A few days ago I came across an argument that started with the claim: “Is it not ridiculous to believe that an illiterate man who chose to meditate in a cave had a revelation, and as an illiterate he was unable even to write it so he asked others to write it for him? And what is a miracle in a book written by a companion of a man? God is able to send down a physical book and then it can be considered a miracle!”
Not a new claim:
The claim of why it’s not a physical book sent down from the sky is mentioned in the Quran in verse 6:7 “Had We sent down upon you a book on paper, and they had touched it with their hands, those who disbelieve would have said, ‘This is nothing but plain magic’.”
God clearly states here that it’s only an excuse and not the real reason why the disbelievers in the time of the Prophet denied the message. The same idea was repeated when they started asking to be shown what Moses showed his people.
28:48 But when the truth came to them from Us, they said, "If only he was given the like of what was given to Moses." Did they not disbelieve in what was given to Moses in the past? They said, "Two works of magic backing one another." And they said, "We are disbelieving in both. 49 Say, "Then bring a scripture from God, more conductive to guidance than both, and I will follow it, if you are truthful."
One of the wisdoms that the miracle of Muhammad was not physically perceptible like Moses’ and Jesus’ miracles is that he is the last Prophet and his miracle should be a lasting one, so the Prophet’s generation has no privilege on us. One of us can't claim for example, they have seen a book sent down to them from the sky so they believe in it but we haven't seen it, so we all have an excuse to ignore the book! The first generation believed because of the content and we have exactly the same content.
The miracle of language in “the illiterate man’s book”:
The language structure of the Quran and the extraordinary usage of rhetoric is very unique in the Quran. Through the structure God challenges all Arab poets and tribes to make something like it, as poems play a significant role in 7th century Arab culture, especially as each tribe had a poet who was considered the spokesman of the tribe.
It is that fascinating that Arabs started claiming that Muhammad is a professional poet or a soothsayer.
Back to the claim why God chose a man who didn’t know how to read or write as a messenger for His book. God has answers that in: 29:48 You did not read any scripture before this, nor did you write it down with your right hand; otherwise the falsifiers would have doubted.
And yes none in that time has claimed that Muhammad read old books or dedicated his life to write the Quran. He was the wise choice of God for his last message. but yet some claim that he learned from the oral testimony of Jews and Christians. For those the answer of God referred to the extraordinary Arabic language structure used.
16:106 We are well aware that they say, "It is a human being who is teaching him." But the tongue of him they allude to is foreign, while this is a clear Arabic tongue.
The beauty of the Arabic language structure in the Quran gets lost when you read a translation version. That’s why, as Lesley Hazleton claims in her TED talk, the Quran is only the Quran in Arabic.
Yet, God preserves something unique in the structure that is still applicable even when translated into another language. This unique structure at face value may appear to be disjointed. However, modern research has discovered a sophisticated structural coherence in the Qur’an known as ring composition.
Ring composition has been explained by Mary Douglas in her book “Thinking in Circles: An Essay on Ring Composition”. In ring compositions there must be a correspondence between the beginning and the end. It is structured as a sort of circle, or mirror image. The central meaning of the text is placed at its centre. The second half mirrors the first half, in reverse order — e.g., A, B, C, D, C’, B’, A’.
This structure can be found in many chapters and even in a single verse as the example of Alkursi’s verse, which is discussed by Nouman Ali khan in this talk:
The case of Ring structure cannot be compared to other literatures who had similar elements due to the fact that the Quran was delivered orally and not in written form. In addition, Prophet Muhammad could not read or write, nor did he have any literary reputation, so it’s a lot more difficult to plan such a structure when all you have to go on is memory.
The unwise challenge
In the Quran, one can find many verses that call to reflect on facts or research for signs in that logical thinking, The Prophet doesn’t really need them to confuse Arabs in the 7th century. A wise man should not state claims as facts that he can’t prove. There are hundred of verses of this type and here are some examples of:
A clear refer to the big bang:
21:30 Do the disbelievers not see that the heavens and the earth were one mass, and We tore them apart? And We made from water every living thing. Will they not believe?
