The Amazing Quran

Based upon a lecture presented by Gary Miller

Calling the Quran amazing is not something done only by Muslims, who have an appreciation for the book and who are very pleased with it. It has been labeled amazing by non-Muslims as well. In fact, even people who hate Islam very much have still called it amazing.

One thing, which surprises non-Muslims who are examining the book very closely, is that the Quran does not appear to them, to be what they expected. What they assume is that they have an old book which came fourteen centuries ago from the Arabian desert, and they expect that the book should look something like that -- an old book from the desert. And then they find out that it does not resemble what they expected at all. Additionally, one of the first things that some people assume is that because it is an old book, which comes from the desert, it should talk about the desert. Well, the Quran does talk about the desert -- some of its imagery describes the desert; but it also talks about the sea -- what it’s like to be in a storm on the sea.

Some years ago, the story came to us in Toronto about a man who was in the merchant marine and made his living on the sea. A Muslim gave him a translation of the Quran to read. The merchant marine knew nothing about the history of Islam but was interested in reading the Quran. When he finished reading it, he brought it back to the Muslim and asked, " This Muhammad (Peace be upon him), was he a sailor? " He was impressed at how accurately the Quran describes a storm on the sea. When he was told, " No, as a matter of fact, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) lived in the desert," that was enough for him. He embraced Islam on the spot. He was so impressed with the Quran’s description because he had been in a storm on the sea, and he knew that whoever had written that description had also been in a storm on the sea. The description of " a wave, over it a wave, over it clouds " (see Surah Nur, verse 40) was not what someone imagining a storm on the sea to be like would have written; rather, it was written by someone who knew what a storm on the sea was like. This is one example of how the Quran is not tied to a certain place and time. Certainly, the scientific ideas expressed in it also do not seem to originate from the desert fourteen centuries ago.

If one assumes that the Quran is the product of a man’s mind, then one would expect it to reflect some of what was going on in the mind of the man who " composed " it. In fact certain encyclopedias and various books claim that the Quran was the product of hallucinations that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) underwent. If these claims are true -- if it indeed originated from some psychological problems in Muhammad’s (Peace be upon him) mind -- then evidence of this would be apparent in the Quran. Is there such evidence? In order to determine whether or not there is? one must first identify what things would have been going on in his mind at that time and then search for these thoughts and reflections in the Quran.

It is common knowledge that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) had a very difficult life. His children died before him, and he had a wife of several years who was very dear and important to him, who not only preceded him in death but died at a very critical period of his life. Although these examples are only a few of the subjects that would have been on Muhammad’s (Peace be upon him) mind, they are sufficient in intensity to prove my point. The Quran does not mention any of these things, not the death of his children, not the death of his beloved companion and wife, not his fear of the initial revelations, which he so beautifully shared with his wife, nothing. Yet, these topics must have hurt him, bothered him, and caused him pain and grief during periods in his life. Indeed, if the Quran was a product of his psychological reflections, then these subjects, as well as others, would be prevalent or at least mentioned throughout.

A truly scientific approach to the Quran is possible because the Quran offers something that is not offered by other religious scriptures, in particular, and other religions, in general. It is what scientists demand. Today there are many people who have various ideas and theories about how the universe works. These people are all over the place, but the scientific community does not even bother to listen to them. This is because within the last century the scientific community has demanded a test of falsification. They say, " If you have a theory, do not bother us with it unless you bring with that theory a way for us to prove whether you are wrong or not. "

This is exactly what the Quran has -- falsification tests. Basically it states, " If this book is not what it claims to be, then all you have to do is this or this or this to prove that it is false. " Of course, in 1400 years no one has been able to do " this or this or this, " and thus it is still considered true and authentic.

A perfect example of how Islam provides man with a chance to verify its authenticity and " prove it wrong " occurs in the 4th chapter. And quite honestly, I was very surprised when I first discovered this challenge. It states:

" Do they not consider the Quran? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy " [Al-Nisa:82]

This is a clear challenge to the non-Muslims. Basically it invites them to find a mistake. As a matter of fact, the seriousness and difficulty of the challenge aside, the actual presentation of such a challenge in the first place is not even in human nature and is inconsistent with man’s personality. One doesn’t take an exam in school and after finishing the exam, write a note to the instructor at the end, saying, " This exam is perfect. There are no mistakes in it. Find one if you can! " One just doesn’t do that. The teacher would not sleep until he found a mistake! And yet this is the way the Quran approaches people.

