Authenticity of the Quran PDF

AUTHENTICITY OF THE QUR'AN A concise analysis of arguments regarding the divine authorship and authenticity of the Muslim sacred scripture. 2nd Edition AUTHENTICITY OF THE QUR’AN A concise analysis of arguments regarding the divine authorship and authenticity of the Muslim sacred scripture i ISBN:978-978-789-233-6 Copyright © Islamic Education Trust, 2024/1445 AH. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced in any form, and in any language, without prior written permission from the Da’wah Institute (DIN). First Edition 2008 Second Edition 2024 Published by: Islamic Education Trust, PMB 229, Ilmi Avenue, Intermediate Housing Estate, Minna, Niger State, Nigeria. E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.dawahinstitute.org, ii BOOK INFORMATION Title: Authenticity of the Qur’an: A concise analysis of arguments regarding the divine authorship and authenticity of the Muslim sacred scripture. Author: Da’wah Institute (DIN) Publisher: Islamic Education Trust, Nigeria Citation: Da’wah Institute (DIN), Authenticity of the Qur’an: A concise analysis of arguments regarding the divine authorship and authenticity of the Muslim sacred scripture, Islamic Education Trust, Nigeria, 2024 (2nd edition). iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgment v Preface vii THE QUR’AN 1 THE RECORDING AND PERFECT PRESERVATION OF THE QUR’AN 4 DURING THE LIFETIME OF THE PROPHET () 4 AFTER THE LIFETIME OF THE PROPHET () 9 ACKNOWLEDGMENT BY ORIENTALISTS 24 OLDEST MANUSCRIPTS OF THE QUR’AN 26 TRANSLATION OF THE QUR’AN 30 SOURCE OR AUTHORSHIP OF THE QUR’AN 37 FACTORS TO DETERMINE THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE QUR’AN 39 THE ELIMINATION PROCESS 69 CONCLUSION ON THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE QUR’AN 73 FOR FURTHER READING ON THIS SUBECT 79 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENT All praises and gratitude belong to Allah who has made this work possible. We thank Him for all we have and beseech Him to shower His endless mercy and blessings upon the noble soul of Prophet Muhammad (p), his household, companions, and all those who have, and still are following his example. We are indebted and grateful to the founding trustees of the Islamic Education Trust – late Dr. Sheikh Ahmed Lemu, OFR., late Hajiyah Aisha B. Lemu, MON., and late Alhaji Sani Ashafa – for their foresight; and thank all current members of the IET Board of Trustees – Mallam Lawal Maidoki, Prof. Kamaldeen Balogun, Justice Amina Wambai, Hajiya Hajara Adeola, Alhaji Arzika Rimau and Alhaji Muhammad Nurudeen Lemu, OON. - for their unrelenting vision towards the advancement of Islam and Muslims and their continued wise counsel and guidance. May Allah spare your lives and keep your feet firm on His path. We would also like to thank all members of the Research and Training Department of the Da’wah Institute – Muhammad Nurudeen Lemu, Ismail Abdulkadir, Haleemah Oladamade Ahmad, Abdulmalik Abdullahi, Adam Abdulrahman, Idris Abdurrahman, Hamza Yusuf and Aliyu Bashir. May Allah accept your efforts and add them to your scales of good deeds. We would also like to thank all past DIN researchers and editors, v particularly those who worked on the first edition of this book. May this continue to be sadaqatun jaariyah for you. As only the Qur’an is perfect, this material will, by Allah’s leave, continue to evolve through revisions and improvements with better contributions from people like you, the reader, inshaAllah. Thus, we invite you to kindly send us your observations and suggested improvements. It is unfortunately practically impossible to cite all who deserve mention - but Allah has counted them all, and we continue to pray Allah blesses them with the best in this life and the hereafter. We pray that the reward of whatever good comes from this effort goes to everyone who contributed to it, mentioned here or not. While several attempts were made at ensuring the correctness of the content of this book, we take full responsibility for whatever mistakes remain therein and pray that Allah forgives us for the oversight. To everyone, we say Jazakumullahu khayran – May Allah reward and bless you! Wassalamu alaykum wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh. Muhammad Alhassan Registrar, Da’wah Institute (DIN), Minna, Nigeria. vi PREFACE Islam is considered by many observers to be the fastest-growing religion, yet it is arguably the most misunderstood of the world’s major faiths. Misconceptions about Islam stem from calculated propaganda against Islam, but a good amount of it can be attributable to the ignorance of many Muslims whose limited knowledge and practice of Islam perpetuates these misconceptions. Many Muslims grow up believing that Islam requires only blind faith and invites no intellectual challenges. Often such people are able to minimally manage their faith until when they interact with larger circles of people, such as in school or the workplace, and are confronted with many misconceptions about Islam. This book focuses on one of the issues that some non-Muslims ask questions about – the authenticity of the claim by Muslims that the Qur’an is divine revelation from God. Addressing the issue of the authenticity of the Qur’an is of utmost importance because it is from the scriptures of different faith communities that the bases of their identities, purpose of being, rights and responsibilities, conception of God, duties to their Creator, societal or global roles, and their relations with the Other are defined. The Qur’an is the definitive source of the essential fundamental teachings of Islam (ma’lum min al-din bi al- vii darurah).1 It is, therefore, important to critically and fairly analyze the various arguments on the authenticity and authorship of the Qur’an. This involves examining the information regarding the recording and preservation of the Qur’an, as well as internal and external evidentiary sources, in order to assess whether or not the Muslim’s belief in its divine authorship is based on blind faith, or on sound reasoning and valid evidence. For Muslims, the Qur’an is the literal word of God, revealed to humanity through the Prophet Muhammad ()2 over fourteen centuries ago. Considered by Muslims as the final revelation to humanity, it stands as a beacon of divine guidance, offering solace, wisdom, and enlightenment to believers for over fourteen centuries. Its verses, recited with devotion and studied with fervor, have shaped civilizations, and guided believers in their private and public lives for over fourteen centuries. Yet, in an age where skepticism often challenges faith, where reason is wielded as a double-edged sword, it becomes imperative to reaffirm the unassailable truth of the Qur’an's divine origin. 1 The other definitive source of fundamental Islamic teachings is the undisputedly authentic and multiple chained (mutawatir) hadith regarding which there is absolute consensus (ijma’ qat’i) concerning its textual and historical integrity, and its implications. 2 In line with the injunction in Qur’an 33:56, wherever the title ―the Prophet,‖ ―Messenger of Allah,‖ ―Apostle of Allah,‖ or the Prophet’s name, ―Muhammad,‖ appear in this text, the symbol () appears next to it, which equates to the saying, ―may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him.‖ viii The first section of this book examines the meticulous recording and preservation of the Qur’an during the Prophet's lifetime and the intricate mechanisms that ensured its transmission with unparalleled fidelity thereafter. Orientalist critiques, often wielded against the Qur’an's authenticity, are met with rigorous analysis and thoughtful rebuttals, dismantling misconceptions and affirming the unwavering integrity of the Qur’anic text. By scrutinizing the oldest manuscripts of the Qur’an, marveling at their antiquity and affirming their remarkable consistency with the Qur’an in circulation today, the Qur’an’s textual consistency and resilience across time and space is affirmed. The book further confronts questions of authorship head-on, exploring the role of the Prophet Muhammad (p) as being only the conduit through which divine revelation flowed. In the quest for truth, it confronts alternative theories that seek to explain the Qur’an's origins—from allegations of borrowing from the Bible to the audacious claim of diabolical inspiration. Each hypothesis is subjected to rigorous scrutiny, dismantled through meticulous analysis, and ultimately shown to crumble in the face of the Qur’an's inherent coherence and transcendent wisdom. Through a systematic ―elimination process‖, we dispel the notion of human interpolation or corruption, reaffirming the Qur’an's pristine purity as the unaltered word of God. ix It is therefore hoped that this publication will serve as a beacon of enlightenment and inspiration for believers and truth-seekers of all faiths, seeking to deepen their understanding of the Qur’an's authenticity and an intellectual resource material for people of different backgrounds. x THE QUR’AN The basis for the beliefs of most religions is their scriptures. Most of these scriptures are believed to be inspired or revealed by Almighty God and are therefore sacred and perfectly suited to guide the human race. In a world where there are many competing claims for possession of ―the word of God‖, objective and reasonable evidence must therefore be put forward to convince anyone (including oneself!) of why one believes in any particular scripture. Therefore, ascertaining the authenticity of a scripture is of fundamental importance in our search for the truth in a reasonable, honest, and objective way. Muslims believe that the Qur‘an is the divinely revealed literal word of God sent to mankind in Arabic through Prophet Muhammad () who received the revelation from Angel Gabriel (Jibril) incrementally over the course of twenty-three (23) years. It is the living miracle of Prophet Muhammad (p) and has been preserved through multiple independent chains of narrators and reciters through history. The Qur‘an is considered the culmination of earlier scriptures and revelations from God sent to other prophets and Messengers before Muhammad (), including the Torah revealed to prophet Musa (Moses), Injil (Gospel) given to prophet Isa (Jesus), Zabur (Psalms) given to prophet Dawud (David), and the Suhuf (Scrolls) given to prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) – peace be upon them all. Questions on the source and authorship of the Qur‘an have been raised since the time of Prophet Muhammad (). However, the Qur‘an does not demand blind belief, but instead invites all human beings to study, reflect and follow the evidence to its logical conclusion, while posing a challenge to those who doubt its divinity and authenticity. “Do they not ponder over the Qur‟an with care. Had it been from any other than Allah, they would have certainly found in it many inconsistencies”. (Qur‘an 4:82) While most Muslims do not doubt the divine authorship of the Qur‘an, for Muslims, proving that our conviction in the Qur‘an as the authentic word of God is not blind belief but in fact the most reasonable conclusion of all alternatives, also serves as a confirmation and strengthening of faith for every sincere seeker of Truth. This is especially important in the information age of today where evidence and facts are often needed for conviction. How then do we know that the Qur’an of today is truly the word of God? To answer this question, we first need to establish that the Qur‘an we have today is the same Qur‘an that was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (), and that no corruption has taken place in the transmission of that message. In other words, we first need to prove the fact that