Section Al-Furqan – Part 4

We will continue with our study of Section Al-Furqan, translated as “the Criterion” from where we last left off. We noticed in the previous verses how our attention was drawn to “the Blessed One” who is the Lord of the universe, and this One sent his “Abd”, an honored being as His messenger. The unbelievers are bringing their objections by saying that the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) fabricated the message and got help from others. We investigated the fact that we know the historical figure of prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as an “ummi”, illiterate who did not study from any sources such as Rabbis, did not know how to read and write.  We will continue with the following verse that continues with the objections:

وَقَالُوٓا۟ أَسَـٰطِيرُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ ٱكْتَتَبَهَا فَهِىَ تُمْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِ بُكْرَةًۭ وَأَصِيلًۭا

25:5 “And they say: “Fables of the ancients that he has copied from: these fables are dictated to him (filled in his mind) morning and evening (i.e. continuously).”

What is the importance of what the prophet was accused of and how can we relate it to our life? It is important to notice that the Qur’an says that the opponents of the prophet accused him with such allegations. How can we know and confirm this?

This verse of the Qur’an is mentioning the accusation as such that these are stories copied from the past. Do people say the same thing about the Qur’an now? Some orientalists take the Qur’an as having been written by the person Muhammad (pbuh). The above verse however mentions the accusations of his contemporaries as “the fables of the ancient that the prophet (pbuh) has copied from other sources.” Let’s keep this principle in mind that each prophetic description in the Qur’an mentions an example that relates to some aspect of our life. 

We will understand the case with an example, if I am with a group of friends and one friend claims that “we must be ready to die at some point but should never lose our faith; this has been revealed to me by God.” All the group of friends are acquainted with him by witnessing his life. Can I trust the one claiming that his message is from God? Let’s go back to the life of the prophet (pbuh) who is living with people in the small town of Mecca where all of them know him, because they know each other very well. He says that I am telling you that I received this verse from God: “And they say: ‘Fables of the ancients that he has copied from…’”. None of the people present with Muhammad mentioned anything, there was no such event, but the verse mentions that this accusation is being made that time by his opponents. If I am present there, would I still believe in the prophet mentioning this verse?

The prophet (pbuh) is mentioning that God revealed these verses to him. There are other verses mentioned in the Qur’an where people accused the prophet of being possessed by “Jinn”, evil spirits, that he learned from other sources. Since I don’t witness such accusations practically in my life, how would I confirm that this man is telling the truth and not lying? I have not witnessed any of the opposers making such accusations. If these narrations in the Qur’an were a lie, none of the people around the prophet would believe in him. None of them said that he was telling a lie and none of them left him. Their loyalty to the prophet (pbuh) by not leaving him is proof that what is mentioned in the narration must have happened. They may also be witnessing that such accusations are happening during their time as they remained loyal to the prophet and the Qur’an. They confirmed his messages as to what the universe is all about, who is this Creator of the universe, what kind of qualities He has, the news of the Hereafter which are some of the things the Qur’an teaches. At the same time, the Qur’an mentions that these kinds of accusations are happening.  If these accusations did not happen then people would be saying that you are making it up, you are lying as no one around them has made any accusations, they would have left him. Another verse mentions him being possessed by “Jinn” and if it did not happen then people would have said that “we did not hear anyone claiming this” and would have left him for his lies. They would know about the accusations as they were very close to prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and knew what was going on. The prophet (pbuh) relates these verses as coming from God that the people at his time were witnessing. After hearing these verses, the believers in God didn’t counter the prophet as to mentioning falsehood regarding those accusing him of narrating fables dictated to him. What kind of Revelation, word of God is it that would not hold true?

The Qur’an narrates events related to the prophet along with belief matters. Those following the Revelation of the Qur’an during the prophet’s time were mentioned in such verses but still followed him and were ready to die for the sake of belief received from him. If the prophet was not illiterate and he mentioned verses as coming from God then people would say: “We know you are not illiterate, you have studied books and from others.” People would not believe in him. Although they will get some idea of what the Qur’an teaches, they will get suspicious of many other things and leave him. There is no such narration where people left him. These people have been living with him since his early childhood.

History reveals that nobody left the prophet after believing. There was one exception where the narration mentioned during the Medina period where he went back to his old beliefs. However, all these accusations in the Qur’an were revealed in Mecca. 

Another accusation made against the prophet by some of the late century orientalists or antagonists of Islam claim that the prophet himself wrote the Qur’an and he was not illiterate he learned from others. However the Qur’anic verses state that the prophet is “ummi (illiterate)” and he did not receive any education from anyone at all.

