The
Qur'an Challenge You
- New Information -
- New Information -
Undoubtedly,
there is an attitude in the Qur'an which is not found anywhere else. It is
interesting how when the Qur'an provides information, it often tells the
reader, "You did not know this before." Indeed, there is no scripture
that exists which makes that claim. All of the other ancient writings and
scriptures that people have, do give a lot of information, but they always
state where the information came from.
For
example, when the Bible discusses ancient history, it states that this king
lived here, this one fought in a certain battle, another one had so many sons,
etc. Yet it always stipulates that if you want more information, then you
should read the book of so and so because that is where the information came
from. In contrast to this concept, the Qur'an provides the reader with
information and states that this information is something new. Of course, there
always exists the advice to research the information provided and verify its
authenticity. It is interesting that such a concept was never challenged by
non-Muslims fourteen centuries ago. Indeed, the Makkans who hated the Muslims,
and time and time again they heard such revelations claiming to bring new information;
yet, they never spoke up and said, "This is not new. We know where
Muhammad got this information. We learned this at school." They could
never challenge its authenticity because it really was new ! In concurrence
with the advice given in the Qur'an to research information (even if it is
new), when 'Umar was caliph, he chose a group of men and sent them to find the
wall of Dhul-Qarnayn. Before the Qur’an revelation, the Arabs had never heard
of such a wall, but because the Qur'an described it, they were able to discover
it. As a matter of fact, it is now located in what is called Durbend in the
Soviet Union. It must be stressed here that the Qur'an is accurate about many,
many things, but accuracy does not necessarily mean that a book is a divine revelation.
In fact, accuracy is only one of the criteria for divine revelations.
For
instance, the telephone book is accurate, but that does not mean that it is
divinely revealed. The real problem lies in that one must establish some proof
of the source the Qur'an's information. The emphasis is on the reader. One
cannot simply deny the Qur'an's authenticity without sufficient proof. If,
indeed, one finds a mistake, then he has the right to disqualify it. This is
exactly what the Qur'an encourages. Once a man came up to me after a lecture I
delivered in South Africa. He was very angry about what I had said, and so he
claimed, "I am going to go home tonight and find a mistake in the
Qur'an." Of course, I said, "Congratulations. That is the most
intelligent thing that you have said." Certainly, this is the approach
Muslims need to take with those who doubt the Qur'an's authenticity, because
the Qur'an itself offers the same challenge. An inevitably, after accepting
it's challenge and discovering that it is true, these people will come to
believe it because they could not disqualify it. In essence, the Qur'an earns
their respect because they themselves have had to verify its authenticity. An
essential fact that cannot be reiterated enough concerning the authenticity of
the Qur'an is that one's inability to explain a phenomenon himself does not
require his acceptance of the phenomenon's existence or another person's
explanation of it. Specifically, just because one cannot explain something
does not mean that one has to accept someone else's explanation. However, the
person's refusal of other explanations reverts the burden of proof back on
himself to find a feasible answer. This general theory applies to numerous
concepts in life, but fits most wonderfully with the Qur’an challenge, for it
creates a difficulty for one who says, "I do not believe it." At the
onset of refusal one immediately has an obligation to find an explanation
himself if he feels others' answers are inadequate. In fact, in one particular Qur’an
verse which I have always seen mistranslated into English, Allah mentions a man
who heard the truth explained to him. It states that he was derelict in his
duty because after he heard the information, he left without checking the
verity of what he had heard. In other words, one is guilty if he hears
something and does not research it and check to see whether it is true. One is
supposed to process all information and decide what is garbage to be thrown out
and what is worthwhile information to be kept and benefited from at a later
date. One cannot just let it rattle around in his head. It must be put in the
proper categories and approached from that point of view.
For
example, if the information is still speculatory, then one must discern whether
it's closer to being true or false. But if all of the facts have been
presented, then one must decide absolutely between these two options. And even
if one is not positive about the authenticity of the information, he is still
required to process all of the information and make the admission that he just
does not know for sure. Although this last point appears to be futile, in
actuality, it is beneficial to the arrival at a positive conclusion at a later
time in that it forces the person to at least recognize, research and review
the facts. This familiarity with the information will give the person "the
edge" when future discoveries are made and additional information is
presented. The important thing is that one deals with the facts and does not
simply discard them out of empathy and disinterest.
By
Gary Miller