the Qur‘an has survived history perfectly preserved. Secondly, we need to establish who the author of the Qur‘an really is. This may be done by examining all possible authors, and eliminating all that are unacceptable to reason, given all the evidence available. That is, we may reasonably deduce the definite author by eliminating all unlikely authors. This two-step process is outlined below under the following headings: i) The recording and perfect preservation of the Qur‘an, and ii) The source or authority of the Qur‘an. THE RECORDING AND PERFECT PRESERVATION OF THE QUR’AN The Glorious Qur‘an was revealed in Arabic to the Prophet Muhammad () through the angel Gabriel (peace be upon him). The revelation occurred piecemeal, over a period of twenty-three years, sometimes in brief verses and sometimes in longer chapters.1 The Qur‘an (literally, a ―reading‖ or ―recitation‖) is distinct from the recorded sayings and deeds (Sunnah) of the Prophet Muhammad (), which are also preserved in a separate set of literature collectively called the ―Hadith‖ (lit. ―news‖; ―report‖; or ―narration‖). DURING THE LIFETIME OF THE PROPHET () Upon receiving revelation, the Prophet () engaged himself in the duty of conveying the message to his Companions through reciting the exact words he heard in their exact order. This is evident in his inclusion of even the words of Allah which were directed specifically to him, for example: ―Qul‖ (―Say [to the 1 Muhammad Hamidullah, Introduction to Islam (London: MWH Publishers, 1979), p.17 people, O Muhammad]‖). The Qur‘an‘s rhythmic style and eloquent expression make it easy to memorize, just as nursery rhymes are easy to remember due to their rhythm, rhyme and vivid description. Indeed, Allah describes this as one of its essential qualities for preservation and remembrance2, particularly in an Arab society which prided itself on orations of lengthy pieces of poetry. Michael Zwettler notes that ―in ancient times, when writing was scarcely used, memory and oral transmission was exercised and strengthened to a degree now almost unknown.‖3 Large portions of the revelation were thus easily memorized by a large number of people in the community of the Prophet (). The Prophet () encouraged his Companions to learn each verse that was revealed and transmit it to others.4 The Qur‘an was also required to be recited regularly as an act of worship, especially during the daily prayers (salat). Through these means, many repeatedly heard passages from the revelation recited to them, memorized them and used them in prayer. The entire Qur‘an was memorized verbatim (word for word) by some of the Prophet‘s 2 Q.44:58; 54:17, 22, 32, 40. 3 Michael Zwettler, The Oral Tradition of Classical Arabic Poetry (Ohio State Press, 1978), p.14 4 Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.6, no.546. Companions. Among them were Zaid ibn Thabit, Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, Mu‘adh ibn Jabal, and Abu Zaid.5 Furthermore, the sequence or order of the Qur‘an was arranged through the Prophet () himself and was also well-known to the Companions.6 Several narrations exist describing the Prophet () as instructing scribes where to place certain verses in their respective surah (chapters, hereafter written as ―surahs‖).7 There are also several ahadith where the Prophet () would recommend sections of certain surahs (e.g. the last two verses) to certain Companions, or where the Companions would mention sections of surahs that were recited at various times – all as evidence that the arrangement of verses in their surahs was well known to the Companions of the Prophet () even within his lifetime, and thus could not have been arranged after his passing away.8 Each Ramadan, the Prophet () would repeat after the angel Gabriel 5 Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.6, no.525 & 526. 6 Ahmad von Denffer, Ulum al-Qur‟an (Leicester, UK: The Islamic Foundation, b1983), pp.41-42; Arthur Jeffery, Materials for the History of the Text of the Qur‟an (Leiden: Brill, 1937), p.31. 7 These may be found in Tirmidhi‘s Sunan, al-Musnad of Ibn Hanbal, al- Hakim‘s al-Mustadrak, Suyuti‘s al-Itqan and al-Baqillani‘s al-Intisar; all cited in M. M. Azami, The History of the Qur‟anic Text From Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments (Leicester, UK: UK Islamic Academy, 2003), p.71, fn.19-27. 8 M. M. Azami, The History of the Qur‟anic Text From Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments (Leicester, UK: UK Islamic Academy, 2003), p.72. (reciting) the entire Qur‘an in its exact order as far as it had been revealed, while in the presence of a number of his Companions.9 In the year of his death, he recited it twice.10 Thereby, the order of verses in each surah (chapter) and the order of the surahs became reinforced in the memories of each of the Companions present. The entire Qur‘an was however also recorded in writing at the time of revelation from the Prophet‘s dictation by some of his literate companions, the most prominent of them being Zaid ibn Thabit.11 In addition to Zaid, there were over 55 other scribes, including noble scribes such as Ubayy ibn Ka‗b, Ibn Mas‘ud, Khalid ibn Waleed, and Zubayr ibn Awwam.12 The verses were recorded on leather, parchment, scapulae (shoulder bones of 9 Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.6, no.519. 10 Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.6, hadith nos.518 & 520. 11 Jalal al-Din Suyuti, Al-Itqan fi „Ulum al-Qur‟an (Beirut: Maktab al- Thaqaafiyya, 1973), vol.1, p.41 & 99. 12 Ibn Hajar al-‗Asqalani, Al-Isabah fi Tamyeez as-Sahabah (Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, 1978); Bayard Dodge, The Fihrist of al-Nadim: A Tenth Century Survey of Muslim Culture (NY: Columbia University Press, 1970), pp.53-63. M. M. Azami in The History of the Qur‟anic Text from Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments (Leicester, UK: UK Islamic Academy, 2003) in fact mentions 58 persons who used to write for the Prophet (p). (See the same author‘s Kuttab al-Nabi, Beirut: Al-Maktab al-Islami, 1974, for more details on these scribes). animals), board and the stalks of date palms.13 Evidence also exists that recorded verses would be read back to the Prophet () to eradicate scribal errors.14 13 al-Harith al-Muhasabi, Kitab Fahm al-Sunan (cited in Suyuti, Al-Itqan fi „Ulum al-Qur‟an, n.d., vol.1, p.58). 14 Muhammad ibn Yahya as-Suli, Adab al-Kuttab. (Ed. B. al-Athari, Cairo, 1341), p.165 (cited in M. M. Azami, The History of the Qur‟anic Text From Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments, Leicester, UK: UK Islamic Academy, 2003, p.69). AFTER THE LIFETIME OF THE PROPHET () As the Companions spread out to various provinces with different populations, they took their memorizations (and recitations) with them in order to instruct others.15 In this way, the same Qur‘an became widely retained in the memories of many people across vast and diverse areas of land. Indeed, the memorization of the Qur‘an emerged into a continuous tradition across the centuries, with centers/schools for memorization being established across the Muslim world.16 The Qur‘an is perhaps the only book, religious or secular, that has been memorized completely by millions of people.17 Leading orientalist Kenneth Cragg reflects that: …this phenomenon of Qur‘anic recital means that the text has traversed the centuries in an unbroken living sequence of devotion. It cannot, therefore, be handled as an antiquarian text, or as a historical document out of a distant past. The fact of hifz (Qur‘anic memorization) has made the Qur‘an a living possession 15 Ibn Hisham, Seerah al-Nabi (Cairo, n.d.), vol.1, p.199. 16 Labib as-Said, The Recited Koran. Trans. by Morroe Berger, A. Rauf, and Bernard Weiss (Princeton, USA: The Darwin Press, 1975), p.59. 17 William Graham, Beyond the Written Word (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993), p.80. throughout the lapse of Muslim history and given it a human currency in every generation, never allowing its relegation to a bare authority for reference alone.18 The compilation of the Qur’an into a book form was done soon after the Battle of Yamama (11A.H/633C.E.), after the Prophet‘s death, during the Caliphate of Abu Bakr. Many companions became martyrs at that Battle, and it was feared that unless a written copy of the entire revelation was produced, large parts of the Qur‘an might be lost with the death of those who had memorized it (the huffaz). Therefore, at the suggestion of Umar to collect the Qur‘an in the form of writing, Zaid ibn Thabit was requested by Abu Bakr to head a committee which would gather together the scattered recordings of the Qur‘an and prepare a suhuf - loose sheets which collectively bore the entire revelation on them.19 To safeguard the compilation from errors, the committee accepted only material which had been written down in the presence of the Prophet () himself, and which could be verified by at least two reliable witnesses who had actually heard the Prophet () recite the passage in question.20 Once completed and unanimously approved of by the Prophet‘s Companions, 18 Kenneth Cragg, The Mind of the Qur‟an (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1973), p.26. 19 Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.6, hadith nos.201 & 509; vol.9, no.301. 20 Ibn Hajar al-‗Asqalani, Fath al-Bari (n.d.), vol.9:14-15. these sheets were kept with the Caliph Abu Bakr (d.13A.H./634C.E.), then passed on to the Caliph Umar (13- 23A.H./634-644C.E.), and then Umar‘s daughter, the Prophet‘s widow, Hafsah.21 Although the Qur‘an was initially revealed in the Qurayshi dialect of Arabic to the Prophet (), some verses were also later revealed in seven different linguistic variants22 of the various Arabian 21 Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.6, no.201. 22 Differences between the permissible readings were not great, did not involve significant changes in meaning, and covered only a fraction of all the verses of the Qur‘an. Examples are the words “nunshiruhaa” (―We restore them to life‖) or “nunshizuhaa,” (―We raise them up‖), either of which could be used in Qur‘an 2:259. Another variation involves pronunciation, such as “taabooh” or “taaboot,” and “mu‟min” or “moomin,” and “alayhim” or ―alayhimoo.‖ Some variations are synonyms, such as “halumma,” “ta‟aala,” and “aqbil” which all mean ―come.‖ There is some debate about the nature of the different readings of the Qur‘an: whether they were dialectical variations, or some linguistic differences even within the same dialect, or merely various ways of expressing similar concepts encompassing several dialects within the same reading. There is however no debate regarding the fact that the Qur‘an (Uthmanic version) is narrated by so many independent chains (tawatur) of reciters that it leaves no doubt regarding its historical authenticity. The majority of scholars also contend that the Uthmanic manuscript (which is preserved in contemporary use) encompasses several different linguistic variants within it and maximizes the number of variations possible if the diacritical vowel marks (which were introduced long after the time of the Companions) are not observed. See Jalal al-Din Suyuti‘s Al-Itqan fi „Ulum al-Qur‟an, 4th edition (Cairo: al-Halabi Press, 1978), vol.1, p.142; and Yusuf Ibrahim al-Nur‘s Ma‟ al-Masaahif, 1st edition (Dubai: Dar al-Manar, 1993), p.34. See also, Ahmad Ali al-Imam, Variant Readings of the Qur‟an: A Critical Study of their Historical and Linguistic Origins, International Institute of Islamic Thought, London, 2006. dialects to aid the understanding of those belonging to non- Quraysh tribes. A hadith recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari, for instance, states: Abdullah bin Abbas narrated that Allah‘s Apostle () said, ―Gabriel recited the Qur‟an to me in one way. Then I requested him (to read it in another way) and continued asking him to recite it in other ways, and he recited it in several ways till he ultimately recited it in seven different ways.