The Proclaiming of the Qur'an

Proclaiming of the Qur'an
12]The word Qur'an means a
proclamation - something read out. The role of Muhammad (pbuh)*1
in this was that of the messenger. He was commanded to read in
the first verse revealed of the Qur'an. [/size][/font][/b]
<blockquote>

</blockquote>Created man out of a (mere) clot
of congealed blood*
Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most
Bountifulb]
]He Who taught (the use of) the Pen
Taught man that which he knew not.
A crucial part of understanding
the Qur'an is considering the role of Muhammad (pbuh). Who was
he? What did he do during his life? Why should Muhammad (pbuh)
have been chosen? What was his level of education? What
environment did he grow up in? Once these questions are tackled
we can keep the answers in mind when reading the pages ahead and
consider whether any of these details can offer some credible
alternative explanation of the origins of the Qur'an than that it
was divinely revealed.[/size][/font][/b]
[b][font=Arial][size=12]Muhammad (pbuh) was born 570 years
after the birth of Christ (pbuh) a few weeks after his father had
died. As was the customary practice in Makkah at the time
Muhammad was given to a Bedouin wet-nurse to take care of him for
a number of years. His mother died when Muhammad (pbuh) was 6
years old. He was raised by his paternal grandfather 'Abd al
Muttalib (Shaybah) until the age of eight and, after his
grandfather’s death, by Abu Talib, his paternal uncle. Under
the guardianship of Abu Talib, Muhammad (pbuh) began to earn a
living as a shepherd, then as a trader. At the age of twelve, he
accompanied Abu Talib with a merchant caravan as far as Bosra in
Syria. He worked as a trader for several years, gained an
excellent reputation for honesty and became known as
"al-amin" which means "the trustworthy one".
At the age of 25 a rich merchant widow called Khadijah heard of
his credentials and proposed marriage to Muhammad through a
relative. He accepted despite her being 15 years older than him.
Khadijah and Muhammad (pbuh) were the parents of six children -
four daughters and two sons, although both the sons died in
infancy. Importantly Muhammad was known to be illiterate - he
couldn't read nor could he write. He was however, known to be
very eloquent in his speech.[/size][/font][/b]
[b][font=Arial][size=12]Muhammad was descended from
Ishmael who was the first born son of Abraham. Originally built
by Abraham and Ishmael, the Ka'bah had become largely corrupted.
When it was first built, it was for the worship God alone but now
this was known only as a sort of holy centre, for all kinds of
pagan beliefs and idolatry. The Ka'bah had at that time 360 idols
which the pagans would worship. These were statues of various
sorts and even included statues of Jesus (pbuh) and images of
Mary. There was still a group of Makkans who tried to follow the
true teachings of Abraham. They were known as the Hanafi. The
main cultural pursuit of the Arabs was poetry. Competitions would
be held and the language blossomed into a deeply expressive form.
It became, at that time, a language with a highly sophisticated
grammar and great subtlety of expression.[/size][/font][/b]
[b][font=Arial][size=12]Muhammad (pbuh) was born into the
leading clan of Mecca who were the "Quraish". His
position in society was very well respected. At around the age of
40 he began to take to meditation and prayer in a cave on a
mountain overlooking Makkah. He would fast and spend long hours
in contemplation and prayer. It was during one of these visits to
the cave that he received the first words of revelation from the
Archangel Jibril (Gabriel). On this first appearance, Gabriel
(as) said to Muhammad: "Iqraa," meaning Read or Recite.
Muhammad replied, "I cannot read,". The Angel Gabriel
then embraced him until he reached the limit of his endurance and
after releasing said: "Iqraa." Muhammad’s answer
was the same as before. Gabriel repeated the embrace for the
third time, asked him to repeat after him and said the verses
that are mentioned above.[/size][/font][/b]
[b][font=Arial][size=12]Muhammad (pbuh) was terrified by
the whole experience of the revelation and rushed home to his
wife. He told his wife to cover him with a blanket. After his
shock had calmed down, his wife Khadijah asked him about the
reason his distressed state. After hearing his account she
reassured him by saying: "Allah will not let you down
because you are kind to relatives, you speak only the truth, you
help the poor, the orphan and the needy, and you are an honest
man." Khadijah then became the first person to accept Islam.[/size][/font][/b]
[b][font=Arial][size=12]Initially the Qur'an won converts
to Islam through the message being given to friends and family of
the prophet. After some time in this phase the message began to
be proclaimed publicly. Soon enough the people in power started
to oppose this message since it clearly threatened their
authority to make law based on the authority of 'the gods' (the
idols). The small band of Muslims was severely oppressed and
several killed. But they persisted in teaching this new
revelation to others. Finally after an economic boycott and the
theft of their possessions which reduced the Muslims to near
starvation, Muhammad was given the position of a judge in the
city of Yathrib partly as a way that the tribes could in that
city could find a way out of their feuding, but also largely a
result of many people accepting Islam, taught by companions of
Muhammad (pbuh). Following the establishment of the Islamic State
a number of battles took place between the Muslims and the
Makkans who were attempting to eliminate the Muslims and their
"dangerous ideas". Eventually the Muslims were able to
march into Makkah without any resistance because of their
overwhelming forces and announced a general amnesty. Within 100
years the Islamic State had spread into Spain and India defeating
both the Persian Empire and the Romans and was the largest
'empire' yet to have been seen on Earth.[/size][/font][/b]
[b][font=Arial][size=12]Muhammad's life and example span a
whole range of circumstances and therefore the study of his
example and his judgements provides a rich and comprehensive
precedent which is used in deriving Islamic law. [/size][/font][/b]
[b][font=Arial][size=12]Those who wish to reject Muhammad
as a prophet have two basic positions. They either assert that he
was a liar or that he was mad. The first is flatly contradicted
by all the reports of his life and that he was deeply convinced
of the message he had to deliver. If he were a liar, would he
have risked his life and the life of his dearest companions many
times? Would he have been so confident in what he said and did?
The next alternative that he was mad is thrown into doubt by the
careful planning that he went through in all that he did. Madness
shows a lack of grip on reality yet Muhammad was known to be
highly realistic in all that he did. We know this, for example,
from the councils of war he conducted. Islam made perfect sense
to Muhammad as it makes perfect sense today. [/size][/font][/b]
[b][font=Arial][size=12]This only captures a few of the
alternative, and in the majority wholly unreasonable,
perspectives of who Muhammad was. The evidence that the Qur'an is
an accurate record of the words he proclaimed as direct
revelation from God is however largely beyond dispute. This is
the subject of the next chapter.. Nevertheless, some will always
come up with the most ludicrous alternative explanations. As they
see no need for the moral of good thinking they see nothing wrong
in making such suggestions. It is fairly pointless discussing
them.[/size][/font][/b]
[b][font=Arial][size=12]The crucial question to consider
in the following sections is whether it is reasonable to say that
Muhammad could have written (or thought up) the Qur'an.[/size][/font][/b]
[b][font=Arial][size=12]The writing of the Qur'an [/size][/font][/b]
[b][font=Arial][size=12]*1 - Muslims usually refer to
Muhammad, as to all prophets, with a phrase like ‘peace be
upon him’ following the mention of his name. This is
abbreviated to (pbuh).[/size][/font][/b]
[b][font=Arial][size=12]*2 - the word in Arabic is 'alaq
and shall be explained fully in a later section.[/size][/font][/b]