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 13^th September 622 CE corresponding to the 14^th 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 التفاسير
تفسير 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.




  
   .

  13. THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE QUR’AN’S CHALLENGE (4)

          Allah says in the Qur’an:

مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ كَرَمَادٍ اشْتَدَّتْ بِهِ الرِّيحُ فِي يَوْمٍ عَاصِفٍ

لَا يَقْدِرُونَ مِمَّا كَسَبُوا عَلَى شَيْءٍ ذَلِكَ هُوَ الضَّلَالُ الْبَعِيدُ (إبراهيم:18)

The parable of those who disbelieved in their Lord

 is that their works are as ashes, on which the wind blows

furiously on a stormy day; they shall not be able to get

 aught of what they have earned. That is the straying,

 far away (from the Right Path). (Q. 14:18)

          According to this verse, the good deeds of disbelievers in Allah would not benefit them in the Hereafter, and save them from the torment of Hell. Out of 22 words of this verse, two words are replaced by the True Furqan and put in its sūrat al-Thālūth (Triune God), also in verse 18. The two words are, بِرَبِّهِمْ with وَكَذَّبُوا بالإنْجِيل الحَقِّ, and  الْبَعِيدُ with الأَكِيْد . So, the words الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ meaning “those who disbelieved in their Lord” is replaced with الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَكَذَّبُوا بالإنْجِيل الحَقِّ meaning “those who disbelieve and denied the True Gospel”, but in this True Furqan, it is translated as “of those who rebelled and rejected the Truth as revealed in The True Gospel.” It runs as follows:

مَثَلُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَكَذَّبُوا بالإنْجِيل الحَقِّ أَعْمَالُهُمْ كَرَمَادٍ اشْتَدَّتْ بِهِ الرِّيحُ فِي يَوْمٍ

عَاصِفٍ لَا يَقْدِرُونَ مِمَّا كَسَبُوا عَلَى شَيْءٍ ذَلِكَ هُوَ الضَّلَالُ الأَكِيْد (الثالوث:18)

The example of those who rebelled and rejected the

Truth as revealed in The True Gospel, their deeds are,

 more or less, like the ashes which are blown away by

 a stormy wind. They can never receive any reward

 for their labors for their effort is only vanity of

vanities  (The True Furqan, Triune God:18)

In the True Furqan, sūrat al-Gharānīq (Idols), verse 1-3 are copied with some changes from sūrat al-Najm (Q. 53), verse 2-5 ­as follows:

مَا ضَلَّ صَاحِبُكُمْ وَمَا غَوَى   “Your companion (Muhammad) has neither gone astray nor has erred" (Q. 56; 2) ; is replaced with قَدْ ضَلَّ رَائِدُكُمْ وَ قَدْ غَوَى  “Your leader (Muhammad) has gone astray and has erred (Idols:1)

وَمَا يَنْطِقُ عَنِ الْهَوَى. إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ يُوحَى .  “Nor does he speak of (his own) desire. It is only a Revelation revealed.” (Q. 56:3-4), is replaced with وَمَانَطَقَ عَنِ الْهَوَى. إِنْ هُوَ إِلَّا وَحْيٌ إِفْكٌ يُوحَى  “His denunciations are his own whims which are fabrications inspired by beguiling spirit.” (Idols:2)

 عَلَّمَهُ شَدِيدُ الْقُوَى  “He has been taught (this Qur’an) by one mighty in power (Gabriel).” (Q. 56:5), is replaced with  عَلَّمَهُ مَرِيْدُ الْقُوَى  " Who taught him to declare these, but the strong and vile one? " (Idols:3)

So, according to the True Furqan, it was the Devil,
Satan, rather than Allah who revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad s.a.w. through the angel Gabriel. The Qur’an’s teachings are considered those of Satan, and therefore are rejected in the True Furqan, such as the concept of fighting. It said:

وَزَعَمْتُمْ بِأَنَّا قُلْنَا قَاتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَ حَرِّضوُا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عَلَى الْقِتَالِ

 وَمَا كَانَ الْقِتَالُ سَبِيْلَنَا إن ذَلِكَ إلاّ تَحْرِيْضُ شَيْطَانٍ رَجِيْمٍ لِقَوْمٍ مُجْرِمِيْن

(الموعظة:2)

You have concocted that We have commanded,

 “Fight in the cause of God and urge on the believers to fight.”

