Introduction
One thing which surprises non-Muslims who are examining the book very closely is that the
Quran does not appear to them to be what they expected. What they assume is that they
have an old book which came fourteen centuries ago from the Arabian desert; and they
expect that the book should look something like that - an old book from the desert. And then
they find out that it does not resemble what they expected at all. Additionally, one of the first
things that some people assume is that because it is an old book which comes from the desert,
it should talk about the desert. Well the Quran does talk about the desert - some of its imagery
describes the desert; but it also talks about the sea - what it's like to be in a storm on the sea
Merchant Marine
Some years ago, the story came to us in Toronto about a man who was in the merchant
marine and made his living on the sea. A Muslim gave him a translation of the Quran to read.
The merchant marine knew nothing about the history of Islam but was interested in reading
the Quran. When he finished reading it, he brought it back to the Muslim and asked, "This
Muhammad, was he a sailor?" He was impressed at how accurately the Quran describes a
storm on a sea. When he was told, "No as a matter of fact, Muhammad lived in the desert,"
that was enough for him. He embraced Islam on the spot.
He was so impressed with the Quran's description because he had been in a storm on the sea,
and he knew that whoever had written that description had also been in a storm on the sea.
The description of "a wave, over it a wave, over it clouds" (Surah Nur, 24:40) was not what
someone imagining a storm on a sea to be like would have written; rather, it was written by
someone who knew what a storm on the sea was like. This is one example of how the Quran is
not tied to certain place and time. Certainly, the scientific ideas expressed in it also do not
seem to originate from the desert fourteen centuries ago
The Smallest Thing
Many centuries before the onset of Muhammad's prophethood, there was a well-known
theory of atomism advanced by the Greek philosopher, Democritus. He and the people who
came after him assumed that matter consists of tiny, indestructible, indivisible particles called
atoms. The Arabs too, used to deal in the same concept; in fact, the Arabic word dharrah
commonly referred to the smallest particle known to man. Now, modern science has
discovered that this smallest unit of matter (i.e., the atom, which has all of the same properties
as its element) can be split into its component parts. This is a new idea, a development of the
last century; yet; interestingly enough, this information had already been documented in the
Quran (Surah Saba', 34:3) which states:
"He [i.e., Allah] is aware of an atom's weight in the heavens and on the earth and
even anything smaller than that..."
Undoubtedly, fourteen centuries ago that statement would have looked unusual, even to an
Arab. For him, the dharrah was the smallest thing there was. Indeed, this is proof, that the
Quran is not outdated.
Honey
Another example of what one might expect to find in an "old book" that touches upon the
subject of health or medicine is outdated remedies or cures. Various historical sources state
that the Prophet (s) gave some advice about health and hygiene, yet most of these pieces of
advice are not contained in the Quran. At first glance, to the non-Muslims this appears to be a
negligent omission. They cannot understand why Allah would not "include" such helpful
information in the Quran. Some Muslims attempt to explain this absence with the following
argument: "Although the Prophet's advice was sound and applicable to the time in which he
lived, Allah, in His infinite wisdom, knew that there would come later medical and scientific
advances which would make the Prophet's advice appear outdated. When later discoveries
occurred, people might say that such information contradicted that which the Prophet (s) had
given. Thus, since Allah would never allow any opportunity for the non-Muslims to claim that
the Quran contradicts itself or the teachings of the Prophet (s), He only included in the Quran
information and examples which could stand the test of time." However, when one examines
the true realities of the Quran in terms of its existence as a divine revelation, the entire matter is
quickly brought into its proper perspective, and the error in such argumentation becomes
clear and understandable.
It must be understood that the Quran is a divine revelation, and as such, all information in it is of
divine origin. Allah revealed the Quran from Himself. It is the words of Allah, which existed
before creation, and thus nothing can be added, subtracted or altered. In essence, the Quran
existed and was complete before the creation of Prophet Muhammad (s), so it could not
possibly contain any of the Prophet's own words or advice. An inclusion of such information
would clearly contradict the purpose for which the Quran exists, compromise its authority and
render it inauthentic as a divine revelation.
