PhD thesis from Cairo University

 

The challenge to the Holy Quran and the response to the challengers.... A PhD thesis from Cairo University

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Arab Republic of Egypt
Cairo University
Faculty of Dar Al-Ulum
Department of Islamic Sharia

The challenge to the Holy Quran
and the response to the challengers in the fourteenth century AH
A thesis for a doctorate degree
submitted by the student:
Abdul Mohsen bin Zaben bin Mutab Al-Mutairi, a teaching assistant
at the Faculty of Sharia - Kuwait University
Supervised by: Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Abdul Rahim,
may God protect him





Introduction



Praise be to God, Lord of the Worlds, and prayers and peace be upon the most honorable of prophets and messengers, and upon his family and companions, and after:
The enemies of Islam have learned that the source of the glory of this religion and its people, and the secret of its renewal in the souls of Muslims is this great Quran, which does not become old from frequent repetition, and its wonders do not end, and the reader and listener do not get bored with it, and the believer only increases in certainty in his religion and attachment to it, this eternal miracle, and the verse that remains as long as night and day remain, this book that God Almighty promised to preserve by saying: (Indeed, it is We who sent down And indeed, We will be its guardian.” [Al-Hijr: 9]
Since this is the status of the Qur’an, the enemies of religion have striven to attack this Qur’an so that they may strip the Muslims of their attachment to it, and thus become easy prey and cold spoils. This war by the enemies of religion is not only against the Qur’an, but against all of its foundations and principles. There is the war on the Messenger (and his Sunnah (1), the attack on the justice of the Companions, the war on the Muslim woman (2) and her veil and chastity, the war on some rituals such as jihad (3), and other fronts, but the war on the Qur’an is the most dangerous, severe and fiercest of them; because the Qur’an is the one that indicates the previous principles and urges them, it is their origin and they are its branches, and with the loss of the origin the branches are lost; hence I decided in this thesis to collect these attacks and problems that are being raised now, which are mostly a repetition of what came before, if people knew them and were protected from them this confusion would not have occurred from these doubts.
One of the aims of the thesis is also to respond to the Orientalists who attack this religion and doubt the sanctity and infallibility of its book, as well as to respond to the contemporaries who were influenced by these doubts and began to repeat them.
So I chose my thesis for a doctorate to be entitled:

Attacking the Holy Qur’an
and responding to those who attacked it in the fourteenth century AH.


Among the reasons for which I chose this topic are: 1-
The many attacks in this era, especially on the Qur’an, and accusing it of contradiction, whether from orientalists, enemies of religion, or those who claim to be Muslims.
2- Some Muslims are influenced by these doubts that are raised, so it is incumbent upon students of knowledge and its people to expose these doubts and show all people their corruption.
3- Proving the miraculous nature of the Qur’an, that it is from God, and that God has truly guaranteed its preservation.
4- Exposing the doubts and lies of the attackers, and showing that they are a repetition of what the previous attackers have mentioned.
5- Exposing the hypocrites who have infiltrated among Muslims to attack this religion.
6- In compliance with the command of the Prophet (as in the hadith of Anas from the Prophet (he said: “Fight the polytheists with your wealth, your hands and your tongues” (4).
7- Entering into the party of the soldiers of Allah defending His Book; perhaps it will be an intercessor for us on the Day of Resurrection.
As for the importance of the subject, it is clear from many things, including:
1- Its general benefit to Muslims.
2- That the subject addresses a contemporary and ongoing problem.
3- That this topic has not been served as it deserves.
4- The danger of attacking the Qur’an; as it is one of the things that nullifies the covenant with the People of the Covenant, and even one of the things that nullifies Islam.
The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) warned against the danger of opening this door, when he found a group of his companions wading into it at its door, and that is in what was reported in the hadith of Amr ibn Shu’ayb from His father, on the authority of his grandfather: Some people were sitting at the door of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Some of them said: Did not Allah say such and such? And some of them said: Did not Allah say such and such? - and in another narration, they spoke about predestination. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) heard that, so he came out as if pomegranate seeds had been burst in his face. He said: “This is what you have been commanded with - or this is what you have been sent with - to strike some of the Book of Allah with it.” (5)
5- What gives this thesis importance is that I have summarized many books in it, whether from the books of those who criticize or those who respond to them. It is the summary of the efforts of great scholars and the essence of various books.
After the preliminary reading, consulting professors and sheikhs, and being enlightened by their knowledge, the research plan came as follows:
Introduction:
Preface: In it are the following topics:
Topic One: Definition of criticizing the Qur’an.
Topic Two: Terms synonymous with criticizing.
Section Three: Defining the challengers in the fourteenth century AH.
Part One (Theoretical):
Challenges to the Qur’an: Its origins, causes, and confrontation

- Chapter One: The history of challenge to the Qur’an and the books written about it.
Section One: The first to speak about it.
Section Two: The first to write about it.
Section Three: Trends of scholars in writing in this field.
Section Four: Books written about it.
- Section Two: Reasons for challenge to the Qur’an.
Section One: Why this war on the Qur’an?
Section Two: What is the wisdom behind the existence of ambiguous verses in the Qur’an?
Section Three: Types of challenges.
-
Section Three: Confronting claims of challenge to the Qur’an.
Section One: Exonerating the words of Allah from challenges.
Section Two: The position of the predecessors of the nation against those who raise doubts and challenges about the Qur’an.
Section Three: Rules for dealing with challenges.
Chapter Two (Applied):
The position of those who challenge the verses of the Qur’an and the response to them:

- Chapter One: General responses to those who challenge the Qur’an:
Section One: Evidence of the truthfulness of the Messenger (PBUH):
The first requirement: The good news of the previous books about him.
The second requirement: The testimony of the fair-minded among the opponents about his truthfulness.
The third requirement: The signs that Allah the Almighty performs through his hands.
The fourth requirement: Allah the Almighty’s acknowledgment of him and his call and His response to his supplication.
The fifth requirement: The proof of his truthfulness is the perfection of his morals.
The sixth requirement: His constant readiness for any test presented to him.
The seventh requirement: Not exploiting opportunities for arrogance.
The eighth requirement: Mubahala on what he has.
The ninth requirement: Protecting him from everything that plots against him.
The tenth requirement: The absence of personal purpose.
The eleventh requirement: His informing of the ends in the beginnings.
The twelfth requirement: His informing of the unseen.
The thirteenth requirement: The perfection of legislation.
The fourteenth requirement: The scientific miracle.
The fifteenth requirement: The precise description of the unseen.
The sixteenth requirement: The unification of the hearts of the Arabs.
The seventeenth requirement: Obligation.
The second section: The evidence of the truthfulness of the Qur’an and what is in it:
The first requirement: The miracle of the Qur’an.
The second requirement: The challenge to bring something similar.
The third requirement: The testimony of the infidels, the People of the Book, and his enemies to his truthfulness.
The fourth requirement: The thematic unity of each surah.
The fifth requirement: The absence of contradiction.
The third section: The Qur’an’s responses to the critics.
The fourth section: Other general responses:
The first requirement: The lack of opposition from the infidels of Mecca.
The second requirement: Say, “Bring your proof.
” The third requirement: Contradicting reality.
The fourth requirement: The consensus of the nation.
- .

The first section: Questioning the attribution of the Qur’an to God Almighty:
The first requirement: The claim that the Qur’an is from our Prophet Muhammad (.
The second requirement: The claim that the Qur’an was transmitted from someone else. The third
requirement: The permissibility of criticizing and contradicting it.
The second section: The claim that it is not preserved:
The first requirement: The suspicion that it is not the Qur’an that was revealed.
The second requirement: The suspicion that it was added to and subtracted from.
The third requirement: Abrogation in the Qur’an and attacking it from this aspect.
The third section: Accusing the Qur’an of contradiction:
The first requirement: Is there a real contradiction in the Qur’an?
The second requirement: The claim that some verses contradict each other.
The fourth section: Accusing the Qur’an of contradicting facts:
The first requirement: The claim that the Qur’an contradicts religious facts.
The second requirement: The claim that the Qur’an contradicts historical facts.
The third requirement: The claim that the Qur’an contradicts cosmic facts.

Then the conclusion, and the message was appended with several indexes to fully benefit from the research.

