Hamza Andreas Tzortzis. Version 1.0, September 2014. v
Apr 04, 2016
Hamza Andreas Tzortzis. Version 1.0, September 2014.
v
• This seminar is primarily focussed
on helping you articulate the
linguistic and literary miracle of the
Qur’an to Non-Arabs or non-
experts of the Arabic language…
Co
nte
nts
• What is a miracle?
• The Intellectual challenge of the Qur’an
• Summary of Some Technical stuff
• Let’s analyse surah al-Kawthar
• The challenges: past and present
• How to articulate this to a non-Arab?
– Inference to the best explanation
– Testimony
• Philosophy of miracles
• Contentions
What is a
Miracle?
Act
of
Imp
oss
ibil
ity
• The word miracle is derived from the Latin word miraculum
meaning something wonderful.
• David Hume: “A transgression of natural law of nature.”
See David Hume. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, 1748.
• Hume argued that the only evidence we have for miracles is
eyewitness testimony. He concluded that we should only believe in
miracles if the probability of the eyewitnesses to be mistaken, is
greater than the probability of the miracle to occur.
David Hume. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, s. 91. An on-line version
can be found here http://www.gutenberg.org/files/9662/9662-h/9662-h.htm.
• Hume’s definition is incoherent because natural laws are inductive
generalisations of patterns we perceive in the universe:
– A more coherent definition would be the Qur’anic view. In
other words an act of impossibility.
– What this means is that miracles are acts of impossibilities
concerning causal or logical connections.
Mu
taw
wati
r • Eyewitness testimony can be taken seriously in the context of
multiple witnessing.
– If there exists a large number of independent witnesses, who
transmitted the testimony via varying chains of transmission, then to
reject that report would be bordering the absurd. Even Hume himself
recognized the power of this type of eye witness report,
• “For I own, that otherwise, there may possibly be miracles, or
violations of the usual course of nature, of such a kind as to admit of
proof from human testimony; though, perhaps, it will be impossible to
find any such in all the records of history. Thus, suppose, all authors,
in all languages, agree, that, from the first of January 1600, there
was a total darkness over the whole earth for eight days: suppose
that the tradition of this extraordinary event is still strong and lively
among the people: that all travellers, who return from foreign
countries, bring us accounts of the same tradition, without the least
variation or contradiction: it is evident, that our present
philosophers, instead of doubting the fact, ought to receive it as
certain…”
David Hume. An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding , s. 99
Final Note • Hume’s argument against miracles has been dealt with
quite extensively by the Professor of History and
Philosophy of Science John Earman.
• Professor Earman’s book Hume’s Abject Failure: The
Argument Against Miracles dismantles Hume’s scepticism
– “In ‘Of Miracles,’ Hume pretends to stand on philosophical high
ground, hurling down thunderbolts against miracle stories. The
thunderbolts are supposed to issue from general principles about
inductive inference and the credibility of eyewitness testimony. But
when these principles are made explicit and examined under the
lens of Bayesianism, they are found to be either vapid, specious,
or at variance with actual scientific practice.”
John Earman. Hume’s Abject Failure: The Argument Against Miracles. Oxford University
Press. 2000, p. 70.
Musa & his Staff
• “And We inspired to Moses, ‘Throw your
staff,’ and at once it devoured what they
were falsifying. So the truth was established,
and abolished was what they were doing.”
Qur’an 7:117-118
Tafsir Ibn Kathir
• Ibn Abbas (ra):
– “Then Musa threw his staff, and it turned into a huge
snake that opened its mouth and rushed towards
Fir’awn. When Fir’awn saw the snake rushing towards
him, he jumped from his throne and cried to Musa for
help, so that Musa would remove the snake from his
way. Musa did that.”
– According to Ibn Kathir the staff instantaneously
turned into a snake.
• The Snake also ate the illusory snakes of the Magicians. Tafsir Ibn Kathir
No causal or
logical connection!
Shaykh Al-Sha’rawi
• “With this heavenly support mundane laws
and natural phenomena are caused to yield in
such an overwhelming way that all attempts
at rational explanation are defeated.” The Miracles of the Qur’an. Dar al-Taqwa, p. 5.
The Intellectual Challenge of the Qur’an
What is the Qur’an? • Az-Zarqani, a 9th century scholar of the Qur’an,
summarizes the description of the book.
– “The Qur’an is the Arabic speech of God,
which He revealed to Muhammad in wording
and meaning, and which has been preserved in
the compiled written pages of the Qur’an, and
has reached us by recurrent reporting.” az-Zarqani, Manhil al-Irfan fi Ulumul Quran, Vol. 1, p. 21.
Encourage Thinking • Professor of Philosophy Shabbir Akhtar in his book
The Qur’an and the Secular Mind: A Philosophy of Islam
writes:
– “Nature’s flawless harmonies and the delights and
liabilities of our human environment, with its diverse
and delicate relationships, are invested with religious
significance. Created nature is a cryptogram of a reality
which transcends it: nature is a text to be deciphered.
