The inimitable nature of the Qur'an continues to be the most compelling proof that Muhammad, Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, must have been, in fact, without doubt, the final prophet of God. He, Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, once said that there was never a prophet except that God granted him certain signs which caused the people to believe in him. And what I was uniquely given was this revelation that was inspired to me, and as a result, I am hopeful of having the most followers among all the prophets on the day of resurrection. It makes sense that a permanent miracle, like the Qur'an, which can be experienced by everyone firsthand, can outperform a transient, temporary miracle that was experienced by a limited group of people at some point in history. What is unexpected, though, is how any work of literature, even the Qur'an, could ever qualify as otherworldly in its origins. You see, the Qur'an presents itself as the literal word of God, and challenges the world that nothing like it can ever be produced. This inimitability is multidimensional, and these next few episodes will offer just an overview or a taste of some of these dimensions. The first dimension we'll cover is the Qur'an in its capacity as a linguistic wonder. According to both the highest authorities of the Arabic language in early Arabia, as well as its foremost experts today, there is essentially a consensus on the literary uniqueness of the Qur'an.
Even those who decline and refuse to accept the Qur'an as divine still accept that this is a book that is truly in a league of its own, the most eminent manifestation of the Arabic language bar none. You see, the Qur'an descended among a people that were at the very pinnacle of rhetorical expression. These same people then experienced a Qur'an from Muhammad, Sallallahu alayhi wasallam, that was so pure in its Arabic on one hand, but unprecedented in its eloquence, and yet at the same time, mysteriously independent of the poetry and the prose of the Arabic language that they knew so well and had mastered. Dr. Bassam Sayeh explains very succinctly the miraculousness of the Qur'an lies in this very paradox, it being truly Arabic, but at the same time, a new language somehow. "'This may appear to be illogical,' he says, "'but a miracle by definition is that which surpasses logic.' "'You see, a miracle that rests on logic,' he says, "'ceases to be a miracle.'" The pagan Arabs just couldn't explain how they collectively failed at producing a single chapter of the Qur'an. This was the challenge, with merely similar features to the Qur'an. According to their own biased judges, when they were the masters of the Arabic language, and when Muhammad had brought over 6,000 verses of this Qur'an, and then the killer blow in this standoff, which left absolutely no room for further doubt, was the fact that this man, Muhammad, Sallallahu alayhi wa sallam, was illiterate, unlettered to begin with.
It was an utter enigma for them. And this is what caused them to settle in the end on the accusation of Muhammad being a magician, not realizing in the process that this very accusation entails them conceding to the fact that there is something supernatural about this book. I can totally understand how it could be really difficult for anyone to grasp in our day and age how any work of literature could ever be miraculous. And that's why it's useful to consider the reaction of the Qur'an's first audience. Instead of just outperforming the unlettered man in what was their strongest suit, thereby ending his call and his religion in its infancy by meeting the challenge, instead they did something very different. They spent fortunes trying to smear his name and prevent a single verse from reaching the ears or the hearts of anyone who was visiting their hometown Mecca. They disavowed their codes of chivalry and tribal honor, which were massive undertakings for early Arabs. They starved his followers, murdered and tortured his supporters, many of which were their own family members. And they ultimately waged war after war against their fellow clansmen. As the great Imam al-Baqillani says in his book i'jaazu al-Qur'an, the inimitability of the Qur'an, this is of the greatest testimonies to the fact that they were truly failed by their words and so they felt compelled to reach for their swords. It was not just because their greatest poets like Labid ibn Rabi'a was now retiring from poetry and converting to Islam, but the very fact that they would echo to each other privately behind closed doors,
that rivaling this Qur'an was absolutely impossible. When al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, a staunch enemy of Islam until his very death, was asked to critique the Qur'an, he responded, and what can I possibly say? There is not a single man amongst you who is better versed in poetry or prose or even the poetry of the jinn, the demon spirits, than I am. And by God, what this man, Muhammad, says does not bear resemblance to any of that. He continued to say, by God, his statements have a distinct sweetness to them and such a charm hovers over them. Its highest parts, meaning the surface, apparent, initial meanings of the Qur'an, are so fruitful, he says. And its depths, the more you dive into this Qur'an, gush forth without end, unrelenting profundity. It dominates and can never be dominated, he says, and it is certainly bound to crush everything beneath it.