how to learn quran - learn quran online for free
By Ahmed Deedat
"Say: If the whole of mankind and jinn's were to gather
together to produce the like of this Qur'an,
they could not produce the like thereof, even if
they backed up each other with help and support."
What is a miracle?
I think it is necessary that we have a clear picture
of what we mean by a miracle. Here are some
definitions:
-
"An event that appears so inexplicable by the
laws of nature, that it is held to be
supernatural in origin or an act of God."
-
"A person, thing or event that excites admiring
awe."
-
"An act beyond human power, an impossibility."
It is logical that greater the impossibility,
greater the miracle. For example, should a person
expire before our very eyes and is certified dead by
a qualified medical man, yet later on a mystic or a
saint commands the corpse to 'arise!', and to
everybody's astonishment the person gets up and
walks away , we would label that as a miracle. But
if the resurrection of the dead took place after the
corpse had been in the mortuary for three days, then
we would acclaim this as a greater miracle. And if
the dead was made to arise from the grave, decades
or centuries after the body had decomposed and
rotted away, then in that case we would label it the
greatest miracle of them all!
A Common Trait
It has been a common trait of mankind since time
immemorial that whenever a guide from God appeared
to redirect their steps into the will and plan of
God; they demanded supernatural proofs from these
men of God, instead of accepting message on its
merit.
For example, when Jesus Christ (pbuh) began to
preach to his people - "the children of Israel" - to
mend their ways and to refrain from mere legalistic
formalism and imbibe the true spirit of the laws and
commandments of god, his 'people' demanded miracles
from him to prove his bona fides (his authenticity ,
his genuineness), as recorded in the Christian
scriptures:
Quirk Continues
Some six hundred years after the birth of Jesus
(pbuh), Muhammad (pbuh) the messenger of God was
born in Makkah in Arabia. When he proclaimed his
mission at the age of forty, his fellow countrymen,
the mushriks of makkah made an identical request for
miracles, as had the Jews, from their promised
Messiah. Text book style, it was as if the Arabs had
taken a leaf from the Christian records. History has
a habit of repeating itself!
And they say: why are not signs sent down to him
from his lord? [Quran 29:50]
SIGNS! WHAT SIGNS!!
"Miracles ? Cries he, what miracles would you have?
Are not you yourselves there? God made you 'shaped
you out of a little clay.' Ye were small once; a few
years ago ye were not at all. Ye have beauty,
strength, thoughts, 'ye have compassion on one
another.' Old age comes-on you, and grey hairs; your
strength fades into feebleness: ye sink down, and
again are not. 'Ye have compassion on one another':
This struck me much: Allah might have made you
having no compassion on one another, how had it been
then! this is a great direct though, a glance at
first-hand into the very fact of things...." "(On
heroes hero-worship and the heroic in history"), by
Thomas Carlyle.
"This Struck Me Much"
This, that "ye have compassion on one another",
impressed thomas carlyle most from his perusal of an
English translation. I presume, there verse that
motivated this sentiment is:
1. And among his signs is this, that he created for
you mates from among yourselves, that ye may dwell
in tranquility with them. and he has put love and
mercy between your (hearts): verily in that are
signs for those who reflect. (emphasis added)
Translation by A Yusuf ALi [Qur'an 30:21]
2. And one of his signs it is, that he hath created
wives for you of your own species that ye may dwell
with them, and hath put love and tenderness between
you. herein truly are signs for those who reflect
(emphasis added) Translation by Rev. J.M.
Rodwell(M.A.)
3. By another sign he gave you wives from among
yourselves, that ye might live in joy with them, and
planted love and kindness into your hearts. surely
there are signs in this for thinking men (emphasis
added) Translation by N.J. Dawood.
Taint is in the Motive
Carlyle is very charitable to his fellow countryman.
The motives of George sale, who pioneered an English
translation of the Holy Quran, were suspect. He
makes no secret of his antagonism to the holy book
of Islam. In his preface to his translation in 1734
he made it known that it was his avowed intention to
expose the man Mohammad and his forgery. He records:
"who can apprehend any danger from so manifest a
forgery?... The protestants alone are able to attack
the Koran with success; and for them, I trust,
providence has reserved the glory of its overthrow."
