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THE QURAN IS THE WORD OF GOD AND
AN UNDENIABLE PROOF
FOR MUHAMMAD’S PROPHETHOOD
The Quran is completely different from all the
other books in the world
When we
study the Quran even superficially from the viewpoint of its
wording, styles, and meaning, we will certainly conclude that
it is completely different from all the other books in the
world. So, in rank and worth it is either below all of
them-even Satan cannot claim this, nor does he conceive of
it-or above them. Since it is above all of them, it must be
the Word of God.
The Quran, which he brought, has challenged all
mankind with all their literary geniuses and scientists, from
the first day of its revelation to the Last Day, to produce a
like of it or even a single chapter of it
The Quran
openly declares:
You (O
Muhammad) was not a reader of any Scripture before it, nor
did you write (such a Scripture) with your right hand, for
then those who follow falsehood might (have a right) to
doubt it. (al-Ankabut,
29.48)
It is an
established, undeniable fact that the Prophet Muhammad, upon
him be peace and blessings, was unlettered. Whereas the Quran,
which he brought, has challenged all mankind with all their
literary geniuses and scientists, from the first day of its
revelation to the Last Day, to produce a like of it or even a
single chapter of it:
If you
are in doubt concerning that which We have sent down onto
Our servant (Muhammad), then produce a chapter of the like
thereof, and call your witnesses, supporters, who are
apart from God, if you are truthful. (al-Baqara,
2.23)
Mankind have
since been unable to produce a like of only one of its
chapters, including, of course, its shortest ones like sura
al-Ikhlas or sura al-Kawthar; those who have ventured to do
that have all laid themselves open to ridicule. This is a
clear proof for the Divine authorship of the Quran.
The Quran was revealed in 23 years, yet there are
not any contradictory points in it
The
revelation of the Quran lasted 23 years. It is inconceivable
that any book written by a mortal being in 23 years, one which
is a book of Divine truths, metaphysics, religious beliefs and
worship, prayer, law and morality, a book fully describing the
other life, a book of psychology, sociology, epistemology, and
history, and a book containing scientific facts and the
principles of a happy life, does not have any contradictory
points. Whereas, the Quran openly declares that it has no
contradictions at all and therefore is a Divine
Book:
Will
they not then ponder on the Quran? If it had been from
other than God they would have found therein much
contradiction and incongruity. (al-Nisa’,
4.82)
The Qur’an is beyond compare from the viewpoint of
its styles and eloquence
The Quran is
beyond compare from the viewpoint of its styles and eloquence.
All the sentences, words and even letters used in the Quran
form such a miraculous harmony that, with respect to rhythm,
music, and even geometric proportions and mathematical
measures, and with respect to how many times each is used in
the whole of the Quran, each is in the exact place it must be
and interwoven and interrelated with others. The literary
masterpiece of no one, including the sayings of the Prophet
himself, upon him be peace and blessings, cannot compete with
the Quran.
Prophet Muhammad was unlettered and no one had
heard him say even a couple of poetry. However, the Quran also
challenged the known experts in poetry and oratory and forced
them to surrender
In the
period when the Quran was revealed, in addition to eloquence,
poetry and oratory enjoyed great prestige in the Arabian
peninsula. They used to hold poetry competitions and the poems
of the winners write in gold and hang on the wall of the
Ka‘ba. The Prophet Muhammad was, as everybody knows,
unlettered and no one had heard him say even a couple of
poetry. However, the Quran also challenged the known experts
in these fields and forced them to surrender. When those who
persisted in unbelief heard the Quran, they were captivated by
it. Nevertheless, in order to prevent the spread of Islam,
they labeled it as something magical and advised people not to
listen to it. But when those, like Hansa and Lebid, who
believed in the Quran, gave up inventing poetry after the
Quran’s revelation in respect for and awe of its styles and
eloquence, the unbelievers had to confess: ‘If we call it a
piece of poetry, it is not. If we designate it a piece of
rhymed prose, it is not. If we describe it as the word of a
soothsayer, it is not.’ At times, they could not help
listening to the Prophet’s recitation secretly at night but
they could not overcome their arrogance and so believe in its
Divine origin.