31. And We placed on earth stabilizers, lest it sways with them, and We placed therein signposts and passages, that they may be guided.
32. And We made the sky a protected ceiling; yet they turn away from its wonders.
33. It is He who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon; each floating in an orbit.
While verses 31 to 33 refer to things that people of the 7th century could reflect on, verse 30 refers to the Big Bang, which only recently became an axiom, and is clearly not there to challenge the disbelievers of the 7th century. As they can simply deny this “theory” and the Prophet has no method to prove that. Any canny man could not challenge people with things that he has no way to prove.
The continuous expanding of the universe:
51:47 We constructed the universe with power, and We are expanding it.
48. And the earth-We spread it out-How well We prepared it!
49. We created all things in pairs, so that you may reflect and ponder.
Another verse refers to the expanding of the universe, a fact that was discovered only in the last century!
21:104 On the Day when We fold the heaven, like the folding of a book. Just as We began the first creation, We will repeat it-a promise binding on Us. We will act.
Again another reference to the expansion of the universe and the theory of the Big Crunch, which is considered one possible scenario for the ultimate fate of the universe.
And the question returns again, what is the point of a canny man to recite these verses, which according to logical thinking would not drive any Arabs in the 7th century to accept his message. These verses are obviously there for us, the people of the 21st century.
There are hundreds of such facts about the origin of the universe, the development phases of the fetus, facts on differentiated salinity between seawater that meet and so on. For further reading you can go to
http://www.quranandscience.com/Saving the body of Pharaoh
10:90-92 And We brought the Children of Israel across the sea. Then Pharaoh with his hosts pursued them in rebellion and hostility until, when the fact of his drowning overtook him, he said: “I
believe there is no god except the one in whom the Children of Israel believe, and I am of those who surrender to him.” God said: “What—now, after you have rebelled and caused corruption? This day We shall save you in your body so that you may be a sign for those who come after you. But truly, many among mankind are heedless of Our signs.”
The identity of the Pharaoh of the Exodus has been the subject of much speculation. Bucaille,
after extensive study, argues convincingly in favor of the once held view that Merneptah, the successor to Ramses II, was Pharaoh at the time of the Exodus. His mummified body, on which Bucaille performed a medical examination in 1975, was discovered in 1898 in the King’s Valley at
Thebes.22 Bucaille speculates that verse 10:92 may be an allusion to this discovery, almost thirteen centuries after the revelation of this verse. Since the actual identity of this Pharaoh is never divulged in the Qur’an, the designation “pharaoh” may be a generic one, in which case 10:92 may be a reference to the general practice by the Egyptians of mummifying, and
thus “saving,” their dead monarchs. Whatever the actual case may be, for those who believe in the Qur’an, the finding of the preserved bodies of the pharaohs is seen as another possible confirmation or “sign” of the truth of its claims.
Again, why would Muhammad recites such verses to desert Arabs, who would not even know who the Pharaoh was and yet tell them about saving the body of the Pharaoh as a sign for who may come after while he could not show them the saved body! The language structure and the logic that is presented in the Quran was sufficient for 7th century Arabs and later generation to believe in this book, but all of the other verses beyond that are obviously there for us, the people of the 21st century.
Has the Quran self-served Muhammad?
For the sake of argument, if Muhammad was the author of the Quran, and the point of it was to lead Arabia, one would expect that he used the Quran to attribute supreme power to himself or to his family/descendants. Yet what we find in the Quran is the complete opposite. In the Quran we can find verses that reprimand the Prophet for some actions, others attributing him with “ only man” with no power to know the unseen:
80:1. He frowned and turned away.
2 When the blind man approached him.
3. But how do you know? Perhaps he was seeking to purify himself.
4. Or be reminded, and the message would benefit him.
5. But as for him who was indifferent.
6. You gave him your attention.
7. Though you are not liable if he does not purify himself.
8. But as for him who came to you seeking.
9. In awe.
10. To him you were inattentive.
11. Do not. This is a Reminder.
12. Whoever wills, shall remember it.
The above verses highlighted an incident where Muhammad was once sitting with some tribal leaders, inviting them to Islam. A blind man (Binum Mktom) came to ask him some questions regarding Islam. Muhammad ignored him, as he was busy delivering the message of Islam to the tribal leaders, hoping their tribes would embrace Islam. Thereupon the revelation came reproaching him for ignoring the blind man.
