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The Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)’s biggest and eternal miracle is the Qur’an. The holy Qur’an proves the cause of the Prophet (PBUH) with its hundreds of verses. At the same time, the Qur’an itself is the biggest miracle of our Prophet (PBUH). It is such a miracle that thousands of expert scholars on the Qur’an proved that it is miracle from forty aspects.
We want to present one of the works of Asim Koksal which tells us about the superiority and qualities of the Qur’an:
The First Important Trust of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to His Ummah: The Book
The prophet Muhammad (PBUH) says in His sermon of His Farewell Hajj:
“I leave behind me two things, the QURAN and the SUNNAH; and if you follow them, you will never go astray.” (1)
According to the Qur’an, the Book (Qur’an) and the Sunnah are also two sources of guidance for Muslims that should be referred to. (2)
In a glorious hadith, our prophet Muhammad said:
“There is no prophet that was not given miracles which people are obliged to believe in. The miracle given to me is the revelation of Allah, the Qur’an. That is why I hope that on the Judgment Day, I will be the prophet whose ummah has the most people!” (3)
Depending on their time, every prophet had their own extraordinary deeds and miracles which prove their prophethood: transformation of Moses’ staff into a snake. Magic was popular during the time of Moses. So, with the permission of God, Moses showed a miracle which was superior to and more overwhelming than magic and forced the magicians that challenged him to believe. Medical science was popular during the time of Hz. Isaa (Jesus). So Hz. Isaa showed a miracle which was superior to and more overwhelming than medical science: He resurrected death people with the permission of God.
On the other hand, fluency and rhetoric were popular during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). In order to do so, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) brought the Qur’an as a revelation from God which is a miracle of rhetoric and fluency. (4)
The miracles of the prophets before the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) ended with their deaths and people other than who were present at that times did not see those miracles. On the other hand, the miracle of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), which is the Qur’an, will continue to live till Doomsday. (5)
Similar miracles which were given to the other prophets were also given to the previous ones either in the same manner or in essence. However, the miracle of Qur’an had not been given to any prophet before. (6)
According to the narration of Abu Ubayd, a Bedouin Arab immediately prostrated upon hearing a person recite the verse;
“Therefore expound openly what thou art commanded!” (Surah Al- Hijr)
and he said: “I prostrated because of its fluency.”
And another person said,
“I swear that no creature can utter a similar sentence.” upon hearing the following verse from a man
“Now when they saw no hope of his (yielding), they held a conference in private…” (Surah Yusuf, 12/80)
The concubine said to Asmai, who was amazed by the fluency of her sentence and unable to refrain from saying, “By God, how fluent you are”,
Can my word be considered fluent after this?
“So We sent this inspiration to the mother of Moses: "Suckle (thy child) but when thou hast fears about him cast him, into the river, but fear not nor grieve: for We shall restore him to thee, and We shall make him one of Our messengers.” (Surah Al-Qasas, 28/7).
Indeed, this single verse contains two orders, two prohibitions and two glad tidings. (7)
Though the Qur’an is not the only miracle of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), he considered it sufficient to mention the Qur’an only among his miracles because it is the biggest and the most fruitful one and it calls people to the religion, has proofs and witnesses and will be useful for everyone till the Doomsday from both this world and the realm of unseen. (8)
The holy Qur’an has been given the name of the Qur’an because it contains the fruits of all books among divine ones and maybe all sciences.
As a matter of fact, God indicated this aspect of the Qur’an in the following verses: “a detailed exposition of all things.” (Surah Yusuf, 12/111), “The Book explaining all things” (Surah An-Nahl, 16/89) (9)
The Holy Qur’an is the summary of ilm al-ladun (secret knowledge) according to the scholars of truth. (10)
Hz Ali (RA) says: ‘I heard from the prophet Muhammad (PBUH): “You should know that some kind of dissensions will arise!” I asked “O Prophet! What is the way of escaping from those dissensions?
“It is the book of God! It contains the news of the people before and after you, it also has the judgment about you. It is a certain judgment that discriminates between the truth and falsehood; it is not a joke or void thing. God breaks the neck of person who ignores the Qur’an with his highhandedness. God leads the people who search the true way in anything other than the Qur’an astray. It is the firm rope of God! It is the Qur’an which is full of wisdom! It is the truest way! It is a book that neither futile desires can divert from the right way nor speeches can make obscure; and it is not a book which is overlooked by scientists but a book that no one gets bored by repeating much and has numerous qualities that amazes the minds. It is such a book that when a group of Jinn listened to it, they said: “We have really heard a wonderful Recital! It gives guidance to the Right, and we have believed therein…” Someone who talks depending on the Qur’an is confirmed. Someone who acts according to the Qur’an is rewarded. Someone who judges with the Qur’an is regarded to have acted with justice. Someone who invites to the Qur’an is regarded to have invited to the truth and the right way” (11)
In another glorious hadith, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said:
The previous books were revealed on single section and dialect (ahruf).