Arabic became so rich through the Quran and
attained such a high level that it developed as the language
of the most magnificent civilization of world history with all
its scientific, religious, metaphysical, literary, economic,
juridical, social and political aspects
Despite the
high level poetry reached at that time, the vocabulary of
Arabic was not as advanced as the same degree. It was
difficult, even impossible, to express in it metaphysical
ideas or scientific, religious and philosophical concepts.
Restricted to the words and expressions to explain the
thoughts and feelings of desert men and the simple life they
led, this language became so rich through the Qur’an and
attained such a high level that it developed as the language
of the most magnificent civilization of world history with all
its scientific, religious, metaphysical, literary, economic,
juridical, social and political aspects. It is impossible for
an unlettered one to prepare the ground for and give way to
such a philological revolution unparalleled in human
history.
Despite its apparent simplicity, the Quran has such
depths of meaning that everyone from the commonest of people
to the most high-ranking scholar, scientist and literary man,
finds his share in it
Despite its
apparent simplicity, the Quran has such depths of meaning that
everyone from the commonest of people to the most high-ranking
scholar, scientist and literary man, finds his share in it.
The Quran is such a book that it illuminates the ways of both
poets, musicians and orators, sociologists, psychologists,
scientists, economists and jurists. Also, the founders of all
the true spiritual orders and the schools of law and conduct
found in it the principles of their orders and schools. The
Quran has shown everybody the ways to solve their problems. It
also satisfies everyone in his spiritual quests. Is there
another book of the same character, quality and level next to
the Quran?
No one has ever been heard to be bored with the
recitation of the Quran
However
beautiful and interesting, we can read a book at most two or
three times and then are bored with it. However, no one has
ever been heard to be bored with the recitation of the Quran.
Hundreds of millions of Muslims recite portions from it in
their five daily prayers and most of them recite it from
beginning to end at least once a year. There have been
hundreds of thousands of people reciting it from the beginning
to the end once or twice or even three times a month. The more
frequently one recites it, the more one benefits from it and
the more desire one feels to recite it. One never gets tired
of it, its wording, meaning and content, nor does the Quran
lose anything of its originality and freshness. As time
passes, it breathes into minds and souls new truths and
meanings, thus increasing them in activity and
liveliness.
The Quran describes man with all his physical and
spiritual aspects and contains principles to solve all the
problems that may appear at any time and in any place
concerning all the social, economic, juridical, political and
administrative fields of life. Furthermore, it satisfies both
the mind and spirit at the same time and guarantees happiness
in both worlds.
However
great a genius one may be, it is impossible for one to
establish rules to solve all kinds of problems that mankind
may encounter until the Last Day. Even the best of systems
that do not originate in the Quran or the Divine Revelation
cannot last without undergoing revisions at least every 50
years. More important than this, none of those systems can
promise man eternal happiness; the principles of all of them
are restricted to the worldly life, which is transient and
infinitely short when compared to the afterlife. By contrast,
none of the principles which the Quran laid down centuries ago
has become outmoded and worn-out with the passage of time, nor
do they have any defects or shortcomings. For example, the
Quran enjoins that wealth should not become a means of
prosperity circulated only among the rich (al-Hashr, 59.7);
that government offices should be entrusted to competent
persons qualified for them and absolute justice should be the
rule in public administration and judging between people
(al-Nisa’, 4.58), and it lays down that a man has only that
for which he makes effort (al-Najm, 53.39) and that whoever
kills a human being unjustly is as if he had killed all
mankind (al-Ma’ida, 5.32). All such eternal, golden principles
and many others like the prohibition of usury, gambling,
alcohol and all kinds of illicit intercourse, and the
injunctions with respect to praying, fasting, alms-giving and
good conduct-principles strengthened through love and fear of
God and through the promise of an eternal, happy life and fear
of the eternal punishment of Hell-constitute another
undeniable proof for the Divine authorship of the
Quran.