‖ 23 Another hadith records: Umar ibn al-Khattab said, ―I heard Hisham bin Hakim reciting Surat Al-Furqan during the lifetime of Allah‘s Apostle and I listened to his recitation and noticed that he recited in several different ways which Allah‘s Apostle had not taught me. I was about to jump over him during his prayer, but I controlled my temper, and when he had completed his prayer, I put his upper garment around his neck and seized him by it and said, ‗Who taught you this Surah which I heard you reciting?‘ He replied, ‗Allah‘s Apostle taught it to me.‘ I said, ‗You have told a lie, for Allah‘s Apostle has taught it to me in a different way from yours.‘ So, I dragged him to Allah‘s Apostle and said (to Allah‘s Apostle), ‗I heard this person reciting Surat Al-Furqan in a way 23 Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.6, hadith no.513. which you haven‘t taught me!‘ On that Allah‘s Apostle said, „Release him, (O Umar!) Recite, O Hisham!‟ Then he recited in the same way as I heard him reciting. Then Allah‘s Apostle said, „It was revealed in this way,‟ and added, „Recite, O Umar!‟ I recited it as he had taught me. Allah‘s Apostle then said, „It was revealed in this way. This Qur‟an has been revealed to be recited in seven different ways, so recite of it whichever (way) is easier for you (or read as much of it as may be easy for you).‟‖24 At the time of the third Caliph Uthman (24A.H.-35A.H./644- 656C.E.), however, a companion named Hudhayfah ibn Al- Yaman observed that the people of the regions of present-day Syria and Iraq began to have friction over their differing recitations of some words of the Qur‘an (disputing whether a different recitation was a mistake or one of the approved variant readings). This had the potential to cause unnecessary disunity over their differences, while new Muslims in provinces outside Arabia might become unsure which linguistic reading should be learned. Urged by Hudhayfah to take heed of how the People of the Book (Ahl al-Kitab) had differed among themselves regarding Allah‘s Word, the Caliph Uthman perceived the danger of divisions, disunity and corruption arising on the basis of different 24 Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.6, hadith no.514. See also Jalal al-Din Suyuti, Al-Itqan fi „Ulum al-Qur‟an (Beirut: Maktab al-Thaqaafiyya, 1973), vol.1, p.41. readings/linguistic variants of the Qur‘an which were earlier on approved by the Prophet ().25 He therefore requested Hafsah to send him the manuscript of the Qur‘an which was in her safekeeping, and ordered the production of several bounded copies of it (masaahif, sing. mushaf). The production of copies, however, had an additional condition attached to it that any passage written in a linguistic form where there may be potential for dispute should be substituted with the corresponding revelation (of that same passage) in the Quraysh dialect (i.e. the dialect in which the Qur‘an had commenced being revealed to the Prophet). This task was entrusted to Zaid ibn Thabit, Abdullah ibn Al-Zubair, Sa‘id ibn Al-‗As, and Abdul Rahman ibn Harith ibn Hisham.26 The reason Qurayshi was chosen was due to its being the dialect of the Prophet himself and the dialect of the most dominant tribe in Arabia; hence, the most widely accepted among all tribes.27 Upon completion (in 25A.H./646C.E.), Uthman returned the original manuscript to Hafsah and sent the newly produced 25 Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.6, no.510. 26 Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.4, no.709; vol.6, no.507. 27 See, however, footnote 22 above on how the Uthmanic script still retained the possibility of subtle variations in recitation due to the non-existence of any diacritical marks (to indicate vowels) at that stage. copies accompanied by reciters28 to the major Islamic provinces to replace other materials that were in circulation. He also ordered that all other extracts or copies of the Qur‘an which differed from that undoubtedly authentic ―official‖ copy29 be burned so that the Qur‘an would not suffer the same fate of alterations, uncertainty of authenticity and contradictory versions which characterized prior religious scriptures. This action of Uthman was unanimously approved of by the Prophet‘s Companions, as evidenced in the accounts of Zaid, Mus‘ab, and Ali that the Companions had gathered in large numbers to witness the burning, with no-one speaking out against it. Rather, there were declarations of support and how satisfied the Companions were with him.30 Furthermore, once produced, the Mushaf was read to the Companions for their final 28 Abdul-Fattah al-Qadi, ―al-Qira‘at fi Nazar al-Mustashriqin wa al-Mulhidin‖, in Majallat al-Azhar, 1971, vol.43/2, p.175; cited in M. M. Azami, The History of the Qur‟anic Text From Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments (Leicester, UK: UK Islamic Academy, 2003), p.95, n.36. 29 This includes incomplete manuscripts and those with additional personal (explanatory) notes. 30 See Nizam al-Din al-Naysaburi, Ghara‟ib al-Qur‟an wa Ragha‟ib al-Furqan (Cairo, 1962); Ibn Abi Dawud, Kitab al-Masaahif (n.d.), p.12; cited in Arthur Jeffery, Materials for the History of the Text of the Qur‟an (Leiden: Brill, 1937); Jalal al-Din Suyuti, Al-Itqan fi „Ulum al-Qur‟an, 4th edition (Cairo: al-Halabi Press, 1978), vol.1, pp.170-171; and Badr al-Din al-Zarkashi, Al-Burhan fi Ulum al-Qur‟an, (Cairo, 1957), vol.1, p.240 respectively. sanction31. Thus, it was not the ―original‖ Qur‘an that was burnt. Neither was the incidence a fabricated story to discredit Uthman in the eyes of the community, as some critics of Islam allege. Some orientalist critics claim that the narrations in hadith collections (such as those used to support the above-mentioned history of the Qur‘an‘s preservation) cannot be trusted due to their being recorded by ‗Muslim sources‘ who must have concocted the hadith in later centuries to justify partisan, dogmatic, juristic and ideological interests. However, it could be argued that news and civilizational history have always been discovered through eye-witness reports, and early Muslim scholars have developed some of the most rigorous criteria for scrutinizing such reports for authenticity – including ascertaining a continuous chain of reporters, each reporter‘s memory skills , adherence to righteous conduct and reputation, records of their knowledge and honesty, who their students and teachers were, their political leanings and interpretive tendencies, evidence that they were there at the time of the event, as well as textual consistency with the Qur‘an and other established hadith.32 The Ibn Kathir, Fada‟il al-Qur‟an (n.d.), 7:450 31 32 Mohammad Hashim Kamali, Hadith Methodology (Usul al-Hadith): Authenticity, Compilation, Classification and Criticism of Hadith (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Ilmiah Publishers, 2002) majority of what we know of the life of the Prophet () and his Companions are from mutawaatir (multiple-chain) reports.33 This continuing and dynamic science (now over thirteen centuries old) has produced highly accurate, albeit not perfect, reports of Muslim history. The accusation that most Muslim scholarship has been based on forgery would necessarily imply that all the geographically scattered scholars of the first four centuries of hadith collection, who belonged to varied and competing schools of thought, as well as those who belonged to opposing theological and political factions,34 collaborated together in a mutual conspiracy – an idea which neither appeals to reason nor the fact that such scholars were renowned for their piety and integrity of character. Moreover, Estelle Whelan (1998) mentions that an abundance of references from a wide variety of texts and from various time periods point to the existence of a group of professional (paid) 33 Reported by many different narrators, who all independently verified the same account. 34 Not to mention the Greek, Persian, and Byzantine Non-Muslims who came into contact with Muslims and yet reported no contradiction to Muslim reports, or anything which would suggest the gradual evolution of a canonized Qur‘anic text in later centuries. (See Muhammad Mohar Ali, The Qur‟an and the Orientalists: A Brief Survey of their Assumptions, Ipswich, UK: Jam‗iat Ihyaa‘ Minhaaj al-Sunnah, 2002, p.12). Qur‘an copyists in Madinah since the middle of the first century A.H., to meet the public demand for Qur‘ans for personal, educational and official use.35 Whelan further states that this evidence, among many others, all: …point to the active production of copies of the Qur‘an from the late seventh century, coinciding with and confirming the epigraphic evidence of the established text itself. In fact, from the time of Mu‗awiyah through the reign of al-Walid the Umayyad caliphs were actively engaged in codifying every aspect of Muslim religious practice… ‗Abd al-Malik made sophisticated use of Qur‘anic quotations, on coinage and public monuments, to announce the new Islamic world order. Al-Walid gave monumental form to the Muslim house of worship and the service conducted in it. It seems beyond the bounds of credibility that such efforts would have preceded interest in codifying the text itself. The different types of evidence cited here all thus lead to the conclusion that the Muslim tradition is reliable, at least in broad outline, in attributing the first codification of the Qur‘anic text to Uthman and his appointed commission. The Qur‘an was available to his successors as an instrument to help weld the 35 Estelle Whelan, ―Forgotten Witness: Evidence for the Early Codification of the Qur‘an‖, Journal of the American Orientalist Society, vol.118, no.1, 1998, pp.10-12. The numerous reports of this fact included mentions so peripheral to the main narrative account, and by many individuals so ‗insignificant‘ that it is difficult to conceive of them all being part of a grand forgery in later centuries. diverse peoples of the rapidly expanding empire into a relatively unified polity.36 A number of orientalists such as Goldziher37 have clung to the theory that certain variations in some of the reports make the entire story of the Qur‘an‘s compilation dubious, and that Uthman‘s action was really to promote his own ―version‖ over the versions of others. Yet other scholars have pointed out that these differences in some reports are often reconcilable due to the context of each narration38, and the time of narration (some referring to earlier instances, such as prior to the completion of the entire Qur‘an39). Muslim scholars also note that the number of huffaz (memorizers) was great for any given portion of the Qur‘an and therefore if any error had been made in Uthman‘s ordered compilation, someone would have pointed it out. Furthermore, the majority of the reports indicate that Uthman‘s official mushaf 36 Ibid., pp.12-13 37 Ignaz Goldziher, Muslim Studies II (London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1971) 38 The contexts, incidentally, are also recorded in the same hadith collections held to be suspect by some orientalists. 39 For an example of this, see the discussion of the variance in the manuscripts of some Companions in Von Denffer, Ulum al-Qur‟an (Leicester, UK: The Islamic Foundation, 1983), p.48, n.41. is mutawaatir - i.e. transmitted by so many people that they could not all have gotten together to agree in advance on what they would report40 – while other variant readings of the Qur‘an were reported only by a sole companion or occasionally two or three. The role of Uthman, in other words, was simply that of a publisher of the authentic and agreed-upon Qur‘anic text, not that of a ―collector‖ and far less that of a ―compiler.