Preservation | Historical Accuracy | Consistency | Inimitability | Accurate Prophecies

Introduction

In an environment full of ideological chaos, moral confusion and overflow of information one finds it difficult to subscribe to any single idea firmly and even if they do then that doesn’t necessitate a justification on their part i.e., they are following the dominant, anti-dominant, subverted or an emotionally appealing interesting narrative without any value for truth or fairness in their discourse. Many a times we may also see people being fed up with this quest and adopt a nihilistic position which itself requires an explanation in a philosophical sense (though most of them fail to provide that). In this post-modernist age people tend to see religion especially Islam as just one of these regressive, outdated and primitive discourses, though the reality is completely different and I think it’s time for us look into it in a more attentive and comprehensive manner in order to understand the real essence of its veracity and how its foundations are judged on the basis of truth rather than pseudo appeals to intellectualism.

Islam in its literal sense means ‘submission’, submission to the will of God who is the creator, sustainer, maintainer and ruler of the universe and our lives. Muslims believe that this submission and adherence to the will of God has been the way since the very first breath of human existence and has been the way of all the righteous, sincere and heedful individuals. All of this and a lot of other truths about human existence and its purpose are present in the Qur’an, the verbatim word of God. Muslims believe that the Qur’an was revealed to the last Prophet of God, Muhammad of Arabia ﷺ through the angel Gabriel in the 7th century sealing the long line of Prophethood in human history which included great men of God like Abrahamﷺ, Mosesﷺ, Jesusﷺ, and many others we don’t have much information about except that God sent his messengers in every part of the world before the matter was finalised in the personality of Muhammad ﷺ for all mankind till life prevails in the material realm.

One of the most important fundamental truths heavily stressed in the Qur’an is the reality of death and the fact of a life after that. The author of the Qur’an has rigorously reiterated the fact that we are going to experience the end of this ephemeral existence for an eternal afterlife whose setting will be decided according to your worldly lifestyle and how successfully did you fulfil your purpose. The purpose of life as mentioned in the Qur’an is to worship God, devoting yourself to him alone and establishing his way in all walks of your personal and collective life. The wisdom behind it is to test the worthy individuals who should inherit the kingdom of God in paradise and punish the defiant ones who are too arrogant to submit to the truth while challenging the Lord of the Worlds.

ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلْمَوْتَ وَٱلْحَيَوٰةَ لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلًۭا ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْغَفُورُ ٢

˹He is the One˺ Who created death and life in order to test which of you is best in deeds. And He is the Almighty, All-Forgiving. [Qur’an 67:2]

If we move further and unpack some of the fundamental beliefs of Islam we will find that there is a foundational belief in God as the absolute reality behind all existence with a focus on his authority and judgement in both this life and the hereafter. We have many examples of people outright rejecting the existence of a creator entity while positing a nihilistic, random or sometimes abnormal alternatives behind the existence of the universe. A very good example of this mismash of possibilities is found in the thought of one of the most popular atheist preachers of this century, Richard Dawkins. Dawkins believe that the universe can come from nothing or even by itself which he himself believes is counter intuitive and contradicts common sense but goes on to propose the possibility anyway, when interrogated about this unsubstantiated possibility he went to propose another possibility that something did give rise to complex life and it can be beings from different parts of the universe.[1] To sum it up, he came with all these unsubstantiated and poorly argued possibilities just to reject the existence of a necessary creative entity (which he do affirm but in the form of aliens or other extraterrestrial life which poses the same question again about the causality of their existence, something which he ignored conveniently). If we look to the Qur’an, we find that it presents a very simple yet effective axiom based argument in order to establish the certainty of a creative entity:

أَمْ خُلِقُوا۟ مِنْ غَيْرِ شَىْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ ٱلْخَـٰلِقُونَ

أَأَمْ خَلَقُوا۟ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضَ ۚ بَل لَّا يُوقِنُونَ

Were they created without any agent? Were they the creators?
Did they create the heavens and the earth? No! They are not certain.[Qur’an 52:35-36]

