military involvement in Afghanistan; he believes development assistance is money wasted; he opposes NATO missions outside 'allied' territory; he is against most EU initiatives; and, most troubling, he foments fear and hatred of immigrants."

Political career

In 1997, Wilders was elected for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) to the municipal council of Utrecht, the fourth largest city of the Netherlands. He lived in Kanaleneiland, a suburb with cheap social housing and high apartment blocks, and which has a relatively high number of immigrants. While a city councilor, Wilders was mugged in his own neighbourhood; some have speculated that this may have catalysed his political transformation. He was not rewarded for his time on the municipal council of Utrecht, for in the following elections he would score well below the national average in the University city.

A year later, he was elected to the Netherlands' national parliament, but his first four years in parliament drew little attention. However, his appointment in 2002 as a public spokesman for the VVD led Wilders to become more well known for his outspoken criticism of Islamic extremism. Tensions immediately developed within the party, as Wilders found himself to be to the right of most members, and challenged the party line in his public statements. He was expelled from the VVD parliamentary party, and in September 2004, Wilders left the VVD, having been a member since 1989, to form his own political party, Groep Wilders, later renamed the Party for Freedom. The crunch issue with the VVD party line was about his refusal to endorse the party's position that European Union accession negotiations must be started with Turkey.

The Party for Freedom's political platform often overlaps those of the assassinated Rotterdam politician Pim Fortuyn and his Pim Fortuyn List. After his death, Fortuyn's impact remained, as more and more politicians sought to gain political mileage by directly confronting topics such as a ban on immigration that were, from a politically correct point of view, considered unmentionable in the Netherlands until Fortuyn came on the scene and upended the Dutch tradition of consensus politics with an anti-immigration stance. Wilders would position himself to inherit Fortuyn's constituency. He bases his ideas on an ideological framework of small government, law and order and direct democracy. The Party for Freedom call for a €16 billion tax reduction, a far stricter policy toward recreational drug use, investing more in roads and other infrastructure, building nuclear power plants and including animal rights in the Dutch constitution. In the 2006 Dutch parliamentary election, their first parliamentary election, the Party for Freedom won 9 out of the 150 open seats.

In March 2009, in a party meeting in Venlo, Wilders said "I want to be prime minister", believing the PVV will eventually become the Netherlands’ biggest party. "At some point it's going to happen and then it will be a big honour to fulfil the post of prime minister".

Polling conducted throughout March 2009 by Maurice de Hond indicated the Party for Freedom was the most popular parliamentary party. The polls predicted that the party would take 21% of the national vote, winning 32 out of 150 seats in the Dutch parliament. If the polling results were replicated in an election, Wilders would be a major power broker. Under such circumstances, there would also be some likelihood of him becoming Prime Minister of the Netherlands. This has been partially attributed to timely prosecution attempts against him for hate speech and the travel ban imposed on him by the United Kingdom, as well as dissatisfaction with the Dutch government's response to the global financial crisis of 2008–2009.

On 3 March 2010, elections for the local councils were held in the municipalities of The Netherlands. The PVV only contested these local elections in the Dutch towns The Hague and Almere, because of a shortage of good candidates. The big gains that were scored indicated that the party and Wilders might dominate the political scene in the run-up to the parliamentary elections scheduled on 9 June 2010. The PVV won in Almere and came second to the Dutch Labour party in The Hague. In Almere, the PVV won 21 percent of the vote to Labour's 18 percent, preliminary results showed. In The Hague, the PVV had 8 seats—second to Labour with 10 seats.

On 8 March 2010, Wilders announced that he would take a seat on the Hague city council, after it became clear he won 13,000 preference votes. Earlier he had said he would not take up a seat if he won. In the parliamentary elections on 9 June 2010, the PVV went from 9 to 24 seats (out of 150) resulting from over 15% of the vote. This made the PVV the third party in size. With a fragmented parliament, at least three parties were required for an absolute majority. A coalition of VVD and Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) was negotiated with parliamentary support by the PVV. The PVV did not become part of the government formed by VVD and CDA but actively participated in the negotiations and thus policy decisions and – as part of the outcome agreed that they would not support any motion to dismiss ministers concerning topics listed in a so-called "support agreement" – much like the Danish model where the Danish People's Party plays a similar role. The very fact of the participation of Wilder's party in these negotiations caused fierce discussions in political circles.

Political views

Political principles

Wilders generally considers himself to be a right-wing liberal, with a specific mix of positions independent of the European political spectrum and particular to iconoclastic Dutch society. He has stated that "My allies are not Le Pen or Haider... We'll never join up with the fascists and Mussolinis of Italy. I'm very afraid of being linked with the wrong rightist fascist groups", saying instead his drive is issues such as freedom of expression and Dutch iconoclasm. Wilders views British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher as his greatest political role model. People's Party for Freedom and Democracy figure Frits Bolkestein also heavily influenced his beliefs.

