Returning one final time to the subject of good guesses for
the purpose of the present example, the odds that someone
guessed correctly about all three of the aforementioned
subjects ‐ the sex of bees, the movement of the sun and the
existence of time zones ‐ are one in eight!
Certainly, one could continue on and on with this
example, drawing up longer and longer list of good
guesses; and of course, the odds would become higher and
higher with each increase of subjects about which one
could guess. But what no one can deny is the following:
the odds that Muhammad (), an illiterate, guessed
correctly about thousands and thousands of subjects,
never once making a mistake, are so high that any theory
of his authorship of the Quran must be completely
dismissed ‐ even by the most hostile enemies of Islam!
Indeed, the Quran expects this kind of challenge.
Undoubtedly, if one said to someone upon entering a
foreign land, “I know your father. I have met him,”
probably the man from that land would doubt the
newcomer’s word, saying, “You have just come here. How
could you know my father?” As a result, he would
question him, “Tell me, is my father tall, short, dark, fair?
What is he like?” Of course, if the visitor continued
answering all of the questions correctly, the skeptic would
have no choice but to say, “I guess you do know my
father. I don’t know how you know him, but I guess you
do!”
The situation is the same with the Quran. It states that it
originates from the One who created everything. So
everyone has the right to say, “Convince me! If the author
of this book really originated life and everything in the
heavens and on the earth, then He should know about
this, about that, and so on.” And inevitably, after
researching the Quran, everyone will discover the same
truths. Additionally, we all know something for sure: we
do not all have to be experts to verify what the Quran
affirms. One’s Iman (faith) grows as one continues to check
and confirm the truths contained in the Quran. And one is
supposed to do so all of his life.
May God (Allah) guide everyone close to the truth.
Addendum 1
An engineer at the University of Toronto who was
interested in psychology and who had read something on
it, conducted research and wrote a thesis on Efficiency of
Group Discussions. The purpose of his research was to
find out how much people accomplish when they get
together to talk in groups of two, three, ten, etc. The graph
of his findings goes up and down at places, but it reaches
the highest point at the variable of two. The findings:
people accomplish most when they talk in groups of two.
Of course, this discovery was entirely beyond his
expectations, but it is very old advice given in the Quran
(Surah Saba 34:46):
“Say, ‘I exhort you to one thing ‐ that you stand for
Allah, [assessing the truth] by twos and singly, and
then reflect...’”
Addendum 2: ‘Iram
Additionally, the 89th chapter of the Quran (Surah al‐Fajr
89:7) mentions a certain city by the name of ‘Iram (a city of
pillars), which was not known in ancient history and
which was non‐ existent as far as historians were
concerned. However, the December 1978 edition of
National Geographic introduced interesting information
which mentioned that in 1973, the city of Elba was
excavated in Syria. The city was discovered to be 43
centuries old, but that is not the most amazing part.
Researchers found in the library of Elba a record of all of
the cities with which Elba had done business. Believe it or
not, there on the list was the name of the city of ‘Iram. The
people of Elba had done business with the people of ‘Iram!
In conclusion I ask you to consider with care the following
(Surah 29:50‐51):
“And they say, ‘Why are not signs sent down to him
from his Lord?’ Say, ‘Indeed, the signs are with
Allah, and I am but a clear warner.’ But it is
sufficient for them that We have sent down to you
the Book [i.e., Quran] which is rehearsed to them?
Verily, in that is mercy and a reminder to people
who believe.”