A few years ago, a group of men in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia collected all of the verses in the Quran, which discuss embryology -- the growth of human being in the womb. They said, " Here is what the Quran says. Is it the truth? " In essence, they took the advice of the Quran: " Ask the men who know. " They chose as it happened, a non-Muslim who is a professor of embryology at the University of Toronto. His name is Keith Moore, and he is the author of textbooks on embryology -- a world expert on the subject. They invited him to Riyadh and said, " This is what the Quran says about your subject. Is it true? What can you tell us?."

While he was in Riyadh, they gave him all of the help that he needed in translation and all of the cooperation for which he asked. And he was so surprised at what he found that he changed his textbooks. In fact, in the second edition of one of his books, called " Before we are born " in the section about the history of embryology, he included some material that was not in the first edition because of what he had found in the Quran. Truly this illustrates that the Quran was ahead of its time and that those who believe in the Quran know what other people do not know.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Keith Moore for a television presentation, and we talked a great deal about this -- it was illustrated by slides and so on. He mentioned that some of the things that the Quran states about the growth of the human being were not know until about thirty years ago. In fact, he said that one item in particular -- the Quran’s description of the human being as a " leech like clot " (alaqah) [ref 22:5, 23:14, 40:67] at one stage -- was new to him. When he checked on it, he found that it was true, and so he added it to his book. He said, " I never thought of that before, " and he went to the zoology department and asked for a picture of leech. When he found that it looked just like the human embryo, he decided to include both pictures in one of his textbooks.

Dr. Moore also wrote a book on clinical embryology, and when he presented this information in Toronto, it caused quite a stir throughout Canada. It was on the front pages of some of the newspapers across Canada, and some of the headlines were quite funny. For instance, one headline read: " SURPRISING THING FOUND IN ANCIENT PRAYER BOOK! " It seems obvious from this example that people do not clearly understand what it is all about. As a matter of fact, one newspaper reporter asked Professor Moore, " Don’t you think that may be the Arabs might have known about these things -- the description of the embryo, its appearance and how it changes and grows? Maybe they were not scientists, but maybe they did some crude dissections on their own -- carved up people and examined these things. " The professor immediately pointed out to him that he [i.e. the reporter] had missed a very important point -- all of the slides of the embryo that had been shown and that had been projected in the film had come from pictures taken through a microscope. He said, " It does not matter if someone had tried to discover embryology fourteen centuries ago. They could not have seen it! "

All of the descriptions in the Quran of the appearance of the embryo are of the item when it is still too small to see with the eye; therefore, one needs a microscope to see it. Since such a device has only been around for a little more than two hundred years, Dr. Moore taunted, " May be fourteen centuries ago someone secretly had a microscope and did this research, making no mistakes anywhere. Then he somehow taught Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and convinced him to put this information in his book. Then he destroyed his equipment and kept it a secret forever. Do you believe that? You really should not unless you bring some proof because it is such a ridiculous theory. " In fact, when he was asked, " How do you explain this information in the Quran? " Dr. Moore’s reply was, " It could only have been divinely revealed! "

It must be stressed that the Quran is accurate about many, many things, but accuracy does not necessarily mean that a book is a divine revelation. In fact, accuracy is only one of the criteria for divine revelations. For instance, the telephone book is accurate, but that does not mean that it is divinely revealed. The real problem lies in that one must establish some proof of the source of the Quran’s information. The emphasis is in the other direction, in that the burden of proof is on the reader. One cannot simply deny the Quran’s authenticity without sufficient proof. If, indeed, one finds a mistake, then he has the right to disqualify it. This is exactly what the Quran encourages.

