The Amazing Qur'an

موضوع: The Amazing Qur'an الأربعاء أبريل 14, 2010 11:02 pm

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Calling the qur'an amazing is not something done only by Muslims, who have an appreciation for the book and who are pleased with it; it has been labeled amazing by non-Muslims as well. In fact, even people who hate Islam very much have still called it amazing.

One thing which surprises non_muslims who are examining the book very closely is that the qur'an
does not appear to them to be what they expected. What they assume is
that they have an old book which came fourteen centuries ago from the
Arabian desert; and they expect that the book should look something
like that - an old book from the desert. And then they find out that it
does not resemble what they expected at all. Additionally, one of the
first things that some people assume is that because it is an old book
which comes from the desert, it should talk about the desert. Well the qur'an
does talk about the desert - some of its imagery describes the desert;
but it also talks about the sea - what it's like to be in a storm on
the sea.

Some years ago, the story came to us in Toronto about a man who was in
the merchant marine and made his living on the sea. A Muslim gave him a
translation of the qur'an
to read. The merchant marine knew nothing about the history of Islam
but was interested in reading the Qur'an. When he finished reading it,
he brought it back to the Muslim and asked, "This Muhammed, was he a
sailor?" He was impressed at how accurately the qur'an
describes a storm on a sea. When he was told, "No as a matter of fact,
Muhammed lived in the desert," that was enough for him. He embraced
Islam on the spot. He was so impressed with the Qur'an's description
because he had been in a storm on the sea, and he knew that whoever had
written that description had also been in a storm on the sea. The
description of "a wave, over it a wave, over it clouds" was not what
someone imagining a storm on a sea to be like would have written;
rather, it was written by someone who knew what a storm on the sea was
like. This is one example of how the qur'an
is not tied to a certain place and time. Certainly, the scientific
ideas expressed in it also do not seem to originate from the desert
fourteen centuries ago.

Many centuries before the onset of Muhammed's Prophethood, there was a
well-known theory of atomism advanced by the Greek philosopher,
Democritus. He and the people who came after him assumed that matter
consists of tiny, indestructible, indivisible particles called atoms.
The Arabs too, used to deal in the same concept; in fact, the Arabic
word dharrah commonly referred to the smallest particle known to man.
Now, modern science has discovered that this smallest unit of matter
(i.e., the atom, which has all of the same properties as its element)
can be split into its component parts. This is a new idea, a
development of the last century; yet, interestingly enough, this
information had already been documented in the qur'an which states:

" He [i.e., Allah] is aware of an atom's weight in the heavens and on the earth and even anything smaller than that..."

Undoubtedly, fourteen centuries ago that statement would have looked
unusual, even to an Arab. For him, the dharrah was the smallest thing
there was. Indeed, this is proof, that the qur'an is not outdated.

Another example of what one might expect to find in an"old book" that
touches upon the subject of health or medicine is outdated remedies or
cures. Various historical sources state that the Prophet gave some
advice about health and hygiene, yet most of these pieces of advice are
not contained in the Qur'an. At first glance, to the non-Muslims this
appears to be a negligent omission. They cannot understand why Allah
would not "include" such helpful information in the Qur'an. Some
Muslims attempt to explain this absence with the following argument:
"Although the Prophet's advice was sound and applicable to the time in
which he lived, Allah, in His infinite wisdom, knew that there would
come later medical and scientific advances which would make the
Prophet's advice appear outdated. When later discoveries occurred,
people might say that such information contradicted that which the
Prophet had given. Thus, since Allah would never allow any opportunity
for the non-Muslims to claim that the qur'an contradicts itself or the teachings of the Prophet, He only included in the qur'an information and examples which could stand the test of time."

However, when one examines the true realities of the qur'an
in terms of its existence as a divine revelation, the entire matter is
quickly brought into its proper perspective, and the error in such
argumentation becomes clear and understandable. It must be understood
that the qur'an is a divine revelation, and as such, all information in it is of divine origin. Allah revealed the qur'an
from Himself. It is the words of Allah, which existed before creation,
and thus nothing can be added, subtracted or altered. In essence, the qur'an
existed and was complete before the creation of Prophet Muhammed, so it
could not possibly contain any of the Prophet's own words or advice. An
inclusion of such information would clearly contradict the purpose for
which the qur'an exists, compromise its authority and render it inauthentic as a divine revelation.

