14 the acceptance of the qur’an’s challenge (5)

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14. THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE QUR’AN’S CHALLENGE (5) Many non-Muslims believe that the Qur’an is an old book written 14 centuries ago from the desert of Arabia. The writer was Muhammad (Mohammed, Mohamed, s.a.w.) who claimed to be a prophet. Since they believe that it is not divine, but human, there has to be some mistakes or contradiction in it. To this, the Qur’an challenges them to prove its genuineness, that it is revelation from Allah.

Unlike those who accepted the challenge of the Qur’an by attempting to produce a book or even a chapter similar to that of the Qur’an as mentioned in previous khuṭbahs, this challenge is to prove that the Qur’an is not from Allah. This kind of challenge is mentioned in the Qur’an as follows: ‫) ا‬28:‫ّللاا َل َو َج ُدواافِي ِاهااخت َِل ًفاا َك ِثيرً اا(النساء‬ ‫انامِنااعِ ن ِادا َغي ِارا َِّا‬ ‫آنا َولَواا َك َا‬ ‫ُوناالاقُر َا‬ ‫لا َي َت َد َّبر َا‬ ‫أَ َف َ ا‬ Do they not then consider the Qur’an carefully? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much contradiction. (Q. 4:82) In 1977 a Canadian active and very knowable about the Bible, Professor Gary Miller, decided to accept the challenge to find any scientific or historical error in the Qur’an to prove that it was not revelation from Allah. He was professor of mathematics and logic at the University of Toronto. He hoped that his findings would provide a great service to Christianity and his fellow preachers in calling Muslims to Christianity. So he studied the Qur’an extensively, and his findings amazed even the Muslims. Some of these findings are as follows: 1. Dr. Miller said, "No writer in the world has the courage to write a book and say that it’s empty of mistakes, but the Qur'an, on the contrary, tells you that it has no mistakes and asks you to try to find one and you won’t find any." .

2. It does not mention about the hard times of the Prophet, such as the death of his wife Khadījah r.a., the death of his sons and daughters. Verses revealed in hard times in conveying the

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message of Islam are followed with great tiding of victory, and verses revealed after victory are followed with advice to give more sacrifice and to avoid boasting. This, Dr. Miller says, is the opposite of human behavior when they are victorious they glorify it, but when they are defeated they find many excuses.‫ا‬After the defeat at the battle of Uhud, Allah consoled the Muslims. He said: ‫ا‬

‫اإِناا َيم َسس ُكماا َقرحا‬.‫ِينا‬ ‫ناإِناا ُكن ُتماامُؤ ِمن َا‬ ‫لا َتح َز ُنواا َوأَن ُت ُامااْلَعلَو َا‬ ‫لا َت ِه ُنواا َو َ ا‬ ‫َو َ ا‬ َ ‫َف َقداا َمسَّااال َقو َاما َقرحاامِثل ُ ُاها َوتِل َا‬ )141:‫اسا(آلاعمران‬ ‫ناال َّن ِا‬ ‫اول ُ َهاا َبي َا‬ ِ ‫كااْليَّا ُاما ُن َد‬ So, do not become weak [because of what you have suffered], nor be sad, and you will be triumphant if you are indeed believers. If a wound has touched you, be sure a similar wound has touched the others. And so are the days, that We give to men by turns…‫(ا‬Q. 3:139-140)

3. He found a sūrah (chapter) named “Mary” (Maryam) which contains much respect to her which is not found in the Christian Bibles. There is no chapter names after his wife ‘Ᾱ’ishah or his daughter Fāṭimah. The name Jesus is mentioned twenty-five times in the Qur’an, whereas Muhammad s.a.w. is mentioned four times only (Q. 3:144; 33:40; 47:2; 48:29), and Aḥmad is mentioned once (Q. 61:6) 4. An engineer at the University of Toronto who was interested in psychology wrote a thesis on the “Efficiency of Group Discussions” to find out how much people accomplish when they get together with two, three, etc… He found out that people accomplish most when they get together in groups of two, and became less if the number increases. This has been the advice of the Qur’an in the following verse: ُ ِ‫قُلااإِ َّن َمااأَع‬ ‫صاح ِ​ِب ُكم‬ ‫ظ ُكماا ِب َوا ِح َدةااأَناا َتقُومُواا ِ َِّا‬ َ ‫لِلا َمث َنىا َوفُ َرادَ ىا ُث َّاما َت َت َف َّكرُواا َماا ِب‬ 44:‫نا َيدَ ياا َع َذاباا َشدِيدااا(سبإ‬ ‫لا َنذِيراا َل ُكماا َبي َا‬ ‫مِناا ِج َّنةااإِنااه َاُواإِ َّ ا‬ Say (to them, O Muhammad): “I exhort you to one (thing) only that you stand up for Allah’s sake in pairs And singly, and reflect. There is no madness in your companion (Muhammad s.a.w.). He is only a warner

