More Close With Quran Part 7

The miraculous inimitability of the Qur’ân

The miracle known as a mu`jizah:

A mu`jizah is a miraculous occurrence – thus running contrary to the laws of nature – that is specifically intended by Allah to demonstrate the truthfulness of His Messengers and for the Messenger to use as a proof to his people. It often takes the form of something that his people excel at to show them that the Power and Might of Allah are greater than all others. Among these miracles was the camel of Sâlih (peace be upon him), the staff of Moses (peace be upon him) and the splitting of the sea for him, and Jesus (peace be upon him) bringing the dead back to life and healing the sick.

The conditions for something to be a mu`jizah:

1. It must go against the laws of nature that the people are accustomed to. It must defy any natural explanation.

2. It must occur as a challenge to the disbelievers. It must be something that they would have been able to accomplish, had it not been from Allah.

3. It must be irreproducible. If anyone can reproduce it, it is not a miracle at all.

4. It must not be a miraculous event that declares the one claiming prophethood to be a liar. For example, if a person claims prophethood and petitions an animal to speak to support him, but it speaks and calls him a liar, then this miracle would not be a mu`jizah.

These Miracles are of Two Types: Physical and Intellectual

Most of the miracles of the previous Prophets were of a physical nature, whereas the greatest miracle of Muhammad (peace be upon him) is intellectual. We are referring to the Qur’ân. Perhaps the reason for this is that this miracle is for the lasting Message and must remain visible to all insightful people of every generation until the Day of Judgment. The miracles of the other Prophets have passed into history; no one experienced them except for those that were present at that time. The miracle of the Qur’ân, however, remains until the Day of Judgment. For this reason, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “There has been no Prophet except that he was given signs that would allow the people to believe in him. What I have been given is only a Revelation that Allah has revealed to me, so I hope to have the greatest number of followers on the Day of Judgment.”

The many facets of the Qur’anic miracle:

The Qur’an is miraculous in every way. It will remain so no matter how much time progresses. It is miraculous in its words and in its meaning, in its statements and its injunctions. It is miraculous in the knowledge that it contains. The masters of every science and discipline will find in the Qur’ân what will amaze them with its accuracy and detail. This is among the greatest proofs that the Qur’ân is from Allah.

1. The literary miracle of the Qur’ân:

The Qur’ân is a miracle of eloquence and literary mastery, challenging the Arabs who were the most eloquent and fluent of speakers to come with but a chapter like it, no matter how small. The Qur’ân challenges them even to collaborate on producing such a chapter. But no one has ever been able to do so or even attempted it, in spite of there being more than enough reason for them to want to do so. Their hatred and enmity for Islam, their desire to thwart Muhammad (peace be upon him), and their immense, competitive pride in their language were more than enough reasons for them to try. In spite of this, their inability was more than apparent. Their tongues were still; their hearts mute. They confessed that the Qur’ân could not have been from the speech of men, neither from their poetry nor their prose. It could not even have been from their magicians and soothsayers. It was definitely not of this world.

The context of this challenge:

Before the beginning of Muhammad’s call (peace be upon him), the Arabs had attained the highest level possible in eloquence, fluency, and the art of speech. The word itself was dear to their hearts and more sacred than almost anything else, so much so that they would hang the seven best poems on the door of the Ka`bah, the most sacred place to them.

The poem wielded great power in Arab society. The status of a tribe could diminish simply because a poet ridiculed it. Likewise, a tribe’s status could be elevated by a poet’s exquisite praise.

So that the miracle of Muhammad (peace be upon him) could be more powerful and more evident, Allah made it a miraculous book to be recited, coming from an illiterate man who had never written anything in his life nor learned any science or art from another.

Distinctive Features of the Qur’anic Miracle:

1. It is appropriate for the nature of the Message, since the Message of Muhammad (peace be upon him) is the last of the Divine Messages. It is a Message for all of humanity in every time and every land until the Day of Judgment. It is appropriate that the miracle for this Message should be as lasting. Previous Messengers were sent to specific people at a specific time. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: “The Prophets were sent to their own people specifically. I was sent for all of humanity.”

2. The miracle and the Law are one and the same. The Qur’ân itself is the miracle and it contains the injunctions of the Law.

This was not the case for the previous Prophets. The Message of Muhammad (peace be upon him) that contains the Law is the miracle and the miracle is the Law.

3. It attests to the truth of the previous Prophets: The miracle of Muhammad – the Qur’ân – bears witness to the existence of the previous Prophets, the truthfulness of their Message, and the correctness of what they conveyed to the people.

The verses of challenge in the Qur’ân:

Allah says:

- Say (O Muhammad) if mankind and jinn were to come together to produce something like this Qur’ân, they would not be able to do so, even if they were to help one another.

- Or they say: “He has forged it.” Say: “Then bring ten forged chapters like it and call whoever you can besides Allah if you are truthful.” If then they do not answer you, know that it is sent down with the Knowledge of Allah, besides Whom there is no other God. Will you then be Muslims?

- And if you are in doubt concerning that which We have sent down to Our servant, then produce a chapter like it and call your witnesses besides Allah if you be truthful. If you do not do so – and you will never do so – then fear a fire whose fuel is men and stones prepared for the disbelievers.

