Qur'an miracles
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Muslims consider the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, as the word of God and a miracle.[1]. The Qur'an claims that it has been created in miraculous way as a revelation from Allah (God), as a perfect copy of what was written in heaven and existed there from all eternity.[2] Therefore the verses of the book are referred to as ayat, which also means "a miracle" in the Arabic language.[3] Muslims also believe that the Qur'an, as we know it today, is the same as was revealed 1400 years ago.
The Qur'an itself gives an open challenge for anyone who denies its claimed divine origin to produce a text like it. [Qur'an 17:88][Qur'an 2:23][Qur'an 10:38]. Some critics believe that Muhammad was influenced by older Jewish and Christian traditions, and therefore included many of the wonders known from the Bible in the Qur'an. [4]
The miracles in the Qur’an can be classified into three distinct categories: literary miracles, scientific miracles and prophecies.
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[edit] Literary miracle
The Qur'an states that Muhammad was ummi (interpreted as illiterate in Muslim tradition) and neither read a book nor wrote a book ([Qur'an 7:157], [Qur'an 29:48]) and that he did not know about past events nor could he have possibly known the hidden facts that are mentioned in the Qur'an.([Qur'an 3:44], [Qur'an 11:49], [Qur'an 28:44])[5]. On the other side, some argue with that; according to Watt, the meaning of the qur'anic term ummi is unscriptured rather than illiterate as Muslim tradition has concluded. Watt argues that certain amount of writing was necessary for Muhammad to do his commercial purposes though it seems certain that he had not read any scriptures. [6]
Also, Islamic scholars claim that Qur'an is written in a perfect inimitable style (as far elegant writing is concerned), they believe that no human endeavour can match it, and that though several attempts have been made to produce a work equal to it, none has as yet succeeded. [7]
[edit] Scientific miracles
Some scholars relate some verses in the Qur'an to some modern scientific facts.[8] The miraculous nature of these claims lies in the fact that the Qur'an was developed years before advanced scientific knowledge was available in particular fields; as such, the relation of these verses to certain scientific theories would reinforce the belief of many in the Qur'an's divine origin. The scholars, like Zaghloul Elnaggar and Maurice Bucaille, give evidences that modern scientific discoveries and theories were already mentioned in the Qur'an; for example that the Big Bang theory was mentioned in Sura 21 [Qur'an 21:30] and that the Big Crunch theory was mentioned in the same Sura [Qur'an 21:104]. [9] [10]
Maurice Bucaille, in regard to writing his book The Bible, The Quran and Science, said, “My reason for doing this was that our knowledge of these disciplines is such, that it is impossible to explain how a text produced at the time of the Qur'an could have contained ideas that have only been discovered in modern times” and “There is indeed no human work prior to modern times that contains statements which were equally in advance of the state of knowledge at the time of they appeared and which might be compared to the Qur'an.”[11][12][13]
Dr. William F. Campbell criticizes Bucaille and his conclusions extensively in his book The Qur'an and the Bible in the Light of History & Science. Campbell argues that many of the supposed miracles in the Qur'an are simply forced interpretations; he asserts that Bucaille and others read their own desired conclusions into the text, and he accuses Bucaille specifically of being particularly inventive and disingenuous in his study of the Qur'an.[14] Campbell points out many of what he perceives as scientific inaccuracies in the Qur'an; additionally, he notes several pagan writings which offer information which he argues is more detailed and accurate than the presentation in the Qur'anic verses compiled centuries later, even though those writings claim no divine origin. Lastly, he argues that several of the allegedly miraculous verses described in the Qur'an are actually proceeded by Biblical verses from which he believes the Qur'anic verses are directly derived.[15]
Many classical Muslim commentators and scientists, notably al-Biruni, assigned to the Qur'an a separate and autonomous realm of its own and held that the Qur'an "does not interfere in the business of science nor does it infringe on the realm of science."[16] These medieval scholars argued for the possibility of multiple scientific explanation of the natural phenomena, and refused to subordinate the Qur'an to an ever-changing science.[16]
[edit] Prophecies
Islamic studies claim that the Qur'an mentions events which were yet to come (at the time of its creation). These studies argue that such prophecies show another proof of the divine origin of Qur'an. For example, some Islamic scholars claim that the Qur'an had predicted the eventual defeat of the Persians by the Romans.[17] However, the view of the outcome of this centuries-long conflict between the two nations varies- some do not perceive a Roman victory, and some do not see a clear victor within the conflict at all.[18][citation needed]
[edit] Notes
- ^ F. Tuncer, "International Conferences on Islam in the Contemporary World", March 4-5, 2006, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, U.S.A., p. 95-96
- ^ Wilson, Christy: "The Qur'an" in A Lion Handbook The World's Religion, p. 315
- ^ Wilson, ibid.
- ^ Wilson, p. 316
- ^ F. Tuncer, ibid
- ^ William Montgomery Watt, "Muhammad's Mecca", Chapter 3: "Religion In Pre-Islamic Arabia", p. 26-52
- ^ http://www.miraclesofthequran.com/perfection_01.html
- ^ [1]
- ^ Islam Online - The Big Bang
- ^ [2]
- ^ The Quran and Modern Science
- ^ The Quran and Modern Science
- ^ [3]
- ^ Campbell, page 184.
- ^ Campbell, William F. The Qur'an and the Bible in the Light of History & Science. Second Edition. Middle East Resources, 2002. ISBN 1-881085-03-01
- ^ a b Ahmad Dallal, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, Quran and science
- ^ [4]
- ^ [5]
[edit] References
- (1993) A Lion Handbook The World's Religion. Lion Publishing plc. ISBN 0-85648-187-4.
- Ibrahim, I.A (1997). A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam. Darussalam. ISBN 9960-34-011-2.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Scientific miracles at Islam Online
- Zaghloul El-Naggar about Qur'an miracles
- The Miracles of the Qur'an - Harun Yahya
- Medical Miracles of the Quran
- The quran miracles encyclopedia
- Answering-Islam.org: critique of muslim claims of miracles
- Answering-Christianity.com: Counter-criticism of Answering-Islam's arguements