Consequently, there was no "home remedies" in the qur'an
which one could claim to be outdated; nor does it contain any man's
view about what is beneficial to health, what food is best to eat, or
what will cure this or that disease. In fact, the qur'an
only mentions one item dealing with medical treatment, and it is not in
dispute by anyone. It states that in honey there is healing. And
certainly, I do not think that there is anyone who will argue with
that!

If one assumes that the qur'an
is the product of a man's mind, then one would expect it to reflect
some of what was going on in the mind of the man who "composed" it. In
fact, certain encyclopedias and various books clam that the qur'an
was the product of hallucinations that Muhammed underwent. If these
claims are true - if it indeed originated from some psychological
problems in Muhammed's mind - then evidence of this would be apparent
in the Qur'an. Is there such evidence? In order to determine whether or
not there is, one must first identify what things would have been going
on in his mind at that time and then search for these thoughts and
reflections in the Qur'an.

It is common knowledge that Muhammad had a very difficult life. All of
his daughters died before him except one, and he had a wife of several
years who was dear and important to him, who not only proceeded him in
death at a very critical period of his life. As a matter of fact, she
must have been quite a woman because when the first revelation came to
him, he ran home to her afraid. Certainly, even today one would have a
hard time trying to find an Arab who would tell you, "I was so afraid
that I ran home to my wife." They just aren't that way. Yet Muhammed
felt comfortable enough with his wife to be able to do that. That's how
influential and strong woman she was. Although these examples are only
a few of the subjects that would have been on Muhammed's mind, they are
sufficient in intensity to prove my point. The qur'an
does not mention any of these things - not the death of his children,
not the death of his beloved companion and wife, not his fear of the
initial revelations, which he so beautifully shared with his wife -
nothing; yet, these topics must have hurt him, bothered him, and caused
him pain and grief during periods of his psychological reflections,
then these subjects, as well as others, would be prevalent or at least
mentioned throughout.

A truly scientific approach to the qur'an is possible because the qur'an
offers something that is not offered by other religious scriptures, in
particular, and other religions, in general. It is what scientists
demand. Today there are many people who have ideas and theories about
how the universe works. These people are all over the place, but the
scientific community does not even bother to listen to them. This is
because within the last century the scientific community has demanded a
test of falsification. They say, "If you have theory, do not bother us
with it unless you bring with that theory a way for us to prove whether
you are wrong or not."

Such a test was exactly why the scientific community listened to
Einstein towards the beginning of the century. He came with a new
theory and said, "I believe the universe works like this; and here are
three ways to prove whether I am wrong!". So the scientific community
subjected his theory to the tests, and within six years it passed all
three. Of course, this does not prove that he was great, but it proves
that he deserved to be listened to because he said, "This is my idea;
and if you want to try to prove me wrong, do this or try that." This is
exactly what the qur'an
has - falsification tests. Some are old (in that they have already been
proven true), and some still exist today. Basically it states, "If this
book is not what it claims to be, then all you have to do is this or
this or this to prove that it is false." Of course, in 1400 years no
one has been able to do "This or this or this, " and thus it is still
considered true and authentic. I suggest to you that the next time you
get into dispute with someone about Islam and he claims that he has the
truth and that you are in darkness, you leave all other arguments at
first and make this suggestion. Ask him, "Is there any falsification
test in your religion? Is there anything in your religion that would
prove you are wrong if I could prove to you that it exists - anything?"
Well, I can promise right now that people will not have anything - no
test, no proof, nothing! This is because they do not carry around the
idea that they should not only present what they believe but should
also offer others a chance to prove they're wrong. However, Islam does
that. A perfect example of how Islam provides man with a chance to
verify it authenticity and "prove it wrong" occurs in the 4th chapter.
And quiet honestly, I was surprised when I first discovered this
challenge. It states:

"Do they not consider the Qur'an? Had it been from any other than
Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy."

