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AL-QUR'AAN
- THE MIRACLE OF MIRACLES
by
Br. Ahmad Deedat
CHAPTER
ONE
A
Standing Challenge
"SAY:
IF THE WHOLE, OF MANKIND AND JINNS WERE TO GATHER TOGETHER TO
PRODUCE THE LIKE OF THIS QUR'AAN, THEY COULD NOT PRODUCE THE
LIKE THEREOF, EVEN IF THEY BACKED UP EACH OTHER WITH HELP AND
SUPPORT." (BANI ISRA-IL) Holy Qur'an 17:88
WHAT
IS A MIRACLE
I think it is necessary that we have a clear picture of
what we mean by a miracle. Here are some definitions:-
"An
event that appears so Inexplicable by the laws of nature, that
it is held to be supernatural in origin or an act of
God."
"A
person, thing or event that excites admiring awe."
"An
act beyond human power, an impossibility."
It
is logical that greater the impossibility, greater the
miracle. For example, should a person expire before our very
eyes and is certified dead by a qualified medical man, yet
later on a mystic or a saint commands the corpse to 'arise!',
and to everybody's astonishment the person gets up and walks
away, we would label that as a miracle. But if the
resurrection of the dead took place after the corpse had been
in the mortuary for three days, then we would acclaim this as
a greater miracle. And if the dead was made to arise from the
grave, decades or centuries after the body had been decomposed
and rotted away, then in that case we would label it the
greatest miracle of them all!
A
COMMON TRAIT
It
has been a common trait of mankind since time immemorial that
whenever a Guide from God appeared to redirect their steps
into the Will and Plan of God; they demanded supernatural
proofs from these men of God, instead of accepting the Message
on its merit.
For
example, when Jesus Christ (pbuh) began to preach to his
people - "The Children of Israel" - to mend their
ways and to refrain from mere legalistic formalism and imbibe
the true spirit of the Laws and Commandments of God, his
"people" demanded Miracles from him to prove his
bona fades, as recorded in the Christian Scriptures:
"Then
certain of the Scribes and the Pharisees answered, saying
Master, we would have a SIGN(Miracle) from thee.
But
he answered and said unto them, "An evil and adulterous
generation seeketh after a SIGN (Miracle) and there shall no
SIGN (Miracle) be given to it, but the SIGN (Miracle) of the
Prophet Jonas:" (Emphasis added). (Holy Bible) Matthew
12:38-39
Though
on the face of it, Jesus (pbuh) refuses to pamper the Jews
here, in fact, he did perform many miracles as we learn from
the Gospel narratives.
The
Holy Bible is full of supernatural events accredited to the
Prophets from their Lord. In reality all those
"signs" and "wonders" and
"miracles" were acts of God, but since those
miracles were worked through His human agents, we describe
them as the Miracles of Prophets, i.e. Moses or Jesus (peace
be upon them) by whose hands they were performed.
QUIRK
CONTINUES
Some
six hundred years after the birth of Jesus Christ (pbuh),
Muhummed (pbuh) the Messenger of God was born in Makkah in
Arabia. When he proclaimed his Mission at the age of forty,
his fellow countrymen, the MUSHRIKS of Makkah made an
identical request for Miracles, as had the Jews, from their
promised Messiah. Textbook style, it was as if the Arabs had
taken a leaf from the Christian records. History has a habit
of repeating itself.
"AND
THEY SAY: WHY ARE NOT SIGNS SENT DOWW TO HIM FROM HIS
LORD?" (SURA ANKABUT Holy Qur'an 29:50)
SIGNS!
WHAT SIGNS?
"MIRACLES?
CRIES HE, WHAT MIRACLES WOULD YOU HAVE? ARE NOT YOU YOURSELVES
THERE? GOD MADE YOU, 'SHAPED YOU OUT OF A LITTLE CLAY.' YE
WERE SMALL ONCE, A FEW YEARS AGO YE WERE NOT AT ALL. YE HAVE
BEAUTY, STRENGTH, THOUGHTS, 'YE HAVE COMPASSION ON ONE
ANOTHER.' OLD AGE COMES ON YOU, AND GREY HAIRS; YOUR STRENGTH
FADES INTO FEEBLENESS: YE SINK DOWN, AND AGAIN ARE NOT. 'YE
HAVE COMPASSION ON ONE ANOTHER': THIS STRUCK ME MUCH: ALLAH
MIGHT HAVE MADE YOU HAVING NO COMPASSION ON ONE ANOTHER, - HOW
HAD IT BEEN THEN! THIS IS A GREAT DIRECT THOUGHT, A GLANCE AT
FIRST-HAND INTO THE VERY FACT OF THINGS..." "on
Heroes and Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History" by
Thomas Carlyle
"THIS
STRUCK ME MUCH"
This,
that - "Ye have Compassion on one another,"
impressed Thomas Carlyle most from his perusal of an English
translation. I presume, the verse that motivated this
sentiment is:
1.