The Qur’an presents a cause based argument questioning the rejectors of God a simple intuitive question about something coming from nothing or by itself or even by something which in itself is a non-divine material entity (aliens, animals, humans, matter, etc). The answer to all these questions as Richard Dawkins said is counter intuitive and contradictory to common sense in his paradigm.[2] The Qur’an concludes it up very well by claiming that they are not even certain in their thoughts and are just forcing conjecture with no substance (that’s why we see a noticeable evolution in the definition of atheism from rejectors of God to the lack of belief in the existence of a supernatural/divine entity).[3] Having a necessary creative entity in picture while even imagining the possibility of any existence is just as intuitive and necessary as knowing that every child has parents and that he/she didn’t just drop from the sky even if we don’t know who are they. To get more insight on this contention please check our post on the Qur’anic argument for the existence of God.[4]

We find on the other hand people who hold to polytheistic notions of God where you have more than one forms of God behind the cause/functioning of the universe. We see this among paganistic religions like popular Hinduism or an apparently sophisticated form among the believers of the Christian faith. If we look into standard polytheistic beliefs then a belief in multiple Gods or their incarnated forms holds fundamental significance in their doctrine. This belief in itself is very incoherent and unjustifiable from first principles and that's why we see polytheists justifying their doctrine on purely cultural grounds many a times while Christians on the other hand making weird analogies to explain the trinity and at last calling it a mystery in an appeal to faith[5]. The Qur’an addresses these contentions in a subtle but efficient manner:

لَوْ كَانَ فِيهِمَآ ءَالِهَةٌ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ لَفَسَدَتَاۚ فَسُبْحَٰنَ ٱللَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَرْشِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ

If there had been in the heavens or earth any gods but Him, both heavens and earth would be in ruins: God, Lord of the Throne, is far above the things they say. [Qur’an 21:22]

The Qur’an argues that if there had been multiple conscious entities behind the universe then the coherence and organisation would've never existed as disputes would've been inevitable between these two supremely conscious and willful entities. For a detailed discussion on this issue please check out our post on the subject.[6]

After establishing the concept and oneness of God, if we move further then a natural contention can be raised by some minds that even if a God exists then why does he care, religion, scripture or any other form of guidance is not necessary. This contention which does sound interesting have little substance to it because it would be dumb and absurd to think that a supremely conscious being (God) which has created a conscious, rational and willful entity (humans) will leave them alone without communicating with them. Imagine you wake up in the middle of a desert not knowing where you came from and where you are going, saying that God didn’t send any guidance is equal to saying something like this whereas God in his infinite wisdom will always encompass humans one way or the other. Intuition and reason makes it a necessity to search for moral and intellectual guidance whose absolute form can only be found in God (refer to the referenced resources to get further insight on the issue)[7].

The Qur’an says:

أَيَحْسَبُ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ أَن يُتْرَكَ سُدًى ٣٦

Does man think he will be left alone?

أَلَمْ يَكُ نُطْفَةًۭ مِّن مَّنِىٍّۢ يُمْنَىٰ ٣٧

Were he not ˹once˺ a sperm-drop emitted?

ثُمَّ كَانَ عَلَقَةًۭ فَخَلَقَ فَسَوَّىٰ ٣٨

Then he became a clinging clot, then He developed and perfected their form,

فَجَعَلَ مِنْهُ ٱلزَّوْجَيْنِ ٱلذَّكَرَ وَٱلْأُنثَىٰٓ ٣٩

producing from it both sexes, male and female.

أَلَيْسَ ذَٰلِكَ بِقَـٰدِرٍ عَلَىٰٓ أَن يُحْـِۧىَ ٱلْمَوْتَىٰ ٤٠

Is such ˹a Creator˺ unable to bring the dead back to life?

[Qur’an 75:36-40]

After establishing the existence and oneness of God, the Qur’an then focuses its attention towards the message and connection dedicated to mankind, expanding on the purpose of life i.e. worship of God. The Qur’an says:

وَمَا خَلَقْتُ ٱلْجِنَّ وَٱلْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ ٥٦

“I did not create jinn [spirits] and humans except to worship Me.”

We constantly see people adhering to an ideology, individual, country or forms of materialistic entities like money and how they are so attached and dedicated to achieve or increase in its goal. We see the communist working in a hard and tiresome manner against capitalism, we see the nationalist dedicating his life for the welfare of his nation considering the empty concept holier than the blood of a fellow human which he can shed without any justifiable reason if he feels it will benefit his nation, we see people chasing materialistic wealth in a manner which neither gives them happiness nor contentment.[8]

All these chaotic and baseless forms of adherence and commitments are a result of a lack of belief in God as nothing deserves more attention, commitment and dedication than the one who created you, have bestowed upon you goodness and is also promising reward for whatever you obey him in.