An essential fact that cannot be reiterated enough concerning the authenticity of the Quran is that one’s inability to explain a phenomenon himself does not require his acceptance of the phenomenon’s existence or another person’s explanation of it. Specifically, just because one cannot explain something does not mean that one has to accept someone else’s explanation. However, the person’s refusal of other explanations, reverts the burden of proof back on him to find a feasible answer. This general theory applies to numerous concepts in life but fits most wonderfully with the Quranic challenge, for it creates a difficulty for one who says, " I do not believe it ". At the onset of refusal, one immediately has an obligation to find an explanation himself if he feels other’s answers are inadequate.

The real certainty about the truthfulness of the Quran is evident in the confidence, which is prevalent throughout it; and this confidence comes from a different approach -- " Exhausting the Alternatives ". In essence, the Quran states, " This book is a divine revelation; if you do not believe that, then what is it? " In other words, the reader is challenged to come up with some other explanation. Here is a book made of paper and ink. Where did it come from? It says it is a divine revelation; if it is not, then what is its source? The interesting fact is that no one has yet come up with an explanation that works. In fact, all alternatives have been exhausted. As has been well established by non-Muslims, these alternatives basically are reduced to two mutually exclusive schools of thought, insisting on one or the other. On one hand, there exists a large group of people who have researched the Quran for hundreds of years and who claim, " One thing we know for sure -- that man, Muhammad (Peace be upon him), thought he was a prophet. He was crazy! " They are convinced that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was fooled somehow. Then on the other hand, there is another group which alleges, " Because of this evidence, one thing we know for sure is that that man, Muhammad (Peace be upon him), was a liar! " Ironically, these two groups never seem to get together without contradicting. In fact, many references on Islam usually claim both theories. They start out by stating that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was crazy and then end by saying that he was a liar. They never seem to realize that he could not have been both!

The following scenario is a good example of the kind of circle that non-Muslims go around in constantly. If you ask one of them, " What is the origin of the Quran? " he tells you that it originated from the imagination of a man who was crazy. Then you ask him, " If it came from his head, then where did he get the information contained in it? Certainly, the Quran mentions many things with which the Arabs were not familiar. " So in order to explain the facts, which you bring him, he changes his position and says, " Well, maybe he was not crazy. Maybe some foreigner brought him the information. So he lied and told people that he was a prophet ". At this point then you have to ask him, " If Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was a liar, then where did he get his confidence? Why did he behave as though he really thought that he was a prophet? " Finally, backed into a corner, like a cat he quickly lashes out with the first response that comes to his mind. Forgetting that he has already exhausted that possibility, he claims, " Well, maybe he wasn’t a liar. He was probably crazy and really thought that he was a Prophet ". And thus he begins the futile cycle again.

As has already been mentioned, there is much information contained in the Quran whose source cannot be attributed to anyone other than Allah. For example, who told Muhammad (Peace be upon him) about the wall of Dhul-Qarnain? Who told him about embryology? When people assemble facts such as these, if they are not willing to attribute their existence to a divine source, they automatically resort to the assumption that someone brought Muhammad (Peace be upon him) the information and that he used it to fool people. However, this theory can easily be disproved with one simple question: " If Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was a liar, where did he get his confidence? Why did he tell some people out right to their face what others could never say? " Such confidence depends completely upon being convinced that one has a true divine revelation. For example, the Prophet (Peace be upon him) had an uncle by the name of Abu Lahab. This man hated Islam to such an extent that he used to follow the Prophet around in order to discredit him. If Abu Lahab saw the Prophet speaking to a stranger, he would wait until they parted and then would go to the stranger and ask him, " What did he tell you? Did he say, ‘Black’? Well, it is white. Did he say, ‘Morning’? Well it is night ". He faithfully said the exact opposite of whatever he heard Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and the Muslims say. However, about ten years before Abu Lahab died, a little chapter in the Quran (Surah Lahab) was revealed about him. It distinctly stated that he would go to the Fire (i.e. Hell). In other words, it affirmed that he would never become a Muslim and would therefore be condemned forever.

