Why Islam is True-Lesson 14-part 1: The Miracles of the Quran

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How to Prove that Muhammad is God’s Messenger

What is the first thing we need to do to prove the Prophet is a genuine messenger?

• We need to prove that he was a truthful person.
• We need to prove that he existed.
• We need to prove that he was better than anyone else.

What is the second thing we need to do to prove the Prophet is a genuine messenger?

• We need to prove that miracles are possible.
• We need to prove that only Muhammad performed real miracles.
• We need to prove that miracles add validity to any religion.

What does a miracle prove if it happens in the context of someone claiming to be a messenger from God?

• It proves that coincidences can happen.
• It proves that anyone who performs a miracle is a prophet.
• It proves that their claim is true.

The Prophet performed many miracles to prove his claim to prophethood. What is the greatest miracle of the Prophet?

• Water coming from his fingertips because it happened so many times.
• The Quran because it is still visible and accessible to us today.
• Splitting the moon because it was so mighty.

 Eloquence: The Linguistic Miracle of the Quran

Aldrich says, “It was interesting to watch you read your book. It was powerful and moving to be honest. But I have a question for you, if you don’t mind. I know that Muslims revere their holy book, but don’t all religions revere their religious texts? I don’t see how the Quran is anything more than a book.” How will you reply?

• “It is not just a book that someone wrote down a long time ago; it is a miracle. It is the greatest miracle of the Prophet. It proves his claim to be a messenger from God, with miraculous eloquence.”
• “That’s because all religions need a central text, like any type of ideology. Communists have Marx’s 'Communist Manifesto,' and Capitalists have Smith’s 'The Wealth of Nations.' Muslims have the Quran.”

Aldrich continues. “I know you say it is eloquent, but so are many writers. Think about the greatest writers in history: Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Gibran, Dickens, and many others. It’s the Quran’s own unique style of beauty that makes it inimitable. Just like Shakespeare’s own unique style of beauty that makes him inimitable. It’s the same with Tolstoy and other great writers throughout the ages.” How will you respond?

• “But the Quran is more eloquent than any of those writers and their works. People who know about eloquence will agree with this as well. The only reason someone would not admit this is because they don’t know the language or don’t want to say that Muslims can also be eloquent.”
• “People only say that Shakespeare, Dickens, Tolstoy, and others are more eloquent because their ideas fit a secular framework. They would never agree to something religious being eloquent!”
• “The Quran is not just extremely eloquent. It is miraculously eloquent. It is beyond the ability of any human being to be as eloquent as the Quran. Someone who knows the ancient Arabian language can see that making something like the Quran is beyond human abilities. This is more than just having a unique and beautiful style. And by the way, ChatGPT can now imitate Shakespeare!”

Aldrich shakes his head slightly and says, “I really don’t understand. How can eloquence ever be miraculous?" How will you respond?

• “A miracle is something that breaks the normal cause-and-effect relationship in the universe. Like when someone is thrown into the fire but it doesn’t burn them or like when someone throws down a staff and it turns into a snake. The Quran’s like that. There is a cause-and-effect relationship between a human being’s highly-developed eloquence ability and between the eloquent speech that he produces. The Quran breaks that cause-and-effect relationship.”
• “The Quran is the most eloquent thing produced in any language. Even the sounds have meaning. Every letter has a particular purpose. There isn’t any piece of writing that can claim that. The eloquence is miraculous because there is nothing else like it.”

Aldrich nods and appears to somewhat understand but he is curious and asks, “I can understand how fire not burning or a staff turning into a snake are miracles but can you describe some more what it means for the Quran to be miraculously eloquent?”

• “The Arabs at the time of the Prophet had never seen anything as beautiful or as eloquent as the Quran. They realized it was even more eloquent than the poetry that they had hung in the Ka’ba.”
• “The Arabs at the time of the Prophet were highly eloquent. The Quran challenged them to match its eloquence, and they couldn’t. Even the enemies of the Prophet acknowledged that it was miraculously eloquent. Because they were all so eloquent, they saw that no human being could produce something like the Quran”

Aldrich shrugs his shoulders and says, “How do I know that the Quran challenged them to produce something like it and they didn’t?” How will you respond?

• “The challenge is in the Quran and the Quran is mass-transmitted to us from that time. And the Quran says that they will never be able to produce anything like it. If they had produced something like it, then everyone in the Arabian peninsula would have said that the Quran was making a false claim.”
• “Well, you can listen to everything that I told you. I have shown you many times now that it is miraculous.”