Even if a similar Quran is made, will Muslims accept it?

- It is stated in the Quran that nothing like the Quran can be produced. Is it not normal?
- Even if something similar is produced, Muslims will deny it and defend what they believe; and are there not such things in books such as the Gospel and the Torah?

Dear Brother / Sister,

- The cause of “not producing something similar to the Quran” is an expression showing that the Quran has a very different position among the works of people.

Just as it is impossible to make the universe and the things in it, which are the ontological verses of Allah so too is impossible to make the verses similar to the verses of the Quran, which are Allah’s words. For example, it is not possible to produce a human being, a head or an eye. Similarly, another Quran cannot be made, nor a surah (chapter) a verse of it.

- The claim of “the uniqueness of the Quran” is important for the rhetoric of the Arabic language, which the Arabs of that day knew very well because the Quran is neither a conventional prose genre, nor a type of poetry. However, so much importance was attached to the words of a poet in the Arab world of that time that a war would begin with one word and peace would be achieved with one word.

The Quran emerged in the hands of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), who was illiterate, had never recited poetry and was famous with the nickname “Amin=Trustworthy”; he challenged everybody and stated that “nothing similar to even a single chapter of the Quran could be produced”.

On the other hand, the unbelievers of that time were very fond of saving their honor and dignity, the honor of the gods they worshipped and their religion. The question was not whether “something similar to the Quran to be produced” would be accepted by Muslims, but whether it would be accepted by the unbelievers who held the power and the vast majority.

If they had produced something similar to one chapter of the Quran, the religion of Islam would have disappeared. And it would have turned out that the Quran was not the word of Allah.

However, the Arab polytheists of that day risked their lives and property and preferred the most terrible way, the war, and abandoned the easiest and shortest way of disputation.

So, the way to disputation was closed. They could not produce even a single chapter similar to those of the Quran; they did not even dare to try it.

As the famous Jahiz put it:

“Dispute with words was not possible, so they were compelled to fight with the sword...” (see Nursi, Mektubat, p. 186).

That is, if it had been possible to defeat the religion of Islam by writing a book made up of letters and producing something similar to the Quran in the shortest way, they would have tried it. As this was not possible, they had to draw their swords and fight to protect their religion, dignity and honor, even at the cost of their lives.

- The view of the public opinion, the majority of which consisted of unbelievers, in the face of the challenge of the Quran, which was sent down in Makkah in a place where there were very few Muslims, was important. If they had formed such a public opinion, they would have won a victory without war. They could not do it.

Here is an example of the challenge at that time:

“Or they/unbelievers may say, ‘He (Muhammad) forged it (the Quran),’ Say: Bring ye then ten suras forged, like unto it, and call (to your aid) whomsoever ye can, other than Allah - if ye speak the truth! If then they answer not your (call), know ye that this revelation is sent down (replete) with the knowledge of Allah, and that there is no god but He! will ye even then submit (to Islam)?” (Hud, 11/13-14)

The phrase “if then they answer not your (call)” in the verse can be understood in two ways.

First: It addresses the unbelievers: “O unbelievers! If your men, whom you trust in terms of producing a likeness of the ten chapters of the Quran, do not answer you, you should know that the Quran is the word of Allah…”

Second: It addresses the Prophet (pbuh) and Muslims: “O Prophet and believers! If your opponents, the unbelievers, cannot respond to your calls ‘to bring the like of the ten chapters of the Quran’, you should once again reinforce your belief that the Quran is the word of Allah…” (see Tabari, Razi, Baydawi, relevant place)

- Another point that needs to be underlined here is the declaration of the fact that “the Quran reflects Allah’s infinite knowledge” because in an environment where those who knew the Arabic language rules and rhetoric very well, those infidels, who were very competent and very skilled in the art of speaking, could not produce a work similar to the ten surahs of the Quran though they were in great need, it meant that the fact that it was “revealed only with the knowledge of Allah” was clearly revealed.

- There is no miracle in terms of rhetoric in the books of the Torah and the Gospel; such a challenge by them is out of the question.

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