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It must be stressed that the Qur’an is accurate about
many, many things, but accuracy does not necessarily mean that a book is a
divine revelation. In fact, accuracy is only one of the criteria for
divine revelations. For instance, the telephone book is accurate, but that
does not mean that it is divinely revealed. The real problem lies in that
one must establish some proof of the source the Qur’an’s information. The
emphasis is in the other direction, in that the burden of proof is on the
reader. One cannot simply deny the Qur’an’s authenticity without
sufficient proof. If, indeed, one finds a mistake, then one has the right
to disqualify it. This is exactly what the Qur’an encourages.
Looking for Mistakes
Once a man came up to me after a lecture I delivered
in South Africa. He was very angry about what I had said, and so he
claimed, “I am going to go home tonight and find a mistake in the Qur’an.”
Of course, I said, “Congratulations. That is the most intelligent thing
that you have said.” Certainly, this is the approach Muslims need to take
with those who doubt the Qur’an’s authenticity, because the Qur’an itself
offers the same challenge. And inevitably, after accepting its challenge
and discovering that it is true, these people will come to believe it
because they could not disqualify it. In essence, the Qur’an earns their
respect because they themselves have had to verify its authenticity.
An essential fact that cannot be reiterated enough
concerning the authenticity of the Qur’an is that one’s inability to
explain a phenomenon oneself does not require one’s acceptance of the
phenomenon’s existence or another person’s explanation of it.
Specifically, just because one cannot explain something does not mean that
one has to accept someone else’s explanation. However, the person’s
refusal of other explanations returns the burden of proof back on himself
to find a feasible answer. This general theory applies to numerous
concepts in life but fits most wonderfully with the Qur’anic challenge,
for it creates a difficulty for one who says, “I do not believe it.” At
the onset of refusal one immediately has an obligation to find an
explanation oneself if one feels others’ answers are inadequate.
In fact, in one particular Qur’anic verse that I have
always seen mistranslated into English, Allah mentions a man who heard the
truth explained to him. It states that he was derelict in his duty because
after he heard the information, he left without checking the verity of
what he had heard. In other words, one is guilty if one hears something
and does not research it and check to see whether it is true. One is
supposed to process all information and decide what is garbage to be
thrown out and what is worthwhile information to be kept and benefited
from immediately or even at a later date.
One cannot just let it rattle around in one’s head. It
must be put in the proper categories and approached from that point of
view. For example, if the information is still speculative, then one must
discern whether it’s closer to being true or false. But if all the facts
have been presented, then one must decide absolutely between these two
options. And even if one is not positive about the authenticity of the
information, one is still required to process all the information and make
the admission that one just does not know for sure. Although this last
point appears to be futile, in actuality, it is beneficial to the arrival
at a positive conclusion at a later time in that it forces the person to
at least recognize, research, and review the facts.
This familiarity with the information will give the
person “the edge” when future discoveries are made and additional
information is presented. The important thing is that one deals with the
facts and does not simply discard them out of empathy and disinterest.
Exhausting the Alternatives
The real certainty about the truthfulness of the
Qur’an is evident in the confidence that is prevalent throughout it, and
this confidence comes from a different approach: exhausting the
alternatives.” In essence, the Qur’an states, “This book is a divine
revelation; if you do not believe that, then what is it?” In other words,
the reader is challenged to come up with some other explanation. Here is a
book made of paper and ink. Where did it come from? It says it is a divine
revelation; if it is not, then what is its source? The interesting fact is
that no one has yet come up with an explanation that works. In fact, all
alternatives have been exhausted. As has been well established by
non-Muslims, these alternatives basically are reduced to two mutually
exclusive schools of thought, insisting on one or the other.
On one hand, there exists a large group of people who
have researched the Qur’an for hundreds of years and who claim, “One thing
we know for sure: That man, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him),
thought he was a prophet. He was crazy!” They are convinced that Muhammad
(peace and blessings be upon him) was fooled somehow. Then on the other
hand, there is a group that alleges, “Because of this evidence, one thing
we know for sure is that that man, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon
him), was a liar!” Ironically, these two groups never seem to get together
without contradictions.
In fact, many references to Islam usually claim both
theories. They start out by stating that Muhammad (peace and blessings be
upon him) was crazy and then end by saying he was a liar. They never seem
to realize that he could not have been both! For example, if one is
deluded and really thinks that he is a prophet, then he does not sit up
late at night planning, “How will I fool the people tomorrow so that they
think I am a prophet?” He truly believes that he is a prophet, and he
trusts that the answer will be given to him by revelation.
The Critic’s Trail
As a matter of fact, a great deal of the Qur’an came
in answer to questions. Someone would ask Muhammad (peace and blessings be
upon him) a question, and the revelation would come with the answer to it.
Certainly, if someone is crazy and believes that an angel put words in his
ear, then when someone asks him a question, he thinks that the angel will
give him the answer. Because he is crazy, he really thinks that. He does
not tell someone to wait a short while and then run to his friends and ask
them, “Does anyone know the answer?” This type of behavior is
characteristic of someone who does not believe that he is a prophet. What
the non-Muslims refuse to accept is that you cannot have it both ways. One
can be deluded, or one can be a liar. One can be either one or neither
one, but one certainly cannot be both! The emphasis is on the fact that
they are unquestionably mutually exclusive personality traits.
The following scenario is a good example of the kind
of circle that non-Muslims go around in constantly. If you ask one of
them, “What is the origin of the Qur’an?” he tells you that it originated
from the mind of a man who was crazy. Then you ask him, “If it came from
his head, then where did he get the information contained in it? Certainly
the Qur’an mentions many things with which the Arabs were not familiar.”
So in order to explain the fact that you bring him, he changes his
position and says, “Well, maybe he was not crazy. Maybe some foreigner
brought him the information. So he lied and told people that he was a
prophet.” At this point then you have to ask him, “If Muhammad was a liar,
then where did he get his confidence? Why did he behave as though he
really thought he was a prophet?” Finally backed into a corner, like a cat
he quickly lashes out with the first response that comes to his mind.
Forgetting that he has already exhausted that possibility, he claims,
“Well, maybe he wasn’t a liar. He was probably crazy and really thought
that he was a prophet.” And thus he begins the futile cycle again.
(Part 2)
* Excerpted with some modifications from The
Amazing Qur’an, here cited from:
http://www.ymofmd.com/books/amazing_quran.htm#apro1
** Dr. Gary Miller is
a Canadian former Christian theologian and minister who converted to
Islam. He now works on spreading and preaching Islam to the
world.
Source IslamOnLine.net
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