An Encounter with a Minister
About seven years ago, I had a minister over to my home. In the particular room which we weresitting there was a Quran on the table, face down, and so the minister was not aware of which book it was. In the midst of a discussion, I pointed to the Quran and said, “I have confidence in thatbook.” Looking at the Quran but not knowing which book it was, he replied, “Well, I tell you, if thatbook is not the Bible, it was written by a man!” In response to his statement, I said, “Let me tell yousomething about what is in that book.” And in just three to four minutes, I related to him a few thingscontained in the Quran. After just those three or four minutes, he completely changed his positionand declared, “You are right. A man did not write that book. The Devil wrote it!” Indeed,possessing such an attitude is very unfortunate - for many reasons. For one thing, it is a very quickand cheap excuse. It is an instant exit out of an uncomfortable situation.
As a matter of fact, there is a famous story in the Bible that mentions how one day some of the Jewswere witnesses when Jesus, peace be upon him, raised a man from the dead. The man had beendead for four days, and when Jesus arrived, he simply said, “Get up!” and the man arose andwalked away. At such a sight, some of the Jews who were watching said disbelievingly, “This is theDevil. The Devil helped him!” Now this story is rehearsed very often in churches all over the world,and people cry big tears over it, saying, “Oh, if I had been there, I would not have been as stupid asthe Jews!” Yet, ironically, these people do exactly what the Jews did when in just three minutes youshow them only a small part of the Quran and all they can say is, “Oh, the Devil did it. The Devilwrote that book!” Because they are truly backed into a corner and have no other viable answer, theyresort to the quickest and cheapest excuse available.
The Source of the Quran
Another example of people’s use of this weak stance can be found in the Makkans’ explanation ofthe 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 passage (Chapter Al-Qalam 68: 51-52) in particular states:
“...and they say, ‘Surely he is possessed,’ but it [i.e., the Quran] is not except a reminder to theworlds.”
Thus it gives an argument in reply to such a theory. In fact, there are many arguments in the Quranin reply to the suggestion that devils brought Muhammad his message. For example, in the 26thchapter God, clearly affirms:
“No evil ones have brought it [i.e., this revelation] down. It would neither be fitting for them, norwould they be able. Indeed they have been removed far from hearing it.” (Quran 26:210-212)
And in another place (Surah an-Nahl 16:98) in the Quran, God instructs us:
“So when you recite the Quran seek refuge in God from Satan, the cursed.”
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 thissubject. 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 muchless than God. In essence they allege that the Devil can probably do whatever God can do. Andas 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 God, Muslims do not have that attitude. Although Satan may have some abilities, they area long way separated from the abilities of God. And no Muslim is a Muslim unless he believes that. It iscommon knowledge even among non-Muslims that the Devil can easily make mistakes, and it would beexpected 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 God, they would surely have foundtherein much discrepancy.”
Mythomania
In conjunction with the excuses that non-Muslims advance in futile attempts to justify unexplainableverses in the Quran, there is another attack often rendered which seems to be a combination of thetheories that Muhammad was crazy and a liar. Basically, these people propose that Muhammadwas insane, and as a result of his delusion, he lied to and misled people. There is a name for this inpsychology. It is referred to as mythomania. It means simply that one tells lies and then believesthem. This is what the non-Muslims say Muhammad suffered from. But the problem with thisproposal is that one suffering from mythomania absolutely cannot deal with any facts, and yet thewhole Quran is based entirely upon facts. Everything contained in it can be researched andestablished as true. Since facts are such a problem for a mythomaniac, when a psychologist triesto treat one suffering from that condition, he continually confronts him with facts.
For example, if one is mentally ill and claims, “I am the king of England,” a psychologist does not say tohim “No you aren’t. You are crazy!” He just does not do that. Rather, he confronts him with facts andsays, “O.K., you say you are the king of England. So tell me where the queen is today. And where isyour prime minister? And where are your guards?” Now, when the man has trouble trying to deal withthese questions, he tries to make excuses, saying “Uh... the queen... she has gone to her mother’s. Uh... the prime minister... well he died.” And eventually he is cured because he cannot deal with thefacts. If the psychologist continues confronting him with enough facts, finally he faces the reality andsays, “I guess I am not the king of England.”