George Sale, And he set to work with his prejudiced
translation. You will be able to judge how 'fair'
and scholarly George sale was from the very verse
which 'struck' (carlyle) 'much!' Compare it with the
three example already given by a Muslim, a Christian
and a Jew: And of his signs another is, that he had
created you , out of yourselves, wives that ye may
cohabit with them, and hath put love and compassion
between you.
Every word of the Quranic text is meticulously
chosen, chiseled and placed by the All-Wise himself.
They carry God's 'fingerprint', and are signs of
God. And yet, the spiritually jaundiced...
Ask For A Sign
What signs?? They mean some special kinds of signs
or miracles such as their own foolish minds dictate.
Everything is possible for God, but God is not going
to humor the follies of men or listen to their false
demands. He has sent his messenger to explain his
signs clearly, and to warn them of the consequences
of rejection. Is that not enough? The trend of their
demand is generally as follows:
In specific terms they asked that he - Muhammad
(pbuh) - 'Put a ladder up to heaven an bring down a
book from God in their very sight' - "Then we would
believe," they said. Or "ye see the mountain yonder,
turn it into gold' - "then we would believe." or
'make streams to gush out in the desert' - "then we
would believe."
Now listen to the soft, sweet reasoning of Muhammad
(pbuh) against the unreasonable and sceptical
demands of the mushriks - "Do I say to you, verily I
am an angel? Do I say to you, verily in my hands are
the treasures of God? Only, what is revealed to me
do I follow." Listen further to the most dignified
reply he is commanded by his Lord to give the
unbelievers.
Two Proofs
As a proof of the divine authorship and the
miraculous nature of the Quran, two arguments are
advanced by the almighty Himself:
1. 'that we' (God Almighty) have revealed to you (O
Muhammad!) 'the book to you' who art absolutely an
unlearned person. An 'ummi' prophet. One who cannot
read or write. One who cannot sign his own name. Let
Thomas Carlyle testify regarding the educational
qualifications of Muhammad -
2. one other circumstance we must not forget: that
he had no school learning; of the thing we call
school-learning none at all.' Moreover the divine
author (God Almighty) himself testifies to the
veracity of Muhammad's (pbuh) claim that he could
never have composed the contents of the holy Quran;
he could not have been its author:
"And thou (O Muhammad) was not (able) to recite a book
before this (book came), nor art thou (able) to
transcribe it with thy right hand: In that case,
indeed, would the talkers of vanities have doubted."
[Qur'an 29:48].
Consistency
It is inconceivable that any human author would
remain consistent in this teachings and his
preaching for a period of over two decades. From the
age of forty, when Muhammad (pbuh) received his
first call from heaven to the age sixty-three when
he breathed his last, for twenty-three years the
holy prophet practiced and preached Islam. In those
twenty-three years, he passed through the most
conflicting vicissitudes of life. Any man, during
the course of such a mission, would be forced by
circumstances to make 'honorable' compromises, and
cannot help contradicting himself. No man can ever
write the same always, as the message of the holy
Quran is: consistent with itself, throughout! Or is
it that the unbelievers objections are merely
argument, refractory, against their own better light
and judgment.? Furthermore, the holy Quran contains
or mentions many matters relating to the nature of
the universe which were unknown to man before but
which subsequently through evolution and discoveries
of Science have fully confirmed - a field where an
untutored mind would have most certainly lost in
wild and contradictory speculations!
Self-Evident Proof
Again and again when miracles are demanded from the
prophet of God by the cynical and frivolous few, he
is made to point to the Quran - message from high -
as 'the miracle.' The miracle or miracles! And men
of wisdom, people with literary and spiritual
insight, who were honest enough to themselves,
recognised and accepted al-quran as an a genuine
miracle.
Says the holy Quran:
"Nay here are signs self-evident in the hearts of those
endowed with knowledge:
And none but the unjust reject our signs."
[Quran 29:49]
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