The Quran unveils the mystery of man, creation and
the universe
Also, the
Qur’an unveils the mystery of man, creation and the universe.
These three creatures of God, that is, man, the Qur’an and the
universe, are the three ‘books’ which make the Creator known
to us. They are the three versions or expressions of the same
truth. Therefore, the One Who has created man and the universe
is He Who has revealed the Qur’an.
The Qur’an is the embodiment of Muhammad in words
or Muhammad is the embodiment of the Qur’an in belief and
conduct
You cannot
find one who does exactly what he tells others to do or one
whose work exactly reflects himself. However, the Qur’an is
exactly identical with the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace
and blessings, who received it from God and designed his life
according to it. It may be said that the Qur’an is the
embodiment of Muhammad in words or Muhammad is the embodiment
of the Qur’an in belief and conduct. They are the two
expressions of the same truth. When asked about the conduct of
Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, ‘A’isha Siddiqa
answered: ‘Don’t you read the Qur’an? The conduct of Muhammad,
upon him be peace and blessings, consisted in the Qur’an.’
This clearly shows that both the Qur’an and Muhammad, upon him
be peace and blessings, are the works of God
Almighty.
Even though revealed in parts on certain occasions,
the Qur’an is equally universal and objective where it deals
with particular issues as it is exact and precise where it
deals with universal matters
A writer
usually writes under the influence of the conditions
surrounding him. It is almost impossible to find a writer,
whether he be a realist or idealist or even a science-fiction
writer, who can write completely detached from the conditions
surrounding him. By contrast, even though revealed in parts on
certain occasions, the Qur’an is equally universal and
objective where it deals with particular issues as it is exact
and precise where it deals with universal matters. It uses
precise expressions even while describing the beginning of
creation and end of time and the creation of man and his
future life in the other world. Also, just as it sometimes
draws universal conclusions from particular events, so too it
sometimes goes from universal principles to particular events.
This is typical of the Qur’anic style, which is impossible to
find in any human work and is, therefore, another sign of its
Divine origin.
The Qur’an contains at least the principles of all
the branches of knowledge either in summary or detail and not
even a single piece of the knowledge it contains has ever been
contradicted.
There has
been no one in human history who has written books accurate to
the same degree on both religion and law and sociology and
psychology and eschatology and morality and history and
literature and so on. However, the Qur’an contains at least
the principles of all the branches of knowledge either in
summary or detail and not even a single piece of the knowledge
it contains has ever been contradicted. Must this not be
enough for one unprejudiced to acknowledge its Divine
origin?
“As time passes, the Qur’an grows ever
younger.”
Which writer
can claim that whatever he writes is absolutely correct and
cannot be contradicted until the Last Day? At a time when the
conclusions of science soon become ‘outmoded’ and worn-out and
even the previous Divine Scriptures such as the Torah and
Gospels undergo continuous alterations-even a superficial
study of the issues of the Bible published in different times
and in different languages will be enough to see the great
alterations it has undergone-the truths of the Qur’an retain
their freshness or, in the words of Said Nursi, ‘as time
passes, the Qur’an grows ever younger.’ Despite all the
efforts to find mistakes and contradictions in it exerted
since the beginning of its revelation, it has remained
unchanged and displayed its uniqueness, conquering every day
new hearts and its hidden unlimited treasures being discovered
one by one or growing to full bloom like a heavenly rose with
countless petals.
The Qur’an addresses and legislates for all in all
times
However
knowledgeable you are and if you are famous for your
truthfulness, can you speak on behalf of the president, the
prime minister and all of the ministers, and also on behalf of
the associations of literary men, lawyers and craftsmen, and
the board of university lecturers and scientists? If you can,
can you claim that you represented them all as perfectly as
each would want you to? If you can, can you legislate for all
the affairs of the country? This is just what the Prophet
achieved through the Qur’an. Now, how can you claim that an
unlettered one, who had had nothing to do with any such
affairs until his fortieth year, achieved this without Divine
inspiration and support?
If Prophet Muhammad had written the Qur’an by
himself, he should never have mentioned some incidents
concerning him.