The Quran approaches everyone who reads it in very much the same way a psychologist treats hismythomania patient. There is a verse in the Quran (Surah Yunus 10:57) which states:
“O mankind, there has come to you an admonition [i.e., the Quran] from your Lord and a healing for what is in the hearts - and guidance and mercy for the believers.”
At first glance, this statement appears vague, but the meaning of this verse is clear when one viewsit in light of the aforementioned example. Basically, one is healed of his delusions by reading theQuran. In essence, it is therapy. It literally cures deluded people by confronting them with facts. Aprevalent attitude throughout the Quran is one which says, “O mankind, you say such and suchabout this; but what about such and such? How can you say this when you know that?” And soforth. It forces one to consider what is relevant and what matters while simultaneously healing oneof the delusions that facts presented to mankind by God can easily be explained away with flimsy theories and excuses.
It is this very sort of thing - confronting people with facts -that had captured the attention of many non-Muslims. Infact, there exists a very interesting reference concerningthis subject in the New Catholic Encyclopedia. In anarticle under the subject of the Quran, the CatholicChurch states:
“Over the centuries, many theories have been offered as to the origin of the Quran... Today nosensible man accepts any of these theories!!”
Now here is the age-old Catholic Church, which has been around for so many centuries, denyingthese futile attempts to explain away the Quran.
Indeed, the Quran is a problem for the Catholic Church. It states that it is revelation, so they studyit. Certainly, they would love to find proof that it is not, but they cannot. They cannot find a viableexplanation. But at least they are reasonably honest in their research and do not accept the first unsubstantiated interpretation which comes along. The Church states that in fourteen centuries ithas not yet been presented a sensible explanation. At least it admits that the Quran is not an easysubject to dismiss. Certainly, other people are much less honest. They quickly say, “Oh, the Qurancame from here. The Quran came from there.” And they do not even examine the credibility of whatthey are stating most of the time.
Of course, such a statement by the Catholic Church leaves the everyday Christian in some difficulty. It just may be that he has his own ideas as to the origin of the Quran, but as a single member of the Church, he cannot really act upon his own theory. Such an action would be contraryto the obedience, allegiance and loyalty which the Church demands. By virtue of his membership,he must accept what the Catholic Church declares without question and establish its teachings aspart of his everyday routine. So, in essence, if the Catholic Church as a whole is saying, “Do notlisten to these unconfirmed reports about the Quran,” then what can be said about the Islamic pointof view? If even non-Muslims are admitting that there is something to the Quran - something thathas to be acknowledged - then why are people so stubborn and defensive and hostile whenMuslims advance the very same theory? This is certainly something for those with a mind tocontemplate - something to ponder for those of understanding!
Testimony of an Intellectual
Recently, the leading intellectual in the Catholic Church - a man by the name of Hans - studied theQuran and gave his opinion of what he had read. This man has been around for some time, and heis highly respected in the Catholic Church, and after careful scrutiny, he reported his findings,concluding, “God has spoken to man through the man, Muhammad.”
Again this is a conclusion arrived at by a non-Muslim source - the very leading intellectual of theCatholic Church himself!
I do not think that the Pope agrees with him, but nonetheless, the opinion of such a noted, reputedpublic figure must carry some weight in defense of the Muslim position. He must be applauded forfacing the reality that the Quran is not something which can be easily pushed aside and that, in factGod is the source of these words.
As is evident from the aforementioned information, all of the possibilities have been exhausted, sothe chance of finding another possibility of dismissing the Quran is nonexistent.
Burden of Proof on the Critic
If the book is not a revelation, then it is a deception; and if it is a deception, one must ask, “What isits origin? And where does it deceive us?” Indeed, the true answers to these questions shed light onthe Quran’s authenticity and silence the bitter unsubstantiated claims of the unbelievers.