‖41 Jeffrey Lang42 points out that orientalists often base their conclusions on mere speculation or fragmentary data which also stem from the same hadith collections that they criticize. In line with Edward Said‘s comments on the underlying biases of Western scholarship,43 he also asserts that the bulk of orientalist analysis has been so predisposed to write off discrepancies in the body of early Muslim literature as evidence of hadith fabrications that it often overlooks clear evidence which easily explains otherwise. An example of this is the frequent criticism that hadith 40 Bilal Philips, Usool at-Tafseer (Sharjah: Dar Al Fatah, 1997), p.159 41 Muhammad Mohar Ali, Sirat al-Nabi and the Orientalists (Madina: King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur‘an, 1997), vol.1A, p.6. 42 Jeffrey Lang, Struggling to Surrender (Beltsville, USA: Amana Publications, 1994), p.92. 43 Edward Said, Orientalism (New York: Pantheon Books, 1978) were forged in the second and third century after Hijrah to support jurists‘ legal rulings.44 Azami45 explains that such accusations often relied on a faulty comparison of legal and hadith literature when in fact they are two distinct fields, such that inferences about one science cannot validly be made by studying the development of another. He further lucidly outlines specific juridical activities of the Prophet () and first century legal literature which prove that Islamic legal traditions did not only emerge in the second century after Hijrah.46 The theory that all hadith about the collection of the Qur‘an were forged in the second and third century has been 44 See, for example, J. Schacht, Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence (O.U.P., 1953). This conclusion is not supported by the generality of orientalists themselves. For example, N.J. Coulson writes that Schacht‘s theses are ―systematically developed to the extent of holding that the evidence of legal traditions carries us back to about the year A.H. 100 only; and when the authenticity of every alleged ruling of the Prophet is denied, a void is assumed, or rather created, in the picture of the development of law in early Muslim society. From a practical standpoint, and taking the attendant circumstances into consideration, the notion of such a vacuum is difficult to accept.‖ (A History of Islamic Law, London, 1964, pp.64-65; quoted in Muhammad Mohar Ali, The Qur‟an and the Orientalists: A Brief Survey of their Assumptions, Ipswich, UK: Jam‗iat Ihyaa‘ Minhaaj al-Sunnah, 2002, p.7). 45 Muhammad M. Azami, Studies in Early Hadith Literature (Beirut, 1968). 46 Muhammad M. Azami, On Schacht‟s Origins of Muhammadan Jurisprudence (Riyadh: King Saud University & NY: John Willy & Sons Inc., 1985). further refuted by proof that the bulk of the hadith were actually written down in the first century.47 Moreover, even if some hadith and seerah materials were collected in the second century from 100 years of traceable oral transmissions, this does not necessarily dismiss them as historical sources. Illustrating this point, Maxime Rodinson writes: An interval of a hundred years is not excessive for the collective memory of a society such as that formed by early Arab Islam. An Arab tribe of the Sudan transmits orally (even today) historical traditions and poetry, the oldest of which are attributed to an important tribal ancestor who lives in the second half of the sixteenth century and whose existence is attested by texts. It ought to be pointed out here that in ideological movements the question of origins is a matter of great interest during times of expansion. In my own childhood and adolescence, I personally knew Charles Rappoport who in his own youth had visited Friedrich Engels. Both of us had a considerable number of books on the biography of this latter (born, it should be noted, in 1820); otherwise, I would undoubtedly have questioned my informer avidly on the life of one of the founders of Marxism. If I 47 See, for example, Fuad Sezgin, Geschichte der Arabischen Schrifttums (Leiden: Brill, 1967), vol.1; Muhammad Hamidullah, Sahifa Hammam ibn Munabbih: The Earliest Extant Work on the Hadith (Paris: Centre Cultural Islamique, 1979). had done so I would not be in a position of informing those younger than myself regarding events going back to 1840.48 In an excellent attempt at objective analysis of Western criticism of hadith traditions, Jeffrey Lang (1994)49 concludes that Muslim scholars‘ deductions of history hold more solid ground with the available evidence than their orientalist counterparts‘ deductions. Estelle Whelan observes that orientalist analysis is often ―guided predominantly by generalizations drawn from the history of the biblical text, which were then applied to Muslim scripture.‖50 Orientalist theories are further addressed and refuted in the works of Azami51, Abbott52, Siddiqi53, Ali54 and Abdul Ghafar.55 48 ―A Critical Survey of Modern Studies on Muhammad‖, in Merlin Swartz (ed.), Studies in Islam, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1981, p.44. 49 Jeffrey Lang, Struggling to Surrender (Beltsville, USA: Amana Publications, 1994), pp.90-105. 50 Estelle Whelan, ―Forgotten Witness: Evidence for the Early Codification of the Qur‘an‖, Journal of the American Orientalist Society, vol.118, no.1, 1998, p.2. 51 Muhammad M. Azami, Studies in Early Hadith Literature (Beirut, 1968). See also M. M. Azami, The History of the Qur‟anic Text From Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments (Leicester, UK: UK Islamic Academy, 2003). 52 Nabia Abbott, Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri, Vol.1: Historic Texts (Chicago, 1957) & Studies in Arabic Literary Papyri, Vol.2: Qur'anic Commentary and Tradition (Chicago, 1967). 53 Muhammad Z. Siddiqi, Hadith Literature: Its Origin, Development, Special Features and Criticism, Calcutta, India: Calcutta University Press, 1961. (Revised edition published by the Islamic Texts Society, Cambridge, 1993). ACKNOWLEDGMENT BY ORIENTALISTS Despite such defective theories, many orientalists themselves have admitted, like H.A.R. Gibb (1969), that, ―It seems reasonably well established that no material changes were introduced and that the original form of Mohammed‘s discourses were preserved with scrupulous precision.‖56 John Burton (1977), despite staunch skepticism of all hadith, still writes at the end of his substantial work on the Qur‘an‘s compilation that: No major differences of doctrines can be constructed on the basis of the parallel readings based on the Uthmanic consonantal 54 Muhammad Mohar Ali, Sirat al-Nabi and the Orientalists, 2 volumes. (Madina: King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur‘an, 1997). Ali‘s excellent thesis makes special reference to the detailed flaws in the reasoning and conclusions of some early orientalist scholars such as William Muir, Margoliouth, and Montgomery Watt. He eruditely demonstrates how such scholars often make use of isolated, weak or spurious reports, make gravely incorrect interpretations out of context, and use only part of a report to substantiate a point of view; and in doing all of these, impute motives to authors or reporters that are completely unfounded. More recent orientalist claims against the Qur‘an are debunked in another highly commendable paper by M.M. Ali, entitled The Qur‟an and the Orientalists: A Brief Survey of their Assumptions (Ipswich, UK: Jam‘iat Ihyaa‘ Minhaaj al-Sunnah, 2002). 55 Suhaib H. Abdul Ghafar, Criticism of Hadith among Muslims (IFTA, 1984). 56 H.A.R. Gibb, Mohammedanism (London: Oxford University Press, 1969), p.50 outline, yet ascribed to mushafs other than his. All the rival readings unquestionably represent one and the same text. They are substantially agreed in what they transmit…57 He further states that the Qur‘an as we have it today is ―the text which has come down to us in the form in which it was organized and approved by the Prophet…. What we have today in our hands is the mushaf of Muhammad.‖58 Kenneth Cragg (1973) describes the transmission of the Qur‘an from the time of revelation to today as occurring in ―an unbroken living sequence of devotion,‖59 while Schwally concurs that ―As far as the various pieces of revelation are concerned, we may be confident that their text has been generally transmitted exactly as it was found in the Prophet‘s legacy.‖60 57 John Burton, The Collection of the Qur‟an (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1977), p. 171. 58 Ibid., pp.239-40. 59 Kenneth Cragg, The Mind of the Qur‟an (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1973), p.26. 60 Schwally, Geschichte des Qorans (Leipzig: Dieterich'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1909-1938), vol.2, p.120. OLDEST MANUSCRIPTS OF THE QUR’AN The historical credibility of the Qur‘an is further established by the fact that several first century mushafs still exist today, including some attributed to the time of Caliph Uthman.61 One of the most famous of these is the mushaf that presently lies in the Museum of the city of Tashkent in Uzbekistan, Central Asia.62 A facsimile of the mushaf in Tashkent is available at the Columbia University Library in the US.63 This copy is tangible proof that the text of the Qur‘an we have in circulation today is identical with that of the time of the Prophet and his Companions.64 A copy of the mushaf sent to Syria (duplicated before a fire in 1310A.H./1892C.E. destroyed the Jaami‘ Masjid where it was housed) also exists in the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul65, and an early manuscript on gazelle parchment exists in Dar al-Kutub as- 61 See M. M. Azami, The History of the Qur‟anic Text From Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments (Leicester, UK: UK Islamic Academy, 2003), pp.316-318 for a partial list of such early first century manuscripts, and where they are housed today. 62 Yusuf Ibrahim al-Nur, Ma‟ al-Masaahif, 1st edition (Dubai: Dar al-Manar, 1993), p.117; Isma‘il Makhdum, Tarikh al-Mushaf al-Uthmani fi Tashqand (Tashkent: Al-Idara al-Diniya, 1971), p.22. 63 The Muslim World, vol.30 (n.p., 1940), pp.357-358. 64 For more arguments on the authenticity of these manuscripts and refutations of Christian polemics against their historicity, see http://www.muslim- answers.org/auth_q2.htm, 2024. 65 Yusuf Ibrahim al-Nur, Ma‟ al-Masaahif, 1st edition (Dubai: Dar al-Manar, 1993), p.113. Sultaniyyah in Egypt.66 More ancient manuscripts from all periods of Islamic history, found in the Library of Congress in Washington, the Chester Beatty Museum in Dublin (Ireland) and the London Museum, have been compared with those in Tashkent, Turkey and Egypt, with results confirming that there have not been any changes in the text from its original time of writing.67 Early last century, the Institute for Koranforschung, for example, in the University of Munich (Germany), collected over 42,000 complete and incomplete ancient copies of the Qur‘an. After around fifty years of research, they reported that there was no variance between the various copies, except the occasional mistakes of the copyist which could easily be ascertained. This Institute was unfortunately destroyed by bombs during World War II.68 Inscriptions of the Qur‘an also exist on various ancient artifacts and structures which corroborate with Qur‘anic verses in existence today. For example, two long inscriptions in blue-and- gold glass mosaic encircle the inner and outer faces of the 66 Ibid., p.114. 67 Bilal Philips, Usool at-Tafseer (Sharjah: Dar Al Fatah, 1997), p.157. 