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S2E12 - Prove the Quran is a Miracle | DoubleTake
Among the most foundational beliefs of Muslims is that the Qur’an is the divine, preserved, unparalleled Speech of God. The Qur’an itself challenges those who deny it to “produce something like it” if they are truthful in their claim. This is known as the eternal challenge of the Qur’an, and it is part of demonstrating that the Qur’an’s authorship cannot reasonably be attributed to anyone but God.
What does it mean for the Qur’an to be miraculous in nature? What are the different proofs that show us this is true? How does this knowledge affect our relationship with God and with His Book?
In the season 2 finale of DoubleTake, join host Mohamad Zaoud for a conversation with Sh. Suleiman Hani, author of the Yaqeen Institute paper “Introduction to I’jāz al-Qur’ān: The Miraculous Nature of the Qur’an.”
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This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. Salamualaikum wa rahmatullah. Among the most foundational beliefs of Muslims is that the Qur'an is the divine, preserved, unparalleled speech of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. The Qur'an itself challenges those who deny it to produce something like it, if they are truthful in their claim. This is known as the eternal challenge of the Qur'an and it's part of showing that the Qur'an could not have been authored by anyone but Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. What does it mean for the Qur'an to be a miracle? How do we know it is in fact a miracle? What are the proofs? How does this knowledge affect our relationship with Allah and with his book? Welcome to Double Take, a podcast by Yaqeen Institute about the questions and ideas around Islam and Muslims that give us pause. Remember to subscribe and rate the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts. It makes a big difference. Also, consider sharing your thoughts directly with our team using the link in the description below. Let us know what you like, you dislike, and want to see more of. Today was honestly an enjoyable episode. It was pretty fun actually. My guest Sheikh Suleyman Hani's research into the miracles of the Qur'an was so refreshing. Sheikh Suleyman is the Director of Academic Affairs at Al-Maghreb Institute. He is a research scholar for Yaqeen Institute and a resident scholar in Michigan. He earned a master's degree from the University of Jordan's College of Shari'ah, ranking first in his class, and a master's degree from Harvard University where he studied religions, philosophy, political science, and psychology. Sheikh Suleyman is the author of the Yaqeen Institute paper, Introduction to I'jaaz al-Qur'an, The Miraculous Nature of the Qur'an. Enjoy the episode. Sheikh Suleyman Hani, As-salamu alaykum and welcome to Double Take.
Wa alaykum as-salam wa rahmatullah wa barakatuh. Barakallah fikum. Sheikh Suleyman, there's a very intriguing conversation in the Qur'an between Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the Prophet Ibrahim a.s. where Ibrahim a.s. says, Oh Allah, show me, show me how you bring life back from the dead. To which Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, Do you not believe? And Ibrahim responds, Of course I do, but just so that my heart is at ease. And then the conversation continues, Allah resurrects four birds in front of Ibrahim a.s. Today, Sheikh Suleyman, I'm going to ask you about the miraculous nature of the Qur'an. As a practicing Muslim, alhamdulillah, I believe the Qur'an is Allah's word and that it is in fact a miracle. But just so that my heart is at rest, I'm going to ask you to guide me through the proof that it is in fact a miracle. We'll get there sometime inshallah in this conversation, but before we do, I do want to say at the outset that I'm very intrigued and interested in what got you into this in the first place. What sparked your interest in exploring the miraculous nature of the Qur'an? Barakallah fikum, bismillahirrahmanirrahim. So generally speaking, I've always been interested in the pursuit of truth, in comparative religions, in discussing the philosophy of religion, even at a young age, alhamdulillah, for myself first and foremost. And I praise Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, I thank him. The credit goes back to my parents as well, who from a very young age, they've been emphasizing these matters. So at the age of high school, secondary school, I remember being engaged in a lot of online conversations, sometimes debates, sometimes dialogue about da'wah, the proofs of Islam. But with this topic in particular, with this topic, the miraculous nature of the Qur'an in particular, it was two things.
First, it was the phase of my life in which I started to learn more about the proofs of why Islam was true, rather than an alternative, rather than something else. And partly because of how overwhelmingly convincing, how obvious it was through this topic, through i'jaaz al-Qur'an, that Islam was the truth. And so this was useful for me as a Muslim, but most importantly at that phase, after learning about it, was being able to talk to others, articulate this to others, interacting with so many people. So many people who left Christianity, atheism, agnosticism, and became Muslim through mostly, primarily this conversation, the miraculous nature of the Qur'an. And I've had, to be very frank, in the last maybe 15 years, I think I've had at least, I'm being very conservative here, at least a thousand conversations, in which one part of the conversation focused on the miraculous nature of the Qur'an, and it led to alhamdulillah, in most cases it led to clarity for the other individuals, and in many cases they did become Muslim. And I don't mind sharing some of these stories if we have time insha'Allah. Yeah, no, please, please, please, I mean, from a thousand conversations, can you pluck one or two that you just go back to and say alhamdulillah, wow, that was a great experience. So I can share two insha'Allah. The first is actually somebody who left Islam, a young American Muslim raised by what seems to be a practicing Muslim family, Islamic school for a number of years, memorized the Qur'an at one point. He said later on that he had not fully maybe understood it or studied aqidah properly. Well, some things were missing, but anyway, long story short, he left Islam for several years, and he was finally willing to talk to someone.