However, the Qur’an was revealed on:
1- Order
2- Prohibition
3- Halal
4- Haram
5- Muhkam
6- Mutashabih
7- Examples along with seven parts and seven dialects (ahruf).
Render as halal of what it says to be halal!
Render as haram of what it says to be haram!
Do whatever you have ordered by it!
Avoid things of what it prohibits!
Draw lessons from its examples!
Do whatever its muhkam verses command!
Believe in its verses that are Mutashabih (have many meanings) and say ‘We believe in whatever comes from our Lord!’ (12)
Abdullah b. Mas’ud said,
“Whoever wants wisdom should get deep in the Qur’an because the wisdom of previous and later ones is in it!” (13) Whenever I inform you about a hadith, I can also give you a confirmatory proof of it from the book of God!”
Abdullah b. Abbas said,
“If the knee bonds of a camel are lost, I will definitely find it in Allah (SWT)’s book.
Said b. Jubayr said,
“No hadith of the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) whose confirmatory proof I could not find in Kitabullah (the book of God) reached me!”
When Imam Shafii was in Mecca, he said:
“Ask whatever you want from me! I will answer it from Kitabullah (the book of God)!”
They asked to Him:
“What would you say for the person who kills a beefly while in ihram?
Imam Shafii recited the verse;
“In the name of God. Take what the Messenger assigns to you! And deny yourselves that which he withholds from you!” (Surah Al-Hashr, 59/7)
And He added: A hadith of the prophet Muhammad narrated to us by Huzaifa b. Yaman states:
“After me follow Abu Bakr (RA) and Umar b. Hattab! The news about the order by Umar b. Hattab (RA) for killing the beefly by a person who is in ihram was narrated from Tariq B. Sihab”
One day, Abu Bakr b. Mujahid said:
“There is nothing in this realm that you cannot find in Kitabullah (The Qur’an)!”
He was asked: “So in which part of the Qur’an, are inns mentioned?”
He answered reciting the following verse:
“It is no fault on your part to enter houses not used for living in, which serve some (other) use for you: and Allah has knowledge of what ye reveal and what ye conceal.” (Surah An-Noor, 24/29)
He said what is meant by houses in the verse is inns.”
Ibn Burhan said:
“What the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said exists in the Qur’an either in the same form or with a close or far meaning. Only insightful people understand this truth but not blind ones. Similarly, ambitious ones can comprehend the elaborateness and fineness in every decree of the Quran according to their views, efforts and understanding.”
Others said:
“There is nothing impossible to be grasped from the Qur’an for a person whom God gives insight.”
According to Ibn Fadl,
“Only Almighty Allah knows the essence of the sciences of which the word of Allah has. After Him, the prophet Muhammad understands it. The four caliphs and important companions of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH); Hz. Abu Bakr, Hz. Umar, Hz. Uthman and Hz. Ali and others like Ibn Masud and Ibn Abbas possessed the knowledge given by God after the prophet.” (14)
Once, when Huzayfa b. Yaman was together with Ibn Abbas, a man asked Ibn Abbas,
“Tell me the interpretation of “Ha mim ayn sin qaf” in the chapter of ash-Shura?
Ibn Abbas did not like the man’s question and kept silent; then, he turned his face away from him.
The man repeated his question.
Ibn Abbas did not answer and turned his face away from him.
The man asked the question for the third time.
Yet, Ibn Abbas did not answer.
Thereupon, Huzayfa b. Yaman said,
“I will tell you about it; it seems that he does not want to answer."
It was sent down about a man from Ahl al-Bayt called Abdulilah or Abdullah. The verse indicates that he will settle in a city in the East situated on a river, the city (Baghdad) divided by the river, that when Allah allows their sovereignty to end and their state to cease, a fire will be sent over them at night and it will be as if nothing has been there in the morning and that their place will be invaded by tyrants and oppressors. [15]
This information, which was recorded by Tabari, who was born in 224 (H) (about twelve centuries ago) and died in 310 (H), in his tafsir, is enough to show how miraculous and scientific profundity the Quran has and how some Companions knew about this profundity and that they knew about the interpretation of the mutashabih verses. Indeed, it was seen that this dynasty, which was represented by the regent Abdulilah in Baghdad, was eliminated as a result of the military coup staged by General Qasim and all members of the dynasty were shot to death in the twentieth century.
