WHO
WrOTE
THE
Quran?
In the
name of Allah Most Beneficent Most MercifulAll praise is for Allah the Exalted and may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon His
Messenger Muhammad and his family and companions and all those who follow them
and their way until the Day of Resurrection
Introduction
"Do
they not then consider the Qur’an carefully? Had it been from other than Allah,
they would surely have found therein much contradiction." [4:82]
God created man for a noble purpose: to worship Him and
lead a righteous life based on His commands and guidance to mankind. Mankind
learned this by God sending Messengers with clear and practical instructions of
the meaning of life and how to worship God properly. God also revealed to these
Prophets and Messengers knowledge about what will happen after death and the
rewards and punishments for one’s actions.
These
Prophets and Messengers convey the same prevailing message which is entrusted
to them by God. They proclaimed:
"...Oh
my people! Worship God! (i.e., without associating anything with him) You have
no other god but Him. [Qur'an: 7:65]
God sent a Prophet and/or Messenger to every nation
throughout the history of mankind.
"And verily, We have sent among every Ummah
(community, nation) a messenger (proclaiming): Worship Allah (Alone) and avoid
(or keep away from) all false deities"
[Qur'an: 16:36]
Some of them we have
been informed of and others we have not. These Prophets and Messengers include,
but not limited to: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses,
Aaron, Lot, David, Solomon, Elias, Elisha, Hood, Thul-Kifi, Enoch, Jonah, Job
Shu’aib, Saalih, Ezra, Zachariyyah, John, Jesus, Muhammad and others peace and
blessings be upon them all.
Some
of them were sent with Books while others were not.
Some of the books
that we were informed of are the Scriptures of Abraham, the Torah of Moses, the
Zaboor of Dawood, and the Injeel which was revealed to Jesus. All of these
scriptures contained the same basic message from God to mankind.
Each Prophet brought
specific instructions from God addressed to a particular people for certain
times in history and particular circumstances although the essential message
remained the same.
A few examples of
this would be the fact that Moses' contemporaries were excellent in magic. So
his major miracle was to defeat the best magicians of his days. Jesus'
contemporaries were recognized as skillful physicians. Therefore, his miracles
were to raise the dead and cure the incurable diseases. The Arabs, the
contemporaries of the Muhammad, were known for their eloquence and magnificent
poetry. So Muhammad's (Peace and Blessings be upon him) major miracle was the
Qur’an, the equivalent of which the whole legion of the Arab poets and orators
could not produce despite the repeated challenge from the Qur’an itself.
However, the beauty
and power of Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon him) major miracle is that
it removes the constraints of place and time. It is the permanent miracle for
all generations to see.
Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) is the final Messenger and that his Prophethood is also
not limited to time and place, and is for all peoples (after the advent of his
Prophethood) in all times until the Day of Judgement.
Now, many who would
agree with everything we have stated above may reject this about Muhammad
(Peace and Blessings be upon him) his Messengership and the scripture with
which he was sent. (The Qur’an)
It is our objective
here to prove without a shadow of a doubt that the Qur’an is in fact
from God Himself and by extension that Muhammad is in fact a Messenger
of God. For we cannot accept the Message and reject the Messenger, or vice
versa. Both must be accept or both must be rejected.
We
can basically divide the groups of opinions on the Qur’an into three groups:
- Those who say that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon
him) himself wrote the Qur’an
- Those who say that the Qur’an was written by someone else
and taught to Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him)
- Those who believe
that the Qur’an is the pure word of God having no human author
In this article, we
will briefly review the above three arguments based on logic, historical
evidence, textual analysis and even scientific data.
Based on our
arguments above, we can logically conclude tha t if the Qur’an was written by
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) or some other man (or group of men)
then it is correct to reject the man and his message. However, if it is proven
that the Qur’an is indeed from God, then it is necessary for us to believe in
it, follow it and accept Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) and a
Messenger of God.
We
ask the reader to reflect...
First Claim:
Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) wrote the Qur’an.
Those who claim that
the Qur’an was written by Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) have given
him a different motive for doing so and can basically be divided into the
following groups
- For
Material Gain/ Power and Glory
- To Unite the Arabs or to morally reform them - Epileptic Seizures or Self-Delusions
With Muhammad being
perhaps the most well documented man in human history, we can easily examine
these claims and compare them to his life.
Firstly, the claim
that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) wrote the Qur’an is not new.
His own people made this claim. In response, to this claim, God revealed the
following:
Say: "It is not
for me to change it on my own accord; I only follow that which is revealed unto
me. Verily, I fear if I were to disobey my Lord, the torment of the Great Day
(i.e. the Day of Resurrection)." Say: "If Allah had so willed, I
should not have recited it to you nor would He have made it known to you. Verily,
I have stayed amongst you a life time before this. Have you then no
sense?"
[Qur’an 10:15-16]
This
verse is telling his critics to reflect on the fact that Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) lived amongst them from forty (40) years before reciting
the Qur’an to them while never showing any signs of inclination to poetry and
themselves knowing that he was illiterate. If he could not read or write, then
where did these magnificent verses come from?
Also reflect on the
fact that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) is commanded in the verses
above to “Say” twice. This is a command to make a certain statement to the
people. One can find this command “Say” 332 times throughout the Qur’an. In
other places in the Qur’an he is ordered to “proclaim”, “Glorify Your Lord”,
“Prostrate Yourself” etc. So we ask is this how a man talks to himself or writes
a book?
Also one must
consider the fact that even before his Prophethood Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) was known amongst his people as “Al-Amin”, the
trustworthy and the truthful. No one ever recorded a lie against him.
Many
Western historians agree with this analysis:
"If a
man like Muhammad were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he would
succeed in solving its problems that would bring it the much needed peace and
happiness."
