The Holy Qu’ran is a Miracle
Allah’s greatest favor to mankind is His guidance contained in the books of revelation. Muslims believe in Taurat, Injeel, Zaboor, Scrolls of Abraham, and the Qur’an. The Qur’an is the final revelation sent by Allah to all Mankind and no book will ever be sent after it. Of the Divine books, only Qur’an exists in its original form, unchanged and unmixed. All the other books are not available in their original language and form. Even their original text has been changed. Allah has promised that he Himself will protect this Book and preserve it against the slightest change up to the end of time.
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The Qur’an is the Miracle of God. There are many qualities that make the Qur’an a Miracle. The Qur’an is incomparable for its comprehensiveness. It brings to man the ultimate knowledge and guidance for all spheres of human life, spiritual, physical, individual, etc. The Qur’an came at a time and at a place, which offered no facilities for acquiring the kind of education, which is necessary for composing such a book. It came to the Holy Prophet Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, who could not even read and write, and who had not tried to learn even the arts of poetry and rhetoric of which the Arabs of that time were proud of.
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When the Qur’an challenged the disbelievers to produce even a few verses comparable to its own, no one came forward to accept the challenge. On the other hand, as a matter of fact, some of the most contemporary Arabs did admit, though in private, that the Holy Qur’an was inimitable. Some of them had the honesty to say so in public and some even accepted Islam.
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A number of incidents illustrate the point. Even the vilest enemies of the Holy Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, like Akhnas ibn Sharik, Abu Sufyan, and of all persons Abu Jahl, himself, are reported to have stealthily crept in the darkness of night to the house of the Holy Prophet Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, to hear him reciting the Holy Qur’an, and to have been so entranced by the Word of Allah, that they could not tear themselves away from the place till it was dawn.
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Abu Jahl, even confessed that his tribe had been successfully competing with Banu ‘Abd Manaf in all possible virtues before Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam. But now their rival had produced a prophet, and they could not come up with something to match the claim. So they rejected the Prophet Muhammad Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, and the Qur’an because of arrogance. Walid ibn Mughara, the eldest and the wisest among them said about the Holy Qur’an:
“By God, there is not a single man among you who knows more about Arabic poetry than me. And by God, I find in this speech a kind of sweetness and grace which I have never found in the speech of any poet or of any eloquent man.”
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In short, Arabs failed to take up the challenge of the Holy Qur’an to produce even a single verse comparable with the Qur’an and admitted their helplessness. Nor has anyone else succeeded in the attempt since then, all of which goes to show that Holy Qur’an can only be the Word of Allah, not of man.
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The Holy Qur’an made many predictions about future events. For example, the infidels of Makkah were not prepared to believe that Byzantines would finally rout the Persians after they suffered an initial defeat.
They put a wager on it but were humiliated to see the prophecy come true before the stipulated period of ten years was over.
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The Holy Qur’an gives a clear account of some of the earlier prophets, of their Shariah, and of their peoples and of many historical events since the beginning of the world. Even the best scholars among the Jews and Christians did not possess such exact information. The Holy Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, who had never attended a school, nor been in the company of a learned man, could not have provided all these details for himself without having received the knowledge from Allah.
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Several verses of the Holy Qur’an disclosed what certain people had tried to conceal in their hearts and they had to confess that this was just what they had been thinking. The Holy Qur’an predicted that such and such men would not be able to do such and such things and then it turned out that in spite of having the power, they could not do these things.
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The Jews claimed to be the chosen of God, and His friends. The Holy Qur’an asked them to substantiate their claim by wishing for death. In spite of all their hatred for the Holy Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, they knew in their hearts that the Holy Qur’an was the Book of Allah and feared that if they told a lie in this matter, they would actually die.
When the Holy Qur’an is recited, it affects in a strange and indefinable way the hearts of even a casual listener, Muslim or non-Muslim. History reports many instances of people accepting Islam merely because they happened to be passing by when the Holy Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, was reciting the Holy Qur’an. Such was the case for example of the companion Jubayr ibn Mutim.
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The best book in the world, if read four or five times, begins to lose its charm. But the peculiar quality of the Holy Qur’an, and of it alone, is that the more one reads or recites it, the more eager one becomes to do so again and again.
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The greatest miracle of the Qur’an is that in all the ages and in all the places where Muslims have lived there have been millions of people who have known the Book by heart, without the alteration of a single consonant or vowel. So, Allah has preserved his last book, not merely in the shape of written words, but above all in the hearts of men. Allah is Ever-Living, so will His word live forever, beyond the interference of human beings.
There is no other book, which encompass all the forms of knowledge and wisdom in so short a space as does the Holy Qur’an, fulfilling all possible spiritual needs of man and providing him with guidance for all the spheres of his internal or external, individual or social activities.
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It is not merely theoretical guidance that the Holy Qur’an has offered. On the other hand, the Qur’an has had such a vast and deep impact on the history of mankind in a short time. It brought about a radical and unprecedented transformation in the individual and collective life of millions of men within the space of a few years. It took the lowest of the low and transformed them into the best people who ever lived. When the Holy Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, departed from the world Islam had, in spite of all opposition and without the modern media of communication, already established a new order of life all over the Arabian Peninsula, and within the next few decades, the message of the Holy Qur’an had reached India on one side, and Spain on the other.