We can also find a lot of verses that denied any divine supreme power to Mohammed and verses that require him to consult his followers before making decisions.
81:24. And He does not withhold knowledge of the Unseen. And it is not the word of an accursed devil. So where are you heading?
18:110 Say, "I am only a human being like you, being inspired that your god is One God. Whoever hopes to meet his Lord, let him work righteousness, and never associate anyone with the service of his Lord."
3:159 It is by of grace from God that you were gentle with them. Had you been harsh, hardhearted, they would have dispersed from around you. So pardon them, and ask forgiveness for them, and consult them in the conduct of affairs. And when you make a decision, put your trust in God; God loves the trusting.
The Quran reprimands Muhammad and clearing a Jewish man from accusation
4:105. We have revealed to you the Scripture, with the truth, so that you judge between people in accordance with what God has shown you. And do not be an advocate for the traitors.106. And ask God for forgiveness. God is Forgiver and Merciful.107. And do not argue on behalf of those who deceive themselves. God does not love the deceitful sinner.108. They hide from the people, but they cannot hide from God. He is with them, as they plot by night with words He does not approve. God comprehends what they do.109. There you are, arguing on their behalf in the present life, but who will argue with God on their behalf on the Day of Resurrection? Or who will be their representative? 110. Whoever commits evil, or wrongs his soul, then implores God for forgiveness, will find God Forgiving and Merciful. 111. And Whoever earns a sin, earns it against himself. God is Aware and Wise. 112. And whoever commits a mistake, or a sin, and then blames it on an innocent person, has taken a slander and a clear sin.113. Were it not for God's grace towards you, and His mercy, a faction of them would have managed to mislead you. But they only mislead themselves, and they cannot harm you in any way.
These verses explain a situation in which a man from the Muslim inhabitants of Medina stole a piece of armor and hid it in the property of his Jewish neighbor. When the owners of the armor caught up with him he denied any wrongdoing, and the armor was discovered with the Jewish man. He, however, pointed to his Muslim neighbor, also denying his involvement in the crime. The people from the Muslim’s tribe went to the Prophet to plead on his behalf, and the Prophet began to incline towards them until the above verses were revealed, clearing the Jewish man of wrongdoing. All this despite the Jew’s rejection of Muhammad’s prophethood! The verses instructed Prophet Muhammad himself not to side with the deceitful!
If Muhammad himself authored the Quran, thus being a lying imposter, he would have made sure that there was nothing in existence which could jeopardize the gain of his followers and supporters. The fact that the Quran, on various occasions, reprimands the Prophet in certain issues in which he made incorrect judgment is in itself proof that it was not authored by him.
The signs of God are everywhere
4:82 Do they not ponder the Quran? Had it been from any other than God, they would have found in it much discrepancy.
41:53 We will show them Our signs in the farthest reaches and within themselves until it is clear to them that it is the truth.
The signs of God are everywhere. Yet to be able to ponder them, you must first free yourself from arrogance, as God states that he would turn away people who are arrogant from the ability to ponder his Ayat (which in Arabic is equivalent to signs or revelations)
7:146 I will turn away from my signs(Ayat) those who are arrogant upon the earth without justification; Even if they see every sign, they will not believe in it. And if they see the way of consciousness, they will not adopt it as a way; but if they see the way of error, they will adopt it as a way. That is because they have denied Our signs(revelations) and they were heedless of them.
References:
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A reflection from the Quran, by Prof Jeffrey Lang
The Final Miracle - Nouman Ali Khan
Ten Reasons Muhammad Could Not Have Authored the Qur’an.
http://www.manyprophetsonemessage.com/2014/03/18/ten-reasons-muhammad-could-not-have-authored-the-quran/
http://www.manyprophetsonemessage.com/2014/03/18/ten-reasons-muhammad-could-not-have-authored-the-quran/