Evidences accumulating in the material and social
worlds and in the horizons jointly point to a hidden
immaterial order.” Shabbir Akhtar. The Qur'an and the Secular Mind: A Philosophy of Islam. Routledge.
2008, page 217.
The Challenge
• The Qur’an challenges mankind:
– “...and bring a single chapter like it...” Qur’an 2:23
• According Qur’anic Exegetes (mufasiroon) these
verses issue a challenge to produce a chapter
(surah) that imitates the Qur’an’s style,
structure, nature and linguistic features. See Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Tafsir al-Qurtubi, Tafsir al-Jalalayn and Ma’riful Qur’an.
Statements from the Ulama • Imam Fakhr al-Din:
– “It is inimitable because of its eloquence, its unique
style, and because it is free of error.”
• al-Zamlakani:
– “Its word structures for instance, are in perfect harmony
with their corresponding scales, and the meaning of its
phraseology is unsurpassed, such that every linguistic
category is unsurpassed in the case of every single word
and phrase.”
See Suyuti. Al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Qur’an.
Statements from the Ulama • Al-Isfahani:
– “Know that the inimitability of the Qur’an... is concerned
either with its eloquence, its rhetorical devices, or its sense.”
• Al-Sakaki:
– “Know that the inimitability of the Qur’an may be perceived
but it will not be described, just as the right weight is perceived
without being described. This is similar to perceiving the right
amount of salt, or the right voice for a particular song. In
addition, this inimitability is recognized only by those with the
correct aptitude, or those steeped in the knowledge of and
experienced in eloquence and rhetoric.”
See Suyuti. Al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Qur’an.
Ibn Taymiyyah
• “The greatest of all miracles is the Qur’an
that the Prophet Muhammadملسو هيلع هللا ىلص came
with, for it is the religion of Allah and His
speech, and it is the proof of Prophethood
of Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص. Its very revelation is
one of the most supernatural and
extraordinary acts…” Majmoo’ al-Fatawaa, v.11, p. 324.
Summary of Some
Technical Stuff
Classical Arabic
Literary Forms
Arabic Literary Forms
Prose
Combination of Prose and Poetry:
Maqamah
Poetry
Prose
Prose
Rhymed Prose: Saj’
Straight Forward
Speech: Mursal
Rhymed Prose:
Saj’
Rhymed Prose
End Rhyme
Accent Based Rhythmical
Pattern
Concentration of rhetoric and
eloquence
Devin J Stewart. “Saj’ in the Qur’an: Prosody and Structure” in The Koran: Critical Concepts in Islamic
Studies. Edited by Colin Turner, Vol. II; A. Von Denffer. 2003 (Revised Ed. 1994). ‘Ulum al-Qur’an: An
Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur’an. The Islamic Foundation, p. 75; Stewart, Devin J. “Rhymed Prose”.
Encyclopaedia of the Qur’an. General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington
DC. Brill, 2008.
Straight Forward Speech: Mursal
Straight Forward Speech: Mursal
No Rhyme
No Rhythm
No Concentration of Linguistic
Devices
“Nath r.” Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition. Brill
Online , 2013. Reference. 5 January 2013.
http://brillonline.nl/entries/encyclopaedia-of-islam-
2/nathr-COM_1439.
Poetry
Poetry
16 Syllabic Based Rhythmical
Patterns: Al-Bihar
End Rhyme
SirCharles J. Lyall. Translations of Ancient Arabian Poetry, p. xlv-lii;William Wright. 1955 (1898). A
Grammar of the Arabic Language, Vol II, part 4. Cambridge University Press, p. 350-390 for more
information on the poetic metres; Louis Cheikho, Shu’ara’ ‘al-Nasraniyah, 1890-1891, Beirut.
16 A
l-B
ihar
16 Rhythmical
Patterns:
Al-Bihar
At
awîl Al
Bassit
Al
Wafir
Al
Kamil
Ar
Rajs
Al
Khafif
Al
Hazaj
Al
Muttakarib Al
Munsarih
Al
Muktatab
Al
Muktadarak
Al
Madid
Al Mujtath
Al
Ramel
Al
Khabab
As
Saria’
Combination of Prose and
Poetry: Maqamah
Maqamah
Prose
Poetry
A F L Beeston, T M Johnstone, R B Serjeant and G R Smith (Ed.), Arabic Literature To The
End Of The Ummayyad Period, 1983, Cambridge University Press, p. 338 – 343.
• Not straight forward speech: it contains rhythm, rhyme and
concentrated eloquence
• Not poetry: the totality of each chapter does not conform to any of the
al-bihar. Mohammad Khalifa. The Authorship of the Qur’an in The Koran: Critical
Concepts in Islamic Studies. Edited by Colin Turner, Vol. I, p.129.