This is a clear challenge to the non-Muslim.Basically, it invites him
to find a mistake. As a matter of fact, the seriousness and difficulty
of the challenge aside, the actual presentation of such a challenge in
the first place is not even in human nature and is inconsistent with
man's personality. One doesn't take an exam in school after finishing
the exam, write a note to the instructor at the end saying, "This exam
is perfect. There are no mistakes in it. Find one if you can!". One
just doesn't do that. The teacher would not sleep until he found a
mistake! And yet this is the way the qur'an approaches people. Another interesting attitude that exists in the qur'an repeatedly deals with its advice to the reader. The qur'an
informs that reader about different facts and then gives the advice:
"If you want to know more about this or that, or if you doubt what is
said, then you should ask those who have knowledge." This too is a
surprising attitude. It is not usual to have a book that comes from
someone without training in geography, botany, biology, etc., who
discusses these subjects and then advises the reader to ask men of
knowledge if he doubts anything.

Yet in every age there have been Muslims who have followed the advice of the qur'an
and made surprising discoveries. If one looks to the works of Muslim
scientists if many centuries ago, one will find them full of quotations
from the Qur'an. These works state that they did research in such a
place, looking for something. And they affirm that the reason they
looked in such and such a place was that the qur'an pointed them in that direction. For example, the qur'an
mentions man's origin and then tells the reader, "Research it!" It
gives the reader a hint where to look and then states that one should
find out more about it. This is the kind of thing that Muslims today
largely seem to overlook - but not always, as illustrated in the
following example. A few years ago, a group of men in Riyadh, Saudi
Arabia collected all if the verses in the qur'an which discuss embryology - the growth of the human being in the womb. They said, "Here is what the qur'an
says. Is it the truth?" In essence, they took the advice of the Qur'an:
"Ask the men who know." They chose, as it happened, a non-Muslim who is
a professor of embryology at the University of Toronto. His name is
Keith Moore, and he is the author of textbooks on embryology - a world
expert on the subject. They invited him to Riyadh and said, "This is
what the qur'an
says about your subject. Is it true? What can you tell us?" While he
was in Riyadh, they gave him all of the help that he needed in
translation and all of the cooperation for which he asked. And he was
so surprised at what he found that he changed his textbooks. In fact,
in the second edition of one of his books, called Before we are born...
in the second edition about the history of embryology, he included some
material that was not in the first edition because of what he found in
the Qur'an. Truly this illustrates that the qur'an was ahead of its time and that those who believe in the qur'an know what other people do not know.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Keith Moore for a television
presentation, and we talked a great deal about this - it was
illustrated by slides and so on. He mentioned that some of the things
that the qur'an
states about the growth of the human being were not known until thirty
years ago. In fact, he said that one item in particular - the Qur'an's
description of the human being as a "leech-like clot" ('alaqah) at one
stage - was new to him; but when he checked on it, he found that it was
true, and so he added it to his book. He said, "I never thought of that
before," and he went to the zoology department and asked for a picture
of a leech. When he found that it looked just like the human embryo, he
decided to include both pictures in one of his textbooks. Dr. Moore
also wrote a book on clinical embryology, and when he presented this
information in Toronto, it caused quite a stir throughout Canada. It
was on the front pages of some of the newspapers across Canada, and
some of the headlines were quite funny. For instance, one headline
read: "SURPRISING THING FOUND IN ANCIENT BOOK!"! It seems obvious from
this example that people do not clearly understand what it is all
about. As a matter of fact, one newspaper reporter asked Professor
Moore, "Don't you think That maybe the Arabs might have known about
these things - the description of the embryo, its appearance and how it
changes and grows? Maybe there were not scientists, but maybe they did
something crude dissections on their own - carved up people and
examined these things."

The professor immediately pointed out to him that he [i.e., the
reporter] had missed a very important point - all of the slides of the
embryo that had been shown and had been projected in the film had come
from pictures taken through a microscope. He said, "It does not matter
if someone had tried to discover embryology fourteen centuries ago,
they could not have seen it!". All of the descriptions in the qur'an
of the appearance of the embryo are of the item when it is still too
small to see with the eye; therefore, one needs a microscope to see it.
Since such a device had only been around for little more than two
hundred years, Dr. Moore taunted, "Maybe fourteen centuries ago someone
secretly had a microscope and did this research, making no mistakes
anywhere. Then he somehow taught Muhammad and convinced him to put this
information in his book. Then he destroyed his equipment and kept it a
secret forever. Do you believe that? You really should not unless you
bring some proof because it is such a ridiculous theory." In fact, when
he was asked "How do you explain this information in the Qur'an?" Dr.
Moore's reply was, "It could only have been divinely revealed."!

