Hello, welcome to another installment focused program, Salaam Alaikum. peace be on to you. Today we continue with our second program in our new series our 10th in a series of programs on Islam, a new series of course dealing with the sources of Islam. Today we’ll be dealing with the topic of authorship of the Quran. I’m your host, Tamar Rashid and I have joined on the program as usual, Dr. Jamal battery of St. Mary’s University, brother Jamal, how Salaam Alaikum. Ali,
could I help me very quickly summarize the main points that we touched on in our first program in our new series dealing with the sources of Islam.
You begin first by some preliminary remarks as to how the series connects with the previous series that we had before in this program, sort of overview of the possible topics that come under the
title of sources of Islam.
And then we began some basic questions such as the term or on itself used to be referred to as Quran but the more accurate enunciations are and
what does it mean? Where does it come from? That’s from recitation, reading. And we discussed also some of the other names of the Quran that appear in the Quran itself, like the book and guitar, alpha candy criterion that’s between right and wrong to the significance of these things in expressing the nature of the Quran.
We discussed briefly also how the Quran as the word of Allah, or God, differ from Hades, which is the prophetic settings and try to classify them and explain and mainly the issue pertaining to the fact that the Quran is a revelation, both meaning and words. So the words are dictated to the Prophet verbatim, unlike Hadley’s which has some difference from the Quran
indicated that the fact that the Quran is revealed verbatim, word for word, or dictated to Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him does not mean that he’s wrong was simply just like a tape recorder, conveying this message, because he’s included among other things, understanding,
communicating the Quran, applying the Quran, in his own personal life, applying the Quran, in the life of the community. And in a way exemplifying and interpreting the Quran for the people. So he’s wrong, as was described by his wife that he was a living put on, in fact, in a just a book that has been given to the believers in his book and a model of so as to how that book becomes a reality in the lives of the people.
We’re now turning to today’s topic, we’ve talked a bit about the source of the con but how do we know who the author of the Quran is?
When the song I should say of the very useful references and that subject is just mentioned been by with acknowledgement, among others,
a number of references but unfortunately, all Arabic. It’s unfortunate for the English speaking, an excellent book written by Dr. Muhammad Abdullah dresscode.
There are also writing on the subject by Russia and Russian funded by the JAMA Islamic India. There is a humble little booklet that was published by the ischemic Society of North America. It’s called Muhammad’s Prophethood analytical view which touches also on the subject. This is
in English.
But like Dr. Jazz suggests, we can start with a very simple, logical thing that everybody agrees to.
Regardless whether the person is a Muslim, or non Muslim, whether he’s a believer in God at all or whatever.
everybody acknowledges that the Quran was recited for the first time or uttered by a man who was born in Arabia in the sixth century.
by the name of Muhammad, peace be upon him. That much is no difference whatsoever that the Quran was uttered by prophet
that use us with the basic question that is, what is the source of that.
And it would appear that there are only three logical possibilities. One,
that the Quran was actually authored by Prophet Muhammad himself. So the source of the Quran was himself. That’s one possibility.
second possibility is that he was not the author of the Quran, but he learned it from someone else. So there are other human authors or authors from whom he brought that Quran.
And thirdly, that the Quran did not have any human authors, neither hamburgers nor any other human being, but it came from Allah, or God, capital G. I hope that at least that much is a reasonable
set of assumptions to start with and to start to verify. And I think it’s only through a careful examination of which of these possibilities, comparison of the variety of evidence, both internal evidence as well as external evidence that we may arrive at some reasonable conclusion as to who the author of the Quran is, when I use the phrase internal evidence, what do you mean, when you when you say internal evidence? Can you explain that for us? Well, by internal evidence, we mean evidence which appeared in the Quran itself about its source, aside from what is being said about what does the Quran itself say about its source.
And the essence of that internal evidence is that the Quran was not authored by Prophet Muhammad, or any other human being, but that it was a direct revelation from God.
Maybe some documentation, at least as far as the internal evidence is concerned, would be useful at this point.
For example, the first time when Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him received the revelation, when he was meditating in the cave of Hara outside of Mecca, is that he said, When engine Gabrielle came to him, he helped him. And then he said to him, Accra, beside, and he said, recite in the name of your Lord nucleates. And that was the first verses or passages of the Quran revealed to the Prophet. And that’s obvious from the story itself, from the wording of it read, it’s a command given to the Prophet, you cannot be an author of that it’s something despite of himself, and that appears in chapter or Surah 96. No wonder do we find that the the sutras of the Quran units start with this,
in the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.
