In answer to the video "Who (Really) Wrote The Quran?"
As already alluded to previously, the prophet's opponents would critisize the periods during which no new verses were revealed and recited by him
7:203"And when you bring them not a revelation they say: Why do you not forge it? Say: I only follow what is revealed to me from my Lord; these are clear proofs from your Lord and a guidance and a mercy for a people who believe".
Consequently, at various places in the Quran, the Prophet is told to exercise resolve and patience 20:113-4 until the whole of the Quran is revealed to him, and he needs not worry as the arrangement of it rests on Allah 25:32 and no falsehood can approach it 41:42. The One upon whom its establishement in the prophet's memory is entirely dependant upon, and who could therefore either take it away completely or erase chunks of it from the prophet's mind without him even noticing it 17:86-7,87:6-7 will take care of arranging it in the form of a Book with an ultimate recital structure which he and all Muslims will be bound to follow in the future. If any directive needed further explanation, it will be done so at this last recital, and in this manner this book will stand completed in every way after memorization, collection and arrangement and explanation by the Almighty Himself
75:16-19"Do not move your tongue with it to make haste with it, Surely on Us (devolves) the collecting of it and the reciting of it. Therefore when We have recited it, follow its recitation. Again on Us (devolves) the explaining of it".
This Divine arrangement gives the Quran a unique feature, it can be read a few verses at a time as anyone can see for himself. One can open it at any page and start reading, even skipping the beginning of the Book and starting in its middle, in most cases even starting at any verse on a page without going back many verses to know what it is speaking of and will still gain a lesson of wisdom.
The Divine structuring of the Quran was solidified by the promise to protect it 15:9, one of the fullfilments of this promise is to guard from extinction the Arabic language in which the Quranic message was coded. Unlike ancient Hebrew in which the HB was put to writing and the Aramaic of Jesus, which both became extinct, classical Arabic flourished and developed since the revelation of the Quran.
A language that was confined to the tribes of the Arabian peninsula 1,400 years ago has since developed into the lingua franca of peoples from the extremities of Asia to the farthest corners of Africa. And another fullfilment is that besides all the scholarly scrutiny of the skeptics, no discrepencies can be found in it
4:82"Had it been from other Than God, they would surely have found therein Much discrepancy".
The gradual process solidified the Quran in the believers' hearts 28:51, as a sign of Allah's pledge to secure it and preserve it. Consequently the Prophet would memorize each verse as it was revealed, recite it to the "Scribes of the Revelation" (kuttab al-wahy) who would write it down immediately, in the manner of prophets of old. Jeremiah for instance dictated his prophecies to his disciple Baruch son of Neriah, when God commanded him
Jer30:1"Write for you the words that I have spoken to you, on a scroll"
Jer36:4"And Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote from Jeremiah's mouth all the words of the Lord that He had spoken to him, on a roll of a book".
The prophet Jeremiah was literate and also wrote a scroll by himself Jer51:60.
In answer to the video "Who (Really) Wrote The Quran?"
Besides this gradual educative purpose of the piecemeal system of revelation, the "strengthening of the hearts" also refers to the constant good tidings to the obedient servants in the midst of daily persecution and obstacles.
The numerous prophecies and promises of success in both lives to the patient served this purpose. They were assured of ultimate success time and again to fill them with hope to carry on their mission
16:102"that it may establish those who believe and as a guidance and good news for those who submit".
This mission was to create a movement of faith and righteousness to combat disbelief and sin. The piecemeal revelation guided that movement in all its stages to suit its requirements on different occasions. It did so for example by elaborating on certain previous concise statements, either by a longer revelation in a different place or by addition of relevant information within the same previously revealed verse. We have classical examples reported in the hadith books, like 2:187 and 4:95 where the scribe present, who was being dictated the concise then more elaborate revelation, describes how the event occured supernaturally. It is a Quranic principle that one should not ask about things that if answered would render a simple directive complicated. But one may ask while revelation is descending and will be answered 5:101 as documented regarding ibn Um Maktum's concern upon hearing verse 4:95. The difference between the 2 attitudes is that of sincerity. The first one hears a directive, reflects on it and comes back after a while with conjecture, as if he is trying to avoid it. On the other hand the one expressing a concern directly when hearing a command does so out of genuine concern for a condition preventing him from immediately implementing the directive.
The gradual revelation, progressive elaboration also gives the audience the feeling that it is being closely followed, listened to, attended to and corrected by its Sustainer, answering relevant questions of law or theology, questions by the believers or disbelievers alike, providing strong argument in favor of the truths it propounds or to counter false notions
25:32"And they do not bring to you an example except that We brought to you the truth and best of explanation".
Again this is not a strange phenomenon in the prophetic history, especially when it comes to the issue of further elaboration/explanation of a previous concise statement or ruling. See Jn3 for example.
17:106 also explains the important point that, despite this gradual system, the Quran is nevertheless one integral whole and can therefore, be properly understood only if it is considered in its entirety, if each of its passages is read in the light of all the other passages it contains.
In answer to the video "Who (Really) Wrote The Quran?"
The Quran relates how the prophet's opponents among the pagans and the People of the Book did everything to make him compromise his revealed principles with theirs, forge verses or deliberately corrupt them but the message was divinely protected from the interference of the evil ones -men and jinn- from its descent from heaven all the way to its uttering by the prophet who was repeatedly warned 2:145,10:37,42:15 and never allowed to yield one bit to them despite the hardships he and his followers suffered.
Like the prophets of old, who despite the pressure to alter the divine messages and make them more appealing he answered
2:120,10:15,13:37,17:75,68:9,69:44-7,40:66"Say: I am forbidden to serve those whom you call upon besides Allah when clear arguments have come to me from my Lord, and I am commanded that I should submit to the Lord of the worlds".
As reflected is sura qalam, which is among the earliest Meccan suras, pressure was already being imposed on the prophet at the onset of his mission to change and compromise his message. It is to be noted, when the Noble Book unapologeticaly warns its messenger in the context of temptation to yield to his opponents, these frequently seen conditional statements do not mean that the prophet was actually tempted in doing so.
There are many implicit meanings to these warnings, including that regarding the obligation to abide by the divine law/sharia, there is no difference between a prophet and a regular believer.
The second thing is that, seeing that the prophet is warned, how much more should they be careful of their responsibilities in upholding the principles of this revelation. And finally, seeing and hearing that the messenger is in no position to change anything in Allah's ordinances, the enemies should know that it would be fruitless to even think of approaching him with such objective.
When the prophet Micaiah the son of Imlah was under the same kind of pressure, he answered, knowing the dangerous repercussions of refusing to yield to the rejecters
1Kings22:14"As the Lord lives, for what the Lord will say to me, that will I speak".
The prophet Isaiah was equally warned not to yield to the disbelievers' requests Isa8:11 who, unhappy with his strong warnings and admonitions, would openly demand that he should forsake the straight path, the true God and give them false prophecies
Isa30:10-11"You shall not prophesy for us true things. Speak to us with smooth talk; prophesy mockery".
The prophet's opponents practiced deception upon him, and tempted him with greed, held out threats, and raised a storm of false propaganda against him, and persecuted him and applied economic pressure and social boycott against him. Yet the prophet did not compromise an iota of what was revealed to him, even in the direst Meccan period. Although he did experience fear at the consequences, never did he withhold a word that needed to be uttered in the face of his opponents, so as to soften their stance. Even when his uncle and protector Abu Talib was pressured by a Meccan delegation to withdraw his tribal protection of Muhammad and the Muslims, he firmly replied:
"0 my uncle, if they placed the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand to cause me to renounce my task, verily I would not desist therefrom until Allah made manifest His cause or I perished in the attempt".
The prophet then turned to depart until Abu Talib called him back
"Say whatever you please; for by the Lord I shall not desert you ever".
It is to be stressed that the prophet took this stance when his uncle, his last resort, seemed on the verge of letting him down. This attitude, besides the established reputation he had as a man of great integrity by his friends and foes, before and after the revelation, confirm the testimony of God Himself about His chosen one
68:4"And indeed, you are of a great moral character".