Although the aforementioned example of man researching information contained in the qur'an
deals with a non-Muslim, it is still valid because he is one of those
who is knowledgeable in the subject being researched. Had some layman
claimed that what the qur'an
says about embryology is true, then one would not necessarily have to
accept his word. However, because of the high position, respect, and
esteem man gives scholars, one naturally assumes that if they research
a subject and arrive at a conclusion based on that research, then the
conclusion is valid. One of Professor Moore's colleagues, Marshall
Johnson, deals extensively with geology at the University of Toronto.

He became very interested in the fact that the Qur'an's statements
about embryology are accurate, and so he asked Muslims to collect
everything contained in the qur'an
which deals with his specialty. Again people were very surprised at the
findings. Since there are a vast number subjects discussed in the
Qur'an, it would certainly require a large amount of time to exhaust
each subject. It suffices for the purpose of this discussion to state
that the qur'an
makes very clear and concise statements about various subjects while
simultaneously advising the reader to verify the authenticity of these
statements with research by scholars in those subjects. And as
illustrated by the qur'an has clearly emerged authentic. Undoubtedly, there is an attitude in the qur'an which is not found anywhere else. It is interesting how when the qur'an
provides information, it often tells the reader, "You did not know this
before." Indeed, there is no scripture that exists which makes that
claim. All of the other ancient writings and scriptures that people
have, do give a lot of information, but they always state where the
information came from.

For example, when the Bible discusses ancient history, it states that
this king lived here, this one fought in a certain battle, another one
had so may sons, etc. Yet it always stipulates that if you want more
information, then you should read the book of so and so because that is
where the information came from. In contrast to this concept, the qur'an
provides the reader with information and states that this information
is something new. Of course, there always exists the advice to research
the information provided and verify its authenticity. It is interesting
that such a concept was never challenged by non-Muslims fourteen
centuries ago. Indeed, the Makkans who hated the Muslims, and time and
time again they heard such revelations claiming to bring new
information; yet, they never spoke up and said, "This is not new. We
know where Muhammad got this information. We learned this at school."

They could never challenge its authenticity because it really was new! In concurrence with the advice given in the qur'an
to research information (even if it is new), when 'Umar was caliph, he
chose a group of men and sent them to find the wall of Dhul-Qarnayn.
Before the Qur'anic revelation, the Arabs had never heard of such a
wall, but because the qur'an
described it, they were able to discover it. As a matter of fact, it is
now located in what is called Durbend in the Soviet Union. It must be
stressed here that the qur'an
is accurate about many, many things, but accuracy does not necessarily
mean that a book is a divine revelation. In fact, accuracy is only one
of the criteria for divine revelations.

For instance, the telephone book is accurate, but that does not mean
that it is divinely revealed. The real problem lies in that one must
establish some proof of the source the Qur'an's information. The
emphasis is on the reader. One cannot simply deny the Qur'an's
authenticity without sufficient proof. If, indeed, one finds a mistake,
then he has the right to disqualify it. This is exactly what the qur'an
encourages. Once a man came up to me after a lecture I delivered in
South Africa. He was very angry about what I had said, and so he
claimed, "I am going to go home tonight and find a mistake in the
Qur'an." Of course, I said, "Congratulations. That is the most
intelligent thing that you have said." Certainly, this is the approach
Muslims need to take with those who doubt the Qur'an's authenticity,
because the qur'an
itself offers the same challenge. An inevitably, after accepting it's
challenge and discovering that it is true, these people will come to
believe it because they could not disqualify it. In essence, the qur'an
earns their respect because they themselves have had to verify its
authenticity. An essential fact that cannot be reiterated enough
concerning the authenticity of the qur'an
is that one's inability to explain a phenomenon himself does not
require his acceptance of the phenomenon's existence or another
person's explanation of it.

