The Qur'an and Hadith
Miracles of Prophecies
Another miraculous aspect of the Qur'an is its prophecies. For instance, the destiny of Abu Lahab and his wife was foretold to be the hell; and they both died idolaters. Hence both of them deserved the hell. "Soon shall he (Abu Lahab) enter into blazing fire, and his wife, the wood-carrier" (111:3-4)
When the Holy Prophet (s.a.w) was in Mecca, a war broke out between the Romans and the Persians in which the Romans were defeated. The Meccans were overjoyed because the Persians were fire-worshippers, and the idol-worshipping Meccans took their victory over the Christians (nominally Unitarians) as a good omen that too would ultimately vanquish the Muslims.
Then came the revelation telling the Meccans that the Romans would be victorious in the second round:
"The Romans have been defeated, in the near land, and they after their defeat will be victorious within few years; Allah's is the command before and after that; and on that day the believers will rejoice". (30:2-4) In a few years, the Romans defeated the Persians. While the Holy Prophet was about to migrate to Medina, his heart was full of grief for leaving his hometown. Then came the good news to console him: "Most surely He who has made the teaching of the Qur'an binding on thee, will bring thee back to thy place of return". (28:85) Within eight years the Holy Prophet returned to Mecca triumphantly.
The dream (in 6 A.H) that he was entering Mecca was followed by the ayah: "Surely has Allah in truth fulfilled for His Messenger the Vision; you will certainly enter the Sacred Mosque (i.e. Ka'bah) if Allah wills, in security, some having their head shaven and others having their hair cut short, and you will have no fear". (48:27). This prophecy also proved correct. There are many other prophecies - some have already been fulfilled, and others will surely be fulfilled.
FREE FROM DISCREPANCIES
"Do not they ponder on the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely find therein much discrepancy". (4:82) The Qur'an is a Book which covers may subjects and events. Its topics are not separated as is the case with scholar's books and theses. It discusses many topics in one page at times, but without losing the purpose and without going away from the main aim. The Qur'an is a book that you enjoy reading; and the more you read it, the further the desire to read it again. Indeed in every reading you see some horizons that you had not seen before.
Considering the range of the topics the Qur'an comments on, the repetition of some stories, the non-classification of the topics, it is hard to find such a book without contradictions and errors. By human standard, practically no book is free from mistakes whether it is on history, physics, chemistry, astronomy or biology.
But here is a book, which was not written at one time. It is a collection of piecemeal revelations, covering a span of about 23 years. Can any scholar believe that any human being, unlettered, will remember every single word, which he had uttered during the previous 23 years? It is impossible and hence the chances of contradictions. But Qur'an has no contradiction; and, according to that test, it is the word of Allah. There is a tradition in al-Ihtijaj reporting that an atheist had mentioned some ayat to Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.) which he thought were contradictory to each other. When Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.) explained the meaning and purpose of those ayat, that atheist had to admit that the Qur'an was free from discrepancies.
Leaving that lengthy report aside, I quote here a paragraph from a shorter tradition in which Imam Ali (a.s.) had replied to a question of similar nature put by a Kharijite, Abdullah ibn al-Kawwa'. The Kharijite had claimed that the following three ayat contradicted one another:
- But nay! I swear by the Lord of the [many] Easts and [many] Wests… (70:40)
- The Lord of the two Easts and the two Wests. (55:17)
- The Lord of the Easts and the Wests… (73:9)
He thought it contradictory, because in one place it speaks of one East and one West, while another ayah mentions two Easts and two Wests and yet a third describes many Easts and many Wests. Imam Ali bin Abi Talib (a.s.) showed that there was no discrepancy at all. The ayah speaking of "the East and the West" refers to the two cardinal points; the one mentioning "two Easts and two Wests" describes the two extreme points of the sunrise and sunset of the winter and the summer, and the one of many Easts and many Wests draws attention to the scientific exactitude because every day the Sun rises and sets in a different place from the previous day.
Thus we should understand that whatever word or expression is used in the Qur'an it points out to one or the other great truth. Mankind will gain much by pondering upon the words of God, which has come to us in its purest form in the Qur'an.
