peace of Allah be upon him), as it says in the verses of the Qur'an
and in the hadeeth of al-Bukhaari, no. 7274. Hence I want to ask: How
can the Qur'an be a miracle for the non-Arabs who do not know Arabic,
and who formed the majority of inhabitants of the world at that time?
Praise be to Allah.
Firstly:
The hadeeth referred to in the question is as follows:
It was narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) said:"There is not a single
Prophet who was not given signs so that the people would believed in
him because of them. What I have been given is a Revelation that Allah
has revealed to me, and I hope that I will be the one with the most
followers on the Day of Resurrection."
Narrated by al-Bukhaari (1044) and Muslim (152).
Al-Haafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him) said: There are
several possible interpretations of the hadeeth:
It was said that what is meant is that the miracles of the Prophets
have come to an end with the end of their time, and no one witnessed
them except those who were present, but the miracle of the Qur'an is
ongoing and will continue until the Day of Resurrection. It is
extraordinary in its style and eloquence, and in what it foretold of
future events of the unseen, so that no era passed except something
appeared that the Qur'an said would come to pass, which proves the
truthfulness of its claim. This is the strongest of the
interpretations of the hadeeth.
It was also said that what is meant is that the miracles of the past
were visible and could be seen with the eyes, such as the she-camel of
Saalih and the staff of Moosa, whereas the miracle of the Qur'an may
be comprehended with the intellect, so the number of those who
followed the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) because of it were more numerous, since that which can be seen
with the eyes comes to an end when the looking ends, whereas that
which may be comprehended with the intellect will continue to be
understood by those who come after the first generations.
Fath al-Baari, 9/70
Secondly:
The answer to the question, How can the Qur'an be a miracle for the
unlettered non-Arabs who formed the majority of inhabitants of the
world at that time? is as follows:
it is known that the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon
him) was sent among the Arabs, who were distinguished by their great
eloquence and beautiful style in speech, so Allah, may He be exalted,
made the miracle or sign of the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah
be upon him) of the same nature of that by which his people were
distinguished, so that the miracle and challenge would be more
effective, just as the sign of Moosa (peace be upon him) was his staff
or stick, with which he overcame the deceit of the sorcerers, and the
sign of 'Eesa (peace be upon him) was the healing of those who had
been born blind and of the lepers, because knowledge of medicine was
widespread at his time.
With regard to the non-Arabs, in the past and at present, and how the
Qur'an may be a miracle for them, and whether they were included in
its challenge, this may be explained from several angles:
-1-
Not all Arabs have great knowledge of the Arabic language and its
style and eloquence, just as not all non-Arabs are ignorant of the
Arabic language. Hence it is known that the miracle and the challenge
is addressed to all those who know Arabic, whether they learned it
from birth, like the Arabs, or they learned it later on, like the
non-Arabs. Thus it is clear that the case of the non-Arabs is like
that of Arabs who have no knowledge of their language.
Abu 'Abdullah al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
If it is said: "With regard to reviving the dead, turning the staff
into a snake and other, similar miracles, they are very clear and no
one who observes that will have any doubt about it. It will be clear
to all rational people and no doubt will remain; rather they will all
reach a definitive conclusion after seeing that. But this is not the
case with regard to your Prophet's claim of the miraculous nature of
the Qur'an, because not everyone will be able to understand its
miraculous nature; rather it is only you (Arabs) who can see that, and
this applies only to those Arabs who have a good command of the
language, as you claim. As for those who do not have a good command of
the language, or non-Arabs who do not understand Arabic, they will not
understand its miraculous nature. If a non-Arab is asked to speak a
word of Arabic, he will not be able to do so, so the fact that he is
not able to do that, does not prove that what you are challenging him
with is true. Similarly, if an Arab who does not have a good command
of Arabic is asked to speak proper Arabic, he will not be able to do
so; therefore for him the Qur'an is not miraculous."
