Who wrote the Qur'an? The non-Muslim's answer to this important question usually sounds like this: "The Qur'an was authored by a human being; it is not a literal revelation from God. It is a book created by human intelligence, like any other book. It was, as a matter of historical fact, written by Muhammad, in the seventh century A.D."
If this is your view, rest assured that you have plenty of company!
You should also know, though, that this point of view is not without its difficulties. To believe it, you must also believe that Muhammad (S):
Knew that the Earth and heavenly bodies were once a single point, and were separated violently (21:30)
21:30 Are the unbelievers not aware (after this proclamation) that the heavens and the earth used to be one solid mass that We exploded into parting? And that out of water We made every living thing? Will they not, then, acknowledge the Truth?
[Here is a clear allusion to the Big Bang theory. Numerous celestial bodies came into being and started swimming along in their orbits. 21]
What's more ...
If you don't believe that he had access to special knowledge that made possible this prefiguring of the modern Big Bang theory -- a theory entirely unknown to the Arabs of the seventh century -- you must conclude that 21:30 of the Qur'an is merely an intriguing coincidence, a matter of getting something right by chance.
Perhaps this passage is simply an intriguing coincidence. If it is, however, it is not the only one.
This man, the supposed "author" of the Qur'an, would also have to have:
Known about the relativity of time (22:47, 23:112-113, 70:4), a subject similarly unknown to the people of his times.
22:47 And so (O Prophet) they challenge you to hasten the doom, but Allah never fails to fulfill His Promise. A day of your Lord is like a thousand of your years. (32:5, 70:40). (Before your Lord, is the eternal Now. He is Above temporal and spatial bounds).
23:112 He (God) will ask, “What number of years have you spent on earth?”
23:113 They will say, “We stayed a day or part of a day. But ask those who keep count.”
23:114 He will say, “You stayed only a little, if you had only realized then!”
70:4 The Universal forces and the Divine Energy ascend unto Him in a Day the measure of which is fifty thousand years.
[All things in the Universe evolve in stages to fulfill the Divine Plan. Some of these stages take one thousand years each, and others fifty thousand years by the human calendar.
Either he possessed some extraordinary source of knowledge allowing discussion of this subject thirteen and a half centuries before Einstein, or
we are looking at another intriguing coincidence.
Which is it?
Most non-Muslims will instinctively answer along these lines]
Known that the cosmic bodies travel in their orbits. (21:33) as indeed modern astronomy proves that they do.
21:33 And He it is Who created the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. They swim along each in an orbit.
Known of the gravitational force between heavenly bodies, and that the sun is moving to an appointed destination.
13:2 Allah it is Who raised the heavens without pillars visible to you. Then, upon the Throne of His Almightiness, He assumed Supreme Control of the entire Universe. He committed the sun and the moon to be of service, each running to an appointed term. He keeps Order in the Universe and He explains His Messages in detail, so that you may be sure of meeting with your Lord. (Studying the Book of Nature will bring mankind closer to their Lord).
36:38 And the sun: it is running to its appointed destination. That is the measure of the Almighty, the Knower. [Until recently, it was thought that the sun was static. But, the celebrated Russian philosopher, astronomer and scientist, P.D. Ouspensky, had maintained that any science that contradicted the Qur'an would turn out to be false. Then, during Ouspensky's lifetime, it was discovered that the sun is moving toward a specified destination at 12 miles per second, 43,200 miles per hour! This destination has even been assigned names, the Solar Apex, the Constellation of Hercules. Guess what Ouspensky did! He embraced Islam]
Known that the Earth's atmosphere acts like a protective shield for living creatures (21:32).
21:32 And We have rendered the sky a canopy well guarded. (The atmosphere keeps in safe balance the gases and temperature, and protects you from the incoming meteorites). Yet they turn away from the signs that these things point to!
Known that the stages of human development in the womb unfold in a specific, describable sequence (23:14) that has been confirmed by modern experts in human embryology. Dr. Keith Moore of Toronto, the foremost embryologist in the world has made a change in his textbook to mention the Qur’an’s ‘Alaqa’ (leech-like lump of flesh), seeing a picture of leech and comparing it with the early appearance of the embryo.