Ibn an-Nadim (death 378 H) explained in detail which scholars living before him interpreted the Quran, who wrote about the meanings, ambiguities, similes, vocabulary, unknown words, recital styles, points, shapes, lam letters, stopping places, enclisis, phrases, mutashabih verses, syllables, fascicles and virtues of the Quran, the number of the letters in the Quran according to the people of Madinah, Makkah, Kufa, Basra and Damascus, the abrogators and abrogated verses of the Quran, the revelation dates of the chapters and verses, the decrees of the Quran and their various meanings and who wrote which books. [16]
Fakhruddin Razi, one of the interpreters of the Quran said,
“When I happened to say, ‘it is possible to deduce ten thousand issues from the benefits and good aspects of the chapter al-Fatiha’, some people who were jealous of me and some ignorant and obstinate people thought I was one of those who claimed things that could not be proved like themselves. When I started to write this book (Mafatih al-Ghayb), I wrote the following introduction to show that it was possible to deduce so many issues from the chapter al-Fatiha and to warn them.” [17]
The Quran has as much information as and even more information than all of the heavenly books.
The Prophet said the following in a hadith:
“I was given as-Sab’ [18] for the Old Testament, Maun for the Psalms [19], Mathani [20] for the New Testament. Mufassals [21] were given as extra.” [22]
The Prophet said to Ubayy b. Ka’b,
“Would you like me to teach you a chapter the equivalent of which was not revealed in the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms or other chapters of the Quran?”
Ubayy said, “Yes, O Messenger of Allah!”
The Prophet said,
“I swear by Allah, in whose hand is my existence, that its equivalent was not revealed in the Old Testament, New Testament, Psalms or other chapters of the Quran. It is sab’ al-mathani. It is the great Quran (the chapter al-Fatiha)”[23]
Sulaiman Nadvi, an Indian scholar wrote,
“The Old Testament is a book of shari’ah (laws). It does not contain ethical issues and preaching. The New Testament is full of ethical issues and preaching but it has no laws. The Psalms have hearty supplications, hymns and prayers but do not have other attributes.
The New Testament of Jesus has nice sermons but it lacks dimensions that will make man contemplate and meditate.
The book of the Sons of Israel has a lot of news and information but the fineness of wisdom and the mysteries of belief are not seen in it.
There is only one book that is full of shari’ah, ethics, preaching, prayers and supplications; it contains all of the merits and virtues of the previous books.
The strongest sermons, the widest horizons to enhance ideas and views all of the fineness and wisdom, belief and deeds are in this book.
Although all of the other heavenly books were distorted and altered, and changed due to translation, the only divine book that has been protected from change and distortion and that is present in the original language it was revealed is the Quran.
No verse, word, letter or mark of this book has been changed. This book does not owe its survival to the pens of the scribes because it has been in the memory of hundreds of thousands of believers for centuries.
The Quran has been recited and pronounced through the same letters and in the form that the Prophet (pbuh) recited and Jibril (Gabriel) conveyed all over the world.
The other heavenly books cannot be compared to the Quran by any means because the other books are divine revelation in terms of their meaning only but the Quran is divine revelation in terms of both its words and meaning. On the other hand, the languages that the Old Testament and the New Testament were revealed in are extinct languages.
Hebrew, the original language of the Old Testament was eliminated by the fire of Bukht an-Nasr and replaced by Aramaic and Syriac. After a few centuries, Hazrat Uzayr tried to revive Hebrew.
As for the New Testament, it is not known what language it was revealed in and what language it was written in. The oldest copy of the New Testament that is present today is in Greek. It is not certain whether the language spoken in Palestine during the time of Jesus was Greek or not.
As for the Quran, it is the only book that is preserved in the language in was revealed and written. [24]
The Quran contains principles and rules that concern and elevate gradually everybody, from primitive people to scholars and philosophers, from tradesmen to ascetic people, from the rich to the poor.
The Quran states the existence, oneness, attributes, power and magnitude of Allah, the vastness of His mercy and pardon, the necessity of reliance on and trust in Allah, worshipping Him, and thanking Him for His bounties.
It tells about worshipping like prayers, fasting, zakah (alms) and hajj (pilgrimage). It teaches people the principles of belief in Allah and worshipping Him. When it mentions belief and believers, it adds the condition of doing good and beneficial deeds; it teaches us that belief becomes perfect with deeds.
The Quran teaches people all of the vital rules of the real system that contains all phases of the social and civilized life, from the family life and the mutual rights and duties of husband and wife to international relations, from greeting to entering houses by getting permission.
The Quran states that human beings were a family created out of a man and a woman, that they were divided into tribes and families so that they would know each other, that the most honorable ones among human beings are those who fear Allah the most, that is, those who pay attention the most to the rights and duties imposed by Allah and that nobody had any privilege no matter what nation, tribe, class or career they belong to, whether they are male or female, rich or poor.
The Quran orders people to keep their vows, to act honestly in trade, to help the poor, to mediate between cross people, to act justly, to give jobs and tasks to those who are qualified and to work; it also advises people not believe every piece of news they hear without searching whether it is true or not.
The Quran teaches people to act in accordance with vital necessities, to consider this even when one is doing a favor and to do everything duly and on time.