• Not rhymed prose:
– Has greater tendency to mono-rhyme
– Has greater concentration of eloquence and rhetoric
– Stuctural differences such as length of phrases. Devin J Stewart. Saj’ in
the Qur’an: Prosody and Structure, p.102.
• Not maqamah:
– Exquisite intermingling of prose and poetry
• Example in Surah Yusuf
• Cannot tell the difference. The Miracles of the Qur’an. Dar al-Taqwa,
p. 5; Arthur J Arberry. 1998. The Koran. Oxford University Press, p. x.
– Maqamah copied Qur’anic verses
• Influenced by the Qur’an. A F L Beeston, T M Johnstone, R B Serjeant
and G R Smith (Ed.), Arabic Literature To The End Of The Ummayyad
Period, 1983, Cambridge University Press, p. 338 – 343.
Th
e Q
ur’
an
= U
niq
ue?
Let’s Analyse
Surah Al-Kauthar
ا الكوثر كأعطينا إن
وانحر كلرب فصل
هوالبتر كشانئ إن
The Challenges Past & Present
The Seventh Century Arabs
• They were the best at expressing themselves
in the Arabic language.
• They had immense motivation to meet the
challenge as their social, political and
economic life was being undermined by the
new emerging Islamic world-view.
Those Who Attempted • Ibn Al-Mukaffa
• Musaylimah
• Abu'l-'Ala Al-Marri
• Yahya b. Al-Hakam al-Ghazal
• Abu'l - 'Atahiya
The Encyclopedia Of Islam, 1971, Volume 3, E J Brill, Leiden, p. 885; 905; 1019; Gustave E Von
Grunebaum, A Tenth-Century Document Of Arabic Literary Theory and Criticism, 1950, The
University of Chicago Press, Chicago, p. xiv; F L Beeston, T M Johnstone, R B Serjeant and G R
Smith (Ed.), Arabic Literature To The End Of The Umayyad Period, Op. Cit., p. 212; 213; 127-
128; ‘Abdul Aleem, I'jaz ul Qur'an, 1933, Islamic Culture, Volume VII, Hyderabad Deccan, p. 221
& 232; ‘Ali Dashti (Translated from the Persian by F R C Bagley), Twenty Three Years: A Study
Of The Prophetic Career Of Mohammad, 1985, George Allen & Unwin Ltd., London, p. 48; Ignaz
Goldziher, Ed. S M Stern, Muslim Studies (Muhammedanische Studien) II, 1971, George Allen &
Unwin Ltd., London, pp. 363-365.
• Sayyid 'Ali Muhammad
• Ibn al-Rawandi
• Bassar bin Burd
• Sahib Ibn 'Abbad
Example from the Past • Musaylamah:
– “O Wabr (a small, furry mammal, hyrax), O Wabr! You are only
two ears and a chest, and the rest of you is digging and burrowing.”
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (abridged), Vol. 10, Darusalam, p. 582; Please also see Al-
Bidayah wan-Nihayah 6:320 and Al-Isabah 3:225.
• The book Arabic Literature to the End of the Ummayyad Period summarises
Musaylamah’s attempts to produce something like the Qur’an:
– “He followed the kahin style of rhymed prose, and of the
pronouncing of oaths. One such, swearing by mountain goat, the
black smooth-skinned wolf and dark night are suggestive of animals
symbolic of the pagan gods.”
A F L Beeston, T M Johnstone, R B Serjeant and G R Smith (Ed.), Arabic
Literature To The End Of The Ummayyad Period, 1983, Cambridge University Press, p. 127-128.
Shaykh Muhammad A. Draz • “An Arab living at a time of high literary standards as he was,
he could not maintain his own style. He went so low as to
produce something similar to what children do when
they change the words of songs and poems to give them
different meanings. Needless to say, this is no more than
distorting the work of others. A person who seriously wishes
to take up the challenge to produce something similar to the
Qur’an should take a particular idea expressed in the Qur’an,
then express it in a different style of equal or greater merit to
that of the Qur’anic text. Anyone who wishes to try this with
the ideas of the Qur’an will only try what is impossible.
Experience provides irrefutable proof.”
Muhammad Abdullah Draz. 2001. The Qur’an: An Eternal Challenge. The
Islamic Foundation, p. 69 – 68.
Al-Baqillani
• Al-Baqillani who systematically analysed the
poetry of Musaylamah wrote:
– “The pieces reported to have been composed by
Musaylimah are so ridiculously poor in style
that nobody could seriously compare them with
the Qur’an.” Abdul Aleem, I'jaz ul Qur’an, 1933, Islamic Culture, Volume VII, Hyderabad
Deccan, p. 221.
On Contemporary Challenges
• Today’s Arabic has suffered linguistic
degeneration due to excessive linguistic
borrowing.
• Modern Arabic environments are
heterogeneous, so the language has not
retained its linguistic purity.
• So how could an Arab today produce
something like the Qur’an?