SCIENTIFIC REVELAITONS
Now, a non-Arab may rightly wonder about the claim of the literary miracle. He does not know Arabic, so miraculous aspect of the language might not be appealing to him, or even to uneducated or half-educated modern Arabs. The reason for the latter is the deterioration of the colloquial Arabic and its distance from the classical standards.
Obviously in this era we are in need of a miracle in science, telling us what is in the heavens and within ourselves. The Qur'an, although not a scientific text, reveals many secrets and wonders of the heavens and of ourselves as part of its call to believe in the Creator of Universe. Now any person who wants to be a biologist, physicist or astronomer needs to study for at least twenty years aided by sophisticated machines, tools and libraries and under proper supervision. Then he might be able to break through, and discover some of the hidden facts of the nature. The Qur'an not only reveals many secrets of the Universe but also is not confined to a special field of the science.
"See you not how Allah created seven heavens one above the other? And made the moon a light therein, and the sun a lamp?" (71:15-16) The moon is a solid object which reflects light, hence it is a "light". But the sun is a source of energy and light, so it is a "lamp". "The sun and the moon follow (their courses) according to a reckoning". (55:5) The sun is not static but moving in a path exactly computed. Remember the middle-ages' belief that the sun is the center of the universe and the earth is a plane. Remember that for contrary belief scientists were burned alive or imprisoned. And see that the Qur'an declared these facts 1400 years ago.
"And the sun is moving on the course determined for it. That is the decree of the Almighty, the All-Knowing; and the moon, we have measured for it stages (to traverse) till it becomes like the old a date-stalk; it is not permitted to the sun to catch up the moon, not can the night outstrip the day; and each swims along in (its own) orbit". (36:38-40) "Then turned He to the heaven which was yet a smoke, and said He unto it and unto the earth 'Come both of you, willingly or reluctantly'. They said: We come willingly". (41:11)
The heaven was smoke- which means dark and containing gas and steam. It is the exact description of the so-called cloud in heaven as most reliable recent discoveries reveal. "Allah it is who raised up the heavens without visible supports, and He is firm in power, and made the sun and the moon subservient, each runs unto an appointed term; He regulates the affair; He makes clear the signs that you may be certain of the meeting your Lord". (13:2) The invisible support, naturally, means the force of gravitation that exists in the universe which holds the planets apart and within a predetermined limit.
"O Company of Jinn and men, if you can penetrate the regions of the heavens and the earth, then do penetrate (them): you will not penetrate except with a power". (55:33)
This verse comes with undoubted encouragement to people to explore and travel through the outer space. Here one should pause and think of the society that the Holy Prophet was living in. The means of transport were camels, horses and donkeys. The people lived in tents and worshipped idols. They had not even dreamt of a car or an aero-plane or even an engine of any kind. How the Qur'an puts such a high idea to encourage people not only to fly but to travel to other planets and heavens? In materialistic thinking this should be impossible, because they claim that human thinking is a reflection of his material environment!
Then the only solution in this case is to believe that Qur'an was not a product of human mind, but a revelation from Allah. No human being could definitely put forth such an idea even if he were the greatest astronomer or scientist. There are many verses of scientific nature and there are many volumes dealing with them, but the Muslims have shut their eyes from them. People in our time are proud of their knowledge, and the Qur'an baffles them even now. There are so many examples that a certain ayah remained a puzzle for commentators, until the discoveries of recent times made its meaning clear. To quote two examples:
In the surah, 'the Believer', there is a verse: "And Pharaoh said, 'O Haman, build for me a tower that I may reach the avenues, the avenues of the heavens, and may mount to the God of Moses, for I verily deem him a liar". (40:36-37)
Rev. J.M. Rodwell writes in its foot-note: "Haman, the favorite Ahasuers and enemy of the Jews, is thus made the vizier of Pharaoh. The Rabbis make this vizier to have been Korah, Jethro or Balaam"
The objection of Rev. J.M. Rodwell may be excused, because neither he nor any Rabbi knew before this century that "Amon" was the name of the great Egyptian deity who was often given the title "King of the gods". He was patron of the most powerful pharaohs, and was pre-eminently the national god. Its high priest also was given the name "Amon", and he was responsible for all temples and religious buildings. All these things have been discovered by excavations during the last 100 years. Now that we know something about Amon and the high priest and the priest's functions, does it seem strange that pharaoh should have asked Amon's priest (also called Amon) to build a tower to look at the God of Moses?
