QURAN
The Book of God
WHEN the Prophet Muhammad claimed that the Quran was a divine book revealed to him by God for the guidance of man, there were many who did not believe him. The scriptures to them were human rather than a divine composition. The Quran then gave a challenge to these sceptics asking them to produce “a scripture similar to it”, if what they said was true. (52: 34). It declared moreover, in no uncertain terms that, even if all the human beings and the jinns made collective and concerted efforts to produce a book like the Quran, they would all fail miserably in their attempt. (17: 88)
The Prophet’s Miracle
Every Prophet is given a miracle—a sign. The miracle of the Prophet of
Islam is the Quran. The prophethood of Muhammad, was to be valid
until the Last Day. It was imperative, therefore, that his miracle also be
one which would last for all time. The Quran was therefore, assigned to
the Prophet as his everlasting miracle.
The Prophet’s opponents demanded miracles, such as those performed by previous prophets, but the Quran stated clearly that such miracles would not be forthcoming (17: 59). Instead, the revealed Book of God was made into the Prophet’s miracle:
They say, ‘Why has no sign been given to him by his Lord?’ Say, ‘The signs are in the hands of God. I am but a plain warner.’ Is it not sufficient for them that we have sent you down the Book to be recited to them? In this surely there is a blessing and an admonition for a people who believe. (29: 50-51)
Every Prophet is given a miracle—a sign. The miracle of the Prophet of Islam is the Quran. The Quran was assigned to the Prophet as his everlasting miracle.
There are many different aspects of the Quran’s miraculous nature. For further discussion, three aspects are highlighted.
The Language of the Quran
The language of the Quran is Arabic. Unlike other international
languages, Arabic has remained a living form of communication
over the ages. The languages in which all the ancient scriptures were
revealed have been locked in the archives of history. The only exception is Arabic, the language of the Quran, which is still current in the world
today. Millions of people still speak and write the language in which the
Quran was revealed nearly 1500 years ago.
Ernest Renan (1823-1894), a French orientalist, carried out extensive research on Semitic languages. He wrote a book on their vocabularies, in which he had this to say about the Arabic language:
“The Arabic language is the most astonishing event of human history. Unknown during the classical period, it suddenly emerged as a complete language. After this it did not undergo any noticeable changes, so one cannot define for it an early or a late stage. It is just the same today as it was when it first appeared”.
In acknowledging this ‘astonishing event of human history, Renan is in fact acknowledging the miraculous nature of the Quran. It was the Quran’s phenomenal literary style which preserved the Arabic language from alteration, such as other languages have undergone.
Jurgi Zaydan (1861-1914) is one of the scholars to have recognized this fact. In a book on Arabic literature he writes:
“No religious book has had such an impact on the language in which it was written as the Quran has had on Arabic literature.”
There is no other book in history which has been able to make such an impact on its language; no other book has moulded a whole language according to its own style, and maintained it in that form over the centuries.
This provides proof of the miraculous nature of the Quran, for there is no other book in history which has been able to make such an impact on its language; no other book has moulded a whole language according to its own style, and maintained it in that form over the centuries.
World languages have changed so much throughout the ages that no expert in any modern language is able to understand its ancient form without the aid of a dictionary. There have been two main causes of language alteration—upheavals in the social order of a nation and the development of a language’s literature. Over the centuries these factors have been at work in Arabic, just as in other languages. The difference being they have not been able to change the structure of the Arabic language. The Arabic that is spoken today is the same as that which was current in Makkah when the Quran was revealed. No change in the Arab social order has been able to alter in any way the Arabic tongue. This fact is an indication that the Quran came from a supernatural source.
Preserved Scripture
The Quran is unique among divine scriptures in that its text has
remained intact in the original form.
Consider the following news from the Daily Mail (UK), 22 July 2015 and the Times of India, 23 July 2015, which confirms the above-mentioned fact:
Fragments of the world’s oldest Quran, dating back almost to the time of the Prophet Muhammad, have been found bound within the pages of another copy of the Islamic holy book in the library of the University of Birmingham.
The two pages from the Islamic holy book manuscript are thought to be between 1448 and 1371 years old, making it the earliest copy of the Quran in existence.
Experts say the text contained on the pages is remarkably similar to modern copies of the Quran and suggests many parts of the holy book have not changed since the time of the Prophet Muhammad. The discovery is thought to be particularly significant as in the early years of Islam, the Quran was thought to have been memorized and passed down orally rather than written.
Professor David Thomas said: ‘the parts of the Koran that are contained in those fragments are very similar indeed to the Koran as we have it today, and so this tends to support the view that the Koran that we now have is more or less very close indeed to the Koran as it was brought together in the early years of Islam.’
This characteristic of the Quran—its perfect state of preservation— singles it out from its predecessors as a unique vehicle for divine guidance and salvation, one which will retain its validity until the end of time.
This is proof that the text of the Quran has never been tampered with and is a distinguishing feature of the Quran. This characteristic of the Quran—its perfect state of preservation—singles it out from its predecessors as a unique vehicle for divine guidance and salvation, one which will retain its validity until the end of time.
There are no additions to the Quranic text by human beings and therefore there is no question of revising it as far as the original text is concerned. The only need could be in re-application of the verses in the present context. For example; today, in the age of democracy, there is no religious persecution so the commandments pertaining to the behaviour of the believers in the face of persecution will find no application in the present democratic situations.
Quranic Challenge
The Quran challenged its doubters to produce
a book like it. No one has been able to take
up this challenge, and produce anything
comparable to the Book of God.
The greatest substantiation of the Quran’s claim that no one would be able to write a work like it (17: 88) comes from what Ernest Renan has called the ‘linguistic miracle’ of the Arabic language. As with every other language, masters of Arabic—great poets and writers—have appeared over the ages. But, in the 1500 years since the Quran was revealed, no one has been able to produce a work that excelled it. Its standard has never been improved upon and Arabic has remained on the course set for it by the Quran.
The Quran challenged its doubters to produce a book like it. No one has been able to take up this challenge, and produce anything comparable to the Book of God.
The impact that the Quran has had on Arabic is like that of a writer who produces a work of unsurpassable literary excellence at the very beginning of a language’s history. After such a figure has made his mark, no lesser writer can change the face of the language. Anyone who knows Arabic can appreciate the unique quality of the Quran’s style as compared to that of any other work of Arabic literature. The Quran is written in a divine style vastly superior to anything humans can aspire to.
Thus with all the above points to prove that it is word of God, one should read it with the understanding that God is directly addressing man. The objective of the Quran is to make man aware of the creation plan of God. That is, to tell man why God created this world; what is the purpose of settling man on earth; what is required from man in his life on earth and what he is going to confront after death. The purpose of the Quran is to make man aware of this reality, thus serving to guide man on his entire journey through life into the afterlife.