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Authorship clues in the Qur'an
Who wrote the Qur'an? The non-Muslim's answer to this important question usually sounds like this:
"The Qur'an was authored by a human being; it is not a literal revelation from God. It is a book created by human intelligence, like any other book. It was, as a matter of historical fact, written by Muhammad, in the seventh century A.D."
If this is your view, rest assured that you have plenty of company!
You should also know, though, that this point of view is not without its difficulties. To believe it, you must also believe that Muhammad, peace be upon him:
- Knew that the Earth and heavenly bodies were once a single point, and were separated violently (21:30)
What's more...
- If you don't believe that he had access to special knowledge that made possible this prefiguring of the modern Big Bang theory -- a theory entirely unknown to the Arabs of the seventh century -- you must conclude that 21:30 of the Qur'an is merely an intriguing coincidence, a matter of getting something right by chance.
Perhaps this passage is simply an intriguing coincidence. If it is, however, it is not the only one.
This man, the supposed "author" of the Qur'an, would also have to have:
- Known about the relativity of time (22:47; 23:112-114; 32:45; 70:4), a subject similarly unknown to Arab tribes of this period.
Either he possessed some extraordinary source of knowledge allowing discussion of this subject thirteen and a half centuries before Einstein, or we are looking at another intriguing coincidence.
Which is it?
- Most non-Muslims will instinctively answer along these lines: "Even if it means granting the text of the Qur'an a second striking coincidental feature, the likeliest explanation is that both passages are merely examples of happenstance."
And yet:
Consider that the same author would also have to have:
- Known that the universe is continuously expanding (51:47). Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known that matter is created in pairs (36:36). Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence. (By the way, this discovery earned the scientist Paul Dirac the Nobel Prize in 1933.)
- Known what modern biological science knows about the foundation of life on Earth, namely that it is water-based (21:30). Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known that iron is not native to the Earth, coming instead from an extraterrestrial source (57:25). Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known that the planet Earth travels in an orbit (27:88; 21:33). Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known that the sun, too, moves in an orbit (37:38), as indeed modern astronomy proves that it does. Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known that the Earth's atmosphere acts like a protective shield for living creatures (21:32). Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known that the Earth's sky that is, the atmosphere -- is made up of seven layers (41:12). Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known that the stages of human development in the womb unfold in a specific, describable sequence (23:14) that has been confirmed by modern experts in human embryology. Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known that the roots of mountains extend deep into the earth and serve the function of preventing shocks (21:31). Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known details of how the Earth's rain cycle functions that were mysteries to scientists until the twentieth century (30:48). Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known what modern oceanographers have now learned, namely that bordering seas meet but do not mingle with one another (55:19-20). Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known that oceans have complex subsurface wave patterns (24:40). Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known that, in communities of honeybees, only the females are workers (16:68-69). The Arabic verb forms can connect only to female beings). Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known to use the singular of the word YAWM (day) precisely 365 times in the text of the Qur'an, despite the fact that he lived in a culture that followed a lunar, not a solar calendar. Either that or this numerical total must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known, seven years ahead of time, that the humiliated Byzantine Army of his day would rejuvenate itself and secure a major victory, which in fact it eventually did against the Persians (30:1-4). Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
Known, two years before he did so, that he would enter Mecca in triumph (48:27). Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known that the body of the Pharoah who had opposed Moses would be preserved for future generations (10:91-92) -- it is today on display in the Royal Mummies Chamber of the Egyptian Museum. Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known to refer (12:54) to the Egyptian head of state of Joseph's, peace be upon him, era as king (aziz-malik) and not as Pharoah, the word that appears erroneously in the book of Genesis. Either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known that the fabled Arabian lost city of Iram (89:6-8) whose historical existence was confirmed by archaeologists only in 1990, was a historical reality -- either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known that the ancient flood that had beset the southern Arabian people of Saba from their dam system (34:15-17), similarly confirmed by modern archeology, was a historical reality -- either that or this passage, too, must be regarded as an intriguing coincidence.
- Known the name of Haman (28:38), a historical figure close to the Pharoah of the era of Moses, peace be upon him ... a) despite the problems that the name Haman does not appear in the Torah's version of the story, and b) the ability to translate the hieroglyphic language system of the Egyptians had been utterly lost for centuries at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an, and indeed would remain lost until the year 1799. After the discovery in that year of the Rosetta Stone, scholars were able to unlock the mystery of the hieroglyphs and, eventually, to confirm that there was indeed a Haman, unmentioned in the Hebrew scriptures, who was close to this Pharoah in this period, and who was involved in construction, just as the Qur'an says. If we believe that human authorship is the only possible explanation for the origin of the Qur'an, we must assume either that Muhammad, peace be upon him, somehow had access to this information, or we must believe that this passage is yet another in a remarkably long series of intriguing coincidences.
How many coincidences do we need to get the message?
The message is simple: no human intelligence could have produced this book in the seventh century.
Please know that there are many, many more such coincidences in the Qur'an. I have listed here only those that do not require advanced knowledge in such topics as Arabic, mathematics, Islamic history, or classical poetic forms. Even with the brief list I have provided, there comes, I think, a point at which one is obliged to evaluate the Qur'an's message carefully, closely, and respectfully. These supposed coincidences are, I believe, clear signs to humankind that the Qur'an's message is of a special quality, and must not be ignored.
Only the repeated exposure of the individual human heart to the Qur'an's message can settle such a momentous question, "Who wrote the Qur'an?"
If you are a person who believes that there is no such thing as a divinely inspired revelation, the question is: how many coincidences does it take for you to consider that such a revelation to humanity may be possible?
If you are a person who believes that there is such a thing as a divinely inspired revelation, the question is, how many coincidences are you willing to ignore before considering the possibility that a particular text presents such revelation?
Please know that I am NOT interested in any debate about the possibility that any ONE of these verses I have cited is just a coincidence, or is for some other reason unpersuasive to you.
The truly remarkable thing is that ALL of these features should present themselves in a text supposedly composed by human intelligence -- and the profound unlikelihood of that is the intriguing coincidence I wish to discuss.
Knowing what you now know about these supposed coincidences, do you honestly believe that the Qur'an is simply the product of human intelligence, a book like any other book? Or does it seem more likely to you that its message is of a special quality?
Brandon Yusuf Toropov
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