For ten years all Abu Lahab had to do was say, " I heard that it has been revealed to Muhammad that I will never change -- that I will never become a Muslim and will enter the Hellfire. Well, I want to become a Muslim now. How do you like that? What do you think of your divine revelation now? " But he never did that. And yet, that is exactly the kind of behavior one would have expected from him since he always sought to contradict Islam. In essence, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) said, " You hate me and you want to finish me? Here, say these words, and I am finished. Come on, say them! " But Abu Lahab never said them. Ten years! And in all that time he never accepted Islam or even became sympathetic to the Islamic cause. How could Muhammad (Peace be upon him) possibly have known for sure that Abu Lahab would fulfill the Quranic revelation if he [i.e. Muhammad (Peace be upon him)] was not truly the Messenger of Allah? How could he possibly have been so confident as to give someone 10 years to discredit his claim of prophethood? The only answer is that he was Allah’s messenger, for in order to put forth such a risky challenge, one has to be entirely convinced that he has a divine revelation.

Another example of the confidence which Muhammad (Peace be upon him) had in his own prophethood and consequently in the divine protection of himself and his message is when he left Makkah and hid in a cave with Abu Bakar during their emigration to Madeenah. The two clearly saw people coming to kill them, and Abu Bakar was afraid. Certainly if Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was a liar, a forger and one who was trying to fool people into believing that he was a prophet. One would have expected him to say in such a circumstance to his friend, " Hey, Abu Bakar, see if you can find a back way out of this cave " or " Squat down in that corner over there and keep quiet ". Yet, in fact, what he said to Abu Bakar clearly illustrated his confidence. He told him, " Relax! Allah is with us, and Allah will save us! " Now, if one knows that he is fooling people, where does one get this kind of attitude? In fact, such a frame of mind is not characteristic of a liar or a forger at all.

So, as has been previously mentioned, the non-Muslims go around in a circle, searching for a way out -- some way to explain the findings in the Quran without attributing them to their proper source. On one hand, they tell you, " The man was a liar ", and on the other hand, " He was crazy ". What they refuse to accept is that one cannot have it both ways, yet they need both theories, both excuses to explain the information in the Quran.

About seven years ago, I had a minister over to my home. In the particular room in which we were sitting there was a Quran on a table, face down, and so the minister was not aware of which book it was. In the midst of a discussion, I pointed to the Quran and said, " I have confidence in that book. " Looking at the Quran but not knowing which book it was, he replied, " Well, I tell you, if that book is not the Bible, it was written by a man! " In response to his statement, I said, " Let me tell you something about what is in that book. " And in just three or four minutes, he completely changed his position and declared, " You are right. A man did not write that book. The Devil wrote it! " Indeed, possessing such an attitude is very unfortunate -- for many reasons. For one thing, it is a very quick and cheap excuse. It is an instant exit out of an uncomfortable situation. As a matter of fact, there is a famous story in the Bible that mentions how one day some of the Jews were witnesses when Jesus raised a man from the dead. The man had been dead for four days, and when Jesus arrived, he simply said, " Get up! " and the man arose and walked away. At such a sight, some of the Jews who were watching said disbelievingly, " This is the Devil. The Devil helped him! " Now this story is rehearsed very often in churches all over the world and people cry big tears over it, saying, " Oh, if I had been there, I would not have been as stupid as the Jews! " Yet, ironically, these very people do exactly what the Jews did when in just three minutes you show them only a small part of the Quran and all they can say is, " Oh, the Devil did it. The Devil wrote that book! " Because they are truly backed into a corner and have no other viable answer, they resort to the quickest and cheapest excuse available.

Another example of people’s use of this weak stance can be found in the Makkans’ explanation of the source of Muhammad’s (Peace be upon him) message. They used to say, " The devils bring Muhammad (Peace be upon him) that Quran! " But just as with every other suggestion made, the Quran gives the answer. One verse in particular states:

" And they say, Surely he is possessed (by jinn), but it (i.e. the
Quran) is not except a reminder to the worlds " [Al-Qalam:51,52]

Thus it gives an argument in reply to such a theory. In fact, there are many arguments in the Quran in reply to the suggestion that devils brought Muhammad (Peace be upon him) his message. For example, in the 26th chapter Allah clearly affirms:

" No evil ones have brought it (i.e. this revelation) down. It would neither be fitting for them, nor have they power to do. (it) Indeed they have been removed far from hearing " [Al-Shu’ara:210-212]

And in another place in the Quran, Allah instructs us:

" So when you recite the Quran, seek refuge in
Allah from Shaytan (i.e. Satan), the rejected " [Al-Nahl:98]

" O you who believe, enter Islam completely and follow not the footsteps of the devil. Surely he is your open enemy " [Al-Baqarah:208]

Now is this how Satan writes a book? He tells one, " Before you read my book, ask God to save you from me? " and that " I am your open enemy, don’t follow me ". This is very, very tricky. Although Satan may have some abilities, they are a long way separated from the abilities of Allah. And no Muslim is a Muslim unless he believes that. It is common knowledge even among non-Muslims that the Devil can easily make mistakes, and it would be expected that he would contradict himself if and when he ever wrote a book. For indeed, the Quran states:

" Do they not consider the Quran? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy " [Al-Nisa:82]

In the conjunction with the excuses that non-Muslims advance in futile attempts to justify unexplainable verses in the Quran, there is another attack often rendered which seems to be a combination of the theories that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was crazy and a liar.

Basically, these people propose that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was insane, and as a result of his delusion, he lied to and misled people. There is a name for this in psychology. It is referred to as mythomania. It means simply that one tells lies and then believes them. This is what the non-Muslims say Muhammad (Peace be upon him) suffered from. But the only problem with this proposal is that one suffering from mythomania absolutely cannot deal with any facts, and yet the whole Quran is based entirely upon facts. Everything contained in it can be researched and established as true. Facts are such a problem for a mythomaniac, that when a psychologist tries to treat one suffering from that condition, he continually confronts him with facts. For example, if one is mentally ill and claims, " I am the king of England ", a psychologist does not say to him, " No you aren’t. You are crazy! " He just does not do that. Rather he confronts him with facts and says, " O.K., you say you are the king of England. So tell me where the queen is today? Where is your Prime Minister? And where are your guards? " Now, when the man has trouble trying to deal with these questions, he tries to make excuses, saying, " Uh ... the queen ... she has gone to her mother’s. Uh ... the Prime Minister ... well he died ". And eventually he is cured because he cannot deal with the facts. If the psychologist continues confronting him with enough facts, finally he faces the reality and says, " I guess I am not the king of England ".

The Quran approaches everyone who reads it in very much the same way a psychologist treats his mythomaniac patient. There is a verse in the Quran, which states:

" O mankind, there has come to you an admonition (i.e. the Quran) from your Lord and a healing for what is in the hearts -- and guidance and mercy for the believers " [Yunus:57]

At first glance, this statement appears vague, but the meaning of this verse is clear when one views it in light of the aforementioned example. Basically, one is healed of his delusions by reading the Quran. In essence, it is therapy. It literally cures deluded people by confronting them with facts. A prevalent attitude throughout the Quran is one which says, " O mankind, you say such and such about this, but what about such and such? How can you say " this " when you know that? " and so forth. It forces one to consider what is relevant and what matters while simultaneously healing one of the delusions that facts presented to mankind by Allah can be easily explained away with flimsy theories and excuses.

It is this very sort of thing -- confronting people with facts -- that has captured the attention of many non-Muslims. In fact, there exists a very interesting reference concerning this subject in the " New Catholic Encyclopedia ". In an article under the subject of the Quran, the Catholic Church states, " Over the centuries, many theories have been offered as to the origin of the Quran. Today no sensible man accepts any of these theories!! " Now here is the age-old Catholic Church, which has been around for so many centuries, denying these futile attempts to explain away the Quran. Indeed, the Quran is a problem for the Catholic Church. It states that it is a revelation, so they study it. Certainly, they would love to find proof that it is not. But they cannot. They cannot find a viable explanation. But at least they are honest in their research and do not accept the first unsubstantiated interpretation, which comes along. The Church states that in fourteen centuries it has not yet been presented a sensible explanation. At least it admits that the Quran is not an easy subject to dismiss. Certainly, other people are much less honest. They quickly say, " Oh, the Quran came from here. The Quran came from there ". And they do not even examine the credibility of what they are stating most of the time.