The method followed in this message was as follows:
1- I have made a great effort to try to limit the criticisms; I have collected as many books as I could that challenge the Qur’an or respond to the critics, and I have been keen to attend most of the book fairs that are held; perhaps I will find something that I do not have, and I have gone to many universities to search for similar theses to what I have written, and I have searched the Internet, and entered many websites that specialize in criticizing Islam, such as some Christian rooms on Paltalk and others, and I have asked many specialists in this field and those interested, and it has become clear to me that limiting the critics is very difficult; Some of them are famous, and some of them are obscure and unknown, so naming them and responding to them is defaming them, and some of them, or rather most of them, repeat what was said previously of criticisms, so I tended to limit the criticisms and not the critics - without neglecting to mention them if they exist, especially the famous ones among them - because the criticisms are mostly the same, and as for the critics, they are like parrots repeating what they heard, and this is also a prophetic method, as the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to respond to the mistake, not to the mistaken one, by saying: “What is wrong with people who do such and such?” (6).
2- It is not my method to collect everything that was raised, rather I collect what was doubtful and may be confusing to some people, and as for some of the criticisms that the critics bring up due to their ignorance of the language, or their misunderstanding, or distortion of meaning, or lying, or a claim devoid of evidence, or attributing deep-seated hatred, then mentioning this is sufficient to invalidate it, and it is sufficient for you from the evil of hearing it, such as their denial of the eloquence of the Qur’an while they are the people furthest from appreciating the eloquence of the Qur’an, or interpreting it. Some of them said the Almighty’s saying: (And you will see the angels barefoot around the Throne (Az-Zumar: 75); some orientalists said in interpreting the meaning of (barefoot): that is, without shoes (7). (Some orientalists interpreted the Almighty’s saying: (And We have fastened every man’s bird to his neck (Al-Isra’: 13) by saying: The disbeliever will come with a dove around his neck. Among them is a scholar who undertook to compile the major dictionaries (8), so he wrote in the entry for (akhdh) that it comes with the meaning of slept, based on the Almighty’s saying: (Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep (9) [Al-Baqarah: 255]). And like the claim of some of them that they found a manuscript in the handwriting of the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him), and thus it is proven that he was not illiterate (10), and the saying of some of them: The meaning of the Almighty’s saying: (Those who follow the unlettered Prophet whom they find…) [Al-A’raf: 157] is that unlettered means pagan (11). And the claim of some of them that the revelation was an epilepsy that afflicted the Prophet (12) (. Or descending to the lowest level of baseness by applying the word (shit) to the Qur’an, as in the book of Haidar Haidar (13) (A Feast for Seaweeds) (14), and other such foolishness.
3- The objections to the Qur’an are divided into two parts: objections about the Qur’an and objections to the Qur’an. The objections to the Qur’an include objections to the compilation of the Qur’an, the frequency of the Qur’an, the division of the Qur’an into Meccan and Medinan, the revelation of the Qur’an in seven letters, the meaning of the ambiguous in the Qur’an, abrogation in the Qur’an, translation of the Qur’an, the miracle of the Qur’an, readings of the Qur’an...etc. These are the doubts that surround the Qur’an and do not directly object to its verses. This research has been sufficient for us by a number of distinguished scholars and eminent researchers. Among the best of these books that I have read is the book “Doubts about the Qur’an and their Refutation” by Dr. Ghazi Enaya (15). Some of them devoted a book to some of these topics, such as the book “Orientalists and the Translation of the Noble Qur’an” by Dr. Muhammad Salih al-Bandaq (16). In the book “Readings and their Impact on Interpretation and Rulings” by Dr. Muhammad bin Omar Bazmool (17), he included a chapter entitled (Refuting the Doubts Raised about Readings) in which he answered everything raised about this topic, and the book Readings in the View of Orientalists and Atheists by Sheikh Abdul Fattah Abdul Ghani Al-Qadi (18), and the book The Revelation of the Qur’an in Seven Letters by Dr. Mana’ Al-Qattan (19), and in the magazine Liwaa Al-Islam, a study by Abdul Bari Ibrahim Abu Abla in response to the Orientalists’ objections to the language of the Qur’an and its grammar (20).
Among the most severe books that attacked this topic are two books:
1- The Qur’an: Its Revelation, Codification, Translation and Influence, by Blachere (21).
2- Introduction to the Book of the Qur’ans by Abu Dawud, by Arthur Jeffery.
Dr. Ismail Salem Abdul Aal responded to them in his book Orientalists and the Qur’an, in two parts (22).
As for the second type, which is the attack on the Qur’an itself in terms of its meanings, its reports, its rulings, and other things, which is what I am researching, the reason for that is that this is the type in which the Qur’an took on the task of responding to the attackers. And because responding to these doubts involves responding to those doubts by way of necessity, then if it is proven that the Qur’an is not from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), but from Allaah the Most High, and it is not subject to criticism, and that there is no distortion or addition in it, and that it is the truth of the news and it is obligatory to follow it, if this is proven then Allaah said about it: “Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur’an and indeed, We will be its guardian” [al-Hijr: 9], then there is no room to criticise its mutawatir, its collection, its readings, and what was abrogated from it; because it is preserved by Allaah’s preservation of it.
4- I made the reference to the verses in the Mushaf the core of the research, so that the margin would not be filled with footnotes.
5- I was keen to graduate the hadeeths and reports and to judge them. If the hadeeth was in the two Saheehs or one of them, I was satisfied with referring to it; and if it was in other than them, I investigated its graduation and showed its authenticity or weakness, and I judged these hadeeths myself, then I documented that from the words of the scholars if they existed.
6- I translated for those who were not famous.
7- I read the hadeeths of the six books and al-Muwatta’ 8- The response to the critics was varied; I responded to them at the beginning with general responses suitable for
every criticism of the virtue of general responses to those who criticize the Qur’an, then I responded to the four main criticisms with general responses, each criticism in itself in the section on the causes of differences in the Qur’an. Then in the section on detailed responses to those who criticize the Qur’an, I responded to each criticism with two types of responses, the first a general response to every criticism in this branch, then a detailed response to every criticism mentioned.
9- I was keen on the general responses to each objection in the section of detailed responses to those who objected to the Qur’an; because they are the most important, and they are valid for what has been raised and for what may be raised in the future, and as for the detailed responses to each objection, they are endless, and what may be opened for one person is not opened for another in the response, and some of them are naive objections that do not deserve a response.
I faced many difficulties in the stages of preparing this research, including:
1- The large number of objectors and the difficulty of limiting them, as they are many in every Arab and Islamic country, and more of them in the countries of Europe and America.
2- One of the difficulties I faced was trying to limit everything that was written in this regard, whether printed, handwritten, or lost, so I resorted to the books of the classes of interpreters; to know everyone who wrote about objections to the Qur’an, and I stripped them and limited from them the books that were written in response to the objectors. The books of the classes that I found are:
A- Tabaqat al-Mufassirin by al-Suyuti (23).
B- Tabaqat al-Mufassirin by al-Dawudi, a student of al-Suyuti (24).
C- Tabaqat al-Mufasir by al-Adnouri (25).
3- One of the difficulties I faced in defining the Orientalists is that the books written about them are few.
4- There is another problem that lies in translating their names, because if a definition is found for them, it is difficult to know what the literal translation of the name is, such as the French Orientalist (ganier) (26), some call him: Ganiere, some: Ganiere, and some: Kanier, so you do not know whether to search for his name in the letter jim or in the letter kaf, and the same is true for the Orientalist (gibb) (27), some call him: Jab, some Ghab, and others Qab, and so on, and I translated for more than twenty of them, and as for those whose translation I did not find, they are only two.
5- Another difficulty is that most of the Orientalists’ books were written in a language other than Arabic, so I found it difficult to translate them or search for a translation for them, and I usually copied them from other books.
6- One of the difficulties is that some of the Orientalists’ books that were printed in Arabic have not been reprinted for a long time, and are hardly found in book markets. Therefore, I was forced to transfer them from the books of scholars who responded to them in their time.
7- I traveled to Holland to meet Dr. Nasr Hamid Abu Zaid to make sure that he maintained his views and discuss them with him. I spoke to him by phone from Holland, but he refused to meet me categorically despite my many attempts to request that. When I was there, a Somali woman of Dutch nationality, who was a Muslim, insulted the Prophet (PBUH) in the newspapers and attacked his religion and announced that she was an atheist who did not believe in any religion. I asked the brothers in Holland to collect everything she said and translate it into Arabic. I asked them if she mentioned evidence or similarities for what she said or if it was just words without any basis. The result of the translation was the second. Her words were just insults and abuse without any argument, rather it was pure whims. Then, after this uproar, she nominated herself for the Parliament in Holland. Then the reason became clear and the wonder was gone. (Our Lord, let not our hearts deviate after You have guided us and grant us from Yourself mercy. Indeed, You are the Bestower.) [Al Imran: 7].

In conclusion, I ask God Almighty to grant success and help, and to make This research is useful for people in this world, and beneficial for me in the hereafter.



