By: Dr. Meraj Ahmad Meraj

10. Non-Muslim Readership of the Quran:
    The miracle of the Quran has been proved not only to Muslims but also other non-Muslim scholars. When Quran frankly states that it is a miracle and challenges others, this itself is one of the reasons for its miracle. The Qur’an as we have it today is recited in the same manner as it was revealed. This makes it the only 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.” The evidence above confirms God’s promise in the Qur’an: “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian”16 The Qur’an has been preserved in both oral and written form in a way no other book has, with each form providing a check and balance for the authenticity of the other. Miracle of Quran has different aspects, and scholars have exclusively covered each aspect. One of the aspects of miracle of Quran is in terms of rhetoric. Rhetoric characteristic of Qur’an is a very important element; there are many different literary arts used in Qur’an which have attracted the attention of many Arab and non-Arab Muslim scholars. It is a well known fact that the Qur’an was revealed in seven ahruf (or seven forms) to facilitate greater understanding of it among the Arabs who had different dialects. This was also to challenge them on their own grounds to produce a surah like that of the Qur’an. The challenge became more obvious when none of the seven major tribes could imitate it even in their own dialects as no one could claim that it was difficult to imitate due to it not being in their own dialect.17
    
11. Oriental’s Views on the Inimitability of the Qur’an:
    The best of Arab writers have never succeeded in producing anything equal in merit of the Qur’an itself is not surprising. They have agreed before-hand that it is unapproachable, and they have adopted its style as the perfect standard; any deviation from it therefore must of necessity be a defect. Again, with them this style is not spontaneous as with Muhammad and his contemporaries, but is as artificial as though Englishmen should still continue to follow Chaucer as their model, in spite of the changes which their language has undergone. With the Prophet, the style was natural, and the words were those in every-day ordinary life, while with the later Arabic authors the style is imitative and the ancient words are introduced as a literary embellishment. The natural consequence is that their attempts look labored and unreal by the side of his impromptu and forcible eloquence.18 The above observation makes the hypothesis advanced by those who see Muhammad as the author of the Qur’an quite untenable.19 How could a man, being illiterate become the most important author, in terms of literary merit, in the whole of Arabic literature? How could he then pronounce truths of a scientific nature that no other human being could possibly have developed at the time, and all this without once making the slightest error in his pronouncements on the subject? The ideas in this study are to be developed from a purely scientific point of view. They will lead to the conclusion that it is inconceivable for a human being living in the Seventh Century AD. to have expressed assertions in the Qur’an on highly varied subjects that do not belong to his period and for them to be in keeping with what was to be revealed only centuries later. For me, there can be no human explanation to the Qur’an.” From a human point of view, the Qur’an looks like a miraculous achievement of sublime artistry. In any event, being written down so rapidly during the lifetime of Muhammad, and being pretty much consistent in its teachings and prescriptions, it has not created the problems encountered in looking at the New Testament, which came into being through different hands over a much longer period, and has undergone great editing.20
    
12. Discovery of New Miracles of the Quran:
    The science of ‘ijaz al-Quran’ is most fascination. ‘Ijaz’ is derived from ‘ijaza’ meaning to render powerless, to make dumb founded. The derived meaning of ‘Ijaz’ is to be inimitable. ‘Mujaza’ is that final and ultimate argument which renders the opponent helpless and silent. ‘Ijaz al Quran’ means the inimitable or unique nature of the Quran, which leaves its opponents and competitors incapable and totally helpless. In Qur’an, there was complete thematic order ‘Nazm’ between one Surah and the next and between one ayah and the next, thus a miracle of order was established over the entire Qur’anic text. This uniqueness of the Quran can be regarded as a living miracle. The existence of thematic order is, in fact, a strong argument in favour of the existing arrangement of the Qur’an as against the chronological order. Maulana Hameeduddin Farahi in his book Nizamul Quran has made a very valuable contribution. He has developed the thesis that for the real understanding of the Quran the full knowledge about the thematic connection between the Surahs and between the Ayaat is absolutely necessary.21
    
    In the modern computer age, one more ‘ijaz’ of the Quran was discovered by Dr. Rashad Khalifa. Dr. Khalifa based his theory on scientific way. 22 Mathematics for mathematics is never partial. To prove to the satisfaction of every atheist that the Quran is the words of Allah, he took the aid from computer science, by counting every letter and every word of the Quran he established the fact that the Quran has its own mathematical code. The computer data revealed that there was a close relationship between the letters as well as the words of the Quran and the number 19.23 He provided an mathematical proof for the unique nature of the Quran. Dr. Khalifa based his theory on the following ayah of the Quran: “….. Over it are nineteen.” (Quran 74: 30) Dr, khalifa concluded that it is not humanly possible to compose a text of the size, form and content of the Quran with these essential features. The opening formula of the Quran Bismillahhir Rahmanir Rahim in Arabic consists of 19 letters. Quran consists of 114 Surah (6X19=114). The first Quranic revelation (Quran96:15 were of 19 words and these 19 words consist of 76 letters (19X4=76) The first Surah revealed (96), is 19th in position from the end of the Quran. It consists of 19 ayaat: and 285 letters (19X15=285). Last surah revealed (110) consists of 19 words and the first ayah of this Surah consists of 19 letters. First word Ism in Bismillahhir Rahmanir Rahim occurs in the Quran exactly 19 times and the second word Allah occurs 2698 times, a multiple of 19, (19X142=2698) , third word Rahman occurs in the Quran 57 times, (19X3=57) and fourth word Rahim comes in the Quran 114 times, (19X6=114) Bismillahhir Rahmanir Rahim is missing from Surah 9, but compensated in surah 27, ayah 30. This restores the frequency of this formula of imitation to 114: (19X6=114) and also the frequencies of the four constituent words of Bismillahhir Rahmanir Rahim Surah 9 and the extra one in (Surah 27) there are 19 surahs.24 The Qur’an grows ever younger.’ Despite all the efforts to find mistakes and contradictions exerted in it since the beginning of its revelation, it has remained unchanged and displayed its uniqueness, conquering every day new hearts and its hidden unlimited treasures being discovered one by one or growing to full bloom like a heavenly rose with countless petals.
    
