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[SukainaRoshan]

What is a Miracle?

Every prophet is granted the power of performing miracles in order to give proof of the authenticity of his message, that it proceeds in fact from the Creator of the universe. A miracle is an act that cannot be performed by the aid of learning and practice.

Miracles must invariably conform to the mentality of the society in which a prophet is sent. Hence, the miracle of Moses (peace be upon him) was magic, because Pharaonic Egypt was expert in magic. Jesus (peace be upon him) cured the leper and the blind from birth, and quickened the dead by the will of Allah. This kind of miracle appealed because his society expected such act as proof of prophethood. Similarly our Prophet emerged amongst the Arabs who were experts in language and literature, and challenged them in their own art.

[SukainaRoshan]

The Textual Incorruptibility of the Qur'an

There is one important difference between Muhammad's miracle and the other prophets' miracles. It is the continuity of our Prophet's miracle and its standing challenge for all times and places. In other words, it is alive while other miracles are temporary or dead. Hence, the latter might be questioned or doubted but not our Prophet's miracle. It should be noted that the art of language is not the only miraculous aspect of the Qur'an, and other aspects will be dealt with in sequence.

Nay, but it is a Glorious Qur'an, in a guarded tablet. ( Qur'an, 85:21-22)

No impartial learned person denies that the Qur'an has not undergone any alterations whether additions or omissions. It is a well-established fact that the Qur'an was written down as soon as it was revealed and that many Muslims learned it by heart. The principal way in which the enemies of Islam try to cast doubts on the authenticity of the Qur'an is by referring to the story of different readings in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Medina at the time of the Caliph `Uthman ibn `Affan. Before passing a judgement on this particular story, let us survey briefly the conditions and events that led to this sad incident.

[SukainaRoshan]

As is well known, the Islamic State extended its borders to remote areas where there were huge populations. The time taken to conquer these areas was short and did not suffice for cultural assimilation; for instance, the language difficulties of non-Arabs who could not comprehend Islam at the time, but who contributed to the deterioration of spoken Arabic. Not to mention the Arabs themselves who fought Islam after the Prophet's death! This shows that Islam was rooted firmly at Medina only.

We all know that the policy of the Caliph `Umar ibn al-Khattab was to keep the companions of the Prophet at Medina. But this meant that the conquered lands were empty of the sources of Islamic knowledge. Nor need we dilate on the difficulties of communication and the inefficient ways of learning and propagation. In the light of these historical facts we can confidently say that the different readings at Syria, Iraq and Egypt were not reliable. The only reading and copy which can be regarded as reliable is the Medina copy which was the original one. It was Zayd ibn Thabit one of the original transcribers of the Qur'an at the time of revelation and a committee of learned companions, who supervised the great task of compilation.

[SukainaRoshan]

There is no doubt whatsoever that most of the companions who stayed at Medina learned the whole or large portions of the Qur'an by heart. It is also worth noticing that there was no dispute at Medina about this particular topic. Hence even non-Muslims can be sure and confident that the Qur'an is integrally preserved on the ground of these facts. We Muslims believe that the Qur'an has been preserved by Allah. If someone tried to change anything of it, then his attempt would be exposed to all Muslims so that such mischief would prove futile.

It is We who have sent down the Reminder (Qur'an) and We are its Guardian. (Qur'an, 15:9)

[SukainaRoshan]

(A) Language

The Qur'an was revealed 1,400 years ago at Mecca and Medina. The Arabs used to worship idols of stones of which the most important ones were enshrined in the Ka'bah. The Arabs lived a simple life, though it was savage in many aspects such as the exposure of children because of poverty. They were proud of their language and justifiably so since Arabic is a very rich and sophisticated language. Poets and orators were almost the idols of their tribes. Poems were read and learned by rote, and annual poetry competitions were held at a place called Suq `Ukaz. Thus, the Arabs became past masters at the art of literary competition. The Qur'an came and its miracle was language and art. The Qur'an was a challenge, challenging them to produce a similar Qur'an.

Say: "If the whole of mankind and jinn were to gather together to produce the like thereof even though they collaborated with each other. " (17: 88)