Certainly, if people are going to insist that the Quran is a deception, then they must bring forth evidence to support such a claim. The burden of proof is on them, not us! One is never supposed toadvance a theory without sufficient corroborating facts; so I say to them, “Show me one deception!Show me where the Quran deceives me! Show me; otherwise don’t say that it is a deception!”
Origin of the Universe and Life
An interesting characteristic of the Quran is how it deals with surprising phenomena which relate notonly to the past but to modern times as well. In essence, the Quran is not an old problem. It is stilla problem even today - a problem to the non-Muslims that is. For everyday, every week, everyyear brings more and more evidence that the Quran is a force to be contended with - that itsauthenticity is no longer to be challenged! For example, one verse in the Quran (Surah al-Anbiya21:30) reads:
“Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together, then We clovethem asunder, and made from water every living thing? Will they not then believe?”
Ironically, this very information is exactly what they awarded the 1973 Noble Prize for - to a coupleof unbelievers.
The Quran reveals the origin of the universe - how it began from one piece - and mankind continuesto verify this revelation, even up to now. Additionally, the fact that all life originated from waterwould not have been an easy thing to convince people of fourteen centuries ago. Indeed, if 1400years ago you had stood in the desert and told someone, “All of this, you see (pointing to yourself), ismade up of mostly water,” no one would have believed you. Proof of that was not available until theinvention of the microscope. They had to wait to find out that cytoplasm, the basic substance of thecell, is made-up of 80% water. Nonetheless, the evidence did come, and once again the Quranstood the test of time.
More on Falsification Test
In reference to the falsification tests mentioned earlier, it is interesting to note that they, too, relate toboth the past and the present. Some of them were used as illustrations of God’s omnipotence andknowledge, while others continue to stand as challenges to the present day. An example of theformer is the statement made in the Quran about Abu Lahab. It clearly illustrates that God, theKnower of the Unseen, knew that Abu Lahab would never change his ways and accept Islam. Thus God dictated that he would be condemned to the Hellfire forever. Such a chapter was both anillustration of God’s divine wisdom and a warning to those who were like Abu Lahab.
People of the Book
An interesting example of the latter type of falsification tests contained in the Quran is the versewhich mentions the relationship between the Muslims and the Jews. The verse is careful not tonarrow its scope to the relationship between individual members of each religion, but rather, itsummarizes the relationship between the two groups of people as a whole. In essence, the Quranstates that the Christians will always treat the Muslims better than the Jews will treat the Muslims. Indeed, the full impact of such a statement can only be felt after careful consideration of the realmeaning of such a verse. It is true that many Christians and many Jews have become Muslims,but as a whole, the Jewish community has clearly shown its hostility to Islam. Additionally, very fewpeople realize what such an open declaration in the Quran invites. In essence, it is an easy chancefor the Jews to prove that the Quran is false - that it is not a divine revelation. All they have to do isorganize themselves, treat the Muslims nicely for a few years and then say, “Now what does yourholy book say about who are your best friends in the world - the Jews or the Christians? Look whatwe Jews have done for you!”
That is all they have to do to disprove the Quran’s authenticity, yet they have not done it in 1400years. But, as always, the offer still stands open
All of the examples so far given concerning the variousangles from which one can approach the Quran haveundoubtedly been subjective in nature; however, theredoes exist another angle, among others, which isobjective and whose basis is mathematical.
It is surprising how authentic the Quran becomes whenone assembles what might be referred to as a list of goodguesses. Mathematically, it can be explained usingguessing and prediction examples. For instance, if a person has two choices (i.e., one is right, andone is wrong), and he closes his eyes and makes a choice, then half of the time (i.e., one time out oftwo) he will be right. Basically, he has a one in two chance, for he could pick the wrong choice, orhe could pick the right choice.