George Bernard Shaw
"My
choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may
surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man
in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular
level."
--Michael
H. Hart, THE 100: A RANKING OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS IN
HISTORY, New
York:
Hart Publishing Company, Inc., 1978, p. 33
"Muhammad
was the soul of kindness, and his influence was felt and never forgotten by
those around him."
--Diwan
Chand Sharma, The Prophets of the East, Calcutta 1935,
p. l 22.
"He
was Caesar and Pope in one; but he was Pope without Pope's pretensions, Caesar
without the legions of Caesar: without a standing army, without a bodyguard,
without a palace, without a fixed revenue; if ever any man had the right to say
that he ruled by the right divine, it was Mohammed, for he had all the power
without its instruments and without its supports."
--Bosworth
Smith, Mohammad and Mohammadanism, London, 1874, p. 92.
"Philosopher,
orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational
dogmas, of a cult without images; the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and
of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which
human
greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater
than he?"
Lamartine, HISTOIRE DE LA TURQUIE, Paris, 1854, Vol.
II, pp. 276 -277
"It
is impossible for anyone who studies the life and character of the great
Prophet of Arabia, who knows how he taught and how he lived, to feel anything
but reverence for that mighty Prophet, one of the great messengers of the
Supreme. And although in what I put to you I shall say many things which may be
familiar to many, yet I myself feel whenever I re-read them, a new way of
admiration, a new sense of reverence for that
mighty Arabian teacher."
Annie
Besant, THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF MUHAMMAD,
Madras,1932, p. 4.
"His readiness to undergo persecutions for his beliefs, the high
moral character of the men who believed in him and looked up to him as leader,
and the greatness of his ultimate achievement - all argue his fundamental
integrity. To suppose Muhammad an impostor raises more problems than it solves.
Moreover, none of the great figures of history is so poorly appreciated in the
West as Muhammad."
W. Montgomery Watt, MOHAMMAD AT MECCA, Oxford, 1953, p. 52.
So,
we ask the reader to reflect on the following:
Is it logical to
believe that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) who, until the age of
forty and, as we mentioned earlier, was known to his people as al-Amin (The
Trustworthy) and who is still admired even by Western scholars for his honesty
and integrity, all of a sudden began to write a book that is unmatched in
literary merit and that has not be matched by legions of the Arab poets and
orators of the highest caliber throughout history?
Is it reasonable to
say that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him), made a false claim and on
that very falsehood trained thousands of individuals of outstanding character,
integrity, and honesty who were able to establish the best human society that
the world has ever known?
Material
Gain? Power and Glory?
Some claim that
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) wrote the Qur’an for some type of
material gain or for power and glory. However, this claim is at odds with the
historical evidence.
In fact, when one
studies the history of Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon him) life, we
find that he was actually materially more well off BEFORE claiming Prophethood
than afterwards.
At twenty-five years
old, Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) was married to the wealthy
widow named Khadijah and lived a life of relative comfort.
However, after his
call to Prophethood, his standard of living declined dramatically, sometimes
going two months without cooking anything, surviving only on dates and water,
because of the extreme hardships that he and his family endured after
proclaiming God’s message.
This would not be a
temporary sacrifice, but a way of life for him until he died. At no time in his
Prophethood did he ever live in a fancy palace, wear the finest clothes or
enjoy the luxuries of this world. Even after the early Muslims became
successful and started to make financial gains, Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings
be upon him) wives complained about their living conditions and wondered why
they had to continue to live so poorly when there was (seemingly) no need.
A
revelation then came from God stating:
O Prophet! Say to
your wives: If you desire the life of this world, and its glitter, Then come! I
will make a provision for you and set you free (i.e., divorce) in a handsome
manner But if you desire Allah and His Messenger, and the home of the
Hereafter, then verily, Allah has prepared for the good doers amongst you an
enormous reward. (i.e., Heaven)
[Qur’an 33:28-29]
One of Muhammad’s
(Peace and Blessings be upon him) companions, describing his room said:
“I noticed that the contents of his room comprised of
only three pieces of tanned skin and a handful of barley in a corner. I looked
but failed to find anything else. I began to cry. He
(Muhammad, Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him) said: “Why are you weeping”? I
replied, ‘O’ Prophet of Allah! Why should I not cry? I can see the patterns of
the mat imprinted on your body and I am also beholding all that you have in
this room. O’ Prophet of Allah! Pray that Allah may grant ample provisions for
us. The Persians and the Romans, who have no true faith and who do not worship
Allah but they worship their Kings, live in gardens with streams flowing in
their midst. But the chosen Prophet and accepted slave of Allah should live in
such dire poverty?!” The Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) was resting against his pillow, but when he heard me talk
like this, he sat up and said, ‘O’ Umar! Are you
still in doubt about this matter? Ease and comfort in the hereafter are much
better than ease and comfort in this world. The disbelievers are enjoying their
share of the good things in this world, whereas the Believers have all such
things in store for them in the next’ “ (Muslim)
Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be Upon Him) died poor and his deprivation of this world was
self-imposed.
The most significant
refutation to this claim that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) was
seeking wealth and power is the following story when the Chiefs of Makkah came
to him trying to get him to stop preaching his message:
“O’ Muhammad, You are, as you know a noble from your tribe
and your lineage assures you a place of honor. And now you have brought to your
people a matter of grave concern, whereby you have split their community,
declared their way of life to be foolish, spoken shamefully of their gods and
religion and called their forefathers disbelievers. Listen to what I propose
and see if any of it is acceptable to you. If it is wealth that you seek, we
will gather our wealth and make you the richest amongst us. If you seek honor,
we will make you our overlord and we will make no decision without your
consent. If you seek Kingship, then we will make you our King. And if you can
not get rid of this demon that appears to you, we will find you a physician and
spend all our money until you are cured.”
