Why the Qur’an is a Miracle: Part I

Allah has described the Qur’an in many ways. One of the most important descriptions is that the Qur’an is a guidance for mankind. Allah says,
 شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ هُدًى لِّلنَّاسِ وَبَيِّنَاتٍ مِّنَ الْهُدَىٰ وَالْفُرْقَانِ 
“The month of Ramadan [is that] in which was revealed the Qur'an, a guidance for the people and clear proofs of guidance and criterion.” (2:185) 

Allah guides people through this book in various ways. Some people accept Islam because they find the language of the Qur’an amazing. Some people accept Islam because they find the historical accuracies of the Qur’an amazing. Some people accept Islam because they find spirituality in the Qur’an. Some people accept Islam because they find the science in the Qur’an to be incredible. As Muslims, it is important for us to know about the Qur’an as this will make us appreciate the Qur’an more. Also, it will help us do our duty of da’wah to non-Muslims. If we can explain some of the messages and miracles in the Qur’an, there is a high chance for a non-Muslim to go and do further research on Islam and the Qur’an and, if Allah Wills, they will accept Islam. And so today we will discuss the miraculous nature of the Qur’an.  

Miracle 1: The Qur’an is not replicable 
Allah challenges people to produce something similar to a chapter from the Qur’an. He says, 
 وَإِن كُنتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِّمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَىٰ عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُوا بِسُورَةٍ مِّن مِّثْلِهِ وَادْعُوا شُهَدَاءَكُم مِّن دُونِ اللَّـهِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ 
“And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful.” (2:23) 

If a person simply produces a Surah, which could be as short as Surah Kawthar, a chapter consisting of 3 verses and 10 words only, then the Qur’an would be defeated and proven weak. But the amazing thing is, no one in the past 1400 years has risen to the challenge. All those who hated Islam throughout the 1400 years were not able to rise up to this basic challenge of producing anything similar to the Qur’an. There were people who have tried to write a Surah similar to that of the Qur’an, but they have failed miserably. The ones that people made up did not rhyme properly and the meaning was worthy of nothing but laughter.   

The Arabs at the time of the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ were very good at poetry. They were the best linguists and so they could have potentially made a Surah like a Surah in the Qur’an. However, they to failed to live up to the challenge of the Quran. In fact they praised the style of the Qur’an and said they had never heard anything as amazing as the Qur’an.  

Miracle 2: No contradiction in the Qur’an 
Allah challenges people by asking them to find contradictions in the Qur’an. Allah says:  
أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْآنَ ۚ وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِندِ غَيْرِ اللَّـهِ لَوَجَدُوا فِيهِ اخْتِلَافًا كَثِيرًا 
“Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an? If it had been from [any] other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction.” (4:82) 

Once again, it has been 1400 years and people have not found any contradictions in the Qur’an. People have assumed there are, but after researching they realise the opposite, that in fact the Qur’an is free of contradictions. For example, some people said that the Qur’an states that the sun sets in murky water, but when you read the full verse, it actually says, 
حَتَّىٰ إِذَا بَلَغَ مَغْرِبَ الشَّمْسِ وَجَدَهَا تَغْرُبُ فِي عَيْنٍ حَمِئَةٍ وَوَجَدَ عِندَهَا قَوْمًا 
“Until, when he reached the setting of the sun, he found it [as if] setting in a spring of dark mud, and he found near it a people.” (18:86) 

The Qur’an describes what appeared to Dhul Qarnain and does not describe the actual setting of the Sun. So, in this case, just by reading the full verse, one would realise that there is no contradiction between the Qur’an and science.  

I would like to emphasise the fact that the Qur’an is not a science book. Nor is it a history book. Rather, Allah mentions stories in the Qur’an so as to derive lessons from them both in present and future times. 

Other unique features of the Quran include: 

Underlying mathematical coherence  

There are many mathematical features in the Qur’an. For example, you will find the number of words and their opposites appear the same number of times in the Qur’an. The words man and woman appear 24 times each; the words dunya and akhirah appear 115 times each; shaytan and mala’ikah (Angels) appear 88 times each. Some people might say that having opposite words appear the same number of times is not a unique feature, but remember that the Qur’an was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ over a period of 23 years, bit by bit, in different places and in different situations. It is impossible for an illiterate man to have counted and matched the number of times two opposite words appeared in a book. And remember, at the beginning, Qur’an was recited and spread verbally only. It was not even written and collated as a book as we have it now and therefore no one was counting how many times a word appeared.   

The truth is, the Qur’an is from Allah and it is only Allah who can put this miracle in the Qur’an and keep a record of things. As Allah says,
 وَأَحَاطَ بِمَا لَدَيْهِمْ وَأَحْصَىٰ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ عَدَدًا 
“And He (Allah) keeps count of all things,” (72:28) 

The Qur’an is preserved
Allah has promised to preserve the Qur’an. Allah says:
 إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا الذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ لَحَافِظُونَ 
“Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and indeed, We will be its guardian.” (15:9) 

Even though various attempts have been made, no one can change the Qur’an as Allah is the protector of the Qur’an. In order to keep it preserved, millions of Muslims all over the world have memorised it.  

Imagine if all the religious scriptures were thrown into the sea, all of them, including the Qur’an, Bible, Torah, Vedas. Imagine if all the religious scriptures were deleted from gadgets and computers. If we got rid of all of the scriptures, which book can be re-written, word for word, cover to cover? Which book can be reproduced exactly as the original? Only the Qur’an can be brought back exactly as it was revealed. Why? Because it is preserved in the hearts of millions of men. Millions of people have memorised it and so they will be able to write the Qur’an word for word, cover to cover. If you look at the other religions, their scriptures have changed many times. Moreover, very few, if any at all, know the original language of their scripture, such as Hebrew and Aramaic. There is confusion as to what part of the Bible is from God and which parts are not. Alhamdulillah, as for our Qur’an, it has not been changed and the entire book is from Allah.  

In conclusion, in today’s Khutbah we have discussed the miraculous nature of the Qur’an; 1) There is nothing like the Qur’an, 2) no contradictions can be found in the Qur’an. And we also discussed the unique features of the Quran; 1) there are numerous unique mathematical features in the composition of the Qur’an and 2) the Qur’an has been preserved for the past 1400 years and will be preserved until the end of time. More miracles and unique features will be shared in the next Khutbah. I would like to remind myself and all of you that it is our duty as Muslims to study our Qur’an. Let us make a daily habit of reciting the Qur’an just for 5 minutes. After that maybe spend few more minutes reading the meaning and then move on to memorising it. Would it not be just amazing to be one of the millions of Muslims that memorise the Qur’an and be part of the global and historical preservation of the Qur’an. And lastly, if you have questions or doubts, please do ask a reliable trustworthy learned Muslim. Do not let it fester doubt your heart. Find the answers and let your heart be at peace. Our religion is amazing and makes sense and has all the answers to your questions.  

May Allah give us the tawfeeq and ability to learn the Qur’an and put it into practice in our daily lives. And may Allah give us the ability to overcome our doubts by finding the right people to give us the right answers. Ameen.