14.
THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE QUR’AN’S CHALLENGE (5)
Many
non-Muslims believe that the Qur’an is an old book written 14 centuries ago
from the desert of Arabia. The writer was Muhammad (Mohammed, Mohamed, s.a.w.)
who claimed to be a prophet. Since they believe that it is not divine, but
human, there has to be some mistakes or contradiction in it. To this, the
Qur’an challenges them to prove its genuineness, that it is revelation from
Allah.
Unlike those who accepted the challenge of the
Qur’an by attempting to produce a book or even a chapter similar to that of the
Qur’an as mentioned in previous khuṭbahs, this challenge is to prove
that the Qur’an is not from Allah. This kind of challenge is mentioned in the
Qur’an as follows:
أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ وَلَوْ كَانَ
مِنْ عِنْدِ غَيْرِ اللَّهِ لَوَجَدُوا فِيهِ اخْتِلَافًا كَثِيرًا (النساء:82)
Do they not then consider the Qur’an
carefully? Had it
been from other than Allah, they would surely have found
therein much contradiction. (Q. 4:82)
In 1977 a Canadian active and very knowable
about the Bible, Professor Gary Miller, decided to accept the challenge to find
any scientific or historical error in the Qur’an to prove that it was not
revelation from Allah. He was professor of mathematics and logic at the
University of Toronto. He hoped that his findings would provide a great service
to Christianity and his fellow preachers in calling Muslims to Christianity. So
he studied the Qur’an extensively, and his findings amazed even the Muslims.
Some of these findings are as follows:
1.
Dr. Miller said, "No writer in the world has the
courage to write a book and say that it’s empty of mistakes, but the Qur'an, on
the contrary, tells you that it has no mistakes and asks you to try to find one
and you won’t find any." .
2.
It does not mention about the hard times of the
Prophet, such as
the
death of his wife Khadījah r.a., the death of his sons and daughters.
Verses revealed in hard times in conveying the message of Islam are followed
with great tiding of victory, and verses
revealed after victory are followed with advice to give more sacrifice and to
avoid boasting. This, Dr. Miller says,
is the opposite of human behavior when they are victorious they glorify it, but
when they are defeated they find many excuses.
After the defeat at the battle
of Uhud, Allah consoled the Muslims. He said:
وَلَا تَهِنُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَنْتُمُ
الْأَعْلَوْنَ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ . إِنْ يَمْسَسْكُمْ قَرْحٌ
فَقَدْ مَسَّ الْقَوْمَ قَرْحٌ مِثْلُهُ وَتِلْكَ
الْأَيَّامُ نُدَاوِلُهَا بَيْنَ النَّاسِ (آل عمران:140)
So, do not become weak [because of what you have
suffered], nor be sad, and you will be
triumphant if you
are indeed believers. If a wound has touched you, be sure
a similar wound has touched the others. And so
are the
days, that We give to men by turns…
(Q.
3:139-140)
3.
He found a sūrah (chapter) named “Mary”
(Maryam) which contains much respect to her which is not found in the Christian
Bibles. There is no chapter names after his wife ‘Ᾱ’ishah or his daughter Fāṭimah.
The name Jesus is mentioned twenty-five times in the Qur’an, whereas Muhammad s.a.w.
is mentioned four times only (Q. 3:144; 33:40; 47:2; 48:29), and Aḥmad
is mentioned once (Q. 61:6)
4.
An engineer at the University of Toronto who was
interested in psychology wrote a thesis on the “Efficiency of Group
Discussions” to find out how much people accomplish when they get together with
two, three, etc… He found out that people accomplish most when they get
together in groups of two, and became less if the number increases. This has
been the advice of the Qur’an in the following verse:
قُلْ
إِنَّمَا أَعِظُكُمْ بِوَاحِدَةٍ أَنْ تَقُومُوا لِلَّهِ مَثْنَى وَفُرَادَى ثُمَّ
تَتَفَكَّرُوا مَا بِصَاحِبِكُم
مِنْ
جِنَّةٍ إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا نَذِيرٌ لَكُمْ بَيْنَ يَدَيْ عَذَابٍ شَدِيدٍ (سبإ:46
Say (to them, O
Muhammad): “I exhort you to one
(thing) only that you stand up for Allah’s sake in pairs
And singly, and reflect. There
is no madness in your
companion (Muhammad s.a.w.). He
is only a warner
to you in face of severe torment.” (Q.34:46)
5.
