Quran is the Word of Allah(God)

Literary Challenge In the following verses Allah has challenged the whole of mankind to try and produce a single chapter like the Qur"an. This challenge, which has remained unmet, captivated the minds of the Arabs at the time of revelat-ion. "If you are in doubt of what We have revealed to Our Messenger, then produce one chapter like it, call upon all your helpers, besides Allah, if you are truthful." Surah al-Baqarah (The Heifer) 2: 23. "Or do they say: "He (Prophet Muhammad, ) has forged it (this Qur"an)?" Nay! They believe not! Let them then produce a recitation like it (the Qur"an) if they are truthful." Surah at-Toor (The Mount) 52: 33-34. The Qur"an was revealed over 1430 years ago and the challenge to produce something like the Qur"an has remained to this day. Throughout the centuries, thinkers, poets, theologians and literary critics have attempted to challenge the Qur"an. Some of these challengers in the past have included: Musaylamah; Ibn Al-Mukaffa; Yahya ibn Al-Hakam al-Ghazal; Sayyid "Ali Muhammad; Bassar ibn Burd.  Some may argue that William Shakespeare, who was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language, is often used as an example of unique literature. The argument posed is that if Shakespeare expressed his poetry and prose in a unique manner " and he is a human being " then surely no matter how unique the Qur"an is, it must also be from a human being.  However there are some problems with the above argument. It does not take into account the nature of the Qur"an"s uniqueness and it doesn"t understand the uniqueness of literary geniuses such as Shakespeare. Although Shakespeare composed poetry and prose that received an unparalleled aesthetic reception, the literary form he expressed his works in was not unique. In many instances Shakespeare used the common Iambic Pentameter (The Iambic pentameter is a meter in poetry. It refers to a line consisting of five iambic feet. The word "pentameter" simply means that there are five feet in the line.) However in the case of the Qur"an, its language is in an entirely unknown and unmatched literary form. The structural features of the Qur"anic discourse render it unique and not the subjective appreciation of its literary and linguistic makeup. In Arabic language three different modes- poetry- 16 rhythmic patterns, common speech " mursal , saj mixture of both. Classical scholars such as al-Baqillani and al-Rummani view the Qur"an as having its own unique literary form. This view is also supported by western scholarship which can be found in the writings of famous orientalists such as Arthur J. Arberry, Professor Bruce Lawrence and D.J. Stewart. The Arabs, who were known to have been Arabic linguists par excellence, failed to successfully challenge the Qur"an. Forster Fitzgerald Arbuthnot, who was a notable British Orientalist and translator, states: ""and that though several attempts have been made to produce a work equal to it as far as elegant writing is concerned, none has as yet succeeded." The implication of this is that there is no link between the Qur"an and the Arabic language; however this seems impossible because the Qur"an is made up of the Arabic language. On the other hand, every combination of Arabic words and letters have been used to try and imitate the Qur"an. Rational Deduction Rational deduction is the thinking process where logical conclusions are drawn from a universally accepted statement or provable premises. This process is also called rational inference or logical deduction. In the context of the Qur"an"s uniqueness the universally accepted statement supported by eastern and western scholarship is: "The Qur"an was not successfully imitated by the Arabs at the time of revelation" 1. The Qur"an could not have come from an Arab as the Arabs, at the time of revelation, were linguists par excellence, there was literally a shakespear of the arabic language in every corner and they failed to challenge the Qur"an. They had even admitted that the Qur"an could have not come from a human being. Arabs at that time fought many battles against the muslims to try and destroy in Islam when they could have got the best arab writers and academically produce a book like the quran but they knew they couldn't and had to fight wars against us. It also cannot come from an Arab in the present time as the arabic language to the mixing of differnt cultures dialects and languages in the arab countries has suffered something called language degenration which means the pure arabic language is not at thes stnadard as the time of the quran 1400 years ago, for example the word for teleophone in arabic nowadays is telephooon, which is basically elongated english words. 2. The Qur"an could not have come from the Prophet Muhammad due to the following reasons: a. The Prophet Muhammad was an Arab himself and all the Arabs failed to challenge the Qur"an. b. The Arabs linguists at the time of revelation never accused the Prophet of being the author of the Qur"an. c. The Prophet Muhammad experienced many trials and tribulations during the course of his Prophetic mission. For example his children died, his beloved wife Khadija passed away, he was boycotted, his close companions were tortured and killed, yet the Qur"an"s literary character remains that of the divine voice and character. Nothing in the Qur"an expresses the turmoil and emotions of the Prophet Muhammad. It is almost a psychological and physiological impossibility to go through what the Prophet went through and yet none of the emotions are expressed in the literary character of the Qur"an. d. The Qur"an is a known literary masterpiece yet its verse were at many times revealed for specific circumstances and events that occurred. However, without revision or deletion they are literary masterpieces. All literary masterpieces have undergone revision and deletion to ensure literary perfection, however the Qur"an was revealed instantaneously. e. The hadith or narrations of the Prophet Muhammad are in a totally different style then that of the Qur"an. How can any human being express themselves orally over a 23 year period (which was the period of Qur"anic revelation) in two distinct styles? This is a psychological and physiological impossibility according to modern research. f. All types of human expression can be imitated if the blueprint of that expression exists. For example artwork can be imitated even though some art is thought to be extraordinary or amazingly unique. But in the case of the Qur"an we have the blueprint " the Qur"an itself " yet no one has been able to imitate its unique literary form. g. Prophet Muhammad, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, did not go to any school, study from any teacher, or even learn how to read and write. He even had no interest in poetry, which was one of the most prized disciplines of his time. Yet suddenly at age forty, he began to recite this immaculate revelation h. He himself denied it, he had a book which as an outstanding eloquence and wisdom and people used to in that culture used to make those with the best poetry to the top this is what they cherished at that time. If he wanted money, power, he would have just said yes this is from me. i. The Prophet, Sall-Allahu alayhi wa sallam, himself was most deeply moved by the Book. He used to stand for hours in solitary midnight prayers reciting from the Book until his feet used to get swollen. How preposterous that one should attempt to attribute the Book to him. Has there ever been another example of somebody getting so moved by his own words 3. The Qur"an could not have come from a Non-Arab as the language in the Qur"an is Arabic, and the knowledge of the Arabic language is a pre-requisite to successfully challenge the Qur"an. 4. So the only other explanation that it has come from a supernatural source ie God