A person who does not know the Quran may think that as long as it is a divine holy book then what is known about other divine holy books applies to it. This generalization is not fair and incorrect. Thus, I have put this section to highlight part of the uniqueness of the Quran. More can be learned in section four regarding the Quran and science.
The Uniqueness of the Quran
I can say that the Quran is a unique divine holy book because:
1. The Quran is the last message from Allah (Jalla Jalaluhu) to mankind until the Day of Judgment.
2. The Quran is an everlasting challenge and a miracle from Allah (Jalla Jalaluhu) to all mankind. Allah (Jalla Jalaluhu) gave every prophet miracles affirming his prophethood. However, one problem is that people who have not seen a prophet and his miracle(s) by themselves, will not believe in him or have doubts about his message. But, this is not the case with the Prophet Muhammad (Salla Allahu alay-hi wa-sallam), because he was given the Quran, which is an everlasting miracle. This is because the Quran has precise scientific evidences in some of its verses, which are discovered gradually over time by the successive generations of mankind. In addition, Allah (Jalla Jalaluhu) challenged all mankind to write a book like the Quran and no one did. Therefore, every generation of mankind sees that no one could write a book like the Quran and that modern sciences are in overwhelming agreement with the scientific facts of the Quran. Based on this unique feature of the Quran, every human being at anytime bears a witness by him-/herself that the Quran is the word of Allah (Jalla Jalaluhu), the Creator of everything. This miracle of the Quran is timeless and will last until the end of time.
3. The Quran has been memorized by heart, as a whole, by many Muslims. At any given period of the human history (since the revelation of the Quran) thousands and thousands of Muslims memorized it by heart. They can recite and write it entirely word for word and letter by letter verbatim. I am not aware of any divine holy book that is memorized entirely by thousands of people, except the Quran. This unique feature of the Quran occurs by the help of Allah (Jalla Jalaluhu): "And We have certainly made the Qur'an easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember?" (Quran 54: 22).
4. The Quran is a stand-alone divine holy book. It does not need any other holy book to support or supplement its content. This is why Muslims use the Quran without referring to other holy books.
5. The Quran is one complete book (volume). Its revelation was completed during the life of the Prophet Muhammad (Salla Allahu alay-hi wa-sallam). Therefore, his death was not a sudden end to the revelation of the Quran. Muslims knew the entire Quran by heart during the life of the Prophet Muhammad (Salla Allahu alay-hi wa-sallam). No part of the Quran was missing then to be rediscovered later. No change was applied to it since the time of its revelation, and in fact any change can be discovered easily by the many Muslims who memorized it by heart. Thus, Muslims do not dig and search for old copies of the Quran in hope of discovering new verses.
6. The Quran, as a divine holy book, is protected by Allah (Jalla Jalaluhu) and thus it has been kept intact since the time of its revelation and will remain in this state until the end of time. Allah (Jalla Jalaluhu) stated in the Quran that He shall protect it from being lost or corrupted: “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and indeed, We will be its guardian” (Quran 15: 9).
Stacked Layers of Knowledge
The greatness, perfection, and uniqueness of the Quran appears unambiguously when it talks about science and the creation of living and non-living things. The Quran used simple words yet it delivered lots of scientific meanings to the people in the past and it is delivering lots of meanings to us in the present, and it will deliver more meanings to the people in the future. I see this as stacked layers of meanings and levels of knowledge packed in each and every one of the Quranic verses, which talk about science. As a result, every generation of mankind unveils a layer or more of scientific knowledge according to the state of science in their time. But, more layers of knowledge remain spared for the next generations to discover them according to the state of science in their time, and so one and so forth, until the end on time. This aspect of eternal scientific richness, depth, and power of the Quran is unmatched.
The Quran’s Eternal Challenge
Allah (Jalla Jalaluhu) mentioned in the Quran that the Quran is His word and that He challenged all human beings to write a book similar to it, 10 chapters of it, or even a single chapter: “Say: If the whole of mankind and Jinns were to gather together to produce the like of this Quran, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support” (Quran 17: 88); “Or they say, He (Prophet Muhammad) forged it (the Qur'an). Say: Bring you then ten forged Surah (chapters) like unto it, and call whomsoever you can, other than Allah (to your help), if you speak the truth!" (Quran 11: 13); “Or do they say: He (Prophet Muhammad) has forged it? Say: Bring then a Surah (chapter) like unto it, and call upon whomsoever you can besides Allah, if you are truthful!” (Quran 10: 38). Allah (Jalla Jalaluhu) also says in the Quran that no one will be able to meet the above-mentioned challenge: “And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant (Prophet Muhammad), then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful. But if you do not - and you will never be able to - then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers” (Quran 2: 23-24). The Quran was revealed at a time when Arabs were the true masters of the Arabic language. Their poetry was at its peak of beauty and perfection. Such an unsurpassed level of language proficiency made the Arabs in the seventh century as the best judges of any Arabic written material. Yet, no one was able to meet the Qur’anic challenge in producing a chapter like one of the Quran's. What is more interesting is that in the first two verses of the second Surah (chapter) of the Quran Allah (Jalla Jalaluhu) told everyone that the Quran is the perfect book about which there is no single doubt: “Alif-Lam-Mim. This is the Book (the Quran), whereof there is no doubt …” (Quran 2: 1-2). Actually, a person who knows the Quran knows that these two verses appear on the second page of the Quran. What I am trying to say is that as soon as a person opens the Quran he/she reads that it is the book whereof there is no doubt. This is a very powerful and challenging introduction. After reading the above-mentioned verse, some people may inquire about the meaning of “Alif-Lam-Mim” in the verse. The Alif Lam Mim are the sounds of three letters of the Arabic alphabet. If you read the entire Quran you will find that twenty-nine Surahs (chapters) start with letters, such as Alif Lam Meem, Ta Ha, and Alif Lam Meem Sad … etc., which do not form words. Only Allah (Jalla Jalaluhu) knows the purpose of placing these letters in the beginning of the Surahs. The Arabs in the seventh century admitted that the Quran was unmatched in its elegant style, perfect grammar, concise and accurate use of words, strong sentence structure, and profound meanings. In addition, they admitted that such a great book could not be produced by a human being. To date, Muslims and non-Muslims witness that no human being, Arab or non-Arab, has succeeded in meeting the everlasting challenge of writing even one chapter like the Quran, let alone writing an entire book like it.
Allah (Jalla Jalaluhu) mentioned accurate scientific facts in the Quran. These facts serve as signs and proofs that the Quran is not a word of man but it is the word of Allah (Jalla Jalaluhu), the Creator of every thing. To know more about this important aspect of the Quran you can read the section entitled "Quran and science" in the next page. Also, it is the time to understand why a book, which was revealed in the seventh century is still used by Muslims as their reference for all aspects of life in the twenty-first century. GO TO NEXT PAGE.
Reference of verse translations:
Qur’an. Available online: http://quran.com/
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