But these things were unknown 1400 years ago. Still the Qur'an used the correct title of the priest and assigned to him the correct function. Does anybody want more scientific miracles? This single verse is sufficient to make one believe that this book is from God, not from any human being. The second example is also connected with Pharaoh. Speaking about the drowning of Pharaoh, Allah says in the QUR'AN:
"And We brought the children of Israel across the sea; the Pharaoh and his hosts pursued them in rebellion and hostility; till, when drowning overtook him, he said, 'I believe that there is no God but He in Whom the children of Israel believe, and I am of those who submit to him. 'What! Now! While thou didst disobey before and waste of those who create mischief. So this day We will save thee in thy body, that thou may be a sign to those who come (after thee)". (10:90-92).
These 'AYAT clearly say that Pharaoh's body was recovered and it became a sign of warning to later generations. But this thing is not mentioned in the Bible. Still the QUR'AN claimed that the body of Pharaoh was recovered. And 1300 years after that revelation, excavations have brought into light that body which was mummified and preserved for future generations, and even after these long centuries his face and body clearly show the effect of drowning.
If the QUR'AN was the work of a man, how did he know of this fact which was not known even to the Jews and the Egyptians of that time? An extremely amazing quality of the QUR'AN is that many of its 'AYAT are capable of multi-layered interpretations. Our Imams have described this distinction in these terms: "The QUR'AN has an inner meaning and that too has another inner meaning and it has an apparent meaning". And it is worth noting that all strata of connotations are valid and correct.
For example, look at this verse: "Thou makes the night to enter into the day and Thou makes the day to enter into the night…" (3:27). The Muslim scholars have been explaining these sentences in terms of the continuously changing lengths of days and nights, throughout the year. In the northern hemisphere, from mid-winter to mid-summer, days become longer and longer and nights shorter and shorter- it is the entering of the day into the night. And from mid-summer to mid-winter, nights become longer and longer and days shorter and shorter and shorter- it is the entering of the night into the day. The position in the southern hemisphere is just opposite. When the nights are longer in one hemisphere, they are shorter in the other; the same happens with the days. In this way, Allah is always making the day to enter into the night, and the night to enter into the day.
This explanation is doubtlessly correct; but now we have witnessed another phenomenon, which seems even more appropriate to these sentences. MAURICE BUCAILLE has written: "{The astronauts have seen} how the Sun permanently lights up (except in the case of an eclipse) the half of the Earth's surface that is facing it, while the other half of the globe is in darkness. The Earth turns on its own axis and the lighting remains the same, so that an area in the form of a half-sphere makes one revolution around the Earth in twenty-four hours while the other half-sphere, that has remained in darkness, makes the same revolution in the same time. This perpetual rotation of the night and day is quite clearly described in the QUR'AN. It is easy for the human understanding to grasp this notion nowadays because we have the idea of the Sun's (relative) immobility and the Earth's rotation. This process of perpetual coiling, including the interpenetration of one sector by another is expressed in the QUR'AN…."
Now you see how the QUR'AN has an apparent meaning and then another stratum of even more clear meaning. The same may happen in the cases of inner meanings.
But mind it! We do not judge the QUR'AN by contemporary theories and discoveries. Theories may change overnight; discoveries may be surpassed by further discoveries. These are passing phases. But the word of Allah is the eternal truth. Therefore, in our eyes QUR'AN is not to be tested by ever-changing theories. These theories should be tested by QUR'AN. If they are in total agreement with the QUR'AN we know that they are right and correct. If not, then we shall wait till one day somebody discovers something which will tally with the QUR'AN and then we shall know that it was right.