The Quran also presents situations where the prophet is showing fear in communicating certain revelations to his people 5:67,33:37 fearing their reaction, judgements or tauntings but the Quran would compel him to keep transmitting what he is receiving, not to ever
11:12"give up part of what is revealed to you"
showing how he wasnt acting according to his whims
2:120"If you (Muhammad) give in to their whims and desires despite the knowledge that has reached you, you will have no protector or helper against Allah".
So in the second part of the verse 25:32, God outlines some of the major benefits of this gradual process of revelation
"Thus that We may strengthen thereby your heart; and We have recited it in (clear) reciting".
This concise statement implies a deep impression on the minds, causing a smooth acceptance of its Laws. It would not be possible if all the Commandments and the whole system of life had been sent down all at once. The process of diverting a people from the social norms which they are accustomed to and which have nurtured their ideas and ideals, to make them question and ackowledge the errors of the systems which they grew up believing in, emulating generations of their ancestors, to make them assimilate the laws and wisdom of the Book which was going against their ancient practices, the process had to be gradual
17:106"And it is a Quran which We have revealed in portions so that you may read it to the people by slow degrees, and We have revealed it, revealing in portions"
28:51"We have caused this word [of Ours] to reach mankind step by step, so that they might [learn to] keep it in mind".
Since the beginning, the prophet, despite his fear and reluctance is assured that he will be led and guided every step of the way, in his words and deeds, when the time is appropriate until his momentous mission is complete. The parallel is made with all natural phenomena as they pass through various gradual stages before reaching the culminating point 87:1-18.
In answer to the video "Who (Really) Wrote The Quran?"
Just as in this world daytime and its light and heat are essential and so are the darkness and stillness of the night, in a similar manner, the trials of happiness and sorrow, ease and difficulty, affluence and poverty are essential for mankind's spiritual development. It is through these circumstances that the Almighty tests a person's gratitude and patience.
The prophet is thus assured that the stiff opposition he faced, the little following and meager resources he had and the interruption of revelation did not mean that his Lord had abandoned him or was displeased with him: these circumstances are a trial and test to train and instruct him in order to fully prepare him to bear his responsibilities.
Just as night and day are necessary phases this material life needs going through to develop, so to is our spirituality bound to pass through bright and dark moments in order for it to be trained and purified
93:1-3"By the morning brightness And (by) the night when it darkens, Your Lord has not bidden you farewell, nor has He become displeased".
An interesting linguistic observation testimony once more to the Quran's surgical use of words is that, just after illustrating the fact that revelation, through its phases of interruptions and descent, obeys to an established pattern very similar to the natural and transient phenomena of daylight and darkness of night, the Quran then eloquently consoles its messenger. It does so by negating any thought in his mind that such interruptions, even if long, indicate complete cessation or displeasure by God
93:3"Your Lord has not bidden you farewell, nor has He become displeased".
One does not "bid farewell" to a hated but to a loved person and so the verse uses the particle ka/you in order to establish a link with the prophet "bidden YOU farewell". This connection is broken in the second part of the verse with qalaa/displeased, because it implies a situation of conflict between enemies or hated people. The Arabic text makes the distinction more obvious.
The sura goes on reminding him of what the revelation brought him in the past and what it was about to bring to him soon for it could not be that the Prophet to whom the Quran was revealed, should remain unsuccessful in bringing about the transformation for which it was revealed 20:1. He should therefore remain patient, and his burdens will be removed 94:1-8, steadfast on the right path along with his followers.
In answer to the video "Who (Really) Wrote The Quran?"
The 114 suras of the Quran were revealed on a period of 22 years, 5 months and 14 days: 13 years in Mecca and the rest in Medina, as and when it was required. The Quran repeatedly declares that its medium of communication to the people is the prophet. He is forbidden, under the threat of sudden death, from integrating anything other than divine inspiration within the Quran. Every word that make up the 114 suras of the Quran were spoken by the prophet as revelation, and recorded as such by his contemporaries.
This system of occasional, piecemeal revelation applies to all prophets. Ezekiel for example and other prophets in the HB were granted a vision of their entire individual book and its content which they will be responsible to later communicate and put into writing Ezek2:9-10. They still had to follow directions and commands revealed at specific times in answer to certain events.
There are ample examples of biblical prophets, including Moses who received revelation in answer to specific incidents, whether having to do with the prophet's own personal life or concerning the comunity at large. There are even situations in the Hebrew Bible where the solution to a situation is deffered until God reveals the answer Lev24:12. According to Jewish tradition, the entire Torah was given to Moses in 2 parts; the first during the year after the exodus, then followed a 38 years hiatus after which the rest was revealed.
David is reported to have told his followers to wait for God's decision as regards a possible strike on an enemy 1Sam22:3. Moses received oral instructions for 40 years and long before the events of Sinai, see for example Ex12:49,13:9,16:4,28,18:19-20 all refering to Torah and Law before Moses went to Mt Sinai. This process is meant at smoothly establishing socio-religious reforms, among other benefits as will be pointed out below. Gradual revelation also ensures a continuous connection between the receiver/prophet and the Source, providing him further comfort and legitimity in the face of the unavoidable persistent, increasing opposition, as well as answers to new challenges and questions.
Muhammad went through the same process for 23 years, just like Jeremiah was inspired with warnings and glad tidings to his people for 23 years Jer25:3. This was objected to by the Quraysh, and, ironically, by the People of the Book themselves, just as missionaries do today, in ignorance of their prophetic history
4:153,25:32"Why has not the Quran been revealed to him all at once?".
Yet had the request been granted, it would still not prevent the rebellion and disbelief of those that requested it in the first place, since the demand did not stem from sincere hearts seeking to confirm their belief and intuition, rather it was a mocking challenge and an excuse to justify their rejection 6:7.
Sometimes even the sincere early Muslims would grow impatient if long periods would pass without a new revelation 47:20, yet the precedent in the history of the prophets, per the HB as shown earlier, is that prophets received prophecy only when God desired it. Some would go months or years or even never again without communication from God.
This created in the prophet the yearning to receive the whole of the Quran as soon as possible. But he was told to show patience through prayer and remembrence of God, and to wait for the decree of the Almighty, not worry about the opposition and idle talk of people. God will deal with these people and He is sufficient to do this 76:23-6. This is because the prophet never asked to be the recipient of revelation, so that it is his responsibility to prove the truths and premises it presents. His authority rests exclusively in delivering the message, not in deciding its timing or contents.
As a side note, studies have been made of the prophet's speech patterns by regrouping all sayings attributed to him, authentic or not, and it has been shown that the Quran, a book revealed over a period of 23 years, uses patterns not only different to the messenger but also that were unknown to the masters of eloquence of the time all the while retaining deep, intricate meanings.
The Quran also depicts him in situations of extreme grief and anguish as he apparently felt abandonned, deprived of his divine support in the midst of the soul tearing taunts and ever growing spiritual conflicts with his opponents. This grief led him to the point he thought his Lord had become displeased with him on account of some error he had done, and had forsaken and left him to fight the battle between truth and falsehood alone. But he was told to remain patient in such moments otherwise he might compromise his divine mission 68:48, to keep conveying the message relentlessly despite the opposition. Slackness in this regard and in such a crucial time would help his opponents in attaining their objective 28:86.
A passage even came down quoting the angels themselves, the carriers of revelation, justifying their silence by the fact that they act in obedience to a Higher, all encompassing Authority
19:64-5"And we do not descend but by the command of your Lord; to Him belongs whatever is before us and whatever is behind us and whatever is between these, and your Lord is not forgetful. The Lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, so serve Him and be patient in His service. Do you know any one equal to Him?"
Neither the prophet nor even the angels are free to decide the timing of revelation; there can be a break in the process whenever Allah deems it fit, and a continuation whenever He wills it. Although that process would sometimes put him in difficulty opposite his detractors, it in fact supported his credibility that the revelation was not his invention and he had no control over it.
In answer to the video "Who (Really) Wrote The Quran?"
When Islam spread to territories where the people hadnt yet received an oral transmission of the Quran, but only the script, they were confused on the proper pronouciation of the words. The basic nature of the early script, especially the lack of headings or separations between the suras, could have most probably been the reason for some people to have confused the beginning and ending of certain suras.