The answer to that is:
We will explain, insha Allah, some aspects of its miraculous nature,
of which there are many, some of which can be understood by ordinary
people, town dwellers and desert dwellers alike, and these aspects are
as clear as turning the staff into a snake and raising the dead. If we
assume, for the sake of argument, that it is only miraculous with
regard to its eloquence and style, which is different to the style of
the speech of ordinary people, then we say that the miraculous nature
of the Qur'an, raising the dead and turning the staff into a snake are
not going to be understood equally or at the same time by rational
people. Rather the one who appreciates the miraculous nature of any
miracle is the one who knows how and why that thing is a miracle, as
he knows that it is something that cannot be achieved by human tricks
and cannot be reached by discovering some material with special
characteristics.
It may not be far-fetched to say that a specious argument may be
developed in the mind of one who is ignorant of medicine or magic,
which prevents him from seeing the miracle; therefore he may say:
Perhaps Moosa had some extra knowledge of magic that the sorcerers did
not know and had never learned, and by the same token, perhaps 'Eesa
had found some stones with special qualities or some other material
with special qualities by means of which he was able to achieve what
he achieved. Such a specious argument can only develop in the mind of
one who is ignorant of medicine and magic. As for the one who has any
knowledge of medicine or magic, no such confusion will arise in his
mind, because he realises, on the basis of his knowledge and
experience, that the miracle performed by a prophet is something that
cannot be achieved by means of professional tricks or finding some
materials with special characteristics; rather it is a miracle that
happens by the will of the Creator of the universe, by means of which
He intended to give proof of the authenticity of the one who called
people to Him. Thus we conclude that understanding of the miraculous
nature of raising the dead and turning the staff into a snake was
first reached by the sorcerers and magicians, and it may not have been
understood by many of the fools who were ignorant of medicine and
magic. The same may be said of the miraculous nature of the Qur'an,
without any differences: understanding of it came to those who had
knowledge of the Arabic language and would see, based on their
knowledge of Arabic, the difference between the Qur'an and regular
Arabic speech. Thus they would conclude that it was not within the
ability of the Arabs to say things in the same style. If the eloquent
Arabs and those who were well versed in Arabic were unable to match
it, then others are more unlikely to be able to do so. As we say, if
the doctors are unable to raise the dead and heal those who were born
blind and lepers, people other than doctors are more unlikely to be
able to do so; and if the sorcerers were unable to turn a stick into a
snake, then people other than sorcerers are more unlikely to be able
to do so.
The statement that matching the Qur'an is something that the Arabs are
not able to do, and non-Arabs are not involved in this challenge, is
similar to saying that only doctors are unable to raise the dead, and
people other than doctors are not involved in this challenge, or
saying that only sorcerers are unable to turn a stick into a snake,
and people other than sorcerers are not involved in this challenge. As
the challenge in the other two cases (raising the dead and turning the
stick into a snake) is expected to be undertaken by those who have the
relevant skills, the same applies in the case of the Qur'an. Rather,
in the case of the Qur'anic miracle, it has aspects that we will
discuss which everyone can understand, whether he is a non-Arab or an
Arab, a Magian or a Jew or Christian. We will discuss it below, in sha
Allah.
So we may conclude from what we have said that Muhammad (blessings and
peace of Allah be upon him) brought the Qur'an, challenged people with
it and it is a miracle, and anyone who brings a miracle and challenges
others with it is truthful. Therefore the certain conclusion is that
Muhammad (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) is true.
Al-I'laam bima fi Deen an-Nasaarah min al-Fasaad wa'l-Awhaam wa Izhaar
Mahaasin al-Islam, p. 326
-2-
Some of the scholars said that the miracle in the Book of Allah, may
He be exalted, is not only in the wording, but also the meanings, the
sequence of meanings and the way in which ideas are presented. So the
miracle and challenge for the Arabs has to do with the style, and for
others it has to do with the fact that no one among the speakers of
any other language is able to come up with something similar to the
Qur'an in any other language.
Al-Jassaas (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
The words of Allah, may He be exalted, (interpretation of the
meaning): "Say: 'If 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'" [al-Isra' 17:88]prove the miraculous nature
of the Qur'an. Some people say that its miracle is in the wording and
style on the one hand, and in the meanings and the sequence in which
ideas are presented, on the other hand. They quote as evidence for
that the fact that in this verse the Qur'an challenges both the Arabs
and the non-Arabs, the jinn and humans. It is well-known that the
non-Arabs could not be challenged on the aspect of the wording and
style, therefore the challenge for them should have to do with the
meanings and the sequence in which ideas are presented.
