The Holy Quran

The Qur'an As a Document of Prophethood

The Qur'an refers on several occasions to the fact that it is the word of God, that it issues from a divine source in the very words in which the Prophet received them and which he later transmitted. The divine nature of the Qur'an is affirmed in several verses. In LII:33-34 we read: "or they say that (the Prophet) is inventing it. Indeed they do not believe. If they are truthful then let them produce words like it" Likewise in XVII:88:

"Say (O Muhammad), if all the jinn and mankind were to join forces to produce something like this Qur'an they could not produce it even if they were to help one another"

Again, in XI:13:

"or they say he has invented it! Say: then produce ten verses like it which you have invented"

and again in X:38:

"or they say he has invented it. Say: produce a single chapter like it" we find further proof.

The following challenge is made in Chapter II:23:

"and if you are in doubt concerning that which we have revealed to Our slave then produce a chapter like it"

Here it should be noted that the Qur'an is addressing those who grew up with Muhammad, the man they knew to be unlettered and untutored in the matters spoken about in the Qur'an. Despite this knowledge, they still doubt. Another challenge is issued, (to those who would find contradictions in the Qur'an, but obviously cannot):

Will they not reflect upon the Qur'an? If it had been from other than God, they would have found in it much incongruity" (IV:82)

Since everything in the world is in a state of growth and self-perfection, then the Qur'an would of necessity lack harmony since it was revealed over a period of twenty-three years; it would lack harmony that is if we were to suppose that it was the work of a man rather than of a prophet. The Qur'an, whose messages announce and confirm that it is the work of God, also teaches us that Muhammad is a messenger, sent by God, thus confirming the authenticity of the Prophet. In chapter XIII:43 God speaks Himself, as on many occasions, confirming that He is witness and testimony to the prophecy of Muhammad:

"Say God is sufficient witness between you and me."

The verse refers to disbelievers and defies their disbelief. In another verse, the testimony of angels is added to that of God's: "But God testifies concerning that which he has resealed to you; He has revealed it in His knowledge; and the Angels also testify. And God is sufficient witness" (IV:166)

Notes:

  1. Usually translated to mean religion, the word strongly implies transaction between the Debtor (God) and the indebted (man). Hence, living the din means repaying one's debt to the Creator.

  2. A report of the words or deeds of the Prophet which has been transmitted to us intact by a chain, or numerous chains, of trustworthy narrators. The tradition in question here possesses an unbroken chain of transmission back to the Prophet himself; these verses confirm the miraculous quality of the book and state that it is beyond the power of man to produce such a work.

The Prophet's miracle

Prophets and Miracles

Divine Prophets have always been sent with clear signs, so that men might be convinced that they had come from God. For this reason those who have souls like polished mirrors and like clear transparent springs, glistening and pure so that they can recognise these signs commit themselves and have faith; like the magicians of Pharaoh's time who, when they saw the amazing miracle of Musa (A.S.), how the staff became a poisonous serpent, and understood that this was beyond the power of a human being, believed in him and ignored Pharaoh's intimidation.

The disciples of 'Isa (A.S.) also saw with their own eyes the effects of his breath when he breathed into the bodies of the dead, and, by the will of God, raised the dead and gave them life. They were attracted to him, and the souls and spirits of the dead were given everlasting life through faith in 'Isa (A.S.).

The Prophet of Islam, who was the last prophet and the best and greatest of them, and who brought an everlasting religion, the perfection of all Divine religions, which will last till the Resurrection, came at the time of his mission with clear signs from God, so that he could be clearly a proof of the legitimacy of His true and perfect religion. * * *

The Qur'an, the everlasting miracle.

Thus it was that the Qur'an, the everlasting document of Islam, appeared on the horizon of human thoughts and ideas. The torch which will always shine at the apex of the great religion of Muhammad (S.A.) at the highest peak of human intellects, as long as the sun rises in the East. It is a brilliant divine sign whose lights, like the rays of the sun, are essential in every era and century and for always, for the continuance of life and the safeguarding of the happiness of all races of humanity.

Within this framework and on this foundation, all that is necessary for man's guidance has come. It elucidates the foundations of belief and also the relation of man and God and the ways of strengthening that relation in words with the softness of the clear waters of murmuring brooks, and the firmness of the standing mountains, attractive, eloquent and strong.