Life of the Prophet
Muhammad, Ibn
Hishaam
When he finished,
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) had received revelation which
stated:
Haa
Meem. A revelation from Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. A Book
whereof the Verses are explained in detail; A Qur'an in Arabic for people who
know. Giving glad tidings and warning, but most of them turn away, so they
don’t listen. And they say: "Our hearts are under coverings (screened)
from that to which you invite us, and in our ears is deafness, and between us
and you is a screen, so work you (on your way); verily, we are working (on our
way). Say: "I am only a human being like you. It is inspired in me that
your God is One, therefore take Straight Path to Him and obedience to Him, and
seek forgiveness of Him. And woe to the polytheists. Those who give not the Zakât
and they are disbelievers in the Hereafter. Truly, those who believe and do
righteous good deeds, for them will be an endless reward that will never end
[Qur’an 41:1-8]
So had his aim been
wealth and power, then he could have easily achieved his goal without going
through the hardship and poverty he went through up until his death.
To
Unite The Arabs?
The claim that
Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon him) goal was to unite the Arabs is
also difficult to defend when one looks into the life of Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) and his own statements against nationalism, tribalism
etc.
Firstly, again, had
this been his goal, he could have archived it when the Chiefs of Makkah offered
him wealth and riches in exchange for him agreeing to stop preaching.
Secondly, the concept
of nationalism does not exist in Islam. Islam made the bond of faith and truth
and falsehood the most important basis for binding people together and not
nationalism, tribe affiliation, race, or ethnicity.
Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) himself spoke out on numerous occasions against this
type of ideology stating:
"Let
people stop boasting about their forefathers who have died, who are merely fuel
for the Hell Fire; or they will certainly be more insignificant with Allah than
the beetle which rolls dung with its nose. Allah has removed from you the
partisanship of the days of jaahiliyyah (refers to the Pre-Islamic days) and the boasting about one's forefathers. Indeed a person is
either a pious Believer or a wretched sinner. All of mankind are the children
of Adam, and Adam was created from clay. [Related by Abu Dawood and atTirmithi]
Muhammad
(Peace and Blessings be upon him) also said:
"Indeed there is no excellence for an Arab over a Non-Arab, nor a Non-Arab
over an Arab, nor a white person over a black one, nor a black person over a
white one, except through piety.” [Related by Ahmad]
The
Qur’an is filled with the same message. One example of this is in the following
verse:
"O’ mankind, we
have created you from male and female and have made you into nations and
tribes, that you may know one another. Indeed the most noblest of you with
Allah is the one who has the most piety." [Surah al-Hujuraat
49:13]
The examples from
both the Qur’an and the statements of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon
him) are too numerous to mention them all but this should suffice to make the
point.
Regardless of one’s
color, nationality, or tribe, anyone who believes in the Islamic message is
part of the brotherhood.
With the above being
the case, the logical question beckons that had this been written by Muhammad
(Peace and Blessings be upon him) as these people allege for the purpose of
uniting the Arabs, then why would he have put the exact opposite message
in this book? Indeed, from the story we quoted above, we can see that this
Islamic message actually divided the Arabs into two distinct groups: Muslims
and non-Muslim.
Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) also had companions that were from different tribes and
were other than Arab.
He
had Epilepsy?
Other people who
reject the Prophethood of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) agree
because of the historical evidence of Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon
him) impeccable character and truthfulness that he would not have deliberately
fabricated the Qur’an and his Prophethood, so they allege for some reason that
he either had epilepsy or was delusional and actually believed that he was a
Prophet.
Firstly, again
keeping in mind that Muhammad is perhaps history’s most well documented man,
there is absolutely no evidence from his life to support this claim, and all
evidence suggests that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) lived a
normal and sane life all the way up to his death at the age of sixty (60).
However in spite of that, we will nonetheless prove that this claim is false
and malicious.
Secondly, even some
Orientalists (non-Muslims who have achieved considerable status as authorities
on Islam) themselves have rejected these claims of epilepsy as false and
ridiculous. Daniel commenting on the claim of epilepsy said:
“...epilepsy
as applied to the Prophet was the explanation of those who sought to amuse
rather than to instruct”
Khalifa,
Mohammad The Sublime Qu’ran and Orientalism p. 13
John
Davenport said,
"This
remark that Muhammad has suffered the attacks of epilepsy is one of the false,
awkward sayings of the Greeks by which they meant to stain the prestige of the
propagator of a new religion, and turn the world of Christianity against his
moral behavior and qualities."
Udhri Taqsir, p.20
There are various
types of epilepsy, the main ones being grand mal, petit mal and psychomotor.
Grand Mal includes generalized
convulsions in which there is sudden unconsciousness with falling and shaking
of the limbs. Sometimes the person screams just before the seizure and it is
followed by stiffening and halted respiration. Next come jerky moves and one
can bite one’s tongue and the person experiences a headache. Afterwards, they
have no recollection of what happened.
When Muhammad (Peace
and Blessings be upon him) received revelation, it was described like the
ringing of a bell, while other times the Angel Gabriel came to him in the form
of a man and delivered the message directly. When one compares grand mal to the
description of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) receiving revelation,
it is obvious that he did not suffer from grand mal.
Petit Mal involves momentary
lapses of awareness and more than seventy percent (70%) of patients have their
first attack before the age of twenty. It involves no involuntary movements and
can happen several times in a day without interruption of consciousness. This
too, is in opposition to the description of Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be
upon him) receiving revelation.