23:14 Then We fashioned the gametes into zygote, a clot leech-like, then the hanging little lump, the embryo. Then We created bones within the embryonic lump, and then clothed the bones with flesh. (Thus We designed it into a fetus). And then We made it into a new creation (the human infant). So Blessed is Allah, The Best of creators. (33:7-9, 71:14).
Known that the roots of mountains extend deep into the earth and serve the function of preventing shocks (16:15).
16:15 And He has placed mountains firm like pegs on earth, lest it sway with you, and rivers and paths, so that you may find your way. [21]
Known details of how the Earth's rain cycle functions that were mysteries to scientists until the twentieth century.
30:48 It is Allah Who sends forth the winds that raise clouds, and then spreads them along the high atmosphere according to His Laws. And causes them to pile up and then break and you see the rain pouring down from within them. And when He makes it to fall on His servants by His Laws, behold, they rejoice.
Known what modern oceanographers have now learned, namely that bordering seas meet but do not mingle with one another (55:19-20).
55:19 He has let free the two seas. They meet. (25:53)
55:20 Yet, there is a Barrier between them that they cannot exceed.
Known that oceans have complex subsurface wave patterns (24:40).
24:40 Or total darkness in the midst of a deep ocean, with waves upon waves and a thick cloud above - darkness upon darkness. When he holds out his hand, he can barely see it. ---. [Captain Dr. Bernard Jarman, a renowned oceanographer, upon reading this verse, embraced Islam in 1923]
Known the existence of atoms.
34:3 ---. Not an atom's weight in the heavens and the earth, escapes His Knowledge, nor is hidden anything smaller or larger, but it is recorded in a Clear Record.
Known that, in communities of honeybees, only the females are workers (16:68-69). (The Arabic verb forms can connect only to female beings).
16:68 And consider how your Lord inspired the bee, “Build for yourself dwellings in hills and in trees, and in what people may build.”
16:69 “And then eat of all kind of fruit, and follow the ways that your Sustainer has made easy for you.” (We endowed the bee with navigational skills). And then comes forth from their bellies a delicious drink of many hues, in which there is health for people. In all this, behold, there is a message for people who are willing to listen. [Notice the female gender used throughout for bees. They are the worker bees. Interestingly, Shakespeare wrote, “Honeybees are soldiers and they have a king.” The German ethologist, (Ethology = Study of living beings in their natural habitat), Karl von Frisch discovered much of what we know today about honeybees and was honored with a Nobel Prize in 1973. He humbly admitted, “I feel honored that the Muslim Scripture agrees with my research in all perfection.” (Soon, In-Sha-Allah, the world will realize that the Glorious Book is the property of all mankind, not only of Muslims. Shabbir]
Known, seven years ahead of time, that the humiliated Byzantine Army of his day would rejuvenate itself and secure a major victory, which in fact it eventually did against the Persians (30:2-4).
30:2 The Romans have been defeated.
30:3. In the lands close-by – yet it is they who despite this defeat of theirs, shall be victorious.
[Byzantine Romans were defeated at the hands of the Persians in the nearby lands of Syria-Palestine-Egypt in 613-615 C.E. The war between the two super powers of the times carried on from 603 to 624 C.E. Muhammad (S) had been commissioned as Prophet in 610 CE]
30:4 Within ten years! For with Allah is the Command in the Past and in the Future. And on that day the believers too will have cause to rejoice.
Known that the body of the Pharaoh who had opposed Moses would be preserved for future generations (10:92).
10:92 Nay, but this day We will only save you in your body so that you may remain a lesson for generations to come. A great many of mankind remain heedless of Our Signs.
Known to refer to the Egyptian head of state of Prophet Joseph's era as ‘Aziz’ (Ruler or King and not as Pharaoh.
12:54 The King said, "Bring him to me so that I may appoint him a close adviser to me." And when he had spoken with him, the King decreed, "From today on you have a high standing with us, invested with all trust." [Note the Egyptian head of state of Prophet Joseph's era referred as ‘Aziz’ (Ruler or King and not as Pharaoh, the word that appears erroneously in the book of Genesis]
Known that the fabled Arabian lost city of Iram whose historical existence was confirmed by archaeologists only in 1990.