Worship in Islamic terms doesn’t only mean ritual acts of devotion like some other religions but rather it is a vast and all-encompassing concept and in order to fulfil it there are some base lines which need to be met. As a Muslim your highest focus, adherence, love and dedication should be towards God which manifests itself in obedience to his commands. One can’t claim to be a Muslim and consider anything above or more important than God in his conscience rather theologians also say that if one disbelieves in any command of God then that can also render his faith null and void, that doesn’t mean one can’t sin or commit mistakes but it means that if one acknowledges if what he did was a sin or not if yes then his faith his intact. Worship is one of the easiest things to do as a Muslim as even meeting your fellow brother with a smile or working to support your family or studying to have a family in the future and become a responsible citizen of the society can also be considered worship, from small acts of charity to valiant acts of heroism (refer to attached link to know more about worship).[9]

Now during all this conversation a very intuitive and valid question may have aroused in some minds that all the arguments, injunctions and insights presented from the Qur’an and the otherwise do sound veracious but why should we believe in it? How can one convince a genuine and sincere mind that the Qur’an is truly the word of God and the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ being its true bearer as a Prophet. A question necessary to answer and can be supported by arguments from various angles. If we look into some of them briefly, they are:

1. Preservation:
The Qur’an makes a very bold claim which no other religious text has ever claimed i.e., The Qur’an will be preserved from corruption and adulteration. It states:

إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا ٱلذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُۥ لَحَـٰفِظُونَ ٩

It is certainly We Who have revealed the Reminder (The Qur’an), and it is certainly We Who will preserve it. [Qur’an 15:9]

Verily, the Qur’an stands on this criteria more than any other book in history with only one version available with no difference in words and their implied meaning, unlike other scriptures such as the Bible which contains so many different versions with a multiplicity of varying and many a times contradictory implication which produce a major effect on their creedal and theological views.

No book in history has endured more than a 100 years without being amended or revised but the Qur’an’s preservation in this aspect isn’t just unique but miraculous as human hands have nothing to do with its text which is also linked to another prophecy in the Qur’an itself which claims that the Qur’an has been made easy to memorise and learn lessons from. It states:

وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِن مُّدَّكِرٍۢ ١٧

And We have certainly made the Qur’an easy to remember. So is there anyone who will be mindful? [Qur’an 54:17]

The phenomenon of memorising the Qur’an is something unprecedented with no parallel. Today one can find tens of millions of people in the world having memorised the 70,000 word text with no inconsistency and difference over all parts of the world which explains how it has been perfectly preserved over the last 14 centuries. There are many other tangible proofs like manuscripts around the time of the first generation of Muslims or ancient Arabic Palaeography (please refer to the material in the references for more information).[10]

2. Accurate account of past civilisations:
One of the major themes of the Qur’an is its exposition on the stories of past nations and Prophets. During this journey of admonition through history it mentions many subtle details and many other facts which were unknown or wrongly assumed before the age of modern archaeological research.

One prominent example is its mention about the accounts of Ancient Egypt where it accurately mentions the details about the rulers, the dead ancient language of Egypt i.e., Hieroglyphics. It accurately quotes information which were unfathomable before the discovery and deciphering of artefacts which started no more than 2 centuries before. Please refer to our book Historical Marvels in the Qur’an to get a detailed insight on the issue.[11]

3. Consistency:
The Qur’an claims complete internal consistency and is probably the only book in the world (religious or non-religious) which stands true to its claim. In its 1400 years of history no single claimant has ever successfully pointed out an unambiguous and clear contradiction miserably failing in their attempts to refute the Divine word. With even non-believers bearing witness to its internal consistency and coherence. This corroborates towards its claim of being something of extra-human origin, i.e., Divine.