Firstly, Muhammad
(Peace and Blessings be upon him) was forty (40) years old when he began to
receive revelation. And each time he received revelation, it was for several
minutes – not moments.
Psychomotor seizures involve
convulsions. They last only a few seconds are accompanied with screams and
mumbles which do not make words and sentences, much less entire chapters of a
book which are not only completely understandable, but of the highest
eloquence.
Epilepsy takes
control of one’s thoughts during seizures, yet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be
upon him) was in complete control during the revelation and was able to recall
the event in detail, unlike one who would have an epileptic seizure.
Beyond the above
facts, one must ask how could Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) unconsciously
know about previous nations? How could he unconsciously answer questions people
asked him and be so correct? No one ever stood up to claim that they too are
familiar with these stories.
How could he know
about future events which would later come to pass? How could he have known
that the Persians and Romans would go to war and who would win the war years in
advance?
Therefore when the
facts are examined, the epileptic seizures theories can not only be easily
ruled out as absurd but we can only conclude that this claim is made out of
outright maliciousness because the evidence is overwhelmingly against them.
Norman Daniel
commenting on the slanders made against Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon
him) said:
"All
writers
(referring to Western Writers) tended - more or less -
to cling to fantastic tales about Islam and its Prophet... The use of false
evidence to attack Islam was all but universal."
Norman
Daniel, Islam and the West, One world Publications 1993, p.267
Daniel also goes on
to explain: "At the worst there was the assertion
of the fantastic, and its repetition without discrimination; at the best there
was the selection of only those facts that served the purpose of controversy."
ibid, p.268
Nonetheless, material
gain; desire for power; desire to unify the Arabs and ever having had epilepsy
are all easily ruled out when any unbiased reader one looks into the life of
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him)
Second Claim:
Someone
other than Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) wrote the
Qur’an
Some people claim
that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) did not write the Qur’an, but
actually either copied it from other sources or learned it from someone else.
Let us examine these claims separately
Copied
from Other Sources?
Amongst those who
claim that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) did not write the Qur’an
but got it from other sources are those who claim that he simply copied either
the Apocrypha (Some of the scriptures not included in the canon from the
Council of Nicea in 325 CE that became known as the Bible, and later the
“Catholic Version” of the Bible) and/or the Bible itself.
The first problem
with this argument is that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) as we
mentioned earlier was illiterate and could not copy what he could not read.
Please keep in mind
what we stated earlier about Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon him) well
known impeccable character and the fact that it was known that he was
illiterate and that there is also no record of the pagan Arabs in Mecca
accusing Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) of not being illiterate.
Had he not been
illiterate, as the Qur’an itself stated, would this have not been easy to prove
during Muhammad’s lifetime by his enemies who were eager to discredit him? This
fact alone shows that it was common knowledge during his lifetime that he was
indeed illiterate and no one questioned this.
Secondly, even if one
were to assume, for argument’s sake, that he could read, then the first Arabic
translation of what is known as the “Old Testament” was not produced until some
two hundred (200) years after Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon him)
death and the first Arabic translation of the “New Testament” did not appear
until one thousand years after his death.
Sidney
Griffith, after extensive study, concludes that:
All one
can say about the possibility of a pre-Islamic, Christian version of the Gospel
in Arabic is that no sure sign of its actual existence has yet emerged.
"The Gospel In
Arabic: An Enquiry Into Its Appearance In The First Abbasid Century", Oriens Christianus,
Volume 69, p. 166
Ernst
Würthwein states in his book The Text Of The Old Testament that:
With the
victory of Islam the use of Arabic spread widely, and for Jews and Christians
in the conquered lands it became the language of daily life. This gave rise to
the need of Arabic versions of the Bible, which need was met by a number of
versions mainly independent and concerned primarily for interpretation
The Text Of The Old
Testament, 1988,
William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, pp. 104.
So it is clear that
no Arabic translations of the Bible or the Apocrypha existed during the
lifetime of Muhammad (Peace and Blessing be upon him)
Thirdly, the
historical evidence suggests that there was no Christian or Jewish influence in
the Hijaz (Inner part of the Arabian Peninsula) and particularly in Makkah
where Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) was born and raised.
Before the birth of
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) the Hijaz was for the most part
ignored by the major empires of that time (The Persian and Roman) and left
isolated with the exception of the time of when the Ethiopian King Abraha
briefly tried and failed to conquer Makkah during the year Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) was born.
The New Catholic
Encyclopedia states concerning the time of the Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) that:
The Hijaz
[Arabian Peninsula] had not been touched by Christian preaching. Hence
organization of the Christian church was neither to be expected nor found
New
Catholic Encyclopedia, Op.Cit, Vol. 1, pp. 721-722
There is a wealth of
historical evidence to show similar evidence that there was no Christian
influence in the Hijaz where Muhammad (Peace and Blessing be upon him) lived,
so we must ask ourselves who then would have taught him the Bible and/or the
apocrypha (which were not even in Arabic) for him to later take from these
sources, that he would have had to memorize, to later write the Qur’an?
The
Hijaz was so isolated that four men from amongst the Makkans who were searching
for the true religion of Abraham had to leave Makkah in search of it. Waraqa
Ibn Nawfal, was amongst them and returned as a Christian. We will discuss him
more in detail below.
Fourthly, the Qur’an
itself answers these claims that someone was teaching Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) and at the same time points to the fact that the Arabic
used in the Qur’an is pure.
And indeed We know
that they (The
Disbelievers) say: "It is only a human being who teaches him (Muhammad
Peace and Blessings be upon him)." The tongue of the man they refer to
is foreign, while this (the Qur'an) is a clear Arabic tongue.
