It
follows that since the Creator, Allah (swt) has created man, life and the universe,
there must have been a purpose for the creation and a means, i.e. systems, by
which to achieve it.
The obvious
questions that proceed are:
How does man
receive the purpose, rules and regulations, given by the Creator, by which he is
to govern and understand his life?
In what form
are these rules and regulations received by man?
Clearly,
either man communicates with the Creator or that the Creator communicates with
us to explain our existence. Man, however, is limited and unable to comprehend
or perceive the unlimited and as such cannot communicate with the Creator. This
obvious fact therefore, means that the communication had to come from the
Creator.
Throughout
history, there have been messengers and prophets, men sent from the Creator,
bringing laws or revelation on how man should conduct his life. They were given
miracles which proved to mankind that they were bringing revelation. A miracle
is something which goes against the laws of nature. For example prophet Musa
(Moses) had a stick which parted the Red Sea. Prophet Isa (Jesus) had the
ability to cure the sick by just touching them.
But how do we
know if these messengers existed? The miracles performed by the above prophets
were only miracles for that specific period of time. But how do we know that
they were not just legends or fables? They are not proof for us. So what miracle
do we have right now to convince us and guide us through our lives?
There are
many texts available today claiming divine status from God. But is the guidance
contained in them in its original form and is it applicable to all situations at
all times? Any text claiming to be divine must not contain contradictions,
discrepancies or adulterations, since this would question the perfection of God
and the validity of the text.
If we apply
this acid test to these ‘divine texts’, we find that non except the Qur’an
fulfill the above criteria. Many religions contain aspects of the same truth
(since messengers have come to teach each nation) but this truth has been
tampered with by man.
Muslims
believe that the Qur’an is the Word of God. They believe it is complete, i.e.
it provides answers for all of life’s affairs and it has kept its
authenticity. i.e. nothing has been removed or added to it by any man since it
was revealed, but as we could not believe in the Creator, God (Allah [swt]),
until we became intellectually convinced, similarly the ‘divine’ message
must be examined and proved. There needs to exist a rational proof for the
validity of the text, not a blind emotional argument.
The Qur’an
was revealed to Muhammad (saw - may be peace and blessings of Allah [swt] be
upon him and his family). At the time it was revealed, the pagan Arabs were
deeply into poetry. It was an indication of nobility in society. People used to
go to the desert for days just to write poetry. The Arabic language has great
fluidity and depth of expression, so it was held high in esteem by the Arabs.
So we need to
consider the authorship of the Qur’an. The Qur’an can only the work of the
following:
-
Non-Arab
-
Arab
-
Muhammad
(saw)
-
The Creator,
Allah (swt)
Firstly, it
is important to point out here that the Qur’an was revealed in Arabic. Because
of the high standard of the Arabic used by the Qur’an, indeed its very
excellence and mastery of the language, it is not from a non-Arab. It is well
known that, a non-Arab aged 16 called Jabr was charged with conspiring with
Muhammad (saw) in writing the Qur’an, but Allah (swt) replied to these
allegations:
"And we
know well that they say: only a man teaches him. The speech of him at whom they
falsely hint is notably foreign, while this is Arabic, pure and clear."
[T.M.Q
16:103]
Now one would
turn to the Arabs for the authorship of the Qur’an, having dismissed the
theory that a non-Arab could have written it as being ridiculous. One of the
disbelieving Arab poets of the time, Walid ibn Al-Mughira said after hearing the
Qur’an, "None of you is more conversant than I with poetry, melodious
hymns and songs, and by God never did I hear anything similar to which he says.
It is so sweet and so graceful that it remains at the summit with nothing to
surpass it."
People who
disbelieved the divine authenticity were sent revelation challenging them to
bring forth any similar writing:
"...They
may say, ‘He forged it.’ Say, ‘Bring ye then ten surahs (chapters) forged,
like unto it, and call (to your aid) whomsoever ye can other than God! If ye
speak the truth.’ [T.M.Q 11:13]
And when the
Arabs failed to meet this, they were challenged once more.
"And if
ye are in doubt as to what we have revealed from time to time to our servant, then produce
a chapter like there unto call to your witnesses or helpers (if there are
any) besides God, if your doubts are true." [T.M.Q 2:23]
They tried to
bring the like of the Qur’an but they failed. And this challenge has remained
until this day for everyone, both Muslim and non-Muslim and both the Arab and
the non-Arab. Clearly, it is not the speech of an Arab, let alone non-Arab.
The
Qur’anic challenge is unique because the Creator, Allah (swt), pushes man to
use his ability to undermine the authenticity of the Qur’an. Such a profound
yet simple challenge. Imagine throughout the history of Islam, all her enemies
needed to defeat this challenge to destroy the whole basis of Islam. Yet not
one, non-Muslim Arab or non-Arab has been able to do this even though all the
tools of the Arabic language are at their disposal.
It is also
inconceivable that the Qur’an is the speech of Muhammad (saw). After all he is
one of the Arabs. Also, whatever level of genius people may assign to him, he is
still a human being and one of his tribe and nation. Since the Arabs failed to
bring the like of the Qur’an, this equally applies to Muhammad (saw). He could
not bring the like of it, thus it is not from him. It is important to point out
that none of the Arabs, who despised Muhammad (saw), particularly at that time,
that were the most acquainted with the styles of Arabic speech ever claimed that
the Qur’an was Muhammad’s (saw) speech, or even similar to his speech.
Moreover, it is clearly documented that Muhammad (saw) was illiterate i.e. he
could not read not write. Infact illiteracy is a proof in itself.
Also the
traditions (ahadith) of Muhammad (saw) are completely unlike the linguistic
style of the Qur’an. This is the case even though Muhammad (saw) would utter
the revealed Qur’anic verse and say the tradition at one sitting. How could a
man maintain a completely different style for 23 years? Strangely, people could
copy the style of his traditions but not that of the Qur’an! We have
established that the Qur’an could not have originated from a non-Arab, Arab or
Muhammad (saw). This leaves us with the only real source, the Creator, Allah (swt).
He (swt) says:
"Do they
not ponder about the Qur’an? If it had come from God they would surely have
found therein much contradictions."
[T.M.Q:82]
To this day
Muslim and non-Muslim scholars have not been able to find any contradiction or
mistake in the Qur’an. Moreover, if one was to compare letter by letter a copy
of the Qur’an published today to one of the first copies of the Qur’an
available then one would find that not a single letter has been omitted or
added. Copies of the Qur’an dating back to the first century of Islam can be
found in Istanbul and Tashkent.
Furthermore,
the Meaning of the Qur’an has become a proof in that it foretold events, and
explained issues which man had yet to discover. For example, the science of
embryology is merely 30 years old. Certainly, 1400 years ago, where there were
no microscopes, let alone ultrasound. Yet the Qur’an goes into depth about how
life starts, the pairing of gametes, the dividing of cells, the forming of the
three body layers, and the development of organs.
Thus it is
clear that the basis of Islam, the Quran, could only have come from the one who
created language in order to produce a book that surpasses the language of any
human. And from the one who created science in order to put in the Quran
knowledge that no human knew of, only until recently. Therefore, the Quran can
only have come from the Creator, Allah (swt).
Further discussion
or more detailed evidences can be provided upon request.
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