It advises people to forgive but it does not allow the order in the society to be broken. The Quran regards it necessary to prevent transgression through punishment
The Quran advises us to be kind and generous to people but not to be so generous as to become poor and needy; it also warns people not to violate others’ rights while enjoying personal freedom and rights.
The Quran forbids all kinds of evil deeds like jealousy, mischief, oppression, grudge, betrayal, slander, telling lies, deceiving, thinking of bad things about others, backbiting, talebearing, conceitedness, hypocrisy, theft, murder, extravagance and stinginess, and bad habits like drinking alcohol and gambling.
The Quran advises people to keep their eyes and hearts open, not to act blindly, to contemplate, to study the earth, the skies and those between them, to have knowledge, to study the states of the previous nations and countries and to draw lessons from them.
The Quran informs us that a hard aay of reckoning on which everybody will be questioned and all of our deeds, whether big or small, good or bad will be revealed.
The Quran mentions every issue that concerns man from the cradle to the grave; it also mentions or implies some scientific realities to be discovered in the future.
For instance, it stated fourteen centuries ago that the sun, the moon and other celestial bodies swim along their orbits, that every living being was created out of water (al-Anbiya, 21/30-33) that the sun runs its course (Yasin, 36/38), that the law of balance was imposed on the sky (ar-Rahman, 55/7), that the sky was in the form of smoke at first (Fussilat, 41/11), that all of descendants of human beings were present in Hazrat Adam in the form of particles (genes) )al-Araf, 7/173), that fruits were brought about through fecundating winds (al-Hijr, 15/22), that some extraordinary fine work carried out by animals especially by bees was revealed to them by Allah (an-Nahl 68-69), that animals walking on the ground and flying in the sky formed communities like human beings (al-Anam, 6/38), that there are living beings in the sky and that they will be gathered together one day (ash-Shura, 42/29), that the knowledge of man will not suffice to understand the spirit (al-Isra, 17/85), that the sky is continuously expanded (adh-Dhariyat, 51/47), that the things that are regarded as non-living and mute glorify Allah but that man cannot understand it (al-Isra, 17/44) and it pointed to many other things, opening new horizons of study and research for the world of science.
The Quran has been read and studied not only by Muslims but also by many non-Muslim, conscientious scientists and academicians; they have appreciated the Quran and showed respect to it. We will give some examples of them:
The Quran Can Guide Everybody
Stanley Lane Poole, a British expert on Arabic, states the following in the preface of his book, “Selection from the Quran”:
“The verses that the Prophet introduced in Madinah are especially interesting because they are the verses that guide the Muslims that govern the Islamic community. The verses revealed in Makkah contain everything that is necessary for a great and effective religion.”
The Quran Contains all of the Principles of Ethics and Philosophy
Sedillot, one of the most famous orientalists of France, states the following in pages 59, 63, 64 of his book called “General History of Arabs”:
“The Quran is a respectable book. It informed people about the rights of Allah and taught them what creatures should expect from the Creator and the relationships between the creatures and the Creator.
The Quran Contains all of the Principles of Ethics and Philosophy.
Virtue and disgrace, good and bad, the real nature of things, in short, every issue is mentioned in the Quran.
The rules that are the basics of wisdom and philosophy, the principles that teach justice, equality, doing favors to others and being virtuous are all present in the Quran.
The Quran leads man to economy and justice; it protects man from deviation.
It takes man out of the darkness of his weaknesses and elevates him to the light of ethical highness.
Those who call Islam a barbarous religion are people who are deprived of consciousness because they close their eyes to the clear and lucid verses of the Quran and they do not study how the Quran eliminated the disgraceful acts that lasted for centuries."
The Quran Contains the Foundations that the World Civilization is Based on
Gaston Carre, one of the most famous orientalists of France, wrote,
“The Quran contains the foundations that the world civilization is based on. We can say that this civilization came into existence out of the conformation of the principles introduced by Islam.”
The Quran is a Book of Ethics Full of Wisdom
Alexis Louvasonne, a French philosopher, said,
“The Quran revealed to Hazrat Muhammad for the guidance of the humanity is a bright book full of wisdom.
There is no doubt that Hazrat Muhammad is a real prophet sent by the Creator, who controls the destiny of the world.
Hazrat Muhammad left such a book that it is a rare example of rhetoric and a holy book of ethics.
That is, there is no problem among the problems that are settled by the help of scientific discoveries or science and knowledge that contradicts the principles of Islam!
Unlike our efforts that we exert in order to harmonize our Christianity with natural laws, there is full harmony between the Quran and its instructions and natural laws.”
The Quran is the Best Heavenly Book; it is a Miracle of Rhetoric and Fluency
Dr. Morrice, a famous orientalist, an expert on Arabic literature and a translator of the Quran, said,
“What is the Quran?”