However
slight, there are some admonitions for the Prophet in the
Qur’an.
No one,
especially if that one claims Prophethood, mentions a
grave slander against his wife in the book he writes by
himself. Whereas, the Qur’an gives an important place to
the slander hypocrites uttered against ‘A’isha, the
Prophet’s wife.
In order
to show practically that Islam does not allow any racial
discrimination and that superiority is only by piety and
righteousness, not by birth, color, race, wealth or
position, the Prophet married Zaynab, a noble woman from
the Hashimites, to Zayd, an emancipated black slave.
However, verses revealed later ordered that, in order to
put an end to an established false tradition-namely,
neither adoption nor any other way of declaring someone a
son can create a legal relationship comparable to the
relationship of children and natural parents, and there is
no difficulty and sin for believers in marriage with the
divorced wives of those whom they once adopted as sons-the
Prophet should marry Zaynab. This marriage was very
difficult for God’s Messenger to enter into, but since it
was ordered by God, he had no way out other than
fulfilling it. As ‘A’isha would later say, if the Prophet,
upon him be peace and blessings, would have concealed
something of the Qur’an, he would have concealed this
order and would not have married Zaynab. Also, if he had
written the Qur’an by himself, he would never have
mentioned this incident.
Abu
Talib, the Prophet’s uncle to whose safeguarding ‘Abd
al-Muttalib entrusted him, undertook the Prophet’s
maintenance when he was yet eight years old and, after his
declaration of Prophethood, protected him against the
Quraysh for ten years. The Prophet, upon him be peace and
blessings, loved his uncle very deeply and desired his
conversion very much. However, a verse came and admonished
the Prophet against this desire of his which nearly drove
him to death: You guide not whom you love, but God guides
whom He wills. He is best aware of those who are guided
(al-Qasas, 28.56). What would have prevented the Prophet,
if he were the author of the Qur’an, from falsely
declaring that his uncle had accepted
Islam?
There are answers to many such questions in the
Quran that one who does not have an all-encompassing knowledge
could not have answered them.
There are
many verses in the Quran beginning with ‘They ask you’ and
continue with ‘Say (in answer)’. These verses were revealed to
answer the questions put to the Prophet by Muslims and
non-Muslims, including especially the Jews of Madina. The
questions asked were about lawful or unlawful things, the
distribution of war spoils, the mansions of the moon, the
Judgment Day, Dhu’l-Qarnayn (one of the ancient kings who made
great conquests in Asia and Africa), the spirit and so on. One
who does not have an all-encompassing knowledge cannot answer
such questions. But the answers given by the unlettered
Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, satisfied everybody
and no one could object to him. This shows that he was taught
by God, the All-Knowing.
To claim that Muhammad-God forbid such a thought!-
invented the Quran means that Muhammad, who was known as
Muhammad the Trustworthy, was-we beg forgiveness for having to
narrate such a false claim-the greatest liar and cheat history
has ever known.
As was
explained earlier, the Prophet lived a very austere life and
never pursued any worldly gains or aims like fame, rulership,
wealth and having beautiful women. Furthermore, he had to
resist hardships and persecutions of the severest kind. To
claim that Muhammad-God forbid such a thought!- invented the
Quran means that Muhammad, who was known as Muhammad the
Trustworthy, was-we beg forgiveness for having to narrate such
a false claim- the greatest liar and cheat history has ever
known. What might have caused him to falsely claim Prophethood
despite the severest of deprivations and persecutions? To
accuse the Prophet Muhammad of falsely claiming Prophethood
and attribute the Quran to him, is the most groundless and the
most degrading and meanest of accusations.
Although other Prophets like Moses and Jesus are
mentioned many times in the Quran despite the Jews’ and
Christians’ denial of Muhammad, we come across the name
Muhammad only four times
The Prophet
Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, saw much resistance
from the Jews and Christians. He had to fight against the Jews
of Madina several times and expel them from the city. Despite
this, the Quran mentions the Prophet Moses, the Prophet sent
to the Israelites, about 500 times, while the name of Muhammad
is mentioned in the Quran only four times. The Quran also
mentions the Prophet Jesus many times. Is it conceivable that
one who falsely claims Prophethood ever mentions the Prophets
of the peoples who show him great hostility?
