The following is the translation of an Arabic article.
Sheikh Abu Islam Yusuf Shaqeero, Palestine
The
miraculous matter is that matter which breaks or exceeds the norm or what is
usual in any time and place. The new invention breaks the norm however it is
caught up with by something similar to it or better than it and as such is not
considered to be miraculous. Therefore, for the matter to be miraculous or
inimitable, it is necessary that the people be incapable of reproducing the
like of it in every time and place. This is a matter which is not realised in
anything present or existing within all that exists, except in the Qur’aan
which Allah Ta’Aalaa revealed upon our Sayyid Muhammad ﷺ.
Allah
‘Azza Wa Jalla has made it the eternal proof of the Muslims to establish the
correctness or validity of their Deen and to prove that it is from Allah alone
and not the production of any human being. The people’s realisation of the
existence of Allah is a matter which is possible by way of the ‘Aql (mind).
However, the people cannot comprehend what Allah has required or demanded from
them as that does not happen except via an address from Allah to mankind where
it is established by a Daleel Qat’iy (definite) evidence that it is from Allah
alone.
Allah
has addressed his slaves with the Qur’aan to explain to mankind what is
required for them and He made the Qur’aan itself a miracle for as long as the
heavens and earth remain (i.e. until the Day of resurrection). In the absence
of the miraculous nature or inimitability the proofs for the correctness of the
Deen collapse. For that reason, it became obligatory upon the Da’wah carriers
to apply an extreme amount of care and concern to this miraculous nature; to
explain it to the people and establish the evidences for it as much as they can
and are able. The unresponsiveness of the people to Islaam is often a result of
the people not comprehending or realising this miracle and the lack of concern
with it in origin. That is because the majority of those who have studied the
miracle of the Qur’aan have complicated the matter more than they have
simplified it. That is to the point that it became perceived by the people to
be a mysterious matter which could not be fully comprehended except by someone
who has an extensive knowledge of the Arabic language. For that reason, the
miracle of the Qur’aan became a matter which didn’t mean anything to the
majority of the Muslims and even if they say with their mouths that the Qur’aan
is a miracle for all of the people.
The
miraculous aspect in the Qur’aan is only found in the linguistic formulation of
the intended meaning and whoever wishes to sense or touch upon the miracle,
then he must define the meaning which the Qur’aan is addressing whilst leaving
the form used by the Qur’aan to bring that meaning, and then attempt to bring a
formulation of his own to express the same reality. And so, for example, in
respect to the Qawl of Allah Ta’Aalaa:
يَا أَبَتِ إِنِّي رَأَيْتُ أَحَدَ
عَشَرَ كَوْكَبًا وَالشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ رَأَيْتُهُمْ لِي سَاجِدِينَ
O my father, indeed I have seen [in a dream]
eleven stars and the sun and the moon; I saw them prostrating to me (Yousuf:
4).
This
represents an expression about a particular meaning and its reality is that a
particular person slept and saw in his dreams 11 stars prostrating to him, in
addition to the sun and moon. And then he spoke to his father about that. This
is the reality.
For us
to touch upon and sense the miraculous nature, we bring a new formulation other
than the formulation brought in the Qur’aan which expresses the same meaning.
If we were to do that we would touch upon a huge difference between our
formulation and the formulation of the Qur’aan, whilst the matter would never
require experts to say that. This is a natural matter and that is because the
first form is from Allah whilst the second is from the human and it is natural
to sense the difference between them both and even the one who is not
proficient in the sciences of the Arabic language. If we were to try the
following formation for instance:
يا أبي إني حلمت بأن أحد عشر نجما ومعهم الشمس والقمر ساجدين لي
O Father, verily I dreamt that 11
stars alongside the sun and the moon prostrated to me
And then
we were to present the two forms upon someone and even upon the one who does
not possess knowledge of Arabic, he will be able to easily judge that the form
of the Qur’aan is one thousand times better than the other formulation or usage
of wording. Even if we were to gather the literary experts upon the face of the
earth to bring a form composed by themselves, the judgement would remain the
same.
It is
natural and inevitable for the difference to be vast and easily noticeable
between the two as one of them is from Allah and the other is from man, as we
have previously stated. When the difference between two matters is vast then it
does not require experts to differentiate between them. Experts in language are
only required if the two forms are similar or close to each other exactly like
any other discipline from amongst the disciplines of the world. As such it is
possible for someone who does not have expert knowledge in construction to
distinguish between the crooked and straight building, just as any person is
capable of distinguishing between a new vehicle and an old rusty one. However,
if the two buildings, for example were equal in respect to quality, then it
would not be possible for other than the expert to distinguish or differentiate
between them … and so on.