Wilders strongly opposes the Dutch political system in general. He believes that there is a ruling elite of parliamentarians who only care about their own personal careers and disregard the will of the people. He also blames the Dutch system of multi-party coalition governments for a lack of clear and effective policies. In his view, Dutch society advocates rule by consensus and cultural relativism, while he believes that this should change so as to "not tolerate the intolerant".

On foreign relations, Wilders has largely supported Israel and has criticized countries he perceives as enemies of Israel. Furthermore, he has made some proposals in the Dutch Parliament inspired by Israeli policies. For example, he supports implementing Israel's administrative detention in the Netherlands, a practice heavily criticized by human rights groups, which he calls "common sense".

Furthermore, Wilders has revived the ancient idea of reuniting Flanders and the Netherlands.

Wilders published the version of his political manifesto called ''Klare Wijn'' ("Clear Wine") in March 2006. The program proposed ten key points to be implemented:

Considerable reduction of taxes and state regulations.

Replacement of the present Article 1 of the Dutch constitution, guaranteeing equality under the law, by a clause stating the cultural dominance of the Christian, Jewish and humanist traditions.

Reduction of the influence of the European Union, which may no longer be expanded with new member states, especially Turkey; the European Parliament will be abolished. Dutch financial contributions to the European Union should be reduced by billions of euros.

A five year moratorium on the immigration of non-Western foreigners who intend to stay in the Netherlands. Foreign residents will no longer have the right to vote in municipal elections.

A five-year moratorium on the founding of new mosques and Islamic schools; a permanent ban on preaching in any language other than Dutch. Foreign imams will not be allowed to preach. Radical mosques will be closed and radical Muslims will be expelled.

Restoration of educational standards, with an emphasis on the educational value of the family.

Introduction of binding referenda and elected mayors, chiefs of police and prime ministers.

Introduction of minimum penalties, and higher maximum penalties; introduction of administrative detention for terrorist suspects. Street terrorism will be punished by boot camps and denaturalisation and deportation of immigrant offenders.

Restoration of respect and better rewards for teachers, policemen, health care workers and military personnel.

Instead of complicated reorganisation, a more accessible and humane health care system, especially for elderly citizens.

Views on Islam

Wilders is best known for his criticism of Islam, summing up his views by saying, "I don't hate Muslims, I hate Islam". Although identifying Islamic extremists as 5–15% of Muslims, he argues that "there is no such thing as 'moderate Islam and that the "Koran also states that Muslims who believe in only part of the Koran are in fact apostates". He suggests that Muslims should "tear out half of the Koran if they wished to stay in the Netherlands" because it contains "terrible things" and that Muhammad would "... in these days be hunted down as a terrorist".

On 8 August 2007, Wilders opined in an open letter to the Dutch newspaper ''De Volkskrant'' that the Koran, which he called a "fascist book", should be outlawed in the Netherlands, like Adolf Hitler's ''Mein Kampf''. He has stated that "The book incites hatred and killing and therefore has no place in our legal order". He has also referred to Mohammed as "the devil". In Sept 2009 Wilders proposed to put a tax on Hijab wearing by Muslim women. He suggested women could purchase a license at a cost of €1000 and that the money raised could be used in projects beneficial to women's emancipation.

He believes that all Muslim immigration to the Netherlands should be halted and all settled immigrants should be paid to leave. Referring to the increased population of Muslims in the Netherlands, he has said: }} In a speech before the Dutch Parliament, he stated:

Nonetheless, Wilders has traveled widely in the Arab world and ''Der Spiegel'' has stated that Wilders will "wax poetic" over those "magnificent countries". Wilders has also said that "It's a real shame that these places are so chaotic."

Wilders argues that Islam is not a religion, but rather a totalitarian political ideology such as communism and fascism.

Wilders and Israel

Wilders lived in Israel for two years during his youth and has visited the country 40 times in the last 25 years.

Wilders stated about Israel: "I have visited many interesting countries in the Middle East – from Syria to Egypt, from Tunisia to Turkey, from Cyprus to Iran – but nowhere did I have the special feeling of solidarity that I always get when I land at Ben Gurion International Airport." Dutch public TV channel Nederland 2's daily news programme ''Netwerk'' reported that numerous American supporters of Israel financially supported Wilders' Party for Freedom (PVV) and openly approved of his message towards Islam and Islamic terrorism. Wilders told an audience during the report that "We [in the West] are all Israel". He has also said "Israel is the West's first line of defence" against what he perceives to be a threat posed by Islam.

