Could Muhammad Be The Author of The Quran?
I don't want to hurt you, for I know how much you cherish the Quran. I concur with you that it is a worthy book.
But why couldn't Muhammad himself have compiled it? It wouldn't be out of the ordinary if a man as great as he was should write a book as valuable as the Quran. This, indeed, would be a more logical explanation than the claim that God revealed the Quran. We have never observed God in the process of sending anything down from heaven. We live in an age in which it is difficult to persuade anyone that an angel called Gabriel came down from heaven with a book to reveal it to a particular person.
The above was my well-educated friend remarks, slowly choosing his words:
I replied in my usual quiet voice :
On the contrary, we live in an age where it is effortless to believe that some invisible angels and truths can come to men in inspiration. Our moderns speak nowadays of invisible rays that can kill, of radio waves that home on to targets to facilitate their destruction, of pictures that are transformed into frequencies in the air and then materialize again as they are received in sets as small as cigarette packets, of cameras that take pictures of 'ghosts,' of eyes that see in the dark, of a man who walked on the moon.
It is no longer an inconceivable thing to hear that God has sent an invisible angel to deliver His revelation to one of his prophets. Gabriel's existence has become a stale fact in our age; it is less strange and fantastic than many things we see or hear about every day.
You ask, 'Why shouldn't we say that the Quran has been composed by Muhammad (peace be upon him)?'
The reply is that we cannot do this. With its form, phrases, and even letters, and with the knowledge, science, mysteries, stylistic beauty, and linguistic precision it contains, it is impossible to conceive that any man is capable of composing it. Add to this the fact that Muhammad, peace be upon him, was illiterate; he could not read or write, did not attend any school, and did not travel outside the Arabian Peninsula or get acquainted with any civilization. To doubt the source of the Quran, or even to enquire about it as you do, is indeed impossible in the light of what I have just said. God challenges disbelievers like you who alleged, in the Prophet's time, that the Quran is of human authorship:
“Say: ‘Then bring a sura like it, and call (for help) on all you can besides God, if you are truthful.” Jonah, 38.
God is daring them to enlist the help of the jinn, the angels, and the geniuses among men to compose even one verse similar to those of the Quran. That challenge is still standing, and no one has yet come up with anything in answer.
Indeed, if we study the Quran in fairness and objectivity, we will completely rule out that Muhammad, peace be upon him, was its author.
If, first of all, he had been its author, he would have voiced his cares and grief in it. In the same year, his wife, Khadeeja, and his paternal uncle, Abu Taleb, died. They were his only supports in life, and the loss he sustained in their departure was incalculable. Yet, no word is mentioned in the Quran about them. The Quran also remains silent about the death of Ibrahim, Muhammad's only son over whom he grieved. The Quran is, in fact, totally separate from Muhammad's self.
Sometimes a Quranic verse would come to contradict what Muhammad has been doing or thinking. At other times, a verse would be revealed to admonish him, as when he turned to the nobles of Quraysh leaving the blind man who came to listen to him :
“He frowned and turned his back when the blind man came towards him. How could you tell, he might have sought to purify himself. He might have been forewarned, and might have profited from Our warning.” He Frowned, 1–4
A verse would come at times to revoke a measure of the Prophet's:
“A prophet may not take captives until he has fought and made slaughter in the land. You (the Prophet’s followers) seek the chance gain of this world, but God desires for you the world to come. He is mighty and wise. Had there not been a previous sanction from God, you would have been sternly punished for that which you have taken.” The Spoils, 67
Sometimes the Quran commands Muhammad, peace be upon him, to communicate to his followers that which he could not have possibly said if he had been the author of the Quran:
“Say: ‘I am no prodigy among the prophets; nor do I know what will be done with me or you.” Al-Ahqaf, 9
No prophet can, of his own accord, inform his followers that he does not know what will happen to him and them or that he cannot bring benefit or ward off harm either concerning himself or them. They would desert him if he did so. The jews took advantage of the above verse to justify their charge that our Prophet was a useless man, for he did not know what would be done to himself or his followers.
If the Prophet had been the author of the Quran, such verses could not have been found in that book.
Secondly, if we examine the style of the Quranic phrase, we will find that it is entirely new and unique in its syntax or structure. It is pretty different from anything that came before or since in Arabic literature. We can almost go to the extent of dividing everything extant in Arabic into poetry, prose, and the Quran. This latter is a kind apart neither poetic nor prosaic. For rhythm in poetry is the outcome of meter and rhyme. This is seen, for example, in a line of poetry by Ibn el-Abbas al-Asadi: (Arabic translated)
Akfara men ahlihi ‘Obayd (Obeid has lost all his kinsmen) Falaysa yobdi wala yo’eed. (He can no longer initiate or settle matters).