Consequently, there was no "home remedies" in the Quran which one could claim to be
outdated; nor does it contain any man's view about what is beneficial to health, what food isbest to eat, or what will cure this or that disease. In fact, the Quran only mentions one item
dealing with medical treatment, and it is not in dispute by anyone. It states that in honey there
is healing. And certainly, I do not think that there is anyone who will argue with that!
Prophet Muhammad (s) and the Quran
If one assumes that the Quran is the product of a man's mind, then one would expect it to
reflect some of what was going on in the mind of the man who "composed" it. In fact, certain
encyclopedias and various books claim that the Quran was the product of hallucinations that
Muhammad underwent. If these claims are true - if it indeed originated from some
psychological problems in Muhammad's mind - then evidence of this would be apparent in
the Quran. Is there such evidence? In order to determine whether or not there is, one must first
identify what things would have been going on in his mind at that time and then search for
these thoughts and reflections in the Quran.
It is common knowledge that Muhammad (s) had a very difficult life. All of his daughters died
before him except one, and he had a wife of several years who was very dear and important
to him, who not only proceeded him in death but died at a very critical period of his life. As a
matter of fact, she must have been quite a woman because when the first revelation came to
him, he ran home to her, afraid. Certainly, even today one would have a hard time trying to
find an Arab who would tell you, "I was so afraid that I ran home to my wife." They just aren't
that way. Yet Muhammad (s) felt comfortable enough with his wife to be able to do that.
That's how influential and strong woman she was. Although these examples are only a few of
the subjects that would have been on Muhammad's mind, they are sufficient in intensity to
prove my point.
The Quran does not mention any of these things - not the death of his children, not the death
of his beloved companion and wife, not his fear of the initial revelations, which he so beautifully
shared with his wife - nothing; yet these topics must have hurt him, bothered him, and caused
him pain and grief during periods of his life. Indeed, if the Quran was a product of his
psychological reflections, then these subjects, as well as others, would be prevalent or at least
mentioned throughout.A truly scientific approach to the Quran is possible because the Quran offers something that is
not offered by other religious scriptures, in particular, and other religions, in general. It is what
scientists demand. Today there are many people who have ideas and theories about how the
universe works. These people are all over the place, but the scientific community does not
even bother to listen to them This is because within the last century the scientific communityeven bother to listen to them. This is because within the last century the scientific community
has demanded a test of falsification. They say, "If you have theory, do not bother us with it
unless you bring with that theory a way for us to prove whether you are wrong or not."
Such a test was exactly why the scientific community listened to Einstein towards the beginning
of the century. He came with a new theory and said, "I believe the universe works like this; and
here are three ways to prove whether I am wrong!" So the scientific community subjected his
theory to the tests, and within six years it passed all three. Of course, this does not prove that he
was great, but it proves that he deserved to be listened to because he said, "This is my idea;
and if you want to try to prove me wrong, do this or try that."
This is exactly what the Quran has - falsification tests. Some are old (in that they have already
been proven true), and some still exist today. Basically it states, "If this book is not what it claims
to be, then all you have to do is this or this or this to prove that it is false." Of course, in 1400 years
no one has been able to do "This or this or this," and thus it is still considered true and authentic.
Falsification Test
I suggest to you that the next time you get into dispute
with someone about Islam and he
claims that he has the truth and that you are in
darkness, you leave all other arguments at first
and make this suggestion. Ask him, "Is there any
falsification test in your religion? Is there
anything in your religion that would prove you are wrong
if I could prove to you that it exists -
anything?" Well, I can promise right now that people
will not have anything - no test, no proof,
nothing! This is because they do not carry around the
idea that they should not only present
what they believe but should also offer others a chance
to prove they're wrong. However,
Islam does that.