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(1) See: The book: The Prophetic Sunnah in the Writings of the Enemies of Islam, Discussing and Responding to Them, Dr. Imad Al-Sayyid Al-Sharbiny, Dar Al-Yaqeen, Mansoura, First Edition, 2002, and The Quranists and Their Doubts about the Sunnah, Khadim Husayn Ilahi Bakhsh, Taif, Al-Siddiq Library, First Edition, 1989.
(2) See: The book: What do they want from women by Abd al-Salam Basyouni, published by the Department of Islamic Affairs in Qatar, as it is valuable in this regard; and the book The Return of the Veil, by Muhammad Ismail al-Muqaddam, Riyadh, Dar Taybah, third edition, 1406 AH.
(3) See: The Impact of the Esoteric Movements in Obstructing Jihad Against the Crusaders, Yusuf Ibrahim al-Sheikh Eid, Dar al-Ma’ali, Amman, first edition, 1998.
(4) Narrated by Abu Dawud (Book of Jihad, Chapter: Dislike of Abandoning the Conquest, No.: 2504), al-Nasa’i (Book of Jihad, Chapter: The Obligation of Jihad, No.: 3096), Imam Ahmad in al-Musnad (No.: 11837), and al-Darimi (Book of Jihad, Chapter: On Jihad against the Polytheists with the Tongue and Hand, No.: 2431), and its chain of transmission is sound.
(5) Narrated by Imam Ahmad (6806) and Ibn Majah (in the introduction in the chapter: On Destiny, No.: 85), and its chain of transmission is good.
(6) See: Sahih Al-Bukhari: (Book of Prayer, Chapter: Mentioning buying and selling on the pulpit in the mosque, No.: 444), (Book of Prayer, Chapter: Raising the gaze to the sky in prayer, No.: 717), and (Book of Etiquette, Chapter: Whoever does not confront people with reproach, No.: 5750).
(7) See: Islam, a Global Call and Other Articles, by Abbas Mahmoud Al-Aqqad (p.: 189), Publications of the Modern Library, Beirut.
(8) Al-Aqqad’s description of this orientalist as a scholar is a form of mockery and ridicule of his extreme ignorance of the Arabic language, and his ignorance is exposed by his interpretation of the root (to take) meaning to sleep, thus contradicting all the dictionaries of the language, so he became like someone who specializes in creating dictionaries for us that we do not know.
(9) See: The Poetic Language: The Advantages of Art and Expression in the Arabic Language, by Abbas Mahmoud Al-Akkad (p. 75), Publications of the Modern Library, Beirut. Muhammad Al-Awadhi mentioned in his article on Orientalism in the Kuwaiti Al-Hadath newspaper (Issue 96) dated October 5, 2002: that one of the Orientalists interpreted the Almighty’s saying (They are clothing for you and you are clothing for them) by saying: meaning they are pants for you and you are pants for them.
(10) The previous reference (p. 192) which states that the Cairo newspapers transmitted this news from a Beirut newspaper in which its author proved that it was in the handwriting of the Prophet (PBUH). It is known that this can only be proven in two ways: One: that we have a manuscript written in the handwriting of the Prophet (PBUH) and compare the two handwritings, which obviously does not exist. The second: that just witnesses testify that the Prophet (PBUH) wrote it, which does not exist at all.
(11) See: Defense of the Qur’an Against Its Critics, by Abd al-Rahman Badawi (p. 15), Dar al-Alamiyah li-Lubut wa-Nashr, Cairo. Badawi says in this book (p. 7): The Orientalists’ knowledge of the Arabic language from a literary or artistic perspective is weak, and it can be said that this observation applies to almost all of them. End quote.
(12) See: Present World of Islam, by Stoddard (1/34), translated by Ajaj Nuwayhid, Dar al-Fikr, Beirut, fourth edition, 1973.
(13) Haidar Haidar: Syrian writer A contemporary resident of the village of (Husayn al-Bahr) near the port of Tartous, he wrote the novel “A Feast for Seaweeds” and filled it with mockery and ridicule of God Almighty and His Messenger, may God bless him and grant him peace, His Book and the religion of Islam, the Messengers and Prophets, Al-Azhar, and other things. See: The New Atheists by Jamal Abdul Rahim (p. 125), first edition, 2001.
(14) See The New Atheists by Jamal Abdul Rahim (p. 127).
(15) Printed by Dar and Maktabat Hilal for Printing and Publishing, Beirut, first edition, 1996.
(16) Dar Al-Afaq Al-Jadida, Beirut, second edition, 1983.
(17) Printed by Dar Al-Hijr, Riyadh, first edition, 1996.
(18) Publications of the Dar Library in Medina.
(19) Wahba Library, first edition, 1991.
(20) Issue 3, for the thirty-first year, dated November 1976, p. 35.
(21) Régis Blachère (1900-1973) French orientalist, born in Paris and traveled with his parents to Morocco and studied in Casablanca, and was appointed professor of Arabic at the National School of Oriental Languages ​​in Paris, and held several important positions and wrote many books about Islam. See: Encyclopedia of Orientalists, by Dr. Abdul Rahman Badawi, (p. 127) Dar Al-Alam Lil-Malayin, Beirut, third edition, 1993.
(22) The book was issued by the Muslim World League in Mecca, and it is one of its periodic publications under the Call of Truth series, ninth year, issue 104, for the year 1410 AH.
(23) Printed by Wahba Library, Cairo, edited by Ali Muhammad Umar, first edition, 1396.
(24) Dar Al-Kutub Al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, edited by a committee of scholars under the supervision of the publisher.
(25) Edited by Sulayman Al-Khuzai, printed by Maktabat Al-Ulum wal-Hikam, Medina, first edition, 1997.
(26) See: Encyclopedia of Orientalists (p. 168).
(27) See: Encyclopedia of Orientalists by Abd Al-Rahman Badawi (p. 174).

Introduction,


which includes the following topics:

Topic One: Definition of attacking the Qur’an.
Topic Two: Terms synonymous with attacking the Qur’an.
Topic Three: Definition of attackers in the twentieth century.

The first section:
Definition of (the challenge to the Qur’an):

- First: Definition of challenge:
(Ta’an: he stabbed him with a spear, and stabbed the tooth both from the root of victory, and stabbed him, meaning he struck from the root of victory also, and stabbing also with the opening of the ‘ayn, thus in Al-Sahah, and in it also: Al-Farra’ allows the opening of the ‘ayn of yasta’ in all, and Al-Azhari said in Al-Tahdheeb: Ta’anan is the saying of Al-Layth, and as for others, the source of all according to him is stabbing and nothing else, and the ‘ayn of the present tense is damma in all according to Al-Layth, and some of them open the ‘ayn of the present tense of stabbing with the saying to differentiate between them. Al-Kisa’i said: I did not hear in the present tense of all except the damma. Al-Farra’ said: I heard stabbing with the spear with the fatha. In the Diwan, stabbing with a spear is mentioned, and in Al-Lisan in the root of victory, then he said in the chapter: cut and stabbed yasta’an language in stabbing yasta’an, so he made each one of them from the two chapters, and the stabbed: the man A lot of stabbing of the enemy, and a people who are obeyed, and in the hadith: “The believer is not a stabber”; meaning in the honor of people. And the plague: death from an epidemic, and the plural is plagues (28).
Ibn Faris said: (Stab: a sound and consistent root, and it is to poke something with something that penetrates it, then attack it, and the stabbing with a spear is borrowed from that, and a man who stabs people’s honor, and in the hadith: “The believer is not a stabber.” And some of them said: stabbing with a spear is yatu’unu with a damma, and stabbing with speech is yatu’anu with a fatha) (29).
So the word stabbing has two meanings; physical and moral; The sensual means hitting with a sharp instrument like a dagger, and it is transitive to the object (stabbed him), and the present tense of it has a dammah on the first letter (stabbed), and some of them open it. The moral means disparaging something, whether it is lineage, a book, a person, or something else, and it is intransitive (stabbed him), and the present tense of it has a fathah on the first letter (stabbed).
- Second: Definition of the Qur’an:
It is the miraculous speech of God revealed to Muhammad (peace be upon him), written in the copies of the Qur’an, transmitted by successive generations, and recited as an act of worship (30). The Qur’an is one of the famous things that does not need a definition.
- Third: Definition of attacking the Qur’an:
Attacking the Qur’an: It is one of the topics of the sciences of the Qur’an, which seeks to respond to those who attack the Book of God, or claim its contradiction or its difficulty, and respond to them with legal, rational, and sensory evidence (31).


