As salaam alaikum (Peace be upon you)
Muslim or non-Muslim would argue that the only possible source of the Quran could be the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) the man responsible for reciting, teaching, and explaining it to the people of Arabia. This has led some thinkers and Orientalists to conclude that the Prophet (PBUH) must have written the Quran.
Those who believe that Prophet Muhammad was the author of the Quran are absolutely wrong. However, merely saying that they are incorrect is not enough, without providing proofs. If we contemplate the nature of this glorious book (the Quran) and the capabilities of the Prophet we will realize that these claims are illogical and groundless.
Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) was an Illeterate:
First, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) was unlettered. How can an illiterate person come up with such a rich, intellectual, and inspiring text that gained acceptance not only in Arabia but also throughout the world?
All historical records available show that Muhummad (pbuh) had made only three trips outside Makkah before his Prophethood:
i. At the age of 9 he accompanied his mother to Madinah.
ii. Between the age of 9 and 12, he accompanied his uncle Abu-Talib on a business trip to Syria.
iii. At the age of 25 he led Khadija’s Caravan to Syria.
It is highly imaginary to assume that the Qur’an resulted from the occasional chats and meetings with the Christians or Jews from any of the above three trips.
The day-to-day life of the Prophet was an open book for all to see. In fact a revelation came asking people to give the Prophet (pbuh) privacy in his own home. If the Prophet had been meeting people who told him what to say as a revelation from God, this would not have been hidden for very long. The extremely prominent Quraish nobles who followed the Prophet and accepted Islam were wise and intelligent men who would have easily noticed anything suspicious about the way in which the Prophet brought the revelations to them – more so since the Prophetic mission lasted 23 years.The enemies of the Prophet kept a close watch on him in order to find proof for their claim that he was a liar – they could not point out even a single instance when the Prophet may have had a secret rendezvous with particular Jews and Christians.It is inconceivable that any human author of the Qur’an would have accepted a situation in which he received no credit whatsoever for originating the Qur’an. Thus, historically and logically it cannot be established that there was a human source for the Qur’an.
Science in Quran:
Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) never went to school! No one taught him. He had no teacher of any kind in any specific subject. How could he acquire the knowledge of Science, astronomy, Embryology, Hydrology, Geology, Sociology, Psychology, oceanography, Laws of nature and human behavior, including lots of scientific statements which came to be known only much recently. (For example, the mention of ocean currents, stars, earth, moon, sun and their fixed paths in Chapter Ar-Rahmaan; and many other scientific statements that are found in the Quran like Formation & role of the mountains, Shape of the earth, The falling star (the black holes), The Early History of Mankind.
Quran included correct scientific information on some incidents that are scientifically incorrect in the Bible (e.g. sun was created after the creation of earth Genesis 1:9-19 and vegetation was created before the Sun-Genesis 1:11-13, 14-19). had prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be on him) copied the information from the Bible and corrected the mistakes before mentioning it in the Qur’an? In addition, Quran includes many statements, currently disproved such as claiming the Earth to be flat or that the Jews are descended from apes and pigs.
Word Repetitions in the Quran:
Apart from the miraculous characteristics of the Qur’an, it also contains what we can term “mathematical miracles.” There are many examples of this fascinating Qur’anic aspect. One example of this is the number of repetitions of certain words in the Qur’an. Some related words are surprisingly repeated the same number of times. Below is a list of such words and the number of repetitions in the Qur’an.
“Day (yawm)” is repeated 365 times in singular form, while its plural and dual forms “days (ayyam and yawmayn)” together are repeated 30 times. The number of repetitions of the word “month” (shahar) is 12.
The word “satan” (shaitan) is used in the Qur’an 88 times, as is the word “angels” (malaika).
The words “paradise” and “hell” are each repeated 77 times.
The number of times the words “Summer-hot” and “winter-cold” are repeated is the same: 5.
The words “benefit” and “corrupt” both appear 50 times.
“Sun” (shams) and “light” (nur) both appear 33 times in the Qur’an.
The words “man” and “woman” are also employed equally: 23 times.
The word “Justice” is mentioned 15 times and the opposite meaning “cruelty” is also mentioned 15 times.
The word “land” appears 13 times in the Qur’an and the word “sea” 32 times, giving a total of 45 references. If we divide that number by that of the number of references to the land we arrive at the figure 28.888888888889%. The number of total references to land and sea, 45, divided by the number of references to the sea in the Qur’an, 32, is 71.111111111111%. Extraordinarily, these figures represent the exact proportions of land and sea on the Earth today.
Arabic Literature:
When the Quran was revealed, the Arabic language was at its peak in richness of expression and literature. The Quran came and challenged the best Arabic literature and poetry of that time. Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) being illiterate, could not possibly have come up with something so miraculously immaculate that it even exceeded the best of poetry and Arabic literature at the time of the language’s peak development.
He had no reason to come up with something like the Quran, and cause the entire society of Arabia to become his enemy. Why would he do something like that? Why would he formulate something that went against almost all the norms of society, and lose his family, relatives, friends and other loved ones — not to mention his wealth and reputation?
The Quran was revealed over a period of 23 years — a very long time! Is it possible for someone to maintain the same exact style of speech, as demonstrated in the Quran, for over 23 years?
Moreover, the sayings of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) are recorded in what Muslims call his ‘Ahadeeth’ (narrations). If we look at the style of the Hadeeth, and compare it with the style of the Quran, we can clearly see that they are different and distinguishable styles of speech. The Prophet (PBUH) spoke publicly — it does not make sense that a man has two unique, distinguishable and completely different styles of speech in public. This is another reason why Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) could not possibly have written the Quran.
Future events in the Quran:
Islam is based on faith and it is a religion supported by miracles, and one of the miracles granted to the Prophet (PBUH) was the knowledge of some of the future events which he attained through revelation. The holy Quran has these signs and much more.
For example, predicting the destruction of the Persian Empire at a time when the latter had a monumental victory over Rome. If the Prophet (PBUH) wrote the Quran, as some people claim, then he would have put his future in real jeopardy by making such a prediction. Neither satellite photos nor on-ground intelligence personnel were available to him at the time of revelation, yet later this prophecy came true.
Moreover, numerous details about many natural phenomena were detailed in the Quran, that were recently proven by experts to be amazingly accurate. For example, the physical development of the fetus inside the womb, along with the timing given by many verses, matches exactly what leading authorities in Embryology are claiming to be recent discoveries.
From the above, it is reasonable to conclude that the Quran is not the creation of the Prophet (PBUH). He had no way of predicting these events with such precision, especially when knowing that the Prophet (PBUH) himself was unlettered.
The Quran has no author, and no group or individual in Arabia has ever claimed to have written it, nor has any group or individual recited, taught, and explained the Quran before the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH). After seeing all these proof and evidence can anybody stil claim that Quran was written by Prophrt Muhammad (PBUH)???
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