Part 20:
Burden of Proof on the
Critic
If the book is not a
revelation, then it is a deception; and if it is a deception, one
must ask, “What is its origin? And where does it deceive us?”
Indeed, the true answers to these questions shed light on the Quran’s
authenticity and silence the bitter unsubstantiated claims of the
unbelievers.
Certainly, if people are
going to insist that the Quran is a deception, then they must bring
forth evidence to support such a claim. The burden of proof is on
them, not us! One is never supposed to advance a theory without
sufficient corroborating facts; so I say to them, “Show me one
deception! Show me where the Quran deceives me! Show me; otherwise
don’t say that it is a deception!”
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Part 21
Origin of the Universe and
Life
An interesting
characteristic of the Quran is how it deals with surprising phenomena
which relate not only to the past but to modern times as well. In
essence, the Quran is not an old problem. It is still a problem even
today - a problem to the non-Muslims that is. For everyday, every
week, every year brings more and more evidence that the Quran is a
force to be contended with - that its authenticity is no longer to be
challenged! For example, one verse in the Quran (Surah al-Anbiya
21:30) reads:
“Do not the unbelievers
see that the heavens and the earth were joined together, then We
clove them asunder, and made from water every living thing? Will they
not then believe?”
Ironically, this very
information is exactly what they awarded the 1973 Noble Prize for -
to a couple of unbelievers.
The Quran reveals the
origin of the universe - how it began from one piece - and mankind
continues to verify this revelation, even up to now. Additionally,
the fact that all life originated from water would not have been an
easy thing to convince people of fourteen centuries ago. Indeed, if
1400 years ago you had stood in the desert and told someone, “All
of this, you see (pointing to yourself), is made up of mostly water,”
no one would have believed you. Proof of that was not available
until the invention of the microscope. They had to wait to find out
that cytoplasm, the basic substance of the cell, is made-up of 80%
water. Nonetheless, the evidence did come, and once again the Quran
stood the test of time.
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Part 22:
More on Falsification Test
In reference to the
falsification tests mentioned earlier, it is interesting to note that
they, too, relate to both the past and the present. Some of them
were used as illustrations of God’s omnipotence and knowledge,
while others continue to stand as challenges to the present day. An
example of the former is the statement made in the Quran about Abu
Lahab. It clearly illustrates that God, the Knower of the Unseen,
knew that Abu Lahab would never change his ways and accept Islam.
Thus God dictated that he would be condemned to the Hellfire forever.
Such a chapter was both an illustration of God’s divine wisdom and
a warning to those who were like Abu Lahab.
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Part 23:
People of the Book
An interesting example of
the latter type of falsification tests contained in the Quran is the
verse which mentions the relationship between the Muslims and the
Jews. The verse is careful not to narrow its scope to the
relationship between individual members of each religion, but rather,
it summarizes the relationship between the two groups of people as a
whole. In essence, the Quran states that the Christians will always
treat the Muslims better than the Jews will treat the Muslims.
Indeed, the full impact of such a statement can only be felt after
careful consideration of the real meaning of such a verse. It is
true that many Christians and many Jews have become Muslims, but as a
whole, the Jewish community has clearly shown its hostility to Islam.
Additionally, very few people realize what such an open declaration
in the Quran invites. In essence, it is an easy chance for the Jews
to prove that the Quran is false - that it is not a divine
revelation. All they have to do is organize themselves, treat the
Muslims nicely for a few years and then say, “Now what does your
holy book say about who are your best friends in the world - the Jews
or the Christians? Look what we Jews have done for you!”
That is all they have to
do to disprove the Quran’s authenticity, yet they have not done it
in 1400 years. But, as always, the offer still stands open!
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Part 24:
A Mathematical Approach
AmazingQuran8.jpgAll of
the examples so far given concerning the various angles from which
one can approach the Quran have undoubtedly been subjective in
nature; however, there does exist another angle, among others, which
is objective and whose basis is mathematical.
It is surprising how
authentic the Quran becomes when one assembles what might be referred
to as a list of good guesses. Mathematically, it can be explained
using guessing and prediction examples. For instance, if a person
has two choices (i.e., one is right, and one is wrong), and he closes
his eyes and makes a choice, then half of the time (i.e., one time
out of two) he will be right. Basically, he has a one in two chance,
for he could pick the wrong choice, or he could pick the right
choice.