[Qur'an 16:103]
The
Qur’an also says referring to Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him)
Neither did you (Muhammad, Peace and
Blessing be upon him) read any book before it (the Qur'an), nor did
you write any book with your hand. In that case, indeed, the followers of
falsehood might have doubted
[Qur'an
29:48]
This argument was
answered over one thousand four hundred years ago, by the Qur’an itself, yet
these critics are still unable to provide any new evidence for their erroneous
claims
Learned
the Qur’an from another human?
Others,
from amongst those who argue that Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him)
got the Qur’an from some other source allege that he was taught by another
person.
Some of them
specifically allege that he was taught by Waraqa Ibn Nawfal who, as we
mentioned earlier, was one of the four men who left the pagan faith of Makkah
in search for the true religion of Abraham and returned as a Christian.
Here we must state
that the true religion of all of the Prophets including that of Abraham and
Jesus was Islam.
By “Islam”, we mean
submission to God’s will. It is the same way, as we mentioned in the
introduction that all of the Prophets called to: Pure Monotheism.
By “Christian” (in
the case of those like Waraqa Ibn Nawfal and Salman the Persian) we mean that
he was a person who was following to the best of his ability the true Islamic
teachings of Jesus which was in line with the teachings of all the other
Prophets and
expecting the last
Prophet. This is what is meant by the religion of Abraham that they were in
search of.
This is the religion
that Waraqa Ibn Nawfal was looking for and apparently found because when
Muhammad was seeking an explanation of what he had seen after his first
revelation Waraqa told him
"This
is the same one who keeps the secrets (angel Gabriel) whom Allah had sent to
Moses. I wish I were young and could live up to the time when your people would
turn you out." Allah's Messenger (Peace and Blessings be upon him) asked, "Will
they drive me out?" Waraqa replied in the affirmative and said, "Anyone who came
with something similar to what you have brought was treated with hostility; and
if I should remain alive till the day when you will be turned out then I would
support you strongly." But after a few days Waraqa died. [Sahih
al-Bukhari]
While it is clear in
the passage above that Waraqa died just a few days after Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) first received revelation from the Angel Gabriel, it was
also clear that Waraqa Ibn Nawfal believed in his Prophethood.
So the claim that
Waraqa taught the Qur’an to Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) simply
holds no water.
Others try to allege
that Salman the Persian taught the Qur’an to Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be
upon him).
Salman, who was from
Persia, was a Zoroastrian who converted to Christianity and ventured to Syria
to learn more about his religion. There, he learned from one of the Christian
Bishops about the coming of the last Prophet and the signs accompanying his
advent. He then traveled to Hijaz where he was seized, sold into slavery, and
taken to Madinah, where he eventually met Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon
him).
When he found in
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) the fulfillment of all the signs of
which he had been informed, he became a Muslim.
In Ibn Ishaq's Sirat
Rasul Allah, we find the following account of Salman's journey in search of
the true religion and the coming Prophet:
"`Asim
ibn `Umar ibn Qatada said that he was told that Salman the Persian told the
Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) that his master in 'Ammuriya told him
to go
to a
certain place in Syria where there was a man who lived between two thickets.
Every year as he used to go from one to the other, the sick used to stand in
his way and
everyone
he prayed for was healed. He said, 'Ask him about this religion which you seek,
for he can tell you of it.' So I went on until I came to the place I had been
told of,
and I
found that people had gathered there with their sick until he came out to them
that night passing from one thicket to the other. The people came to him with
their sick and everyone he prayed for was healed. They prevented me from
getting to him so that I
could not
approach him until he entered the thicket he was making for, but I took hold of
his shoulder. He asked me who I was as he turned to me and I said, 'God have
mercy on you, tell me about the Hanifiyyah, (the religion of Abraham).'
He replied, 'You are
asking
about something men do not inquire of today; the time has come near when a
prophet will be sent with this religion from the people of the haram (i.e.
the hijaz). Go to him, for he will bring you to it.' Then he went into the
thicket.
So,
as we can see, had Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) been a impostor
as the people who make this claim against him imply, then Salman would not have
accepted his Prophethood, much less participated in the writing of the Qur’an
with him.
Secondly, Salman did
not meet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) until after the migration
to Madinah and hence AFTER more than two-thirds of the Qur’an (which includes
the stories of the Prophets mentioned in the Bible) had already been revealed
In Makkah.
Thirdly, Salman was a
Persian and his original tongue was not Arabic. The Qur’an’s literary style is
so brilliant and awe-inspiring that even Linguists who were born speaking the
Arabic language have not been successful at replicating it (despite repeated
challenges from the Qur’an itself to be discussed later) much less a Persian
who’s mother tongue was not Arabic.
Even if someone
wanted to claim that it was someone other than the people mentioned above, then
we repeat the challenge of the Qur’an
...Say: "Bring
your proof if you are truthful." [Qur’an 2:111]
As for anyone other
than that, then we ask would there not be some evidence that someone was
teaching Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him)? Would not someone have
stepped forward to say that he was Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon him)
“teacher”? Yet, we find no such evidence of this.
Third Claim:
The Qur’an
is the pure word of God having no human author
After having examined
the theories that either Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) wrote the
Qur’an and that he got it from other sources and discussing the flaws in those
arguments, the logical question beckons that if Muhammad (Peace and Blessings
be upon him) did not write the Qur’an nor get it from another human or collect
it from other sources, then where did it come from?
We must now examine
the theory that says that the Qur’an is the word of God sent to Muhammad (Peace
and Blessings be upon him) and by extension that he is the Messenger of God.
