Hello,
He advised me that the proof 'he' needs that the quran is the word of god is in the challenge that is posed in the quran itself. namely that it is not possible for anyone else to recreate a passage from the quran.
First of all that is not the only challenge (or falsification test) that is mentioned in the Quran. There are many challenges offered in the Quran. Some of them are old [in the sense that circumstances have changed now], other exist till today. To give you an example of each;
The Islamic point of view is that when a man embraces Islam, his past is forgiven from the very beginning. This has been the invitation to Islam: come to Islam and all is forgiven from the past. But consider this. There is only one enemy of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, who is mentioned by name in the Qur'an: one Abu Lahab. In a short chapter of this book, he is condemned to punishment for his sins.
This man hated Islam to such an extent that he used to follow the Prophet around in order to discredit him. If Abu Lahab saw the Prophet (peace be upon him) speaking to a stranger, he would wait until they parted and then would go to the stranger and ask him, "What did he tell you? Did he say, 'Black.'? Well, it's white. Did he say, 'Morning.'? Well, it's night
As it happens, the man himself was alive for many years after this revelation. He could therefore have finished Islam very easily. He needed only to go to the Muslims to announce his conversion. They had in their hands the revelation which said that this man is doomed to punishment. He could have gone to Muslims and say: "I accept Islam, am I forgiven or not?"
He could have confused them so much as to finish this small movement because he would have been pointing out to them that they were now in confusion. The policy was instant forgiveness of the past, but their own revealed scripture announced that he was not forgiven. That is exactly the kind of behaviour one would have expected from him since he always sought to contradict Islam. As it was, Abu Lahab died without accepting Islam.
An example of a challenge that stands still date;
Do they not consider the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other Than Allah, they would surely have found therein Much discrepancy. (4:82)
My question for the forum today is if anyone was to take up the challenge who would judge the passage created.
First of all it’s interesting to note that the pagan Arabs at the time of the Prophet Muhammad [peace be upon him], didn’t even take up the challenge. Coming to your question;
You can judge the passage created for yourself. However one has to be honest, to examine the Quran you have to at least examine the original [i.e. Quran in Arabic] as so much is missing in translations very often. And to examine Quran from a linguistic point of view, one need to know Arabic.
I assume some islamic scholars would be tasked with judging the passage and enivitably the response would be that the passge does not compare to the quran.
Arthur J Arberry ,
"Briefly, the rhetoric and rhythm of the Arabic of the Koran are so characteristic, so powerful, so highly emotive, that any version whatsoever is bound in the nature of things to be but a poor copy of the glittering splendour of the original."
Stubbe:
"The truth is I do not find any understanding author who controverts the elegance of Al Qur'an, it being generally esteemed as the standard of the Arabic language and eloquence."
Dawood (Iraqi Jewish Scholar)
"The Koran is the earliest and by far the finest work of Classical Arabic prose. It is acknowledged that the Koran is not only one of the most influential books of prophetic literature but also a literary masterpiece in its own right. Translations have, in my opinion, practically failed to convey both the meaning and the rhetorical grandeur of the original."
Zammit:
"Notwithstanding the literary excellence of some of the long pre-Islamic poems, or qasaid, the Qur'an is definitely on a level of its own as the most eminent written manifestation of the Arabic language."
Hirschfield:
"The Qur'an is unapproachable as regards convincing power eloquence and even composition."
Sells,
"There is a quality to the sound of the Qur'an which anyone familiar with it in Arabic can recognize. Qur'anic commentators have discussed the power and beauty of this sound. Is one of the key aspects of the science of analysing ijaz al-Qur'an (the inimitability of the Qur'an)."
Palmer:
"That the best of Arab writers has never succeeded in producing anything equal in merit to the Qur'an itself is not surprising"
They were all Non-Muslims.
