Day 37
The Miraculous Preservation of the Quran
TLDR:
On day 37 of Be Qur'anic, we explore ayah 23 of Surat al-Baqarah, focusing on the Qur'an's challenge to skeptics to produce a comparable Surah.
We discuss the miraculous aspects of the Qur'an, including its linguistic precision, prophetic accuracy, and historical events unknown at the time of Prophet Muhammad.
The preservation of the Qur'an, both in text and recitation, is highlighted as a unique miracle, setting it apart from other scriptures.
Additionally, we touch upon scientific miracles in the Qur'an, advising caution in using science to validate its truth due to the ever-changing nature of scientific theories. The Qur'an stands as a timeless, unchangeable truth, the ultimate word of God.
Welcome to day 37 of Be Qur'anic, where we take short passages from the Qur'an daily, extracting practical lessons from them to apply in our lives and become more Qur'anic.
InshaAllah, today we continue our study of ayah 23 of Surat al-Baqarah, which reads: "If you have doubt in what We sent down to Our servant, the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, then produce a Surah like it, and call upon all your helpers, advisors, and experts, apart from Allah, if you are truthful."
This ayah is the first challenge in the Qur'an from Allah Azza wa Jalla to those who reject the Qur'an, who do not believe that this is the word of Allah, to come and produce a Surah like it.
For the past two days, we have been exploring the miraculous nature of the Qur'an. Today, inshaAllah, we will delve into one more aspect of its miraculous nature - the preservation and scientific miracles in the Qur'an. One of Allah's promises in the Qur'an is that it will be preserved until Yawmul Qiyamah.
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, being the last messenger with no prophet to follow until Judgement Day, was given the Qur'an as guidance that would be preserved forever. Unlike previous scriptures sent to Prophets Musa, Daud, and Isa, which have been tampered with according to historical evidence and academic research, the Qur'an remains unique and unchanged. The same Qur'an recited by Prophet Muhammad is accessible to us today.
This preservation is evident firstly through the memorisers of the Qur'an, passing it from one generation to the next. They are known as Al-Hafidz, the Protectors, safeguarding the Qur'an in their hearts.
Additionally, archaeological findings, including parchments of the Qur'an dated back to the Prophet Muhammad’s ﷺ time, confirm its unchanged nature. These findings prove the Qur'an's preservation through scientific and archaeological research, a feat unique to this holy book.
The Qur'an's preservation is not just in its words but also in its recitation. We know precisely how Prophet Muhammad pronounced each letter, with the tempo and nuances of recitation also preserved. This fulfils Allah's promise of protecting the Qur'an.
Moving on to the scientific miracles of the Qur'an, this genre became popular in the 1980s. However, I am reserved about using scientific theories to validate the Qur'an's truthfulness, as it implies placing science above the Qur'an. The nature of science, governed by the law of falsifiability as proposed by Karl Popper, is to disprove theories rather than prove them true, meaning scientific theories are subject to change.
On the contrary, the Qur'an is the unchangeable truth, the verbatim word of God. Reliance on changeable, uncertain science can lead to a chaotic understanding of truth. Yet, there are instances, such as the Qur'an's descriptions of embryology, where the alignment with modern scientific discoveries is striking, though we must be cautious in using science as proof of the Qur'an's truthfulness.
In summary, the past few days have shed light on the linguistic precision, prophetic and historical accuracy, preservation, and, with caution, the scientific alignment of the Qur'an. These aspects categorise the numerous miracles of the Qur'an, each affirming its divine origin and unparalleled nature.