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to you in face of severe torment.” (Q.34:46) 5. Those who reject the revelation used to say that devils brought to Muhammad s.a.w. the Qur’an. The Qur’an denies it, and gives the following answers: )58‫ا‬: ‫ِينا(الحاقة‬ ‫لاذِكراالِل َعالَم َا‬ ‫ا َو َمااه َاُواإِ َّ ا‬.‫وناإِ َّن ُاهالَ َمج ُنوناا‬ ‫… ا َو َيقُول ُ َا‬ …and they say: “Verily, he (Muhammad) is possessed [by Jin].” But it [the Qur’an] is nothing else than ‫ا‬a Reminder to the worlds. (Q. 68:51-52) ‫اإِ َّنهُماا ا‬.‫ُون‬ ‫ا َو َماا َين َبغِيالَهُماا َو َماا َيس َتطِ يع َا‬.‫َو َماا َت َن َّزلَتاا ِب ِاهاال َّشيَاطِ ينُا‬ ‫)اا‬818-811:‫ونا(الشعراء‬ ‫ناالسَّم ِاعالَ َمع ُزولُ َا‬ ‫َع ِا‬ No evil ones have brought it [i.e., this revelation] down.

It would neither be fitting for them, nor would they be able. Indeed they have been removed far from hearing (Q. 26210-212) ‫) ا‬82:‫يما(النحل‬ ‫اناالرَّ ِج ِا‬ ‫ِناال َّشي َط ِا‬ ‫الِلام َا‬ ‫آنا َفاس َتعِذاا ِب َِّا‬ ‫تاالقُر َا‬ ‫َفإِ َذاا َق َرأ َا‬ So when you recite the Qur’an, seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the rejected (Q. 16:98) Dr. Miller asked: “Is this how Satan writes a book? He tells one, ‘Before you read my book, ask God to save you from me’?

This is very, very tricky. Indeed, a man could write something like this, but would Satan do this?”

6. During his emigration to Madinah with Abu Bakr, they took refuge and hid in a cave. They saw people coming to kill them. Dr. Miller said that the Prophet s.a.w. at that time if he “was a liar, a forger and someone who was trying to fool the people into believing that he was a prophet, one would have expected him to say in such circumstance to his friend, ‘Hey, Abu Bakr, see if you can find a back way out of this cave,’ or ‘Squat down in that corner over there and keep quiet’. Yet, in fact, what he said to Abu Bakr clearly illustrated his confidence. He told him: ‘Relax, Allah is with us, and Allah will save us.’” This is mentioned in the Qur’an, as follows: ‫ِيااث َني ِا‬ ‫ن‬ ‫ِينا َك َفرُواا َثان َا‬ ‫ّللا ُاإِذااأَخ َر َج ُاهاالَّذ َا‬ ‫ص َراهُا َّا‬ ُ ‫لا َتن‬ ‫إِ َّ ا‬ َ ‫صرُواهُا َف َقداا َن‬