Example from the Present
See suralikeit.com
Refutation • In the 1st verse they used the word “Riyah” for stormy
wind but “Riyah” refers to the wind that brings a blessing.
– They should have used “Reeh” refers to the stormy wind or that
associated with punishment.
• Words which could be removed from the verses, without
altering their meaning;
– Verse 1: “bi HiM” [with them],
– Verse 2: “la HuM” [for them],
– Verse 4: “min hum” [from them](in fact the entire verse can be
summarised to the half without any change in meaning),
– Verse 8: “ma’a hu” [with him] and ‘la hu’ [for him]
– Verse 9: “nahn” [we] and ‘amama-k’ [in front (of) you].
See more here http://www.linguisticmiracle.com/response_surah_iman
How to articulate
this to a Non-Arab?
Divine Book
Inference to the best
explanation Testimony
Inference to the Best
Explanation
Infe
ren
ce t
o t
he B
est
Ex
pla
nati
on
• The best explanation of the facts available.
– The more data/information you have the stronger the inference.
• An good inference accounts for the reliable data and seeks
to explain relevant evidence. Conditions include:
– simplicity, comprehensiveness, and explains most of the data.
• Like with most things, we can have competing explanations
for the data we have at our disposal.
– What filters these explanations is not only their plausibility, but
the availability of other pieces of data that could help us
discriminate between them. Professor Lipton explains,
• “We begin by considering plausible candidate explanations,
and then try to find data that discriminate between them…An
inference may be defeated when someone suggests a better
alternative explanation, even though the evidence does not
change.”
Peter Lipton. Inference to the Best Explanation. Second Edition.
Routledge. 2004, pp.64-65.
Indispensable Role • Professor of History and Philosophy Peter Lipton explains the
practical and indispensable role of inference,
– “The doctor infers that his patient has measles, since this is
the best explanation of the evidence before him. The
astronomer infers the existence of motion of Neptune, since
that is the best explanation of the observed perturbations of
Uranus…According to the Inference to the Best Explanation,
our inferential practices are governed by explanatory
considerations. Given our data and our background beliefs,
we infer what would, if true, provide the best of the
competing explanations we can generate of those data…”
Peter Lipton. Inference to the Best Explanation. Second Edition. Routledge. 2004,
p.56.
Testimony
What is Testimony?
• Testimony is a branch of epistemology
“concerned with how we acquire knowledge and
justified belief from the say-so of other people”.
Therefore, one of the key questions it tries to
answer is how do we gain “knowledge on the
basis of what other people tell us”? Benjamin McMyler. Testimony, Truth and Authority. Oxford University Press. 2011. p. 3.
The Epistemology of Testimony. Edited by Jennifer Lackey and Ernest Sosa. Clarendon
Press: Oxford. 2006, p. 2.
Unseen Truths • Professor C A J Coady:
• “…many of us have never seen a baby born, nor have most of
us examined the circulation of the blood…” C. A. J. Coady.
Testimony: A Philosophical Study. Oxford University Press. 1992, p. 82.
• Assistant Professor Benjamin McMyler:
• “Here are a few things that I know. I know that the copperhead
is the most common venomous snake in the greater Houston
area. I know that Napoleon lost the Battle of Waterloo. I know
that, as I write, the average price for gasoline in the U.S is $4.10
per gallon…All of these things I know on the basis of what
epistemologists call testimony, on the basis of being told of
them by another person or group of persons.” Benjamin McMyler.
Testimony, Truth and Authority. Oxford University Press. 2011. p 10.
Discussion on Testimony • Testimony is fundamental: Professor Coady vs. David Hume…
• Relying on experts: Dr. Elizabeth Fricker, elaborates: – “But that there are some occasions on which it is rational deferentially to accept
another’s testimony, and irrational to refuse to do so, is entailed by her
background knowledge of her own cognitive and physical nature and
limitations, together with her appreciation of how other people are both like
and in other respects unlike herself, hence on some occasions better
epistemically placed regarding some matter than she is herself. I may rationally
regret that I cannot fly, or go for a week without sleep without any loss of
performance, or find out for myself everything which I would like to know. But
given my cognitive and physical limitations as parametric, there is no room for
rational regret about my extended but canny trust in the word of others, and
enormous epistemic and consequent other riches to be gained from it.” Elizabeth
Fricker. Testimony and Epistemic Autonomy in The Epistemology of Testimony. Edited by Jennifer
Lackey and Ernest Sosa. Clarendon Press: Oxford. 2006, p. 244.
• Trust: Professor of Philosophy Keith Lehrer
argument rests on trust.
– Lehrer argues that testimony leads to the
acquisition of knowledge under “some
circumstances but not all circumstances.”
– He maintains that testimony is in “itself a source
of evidence when the informant is trustworthy in the
testimony. The testimony in itself does not constitute
evidence otherwise.” Keith Lehrer. Testimony and Trustworthiness in The Epistemology of Testimony.