68 Mohammed Hamidullah (n.d.) Muhammad Rasulullah. Lahore, Pakistan: Idara-e-Islamiat, p.179. octagonal arcade of the Dome of the Rock. They are established to have been commissioned by the Umayyad Caliph ‗Abd al- Malik in 72A.H./691-692C.E. These inscriptions contain excerpts from various parts of the Qur‘an using the same wording which appears in modern-day Qur‘ans.69 Most recently, the University of Birmingham in the UK discovered in its collection what is now regarded as one of the oldest texts of the Qur‘an in the world. The Birmingham Qur‘an Manuscript contains parts of surahs 18-20 of the Qur‘an, written on parchment in an early form of Arabic script known as Ḥijazi. The two well-preserved leaves of parchment, closely written in an elegant script, is one of only a handful of early manuscripts of the Qur‘an in the world to have been radiocarbon dated. The result of modern radiocarbon (C-14)70 dating of the parchment on which the text is written places the manuscript in the period 69 Estelle Whelan, ―Forgotten Witness: Evidence for the Early Codification of the Qur‘an‖, Journal of the American Orientalist Society, vol.118, no.1, 1998, p.6. Whelan notes that these excerpts were incorporated into a liturgy of devotions which also, therefore, included other statements in accordance with its theme, and only minor variations exist in some verses to remain consistent with the literary/rhetorical style – a feature of how Muslims even today incorporate the Qur‘an into their sermons and writings. The early inscription demonstrating this practice ―was dependent upon recognition of the text by the listeners, or readers – a strong indication that the Qur‘an was already the common property of the community in the last decade of the seventh century.‖ (Ibid., p.8) 70 Archeologists have used radiocarbon (C-14) dating methods to estimate the age of certain objects. between the year 568 and 645, with 95.4% probability. The testing was commissioned from the University of Oxford and carried out in 2014. This result suggests that the manuscript dates back to the first century of Islam, close to and significantly overlapping the lifetime of the Prophet Muhammad (about 570– 632) and the period of revelation, and the rule of the first three Caliphs.71 Thus, due to the efforts of the early Companions, with Allah‘s assistance, the Qur‘an as we have it today is recited in the same manner as it was revealed. This makes it the only major religious scripture that is still completely retained and understood in its original language. Indeed, as Sir William Muir states, ―There is probably no other book in the world which has remained twelve centuries [now fourteen] with so pure a text.‖72 The evidence above confirms Allah‘s promise in the Qur‘an: ―Verily, We have revealed the Reminder, and verily We shall preserve 71 https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/facilities/cadbury/birmingham-quran- mingana-collection/birmingham-quran/what-is.aspx; https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/22/oldest-quran-fragments- found-at-birmingham-university; For more on old manuscripts of the Quran in various museums, libraries and archives, see: https://qurantalkblog.com/2023/09/04/oldest-quran-manuscripts/; https://www.oldest.org/religion/qurans/. 72 Sir William Muir, Life of Mohamet (London, 1984), vol.1, ―Introduction‖ it‖ (Q.15:9). The Qur‘an has been preserved in both oral and written form in a way no other book before it has, with each (written and oral) form providing a check and balance for the authenticity of the other. TRANSLATION OF THE QUR’AN The Qur‘an was revealed to Prophet Muhammad () in classical Arabic, and he in turn recited and taught his companions the Qur‘an in the same language. However, Islam is a religion for all humanity and the Qur‘an is the message of God to all of mankind across the globe. As such, as Islam began and continued to spread across the world, there has been a need to translate its message into other languages to make it accessible to non-Arabic speakers. The first translation of the Qur‘an into a foreign language was done by the Prophet‘s companion Salman Al-Farsi when he translated Suratul Fathia into Middle Persian (Pahlavi) language in the early seventh century (CE).73 While it is possible and permissible to translate the Qur‘an into other languages, achieving complete accuracy is often considered 73 Al-Nawawi, Al-Majmu‟, Maktabah al-Tadamun, Cairo, 1347 AH, Vol.3, p.380; Al-Sarakhsi, Al-Mabsut, Vol.1, p.99, al-Maktabah al-Shamilah 3.35; Muhammad Hamidullah, Introduction to Islam, Nusrat Ali Nasri for Kitab Bhavan, New Delhi, 1992, p.35. difficult and in fact impossible. Being the literal word of God, the eloquence and literary style are unique and inimitable, making it challenging to translate it while preserving its linguistic beauty and depth. Thus, only the Arabic version of the Qur‘an is considered ―the Qur‘an‖ and all translations of the Qur‘an are considered ―interpretations‖ or ―translations of the meanings‖ as a result of the fact that there may be multiple possible meanings of some verses, and each translation is but one possible interpretation and cannot be claimed to be the full equivalent of the original. Also, translations of the Qur‘an into other languages are human endeavours, and do not possess the uniquely sacred and divine character of the Arabic original, hence, it is not placed on the same pedestal as the original Arabic Qur‘an. In addition, there is also a linguistic challenge to Qur‘an translation, as part of the innate difficulty of any translation due to different grammatical structures, vocabularies, and cultural contexts of languages. Arabic is a highly nuanced language with words and phrases that may not have direct equivalents in other languages, thus making it challenging to convey the exact meaning and subtleties of the original text in translation. Some concepts and expressions in Arabic may not have direct equivalents in other languages, making it difficult to fully convey the richness of the original text. Also, a single word in Arabic might have a variety of meanings. Some Qur‘anic verses can therefore have multiple layers of meanings, and translating these nuances accurately can be challenging. This factor is complicated by the fact that the usage of words has changed a great deal between classical and modern Arabic. Thus, even Qur'anic verses which seem perfectly clear to native Arab speakers accustomed to modern vocabulary and usage may have an original or classical meaning that is not obvious. Similarly, the Qur‘anic text contains elements of poetry, rhetoric, and literary devices that are impossible to transfer into other languages without losing their impact and beauty. In addition, translators often face the dilemma of choosing between literal translations that adhere closely to the Arabic text and interpretative translations that aim to capture the intended meaning and essence. Both approaches have their advantages and limitations, and translators often have to strike a balance between fidelity and readability. Also, the Qur‘an has been the subject of extensive scholarly interpretation and exegesis (tafsir) throughout Islamic history, and translators often rely on these commentaries to elucidate the meaning of the text, but interpretations may vary among scholars and schools of thought. As a result, translators have to incorporate an element of human judgment in understanding and translating a text into another language. Despite these challenges, many translators and scholars have worked to produce translations of the Qur‘an in various languages to make its message more accessible to non-Arabic speakers. During his time, the Prophet () sent letters to the Negus of Abyssinia (in Ethiopia) and the Byzantine Emperor Heraclius which contained portions of the Qur‘an. As Islam spread beyond Arabia after the time of the Prophet (), several efforts began into the translation of the Qur‘an by both Muslims and non-Muslims. As noted by Afnan Fatani: The first fully attested complete translations of the Qur'an were done between the 10th and 12th centuries into Classical Persian. The Samanid emperor, Mansur I (961–976), ordered a group of scholars from Khorasan to translate the Tafsir al-Tabari, originally in Arabic, into Persian. Later in the 11th century, one of the students of Khwaja Abdullah Ansari wrote a complete tafsir of the Qur'an in Persian. In the 12th century, Najm al-Din 'Umar al-Nasafi translated the Qur'an into Persian. The manuscripts of all three books have survived and have been published several times. In 1936, translations in 102 languages were known.74 74 Fatani, Afnan (2006). "Translation and the Qurʻan". In Leaman, Oliver (ed.). The Qurʻan: An Encyclopaedia. Great Britain: Routledge. pp. 657–669. Over the last fourteen centuries, the Qur‘an has been translated into over 170 languages fully or partially. These include European, African, Asian, and other languages globally including English, Chinese, Russian, Persian, Urdu, Spanish, Afrikaans, Swahili, Hindi, Greek, French, Polish amongst others. The Qur‘an has also been translated into Yoruba, Hausa, Igbo and Nupe languages spoken in Nigeria. While none of these translations captures the full depth, richness, beauty, and nuances of the original Arabic text, they still serve as valuable tools for understanding and studying the Qur‘an's most important teachings, particularly for non-Arabic speakers who want to read the message of God in the language they understand. Also, there have been multiple translations of the Qur‘an in the same language trying to improve on previous translations or provide nuances and alternative interpretations to previous works. For example, there are over 35 different translations of the Qur‘an in the English language alone, including at least four translations carried out by women scholars. ―The Qur'an‖ published in 1910 by Mirza Abul Fazl (1865– 1956), a native of East Bengal (now Bangladesh), was the first translation of the Qur‘an into English by a Muslim. This was followed by Muhammad Ali‘s translation in 1917, written from an Ahmadiyyah perspective, and then Abdullah Yusuf Ali‘s translation in 1934 featuring copious explanatory annotation to supplement the main text of the translation. Muhammad Asad‘s translation ―The Message of The Qur‘an‖ published in 1980 has been translated into several other languages and is considered one of the most influential Qur‘anic translations of the modern age. A 2019 translation of the Qur‘an by Tahir Mahmood Kiani titled ―The Easy Qur‘an‖ targeted towards children is one of the easiest English translations, rendered specifically for those whose level of English is simple and basic. Several other English translations have become very popular for the modern reader, with soft copies available online and as mobile application (Apps for phones, tablets, iPad, computers, etc.). Conclusively, translations of the Qur‘an are an important means for people of various cultures and languages to connect with the spiritual and moral teachings of the sacred book of Islam. Considering the fact that they are results of human efforts, they are open to challenges, editions, revisions, and improvements, hence, there may be multiple versions and translations of the Qur‘an in the same language, unlike the Arabic Qur‘an. Thus, translated versions of the Qur‘an, though very useful and extremely important, are not considered to have the same position of hierarchy as the divine and revealed Arabic Qur‘an. It is therefore recommended for those who rely on translations to consult multiple versions and to supplement their study with commentary and explanations (tafsir) from scholars to gain a more comprehensive understanding. However, even though the text of the Qur‘an (original Arabic) has remained intact till today, and has survived historical criticism, how are we sure that its words actually originated from God and not some other source? This takes us to examine the authority, or source of the Qur‘an. In other words, is the Qur’an revelation from God? SOURCE OR AUTHORSHIP OF THE QUR’AN For Muslims, it is a foundational doctrine of Islam that the Qur‘an was revealed verbatim (i.e. word for word) by God, to Muhammad (). The Qur‘an itself in several of its verses points to its divine authorship: “The revelation of this Book is from Allah—the Almighty, All-Wise.