The second topic:
Terms synonymous with attacking the Qur’an


There are several terms in naming this science, synonymous with the term attacking the Qur’an, which are:
1- Ambiguous or suspected:
As many scholars call this science (ambiguous), such as the book:
Ambiguous Verses by Baqi bin Mukhallad, and Lights on the Ambiguous Qur’an by Khalil Yassin, and Interpretation of the Ambiguous Qur’an by Ibn Shahr Ashub and others (32).
They took this name from the Almighty’s saying: (It is He who sent down to you the Book Some of its verses are clear - they are the foundation of the Book - and others are ambiguous... (Al Imran: 7).
I did not choose this title for the message because ambiguous is used - in the sciences of the Qur’an and interpretation - to have several meanings:
1- The ambiguous is used to mean the problematic verses that may be ambiguous to the reader’s understanding, due to their lack of a clear indication of their meaning (33), which requires an answer and response to the challenger, as mentioned above.
2- It is used to mean the opposite of the decisive, which is that which only God knows, or that only God and those firmly grounded in knowledge know (34); such as the disconnected letters, and the reality of God’s attributes and their qualities.
3- It is used to mean the verses that are similar in wording, and may be separated by a letter or a word, and the explanation of this separation. Scholars have written many books on this art, including: “Durrat al-Tanzil wa Ghurrat al-Ta’wil fi Bayan al-Ayat al-Mutashabihat fi Kitab Allah al-Aziz” (35) by al-Khatib al-Iskafi (36), and the most famous and best of them is the book “al-Burhan fi Mutashabih al-Quran” (37) by al-Karmani (38).
4- It is used to mean comparing one thing to another, such as the beautiful women with pearls. Ibn Naqia al-Baghdadi (39) wrote his book “Al-Juman fi Tashbihat al-Quran” (40) in this meaning, and Sayyid Qutb wrote a book in this meaning called “Artistic Imagery in the Qur’an.”
5- It is used to mean that the Qur’an is similar in terms of structure, eloquence, and the goal it calls for. You will not find any difference in its style, nor any contradiction in its meanings, nor any variation in its surahs, as in the words of Allah the Most High: “Allah has sent down the best statement, a consistent Book, repeated, at which the skins of those who fear their Lord shiver. Then their skins and their hearts soften at the remembrance of Allah. That is the guidance of Allah; He guides thereby whom He wills. And he whom Allah sends astray - for him there is no guide.” [Az-Zumar: 23]
Al-Qurtubi said: “Similar, resembling one another in beauty and wisdom, and confirming one another, there is no contradiction or difference in it.” (41)
Since this name is difficult to understand and shared among several meanings, I have ignored it.
2- The illusion of difference or the different meaning of the Qur’an:
This is what Al-Zarkashi called it in Al-Burhan: The thirty-fifth type: Knowing the illusion of difference (42), and Al-Suyuti called it in Al-Itqan: The forty-eighth type in the problem and the illusion of difference and contradiction.
They took this name from the verse, which is the Almighty’s saying: (Do they not then consider the Qur’an carefully? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy.) [An-Nisa’: 82].
3- The illusion of confusion:
This is from the book “Refuting the illusion of confusion from the verses of the Book” by Muhammad Al-Amin Al-Shanqeeti.
This name and the one before it talk about one type of objection, which is the contradiction in the verses, although objections have other types, such as denying the attribution of the Qur’an to God, and objecting to its language and other things; that is why I did not name the message with it; because it falls short of including all types of objections.
4- Questions of the Qur’an:
i.e. the questions that some people ask with the intention of casting doubt on the Book of God Almighty; and from this: the book “Al-Burhan fi Masa’il al-Qur’an” by Al-Jama’ili Al-Maqdisi, and “Al-Tabyan fi Masa’il al-Qur’an” by Radhi Al-Din Al-Qazwini, and some of them call them the answers to the Qur’an; considering the answer to this question, such as the book “Al-Jawabat fi Al-Qur’an” by Muqatil bin Sulayman, and some of them combine the two names such as “Questions of the Qur’an and its Answers” ​​by Abu Bakr Al-Razi.
5- The Mysterious of the Qur’an:
and from this: the book “Kashf Ghawamidh Al-Qur’an” by Fakhr Al-Din Al-Turahi.
6- The Problem of the Qur’an:
And from this is the book: “Ta’wil Mushkil Al-Quran” by Ibn Qutaybah - some of them call it “Mushkil Al-Quran” (1), and it is one of the first books written separately on this art, and it is printed and circulated.
And “Fawa’id fi Mushkil Al-Quran” by Sultan Al-Ulama Al-Izz bin Abd Al-Salam.
And “Mushkil Al-Quran” by Muhammad Anwar Al-Kashmiri.
And “Mushkil Al-Quran” by Al-Hakim Al-Tirmidhi, and it is the most common name among scholars for this art, as I found about twenty scholars who call it by this term as will come (43).
From this we can conclude that this science has seven names among scholars.


The third section:
Defining


those who attack the Book of Allah are those who doubt it, who bring doubts, problems and confusions to it, wanting by this to remove the sanctity of the Qur’an from the hearts of Muslims; because the Qur’an is the axis of the Muslims’ millstone around which they revolve, and it is the firmest handle to which they cling, and it is the sweet source to which they return and from which they issue. It is the foundation of Islam and the cornerstone of the Sharia, which if it falls, the entire structure falls, the edifice collapses, Islam is undermined, and Muslims will have no remaining power or strength.
The critics have increased in every century, but this century has been distinguished by two types of critics, namely:
The first type: Orientalists.
The second type: Secularists, or students of Orientalists, or rationalists... The following is a brief overview of each of them:
First: Orientalists:
Orientalism: An expression that indicates a trend towards the East, and is applied to everything that studies the affairs of the East, their culture and history, and it refers to that intellectual trend that is represented in conducting various studies about the East, which include its civilization, literature, languages, and culture (44).
It was exploited in most of its stages to serve colonialism and distort the teachings of religion.
This thought arose when Christians were unable to confront Muslims with the sword, so they saw that the best way to fight Muslims was intellectual invasion.
They have many ways to achieve their goals, including: writing books, publishing magazines, giving lectures in forums about Islam, the Qur’an, the Sunnah, and the history of Muslims, establishing associations and centers that serve their purposes, holding secret and public conferences, creating the Encyclopedia of Islam and others, sending missions, establishing Western universities and colleges in the countries of the East, and other means. These have effects, most of which are negative and some of which are positive.
Among the negative effects are:
1 - Attacking the Qur’an and the Sunnah, which are the source of legislation in religion.
2 - Trying to revive dead deviant sects, or the ideas of some deviants such as Al-Hallaj and others.
3 - Turning people away from Islam by distorting its teachings, as the Encyclopedia Britannica did.
4 - Bringing out a generation of Muslims who are alienated from their religion and even fight it. 5
- Casting doubt on the constants, such as jihad, hijab, inheritance, and legal punishments, such as stoning the adulterer, cutting off the hand of the thief, killing the apostate, and other constants.
6 - Taking women out of their veils by portraying the hijab as a worthless rag, and trying to make women equal to men in everything, even in the permissibility of polygamy.
As for the positive effects, they include:
1 - The testimony of the fair-minded among them to the truth of Islam and the miracle of the Qur’an, to the point that it prompted many of them to declare their conversion to Islam.
2 - Extracting some Islamic treasures that were in manuscripts by verifying and printing them.
3 - Creating an indexed dictionary of the words of the Prophetic Hadith.
The motives for Orientalism are many and go back to three motives: colonial, religious, and scientific (45).

Second: Secularists: We mean by them the students of those Orientalists; Those who have been suckled by their ideas and their attacks on the Book of Allah, and despite this they claim Islam, speak in its name, and claim that by this they only want reform (And when it is said to them, “Do not cause corruption on the earth,” they say, “We are only reformers.” (11) Unquestionably, it is they who are the corrupters, but they perceive [it] not. (Al-Baqarah: 11-12). And they attribute themselves to knowledge, and say: We are secularists, deceiving the common people.
The danger of these people is greater (46); because in the name of Islam they attack Islam, and under the pretext of defending it they fight it, and their names are like our names, and they are our own people, so their deception of the common people, and even some of the elite, is severe, so responding to these people and exposing their falsehoods and deceptions is one of the greatest duties. And the most important of the obligations, so that the nation may beware of them and be safe from their evil; in the two Sahihs on the authority of Hudhayfah ibn al-Yaman, he said: The people used to ask the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) about good, and I used to ask him about evil for fear that it would overtake me, so I said: O Messenger of Allah, we were in ignorance and evil, then Allah brought us this good, so is there any evil after this good? He said: “Yes.” I said: Is there any good after this evil? He said: “Yes, and in it is smoke.” I said: “What is its smoke?” He said: “A people who guide other than my guidance. You will recognize some of them and some of them will not.” I said: “Is there any evil after this good?” He said: “Yes, callers to the gates of Hell. Whoever responds to them, they will throw him into it.” I said: “O Messenger of Allah, describe them to us.” He said: “They are from our skin and speak our language.” I said: “What do you command me to do if that happens to me?” He said: “Stick to the community of Muslims and their Imam.” I said: “What if they do not have a community or an Imam?” He said: “Then isolate yourself from all those groups, even if you have to bite the root of a tree until death overtakes you while you are in that state.” (47)
There is a third type, but we cannot count them among the challengers, even if they have done things - whether intentionally or unintentionally - that have opened the door for challengers of the Qur’an (48); from an unacceptable interpretation in the interpretation of the Qur’an, or an answer to a problem that contains a concession and surrender implicit in it, or distorting the meanings of many constants to meanings that keep up with the times - in their claim - or canceling them completely, or forcing oneself to use a verse as evidence for something that it does not indicate from near or far (49).
They are some of those who belong to the modern rationalist school that gives precedence to reason over transmission, like the ancient Mu’tazila; our professor Dr. Muhammad Baltaji says in the introduction to his book “Introduction to the Science of Interpretation”: And it includes several (discussions in presenting and evaluating some contemporary studies that deal with the Qur’anic text from false starting points and methods that try to wear the garb of renewal and enlightenment, but they are - in reality, essence and goals - the same claims that have been challenged in the Noble Qur’an since God Almighty revealed it) (50).
He said, may Allah protect him: In our present era, there have appeared individuals who have used some of the Mu'tazilite terminology and sayings, and have taken them as a semblance of them, but they have gone too far on the path, and have not stopped at the point where the ancient Mu'tazilites stopped, but have gone beyond it in a dangerous way, claiming that the literal understanding of the throne, the chair, the angels, the jinn, the pen, the tablet, magic, and others, presents mythical concepts - that history has surpassed - that stem from the cultural reality of the community at the time of the revelation of these verses that include these texts. They also claimed that many of the Qur'anic rulings have become historical, as the conditions, culture, and circumstances of the era have surpassed them and they are no longer suitable for application in it, and they have taken some of the efforts of 'Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him (51).