أَفَلَا يَتَدَبَّرُونَ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ ۚ وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِندِ غَيْرِ ٱللَّهِ لَوَجَدُوا۟ فِيهِ ٱخْتِلَـٰفًۭا كَثِيرًۭا ٨٢

Do they not then reflect on the Quran? Had it been from anyone other than God, they would have certainly found in it many inconsistencies. [Qur’an - 4:82]

While other religious scriptures like the Bible contain a wide range of contradictory and confusing verses all over the place. The Qur’an again stands unparalleled in this issue.

Please refer to the material in the references to get a comprehensive insight on this issue.[12]

4. Inimitability:
Not being able to be copied is arguably the Qur'an’s greatest miracle. Despite our best efforts to support one another, the Qur'anic author informs us that no one could possibly write a single chapter identical to the Qur’an.

قُل لَّئِنِ ٱجْتَمَعَتِ ٱلْإِنسُ وَٱلْجِنُّ عَلَىٰٓ أَن يَأْتُوا۟ بِمِثْلِ هَـٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانِ لَا يَأْتُونَ بِمِثْلِهِۦ وَلَوْ كَانَ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍۢ ظَهِيرًۭا ٨٨

Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “If ˹all˺ humans and jinn were to come together to produce the equivalent of this Quran, they could not produce its equal, no matter how they supported each other.”

[Qur’an 17:88]

The Arabs at the time thought themselves (and historians and linguists still do) to be masters of the Arabic language. The failure of individuals at the pinnacle of their profession - mastery of the Arabic language - to compete with the Qur'an that challenged them should cause one to ponder its origins. The eloquence, sweetness, uniqueness and unexplainable phenomenon have caused many to wonder over its existence. One of the greatest enemies of Islam and esteemed Arab poet in Muhammad’s time Walid ibn Al-Mughira is reported to have said when he heard the Qur’an:

“And what can I say? For I swear by God, there is none amongst you who knows poetry as well as I do, nor can any compete with me in composition or rhetoric – not even in the poetry of jinns! And yet, I swear by God, Muhammad’s speech [meaning the Qur’an] does not bear any similarity to anything I know, and I swear by God, the speech that he says is very sweet, and is adorned with beauty and charm. Its first part is fruitful and its last part is abundant and it conquers (all other speech) and remains unconquered. It shatters all that has come before it (of poetry, because of its eloquence).”[13]

Even many non-Muslim analysts of the Qur’an and Arabic language have testified to its amazing eloquence and unparalleled nature. The esteemed Christian Arab poet of Lebanese origin Amine Nakhle (d.1976) has this to say about this phenomenon:

“Whenever I read the Quran and find myself captivated by its eloquence from all sides, as I witness the miraculous phenomenon that overwhelms the mind, I then exclaim to myself: Woe to you, Save yourself, for you are on the Christian faith.”[14]

5. Accurate Prophecies:
There is a plethora of material in the Qur’an and Prophetic sayings which can be put under the category of prophecies. The realised news of a future event in its subtle details is surely one of the greatest proofs of Qur’an’s Divine Origins and the Prophethood of Muhammad. One prominent instance being the Qur’an’s prediction of the victory of the dwindling Byzantine Romans over the mighty and dominating Sassanid Persians:

غُلِبَتِ ٱلرُّومُ ٢

The Romans have been defeated

فِىٓ أَدْنَى ٱلْأَرْضِ وَهُم مِّنۢ بَعْدِ غَلَبِهِمْ سَيَغْلِبُونَ ٣

in a nearby land. Yet following their defeat, they will triumph

فِى بِضْعِ سِنِينَ ۗ لِلَّهِ ٱلْأَمْرُ مِن قَبْلُ وَمِنۢ بَعْدُ ۚ وَيَوْمَئِذٍۢ يَفْرَحُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنُونَ ٤

within three to nine years. The ˹whole˺ matter rests with Allah before and after ˹victory˺. And on that day the believers will rejoice. [Qur’an 2-4]

The Qur’an predicted one of the most unpredictable and unlikely geo-political events in history, i.e., the victory of the Romans after their repeated and near to complete annihilation by the Mighty Persians within a stipulated time frame. Indeed, all this came true as a miraculous event where the Romans not only dominated the Persians in the contested regions but even invaded their heartland destroying their holy sites. It leaves little doubt then in the mind that such an event took place due to Divine intervention and its news was already conveyed as a sign to the people.