There are for instance 2 reports attributed to Abu Ubaid and Aisha, reports that are deemed unauthentic and unreliable by hadith scholars, on sura Ahzab. In one report the person argues that there was a time when sura Ahzab, which currently counts 73 verses was similary in length to surah Baqarah which now has 286 verses. Some people thought that al ahzab and others were longer than they actually were. This could easily be explained by the fact that both al ahzab and al baqara were revealed in Medina. But sura Baqara was revealed over 10 years and so it could have been that at the time the comment was made on sura Ahzab's length, al baqara was also around 70 verses in length until a time came where it became longer. Assuming for argument's sake that al Ahzab did count 200+ verses, one would have to explain the intricate internal coherence of this short sura as we have it today. It has no inappropriate gaps, no discordant passages or unexplanable blanks the likes of which one would expect finding in a sura out of which a chunk of 200 verses was taken away, leaving only a mere 70. Even if we forget the issues regarding this hadith's authenticity, this misunderstanding could have been due to the basic early Quranic script as noted before, with no seperations between verses and suras.
Similarily some companions were unsure whether sura tawba/bara'a and sura anfal, the one preceding it, were one and the same sura. Hence the famous absence in today's Quran, of the opening formula from sura tawba, the bismilla
"What is your reasoning with Surah Al Anfal, which has less than a hundred verses, and Surah At-Tawbah, which has more than a hundred verses, yet you put them together without writing in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful between them and you placed them with the seven long surahs. Why did you do that? Uthman said: Al-Anfal was among the first to be revealed in Medina and At-Tawbah was among the last of those revealed of the Quran and their discussions resemble each other, so we thought that they were part of each other. Then the Messenger of Allah died and it was not clear to us if they were part of each other. For this reason, we put them together without writing in the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful and we included them with the seven long surahs".
Even a superficial reading of that report reveals the inconsistencies. Uthman himself in that hadith states that Anfal and Tawba/Bara'a were revealed on different occasions, meaning he knew they were seperate. In addition the prophet never said they were a single unit. He recited on several occasions sura Tawba on its own. His companions prior to Uthman's compilation, treated sura tawba as a seperate sura
“I entered the mosque on a Friday when Muhammad was delivering the sermon. I went and sat near Ubayy. The Prophet recited Surah Bara’ah/tawba.” "Umar ibn Khattab had written the directive: “Learn Surah Bara’ah and teach your women Surah Nur.”
Further ibn Abbas states that the companions divided the Quran into 7 portions, composed of 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 suras and then the last portion which extends from the mufassal to the end. This grouping can only be correct if anfal and tawba are seperate. All these facts, as well as the suspicion on the personality of 'Awf or of Yazid al Farisi who is the sole narrator from ibn Abbas, make it highly unlikely that Uthman was unsure about the seperation between anfal and tawba.
In answer to the video "Who (Really) Wrote The Quran?"
The Quran challenges its opponents to find discrepancies in it, or to produce similar verses or suras meaning that these suras were there in the public hands. The Quran was transmitted, learned and passed down both verbally and in script form, on a scale never seen for any document, let alone religious. Any unbiased individual can see this is a process which is still continuing today. But the primary source of transmission was always oral.
All written texts were dependent on it and it still is the case today as all written texts must be attested by the oral tradition of transmission through a Hafiz. Again, this simply is a statement of fact. Writing down was only meant to consolidate the process of oral preservation. This is what the novices to Islam, which is the case of most of its self-proclaimed critics, fail to grasp.
They approach Quran authenticity with their own scriptural history in mind, thinking that the Quran was put to writing out of thin air. This dual method of control, textual but mainly oral, which was never practiced by the transmitters of the Bible, made it impossible for any tampering as it would immediately be detected by the thousands of memorizers in all corners of the Muslim territories. The number of people having transmitted the Quran is so vast that any error in the transmission, textual or oral, became impossible.
This is why the Quran is labelled "mutawattir", a level of authenticity attributed to an oral transmission when it has been related exactly the same way by countless independent sources.
Extremely few ahadith have been labelled as such or reached the level of multiple independent sources as the Quran. Most ahadith are based ahad reports or singular transmissions. Further and in contrast to the Quran, the ahadith require isnad (detailed chain of transmission) to be validated, because the earliest communities often disputed and argued about the veracity of these statements. The Quran never required any isnad to gain a sense of credibility and authenticity because the text and veracity of the Quran was agreed to by a consensus of the earliest Islamic communities. Despite the abundance of 1st-2nd century hijra manuscripts, there is zero proof that the Quran was transmitted in anyway other than tawatur. Hence the position of mainstream academia as regards the authenticity of the Islamic narrative of compilation, preservation, transmission of the text and recitals. See further below.
The Quran, contrary to both hadith and sunna does not seek support because it has community consensus or reliable transmission chain. Rather, it requires one to believe in its veracity based on it clear arguments. No scripture can be accepted purely on the basis that the same community profess its Divine origins and have themselves sought to protect it.
The revelation of the Quran was a long and gradual process, explicitly meant, among other things at solidifying it in the believers' hearts 28:51, as a sign of Allah's pledge to secure it and preserve it. This process continued until very shortly before the prophet's death. He did not know when he would die, as affirmed in the Quran itself 7:188,46:9 although he had the feeling that Gabriel's double recitation of the entire Quran, instead of the usual single review a year, was an indication of his approaching end.
Another indication was the total victory of Islam in the Peninsula, marked by the conquest of Mecca. God favoured His prophet by telling him to seek forgiveness as the sign of victory manifests, so as the ensure him a honourable station in the hereafter, and teaching the Muslims through him they should not feel complacent in terms of righteousness because of worldly success
110:1-3"When the victory of Allah has come and the conquest, And you see the people entering into the religion of Allah in multitudes, Then exalt [Him] with praise of your Lord and ask forgiveness of Him. Indeed, He is ever Accepting of repentance".
Because he did not know his exact time of death, he could not have commanded the compilation himself while the possibility was still open for new revelation to be inserted among the previous ones, in a location within the existing text that was between his hands. The prophet, being simply the conveyer of the message, kept on communicating what was revealed to him. So long as he was alive, the descent of revelation was still a possibility, given his function as a reformer and teacher. It is his death that signified the end of revelation. It did happen, as with Moses or Muhammad, that long intervals separated 2 revelations, but never did God remove revelation completely from his messengers long before their death.
Neither did the prophet know where a revelation had to be placed until the divine order would be given
75:17"Surely on Us (devolves) the collecting of it and the reciting of it".
According to Ibn Abbas, the prophet didnt even know when a sura would end until he would receive the bismillah formula. Gabriel did not just oversee the correct recitation, but also the collecting together of the various written parts as stated in the verse. Ibn Abi’l-‘Aas, one of the scribes, describes how he once witnessed the phenomenon
“I was sitting with the Messenger of Allaah when he fixed his gaze on something, then lowered his gaze until he was almost looking at the ground, then he gazed at something. He said, ‘Jibreel came to me and told me to put this aayah (he recited 16:90) in this place in this sura".
Just as he was commanded from on high, the prophet in turn would supervise the placement of verses, passages and suras in specific places, within the already existing text.
Uthman himself in a statement reflects the Quranic doctrine of divine arrangement of the Quran. When ibn Al Zubayr told him
"This verse, which is in Surat a/ Baqarah, 'Those who die and leave wives behind ... without turning them out,' has been abrogated by another verse. Why then do you write it (in the Qur'an)? 'Uthman said, 'Leave it (where it is), 0 son of my brother, for I will not shift anything of it (i.e., the Qur'an) from its original position".
As a side note, No report attributed to the prophet exists identifying the final revelation. The various opinions that came to us are those of companions and their successors, giving their ijtihad. Not every single companion was present every time revelation descended. Days or months could pass before the information circulated everywhere. When certain reports speak of last verse, this "last" is determined by context for example in a discussion on abrogation some argued that such and such a verse came last and thus cannot be abrogated
("The people of Al-Kufah differed concerning this Verse: "And whoever kills a believer intentionally." So I went to Ibn 'Abbas and asked him, and he said: 'It was revealed among the last of what was revealed, and nothing of it was abrogated after that.'")
other narrations spoke of the last verse in the sense of latest group of revelations, as in the case of ayaat ul riba 2:275-2:280
("One of the last verses to be revealed was the verse on riba")
as is similarly meant for 9:11
("It was narrated that Anas bin Malik said: "The Messenger of Allah (ï·º) said: 'Whoever departs this world with sincerity towards Allah..This is confirmed in the Book of Allah, in one of the Last Verses to be revealed, where Allah says: "But if they repent...")
or last revealed about a particular issue as in the case of 4:176
("Narrated Al-Bara' bin 'Azib: The last verse revealed about the decease who left no descendants or ascendants...")