Edited by Jennifer Lackey and Ernest Sosa. Oxford University Press. 2006, pp, 145
& 149.
• Right to Referral: Assistant Professor Benjamin McMyler
argues that the epistemological problem of testimony can be
“recast as a problem of explaining the epistemic right of deferral.”
• McMyler argues that if an audience is entitled to defer
challenges back to the speaker, it provides a new way in
framing the problem of testimony.
• This requires that both parties acknowledge a responsibility:
– “If a speaker does not genuinely assume partial responsibility for an
audience’s testimonial belief by making her assertion an instance of
testimony, then the audience cannot acquire properly testimonial
knowledge. Equally, however, if the audience does not properly accept
the speaker’s assumption of responsibility of being disposed to defer
relevant challenges to the content of her testimonial belief back to the
testimonial speaker, then the audience cannot acquire genuine
testimonial knowledge.” Testimony, Truth and Authority. Oxford University
Press. 2011. pp. 66 & 69
Does China Exist?
Testimony Schematic
Read! “God’s Testimony”
http://www.iera.org/researc
h/essays-articles/gods-
testimony-inimitability-
divine-authorship-quran
Formulating an Argument
• Authentic and valid testimony:
– “The Qur’an is inimitable”
• Inference to the best explanation:
– There are 4 possible explanations for the
Qur’an’s inimitability:
• Arab.
• Non-Arab.
• Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص.
• God.
Why is the testimony of the
Qur’an’s inimitability valid?
1. The Qur’an presents a literary and linguistic challenge to
humanity.
2. The 7th century Arabs were best placed to challenge the
Qur’an.
3. The 7th century Arabs failed.
4. Scholars have testified to the Qur’an’s inimitability.
5. Counter scholarly testimonies are not plausible as they
have to reject the established background information.
1. The Qur’an presents a literary and
linguistic challenge to humanity
• Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti the 15th century prolific writer and
scholar, summarises the challenge of the Qur’an: – “…when the Prophet brought [the challenge] to them, they were the most eloquent
rhetoricians so he challenged them to produce the [entire] likes [of the Qur'an] and
many years passed and they were unable to do so as Allah says, Let them then produce
a recitation similar to it, if indeed they are truthful. Then, [the Prophet] challenged them
to produce 10 chapters like it where Allah says, Say, bring then ten chapters like it and
call upon whomever you can besides God, if you are truthful. Then, he challenged them to
produce a single where Allah says, Or do they say he [i.e. the Prophet] has forged it? Say,
bring a chapter like it and call upon whomever you can besides God, if you are
truthful…When the [Arabs] were unable to produce a single chapter like [the Qur'an]
despite there being the most eloquent rhetoricians amongst them, [the Prophet]
openly announced the failure and inability [to meet the challenge] and declared the
inimitability of the Qur’an. Then Allah said, Say, if all of humankind and the jinn
gathered together to produce the like of the Qur’an, they could not produce it – even if they
helped one another…” al-Suyūṭī. Al-Itqān fī ‘Ulūm al-Qur’ān. 2:311-312.
• There was a socialisation and a social construct concerning the use of
language. Ibn Rashiq illustrates this:
– “Whenever a poet emerged in an Arab tribe, other tribes would
come to congratulate, feasts would be prepared, the women would
join together on lutes as they do at weddings, and old and young
men would all rejoice at the good news. The Arabs used to
congratulate each other only on the birth of a child and when a
poet rose among them.” Ibn Rashiq, ‘Umda, vol. 1, p. 65.
• The 9th century scholar Ibn Qutayba defined poetry as the Arabs saw it:
– “the mine of knowledge of the Arabs, the book of their wisdom the
truthful witness on the day of dispute, the final proof at the time of
argument.” Ibn Qutayba, ‘Uyun al-akhbar, (Cairo, 1964), vol. 2, p. 185.
2. The 7th century Arabs were best placed to
challenge the Qur’an
• During an interview with Angelika Neuwrith, the distinguished Professor of
Qur’anic studies, she argued that the Qur’an has never been successfully
challenged by anyone, past or present:
– “…no one has succeeded, this is right…I really think that the Qur’an has
even brought Western researchers embarrassment, who weren’t able to
clarify how suddenly in an environment where there were not any
appreciable written text, appeared the Qur’an with its richness of ideas
and its magnificent wordings.” Personal interview with Professor Angelika Neuwrith in
German. A copy of the recording is available on request.
• The highly acclaimed Professor and Arabist Hamilton Gibb:
– “Like all Arabs they were connoisseurs of language and rhetoric. Well,
then if the Koran were his own composition other men could rival it. Let
them produce ten verses like it. If they could not (and it is obvious that
they could not), then let them accept the Koran as an outstanding
evidential miracle.” H. A. R. Gibb. 1980. Islam: A Historical Survey. Oxford University
Press, p. 28.