Following the Dutch general election, 2010, in which the PVV were the third biggest party, Wilders said Jordan should be renamed Palestine. The Jordanian government responded saying Wilders' speech was reminiscent of the Israeli right wing. His speech said "Jordan is Palestine. Changing its name to Palestine will end the conflict in the Middle East and provide the Palestinians with an alternate homeland." He also said Israel deserves a special status in the Dutch government because it was fighting for "Jerusalem" in its name.

"If Jerusalem falls into the hands of the Muslims, Athens and Rome will be next. Thus, Jerusalem is the main front protecting the West. It is not a conflict over territory but rather an ideological battle, between the mentality of the liberated West and the ideology of Islamic barbarism. There has been an independent Palestinian state since 1946, and it is the kingdom of Jordan."

He called on the Dutch government to refer to Jordan as Palestine and move its embassy to Jerusalem.

''Fitna''

''Fitna'' is a 2008 short film written and commissioned by Wilders that explores Koranic-inspired motivations for terrorism, Islamic universalism, and Islam in the Netherlands. Its title comes from the Arabic word ''fitna'', which describes "disagreement and division among people" or a "test of faith in times of trial".

It is the subject of an international controversy and debate on free speech. Despite the legal troubles surrounding the film, Wilders insists that before he released it, he consulted numerous lawyers in the field, who found nothing worth prosecution. Jordan has summoned Wilders to court, with the film deemed to "incite hatred". Militant Sunni Islamist group Al-Qaeda issued a call to murder Wilders after its release.

In the spring of 2009, Wilders launched the "Facing Jihad World Tour", a series of screenings of ''Fitna'' to public officials and influential organizations around the globe, starting in Rome. In the United States, Wilders showed the film to the United States Congress on 26 February having been invited by Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl. Around 40 people attended the screening. American Muslims protested, but the groups said that they supported his right of free speech while still condemning his opinions. Wilders spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference on 28 February. He appeared before the National Press Club and the Republican Jewish Coalition that week as well. Similar attempts in Britain led to a travel ban, and legislative blocks have prevented an appearance in Denmark.

Wilders and the United Kingdom

Ban on entering the United Kingdom

Lord Pearson of Rannoch and Baroness Cox, members of the House of Lords (the upper chamber of the British Parliament), invited Wilders to a 12 February 2009 showing of ''Fitna'' in the Palace of Westminster. Two days before the showing, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith banned Wilders from entering the territory of the United Kingdom, labelling him an "undesirable person". Entry was denied under EU law, and reportedly supported under regulation 19 of the Immigration (European Economic Area) Regulations 2006, an EU law which allows a member state to refuse entry to individuals if they are regarded as constituting a threat to public policy, security or health. A Home Office spokesperson elaborated that "The Government opposes extremism in all its forms ... and that was the driving force behind tighter rules on exclusions for unacceptable behaviour that the Home Secretary announced in October last year".

Wilders defied the ban and entered via London Heathrow Airport on 12 February, trailed by television crews. He was quickly detained by Border Patrol officials and sent back on one of the next flights to the Netherlands. He called Prime Minister Gordon Brown "the biggest coward in Europe" and remarked, "Of course I will come back". Wilders had visited the United Kingdom in December 2008 without any problem. Lord Pearson did not support Wilders' decision to defy the government. But in response to the ban, both Pearson and Cox accused the government of "appeasing" militant Islam.

The ''International Herald Tribune'' stated that the ban was broadly condemned in the British news media. The Dutch Foreign Secretary, Maxime Verhagen, called the decision "highly regrettable" and complained to his British counterpart. Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende complained to Gordon Brown about the "disappointing" decision. The Quilliam Foundation, a British think tank, criticised the ban, as did National Secular Society president Terry Sanderson. The Muslim Labour peer Lord Ahmed expressed support for Smith's ban on Wilders entering the country; the Ramadhan Foundation and the Muslim Council of Britain also did so, the council labeling Wilders "an open and relentless preacher of hate".

Ban overturned

After being declared ''persona non grata'' by Jacqui Smith, then the Home Secretary, in February 2009, Wilders appealed the decision to Britain's Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. In October 2009, the tribunal overturned the ban. Wilders subsequently praised the ruling as "a triumph for freedom of speech" and stated that he plans to visit the United Kingdom in the near future.

The ruling was criticized by the British Home Office, which stated that an appeal of the tribunal's ruling is being considered. A spokesman stated:

"The Government opposes extremism in all its forms. The decision to refuse Wilders admission was taken on the basis that his presence could have inflamed tensions between our communities and have led to inter-faith violence. We still maintain this view."