It is a miracle of rhetoric and fluency.
The virtue of the Quran that makes three hundred and fifty million Muslims feel proud is the fact that it is the best heavenly book in terms of expressing every meaning.
No. We can move further! The Quran is the best book that is granted to man by the eternal help of the nature.
The statements of the Quran are superior to the statements of the Greek philosophy from the point of view of the welfare of man.
The Quran is full of praising and thanking the Creator of the world and the sky.
Every word of the Quran is embedded in the majesty of the Supreme Being, who created everything and who leads and guides everything based on their talents.
The Quran is a book of literature for the people of literature.
The Quran is a treasure of words for linguists.
The Quran is a resource of harmony for poets.
This book is also an encyclopedia of legal decrees.
None of the books sent from the time of David to the period of John Talmos could compete with the verses of the Quran successfully.
Therefore, the more the high classes of Muslims are enlightened to comprehend the realities of life the more they become interested in the Quran and the more they show respect to the Quran.
The respect of Muslims toward the Quran continually increases.
Muslim authors decorate their writings by quoting the verses of the Quran and they are inspired by those verses.
The more Muslims increase their education and manners, the more they base their ideas on the Quran.”
The Creed and Ethics of the Quran is a Perfect Combination of the Principles that Bring about Guidance to People and Success in Life
Dr Steingass, who is the author of English Arabic and Arabic-English dictionaries, wrote:
“The creed and ethics of the Quran is a perfect combination of the principles that bring about guidance to people and success in life.
A work, then, which calls forth so powerful and seemingly incompatible emotions even in the distant reader – distant as to time, and still more so as mental development – a work which not only conquers the repugnance which he may begin its perusal, but changes this adverse feeling into astonishment and admiration, such a work must be a wonderful production; indeed and a problem of the highest interest to every thoughtful observer of the destinies of mankind.”
The Quran has no Equivalent
Edward Gibbon, one of the most famous and greatest historians of England writes the following in his work entitled “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”.
“From the Atlantic to the Ganges, the Quran is acknowledged as the fundamental code of civil and criminal jurisprudence.
There is no difference between a mighty king and a poor person in the eye of the Quran. There exists such a jurisprudence based on those principles that it has no equivalence in the world.”
The Quran Teaches the Purest and Cleanest Oneness
Dr. Gustave Le Bon says,
“Islam is distinguished from the other religions in the world in that the Quran teaches the purest and cleanest oneness.”
The Quran Teaches the High Ethics
Mr Arnold says:
“The lessons we learn from the Old Testament and the New Testament through Jews order us to treat creatures with respect and love.
However, apart from giving people a perfect education, the Quran teaches people to be ethical, generous, philanthropic, brave and courageous and to love all Muslims.”
The Real Book of Belief; the Book that Satisfies the Mind
Hindu Guru Baba Nanak said,
“The real book of belief and the book that satisfies the mind is only the Quran.”
The Quran Contains Reasonable and Sensible Orders that provide a Clean and Chaste Life
The following is stated in the Popular Encyclopedia:
“According to Arabic, the Quran is extremely fluent. In fact, the literal beauty of the Quran is unique. Besides, the orders of the Quran are so reasonable and logical that if people study them carefully they will understand that those orders will provide a clean and chaste life.” [28]
We continue with the words of Steinhorst, the atomic scientist, who declared in the newspaper Yeni Sabah that he became a Muslim as a result of his long studies and reviews on religions and changed his name to Nureddin:
“Honoring Allah became a kind of awful idol worshipping in Christianity.
They seem to worship one God but they worship Jesus as the son of God though he is only a prophet.
They declared Jesus’ mother as God’s mother.
According to the last principle that was imposed, Mary ascended with her body through the attribute of God’s mother; this last principle, which the Pope imposed, astonished even believing Catholics!
According to the Christian creed, Allah made a child. However, according to Islam, only ephemeral beings make children. Since Allah is superior to all beings and is eternal, He does not need a child.
Allah is the source of all created beings and the organizer of everything. Therefore, He does not need a child that will help His work or that will continue His name. Thus, the idea of trinity (three gods) put forward by Christianity and the Church is meaningless.
Then, how can the Christian Church claim that Christianity is the only religion that gives happiness? With what ethics does this church attempt to become a world religion? They have no right to do so.
If this world was created by one god, it is necessary for the religious customs the nations to unite in the same belief. If the world does not gather around a spiritual center, how can they realize the oneness of the Creator?
A river consists of many streams and its strength originates from uniting.
The revelations brought by Moses, Jesus and other prophets are the streams of the river that will realize the purpose of creation. This purpose is to understand the oneness of Allah. Only the Quran can realize this purpose.
Can a book other than the Quran fulfill it?
The Old Testament cannot fulfill it because it mentions the God of Israel.
