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- The inimitable nature of the Qur'an
continues to be the most compelling proof
that Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam
must have been in fact, without doubt,
the final prophet of God.
(slow gentle music)
He, Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam, once said
that, "There was never a prophet
"except that God granted him certain signs
"which caused the people to believe in him.
"And what I was uniquely given was this revelation
"that was inspired to me,
"and as a result, I am hopeful of having the most followers
"among all the prophets on the Day of Resurrection."
It makes sense that a permanent miracle like the Qur'an
which can be experienced by everyone, first hand
can outperform a transient, temporary miracle
that was experienced by a limited group of people
at some point in history.
What is unexpected though, is how any work of literature,
even the Qur'an, could ever qualify
as other worldly in its origins.
You see the Qur'an presents itself
as the literal word of God and challenges the world
that nothing like it can ever be produced.
This inimitability is multidimensional
and these next few episodes will offer just an overview
or a taste of some of these dimensions.
The first dimension we'll cover is the Qur'an
in its capacity as a linguistic wonder.
According to both the highest authorities
of the Arabic language in early Arabia,
as well as its foremost experts today,
there is essentially a consensus on the literary uniqueness
of the Qur'an. Even those who decline
and refuse to accept the Qur'an as divine,
still accept that this is a book
that is truly in a league of its own.
The most eminent manifestation
of the Arabic language bar none.
You see the Qur'an descended among a people
that were at the very pinnacle of rhetorical expression.
These same people then experienced a Qur'an
from Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam that was so pure
in its Arabic on one hand,
but unprecedented in its eloquence,
and yet at the same time, mysteriously independent
of the poetry and the prose of the Arabic language
that they knew so well and had mastered.
Doctor Bassam Saeh explains very succinctly
the miraculousness of the Qur'an lies in this very paradox.
It being truly Arabic, but at the same time,
a new language, somehow.
"This may appear to be illogical," he says,
"but a miracle by definition is that which surpasses logic.
"You see a miracle that rests on logic," he says,
"ceases to be a miracle."
The pagan Arabs just couldn't explain
how they collectively failed at producing a single chapter
of the Qur'an, this was the challenge.
With merely similar features to the Qur'an,
according to their own biased judges
when they were the masters of the Arabic language
and when Muhammad had brought over 6,000 verses
of this Qur'an, and then the killer blow in this standoff
which left absolutely no room for further doubt
was the fact that this man,
Muhammad Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam was illiterate,
unlettered to begin with.
It was an utter enigma for them
and this is what caused them to settle in the end
on the accusation of Muhammed being a magician.
Not realizing in the process
that this very accusation entails them conceding to the fact
that there is something supernatural about this book.
I can totally understand how it could be really difficult
for anyone to grasp in our day and age
how any work of literature could ever be miraculous.
And that's why it's useful to consider the reaction
of the Qur'an's first audience.
Instead of just outperforming the unlettered man
in what was their strongest suit,
thereby ending his call and his religion in its infancy,
by meeting the challenge, instead, they did something
very different. They spent fortunes trying to smear his name
and prevent a single verse from reaching the ears
or the hearts of anyone who was visiting
their hometown, Mecca.
They disavowed their codes of chivalry and tribal honor
which were massive undertakings for early Arabs.
They starved his followers,
murdered and tortured his supporters,
many of which were their own family members.
And they ultimately waged war after war
against their fellow clansmen.
As the great Imam, Al-Baqillani says in his book,
"I'jaz al-Qur'an," the inimitability of the Qur'an,
"This is of the greatest testimonies
"to the fact that they were truly failed by their words
"and so they felt compelled to reach for their swords."
It was not just because their greatest poets,
like Labid ibn Rab'iah, was now retiring from poetry
and converting to Islam.
But the very fact that they would echo to each other
privately behind closed doors
that rivaling this Qur'an was absolutely impossible.
When Al-Walid ibn al-Mughira, a staunch enemy of Islam
until his very death, was asked to critique the Qur'an,
he responded, "And what can I possibly say?
"There is not a single man amongst you who is better versed
"in poetry or prose or even the poetry of the jinn,"
the demon spirits, than I am
"And by God, what this man Muhammad says,
"does not bear resemblance to any of that."
He continued to say,
"By God, his statements have a distinct sweetness to them
"and such a charm hovers over them.
"Its highest parts," meaning the surface apparent,
initial meanings of the Qur'an "are so fruitful."
he says, "And its depths, "
the more you dive into this Qur'an,
"gush forth without end, unrelenting profundity,
"it dominates and can never be dominated," he says,
"and it is certainly bound to crush everything beneath it."
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