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_001.jpg) Humanity has received the Divine guidance only through
two channels: firstly the word of God, secondly the Prophets who were chosen by
God to communicate His will to human beings. These two things have always been
going together and attempts to know the will of God by neglecting either of
these two have always been misleading. The Hindus neglected their prophets and
paid all attention to their books that proved only word puzzles which they
ultimately lost. Similarly, the Christians, in total disregard to the Book of
God, attached all importance to Christ and thus not only elevated him to
Divinity, but also lost the very essence of Tawheed (monotheism)
contained in the Bible.
As a matter of fact, the main scriptures revealed before
the Quran, i.e., the Old Testament and the Gospel, came into book-form long
after the days of the Prophets and that too in translation. This was because
the followers of Moses and Jesus made no considerable effort to preserve these
Revelations during the life of their Prophets. Rather, they were written long
after their death. Thus, what we now have in the form of the Bible (the Old as
well as the New Testament) is a translation of individual accounts of the
original revelations which contain additions and deletions made by the
followers of the said Prophets. On the contrary, the last revealed Book, the
Quran, still remains in its pristine form. God Himself guaranteed its
preservation and the entire Quran was written during the lifetime of the
Prophet Muhammad, may God praise him, on separate pieces of palm leaves,
parchments, bones etc.. Moreover, there were over 100 000 Companions who
memorized either the entire Quran or parts of it. The Prophet himself used to
recite it to the Angel Gabriel once a year and twice in the year he died. The
first Caliph Abu Bakr entrusted the collection of the whole Quran in one volume
to the Prophet’s scribe, Zaid Ibn Thabit. This volume was with Abu Bakr till
his death. Then it was with the second Caliph Umar and after him it came to
Hafsa, the Prophet’s wife. It was from this original copy that the third
Caliph Uthman prepared several other copies and sent them to different Muslim
territories.
The Quran was so meticulously preserved for it is the Book
of Guidance for humanity till the end of time. That is why it does not address
the Arabs alone in whose language it was revealed. It speaks to man as a human
being:
“O mankind, what has deceived you concerning your Lord,
the Generous.”
The practicality of the Quranic teachings is established
by the examples of Prophet Muhammad and the good Muslims throughout the ages.
The distinctive approach of the Quran is that its instructions are aimed at the
general welfare of man and are based on the possibilities within his reach. In
all its dimensions the Quranic wisdom is conclusive. It neither condemns nor
tortures the flesh nor does it neglect the soul. It does not humanize God nor
does it deify man. Everything is carefully placed where it belongs.
Actually the scholars who allege that Muhammad was the
author of the Quran claim something which is humanly impossible. Could any
person of the sixth century C.E. utter such scientific truths as the Quran
contains? Could he describe the evolution of the embryo inside the uterus so
accurately as we find it in modern science?
Secondly, is it logical to believe that Muhammad, who up
to the age of forty was marked only for his honesty and integrity, to suddenly begin
the authorship of a book matchless in literary merit and the equivalent of
which the whole legion of the Arab poets and orators of the highest caliber
could not produce? Lastly, is it logical that Muhammad, who was known as Al-Ameen
(the trustworthy) in his society and who is still admired by the non-Muslim
scholars for his honesty and integrity, came forth with a false claim and was
able to train thousands of men, who were men of integrity to establish the best
human society on earth?
Surely, any sincere and unbiased searcher of truth will
come to believe that the Quran is the revealed Book of God.
Without necessarily agreeing with all they said, we
furnish here some opinions of important non-Muslim scholars about the Quran.
Readers can easily see how the modern world is coming closer to reality
regarding the Quran. We appeal to all open-minded scholars to study the Quran
in the light of the aforementioned points. We are sure that any such attempt
will convince the reader that the Quran could never be written by any human
being.
Goethe, quoted in T.P. Hughes’ Dictionary of Islam, p. 526:
“However often we turn to it [the Quran] at first
disgusting us each time afresh, it soon attracts, astounds, and in the end
enforces our reverence...Its style, in accordance with its contents and aim is
stern, grand, terrible – ever and anon truly sublime – Thus this book will go
on exercising through all ages a most potent influence.”
Maurice
Bucaille, The Quran and Modern Science, 19812, p. 18:
“A totally objective examination of it [the Quran] in
the light of modern knowledge, leads us to recognize the agreement between the
two, as has been already noted on repeated occasions, It makes us deem it quite
unthinkable for a man of Mohammed’s time to have been the author of such
statements on account of the state of knowledge in his day. Such considerations
are part of what gives the Quranic Revelation its unique place, and forces the
impartial scientist to admit his inability to provide an explanation which call
solely upon materialistic reasoning.”
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