وَمَا كُنتَ تَتْلُوا۟ مِن قَبْلِهِۦ مِن كِتَـٰبٍ وَلَا تَخُطُّهُۥ بِيَمِينِكَ إِذًا لَّٱرْتَابَ ٱلْمُبْطِلُونَ

“You O Prophet could not read any writing even before this revelation, nor could you write at all. Otherwise, the people of falsehood would have been suspicious.” “Qur’an, 29: 48. and see also 7: 157-158)

If it was not the case, people living with him would be able to find out about him immediately since they knew him, they even knew each other’s ancestry. Another thing to note is that there were no books in Mecca anyway. If the prophet (pbuh) was not illiterate, the people around him would immediately say that you are lying and would not believe in him. Since none of the ones believing and following him left upon hearing these verses, this is the proof that the prophet was illiterate. 

Some people with bad intentions say even though the Qur’an says the prophet is an illiterate person, he must have studied and learnt from previous sources. Some orientalists found out one event during the late Medinan period regarding a person who left the prophetic message and used that event to accuse the prophet. If there was such an event during the Meccan period, Muslim historians would have narrated it as they were loyal to the prophetic message, they strived to keep the narrations authentic, and they did not hide anything that happened in the life of the prophet. 

Those people who decided to confirm his message, embraced Islam, took Shahada, and then joined the war activities risking their lives. There was even one person who embraced Islam while the army was leaving to engage in a war, and he was martyred there. Muslim historians narrated that before embracing Islam he was a pagan, never prayed or did any good action but he took “Shahadat” (Declaration to witness the Absoluteness of God and Prophet Muhammad as His messenger) and was then martyred in the same day. As a martyr who had taken their “shahada”, he must be rewarded with Paradise. Taking the “Shahadat” is very important for an individual after which one is responsible for their life. After taking “Shahadat”, one becomes responsible for their religious duties and would start fresh.  Among the loyal narrators of the prophetic history, none of them narrated anyone leaving the fold of Islam. This is a clear evidence that the prophet was illiterate and he cannot know all the knowledge included in the Qur’an including the stories of ancient prophets mostly narrated in the Torah and the reality of the way the universe is created and the then unknown aspects of its creation which is clearly mentioned in the Qur’an that even a knowledgeable person would not have known them to have been narrated in the Qur’an.  

While we are reading the Qur’an, we find many messages describing what is happening in the universe, happen in a wonderful way. For example, the Qur’an says that God is expanding the universe in Section 51:47:

وَٱلسَّمَآءَ بَنَيْنَـٰهَا بِأَيْي۟دٍۢ وَإِنَّا لَمُوسِعُونَ “We build the universe with great might and We are continuously expanding it.” 

In the Qur’an, there are many miraculous information given about the universe. It is only now that much of that information is being discovered by scientists using the current sophisticated devices. Recently now they are saying that the universe is expanding whereas an illiterate man had brought this news 1450 years ago. 

We must be careful when we say that because the Qur’an says that the prophet (pbuh) is illiterate, he must be illiterate. As I believe in the Qur’an, I believe that he was illiterate. That is not “Iman” or confirmation.  I must not imitate the Qur’an but must use reasoning to see how acceptable the point is according to my human capacity. Just because the Qur’an says that the prophet is “ummi” (illiterate) and I say because the Qur’an says so then that would be imitation. 

The Qur’an gives examples of some people, and we must read them as examples for our life, representing one side of our life. 

Do we notice that the opponents of the Prophet are not coming up with any counter arguments to disprove what the Qur’an presents to them? The content of the Qur’an was not subject to criticism, but they accused the prophet personally such as he might be possessed, he copied from others, and that the prophet got married to a young child. This accusation of marriage comes without consideration for societal culture. If it was so bad for a person to have such a marriage then people would rebel against this man, how can he be trusted. None of them suspected the prophet’s honesty or criticized the marriage as something difficult to accept. This marriage was for other reasons and not for sexuality as some accuse him of. Human marriage is not only for sexual needs but is one aspect of it. Nowadays, the cultural difference is such that this marriage is for the purpose of sexual satisfaction only, therefore would be frowned upon. 

We also should bear in mind that this wife of the prophet was the daughter of his closest friend and he himself brought his child to be educated in the prophet’s household as a bright young girl that went on to reach her mature age. Then, according to Islamic law, a mature girl could not live with a man together in a house without a marriage act. Therefore the marriage act was performed so that she could stay in the prophet’s household and continue her education there. Everything about the marriages of the prophet took place in front of the people around him and at that time no one ever criticized his marriages. They knew that he was the Chief Administer of the Madina administration, like the president of a state nowadays. All of his marriages related to his position at that time in the Madina administration, not that these marriages had anything to do with his mission as a prophet. Most of his marriages in the Madina period were related either to his administrative position or for protection of single women with many children who needed not to be left alone without any protector and supporter. His contemporaries knew all of these and they never mentioned any criticism about his marriage, let alone losing their trust in him. The only marriage he had as a human being took place before he received the message in Mecca and later on his wife, Hatijah, passed away after having 4 children with the prophet.

The content of the Qur’an is also another evidence demonstrating that Muhammad (pbuh) cannot be the one who would know by himself what the Qur’an is stating. People around him knew that he was an illiterate person who had not received any education from anyone.