"And among His signs Is this, that He created for you
mates from among yourselves, That ye may dwell in TRANQUILLITY
WITH THEM. and He has put love and mercy between your
(hearts): Verily in that are signs for those who
reflect." (Emphasis added) (SURA RUM - Holy Qur'an 30:21
- Translation by A. Yusuf Ali)
2.
"And one of his signs It is, that he bath created wives
for you or your own species That YE MAY DWELL WITH THEM, and
bath put love and tenderness between you. Herein truly are
signs for those who reflect. (Emphasis added). Translation by
Rev. J.M. Rodwell (M.A.)
3.
"By another sign he gave you wives from among yourselves,
That ye might LIVE IN JOY WITH THEM, and planted love and
kindness into your hearts. Surely there are signs in this for
thinking men." (Emphasis added). Translation by N.J.
Dawood
The
first example is from the translation by A. Yusuf Ali, a
Muslim. The second is by a Christian priest the Rev. Rodwell
and the last example is by an Iraqi Jew, N.J. Dawood.
Unfortunately
Thomas Carlyle had no access to any one of these because none
of them had seen the light of day in his time. The only one
available to him in 1840 was as he said on page 85 of his book
under reference -
"WE
ALSO CAN READ THE KORAN; OUR TRANSLATION OF IT, BY SALE, IS
KNOWN TO BE A VERY FAIR ONE." (Emphasis added)
TAINT
IS IN THE MOTIVE
Carlyle
is very charitable to his fellow countryman. The motives of
George Sale who pioneered an English Translation of the Holy
Qur'an, were suspect. He makes no secret of his antagonism to
the Holy Book of Islam. In his preface to his translation in
1734 he made it known that it was his avowed intention to
expose the man Mohammed and his forgery: He records:
"WHO
CAN APPREHEND ANY DANGER FROM SO MANIFEST A FORGERY? ... THE
PROTESTANTS ALONE ARE ABLE TO ATTACK THE KORAN WITH SUCCESS;
AND FOR THEM, I TRUST, PROVIDENCE HAS RESERVED THE GLORY OF
ITS OVERTHROW." (George Sale)
And
he set to work with his prejudiced translation. You will be
able to judge how "fair" and scholarly George Sale
was from the very verse which "Struck" (Carlyle)
"much!" Compare it with the three examples already
given by a Muslim, a Christian and a Jew:
"And
of his signs another is, that he had created for you, out of
yourselves, wives that YE MAY COHABIT WITH THEM, and hath put
love and compassion between you." (Emphasis added)
I
do not think that George Sale was "a male chauvinist
pig" of his day to describe our mates, wives or spouses
as sexual objects. He was only keeping to his promise, which
Carlyle overlooked. The Arabic word which he (Sale) perverted
is "litas-kunoo" which means to find peace,
consolation, composure or tranquillity; and not
"cohabit" meaning "To live together in a sexual
relationship when not legally married." (The Reader's
Digest Universal Dictionary).
Every
word of the Qur'anic text is meticulously chosen, chiselled
and placed by the All-Wise Himself. They carry God's
"fingerprint", and are the Signs of God. And yet,
the spiritually jaundiced ...
ASK
FOR A SIGN
What
Signs? They mean some special kinds of signs or miracles such
as their own foolish minds dictate. Everything is possible for
God, but God is not going to humour the follies of men or
listen to their false demands. He has sent His Messenger to
explain His Signs clearly, and to warn them of the consequences
of rejection. Is that not enough? The trend of their demand is
generally as follows:
In
specific terms they asked that he - Muhummed (pbuh) - 'Put a
ladder up to heaven and bring down a book from God in their
very sight' - "THEN WE WOULD BELIEVE," they said. Or
'Ye see the mountain yonder, turn it into gold' - "THEN
WE WOULD BELIEVE." or 'Make streams to gush out in the
desert'- "THEN WE WOULD BELIEVE."
Now
listen to the soft, sweet reasoning of Muhammed (pbuh) against
the unreasonable and sceptical demands of the MUSHRIKS -
"Do I say to you, verily I am an angel? Do I say to you,
verily in my hands are the treasures of God? Only, what is
revealed to me do I follow."
Listen
further to the most dignified reply he is commanded by his
Lord to give the Unbelievers.
"SAY
(O MUHAMMAD): THE SIGNS (MIRACLES) ARE INDEED WITH ALLAH: AND
MOST CERTAINLY I AM ONLY A CLEAR WARNER!" (SURA 'ANKABUT
- Holy Qur'an 29:50)
In
the following AAYAAH (verse) the Holy Prophet is made to point
to the Holy Qur'an itself as an answer to their hypocritical
demand for some special kind of "Sign" or 'Miracle'
for which their foolish, pagan mentality craved. For indeed
all miracles are "signs"; and it is their disbelief,
their scepticism, their lack of faith which motivates their
request for a sign. They are asked to - 'Look at the Qur'an'
And again, "Look at the Qur'an!"