==========

(28) Mukhtar al-Sihah (1/165).
(29) Mu'jam Maqayis al-Lughah by Ibn Faris (3/412), with some modifications. See: Lisan al-'Arab (13/265-26).
(30) See: Manahil al-Irfan by al-Zarqani (1/15), Dar al-Fikr, Beirut, first edition, 1996, and see: Kitab al-Naba’ al-Azim by Dr. Muhammad Abdullah Daraz (p. 10), Dar Taybah for Publishing, first edition, 1997, and see: al-Munazarah fi al-Quran, Abdullah al-Maqdisi (1/22), Maktabat al-Rushd, Riyadh, first edition, 1409, edited by al-Judaie, and others.
(31) See: al-Burhan fi Ulum al-Quran by al-Zarkashi (2/53), Beirut Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, first edition, 1408, and al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Quran by al-Suyuti (3/79), Cairo, Maktabat Dar al-Turath, Bahir al-Burhan fi Mushkil al-Quran by Bayan al-Haqq al-Naysaburi (1/112).
(32) In the first chapter, in the discussion of the works on this subject, there will be a statement about these books and the place where they were printed or mentioned.
(33) See: Kashf al-Ma’ani fi al-Mutashabih al-Mathani by Badr al-Din ibn Jama’ah, (p. 28), edited by Marzouq Ibrahim, Dar al-Sharif for Publishing and Distribution, first edition, 1420.
(34) See: On the differences of scholars in defining the similar in this sense, the book Al-Itqan by al-Suyuti (3/3).
(35) Beirut, Dar al-Afaq al-Jadida, second edition, 1977.
(36) Al-Iskafi is Muhammad ibn Abdullah Abu Ja’far al-Iskafi, counted among the people of Baghdad as one of the theologians from the Mu’tazila. He has writings and used to debate al-Husayn ibn Ali al-Karabisi and speak with him. He died in the year 402 AH. See: Mu’jam al-Buldan, by Yaqut al-Hamawi, Dar al-Fikr, Beirut, (1/181).
(37) Dar al-Wafa’, al-Mansoura, first edition, 1411 AH.
(38) Al-Karmani is the long-lived Badr al-Din, Abu Hafs Omar bin Muhammad bin Abi Saad al-Karmani, a resident of Damascus. He was born in Nishapur in the year five hundred and seventy. In his old age, he heard from al-Qasim al-Saffar, and narrated a lot in Damascus. He was a preacher, and he died in Sha’ban in the year six hundred and sixty-five. See: Shudharat al-Dhahab, Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, Beirut, (3/327).
(39) He is: Abdullah, and it was said: Abdul-Baqi bin Muhammad bin Al-Hussein bin Dawud bin Naqia Abu Al-Qasim, the literary poet, linguist, and fluent speaker. He is from the people of Al-Hareem Al-Tahiri, which is a neighborhood of Baghdad. He was born in the middle of Dhu Al-Qi’dah in the year four hundred and ten. He was a distinguished and distinguished man, and he has good and useful works, including the book “Al-Juman fi Tafsir Mutashabihat Al-Quran” and a collection he called “Milh Al-Mamalihah.” He was attributed to the denial and the doctrine of the ancients, and he wrote an article about that. He was very licentious. He died on the night of Sunday, the fourth of Muharram in the year four hundred and eighty-five, and was buried in Bab Al-Sham. See: Tabaqat Al-Mufassirin by Al-Suyuti, (1/141), first edition, Cairo, Wahba Library 1936 AD, and Al-Muntazam by Ibn Al-Jawzi (9/69), Dar Sadir edition, Beirut, 1358 AH, first edition.
(40) Investigation by Mustafa al-Juwayni, Dar Manshad al-Ma'arif, Alexandria.
(41) Tafsir al-Qurtubi (15/162), Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyyah, first edition, 1988.
(42) Al-Burhan fi Ulum al-Quran (2/53).
(1) See: Ta'wil Mushkil al-Quran (3/202).
(43) In the section on books written in this field in detail.
(44) See: The Simplified Encyclopedia of Contemporary Religions, Sects, and Parties (2/697), supervised by the World Assembly of Islamic Youth, reviewed by Dr. Mani' bin Hammad al-Juhani, third edition, 1418, publisher: Dar al-Nadwa al-Alamiyah for Printing, Publishing, and Distribution, Riyadh, and Wings of the Three Wings of Deceit and Their Hidden Secrets, by Abd al-Rahman Habanka, Damascus, Dar al-Qalam, fifth edition, 1986.
- Orientalism and Evangelism, A Brief Historical Reading, Dr. Muhammad al-Sayyid al-Jalind, Dar al-Nahda, Cairo University Campus.
- An Islamic View of Orientalism, Ahmed Ghorab, from the Islamic Forum Publications Series.
- Orientalism and Orientalists. Dr. Mustafa al-Siba’i, Dar al-Salam, Cairo.
- Orientalists and Islam. Dr. Muhammad Qutb, Wahba Library, Cairo.
- Orientalist Images. Dr. Abdul Jalil Shibli, Dar al-Sharq, Cairo.
- Orientalists. Dr. Abed bin Muhammad al-Sufyani. Dar al-Furqan. Cairo.
(45) See: The Previous Sources and the Summary of Contemporary Religions and Doctrines by Al-Aql and Al-Qafari (pp. 174-185), first edition, 1413, Dar al-Sumaie, Riyadh.
(46) See: The Book: Refutation of Objections to the Holy Qur’an, by Muhammad Arafa, (p. 82).
(47) Agreed upon: (Al-Bukhari: Book of Virtues, Chapter: Signs of Prophethood in Islam, No.: 3411, and Muslim: Book of Leadership, Chapter: The Obligation of Adhering to the Community of Muslims During Tribulations, No.: 1847).
(48) See: Trends of Renewal in the Interpretation of the Noble Qur’an, by our professor Dr. Sharif, p.: 737.
(49) Such as denying all miracles except the Qur’an, denying the minor signs of the Hour and some of the major ones such as the descent of Jesus, the Mahdi, Gog and Magog and the Beast, denying some of the unseen matters such as the world of the jinn and angels, denying polygamy, the veil, right hand possession, denying magic, interpreting the Ababil birds as germs, permitting some types of usury, and claiming that the Qur’an indicates the permissibility of summoning spirits, and other than that from the series of errors that were opened wide by giving precedence to reason over transmission and being dazzled by the Western world and trying to keep up with it. See: In explaining the errors of these people and responding to them:
Trends of Interpretation in the Contemporary Era, by Dr. Abdul Majeed Abdul Salam Al-Muhtasib, Dar Al-Bayariq, Jordan, third edition, 1982.
The Approach of the Modern Rational School in Interpretation, by Dr. Fahd Al-Rumi, Al-Rushd Library, Riyadh, fifth edition, 1422.
Interpretation and its Approaches in the School of Imam Muhammad Abduh, by Dr. Mahmoud Basyouni Fouda, Al-Amanah Press, Cairo.
Modernists between Claims of Renewal and Fields of Westernization, by Muhammad Hamid Al-Nasir, Al-Kawthar Library, Riyadh, first edition, 1996. Trends of Interpretation in the Fourteenth Century, Prof. Dr. Fahd Al-Rumi, Al-Risalah Foundation, Beirut, third edition, 1997.
Trends of Interpretation in the Modern Era, by Sheikh Mustafa Muhammad Al-Tayr, Islamic Research Complex Press, Cairo 1975.
Trends of Renewal in Interpretation of the Holy Qur’an in Egypt, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Ibrahim Sharif, Dar Al-Turath, Cairo, first edition, 1982.
(50) Introduction to the Science of Interpretation, by Dr. Muhammad Baltaji, p. 1, Youth Library, Egypt, 1998.
(51) The previous source, p. 155.

Chapter Two, Section

Two


, Fourth Topic :
Accusing the Qur’an of Contradicting Facts.