The rhythm in this line derives from its division into two hemistichs rhyming together with a long 'd' sound. It is what is called 'externally induced rhythm.' The Quran's rhythm or music, on the other hand, is internal: "Wad-Doha, wal-layli etha saga" (By the morning hours, and by the night when most still) The Morning Hours, 1
There are no hemistichs or rhymes in this straightforward phrase, but it is redolent with rhythm. From whence did such rhythm come? It is internal music.
Listen to the following verses :
“My Lord! Lo! My bones wax feeble and my head is shining with grey hair. Yet, never, Lord, have I prayed to you in vain.” Mary, 4
“Taha. We have not revealed unto you (Muhammad) the Quran that you should be distressed. But as a reminder unto him who fears. A Revelation from him who created the earth and the high heavens. The Beneficent One, Who is established on the Throne” Taha. 1–4
If the topic dealt with is a threat, the sentence structure and morphology become like chunks of flintstone, and its rhythm produces a sort of metallic screeching that pierces the ears :
“On a day of unremitting woe we let loose on them a howling wind which snatched them off as if they had been trunks of uprooted palm-trees.” The Moon, 19–20
Words like 'howling' and 'uprooted' strike our ears with their sounds in Arabic, like pieces of rock.
If Quranic verses report a significant event, like those that speak about the end of the flood, their sentences become very short as if they were Morse Code signals. A verse in its entirety becomes like a pithy telegram with a momentous impact:
“A voice cried out: ‘Earth swallow up your waters; heaven, cease your rain! The floods abated and God’s will was done.’’ Houd, 44
Such varying effects in word morphology, syntax, and the concordance of rhythms with meanings and feelings reach the very summit in the Quran. They are always achieved smoothly and easily without any artificiality or affectation.
Thirdly, if we further pursue this line of analysis, we will discover a meticulous accuracy and staggering adequacy: every letter is in its precise place, neither advanced nor retarded. You cannot substitute one word for another nor put one letter in place of the other. Every word has been chosen from among millions by a very sensitive act of discernment.
We shall presently encounter such accuracy as has never been equaled in composition. Examine, for example, the word 'fertilizing' in the following verse:
“We let loose the fertilizing wind” Al-Hijr, 22
It was in the past understood in a figurative sense to mean that the wind stimulates the clouds, causing them to rain; the rain would then 'fertilize' the soil, that is, make it productive.
However, we know that the winds drive positively-charged clouds into negatively-charged ones causing lightning, thunder, and rain. In this sense, they 'fertilize' the clouds. We also know that winds carry the pollen from one flower to another, thus literally fertilizing them. Hence, we are before a word that is true figuratively, literally, and scientifically. It is, moreover, aesthetically superb and rhythmically pleasing. This is what we mean by meticulous accuracy in the choice and placing of a word.
Let us also consider the following verse :
“Do not usurp each other’s property by unjust means, nor bribe judges withit in order that you may knowingly and wrongfully deprive others of their possessions.” The Cow, 188
The Arabic word used for 'bribe' here is 'todloo,' which means 'lower' something or send it down. This may seem a strange use putting in mind that the judge or ruler to whom the money is given is in a higher, not a lower position vis-a-vis the givers. The Quran, however, effects an appropriate correction with this use: the hand that accepts bribes is a lower hand, even if it is the hand of the ruler or the judge.
This is how the expression 'lower it down to the judges' comes in unequaled stylistic adequacy to convey the meanness and degradation of those who receive bribes.
In verse about jihad or holy struggle, we read:
“0, Believers, why is it that when it is said to you: ‘March in the cause of God’, you are bowed down to the ground with heaviness.” Repentance, 38
The Quran uses the elided from — Iththakaltum — (Arabic word) of the verb tathakaltum ('bowed down to the ground with heaviness') to vividly express the cowardice of some who cling and stick to the ground in terror when they are called upon to fight. The elision of the 't' sound found at the beginning of the original form of the verb and its merger into the 'th' sound eloquently conveys the sticking of the cowards to the ground for dear life.
