A challenge to the skeptics

“And if you doubt any part of what We have, bestowed from on high, step by step, upon Our servant [Muhammad], then produce a surah of similar merit, and call upon any other than God to bear witness for you – If what you say is true!

And if you cannot do it - and most certainly you cannot do it -then be conscious of the fire whose fuel is human beings and stones which awaits all who deny the truth!”

(Qur’an 2:23-24)

Now that my prayers have been answered, I have been given guidance in the form of a Divine Writ, the Qur’an; I have no doubt of its truth and importance in my life. I have accepted it gratefully and I am doing my best to follow it. In my pursuit to leading a Godly and goodly life I meet antagonists who despise my way of life. I meet doubter and skeptics; they do not believe that what I have as a decisive guidance is actually from God. They often question the validity of the Qur’an. They accuse it of being manmade and irrelevant to the contemporary world.

Qur’an was revealed gradually and in response to situations 1400 years ago. That is a fact. Qur’an provides moral and ethical parameters for human beings to live on this earth harmoniously. Qur’an provides spiritual nourishment for the soul and the body to dwell in peace and tranquility. Qur’an provides social and political guidance to bring and manage human beings and their mutual relationship justly and fairly. Show me one Qur’anic moral, ethical, social, political or spiritual parameter that is irrelevant to our contemporary world and lifestyle. I say to the doubters just show me one such anomaly if you are honest and truthful.

My journey began at the point where this book was declared as a book with no doubt and a sure guidance for those who are God conscious. I believe I am God conscious enough to benefit from this Divine Writ but the godless and skeptics amongst us can often cast doubt on this book’s authenticity. They say that Muhammad must have invented it. He copied stories from the Old and New Testaments, he borrowed lessons from other learned people in Arabia and he compiled a book.

I say such accusation is absolutely baseless. If he had borrowed information from learned priests, Rabbis, monks and learned people he was not literate at all to compose such exquisite level of Arabic and produce a book with such a high level of literary elegance, grace and depth.

The Arabs around the Prophet accused him of being a poet and man possessed by spirit. They said that he was a mad man claiming that God was talking to him and to have received revelation from God. As far as they were concerned these were outrageous claims Muhammad was making. The same Arabs were calling Muhammad Al-Amin – the trustworthy and leaving their valuable possessions in his care! If what they said about Muhammad was true why would they give him such an honourable title and treat him at their personal levels with great esteem?

They could not understand how he was able to compose such an extraordinary level of Arabic especially the type of Arabic that he was articulating that they had never heard before. From what they knew of Muhammad, he was totally unlettered; he had never attended any classes to learn how to read or write and certainly was not known for his skills of composing poetry. Where could it all have come from? This mystery dogged the adversaries deeply and they could not fathom or put together an adequate response. Their reactions to the words of God were irrational and full of aggression, violence and hatred.

God places a formidable challenge for the skeptics. If anyone has any doubt about what God has revealed they were invited to produce something like a chapter of the Quran. The biggest embarrassment for the Qur’an haters was that they had no idea how to respond to God’s challenge, never mind a response, they did not even grasp what would measure a successful retort to this challenge?

The challenge from God was comprehensive. If they had doubts about the Arabic language and its style they were challenged to produce something similar. If they had doubts about its content in terms of stories of the people of the past, let them bring facts to disprove it. If they had doubts about scientific realities described in the Qur’an let them provide scientific evidence to corroborate their claim. If they had doubts about the morals stated in the Qur’an let them challenge it with superior morals. If they had any doubts about anything in the Qur’an let them produce a counter narrative!

I love this verse as it places the burden of evidence on the skeptics. So God says if you have doubts produce something similar to the smallest chapter of the Quran. This challenge was placed 1400 years ago and till this date nobody has yet successfully produced one single chapter like the Qur’an. I am so certain about the words of God that if you can produce one chapter like the Qur’an I will leave my faith and follow yours – all it would take to disprove the entire Qur’an is to produce one chapter, this will dismantle the Qur’anic claim forever!

God revealed the Qur’an to the blessed Prophet Muhammad, who could not have known the science and facts as stated in the Quran. Remember he was totally illiterate! Let us now explore one example. The Qur’an talks about embryology in vivid details. At the time of prophet Muhammad there were no medical equipment such as a scanner, ultrasound or x-ray machines. Yet Muhammad was able to articulate in great details every stages of human conception. Muhammad was able to define the nature of a man’s sperm and a woman’s eggs. He was able to communicate to the people of his time and for all times to come facts of embryology accurately as we now have discovered due to advent of science and advancement of technology.

He was able to provide the details of how at each stage the fetus was developing. If Muhammad was illiterate and no one in the wide world had discovered any of these scientific facts at his time, how was he able to divulge such amazing information? Who told him all these facts? Where did it all come from?

God’s challenge is not just limited to inviting the entire humanity to come together with all the help and assistance from everyone to produce a small chapter resembling the Qur’an but He goes even further and says that no one will ever be able to do it. In other words try with all your might but you can never meet this challenge. This is not mere rhetorical statement but this is a statement of confidence and absolute certainly. What is most humbling for me is that the real author of this Divine Writ, God Himself is making this fact clear for His own creation – human beings! He could have just left us to rot in our own mess. It is out compassion that he gave this guidance in the first place and it is out of His mercy that He choses to engage with us. It makes me humble and grateful but nevertheless, this challenge remains eternal.

The punishment for those who deny the truth is clearly stated in this verse. This may make some people feel uncomfortable but punishment is not supposed to be a bed of roses and should never worry those who are truthful! If you remain honest to your intellect and objective in your method of searching the truth you will arrive at the Qur’anic truth inevitably. Punishment will only apply when you were intellectually dishonest and denied the truth even though your mind agreed with it and your heart recognised it.

I would say to the skeptics take this simple example and objectively think. The only logical conclusion is that someone with infinite and superior knowledge must have revealed the secrets of the universe to Muhammad. This could not have been the work of a man but the Creator of the entire universe – God. To my cynical friends here is my challenge – read the Qur’an with an open mind and respond to the impulse of your soul, you will find the truth. The same truth that I have found!

I believe Qur’an is the true healer of human soul and guidance for those who have refined conscience