The majority opinion is that 2:281 was last to be revealed overall. It is implicitly understood based on a narration that the prophet Muhammad died a few days later.
This gradual process solidified the Quran in the believers' hearts 28:51, as a sign of Allah's pledge to secure it and preserve it.
Consequently the Prophet would memorize each verse as it was revealed, recite it to the "Scribes of the Revelation" (kuttab al-wahy) who would write it down immediately, in the manner of prophets of old. Jeremiah for instance dictated his prophecies to his disciple Baruch son of Neriah, when God commanded him
Jer30:1"Write for you the words that I have spoken to you, on a scroll"
Jer36:4"And Jeremiah called Baruch the son of Neriah, and Baruch wrote from Jeremiah's mouth all the words of the Lord that He had spoken to him, on a roll of a book".
The prophet Jeremiah was literate and also wrote a scroll by himself Jer51:60.
Uthman stated
"It was customary with the messenger of Allah that when a portion of different chapters was revealed to him, and when any verse was revealed, he would call one of those persons who used to write the Holy Quran and say to him: Write this verse in the chapter where such and such verses occur".
So although the prophet did not and could not have compiled the Quran himself, yet by reviewing with the memorizers the revelations in his, and their hands, and supervising the writing and placement of every new revelation, he made sure that once his life would come to an end, his followers would have a complete, structured and authentic Quran they would be able to assemble into a book. The difficulty for his followers would consist in gathering the Quran in its twofold transmission form so as to corroborate the one with the other; oral first and foremost, and then textual from all available loose materials on which it was written, such as palm-leaves, bones, parchments etc which were not even all available in one and the same place.
Despite this monumental task, there never was disagreement as to the sequence of verses in any recitation
“I am going to leave with you two heavy burdens. The first of them is the Book of Allah: in it is the true guidance and the light. Therefore, hold fast to it.” Then he (the Prophet) prompted and induced the Muslims to adhere to the Book of God. Then he said: “And my household. I remind you of Allah in matters relating to my household. I remind you of Allah in matters relating to my household. I remind you of Allah in matters relating to my household".
As a side note the second part of the hadith comes in the context of a group of soldiers' harsh and unwarranted disrespect of Ali, the prophet's cousin and son in law, at the location of Ghadir.
That double security system; textual/oral had preserved the Quran so well, that the Muslims did not immediately feel the need of collecting and compiling it into a book after the prophet's death. After all the Quran, by its very definition is a "recitation" meaning a primarily oral phenomenon in a traditionally oral society. This security assurance however did not last for long. A few months following the death of the prophet, this double security system was compromised. Abu Bakr ordered the collection following the loss of reciters on the day of Yamamah as authentically and strongly supported by the Islamic history, then handed it down to Umar who left it to Hafsa.
Even at that point when Muslims felt the need to secure the written Quran, and when it was achieved, it neither diminished nor discouraged the process of memorization, so much so that even today Muslims can count in their ranks thousands of huffaz. Just as the prophet greatly encouraged the act of memorizing the Quran, after him, Memorizers were held in high esteem by the people. Some women even asked to be taught the Quran instead of receiving their dower of marriage as reported in (Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud, Tirmidhi, Nasai, al Taj).
The Prophet used to recite different passages from the revealed text while leading the daily prayers and declared the process of memorising the Book an act of great virtue, in countless traditions. The phenomenon reached a point that some Companions went to the extreme of reciting the whole book in one night. However, when the Prophet was informed, he asked them not to seal the Quran in less than three days or a week. (Al Nasai, al Musnad). The prophet said;
"Whoever completes a recitation of the Quran, it is as if he has reached the station of prophethood except that he does not receive revelation"(Usul al-Kafi)
"The nobles of my nation are those who bear the Qur'an (in their hearts), and the people of the night (who worship Allah during the hours of darkness)"
"The number of stations in the garden of Paradise corresponds to the number of verses of the Qur’an. When someone who knows the Qur’an enters the garden he will be told: ‘Recite and for every verse ascend a station.’ There will be no station higher than he who has memorised the entire Qur’an".
Many other traditions show the constant encouragement from the prophet to take care, write down, memorize and transmit the Quran to all members of the society men, women and even children.
"Allah will crown the parents of the one who teaches his child the Quran"
"The best of you is the one who learns the Qur’an and teaches it"
"One who teaches his child the Qur’an is like one who has made ten thousand Hajj pilgrimages"
‘The hearts of men can become rusty just as iron rusts. He was asked: O Messenger of Allah what is their polish? He (S) said: The recitation of the Quran and remembrance of death’
So many of the later-generation Muslims emulated their predecessors in memorising the entire Quran and the number of huffaz increased from generation to generation from an estimated 40 after the prophet's death to hundreds in the next generation and the number continued to swell until now more than 1400 years later we can count hundreds of thousands across the globe with some reciters as young as 10 years old. One cannot but see in this phenomenon, the realisation of the prophecy made 1400 years ago
54:17"And certainly We have made the Quran easy for remembrance, but is there anyone who will mind?".
The contemporaries of Muhammad proudly preserved the poems and speeches of the preIslamic era so it would be inconceivable for these same people to be careless regarding their personal copies of the great Book whose laws they proclaimed, for which they had staked their lives, left their homes, spent their wealth, abandoned their families and children.
In answer to the video "Who (Really) Wrote The Quran?"
For example Musaylima emerged shortly after the Prophet's death and was killed under the orders of Abu Bakr. Before him and contemporaneous to the prophet was Saf Ibn Sayyad. He would eventually be completely discredited and in fact convert to Islam.
Another one was Bahaullah - though later his followers branched off into the Bahai faith which is based on the nice concept of unity of religions- he died a prisoner of the Ottoman Empire. There is also Mirza Ghulam Ahmad from Qadian, Punjab - his death is widely cited to be from either one of these diseases - cholera, diarrhoea, plague, or dysentery. Besides numerous prophecies regarding the timing and manner of his death were left unfulfilled - though Ahmadis now intrepret those in a metaphorical manner- but the manner of death is hardly inspiring for one claiming to be a Prophet.
There is then Rashad Khalifa who was a modern claimant based on his theory of the number 19's pattern in the Quran. Well, besides being accused of paedophilia, he was assassinated and his theories entirely discredited.
But above all, their theories did not prevail and either remained confined to a small number of followers or were simply lost and forgotten shortly after their death.
Another modern claimant was Joseph Smith in the US who started the Latter Day Saints movement and is the founder of Mormonism. He too was unfortunately assassinated. As a side note even the Mormon story has more grounds to stand on from the point of view of authenticity, than the NT story, in that there are actually known then-living individuals who executed an affidavit saying that they had, themselves, seen something of the Mormon story whereas the NT is written by anonymous people with no first hand information decades after the alleged, unsubstantiated life of the NT Jesus.
Of all the new religions that have sprung up after Islam, one may perhaps say Sikhism is also there. But Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, never claimed for himself Prophethood. Also, Sikhism emerged as a reform movement intertwined between Hinduism and Islam. The holy book Guru Granth contains quotes from Sufi saints as well.
One may also mention the case of Paul of Tarsus.
On the face of it, finality of Prophethood seems to be a tenuous claim. After all, potentially anyone can stand up and say that he is a Prophet of God - but so far all the instances in which this has happened has failed to even come close to the scale and scope of the Prophet Muhammad's mission.
Also, if we examine the entire career of these claimants - they have singularly and absolutely failed to match the life-chart of Prophet Muhammad and moreover their death poses even more questions than their life. What is even more interesting that none of them claimed to be the final Prophet, much less Jesus who predicted the coming of a powerful figure after him, the Paraclete, that shall bring justice to the world.
In answer to the video "Who (Really) Wrote The Quran?"