Miracles As The Best Code Of Life
Islam is not just a relation between the Creator and man as is understood in the West. Islam is a complete and perfect system of life, arranging human relationship with Allah as well as among the people themselves. The QUR'AN has not left or neglected any aspect of human life without providing a code for it.
Economy is adjusted to achieve fair and just transaction and to preserve the dignity of every individual. Politics is given special attention since the course and stability of the society depends mainly on the leader and administration. Social life is built and bonded strongly in order to achieve maximum co-operation and cohesion.
Humanity has been striving to live under a system of justice, security and happiness. But these fruits were never tasted under any man-made system. Only the Islamic system, based on Divine revelation, has proved to be the best and the most perfect code of life. Dealing with each task. Hence confining ourselves to some brief examples is best suited here.
For the economic system, the QUR'AN dictates two sets of fundamental laws: The first set deals with immuring the society against unfair or harmful transactions such as monopoly, usury, gambling, cheating etc. "O you who believe! Intoxicants, gambling, dedication of stones, and divination by arrows are an abomination of Satan's handicraft. Satan's plan is but to excite enmity and hatred between you with intoxicants and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer. Will not you then abstain"? (5:90-91).
The second set aims at reducing and lessening the accumulation of wealth in a few hands. The QUR'AN has imposed taxes on rich people and the money is spent on the needy people and social welfare. The says: "….righteousness is rather one who…gives his wealth, out of love for Him, to the kindred and the orphans and the poor and the wayfarer and to those who ask and for those in bondage: and establish prayer and pay the ZAKAH: and who fulfill their promise when they make a promise…" (2:177).
It should be noted that some of these laws are compulsory such as ZAKAH while others are voluntary. The QUR'AN does not deny the self-interest of people and satisfies it fully by promising full reward in the life hereafter for those who donate and sacrifice. But this is not the only reward and satisfaction; they are promised a prosperous life in this world too. This fact reveals itself by looking at the stable co-operative society that Islam is aiming at. Naturally one of the very important realities of a prosperous society is stability, i.e. freedom from crimes, friction, envy, and hatred between different classes.
Social life is built on family units. "And your Lord has commanded that you shall not worship any but Him and do goodness to parents…" (17:23). Islam has given the family the greatest attention, realizing the importance and weight that it bears on the whole society. First of all, marriage is emphasized and it secures for both partners equality of tights and restores their dignity. Then the QUR'AN came with the most excellent bond which will keep the society coherent and healthy. Wayfarers are enabled to reach their homes; the old people are respected and looked after and the children are treated tenderly and brought up in good conditions.
John William Draper writes: "The Koran abounds in excellent moral suggestions and precepts; its composition is so fragmentary that we cannot turn to a single page without finding maxims of which all men must approve. This fragmentary construction yields texts, and mottos, and rules complete in themselves, suitable for common men in any of the incidents of life".
Rev. J.M RODWELL writes: "It must be acknowledged, too, that the Koran deserves the highest praise for its conceptions of the Divine nature, in reference to the attributes of power, knowledge, and universal Providence and Unity-that its belief and trust in the One God of Heaven and Earth is deep and fervent-and that…it embodies much of a noble and deep moral earnestness, and sententious oracular wisdom, and has proved that there are elements in it on which mighty nations and conquering… empires can be built up".
6. How To Interpret the QUR'AN
I have been asked, "Must we always take the literal meaning of the QUR'AN or metaphorical"? The answer is already given in the third chapter of the QUR'AN: "He it is Who has sent down to thee the Book, of it there are decisive verses: they are the bases of the Book; and others (which are) ambiguous. But those in whose hearts is perversity pursue, forsooth, that which is ambiguous, seeking to cause mischief and seeking to explain it (as they like)". (3:7).