Another equally miraculous prophecy can be found in the corpus of Prophetic sayings where the Prophet Muhammad is reported to have said (paraphrased):

“Behold, before the Last Hour you shall see naked, barefooted bedouins competing with each other in making tall buildings.”[14]

This news of the future was given at a time when the bedouins comprised of the weakest class in the Arab society, you can guess by the description mentioned by the Prophet as them being naked and barefooted which indicates their miserable economic conditions, even after Islam and Muslims came to dominate much of the world this community remained aloof from civilisational prosperity and only after 1400 years in the late 20th century did they become the receivers of this prophecy. The empty patches of the Gulf and Arabian desert swiftly filled with the tallest skyscrapers in the world, be it Burj Khalifa in Dubai or the Makkah Clock Tower in Mecca. The discovery of Black Gold (oil) allowed the emergence of these and many other extravagant projects and within one generation the bedouins transitioned from camels to Cadillacs.

To learn more about these and many other Prophecies, please refer to our book Prophecies[15]

We saw the vast and varying amount of verifiable evidence that conforms the Divine nature of Islam and the truthfulness of the claim of Prophet Muhammad. The evidence is so vast that it is not possible to present all its strand and nuances in this concise article and the reader can refer to the additional material provided in the references for a comprehensive insight.

Conclusion

To conclude, Islam rescues you from the complex philosophical tropes of false ideologies, it rescues you from the mysticism of vain and unfounded ideas, it rescues you from the forced and inequitable economic utopia of Communism, a failed project. It doesn’t let you exploit the resources and labour of man in the form of Capitalism, it doesn’t let you be an anarchist in your moral conduct and preserves the original disposition of man through its regulations. Islam provides a Divinely validated and balanced injunction to all the metaphysical, physical, material, moral, psychological and societal affairs of man in order to save him from falsehood, injustice, immortality, psychological problems and other harmful elements of the infallible world.

Islam is a liberation movement, a movement which seeks to liberate mankind from their whimsical and incoherent thoughts, from their doomed lustful material desires, from the societal myths, superstitions and customs which hold no value in terms of reality and is a burden upon the conscience and welfare of man, from the shackles of becoming a slave to man-made ideologies and propaganda while elevating his reputation as being a servant of the Most Worthy master, God. It provides a Divine anchor to hold the individual and collective conscience of man in a balanced manner, something whose ultimate beneficiary is man himself. Unarguably, the greatest liberation and victory it provides for man is the pleasure of his Creator and eternal bliss in the Gardens unseen, unheard and unimagined by any ephemeral being.

This concise yet profound saying of the Prophet Muhammad is enough to convey the essence of Islam in one breath.

“One day while the Prophet (ﷺ) was sitting in the company of some people, (The angel) Gabriel came and asked, "What is faith?" God's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, 'Faith is to believe in God, His angels, (the) meeting with Him, His Apostles, and to believe in Resurrection.(on the day of Judgement)" Then he further asked, "What is Islam?" God's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, "To worship God Alone and none else, to offer prayers perfectly, to pay the compulsory charity (Zakat) and to observe fasts during the month of Ramadan." Then he further asked, "What is Ihsan (perfection)?" God's Messenger (ﷺ) replied, "To worship Allah as if you see Him, and if you cannot achieve this state of devotion then you must consider that He is looking at you."[16]

Authored by A. Ali

References

1. Ben Stein vs. Richard Dawkins Interview

2. Richard Dawkins Knows Nothing About Nothing?

3. Atheism Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

4. https://www.instagram.com/reel/Ct_8DynqRNB/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

B. Qur'an Refutes Atheism in Less than 10 Words(Additional resource for extended learning)

5. What is the mystery of the Holy Trinity? - AFC

6. https://www.instagram.com/p/CWp-AAUMcDg/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

B. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs0qudJNhYV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== (Additional resource regarding the illogical nature of the Christian belief of the Trinity)

7. (A) https://www.incisivethoughts.org/2023/01/how-did-i-get-here-what-am-i-doing-here.html (B) Need for Messengers - Argument from Fitrah | The Evidence Course | Session 4 / Part 1

8. https://psychcentral.com/depression/are-wealthy-people-more-depressed-than-others#:~:text=Is%20 depression%20more%20 likely%20in,higher%20rates%20 aren't%20 clear.