The teachings that these men brought forth were beautiful in their own right, they practiced what they preached and did not allow for themselves what they were asking others to abandon, for the sake of worldly benefits
40:41-43,25:57"Say: I do not ask you aught in return except that he who will, may take the way to his Lord"
11:88"..and I do not desire that in opposition to you I should betake myself to that which I forbid you..I desire nothing but reform so far as I am able".
The character of their followers, was obviously that of people following 'the right course' 36:21. Further, the very nature of their message and their tenets were grounded in reason and agreed with basic moral human intuition. It could not on any level, conflict with human reason and spiritual instincts. These tenets they propounded, come from the Source of creation and hence should be observable within patterns in the creation itself. That is why the Quran doesnt speak of secret and hidden realities when substantiating its tenets. Rather it points to the observable and unavoidable natural occurrences and refers to them as "signs". These "signs" which have the divine stamp on them whichever way one looks at them 2:115, provided one adopts the correct spiritual mindset, are all available for the believer to seek confirmation for divine unity, resurrection and ultimate justice in all aspects of the universe's functioning, and within his own self.
There are thus 2 primary aspects for which to recognize whether what a human being is bringing, is from the divine source or not. The message has to conform in principle to what one would expect from the Source of Creation, and the messenger himself has to reflect the divine attributes in the best way from among his people.
Miracles do not and cannot be part of this equation. Besides, the process of revelation itself is a purely personal experience. The only time in human history when revelation descended on several people at once was at Sinai. The people then requested for this phenomenon to stop, fearing they would die. They begged Moses to be their sole intermediary with God and God accepted. From that time on, revelation solely became the prerogative of chosen individuals
53:12"do you then dispute with him as to what he saw?"
16:105"Only they forge falsehood who do not believe in Allah’s signs and they themselves are liars".
Deut18"A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own kinsmen; to him you shall listen. This is exactly what you requested of the LORD, your God, at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, 'Let us not again hear the voice of the LORD, our God, nor see this great fire any more, lest we die.' And the LORD said to me, 'This was well said. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their kinsmen, and will put my words into his mouth; he shall tell them all that I command him. If any man will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it."
The Quran thus establishes patterns by which to recognize an envoy from God. But one might come back and say that speaking the truth and being of impeccable morality doesnt necessarily mean the person is God-sent. Through the story of ancient nations and prophets, it establishes a pattern by which to determine the truthfulness of one claiming prophethood. As previously stated, these are; uprightness in character which includes an unflinching, uncompromising stance as regards his mission, to have been foretold by previous prophets, having access to special knowledge, and prophecies coming true. This includes warnings of punishment for fighting and opposing the messengers. The Quran places Muhammad inside that pattern of the prophets, at a time when none, not even the nascent Muslim community whose fear and reluctance to engage in military confrontation is related in the Quran, could have imagined for him and his small band of followers to become victorious and establish themselves 37:171-182.
Muhammad then effectively rises up and says to his tribe that they will meet a similar fate. He made the claim while in a state of weakness, and augmenting his rhetoric that should have antagonized his people against him instead of gaining him followers. As expected the people then oppose the message and prevent the people from it and get punished by the sword. End of the matter. None after him came with any of the following and was able to back his claims up:
1) comes from a common background of his addressees, meaning they know him very well, yet claims to be a Messenger, in fact the Final Messenger of God
2) warns his people of Divine chastisement
3) the chastisement comes home to roost and the partisans of the Prophet are established in the land
This is the exact process that occurred with the Bani Israil in the time of Moses, with the drowning of the host of Pharaoh and the deliverance of the Israelites, with the uprooting of the Canaanites and the establishment of the way of God. Not to mention, the Quranic invitation to the Arabs to see or recall for themselves the fate of the deniers of Nuh, Lut, Saleh, Shuayb, Hud... It is a Book of Warning that has already delivered its judgment in this world
53:36"This is a warner of the warners of old"
54:42-5"Are the unbelievers of yours better than these, or is there an exemption for you in the scriptures?...Soon shall the hosts be routed, and they shall turn (their) backs".
As said in Deuteronomy regarding the awaited prophet
"If any man will not listen to my words which he speaks in my name, I myself will make him answer for it".
God Almighty says that Prophethood has ended with the Prophet Muhammad. The Prophet bore witness to the unity of God, and his deniers were punished in this life. For those who claimed to be Prophets after him did they remain unvanquished as per the tradition of Allah, did they emerge as triumphant leaders or does their life and death fail to bear witness to their claims?
In answer to the video "Who (Really) Wrote The Quran?"
It is only after such persons, recognized for their nobility of character, start exposing the evils and falsehood of their societies that they are demeaned, rejected and fought
11:87"They said: O Shuaib! does your prayer enjoin you that we should forsake what our fathers worshipped or that we should not do what we please with regard to our property?".
And as Jesus said
Jn7:14-18"Whoever speaks on their own does so to gain personal glory, but he who seeks the glory of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him".
Like the prophets of old, the prophet Muhammad never asked for any compensation or reward for the priceless mission he was undertaking 6:90, his reward being with Allah 34:47. He is told to convey his message in a manner that can never compromise the integrity, honnor, exaltedness of the revelation 80:11-16. This instruction doesnt apply to the message only, but the messenger himself who shouldnt go on beseeching the people, discrediting his own honnor in doing so.
In 2:104 believers are urged to approach the Prophet with respect and to subordinate their personal desires and expectations to the commandments of the Faith revealed through him. These instructions meant at exalting both the message and the message-bearer in the people's eyes is reflected among other places in the command to offer money prior to consulting him
58:12"when you consult the Messenger, then offer something in charity before your consultation; that is better for you and purer; but if you do not find, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful".
That money was to be given in charity, not to him personaly. What the verse also reveals is that precedence is given to the poorest elements of society in approaching and consulting with the prophet since no pre-condition is required of them, contrary to the affluent. Traditions reflect how the injunction reduced the number of requests by the richer elements. Because their objective in approaching him wasnt to seek guidance.
Like every materialistic and spiritually deprived individuals, they thought this could be another opportunity to increase their sphere of influence in society, upon a new emerging community. The way they tried to achieve their purpose was by attempting negotiations with the prophet to make him compromise some of his principles with theirs. This was normal in their mind, since to them everything could be bargained, including spiritual and moral values for the sake of material gains. But in this corrupt pursuit, they werent even prepared to step down from their apparent superiority and mingle with the prophet's followers who came from a wide variety of backgrounds, on an equal footing. The instruction to give to charity prior to consulting with him was another obstacle as it meant they valued him above their own pride, thus giving them less leverage in negotiations. This lead to less counsels and the purification of the intellectual and social milieu of the Muslim community.
It is to be kept in mind that the prophet was very often denigrated by the affluent because of his mainly poor followers. They would tell him to distance himself from them so that they could approach him
6:52"And do not drive away those who call their Lord in the morning and the evening, they desire only His favour; neither are you answerable for any reckoning of theirs, nor are they answerable for any reckoning of yours, so that you should drive them away and thus be of the unjust".
Those who rejected their prophets did so, not because of absence or presence of miracles, or whther or not they saw revelation physically descending upon them, but because of their stubbornness and attachement to a system devoid of decent moral codes, on every level; political, economical, social and spiritual. Their sinfulness was the way by which they maintained this order
28:57"And they say: If we follow the guidance with you, we shall be carried off from our country"
23:70"and most of them are averse from the truth. And should the truth follow their low desires, surely the heavens and the earth and all those who are therein would have perished".
The leaders of a community were therefore almost always at the forefront of that opposition and rejected the moral reforms brought by the prophets, as in the prophet Muhammad's time, as well as in the times of Nuh, Shuayb or Moses, fearing for their power and achievements
43:51-4,11:87" O Shuayb! does your prayer enjoin you that we should forsake what our fathers worshipped or that we should not do what we please with regard to our property?".
