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Quran and miracles

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This is a sub-article to Qur'an and Islamic view of miracles.

Muslims consider the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, as the word of God and a miracle.[1] There are many miracles claimed in connection with Qur'an, either recorded in the Qur'an itself or believed by some Muslims about the book.

Qur'an as a miracle

The Qur'an challenges the men and the jinn to produce a book like unto it (17:88), ten chapters (Arabic: sūra) like unto it (11:12-13), or one chapter like unto it (2:23, 10:38). Based on these verses, Muslim theologians regard the miraculous aspect of the Qur'an in this challenge (Arabic: tahaddi), and consequently formulated and elaborated the doctrine of the inimitable nature of the Qur'an (Arabic: i`jāz) [2]

The Qur'anic view of miracle is a display of omnipotence, of divine favor and mystery, Denis Gril states.[2] Following this view, according to Denis Gril, the Qur'an argues for its miraculousness from two directions: It says that its signs and verses provide enough evidences for its miraculous nature[2]:

“But it [the Qurʾān] provides clear signs (āyāt bayyināt) in the breasts of those who have received knowledge. Only the unjust dispute our signs; they say, why are [miraculous] signs not sent down to him by his lord. Answer, the signs are close to (ʿinda) God and I am only one who gives a clear warning”29:49-50 (see also 6:109)

The argument is that on the one hand, all the signs are present in the Qur'an and nothing has been omitted from it (cf. 6:37-28;18:54); and on the other, "the signs are close to (ʿinda) God, as well as 'in the breasts.' The miracle of the Qur'an is therefore of the interior kind."[2] The other Qur'anic argument for its miraculousness is based on the creation. Denis Gril states:[2]

The miracle... is also in creation, since it reveals in its many signs, which the Qur'an has enumerated in a great number of verses, the action and unity of God. In more than one passage, the response to a request for a miracle by the Prophet is a call to contemplate the signs of creation (e.g. 10:20; 13:7). These signs are often symbols of resurrection just as the miracle foreshadows the world beyond, whether via the annihilation of the unjust or by the contemplation of the other world, where the extraordinary is ordinary.

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.[3]

The alleged miracles in the Qur’an can be classified into three distinct categories: literary miracles, scientific miracles and prophecies.

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 ([Quran 7:157], [Quran 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.([Quran 3:44], [Quran 11:49], [Quran 28:44])[4]. 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. [5]
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. [6]

Scientific miracles

Some scholars relate some verses in the Qur'an to some modern scientific facts.[7] 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 moderen scientific discoveries and theories were already mentioned in the Qur'an; for example that the Big Bang and the Big Crunch theories were mentioned in Sura 21 [Quran 21:30][Quran 21:104]. [8] [9]

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.”[10][11][12]

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.[13] 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.[14]

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."[15] 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.[15]


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 are proof of the divine origin of Qur'an. For example, some Islamic scholars claim that the Qur'an had predicted [Quran 30:2–4] the coming defeat of the Persians by the Romans. [16][17]

Notes

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ a b c d e Gril, Denis. "Miracles" Encyclopaedia of the Quran.
  3. ^ Wilson, p. 316
  4. ^ F. Tuncer, ibid
  5. ^ William Montgomery Watt, "Muhammad's Mecca", Chapter 3: "Religion In Pre-Islamic Arabia", p. 26-52
  6. ^ http://www.miraclesofthequran.com/perfection_01.html
  7. ^ [1]
  8. ^ Islam Online - The Big Bang
  9. ^ [2]
  10. ^ The Quran and Modern Science
  11. ^ The Quran and Modern Science
  12. ^ [3]
  13. ^ Campbell, page 184.
  14. ^ 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
  15. ^ a b Ahmad Dallal, Encyclopedia of the Qur'an, Quran and science
  16. ^ [4]
  17. ^ [5]

References

  • A Lion Handbook The World's Religion. Lion Publishing plc. 1993. ISBN 0-85648-187-4.
  • Ibrahim, I.A (1997). A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam. Darussalam. ISBN 9960-34-011-2.

See also

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