The Zoroaster grants the divine light to the nation of Iran only.
Vedas cannot fulfill it because according to risis, it is necessary to flow lead into the ears of Hindus who listen Vedas.
Buddha is not universal; it is related to India only.
Can the religion of Jesus realize this purpose?
No.
Jesus is not a teacher that embraces the whole world. He said the following to his disciples:
‘Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.’ (Matthew: 10: 5,6)
Then, no one brought any news that embraced the whole mankind before the Prophet of Islam
No book addressed the whole mankind before the Quran.
Hazrat Muhammad brought the following revelation:
‘O men! I am sent unto you all, as the Messenger of Allah!’ (al-Araf, 7/158)
Thus, only the Quran can eliminate the differences and the dissents among various religions.
The multitude of religions necessitates the existence of a uniting belief.
This belief is Islam.” [29]
Main Properties of the Quran
John Davenport states the following when he mentions the Quran in his book, “An Apology for Mohammed and the Quran”:
‘The Quran is held by Mohammedans in the greatest reverence and respect. They dare not touch it without being first washed or legally purified; therefore, they write these words on its cover:
"None shall touch it, but they who are purified." (al-Waqia, 56/79)
Thus, they prevent people from touching it when they are not clean. They read it reverentially, kiss it, carry it with them in military expeditions; they inscribe sentences from it upon their banners, adorn it with gold and precious stone; they do not want it to be owned by a non-Muslim ’
The source of Islamic education is this book. The children in all schools are taught to recite and memorize it.
They study it, in order to find therein the light of their life.
They have mosques where the whole of it is read.
For twelve hundred years has the voice of the Quran been thus kept resounding, at all moments, through the ears and hearts of so many millions of believers.
The Quran repeatedly enjoins belief in Allah, resignation to His will, and perfect obedience to His commands, charity, mildness, abstinence from spirituous liquors, and toleration, ascribing particular merit to dying in the cause of religion.
As to practical duties, besides the obligation to propagate Islam, is alms, to which the one-fortieth part of a person's property must be appropriated and bestowed.
However, the injunctions of the Quran were not confined to religious and moral duties.
Gibbon says, “From the Atlantic to the Ganges, the Quran is acknowledged as the fundamental code, not only of theology, but of civil and criminal jurisprudence, and the laws which regulate the actions and the property of mankind are governed by the immutable sanctions of the will of Allah.
Or, in other words, the Quran is the general code of Muslims; a religious, social, civil, co mercial, military, judicial, criminal, penal code.
The Quran regulates everything, from the ceremonies of religion to those of daily life; from the salvation of the soul to the health of the body ; from the rights of all to those of each individual ; from the interests of man to those of society ; from morality to crime ; from punishment here to that in the life to come.
The Quran, consequently, differs materially from the Old Testament.
As Combe states, "it contains no system of theology like the Old Testament.
It is composed chiefly of narratives, descriptions, sublime effusions of devotional emotions, and much sound morality bound together by no striking logical connection.
Nor is the Quran like the New Testament to be considered merely as the standard by which the religious opinions, the worship, and the practice of its followers are regulated.
The Quran is also a political system; for on this foundation the throne itself is erected.
Hence, every law of the State is derived, and by this authority every question of life and property is finally decided.
The Quran teaches, in the most explicit manner, the existence of one only God, eternal, who was imbegotten and has no children; without equal, Creator of all things, good and merciful, protecting those who are not ungrateful to Him, pardoning those who offend Him provided they repent, Sovereign Judge at the day of resurrection; He will render to every one, according to his works that is, to the good, and to those who fight and die in his cause eternal felicity.
The Quran also teaches the existence of angels, but it forbids that these as well as the Prophet should be objects of adoration.
Every man has two protecting angels, who watch over his actions.
Demons are the enemies of human kind.
Muslims also believe in the existence of jinn.
The morality of the Quran has not been less unjustly attacked than its dogmas. It condemns debauchery and excesses of every kind, hypocrisy, avarice, jealousy and the thirsting after worldly goods.
It ordains alms-giving, filial piety, gratitude towards God, fidelity to engagements, sincerity compassion towards orphans, justice, without respect of persons, chastity and decency even in words, patience and submission, the ransoming of captives, the returning of good for evil, benevolence, forgiveness of injuries; doing all of them not with the view of obtaining the approbation of the world, but for being acceptable unto God.
The Quran, as already said, is not only a religious code, but contains, in addition, the civil laws of Muslims.
Therefore, the Quran restrains polygamy by limiting the number of wives to four, prescribes the ceremonies to be observed at marriages, determines the matrimonial duties of the married pair, even the length of the time for suckling, that of widowhood, and regulates the dowry and jointure, as well as the course to be pursued in separations and divorces.
Inheritances, wills, guardianships, contracts are all mentioned in the Quran.