3. The 7th century Arabs failed
4. Scholars have testified to the
Qur’an’s inimitability
• For example, the scholar Shah Waliyyullah:
– “Its highest degree of eloquence, which is beyond the
capacity of a human being. However, since we come
after the first Arabs we are unable to reach its essence.
But the measure which we know is that the employment
of lucid words and sweet constructions gracefully and
without affectation that we find in the Tremendous
Qur’an is to be found nowhere else in any of the
poetry of the earlier or later peoples.” Shah Waliyyullah. Al-
Fawz al-Kabir fi Usul at-Tafsir. Translated, introduced and annotated by Tahir
Mahmood Kiani. Ta-Ha. 2014, p.160.
• Adopting the counter testimonies commits the fallacy of reductio ad absurdum.
• An explanation is required to answer why those who were best placed to challenge
the Qur’an failed to do so.
– Possible explanations would include rejecting the validity of this established
history, or claiming a greater understanding and appreciation of classical
Arabic than the 7th century linguist masters.
• These explanations render the counter testimonies without a rational basis.
Rejecting the established history would require a remaking of the history of Arabic
literature.
• Assuming superior linguistic abilities than the 7thcentury specialists is debased by
the fact that these experts had a relatively homogenous linguistic environment.
• These environments are areas where the purity of the language is maintained, and
there is a limited amount of linguistic borrowing and degeneration. Contemporary
Arab linguistic environments suffer from excessive linguistic borrowing and
degeneration.
• Therefore, to claim superiority over a people coming from a culture that had the
fertile ground for linguistic perfection, is untenable.
5. Counter scholarly testimonies are not plausible as they have
to reject the established background information
Remember…
• There are 4 possible explanations for
the Qur’an’s inimitability:
• Arab.
• Non-Arab.
• Muhammadملسو هيلع هللا ىلص .
• God.
Arab? • The Qur’an could not have come from an Arab as the Arabs at the
time of revelation, were linguists par excellence and they failed to
challenge the Qur’an.
• Even the best linguist of the time, Walid Ibn al-Mughira,
exclaimed:
– “And what can I say? For I swear by Allah, there is none amongst
you who knows poetry as well as I do, nor can any compete with me
in composition or rhetoric – not even in the poetry of jinns! And yet,
I swear by Allah, Muhammad’s speech [meaning the Qur’an] does
not bear any similarity to anything I know, and I swear by Allah,
the speech that he says is very sweet, and is adorned with beauty and
charm.”
Abu Ammar Yasir Qadhi. An Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur’an. Al-Hidaayah.1999, p.
269.
Spread Like Wild Fire
• “Obviously, the Prophet succeeded
in this conflict with the poets,
otherwise Islam would not have
spread like wildfire.” Navid Kermani “Poetry and Language” in The Blackwell Companion to the Qur'an.
Edited by Andrew Rippin. Wiley-Blackwell. 2009, p. 110.
Non-Arab? • The Qur’an could not have come from a Non-Arab as the
language in the Qur’an is Arabic, and the knowledge of the
Arabic language is a pre-requisite to successfully challenge the
Qur’an:
– “And indeed We know that they (polytheists and pagans) say: ‘It is
only a human being who teaches him (Muhammad).’ The tongue
of the man they refer to is foreign, while this is a speech Arabeeyun
mubeen.” Qur’an 16:104
• Ibn Kathir states:
– “meaning, how could it be that this Qur'an with its eloquent style
and perfect meanings, which is more perfect than any Book
revealed to any previously sent Prophet, have been learnt from a
foreigner who hardly speaks the language? No one with the slightest
amount of common sense would say such a thing.” Tafsir Ibn Kathir
Muhammad ? • The Prophet Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلصwas an Arab himself and all
the Arabs failed to challenge the Qur’an.
• The Arabs linguists at the time of revelation never accused
the Prophet of being the author of the Qur’an.
• The Qur’an is a known literary masterpiece yet its verses
were at many times revealed for specific circumstances and
events that occurred. However, without revision or deletion
they are literary masterpieces. All literary masterpieces
have undergone revision and deletion to ensure literary
perfection, however the Qur’an was revealed
instantaneously and unchanged.
Muhammad ? • The Prophet Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلصexperienced many trials and
tribulations during the course of his Prophetic mission. For
example his children died, his beloved wife Khadija passed
away, he was boycotted, his close companions were
tortured and killed, yet the Qur’an’s literary character
remains that of the divine voice and character. Nothing in
the Qur’an expresses the turmoil and emotions of the
Prophet Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص. It is almost a psychological and
physiological impossibility to go through what the Prophet
went through and yet none ofملسو هيلع هللا ىلص the emotions are
expressed in the literary character of the Qur’an.
Muhammad ? • The hadith or narrations of the Prophet Muhammadملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
are in a totally different style then that of the Qur’an. How
can any human being express themselves orally over a 23
year period (which was the period of Qur’anic revelation)
in two distinct styles, instantaneously and without merging
one style? This is a psychological and physiological
impossibility according to modern research.