A perfect example of how Islam provides man with a
chance to verify it authenticity and
"prove it wrong" occurs in the 4th chapter. And quiet
honestly, I was very surprised when I first
discovered this challenge. It states (Surah An-Nisa,
4:82):
"Do they not consider the Quran? Had it been from any
other than Allah, they
would surely have found therein much discrepancy."
This is a clear challenge to the non-Muslim. Basically,
it invites him to find a mistake. As a matter
of fact, the seriousness and difficulty of the challenge
aside, the actual presentation of such a
challenge in the first place is not even in human nature
and is inconsistent with man's
personality. One doesn't take an exam in school and
after finishing the exam, write a note to
the instructor at the end saying, "This exam is perfect.
There are no mistakes in it. Find one if you
can!" One just doesn't do that. The teacher would not
sleep until he found a mistake! And yet
this is the way the Quran approaches people.
Ask Those Who Have Knowledge
Another interesting attitude that exists in the Quran
repeatedly deals with its advice to the
reader. The Quran informs the reader about different
facts and then gives the advice: "If you
want to know more about this or that, or if you doubt
what is said, then you should ask those
who have knowledge." This too is a surprising attitude.
It is not usual to have a book that comes
from someone without training in geography, botany,
biology, etc., who discusses these
subjects and then advises the reader to ask men of
knowledge if he doubts anything. Yet in
every age there have been Muslims who have followed the
advice of the Quran and made
surprising discoveries. If one looks to the works of
Muslim scientists of many centuries ago, one
will find them full of quotations from the Quran. These
works state that they did research in such
a place, looking for something. And they affirm that the
reason they looked in such and such a
place was that the Quran pointed them in that direction.
For example, the Quran mentions man's origin and then
tells the reader, "Research it!" It gives
the reader a hint where to look and then states that one
should find out more about it. This is
the kind of thing that Muslims today largely seem to
overlook - but not always, as illustrated in
the following example.
Embryology
A few years ago, a group of men in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
collected all of the verses in the
Quran which discuss embryology - the growth of the human
being in the womb. They said,
"Here is what the Quran says. Is it the truth?" In
essence, they took the advice of the Quran: "Ask
the men who know." They chose, as it happened, a non-
Muslim who is a professor of
embryology at the University of Toronto. His name is
Keith Moore, and he is the author of
textbooks on embryology - a world expert on the subject.
They invited him to Riyadh and said,
"This is what the Quran says about your subject. Is it
true? What can you tell us?"
While he was in Riyadh, they gave him all the help that
he needed in translation and all of the
cooperation for which he asked. And he was so surprised
at what he found that he changed
his textbooks. In fact, in the second edition of one of
his books, called Before We Are Born... in
the section about the history of embryology, he included
some material that was not in the first
edition because of what he found in the Quran was ahead
of its time and that those who
believe in the Quran know what other people do not know.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Keith Moore for a
television presentation, and we talked a
great deal about this - it was illustrated by slides and
so on. He mentioned that some of the
things that the Quran states about the growth of the
human being were not known until thirtythings that the
Quran states about the growth of the human being were
not known until thirty
years ago. In fact, he said that one item in particular
- the Quran's description of the human
being as a "leech-like clot" ('alaqah) at one stage
(Surahs al-Hajj 22:5; al-Mu'minun 23:14; and
Ghafir 40:67) - was new to him; but when he checked on
it, he found that it was true, and so he
added it to his book. He said, "I never thought of that
before," and he went to the zoology
department and asked for a picture of a leech. When he
found that it looked just like the
human embryo, he decided to include both pictures in one
of his textbooks.
Although the aforementioned example of man researching
information contained in the
Quran deals with a non-Muslim, it is still valid because
he is one of those who is knowledgeable
in the subject being researched. Had some layman claimed
that what the Quran says about
embryology is true, then one would not necessarily have
to accept his word. However,
because of the high position, respect, and esteem man
gives scholars, one naturally assumes
that if they research a subject and arrive at a
conclusion based on that research, then the
conclusion is valid.