Now if the same person has
two situations like that (i.e., he could be right or wrong about
situation number one, and he could be right or wrong about situation
number two), and he closes his eyes and guesses, then he will only be
right one-fourth of the time (i.e., one time out of four). He now
has a one in four chance because now there are three ways for him to
be wrong and only one way for him to be right. In simple terms, he
could make the wrong choice in situation number one and then make the
wrong choice in situation number two; or he could make the wrong
choice in situation number one and then make the right choice in
situation number two; or he could make the right choice in situation
number one and then make the wrong choice in situation number two; or
he could make the right choice in situation number one and then make
the right choice in situation number two.
Of course, the (only
instance in which he could be totally right is the last scenario
where he could guess correctly in both situations. The odds of his
guessing completely correctly have become greater because the number
of situations for him to guess in have increased; and the
mathematical equation representing such a scenario is ½ x ½ (i.e.,
one time out of two for the first situation multiplied by one time
out of two for the second situation).
Continuing on with the
example, if the same person now has three situations in which to make
blind guesses, then he will only be right one-eighth of the time
(i.e., one time out of eight or ½ x ½ x ½ ). Again, the odds of
choosing the correct choice in all three situations have decreased
his chances of being completely correct to only one time in eight.
It must be understood that as the number of situations increase, the
chances of being right decrease, for the two phenomena are inversely
proportional.
Now applying this example
to the situations in the Quran, if one draws up a list of all of the
subjects about which the Quran has made correct statements, it
becomes very clear that it is highly unlikely that they were all just
correct blind guesses. Indeed, the subjects discussed in the Quran
are numerous, and thus the odds of someone just making lucky guesses
about all of them become practically nil. If there are a million
ways for the Quran to be wrong, yet each time it is right, then it is
unlikely that someone was guessing.
The following three
examples of subjects about which the Quran has made correct
statements collectively illustrate how the Quran continues to beat
the odds.
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Part 25:
The Female Bee
In the 16th chapter (Surah
an-Nahl 16:68-69) the Quran mentions that the female bee leaves its
home to gather food. Now, a person might guess on that, saying, “The
bee that you see flying around - it could be male, or it could be
female. I think I will guess female.” Certainly, he has a one in
two chance of being right. So it happens that the Quran is right.
But it also happens that that was not what most people believed at
the time when the Quran was revealed. Can you tell the difference
between a male and a female bee? Well, it takes a specialist to do
that, but it has been discovered that the male bee never leaves his
home to gather food. However, in Shakespeare’s play, Henry the
Fourth, some of the characters discuss bees and mention that the bees
are soldiers and have a king. That is what people thought in
Shakespeare’s time - that the bees that one sees flying around are
male bees and that they go home and answer to a king. However, that
is not true at all. The fact is that they are females, and they
answer to a queen. Yet it took modern scientific investigations in
the last 300 years to discover that this is the case.
So, back to the list of
good guesses, concerning the topic of bees, the Quran had a 50/50
chance of being right, and the odds were one in two.
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Part 26:
The Sun
In addition to the subject
of bees, the Quran also discusses the sun and the manner in which it
travels through space. Again, a person can guess on that subject.
When the sun moves through space, there are two options: it can
travel just as a stone would travel if one threw it, or it can move
of its own accord. The Quran states the latter - that it moves as a
result of its own motion (Surah al-Anbiya 21:33). To do such, the
Quran uses a form of the word sabaha to describe the sun’s movement
through space. In order to properly provide the reader with a
comprehensive understanding of the implications of this Arabic verb,
the following example is given.
If a man is in water and
the verb sabaha is applied in reference to his movement, it can be
understood that he is swimming, moving of his own accord and not as a
result of a direct force applied to him. Thus when this verb is used
in reference to the sun’s movement through space, it in no way
implies that the sun is flying uncontrollably through space as a
result of being hurled or the like. It simply means that the sun is
turning and rotating as it travels. Now, this is what the Quran
affirms, but was it an easy thing to discover? Can any common man
tell that the sun is turning? Only in modern times was the equipment
made available to project the image of the sun onto a tabletop so
that one could look at it without being blinded. And through this
process it was discovered that not only are there spots on the sun
but that these spots move once every 25 days. This movement is
referred to as the rotation of the sun around its axis and
conclusively proves that, as the Quran stated 1400 years ago, the sun
does, indeed, turn as it travels through space.
And returning once again
to the subject of good guesses, the odds of guessing correctly about
both subjects - the sex of bees and the movement of the sun - are one
in four!