Of course, such a statement by the Catholic Church leaves the everyday Christian in some difficulty. It just may be that he has his own ideas as to the origin of the Quran, but as a single member of the Church, he cannot really act upon his own theory. Such an action would be contrary to the obedience, allegiance and loyalty, which the Church demands. By virtue of his membership, he must accept what the Catholic Church declares without question and establish its teaching as part of his everyday routine. So, in essence, if the Catholic Church as a whole is saying, " Do not listen to these unconfirmed reports about the Quran ", then what can be said about the Islamic point of view? If even non-Muslims are admitting that there is something to the Quran -- something about it that must be acknowledged -- then why are people so stubborn and defensive and hostile when Muslims advance the very same theory? This is certainly something for those with a mind to contemplate -- something to ponder for those of understanding!

Recently, the leading intellectual in the Catholic Church -- a man by the name of Hans -- studied the Quran and gave his opinion of what he had read. This man has been around for some time, and he is highly respected in the Catholic Church, and after careful scrutiny, he reported his findings, concluding, " God has spoken to man through the man, Muhammad (Peace be upon him) ". Again this is a conclusion arrived at by a non-Muslim source -- the very leading intellectual of the Catholic Church himself! I do not think that the Pope agrees with him, but nonetheless, the opinion of such a noted, reputed public figure must carry some weight in defense of the Muslim position. He must be applauded for facing the reality that the Quran is not something, which can be easily pushed aside and that, in fact, God is the source of these words.

As is evident from the aforementioned information, all of the possibilities have been exhausted, so the chance of finding another possibility of dismissing the Quran is nonexistent. For if the book is not a revelation, then it is a deception; and if it is a deception, one must ask, " What is its origin? And where does it deceive us? " Indeed, the true answers to these questions shed light on the Quran’s authenticity and silence the bitter, unsubstantiated claims of the unbelievers. Certainly, if people are going to insist that the Quran is a deception, then they must bring forth evidence to support such a claim. The burden of proof is on them, not us! One is never supposed to advance a theory without sufficient corroborating facts, so I say to them, " Show me one deception! Show me where the Quran deceives me! Show me, otherwise don’t say that it is a deception! "

An interesting characteristic of the Quran is how it deals with surprising phenomena, which relate not only to the past but to modern times as well. In essence, the Quran is not an old problem. It is still a problem even today -- a problem for the non-Muslims, that is. For everyday, every week, every year brings more and more evidence that the Quran is a force to be contended with -- that its authenticity is no longer to be challenged! For example, one verse in the Quran reads:

" Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together, then We clove them asunder, and made from water every living thing? Will they not then believe? " [Al-Anbiya:30]

Ironically, this very information is exactly what they awarded the 1973 Nobel Prize for -- to a couple of unbelievers. The Quran reveals the origin of the universe -- how it began from one piece -- and mankind continues to verify this revelation even up to now. Additionally, the fact that all life originated from water would not have been an easy thing to convince people of fourteen centuries ago. Indeed, if 1400 years ago you had stood in the desert and told someone, -- All of this, you see (pointing to yourself), is made up of mostly water, -- No one would have believed you. Proof of that was not available until the invention of the microscope. They had to wait to find out that cytoplasm, the basic substance of the cell, is made up of 80% water. Nonetheless, the evidence did come, and once again the Quran stood the test of time.

An interesting example of falsification tests contained in the Quran is the verse that mentions the relationship between the Muslims and the Jews. The verse is careful not to narrow its scope to the relationship between individual members of each religion, but rather, it summarizes the relationship between the two groups of people as a whole. In essence, the Quran states that the Christians will always treat the Muslims better than the Jews will treat the Muslims. Indeed, the full impact of such a statement can only be felt after careful consideration of the real meaning of such a verse. It is true that many Christians and many Jews have become Muslims, but as a whole, the Jewish community is to be viewed as an avid enemy of Islam. Additionally, very few people realize what such an open declaration in the Quran invites. In essence, it is an easy chance for the Jews to prove that the Quran is false -- that it is not a divine revelation. All they have to do is organize themselves, treat the Muslims nicely for a few years and then say, " Now what does your holy book say about who are your best friends in the world -- the Jews or the Christians? Look what we Jews have done for you! " That is all they have to do to disprove the Quran’s authenticity, yet they have not done it in 1400 years. But, as always, the offer still stands open!

