“And it was not possible for this Quran to be produced by other than Allah, but it is a confirmation of the revelation made before it and a detailed explanation of the Book (former scripture), without a doubt it is (a revelation) from the Lord of the worlds (entire Universe).”
Quran, 10:37
God’s Miracle To Muhammad
Many scholars believe that Muhammad’s mission to convey God’s Message and bring people to monotheism was harder than the mission of many messengers and prophets before him. The main miracle he brought was the Quran, which was a book recited in original Arabic as a divine revelation from God.
Despite the resistance he received from his own people who spoke Arabic, he and his companions conveyed Islam to nations and communities of different languages, cultures and religions outside the Arabian Peninsula.
“Will they not ponder on the Quran? If it had been from other than Allah they would have found therein much incongruity (inconsistence).”
Quran, 4:82
Why is the Quran considered an eternal miracle?
There is no human author for the Quran. Muslims consider it as God’s Words and His eternal Message to all humankind. They believe that it is the only book that contains the Words of God without being rephrased by His Messenger or anyone else.
Unlike physical miracles that were brought by true prophets and messengers and seen only by the people who lived at their times, the Quran is considered by Muslims as an eternal miracle that can be touched, seen, read and conveyed from one generation to another.
“Say (O’Muhammad): “If the whole humanity and Jinni were to gather together to produce the like of this Quran they could not produce the like thereof even if they backed up each other with help and support.”
Quran, 17:88
Incomparable preservation of the Quran text
The present Quran is identical to the one revealed to Prophet Muhammad more than fourteen centuries ago. Initially, it was memorized by most pious Muslims (word by word and letter by letter).
Then, soon after the passing away of Muhammad, the complete Quran was first compiled in one book when Abu Bakr As-Siddiq became the first caliph in Islam. Several genuine copies were generated and distributed to different Islamic states or regions when Othman Bin Affan became the third caliph 13 years after the passing away of Prophet Muhammad.
The concept of recurrence “Tawaator” confirms the absolute authenticity of Quran because it indicates that the same text was narrated by different groups of people and passed from one generation to another without contradictions or discrepancies or discontinuity.
The Quran, Hadith and Sunnah of the Prophet
It should be noticed that Muhammad’s ¤ sayings and teachings were not mixed with the Quran (which only contains God’s Words without any human comments or elaborations).
Muhammad’s sayings and teachings were collected in books which were called “The Sunnah or Hadith of the Prophet”. They included his teachings, his way of life and explanation of the Book (the Quran).
Similarities between hadith books and other holy books
Most holy books of different religions are authored and written by individuals with their own words and phrases. Since Hadith books were collected by Muslim scholars and contained Muhammad’s own sayings and teachings, many researchers consider them as similar to other holy books.
For example, the Bible was written over a period of 1400 to 1800 years by 40 different authors. It is a compilation of 66 separate books, divided into two primary divisions: the Old Testament (containing 39 books) and the New Testament (containing 27 books). (1)
It is to be noted that the reference of God to Himself as" We" in many verses in the Quran is necessarily understood in the Arabic language to denote grandeur and power. In the English language this is known as the Royal We, where a plural pronoun is used to refer to a single person. On the other hand, the Qur'an frequently uses the word "say" which means " Say to them O Muhammad."
Incomparable preservation of the style of reciting Quran
When the Quran is read or recited, the term “Tajweed” is commonly mentioned or highlighted to describe the knowledge that deals with the rules controlling the way of reading the Quran.
Muslims trust it is not only the text of the Quran that was uniquely preserved but also the styles in which Muhammad and his companions recited it.
The styles of reciting the Quran are documented by the names of the narrators and reciters starting from those who heard it from Muhammad until now. This is across the whole Islamic world and continued from one generation to another generation till now.
It is believed that “Tajweed” is a very unique science not available in other religions. It reflects the highest level of attention given by the companions of Muhammad in order to preserve the way he recited the Quran (word by word).
Rich language
The Quran was revealed in original Arabic. Muslim scholars believe that Arabic language is superior to many other languages as it is well supported by a huge number of words and a strong Arabic grammar.
Arabic language has 28 letters, some of them don’t exist in other languages such as “Dhad” which is the heavy “D” and “Tau” which is a heavy “T”.
The number of derivations from each original or root word can exceed 100 derivations and accordingly the total number of words in Arabic language may exceed six million words. This is far higher than the number of words of most known languages in the world.
Significant Scientific Facts In The Quran
The big bang and the creation of the universe
At Muhammad’s time nobody knew anything about the creation of the universe and the motion of the planets and whether the earth was flat or round. Muslims believe that God, the Creator of the universe, is the only One, Who knows how it was created.
Fourteen centuries ago, the Quran mentioned the creation of the universe, the motion of the sun and the moon, the rotation of the earth and the formation of day and night.
Modern science explains the creation of the universe by the “Big Bang theory” which is supported by observational and experimental data gathered over decades. According to the “Big Bang theory” the whole universe was initially one big mass then there was a huge explosion which resulted in the formation of galaxies out of agglomerated clouds of celestial matter in a smoke or gaseous form.