Visits to the UK

On 16 October 2009, Wilders arrived in the United Kingdom and was quickly forced to move his press conference due to protests by about forty members of the organization Islam4UK, an organization that was later shut down under the UK's Terrorism Act 2000 on 14 January 2010. Though the Home Office had asserted that his entry into the country would not be blocked, a spokesman said his "statements and behaviour during a visit will inevitably impact on any future decisions to admit him." His visit to the UK met with protest, but Wilders called it "a victory" in a press conference. On his outspoken views on Islam, he said: "I have a problem with the Islamic ideology, the Islamic culture, because I feel that the more Islam that we get in our societies the less freedom we get." He opened the press conference with a quote from George Orwell's preface to ''Animal Farm'': "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they don't want to hear". Lord Pearson, who had invited him, said his arrival was

"a celebration of the victory of freedom of speech over those who would prevent it in this country, particularly the Islamists, the violent Jihadists who are on the march across the world and in the UK."

In January 2010, Wilders was invited again to show his anti-Quran movie ''Fitna'' in the British House of Lords by Lord Pearson UK Independence Party (UKIP), and Baroness Cox cross-bencher. Wilders accepted the invitation and was present for a presentation of the movie in the House of Lords on 5 March. In his speech he quoted ominous words from Winston Churchill's book ''The River War'' from 1899:

"Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. No stronger retrograde force exists in the World. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step ... the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome."

At the ensuing press conferences, he called the prophet Muhammad a "barbarian, a mass murderer, and a pedophile" and referring to Islam as a "fascist ideology" which was "violent, dangerous, and retarded". Wilders also reportedly called Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan a "total freak". Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende called these comments "irresponsible", and Maxime Verhagen, Dutch caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs, publicly condemned Wilders's remarks and behaviour:

"He incites discord among people in a distasteful manner. And in the meantime he damages the interests of the Dutch population and the reputation of the Netherlands in the world."

Bernard Wientjes, the president of the Dutch employers' organization Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers (VNO-NCW), also accused Wilders of "seriously" damaging Dutch interests abroad. He called it outrageous that Wilders had presented himself in London as "the next Dutch prime minister" and then derided Turkish Prime Minister Erdoğan. Emphasizing that three quarters of the Dutch GDP comes from revenue earned abroad, according to Wientjes, Wilders poses "a serious threat to the Netherlands and the Dutch economy".

Wilders and Germany

In March 2010, Wilders was told he is "not welcome" in the western German tourist resort of Monschau in the Eifel area, after he spent a weekend there, along with several armed bodyguards. Mayor Margareta Ritter (CDU) said she was concerned that his presence tainted her town with the suspicion that it was sympathetic to his views. As a result, Monschau was said to have been unfairly connected with "extremism" in the European press.

"Anyone who pollutes the integration debate in the Netherlands with poisonous right-wing populism as Wilders has, and advocates prohibition of the Koran by a comparison with Hitler's ''Mein Kampf'', is not welcome in Monschau. I wanted to distinguish Monschau from that."

She was unable to say whether Wilders was merely enjoying a short vacation in her town or had been meeting with like-minded people. A demonstration to support Wilders was announced to take place in Berlin on 17 April.

Other international aspirations

In July 2010, Wilders announced the International Freedom Alliance, a network of groups and individuals who "are fighting for freedom against Islam".

Wilders plans IFA branches in the United States, Canada, Britain, France and Germany by late 2010. "The message, 'stop Islam, defend freedom', is a message that's not only important for the Netherlands but for the whole free Western world", Wilders stated in an address to reporters at the Dutch Parliament.

On 6 August 2010, Wilders, who had become a regular guest with American conservatives and libertarians, announced that he would speak at a rally on 11 September in New York to protest the plans for the Cordoba House, an Islamic community center inclusive Mosque to be built near Ground Zero, organised by Stop Islamization of America, which is supported by a number of conservative US politicians including Newt Gingrich and Sarah Palin. According to SIOA's website world leaders, prominent politicians and 911 family members would be speaking at the rally, but Wilders was not mentioned by name. In political circles in The Netherlands, the announcement caused widespread irritation about his plan. Christian Democrat senator Hans Hillen remarked that Wilders' words could endanger Dutch interests. Former NATO General Secretary Jaap de Hoop Scheffer advised Wilders not to make a speech, arguing that the international public does not know who is in the Dutch cabinet and who is in parliament and thus Wilders' speech could be mistaken as an official statement of the Dutch government. Also Christian Democrat party leader and acting Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Verhagen issued a warning. On 11 September 2010, Wilders was headline speaker at the site of the proposed Cordoba House in New York City.