In the Quran, also we find numerous passages which shows that the Quran did not emanate from any human source that it came from the creators. Examples can 10 zero milaap in Ireland in the Quran is a revelation which came down from the Lord of the worlds 5681 and as a dominant, that that is the Quran, which has come down in truth 57 1614 and a half nap de una, una de la. Blessed is he that Scott, who sent down the criteria between right and wrong what you said before the name of the Quran
to his servant, that is, Ahmed, that he may be or it may be the Quran and admonition to old creatures 25 one
in Calcutta,
Medina city, Morocco Allah we have indeed revealed or sent down onto your Mohamad the book in truth, so that you may judge among people according to what God has shown you.
And that is in fourth 105 the symbol of citation is in three three
ones on it like a six and we got have sent down unto you or Mohammed, the message
1644 in nanana, Zenda decra were in the hospital. It is really that’s God who sent down the remainder which is another name of the Quran or the message and we take care of preserving it 59 Let me add one more passage in front. Interesting one in Surah 26 in the Quran verses 193 9194.
It describes the Quran
We’re in the Netherlands in Europe, in Ireland in
any other country Caleta.
Very This is that the Quran is a revelation from the Lord of the words, which the honest spirit, a name for energy, Gabrielle, which the honest spirit brought down upon your heart and mind that you may be averse to admonish. So as far as the internal elements from the Quran, it’s so obvious, it’s so much repeated, that the source emanate from the creative, nothing human option
from an examination of the style of the Quran, is there in your opinion, any indication that it is it’s Allah or God, that who seems to be speaking rather than the Prophet Muhammad or any other expressions the way? Yes, right? When the examination of the Quran shows that there is not even a single passage in the Quran, which gives any impression that the author is a human and talking about the state, the way it addresses, or addresses mankind.
The thing that which is,
becomes quite evident for anyone who examined the Quran, even without any background about Islam
is to notice that the address there is from the Creator. To the crutches. It’s not like somebody’s telling the story or writing a biography, it is a direct address from the creator to the human being.
Many times it is used in the first person that is God speaks in the first person, and sometimes through such imperative, as con or say, addressing or directing the prophet to say that as a message of God,
of the first example of God speaking, in the first person, it’s too numerous really to, to list but just give me give you one example of that in Surah 1526, it talks about Allah or God created welcome,
indeed, are very meaning that God has created the human. And by the way, not to say that the term we, when God uses to refer to himself does not mean plural. But as you know, in the majestic language, I think when he speaks, he says, We the king doesn’t say, I think so that’s just a logistical language that has nothing to do with the absolute and strict oneness and uniqueness of the Creator.
In 1685, it talks about God speaks, we created the heavens and the earth.
Among the examples of the imperative using an imperative, that is God speaks, but tense the Prophet say,
such and such. If you take one of those imperatives, like
I have counted using the concurrence of the Quran, about 340 places in the Quran, where it uses the term, addressing the Prophet asking him or commanded you say, how could the Prophet be the author when Constantine is commanded, based on the style of the conductor, tell them tell them such and such. One example of that, of course, is in chapters are sorta 101 113 and 114. The last three short stories in the Quran, it always starts with, say, Mohammed unto mankind. But this is not the only imperative used in the Quran. Sometimes the term bellandur proclaim, but no recite, is given by way of command to the Prophet for those who wish to examine that further, even though like I said, there
are so many of them.
For example, surah, T and 49. In 1827, was example other examples of this sort of that speaking, using this imperative. In other words, when you look at the spine, of the Quran, the way it addresses
humankind, it’s obvious that it’s not the speech or words of any human being, the human being. In this case, Prophet Muhammad is simply a medium, he’s told to tell people, such and such as God may wish to convey the message.
Now, continuing with our examination of the internal evidence,
in addition to the passages which we’ve already discussed, which affirm is divine source, either in passages which clearly negate
inhuman source of decline or or any human authorship of the gone? What, of course, I should start by saying that affirmation that the source is from the Creator is automatically or by implication. And again, that comes from others. But I think the question is the lesson is also a sense of trying to explore the point further and see if there is additional evidence from that standpoint.