It describes the social responsibilities of man; it teaches the ways and the rules of social behaviour. It puts an end to class differences and unequal divisions. It wishes the highest in man and his borotherhood and equality and his elevation.

Unequalled Eloquence

Being conversant with vocabulary and having a good knowledge of words at one's fingertips is not such a great difficulty, but their combination and arrangement and harmonisation in a style which has regard for eloquence and fluency, and the construction of phrases with a variety of expression yet in the same way in which they arise in the mind, is the most important skill, and it is something which is not practicable without observing the narrow rules of literary exactness, and using craftsmanship and eloquence. In the art of eloquence, it is said that for eloquence in any speaking or writing it is necessary to observe three principles.

  1. Proficiency in words and their meanings.
  2. Power of thought and subtlety of eloquence.
  3. Power of expression, or skill with the pen.

But it must always be kept in mind that although all the rules and requirements of eloquence may be heeded, no one can claim that his speech or writing is always the best, and that no one can parallel him. However, Allah the Exalted, Whose range of power and knowledge is without limit, has so variously decorated His words in the Qur'an with arrangements and harmonisations of words that no one, be he the most eloquent man on earth, can bring its like.

And this is the secret of the eternity of the Qur'an, the |everlasting prophetic document of Hazrat Muhammad (S.A.). The Qur'an, according to the testament of history, shone at that time when the Arabs were at the zenith of their literary development.

The famous poets and great orators, Imra'ul-Qais, Labid, etc., who are still counted as outstanding geniuses in the field of literature, wrote poems and gave orisons which sometimes reached the limits of greatness and which were written on curtains and golden plaques and attached to the wall of the Ka'abah. But, with the rising of the brilliant sun of the Qur'an, all of these lost their light and were eclipsed like the stars.

The eloquent Arabs were left bewildered by the eloquence of the Qur'an, which was such that the enemies who were full of hate for Islam and Muhammad (S.A.), who even took to the sword to wipe him and his religion out, were unable, with all their efforts, to find even one short mistake in the language and expression of the Qur'an.

The Enemies' Judgment

It was the time of Hajj. People were coming to Mecca from everywhere, and the Quraysh were uncomfortable from fear that the news of Muhammad's prophethood might have an effect on the new arrivals. So a group of the Quraysh, with Walid at their head, gathered round them and related what unjust things they could say about the Prophet and thus dissuade the new arrivals from meeting him.

Then when they were gathered, one of them said, "Let us say this man is soothsayer." "They will not believe us," said Walid, "for his speech is not like the sayings of soothsayers." "Let us say he is mad," someone else volunteered. "No one will accept that," Walid replied, "because his speech and behaviour are not like a lunatic's." "We shall say he is a poet," they said.

"This also will not work, because Arabs know all kinds of poetry, and his words are not like a poem." "We shall say he is a sorcerer." "Sorcerers have special methods, like tying knots and blowing on them, and Muhammad does nothing like this." Then Walid himself declared, "I swear by God, the speech of that man has a special sweetness and pleasantness.

His speech is like a tree, luxuriant, with steady deep roots and branches which bend down laden with fruit. Thus we can say to people that his speech is bewitched, because it causes separation between father and child, wife and husband, sister and brother.'' To discover the Qur'an's eloquence, and also to find out that it is at the summit of eloquence, non-Arab speakers can turn back to the sayings of those Arabs who were experts in the language of those days and which are recorded in history, and also to present day authors who write on this subject, and to the acknowledgments of those specialists in this branch.

Fortunately, from the time of the Prophet (S.A.) till now, all specialists in the art of Arabic eloquence have confessed to the unparalleled eloquence of the Qur'an, and have been overwhelmed in the face of it.

For example, the famous contemporary Arab writer Abdulfatah Tabbarah writes: "Arab history tells us of many famous men, knowledgeable in the best poetry and prose, like Ibn al-Muqaffa', Jahiz, ibn al-'Amid, Farazdaq, Bashshar, Abu Nuwas, Abu Tammam and so forth, but all of them have shown humility when faced with the Qur'an, and have of necessity confessed that the great Qur'an is not of the words of man, but a Divine revelation.''

Dr. Taha Husayn, the powerful contemporary Egyptian writer, said: The Qur'an transcends the limits of prose and poetry, because it has special qualities which cannot be found in any poem or prose. So the Qur'an cannot be called poetry or prose, rather it should be said:" It is the Qur'an, that is all."