Second Requirement: The Claim that the Qur’an Contradicts Historical Facts:


This sedition was ignited and its banner was carried by Muhammad Khalaf Allah in his book “The Art of Narratives in the Holy Qur’an”, although he did not invent it, but rather took it from the Orientalists, including:
the German Orientalist Horowitz (780) (1874-1931), whose Qur’anic research contains a large group of observations and information, and the first part of his book “Qur’anic Studies” deals with the narrative texts in the Qur’an and divides his words into: generalities and formalities, deterrent myths, etc. And Professor Brockelmann (781), who mentioned some prominent titles for topics written about the stories of the Qur’an, which are historically as follows:
1- Satirical Satire in the Stories of the Qur’an, by Sigbar, Leipzig 1907.
2- Sources of Islamic Stories in the Qur’an and Stories of the Prophets, by Sider Sky, Paris, 1932.
3- Biblical Stories in the Qur’an, by Spier and Grevna Yingchen, 1939 AD.
After this, we find the Hungarian orientalist Bernt Heller (1857-1943 AD) specializing in almost a part of the Qur’anic stories, publishing research in the magazine Al-Fusul entitled:
1- The Story of the People of the Cave, 1907.
2- Jewish Elements in the Religious Terminology of the Qur’an, 1928 AD.
3- Stories of the Qur’an, The World of Islam, 1934 AD (782).
Then came the contemporaries after that - and unfortunately from our own people - to complete the journey, and implemented those falsehoods with statements that foretell bad intentions and corrupt intentions. These are their statements:
Taha Hussein says: (The Torah can tell us about Abraham and Ishmael, and the Qur’an can tell us as well, but the occurrence of these two names in the Torah and the Qur’an is not enough to prove their historical existence) (783).
Then Muhammad Khalaf Allah collected all these fallacies and the doubts they brought up about this issue and wrote a book of five hundred pages and called it “The Art of Narratives in the Holy Qur’an” (784), and Amin al-Khuli and his wife Aisha Abd al-Rahman (Bint al-Shati’) agreed with him on this (785).
Khalaf Allah presented an introduction stating that there is an art among the arts, which is what is called the art of narratives, and this art depends on the beauty of the style and the connection of the idea with the noble goal of the story, and this art is not harmed by the story being fabricated or imaginary as long as the goal is noble and the purpose is beneficial, then he built on this introduction that the stories of the Qur’an are a type of this art in all its qualities, so it is not necessary for every story mentioned in the Qur’an to be a real story, then after that he began to decide this claim that many of the Qur’anic stories are not historically correct, but rather history contradicts them.
Khalaf Allah presented his words with such boldness that he did not find it wrong to say what the infidels said: “Until, when they come to you to argue with you, those who disbelieve say, ‘This is not but legends of the ancients.’” [Al-An’am: 25]
Khalaf Allah said: “We are not embarrassed to say that the Qur’an is legends.” (786)
He said: “The Islamic mind is no longer obligated to believe in a specific opinion regarding these reports mentioned in the Qur’anic stories; this is because they were not conveyed as a religion to be followed... Hence, it becomes the right of the human mind to neglect these reports, or be ignorant of them, or disagree with them, or deny them” (787). Then he did not stop there until he said: (And from here it becomes our right, or the right of the Qur’an upon us, to make room for the mind to search and scrutinize, and there is no harm in it ending with this research in what contradicts these issues, and it will not be contradictory to what God wanted or what the Qur’an intended; because God did not want to teach us history, and because the Qur’anic stories were intended only for admonition and a lesson, and what is similar to them of aims and purposes, the contradiction here will only be contradictory to what the environment imagines and what it knows about history, and no one said that what the Arab environment knows about history is the truth and honesty, and he did not say that contradiction to what is in the minds of the Arabs of images about history is disbelief and atheism, but perhaps this contradiction is obligatory so that history is corrected and free from fantasies and illusions) (788). So
contradicting the Qur’an, according to him, is obligatory for the sake of history, so correcting history, according to him, is more important than correcting the Qur’an.
Look at this delirium that disgusts the souls of Muslims and makes their skin crawl. I am not in a position to respond to this book and all its fallacies, but rather I want to respond to this issue, which is the claim that the Qur’an contradicts historical facts. I will divide the response into two types: general responses and then detailed responses. Here is the explanation (789): -

General responses:
1- This claim contradicts the consensus of the nation that all the stories in the Qur’an only narrate a true reality (790).
2- There are texts that support this claim, and they are even disputed, such as the Almighty’s saying: “There was certainly in their stories a lesson for those of understanding. It was not a fabricated story, but a confirmation of what was before it and a detailed explanation of all things and a guidance and mercy for a people who believe.” [Yusuf: 111], His Almighty saying: “Indeed, this is the true account...” [Al-A’raf: 62], and His Almighty saying: “And the word of your Lord has been fulfilled in truth and justice. None can change it.” (791)
Everything in the Qur’an is either news or rulings, so all of its news is truth and all of its rulings are
just. Among the stories are the stories of previous nations with their prophets. 3- There is no doubt that one of the goals of the story is to teach a lesson, and sometimes the storyteller may invent a story and copy it from his imagination, but this is not perfection; for the narrator to take a lesson from a real story is the most perfect, and the Qur’an only comes with perfection, as Allah the Almighty said: (We relate to you the best of stories in what We have revealed to you of this Qur’an, although before it you were among the unaware.) (Yusuf: 3), and it was not better Stories are lies.
4- Dr. Beltagy said: (God Almighty - and He is the True Almighty - is too great to resort in His revealed book - which He revealed to guide all creation - to using falsehood and lies to attract the Arabs who were contemporaries of its revelation to faith, and He knows that others will believe in this book in other times and places. So what is the percentage of the Arabs who were contemporaries of the revelation of the Qur’an - and brought what they had of myths and illusions as they claimed - to those who converted and will convert in every age and place until God inherits the earth and those on it? Is such a statement correct except on the basis of a belief that sees Islam as (a local religion), which was revealed to the Arabian Peninsula in the seventh century AD, and attracted them to faith by agreeing with what they had of illusions, fantasies and falsehoods that contradict true history? Is it conceivable that God Almighty did not know the condition of those who would believe in the Qur’an from among those other than those, from those to whom the truth of these (illusions) would be revealed - as the proponents of the theory claimed?! And does not saying this lead us to a very important question: How does the Creator - Glory be to Him and Exalted - resort to what They say - to agree with the imaginations and delusions of the ignorant Arabs at the time of its revelation, and He is able - with certainty - to formulate His revealed book from the facts that agree with reality and history, which produce their effect of admonition and instruction at the same time? And does not this claim that this theory includes resemble a human trick that weak humans with limited ability and knowledge resort to in order to attract people to their calls? As for this being a divine method in revealing the last of the revealed books, this is something that minds cannot imagine from any aspect (792).
5-Scholars have been keen to take many legal rulings from the Qur’anic stories, such as the validity of the marriages of infidels, taken from the Almighty’s saying: (And the wife of Pharaoh said, “A comfort of the eye for me and for you...” [Al-Qasas: 9], and the permissibility of the dowry being an act, taken from the Almighty’s saying: (He said, “Indeed, I want to marry you to one of these two daughters of mine on condition that you serve me for eight years...” [Al-Qasas: 27] and others. Rather, they took from them doctrinal rulings in the principles of Muslim belief. Invalidating the Qur’anic stories invalidates many rulings, because if the story is false, then it is not permissible to take rulings from it, and no one has said this.
6-It follows from this saying that Allah Almighty has confused people by mentioning these false stories in His Book, which He claims is protected from error. And doubt and lies, and it is necessary that the Qur’an turned many people away from Islam because its stories do not match reality, rather this is what Khalaf claimed, where he claimed that adhering to the standard of historical truth in the Qur’anic stories is a danger, any danger to the Prophet (and to the Qur’an, rather it is worthy of pushing people to disbelieve in the Qur’an as they disbelieved in the Torah before (793).
7- Sheikh Shaltut said: (And these opinions - in addition to their bad results - take away the sanctity of the Qur’an from souls, and remove from it the splendor of truth, and shake its issues in everything it deals with of beliefs, legislation, past news, and future conditions) (794).
8- Allah the Almighty says: “Indeed, those who disbelieved in the message when it came to them - and indeed, it is a mighty Book. Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it; it is sent down by One Full of Wisdom, Praiseworthy.” [Fussilat: 41, 42]. If the historical content in the Qur’anic stories - as Khalaf Allah and his companions claim - is false in reality, and the same thing is identical to what was in the souls of the polytheists or others, would this not be in clear opposition to the content of this verse, which denies the possibility of falsehood intruding upon it from before it or from behind it? If we add to this the Almighty’s saying: “And those who disbelieved say, ‘This is not but a falsehood he has invented, and another people have aided him in it.’ But they have come with injustice and falsehood, and they say, ‘Legends of the former peoples which he has written down, and they are dictated to him morning and evening.’ Say, ‘It was sent down by He who knows the secret in the heavens and the earth. Indeed, He is Forgiving and Merciful.’”
[Surat Al-Furqan: 4-6], would there remain any What is the face of what Khalaf Allah mentioned? From an attempt to tamper with minds, what Khalaf Allah mentions that the denial of fabrication here is related to the source of the entire Quran, not its details! Is it really correct in the logic of minds that what applies to the whole does not apply to the details of this whole?! It is strange that Khalaf Allah established in his previous statement that there are myths in the Quran, and the previous verse narrates the saying of those who disbelieved in that, then he commented on it that the One who revealed this Quran is the One who knows the secret in the heavens and the earth, and in this is the most eloquent statement in denying the claim of myth about Him; because the One who knows the truths of things in everything, it is not permissible for Him to narrate myths and falsehoods in His revealed book as if they are the truth that falsehood cannot approach. Rather, this is what happens to those who are deficient in knowledge and understanding among humans, who do not have knowledge of the truths and secrets of the universe.
9- And this last meaning is the confirmation of the Almighty’s saying: (Do they not then consider the Qur’an carefully? Had it been from other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy? [Surat An-Nisa’, verse 82] meaning – and Allah knows best – they would have found therein much discrepancy with the facts of historical and cosmic matters, and they would have found therein much discrepancy with one another, and they would have found therein much discrepancy with human nature, but since it was from Allah, it was stripped of all of that, so there is no discrepancy with any of that, but the successors of Allah and His companions claim that in His stories there is a discrepancy with historical and cosmic facts, so is it consistent with this statement that what they issued from Him is from Allah?!
10- And what do they say about the Almighty’s saying: (Have you not [O Muhammad]? The revelation of the Book - there is no doubt about it - is from the Lord of the worlds, or do they say, “He has invented it?” Rather, it is the truth from your Lord - that you may warn a people to whom no warner has come before you, that they may be guided.
[Surat As-Sajdah, verses 1-3]), so He responded to the claim of fabrication by proving that it is the truth from Allah, so is it Is it consistent with the logic of reason or the methods of expression that truth should contain falsehood? And would the description of truth be true for it then?
11- What do they say about describing the Qur’an – with its stories – as the truth, as in the Almighty’s saying: (Indeed, We have sent you with the truth as a bringer of good tidings and a warner (Surat Al-Baqarah: 119) and His saying: (These are the verses of Allah which We recite to you in truth, and indeed, you are among the messengers (Surat Al-Baqarah: 252) and His saying: (The Book has been revealed to you in truth (Surat Al-Imran: 3) and His saying: (Indeed, this is the true account (Surat Al-Imran: 62) and His saying: (The judgment belongs only to Allah. He relates the truth, and He is the best of judges (Surat Al-Imran: 62)
[Surat Al-An'am, verse: 57], and His saying: (And with the truth We have sent it down, and with the truth it has come down. And We have not sent you, [O Muhammad], except as a bringer of good tidings and a warner (Surat Al-Isra, verse: 105), and His saying: (We relate to you their story in truth (Surat Al-Kahf, verse: 13), and His saying: (And they do not bring you an example except that We bring you the truth and the best explanation (Surat Al-Furqan, verse: 33), and His saying: (We recite to you from the news of Moses and Pharaoh in truth for a people who believe (Surat Al-Qasas, verse: 3), and His saying: (And Allah speaks the truth, and He guides to the way (Surat Al-Ahzab, verse: 4), and His saying: (And that which We have revealed to you of the Book is the truth (Surat Fatir, verse: 31), and His saying: (Indeed, We have sent down to you the Book for the people in truth (Surat Az-Zumar, verse: 41), and His saying: (Indeed, We have sent down to you the Book in truth So worship Allah, making your religion sincere to Him (Surat Az-Zumar, verse 2), and His statement: (These are the verses of Allah which We recite to you in truth. So in what statement after Allah and His verses will they believe? (Surat Al-Jathiyah, verse 6), and His statement: (And believe in what was revealed to Muhammad, and it is the truth from their Lord? (Surat Muhammad, verse 2)).
All of these verses – and there are many like them in the Qur’an – have proven that the entire Qur’an is true, revealed from Allah, and all of its verses are true; and all of its stories are true; Because Allah the Almighty only narrates the truth, and He narrates to us the story of the People of the Cave with the truth, and the story of Moses and Pharaoh with the truth, and everything He narrated and revealed is the truth, because Allah the Almighty only says the truth and He guides to the path, and all of His revelation is the truth, and all of His Book is the truth, and falsehood, fabrication, and lying cannot reach it in any way, as Allah the Almighty said: (And this Qur’an could not have been invented by anyone other than Allah) and (Say: Allah guides to the truth) and conjecture, illusion, or fabrication are not from the truth (see Yunus: 35-37). So where in all of this is what allows the successor of Allah and his companions to claim that the denial of fabrication in these verses does not apply to the literary narrative materials, nor to the images of events and people in these stories? And if fabrication applies to these matters - as they claim - is it correct to describe the previous verses as truth? And does extracting a lesson contradict the fact that the stories extracted from it are true? She answered this claim The falsehood is the last verse in Surat Yusuf, which is the Almighty’s saying: (Indeed in their stories is a lesson for those of understanding. It is not a fabricated statement, but a confirmation of what was before it and a detailed explanation of all things and guidance and mercy for a people who believe.) So the lesson extracted from the Qur’anic stories is only extracted from true stories in which there is no fabrication or myth.
12- And in the Holy Quran, the Almighty says: (So what is there after the truth except error? So how are you averted?
[Surah Yunus, verse: 32], so if everything in the Quran has been described as the truth, is it right after this that it includes something attributed to falsehood or error, by contradicting the truth of history or universal truths) (795)?
13- The lack of conformity of the historical events in the Quran with the events of history is either due to the nonexistence of these stories in history at all, or due to the existence of something in history that contradicts it; if it is the first, then our not finding it in history is not evidence that it did not actually happen, for lack of knowledge is not knowledge of nonexistence. However, if it is the second, then this incident must have been transmitted, transmitted, and verified like what happened to the Quran in order for it to contradict it, and this does not exist, otherwise we give precedence to what is in the Quran; because it is more correct according to the testimony of everyone.
14- This claim opens the door wide open for the challengers, so if it is proven The Qur’an contains false and fabricated things, so how can it be followed, adhered to, and referred to?
As for the detailed responses to the doubts he mentioned, they are as follows:
- The first objection: The Almighty’s saying about the Messiah Jesus, son of Mary, peace be upon him: (And he spoke to the people in the cradle ([Al Imran: 46]), as Al-Razi narrated from the Jews and Christians that they deny that Jesus spoke in childhood, and they argue that if this had happened, it would have been one of the amazing events that are transmitted by continuous transmission796.
- The second objection: The Almighty’s saying: (And Pharaoh said: O Haman, build me a tower ([Ghafir: 36]), so the one called Khalaf Allah refers to what Al-Razi narrated from the Jews’ saying: The researchers of the histories of the Children of Israel and Pharaoh agreed that Haman did not exist at all in the time of Moses and Pharaoh, but rather came after them by a long time797.

