Self-Evident Miracles of the Holy Qur'an (6)

Self-Evident Miracles of the Holy Qur'an (6)

(Source: Various)

 

"And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Surah like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers (if there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true. "But if ye cannot – and of a surety you cannot – then fear the Fire whose fuel is Men and Stones – which is prepared for those who reject Faith." [Al-Qur'an 2:23-24]

 

Literature and poetry have been instruments of human expression and creativity, in all cultures. The world also witnessed an age when literature and poetry occupied pride of position, similar to that now enjoyed by science and technology. Even non-Muslim scholars agree that the Qur'an is Arabic literature par excellence – that it is the best Arabic literature on the face of the earth. The Qur'an challenges mankind to produce the likes of it. The challenge of the Qur'an, is to produce a single Surah (chapter) like the Surahs it contains. The same challenge is repeated in the Qur'an several times. The challenge to produce a Surah, which, in beauty, eloquence, depth and meaning is at least somewhat similar to a Qur'anic Surah remains unmet to this day. A modern rational man, however, would never accept a religious scripture which says, in the best possible poetic language, that the world is flat. This is because we live in an age, where human reason, logic and science are given primacy. Not many would accept the Qur'an's extraordinarily beautiful language, as proof of its Divine origin. Any scripture claiming to be a divine revelation must also be acceptable on the strength of its own reason and logic. According to the famous physicist and Nobel Prize winner, Albert Einstein, "Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."

 

One of the most evident and outstanding miracles of the Qur'an is the fact that its language still exists. The Qur'an is read and understood in the language in which it was revealed more than 1400 years ago. In contrast, every other language since that time has changed. Even books written a few hundred years ago have undergone many changes. It is unavoidable that over time numerous words, phrases and idioms become obsolete, meanings and spellings of words change, and new words are added to the vocabulary. The usage of words and phrases and the construction of sentences also change. The historical rule is that a language cannot survive in the same form for more than 500 years. In the course of five centuries, a language changes so radically that the coming generations find it increasingly difficult to understand the works of their distant predecessors. For instance, the works of Geoffrey Chaucer (1342 – 1400), the father of English poetry, and the plays and poetry of William Shakespeare (1564 – 1616), one of the greatest writers of the English language, have become almost unintelligible to twentieth century readers, and are now read almost exclusively as part of college curricula with the help of glossaries, dictionaries and 'translations'.

 

But the history of the Arabic language is strikingly different, having withstood the test of time for no less than 1500 years. Wordings and style have, of course, undergone some development, but not to such an extent that words should lose their original meaning. Supposing someone belonging to the Quaranic times of ancient Arabia could be reborn today, the form of language in which he would express himself would be as understandable to modern Arabia as it was to his own contemporaries.

 

It is a living miracle that even after 1500 years not a single word, phrase or idiom of this revealed Book has become obsolete or lost its original meaning. Although spoken Arabic has undergone change since the advent of the Qur'an, the Qur'an is still the criterion for beauty and eloquence in the written Arabic language. It is as if the Qur'an had placed a divine imprint upon Arabic, arresting it in its course so that it should remain understandable right up to the last day. This being so, the Qur'an is never just going to collect dust on some obscure 'Classical Literature' shelf, but will be read by, and give inspiration to people for all time to come.

 

In the field of science, despite the great and rapid advances in knowledge in recent years, with regard to many matters of importance we always come back to what was asserted in the Qur'an. Just as the Arabic language seems to have been crystallized at a particular point in time – in fact, at the moment of divine revelation, so also does science seem to have been arrested in its course, the Qur'an having the final say on matters which for centuries lay beyond man's knowledge and which still, in many important cases, elude man's intellectual grasp.   

 

It was not humanly possible for Prophet Muhammed (peace and blessings be upon him) to compose a book like the Qur'an. Its language contains miracles that testify to the fact that the Qur'an is a divinely revealed book from Allah, the Almighty, the All-Knowing and All-Wise. Mankind may justifiably accept the Qur'an as guidance from Allah.

 

'It is He Who has sent His Messenger (Prophet Muhammed) with guidance and the religion of truth (Islam), to make it superior over all religions even though the Mushrikun (polytheists, pagans, idolaters, disbelievers in the Oneness of Allah) hate (it). (Holy Qur'an 9:33).

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