Skeptic's Reaction
Dr. Moore also wrote a book on clinical embryology, and
when he presented this information
in Toronto, it caused quite a stir throughout Canada. It
was on the front pages of some of the
newspapers across Canada, and some of the headlines were
quite funny. For instance, one
headline read: "SURPRISING THING FOUND IN ANCIENT PRAYER
BOOK!" It seems obvious from
this example that people do not clearly understand what
it is all about. As a matter of fact, one
newspaper reporter asked Professor Moore, "Don't you
think that maybe the Arabs might have
known about these things - the description of the
embryo, its appearance and how it changes
and grows? Maybe they were not scientists, maybe they
did some crude dissections on their
own - carved up people and examined these things." The
professor immediately pointed out
to him that he [i.e., the reporter] had missed a very
important point - all of the slides of the
embryo that had been shown and that had been projected
in the film had come from
pictures taken through a microscope. He said, "It does
not matter if someone had tried to
discover embryology fourteen centuries ago. They could
not have seen it!"
All of the descriptions in the Quran of the appearance
of the embryo are of the item when it is
still too small to see with the eye; therefore, one
needs a microscope to see it. Since such a
device had only been around for little more than two
hundred years, Dr. Moore taunted,
"Maybe fourteen centuries ago someone secretly had a
microscope and did this research,
making no mistakes anywhere. Then he somehow taught
Muhammad (s) and convinced him
to put this information in his book. Then he destroyed
his equipment and kept it a secret
forever. Do you believe that? You really should not
unless you bring some proof because it is
such a ridiculous theory." In fact, when he was asked,
"How do you explain this information in
the Quran?" Dr. Moore's reply was, "It could only have
been divinely revealed!"
Geology
One of Professor Moore's colleagues, Marshall Johnson,
deals extensively with geology at the
University of Toronto. He became very interested in the
fact that the Quran's statements about
embryology are accurate, and so he asked Muslims to
collect everything contained in the
Quran which deals with his speciality. Again people were
very surprised at the findings. Since
there are a vast number subjects discussed in the Quran,
it would certainly require a large
amount of time to exhaust each subject. It suffices for
the purpose of this discussion to state
that the Quran makes very clear and concise statements
about various subjects while
simultaneously advising the reader to verify the
authenticity of these statements with research
by scholars in those subjects. And as illustrated by the
previous examples of embryology and
geology, the Quran has clearly emerged authentic. [Quran
and Scientific Knowledge]
You Did Not Know This Before!
Undoubtedly, there is an attitude in the Quran which is
not found anywhere else. It is interesting
how when the Quran provides information, it often tells
the reader, "You did not know this
before." Indeed, there is no scripture that exists which
makes that claim. All of the other ancient
writings and scriptures that people have do give a lot
of information, but they always state
where the information came from.
For example, when the Bible discusses ancient history,
it states that this king lived here, this one
fought in a certain battle, another one had so may sons,
etc. Yet it always stipulates that if you
want more information, then you should read the book of
so and so because that is where the
information came from. In contrast to this concept, the
Quran provides the reader with
information and states that this information is
something new. Of course, there always exists the
advice to research the information provided and verify
its authenticity. It is interesting that such
a concept was never challenged by non-Muslims fourteen
centuries ago. Indeed, the
Makkans who hated the Muslims, and time and time again
they heard such revelations
claiming to bring new information; yet, they never spoke
up and said, "This is not new. We know
where Muhammad got this information. We learned this at
school." They could never
challenge its authenticity because it really was new!
In concurrence with the advice given in the Quran to
research information (even if it is new),
when 'Umar was caliph, he chose a group of men and sent
them to find the wall of Dhul-
Qarnayn. Before the Quranic revelation, the Arabs had
never heard of such a wall, but
because the Quran described it, they were able to
discover it. As a matter of fact, it is now
located in what is called Durbend in the Soviet Union.