Every literary work has some plain sentences and some metaphorical, and the QUR'AN is no exception. Unfortunately, some sects like the WAHHABIYAH do not see the point and try to explain the metaphorical passages too in literal way. This trend has caused many absurdities. As a matter of fact, the portions dealing with legal matters (the SHARI'AH) are decisive and clear; they are not allegorical. Other passages are sometimes clear and sometimes allegorical. Allegorical passages should be explained with the help of relevant clear verses and as taught by the Prophet and the Imams. That, and that alone, will be the true interpretation.
To interpret the QUR'AN by twisting its meanings, or to try to find an interpretation which suits one's fancy, is a capital sin. The Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) has said: "He who interprets the QUR'AN according to his own views should prepare his seat in the Fire (of Hell)". On the other hand, many AYAT of the QUR'AN invite mankind to ponder upon its meaning. How can these two directives be reconciled? It is very easy: First, learn all those subjects which are necessary to understand the QUR'AN.
Secondly, mould your thinking according to the teachings of the Holy Prophet and his rightful successors. Thirdly, remove all personal prejudice and preferences from your mind. Lastly, ponder upon the AYAT of the QUR'AN and follow them wherever they may lead you. Do not try to lead the AYAT to your goal. When you will ponder upon the QUR'AN in this way, with full knowledge and mature mind, without trying to mould the QUR'AN according to your preconceived ideas, and with a desire to mould your thinking in the light of the QUR'AN, you will find the right answer.
AN EXAMPLE OF ABSURD INTERPRETATION
ANAS relates that "the Holy Prophet was playing with children when Gabriel descended, and putting him down on the ground, Gabriel opened the breast of the Prophet. He took out some thick blood from his heart, and said that so much was the part of the Satan in him. Then he washed his heart with water of the ZAMZAM, in a gold basin, and having washed it properly, put it back into his chest and put stitches over it. When the children saw this, they ran to HALIMAH, his nurse, and told her that Muhammad was killed. When the people came, they saw that the color of his face had faded away.
This absurdity needs no comment. Alfred Guillaume says, "Really, what is the basis of this story is difficult to say, except that people have tried to put literal meaning to the literary aspect of the verse, 'Have We not expanded for thee thy breast? (94:1)'.
This idea gets strengthened further by the fact that this fiction is related to have taken place at different times from early childhood till the time of the Ascension. The author of RAWDATU S-SAFA has compounded the absurdity by concluding that this incident must have happened more than once; as if, God forbid, the Holy Prophet's condition was such that every time Gabriel cleansed away the satanic portion from his heart, the Satan got the upper hand! No doubt, this is the result of commenting on the verses of QUR'AN, without the guidance of the Prophet or his Holy Family.
Guillaume says, "On the basis of this false story, the Arabic Scholars of the last generation propounded the hypothesis that Muhammad suffered form Epilepsy…. To propound such a theory on the basis of a fiction which has apparently no historical truth is a sin against historical criticism and research".
In fact the verse, "Have We not expanded for thee thy breast"? signifies exactly what the expanding of breast signifies elsewhere. For example, see the following two verses : "So (for) whomsoever Allah intends that He should guide him aright, He expands his breast for Islam…" (6:126) (Moses) said, "O my Lord, expand my breast for me". (20:25). The expansion of breast signifies in fact, as a commentator puts it "its illumination with wisdom and its vastness for the reception of what was to be revealed to him".
ANOTHER EXAMPLE THE FRAUD OF NUMBER 19
Even more damaging to Islam has been the latest example of unauthorized interpretation of the QUR'AN by one American named RASHAD KHALIFA, and his fraudulent claim in the beginning that the QUR'AN was safe from alteration. Unfortunately, a vast majority of the Muslims swallowed his bait gladly. They forgot the admonition of the Leader of the faithful, IMAM ALI (A.S), that when a person listens to someone's words, he in fact worships him; if the words are from Allah, then he worships Allah, but if not then he worships Satan. Unfortunately the common people are - to use again the words of ALI (A.S)-followers of every croaking crow (ATBA'U KULLI NA'IQ). They blindly accept whatever claim is made by any charlatan-especially if it comes from Europe and America, and is presented in an attractive packing. Previously that packing was the word, "science", nowadays it is "computer"!! So RASHAD KHALIFA used the word "computer" to make the Muslims believe what he claimed. And he planned his moves very carefully.