Specifically, just because one cannot explain something does not mean
that one has to accept someone else's explanation. However, the
person's refusal of other explanations reverts the burden of proof back
on himself to find a feasible answer. This general theory applies to
numerous concepts in life, but fits most wonderfully with the Qur'anic
challenge, for it creates a difficulty for one who says, "I do not
believe it." At the onset of refusal one immediately has an obligation
to find an explanation himself if he feels others' answers are
inadequate. In fact, in one particular Qur'anic verse which I have
always seen mistranslated into English, Allah mentions a man who heard
the truth explained to him. It states that he was derelict in his duty
because after he heard the information, he left without checking the
verity of what he had heard. In other words, one is guilty if he hears
something and does not research it and check to see whether it is true.
One is supposed to process all information and decide what is garbage
to be thrown out and what is worthwhile information to be kept and
benefited from at a later date. One cannot just let it rattle around in
his head. It must be put in the proper categories and approached from
that point of view. For example, if the information is still
speculatory, then one must discern whether it's closer to being true or
false. But if all of the facts have been presented, then one must
decide absolutely between these two options. And even if one is not
positive about the authenticity of the information, he is still
required to process all of the information and make the admission that
he just does not know for sure. Although this last point appears to be
futile, in actuality, it is beneficial to the arrival at a positive
conclusion at a later time in that it forces the person to at least
recognize, research and review the facts. This familiarity with the
information will give the person "the edge" when future discoveries are
made and additional information is presented. The important thing is
that one deals with the facts and does not simply discard them out of
empathy and disinterest.

The real certainty about the truthfulness of the qur'an
is evident in the confidence which is prevalent throughout it; and this
confidence comes from a different approach - "Exhausting the
Alternatives." In essence, the qur'an
states, "This book is a divine revelation; if you do not believe that,
then what is it?" In other words, the reader is challenged to come up
with some other explanation. Here is a book made of paper and ink.
Where did it come from? It says it is a divine revelation; if it is
not, then what is its source? The interesting fact is that no one has
with an explanation that works. In fact, all alternatives have bee
exhausted. As has been well established by non-Muslims, these
alternatives basically are reduces to two mutually exclusive schools of
thought, insisting on one or the other. On one hand, there exists a
large group of people who have researched the qur'an
for hundreds of years and who claim, "One thing we know for sure - that
man, Muhammad, thought he was a prophet. He was crazy!" They are
convinced that Muhammad (SAW) was fooled somehow. Then on the other
hand, there is another group which alleges, "Because of this evidence,
one thing we know for sure is that that man, Muhammad, was a liar!"
Ironically, these two groups never seem to get together without
contradicting. In fact, many references on Islam usually claim both
theories. They start out by saying that Muhammad (SAW) was crazy and
then end by saying that he was a liar. They never seem to realize that
he could not have been both!

For example, if one is deluded and really thinks that he is a prophet,
then he does not sit up late at night planning, "How will I fool the
people tomorrow so that they think I am a prophet?" He truly believes
that he is a prophet, and he trusts that the answer will be given to
him by revelation. As a matter of fact, a great deal of the qur'an
came in answer to questions. Someone would ask Muhammad (SAW) a
question, and the revelation would come with the answer to it.
Certainly, if one is crazy and believes that an angel put words in his
ear, then when someone asks him a question, he thinks that the angel
will give him the answer. Because he is crazy, he really thinks that.
He does not tell someone to wait a short while and then run to his
friends and ask them, "Does anyone know the answer?" This type of
behavior is characteristic of one who does not believe that he is a
prophet. What the non-Muslims refuse to accept is that you cannot have
it both ways. One can be deluded, or he can be a liar. He can be either
one or neither, but he certainly cannot be both! The emphasis is on the
fact that they are unquestionably mutually exclusive personal traits.

The following scenario is a good example of the kind of circle that
non-Muslims go around in constantly. If you ask one of them, "What is
the origin of the Qur'an?" He tells you that it originated from the
mind of a man who was crazy. Then you ask him, "If it came from his
head, then where did he get the information contained in it? Certainly
the qur'an
mentions many things with which the Arabs were not familiar." So in
order to explain the fact which you bring him, he changes his position
and says, "Well, maybe he was not crazy. Maybe some foreigner brought
him the information. So he lied and told people that he was a prophet."
At this point then you have to ask him, "If Muhammad was a liar, then
where did he get his confidence? Why did he behave as though he really
thought he was a prophet?" Finally backed into a corner, like a cat he
quickly lashes out with the first response that comes to his mind.
Forgetting that he has already exhausted that possibility, he claims,
"Well, maybe he wasn't a liar. He was probably crazy and really thought
that he was a prophet." And thus he begins the futile circle again.