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Newsletter for October 2012

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Glorious Qur’an as a Miracle

by Bahram Samii

(Excepted from his book, An Introduction to the Glorious Qur'an)

Muhammad (SA), faced many people in his lifetime who did not believe in him. They challenged him to produce a miracle to match those produced by other prophets in the past. He retorted that it was quite unnecessary, as the Noble Qur’an Itself was the supreme miracle for all times and all places.

Many Muslim and non‑Muslim scholars have proved, in various ways, that the Holy Qur’an is a miracle. This conviction is reflected in many books and articles throughout the history of Islam. They render a variety of sound and just reasons to substantiate this fact. As I have chosen to let the Glorious Qur’an answer most of the questions, I think it would be appro­priate to continue the same technique, and see how the Munificent Qur’an Itself proves Its own miraculous nature.

Let us first define "miracle". The Arabic equivalent of miracle is mujizah, which is a derivative of the root "’A‑J‑Z". This root reflects the idea of being unable to, inability, impossibility. Mu’jizah (or miracle) means something that no one can do except Allah the Exalted (or His Messengers, with His Leave). What is the difference between magic and miracle? The difference is that the former can be done by a talented human being either out of his own creativity or by learning from others. The latter, however, cannot be done by mankind. Humankind is unable (‘ajiz) to do it on its own initiative, without the Will of Allah the Exalted. In order to perform a miracle, one must be empowered by Allah the Omnipotent exclusively. With this in mind, let us now see how the Precious Qur’an Itself proves that It is a miracle:

82nd and 83rd revelations, [1] 9 years B.H.

Allah the Exalted challenges the enemies of Muhammad (SA), to produce a book like the Great Qur'an.

"33 ‑ Or do they say "He fabricated the (message)"? Nay They have no faith! 34 ‑ Let them then produce a recital like unto it, if they speak the Truth!" LII:33 & 34

118th revelation, 4 years B.H.

Five years later, the challenge is reduced to only ten Surahs, instead of a similar book.

"Or they may say `He forged it' say: `Bring you then ten Surahs forged, like unto it, and call (to your aid) whomsoever you can, other than Allah! If you speak the truth!"' XI:13

121st revelation in the same year

He confirms that the entire human race and the jimis cannot produce a similar book.

"Say: `If the whole of mankind and jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Qur’an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support."' XVII: 88

131st revelation, 2 years B.H.

The challenge continues:

"Say: `Then bring you a book from Allah, which is a better Guide than either of them (the Tawrah and the Qur’an) that 1 may follow it! (Do), if you are truthful!"' XXVIII:49

160th and 161st revelations, in the 4th year A.H.

Now, after 13 years of frequent challenge, Allah the Omnipotent confirms again that people are unable to produce a Book like the Holy Qur'an. He now further reduces the challenge from ten to only one Sarah:

"37 ‑ This Qur an is not such as can be produced by other than Allah; On the contrary it is a confirmation of (revelations) that went before it, and a fuller explanation of the Book ‑wherein there is no doubt‑ from the Lord of the worlds. 38 ‑ Or do they say, `He forged it'? Say: `Bring them a Sarah like unto it, and call (to your aid) any‑one you can, besides Allah, if you speak the truth."' X:37 & 38

164th and 165th revelations, in the 5th year A.H.

Again, He confirms the invitation to produce even one surah similar to the Qur'anic surahs. For those who claim they can produce a similar book but in reality have not been able to do so, He clearly reminds them of the excruciating consequences:

"23 ‑ And if you are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to our obedient, then produce a Surah like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers besides Allah if your (doubts) are true. 24 ‑ But if you cannot ‑and certainly you cannot‑ then fear the Fire whose fuel is men and stones ‑which is prepared for those who reject Faith." II:23 & 24

Therefore, the contestation continued for fourteen years during the lifetime of Muhammad (SA), with frequent reminders. Today, after over fourteen centuries, no one has matched even the smallest surah of this Book. I hope that the above passage illustrates how the Noble Qur'an Itself proves its miraculous nature (i.e. the inability of humankind to produce a similar Writing).

Some people have claimed that their writings are Divine or their books are comparable or even superior to the Glorious Qur'an. There are also people who believe in these claims without either having assessed these writings in the original text (excerpts, translations, interpretations and commentaries are unacceptable for this assessment), or having realised the perfection and glory of the true wahy from the Miraculous Qur'an. I hope this and the next sections of this book can provide a basis for the examination of such claims.

As The Holy Bible is the closest Scripture that people commonly compare with the Noble Qur'an, and because these two Books are considered as being of the same importance by some people, it might be appropriate briefly to compare the two Books to get an idea about their fundamental differences. This comparison is only superficial. It does not include any quotations from either one of these Books. It is meant to be a purely academic exercise, without the slightest prejudice.