89:6 Have you noted how your Lord dealt with ‘Aad? (They had refused to acknowledge the truth 7:65-72).
89:7 Those whose capital was Iram, the city of towers and lofty mansions.
89:8 The like of which (the towers and castles) were never built in other cities. (26:128-134)
[‘Iram’ were the generation of Iram son of Sam son of Noah. The capital of the nation of ‘Aad bears the same name, Iram, and now lies buried in Al-Ahqaf, the Sand-dunes of Southern Arabia. 46]
Known that the ancient flood that had beset the southern Arabian people of Sheba from their dam system (34:15-17), similarly confirmed by modern archeology, was a historical reality.
34:15 The People of Sheba had a homeland that was a marvel indeed, with gardens everywhere on the right and the left (Yemen-Somalia-Abyssinia). “Enjoy what your Sustainer has provided for you, and render thanks to Him - a goodly land and a Sustainer Absolver of imperfections.”
34:16 But they turned away from Divine Values and We sent on them the Flood of the ‘Arim’ released from water dams. And We turned their Gardens into ‘gardens’ producing wild bitter fruit, and a thorny Lote-tree here and a tree there.
34:17 This was Our Requital for their ingratitude. Do We ever punish anyone but the ungrateful? (Ingratitude = Refusing to share Allah’s bounties in equity. It appears that in the Kingdom of Sheba people were divided into two classes, the very rich and the very poor).
Known the name of Haman, a historical figure close to the Pharaoh of the era of Prophet Moses, .... despite the problems that a) the name Haman does not appear in the Torah's version of the story, and b) the ability to translate the hieroglyphic language system of the Egyptians had been utterly lost for centuries at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an, and indeed would remain lost until the year 1799. After the discovery in that year of the Rosetta Stone, scholars were able to unlock the mystery of the hieroglyphs and, eventually, to confirm that there was indeed a Haman, unmentioned in the Hebrew scriptures, who was close to this Pharaoh in this period, and who was involved in construction (especially of towers and of temples), just as the Qur'an says. If we believe that human authorship is the only possible explanation for the origin of the Qur'an, we must assume either that Muhammad (S), somehow had access to this information, or we must believe that this passage is yet another in a remarkably long series of intriguing coincidences.
28:38 Pharaoh said, "O Chiefs! I did not know that you could have any god other than myself. Well, then, O Haman! Kindle me a fire for baking bricks and then build me a lofty tower so that I may have a look at the god of Moses – although, behold, I deem that he is of the liars."
How many coincidences do we need to get the message?
The message is simple: no human intelligence could have produced this book in the seventh century.
Please know that there are many, many more such coincidences in the Qur'an.
I have listed here only those that do not require advanced knowledge in such topics as Arabic, mathematics, Islamic history, or classical poetic forms.
Even with the brief list I have provided, there comes, I think, a point at which one is obliged to evaluate the Qur'an's Message carefully, closely,
and respectfully. These supposed coincidences are, I believe, clear signs to humankind that the Qur'an's Message is of a special quality, and must not be ignored.
Only the repeated exposure of the individual human heart to the Quran's Message can settle such a momentous question, "Who wrote the Qur'an?"
If you are a person who believes that there is no such thing as a Divinely inspired revelation, the question is: how many coincidences does it take for you to consider that such a revelation to humanity may be possible?
If you are a person who believes that there is such a thing as a divinely inspired revelation, the question is, how many coincidences are you willing to ignore before considering the possibility that a particular text presents such revelation?
The truly remarkable thing is that ALL of these features should present themselves in a text supposedly composed by human intelligence -- and the profound unlikelihood of that is the intriguing coincidences.
Knowing what you now know about these supposed coincidences, do you honestly believe that the Qur'an is simply the product of human intelligence, a book like any other book? Or does it seem more likely to you that its Message is of a special quality?
May God bless you!
Gratefully,
Shabbir Ahmed, M.D. :D :D
Wassalam,
SA
SA