He traveled from another state to where I'm living, and long story short, we had a conversation, alhamdulillah, that was very fruitful and primarily focused on the ijazah of the Qur'an. Now as we were talking about the miraculous nature of the Qur'an, I listed maybe 10 examples, and maybe these are things we'll talk about later insha'Allah ta'ala. But when I started listing all these proofs that the Qur'an is clearly from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, he said, well, you know, these four or five are very convincing. He said, but these over here, and he started listing, you know, a few of them that he said, I don't feel fully convinced by these. And before I could respond, alhamdulillah, one of my colleagues, a dear brother, he basically said to him, do you need all 10 proofs for you to be convinced that it's the truth? Or is one of them sufficient? Think about it intellectually and in terms of your heart. Your heart knows that some of these are very clear, obvious proofs that the Qur'an is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We did not need to talk about refuting what he had gone through of atheism, agnosticism, or anything else. It was providing a positive argument that the Qur'an that you kind of, you have a relationship with, or you had in the past, you already know, you already have an idea deep down, that a big part of it is very obvious to you that the Qur'an is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. You don't need multiple proofs. You need one or two very obvious ones. And he said, you're right, that makes sense. The very next day, alhamdulillah, he traveled back home. It was a long, beautiful conversation that we had. He traveled back home and his family informed us that he had made wudu, or took a shower, rather, made ghusl, so he could head out for fajr prayer at the mosque for the first time in several years. And it doesn't always happen this way, where in one conversation, a person is, their fitrah, their natural dispositions awaken enough to know that was clearly overwhelming in terms of how obvious it is that it's true. Alhamdulillah, he came back to Islam and he's still steadfast upon it. May Allah grant him success.
But we usually have conversations over the course of months or years before someone is convinced. And so the stories that I'm sharing or that people hear in which in one conversation, someone is finally awakened or enlightened intellectually and spiritually, it's not the usual case, but it does happen, especially when there's some good in that individual and how sincere they are in pursuing what is true. Wa ta'ala. Jazakallah khair. We're going to get into, inshallah, the miracles in a few moments. But just so that we're clear in this conversation, do you mind just defining what a miracle is in the context of the Quran and your study of the Quran? That's actually a really important question. Jazakallah khair for asking. A miracle in, let's say, the English language and in Western philosophy and in various religions will mean different things. So sometimes when people say this and that, this is a miracle, it's actually really important that it's defined. So what you're doing here in terms of defining it first is very crucial. The miracle that we are defining in terms of mu'ajiza is the breaking of customs, kharq al-'aada in Arabic, which means something that people cannot do. It doesn't necessarily mean it has to be a physical miracle that is basically a violation of the natural laws, like the splitting of the Red Sea. That's one example that a lot of people refer to, but it's essentially something that violates all customs so that no human being can do it. So it is not natural, but rather supernatural. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala caused this to occur, whatever it may be that we are referring to in that context. And it's something that human beings cannot do. And it's a clear proof that the force is supernatural and a clear proof, let's say, if a prophet is coming to his people and there's a miracle in this sense, it's a clear proof this person is coming from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. They were chosen and they were given this miracle as a sign.
And so with the Quran, we are also referring to it as a clear mu'ajiza, as a clear miracle of God, so that anyone after Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wasalam, until the end of times, meaning after he departs, not just during his lifetime, till the end of times, when people claim they're looking for signs of God, the existence of God, the truth of religion, the truth of life, all of these can be answered with a timeless miracle. And that is what we are claiming the Quran is, and that's what we are proving through these discussions on ijaz al-Quran. So it's something that defies the laws of nature? Is that just one example? Or is that kind of the main definition? No, that's just one example. So the laws of nature, usually because people are referring to the laws of nature in a very specific way, and it's usually dealt with in science and the philosophy of science. But we will say that the breaking of all customs, meaning things that no human being can possibly do. Fair enough, fair enough. Jazakallah khair. And like usually when we study Quran, and alhamdulillah, this season of Double Take, we did journey through many aspects of the Quran, and we connected to the Quran in various ways. One of those ways was to fully understand the value of tadabbur and contemplation. What would you say is the main reason we need to study the miraculous nature of the Quran? We do usually study tafsir, we usually study tajweed, how to recite the Quran properly. We understand asbab al-nuzul, for example, the reason certain verses are revealed to the Prophet ﷺ and to humankind. But usually when I hear the miraculous nature, it's like a given. You know, okay, the Quran is a miracle, and then we park that to the side and maybe pluck that conversation once every blue moon.