Differences Between
Qur’an & Hadith • Research entitled Author discrimination between the Holy Quran and Prophet’s
statements by Halim Sayoud, used a range of linguistic experiments to
investigate differences between the Qur’an and the Prophetic traditions
found in Sahih al-Bukhari.
• Sayoud performed multiple studies known as global and segmental
analyses, and concluded that, from a linguistic perspective, the two books
he was analysing must have had different authors:
– “Results of all experiments have led to two main conclusions: (1) First, the
two investigated books should have different authors; (2) Second, all the
segments that are extracted from a unique book appear to have a certain
stylistic similarity. Consequently, we can conclude, according to this
investigation, that the Qur’an was not written by the Prophet Muhammad
and that it belongs to a unique author too.” Literary and Linguistic Computing, Vol.
27, No. 4, 2012
• Some of the results that forms the basis of this conclusion include,
– Words composed of a single letter are much more frequently used in the
Qur’an than in thehadith found in Sahih Al-Bukhari.
– The hadith found in Sahih al-Bukhari uses much shorter words than the
Qur’an. The number of short words in the hadith is 62.31%, whereas, in
the Qur’an, it is only 53.76%.
– The number of long words in the Qur’an is 34.42%, whereas, in
the hadith found in Sahih al-Bukhari, it is only 29.51%.
– The Qur’an contains approximately a double number of words with nine
and ten letters than the hadith. This fact shows that the Qur’an vocabulary
contains more “very-long” words (very-long stands for more than eight
letters) than the hadith.
– Most importantly, 62% of the hadith words are untraceable in the Qur’an
and 83% of the Qur’an words are untraceable in the hadith. This
conclusion of differing vocabulary is also reinforced by the above
mentioned results.
– The above results are statistically valid.
Literary and Linguistic Computing, Vol. 27, No. 4, 2012
Muhammad ? • All types of human expression can be imitated if the
blueprint of that expression exists. For example artwork
can be imitated even though some art is thought to be
extraordinary or amazingly unique. But in the case of the
Qur’an we have the blueprint – the Qur’an itself – yet no
one has been able to imitate its unique literary form.
Maybe he ملسو هيلع هللا ىلصwas a genius?
• The Qur’anic verses were at many times revealed for specific
circumstances and events that occurred during the period of
revelation.
• Each verse was revealed without revision or deletion, yet were
compiled together to create a literary masterpiece. In this light,
the explanation that the Qur’an is a result of the Muhammad’s
.literary intelligence is obviously unfounded ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص
– All literary masterpieces written by geniuses have undergone
revision and deletion to ensure literary perfection, yet the Qur’an
was revealed instantaneously and remained unchanged. Martin Lings.
Muhammad: his life based on the earliest sources. 2nd Revised Edition. The Islamic
Texts Society. 1983, pp. 53-79.
Al-Mutanabbi • An example to highlight this point is the work of the highly exclaimed
poet Abu at-Tayyib Ahmad ibn al-Husayn al-Mutanabbi al-Kindi. Al-
Mutanabbi was considered as the greatest of all Arab poets and an
unparalleled genius.
– Therefore, some have made the conclusion that since his work was
unparalleled, and that he was a genius, it follows the Qur’an is from
a genius because it is unparalleled too. This reasoning doesn’t
logically follow because Al-Mutannabi would correct his work and
produce various editions until he was satisfied with his poetry. Poems
of al-Mutanabbi : a selection with introduction, translations and notes / by A.J. Arberry.
Cambridge : Cambridge University Press,1967.
• This was obviously not the case with Muhammad ملسو هيلع هللا ىلص as he did not
edit, amend, or change the Qur’an once it was revealed. This can only
mean that the Qur’an was not a result of a genius, because literary
geniuses require editions to their work.
No
t In
imit
ab
le
• Al-Mutanabbi disclosed that he borrowed work from another poet, Abu
Nuwas. Many medieval Arab literary critics such as Al-Sahib Ibn ‘Abbad
and Abu Ali Muhammad Ibn al-Hasan al-Hatimi wrote criticisms of Al-
Mutanabbi.
– Ibn ‘Abbad wrote al-kashf ‘an masawi’ shi’r al-Mutanabbi and Al-Hatimi
wrote a biographical account of his encounter with al-Mutanabbi in
is al-Risala al-Mudiha fi dhikr sariqat Abi al-Tayyib al-Mutanabbi. S. A.
Bonebakker. Hatimi and his encounter with Mutanabbi: A biographical sktech. Oxford:
North-Holland Publishing Company, 1984, pp. 15 & 47; See Wen-chin Ouyang.
Literary Criticism in Medieval Arabic Islamic Culture: The Making of a Tradition.
Edinburgh University Press. 1997.