[Note: The city of Derbend (Durbend, Derbent, Derband)
is located in Daghestan on the West coast of the
Caspian sea, about 150 miles south-east of Grozny,
Chechnia and about 140 miles north north-west of
Baku,Azerbaijan. Derband was also known as Bab al-Abwab
in early Muslim history. Al-Tabari mentions it in his
famous
work 'Tarikh al-rusul wa'l Muluk' when discussing the
events of 14 A.H. (646 C.E.), during the reign of the
second
rightly guided Caliph Umar ibn al-Khattab (ra). The city
is also mentioned by Yaqut in Mu'jam al-Buldan. It had
fortifications meant to repel invasions from the north
of Caucasus, and where once powerful Kingdom of Khazar
ruled. The history of Khazars has been well documented
since the middle of the first millennium C.E., and their
kingdom disintegrated in 966 C.E. Derbend was used as
the main point of entry from the north of Caucasus to
the south into Persian territory.
Abdullah Yusuf Ali, the famous translator of the meaning
of the Quran, discusses some opinions on Dhul Qarnayn
(Zul-Qarnain) in Appendix VII at the end of Sura 'Kahf',
the 'Cave". The famous historian Ibn Kathir mentions
that
Dhul-Qarnayn was a pious king, who lived during the time
of Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham, pbuh) and he
performed the Tawaaf around the Ka'bah with Prophet
Ibrahim (pbuh) when he built it. See 'Muslim Minorities'
site for a Map showing Derbend.]
Proof of Authenticity: An Aproach
It must be stressed here that the Quran is accurate
about many, many things, but accuracy
does not necessarily mean that a book is a divine
revelation. In fact, accuracy is only one of
the criteria for divine revelations. For instance, the
telephone book is accurate, but that does
not mean that it is divinely revealed. The real problem
lies in that one must establish some proof
of the source the Quran's information. The emphasis is
in the other direction, in that the burden
of proof is on the reader. One cannot simply deny the
Quran's authenticity without sufficient
proof. If, indeed, one finds a mistake, then he has the
right to disqualify it. This is exactly what
the Quran encourages.
Once a man came up to me after a lecture I delivered in
South Africa. He was very angry
about what I had said, and so he claimed, "I am going to
go home tonight and find a mistake
in the Quran." Of course, I said, "Congratulations. That
is the most intelligent thing that you
have said." Certainly, this is the approach Muslims need
to take with those who doubt the
Quran's authenticity, because the Quran itself offers
the same challenge. And inevitably, after
accepting it's challenge and discovering that it is
true, these people will come to believe it
because they could not disqualify it. In essence, the
Quran earns their respect because they
themselves have had to verify its authenticity.
An essential fact that cannot be reiterated enough
concerning the authenticity of the Quran
is that one's inability to explain a phenomenon himself
does not require his acceptance of the
phenomenon's existence or another person's explanation
of it. Specifically, just because one
cannot explain something does not mean that one has to
accept someone else's explanation.
However, the person's refusal of other explanations
reverts the burden of proof back on himself
to find a feasible answer. This general theory applies
to numerous concepts in life, but fits most
wonderfully with the Quranic challenge, for it creates a
difficulty for one who says, "I do not
believe it." At the onset of refusal one immediately has
an obligation to find an explanation
himself if he feels others' answers are inadequate.
In fact, in one particular Quranic verse which I have
always seen mistranslated into English,Allah mentions a
man who heard the truth explained to him. It states that
he was derelict in his
duty because after he heard the information, he left
without checking the verity of what he
had heard. In other words, one is guilty if he hears
something and does not research it and
check to see whether it is true. One is supposed to
process all information and decide what is
garbage to be thrown out and what is worthwhile
information to be kept and benefitted from
immediately or even at a later date.