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‫ّللاا َم َع َناا َفأَن َز َلا‬ ‫لا َتح َزنااإِنَّاا ََّا‬ ‫صاح ِ​ِب ِاها َ ا‬ ‫اراإِذاا َيقُو ُا‬ ‫اإِذاا ُه َماافِياال َغ ِا‬ َ ِ‫لال‬ ‫ِينا َك َفرُوا‬ ‫لا َكلِ َم َاةاالَّذ َا‬ ‫ّللا ُا َسكِي َن َت ُاها َعلَي ِاها َوأَ َّي َداهُا ِب ُج ُنوداالَماا َت َرو َهاا َو َج َع َا‬ ‫ا َّا‬ )41:‫ّللا ُا َع ِزيزاا َحكِيماا(التوبة‬ ‫ِياالعُل َياا َو َّا‬ ‫ّللااه َا‬ ‫السُّفلَىا َو َك ِل َم ُاةا َِّا‬ If you help him (Muhammad) not, (it does not matter), for Allah did indeed help him when the disbelievers drove him out, the second of the two; when they (Muhammad s.a.w. and Abu Bakr r.a.) were in the cave, he said to his companion: “Be not sad (or afraid), surely Allah is with us.” Then Allah sent his calmness (peace) upon him, and strengthened him with forces (angels) which you saw not, and made the word of those who disbelieved the lowermost, while the Word of Allah that became the uppermost; and Allah is All-Mighty, All-Wise. (Q. 9:40) It was on the morning of 13th September 622 CE corresponding to the 14th year of his prophethood, the Prophet s.a.w. with Abu Bakr went into hiding at this cave. They had promised 100 camels as a reward for a person who captured him. Abu Bakr was reported to have said to the Prophet when they were in the cave, “If any of them looks down at his feet, he will see us.” The Prophet told him, “O Abu Bakr! What do you think about two with Allah as their third?” i.e., Allah was with them. As a spider web was covering the entrance of the cave and a dove was hatching beside it, the pursuers were sure that nobody was inside it, and returned to Makkah.

The cave at Mt. Thawr Is located at South of Makkah, about one hour walking distance from it, to be precise, 5.37 km. It was the route to Yemen instead to Madinah. The Prophet and Abu Bakr stayed there three days, until their enemy stopped pursuing them. Then they continued their journey northward to Madinah.

They took different route, zigzagged like spiral, like of the caravan tract, so that they crossed each other four times half the way to Madinah. Then the two routes became almost parallel. The tract

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followed by the Prophet was on the left side leading to Qubā’ before reaching Madinah.

The above verse was revealed about nine years after this incident. It was after the return of the Prophet from Tabuk campaign in the 9 AH where he stayed 20 days with the army of 30 000 fighters. They were expecting the attack of the Romans with about 40 000 fighters, but they did not come. To those who did not want to help the Prophet in this campaign, Allah had helped him before, namely, when he was in the cave of Mt. Thawr, and when the Battle of Badr took place, where angels participated in the battlefield.

7. Abῡ Lahab was one of the Prophet’s uncles. His name was ‘Abdul ‘Uzzā (“slave of ‘Uzzā”; ‘Uzzā was the name of one idols worshipped by the Makkan idoleters) bin ‘Abdul Muṭṭalib. He was called Abῡ Lahab (lit. “Father of Flames”, i.e., the one who has flames), because of the brightness of his face. He scorned him and hated Islam so much, that he kept following the Prophet.

Whenever he finished talking to someone or a group of people, he waited until the Prophet s.a.w. left, and then he approached them and told them the opposite of what the Prophet had said.

The Prophet s.a.w. one day went to the valley of Baṭḥā, then he ascended the mountain and called people to come at once.

When he came, he told them: “If I tell you all that the enemy was going to attack you in the morning or in the evening, would you all believe me?” Since he had been known for his honesty and was caked al-Amīn (“the honest, faithful, reliable, faithful), they said ”yes”. Then the Prophet told them: “Verily, I am a warner sent to you all before the coming of a severe torment.”

Abῡ Lahab said: “Have you gathered us for this? May you perish” in another version, he said, “Perish you for the rest of this day.” Then Allah revealed: ‫ا َس َيص َلىا َنارً اا ا‬.‫ب‬ ‫ا َمااأَغ َنىا َعن ُاها َمال ُ ُاها َو َماا َك َس َا‬.‫َتبَّتااَاي َدااأَ ِبيا َل َهباا َو َتبَّاا‬ ‫) ا‬5-1:‫افِيا ِجي ِد َهاا َحبلاامِناا َم َسداا(المسد‬.‫ب‬ ‫ا َوام َرأَ ُت ُاها َحمَّا َل َاةاال َح َط ِا‬.‫اتالَ َهبا‬ ‫َذ َا‬

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Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab and perish he!