13. Contemporary Significance of the Quran:
    Scholars have pointed out that there does not exist a piece of literature that can match the Qur’an, with respect either to style and form or to content. The Qur’an has by virtue of its claim of Divine origin, challenged mankind to produce; even they come together, just a few lines comparable to those in the Qur’an. This “Tahaddi” challenge has remained unanswered to this day. The words of the Qur’an in Surah al-Baqara25 are: “if the whole of mankind and jinn were together to produce the like, of this Qur’an, they would not be able to produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other.26 The challenge which has not been met and, as the Qur’an says, cannot be met, is one of the main aspects of the unique and inimitable nature of the Qur’an called I’j’az. What a challenge the like of which man has never seen and shall never see. The Challenge still exists and will continue to exist until the Day of Judgment.
    
    There have not been any changes in the text from its original time of writing and is 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. The Qur’an in many places challenges the people to produce a surah like it. It appears that the Christian missionaries who call the challenge irrelevant or an utterly subjective criterion are pretty much unaware of how the Arabic poetry and prose compares with the Qur’an. Say: “If the mankind and the jinns were together to produce the like of this Qur’an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they helped one another.”27 Or do they say: “He Muhammad has forged it?” Say: “Bring then a surah (chapter) like unto it, and call upon whomsoever you can, besides Allah, if you are truthful.28 No impartial learned person can allege that the Qur’an has undergone any alterations, whether additions or omissions. Today’s editions of the Qur’an are all reproductions of the original copies, and manuscripts dating from the first century of Islam authenticate today’s text. The Qur’an’s authenticity is safeguarded by Allah and will remain intact and unchanged until the Day of Judgment; it cannot be altered, modified or denied by those Believers who worship Allah through it. Even non-Muslims testify to the uncorrupted nature of the Qur’an: “The conclusions which we may now with confidence draw, is that the editions of Abu Bakr and of Othman were not only faithful, but, so far as the materials went, complete; and that whatever omissions there may have been, were not on the part of the compilers intentional… We may upon the strongest presumption affirm that every verse in the Coran is the genuine and unaltered composition of Mahomet himself.29
    
14. Conclusion:
    The Quran lies outside the productive capacity of the nature of the Arabic language because it is neither prose nor poetry and has not been matched. A number of scholars failed to compose anything to challenge the eloquence of the Qur’an and confessed their inability. The inability of any person to produce anything like the Qur’an, due to its unique literary form is the essence of the Qur’anic miracle. The Qur’an provides an eternal challenge to humanity -if you belief this book is not from God, then produce a single chapter like it. Primarily referring to its literary and linguistic features, no one to this date has produced anything like it. Even though, the Arabic language has a finite number of letters, words and grammatical rules.
    
    One of the miracles of Quran is its rhetorical aspect and that Quran has used rhetorical arts in its different verses and this has caused many scholars to admit the miracle of this divine book. These miracles were, however, present only during their own life times. None of these miracles ever survived after them. Nor will they do so in the future. However, the miracle that manifested itself through the last messenger is certainly not of that kind. Like his mission, it too, will survive up to the Last Day. This marvelous miracle is the Qur’an. The Qur’an may be examined by any who is to come up to the Last Day. The Qur’an still exists today as a miracle. The diction and style of the Qur’an are magnificent and appropriate to its Divine origin. The Qur’an has by virtue of its claim of Divine origin, challenged mankind to produce, even all together, just a few lines comparable to those in the Qur’an. This challenge has remained unanswered to this day. Fourteen centuries ago, Allah has revealed the Quran to human beings as a book of guidance. He called upon people to guide to the truth. The Quran is Divine dialogue between God and human. It the last divine book to the end of this world. The Quran will remain sole guide, faith and a methodology of life for humanity. The Quran is not a book of science. The principle goal of this book is to form a righteous man and to establish a virtuous community. The holy Quran is a living miracle which can be studied from innumerable points of views and there is no end to this research. With the passing of time, the Quran becomes new to newer and every day a new miracle is revealed. ***
    
    References:
15. Qur’an 15:9
16. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips, Tafseer Soorah al-Hujuraat, 1988, Tawheed Publications, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), p. 28
17. E H Palmer (Tr.), The Qur’an, 1900, Part I, Oxford at Clarendon Press, p. lv
18. E H Palmer (Tr.), The Qur’an, 1900, Part I, Oxford at Clarendon Press, p. lv (Ninian Smart, The World’s Religions, Cambridge University Press 1992, p281
19. Dr. Hasanuddin Ahmed Introducing the Quran: Good word book New Delhi -2004
20. Rashad Khalifa: Quran: Visual presentation of the Miracle, 1982
21. Dr. Hasanuddin Ahmed Introducing the Quran: Good Word book New Delhi -2004, Page, 15
22. Ibid, Page , 16
23. Quran: 2:23-24
24. Quran: 17:88
25. Qur’an 17:88
26. Qur’an 10:37-38
27. Quran: 69, 40 & 41
28. Sir William Muir, The Life of Mahomet, London 1878, P. 562.