‖ (Qur‘an 45:2) “And indeed, you (O Prophet Muhammad) are receiving the Qur‟an from the One (Who is) All-Wise, All-Knowing.‖ (Qur‘an 27:6) “And this is a Book which We have sent down, blessed and confirming what was before it, that you may warn the Mother of Cities (i.e. Mecca) and those around it. Those who believe in the Hereafter believe in it, and they are maintaining their prayers.‖ (Qur‘an 6:92) “Do they not then consider the Qur‟an carefully? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much contradictions.‖ (Qur‘an 4:82) A Muslim‘s claim of “internal evidence” for the divine authorship of the Qur‘an from the Qur‘an itself (e.g. Q.4:82; 6:19; 6:92; 27:6; 45:2, etc.) is understandably looked upon with skepticism, as nearly anyone can quote passages from his or her scripture that claim that it is a revelation from God. Non- Muslims, however, can have no differences with Muslims concerning the fact that the Qur‘an was at least first witnessed to be uttered by Muhammad (), a Makkan Arab in the 7th century C. E. We are therefore forced by reason and objectivity to look outside textual claims of divine origin for “external evidence” of the Qur‘an‘s divine source or authority. The simple proposed structure for the presentation of this ―external evidence‖ is an “elimination process”, whereby we discover the answer to the question — ―Who is the author of the Qur‘an?‖ — by eliminating all alternative answers which are definitely implausible. In other words, the definite or (at least) most probable author or source of the Qur‘an is identified by eliminating unacceptable alternative candidates. There are various contradictory views and opinions held by some non-Muslims as to the source of the Qur‘an. The following list of ―possible‖ authors reflects the main theories:  Muhammad ()  Some other Arab poet(s), scholars, etc.  Some non-Arab scholars, or poets or religious personalities  Monks or Rabbis (i.e. the theory that the Qur‘an was developed from the Bible or Judeo-Christian sources)  Satan (or other deceitful ―spirits‖ or ―aliens‖, etc.)  God/Allah FACTORS TO DETERMINE THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE QUR’AN We may now proceed to examine from a closer study of the Qur‘an and history how plausible these theories of ―possible‖ authors are. 1. Muhammad (): unlettered and uneducated The fact that Muhammad () could neither read nor write (Q.29:48) is well-known and uncontested by even his non- Muslim contemporaries and present-day historians. He had no schooling or teacher of any kind, and he had never been known to compose oral poetry or prose. The Qur‘an, with its all- embracing laws and freedom from all inconsistencies, has its greatness acknowledged even by non-Muslim scholars.75 Its contents treat social, economic, political and religious legislation, history, views of the universe, living things, thought, psychology, interpersonal transactions, war, peace, marriage, worship, business, and everything relating to life - with no contradicting principles. The Qur‘an has never been edited or revised as it was never in need of any revision or correction. How were such vast subject areas expounded upon with such precision by a 7th- century Arab with no formal education or even the ability to read what scant material there may have been in his environment on such topics? Where and when has history ever produced an illiterate and uneducated author of such a scripture? 2. Muhammad’s known Integrity Muhammad‘s sincerity, truthfulness and integrity were so well- known that he was even nicknamed ―Al-Ameen‖ (The Trustworthy) by his pre-Islamic community. Not a single lie is recorded against him, and many modern Western orientalists have themselves admitted that contrary to any deliberate deception, the fact that the Prophet () had a profoundly sincere 75 see Fredrick Denny, Islam (New York: Harper & Row, 1987), p.88; Dr. Maurice Bucaille, The Bible, the Qur‟an and Science (Indianapolis, USA: American Trust Publications, 1983), p.163; and H.A.R. Gibb, Wither Islam (New York: A.M.S. Press, 1932), p.350; etc. conviction that it was revealed to him by God Himself is undeniable.76 If his integrity had been in question, and he was supposed to have been motivated by the desire for personal glory to produce the Qur‘an, why then would he disclaim authorship and instead claim it was from God, especially when the pagan Makkans had conceded that no one could produce such a scripture (Q.2:23-24; 17:88, etc.), and one could only marvel at it? His enemies even offered him kingship over Makkah and any riches he desired if only he would stop reciting. If it was true that he desired his personal glory and leadership, why would he decline the offer when it was presented to him and instead prefer a life of humility, simplicity, persecution, sanctions, and even hostile attack by those who felt threatened by the Message of self- surrender to One God? In addition, how reasonable is it to believe that unlettered Muhammad () would author the Qur‘an for personal benefit and then within the Qur‘an correct and reprove himself? For example: 76 See for example, H.A.R. Gibb, Mohammedanism (London: Oxford University Press, 1962), p.25; and W. Montgomery Watt, Muhammad at Mecca (London: Oxford University Press, 1953), p.52. ―He frowned and turned away when the blind man came to him…‖ (Q.80:1-2), ―…And you did fear men, though God is more deserving that you should fear Him‖ (Q.33:37. See also Q.18:23-24, etc). Why would he embarrass himself when he could simply omit or favorably modify such verses in the Qur‘an? They were certainly not to his advantage if his goals were power and prestige. The existence of such verses only proves that Muhammad () was indeed a truthful and sincere Messenger of God. 3. The Style of the Qur’an There is a world of difference between the style of the Qur‘an and Muhammad‘s own style as recorded in the books of Ahadith. These differences are immediately evident. The sayings of Muhammad (ahadith) are conversational, oratorical, and expository, of a kind the Arabs were already familiar with. By contrast, the style of the Qur‘an is authoritative (―We created the heavens and the earth…‖; ―Say!...‖) and challenging (―…had it (the Qur‟an) been from any other than God, they would have found therein much discrepancies‖ (Q.4:82); “…Say then: “Bring a chapter like it and call, if you can, on other than God… (Q.10:38); ―…then bring a chapter like unto it… and if you cannot — for surely you cannot, then…‖ (Q.2:23-24)). The unique style of the Qur‘an has been extensively analyzed by Neal Robinson. Robinson writes that while the Qur‘an at first glance may appear to be jumbled and disordered in its series of discourses, especially when reading its passages in a continuum, closer examination reveals a remarkable structure and logic behind its expressions and arrangement. For example, the Qur‘an‘s frequent interchanging of pronouns for Allah (within the same verse) follows a distinct pattern to enhance the purpose of those passages where this occurs. More specifically, he states that: [the] sudden pronominal shifts are characteristic of the Qur‘anic discourse [i.e. a unique feature of its style]. Although they sometimes strain the rules of syntax to the limit, they are a very effective rhetorical device. The implied speaker shifts from ‗He‘ to ‗We‘ as a self-designation in contexts where He wishes to express the plurality of His power or generosity; He shifts from ‗He‘ to ‗I‘ when He wishes to express His immanence especially when divine unity is at stake; He shifts from ‗We‘ or ‗I‘ to ‗He‘ in order to introduce a cognitive element into the discourse; He shifts from ‗I‘ to ‗We‘ to stress His power and to safeguard against anyone inferring that the utterance is Muhammad‘s; and He shifts from ‗We‘ to ‗I‘ to introduce an element of immediacy, intimacy or threat [admonition]… Similar pronominal shifts also occur in respect of the addressee. The speaker may suddenly turn from talking about ‗them‘ to addressing them as ‗you‘, either to threaten them or to honor them. Alternatively, He may suddenly turn from addressing them as ‗you‘ to referring to them as ‗them‘, either to honor them, to humiliate them or to enable them to gain self-knowledge by seeing themselves as they appear to others.‖77 Many more examples of the Qur‘an‘s stylistic features are provided in Robinson‘s unique study. Meanwhile, what fallible human being would write a book and challenge humanity to find discrepancies in it, as does the author of the Qur‘an (Q.4:82)? Would any sensible student after writing an exam paper add a note to the lecturer saying, ―Read my answers with care and find any discrepancies or mistakes in it if you can!‖? The bold and self-assured style of the Qur‘an is simply that of the All-Knowing Creator. Furthermore, the Qur‘an is a literary masterpiece of Arabic which was and remains unrivalled in its eloquence.78 Its rhythmic style, 77 Discovering the Qur‟an: A Contemporary Approach to a Veiled Text (London: SCM Press Ltd., 1996), pp.254-255. 78 Arthur J. Arberry, The Koran Interpreted (London: Oxford University Press, 1964), p. x. rhyme, near-haunting depth of expression, majesty, and ―inimitable symphony, the very sounds of which move men to tears and ecstasy,‖79 shook the foundations of a society which had prided itself on its oratory skills. Contests were held every year in Makkah for who could recite the longest and most eloquent pieces from memory. When the Qur‘an was revealed, all such contests were brought to a halt, as there was no one who could conceivably compete against it. Like the miracle of Moses‘ stick turning into a real snake which outdid the ability of all the Pharaoh‘s magicians at a time when the Egyptians were noted for their mastery of sorcery and magic, and the miracle of Jesus‘ healing of the blind and bringing the dead back to life which outdid the ability of all the physicians at a time when the Jews were noted for their mastery of medicine, the Qur‘an was the Prophet Muhammad‘s own miracle.80 How could such magnificent and unrivalled expressions emanate from a man who, for 40 years, was never known for any such ability? 79 M. Pickthall, The Meaning of the Glorious Koran (New York: Dorset Press, 1930), p. vii 80 Sahih al-Bukhari, vol.6, hadith no.504; Sahih Muslim, hadith no.283. 4. Similarities and Discrepancies between the Qur’an and the Bible The mere existence of similarities between any two books is insufficient to prove that one must have been copied from the other. Both could have drawn information from a third common source, thus accounting for some similarities between them. This, in fact, is the argument of the Qur‘an – that Allah is the Source of all authentic revelation (Q.4:47). Some scholars have noted that the only Christians that the Prophet () is recorded to have personally met prior to his mission did not spend enough time with him to teach him of their scripture, and no other historical record mentions that anyone taught the Prophet () from among the Jews or Christians.81 Furthermore, the Arabs of his time were very eager to discredit the Prophet (). Hence, if there was any secret teacher, such a teacher would certainly have been exposed by them right there and then. Due to their lack of conclusive proof, they could only make conjectural accusations. The Qur‘an, in fact, addresses the allegation that Muhammad () had a teacher, saying: 81 Bilal Philips, Usool at-Tafseer (Sharjah: Dar al-Fatah, 1997), pp.127-128 And, indeed, fully well do We know that they say, „It is but a human being that imparts this to him!