Also, the Dutch Foreign Ministry allegedly would have issued guidelines to its embassies on how to react to questions about the role being played by the PVV and Wilders in the formation of a new government. On 10 August 2010, the website of Dutch daily newspaper NRC Handelsblad published the ministry memo. The ministry itself however had declined "to confirm or deny" the authenticity of these guidelines. One question posed is how Wilders could be taking part in negotiations on forming a government coalition when he has been indicted for inciting hatred and discrimination, and for insulting a group of persons. Other questions covered possible bans on the building of new mosques, on the Quran and on Islamic schools in the Netherlands. The memo stressed that such bans would breach the Dutch constitution.

Wilders spoke on Thursday 12 May 2011, at Cornerstone Church in Madison, Tennessee, at the Tennessee Freedom Coalition inaugural Signature Series event.

Trial

Several groups and persons in the Netherlands have called for legal action against Wilders, while others have defended his right to free speech. On 15 August 2007, a representative of the Prosecutors' Office in Amsterdam declared that dozens of reports against Wilders had been filed, and that they were all being considered. Attempts to prosecute Wilders under Dutch anti-hate speech laws in June 2008 failed, with the public prosecutor's office stating that Wilders' comments contributed to the debate on Islam in Dutch society and also had been made outside parliament, The office released a statement reading: "That comments are hurtful and offensive for a large number of Muslims does not mean that they are punishable. Freedom of expression fulfils an essential role in public debate in a democratic society. That means that offensive comments can be made in a political debate".

On 21 January 2009, a three-judge court ordered prosecutors to try him.

The Middle East Forum has established a Legal Defence Fund for Wilders's defence. ''The New York Times'' ran an op-ed criticizing his views and arguing that "for a man who calls for a ban on the Koran to act as the champion of free speech is a bit rich", concluding, however that the lawsuit against Wilders might not be "a good thing for democracy", because it made him "look more important than he should be."

A survey by Angus Reid Global Monitor has found that public opinion is deeply split on the prosecution, with 50% supporting Wilders and 43% opposed. However, public support for the Party for Freedom has greatly increased since Wilders' legal troubles began, with the Party for Freedom virtually tied with the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy to be the third most popular party. According to Radio Netherlands, "Dutch politicians themselves seem to be keeping quiet on the issue; they are probably worried that media attention will only serve to make the controversial politician more popular".

In late October 2010, the Dutch court approved a request from Geert Wilders to have new judges appointed forcing the court to retry the case. On 7 February 2011, Wilders returned to the court room in order that his legal team can present evidence from Islamic experts which the court rejected in 2010, including Mohammed Bouyeri, who murdered film-maker Theo van Gogh, and Dutch academic Hans Jansen.

On 23 June 2011, Wilders was acquitted of all charges. A Dutch court noted that his speech was legitimate political debate, but on the edge. Because both the public prosecutor and the defense requested complete acquittal, the verdict will most likely not be appealed.

See also

List of Dutch politicians

Criticism of Islam

Criticism of multiculturalism

Multiculturalism in the Netherlands

Philo-Semitism

Notes

References

Parlement.com biography

External links

Weblog Geertwilders Party for Freedom House of Representatives biography

Biography and writings of Geert Wilders at the Hudson Institute

Collected news and coverage at ''The New York Times''

Writings about Geert Wilders at The Legal Project

'Who is Geert Wilders?' Discussion on Press TV, 18 February 2010

'Backgrounder: Geert Wilders' at Anti-Defamation League, 13 September 2010

Banning Wilders Theodore Dalrymple article in ''FrontPage Magazine'' on Wilders's being barred entry to the UK in 2009

An Article about Geert Wilders and the possible Islamophobia

Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:Criticism of Islam Category:Critics of the European Union Category:Current leaders of political parties in the Netherlands Category:Dutch activists Category:Dutch agnostics Category:Dutch people of Indonesian descent Category:Dutch politicians Category:Free speech activists Category:Former Roman Catholics Category:Islam in the Netherlands Category:Islam-related controversies Category:Members of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands Category:Opposition to Islam in Europe Category:Party for Freedom Category:Party for Freedom politicians Category:Party leaders of the Party for Freedom Category:People from Venlo Category:People's Party for Freedom and Democracy politicians

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name	Terry Jones
birth date	February 01, 1942
birth place	Colwyn Bay, North Wales, United Kingdom
spouse	Alison Telfer
known for	Monty Python and history documentaries.
occupation	Actor,comedian, film director, presenter, poet, writer, historian,
website	terry-jones.net
children	}}

Terence Graham Parry Jones (born 1 February 1942) is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team.