First, he took the verse 30 of the 74th chapter (AL MUKKATHTHIR) out of its context to "prove" that it pointed to the "code of 19". The verse says, "over it are nineteen". In fact, it clearly speaks about the number of the wardens of hell. It occurs in a well-connected speech which begins from verse 11 and ends at verse 31. the verse 26 to 31 are presented here to give a clear picture:
I will cast him into hell. And what will make you realize what hell is. It leaves naught nor does it spare aught. If scorches the mortal. Over it are nineteen. And we have not made the wardens of the fore other than angels, and We have not made their number but as a trial for those who disbelieve…
Although RASHAD KHALIFA was of Arab origin, it is surprising that he was unaware of such elementary grammatical facts that all names of hell were of feminine gender, whereas the word "al-QUR'AN" (as well the adjectives used for it, like, DHIKR, FURQAN, NUR AND KITAB) were of masculine gender; and that the pronoun in this verse is feminine. This unawareness led him to think that the verse meant: "Over the QUR'AN are nineteen". He did not realize that the Arabic pronoun HA (translated here as "it") is of feminine gender and refers to hell; had it referred to the QUR'AN, it would have been of masculine gender, HI.
We do not wish to labor on his erudition and knowledge of Arabic or Islam. One more example will be of interest to the readers. He writes in his monthly bulletin, Muslim Perspective (April 1985), that UMAR IBN AL-KHATTAB was the Prophet's son-in law.
BISMI 'L-LAHI 'R-RAHMANI 'R-RAHIM is a part of every chapter of the QUR'AN except the 9th. This is the belief of the SHI'AHS, the SHAFI'IS, the AHLU'L-HABIT and many other groups. RASHAD KHALIFA himself says in his book, QURAN; Visual Presentation of the Miracle (p.74), that this "statement" has come 113 times in the beginnings of the SURAHS, and once within the text of the SURAH 27 (verse 30); thus restoring its frequency to 114 (19x6). He also counts various letters from BISMI 'L-LAHI 'R-RAHMANI 'R-RAHIM at the beginning of various SURAHS, when it suits his purpose. Yet he counts its words only at the beginning of the first chapter (AL-FATIHAH); and does not include the remaining 112 ISM, ALLAH, RAHMAN and RAHIM when counting these words in the QUR'AN.
It should be mentioned here that every word of the QUR'AN is counted and enumerated in detail by many authors, the most popular being AL-MU'JAMU 'L-MUFAHRAS of MUHAMMAD FU'AD 'ABDU 'L-BAQI, of Egypt, which is used in the Muslim word since last many decades. Yet there are a few omissions in it. A later work, AL-MU'JAMU 'L-IHSA'I, by DR. MAHMUD RUHANI is more complete and trustworthy.
RASHAD KHALIFA twice revised his "computerized" total. According to his count, ISM has come in the QUR'AN only 19 times. But what about 112 ISM in "BISMI 'L-LAHI 'R-RAHMANI 'R-RAHIM"? He first said, ALLAH has come 2698 times (19x142). Then he said it was 2699 times. Apparently his first count was based not on 'computer' but on the above-mentioned, AL-MU'JAMU 'L-MUFAHRAS in which ALLAH of the BISMILLAH of the first SURAH is left out by mistake (although the other 3 words have been counted). Be as it may. But his revised number, 2699, shatters his theory. Actually it is neither 2698 nor 2699; it has come 2811 times (2699+112) which also is not divisibly by 19.
On the one hand, he says AR-RAHMAN has come 57 times only. But, on the other hand, while counting the letters ALIF, LAM RA, HA, MIM and NUN of this word, he even counts the ones found in BISMI 'L-LAHI 'R-RAHMANI 'R-RAHIM of many SURAHS. Then how can he leave out the complete word AR-RAHMAN in those 112 verses. The total number 169 (57+112) is not divisible by 19. Likewise AR-RAHIM is not used 114 times as he claims, but 115 times. If we add to it 112, the total is 227. Both 115 and 227 are not divisible by 19.