The Quran speaks about the killing of children for fear of poverty in two similar verses, which only differ in a significant respect:
“You shall not kill your children because you cannot support them. We provide for you and for them:” Cattle. 151
“You shall not kill your children for fear of want. We will provide for them and for you.” The Night Journey, 31
The above lines in italic difference in word order is not haphazard but calculated. When the killing of children is motivated by actual want, by the family's poverty at that time, the Quranic emphasis is on God's succor of the parents; hence, they are mentioned first (in the first verse). If, on the other hand, the killing is impelled fear of expected want, of the future possibility of poverty, the Quran delivers its assuring message by placing the children (the future) before the family as recipients of God's provision (in the second verse). Such minutiae can hardly occur to the mind of any human author.
Similar cases in the Quran of advancing or retarding words are always meaningful. In the verse which lays down the punishment for theft, the male thief is mentioned before the female. In contrast, in that which speaks about fornication, the fornicatress is mentioned before the fornicator. The reason behind such ordering is quite apparent: in cases of theft, man is always more daring and the initiator, but in fornication, it is usually the woman who initiates the train of events; she lays the snares for the intended man from the very moment she stands before the mirror making her face up, wearing her perfume, or selecting a short dress. Thus, the Quran:
“The adulteress and the adulterer, scourge you each of them a hundred lashes.” Light, 2
“As for the thief both male and female, cut off their hands in punishment for their deeds.” The Table, 38
In more than sixteen places in the Quran, ‘hearing’ is mentioned before ‘sight’ when both come together:
“and gave you ears and eyes and hearts; so that you may give thanks.” The Bee, 78
“and gave them ears and eyes and hearts.” Al-Ahquf, 26
“Hear and see them on the Day they come unto Us.” Mary, 38
“The hearing, sight, and heart of man shall be questioned.” The Night Journey, 36
“You did not hide yourselves, so that your ears and eyes and skins could not observe you.” Fussilat, 22
“He also hears all and sees all” Counsel, 11
Hearing, as we can see from the previous verses, invariably comes first.
It is unquestionable that the sense of hearing is more sensitive and developed than sight. We hear the jinn, but we do not see them. The prophets heard the words of God and spoke with Him, but none of them saw Him. Muhammad, peace be upon him, received the Quran through hearing. The mother can distinguish her child's voice crying even when it is lost in a crowd of people. Hearing in human beings stays active even during sleep when the eyes are resting. Anyone who undertakes the anatomy of the hearing system will find it more sensitive and exact than sight.
The Quran employs a similar technique of word order with regard to wealth and offspring:
“The day when wealth and children will avail nothing and when none shall be saved except him who comes before his Lord with a pure heart.” The Poets, 88
“Your wealth and children are but a temptation. God’s reward is great.” Cheating. 15
“Neither their riches nor their children shall in the least protect them from His scourge. They are the heirs of Hell, and there they shall remain for ever.” The Irnrans, 116
“Do they think that in giving them wealth and children we are solicitous for their welfare? By no means! They cannot see.” The Believers, 55
“Let neither their riches nor their children rouse your desire. Through these God seeks to punish them in this life, so that they shall die unbelievers.” Repentance, 55
There are many more verses keeping the same order of mention. The secret behind this is that many people cherish wealth more dearly than their offspring.
Subtle and exact stylistic touches in the Quran extend to word inflections. In verse:
“If two parties of believers take up arms against each other, make peace between them.” The Chambers, 9
the two parties are referred to first in the plural mode: the verb 'ektatalo’-Arabic word- fought among themselves is used. But later on, they are spoken of in the dual-mode: in the word 'baynahuma,' which means 'between the two of them. There is a very subtle and fine touch here. In the thick of the fighting, the two parties will merge into each other, becoming a 'host' or 'pluralism' of striking arms, but if at peace, they will separate again into two (the dual-mode) groups, each sending an envoy for talks. Hence the precision of the Quranic manner of expression.
Even propositions and conjunctions are employed in (or are absent from) the Quranic text for weighty considerations and according to a precise and accurate calculation. An example of this method is afforded by a repeated Quranic structure based on the phrase, ‘they ask you’:
“They ask you about what they should give in alms. Say: ‘What you can spare’.” The Cow, 219
“They ask you about the phases of the moon. Say: ‘They are timings for people and pilgrimage’.” The Cow, 189
“They ask you about the Spirit. Say: ‘The Spirit is of my Lord’s knowledge’.” The Night Journey, 85
The word 'say' (kol) comes invariably as an answer to the question introduced by the phrase, 'they ask you.'