But why do you think it should be prioritized for Muslims, for us to really understand the miraculous nature of the Quran? That's a beautiful question. This can be answered in a number of ways. So I would start by saying that it is the foundation of truth. Anyone who claims to be looking for the truth in life, whether or not they previously thought it was impossible or difficult to find truth, when they study i'jaz al-Quran, the miraculous nature of the Quran, it becomes very obvious. So it becomes explicit. It's a type of light that really you cannot deny, you cannot ignore. And if someone is asking for evidence of which religion is true as well, not just the existence of God, the Quran serves as a proof for that. So for Muslims, let's say in particular with this half answer here, directed at Muslims in particular, no doubt whatsoever, it is a preservation of iman, the preservation of one's faith. It's also a boost to one's iman, belief in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. One of the things that I noticed is that with this topic, it motivates Muslims to really connect with the Quran on a daily basis. For some Muslims, they described the study of this topic, i'jaz al-Quran, they described one moment through, let's say a series, an article, a book, in which there was a type of awakening, a recognition. It really clicked for some people. This really is the speech of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. I have to connect with it more often. And so it adds a level of motivation that you cannot find anywhere else.
And then of course, you end up taking it as a source of guidance for all matters, for judgment, for morality, revealed through the Quran and of course explained by the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. It has within it the solutions for all of our problems and for society's issues and all the things people are talking about, all the things we are distracted by, al-dunya, Quran and the speech of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, reminds us of what is prioritized as a high priority. What is a low priority? What is good? What is evil? How to resolve this? How to resolve that? Relationships, morality, laws, interactions, all types of things that we need. It's a framework for life. Now I'll add to this a quick story if I have just like two minutes to add this. Marak al-awfiq. And I know my answer was directed at Muslims, but in the event that someone is able to take this and share with a friend, family member, a colleague, someone who is struggling with atheism, wherever it may be, in their families or communities, or an atheist who may be listening to this. This is one of many conversations where someone would say to me, an atheist usually or an agnostic, prove to me that God exists. Can you provide any explicit obvious proof? And I would say as a response, and I urge people to think about this question and utilize it often, what suffices as proof? What would convince you to finally believe in God? What kind of proof are you thinking about in your mind that would be enough of a proof? I've had conversations with people who said they wouldn't believe in God, even if they could see God. They would imagine that they're hallucinating, that it's a trick, that it's something else. I said you really would never believe in God under any circumstances. And there are people who wouldn't.
That is maybe the minority of atheists even, perhaps. I don't know, that may be anecdotal. But for those who say they would believe if there was a proof, it's very important to start off that conversation by asking what would convince you, what kind of proof? Because some people limit their terms, the types of proofs they'll accept. So for example, a lot of my conversations start like this, and the very first few questions are exactly the same, and then it takes off in different directions. The response, for example, from one person was, and he left atheism, alhamdulillah, that's the conclusion of this. But the response was, I would believe in God if I could see God before my eyes right now, or if he healed someone in front of me. And it's a very common response. It's very interesting. I said, so, okay, to understand you, to make sure we're clear, you would believe in God. You're being very sincere in that claim. But only on the condition that, for example, one of those proofs that you're looking for is that you could see God, you could see him right now, or he would heal someone in front of you. That would convince you that God is real. He said, yeah. I said, that's very interesting, that you have some terms in which you'll accept belief in God. He said, why? I said, well, is it logically possible that there are miracles, there are evidences, there are signs, like the one you mentioned, but it's not the one you mentioned. It's not on your terms. Is it possible, logically, to imagine that there could be another type of sign? He said, yeah, it's possible. I said, great. How many possibilities are there? And he thought about it. And the obvious response is, it's limitless possibilities. It is limitless. You can't limit it to just God healing someone in front of your eyes, or you seeing God with your eyes. That would be very problematic. And the person would then be admitting that they're not really sincerely looking for evidences of God. They're limiting the evidence to what they want, what they desire. No, he was honest. He said, it's limitless possibilities. Limitless possibilities to believing in the existence of God.
Up to this point, most of the conversations make it to this point, alhamdulillah. And they take off in different directions. And what many people don't realize, and those who are listening really remember this, someone who says what this individual has stated has made a lot of progress. Because they've just admitted to themselves, my terms under which I'll finally believe in God are very limited. And they aren't real. They aren't reasonable. There are limitless possibilities. That's a lot of progress. The next question is, what are some examples of other evidences that will convince you to believe in God? That are clear signs? He started listing examples. And I said, okay, I see what you're saying. Those are great examples. Here's a question to you. Is it possible that one of those signs, one of those evidences of God, or miracles of God, if you will, is his speech? Is it logically possible to imagine that God, I know we haven't defined God yet up to this point, but generally the notion of God, most people take it, many atheists take it from Orthodox theism, from Christianity, sometimes generally from Islam, Christianity, Judaism, just a general idea of the creator. So I said, is it possible to imagine that God has speech? And that he revealed his speech to us? And it's so obvious the speech is from God, it's miraculous in a sense that nobody who comes across it can possibly deny that this is from God. I said, is that logically possible as one evidence of many, since you mentioned it's limitless? He thought about it, he said, yes, it is possible. It is possible, of course. I said, okay, and here's the final question. What are some examples of things that you might find in the speech of God that would be so obvious that anyone who were to study this topic would see, clearly this is not the speech of man, clearly this is God's speech. So it has to be undeniable proof, very obvious. I said, what would it have to contain?