Some of the scholars insist that its miraculous nature is limited to
its style and eloquence of expression. They say: The miraculous nature
of the Qur'an has many aspects: its beautiful style, its eloquent and
concise wording, the way in which it combines many meanings in few
words, in addition to the fact that it is completely free of any words
that sound ineloquent or any ideas or meanings that are out of place,
as well as being free of any contradictions. All of it, from beginning
to end, is consistent, as described above. The words of people, on the
other hand, especially if they speak at length, cannot be free of
cheap words, corrupt meanings and contradictions. What we have
mentioned of the flaws in people's speech are present in the speech of
people of all languages; it does not apply only to those who speak
Arabic. Thus it is possible that the challenge of the Qur'an may be
applicable to the non-Arabs in that way: challenging them to bring
something that is free of the faults and flaws referred to above,
because saying things in an eloquent manner is not something that is
limited only to Arabic, to the exclusion of other languages, even
though the Arabic language is the most eloquent. We know that the
Qur'an is the pinnacle of eloquence, so it is possible that the
challenge to the non-Arabs is by way of challenging them to produce
words at the highest level of eloquence in their own languages.
Ahkaam al-Qur'an, 5/34, 35
-3-
There are many aspects to the miraculous nature of the Book of Allah;
it is not limited to style and eloquence only. Hence some of the
scholars said that the miraculous nature of the Book of Allah which
all people, not only the Arabs, may understand, and that Allah's
challenge to produce something like it, is only applicable to these
aspects. Hence Allah issued this challenge to the jinn as well as to
mankind, to produce something like this Qur'an. One of these aspects
is that it foretold events that would happen and foretold the time at
which they would happen, for example.
Abu 'Abdullah al-Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
… The third aspect of the miraculous nature of the Qur'an is what it
includes of news of the future before any human even knew anything
about it, and foretelling events before they happened. This is
something that cannot be known except via the truthful ones who are
conveying from Allah, may He be exalted. We will refer to some events
just to prove this point in brief, with no need for a lengthy
discussion.
For example, Allah, may He be exalted, said (interpretation of the meaning):
"Certainly, you shall enter Al-Masjid al-Haram; if Allah wills,
secure, (some) having your heads shaved, and (some) having your hair
cut short, having no fear"
[Muhammad 47:27].
This verse is one of the clearest miracles of the Prophet (blessings
and peace of Allah be upon him). Allah, may He be exalted, promised
him that He would cause him to enter al-Masjid al-Haraam, him and his
people, in safety, and that He would grant them the conquest of Makkah
in the best state. They kept waiting for that until its time came and
Allah fulfilled His promise. Then they entered it as He had promised,
and conquered it as they had been foretold.
Al-I'laam bima fi Deen an-Nasaarah min al-Fasaad wa'l-Awhaam wa Izhaar
Mahaasin al-Islam, p. 337
There are other opinions too, but what we have quoted above is
sufficient, and it is the strongest view concerning this matter.
To sum up: the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) was
an Arab and the Qur'an is Arabic. He was sent to eloquent, well-spoken
Arabs, hence his greatest miracle was the Book of Allah, may He be
exalted. They were unable to match its wording, phrases, style and
eloquence. Thus the rational people among the eloquent and well-spoken
realised that this was not the words of a human being, hence they
believed.
As for those Arabs who were not eloquent or well spoken, and the
non-Arabs, what is to be mentioned to them is the meanings and rulings
of the Qur'an, and those aspects of its miraculous nature that they
are able to understand. Thus they may develop conviction based on the
knowledge and understanding that this is not the words of a human
being. Hence many of the non-Arabs became Muslim because of coming
across the meaning of a verse. In such cases, this non-Arab could not
understand its eloquence and style, but its meaning is the reason why
he became Muslim. Many such stories have been passed down by numerous
narrators, and in our own time there are many more. Those people only
became Muslim after they learned what there is in these verses that no
human being could have produced, and that at the time of the Prophet
(blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) there was no technology and
no scientific discoveries that could enable him to tell people about
these matters. Thus they accepted that this was revelation from
heaven, so they became Muslim. Hence we can see the extent to which
the hadeeth the questioner referred to is applicable to real facts.
And Allah knows best.
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