KHALIFA was so arrogant that he did not hesitate in committing alteration (TAHRIF) in the QUR'AN. For example, in the SURAH 68 AL-QALA, the letter NUN (ن) even including the one found in AR-RAHMAN of BISMILLAH comes to 132. But he needed 133 letters to make it divisible by 19. So e wrote the NUN in the beginning of the SURAH phonetically as (نون) claiming that it was written like this in the original QUR'AN! His audacity is truly amazing. Where did he find the original QUR'AN? The oldest extant copy of the QUR'AN is the one belonging to the third caliph, UTHMAN; and there too it is written (ن ) (and not نون). He did not have the honesty to admit that his theory was wrong; he was ready to play with the QUR'AN and commit TAHRIF to prove that there was no TAHRIF!!
There are many examples of such deception - compounded by his ignorance of Arabic. He has claimed in his above-mentioned book that the first revelation, i.e. the first five verse of the SURAH 96, contain 19 words. Now, words may be nouns, verbs, pronouns, conjunctions or prepositions. Therefore, if we thoroughly count the words in these five verses, the total comes to 24, not 19. But RASHAD KHALIFA'S ignorance made him count the following 9 words as 4:
بسم = ب and اسم = 2 words. ربك = رب and ك = 2 words. وربك = رب, و and ك = 3 words. بالقلم = ب and القلم = 2 words. Unfortunately, Muslims swallowed his baits line, hook and sinker in the name of "mathematical proof" of the truth of the QUR'AN. They remained bli8nd to the TAHRIF being done by RASHAD KHALIFA himself. A sincere Muslim like AHMAD DEEDAT in his uncritical admiration of RASHAD KHALIFA'S theory popularized this myth through his lectures, booklets and videos beyond the wildest dreams of RASHAD KHALIFA.
Then after all that hullabaloo about the previously "definite" computerized proof and test, RASHAD KHALIFA wrote in his news - bulletin, Muslim Perspective, that further checking's had shown that his theory of 19 could only be correct if the last two verses of the 9th chapter (AT-TAWBAH) were removed. Even then, instead of admitting that his theory was wrong, he boldly and shamelessly declared that, God forbid, these two verses were "interpolation", added by someone in the QUR'AN! What a champion of the QUR'AN who claims that there was TAHRIF in the QUR'AN in order to prove that there was no TAHRIF!!
Why pick particularly on these two verses? First let us look at their wording and theme:
Certainly a Messenger has come to you from among yourselves; grievous to him is your falling into distress, excessively solicitous respecting you; to the believers (he is) compassionate, merciful (RAHIM). But it they turn back, say; "ALLAH is sufficient for me, there is no god but He; on Him do I rely, and He is the Lord of mighty power".
The Wording: there is one RAHIM and one ALLAH in these verses. If they could be discarded, the total number of ALLAH would come to 2698, and of RAHIM to 114. {In fact, even these two numbers are not correct, as I have described earlier}.
The Theme: The verses show the love and mercy, which the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) had for his UMMAH; and on reciting them, the Muslims, in their turn, felt intense love for their Prophet. This love and respect has been and is the major obstacle in the way of those who want to claim prophet-hood after the Prophet of Islam (s.a.w.).
And by claiming that these verses were interpolated, RASHAD KHALIFA discredited the QUR'AN and paved the way for his own claim of "messenger-ship".
He says in his translation of the QUR'AN that these verses were added by the companions who had "idolized" Muhammad. According to him, it was to eradicate that "idolizing of Muhammad" that Ali had to fight against MU'AWIYAH, and it was for this reason that HUSAYN offered his life in KARBALA! Have you ever heard of such fantastic research in Islamic history, theology, 'ILMU 'R-RIJAL and TAFSIR? However, after this audacity, he has felt bold enough to claim that he was a messenger sent by ALLAH. He said that although the Holy Prophet of Islam was the final Prophet (NABI), he was not the last messenger (RASUL).