The
Challenge
First
of all, the Qur’an in several places challenges mankind by saying:
Say: "If the
mankind and the jinns were together to produce the like of this Qur'an, they
could not produce the like thereof, even if they helped one another." [Qur'an 17:88]
And if you (Arab
pagans, Jews, and Christians) are in doubt concerning that which We have sent
down (i.e. the Qur'an) to Our slave (Muhammad, Peace be upon him ), then
produce a surah (chapter) of the like thereof and call your witnesses
(supporters and helpers) besides Allah, if you are truthful. [Qur'an 2:23]
And
this Qur’an is not such as could ever be produced by other than Allah (Lord of
the heavens and the earth), but it is a confirmation of (the revelation) which
was before it [i.e. the Taurat (Torah), and the Injeel (Gospel), etc.], and a
full explanation of the Book (i.e. laws and orders, etc, decreed for mankind) -
wherein there is no doubt from the the Lord of the Worlds. Or do they say:
"He (Muhammad, Peace be upon him) has forged it?" Say:
"Bring then a surah (chapter) like it, and call upon whomsoever you can,
besides Allah, if you are truthful!" [Qur’an 10:37-38]
Or
they say, "He (Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him) forged it (the
Qur’an)." Say: "Bring you then ten forged surah (chapters) like
unto it, and call whomsoever you can, other than Allah (to your help), if you
speak the truth!" [Qur’an 11:13]
Or do they say:
"He (Muhammad
peace be upon him) has forged it (this Qur’an)?" Nay! They
believe not! Let them then produce a recital like unto it if they are truthful.
[Qur’an 52:33-34]
However, despite
these repeated challenges, the Arabs who were at the height of their poetic
eloquence during the time of revelation of the Qur'an still could not even produce
the shortest surah like it. Alqama bin cAbd al-Manaf confirmed this
when he addressed the Quraysh Tribe by saying:
Oh Quraish, a new calamity has befallen you. Mohammed was a young man
the most liked among you, most truthful in speech, and most trustworthy, until,
when you saw gray hairs on his temple, and he brought you his message, you said
that he was a sorcerer, but he is not, for we have seen such people and their
spitting and their knots; (i.e., signs of people who engage in
black magic) you said, a mystic, but we have seen such
people and their behavior, and we have heard their rhymes; you said a
soothsayer, but he is not a soothsayer, for we have heard their rhymes; and you
said a poet, but he is not a poet, for we have heard all kinds of poetry; you
said he was possessed, but he is not for we have seen the possessed, and he
shows no signs of their gasping and whispering and delirium. (signs of
possession) Oh men of Quraish, look to your affairs,
for by Allah a serious thing has befallen you.
This is a challenge
that still stands today, as no one has met this challenge in the over
one thousand four hundred (1,400) years since it was first made. This is a
point upon which we ask the reader to ponder.
Unmatched
Eloquence
One of the most
well-known stories of how the Qur’an’s miraculous eloquence effected
individuals is the story of al-Waleed ibn al-Mugheerah, who was the most
eloquent and highly esteemed poet of Makkah at the time of Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him)
Al-Waleed
ibn al-Mugheerah passed by Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) and heard
him reciting the Qur’an and this had a visible effect upon him. He was shaken
and startled by what he had heard. The news of this incident spread throughout
Makkah.
Abu Jahl (the arch
enemy of Islam) afraid that the people of Makkah might be affected by the news
and convert to Islam, rushed to al-Waleed and told him “Oh my uncle! Say
something (against Muhammad) so that the people wil know that you are
against him and hate (his message)”
Al-Waleed replied,
“And what can I say? For I swear by Allah, there is none amongst you who knows
poetry as well as I do, nor can any compete with me in composition or
rhetoric-not even in the poetry of the jinns! And yet, I swear by Allah,
Muhammad’s speech (meaning the Qur’an) does not bear any similarity to anything
I know and I swear by Allah, the speech that he says is very sweet, and is
adorned with beauty and charm. Its first part is fruitful and its last part is
abundant (meaning that it is full of deep meaning) and it conquers (all other
speech) and remains unconquered! It shatters and destroys all that has come
before it (because of its eloquence)
Abu Jahl responded
“Your people will not be satisfied until you speak against him!” AlWaleed
therefore requested Abu Jahl “Leave me for a few days, so that I may think of
an appropriate response to give the Qur’aish”
After a few days, Abu
Jahl came back to him and asked him what he had prepared. Al Waleed, during
this time could not think of any explanation to give except “This (the Qur’an)
is a type of magic that has an effect on its listeners.”
Biography
of Prophet Muhammad, Ibn Hishaam p. 225
In response to this
God Revealed in the Qur’an:
Nay! Verily, he
(al-Waleed) has been stubborn and opposing our signs....verily he thought and
plotted; so let him be cursed, how he plotted! And once more let him be cursed;
how he plotted! Then he thought! Then he frowned and was irritated; then he
turned back and was proud! Then he said, ‘This is nothing but magic from old;
this is nothing but the word of a magician!’ I will cast him into the Hell-Fire
[Qur’an
74:16-26]
This was the
testimony of the greatest poet alive during the time of Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him)
Orientalist Author
Arthur Arberry, who studied and became fluent in the Arabic language while
studying in Egypt recognized the beauty of the Qur’an.
He said: “...the rhetoric and rhythm of the Arabic of the Qur’an
are so characteristic, so powerful, so highly emotive, that any version
whatsoever is bound by the nature of things to be but a copy of the glittering
splendor of the original”
Arthur
Arberry, The Koran Interpreted p. 24
Many other
non-Muslims have also confirmed the Qur’an’s unmatched eloquence. Hamilton
Gibb, the famous University of Oxford Arabist said:
...the
Meccans still demanded of him a miracle, and with remarkable boldness and self
confidence Mohammad appealed as a supreme confirmation of his mission to the
Koran itself. Like all Arabs they were the connoisseurs of language and
rhetoric. Well, then if
the Koran
were his own composition other men could rival it. Let them produce ten verses
like it. If they could not (and it is obvious that they could not), then let
them accept the Koran as an outstanding evident miracle
H A R Gibb, Islam -
A Historical Survey, 1980, Oxford University Press, p. 28 Alfred Guillaume
wrote:
The Qur’an
is one of the world's classics which cannot be translated without grave loss.