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Part 26:
Time Zones
Seeing as back fourteen
centuries ago people probably did not understand much about time
zones, the Quran’s statements about this subject are considerably
surprising. The concept that one family is having breakfast as the
sun comes up while another family is enjoying the brisk night air is
truly something to be marveled at, even in modern time. Indeed,
fourteen centuries ago, a man could not travel more than thirty miles
in one day, and thus it took him literally months to travel from
India to Morocco, for example. And probably, when he was having
supper in Morocco, he thought to himself, “Back home in India they
are having supper right now.” This is because he did not realize
that, in the process of traveling, he moved across a time zone. Yet,
because it is the words of Allah (God), the All-Knowing, the Quran
recognizes and acknowledges such a phenomenon.
In an interesting verse it
states that when history comes to an end and the Day of Judgment
arrives, it will all occur in an instant; and this very instant will
catch some people in the daytime and some people at night. This
clearly illustrates Allah’s divine wisdom and His previous
knowledge of the existence of time zones, even though such a
discovery was non-existent back fourteen centuries ago. Certainly,
this phenomenon is not something which is obvious to one’s eyes or
a result of one’s experience, and this fact, in itself, suffices as
proof of the Quran’s authenticity.
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Conclusion:
Islam is the light
Returning one final time
to the subject of good guesses for the purpose of the present
example, the odds that someone guessed correctly about all three of
the aforementioned subjects - the sex of bees, the movement of the
sun and the existence of time zones - are one in eight!
Certainly, one could
continue on and on with this example, drawing up longer and longer
list of good guesses; and of course, the odds would become higher and
higher with each increase of subjects about which one could guess.
But what no one can deny is the following: the odds that Muhammad,
may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, an unlettered man,
guessed correctly about thousands and thousands of subjects, never
once making a mistake, are so high that any theory of his authorship
of the Quran must be completely dismissed - even by the most hostile
enemies of Islam!
Indeed, the Quran expects
this kind of challenge. Undoubtedly, if one said to someone upon
entering a foreign land, “I know your father. I have met him,”
probably the man from that land would doubt the newcomer’s word,
saying, “You have just come here. How could you know my father?”
As a result, he would question him, “Tell me, is my father tall,
short, dark, fair? What is he like?” Of course, if the visitor
continued answering all of the questions correctly, the skeptic would
have no choice but to say, “I guess you do know my father. I don’t
know how you know him, but I guess you do!”
The situation is the same
with the Quran. It states that it originates from the One who
created everything. So everyone has the right to say, “Convince
me! If the author of this book really originated life and everything
in the heavens and on the earth, then He should know about this,
about that, and so on.” And inevitably, after researching the
Quran, everyone will discover the same truths. Additionally, we all
know something for sure: we do not all have to be experts to verify
what the Quran affirms. One’s Iman (faith) grows as one continues
to check and confirm the truths contained in the Quran. And one is
supposed to do so all of his life.
May God (Allah Subhanahu Wata'ala) guide
everyone close to the truth and I pray for Allah Subhanahu Wata'ala to shed light to all of us.
Search the truth of Islam
The findings: people accomplish most when they talk in
groups of two. Of course, this discovery was entirely beyond his
expectations, but it is very old advice given in the Quran (Surah
Saba 34:46):
“Say, ‘I exhort you
to one thing - that you stand for Allah, [assessing the truth] by
twos and singly, and then reflect...’”
About: : ‘Iram
Additionally, the 89th
chapter of the Quran (Surah al-Fajr 89:7) mentions a certain city by
the name of ‘Iram (a city of pillars), which was not known in
ancient history and which was non- existent as far as historians were
concerned. However, the December 1978 edition of National Geographic
introduced interesting information which mentioned that in 1973, the
city of Elba was excavated in Syria. The city was discovered to be
43 centuries old, but that is not the most amazing part. Researchers
found in the library of Elba a record of all of the cities with which
Elba had done business. Believe it or not, there on the list was the
name of the city of ‘Iram. The people of Elba had done business
with the people of ‘Iram!
In conclusion I ask you to
consider with care the following (Surah 29:50-51):
“And they say, ‘Why
are not signs sent down to him from his Lord?’ Say, ‘Indeed, the
signs are with Allah, and I am but a clear warner.’ But it is
sufficient for them that We have sent down to you the Book [i.e.,
Quran] which is rehearsed to them? Verily, in that is mercy and a
reminder to people who believe.”
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