The Quran’s
mention of previous Prophets, including especially Moses and
Jesus, upon them be peace, and the Christians’ and Jews’
denial of Muhammad’s Prophethood and the Divine authorship of
the Quran, is an undeniable proof of the Prophethood of
Muhammad and the Divine authorship of the Quran and that the
Christians’ and Jews’ denial comes from purely false reasons
like jealousy, prejudice and selfishness.
It is another argument for the Divine authorship of
the Quran that it refers to certain facts of creation recently
established by modern scientific methods
It is
another argument for the Divine authorship of the Quran that
it refers to certain facts of creation recently established by
modern scientific methods. How, except on account of its
Divine authorship, is it possible for the Quran to be
literally true on matters of which people had not the least
inkling at the time when it was revealed? For example, if the
Quran were not a Divine Revelation, would it have been
possible for it to contain such a verse as this: Do not the
unbelievers realize that the heavens and the earth were one
unit of creation before we split them asunder? (al-Anbiya’,
21.20).
Whether the
Quran really does refer, explicitly or implicitly, to the
kinds of facts the sciences deal with, and the relationship
between the Quran and modern sciences, are matters of
considerable controversy among Muslim intellectuals. We should
therefore treat the subject at length.
Conclusion
All of the
six sides or aspects of the Quran are luminous and demonstrate
its truth. From below, it is supported upon the pillars of
proofs and evidences (rational, scientific, historical, and
those pertaining to conscience and sound judgment, and so on);
above it, are gleams of the seal of miraculousness: it aims at
happiness in both worlds; and behind it are, another point of
support, the truths of the Divine Revelation. To its right is
the unanimous confirmation of guided reasons based on proofs;
and to its left are the intellectual and spiritual contentment
of those with sound heart and conscience, and their sincere
attachment and submission to it. All these together bear
witness that the Quran is an absolutely formidable,
extraordinary and unconquerable stronghold which the hand of
heaven established on the earth, and set their seal of
admission of it as a faultless, true Word of God. The
Administrator of the universe, Who always acts in a way to
manifest unity, protect virtuousness and goodness, and
extirpate falsehood and slander, has given the Quran the most
acceptable, high and dominant rank of respect and success, and
thereby confirmed its truth.
Also, the
person who is the interpreter of the Quran, upon him be peace
and blessings, believed in it and respected it more than
anything and anybody else. He went into a sleep-like state
during the revelation of its verses and confirmed and preached
all of its decrees and commandments with utmost conviction and
without exhibiting any deception and error to eyes wide open
always to catch him, and without anything to shake him.
Despite being unlettered, having founded on the Quran, he
gave, without hesitation, news and information about the past
and future and about the facts of creation and operation of
the universe. Other sayings of his do not resemble the Quran
and are inferior to it in certain respects. All this together
proves that the Quran is the true, heavenly and blessed Word
of that person’s Merciful Creator.
The fifth of
mankind or even the majority of them in certain cases have
always had an ecstatic and religious devotion to the Quran and
listened to it lovingly and in adoration of truth, and as is
testified to by numerous observations, signs, and events, as
moths fly round a light, angels, believing jinn and other
spirit beings gather together around it during its recitation.
This also confirms that the Quran is accepted by almost all
the beings in the universe and is of the highest
rank.
Also, all
the groups of mankind with different levels of understanding
and learning, from the commonest to the most intelligent and
learned, derive their share from the teaching of the Quran,
and all the greatest scholars in Islamic sciences such as
jurisprudence, theology, and religious methodology, have found
in the Quran the answers to all of their questions and based
their conclusions upon it. This is another evidence that the
Quran is the source of truths, the mine of all true
knowledge.