The expansion of the universe
In 1925, American astronomer Edwin Hubble provided observational evidence that stars are moving away from each other which implies that galaxies and the whole universe is expanding. Also, it is an established scientific fact that planets move in elliptical orbits around the sun and rotate around their axes.
One will be surprised at the similarities between the modern scientific discoveries and the following verses in the Quran, which were recited by Muhammad more than fourteen centuries ago and preserved until now.
“Haven’t the disbelievers known that the heaven and the earth were joined together as one piece and We separated them apart and We made every living thing of water? Will they not then believe?”
Quran, 21:30
“He (the Almighty God) turned to the heaven when it was smoke and said to it and to the earth: come together willingly or unwillingly, they said: we come together in willing obedience.”
Quran, 41:11
“And it is He Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. All (the celestial bodies) swim along (float), each in its rounded course (orbit).”
Quran, 21:33
“With power and skill We created the heaven and We are continuously expanding it.”
Quran, 51:47
Embryology and creation of humankind
Muhammad recited the following miraculous verse that explains the creation of mankind.
Such knowledge was not known at his time and the science of embryology was not yet discovered 1400 years ago.
“…He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, in three veils of darkness (threefold gloom). This is Allah, your Lord. The Sovereignty is His. There is no God except Him. How then are you turned away?”
Quran, 39:6
Modern science explains that there are three layers that form veils of darkness that surround the fetus in the womb and provide sturdy and powerful protection for the embryo:
- The interior abdominal wall of the mother,
- The uterine wall and
- The amino-chorionic membrane.
The creation of humankind is described miraculously in the following verse from the Quran:
“Verily We created man from clay (quintessence of product of wet earth), then We placed him as a drop (of sperm) in a safe lodging; Then We made the sperm into a clot of congealed (solid) blood, then of that clot We made a fetus lump, then We made out of that lump bones then covered the bones with flesh, and then produced it another creation.”
Quran, 23:12-14
sperm ->
blood clot ->
fetus lump ->
bones ->
flesh
Surprisingly, embryo development as stated in the Quran was found identical to the discoveries of medical science. Also, it was found that bones were formed before the formation of flesh, exactly as mentioned in the above verse. (2)
In addition, scientists discovered that the hearing sense for the embryo develops in the mothers’ womb before the sense of sight. This is compatible to the sequence mentioned in the Quran (32:9, 76:2, 23:78). All verses refer to the hearing sense before the sight sense.
“…So blessed be Allah the best of Creators.”
Quran, 23:14
309, Astonishing counting of years
Verse 25, Chapter 18 (The Cave) in the Quran talks about the seven sleepers and states that they spent 300 years in the cave and additional “9 years”. Nobody knew during Muhammad’s time why the verse didn’t state the total number as “309 years” instead of the above expression.
Also, in Arabia, nobody knew at that time the difference between lunar year and Solar / Gregorian calendar. The Lunar year is 11 days shorter than the Solar one. The amazing fact is this: In 300 years, the difference between the lunar year and Solar/Gregorian year is 9 years.
The Quran is commonly printed in 604 pages. It contains 80,000 words approximately which form 6348 verses that comprise 114 chapters. The longest chapter in the Quran is composed of 286 verses and the shortest one is composed of 3 verses only.
Amazing information of future events
“The Romans have been defeated at the nearest/ lowest land but they will gain victory within a few years. Allah has the Command in the former case and in the latter and on that day believers (in God) will rejoice and will be pleased with the victory of God. He helps to victory whom He Wills. He is the All Mighty, the Merciful”.
The Quran, 30:2-5
At Muhammad’s time, it is virtually impossible for Arabs to predict how the development of the conflict would be between the two superpowers (at their time) within the next ten years and whether a defeated empire can restore victory within a few years. It is a historical fact that the Persian Empire defeated the Roman Empire in the period (614-619 CE) in the Palestine region and captured Jerusalem. But within a few years, the Romans had restored victory over the Persians at Nineveh (a city in Iraq).
Incredible geography
Surprisingly, the recent geological research found that the Dead Sea which lies in the Jordan rift valley is the deepest hyper saline lake in the world. It is 422 meters (1,385 ft) below the sea level. Its shores are the lowest point on the surface of earth. The above verses indicate that the Romans were defeated at the nearest Roman land to Arabia and in fact it included the lowest land on the earth.
Note: The original Arabic word "adna" (verse 3 above) indicates both meanings, nearest and lowest.
Barrier between waters
Modern science has just recently been able to explain why the waters of two oceans do not mix together but instead there is a visible area of water, a barrier, between the oceans preventing them form mixing together. Scientists have discovered that the oceans cannot mix because their waters have different temperatures, salinities and densities. According to narrations of prophet Muhammad, he never travelled to places where he could have seen the meeting point of two oceans but it is amazingly described in the Quran:
“He released the two seas, meeting (side by side); between them is a barrier (so) neither of them transgresses.:”
The Quran, 55:19-20
Endnotes
- The Old Testament was written in Hebrew 1500-400 BC. New Testament was composed in Greek and written during the second half of the first century AD. It is generally agreed that the Book of Matthew was the first Gospel written between 50 and 75 AD. Of the four Gospel’s, John’s is considered to have been the last one written, around 85 AD.
- To get more information about embryology and the scientific facts in the Quran, visit www.islamhouse.com