‟ But the tongue of he to whom they so maliciously point is notably peculiar while this is Arabic pure and clear (Q.16:103). Muhammad Asad (1980) comments on this verse: Whereas some of the pagan Quraysh regarded the ideas expressed in the Qur‘an as ―invented‖ by Muhammad, others thought that they must have been imparted to him by a foreigner – perhaps a Christian – who lived in Mecca at that time, or whom the Prophet was supposed to have encountered at an earlier period of his life. Various conjectures have been advanced – both by early Muslim commentators and by modern orientalists – as to the ―identity‖ of the person or persons whom the suspicious Meccans might have had in mind in this connection but all these conjectures are purely speculative and, therefore, of no historical value whatsoever. The suspicion of the pagan Meccans implies no more than the historical fact that those of the Prophet‘s opponents who were unwilling to pay him the compliment of having ―invented‖ the Qur‘an (the profundity of which they were unable to deny) conveniently attributed its authorship – or at least its inspiration – to a non-Arab ―teacher‖ of the Prophet.82 That these suspicions had no solid backing is evident in the fact that they were unconvincing to the vast numbers of Arabs and non-Arabs of varying faiths and social strata who eventually converted to Islam during the lifetime of the Prophet (). Furthermore, could the Qur‘an have been copied from the Bible if serious creedal differences exist between both scriptures? Regarding doctrines such as the concepts of God and prophethood, sin and forgiveness, the Qur‘an differs significantly from the Bible. The Qur‘an in fact addresses Jews and Christians directly when correcting what it declares are corruptions in their own beliefs and scriptures. Interestingly, Qur‘anic revelations of doctrinal problems with Christianity were revealed largely in the Makkan period, prior to the Prophet‘s migration to Madinah, where he would have encountered many more Jewish and Christian scholars, and prior to his marriages to wives of Jewish and Christian backgrounds. 82 M. Asad, The Message of the Qur‟an (Gibraltar: Dar al-Andalus, 1980), p.412, n.130 Even in the cases of narrations common to both scriptures, vital discrepancies can be observed. For example, unlike the Bible, the Qur‘an does not blame women for the mistake committed by Adam and Eve (peace be upon them) in disobeying God in the Garden of Eden. (Compare Genesis 3:12-13 to Q.91:7-8 and 2:35-37). The Qur‘an also emphasizes that Adam and Eve repented to God (Q.7:23) and were forgiven by Him (Q.2:37), contrary to the Bible‘s account that they were not forgiven and their ―original sin‖ carried on to all succeeding generations of humankind. (Genesis 3:14-17). It further mentions that the eventual dwelling of Adam and Eve on Earth was already part of God‘s plan even before He created them (Q.2:30). It does not necessarily consider man‘s dwelling on earth as a sort of punishment, as does the Bible (Genesis 3:17-19). Other significant variations can be seen in the stories of Solomon83, Abraham84, Ishmael and Isaac, Lot, Noah85, Moses and Jesus86 (peace be upon them all). 83 e.g. the Qur‘an rejects that this Prophet was ever a worshipper of idols - compare Q.2:102 with 1 Kings 11:4 84 e.g. the Qur‘an describes the account of the story of God‘s command to sacrifice his son as occurring in a dream with his son as a willing participant before being saved by God‘s intervention, while the Bible speaks of God speaking directly to him and his son as unaware of his plans – compare Q.37:99-111 with Genesis 22:1-19 The Qur‘an also mentions a good amount of historical information about which the Bible is completely silent. From which portion of the Bible could the following have been copied?  The stories of the people of ‗Ad and Thamud (Q.29:38), and their Prophets, Hud (p)87 (Q.7:65) and Salih (p) (Q.11:61-68).  The dialogue between Prophet Noah (p) and his son before the flood (Q.11:42-43).  The dialogue between Abraham (p) and his father (Q.6:74), as well as between him and a king (Q.2:258), and between him and his people (Q.22:70-102; 29:16- 18; 37:83-98; 21:57).  The mention of the city of Iram (Q.89:7).  The Pharaoh of the Exodus having drowned, with his body preserved as a sign for people of future generations (Q.10:90-92).  Jesus‘ miracles of speaking from the cradle (Q.3:46), and his producing (by God‘s will) a bird from clay (Q.3:49), etc. 85 The Bible describes the Great Flood as covering the entire Earth whereas the Qur‘an describes the flood as a local event only, a description which is more consistent with scientific evidence - compare Q.25:37 with Genesis 7:23 86 A critical difference is the Qur‘an‘s insistence that Jesus (peace be upon him) was never truly crucified. 87 (p) – peace be upon him For further examples, see the following references from the Qur‘an: 21:69, 2:260, and 3:37. 5. Qur’anic Teachings about Satan and about morality Some claim that the Qur‘an was the work of the devil.88 Those who make this claim believe the devil to be evil and deceptive, and therefore believe the Qur‘an was devised to mislead people away from Truth and the ‗glory of God.‘ Let us examine how much sense, rather, non-sense this allegation makes. If he authored or inspired the Qur‘an, why would Satan, within his message, curse himself and call himself an open enemy of man (Q.2:168, 208; 6:142; 7:22; 17:53; 35:6; 36:60; 43:62), a deceiver (Q.35:5), man‘s deserter (Q.25:29), and an arrogant (Q.38:74-75) sneaking whisperer (Q.114:4-5)? Why would he discourage people from associating with him using words as compelling as: And the one who takes Satan as a patron instead of Allah has surely incurred a great loss. He makes promises to them and arouses desires in 88 See Norman Daniel‘s Islam and the West: the Making of an Image (UK: Edinburgh University Press, 1989), p.83, 94, etc. them, but Satan‟s promises are nothing but deception. (Q.4:119-120; 17:64) And why would Satan command that before reciting the Qur‘an, one must first say ―I seek refuge in God from Satan the accursed‖ (Q.16:98)? Which of his aims would be furthered by Satan so vehemently condemning and sabotaging himself? Also, is it acceptable to reason to hold the view that Satan would compel people towards personal and societal spiritual and moral growth, ask people to do good, to be virtuous, to worship none but God, to not follow Satan or his whispers89, and to avoid and struggle against evil, especially through the doing of good? And does it make sense to think that Satan would tell others in the Qur‘an that he really has no power over them (Q.16:99) and that everyone is accountable for their own choices (Q.3:25; 17:15; 40:17, 45:22, 75:14; 81:14); that God is Most Forgiving 89 Some misinterpret the Qur‘anic verse 22:52: ―Never did We send a Messenger or a Prophet before you but that when he framed a desire Satan threw something into his desire but God will cancel anything Satan throws in and God will establish His signs for He is full of knowledge and wisdom‖ to mean that the Prophet (p) mistakenly recited words whispered to him by Satan when he was conveying the Revelation to some idol-worshippers. These whispers have been called by some the ―Satanic verses‖ which were supposedly later abrogated by Allah in subsequent revelations. This story has been discredited with authoritative proofs by M. Mohar Ali, Sirat al-Nabi and the Orientalists, Vol.1A. (Madina: King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Qur‘an, 1997), pp.683-702. (Q.15.49; 39:53; 85:14) and rewards all those who are patient and sincerely repent to Him (Q.5:74, 16:119, 42:25); and that God will not do the least injustice to anyone (Q.17:71, 23:62)? Which of these attributes of the Qur‘an is at all deceptive or responsible for leading people away from truth? Which of the Qur‘an‘s teachings has ever been proven false, so that the Qur‘an may be considered as not promoting truth? If it is agreed that Satan is evil and promotes vice, whereas the attitude of the Qur‘an is an overwhelming condemnation of evil and the ultimate ambition of the Qur‘an for a human being is the eradication of vice, how can the Qur‘an be of satanic authorship? To hold such a view is clearly repugnant to reason, as Satan would only have undermined himself and his objectives, furthered the cause of God, and instilled more hope in true believers of God through this means. Even the Bible attests, ―And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand, but is coming to an end.‖ (Mark 3:26).90 This argument applies to any ―Satanic forces‖, be they ―evil spirits‖, ―deceitful aliens‖, or other similar sources. 90 Cited in H.M. Njozi, The Sources of the Qur‟an: A Critical Review of the Authorship Theories (Saudi Arabia: WAMY Publications, 1991), p.96. Moreover, given the miraculous beauty, rhythmic eloquence, flawless records and precision-perfect insights of the Qur‘an, unmatched by any other scripture known to man, it is unfathomable to accept that Satan would be an even greater author than God Himself (presuming, as a critic of another faith would, that God is the author of any of the other scriptures)!91 The argument that the Qur‘an must be the work of Satan because it contradicts some beliefs held by non-Muslims assumes that those (non-Qur‘anic) beliefs are true. Unless such an assumption is founded on reasonable evidence (as we are attempting to establish for the Qur‘an), the allegation rests on shaky foundations. Clear and verifiable criteria need to be established for a scripture to be accepted as absolutely true. Otherwise, the same doubt and allegation of Satan‘s intervention may be applied to any other scripture, including the Bible, and indeed, any other oral or written composition of knowledge in existence today. The contention that a Satanic origin of the Qur‘an is supported by feedback from supernatural or mystical sources92 may hold 91 We do not presume that all scriptures held by people today are authored by God, but merely write this phrase as a presumption held by non-Muslims who allege that Satan is the deceptive author of the Qur‘an while God is the author of their own respective scriptures. 92 Such as a ―holy spirit‖, ―ancestor‖, ―saint‖, or personal ―god‖ more weight to those whose faiths do not call for reasoning in the verification of Scripture. Nonetheless, if a person‘s belief is that Truth and Reality are only established by mystical insight and subjective experience, then no explanation, however reasonable, may prove otherwise to that person. It is only natural therefore, that once a subjective experience is attributed to be communication from God, any statement that opposes the message of this experience is considered Satanic. If this method of determining ―Truth‖ were applied universally, it would necessitate accepting all beliefs derived from mystical experience as equally divine in origin.93 Hence, the allegation of Satan having authored the Qur‘an is not based on any reasonable or empirical evidence. Rather, the allegation is based only on the suspicion of ulterior motives and serves to justify ‗blind disbelief‘. 