Al-Quran The Ultimate Miracle (By Ahmed Deedat)

AUTHENTICATION FROM THE GIANTS OF LITERATURE

A cursory glance at the context of verse thirty (see fig.5) will show that this verse thrity is also an answer; it is again an answer to another ALLEGATION. At first the unbelievers accused Muhummed of "madness." Now, seeing that people were slowly but surely responding to his call, that some of their own relations began accepting Muhummed's Message and some of his converts were respected members of the community, they changed their charge from "madness" to SORCERY." They alleged that Muhummed, with his beautiful recitation of the Quranic verses, was now mesmerising people!

Before meeting this new charge, allow me to quote the testimony of thomas Carlyle who, in his aforementioned speech in defence of Muhummed, refuted the pagan allegation so beautifull: "FORGER AND JUGGLER? NO, NO! THIS GREAT FIERY HEART, SEETING, SIMMERING LIKE A GREAT FURNACE OF THOUGHTS, WAS NOT A JUGGER'S." The superstitious pagans of Makkah who failed to understand divine guidance, sought to explain its wondergul effects upon the lives of men and women who were living as animals, by naming that influence "magic" or "sorcery." They were the product of their day and age, of their environment.

Studying the verses in their context (See fig.5) we find that we have already disposed of that disbelieving allegation contained in verse 24, i.e. "THIS IS NOTHING BUT MAGIC . . ." But the allegation in verse 25 of chapter 74 is grave, and the sickness of the unbelievers in Muhummed's days is still current in the minds of even sincere and charitable non-Muslim friends of Islam. Even THomas Carlyle is not free from that bias. The persistent sickness of aberration is to attribute to Muhummed the authorship of Quran. Muhummed claims that the words of the Quran are given to him by inspiration, but the enemy says:

"THIS IS NOTHING BUT THE WORD OF A MORTAL!"
{Chapter 74: Verse 25 Quran (See fig 5)}

In other words the unbeliever is saying that it was Muhummed who was writing the Quran. It is he who is giving out his own words as being the word of God: that he had manufactured the Book, that he had concocted it; that he had forged it. Perhaps, they surmised he must have copied his Book - the Quran - from the Jews and Christians.

Let me give you some of the glowing tributes paid by non-Muslim critics of Islam who have wittingly or unwittingly fallen into this error of believing that Muhummed wrote the Quran:

