However, it seems as if the hearts of the
people have become harder then the mountains which
tower above us. When the Qur'an is recited or even
mentioned, people turn away with disgust. In the
West, this is primarily due to the negative
exposure from the media. It has resulted in many
non-Muslims not even wanting to hear the name of
this amazing book. Muslims too, have become
hardhearted because of the cultural influences of
the West. Many young Muslims perceive the Qur'an
to be nothing more then an old wrapped up book,
which comes off the highest shelf once a year
during Ramadan!
If people were to truly reflect upon this book,
they would realise that nothing in this world is
quite the same. So why should this claim be
accepted over others? Why should the Qur'an be
given precedence over the likes of the Bible, the
Gita or the Granth Sahib ? The following reasons
will inshallah give an indication as to why
this book deserves the attention of all humanity.
"There is probably in the world no
other book which has remained twelve centuries
with so pure a text". Writing 200 years
ago, these are the words of the famous English
critic of Islam, Sir William Muir. But as Muslims
we do not need Williarn Muir to tell us this. 1400
years ago, the Muslims accepted this reality when
Allah revealed to them:
"Indeed
it is We who have sent down the reminder (the
Qur'an), and indeed it is Us who shall preserve it"
(Surah Al-Hijr 15:9)
These words have proved true to this very day.
From the moment the first words were revealed to
Muhammed (saws), to this very day, every single
letter and word of the Qur'an has remained
unchanged.
Before Islam, all the revelations sent were not
given this divine assurance. This is why we find
that books like the Bible are riddled with
corruption and inaccuracies. It is well known that
man has tampered with the Bible to the extent that
annually different versions are produced to suit
trends and desires. In fact this has been going on
for so long that it is almost impossible to see
what of the words of the Creator are left, if any!
With the Qur'an it is the exact opposite. The
contents of this amazing book are stored in the
hearts of millions of Muslims worldwide. Children
as young as 12 have memorised the entire book in
its original language, Arabic. There is no other
religious scripture on earth which is orally
preserved in its original language by so many and
over such a period of time, without having been
tampered somewhere along the line. The Bible is a
prime example of this. Many Christians believe
that English is the divine language of the Bible.
However Jesus (as) spoke Aramaic. From Aramaic,
his life-story was translated into Hebrew. From
Hebrew it was translated into Greek. From Greek to
Latin, and then finally from Latin to English!
There has not been a single vicar, priest or
layman in recorded history who has even memorised
the Bible in English, let alone the Aramaic! As
Muslims we believe the Qur'an can only be in the
language it was revealed in, i.e. Arabic. Anything
else is a translation and not the divine words of
the Creator. A true test of this divine
preservation would be to burn all the books and
manuscripts in existence, to see which can return
as it was. The Qur'an would be the only book which
would return in its original form, letter for
letter, word for word.
Many Christians say that the Qur'anic claim of
preservation needs to be backed-up by manuscript
evidence. For us this is not a necessary criteria,
but in order to quell the doubts, the Muslims have
ample proof. Two copies of the Qur'an are in
existence which date back to the Third Caliph
Uthmaan, 20 years after the death of the Prophet
(peace be upon him). These two copies are to be
found in the Topkapi museum, Istanbul, Turkey and
in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The Tashkent copy is
thought to have been the personal copy of the
Caliph as it still contains stains of his blood,
which was shed when he was murdered whilst reading
it. Any copy of the Qur'an which is compared to
these copies, will show that there is not a single
difference between what we have today and what was
in existence 1400 years ago. Thus Allah's promise
holds true.
Man as a creature is fallible. For this reason
anything which is produced by him will naturally
have faults. With the Qur'an, such a notion cannot
even be considered as it is from the one who is
Infallible. In fact Allah clarifies this matter
beautifully when he says:
"Do
they not consider the Qur'an? Had it been from
other then Allah surely they would have found much
discrepancies within it" (Surah
An-Nisa 4:82)
Throughout history many have tried to
scrutinise and search the Qur'an for mistakes and
errors. To this day no one has been able to bring
a shred of proof showing that this book is not
from Allah. Some Christians have even called it
the work of the Devil because the book affected
them so much when they read it! With other
scriptures, contradictions, mistakes and
absurdities are constantly present. When people
contrast these ambiguities with the Qur'an, it
often results in the acceptance of this faultless
book.
Upon hearing Qur'anic recitation, you may be
rather startled. Besides hearing the reciter of
the prayer, you often hear people in the
background sobbing and wailing heavily. So what is
it that makes these people cry so much? It is
nothing more then the beauty and eloquence of this
book which moves millions to tears. This beauty is
expressed in the language of Arabic. Allah says :
"Indeed
We have revealed this as an Arabic Qur'an so that
you may understand" (Surah Yusuf 12:2)
At the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him)
three modes of expression were used. There was
normal speech, the speech of the soothsayer and
poetry. The Arabs were the masters of their
language, and poetry was their cultural highlight.
Arabic poetry is split into 16 categories, each
separate from the other. When the Qur'an was
proclaimed to the Arabs it amazed them beyond all
limits. It was like nothing they had ever heard
before. It did not fit into the 16 categories of
poetry, nor was it the speech of a soothsayer, and
it certainly was not normal speech. If it was not
all these, then it could only be the word of
Allah.