And over here he started to list. It would have to be perfect, it would have to have information about things no humans could know because then it's an obvious proof. I said, wonderful. And as he's listing them, it would have to have objective morality because people who claim objective morality, it is rooted in God. I said, wonderful. It would have to have this and that. I said, excellent. I said, can I introduce you to the Quran? So in one of the conversations, he said, I already know about the Quran. I said, I don't think you do because what you just listed is almost identical to what we are teaching, what we already know as Muslims in the section of I'jaazul Quran. And Alhamdulillah, after several months of conversations, he did become Muslim. Now, not every conversation ends that way. And that's why I mentioned up to a certain point in the conversations, you have people who progress, but then there's still some obstacle internally or externally that prevents them from making that progress towards enlightenment and guidance and happiness. But this is why it is crucial for everyone to know that the Quran is miraculous. Because people who are looking for the truth, genuinely looking for the truth, may have only heard about one or two things regarding the Quran, and it may not even be true what they heard. But when they come across I'jaazul Quran, and they realize it's a logical possibility that what you're looking for as an evidence of God is right here, it proves both the existence of God and the miraculous nature of the Quran, so the proof of Islam in one. And that's why it's so important for everyone to know that the Quran is miraculous. Believes in God as a result, as a sincere logical result, and accepts Islam at the same time. And I ask Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la to utilize us for that form of da'wah and guidance as well. I mean, JazakAllah Khair. I was listening patiently because for me, your conviction is contagious, frankly, JazakAllah Khair. But also, you know, we grow up hearing about the value of the Quran in our lives. We hear that it's a shifa, we hear that it's a furqan, you know, criteria between right and wrong. We hear that it's light, but we genuinely don't spend enough time
looking at this aspect of the Quran and solidifying our belief and appreciation of the Quran. So if I was to ask you a very simple question, prove to me that this is a miracle, that this is Allah's word, and if I was to ask you for kind of the ultimate proof or the ace of hearts, could you choose the one miracle that you would use in most of those conversations? That's a beautiful question, Akhi Barakallahu Fiqh. I would say it depends on the person I'm speaking to, because I found in pretty much all these conversations with Muslims and non-Muslims and ex-Muslims who became Muslims, Alhamdulillah, that it really depends on the person's inclination. So some people are naturally inclined towards a lot of skepticism, radical skepticism, arbitrary doubts. And so with those individuals, I might use, for example, I might discuss the knowledge of the future found in the Quran. And I've noticed, and this is the reason that I'll mention this frequently, I've noticed that one in particular has really impacted a number of people, or knowledge of the natural world, what some people claim to be is called the scientific miracles of the Quran. I don't like to say scientific miracles of the Quran, and that's a conversation for another time perhaps, but basically knowledge about the natural world that nobody could have known about back then, like embryology, for instance. And then I found that with many Muslims, the language was impactful for some people, the literary miracle of the Quran, the usage of specific words, and the tying in the perfection and tying in of the word that's used with the grammatical structure of the ayah, the verse, with the sound that you're hearing all at once in different places in the Quran, even when the same story is being shared from different vantage points or different details, subhanAllah. I've noticed for many people, it was the impact the Quran had on their hearts and their lives.
