The Quran, is God's last and final message to mankind. It contains among others, guidance for proper living, healing and mercy to believers, moral code of ethics, instructions on how to be righteous, explanations about the truth of this life, elucidates about the purpose of life and a message to all mankind. This book was revealed to an Arab, Muhammad (peace be upon him) more than one thousand four hundred years ago in the desert of Arabia.
It must be stressed 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 in the other direction, in that the burden of proof is on the reader. One cannot simply deny the Qur’an’s authenticity without sufficient proof. If, indeed, one finds a mistake, then one has the right to disqualify it. This is exactly what the Qur’an encourages.
The basic question one must ask oneself is "Could this Qur'an be the words of any other than God." In reaching your conclusions there are a number of factors to bring into your judgement. Firstly we must consider how this object came into existence and how reliable is the description offered of how it came into existence.
Then we need to begin our investigation of the object in question. Through doing this we begin to notice certain characteristics about the text and start to study it in detail, noticing certain subtleties. The establishment of general consistency with our knowledge is of primary importance since if we find things in it which contradict what we know, it will immediately be making demands on our credulity rather than challenging our conscience to accept it as true, so that we would feel guilty not accepting it.
Further investigation shows consistency with current knowledge that is quite amazing. Coincidence also plays an interesting role in discovering curiosities about the Qur'an which show some amazing aspects of the structure. In the process we continually consider whether there is any credible alternative explanation of the origins of the Qur'an and ask ourselves, is it too hard for us to accept any other explanation with a clear conscience that our thinking remains good? What are our doubts about the explanation that this amazing Qur'an comes from other than God? Are these doubts reasonable?
Another example of people’s use of this weak stance can be found in the Makkans’ explanation of the source of Muhammad’s message. They used to say, “The devils bring Muhammad that Quran!” But just as with every suggestion made, the Quran gives the answer. One verse (Surah Al-Qalam 68: 51-52) in particular states:
“And they say, ‘Surely he is possessed [by jinn],’ but it [i.e., the Quran] is not except a reminder to the worlds.”
Thus it gives an argument in reply to such a theory. In fact, there are many arguments in the Quran in reply to the suggestion that devils brought Muhammad (r) his message. For example, in the 26th chapter Allah (I) clearly affirms:
“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.” (Surah ash-Shu’ara 26:210-212)
And in another place (Surah an-Nahl 16:98) in the Quran, Allah (I) instructs us:
“So when you recite the Quran seek refuge in Allah from Shaytan, the rejected.”
Now 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? Many people clearly illustrate that they cannot come to one conclusion on this subject. On one hand, they claim that Satan would not do such a thing and that even if he could, God would not allow him to; yet, on the other hand, they also believe that Satan is only that much less than God. In essence they allege that the Devil can probably do whatever God can do. And as a result, when they look at the Quran, even as surprised as they are as to how amazing it is, they still insist, “The Devil did this!”
Praise be to Allah (I), Muslims do not have that attitude. Although Satan may have some abilities, they are a long way separated from the abilities of Allah. And no Muslim is a Muslim unless he believes that. It is common knowledge even among non-Muslims that the Devil can easily make mistakes, and it would be expected that he would contradict himself if and when he wrote a book. For indeed, the Quran states (Surah an-Nisa 4:82):
“Do they not consider the Quran? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy.”
Certainly, one could continue on and on with this example, drawing up longer and longer list of good guesses; and of course, the odds would become higher and higher with each increase of subjects about which one could guess. But what no one can deny is the following: the odds that Muhammad (r), an illiterate, guessed correctly about thousands and thousands of subjects, never once making a mistake, are so high that any theory of his authorship of the Quran must be completely dismissed - even by the most hostile enemies of Islam!
Indeed, the Quran expects this kind of challenge. Undoubtedly, if one said to someone upon entering a foreign land, “I know your father. I have met him,” probably the man from that land would doubt the newcomer’s word, saying, “You have just come here. How could you know my father?” As a result, he would question him, “Tell me, is my father tall, short, dark, fair? What is he like?” Of course, if the visitor continued answering all of the questions correctly, the skeptic would have no choice but to say, “I guess you do know my father. I don’t know how you know him, but I guess you do!”
The situation is the same with the Quran. It states that it originates from the One who created everything. So everyone has the right to say, “Convince me! If the author of this book really originated life and everything in the heavens and on the earth, then He should know about this, about that, and so on.” And inevitably, after researching the Quran, everyone will discover the same truths. Additionally, we all know something for sure: we do not all have to be experts to verify what the Quran affirms. One’s Iman (faith) grows as one continues to check and confirm the truths contained in the Quran. And one is supposed to do so all of his life.
May God (Allah) guide
everyone close to the truth.
