What they Say about Quran?

Humanity has received the Divine guidance through two channels: firstly the word of Allah, secondly the Prophets who were chosen by Allah to communicate His will to human beings. These two things have always been going together and attempts to know the will of Allah by neglecting either of these two have always been misleading. The Hindus neglected their prophets and paid all attention to their books that proved only word puzzles, which they ultimately lost. Similarly, the Christians, in total disregard to the Book of Allah, attached all importance to Christ and thus not only elevated him to Divinity, but also lost the very essence of TAWHEED (monotheism) contained in the Bible.

As a matter of fact the main scriptures revealed before the Quran, i.e., the Old Testament and the Gospel, came into book-form long after the days of the Prophets and that too in translation. This was because the followers of Moses and Jesus made no considerable effort to preserve these Revelations during the life of their Prophets. Rather they were written long after their death. Thus what we now have in the form of the Bible (The Old as well as the New Testament) is translations of individuals accounts of the original revelations which contain additions and deletions made by the followers of the said Prophets.

The practicability of the Quranic teachings is established by the examples of Muhammad (PBUH) and the good Muslims throughout the ages. The distinctive approach of the Quran is that its instructions are aimed at the general welfare of man and are based on the possibilities within his reach. In all its dimensions the Quranic wisdom is conclusive. It neither condemns nor tortures the flesh nor does it neglect the soul. It does not humanize God nor does it deify man.

Everything is carefully placed where it belongs in the total scheme of creation.

Actually the scholars who allege that Muhammad (PBUH) was the author of the Quran claim something which is humanly impossible. Could any person of the sixth century C.E. utter such scientific truths as the Quran contains? Could he describe the evolution of the embryo inside the uterus so accurately as we find it in modern science?

Secondly, is it logical to believe that Muhammad (PBUH); who up to the age of forty was marked only for his honesty and integrity; began all of a sudden the authorship of a book matchless in literary merit and the equivalent of which the whole legion of the Arab poets and orators of highest caliber could not produce?

And lastly, is it justified to say that Muhammad (PBUH) who was known as AL-AMEEN (The Trustworthy) in his society and who is still admired by the non-Muslim scholars for his honesty and integrity, came forth with a false claim and on that falsehood could train thousands of men of character, integrity and honesty, who were able to establish the best human society on the surface of the earth?

Surely, any sincere and unbiased searcher of truth will come to believe that the Quran is the revealed Book of Allah.

Without necessarily agreeing with all that they said, we furnish here some opinions of important non-Muslim scholars about the Quran. Readers can easily see how the modern world is coming closer to reality regarding the Quran. We appeal to all open-minded scholars to study the Quran in the light of the aforementioned points. We are sure that any such attempt will convince the reader that the Quran could never be written by any human being.

However often we turn to it [the Quran] at first disgusting us each time afresh, it soon attracts, astounds, and in the end enforces our reverence... Its style, in accordance with its contents and aim is stern, grand, terrible - ever and anon truly sublime. Thus this book will go on exercising through all ages a most potent influence. --Goethe, quoted in T.P. Hughes DICTIONARY OF ISLAM, p. 526.

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, it 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. It first transformed a number of heterogeneous desert tribes of the Arabian peninsula into a nation of heroes, and then proceeded to create the vast politico-religious organizations of the Mohammedan world which are one of the great forces with which Europe and the East have to reckon today. --G. Margoliouth, Introduction to J.M. Rodwells, THE KORAN, New York: Everymans Library, 1977, p. vii.

A work, then, which calls forth so powerful and seemingly incompatible emotions even in the distant reader - distant as to time, and still more so as a mental development - a work which not only conquers the repugnance which he may begin its perusal, but changes this adverse feeling into astonishment and admiration, such a work must be a wonderful production of the human mind indeed and a problem of the highest interest to every thoughtful observer of the destinies of mankind. --Dr. Steingass, quoted in T.P. Hughes DICTIONARY OF ISLAM, pp. 526-527.

The above observation makes the hypothesis advanced by those who see Muhammad as the author of the Quran untenable. How could a man, from being illiterate, become the most important author, in terms of literary merits, in the whole of Arabic literature? How could he then pronounce truths of a scientific nature that no other human being could possibly have developed at that time, and all this without once making the slightest error in his pronouncement on the subject? --Maurice Bucaille, THE BIBLE, THE QURAN AND SCIENCE, 1978, p. 125.