Now if the same person has two situations like that (i.e., he could be right or wrong about situationnumber one, and he could be right or wrong about situation number two), and he closes his eyesand guesses, then he will only be right one-fourth of the time (i.e., one time out of four). He now hasa one in four chance because now there are three ways for him to be wrong and only one way forhim to be right. In simple terms, he could make the wrong choice in situation number one and thenmake the wrong choice in situation number two; or he could make the wrong choice in situationnumber one and then make the right choice in situation number two; or he could make the rightchoice in situation number one and then make the wrong choice in situation number two; or hecould make the right choice in situation number one and then make the right choice in situationnumber two.
Of course, the (only instance in which he could be totally right is the last scenario where he couldguess correctly in both situations. The odds of his guessing completely correctly have becomegreater because the number of situations for him to guess in have increased; and the mathematicalequation representing such a scenario is ½ x ½ (i.e., one time out of two for the first situationmultiplied by one time out of two for the second situation).
Continuing on with the example, if the same person now has three situations in which to make blindguesses, then he will only be right one-eighth of the time (i.e., one time out of eight or ½ x ½ x ½ ). Again, the odds of choosing the correct choice in all three situations have decreased his chances ofbeing completely correct to only one time in eight. It must be understood that as the number ofsituations increase, the chances of being right decrease, for the two phenomena are inversely proportional.
Now applying this example to the situations in the Quran, if one draws up a list of all of the subjectsabout which the Quran has made correct statements, it becomes very clear that it is highly unlikelythat they were all just correct blind guesses. Indeed, the subjects discussed in the Quran arenumerous, and thus the odds of someone just making lucky guesses about all of them becomepractically nil. If there are a million ways for the Quran to be wrong, yet each time it is right, then it isunlikely that someone was guessing.
The following three examples of subjects about which the Quran has made correct statementscollectively illustrate how the Quran continues to beat the odds.
The Female Bee
In the 16th chapter (Surah an-Nahl 16:68-69) the Quran mentions that the female bee leaves itshome to gather food. Now, a person might guess on that, saying, “The bee that you see flyingaround - it could be male, or it could be female. I think I will guess female.” Certainly, he has a onein two chance of being right. So it happens that the Quran is right. But it also happens that thatwas not what most people believed at the time when the Quran was revealed. Can you tell thedifference between a male and a female bee? Well, it takes a specialist to do that, but it has beendiscovered that the male bee never leaves his home to gather food. However, in Shakespeare’splay, Henry the Fourth, some of the characters discuss bees and mention that the bees are soldiersand have a king. That is what people thought in Shakespeare’s time - that the bees that one seesflying around are male bees and that they go home and answer to a king. However, that is not trueat all. The fact is that they are females, and they answer to a queen. Yet it took modern scientificinvestigations in the last 300 years to discover that this is the case.
So, back to the list of good guesses, concerning the topic of bees, the Quran had a 50/50 chance ofbeing right, and the odds were one in two.
The Sun
In addition to the subject of bees, the Quran also discusses the sun and the manner in whichit travels through space. Again, a person can guess on that subject. When the sun moves throughspace, there are two options: it can travel just as a stone would travel if one threw it, or it can move ofits own accord. The Quran states the latter - that it moves as a result of its own motion (Surah al-Anbiya 21:33). To do such, the Quran uses a form of the word sabaha to describe the sun’smovement through space. In order to properly provide the reader with a comprehensiveunderstanding of the implications of this Arabic verb, the following example is given.
If a man is in water and the verb sabaha is applied in reference to his movement, it can beunderstood that he is swimming, moving of his own accord and not as a result of a direct force applied to him. Thus when this verb is used in reference to the sun’s movement through space, it inno way implies that the sun is flying uncontrollably through space as a result of being hurled or thelike. It simply means that the sun is turning and rotating as it travels. Now, this is what the Quranaffirms, but was it an easy thing to discover? Can any common man tell that the sun is turning? Only in modern times was the equipment made available to project the image of the sun onto atabletop so that one could look at it without being blinded. And through this process it wasdiscovered that not only are there spots on the sun but that these spots move once every 25 days. This movement is referred to as the rotation of the sun around its axis and conclusively proves that,as the Quran stated 1400 years ago, the sun does, indeed, turn as it travels through space.
