“By declaring our Prophet infallible and not permitting ourselves to question him, we Muslims had set up a static tyranny. The Prophet Muhammad attempted to legislate every aspect of life. By adhering to his rules of what is permitted and what is forbidden, we Muslims supressed the freedom to think for ourselves and to act as we chose. We froze the moral outlook of billions of people into the mind-set of the Arab desert in the seventh century. We were not just servants of Allah, we were slaves.”
― Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Infidel

Scholars are "rapidly" closing in on proof that the three major Abraham Religions are frauds founded on the false notions of prophecy and miracles. How so?

Islam is based on alleged revelations made to the last prophet Muhammad by the Angel Gabriel. Yet many scholars now believe that the Biblical story that generated the Angel Gabriel was created by the Maccabees in 160BC.

From : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Daniel

"Though traditionally the book was believed to have been written by the Daniel figure of the court tales, today the scholarly consensus views the Book of Daniel as a product of Maccabean times. Though many evangelical commentators still defend a sixth century date, for mainstream scholarship the issue was settled over a century ago [3] The common view is that the court tales represent a stratum of older, traditional stories, while the visions and final redaction of the work date to the second century BCE. The visions describe the national crisis that occurred under Antiochus IV Epiphanes, a Seleucid king who persecuted and slaughtered thousands of observant Jews, polluted the Jerusalem temple, and tried to replace traditional customs with Hellenistic religious practices."

Why was the Book of Daniel made up and if it was who was Muhammad chatting with in his visions.

To understand that fully, we have to go back to 540BC. The time that the Book of Daniel was allegedly conceived.

In 540BC, Cyrus the Great, captured Babylon. We know that, because its recorded on a real ancient relic known as the Cyrus Cylinder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_Cylinder

The Cyrus Cylinder (Discovered in 1879) also tells us that ancient rulers liked to use the locals religions as a tool for propaganda.

"The text is written in an extremely formulaic style that can be divided into six distinct parts:
Fifteen horizontal lines of text written in Akkadian cuneiform script.

Extract from the Cyrus Cylinder (lines 15–21), giving the genealogy of Cyrus and an account of his capture of Babylon in 539 BC.
Lines 1–19: an introduction reviling Nabonidus, the previous king of Babylon, and associating Cyrus with the god Marduk;
Lines 20–22: detailing Cyrus's royal titles and genealogy, and his peaceful entry to Babylon;
Lines 22–34: a commendation of Cyrus's policy of restoring Babylon;
Lines 34–35: a prayer to Marduk on behalf of Cyrus and his son Cambyses;
Lines 36–37: a declaration that Cyrus has enabled the people to live in peace and has increased the offerings made to the gods;
Lines 38–45: details of the building activities ordered by Cyrus in Babylon.[31] "

Now let's move forward to 538BC and the time that many scholars believe parts(I'd suggest all) of another infamous Biblical Book , The Book of Isaiah was written.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Isaiah

"Isaiah identifies itself as the words of the 8th century prophet Isaiah ben Amoz, but there is ample evidence that much of it was composed during the Babylonian exile and later.[3] The scholarly consensus which held sway through most of the 20th century saw three separate collections of oracles:[4] Proto-Isaiah (chapters 1–39), containing the words of Isaiah; Deutero-Isaiah (chapters 40–55), the work of an anonymous 6th-century author writing during the Exile; and Trito-Isaiah (chapters 56–66), composed after the return from exile.[5] While one part of the consensus still holds - virtually no one maintains that the entire book, or even most of it, was written by one person - this perception of Isaiah as made up of three rather distinct sections underwent a radical challenge in the last quarter of the 20th century.[4] A great deal of current research concentrates on the book's essential unity, with Isaiah 1-33 projecting judgement and restoration for Judah, Jerusalem and the nations, and chapters 34-66 presupposing that judgement has already taken place and restoration is at hand.[6] It can thus be read as an extended meditation on the destiny of Jerusalem into and after the Exile.[7]"

When you examine these three parts of Isaiah, you can start to see patterns of similar propaganda at work. Part 1 was designed to raise an unwarranted guilt amongst the Jewish captives, introduce the false notion of prophecy and provide an authentic historical context. Part 2 was designed to establish Yahweh as the supreme Go(o)d and then present Cyrus as the Saviour of the captives and Israel. Part 3 was about Yahweh's "new" rules. According to Cyrus, perhaps.

So, we have two events where religion was used to place an Empire builder in a Go(o)d light. In the second example though a forged prophecy was created. It's this style of corruption that sets the tone for an explanation for the Book of Daniel's mischief. It's also these corruptions by Cyrus that lead to the birth of Pharisaic Judaism and its mystical and oral traditions. But that's another story.

Alexander the Great had brought the inspirational works of Greek philosophy to the region when he conquered 10 kingdoms (or horns if you prefer a Biblical metaphor). Move forward to 167BC and meet Antiochus IV a King of three of those 10 horns (Or the little horn that became great etc...).

Followers of the overly zealous Cyrus inspired Pharisaic Judaism were being naturally attracted to the gentler and more inspiring Greek traditions. This was to lead to a seven year (or 2300 Days if you prefer a biblical count) civil war known as the Maccabean Revolt. Half way through either 1290 or 1335 Days and the "ungodly" king, Antiochus IV Epiphane, and a supporter of the Hellenized Jews, dies. By wars end in 160BC, unfortunately for world peace and freedoms, the Maccabees win the battle.

True to form, the Pharisees write the Book of Daniel. Propaganda to excuse their cruelty, blame an "ungodly king" and the Hellenized Jews. The fake guilt trip and equally fraudulent prophecy, as Cyrus did in 538BC, are used to regain control and servitude of another captive Jewish audience.

Ego-maniacal people behaving selfishly and feeding an evil wolf, once again. All in the name of power and servitude. Not Go(o)d. Simple really.

“An old Cherokee told his grandson “There is a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is evil. It is anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies and ego. The other is go(o)d. It is joy, love, peace, hope, humility, kindness, empathy and truth.”
The boy thought about it, and asked “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”The old man quietly replied. “The one you feed.”

So the Maccabee/Pharisees used the Cyrus example to fake a prophecy to win the favour of the people and excuse bad behaviours. And because the ancients believed this story or perhaps Muhammad was aware of the con, he creates his own story and religion by using the made up Angel Gabriel, proving his was just another prophecy propaganda. By making his the last suggests he may well have known about the earlier corruptions. Claiming last place meant his followers could not be easily coerced away from the faith. A strategic master stroke, perhaps, if our scholars had not began to see through the entire scam.

But this unfortunately is not the end of the corruption story. The patterns continue and three more occur up to 325AD. And they show that all three Abraham religions, in their current forms, are founded on the false notion that prophecy and miracles are in some way real.

However, there is a twist or two. The "real" Jesus story is more about Plato's philosophies, Zen and personal awareness than Religions designed to serve power. And there is also Nostradamus to deal with to provide a more complete picture.

If we must believe in anything, Believe the history. At least once you can recognize the repeating patterns.

In a way this debate is just like the Climate Debate, everyone seems happy running with opinions and beliefs and ignoring the real evidence. We are a strange lot indeed. We are our own worst enemy it would seem :-)