Here, therefore, its merits as a literary production should perhaps not be measured by some preconceived maxims of subjective and aesthetic taste, but by the effects which it produced in Muhammads contemporaries and fellow countrymen. If it spoke so powerfully and convincingly to the hearts of his hearers as to weld hitherto centrifugal and antagonistic elements into one compact and well-organized body, animated by ideas far beyond those which had until now ruled the Arabian mind, then its eloquence was perfect, simply because it created a civilized nation out of savage tribes, and shot a fresh woof into the old warp of history. --Dr. Steingass, quoted in T.P. Hughes DICTIONARY OF ISLAM, p. 528.

In making the present attempt to improve on the performance of my predecessors, and to produce something which might be accepted as echoing however faintly the sublime rhetoric of the Arabic Koran, I have been at pains to study the intricate and richly varied rhythms which - apart from the message itself - constitute the Korans undeniable claim to rank amongst the greatest literary masterpieces of mankind... This very characteristic feature - that inimitable symphony, as the believing Pickthall described his Holy Book, the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy - has been almost totally ignored by previous translators; it is therefore not surprising that what they have wrought sounds dull and flat indeed in comparison with the splendidly decorated original. --Arthur J. Arberry, THE KORAN INTERPRETED, London: Oxford University Press, 1964, p. x.

A totally objective examination of it [the Quran] in the light of modern knowledge, leads us to recognize the agreement between the two, as has been already noted on repeated occasions. It makes us deem it quite unthinkable for a man of Muhammad's time to have been the author of such statements on account of the state of knowledge in his day. Such considerations are part of what gives the Quranic Revelation its unique place, and forces the impartial scientist to admit his inability to provide an explanation which calls solely upon materialistic reasoning. --Maurice Bucaille, THE QURAN AND MODERN SCIENCE, 1981, p. 18.

QURAN ON QURAN

Hence, indeed, We made this Quran easy to bear in mind: who, then is willing to take it to heart? --Chapter 54: Verses 17, 22, 32, 40 (self-repeating)

Will they then not meditate on the Quran, or are there locks on their hearts? --Chapter 47: Verse 24

Surely this Quran guides to that which is most upright and gives good news to the believers who do good works that they shall have a great reward. -- Chapter 17Shak017: Verse 9

Surely We have revealed the reminder (Quran) and We will most certainly guard it (from corruption). --Chapter 15: Verse 9

Praise be to Allah Who has revealed the Book (Quran) to His slave (Muhammad) and has not placed therein any crookedness. --Chapter 18: Verse 1

Will they not then ponder on the Quran? If it had been from other than Allah they would have found therein much discrepancy. Chapter 4: Verse 82

And certainly We have explained in this Quran every kind of example; and man is most of all given to contention. And nothing prevents men from believing when the guidance comes to them, and asking forgiveness of their Lord, except that what happened to the ancients should overtake them, or that the chastisement should come face to face with them. --Chapter 18: Verses 54-55

And We reveal (stage by stage) of the Quran that which is a healing and a mercy for believers, and to the unjust it causes nothing but loss after loss. --Chapter 17: Verse 82

And if you are in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto Our slave (Muhammad) then produce a surah (chapter) of the like thereof, and call your witnesses besides Allah if you are truthful. --Chapter 2: Verse 23

And this Quran is not such as could be forged by those besides Allah, but it is a verification (of revelations) that went before it and a fuller explanation of the Book - there is no doubt - from the Lord of the Worlds. - Chapter 10: Verse 37

So when you recite the Quran, seek refuge in Allah from Satan the outcast. --Chapter 16: Verse 98.

The Collection of the Quran - Part 1 of 3

The Era of the Prophet (PBUH) 609 – 632 C.E *

The Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in sections throughout the 23 years of his Prophet Hood. Whenever a problem arose or whenever Allah wanted to give the Prophet (Pbuh) and his follower’s special advice, Allah would send angel Jibreel (Gabriel) with part of the Quran which he would recite to the Prophet (Pbuh). Thus, the Quran was not revealed all at once in its complete form, like the earlier books of revelation, but in parts over a period of time.

* C.E = Christian Era is used instead of A.D – Anno Domini- in the year of the Lord because Muslims do not recognize Jesus, son of Mary as the Lord but muslims recognize Jesus as a Prophet.
Preservation of the Quran

When Jibreel (Gabriel) first recited a part of the Quran to the Prophet (Pbuh), the Prophet (Pbuh) tried to repeat it after him, word for word. Allah later had Jibreel (Gabriel) tell him not to do so. He was told instead to listen to the Quran carefully, When the Prophet (pbuh) did that Allah caused him to be able to remember everything without any effort on his part.