- The answer:
1- These verses were recited to the Jews in the time of the Prophet (), and among them were scholars and rabbis, and none of them denied this matter.
2- How can the Qur’an, which is preserved by Allah’s preservation of it, be judged by the books of the People of the Book? ...which is filled with distortion and falsehood, and the distortion has extended to their holy books. This is not acceptable to the mind. This is like a scholar of great age, status and knowledge, who spoke about an issue, and the people said to him: We disagree with you on this; because we have a distorted book, we do not know who wrote it, full of errors that contradicts what you say?!!
If this is not permissible with regard to humans, then how about the Creator of humans?
Dr. Beltagy says: (If the successor of God judges the verses of the Holy Quran by something certain, he would have a reason for what he mentions, but he judges them by ancient histories and what the Jews and Christians have about them.. So what does he say about what is in these ancient histories of myths, legends and illusions that humanity believed in for long generations, then their error and falsehood were revealed) (798)?
3- The claim that this was applied to them is refuted by what happened from the Jews and Christians in the time of the Prophet (peace be upon him), of acknowledging it and not denying it, while they were very keen to contradict him in what was less than that.
4- (Al-Razi did not leave this doubt without a response, and consequently he was not one of those who say it out of faith or conviction, as he said: The theologians responded to this doubt, and said: The speech of Jesus, peace be upon him, in the cradle was only to indicate the innocence of Mary, peace be upon her, from immorality, and the attendees were a small group, so the listeners to that speech were a small group, and it is not far-fetched in such a case to conspire to conceal it. He said: The answer is that the histories of Moses and Pharaoh have been around for a long time, and the conditions and eras have been disturbed, so the words of the people of history are no longer reliable in this regard, so taking the word of God Almighty is more appropriate) (799).
5- (The fact that human history does not record the incident of Jesus speaking in the cradle is not considered conclusive evidence of the non-occurrence of that, so it is not claimed One of the denials of the Qur’an in informing about it, and its claim is correct.
As for human history, there is no doubt that it neglected to record many individual events – no matter how important they were in themselves – since they did not have the true testimony, and the means of broadcasting, transmission, and survival throughout the ages that would guarantee that.
It is enough for a link in this chain to be cut off for the event to become unknown to the following generations. On the contrary, some false illusions in themselves may have the conditions of some people’s belief in their truth – based on some deceptive evidence and phenomena – and their recording of them, then their care with conditions that guarantee their broadcasting and transmission across generations – which makes them enter history through its widest doors, and they are in their origin a false myth that has no share of truth. The hand of distortion, ignorance and obfuscation may play with some aspects of an event that is originally true, and in the end it has combined truth and falsehood in one story. This is well-known and recorded about the illusions of history and its errors. It neglects, forgets, distorts, deceives and gives illusions, and all of this is included in what is called “human history”, especially in the ages before organized documentation, with somewhat disciplined methods and capabilities. 6- The Pharaoh of Moses - among the Pharaohs of Egypt - is not known to historians in a
definitive and agreed-upon manner. If this is the case, then identifying his ministers and assistants through investigation and confinement is something that cannot be claimed with certainty by a historian who respects his mind and the minds of people (801).
- The third objection: The Almighty’s saying: (O sister of Aaron, your father was not a man of evil, nor was your mother unchaste) [Maryam: 28], and it is known that there were more than fifteen centuries between Mary and Aaron802.
- The answer (803):
1- That Aaron was a righteous man from the Children of Israel, and everyone who was known for his reform was attributed to him, and what is meant is: that you were like Aaron in asceticism and piety, so how did you become like this?
2- That Mary is from the lineage of Aaron, so she was attributed to him as it is said: O brother of Hamdan, O brother of the Arabs, meaning O one whose lineage is from them, and from this is the Almighty’s saying: (And remember the brother of Aad when he warned his people in Al-Ahqaf... [Al-Ahqaf: 21] And from this chapter is a hadith from Abdullah bin Omar that he said We were sitting with the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) when a man from the Ansar came to him and greeted him. Then the Ansar turned away, and the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “O brother of the Ansar, how is my brother Sa`d ibn `Ubadah?” He said: “He is righteous.” The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: “Who among you will visit him?” So he stood up and we stood up with him, and we were a few dozen, and we were not wearing sandals or slippers804 or anything. 805 Neither a cap nor a shirt, we walked in those salt marshes until we reached him, so his people stayed back from around him until the Messenger of God (and his companions who were with him) approached, and this answer is reasonable and strong.
3- That Aaron was a man who was openly immoral, so he was likened to him.
4- The Aaron referred to here is not Aaron, the brother of Moses, but he is the brother of Mary in reality, so she was attributed to him. This problem was presented to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and he answered it with this answer. Imam Muslim narrated on the authority of Al-Mugheerah ibn Shu’bah who said: When I came to Najran, they asked me and said: You recite (O sister of Aaron) and Moses before Jesus recited this and that. So when I came to the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), I asked him about that, and he said: “They used to name their prophets and righteous people with these names.” Before them” (807).
This is a clear, conclusive, and correct text on this issue, so there is no escape from it (808). Al-Tawfi - may God have mercy on him - said: (This is a question whose answer has been sufficient for us by the author of the Shari’ah (809).