Lastly, punishments are pronounced against false witnesses, prevarication in judges, theft, infanticide, committing major sins, fraud, etc.
Therefore, Hazrat Muhammad is not only a prophet but also a legislator.
In order fully to appreciate the difference between Christianity and Islam, it must be borne in mindthat whereas the hold which the former has over its professors is naturally referred by them to its dogmas, thus causing religion and morals to be regarded as distinct from each other, in the latter, it is, on the contrary, not the dogmatic, but the practical portion which has influenced the moral, social, legal, and political ideas and circumstances of its believers. So, to the mind of a Muslim, patriotism, law, tradition, custom and constitution is expressed by one word; and that word is Islam.
Among many excellencies of which the Quran may justly boast are two eminently conspicuous ; the one being the tone of awe and reverence which it always observes when speaking of or referring to the Deity, to whom it never attributes human frailties and passions ; the other the total absence throughout it of all impure, immoral and indecent ideas, expressions, narratives and blemishes.
So exempt, indeed, is the Quran from these undeniable defects, that it needs not the slightest castration, and may be read, from beginning to end, without causing a blush to suffuse the cheek of modesty itself.
The religion thus established by the Quran is a stern and severe monotheism.
The divinity described by the Quran is so far from being a mere philosophic first cause regulating the universe by established laws, while itself stands aloof in unapproachable majesty, is an ever-present, ever working energy….[30]
* * *
As a result of his scientific studies on holy books, the head of French Medical Faculty of Surgery Department, Prof. Dr. Maurice Bucaille, who is both the author and publisher of the book titled “The Bible, The Qur'an & Science”, reached the happiness of selecting the Qur’an as his book and Islam as his religion; after having showed in his book that the scriptures of the Old Testament and the New Testament do not comply with modern sciences, he says;
The scientific considerations, which are very specific to the Qur'an, greatly surprised me at first.
Up until then, I had not thought it possible for one to find so many statements in a text compiled more than thirteen centuries ago referring to extremely diverse subjects and all of them totally in keeping with modern scientific knowledge.
In the beginning, I had no faith whatsoever in Islam. I began this examination of the texts with a completely open mind and a total objectivity.
If there was any influence acting upon me, it was gained from what I had been taught in my youth; people did not speak of Muslims, but of 'Muhammadans'.
To make it quite clear that what was meant was a religion founded by a man and which could not therefore have any kind of value in terms of God.
Like many in the West, I could have retained the same false notions about Islam; they are so widely- spread today, that I am indeed surprised when I come across anyone, other than a specialist, who can talk in an enlightened manner on this subject.
I therefore admit that before I was given a view of Islam different from the one received in the West, I was myself extremely ignorant.
I owe the fact that I was able to realize the false nature of the judgments generally made in the West about Islam to exceptional circumstances.
It was in Saudi Arabia itself that an inkling was given to me of the extent to which opinions held in the West on this subject are liable to error. The debt of gratitude I owe to the late King Faisal, whose memory I salute with deepest respect, is indeed very great.
The fact that I was given the signal honour of hearing him speak on Islam and was able to raise with him certain problems concerning the interpretation of the Qur'an in relation to modern science is a very cherished memory. It was an extremely great privilege for me to have gathered so much precious information from him personally and those around him.
Since I had now seen the wide gap separating the reality of Islam from the image we have of it in the West, I experienced a great need to learn Arabic (which I did not speak) to be sumciently well-equipped to progress in the study of such a misunderstood religion.
My first goal was to read the Qur'an and to make a sentence- by-sentence analysis of it with the help of various commentaries essential to a critical study.
My approach was to pay special attention to the description of numerous natural phenomena given in the Qur'an; the highly accurate nature of certain details referring to them in the Book, which was only apparent in the original, struck me by the fact that they were in keeping with present-day ideas, although a man living at the time of Muhammad could not have suspected this at all.
I subsequently read several works written by Muslim authors on the scientific aspects- of the Qur'anic text: they were extremely helpful in my appreciation of it, but I have not so far discovered a general study of this subject made in the West.
What initially strikes the reader confronted for the first time with a text of this kind is the sheer abundance of subjects discussed: the Creation, astronomy, the explanation of certain matters concerning the earth, and the animal and vegetable kingdoms, human reproduction.
Whereas monumental errors are to be found in the Bible, I could not find a single error in the Qur'an. I had to stop and ask myself:
If a man was the author of the Qur'an, how could he have written facts in the Seventh century A.D. that today are shown to be in keeping with modern scientific knowledge?
There was absolutely no doubt about it: the text of the Qur'an we have today is most definitely a text of the period.
What human explanation can there be for this observation?
In my opinion there is no explanation!
There is no special reason why an inhabitant of the Arabian Peninsula should, at a time when King Dagobert was reigning in France (629-639 A.D.), have had scientific knowledge on certain subjects that was ten centuries ahead of our own.