They saw prophets as threats to the equilibrium they had established 7:127 while their sole aim was the return of humankind to its awareness of God and the higher spiritual truths. In addition they wrongly thought that them being socially privileged, necessarily implied that they were spiritually meritorious. In their limited mindframe, they linked material achievements to being on the true spiritual path. They used this superficial observation as an argument to win the dominated classes against the prophets 43:23,34:34-5 and their humble assemblies. The implicit accusation was that prophets were liars exploiting religion to gain social and political dominance under the guise of prophethood 7:90,110,123,10:78,20:57,23:24. Taking the example of Muhammad. His trustworthiness was unanimously recognized, whether among the notables, of whom he was of the highest descent, being a Hashemite, or from the lower classes of society. He could have easily gained political authority, united the Arabs accross the region by breaking their alliances of tutelage with the neighboring powers, and expanded his power to the fertile and rich Arab lands outside the Hijaz, had he been motivated by wordly success. Using his recognized eminent character he could have just as easily gathered the poor classes, who composed the vast majority of the population, leading them to overturn the corrupt and unfair social system of which only a few notable clans and families benefited, had he been interested in social reform. Had he been interested in raising the moral standards of his people, he could have spoken against many of its practices and rallied people easier on his side against the evils of his environement, like sexual promiscuity, alcohol and gambling, infanticide and mysoginy. But Muhammad, like every prophet, against all political and practical wisdom from a purely wordly outlook, was first and foremost interested in reforming human spirituality, placing only One God as the center of power and authority in every aspect of life. Every reform had to stem from the trust that only One God rules over the affairs of the universe. This was the more difficult route as it entailed first antagonizing one's close people and society at large, before proposing all these beneficial reforms
11:88"He (Shuayb) said: ‘O My people! Bethink you’ If I be upon a clear proof from my Lord, and He has provided me with fair sustenance from Him? And I desire not, in opposition to you, to do that which I forbid you from it. I desire naught save reform so far as I am able. My success is only with Allah. On Him do I rely and unto Him I turn".
As here stated by the prophet Shuayb who was faced with such attempts at discrediting his intentions, neither he nor any other prophet ever asked for any wordly reward in return of spiritual and moral reforms. That is why a prophet's integrity is crucial in being one among the criteria for prophethood, they had to be known as such by all people of their nation so as to effectively reject that false charge against them. Those who now became their opponents could not deny that integrity which they themselves acknowledged prior to the prophets attacking their ways of life. This means that they were speaking hypocriticaly and revealing their deep corrupt selves. They were projecting their own condition and outlook on life, upon others.
These lowly expectations they had from their fellow humans led them even to wonder as to how a completely disinterested, benevolent and spiritually upright message be sent from the Lord of creation onto a mere human who, they thought, could only be morally corrupt? Such a message should instead come to a supernatural being, above human limitations
23:33"This is nothing but a mortal like yourselves, eating of what you eat from and drinking of what you drink".
Such a messenger could not conform to the banal normality of a family man 13:38. At the very least, that message bearer should be from among the socially dominant, because if human morality doesnt merit to communicate with the divine, then an individual should be eligible through his social status which in their limited view represented divine approval 43:31. In addition, such a person should support his credibility by bending the natural laws whenever they demanded it, performing miracles according to their whims, transforming a mountain into a pile of gold, or answer any question relating to the unseen that might come up
6:50"Say: I do not say to you, I have with me the treasures of Allah, nor do I know the unseen, nor do I say to you that I am an angel; I do not follow aught save that which is revealed to me".
The prophet is told to answer that he is only following, like them, what has been revealed to him. The difference between him and them is that the prophet is a first hand witness while his opponents do not have any real certainty
"Say: Are the blind and the seeing one alike? Do you not then reflect?"
Of the unseen, no human has unlimitied access. The possessor of than supreme knowledge is God only, granting a glimpse of it to whomever He deems fit 72:26-7.
That is why they were rejecting the calls to reform and discrediting the Messengers, many times all the while having the inner sentiment that it is the Truth. Pharao and the Egyptian notables, continued in their rejection of Moses' calls until their last breath, all the while knowing that the signs could only be coming from God
Exodus8-10,Quran7:134,27:14"And they denied them unjustly and proudly while their soul had been convinced of them; consider, then how was the end of the mischief-makers".
This shows that miracles or not, the issue to the obdurate and senseless rejecters was never about a prophet's truthfulness but rather about the message itself. The HB in Deut13 warns the people to be very suspicious of anyone with the ability to perform what may seem as unexplainable supernatural deeds. The NT similarily says false prophets may be allowed the performence of miracles as a matter of test to the believers Matt24:4-5,23-25,2Thess2:9-10. John the Baptist was a true prophet but performed no supernatural miracles Jn10:41,Matt21:25-26.
Besides, to base one's faith on the sight of "miracles" is very dangerous for one never really knows whether the "miracle" was in fact an illusion or other clever trick. The prophet Moses' opponents reflected that reality when they described his miracles as illusion without external reality
7:132"And they said; whatever sign you bring us to bewitch us, we are not going to believe you".
As the HB says, God may even purposefully allow a false prophet to perform miracles as a test to the people, whether their hearts and minds will be dazzled and swayed into ungodly ways or remain steadfast in their faith. In Ex7:11 Pharaoh commands his court magicians to imitate with their magic Moses' miracles, and some of these miracles were in fact successfuly replicated, showing that seemingly supernatural occurences do not necessarily come from God. Miracles therefore, whether in the Quran or the HB, do not serve the function of attesting to an individual claim to prophethood, rather have the twofold purpose of comforting an already believing heart as well as demonstrate the tremendous responsibilities of those that witness it. That is why the Quran uses examples of past nations that requested miracles and disbelieved thereafter, as a lesson to the prophet's contemporaries who were doing the same. Had the signs been sent down as and when they requested, their current state of opposition was such that they were would have found any excuse to deny and denigrate them, and would have increased their enmity towards the message bearer and his message. Just as those before them, who were then destroyed although they were much more powerful than them. Pharaoh and his people are among those examples.
The Bible doesnt even give instructions on how to recognize demonic miracles because technically, they are no different than the divine ones. But it shows how to recognize if the author is a false messenger. The djinn, as described in the story of the prophet Solomon, are capable of what is deemed supernatural bending of the expected laws of nature. But what they have no access to, except as Allah deems fit, is knowledge of the unseen, information that could only be obtained through revelation. Knowledge of the unseen, and of information that could not have been accessible to the messenger, prophecies coming true, uprightness of character are all very strong indications of a person's claims of prophethood. That is why the Quran, although it never denies that its messenger could and did perform miracles, treats this aspect of prophethood as inconsequential in determining the veracity of the claim, dismissing the requests of the doubters and disbelievers and leaving the matter to the Creator. The sending of signs is at all times depending in His will and wisdom. The Quran therefore, in its arguments, brings repeated attention the aforementioned 4 aspects of prophethood, with an additional focus on knowledge; based on what authority, and knowledge do the disbelievers among the polytheists and people of the book persist in their denial and deviations
46:4"Say, [O Muhammad], "Have you considered that which you invoke besides Allah? Show me what they have created of the earth; or did they have partnership in [creation of] the heavens? Bring me a scripture [revealed] before this or a [remaining] trace of knowledge, if you should be truthful."
In conclusion, messengership does not necessitate that the forces of nature be bent at will and upon request. Miracles are entirely dependent on God's will and the prophets are nothing but mere mortals tasked with transmitting a message of warnings and glad tidings
17:90-3"And they say, we will by no means believe in you until you cause a fountain to gush forth..or you should cause the heavens to come down...or bring Allah and the angels face to face...or you should have a house of gold...Say; Glory be to God, am I aught but a mortal messenger?"
As one can see, miracles or not, witnessing revelation or not, uprightness of the message bearer and soundness of his message or not, prophecies coming true, all this was irrelevant to the deniers of the prophets all throughout history. To them it all boiled down to the message itself. That is why they did their utmost to 14:3,11:18-22"make it crooked". They did so through vehement denigration in front of any person showing interest in it, or by attempting to change it
41:40"Those who misconstrue Our Revelations are not in any way hidden from Us".
This way they thought they could create confusion through misinterpretations or deliberate corruption, trying to make it agree with their own evil principles. And when they could not do that, they tried corrupting the message bearers themselves, overtly asking them to compromise some of the revealed principles with theirs. This situation is amply depicted as regards to the prophet Muhammad and prophets before him as depicted in the HB. The frustration of the opponents of Truth would reach its highest as they found themselves unable to influence the minds of the people, and neither the messengers, so they would finally resort to death threats or expulsion from the land 14:13.