An exception, however, occurs when a verse speaks about the condition of the mountains on Doomsday:
“They ask you about the mountains. Then say: ‘My Lord will crush them to fine dust’.” Ta Ha, 105
Here the word 'say' comes in Arabic in 'fakol' or 'then say' instead of 'kol.' The reason is that all previous questions have already been put to Muhammad, but no one has yet asked him about what happens to mountains on Doomsday because this is one of the secrets of that day. Thus, God is in effect saying to him: if you are asked about that subject, THEN SAY such and such a thing. The prefix 'fa' is not superfluous but semantically functional in a calculated manner.
In another verse, we read:
“If My servants ask you about Me, I am near.” The Cow, 186
The word 'say' is absent here because the question concerns the essence of God, and it is He only who can 'say' anything about that subject.
A similar subtlety is manifest in the Quranic uses of the pronouns ‘I’ and ‘We’ in relation to God. For God speaks in the plural ‘We’ when referring to a divine act in which all His attributes contribute such as creation or the revelation and preservation of the Quran:
‘’We revealed the Quran and shall ourselves preserve it.” AI Hijr, 9
“We created you, will you not believe.” The Event, 67
“We revealed the Quran in the night of Kadr.” Kadr, 1
“Behold the semen you discharge : did you create it or We?” The Event, 59
“We created them and endowed them with strong limbs and joints; but if We please, We can replace them by other men.” Man, 28
In these examples, the pronoun 'We' expresses the unison of divine attributes as they act in an excellent original invention such as creation.
If, on the other hand, the verses deal with a situation in which God speaks to a creature of His, as in His talk with Moses, the individual pronoun 'I' is employed:
“I am God. There is no God but Me. Worship Me, and recite your prayers in My remembrance.” Ta Ha, 14
God uses 'I' because it is His Essence present here and because He wishes to lay stress on His Oneness and monotheism in worship.
Still pursuing the meticulous accuracy of Quranic expression, we find two identical verses about patience that differ only in a '1' letter added to a word in the second of them. In the first verse Loqman, the Wise, says to his son:
“Endure with fortitude whatever befalls you, for this is will-power.” Loqman, 17
In the second verse, we read:
“Who endures and forgives this truly is will-power.” Counsel, 43
Patience in the first verse is "men' azm el-omoor" (will-power), while in the second, it is "Lamen (truly) 'azm el-omoor." The secret behind the emphasis with 'Ia' in the latter construction is that the patience involved in this case is doubly more demanding than the endurance preached in the first verse. It is patience vis-a-vis aggression by an opponent, and the person advised is required not only to endure but to forgive. This is undoubtedly more difficult than the endurance of unavoidable divine fate.
The same emphatic ‘Ia’ occurs once more to add significance to two similar verses about the sending down of rain and the growth of plants:
“Consider the water which you drink. Was it you that poured it from the clouds or We? If we please, We could turn it bitter.” The Event, 69
“Consider the seeds you sow. Is it you that give them growth or We? If We pleased, We could turn your plants into chaff.” The Event, 65
The Arabic word for 'could turn' in the first verse is "ja' alnahu" while in the second, it is "laja'alnahu." The emphatic 'Ia' in the latter word is necessitated by the fact that there will certainly the someone to claim that he can destroy the plants turning them into chaff just as the Creator can. Concerning the former case, however, no human dare allege that he can draw down saltwater from the clouds. There is no need for emphasis here.
The same accuracy of expression is found when Ibrahim (Abraham) describes God:
“Who will cause me to die and bring me back to life hereafter.” The Poets, 81
“He who gives me food and drink” The Poets, 79
The word 'He' is brought in the second verse to emphasize divine agency when the provision of food is mentioned because anyone can easily claim that he is the provider of food and drink. No one, however, will claim the ability to cause death and resurrection as God did with Ibrahim.
The same eloquent precision is seen when the Quran addresses the Muslims in the following terms:
“Remember Me, then, and I will remember you. “ The Cow, 152
The Quran, however, speaks differently to the jews:
‘’Children of Israel remember that I bestowed favours on you” The Cow, 40
The reason behind this is the materialism of the Jews who remember God only in circumstances of benefit, interest, or favor. The Muslims are spiritually more elevated and understand what it means to remember God for His own sake and not for an expected favor from Him.
In the same vein, God addresses the elite among the knowledgeable and wise:
“So fear Me, you that are endowed with understanding.” The Cow, 197
But when the Quran speaks to ordinary people, it has this warning:
“Guard yourselves against that fire whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the unbelievers.” The Cow, 24
The threat of Hellfire can only deter ordinary men, but the elite knows that God is infinitely more powerful than any fire and that He can make such fire cool and harmless for whomever He pleases.