• Professor Seeger A. Bonebakker who studied Al-Hatimi’s literary criticism
of Al-Mutanabbi concludes the his:
– “judgement is often well-founded and one almost ends up feeling that
Mutanabbi was, after all, a mediocre poet who was not only lacking
in originality, but also had insufficient competence in grammar,
lexicography, and rhetoric, and sometimes gave evidence of
incredibly bad taste.” S. A. Bonebakker. Hatimi and his encounter with
Mutanabbi: A biographical sktech. Oxford: North-Holland Publishing Company, 1984,
p. 44.
Philosophy of
Miracles
Philosophy of Miracles
• The argument posed by Muslim
Theologians and Philosophers is that if, with
the finite set of Arabic linguistic tools at
humanity’s disposal, there is no effective
challenge; then providing a naturalistic
explanation for the Qur’an’s uniqueness is
incoherent and doesn’t explain its
inimitability.
Philosophy of Miracles • What makes the Qur’an a miracle, is that there is no
causal connection between the Arabic language and
the Qur’an, when human agency is involved.
• We cannot establish causal connection between the
classical Arabic language and the Qur’an’s literary
form.
• Just like the staff of Musa; A wooden staff cannot turn
into a snake, there is no causal or logical connection,
but it did. They are both acts of impossibilities.
Scholarly Views • Professor Bruce Lawrence asserts:
– “As tangible signs, Qur’anic verse are expressive of an inexhaustible
truth, they signify meaning layered with meaning, light upon light,
miracle after miracle.”
Bruce Lawrence. The Qur’an: A Biography. Atlantic Books, p 8.
• A J Arberry, the Arabist and translator of the Qur’an wrote:
– “In making the present attempt to improve on the performance of
predecessors, and to produce something which might be accepted as
echoing however faintly the sublime rhetoric of the Arabic Koran, I
have been at pain to study the intricate and richly varied rhythms
which – apart from the message itself – constitutes the Koran’s
undeniable claim to rank amongst the greatest literary
masterpieces of mankind.”
Arthur J. Arberry .The Koran Interpreted. London: Oxford University Press, 1964, pag
Contentions
Shakespeare? • Shakespeare’s sonnets are written predominantly in
frequently used meter called the iambic pentameter, a rhyme scheme in which each sonnet line consists of ten syllables. The syllables are divided into five pairs called iambs or iambic feet.
Mabillard, Amanda. ShakespeareanSonnet Basics: Iambic Pentameter and the English Sonnet Style. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2000. http://www.shakespeare-online.com/sonnets/sonnetstyle.html.
• With regards to anyone producing similar work to that of Shakespeare's, there are a few. Christopher Marlowe has a similar style and Shakespeare is comparable to Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher and other playwrights of the time.
Holland, Peter. (Sept 2004) "Shakespeare, William (1564–1616)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press; online ed, Jan 2007.
Subjective?
• The short answer is no. The Qur’anic argument
is based upon the mechanical features of the
Arabic language, it is not based upon aesthetic
reception or dependent upon the readers or
listeners emotional reactions.
• It presents the view that the Qur'an is either
prose or poetry. These literary forms are clearly
defined and have objective measures.
Non sequitur? • If the Qur’an was the source of Arabic grammar, then to claim it is
a literary miracle would be illogical as it is the established yardstick
for the language.
Misplaced Contention
• The Qur’an was one of the source texts of Arabic grammar.
However, Grammatical nuances in the Qur’an could not be
justified just by their existence in the Qur’an, they had to be
supported by extra-Qur’anic texts such as pre-Islamic poetry.
• “On the one hand, ancient poetry provided scholars with an infinitely vaster
and more diversified sample of kalam al-Arab than the Qur’an did; poetry
made greater use of specialised vocabulary, rare words, difficult
constructions, tribal dialecticisms, and so forth.” G. Bohas, J.-P. Guillame, D.E.
Kouloughli. The Arabic Linguistic Tradition. Routledge. 1990, p. 2 - 3.
• This contention also conflates grammar with style!
If these scholars agree that the Qur’an cannot be imitated,
then why have they not concluded it is a Divine text?
• The problem with this contention is that it conflates testifying to the Qur’an’s
inimitability with inference to the best explanation.
– The argument we are presenting does not conclude the Divinity of the Qur’an
from the statements of scholars.
– Whether these scholars accept the inference, or the Divinity of the Qur’an, is
irrelevant.
– The statements of the scholars are used as evidence for the Qur’an’s
inimitability and not that it is best explained by God.
– The argument infers from the text’s inimitability, and not from conclusions
the scholars may have drawn from the fact that it cannot be imitated.
• It must be pointed out that these scholars may have not been presented with an
argument that presents an inference to the best explanation, or, they have not
reflected on the philosophical implications of the Qur’an’s inimitability.
• These academics may even hold non-negotiable naturalistic presuppositions that
deters them from concluding anything metaphysical or outside of the physical
world.
Questions?