The eloquence and majesty of the early chapters
of the Qur'an moved many to tears, and the
beautiful Qur'anic Arabic converted millions of
Arabs in the Middle-East. Not only did the Qur'an
effect the lives of these Arabs, but it also
transformed their culture. Even today, no serious
study of the Arabic language is possible without
reference to this book.
The reaction of some pagans was that they
accused Muhammed (peace be upon him) of being a
soothsayer and a madman. In order to silence them,
Allah issued a challenge. At first he asked them
to produce a book like the Qur'an. When it could
not be done, Allah asked them to produce ten
chapters like it. When this too could not be done
Allah finally stated:
"And if
you are in doubt as to what We have revealed to
Our slave, then produce a chapter like it"
(Surah Al-Baqarah 2:23)
The smallest chapter in the Qur'an
is only 3 verses long (Chapter 108). The pagans at
the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him) could
not even produce something as small as this, and
since then no one else has completed this
impossible task. All of this is in light of the
fact that the Prophet Muhammed (peace be upon him)
could not read or write, thus refuting those who
say that the Qur'an was his own handiwork.
The Qur'an is the Final book of revelation.
After it there will be no more. However, many have
tried to deny this by producing their own new
versions of the Qur'an. Among them have been the
two false prophets, Musailama and Ghulam Ahmed.
Many Chapters in the Qur'an are named after
animals, such as the Ant, Spider etc. Musailama
tried to copy this, and went about creating a
chapter in his book called the Weasel! In Arabic
it is called Al-Wabl and it hardly causes people
to be struck in awe! On the other hand Ghulam
Ahmed, the 'British stooge', claimed to receive
revelation in cockney English!! Such foolishness
could never compare to the beauty of the Qur'an
with its clear and beautiful Arabic language.
Over the past few decades much interest has
been shown in the scientific content of the Qur'an.
Scientific data which has been discovered in
recent times, has been existent in this book for
1400 years. In fact the very common origin of this
universe is stated clearly by Allah, the Most
High:
"Do not
the disbelievers see that the heavens and the
earth were joined together, then We parted them.
And We made from water every living thing. Will
they then not believe?" (Surah Al-Anbiya
21:30)
This parting of the heavens and the earth is
more commonly known to scientists as the 'big
bang'. It is also a fact that life originated from
water and that every living cell is composed of
85% water. Without water life is impossible.
The mountains of the earth, like icebergs, have
roots going deep into the ground. This ensures
that they will not topple with their extreme
heights - this is known as 'isostasy'. In this way
the mountains are like the stakes which are used
to anchor a tent. But this fact is already known
to us when Allah says:
"Have
We not made the earth an expanse and the mountains
stakes?" (Surah An-Naba
78:6-7)
and "Allah
has cast into the ground mountains standing firm
so that it does not shake with you"
(Surah Luqman 31:10)
The embryological data which is found in the
Qur'an is astounding. Allah describes the
formation of a baby inside the womb from the very
moment the sperm reaches the ovum, to its
formation into a human. This data, which was only
discovered about 30 years ago, has amazed many
westem scientists. Amongst them is Dr Keith Moore
from the University of Toronto, Canada. Dr Moore
is a recognised authority in embryological
circles, with his university text book being set
as a standard text in many universities throughout
the world. When Dr Moore was asked as to how this
information in the Qur'an could be explained, he
replied: "It could only have been divinely
revealed".
The Qur'an is a book of historical accuracy.
One accuracy which has corrected the mistakes of
many Christians and historians, is the fate of the
pharaoh who drowned in the Red Sea whilst pursuing
Moses. The Biblical story would have us believe
that the matter ended when the pharaoh drowned.
But the Qur'an explains further. When he was
drowning the pharaoh confessed his faith in Allah.
But it was too late, and Allah promised him:
"This day We shall
preserve you in your body, so that you may be a
sign for those who come after you. But indeed many
of mankind are heedless of Our signs"
(Surah Yunus 10:92)
In 1898 the tombs of various pharaohs were
discovered in the Valley of the Kings, in Egypt.
In 1975 Dr Maurice Bucaille, an eminent French
surgeon was allowed to examine the mummified
bodies of Rameses II and the pharaoh who had
pursued Moses - Merneptah. Dr Bucaille discovered
that Merneptah had received very violent blows to
several parts of his body and had suffered a
massive heart attack. Amazingly, these are the
results which occur when someone dies from
drowning! Thus Allah had saved the body of the
transgressing pharaoh as a sign for all humanity.
For those who say that Muhammed (saws) knew his
history and wrote it in the Qur'an, the following
shall prove otherwise. In the year 615 CE the
Roman army was defeated by the Persians. About
this event Allah revealed: "The
Romans have been defeated in the lowest land, but
in a few years they shall be victorious again,
within three to nine years. The decision of the
matter, before and after, is only with Allah"
(Surah Ar-Rum 30:2-4)
The words of Allah proved true as the Persians
were defeated at the battle of Issus, 7 years
later in 622 CE. There is no possible way that
Muhammed (peace be upon him) could have known (if
he wrote the Qur'an) that the Romans would be
victorious. In fact he also did not know that the
'lowest land' at which the battle was fought was
literally that. The battle in 615 CE was fought on
the shores of the Dead Sea, the lowest point below
sea level on earth, at 1300 ft.
A book with these credentials could only be
from the Creator of the heavens and the earth. A
book which we need to acquaint ourselves with. A
book . . . "...which
has been revealed to you (O' Muhammed) so that you
may lead mankind out of the darkness and into the
light" (Surah lbrahim 14:1)