1. Gibbon: The master historian in his "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" opines about Islam and the Quran: "THE CREED OF MOHAMMED IS FREE FROM THE SUSPICIONS OF AMBIGUITY, AND THE QURAN IS A GLORIOUS TESTIMONY TO THE UNITY OF GOD." And yet this great man died an agnostic!
2. Thomas Carlyle, one of the greatest thinkers of the past century, in his "Heroes and Hero Worship" under the rubric 'The Hero as Prophet,' exclaims about the Message of Muhummed: "THE WORD OF SUCH A MAN IS A VOICE DIRECT FROM NATURE'S OWN HEART. MEN DO AND MUST LISTEN TO THAT AS TO NOTHING ELSE; ALL ELSE IS WIND IN COMPARISION." In other words, all else is hot air, rubbish in comparasion to what this man Muhummed is talking' - this great thinker died an Anglican Christian.
3. Rev. R. Bosworth-Smith, a Christian missionary in his book "Mohammed and Mohammedanism," is forced to testify about Muhummed and the Quran - "ILLITERATE HIMSELF, SCARCELY ABLE TO READ OR WRITE: HE WAS YET THE AUTHOR OF A BOOK, WHICH IS A POEM, A CODE OF LAWS, A BOOK OF COMMON PRAYERS, AND A BIBLE - ALL IN ONE. AND IS REVERENCED TO THIS DAY BY A SIXTH OF THE WHOLE HUMAN RACE AS A MIRACLE OF PURITY OF STYLE, OF WISDOM AND OF TRUTH. IT IS THE ONE MIRACLE CLAIMED BY MOHAMMED, HIS STANDING MIRACLE HE CALLED IT, AND A MIRACLE INDEED IT IS!" And yet Bosworth-Smith died a Trinitarian!
4. La Martine, the French historian, in his "History of the Turks" summarises his maginficent tribute to Muhummed in these words: "PHILOSOPHER, ORATOR, APOSTLE, LIGISLATOR, WARRIOR, CONQUEROR OF IDEAS, THE RESTORER OF RATIONAL BELIEFS, OF A CULT WITHOUT IMAGES; THE FOUNDER OF TWENTY TERRESTIAL EMPIRES AND ONE SPIRITUAL EMPIRE - THAT IS MUHAMMED. WITH REGARDS ALL STANDERDS WHEREBY HUMAN GREATNESS MAY BE MEASURED, WE MAY WELL ASK, 'IS THERE ANY MAN GREATER THEN HE? La Martine has answered his own question in the question itself by implication, that NO MAN IS GREATER THEN HE! Muhummed is indeed the greatest! And yet this noble Frenchman died out of the pale of Islam.
5. Jules Masserman, United States Psychoanalyst in the "TIME" Magazine of July 15, 1974, in his contribution to a special section on "Where are the Leaders?" Finally concludes his finding after analysing the various great men of history: "PERHAPS THE GREATEST LEADER OF ALL TIMES WAS MOHAMMED" strangely enough as a Jew, he puts his own hero, the Holy Prophet Moses, 'A CLOSE SECOND'. Jesus and Buddha are really outclassed according to his objective standards. (For his complete quotation and the 'yardstick' this Professor of the Chicago University has used, please refer to the booklet - "WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT MUHUMMED")
6. Michael H. Hart, described as an American astronomer, historian and mathematician has just published a book of 572 pages, entitled "The 100," or "The Top 100" or "The Greatest 100 in History?" After scrutinising the men (and women) in history from Adam until today, he selects his one hundred of the most influential men in history. He puts Muhummed THE TOPMOST OF HIS 100. The strange thing about his list is that he placed his own Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, in the third position.

We may add numerous other non-Muslim luminaries like George Bernard Shaw, John Davenport, Mahatma Gandhi etc., who have paid unstinting tributes to Muhummed the Mighty Messenger of God, saying that 'Muhummed was one in a million'; that he was greatest man in history', that 'he was the most successful of all religious personalities'; perhaps thee will not be another like him in eternity! All this and more is very true about Muhummed. But these beautiful tributes create a problem for the Muslims. WHY DID THESE PEOPLE THEN NOT FOLLOW MUHUMMED; WHY DID THEY NOT ACCEPT ISLAM?

I was of the opinion that these non-Muslims were hypocrites, but I had judged them wrongly. In view of the newest Quranic discovery I have changed my opinion of these great men. Despite the fact that some of the above had put Muhummed above there own prophets and guides, they were not prepared to accept Islam because at the back of their minds they believed that it was Muhummed who had created Islam; that it was he who was the author of the Quran. Some of the above writers said so in unambiguous terms, others had subtly implied it. But on the whole everyone believed that the success of Muhummed was on account of his own human genius.

The latest in this catalogue of praise is Michael H. Hart. After saying that Muhummed was the most infulential man in history - both in the secular and the religious fields - he tried to justify his conclusion in his essay. While doing this he clearly states, no page 39 of his book, what must be his subconscious reason for not embracing Islam: MOREOVER, HE IS THE AUTHOR OF THE MOSLEM HOLY SCRIPTURES, THE KORAN; A COLLECTION OF CERTAIN OF MUHUMMED'S INSIGHTS THAT HE BELIEVED HAD BEEN DIRECTLY REVEALED TO HIM BY ALLAH." Note the words in italics in this quotation "HE IS THE AUTHOR" and in No. 2 above - Thomas Carlyle, who says: "THE WORD OF SUCH A MAN . . ." and in No.3, Rev. Bosworth-Smith, who said: "HE WAS YET THE AUTHOR OF A BOOK . . ." (All italics in these quotations are mine). Here, then, are the clues for their non acceptance of Islam the Religion from God, as Allah describes the allegation of unbelievers saying in 74:25 - "THIS IS NOTHING BUT THE WORD OF A MORTAL"; that is, that the Quran was 'MAN MADE.' (Refer fig.5)