All of the examples so far given concerning the various angles from which one can approach the Quran have undoubtedly been subjective in nature; however, there does exist another angle, among others, which is objective and whose basis is mathematical. It is surprising how authentic the Quran becomes when one assembles what might be referred to as a list of good guesses. Mathematically, it can be explained using guessing and prediction examples. For instance, if a person has two choices (i.e., one is right, and one is wrong), and he closes his eyes and makes a choice, then half of the time (i.e., one time out of two) he will be right. Basically, he has a one in two chance, for he could pick the wrong choice, or he could pick the right choice. Now if the same person has two situations like that (i.e., he could be right or wrong about situation number one, and he could be right or wrong about situation number two), and he closes his eyes and guesses. Then he will only be right one fourth of the time (i.e., one time out of four). He now has a one in four chance because now there are three ways for him to be wrong and only one way for him to be right. The mathematical equation representing such a scenario is ½ x ½ (i.e., one time out of two for the first situation multiplied by one time out of two for the second situation).

Continuing on with the example, if the same person now has three situations in which to make blind guesses, then he will only be right one eighth of the time (i.e., one time out of eight or ½ x ½ x ½). Again, the odds of choosing the correct choice in all three situations have decreased his chance of being completely correct to only one time in eight. It must be understood that as the number of situations increase, the chance of being right decreases, for the two phenomena are inversely proportional.

Now applying this example to the situations in the Quran, if one draws up a list of all of the subjects about which the Quran has made correct statements, it becomes very clear that it is highly unlikely that they were all just correct blind guesses. Indeed, the subjects discussed in the Quran are numerous, and thus the odds of someone just making lucky guesses about all of them become practically nil. If there are a million ways for the Quran to be wrong, yet each time it is right, then it is unlikely that someone was guessing.

Certainly, one could continue on and on with this, drawing up a longer and longer list of good guesses; and, of course, the odds would become higher and higher with each increase of subjects about which one could guess. But what no one can deny is the following:

The odds that Muhammad (Peace be upon him), an illiterate, guessed correctly about thousands and thousands of subjects, never once making a mistake, are so high that any theory of his authorship of the Quran must be completely dismissed -- even by the most hostile enemies of Islam!

Indeed, the Quran expects this kind of challenge. Undoubtedly, if one said to someone upon entering a foreign land, " I know your father. I have met him ", probably the man from that land would doubt the newcomer’s word, saying, " You have just come here. How could you know my father?" As a result, he would question him, " Tell me, is my father tall, short, dark, fair? What is he like? " Of course, if the visitor continued answering all of the questions correctly, the skeptic would have no choice but to say, " I guess you do know my father. I don’t know how you him, but I guess you do! " The situation is the same with the Quran. It states that it originates from the One who created everything. So everyone has the right to say, " Convince me! If the author of this book really originated life and everything in the heavens and on the earth, then He should know about this, about that, and so on ". And inevitably, after researching the Quran, everyone will discover the same truths. Additionally, we all know something for sure: we do not all have to be experts to verify what the Quran affirms. One’s faith grows as one continues to check and confirm the truths contained in the Quran. And one is supposed to do so all of his life.

Supplement

The 89th chapter of the Quran (Surah al-Fajr, verse 7) mentions a certain city by the name of " Iram (a city of pillars) ". It was not known in the ancient history and which was nonexistent as far as historians were concerned. However the Dec 1978 edition of " National Geographic " introduced interesting information which mentioned that in 1973, the city of Ebla was excavated in Syria. The city was discovered to be 43 centuries old, but that is not the most amazing part. Researchers found in the library of Ebla a record of all the cities with which Ebla had done business. Believe it or not, there on the list was the name of the city of " Iram "

In conclusion, I ask you to consider with care the following:

" And they say, ‘Why are not signs sent down to him from his Lord?’ Say, ‘Indeed, the signs are with Allah, and I am but a clear Warner.’ But is it not sufficient for them that We have sent down to you the Book (i.e. the Quran) which is rehearsed to them? Verily, in that is mercy and a reminder to people who believe " [Al-Ankabut:50,51]

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