 However, fighting is neither Our method nor is fighting urged

on the believers. Such decrees originate from none other

 than the cursed Devil and were given to

 a lawless people (Sermon:2)

          This verse is referring to the Qur’anic verses as follows:

وَقَاتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ الَّذِينَ يُقَاتِلُونَكُمْ وَلَا تَعْتَدُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُعْتَدِينَ (البقرة:190)

  And fight in the Way of Allah those who fight you, but

 transgress not the limits. Truly, Allah likes not the

 transgressors (Q. 2:190)

          This verse shows that fighting is only for self-defence, and not as an aggression.

وَلِيَعْلَمَ الَّذِينَ نَافَقُوا وَقِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا قَاتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ أَوِ ادْفَعُوا

 قَالُوا لَوْ نَعْلَمُ قِتَالًا لَاتَّبَعْنَاكُمْ هُمْ لِلْكُفْرِ يَوْمَئِذٍ أَقْرَبُ مِنْهُمْ لِلْإِيمَانِ

يَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ مَا لَيْسَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْ وَاللَّهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَكْتُمُونَ

(آل عمران:167)

And that He might test the hypocrites, it was said

to them: “Come, fight in the Way of Allah or (at least)

 defend yourselves.” They said: “Had we known that

 fighting will take place, we would certainly have followed

 you.” They were that day, nearer to disbelief than to Faith,

 saying with their mouths what was not in their hearts.

And Allah has full knowledge of what they

conceal. (Q. 3:167)

          This verse deals with hypocrites who did not want to join the Muslims in fighting in self-defence.

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ حَرِّضِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ عَلَى الْقِتَالِ... (الأنفال:65)

O Prophet (Muhammad s.a.w.)! Urge the believers

 to fight… (Q. 8:65)

        The late Shaykh Abū Zahrah in explaining this verse said:

 It means to urge them and to spread among them

the spirit of self-defence, to arrange  equipment, to

prepare for war, to be equipped for fighting, and to

train their children [for self-defence], because

 the non-believers [i.e., the enemy] could not

 be trusted, although they incline to peace,

 because preparedness is the believers’

 protection from being totally crushed

 [by the enemy]… (زهرة التفاسير)

 

                 It is, then,  for self-defence rather than aggression,  that these verses for fighting were revealed.

 

        The allegation that the Qur’an was the inspiration of Satan who dictated to Prophet Muhammad s.a.w., what to write in the Qur’an reminds us of the findings of Professor Gary Miller, a former mathematics and logic lecturer at Toronto University, Canada. He wondered how could it be so, when the Qur’an itself denies it? It says,

وَمَا تَنَزَّلَتْ بِهِ الشَّيَاطِينُ.وَمَا يَنْبَغِي لَهُمْ وَمَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ (الشعراء:210-211)

And in no way have Ash-Shayatîn (The ever-Vicious

(ones),  i.e., the devils) been coming down with it; And

 in no way does it behoove them, And in no way are

 they able to do (that).” (Q 26:209-210)

        Moreover, how could Satan, if he had dictated the Qur’an to him, and told him to seek refuge from him (Satan) first before reading the Qur’an? The Qur’an said:

فَإِذَا قَرَأْتَ الْقُرْآنَ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ (النحل:98)

So when you read the Quran, then seek refuge in Allah from the

 outcast Shaytan (The all-vicious, i.e., the Devil).” (Q 16:98)

        In addition the Prophet s.a.w. was asked to seek refuge from the whispers of Satan. It said:

وَقُلْ رَبِّ أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ هَمَزَاتِ الشَّيَاطِينِ (المؤمنون:97)

And say: “My Lord! I seek refuge with You from the

whisperings (suggestions) of the Shayāṭīn

  (devils)…” (Q. 23:97)

The response and reaction of the Muslim world towards this True Furqan have been very strong, among whom are:

1.    Dr. Ṣalāḥ al-Khālidī, in his book, الْإنْتِصاَر لِلْقُرْآن , تَهَافُتُ فُرْقَان مُتَنَبِّئِ الأمْرِكَان أمَامَ حَقَائِق الْقُرآنِ  (“Victory for the Qur’an: the Collapse of the Furqan of the American self-claimed prophet in front of the truth of the Qur’an”), published in 1426/2005. The author questioned about the identity of this mysterious Saffee who claimed to be a prophet and claimed to have received revelation within seven days (Martyr:2). Nobody knows about him: his life, his preaching, and when and where did he appear. He was killed by his enemy, the Muslims (Martyr: 7).