And so I do ask this question frequently, the question you just asked me, and I'll sometimes phrase it as follows. What is the most compelling proof for you that the Quran is the speech of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala or whether non-Muslims all say the speech of God? And for many Muslims, it seems to be the personal impact or the guidance in the Quran, a spiritual, psychological benefit, the recitation, the shifa for the heart, shifa unlima fis-sudoor, as Allah says, a healing for what is in the hearts, a physical shifa as well for those who've experienced it. For some people, it's the fact that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala gives us all that we need of morality, purpose of life, why we exist, where we're headed, who is God, the attributes of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, so we don't need to be worrying about making up some worldview, some arbitrary religion, some subjective values that change every few years. And so for some people, that was sufficient. I wouldn't say that I have an ace of hearts or a favorite one. I really emphasize with this topic that people take a step back and see the full picture and then start to appreciate the different facets of ijaz. Personally, listening to the Quran and studying the linguistic miracle has always moved me, and that's a miracle that's found, obviously, from beginning to end in terms of the Quran. When you say linguistic miracle, I wanna get into the different categories, but let's just use the one that you're very passionate about, linguistic miracle. Just do you mind going a little bit deeper as to why its miraculous nature is defined by language? So it's not as easy at times to explain the miracle that is linguistic and literary, but you'll see that, and for those who read the article, and I urge you to read the series, inshallah ta'ala, we listed 10 different examples
of what the miracle, the literary miracle, comprises of. So you'll find, for example, the choice of words, the word choice with the grammar, as I mentioned, with the sound that's made, all in the best form possible. You'll find that the tenses that are used, the past versus present, plural versus singular, to illustrate deeper meanings in a particular passage of the Quran is done in a way beyond human capacity. The combination of detail with being concise in certain areas of the Quran, as well as having a lot of richness in meaning with the least amount of words possible. You'll find just generally the rhythm of the Quran in different passages, and how they impact us, and how they impact the sound that you are hearing when you are listening to the Quran. You'll find the voice of the Quran, obviously the word voice here, we're using it very loosely, but the voice of the Quran is very bold, very strong, and it's appealing to both reason and to one's heart. It's appealing to al-aql, the intellect, as well as the natural disposition that we have, the fitrah, while establishing compelling proofs, while positing different arguments, rhetorical questions, to awaken people when they're misguided, and it is a combination of the persuasive, as well as an emotive force. And throughout the entire Quran, you find this consistency in tranquility, with power, with boldness, with majesty, that nothing can really overcome. Those are some of the examples, but what I think convinces people who are still learning about this topic, or maybe even non-Muslims, is the fact that it's a miracle linguistically that no human being can imitate. So the inimitability of the Quran, the fact that, and that's where it is a marjizah in that no human being can come up with anything like it, if you think about where it came from,
and through whom it was conveyed, Prophet Muhammad, salallahu alayhi wasalam. You realize that it was revealed sometimes in front of various audiences over the course of 23 years, and at times it was a response to a question, wayasaloonakaAAan, they ask you about, khul, say to them, respond to them, or Muhammad, salallahu alayhi wasalam, as follows. So the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wasalam, who was known as as-sadiq al-ameen, the truthful, the honest, the trustworthy, who never lied to his people, and they said to him, you've never lied to us, we would believe you. He said, even if I were to tell you that an army was behind this hill coming to attack us, they said, we would believe you, you've never lied to us. Suddenly he receives revelation from Allah, subhanahu wa ta'ala a man who was known for his honesty, who never ever lied to his people. Prophet Muhammad, salallahu alayhi wasalam, who never learned language properly, meaning reading and writing, never was seen learning poetry or balagha, eloquence and rhetoric from people. Prophet Muhammad, salallahu alayhi wasalam, receiving revelation, and he has no worldly ambition. Everything they offered him to stop, he would refuse to stop, and he would say, this is essentially something I'm holding onto, even if you offered me the sun and the moon, I have to continue with this mission. Why? Because it's not for people, it's not for glory, it's not for fame. He actually lost more of his material status or power, whatever he had before, although it was not much, salallahu alayhi wasalam, after he became a prophet, because his pursuit was sincere. And now he's conveying a speech that no one can imitate, the best of Arab poets, and they're known for their poetry. And they heard it, and they would say, I can't even imitate this, I've never heard anything like this. And this is one of many reasons that people became Muslim. Allah subh'ana wa ta-ala challenged them, it's not just with the language, but the language is a big part of it, bring something like it. If you claim that this is not true, or this is not from Allah, then go ahead and bring something like it. And they couldn't, and they failed. Revealed in over the course of 23 years, and it wasn't even chronological. Verses that were not revealed sometimes in a long surah,
like Surat Al-Baqarah, the longest chapter of 286 verses. The final verse that came down was ayah 281, and that was towards the last 10 days of the life of the Prophet, salallahu alayhi wasalam. So it's important to consider the linguistic miracle in the context of who conveyed it, Prophet Muhammad, salallahu alayhi wasalam, whose speech as a human being was actually different than the Quran, as actually some studies have found. For those who read the articles, you know this, that hadith in Sahih Al-Bukhari, for example, were compared, and this was done through a number of studies, compared to the words in the Quran. And they found that it was significantly different. More than maybe 60% of the words used in the Quran were not found in Sahih Al-Bukhari, and vice versa. So it's clearly two different voices and speeches, wallah ta'ala alam. And when you say wallah ta'ala alam, I'm just reminding those who are listening, Allah knows best, meaning in terms of the arguments that is literary for you to explore. There's so much more to say about it. In fact, we can easily say that this is the most discussed aspect of the ijaz of the Quran. You'll find tens of thousands of pages of writing just on this one topic. I was gonna say, I'm glad you mentioned Surah Al-Baqarah, because my knowledge of the miraculous nature of the Quran is probably limited to one thing I heard when I was growing up about how Allah subhana wa ta'ala uses numbers in the Quran. And like there's certain mathematical kind of interesting nuggets that exist in the Quran, such as when Allah subhana wa ta'ala says, wa kadhalika ja'alnakum ummatan wasata. That we created you a middle ummah or a moderate ummah. And literally the exact middle of Surah Al-Baqarah is where Allah subhana wa ta'ala mentions that. But clearly my knowledge of this is very limited. You could have gone on for ages with regards to the literary miracle of the Quran.