Accurate choice of words in the Quran is exemplified in Eblis’s - the leader of the devils- oath to tempt humanity:
“I swear by Your Exaltedness that I will seduce all men,” Sad, 82
In swearing by God's Exaltedness in particular, and by no other divine attribute, Satan'proves his knowledge and cunning; for this specific attribute declares that God is absolutely in no need of His creatures: hence, those who believe or disbelieve are perfectly free to pursue the course they have chosen. Their actions would not affect God at all since He is the Transcendent Almighty who does not need His creatures or, for that matter, the entire universe.
In a Divine Utterance, God says:
"Those are in Hell, and I care not, and those in Paradise and I care not."
This follows from divine Exaltedness, and it is the only loophole through which Satan can reach men. He can misguide and insinuate evil into them because God will not compel anyone who prefers infidelity to become a believer. This is why the devil swore by God's Exaltedness when he declared his design to seduce men.
The devil also reveals his intelligence when he says:
“I will waylay your servants as they walk on Your straight path, and spring upon them from the front and from the rear, from their right and from their left,’’ The Heights, 16
He mentions four directions of attack on men but neglects two: from above and from below. This is significant; there is divine Lordship above men, and below them, there is creaturely humility. Anyone devoted in humility to worship and serve the Exalted God will be immune against the devil's insinuations.
Eblis specifies that his chosen seat of seduction will be on the straight path, on the road to the good, on the prayer mat.
That person who neglects prayers, gets drunk, or is addicted to lechery has no need of a devil to lead him astray; his soul has already done the trick. He has become a ruined human being, and Eblis is a sharp thief who does not relish wasting his time over ruined houses.
Instances of eloquent Quranic accuracy of expression are inexhaustible. We find yet another one in the way the mention of forgiveness and mercy precedes that of punishment and wrath.
God is first spoken of in the Fatiha (Opening verse of the Quran) as the Compassionate and the Merciful and then as 'the King of the Day of Judgment. He is invariably described as pardoning whomever He pleases and then punishing whomever He wills. Forgiveness, thus, always comes before punishment except in two verses. The first concerns the amputation of the thief's hand:
“He punishes whom He wills and forgives whom He pleases.” The Table, 40
This punishment takes place in worldly life but is followed by forgiveness in the hereafter.
The second verse narrates Jesus's address to God on Judgment Day about the polytheists who worshipped him rather than God. He says to his Lord:
“They are your bondsmen: it is for you to punish or to forgive them. You are the Mighty, the Wise One.” The Table, 118
Jesus does not address God as the Forgiver and the Merciful out of deference, and he mentions punishment before forgiveness to indicate the gravity of the transgression committed.
Quranic precision reaches the summit in the treatment of time. The Creator speaks about future events in the past tense. All the happenings of Doomsday are described in the past tense:
“The Trumpet was sounded” The Cave, 99
“The sky was rent asunder on that day, frail,” The Inevitable, 16
“Hell was revealed to the erring.” The Poets, 91
“They were ranged before thy Lord.” The Cave, 48
The reason for this treatment is that all events past and present have already taken place in God's Prescience; God is not limited by time so that the future is not veiled from Him.
He, the Exalted, is transcendent to both space and time. That is why we find specific Quranic phrases speaking simultaneously in two tenses in what appears to be a contradiction:
“The Judgment of God has come: do not seek to hurry it on.” The Bee, 1
According to the tense of the first clause, the Judgment has already occurred in the past; God, nevertheless, orders men not to hurry it on as if it were still an event expected in the future. The secret behind this, as I explained, is that the Judgment has occurred and ended in God's Prescience but has not yet unfolded before men's knowledge.
There is no contradiction here but accuracy, precision, resourcefulness, and truthfulness in rendering profound meanings. These are deep mysteries that need to be studied.
All the previous examples illustrate the precise structuring and extreme accuracy of Quranic expression. The words are meticulously chosen, and even the letters are meaningfully used. No addition, elision, advancing, or retarding occurs but by careful design. This approach is unequaled in any human composition. It is only found in the Quran.
As for the scientific hints and allusions to the wonders of natural phenomena that we find in the Quran and that reveal secrets and mysteries discovered only in our age but quite unknown to Muhammad, peace be upon him, we devote another discussion, for this is a lengthy matter, indeed.