One cannot just let it rattle around in his head. It
must be put in the proper categories and
approached from that point of view. For example, if the
information is still speculatory, then
one must discern whether it's closer to being true or
false. But if all the facts have been
presented, then one must decide absolutely between these
two options. And even if one is not
positive about the authenticity of the information, he
is still required to process all the
information and make the admission that he just does not
know for sure. Although this last point
appears to be futile, in actuality, it is beneficial to
the arrival at a positive conclusion at a later
time in that it forces the person to at least recognize,
research and review the facts.
This familiarity with the information will give the
person "the edge" when future discoveries are
made and additional information is presented. The
important thing is that one deals with the
facts and does not simply discard them out of empathy
and disinterest.
Exhausting the Alternatives
The real certainty about the truthfulness of the Quran
is evident in the confidence which is
prevalent throughout it; and this confidence comes from
a different approach - "Exhausting
the alternatives." In essence, the Quran states, "This
book is a divine revelation; if you do not
believe that, then what is it?" In other words, the
reader is challenged to come up with some
other explanation. Here is a book made of paper and ink.
Where did it come from? It says it is a
divine revelation; if it is not, then what is its
source? The interesting fact is that no one has yet
come up with an explanation that works. In fact, all
alternatives have bee exhausted. As has
been well established by non-Muslims, these alternatives
basically are reduced to two mutually
exclusive schools of thought, insisting on one or the
other.
On one hand, there exists a large group of people who
have researched the Quran for
hundreds of years and who claim, "One thing we know for
sure - that man, Muhammad (s),
thought he was a prophet. He was crazy!" They are
convinced that Muhammad (s) was
fooled somehow. Then on the other hand, there is a group
which alleges, "Because of this
evidence, one thing we know for sure is that that man,
Muhammad (s) was a liar!" Ironically,
these two groups never seem to get together without
contradicting.
In fact, many references to Islam usually claim both
theories. They start out by stating that
Muhammad (s) was crazy and then end by saying he was a
liar. They never seem to realize
that he could not have been both! For example, if one is
deluded and really thinks that he is a
prophet, then he does not sit up late at night planning,
"How will I fool the people tomorrow sothat they think I
am a prophet?" He truly believes that he is a prophet,
and he trusts that the
answer will be given to him by revelation.
The Critic's Trail
As a matter of fact, a great deal of the Quran came in
answer to questions. Someone would
ask Muhammad (s) a question, and the revelation would
come with the answer to it. Certainly,
if one is crazy and believes that an angel put words in
his ear, then when someone asks him a
question, he thinks that the angel will give him the
answer. Because he is crazy, he really thinks
that. He does not tell someone to wait a short while and
then run to his friends and ask them,
"Does anyone know the answer?" This type of behavior is
characteristic of one who does not
believe that he is a prophet. What the non-Muslims
refuse to accept is that you cannot have it
both ways. One can be deluded, or he can be a liar. He
can br either one or neither one, but
he certainly cannot be both! The emphasis is on the fact
that they are unquestionably
mutually exclusive personality traits.
The following scenario is a good example of the kind of
circle that non-Muslims go around in
constantly. If you ask one of them, "What is the origin
of the Quran?" He tells you that it
originated from the mind of a man who was crazy. Then
you ask him, "If it came from his head,
then where did he get the information contained in it?
Certainly the Quran mentions many
things with which the Arabs were not familiar." So in
order to explain the fact which you bring
him, he changes his position and says, "Well, maybe he
was not crazy. Maybe some foreigner
brought him the information. So he lied and told people
that he was a prophet." At this point
then you have to ask him, "If Muhammad was a liar, then
where did he get his confidence?
Why did he behave as though he really thought he was a
prophet?" Finally backed into a
corner, like a cat he quickly lashes out with the first
response that comes to his mind. Forgetting
that he has already exhausted that possibility, he
claims, "Well, maybe he wasn't a liar. He was
probably crazy and really thought that he was a
prophet." And thus he begins the futile cycle
again.