In 6:111,10:95-101 Allah speaks of those who continuously reject His communications, they will not believe no matter what sign is shown to them. All scriptures speak of such rejectors bent on denying revelation no matter what. In fact if they truly wanted a sign and werent instead seeking excuses for their disbelief, they would have at least considered the surrounding signs that point to the realities of which the Quran speaks of verse after verse. But the fact is these obdurate disbelievers see the Truth only when the promised divine torment in this earth or death overtakes them, just as Pharao came to believe only when he was drowning. When Jesus was challenged by the wicked Pharisees to display supernatural wonders as he did in his ministry, he answered them
Mk8:11-13"Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it."
Jesus categorically denied them the performence of Signs. True to his word, Jesus never appeared to those very people who demanded him a miracle after his alleged resurrection. Although as a side note he is depicted as saying elsewhere that he will indeed reappear resurrected to them Matt12:39 yet in reality he never did. In fact the risen Jesus never appears to anyone but believers. Those stubborn disbelievers demanded miracles to excuse their unbelief.
The demand of a sign in itself is not condemnable when it is motivated by a desire of assurance of an already existing, sincere belief. Even prophets requested such signs from God, seeking to know the reality, the functioning of concepts like the resurrection 2:259-60. This is because prophets often had to face the staunchest barrages of calumnies and opposition, and would thus seek personal comfort, requesting to see miracles on a private level and not to vindicate themselves publicly. However when such demand is but a challenge with the aim of comforting one's disbelief, a mere display of mockery, then God either rejects the demand through His prophets or immidiately punishes the culprits. This happened to the Jews who, after witnessing all sorts of signs and wonders in Egypt and during their journey, still demanded to see this God whom Moses claimed to have conversed with 2:55,4:153.
When some challenged similarily the prophet Muhammad, arguing that the absence of supernatural wonders is the reason of their disbelief, they are told that they instead have no real desire in them to seek the right guidance. Miracles do not conform to the whims and demands of such people, neither does Allah force belief upon anyone 10:99 much less if the person deliberately turns away from it. He lets such persons wander in their own ways 13:27.
In the NT Jesus reiterates the principle that miracles were only granted to those who desired them to confirm their faith, as Abraham or Gideon before (Judges6), and to grant satisfaction to those that already incline to truth. Miracles are not for those who
6:109"swear by Allah with the strongest of their oaths, that if a sign came to them they would most certainly believe in it. Say: Signs are only with Allah; and what should make you know that when it comes they will not believe?".
Thomas and Philip for example Jn14 believed and inclined to the truth but wanted satisfaction and clearing of some remaining doubts. Jesus used the miracle argument to comfort them, he is not addressing unbelievers and trying to convert them using miracles, he is addressing believers and reminding them of his miracles as a support to some specific claim. Same in Jn11:1-44. In fact we even read in Mk10:46-52,Matt9:27-30 how it is faith that actually causes Jesus' miracles to succeed. In Nazareth, Jesus was unable to do "powerful works" because he was not believed in. In Luke24 Jesus, after his crucifixion and alleged resurrection, encounters 2 men who declare their disbelief in Jesus, thinking that his mission had failed. Instead of revealing his identity which would have been a compelling evidence for them to believe, scolds them for their disbelief in scriptures which he claimed he fulfilled. His demand was to have faith in scriptures without the need to resort to supernatural evidence.
Jesus alludes to this reality again in a parable where a disbeliever put in hell requests the performence of a miracle to his people -who possess and know the scriptures- still on earth that they might believe
Lk16:19-31"If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead".
The Quran, after mentionning the various miracles of Jesus, points that these were signs for the believers 3:49. Jesus, and the few other Prophets through whom God showed miracles, werent going around town squares performing magic tricks to awe passers by, or clapping their hands to cause rainfall upon request.
Simon, Peter, James and John did not need the slightest miracle to believe in Jesus' prophethood Matt4,Jn1:35-51 but all are said to "believe" in Jesus a second time after they saw his miracles and that is because it strengthened their already existing belief Jn2:11. When Moses was sent to announce the future deliverance of the Israelites, he was strengthened with miracles and sent to the elders of the community, those grounded in knowledge, devoted to study, already inclined to the truth and knew God Ex4. They were those who would first and foremost believe Moses' words and this is because they had preserved and faithfully transmitted the knowledge, that God would eventually remember them and lead them out of Egypt into the land promised to Abraham Gen50:24-25. The sign would be that one would come to them with the words matching exactly that promise and therefore Moses was commanded to remind them of it with the same words as sufficient proof of his prophethood Ex3:15-18.
From a purely comparative viewpoint, supposing Moses or Jesus' miracles were productive and crucial in supporting their missions as well as gathering followers, which they clearly were not, as seen from how readily the Israelites strayed from the path during and after Moses, as well as the very few number of followers in Jesus' lifetime despite all the miracles he showed. The fact remains that, like every action, a miracle is only temporary in nature and can not be seen twice. It disappears and becomes history as soon as performed, leaving those that did not witness it to rely at best on those claiming to have seen it. This issue in itself isnt really problematic so long as the line of prophethood hasnt been discontinued yet, since the subsequent prophet will perform his own miracles and endorse the prophet who preceded him. And the cycle would continue.
With Muhammad, the case was different. He was the Final of the prophets. His prophethood had to be asserted through miracles different than those bestowed in support of the likes of Moses, because no action can last long enough to be seen by other generations. Nor could he rely on the endorsement of a subsequent prophet. Thus the nature of the miracle that had to serve as decisive evidence of his truthfulness had to be of a different type. It had to be lasting in order to be witnessed and tested by the future generations as well as by his contemporaries. For that purpose, nothing was more adapted to the technology of the time than a miraculous speech, recorded in writing, preserved through a divine pledge as opposed to every past scripture, so that its superiority in terms of the truth it conveys, as well as the intricate subtlety of its content be witnessed and tested at any time by any generation to come. That is why the Quran repeatedly points to itself as proof of prophethood, although nowhere is it denied that the prophet could or did perform miracles of the type of "wonder workings". The ahadith contain more details, and the Quran passingly alludes to the disbelievers witnessing such secondary signs but remained in denial 2:118,37:14-15,38:4. Among such signs was the instance where the moon was split for all to see 54:1.
In answer to the video "Who (Really) Wrote The Quran?"
In order to know if one has the right approach to knowledge, one has to see whether the chosen approach is beneficial in terms of personal insight as well as insight into the surrounding world, what does this approach teach and where does it lead. What does it imply about truth, what truth is, and where truth can be found, what does it say about how to live one's every day life.
There are 3 main domains that the chosen approach must satisfactorily address; intellectually, morally, spiritually.
Intellectually; Why is the universe the way that it is and why are we able to learn and understand it? Why should man even probe the secrets of the universe.
Morally; how should life be lived and according to which virtues? In what circumstances is it better to be humble or proud, gentle or fierce, merciful or stern, patient or hasty? How does experience and the ability to overcome obstacles develop us in these virtues?
Spiritually: Why does mankind exist, more specifically why is my own life worth living? What point does my existence accomplish in the broader scheme of things?
Every single human being will eventually be confronted with these questions and will adopt some form of value system that attempts to address them. The only question to ask is whether or not the ideology to which they have committed can successfully and coherently address these dimensions of life in a manner that provides meaningful guidance.
Only Islam unifies all of life’s ethical, rational, and spiritual pursuits under the singular aim of attaining nearness to God, providing a firm foundation for true personal development in all spheres. The Quran speaks to human intuition in a way that renders reality meaningful, unravelling all of the paradoxical knots of confusion. Haqq/truth is used in the Quran to refer to what is real 10:32 but also to mean purpose 16:3 as well as rights and responsibility 30:47. Reality is therefore meaningful (makes intellectual sense) and purposeful (makes spiritual sense), and this is something that corresponds to human intuition.
The Quranic discourse helps us make sense of what’s important and what’s relevant in our lives, what to focus on to achieve true spiritual, moral and intellectual growth. It does so by appealing to the existing knowledge of the fitrah.
