JERUSALEM—British scholars examining the oldest fragments of the Koran ever found believe it might be so old as to pre-date the prophet Mohammed, in defiance of Islamic belief.

According to tradition, the Koran contains the words of God as revealed to Mohammed while he was meditating in a mountain cave. The revelations are said to have continued over a 23-year period. Last month, portions of Koranic text written on parchment were identified in England among a collection of documents in the library of the University of Birmingham.

Scholars suggested immediately that they might be the oldest fragments of the Koran ever found. They were sent to experts at the University of Oxford for carbon dating, a method of radioactively dating ancient finds containing organic material, such as parchment made from animal skin.

The examiners estimated that the text was written between A.D. 568 and 645. By tradition, Mohammed lived A.D. 570 and 632. Although there is an overlap between parts of these two periods, the Koran was initially not a written document but memorized by believers and recited orally. It was not until A.D. 650 that a written form was completed, according to scholars.

“It destabilizes, to put it mildly, the idea that we can know anything with certainty about how the Koran emerged,” said Tom Holland, a British historian, in an interview with the Times. “And that, in turn, has implications for the historicity of Mohammed and his followers.”

A Koranic manuscript consultant at Oxford’s Bodleian Library, Dr. Keith Small, told the Times that if the dating is confirmed, as he believed would happen, it could raise serious problems for Islam.

“This would radically alter the edifice of Islamic tradition,” he said. “The history of the rise of Islam in late Near Eastern antiquity would have to be completely revised.”

Read the article “Oldest Fragments of Koran May Pre-Date Mohammed” on freebeacon.com.