Early life

Jones was born in Colwyn Bay, Wales. The family home was named "Bodchwil". Jones' father was stationed with the RAF in India and Jones met him for the first time, on Colwyn Bay railway station, when he returned. When Jones was four and a half the family moved to Surrey.

Jones was educated at the Royal Grammar School in Guildford (now an independent school), where he was head boy in the academic year 1960–1; he read English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, but "strayed into History". He graduated with a 2:1. While there, he performed comedy with Michael Palin, among others, in The Oxford Revue.

Career history

Before Python

The first recorded instance of Terry Jones and Michael Palin working together professionally occurred when Jones was on a writing course. Sarah Miles pulled out, so Terry employed Michael. He also wrote for Roy Hudd about this time. Jones appeared in ''Twice a Fortnight'' with Palin, Graeme Garden, Bill Oddie and Jonathan Lynn, as well as a television series ''The Complete and Utter History of Britain'' (1969). He also appeared in ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' (1967–69) with Palin, Eric Idle and David Jason (Jones speaks about this series during an interview which appears on both the DVDs for ''Do Not Adjust Your Set'' and the ''At Last the 1948 Show''). He wrote for ''The Frost Report'' and several other of David Frost's programmes on British television. Along with Palin, he also wrote lyrics for Barry Booth's 1968 album Diversions.

One of Jones's early concerns was devising a fresh format for the Python TV shows, and it was largely Jones who developed the stream-of-consciousness style which abandoned punchlines and encouraged the fluid movement of one sketch into another – allowing the team's conceptual humour the space to “breathe”. Jones also objected to TV directors’ use of sped-up film, over-emphatic music and static camera style, and he took a keen interest in the direction of the shows. He later directed the Python films ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (with Terry Gilliam), ''The Life of Brian'', and ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life''. As director he gained fuller control of the projects, devising a visual style that allowed the performers 'space'; for instance, the use of wide shots for long exchanges of dialogue, and more economical use of music. As demonstrated in many of his sketches with Palin, Jones was also interested in making comedy that was visually impressive, feeling that interesting settings augmented, rather than detracted from, the humour. His methods encouraged many future television comedians to break away from conventional studio-bound shooting styles, as demonstrated into the 21st century by shows such as ''Green Wing'', ''Little Britain'' and ''The League of Gentlemen''.

Of Jones's contributions as a performer, his parodic, screechy-voiced depictions of "pepperpots" (middle-aged women, such as the waitress in the "Spam" sketch) are among the most memorable. His humour, in collaboration with Palin, tends to be conceptual in nature; a typical Palin/Jones sketch draws its humour from the absurdity of the scenario. For example, in the “Summarise Proust Competition”, Jones plays a cheesy game show host who gives contestants 15 seconds to condense Marcel Proust's lengthy work ''À la recherche du temps perdu''; in the "Mouse Organ" sketch, he uses mallets to bash mice that have been trained to squeak at a select pitch, to play the tune "Bells of St. Mary". In both cases, the laughs originate in the madness of the idea itself. Jones was also notable for his gifts as a Chaplinesque physical comedian: For instance, his performance in the "Undressing in Public" sketch is totally silent, except for an organ rendition of the Colonel Bogey March, which segues into an unplanned striptease. He was often cast as the straight man, or as a nerdy or put-upon character, often with ambitions or dreams beyond his abilities, in contrast to the authority figures often played by John Cleese or Graham Chapman.

Directorial work

Jones co-directed ''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' with Terry Gilliam, and was sole director on two further Monty Python movies, ''Life of Brian'' and ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life''. (The latter featured one of his most famous characters, the grotesquely obese Mr. Creosote.) As a film director, Jones finally gained fuller control of the projects and devised a visual style that complemented the humour. His later films include ''Erik the Viking'' (1989) and ''The Wind in the Willows'' (1996). In 2008, Jones wrote and directed an opera titled ''Evil Machines''. In 2011, he was commissioned to direct and write the libretto for another opera, entitled ''The Doctor's Tale''.

On the commentary track of the 2004 "2 Disc Special Edition" DVD for the film ''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'', Terry Jones stated that to his knowledge Ireland had banned only four movies, three of which he had directed: ''The Meaning of Life'', ''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' and ''Personal Services''.

Animation

He was the creator and co-producer of the animated television program ''Blazing Dragons'', which ran for two seasons. Set in a fantasy medieval setting, the series' protagonists are dragons who are beset by evil humans, reversing a common story convention. When the series was broadcast on US television, several episodes were censored due to minor cursing and the implied sexuality of an overtly effeminate character named "Sir Blaze". It was turned into a game for the Sega Saturn in 1994, which starred Jones's voice.