Do you mind just listing the 10, just for our audiences who haven't read the article or who are not familiar with the different categories of miracles that exist? Sure, bana kalafiqum. And for those who are interested, these are listed in the paper itself. So the first is the inimitability of the Quran. The fact that it cannot be imitated by human beings. Number two is the literary or linguistic miracle of the Quran. Number three is the preservation of the Quran. That it is the unchanged speech of God until the modern world. Meaning for the last 1400 years. And obviously for many people who left Christianity and other religions towards Islam, for many of them they said this was a very important category of irjans. Number four is the knowledge about the future. And this is going to be found in the upcoming paper, inshallah. Number five is the lost knowledge of the past. So historical knowledge that people could not have known at that time. Some of which was discovered later by people. Number six is the knowledge about the natural world. What some people call the scientific miracles. Number seven is the elucidations about the origins of life. Where we came from, where we're headed, life after death. Number eight, I would say another example that we'll explore is the existence of God. The attributes of God, his names. And so a description of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and understanding of who God is. Another facet of irjans, number nine, would be the objective morality. The laws that came down. This is the course of 23 years. And now as a system it changed the entire world. With its guidance and its laws. Do you mind describing that particular one a little bit more before we get onto number 10? Just because the rest are pretty straightforward. I think they make a lot of sense. And now that you've framed them in that, they actually, mashallah, it's pretty clear. But the objective morality, do you mind just explaining that and how important that is in the context of a 21st century Muslim living in the West? Excellent. So as we all know, morality for some people is subjective.
They'll claim that it's based on whatever people want, whatever society says. And that's very problematic. Because we can ask some questions about famous incidents that are taking place during our times or they've taken place in the past. We can ask, was that morally evil? And most people, if not all people say yes. Now you can ask, was it a fact? Was it factually, objectively evil? And most people say, yes, it's a fact. Now for it to be a fact, it has to come from an external source. One plus one equals two is not my opinion. It's not based on my feelings. It doesn't change based on what society desires, what's acceptable today and basically rejected in 50 years. It's something that is timeless because it is a fact. So with morality, we believe that it's one of the, first of all in philosophy, one of the arguments for the existence of God is the arguments from morality. With the Quran, we are saying as Muslims, theologically and philosophically, it suffices and provides a rational foundation for the existence of God and objective morality with all of its frameworks. Everything you need as a framework to live life, we extract from it as the scholars have done, the principles to provide a system of morality that is pleasing to Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la in terms of societal interactions, in terms of laws, in terms of code, in terms of how people interact, transactions, family relations, all that stuff. That's explained in objective morality. The principles are extracted out. Some of the rulings are very explicit. They are timeless, like the prohibition on intoxication. Generally speaking, it is known amongst all Muslims that it is prohibited. And if there are exceptions to any of these laws, they are explained, obviously, amongst the scholars in the books of jurisprudence. So we take these timeless principles, and again, timeless laws as well, and the boundaries of the sharia, and the scholars of fiqh jurisprudence will apply these in different situations, different contexts, different times, but essentially, the morality itself is timeless.
The framework to live life for guidance, for the success of all people, not just the individual, it's timeless. And so in a way, this contradicts or conflicts with the predominant ideology spreading in the world today of liberalism, one form of which, yeah, one form of which is about the individual desire, and then one form of which, and I say one form, includes a type of self-worship based on my desires. So long as I'm not harming other people, what's the problem with doing X, Y, Z behind closed doors? Or as long as it's two adults, what's the problem with X, Y, Z behind closed doors? But in Islam, it's about, first of all, the truth, that it's not just about desires, that you pursue the truth over your desires. And number two, society has a right that is greater than the right of just one individual. And so if it's going to harm society, and it's going to lead to the downfall, deterioration of society in the future, the rights and the well-being of all people take precedence over the individual. And this is an example of the objective morality. Barakallah fiqh, I'm gonna go through the nine that you mentioned, and correct me if I'm wrong. So the imitability of the Quran, and no one else can do it, no one else can write it. I think that's pretty clear, the linguistic miracle, or miraculous nature of the Quran. The knowledge of the future, I think, was one of them. The historical knowledge, so knowledge of certain aspects of, from history that no one else could have known at that time. Explanation of the origins of mankind, I think that exists in the Quran, that's pretty clear. The attributes of Allah Subh'anaHu Wa Ta-A'la, the objective morality, have I missed any? Yes, there were two other ones, no problem.