This man did not know even the elementary things about Islam. He was not aware that prophet-hood (NUBUWWAH) is the basic root, from which messenger-ship (RISALAH) branches out. Every messenger has to be a prophet, but not vice versa. The QUR'AN, by using the words, {KHATAMU N-NABIYYIN- the last of the Prophets} or as RASHAD KHALIFA says, the final prophet, for Muhammad S.A.W.) Has shut the door of the prophet-hood as well as the messenger-ship.
As every charlatan is sure to get a few followers, he too got a handful of believers in his (messenger-ship). According to them, the declaration, I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, said in KALIMAH, ADHAN, IQAMAH and elsewhere is SHIRK (polytheism). They have drastically changed the method of SALAT and many other rules and regulations of the SHARI`AH _all in the name of (QURAN) {RASHAD KHALIFA always wrote `QURAN`, while the correct transliteration is QUR`AN}.
There is a lesson in this unsavory episode for those who were glorifying FASHAD KHALIFA and translating his books and writings in Persian, Arabic, Urdu, Gujarati and other languages. Perhaps now the Muslims would realize that such blind acceptance of the words of every Tom, Dick and Harry, however religious he might appear, may easily take them to the brink of hell.
7. ORIENTALISTS ON THE QUR`AN
The following few quotations from the writing of some non-Muslims show what impact the Holy Book of Allah has had on them. Rev. J.M. RODWELL quotes Rev. G. MARGOLIOUTH in the Introduction of his translation of The Koran: (The Koran admittedly occupies an important position among the great religious books of the world. Though the youngest of the epoch-making works belonging to this class of literature, yields to hardly any in the wonderful effect, which it has produced on large masses of men. It has created an all but new phase of human thought and a fresh type of character).
A.J. ARBERRY advises the Western readers on the study of QUR`AN: (Bad translation is not the whole story by any means. In fact the Koran has not been unlucky in its English translators: Sale and Palmer were talented writers. No, the fault lies not so much in the manner of translation as in the manner of reading the translations. The root of the trouble is that the ordinary reader, and for that matter the extraordinary reader as well, has not been sufficiently advised how to read the Koran.
(In the fist place, the Western reader must get rid of the assumptions that the Koran is more or less like the Old Testament. The misapprehension is natural enough when the first casual glance picks out the names of Adam, Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Jonah, Joseph, Job; the Biblical style of the popular translations does not furnish exactly a corrective. Misled by these early expressions, the reader makes the fatal mistake of trying to take it too much at once; he opens at a likely place,
the beginning of a SURAH, and is lulled into suspicion by the familiar layout of chapter and verse; he finishes his first SURAH and goes on to several more; he is bewildered by the rapid and seemingly illogical changes of subjects and he quickly wearies of the frequent repetitions of themes and formulas, he misses the homely straightforwardness of Kings or Samuel, the sustained eloquence of the Psalm or Isaiah. Having no clue to the Koran's own Excellencies he compares it unfavorably with what he has known since childhood, and is now ready to concur with Carlyle.
(The Koran, like the poetry which it resembles in so many ways, is best sampled a little at a time; and that little deserves and needs meditation.. He (the reader) will become gradually familiar with the Koran's claim to be a confirmation of earlier scriptures. He will observe how the Koran assumes a knowledge of the contents of those scriptures, and only latter expands the individual narratives into something like connected stories. He now follows step by step the gradual unfolding of the full prophetic powers; and when he comes to the polemic and the legislation he is readier to receive and understand them.
(He, the uninitiated enquirer, however strenuous and sincere his purpose, will always be denied participation in the believer's joy because he is screened from it by the double veil of a printed page and a foreign idiom. Yes, a foreign idiom, for the Koran is God's revelation in Arabic, and the emotive and evocative qualities of the original disappear almost totally in the skilful-lest translation.
When appreciation rests upon these foundations, the charges of wearisome repetition and jumbled confusion become meaningless. Truth cannot be dimmed by being frequently stated, but only gains in clarity and convincingness at every repetition; and where all is true, inconsequence and incomprehensibility are not felt to arise.