"IS
IT NOT ENOUGH FOR THEM THAT WE HAVE SENT DOWN TO THEE (O
MUHAMMAD!) THE BOOK (AL-QUR AN) WHICH IS REHEARSED TO THEM?
VERILY, IN IT (THIS PERSPICUOUS BOOK) IS A MERCY AND REMINDER
TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE." (SURA ANKABUT - Holy Qur'an 29:51)
TWO
PROOFS
As
proof of the Divine Authorship and the miraculous nature of
the Holy Qur'an, two arguments are advanced by the Almighty
Himself:
1.
"THAT WE" (God Almighty) have revealed to YOU (O!
Muhammad!) "THE BOOK to YOU" who art absolutely an
unlearned person. An "UMMI" Prophet. One who cannot
read or write. One who cannot sign his own name. Let Thomas
Carlyle testify regarding the educational qualifications of
Muhummed-
"ONE
OTHER CIRCUMSTANCE WE MUST NOT FORGET: THAT HE HAD NO
SCHOOL-LEARNING; OF THE THING WE CALL SCHOOL-LEARNING NONE AT
ALL."
Moreover
the Divine Author (God Almighty) Himself testifies to the
veracity of Muhummed's (pbuh) claim that he could never have
composed the contents of the Holy Qur'an; he could not have
been its author:
"AND
THOU (O MUHUMMED) WAS NOT (ABLE) TO RECITE A BOOK BEFORE THIS
(BOOK CAME), NOR ART THOU (ABLE) TO TRANSCRIBE IT WITH THY
RIGHT HAND: IN THAT CASE, INDEED, WOULD THE TALKERS OF
VANITIES HAVE DOUBTED." (SURA ANKABUT - Holy Qur'aan
29:48)
The
Author of the Qur'an is reasoning with us, that had Muhummed (pbuh)
been a learned man, and had he been able to read and write,
then in that case the babblers in the market-places might have
had some justification to doubt his claim that the Holy Qur'an
is God's Word. In the event of Muhummed (pbuh) being a
literate person, the accusation of his enemies that he had
probably copied his Book (AlQur'an) from the writings of the
Jews and the Christians, or that perhaps he had been studying
Aristotle and Plato, or that he must have browsed through the
"Torat," the "Zabur" and the "Injeel"
and had rehashed it all in a beautiful language, might have
carried some weight. Then, "THE TALKERS OF VANITIES"
might have had a point. But even this flimsy pretence has been
denied to the unbeliever and the cynic: a point hardly big
enough to hang a fly upon!
2.
'The Book'? Yes, the "BOOK" itself, carries its own
evidence proving its Divine Authorship. Study the Book from
any angle. Scrutinize it. Why not take up the Author's
challenge if your doubts are genuine?
"DO
THEY NOT CONSIDER THE QURAN (WITH CARE)? HAD IT BEEN FROM
OTHER THAN ALLAH, THEY WOULD SURELY HAVE FOUND THEREIN MUCH
DISCREPANCY." (SURA NISAA - Holy Qur'an 4:82)
CONSISTENCY
It
is inconceivable that any human author would remain consistent
in his teachings and his preachings for a period of over two
decades. From the age of forty, when Muhummed (pbuh) received
his first call from Heaven to the age of sixty-three when he
breathed his last, for twenty-three years the Holy Prophet
practised and preached Islam. In those twenty-three years, he
passed through the most conflicting vicissitudes of life.
Any man, during the course of such a mission, would be
forced by circumstances to make "honourable"
compromises, and cannot help contradicting himself. No man can
ever write the same always, as the Message of the Holy Qur'an
is: CONSISTENT WITH ITSELF, throughout! Or is it that the
unbelievers' objections are merely argumentative, refractory,
against their own better light and judgement?
Furthermore,
the Holy Qur'an contains or mentions many matters relating to
the nature of the universe which were unknown to man before
but which subsequently through evolution and discoveries of
Science have fully confirmed - a field where an untutored mind
would have most certainly lost in wild and contradictory
speculations!
SELF-EVIDENT
PROOF
Again
and again when miracles were demanded from the Prophet of God
by the cynical and frivolous few, he is made to point to the
Qur'an - Message from High - as "The Miracle." THE
MIRACLE OF MIRACLES! And men of wisdom, people with literary
and spiritual insight, who were honest enough to themselves,
recognised and accepted Al-Qur'an as a genuine miracle.
Says
the Holy Qur'an:
"NAY, HERE ARE SIGNS SELF EVIDENT IN THE HEARTS OF THOSE
ENDOWED WITH KNOWLEDGE. AND NONE BUT THE UNJUST REJECT OUR
SIGNS." (SURA 'ANKABUT - Holy Qur'an 29:49)
Last modified:
July 19, 2007
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