Those who accepted the warners sent to them, firstly did it because they were not prejudiced but focused on the message that was being preached, noticing it agreed with elementary reason, their geneticly hardwired cognition of the higher realities, and their observation of the universe. That message was in addition transmitted by men who were obviously not deceitful charlatans motivated by any worldy pursuit.
These noble messengers knew that what they were comunicating could not be bought by any ammount of riches and favors, and were among the best of people in their nation
3:161,6:50,90,109,127,145,160,180,10:72,12:104,33:21,34:47,36:21,68:4,11:51,29,62"They said: O Salih! surely you were one amongst us in whom great expectations were placed before this; do you (now) forbid us from worshipping what our fathers worshipped? And as to that which you call us to, most surely we are in disquieting doubt".
Simple observation also shows that had these men been seeking illegitimate profits under the guise of prophethood, they would be surrounded by the affluent, yet the contrary can consistently be seen with every prophet. It was in fact one of the common reproaches which the aristocrats use to issue against them and the Quran particularily depicts how the prophet Nuh and his poor assemblies were the target of such scorn 11:27-30. Again, some very elementary points can be critically and objectively analyzed to assess the truthfulness of a person claiming prophethood.
None of these points have been meticulously and comprehensively documented on a scope even remotely comparable to Muhammad: How was his life prior to the claim? What is his message? Then how did his life become after his claim? How consistent was it with the message and that of those prophets that preceded him? How much did he have to sacrifice in all aspects of life by upholding that message and what did it bring him? How did his successes and failures affect his thoughts, words and deeds? Finally what kind of fruits did his message produce in the lives of his contemporaries?
In answer to the video "Who (Really) Wrote The Quran?"
By definition, belief in something is a firm state of mind that does not require the manifestation of the thing in question, but this does not mean that the belief is beyond reason.
For example it is much more unreasonable to assume that the world is the product of chance than of a purposeful design, especially when all the signs mentioned in the Quran, from those surrounding us every day and at each instant, down to those present in our own selves, do point in such a way to the inevitability of Judgement Day and of an afterlife, that it would be entirely unreasonable to think otherwise.
There is a reason why almost every such verses are accompanied by phrases explaining that these signs are for those who use their intellect, or as stated in the Hebrew Bible in relation to the truthfulness of its message
Prov8:9"They are all true to the understanding one, and straight to those who find knowledge".
Humans believe things everyday without seeing them so long as these things agree with their intellect and reason, only animals devoid of intelligence need to see to believe. For example most animals will never heed a warning until they see the threat and flee, while a human can reason and hearken the admonitions and prepare for all eventualities.
But then, even some animals are capable of mental deductions based on perception, without actually seeing. Still, reasonable belief doesnt render it factual, and neither was belief ever meant to become so, so as to not compromise the whole purpose of life, as stated in the Quran; spiritual growth using one's own innate spiritual sense of perception. Bringing the unseen to the seen makes spiritual growth impossible. In the account of creation, God describes how it was precisely that aspect of human life, the capacity to translate material perception to spiritual language, then grow spiritually is what awed the angels and made them bow to Adam in acknowledgment of his potential superiority over them.
The unseen isnt veiled from angels and are therefore compelled to accept these higher realities that are factual to them. That is why the Quran (and the HB, contrary to the Greek/New Testament) teaches that angels have no freedom of choice.
That belief in the unseen (God, angels, revelation, resurrection, hereafter) can never become factual doesnt make it unreasonable and in fact it is the disbelief in such concepts which is the weaker position from a rational perspective, for the reasons previously mentioned, including genetic. Genetically, it is man's ability to perceive the existence of a single Creator 7:172-3 referred to in 30:30 as man's hardwired uprightness at birth. Any notion that goes against that inborn awareness is therefore a corruption of man's spiritual nature. Pure monotheism, is the only intuitive system, one that can be naturally derived from observation and reflexion.
There is a reason why polytheistic societies all have one superior deity above all. This is their instinct, which can then become corrupt like any natural, beneficial predisposition. The Israelites throughout their history didnt stop believing in the supreme Yhwh even when they introduced idols in the temple itself. In fact, even subconsciously, no matter their sophistries, Trinitarians have the same thing as the aforementioned polytheists, with the "Father" whose name itself implies prominence in time, rank, importance, and who generates and begets the other 2 "persons" of the Godhead. Archaeology is not indicative of the historicity of monotheistic cults. Monotheism naturally seeks the immaterial, transcendental Creator who cannot be represented. Polytheism on the other hand is expected to leave traces in history, whether sculptures or drawings of that which is worshipped.
That is also why The Quran therefore doesnt deny but rather honors the covenants made by God with previous religious communities, each being in essence a manifestation of the pre-eternal covenant that God made with all of humanity when they were still in Adam’s loins
"And when thy Lord took from the Children of Adam, from their loins, their progeny and made them bear witness concerning themselves, “Am I not your Lord?” they said, “Yea, we bear witness”.
The covenants made on earth renew this genetic cognition of divine oneness
33:7"And [remember] when We made with the prophets their covenant, and with thee, and with Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus the son of Mary; We made with them a solemn covenant".
The various prophets thus served the purpose of reminding, so that no human beings can claim that they were unaware of that inner, instinctive knowledge
7:172-3"Lest you should say on the Day of Resurrection, “Truly of this we were heedless,” or lest you should say, “[It is] only that our fathers ascribed partners unto God aforetime, and we were their progeny after them. Wilt Thou destroy us for that which the falsifiers have done?”
With such understanding in mind, one can appreciate the Quranic use of the word kafir/kuffar in reference to those that reject prophetic guidance. Although often rendered simply as "disbelievers", the word literally means to "cover up". In this case, a kafir is one that covers up his innate cognition of the higher realities.
It is well known that genetically, humans are programmed to see life forces – a phenomenon called hypersensitive agency detection – everywhere we go, regardless of whether they’re there or not. Scientists say this might be an ancient defense mechanism that helped us avoid concealed danger, such as lions crouched in the grass or venomous snakes concealed in the bush, but that it also made us "vulnerable" to inferring the existence of invisible agents, such as a benevolent God. That mechanism, labelled "System 1" also encourages us to see things dualistically, meaning we have trouble thinking of the mind and body as a single unit. This tendency emerges quite early: young children, regardless of their cultural background, are inclined to believe that they have an immortal soul. For these reasons, many scholars believe that religion arose as “a byproduct of our cognitive disposition”, ie it would be cognitively unnatural to not believe, and to think of oneself in a non-dualistic way, which is why atheists (Atheism itself is a very recent phenomenon) must fight against that natural urge to believe in an existence with a purpose, that they are a part of something bigger, that life isn’t completely futile. Even those who explicitly describe themselves as non-believers, still harbor superstitious and non-rational thought processes. It is also established that inscribed in our DNA, there is a moral compass and sense of justice making us, since the youngest age, prefer good than bad actions.
It is the general guidance referred to 20:50 and instilled in all humans without exception. The Quran thus establishes that man is hardwired with a connection to its Creator. In reference to that intimate relation, the prophet said
"He who knows his soul knows his Lord".
On the other hand the Quran warns
59:19"And be not like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget their own souls".
If one ponders on the Quranic argumentation for the divine, one notices that it doesnt try demonstrating God's existence, but rather corrects how humans are to perceive Him and His attributes. Throughout human history, the accepting the existence of a deity was not an issue, rather the problem lied in the inability to recognize His true attributes and the manner He interacts with creation.
Man has both a principal and a secondary nature. His secondary nature returns to dust and his essence is related to Allah. This is why the Quran attributes the spirit to Allah and the body to the earth 38:71-72. A similar notion can be found in the Hebrew Bible in
Ecc12:7"The body reverts to the dust that it was before, and the ru'ah returns to God who gave it".
It is this spirit coming from Allah, infused into Adam for the first time, to inspire him the understanding of good and evil that creates the human thirst for guidance and worship
91:7-10"And (by) a soul and He Who proportioned it. And inspired it with its wickedness and its virtue. One has succeeded whoever purified it. And one has failed whoever corrupted it".
Contrary to the convoluted HB, this peculiar human feature was not hidden in a forbidden "tree of knowledge" but hardwired in mankind, since its inception. This is the spark, when nurtured and developed, that leads one to fulfil the goal of human creation; the worship of God.