Examples of the Arab reaction to the Qur’ân:

1. `Utbah b. Rabî`ah came to Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) to dissuade him from proclaiming the Message. Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) read to him from the Qur’ân. `Utbah listened attentively, sitting with his hands behind his back until Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) was done. He then went his people. When they saw him approach, they began speaking to one another, saying: “By Allah, he has a different expression on his face than the one that he had when he left.” When he took his seat among them, they asked him: “What is the matter with you?”

He said: “The matter with me is that – by Allah – I have heard words the likes of which I have never heard before. By Allah, it is neither poetry, nor magic, nor fortune telling. O Quraysh, obey me and hold me accountable for it.”

He continued: “Leave this man to what he is doing and avoid him, for by Allah, his words that I have heard contain a great proclamation. If the Arabs turn against him, then others have solved our problem. If he triumphs over them, then his wealth will be your wealth, his might will be your might, and you will be the most pleased with him.”

They said: “By Allah, he has bewitched you with his tongue.”

He responded: “This is my opinion. Do what you please.”

2. Al-Walîd b. al-Mughîrah came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the Prophet recited to him from the Qur’ân. Al-Mughîrah seemed to relent to him. Abû Jahl got word of this and he went to al-Walîd and said: “Uncle, your people wish to collect some money and give it to you, because you went to Muhammad to oppose what he has.”

Al-Walîd said: “The tribe of Quraysh well knows that I am the wealthiest among them.”

Abû Jahl said: “Say something so your people will know that you reject and despise it.”

He responded: “What should I say? For by Allah, there is none among you more knowledgeable about poetry than myself. I know more about its form and its meter. I even know the poetry of the Jinn. By Allah, it does not resemble any of that. What he says has such sweetness and beauty. It begins fruitfully and becomes all the more copious as it goes on. It transcends everything else and nothing else can transcend it. It lays to waste anything that is lesser.”

Abû Jahl said: “By Allah, your people will not be pleased until you say something bad about it.”

Al-Walîd said: “Give me time to think.” After thinking for a while, he said: “This is magic of old that he received from someone else.”

Allah speaks about him in the Qur’ân, saying:

Leave Me to deal with the one I created to be lonely, and then bestowed upon him great wealth and sons abiding in his presence and made life smooth for him. Yet he desires that I give him more. Nay! For verily he has been stubborn to Our signs. On him I shall impose a fearful doom. For verily, he considered, then he planned. Then he looked. Then he frowned and showed displeasure, then turned away in pride and said: ‘This is nothing but magic of old. This is nothing but the speech of a human being.’ I will cast him into the Hellfire.

The Miraculous Way the Qur’ân Discusses Matters of the Unseen

The unseen refers to everything that was unknown and unknowable to Muhammad (peace be upon him), such as events of other times that he did not witness and had no knowledge of. This includes what the Qur’ân says about the beginnings of Creation and about everything that has happened since the time Adam (peace be upon him) was created to the time of Muhammad (peace be upon him). Likewise, this includes many events that occurred during his time, like the plots and schemes of his enemies that Allah disclosed to him by way of revelation.

The unseen is of two kinds, past and future. Both are featured in the Qur’ân.

The unseen of the past includes what is said about the nations of old and the events of the past. All of this shows the truthfulness of Muhammad’s prophethood (peace be upon him) and that the Qur’ân is truly from Allah. This includes what is told about the Prophets like Adam, Noah, Hûd, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus, and about his mother Mary (peace be upon them all) and about their respective peoples like `Ad, Thamûd, the Children of Israel, and Pharaoh.

For this reason, Allah said:

This is of the news of the unseen that We reveal to you; neither you nor your people knew it before this. So be patient. Surely the good outcome is for the God-fearing.

Allah says, after relating the story of Mary and how Zechariah got custody over her:

This is a part of the news of the unseen that We reveal to you (O Muhammad). You were not with them when they cast lots as to which of them would be charged with the care of Maryam and you were not with them when they disputed.

The presence of these events of the past in the Qur’ân, portrayed in such great detail, is a clear proof that it is revelation from Allah and not from a human being. A person who grew up in an environment like the one that Muhammad (peace be upon him) grew up in would have no way to acquire such knowledge which must be passed down from others in some way. In that illiterate environment, there was no one who knew of these events in such detail. Yes, the Jews and Christians knew a little about these matters, but they lived at the far ends of the Arabian Peninsula and kept very much to themselves and had little influence on those around them. They were very covetous over the knowledge of old that they had, fearing that others might become competition for them and endanger the status that they enjoyed.

The unseen of the future includes things like the Qur’ân’s declaration that the Romans would defeat Persia. Allah said:

The Romans have been defeated in the nearest land (of Syria), and they, after their defeat, will be victorious.

This then occurred just as the Qur’ân said it would.

Likewise, are the things that the Qur’ân says will face some of the Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him). For example, Allah says:

He knows that there will be some among you who are sick, others traveling in the land, yet others fighting in Allah’s cause.

This is one of the first verses of the Qur’ân to be revealed.

The Qur’ân also foretells of the Muslim victory in battle. Allah says:

…Or they say: ‘We are a great multitude, victorious.’ Their multitude will be put to flight and they will show their backs.

This then occurred in the Battle of Badr.

The Qur’ân speaks of new means of transport that will come into existence. Allah says:

And He has created horses, mules, and donkeys for you to ride and as an adornment. And He creates others of which you have no knowledge.

We can see that the means have transportation have gone through many changes over time.