What I understand from the question, then is that
there, are there any corroborating evidence, in addition to what has been said already, to show that it did not emanate from humans? The answer is definitely yes. example of this. One of the most famous and widely quoted
is are passages in the Quran
is the following one which appears in
Surah 17. It says,
insulin gene
can
be a translation of meaning change, say,
say, or Mohammed, if the whole of mankind in gyms and soup kitchens were to gather together to produce the light of this program, they could not produce the light that are even if they back each of the back that each other would help and support. This is one example. The second example that you can give is the Quranic response, or reply to those who somehow had some doubt whether the Prophet himself had anything to do with the Quran or that he is the source of the Quran itself. And this, we find in Surah, seven,
it says, what did I looked at in the
translation of the
passage? If you aren’t 100? Bring them not a revelation. They say, Why have you not got it together? In other words, why did you put it together? If you didn’t receive it, say, that is 100 I bought follow what is revealed to me from my heart. This is nothing but lights from your Lord, and the guidance and the mercy for any who have faith. Make me a third, citation also, like, I got to make the answer to the question clear,
in Surah, verse 10, in the Quran, in passage 15.
It applies not only to this without
the authorship of the Prophet, or think that he may be the author of the Quran try to collect this notion. But even to those who saw that it is within his authority to even change or modify the Quran rather than to communicate it exactly as it is, as it reads in the Quran. In original what is
called a Latina, yasunaga
Riley, Heather
Cooney and COVID de la junta.
Which means
that
when
our verses are the science, the Quran is also referred to assigns where our signs are presented unto them.
Those who respect their hope and their meeting with us say, bring us a reading or revelation other than this, or change the word change it. And then the answer comes with the Quran, or directives to the Prophet, say, Mohammed, it is not for me, on my own accord to change it. That is to change the Quran, I follow only what is revealed unto me. If I were to disobey my Lord, I should myself feel the penalty of an ominous day to come. So the evidence is quite consistent in the Quran itself, not only terms of affirmation, but also the negation of any human source of
knowledge. This point, we’ve had quite a thorough examination of what you’ve chosen to call internal evidence concerning the authorship of the of the Quran, I have to brush up on my pronunciation myself as long as
How about the Prophet Muhammad, his own statements about the source of the problem does
want to start with let’s go back to the story I mentioned earlier about the beginning of revelation when Gabrielle came to him in the cave of Hira
As narrated in both Bukhari and Muslim, it was mentioned that it definitely is simply dictated the Quran to him. So that’s a manifestation again, according to the on witness of the Prophet peace be upon him, that this is what happened to him, something came to him and he was told to convey that message to humankind,
in the collection of prophetic saying, in Muslim, there is a very interesting, prophetic saying,
This is no prophet among the prophets coming without our kin in the past without God giving him some sign. Some people call that naked, or some kind of sign or silence,
which led many people to believe in him.
And then he continues, the Prophet Muhammad says,
and what has been given to me Actually, was a revelation,
which God has given unto me. And I pray, and I hope to God, that in the Day of Judgment, I will have the largest
of all the followers of prophets. And that’s an interesting thing, because the sort of Americans are signs that we’ll get into profits prior to profit and hammer on him.
As reported largely to be a sort of metaphysical type of Americans something that people can see with their own eyes and get stunned, and one that this man or this prophet must really be truthful.
But the difficulty with this is that as time goes on, only those who saw those miracles, and only those who believe in those witnesses of those miracles, can really come to this conclusion that this is awesome, it was stressful.
But since perfect, Mohammed was the last of all prophets, and there is no one to come after him. It is very essential, even in the mind of the skeptic, to be able to see an outstanding living existing American, because a skeptic might say, all right, some people report it. I’ve seen that, but I haven’t seen it myself. So the Quran itself is the miracle,
or the greatest sign of the truthfulness of the Prophet. And that’s, again, I hope would be clarified throughout this series, in what sense?
Is there to support this particular state?
What we see here is that what the prophet mentioned, is exactly a consistent with what the Quran has been mentioned by will intended evidence. Let me give just a couple of examples. First of all, the Quran brings to the attention of people that after all, the prophet has lived already among his people, for 40 years before he received the commission or the director from that, to act, as his last prophet.
In the Quran, says, Muhammad Allah to Allah, say, Mohammed, to the skeptics, if God has when I should not have rehearsed or recited this, that is this Quran to you, nor would he have made it known to you
a whole lifetime before this, have you lived amongst you? Would you then not understand?