The preservation of the Quran, as well as the knowledge of the natural world, what we said people call the scientific miracles. And I have three more. Number 10. So it's not 10 here, these are examples, and I think these are in the very first article. So let's say 10, 11, 12. Number 10 is the ease by which the Quran is memorized. This is a claimed facet of i'jaz. Number 11 is the lack of errors and contradictions. This is mentioned in the Quran as well. And number 12 is the personal experiences related to the Quran. And this means the personal experience spiritually, psychologically, the shifa, the healing, the guidance, the psychological fulfillment, transcendence, motivation, it takes care of you in times of hardship, provides for your resources to be resilient and strong, the impact on the physical body in terms of shifa, the impact on the mind, the spiritual curing, the exorcism, all that stuff is personal experience related to the Quran and essentially the way that it changes people and therefore changes civilizations over the last 1400 years. We've clearly seen that. So these are 12 examples of facets of i'jaz of Quran. Cheikh, now that you've mentioned the 12, honestly, it's a little bit overwhelming for someone like me who, I have had other priorities with regards to the Quran, memorization or tafsir or tajweed. There's a lot to unpack here. What would you say is a good way to start that journey of understanding the miraculous nature of the Quran? Because the more you talk about it, the more I will appreciate the Quran and the more I think I would get closer to the Quran and really try to build that relationship with the Quran. So what would you say is the right approach to explore those 12 aspects? So in terms of the 12 categories of i'jaz, I would say the study of the topic first and foremost, a basic intro, basic understanding,
and inshallah ta'ala that's what our series with Yaqeen is establishing. And in terms of that stronger connection, I would say there has to be a daily relationship with the Quran. It's mind blowing that someone could know the value of the Quran and the rights of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and the purpose of life with so much clarity and then not recite the Quran or connect with it on a daily basis. It's like that individual thinking and feeling to themselves that water or sleep are unimportant today. And it's even greater than that because the body might struggle, but the soul needs to survive, the soul needs to succeed. The death of the body is saddening, the death of people is saddening, but the death of one's heart is even more frightening because there's still the eternal life. There's still a departure. When you know the value of the Quran and the fact that it is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, you then place a value, you place a priority. Imagine it's a number on a scale of one to 10, where it's prioritized for you on a daily basis. How important is it to you that you're connected to the speech of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala When you have clarity on that, you can ask yourself, what will motivate me to connect deeply with it? And give yourself a list of motivators, write them down. The examples of the ijaz that you mentioned, those are all some examples that could motivate people, that it will heal, that it will cure, that it will guide, that it will remind, motivate, inspire, all that stuff. And in addition to that, ensuring that the environment around us and the things we're listening to are conducive. So a person who listens to the Quran, listens to audio frequently, should ensure that they're using a significant amount of time to also listen to recitations of the Quran. Which, by the way, is a blessing we have today, that people in the past did not have. You can listen to millions of recordings of the Quran anytime you want, from all types of reciters, all around the world. And you don't even have to recite if you're tired, exhausted, about to sleep, multitasking, but you're listening.
So that's another blessing that we have that a lot of people don't take advantage of. And then of course, lastly, studying the meanings. When you understand what you're reciting, you're reading the translation or the tafseer, you're taking classes to seek knowledge on the Quran, naturally you'll find yourself more connected to it and you'll have a Quranic worldview. Allah ta'ala. JazakAllah khair. One final question on the topic, Sheikh, before we get into our notorious rapid-fire set of questions. If my nine-year-old niece came to you and asked you a very, very simple question, why is the Quran a miracle? What would be your answer to her? That's a great question, a nine-year-old. So I have explained this to nine-year-olds and seven, even younger. It depends on the child, but generally speaking, I'll try to simplify as follows. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala sent us a message from him so that we know how to live, so that we know what's good and what's bad. And if anyone ever asks, how do you know this message? The Quran is really from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. We can say, look at how it's perfect in every way. Sometimes when we speak or we talk as human beings, we make mistakes or we might even say something today. And then in one year we forgot or we contradict ourselves. We see the opposite tomorrow. We're humans. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is perfect. His speech, the Quran is perfect. So the Quran, when we study it, when we read it, we see how perfect it is in the language when we're reading it and listening to it. And importantly, it was saved. It was preserved since the time it was given to Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam, so that no human being could change it or mess with it or modify it. In the Quran, there are details, information Allah tells us that no human beings can possibly know. For example, I would ask this nine year old, can you know the future? Of course not. We don't know the future. But the Quran has information about the future that came true.
