2 | Introduction to I’jāz al-Qur’ān, Part 1: The Miraculous Nature of the Qur'an ​ ​ Author Biography Imam Suleiman Hani is the Director of Academic Affairs at AlMaghrib Institute, a research scholar for Yaqeen Institute, and a resident scholar in Michigan. At the age of 14, Suleiman completed a 10-month Qur’an memorization program and began his intensive studies under numerous scholars, earning dozens of traditional religious certifications in the process. He later 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 focused on religious studies, philosophy of religion, political science, and psychology. Over the past decade, he has served as an Imam and community leader in Michigan, lectured in dozens of countries, published a number of books and articles, and was featured on the largest Islamic TV stations worldwide. Disclaimer: The views, opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in these papers and articles are strictly those of the authors. Furthermore, Yaqeen does not endorse any of the personal views of the authors on any platform. Our team is diverse on all fronts, allowing for constant, enriching dialogue that helps us produce high-quality research. Copyright © 2020. Yaqeen Institute for Islamic Research 3 | Introduction to I’jāz al-Qur’ān, Part 1: The Miraculous Nature of the Qur'an ​ ​ This article serves as the first essay in a series on the topic of iʿjāz al-Qur’ān, the ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ miraculous nature of the Qur’an, and addresses the foundations of iʿjāz, its ​ ​ ​ ​ history, scope, and facets, as well as an introduction to the literary miracle of the Qur’an. The subsequent essay addresses the inimitability of the Qur’an, various plagiarism attempts throughout history, and the role of the Prophet Muhammad .ﷺ Say, “Even if all mankind and jinn came together to produce the equivalent of this Qur’an, they could not produce its equal, however much they helped each other.”1 Introduction Among the most foundational and significant beliefs of Muslims is the absolute conviction in the Qur’an as the Speech (kalām) of God, divine and preserved, ​ ​ unparalleled and unmatched by any human speech, and inimitable by any individual or group. What follows is a survey of the foundational components of the study of iʿjaz al-Qur’ān, or the miraculous nature of the Qur’an, answering the ​ ​ crucial question of the Qur’an’s authorship. With respect to the Qur’an’s authorship, one must logically fall into one of the following two categories: 1. Those who claim that the Qur’an is the Speech of God revealed to Prophet through Angel Jibrīl (Gabriel); or ﷺ Muhammad 2. Those who claim that the Qur’an is not from God but was authored by .or other human beings ﷺ Prophet Muhammad By the end of this series, the evidence will clearly demonstrate that the Qur’an’s authorship cannot reasonably be attributed to anyone but God. What is the Qur’an? 1 Qur’an 17:88. 4 | Introduction to I’jāz al-Qur’ān, Part 1: The Miraculous Nature of the Qur'an ​ ​ The Qur’an is the Arabic kalām (Speech) of Allah, which He revealed to Prophet ​ in wording and meaning, which has been preserved in the ﷺ Muhammad muṣḥaf (physical written copy), has reached us by means of authentic ​ ​ transmissions, and is a challenge to mankind to produce something similar to it.2 Muslims believe that the Qur’an was revealed from God, the One Creator of the universe and all that it contains, through His Angel Gabriel to Muhammad, the last messenger and prophet of God to mankind, in a long line of messengers before him, including Noah, Abraham, David, Moses, and Jesus, peace be upon them. The Qur’an is comprised of many āyāt (singular: āyah), or “verses,” and in the ​ ​ ​ Qur’anic context an āyah refers to a “sign” of God in this world, such as signs of ​ His Being and Power, signs in nature,3 signs from history,4 or divine revelation as a sign (“when our signs are recited…”5).6 Thus, to Muslims, the Qur’an is not only the Speech of God, but it is a sign that is perfect, preserved, memorized on an ​ unmatched scale, miraculous in its nature, impossible to imitate, universally beneficial for all societies, impactful on the heart and soul, contains no errors or contradictions, contains knowledge of the unseen world, predicted matters of the future, described