As an author

He co-wrote ''Ripping Yarns'' with Palin, and wrote the screenplay for ''Labyrinth'' (1986), although his draft went through several rewrites and several other writers before being filmed; much of the finished film wasn't written by Jones at all. He has also written numerous works for children, including ''Fantastic Stories'', ''The Beast with a Thousand Teeth'', and a collection of Comic Verse called ''The Curse of the Vampire's Socks''.

He has written books and presented television documentaries on medieval and ancient history and the history of numeral systems. His series often challenge popular views of history: for example, ''Terry Jones' Medieval Lives'' (2004) (for which he received a 2004 Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Writing for Nonfiction Programming") argues that the Middle Ages was a more sophisticated period than is popularly thought, and ''Terry Jones' Barbarians'' (2006) presents the cultural achievements of peoples conquered by the Roman Empire in a more positive light than Roman historians typically have, while criticizing the Romans as the true "barbarians" who exploited and destroyed higher civilizations.

He has written numerous editorials for ''The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph'' and ''The Observer'' condemning the Iraq war. Many of these editorials were published in a paperback collection titled ''Terry Jones's War on the War on Terror''.

''Chaucer's Knight: The Portrait of a Medieval Mercenary'' (1980) offers an alternative take on the historical view of Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Knight's Tale'' as being a paragon of Christian virtue. Jones asserts that, after closer examination of historical rather than literary context, the Knight is actually a typical mercenary and a potentially cold-blooded killer.

He is also a member of the UK Poetry Society and his poems have appeared in ''Poetry Review''.

Working with musicians

Jones has performed with The Carnival Band and appears on their 2007 CD ''Ringing the changes'' (Park Records PRKCD98).

In January 2008, the Teatro São Luiz, in Lisbon, Portugal, premiered ''Evil Machines'' – a musical play, written by Jones (based on his book) and with original music by Portuguese composer Luis Tinoco. Jones was invited by the Teatro São Luiz to write and direct the play, after a very successful run of ''Contos Fantásticos'', a short play based on Jones' ''Fantastic Stories'', also with music by Luis Tinoco.

As performer

Apart from a cameo in Terry Gilliam's ''Jabberwocky'' and a memorable minor role as a drunken vicar in BBC sitcom ''The Young Ones'', Jones has rarely appeared in work outside of his own projects. Since January 2009, however, he has provided narration for ''The Legend of Dick and Dom'', a CBBC fantasy series set in the Middle Ages.

Personal life

Jones married Alison Telfer in 1970, and they have two children together, Sally (born in 1974) who worked alongside receptionist Lee Jackson at the Royal Academy of Art, and Bill (born in 1976). The marriage broke down after he admitted to falling in love with 26-year-old student Anna Söderström.

On 21 October 2006, it was reported in ''The Daily Mirror'' that Jones had been diagnosed with bowel cancer. Another article dated three days later, also by ''The Mirror'', indicated that the exploratory surgery performed on Jones had good results. It was reported in the British media on 27 April 2009 that Jones was due to become a father for the third time in the autumn of 2009, by way of Söderström. But he remained married to Telfer. Jones's daughter Siri was born in early September 2009.

Selected bibliography

Fiction

''Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic'' (1997), ISBN 0-330-35446-9 – a novel based on the computer game of the same name by Douglas Adams. (Jones claims to have written the entire book while in the nude.)

;Illustrated by Michael Foreman

''Fairy Tales'' (1981), ISBN 0-907516-03-3

''The Saga of Erik the Viking'' (1983), ISBN 0-907516-23-8 – Children's Book Award 1984

''Nicobobinus'' (1985), ISBN 1-85145-000-9

''The Curse of the Vampire's Socks and Other Doggerel'' (1988), ISBN 1-85145-233-8 – poetry

''Fantastic Stories'' (1992), ISBN 1-85145-957-X

''The Beast with a Thousand Teeth'' (1993), ISBN 1-85793-070-3

''A Fish of the World'' (1993), ISBN 1-85793-075-4

''The Sea Tiger'' (1994), ISBN 1-85793-085-1

''The Fly-by-Night'' (1994), ISBN 1-85793-090-8

''The Knight and the Squire'' (1997), ISBN 1-86205-044-9

''The Lady and the Squire'' (2000), ISBN 1-86205-417-7 – nominated for a Whitbread Award

''Bedtime Stories'' (2002), ISBN 1-86205-276-X – with Nanette Newman

;Illustrated by Brian Froud

''Goblins of the Labyrinth'' (1986), ISBN 1-85145-058-0

*''The Goblin Companion: A Field Guide to Goblins'' (1996), ISBN 1-85793-795-3 – an abridged re-release, in a smaller format, with the colour plates missing

''Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Book'' (1994), ISBN 1-85793-336-2

''Strange Stains and Mysterious Smells: Quentin Cottington's Journal of Faery Research'' (1996), ISBN 0-684-83206-2

''Lady Cottington's Pressed Fairy Journal'' (1998), ISBN 1-86205-024-4

''Lady Cottington's Fairy Album'' (2002), ISBN 1-86205-559-9

;Illustrated by Martin Honeysett & Lolly Honeysett

''Bert Fegg's Nasty Book for Boys and Girls'' with Michael Palin (1974) ISBN 0-413-32740-X

Non-fiction

''Chaucer's Knight: The Portrait of a Medieval Mercenary'' (1980), ISBN 0-297-77566-9; rev. ed. (1994), ISBN 0-413-69140-3

''Who Murdered Chaucer?: A Medieval Mystery'' (2003), ISBN 0-413-75910-5 – with Robert Yeager, Terry Dolan, Alan Fletcher and Juliette Dor

''Terry Jones's War on the War on Terror'' (2005), ISBN 1-56025-653-2

;With Alan Ereira

''Crusades'' (1994), ISBN 0-563-37007-6

''Terry Jones' Medieval Lives'' (2004), ISBN 0-563-48793-3

''Terry Jones' Barbarians'' (2006), ISBN 0-563-49318-6

Screenplays

''And Now for Something Completely Different'' (1972) with Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle & Michael Palin

''Secrets'' (1973) – for TV, with Michael Palin

''Monty Python and the Holy Grail'' (1975) with Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle & Michael Palin

''Monty Python's Life of Brian'' (1979) with Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle & Michael Palin

''Monty Python's The Meaning of Life'' (1983) with Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle & Michael Palin

''Labyrinth'' (1986)

''Erik the Viking'' (1989) – includes a notice in the credits specifically disclaiming any link with Jones's earlier novel ("although he hopes it will help the sales")

''The Wind in the Willows'' (1996)

Documentary series

''Crusades'' (1995)

''Ancient Inventions'' – directed by Phil Grabsky & Daniel Percival (1998)

''The Surprising History of Egypt'' (USA, 2002) a.k.a. ''The Hidden History of Egypt'' (UK, 2003) – directed by Phil Grabsky

''The Surprising History of Rome'' (USA, 2002) a.k.a. ''The Hidden History of Rome'' (UK, 2003) – directed by Phil Grabsky

''The Surprising History of Sex and Love'' (2002) – directed by Alan Ereira & Phil Grabsky

''Terry Jones' Medieval Lives'' (2004)

''The Story of 1'' (2005)

''Terry Jones' Barbarians'' (2006)

''Terry Jones' Great Map Mystery'' (2008)

Political articles

Jones has published a number of articles on political and social commentary, principally in newspapers ''The Daily Telegraph'', ''The Guardian'', ''The Independent'', and ''The Observer''. Many of these articles criticized the war on terror, belittling it as "declaring war on an abstract noun" and comparing it to attempting to "annihilate mockery".

Collaborations

!	Monty Python and the Holy Grail>Monty Python andthe Holy Grail''	Monty Python's Life of Brian>Monty Python'sLife of Brian''	Monty Python's The Meaning of Life>Monty Python's TheMeaning of Life''	Erik the Viking>Erik theViking''	The Wind in the Willows (1996 film)>The Wind inthe Willows''
Graham Chapman
John Cleese
Carol Cleveland
Terry Gilliam
Eric Idle
Neil Innes
Terry Jones
Charles McKeown
Michael Palin

Miscellany

An asteroid, 9622 Terryjones, is named in his honour. When asked during a webchat if this were the greatest honour he has received, Jones replied, "I didn't realise it was an honour to have a barren lump of rock named after one."

References

;Notes

;Further reading

External links

Terry Jones.net – Semi-official fan site

Totally Terry

Terry Jones on twitter

10 July 2006 webchat transcript at Douglas Adams Continuum

Terry Jones at the BBC Guide to Comedy

Terry Jones at the Comedy Zone

MP3 audio interview with Jones from The Sound of Young America public radio program and podcast

Interview with Terry Jones by Jeff Fleischer in ''Mother Jones.'' He talks about his politics columns.

Text interview with Jones from Wisconsin Public Television. Jones talks about Monty Python's legacy and his more current work.

Category:1942 births Category:British comedy writers Category:British television writers Category:Alumni of St Edmund Hall, Oxford Category:Living people Category:Monty Python members Category:Old Guildfordians Category:People from Colwyn Bay Category:Welsh actors Category:Welsh comedians Category:Welsh film actors Category:Welsh film directors Category:Welsh screenwriters Category:Welsh television actors

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