His wealth and his children will not benefit him! He will enter the Fire full of flames! And his wife, too who carries wood. In her neck is a strongly twisted rope. (Q. 111:1-5) Dr. Miller wondered: “How could Muhammad (s.) possibly have known for sure that Abu Lahab would fulfil the Qur’anic revelation if he (i.e. Muhammad) was not truly the Messenger of Allah? How could he possibly have been so confident as to give someone 10 years to discredit his claim of prophethood? The only answer is that he was Allah’s messenger; for in order to put forth such a risky challenge, one has to be entirely convinced that he has a divine revelation.”

8. After relating the story of Noah, the Qur’an said: ‫لا َقوم َا‬ ‫ُك‬ ‫تا َو َ ا‬ ‫تا َتع َل ُم َهااأَن َا‬ ‫كا َماا ُكن َا‬ ‫با ُنوحِي َهااإِ َلي َا‬ ‫كامِنااأَن َبا ِاءاال َغي ِا‬ ‫تِل َا‬ )48:‫ِينا(هود‬ ‫لا َه َذاا َفاص ِبرااإِنَّااال َعا ِق َب َاةالِل ُم َّتق َا‬ ‫امِناا َقب ِا‬ This is the news of the Unseen which We reveal to you (O Muhammad); neither you nor your people knew it before. So be patient. Surely, the (good) end is for the pious.(Q. 11:49) Dr. Miller was amazed that that there had never been a religious holy book talked in this style, giving information to its ready and then said that it had never been known before, a new information. What if the Makkan people said, that this was not a new information, they had known it before! And this did not happen.

One example is that the Qur’an mentioned the city of Iram (a city of pillars) in, ‫الَّتِيالَما‬.‫تاال ِع َما ِاد‬ ‫ إِ َر َاما َذا ِا‬.‫كا ِبعادا‬ ‫لا َر ُّب َا‬ ‫فا َف َع َا‬ ‫اأَلَماا َت َارا َكي َا‬ ‫) ا‬2-7:‫ايُخلَقاامِثل ُ َهاافِياال ِب َل ِادا(االفجر‬ Saw you O Muhammad not how your Lord deal With ‘Ᾱd, Iram with pillars the like of which were not created in the land? (Q. 89:7-8)

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The classical Qur’an commentator al-Ṭabarī mentioned some views of mufassirīn (Qur’an commentators) of the term Iram, among which are: Alexandria, Damascus, the name of a tribe belonging to their ancestor ‘Ᾱd, “the perished people”, “the tall people”. The classical commentator al-Qurṭubī gives more views: Iram was the father of ‘Ᾱd; the name of a village; the name Sam’s son, who was the son of Noah.

Dr. Miller said that National Geographic in December 1978 edition mentioned that the city of Elba in Syria was excavated in 1973. It was said to be 43 centuries old. They found in the library of Elba a record of all cities the people of Elba had done business, including the city of Iram. This information mentioned in the Qur’an of the existence of the city of Iram 43 centuries ago was known just recently in 1973.

This indicates that the Qur’an which gives such information is revelation from Allah.

That year 1978 was also the year where Dr. Miller, a former active Christian missionary, embraced Islam after reading the Qur’an and called himself “Abdul-Ahad Omar.” (CIVIC, 14 March, 2014) Sources: ‫المكتبةاالشاملة‬ ‫ازهرةاالتفاسير‬:‫محمداأبوازهرةا‬ ‫تفسيراالطبري‬ ‫تفسيراإبناكثير‬ ‫َا‬ ‫القرطبي‬ ‫تفسيرا‬ http://islamlecture.wordpress.com/2010/07/22/the-man-whochallenged-the-quran-gary-miller-later-became-muslim/ Gary Miller. The Amazing Qur’an.

Abu Khalil. Dr. Shauqi (comp.). Atlas of the Qur’an. Riyadh: Darussalam, 2003.

Dr. Muhammad Hatta, cs. The Great History of Muhammd s.a.w.

Jakarta: Maghfirah Pustaka, 2011.