As has already been mentioned, there is much information
contained in the Quran whose
source cannot be attributed to anyone other than Allah.
For example, who told Muhammad
(s) about the wall of Dhul-Qarnayn - a place hundreds of
miles to the north? Who told him
about embryology? When people assemble facts such as
these, if they are not willing to
attribute their existence to a divine source, they
automatically resort to the assumption
someone brought Muhammad (s) the information and that he
used it to fool the people.
However, this theory can easily be disproved with one
simple question: "If Muhammad (s) was
a liar, where did he get his confidence? Why did he tell
some people out right to their face
what others could never say?" Such confidence depends
completely upon being convinced
that one has a true divine revelation.
A Revelation - Abu Lahab
Prophet Muhammad (s) had an uncle by the name of Abu
Lahab. This man hated Islam to
such an extent that he used to follow the Prophet around
in order to discredit him. If Abu
Lahab saw the Prophet (s) speaking to a stranger, he
would wait until they parted and the
would go to the stranger and ask him, "What did he tell
you? Did he say, 'Black'? Well, it's white.
Did he say 'morning'? Well, it's night." He faithfully
said the exact opposite of whatever he
heard Muhammad (s) and the Muslims say. However, about
ten years before Abu Lahab
died, a little chapter in the Quran (Surah al-Lahab,
111) was revealed about him. It distinctly
stated that he would go to the fire (i.e., Hell). In
other words, it affirmed that he would never
become a Muslim and would therefore be condemned
forever. For ten years all Abu Lahab
had to do was say, "I heard that it has been revealed to
Muhammad that I will never change -
that I will never become a Muslim and will enter the
Hellfire. Well, I want to become Muslim
now. How do you like that? What do you think of your
divine revelation now?" But he never did
that. And yet, that is exactly the kind of behavior one
would have expected from him since he
always sought to contradict Islam.
In essence, Muhammad (s) said, "You hate me and you want
to finish me? Here, say these
words, and I am finished. Come on, say them!" But Abu
Lahab never said them. Ten years!
And in all that time he never accepted Islam or even
became sympathetic to the Islamic
cause.
How could Muhammad (s) possibly have known for sure that
Abu Lahab would fulfil the
Quranic revelation if he (i.e., Muhammad) was not truly
the messenger of Allah? How could he
possibly have been so confident as to give someone 10
years to discredit his claim of
prophethood? The only answer is that he was Allah's
messenger; for in order to put forth such a
risky challenge, one has to be entirely convinced that
he has a divine revelation.
The Flight
So, as has been previously mentioned,
the non-Muslims go around and around in a circle,
searching for a way out - some way to explain the
findings in the Quran without attributing
them to their proper source. On one hand, they tell you
on Monday, Wednesday and Friday,
"The man was a liar," and on the other hand, on Tuesday,
Thursday and Saturday they tell you,
"He was crazy." What they refuse to accept is that one
cannot have it both ways; yet they
need both theories, both excuses to explain the
information in the Quran.
Another example of the confidence which Muhammad (s) had
in his own prophethood and
consequently in the divine protection of himself and his
message is when he left Makkah and
hid in a cave with Abu Bakr (ra) during their emigration
to Madeenah. The two clearly saw
people coming to kill them, and Abu Bakr was afraid.
Certainly, if Muhammad (s) was a liar, a
forger and one who was trying to fool the people into
believing that he was a prophet, one
would have expected him to say in such a circumstance to
his friend, "Hey, Abu Bakr, see if
you can find a back way out of this cave." Or "Squat
down in that corner over there and keep
quiet." Yet, in fact, what he said to Abu Bakr clearly
illustrated his confidence. He told him,
"Relax! Allah is with us, and Allah will save us!" Now,
if one knows that he is fooling the people,
where does one get this kind of attitude? In fact, such
a frame of mind is not characteristic of a
liar or a forger at all.