And so the believers knew very clearly, see, this is from Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. Can you see the angels or the afterlife? What's coming when we die? Of course not. But the Quran has those details. And most importantly, it came down to Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And what do you know about him? His character? He always spoke the truth. He never lied. He never learned how to write. He never learned about poetry. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala chose him to deliver the message to us. And if we know he's always speaking the truth, it makes sense as well that Allah chose this individual, Prophet Muhammad salallahu alayhi wa sallam, to be the final messenger with a great miracle of the Quran. JazakAllah khair, barakAllah fik shaykh. We're going to change gears and get into our rapid fire set of questions. So are you ready? Sure, tafadhal, rapid fire. Alright, very quick and easy one. Your favorite qarah of the Quran? As someone who's gone so deep into the miraculous nature of the Quran, who would you say is your favorite reciter? I'm going to answer this in two ways. It depends on my mood and it depends on the surah. And also I grew up listening to a variety of reciters, including al-Ajami, Shatri, Hussari, Minshawi, al-Kandari. And then most recently the reciters I usually listen to are al-Qahtami, Nasir al-Qahtami, Idrees Abkar, and Haytham al-Dukhain from Qatar. Okay, I've never heard al-Dukhain, I've never heard him. Excellent reciter. But Nasir al-Qahtami, my two nephews, Alhamdulillah, memorized the Quran and they had a small, when they were actually 10 and 12. They memorized and they did the ijazah and they were living in Riyadh at the time. And Nasir al-Qahtami and Abu Bakr al-Shatri were there at their house to gift them with a gift. And I'll never forget what Nasir al-Qahtami, his advice to them.
And subhanAllah, one of those nephews of mine is getting married and they're recording a message for them. And for them it was, how could you be living in the West? Like obviously they haven't traveled to the West, so his message was, if you're going to live in the West, and in an environment where you're not hearing the Quran blasting from the speakers or the adhan, then the Quran is literally your only hope of staying on the right path. That was kind of the message and that kind of stuck from 10 years ago, subhanAllah. MashaAllah, that's beautiful. JazakAllah khair for sharing that. What was the last book you were reading? The last book, so I'm reading multiple books at the same time. The last book that I was reading actually was this morning. Ibn Taymiyyah's Theological Ethics. Man, serious, it's like such a different level. Of course you're a Harvard graduate, so I wouldn't expect anything less. JazakAllah khair. If there was one person you could have dinner with who has passed away and it can't be the Prophet, who would it be? Probably Abu Bakr, radiAllahu anhu, for advice. Is there any particular reason? Just because of his status as the greatest follower in this Ummah, radiAllahu anhu, and also the knowledge that he would share, the advice that he would share. I would say Abu Bakr or Umar, radiAllahu anhu. Umar, radiAllahu anhu, because he ruled for a longer period of time than Abu Bakr, radiAllahu anhu. And perhaps a lot of the experiences of the Muslim Umar went through, he would be able to share some of those experiences as a khalifa. MashaAllah, jazakAllah khair. You're based in Michigan. You've got cities like Dearborn that are famous for Arabic food.
Of course, as someone living in Sydney, I would say it's probably second or third tier compared to Sydney Lebanese food. But what would you say, if you had any recommendations, if I was to come and visit you, is there any particular restaurant or type of food that exists in your neighborhood that you would really want someone to taste? So initially, it was mostly Lebanese food, by the way. So you probably enjoy it more than Sydney. And it started to change. It's very diverse now. We have a lot of Iraqi food. Yemeni food has increased a lot recently. It's really good. Palestinian, Syrian as well, mashaAllah. But most importantly, if you were to come to Dearborn, I'd invite you to our house, inshaAllah ta'ala. InshaAllah ya Rabbi. Consider it accepted, inshaAllah. One final question. I kind of think I have the answer to this, but if you had unlimited resources to put together the ultimate resource for the Muslim community, what would it be? If you had asked me this more than five years ago, I would say something like Yaqeen Institute. So may Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala reward Sheikh Omar Suleiman and every single person who helped to facilitate everything that Yaqeen is doing. Now that it exists, alhamdulillah, I would say a global, connective learning experience like the Tarbiyah project that we launched at Al-Maghrib Institute. This is something that I've been working on for several years. We just launched this recently. Now, the larger scale vision is that this is a personalized learning experience for all Muslims. And yes, even for non-Muslims wanting to learn about Islam. That starts you off where you are in your journey. So it's curated, customized for your growth, your development with qualified mentors and spiritual guides. So you're no longer consuming video series on your own and then maybe kind of discontinuing after a while or losing motivation.
Rather, it's consistent levels and structures, 10-15 people per group with a qualified spiritual guide or mentor. And it's structured in terms of its curriculum. It's curated for this audience depending on their ages, where they live, their experiences, what they need to learn. And they continue through this journey with a mentor. And that's how many of our great scholars became who they were. They had that mentorship that a lot of people are lacking today. So I would say something like the Tarbiyah project that we launched at Al-Maghrib Institute, but on a global scale inshaAllah ta'ala. JazakAllah khair Sheikh Suleiman Hani. We could go on for ages. But I'll pause it there inshaAllah and save something for the next season of Double Tag. JazakAllah khair and BarakAllahu feek. Thank you for having me. Salam alaikum wa rahmatullah.
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