The Holy Quran

Harmonisation of Its Themes

The speech or writing of a person, however skillful or eloquent he may be, will not be uniform in all conditions and circumstances. In particular, the works which appear in the days of any author's first writings are very different from the works which come after many years and as the result of much experience and repeated practice; the later works are almost always better.

But the Qur'an, in that it was sent down in the course of 23 years, and in that it was revealed in various circumstances and like a long flowing river passed over various stoney places, rapids, narrows, valleys and plains, and witnessed many amazing events, it remained forever, like a spring, clear and fresh.

The unity and harmony of the themes and the style and expression of the Qur'an are a source for wonder. We see this wonder reach its apex, and notice in the contents of the Qur'an that many different subjects are dealt with, but the style and unity of expression remain constant.

It is clear that if someone, when he reached a stage of mastery over a special subject, shows what he can do, he may display brilliance, but if he undertakes something in another branch of which he is not a master, he will not produce any distinctive work. But the Qur'an shines to an amazing degree in every area.

Scientific Wonders in the Qur'an Although the first and basic aim of the Qur'an, according to what it says itself, is only to guide man to the great road of contentment and prosperity in the life of this world, the world of man, but on the way, in pursuing this aim, it expresses many truths from human knowledge in the natural sciences, in physiology and astronomy. And this is itself another great sign of the wonder of the Qur'an.

For the Prophet, according to the definite testimony of history, had never studied, grew up in an environment completely devoid of human knowledge and science (except literature), and was far from the centers of science of those days - Greece, Rome and Iran. Now let us see some indications of this wonder.

1. Meteorology is a very new science. The knowledge of former people about the phenomena of clouds, wind, rain and snow did not go beyond conjecture and what they could see, and, generally speaking, it had an air of imaginativeness and chance and was never established on a scientific basis.

Captains and farmers both had their signs and indications for forecasting wind and rain, but they did not really understand these phenomena.

Thus things went on for thousands of years, till, in the 17th century A.D., the thermometer, and in the 19th century the telegraph, and, gradually, other things necessary for meteorology were invented and discovered. In their turn, scientists settled down to research, till, in the first half of the 20th century, the Norwegian scientist, Byerkness, succeeded in discovering the general laws of the formation and movements of clouds and the occurrence of storms and rains in all places.

After him, the extent of discoveries in this science, as in other areas, progressed: the rain-bearing properties of clouds, how rain is released from them, the formation and occurrence of hail, matters relating to thunderbolts and thunder and lightening and storms in tropical areas, air currents near the surface of the earth, and other matters, till knowledge reached extensive limits.

But fifteen centuries ago, when the Qur'an told about the winds and the rain and other phenomena, it was right when it told us about the latest, newest discoveries of meteorology.

For example, it has now been proved that it is possible for a cloud to reach saturation point but to yield no rain, and for it to be just microscopic particles tiny enough to hang suspended in the air and not to fall and cause rain; however, by means of invisible particles of salt which are blown by the wind from the surface of the sea it will rain.

Or, something more important; the humidity in the air gathers round the crystallised snow flakes which lie at high altitudes and which are scattered by the wind. Eventually small drops and the first rain unite together, and, as a result of mixing and colliding together in the wind, they gradually become bigger and bigger, and because of their own relatively heavy weight fall from the massed clouds. This is what the Qur'an made clear 15 centuries ago:

"And We send winds for making fruitful, and then We send down water from the sky, thus We give it unto you to drink of it." (XV;22)

2. Until the invention of the aircraft and the possibility of high-altitude flying, man's knowledge and experience did not encompass needles of ice beyond the clouds. Till then no one knew that mountains of ice-needles existed in the sky above man's heads. But the Qur'an is very clear when it says:

"He sendeth down from the sky, from mountains therein, hail..." (XXIV;43)

3. Living things in other worlds. Man, with the help of his knowledge of space, has set foot on the moon, but the matter of the existence of living things on other worlds has not proceeded beyond theory, and we can say that, from many signs, only it is possible that there are living things such as animals or man on some other planets and stars. But the Qur'an declares unambiguously:

"And of His signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth and of what He hath spread out in both of them of animate beings, and for their gathering together when He willeth, He is All-PowerfuL" (XLII;29)

4. In Surah 36, verse 36, we have:

"Glory be to He Who created all the pairs of what the earth produces, and of themselves, and of what they know not."

And in Surah 20, verse 53, we read:

"And He sent down water out of the sky, and therewith We have brought forth various pairs of plants."

In times when man's knowledge did not permit the respected interpreters of the Qur'an to know that plants and growing things came in pairs and couples, they interpreted and observed pairing in classes, species or by form and matter or other philosophical terms which do not exist in the pages of the Qur'an. But today, on the basis of new research, it has been discovered that not only are men and animals created in pairs, but other living things also. One of the most amazing phenomena in the world is the pairing and fertilizations of plants, which is all explained in natural science books.

The Qur'an Makes a Challenge

Not only from the point of view of eloquence, but also, as we have seen, in the fields of human ideas and society, and for all levels of understanding, the Qur'an is a miracle. For rhetoricians it has its eloquence, for philosophers its wisdom, and for scientists its different kinds of knowledge. For all these reasons the Qur'an addresses all people and says: "If you say this book is the word of man, bring its like and its equal."

"Say: 'If man and jinn banded together to produce the like of this Qur'an, they would never produce its like, not though they back one another." (XVII;88)

"Or do they say: 'He has forged it.'? Say: 'Then bring you ten surahs the like of it, forged; and call upon whom you are able, apart from Allah, if you speak truly. ' Then if they do not answer you, know that it has been sent down with Allah's knowledge, and that there is no god but He." (XI;13-14)

"and if you are in doubt about what We have sent down on Our servant, then bring a Surah like it." (II;23)

But we see from the testimony of history from then till now no one has had the courage to do this and produce its like. Of course, during the time of Muhammad (S.A.) and after his death, some Arabs, like Musailemah, Sajah and Ibn Abi'l-'Awja', planned to challenge it but they were not able, and eventually confessed to their incapacity.

In the time of the Prophet (S.A.), the enemies of Islam, who used the most awful means in their work, torturing the Muslims, laying economic boycotts on them, plotting to kill Muhammad (S.A.), and so forth, had no one who could do a simple thing like bringing one surah like the Qur'an.

In the present day, too, those who spend millions of dollars trying to destroy Islam would certainly attack it in this inexpensive and easy way (bringing a surah like the Qur'an) if they could. If they had been able to do that up to now, it would have been a victory for them and the end of Islam and the news would have been blown on all the trumpets of the world's newsmen.

In the end it is necessary to remind ourselves that if we get to know the Qur'an, or get to know it better and put its great, magnificent and precise project into action, greatness will be ours, and more. The huge edifice of our, the Muslims, greatness collapsed when we stopped putting the commands of this heavenly book into practice.

So we fell down, we were satisfied only with the name of Islam. Our departed greatness will return when we leave this crooked way and, starting again, become new Muslims and put the Qur'an at the top of the sights of our hearts and our wisdom, and make it an example for life, as the Prophet said: "When calamities encompass you like the darkness of the night, reach for the Qur'an." (Usul al-Kafi, vol. 2, p. 599) (The Roots of Religion, p. 136-146).