Quran 96:4 – Was It Written Down?
is being given to them in written form in such an elaborate manner. This gives the impression that it was revealed in a written form
Written in اللوح المحفوظ
But he didn’t. He taught the Quran through revelation. And then this revelation was written down. It wasn’t as though Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم was writing and God took control over his hand. The verse seems to suggest that God taught ‘mankind’ by ‘the pen’. So actually it makes more sense when you read Ghamidi sahabs footnote on Surah nun as well 24. Ie., writing at this time. Obviously, this refers to the Qur’ān. It was written by the pen and the previous scriptures too were preserved through the pen. Viewed thus, this is in fact an evidence borne by all written divine teachings given to mankind in the form of the Torah, the Psalms and the Gospel. Their topics, predictions and teachings – all bear witness that just as the presenters of the Torah, the Psalms and the Gospel were not mad men, the Qur’ān too through the exaltedness and superiority of its topics, through its extra-ordinary style and unparalleled eloquence bears witness that its presenter too is not a mad person. Imām Amīn Ahsan Islāhī writes: … The reason that the Quraysh called the Prophet (sws) mad was that their leaders were totally unable to understand from where the punishment with which he was emphatically and vehemently warning them as if he had seen it with his very eyes would arrive. They were worried that the extra-ordinary conviction found in his tone, the superhuman concern and anxiety found in his preaching endeavours and the heart-melting affection and sympathy found in his manner of reminding people was greatly influencing the masses. For this reason, they wanted to convince people that his anxiety and concern were not because there was any imminent danger of they being punished and that the Almighty had actually sent him to forewarn them of this punishment; the fact of the matter was that he was afflicted with hallucinations which made him imagine its coming from all sides. In order to further strengthen their claim, they would add that he was under some magical spell which had mentally deranged him and caused such nonsensical conversation from him. (Amīn Ahsan Islāhī, Tadabbur-i-Qur’ān, vol. 8, 514) How was mankind taught by the pen? Because after God revealed his scripture, people wrote it down. Then it was taught to people from this written down pen.