Allah Said in the Quran:

“Do not move your tongue too hastily (learn) it. Surely we will collect it and recite it. So, when we recite it, follow its recital.”
(Surah Al Qiyamah – Chapter 75 Verses 16, 17, 18)

It was very important that the Prophet (Pbuh) remember all that was revealed to him, because he could neither read nor write.

The Prophet (Pbuh) passed on all of the Quran to his companions before he died. He used a number of different ways to make sure that they memorized and recorded it exactly as he learned it.

1.The Prophet (pbuh) used to recite aloud various parts of the Quran in Salaah (Congregational Prayers). In that way, his followers used to hear parts of the Quran daily.

2.Everyone who entered Islam would be taught parts of the Quran which they would have to use their daily prayers, Thus, Muslims were always learning or teaching various parts of the Quran.

3.The Prophet (pbuh) informed his followers that the best of them were those who learned and taught the Quran. This encouraged them to make even greater efforts to memorize the Quran and teach it to others.

4.Those who were able to read and write were told by the Prophet (pbuh) to write down the various sections of the Quran as they were revealed. The prophet (pbuh) would tell them the order in which they record the verses.

Because there was no paper in Arabia at that time, the Quran was written down on anything which was available. The companions wrote the verses of Quran on date palm leave, flat stones, tree bark, wood, dried animal skins and even shoulder blades of sheep or camels. Thus, the verses of the Quran were preserved in the hearts of the Muslims, as well as written down, during the lifetime of the Prophet (pbuh). Since people entered Islam at various points during the Prophet’s Mission, only a few of them heard all of the Quran directly from the Prophet (pbuh). Also some companions were able to memorize better than others. So, even though all of them memorized portions of the Quran, only few were able to memorize all of the Quran during the Prophet’s lifetime.

When the Prophet (pbuh) died in the year 632 C.E, the whole of the Quran was not written down one complete book. It was recorded on various pieces of writing material and kept in the possession of different followers of the Prophet (pbuh). Each had sections but none of them hall all. Because of the fact that the verses of the Quran continued to be revealed up until a few months before the Prophet (pbuh)’s death, the companions were more concerned with the recording and memorizing it than putting it all together in one book, Consequently, the gathering of the Quran into one text was not done during the Prophet’s (pbuh) lifetime.

What are Makkan and Madeenan Revelations?

The Quran was revealed in sections to Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh) from the beginning of his Prophet Hood until shortly before his death. Thus, the Quran came down continuously over a period of Twenty three years.

Many sections of the Quran were generally revealed to solve the problems which existed among the Muslim communities in both Makkah and Medina. Since the problems and needs of Makkah were different from those of Medina, the revelations of Makkah and Medina have special Characteristics of their own.

It is important to know the difference between the revelations of Makkah and Medina if the Quran itself is to be clearly understood. Because of the great importance of the Quran to Islam, Muslim scholars from time of the Companions of the Prophet have devoted much time and effort in this area of Study

The Word "Quran"

The word Quran, a verbal noun, is equivalent in meaning to Qiraa’ah, as both come from the verb Qara’a, which means to read. That is, Quraan literally means a reading or a recitation. However, the term Quran has historically used specifically to refer to the book which was revealed by Allah (SWT) to the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) through the Anger Jibreel (Gabriel). The term Quran has been mentioned in a number of places throughout the book in reference to itself.

Allah (Swt) says:

“Verily, this Quran guides (man) to that which is most just”
Surah Al Israa (Chapter17: Verse 9)

The name Quran is used to refer to both the Quraan as a whole as in the previously quoted verse, as well as to each verse or group of verses:

Allah (Swt) says:

“And if the Quran is recited, you should listen to it quietly (and be silent).”
Surah Al Aa’raaf (Chapter 7: Verse 204)

The Quran has been also referred by other names by Allah (Swt) Himself: Like Furqaan (the distinction) and Thikr (the reminder)

Allah (Swt) says:

“Blessed is He who revealed the Furqaan (the distinction) to His slaves in order that he may be a Warner to all worlds.”
Surah Al Furqaan (Chapter 24: Verse 1)

Allah (Swt) says:

“Verily, We revealed the Thikr and verily, We will preserve it.”
Surah Al Hijr (Chapter 15: Verse 9)

The Quran itself could be defined as Allah’s Words which were revealed in Arabic in a rhythmical for to the Prophet Muhammad (Pbuh). Its Recitation is used in acts of worship and even its smallest chapter is of miraculous nature.

Source: The Foundation of Islamic Studies by Dr Bilal Philips