Furthermore,
although among the unbelieving Arab literary men those who
have been the most advanced in literature, have always felt
much need to dispute with the Quran, they have been unable to
do that even in eloquence, which is only one of the seven
major aspects of the Quran’s miraculousness, and have not
dared to produce the like of even one of its suras. The
others, geniuses of learning and eloquence, who by disputing
with it in eloquence have sought fame, have been compelled to
refrain from doing so. This clearly shows that the Quran is a
miracle, beyond the capacity of mankind.
Indeed, in
order to judge the value, sublimity, and eloquence of a word
it is asked: ‘Who has spoken it? To whom has it been spoken?
Why has it been spoken?’ When considered from the perspective
of these questions, again the Quran has no equal. For the
Quran is the Word of the Lord of all beings and the Speech of
the Creator of the whole of the universe which bears no signs
to suggest that it is a book of imitation, one fabricated by
someone and then falsely attributed to God. God revealed the
Quran to the one whom He chose as the representative of all
the creatures, one who is His most famous and renowned
addressee, and the extent and strength of whose faith embraced
the comprehensive religion of Islam and caused its owner to
rise to the rank of the distance of two bows’ length, and
being honored with direct conversation with the Eternally
Besought-of-All, after which he turned back to the world to
convey to people the principles of happiness in both worlds.
The Quran explains the principles of happiness in both worlds
and the results of, and the Divine purpose in, the creation of
the universe, and expounds the Prophet’s most comprehensive
faith, which sustains all the truths of Islam: it shows and
describes the huge universe like a map or a clock or a house
and teaches about the Artist Who made it. Certainly it is
impossible to produce a like of it or to match the degree of
its eloquence.
In addition,
numerous collections of books on the interpretation of the
Quran, some of which cover as many as forty or even seventy
volumes-written by meticulous scholars of the highest
intelligence and learning-expound with proofs countless
virtues of the Quran and its subtleties and mysteries, and
disclose and affirm its numerous predictions. Among them, the
one hundred and thirty treatises of the Risale-i Nur explain
each virtue and subtlety of the Quran, such as its allusions
to the scientific and technical wonders of modern civilization
like trains and aircrafts and electricity, and its indirect
references to future victories of Muslims and the history of
the Companions after the Prophet, and the meaningful and
mysterious design of its letters. All this means setting a
seal on the fact that the Quran is a miracle with no equals
and the Word of the Knower of the Unseen, which is the tongue
of the world of the Unseen in this visible world of
corporeality.
It is
because of such virtues of the Quran that its magnificent
spiritual dominion and its majestic sacred rule has been
continuing for centuries to illuminate the earth and the ages,
time and space, and more and more people have been embracing
it with perfect respect. It is because of the same virtues,
that each letter of the Quran yields at least the merits, ten
rewards, and ten fruits pertaining to the eternal world, and
that the letters of certain verses and suras, each give
hundreds or even thousands of merits, and when recited on
certain blessed occasions, the light and merits of each of its
letters multiply by tens or hundreds. The world-traveler came
to understand this and said to himself: ‘Based on the
consensus of its lights and mysteries, and the concord of its
fruits and results, this Quran, miraculous in every respect,
proves and testifies to the existence, unity, attributes, and
Names of a single Necessarily Existent One in such a manner
that the testimonies of innumerable believers have their
sources from that testimony.’
In a brief
reference to the instruction which that traveler has taken
from the Quran about faith and the Unity of God, we
say:
There is no
god but God-the Necessarily Existent One, the One, the
Single-the necessity of Whose existence in His Oneness the
Quran of miraculous exposition decisively proves, which is
accepted and sought for by the species of angels, human beings
and jinn; all of whose verses are recited in every minute with
perfect respect by the tongues of millions of human beings;
whose sacred rule in the regions of the earth and the realms
of space and on the faces of ages and time; whose enlightened
spiritual dominion has prevailed with perfect splendor over
half of the globe and a fifth of humankind for fourteen
centuries... Likewise, with the consensus of its heavenly and
sacred suras, and the agreement of its luminous Divine verses,
and the correspondence of its mysteries and lights, and the
concord of its truths, and results, it manifestly attests, and
is a clear proof of, this same truth.
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