This book contradicts the Christian belief that no prophet would appear after the departure of Jesus a.s., but it states that it is revelation to a prophet called Saffee.

This book is directed solely to Muslims calling them to Christianity, excluding pagans, idolaters, and atheists who are further away from believing in what the Christians believe, such as the existence of God, the angels, the prophets, holy books, and the Judgment Day. They deserve more to be called to Christianity than the Muslims who share many of what they  believe with those of the Christians.

On 21 January, 2011, Dr. Jamāl al-Sāmarrā’ī gave his comment on this issue, as follows: “…What is called the True Furqan, does not deserve any response, because it is neither a scientific nor a methodological book, but rather lies and ridiculous Crusade and Zionistic legends….  Its title itself looked ridiculous. Have you ever heard something called linguistically “criterion for the truth” (furqān lilḥaqq)? [What he means is that the criterion is itself the truth; falsehood cannot make distinction between right and wrong]. This is not their first efforts to counter the Qur’an, but it has become intensive with the coming of this Pope. Therefore, al-Azhar stopped the dialogue with the Vatican for his continuous enmity towards Islam…”

2.    Dr. Shawqī Abū Khalīl in his book entitled, الْفُرْقَاَنُ الْحَقّ: (قُرْآنُ) مُسَيْلَمَة الْأَمْرِكِي   (“The True Furqan: (the Qur’an of) Musaylamah the American. It was published by Dār al-Fikr, Damascus, 2007. The original Musaylamah was the one who claimed to be a prophet in Yamamah in Najd besides Prophet Muhammad s.a.w.

Dr. Shawqī was a prolific writer. He wrote over fifty books, including this book which contains 64 pages. He explained in this book how Dr. Anis Sorrosh was involved in the publication of the True Furqan. He passed away  in  2010at the age of 69.

        Millions of dollars have been spent to publish and distribute this so-called “21^st Century Qur’an”, solely to convert Muslims into Christianity, but we know the outcome of it: failure. Allah has predicted it when He said:

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يُنْفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ لِيَصُدُّوا عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَسَيُنْفِقُونَهَا ثُمَّ تَكُونُ

 عَلَيْهِمْ حَسْرَةً ثُمَّ يُغْلَبُونَ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِلَى جَهَنَّمَ يُحْشَرُونَ (الأنفال: 36)

Verily, those who disbelieve spend their wealth

 to hinder (men) from the Pa th of Allah, and so will they

 continue to spend it; but in the end it will become

 an anguish for them. Then they will be overcome.

And those who disbelieve will be

 gathered to Hell. (Q. 8:36)

يُرِيدُونَ لِيُطْفِئُوا نُورَاللَّهِ بِأَفْوَاهِهِمْ وَاللَّهُ مُتِمُّ نُورِهِ وَلَوْ كَرِهَ الْكَافِرُونَ (الصف:8)

They intend to put out the Light of Allah with their

mouths. But Allah will bring His Light to perfection even

 though the disbelievers hate (it)  (Q. 61:8)

Next khuṭbah, inshā Allāh, we shall deal with another scholar who accepted the challenge of the Qur’an, or in other words, who challenged the Qur’an. (CIVIC, 7 March, 2014)

Bibliography:

المكتبة الشاملة

الشيخ محمد أبو زهرة: زهرة التفاسير
The True Furqan. Sacramento: Omega 2001 & Wine Press, 1999.
www.furat.com/?Prog=book&Page=authorinfo...
http://www.theamericanmuslim.org/tam.php/features/articles/the_true_furqan_quran_hoax/
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:The_True_Furqan.jpg
 http://islamlecture.wordpress.com/2010/07/22/the-man-who-   challenged-the-quran-gary-miller-later-became-muslim/
http://www.islamnewsroom.com/news-we-need/500-fakequranfurqan3
http://www.kaheel7.com/ar/index.php/2012-12-04-18-31-08/625--q-q-
http://azadieiran2.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/the-true-furqan-alforghan-alhagh_www-azadieiran2-wordpress-com.pdf