It has a rhythm of peculiar beauty and a cadence that charms the ear. Many
Christian Arabs speak of its style with warm admiration, and most Arabists
acknowledge its excellence. When it is read aloud or recited it has an almost
hypnotic effect that makes the listener indifferent to its sometimes strange
syntax and its sometimes, to us, repellent content. It is this quality it
possesses of silencing criticism by the sweet music of its language that has
given birth to the dogma of its inimitability; indeed it may be affirmed that
within the literature of the Arabs, wide and fecund as it is both in poetry and
in elevated prose, there is nothing to compare with it
Alfred
Guillaume, Islam, 1990 (Reprinted), Penguin Books, pp. 73-74
It is a miracle in
itself that for over one thousand, four hundred years, this challenge to match
the Qur’an’s is still stands unmet today despite many failed attempts to do so.
Could
a human being have known these things?
Although the Qur’an
is a book of guidance for all of mankind and not a science book , one of the
great miracles of the Qur’an is its conformity with modern science. It is a
sign of its miraculous nature that it mentions things that no human being could
have possibly known one thousand four hundred (1,400) years ago! We will give
just a few examples here with commentary from some modern scientists who have
read the Qur’an and compared it with science.
...He creates you in
the wombs of your mothers, from one stage to another, and all along three veils
of darkness surrounded you [Qur’an 39:6]
Dr. Keith Moore, one
of the world’s prominent scientists of anatomy and embryology at the University
of Toronto said:
"The
realization that the embryo develops in stages in the uterus was not proposed until
the 1940's, and the stages used nowadays were not adopted worldwide until
the 15th century C.E."
The Qur’an also says:
From what thing did
He create him? From Nutfa (male and female semen drops) He created him,
and then set him in due proportion. [Qur’an 80:18]
Commenting on this
verse, Dr. Moore said:
"The idea that development results from a genetic plan contained in
the chromosomes, of the zygote was not discovered until the end of the 19th
century C.E. The verse from the Qur'an (80:18) clearly implies that the nutfa
(i.e. the initial drop of fluid) contains the plan or blueprint for the future
characteristics and features of the developing human being".
Then We made the Nutfa
into a clot (a
piece of thick coagulated blood), then We made the clot into a little lump
of flesh, then We made out of that little lump of flesh bones, then We clothed
the bones with flesh, and then We brought it forth as another creation. So
blessed be Allah, the Best of creators. [Qur’an 23:14]
The best way to
really appreciate the beauty of the verses above is to see pictures of the
human embryo as it goes through the various stages of development. The
reference to “...chewed lump of flesh” is remarkably similar to the
appearance of the embryo after the first month.
Consider this in light
of the fact that if one reads what embryologists said on the subject just one
hundred years ago, one would laugh at its inaccuracies.
Some of the other
facts given in the Qur’an include the formation of milk (16:66), the orbiting
of planets (21:33 and 36:40) and the description of the water cycle (15:22 and
35:9)
Maurice Bucaille
writes on this topic:
“The above
observation makes the hypothesis advanced by those who see Muhammad as the
author of the Qur'an untenable. How could a man, from being illiterate, become
the most important author, in terms of literary merits, in the whole of Arabic
literature? How could he then pronounce truths of a scientific nature that no
other human being could possibly have developed at that time, and all this
without once making the slightest error in his pronouncement on the subject?”
-
Maurice Bucaille, The Bible, the Qur'an and Science, 1978, p 125.
Professor
Alfred Kroner who is one of the world’s most famous geologists said:
"Thinking
about many of these questions and thinking where Muhammad came from, he was
after all a bedouin. I think it is almost impossible that he could have known
about things like the common origin of the universe, because scientists have
only found out
within the
last few years with very complicated and advanced technological methods that
this is the case
We
ask the sincere reader to ponder on these facts
The
Miracle not limited by place and time
We mentioned in the
introduction that every Prophet is sent with miracles to establish his
Prophethood.
Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) performed many miracles which have been documented by
those who witnessed them such as the splitting of the moon, the increase of an
inadequate amount of food to a large number of people, and many other miracles
that were not permanent and could not be seen by every generation in every
place.
The Qur’an, however
is the permanent miracle and it is not limited by time and place. Generations
far removed from Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon him) time can witness
it for themselves.
Ibn
Khaldoon, a renowned Muslim historian put it very beautifully when he said:
“Know
that the greatest of all miracles, and the most sacred and blessed and the
clearest proof is the Qur’an that was revealed to the Prophet (Peace and
Blessings be upon him). This is because all other miracles, in general, were
brought forth separate from the actual inspiration (that the Prophet received),
as a means of proving the truthfulness of the inspiration. As for the Qur’an,
it is the inspiration and the miracle in one, and is therefore the clearest and
most powerful miracle, since it combines the boast and the proof into one.”
Itr,
p. 113
Also,
we ask the reader to reflect on the following statement of Ibn Taymiyyah:
“The
greatest
(of all the miracles) is the Qur’an that the Prophet
(Peace and Blessings be upon him) came with, for it is the religion of God and
His speech, and it is proof of the Prophethood of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings
be upon him). Its very revelation is one of the most supernatural and extraordinary
of acts, for it is the call (to the worship of God alone) and the proof (of the Prophethood of Muhammad,
peace and blessings be upon him) and the miracle
(i.e., all in one)”
Collection
of Islamic Rulings, vol. 11 p. 324
The
Life Changing Effect Of The Qur’an
The
Qur’an says:
“Verily this Qur’an
leads to that which is most right...” [Qur’an 17:9]
The Qur’an is a book
for all of mankind that is meant to reform the individual and even the society.