Those who reject the revelation used to say that
devils brought to Muhammad s.a.w. the Qur’an. The Qur’an denies it, and
gives the following answers:
… وَيَقُولُونَ إِنَّهُ لَمَجْنُونٌ . وَمَا هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌ لِلْعَالَمِينَ (الحاقة : 52)
…and they say: “Verily, he (Muhammad) is possessed
[by Jin].” But
it [the Qur’an] is nothing else than
a Reminder to the worlds. (Q. 68:51-52)
وَمَا تَنَزَّلَتْ بِهِ الشَّيَاطِينُ. وَمَا يَنْبَغِي
لَهُمْ وَمَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ. إِنَّهُمْ
عَنِ السَّمْعِ لَمَعْزُولُونَ (الشعراء:210-212)
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 (Q. 26210-212)
فَإِذَا
قَرَأْتَ الْقُرْآنَ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ (النحل:98)
So when you recite the
Qur’an, seek refuge in
Allah from Satan, the rejected (Q.
16:98)
Dr. Miller asked: “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?”
6.
During his emigration to
Madinah with Abu Bakr, they took refuge and hid in a cave. They saw people coming to kill them. Dr. Miller said that the Prophet s.a.w.
at that time if he “was a liar, a forger and someone who was trying to fool the
people into believing that he was a prophet, one would have expected him to say
in such 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.’” This is mentioned in the Qur’an,
as follows:
إِلَّا تَنْصُرُوهُ فَقَدْ نَصَرَهُ اللَّهُ إِذْ
أَخْرَجَهُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ثَانِيَ اثْنَيْنِ
إِذْ هُمَا
فِي الْغَارِ إِذْ يَقُولُ لِصَاحِبِهِ لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ مَعَنَا فَأَنْزَلَ
اللَّهُ
سَكِينَتَهُ عَلَيْهِ وَأَيَّدَهُ بِجُنُودٍ لَمْ تَرَوْهَا وَجَعَلَ كَلِمَةَ الَّذِينَ
كَفَرُوا
السُّفْلَى وَكَلِمَةُ اللَّهِ هِيَ الْعُلْيَا
وَاللَّهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ (التوبة:40)
If you help him (Muhammad) not, (it
does not
matter), for Allah did indeed help him when
the
disbelievers drove him out, the
second of the two;
when they (Muhammad s.a.w. and Abu Bakr r.a.)
were in the cave, he said to his companion: “Be
not sad (or afraid), surely
Allah is with us.” Then
Allah sent his calmness (peace)
upon him, and
strengthened him with forces
(angels) which
you saw not, and made the word of those
who disbelieved the lowermost, while the
Word of Allah that became the uppermost;
and Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise. (Q. 9:40)
It
was on the morning of 13th September 622 CE corresponding to the 14th
year of his prophethood, the Prophet s.a.w. with Abu Bakr went into
hiding at this cave. They had promised 100 camels as a reward for a person who
captured him. Abu Bakr was reported to have said to the Prophet when they were
in the cave, “If any of them looks down at his feet, he will see us.” The
Prophet told him, “O Abu Bakr! What do you think about two with Allah as their
third?” i.e., Allah was with them. As a spider web was covering the entrance of
the cave and a dove was hatching beside it, the pursuers were sure that nobody
was inside it, and returned to Makkah.
The
cave at Mt. Thawr Is located at South of Makkah, about one hour walking
distance from it, to be precise, 5.37 km. It was the route to Yemen instead to
Madinah. The Prophet and Abu Bakr stayed there three days, until their enemy
stopped pursuing them. Then they continued their journey northward to Madinah. They
took different route, zigzagged like spiral, like of the caravan tract, so that
they crossed each other four times half the way to Madinah. Then the two routes
became almost parallel. The tract followed by the Prophet was on the left side
leading to Qubā’ before reaching
Madinah.
The above verse was revealed about nine years after this incident. It
was after the return of the Prophet from Tabuk campaign in the 9 AH where he
stayed 20 days with the army of 30 000 fighters. They were expecting the attack
of the Romans with about 40 000 fighters, but they did not come. To those who
did not want to help the Prophet in this campaign, Allah had helped him before,
namely, when he was in the cave of Mt. Thawr, and when the Battle of
Badr took place, where angels participated in the battlefield.
7.
Abῡ Lahab was one of the Prophet’s uncles. His name
was ‘Abdul ‘Uzzā (“slave of ‘Uzzā”; ‘Uzzā was the name of one idols
worshipped by the Makkan idoleters) bin ‘Abdul Muṭṭalib. He was called Abῡ Lahab (lit. “Father
of Flames”, i.e., the one who has flames), because of the brightness of his
face. He scorned him and hated Islam so much, that he kept following the
Prophet. Whenever he finished talking to someone or a group of people, he
waited until the Prophet s.a.w. left, and then he approached them and told
them the opposite of what the Prophet had said.