First of all, any "book" must have a title, and it shall identify its author(s) so that people can gain confidence about what they expect to read, and whose voice the "book" represents. If someone is writing a book about, say, computers, the word "computer" must appear in that book at least once! Otherwise, it would be an irrelevant title, and could confuse people. In the case of the Holy Bible, for example, not only does the author remain unidentified, but also the title of the book, Bible, is not even mentioned one single time. To begin with, this lack of assurance compels the reader to assume that this is the word of Allah the Exalted, or of The Prophet Jesus Christ (PBUH), or of others.

Unlike the Holy Bible, the Glorious Qur'an addresses Its title subject within the Book frequently. In fact, the word "Qur'an" appears 58 times in the Holy Qur'an. The count should increase when words other than "Qur'an" such as "The Book" or "al‑Furqan" (the Criterion ‑to distinguish between good and bad), dhikr (remembrance), Tanzil (gradual descending of wahy to humankind), etc., were added. This indicates how meaningful the title name "Qur'an" is, and how well it blends with the material explained in it.

Table 1 [1] is a brief comparison of the Holy Bible and the Miraculous Qur'an. One can easily see that the Holy Bible is composed of 66 books and missionary letters, "according to" various Prophets, Disciples, Saints, historians or other religious dignitaries, from memory. None of them are "according to" the rasuls of Almighty Allah, The Prophet Moses (PBUH) himself, or The Prophet Jesus Christ (PBUH) himself.

The Glorious Qur'an is only one Book, in it, every word of Allah the Exalted is "according to" the rasul of Allah the Exalted, Muhammad (SA) himself. In the Islamic world, the Scripture that contains the sayings and traditions of Muhammad (SA), "according to" the Disciples and religious historians, is called a book of hadith (plural, ahadith), not the Qur'an Itself. Most ahadith were collected and published in the 4th Islamic century. Each hadith must clearly identify every individual who related a quotation, as well as the one who received it. This linkage of information transmittal by prominent figures must go all the way back to The Prophet (SA) himself. One of the most important criteria by which a wrong With can be distinguished is the very quality of linkage. A hadith is unaccept­able even if only one of the links of the chain is unrenowned. Therefore, to be perfectly correct, the Holy Bible should, at best, be compared with the books of ahadith, not with the Great Qur'an.

The New Testament in English is a translation of another translation of yet another translation. Even the best translator in the world has "limita­tions", as a human being, when it comes to interpreting a Divine Book, which originates from a source of "absolute" Knowledge. In the case of the Noble Qur'an, science, research, time, history, nature and analytical learn­ing have proved, again and again, that some of the multifarious words were indeed wrongly translated in the past. Even simultaneous translations differ from one person to another, sometimes significantly. One can envisage how much misrepresentation would have been entered into the Glorious Qur'an if the original Scripture in the original Arabic language had been unavailable for reference. The problem is that the Holy Bible is not avail­able in the original words for reference (an Old Testament in Hebrew and a New Testament in Aramaic). Consequently, there is an inherent super­imposed misrepresentation in this Book causing errors and contradictions. Some 50,000 errors and contradictions in the Holy Bible have been recorded by the Christians themselves, back in 1957. [2]

Books of the Old Testament were written years and centuries after the death of our great prophet Moses (PBUH); similarly, Books of the New Testament were written many years after the departure of our cherished prophet Jesus Christ (PBUH). Unlike these two Testaments, the single Book of the Final Testament (The Glorious Qur'an) was revealed, recited, fully memorized, written and distributed within the lifetime of The Prophet Muhammad (SA). This unique feature guarantees the authenticity and accuracy of this Book. Universally accepted "original" volumes of the Qur'an

exist for reference in the exact original language. Therefore, this collection of Divine Revelations is well preserved in its original exactness and purity. All of these features generate faith and interest in reading the Noble Qur'an without a shadow of a doubt about its authenticity and legitimacy. Almighty Allah says that The Qur'an will be saved until the end.

"We have, without doubt, sent down the Message and We will assuredly guard it (against corruption)." XV:9

Almighty Allah's pure wahy and holy Truth will never be eclipsed even though the enemies of Islam constantly mock it, and are determined to abate, disparage, and invalidate It; as they have attempted to do for over fourteen centuries.

[1] Revelation numbers are based on an appendix to the following Qur'an: al‑Qur'an ul‑Karim, donated by the Union of the European students Islamic societies and the student Islamic societies of Canada and America, with compliments from Kayhan Inc., P.O. Box 638, Oakland Gardens, NY 11364, U.S.A. Translated by Muhammad Kadim Mucizzi (to Farsi) including various appendices produced by Mahmnd Ramyar and distributed by Book Distribution Center, P.O. Box 22933, Houston, TX 77027, U.S.A.

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