And returning once again to the subject of good guesses, the odds of guessing correctly about bothsubjects - the sex of bees and the movement of the sun - are one in four!
Seeing as back fourteen centuries ago people probablydid not understand much about time zones, the Quran’sstatements about this subject are considerablysurprising. The concept that one family is havingbreakfast as the sun comes up while another family isenjoying the brisk night air is truly something to bemarveled at, even in modern time. Indeed, fourteencenturies ago, a man could not travel more than thirty miles in one day, and thus it took him literally months to travel from India to Morocco, for example. And probably, when he was having supper in Morocco, he thought to himself, “Back home in India they are having supper right now.” This is because he did not realize that, in the process oftraveling, he moved across a time zone. Yet, because it is the words of Allah (God), the All-Knowing, the Quran recognizes and acknowledges such a phenomenon.
In an interesting verse it states that when history comes to an end and the Day of Judgment arrives,it will all occur in an instant; and this very instant will catch some people in the daytime and somepeople at night. This clearly illustrates Allah’s divine wisdom and His previous knowledge of theexistence of time zones, even though such a discovery was non-existent back fourteen centuriesago. Certainly, this phenomenon is not something which is obvious to one’s eyes or a result ofone’s experience, and this fact, in itself, suffices as proof of the Quran’s authenticity.
Conclusion
Returning one final time to the subject of good guesses for the purpose of the present example,the odds that someone guessed correctly about all three of the aforementioned subjects - the sexof bees, the movement of the sun and the existence of time zones - are one in eight!
Certainly, one could continue on and on with this example, drawing up longer and longer list of goodguesses; and of course, the odds would become higher and higher with each increase of subjectsabout which one could guess. But what no one can deny is the following: the odds that Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, an unlettered man, guessed correctly aboutthousands and thousands of subjects, never once making a mistake, are so high that any theory ofhis authorship of the Quran must be completely dismissed - even by the most hostile enemies ofIslam!
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 woulddoubt 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?” Ofcourse, if the visitor continued answering all of the questions correctly, the skeptic would have nochoice but to say, “I guess you do know my father. I don’t know how you know him, but I guess youdo!”
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 sametruths. Additionally, we all know something for sure: we do not all have to be experts to verify whatthe Quran affirms. One’s Iman (faith) grows as one continues to check and confirm the truthscontained in the Quran. And one is supposed to do so all of his life.
May God (Allah) guide everyone close to the truth.
Addendum 1
An engineer at the University of Toronto who was interested in psychology and who had readsomething on it, conducted research and wrote a thesis on Efficiency of Group Discussions. Thepurpose of his research was to find out how much people accomplish when they get together to talkin groups of two, three, ten, etc. The graph of his findings goes up and down at places, but itreaches the highest point at the variable of two. The findings: people accomplish most when theytalk in groups of two. Of course, this discovery was entirely beyond his expectations, but it is veryold advice given in the Quran (Surah Saba 34:46):
“Say, ‘I exhort you to one thing - that you stand for Allah, [assessing the truth] by twos andsingly, and then reflect...’”
Addendum 2: ‘Iram
Additionally, the 89th chapter of the Quran (Surah al-Fajr 89:7) mentions a certain city by the nameof ‘Iram (a city of pillars), which was not known in ancient history and which was non- existent as faras historians were concerned. However, the December 1978 edition of National Geographicintroduced interesting information which mentioned that in 1973, the city of Elba was excavated inSyria. The city was discovered to be 43 centuries old, but that is not the most amazing part. Researchers found in the library of Elba a record of all of the cities with which Elba had donebusiness. Believe it or not, there on the list was the name of the city of ‘Iram. The people of Elbahad done business with the people of ‘Iram!
In conclusion I ask you to consider with care the following (Surah 29:50-51):
“And they say, ‘Why are not signs sent down to him from his Lord?’ Say, ‘Indeed, the signs arewith Allah, and I am but a clear warner.’ But it is sufficient for them that We have sent down toyou the Book [i.e., Quran] which is rehearsed to them? Verily, in that is mercy and a reminder topeople who believe.”