It changes the individual that is devoid of guidance and improves an individual
if he is already on the straight path.
Before the
Prophethood of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) the Arabs were heavy
drinkers of alcohol, engage in tribal battles and even bury their female babies
alive. Yet, when one studies the history of the Qur’an, one finds that within a
span of twenty years, due to the miraculous effect of the Qur’an, was able to
change almost all the Arabs and non-Arabs in the Arabian Peninsula and bind
them into a brotherhood of faith and love that was so strong that if any part
of the brotherhood would anguish, the whole brotherhood was affected negatively.
These people became
leaders of the world and cornerstones of a great civilization whose influence
would remain centuries
This effect lasted
long after Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon him) death. We see this in
the following passage:
The
sterling character and qualities of the Muslim soldiers were once praised by a
Roman Officer in these words: “At night you will find them prayerful; during
the day you will find them fasting. They keep their promises, order good deeds,
suppress evil and maintain complete equality among themselves”
Another
testified thus: “They are horsemen by day and ascetics by night. They pay for
what they eat in territories under their occupation. They are first to salute
when they arrive at a place and are valiant fighters who just wipe out the
enemy.”
And a third testified: “During the night it seems that they do not
belong to this world and have no other business than to pray, and during the
day, when one sees them mounted on their horses, one feels that they have been
doing nothing else their whole lives. They are great archers and great lancers,
yet they are so devoutly religious and remember God so much and so often that
one can hardly hear talk about anything else in their company”
Ibn
Kathir, Bidayyah wa Nihayyah pg. 53
Lack
of Contradiction
The
Qur’an challenges mankind by saying:
"Do they not
then consider the Qur’an carefully? Had it been from other than Allah, they
would surely have found therein much contradiction." [4:82]
The fact that there
are no contradictions in the Qur’an, despite being revealed over the
twenty-three year period, under different circumstances, addressing different
problems, is a clear indication to the sincere and objective reader of its
divine origin.
The
Logical Conclusion
We have established
that the Qur’an could not have been written by Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be
upon him) nor did he learn it from someone else or collect it from other
sources. Are you, the reader, still in doubt about this?
We ask you, if you
are still in doubt to then take up the challenge of the Qur’an itself and prove
it to be false.
Ponder upon that fact
that not one of the legions of brilliant poets that have lived in the
past 1,400 years have been able to match the Qur’an beauty and eloquence
despite repeated challenges from the Qur’an to do so. And they never will.
Why
are they not successful? Because the Qur’an is indeed the word of God and who
can compete with God? God has told us in the Qur’an that they will never be
able to do it.
Say: "If the
mankind and the jinns were together to produce the like of this Qur'ân, they
could not produce the like thereof, even if they helped one another." [Qur’an 17:88]
In other words, the
Qur’an itself has predicted that it will remain unparalleled and unrivaled for
all of eternity.
The
futility of trying to match the Qur’an’s brilliance and eloquence has been
foretold:
And if you are in
doubt concerning that which We have sent down (the Qur'an) to
Our slave (Muhammad Peace be upon him), then produce a Surah (chapter)
of the like thereof and call your witnesses (supporters and helpers) besides
Allah, if you are truthful. But if you do not do it, and you can never do it,
then fear the Fire (Hell) whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the
disbelievers.
[Qur’an 2:23-24]
The above is exactly
what has occurred! None have been able to meet this challenge to his day and
they can not do so.
Throughout this work,
we have asked the sincere reader to ponder. We also stated in the beginning
that if we conclude that the Qur’an is the word of God, then we must by
extension accept the Messengership of Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessing be
upon him)
The rational criteria
is at the sincere reader’s disposal, and one's emotional commitment to religion
should be preceded by an intellectual commitment to it. Reason, in fact, is our
primary means for finding the Truth.
We can put any
religion or system of beliefs to test by examining whether it is rational,
universal, applicable at all times, in all places, and by people of all colors
and languages, and whether the religion's Scripture is free of alteration,
internal and external inconsistencies.
A scripture is
internally inconsistent if it contains discrepancies and contradictions within
its text, and externally inconsistent if it contradicts facts (not
theories) from science and nature as we know them. For it is impossible that
God does not know His creation or that which He creates.
Our experience tells
us that a few minutes of reasoning can usually leave us persuaded in the truth
of God's absolute Oneness and Uniqueness, so what remains to be studied is
which religion is truly monotheistic in its nature.
One of the major
criteria for distinguishing the Truth from errors, that we would like to
stress, is the authenticity of the religious scripture.
We
have presented above indisputable proof that the Qur’an is the word of God.
The reality is that
Muslims are the only ones who even claim to have an authentic scripture from
God, in its original form, of which not a single letter has been changed.
Most other religions
admit that their scriptures are in fact human writings. And if we say that
there is a Truth and God, we are likely to believe that God wants us to do
certain things and abstain from others.
If we are of the view
that God would not leave us without a reliable Revelation, then the mere fact
that Muslims are the only ones who even claim to have an authentic revelation
could attest to the truthfulness of their claim.
However, as mentioned
earlier, the Qur'an invites us to ponder and reason and to accept faith based
on knowledge, rather than the blind following of our traditions.
As
we have quoted throughout this work from the Qur’an
"Do they not
then consider the Qur’an carefully? Had it been from other than Allah, they
would surely have found therein much contradiction." [4:82]
Again we ask the
sincere reader to ponder.
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