The Prophet s.a.w.
one day went to the valley of Baṭḥā, then he ascended the mountain and
called people to come at once. When he came, he told them: “If I tell you all
that the enemy was going to attack you in the morning or in the evening, would
you all believe me?” Since he had been known for his honesty and was caked al-Amīn
(“the honest, faithful, reliable, faithful), they said ”yes”. Then the
Prophet told them: “Verily, I am a warner sent to you all before the coming of
a severe torment.”
Abῡ Lahab said: “Have you gathered us for
this? May you perish” in another version, he said, “Perish you for the rest of
this day.” Then Allah revealed:
تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ . مَا أَغْنَى
عَنْهُ مَالُهُ وَمَا كَسَبَ. سَيَصْلَى نَارًا
ذَاتَ لَهَبٍ. وَامْرَأَتُهُ حَمَّالَةَ الْحَطَبِ.
فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ مِنْ مَسَدٍ (المسد:1-5)
Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab and perish he!
His wealth and his children will not benefit him! He
will enter the Fire full of flames! And his wife, too
who carries
wood. In her neck is a strongly
twisted rope. (Q. 111:1-5)
Dr. Miller wondered: “How could Muhammad (s.)
possibly have known for sure that Abu Lahab would fulfil the Qur’anic
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.”
8.
After relating the story of Noah, the Qur’an said:
تِلْكَ مِنْ أَنْبَاءِ الْغَيْبِ نُوحِيهَا إِلَيْكَ
مَا كُنْتَ تَعْلَمُهَا أَنْتَ وَلَا قَوْمُكَ
مِنْ قَبْلِ هَذَا فَاصْبِرْ إِنَّ الْعَاقِبَةَ
لِلْمُتَّقِينَ (هود:49)
This is the news of the
Unseen which We reveal
to
you (O Muhammad); neither you nor your people
knew it before. So be patient. Surely, the
(good)
end is for the pious.(Q. 11:49)
Dr. Miller was amazed that that there
had never been a religious holy book talked in this style, giving information
to its ready and then said that it had never been known before, a new
information. What if the Makkan people said, that this was not a new
information, they had known it before! And this did not happen.
One example is that the
Qur’an mentioned the city of Iram (a city of pillars) in,
أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ فَعَلَ رَبُّكَ بِعادٍ. إِرَمَ ذَاتِ الْعِمَادِ.الَّتِي لَمْ
يُخْلَقْ مِثْلُهَا فِي الْبِلَادِ ( الفجر:7-8)
Saw you O Muhammad not how your Lord deal
With ‘Ᾱd, Iram with pillars the like of which
were not created in the land? (Q. 89:7-8)
The classical Qur’an commentator al-Ṭabarī
mentioned some views of mufassirīn (Qur’an commentators) of the term Iram,
among which are: Alexandria, Damascus, the name of a tribe belonging
to their ancestor ‘Ᾱd, “the perished people”, “the tall people”. The classical commentator al-Qurṭubī gives
more views: Iram was the father of ‘Ᾱd; the name of a village; the name Sam’s
son, who was the son of Noah.
Dr. Miller said that National
Geographic in December 1978 edition mentioned that the city of Elba in
Syria was excavated in 1973. It was said to be 43 centuries old. They found in the
library of Elba a record of all cities the people of Elba had done business,
including the city of Iram. This information mentioned in the Qur’an of the
existence of the city of Iram 43 centuries ago was known just recently in 1973.
This indicates that the Qur’an which gives such information is revelation from
Allah.
That year 1978
was also the year where Dr. Miller, a former active Christian missionary,
embraced Islam after reading the Qur’an and called himself “Abdul-Ahad Omar.”
(CIVIC, 14 March, 2014)
Sources:
المكتبة الشاملة
محمد
أبو زهرة : زهرة التفاسيرتفسير الطبري
تفسير إبن كثير
تفسير القرطبيَ
http://islamlecture.wordpress.com/2010/07/22/the-man-who-challenged-the-quran-gary-miller-later-became-muslim/
Gary Miller. The Amazing Qur’an.
Abu Khalil. Dr. Shauqi (comp.). Atlas of the Qur’an. Riyadh: Darussalam, 2003.
Dr. Muhammad Hatta, cs. The Great History of Muhammd s.a.w. Jakarta: Maghfirah Pustaka, 2011.
.
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