Whoever
wishes to live with the miracle, then when he reads an Aayah from the Kitaab of
Allah, he should specify its meaning and attempt to bring a new formulation (of
wording) for the same meaning and at that time alone he will be able to touch
upon or sense the miraculous nature. As for comparing the text of the Qur’aan
with a line of poetry here and there or with some prose here and there, then
that by its nature will not make the person realise the miraculous nature of
the Qur’aan. Indeed, it is possible that it will complicate the matters and
unintentionally give the impression to the one listening that the miracle is a
mysterious matter which none but the knowledgeable (in certain areas) can fully
comprehend.
It is
for you to contemplate upon the Qawl of Allah Ta’Aalaa:
يُوصِيكُمُ اللَّـهُ فِي
أَوْلَادِكُمْ ۖ لِلذَّكَرِ مِثْلُ حَظِّ الْأُنثَيَيْنِ
Allah instructs you concerning your children: for
the male, what is equal to the share of two females (An-Nisaa’: 11).
If you
were to gather the literary experts of the earth to bring a form other than
this expressing the same meaning, then what they bring will represent nothing
but a corrupt scribble when compared to the form of the Qur’aan. The same
applies in respect to His Qawl Ta’Aalaa:
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا
أَوْفُوا بِالْعُقُودِ ۚ أُحِلَّتْ لَكُم بَهِيمَةُ الْأَنْعَامِ إِلَّا مَا يُتْلَىٰ
عَلَيْكُمْ غَيْرَ مُحِلِّي الصَّيْدِ وَأَنتُمْ حُرُمٌ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يَحْكُمُ
مَا يُرِيدُ
O you who have believed, fulfill [all] contracts.
Lawful for you are the animals of grazing livestock except for that which is
recited to you [in this Qur'an] - hunting not being permitted while you are in
the state of ihram. Indeed, Allah ordains what He intends (Al-Maa’idah: 1).
And also
His Qawl:
وَإِمَّا تَخَافَنَّ مِن قَوْمٍ
خِيَانَةً فَانبِذْ إِلَيْهِمْ عَلَىٰ سَوَاءٍ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يُحِبُّ
الْخَائِنِينَ
If you [have reason to] fear from a people
betrayal, throw [their treaty] back to them, [putting you] on equal terms.
Indeed, Allah does not like traitors (Al-Anfaal: 58).
And the
same applies in respect to most of the Aayaat of the Qur’aan as the result will
be the same regardless of how much the one who attempts that attempts to do
that.
It is
true and correct that the lowest challenge set by Allah was to bring a Soorah:
وَإِن كُنتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِّمَّا
نَزَّلْنَا عَلَىٰ عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُوا بِسُورَةٍ مِّن مِّثْلِهِ
And if you are in doubt about what We have sent
down upon Our Servant [Muhammad], then produce a Surah the like thereof
(Al-Baqarah: 23).
However,
that does not prevent many of the Aayaat being miraculous like the Aayaat we
have mentioned and those similar to them. As for His Qawl Ta’Aalaa: “الرَّحْمَـٰنُ”
(Ar-Rahmaan) and his Qawl Subhaanahu: “عَلَّمَ
الْقُرْآنَ” (‘Allama l-Qur’aan) etc. Then, it is
perfectly clear that Aayaat such as these are not miraculous (in themselves)
and as such the lowest challenge set by Allah for man was a Soorah and not an
Aayah.
The
issue of the miracle or inimitability, as stated previously, must be given the
greatest amount of care and attention by the Da’wah carriers because it alone
represents the evidence that this Deen is from Allah whilst the removal of this
from within the people represents a fundamental reason for the distance of the
people from their Deen and their unresponsiveness to the one calling to Allah.
The human being, by his nature, follows the strong and possessor of miracles.
The disbelievers have been given a great share of power and accomplishments in
an unprecedented manner historically and for the people to be diverted from
them it is necessary for there to be a material power to meet their power, or
spiritual power or both combined together.
That is
like what happened with the Nabi ﷺ. That is because when he came with a great
spiritual power it settled within the Nufoos (pl. of Nafs) of the people and
they were diverted away from following the Persians and Romans. Indeed, they
came to see them as being insignificant, confronted them and broke their
strength and power. The days rotate; today they are in favour of the
disbelievers and not us, and that is because we left the spiritual power which
can our realisation of the miracle bestows upon us and so we came to face the
most insolent and (materially) strongest people of the earth, that history has
known, whilst being stripped without a weapon. The result was therefore
decisive in their favour just as has been the case since the last one hundred
years.
Sheikh Abu Islam Yusuf Shaqeero, Palestine
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