The Amazing Quran (part 7 of 9)
Description: A series of articles compelling the reader to ponder over the marvels of the Quran. Part 7: Catholic Church’s opinion of the Quran and the falsification tests relate to both the past and the present.
- By Dr. Gary Miller (edited by www.islamhouse.com)
- Published on 14 Jan 2013
- Last modified on 04 Dec 2014
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NewCatholic Encyclopedia
Itisthisverysortofthing-confrontingpeoplewithfacts-thathadcapturedtheattentionof manynon-Muslims. Infact,thereexistsaveryinterestingreferenceconcerningthissubjectin theNewCatholicEncyclopedia. InanarticleunderthesubjectoftheQuran,theCatholic Church states:
“Overthecenturies,many theorieshavebeenoffered astotheoriginoftheQuran... Today nosensiblemanacceptsany of thesetheories!!”
Nowhereistheage-oldCatholicChurch,whichhasbeenaroundfor somany centuries, denyingthesefutileattemptstoexplainaway theQuran.
Indeed,theQuranisaproblemfortheCatholicChurch. Itstatesthatitisrevelation,sothey studyit. Certainly,they wouldlovetofindproofthatitisnot,buttheycannot. Theycannotfind aviableexplanation. Butatleastthey are reasonably honestintheirresearchanddonotacceptthefirst unsubstantiatedinterpretationwhichcomesalong. TheChurch statesthatinfourteen centuriesithasnotyetbeenpresentedasensibleexplanation. AtleastitadmitsthattheQuranisnotaneasysubjecttodismiss. Certainly,otherpeoplearemuch lesshonest. They quickly say, “Oh,theQurancamefromhere. TheQurancamefromthere.”And they donotevenexamine thecredibility of whatthey arestatingmostofthetime.
Of course,suchastatementby theCatholicChurchleavestheeveryday Christianin some difficulty. Itjustmay bethathehashisownideasastotheoriginoftheQuran,butasasingle memberof theChurch,hecannotreallyactuponhisowntheory. Suchanactionwouldbe contrarytotheobedience,allegianceandloyalty whichtheChurchdemands. By virtueofhis membership,hemustacceptwhattheCatholicChurchdeclareswithoutquestionand establishitsteachingsaspartofhiseveryday routine. So,inessence,iftheCatholicChurchas awholeissaying,“DonotlistentotheseunconfirmedreportsabouttheQuran,”thenwhatcan besaidabouttheIslamicpointofview?If evennon-Muslimsareadmittingthatthereis somethingtotheQuran-somethingthathastobeacknowledged-thenwhyarepeopleso stubbornanddefensiveandhostilewhenMuslimsadvancethevery sametheory?Thisis certainly somethingforthosewithamind tocontemplate-somethingtoponderforthoseof understanding!
Testimony of an Intellectual
Recently,theleadingintellectualintheCatholicChurch-amanbythenameofHans- studied theQuranandgavehisopinionofwhathehadread. Thismanhasbeenaroundfor sometime,andheishighlyrespectedintheCatholicChurch,andaftercarefulscrutiny,he reportedhisfindings,concluding,“Godhasspokentomanthroughtheman,Muhammad.”
Againthisisa conclusionarrivedatbyanon-Muslimsource-theveryleadingintellectualof theCatholicChurchhimself!
I donotthinkthatthePopeagreeswithhim,butnonetheless,theopinionofsuchanoted, reputedpublicfiguremustcarry someweightindefenseof theMuslimposition. Hemustbe applaudedforfacingthereality thattheQuranisnotsomethingwhichcanbeeasily pushed asideandthat,infactGodisthesourceof thesewords.
Asisevidentfromtheaforementionedinformation,allof thepossibilitieshavebeenexhausted, sothechanceoffindinganotherpossibilityofdismissingtheQuranisnonexistent.
Burden of Proof on the Critic
If thebookisnotarevelation,thenitisadeception;andifitisadeception,onemustask, “Whatisitsorigin?Andwheredoesitdeceiveus?”Indeed,thetrueanswerstothesequestions shedlightontheQuran’sauthenticity andsilencethebitterunsubstantiated claimsof the unbelievers.