By the same token, I have tried to find references in the Qur'an to phenomena accessible to human comprehension but which have not been confirmed by modern science. In this context, I think I may have found references in the Qur'an to the presence of planets in the Universe that are similar to the Earth.
It must be added that many scientists think this is a perfectly feasible fact, although modern data cannot provide any hint of certainty.
I thought I owed it to myself to mention this, whilst retaining all the attendant reservations that might be applied.
Had this study been made thirty years ago, it would have been necessary to add another fact predicted by the Qur'an to what would have been cited concerning astronomy; this fact is the conquest of space.
At that time, subsequent to the first trials of ballistic missiles, people imagined a day when man would perhaps have the material possibility of leaving his earthly habitat and exploring space.
It was then known that a verse existed in the Qur'an (25) predicting how one day man would make this conquest. This statement has now been verified. (26)
We have tried to report the serious and appreciative views on the Quran and Islam of some Muslim and non-Muslim scientists, scholars and philosophers that studied the Quran and Islam.
Our aim is not to support the Quran and Islam by the views of foreigners but to help some intellectuals that have no essential information about the Quran and Islam to abandon their negative thoughts about Islam. [27]
The part that we quoted from the valuable book of Mustafa Asım Köksal called "Hazreti Muhammed ve İslamiyet" work ends here. We want to end this issue with a prayer:
“O Allah! Make the Quran a friend of us in the world, a comrade in the grave, an intercessor in the Day of Judgment, a light on Sirat bridge, a shelter and covering against Hell fire, a friend in Paradise and a guide and a leader for all good deeds. For the sake of the person (pbuh) to whom the Quran was sent down, make the evidence of the Quran clear for us. Amin.”
[1] Ibn Ishaq, V. 4, p. 251, Malik, V. 2, p. 899, Tabari, V. 3, p. 169, Dhahabi, p. 589.
[2] an-Nisa: 59.
[3] Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, V. 2, p. 451, Bukhari, Sahih, V. 6, p. 97, Muslim, V. 1,p.134.
[4] Badruddin Ayni, Umdatu'l-Kari, V. 19, p. 13.
[5] Badruddin Ayni, V. 19, p. 13, Ibn Hajar, Fathu'l-Bari, V. 9, p. 5.
[6] Ibn Hajar, V. 9, p. 5.
[7] Qadi Iyad, Shifa, V. 1, p. 215-216.
[8] Badruddin Ayni, V. 19, p. 13.
[9] Raghib, Mufradatu'l-Qur'an, p. 402.
[10] H. Sayyid Sharif, Ta'rifat, p. 116.
[11] Tirmidhi, V. 5, p. 172-1 73, Darimi, V. 2, p. 31 2, Haythami, Majmau'z-Zawaid, V. 7, p. 164.
[12] Hakim, Mustadrak, V. 1, p. 553, Ibn Hajar, Matalibu'l-Aliya, V. 3, p. 284, .
[13] Haythami reporting from Tabarani, Majmau'z-zawaid, V. 7, p. 165, Ibn Athir, Nihaya, V. 1, p. 229, Badruddin Zarkashi, Burhan, V. 1,5.454, Ibn Hajar, Matalib, V. 3, p. 133.
[14] Suyuti, al-Itqan.V.2, p. 125-126.
[15] Tabari, Tafsir, V. 25, p. 6.
[16] Ibnu'n-Nadim, Index, p. 56- 65.
[17] Fakhru'r-Razi. Tafsiru'l-kabir. V. 1. p. 3.
[18] The chapters of al-Baqara, Aal-i Imran, an-Nisa, al-Maida, al-An'am, al-A'raf and Yunus
[19] The chapters of at-Tawba, an-Nahl, Hud, Yusuf, al-Kahf, Beni Israel (al-Isra), al-Anbiya, Taha, al-Mu'minun, ash-Shuara and as-Saffat.
[20] 42 chapters, which have fewer than a hundred verses.
[21] 60 short chapters, which come after the chapters that have fewer than one hundred chapters and called "mufassal".
[22] Ahmad b. Hanbal, Musnad, V. 4, p. 107.
[23] Tirmidhi Sunan, V. 5, p. 155-156, Hakim , Mustadrak, V. 1, p. 558.
[24] Sulaiman Nadvi, İslâm Târihi, V. 4, p. 1575-1577.
[25] ar-Rahman: 33.
[26] M. Bucaille. p. 179-184
[27] M.Asım Köksal, Hazreti Muhammed ve İslamiyet, V.4, p.841.
[28] Ömer Rıza Doğrul, Kur'an Nedir?, p.97-137.
[29] Yeni Sabah Newspaper 23.4.1958 an 4.5.1958 .
[30] John Davenport, Hazreti Muhammed ve Kur'an-ı Kerim, Turkish Translation, p.72-81.
