could convey complete pictures. The Qur' an, however, has put even these great efforts to shame. You will notice that when a Muslim translates a verse of the Qur’an he usually does not say “the Qur' an says so and so” but rather “An approximation of the meaning of what the Qur' an says is so and so.” You really need to know the language to comprehend this. In the English language, we find that the words: “mustang,” “colt,” “mare,” “pony,” “stallion,” “bronco”... etc. all refer to the same thing; a horse. Each one of these words conveys a slightly different mental picture. The mental picture we get when we hear the word “colt” is slightly different than the picture we get if we hear the word “mare.” In a similar manner, the Arabic language progressed in such a fashion as to make it possible to convey such mental pictures in as concise and picturesque a format as possible. It is not at all uncommon to find over three hundred words that refer to the same thing in the Arabic language. Each one of these words gives a slightly different picture than the others. Many centuries of this constant refinement eventually lead to a very complex and rich vocabulary. It was for this very reason that Allah almighty placed the primary miracle of Muhammad in the Qur' an. You see, if you want someone to believe in your miracle, you should present your miracle in the same field as that which that person excels in. If I am a computer programmer, and I go to a Chemist and challenge him to write a better computer program than myself, then this will not be much of a competition. But if I challenge a computer programmer to the same test then this will be a true test of my abilities. It will also be possible for my opponent to truly comprehend the magnitude of what I have accomplished. When Muhammad(pbuh) first became the prophet of Islam, he presented his people with a challenge: “compose a literary work on a par with this Qur’an that I have brought you and you will prove that I am a liar.” They could not. The Qur’an continued to reduce it’s challenge until the challenge finally became: “compose only a single verse comparable to this Qur’an and you will have won.” They still could not. This in addition to the fairness, justice, and logic of the Qur’an eventually won them over and slowly more and more people became Muslims. What we notice from the above is that with all previous prophets, their miracle was separate from their book. It is not possible now to bring Moses’ (pbuh) staff or to see Jesus (pbuh) raise the dead. However, since the message of Islam was the final message of God to mankind, therefore, the book of Islam itself was made the main miracle of Islam. It was also promised to renew it’s challenge to mankind throughout the ages. What does this mean? Nowadays, the number of people who can appreciate the literary content of the Qur’an has dwindled and this challenge no longer has the same impact it did fourteen hundred years ago. However, as we have seen in the verse quoted at the beginning of this chapter, Allah almighty has promised to continually renew the challenge of the Qur’an throughout the ages. So how will it be renewed?
253 What Did Jesus Really Say?