6. The Qur’an’s factual contents and scientific information Within the Qur‘an are recorded facts about ancient times that were unknown to Muhammad‘s contemporaries and even to historians in the first half of the 20th century. In scores of verses, 93 Including pagan cults, astrology, and all forms of animism. we also find references to scientific wonders, some only recently discovered, regarding the universe, biology, embryology, astronomy, physics, geography, climatology, medicine, history, oceanography, etc. Below are some examples of modern scientific discoveries that are mentioned in the Qur‘an.  The Lost City of Iram (Qur’an 89:7) The existence of the city of Iram was unknown to any historian in the world prior to an excavation in Syria (in 1973) at the site of the ancient city of Ebla94 where clay tablets found there confirmed that the people of Ebla used to have business relations with the people of Iram. Details of this can be found in the National Geographic magazine of December, 1978, which also notes that the only mention of Iram archaeologists and historians have ever otherwise come across is in the Holy Qur‘an.95 So unknown was the city of Iram until recently that even some Muslim commentators commented on the mention of the city in the Qur‘an as being perhaps figurative, saying that Iram was possibly a tall man and not a city! How did the author of the 94 Also known as Eblus 95 Howard LaFay, ―Ebla: Splendor of an Unknown Empire‖, National Geographic Magazine, 1978, pp.735-736 - The full article spans from pp.730- 759. Qur‘an know of the existence of the city of Iram (Q.89:7) when no one else knew it?  Worker bees being female (Qur’an 16:68) A subtle yet extraordinary precision in describing a natural phenomenon occurs in Q.16:68: ―And your Lord inspired the bee, (saying), „Take for yourself dwellings in hills, on trees and in what they (mankind) build.‘‖ The imperative ―take‖ above is the translation of the Arabic word ―ittakhidhiy‖, which is a feminine form (since Arabic expressions, unlike English ones, differentiate between the sexes). In Arabic, the feminine is used when all those to whom a word refers are female, whereas the masculine is used when a group contains at least one male. Therefore the Qur‘an is in fact saying: ―Take for yourself, you female bee, dwellings…‖ Science has gradually discovered that a swarm of bees comprises three types: a queen, the worker bees that collect pollen, produce honey and build the hive, and the male drones, whose sole purpose is to impregnate the queen and are then killed off by the worker bees. These worker bees are all females with underdeveloped sex organs.96 Thus the phrasing of this command in the Qur‘an is in perfect correspondence with the fact that male bees do not participate in the construction of the hive or bees‘ ―dwellings‖, which is the sole work of the females. This is an example of the sort of precision in the Qur‘an which refutes the idea of it having been produced by guesswork, for probability dictates that the masculine form should have been used.97  Mountains as “pegs” and stabilizers In his co-authored book entitled ―Earth,‖98 Professor Emeritus Frank Press (1982) says that mountains are not just high above ground but have underlying roots. These roots are deeply 96 ―Keepers are all Abuzz Tending to their Bee Hives: Natural Honey Rewards Efforts‖, The Washington Times, May 2, 2002, p.M14, New World Communications Inc. 97 If one had no prior knowledge about bees and gender or role-differentiation, the bees being addressed in the verse could either consist of: some males and some females, all males, or all females. All things being equal, if the feminine may only be used if the bees addressed were all female, the probability of guessing correctly out of all possible combinations of genders among the bees are as follows: masculine - ⅔, feminine - ⅓ This conservative figure does not acknowledge socio-cultural and historical biases which would favor the view that male animals would most likely be involved in any serious labor, and thus increase the probability even more of opting for the masculine form. 98 Press and Siever, Earth, 3rd edition. (San Francisco, USA: W.H. Freeman and Co., 1982), p.435. embedded in the ground. Thus, mountains are shaped like pegs.99 This is just how the Qur‘an has described mountains. The Creator is recorded in the Qur‘an as saying: ―Have We not made the earth as a resting place (for you), and the mountains as (its) pegs?‖ (Q.78:6-7) Modern earth sciences document that, like icebergs, underground mountain roots can reach several times their elevations above the surface of the ground.100 On the basis of this information, then, the most suitable word to describe mountains is the word ―pegs‖, since most of a properly set (tent) peg is hidden underground and the term would be most familiar to the seventh century desert community that received the revelation. How did the author of the Qur‘an know such a precise description when the theory of mountains having deep roots was introduced only in the latter half of the nineteenth century?101 Mountains also are said in the Qur‘an to play an important role in stabilizing the ‗shaking‘ crust of the earth. The author states: ―And He has set firm mountains in the earth so that it could not shake 99 See also E.J. Tarbuck and F.K. Lutgens, Earth Science, 3rd edn. (Columbus: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Co., 1982), pp.157-158, for illustrations. 100 Z.R. El-Naggar, The Geological Concept of Mountains in the Qur‟an, 1st edition. (Herndon: International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1991), p.5 101 Ibid. with you…‖ (Q.16:15). Likewise, the modern theory of plate tectonics holds that mountains work as stabilizers of moving lithospheric plates102 on the surface of our rapidly spinning planet, and significantly neutralize the effects of earthquakes and tremors when the plates collide. This knowledge about the role of mountains just began to be understood in the late 1960‘s.103  The Spherical Shape of the Earth In several places (Q.7:54; 36:37; 31:29), the Qur‘an directs us to consider the alternation of night and day as another sign from the Almighty. For example, the verse 39:5 states: ―…He wraps (kawwiru) the night around the day and He wraps the day around the night.‖ The Arabic verb ―kawwiru‖ means ―to coil or wrap around‖ and has the connotation of wrapping or winding something around a spherical object, such as winding a strand of yarn around its ball, or a turban cloth around a person‘s head. From the perspective of the planet Earth, this is exactly what takes place in that a half sphere of night followed by a half sphere 102 The lithosphere is the upper layer of the Earth‘s surface, going down to a depth of a little over 1000km below ground level. The lithosphere is divided into a number of ‗plates‘ with active rifts separating them. The plates act like rafts ‗drifting‘ upon the more fluid layer of the Earth beneath. See any textbook on physical geography for more details. 103 Ibid. of day is continually being wound around its surface. An observer from space, looking at Earth from a distance, would see in fact what appears to be the winding of day and night around the planet in a circular motion. When observing from a stationary angle, the light of the day appears to merge into the night and vice versa. This is due to the earth‘s rotation and the sun‘s relatively stationary position in relation to the earth. The Qur‘an‘s use of words in this description is thus remarkable.  Development of the Human Embryo The Qur’an (23:12-14) describes the development of the embryo at a microscopic level inside the womb in the following manner: “Man did We fashion from a quintessence of clay. Then We placed him as (a drop of) seminal fluid in a place of rest firmly fixed. Then We fashioned the seminal fluid into a leech-like thing that clings.104 Then We fashioned that leech-like thing that clings into a chewed-like lump. Then We fashioned the chewed-like lump into bones and We clothed the bones with flesh. Then We developed it into another creature. So hallowed be Allah, the Best of creators”; Q.96:1-2: “...who fashioned man from a leech-like thing that clings”; and 104 The word “‟alaq” is sometimes incorrectly translated as ―a blood-clot‖. While ―blood clot‖ is a derived meaning, the original meaning is in fact more exact in its description of the embryo at this stage – see Maurice Bucaille, What is the Origin of Man? (Paris: Seghers, 1983), p.186 Q.22:5: “We fashioned you out of dust, then out of a drop of fluid, then out of a leech-like thing that clings, then out of a morsel of flesh - partly formed and partly unformed...” The stunning detail and accuracy of these descriptions of the various stages of embryonic development are confirmed in K. Moore and T.V.N. Persaud's renowned textbook The Developing Human.105 A number of recognized scientists have testified that such precise knowledge about embryonic stages has only been possessed by the scientific community in the last sixty years.106  The Expanding Universe (Qur’an 51:47) By studying the galactic spectrum, scientists have recently established that the universe is expanding. In the Qur‘an (51:47), we read: ―The firmament have We built with power, and verily, We are expanding it.‖ The word ―samaa‟a‖ means firmament or heaven in the sense of the extra-terrestrial world, and the word 105 K.L. Moore and T.V.N. Persaud, The Developing Human, 5th edition. (Philadelphia, USA: W.B. Saunders Co., 1993), p.8. See also I.A. Ibrahim, A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam, 2nd edition. (Houston, USA: Darussalam Publishers, 1997), pp.6-11; Maurice Bucaille, What is the Origin of Man? (Paris: Seghers, 1983), pp.182-188; and Jeffrey Lang, Struggling to Surrender (Beltsville, USA: Amana Publications, 1994), p.34. 106 A.M. Al-Rehaili, This is the Truth: Newly Discovered Scientific Facts Revealed in the Qur‟aan & Authentic Hadeeth (Riyadh: Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, 1998); http://www.it-is-truth.org. ―musi„un‖ is the present plural participle of the verb ―awsa„a‖, which means ―to widen, to extend, to expand.‖ This scientific fact is explained further in Stephen Hawking‘s classic, A Brief History of Time.107  An Original Explosion of Mass (Qur’an 21:30) In Qur‘an 21:30 we read: ―Have not those who disbelieve seen that the heavens and the earth were fused (ratq) and then We clove them asunder (fataqnaa), and We made every living thing out of water. Will they then not believe?‖ Scientists have postulated for some time now that the universe was originally a single primary mass of nearly infinite density that subsequently split into multiple fragments after a tremendous explosion, commonly known as the “Big Bang.” While the Qur‘an does not elaborate whether the entire Big Bang Theory as we know it is true or false, it does corroborate with scientific observations that the universe expanded from an explosion of initial primary mass.108 107 Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time (London: Bantam Books, 1990), p.13. 108 More information on various unresolved issues that arise from the Big Bang Theory may be found in J. Malone, Unresolved Mysteries of Science (Canada: John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2001). It has also been established that all living cells consist mostly of water, which is the essential element for the existence of life as we know it. The word ―maa‟a‖ is commonly translated as ―water‖ but refers to both water in the sky and in the sea, and in fact any sort of liquid.109 The verse above therefore is in agreement with scientific observations. Jeffrey Lang (1994) also notes that: …the more interesting observation is that this challenge to unbelievers was proclaimed in the seventh century. We may ask ourselves: Which unbelievers are being addressed here? For the contemporaries of Muhammad,

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