Certainly,ifpeoplearegoingtoinsistthattheQuranisadeception,thenthey mustbringforth evidencetosupportsuchaclaim. Theburdenofproofisonthem,notus!Oneisnever supposedtoadvanceatheory withoutsufficientcorroboratingfacts;soI say tothem,“Show meonedeception!ShowmewheretheQurandeceivesme!Showme;otherwisedon’tsay thatitisadeception!”
Origin of the Universe and Life
An interestingcharacteristicoftheQuran ishowitdealswithsurprisingphenomena which relatenotonlytothepastbuttomoderntimesaswell. Inessence,theQuranisnot anold problem. Itisstillaproblem eventoday-aproblemtothenon-Muslimsthatis. Foreveryday, everyweek,everyyearbringsmoreandmoreevidencethattheQuranisaforcetobe contendedwith-thatitsauthenticityisnolongertobechallenged!Forexample,oneversein theQuran(Surahal-Anbiya21:30)reads:
“Donottheunbelieversseethattheheavensand theearthwerejoinedtogether, thenWeclovethemasunder,andmadefromwatereverylivingthing? Willthey notthenbelieve?”
Ironically,thisveryinformation isexactlywhatthey awarded the1973NoblePrizefor-toa coupleofunbelievers.
TheQuranrevealstheoriginof theuniverse-howitbeganfrom onepiece-andmankind continuestoverify thisrevelation,evenup tonow. Additionally,thefactthatalllifeoriginated fromwaterwouldnothavebeenaneasy thingtoconvincepeopleoffourteencenturiesago. Indeed,if1400yearsagoyouhadstoodinthedesertandtoldsomeone,“Allofthis,yousee (pointingtoyourself),ismadeupofmostly water,”noonewouldhavebelievedyou. Proofof thatwasnotavailableuntiltheinventionofthemicroscope. They had towaittofindoutthat cytoplasm,thebasicsubstanceof thecell,ismade-up of80%water. Nonetheless,the evidencedid come,andonceagaintheQuran stood thetestoftime.
Moreon FalsificationTest
Inreferencetothefalsificationtestsmentioned earlier,itisinterestingtonotethatthey,too, relatetoboththepast andthepresent. SomeofthemwereusedasillustrationsofGod’s omnipotenceandknowledge,whileotherscontinuetostandaschallengestothepresent day. AnexampleoftheformeristhestatementmadeintheQuranaboutAbuLahab. It clearlyillustratesthatGod,theKnowerof theUnseen,knewthatAbuLahabwouldnever changehiswaysandacceptIslam. ThusGoddictated thathewouldbecondemned tothe Hellfireforever. SuchachapterwasbothanillustrationofGod’sdivinewisdomandawarning tothosewhowerelikeAbu Lahab.
People of the Book
An interestingexampleofthelattertypeoffalsificationtestscontainedintheQuran istheverse whichmentionstherelationship betweentheMuslimsandtheJews. Theverseiscarefulnotto narrowitsscopetotherelationshipbetweenindividualmembersofeachreligion,butrather,it summarizestherelationshipbetweenthetwogroupsofpeopleasawhole. Inessence,the Quran statesthattheChristianswillalwaystreattheMuslimsbetterthantheJewswilltreatthe Muslims. Indeed,thefullimpactofsuchastatementcanonly befeltaftercareful considerationof therealmeaningofsuchaverse. ItistruethatmanyChristiansandmany JewshavebecomeMuslims,butasa whole,theJewishcommunityhas clearly shown its hostility toIslam. Additionally,very fewpeoplerealizewhatsuchanopendeclarationinthe Quraninvites. Inessence,itisaneasy chancefortheJewstoprovethattheQuranisfalse- thatitisnotadivinerevelation. Allthey havetodoisorganizethemselves,treattheMuslims nicelyforafewyearsandthen say,“Nowwhatdoesyourholy booksay aboutwhoareyour bestfriendsintheworld-theJewsortheChristians?LookwhatweJewshavedoneforyou!”
ThatisalltheyhavetodotodisprovetheQuran’sauthenticity,yetthey havenotdoneitin 1400years. But,asalways,theoffer stillstandsopen!
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