So it shows that the Quran itself direct directs the Prophet actually, to respond to this. One of the very interesting citations in the Quran.
Again, teaching the Prophet how to respond to this accusations or doubts. Were not intended
to be an indication
that it says and you are Muhammad was not able to recite a book before this book came to you that this person because the Prophet as we know is an unmetered man, he didn’t know how to read or write.
Nor are you able to transcribe it
with your right hand. In that case, indeed, with the talkers of vanities have doubted. In other words, if the Prophet for example, Prophet Muhammad was a highly literate person who knew how to read or write, if he were a scholar of religion, and he recited scriptures before, maybe those who are accusing him of fabricating his claim of the origin or source of the Quran could have had some grounds for doubt. But in the absence of this, it sounds like a very strange claim. To think that the Prophet was actually the author but there will be references for this is 1016 and 2948. So the conclusion I’m just trying to clarify here is that the statement by the prophet
himself are in total consistency with the claims made in the Quran itself, that its source is divine.
What before we proceed with our further examination of the question of the source of the Quran, it might be helpful and useful to some of our viewers to clarify what is meant by the term revelation?
Well, just by way of cross reference, there have been some fairly lengthy discussion of that in the second series in this program on dealing with the topic of prophethood. But I think it would be useful, perhaps to highlight some of the points as they relate to to this topic as well. But before doing this, to print preliminary observations, first of all, we cannot fully understand the phenomenon of Revelation. If we insist that the only word that exists, is the world of physical, tangible world.
We see things with our eyes, but you can see also with our mind, and consider it our souls as well. The fact that there is a difficulty in seeing the word which is basically unseen, and unknown to us, does not mean that it does not exist to start.
Secondly, and even in this age of so called science and scientific progress,
we find that there are so many things that has been proven but could not be explained totally on physical or tangible grounds, like the telepathy, like some of the dreams that come true or predicted certain things to happen, it happens to different people.
This you cannot explain it fully on tangible basis. But again, one realizes that there is something beyond the scene world.
With this introduction, the meaning of revelation or the Arabic word for revelation.
immunologically speaking means something which is subtle and quick.
But it appears in the Quran in a variety of meanings. It is mentioned, for example, in 1668, to refer to the inspiration that God gives to animals in that case, bees, even insects, something that is taught or given to them to learn how to survive.
It could refer as a 1911. To assign a subtle sign without speaking, in the context of the story of Prophet Zechariah.
It could also mean some kind of inspiration that God gives to a person who’s not even a prophet, as in 28, seven in the story of the mother of Moses. It could also be a command to the engines as we find an eight turn to support the believers in the battlefield. In some cases, even could mean even prompting, if you stick to the purely etymological meaning, even prompting even by sentence as we find, for example, insects.
But of course, the most important and the highest level of Revelation is that which is given to prophets and messengers.
How do prophets receive revelation? Can you explain that for us? Is there any information on that? Well, this is summarized in one citation in the Quran, one passage in 4251. One, that kind of devotion and you can learn about 11 it is not befitting that God should speak to any human except by inspiration, or from behind a veil, or that God may send messengers to reveal to his servants what he wins. From that passage. It seems that there are three basic ways that a prophet can receive revelation one is an inspiration or insight that God guides him to have the proper judgment on certain matters. The second thing behind a veil, veil here does not mean physical, it could be a
veil of light, psychological barrier, that’s not by communication. Or the third one is by sending a messenger in that case, reference to engine gabrial, communicating specific message to the public.
Very quickly, which of the types of revelation was given to Mohammed peace and blessings be upon him he was honored by receiving all of them. First of all, he received inspiration or insight from God, to guide him in the conduct of the affairs of the believers. Secondly, he talked to God also, from behind a veil again, a veil of light, if you will, and the Mirage incident or the night of ascension, without directly talk to him. Even Gabrielle could not go beyond that point, unless the Prophet directly to communicate with God. And thirdly, he also received the revelation at least in the form of the Quran through the air
You have engine Gabrielle, who brought the Quran work for worked on him in addition to other inspiration of course, which you know has had this demonstration of the meaning into his heart and he has his own words to express it other than the Quran. So it is interesting to notice that why didn’t one prophet or the other might have been blessed with one or more Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him being the last of God’s messengers was blessed by all forms of Revelation.
Now we’ll have to stop at that for today. We want to thank you for watching. Join us next week we will continue our discussion of authorship of the Koran Assalamu alaikum peace