An Encounter with a Minister
About seven years ago, I had a minister over to my home.
In the particular room which we
were sitting there was a Quran on the table, face down,
and so the minister was not aware of
which book it was. In the midst of a discussion, I
pointed to the Quran and said, "I have
confidence in that book." Looking at the Quran but not
knowing which book it was, he replied,
"Well, I tell you, if that book is not the Bible, it was
written by a man!" In response to his
statement, I said, "Let me tell you something about what
is in that book." And in just three to four
minutes, I related to him a few things contained in the
Quran. After just those three or four
minutes, he completely changed his position and
declared, "You are right. A man did not
write that book. The Devil wrote it!" Indeed, possessing
such an attitude is very unfortunate - for
many reasons. For one thing, it is a very quick and
cheap excuse. It is an instant exit out of an
uncomfortable situation.
As a matter of fact, there is a famous story in the
Bible that mentions how one day some of the
Jews were witnesses when Jesus (pbuh) raised a man from
the dead. The man had been
dead for four days, and when Jesus arrived, he simply
said, "Get up!" and the man arose and
walked away. At such a sight, some of the Jews who were
watching said disbelievingly, "This is
the Devil. The Devil helped him!" Now this story is
rehearsed very often in churches all over the
world, and people cry big tears over it, saying, "Oh, if
I had been there, I would not have been
as stupid as the Jews!" Yet, ironically, these people do
exactly what the Jews did when in just
three minutes you show them only a small part of the
Quran and all they can say is, "Oh, the
Devil did it. The devil wrote that book!" Because they
are truly backed into a corner and have
no other viable answer, they resort to the quickest and
cheapest excuse available. [Jesus
('Isa) and other Prophets of Allah].
The Source of the Quran
Another example of people's use of this weak stance can
be found in the Makkans'
explanation of the source of Muhammad's message. They
used to say, "The devils bring
Muhammad that Quran!" But just as with every suggestion
made, the Quran gives the answer.
One verse (Surah Al-Qalam 68: 51-52) in particular
states:
"And they say, 'Surely he is possessed [by jinn],' but
it [i.e., the Quran] is not except
a reminder to the worlds."
Thus it gives an argument in reply to such a theory. In
fact, there are many arguments in the
Quran in reply to the suggestion that devils brought
Muhammad (s) his message. For example,
in the 26th chapter Allah (SWT) clearly affirms:
"No evil ones have brought it [i.e., this revelation]
down. It would neither be fitting
for them, nor would they be able. Indeed they have been
removed far from
hearing." (Surah ash-Shu'ara 26:210-212)
And in another place (Surah an-Nahl 16:98) in the Quran,
Allah (SWT) instructs us:
"So when you recite the Quran seek refuge in Allah from
Shaytan, the rejected."
Now is this how Satan writes a book? He tells one,
"Before you read my book, ask God to save
you from me?" This is very, very tricky. Indeed, a man
could write something like this, but would
Satan do this? Many people clearly illustrate that they
cannot come to one conclusion on this
subject. On one hand, they claim that Satan would not do
such a thing and that even if he
could, God would not allow him to; yet, on the other
hand, they also believe that Satan is only
that much less than God. In essence they allege that the
Devil can probably do whatever
God can do. And as a result, when they look at the
Quran, even as surprised as they are as to
how amazing it is, they still insist, "The Devil did
this!"
Thanks be to Allah (SWT), Muslims do not have that
attitude. Although Satan may have some
abilities, they are a long way separated from the
abilities of Allah. And no Muslim is a Muslim
unless he believes that. It is common knowledge even
among non-Muslims that the Devil can
easily make mistakes, and it would be expected that he
would contradict himself if and when
he wrote a book. For indeed, the Quran states (Surah an
-Nisa 4:82):
"Do they not consider the Quran? Had it been from other
than Allah, they would
surely have found therein much discrepancy."