undiscovered matters of the natural world, and is the final miracle and message of God to mankind until the Day of Resurrection. The iʿjāz of the Qur’an ​ ​ Amongst the beliefs of Muslims is that the Qur’an has the characteristic of iʿjāz; ​ that is, a miraculous nature. The Arabic word relates to ʿajaza (incapability), ​ ​ meaning that it is beyond the capability of human beings. Mankind’s inability (ʿajz) to imitate the Qur’an is thus considered a sign of its divine origin. Thus, it is ​ ​ 2 For a slightly different definition, see: Muhammad ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm al-Zarqānī, Manāhil al-ʿirfān fī ʿulūm al-Qur’ān ​ ​ (Cairo: Dar al-Fikr, 1943), 21. 3 See: Qur'an 76:6–16, 77:25–27, 79:27–32. ​ 4 See: Qur'an 51:34–46, 79:15–26. 5 See: Qur’an 83:13. 6 For detailed descriptions of the terms āyah and āyāt, see Angelika Neuwirth, “Verse(s),” in Encyclopaedia of the ​ ​ ​ Qurʾān, ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe, accessed December 2, 2019, ​ http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1875-3922_q3_EQCOM_00211. ​ 5 | Introduction to I’jāz al-Qur’ān, Part 1: The Miraculous Nature of the Qur'an ​ ​ 7 an ongoing muʿjizah (miracle)—that which “breaks the custom” (kharq al-ʿādah) ​ ​ ​ or natural order—until the Day of Resurrection; and it is a clear proof given to the final messenger as an authentication of his prophethood.8 When applied to the Qur’an, the word iʿjāz refers to the unique and inimitable quality of the Qur’an in ​ that it is superior to all other books and speech and cannot be imitated or rivaled. The basis for the agreed-upon doctrine of Qur’anic iʿjāz is found in the Qur’an ​ ​ itself on six different occasions,9 such as when the adversaries of Prophet ;denied his prophethood and declared the Qur’an to be fabricated ﷺ Muhammad the Qur’an itself challenged those who denied it to “produce something like it … if you are truthful [in your claim].”10 These verses pose what is known as the eternal taḥaddī (challenge), or collectively as the Verses of the Challenge (āyāt ​ ​ at-taḥaddī) ; thus, anyone who denies the Qur’an’s divine origins is challenged to produce something like it if they believe it to be man-made (i.e., not originating from God). The famous historian Ismāʿīl ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373) opined that the initial challenge was to produce something similar to the entire Qur’an; the next challenge was then reduced to ten suwar (singular: sūrah), or “chapters,” then ​ ​ ​ ​ finally to one sūrah.11 Although this challenge was presented to the greatest Arab ​ ​ poets who were known for their eloquence and mastery of the Arabic language, the challenge remains open and active until the end of time. The famous scholar as-Suyūtī (d. 911/1505) summarizes the history of the challenge as follows: … 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 God says, “Let them then produce a recitation similar to it if indeed they are 7 Abū Bakr al-Bāqillānī, Kitāb al-bayān ʿan al-farq bayna al-muʿjizāt wa-al-karamāt wa-al-ḥiyal wa-al-kahānah ​ wa-al-siḥr wa-al-nārinjāt , trans. by Richard Joseph McCarthy as Miracle and Magic: A Treatise on the Nature of ​ the Apologetic Miracle and Its Differentiation from Charisms, Trickery, Divination, Magic and Spells (Beirut: ​ Librairie Orientale, 1958), 45–49. ​ 8 For historical elucidations on terminology related to iʿjāz, see G. E. Von Grunebaum, A Tenth-Century Document ​ ​ ​ of Arabic Literary Theory and Criticism (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1950), introduction. ​ 9 See: Qur’an 2:23–24, 10:38, 17:88, 52:33–34. ​ 10 Qur’an 11:13. 11 See: Qur’an 10:38 in Ismāʿīl Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-ʿaẓīm , ed. Muṣtafá al-Sayyid Muḥammad et al., vol. ​ 3 (Giza: Muʾassasat Qurṭuba, 2000). 6 | Introduction to I’jāz al-Qur’ān, Part 1: The Miraculous Nature of the Qur'an ​ ​ truthful.” Then, [the Prophet] challenged them to produce ten chapters like it where God 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 [chapter] where God 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 God 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…”12 The eternal challenge, thus, is a bold call for the experts of any era to produce something similar to the Qur’an in all of its divine facets.