- The fourth objection: He says: It became clear to the Islamic mind that Wadd, Suwa’, Yaghuth, Ya’uq, and Nasr were the idols that were worshipped in the Arabian Peninsula at the time of the mission of Muhammad, and the Islamic mind was unable to understand the connection between these idols and Noah, peace be upon him, until they came in his story. The world was destroyed in the time of Noah by the flood, so how did those idols remain? (810).
- The answer:
We ask: Who said that the world was destroyed? All people perished except those who were on the ship, and as for the survival of idols and other inanimate objects, it is not unlikely.
Al-Qurtubi said: (On the authority of Ibn Abbas: Noah, peace be upon him, was guarding the body of Adam, peace be upon him, on a mountain in India, preventing the disbelievers from circumambulating his grave, so Satan said to them: These people are boasting to you, and they claim that they The children of Adam are below you, and it is only a body, and I will depict for you something like it so that you may circumambulate around it. So he depicted for them these five idols, and made them worship them, and when the days of the flood came, he buried them with mud, dirt, and water, and they remained buried until Satan brought them out for the polytheists of the Arabs (811).
- The fifth objection: The context of the verses of the story of Lot in Surat Al-Hijr contradicts the context of the same story in Surat Hud and other surahs:
In Al-Hijr: (So when the messengers came to the family of Lot (61) he said, "Indeed, you are a people unknown." (62) They said, "Rather, we have brought you that about which they were in doubt." (63) And we have brought you the truth, and indeed, We (64) So set out with your family during a part of the night and follow their backs, and let not any of you look back, and proceed where you are commanded. (65) And We decreed for him this matter, that the last of these shall be cut off in the morning. (66) And the people of the city came, rejoicing. (67) He said, “Indeed, these are my guests, so do not disgrace me.” (68) And fear Allah and do not You disgrace me (69) They said, “Did we not forbid you from the worlds?” (70) He said, “These are my daughters, if you are going to do something.” (71) (Al-Hijr: 61-71).
And as for Hud: (And when Our messengers came to Lot, he was distressed by them and felt straitened for them and said, “This is a difficult day.” (77) And his people came to him, rushing toward him, and before that they had been doing evil. He said, “O my people, these are my daughters; they are purer for you. So fear Allah and do not disgrace me in my presence. Is there not among you a man of reason?” (78) They said, “You certainly know what we have in Your daughters are of right, and indeed, you know what we want. (79) He said, “If only I had power over you, or could take refuge in a strong support.” (80) They said, “O Lot, indeed we are messengers of your Lord; they will never reach you. So travel with your family during a part of the night, and let not anyone of you look back, except your wife. Indeed, what has befallen them will befall her. Indeed, their appointed time is the morning. Is not the morning near?” (81) (Hud:77-81), in Al-Hijr They told him that they were messengers of God before he came to his people, and in Hud they told him after that?
-The answer:
There is no doubt that the context of Surat Hud is the context of the story of Lot, as indicated by other verses, and also indicated by His statement in Al-Hijr: (Indeed, these are my guests, so do not disgrace me (68) And fear Allah and do not disgrace me (69) They said, “Did we not forbid you from the worlds?” (70) He said, “These are my daughters, if you are to do so.” If He had known that they were angels, He would not have said these words to his people. There is nothing in Al
-Hijr that indicates otherwise, and the fact that the verses presented the words of the angels even though they occurred later does not harm for a specific reason, and the waw does not require order. Ibn Kathir said: (His statement: He said,
“Indeed, these are my guests, so do not disgrace me (68) And fear Allah and do not disgrace me (69) He only said this to them before he knew that they were (812) - The sixth objection: Khalaf Allah mentioned that in the Qur’an there are legends of the ancients; and he gave an example of them as someone who passed
by a village while it was empty on its roofs, and the story of the People of the Cave, because what is in it of news of the unseen does not agree with the standards of reason (813).
- The answer:
1- The Qur’an’s arbitration by reason is very dangerous, because reason often makes mistakes, so how can the infallible Book be judged by what is often wrong? Then the minds of people vary; there is the genius and there is the fool, and between them are many levels, so which mind from these levels do we judge the Qur’an by? Then if we find minds of an acceptable level to criticize the Qur’an; then what is the solution when these minds differ? There is no doubt that this is a door that if opened, will not be closed.
2- The story of the People of the Cave is also confirmed by the People of the Book. In fact, these verses were revealed based on their inquiry about it - as mentioned above - (814). It is their custom not to challenge their holy books - unlike some of our own kind - so challenging a story that the heavenly books have repeatedly confirmed is a dangerous audacity.
3- This is a claim without evidence, and every claim without evidence is invalid, especially if the Qur’an states otherwise.

- The seventh objection: The objection to the story of Solomon, peace be upon him, with Bilqis and the hoopoe:
Imam Al-Razi said: (The atheists have objected to this story from the existence of:
One of them: That these verses included that the ant and the hoopoe spoke in a way that only rational people can speak, and that leads to sophistry, for if we allow that, we would not be sure that the ant that we see in our time is more knowledgeable about geometry than Euclid and grammar than Sibawayh, and the same is said about the louse and the nits, and it is possible that there are prophets, assignments, and miracles among them.
It is known that whoever allows that is closer to madness.
The second: That Solomon, peace be upon him, was in the Levant, so how did the hoopoe fly at that delicate moment from the Levant to Yemen, then return to it?
The third: How was the state of such a great kingdom hidden from Solomon, peace be upon him, with what is said that the jinn and humans were in Solomon’s obedience, and that he, peace be upon him, was the king of the world completely, and was under the banner of Bilqis while the hoopoe was flying except for a three-day journey?
And the fourth : : How did the hoopoe get the knowledge of God Almighty and the obligation to prostrate to Him and deny their prostration to the sun and the addition to Satan and his adornment? (815)
- The answer:
Al-Razi said in the answer to that:
(The answer to the first: That possibility is established in the beginning of reason, and that is only refuted by consensus.

Regarding the rest: Belief in the world’s need for the Chosen One removes these doubts (816).
(This is what Al-Razi responded to these objections with, and it is a brief, limited response that almost concedes - after these decisive objections - the inability to provide a strong, detailed response, which reminds us of what was said about Al-Razi that - despite his knowledge and virtue - he would mention the objections in detail and not provide - sometimes - an equivalent answer to them, which opened the door for those who follow doubts to prove their objections with what Al-Razi had mentioned, and he did not succeed - despite his great knowledge - in providing a convincing response to it.
The truth is that these objections - which Khalaf Allah presented in the context of his previous theory - do not constitute, in their entirety or in their details, a basis for challenging anything in the Holy Qur’an, and our response to them will be a refutation of everyone who uses them as evidence, as follows:
(a) With regard to the speech of the hoopoe and the ant - it has now become certain among scholars who study the behavior of species of birds, animals, and insects, that each of them has a language that takes the place of the language known to humans, in expressing and conveying feelings and knowledge, in a way whose details are still unknown to humans, but which is certain from many evidences. It is very clear that each of them has a type of language through which communication takes place between its individuals. Some scientists have recorded audio recordings of types of birds in a state of panic, which conveyed to them – with the utmost clarity – these feelings and meanings (817).
There is no longer any doubt now that each type of living thing has a language specific to its individuals, and this is clear to anyone who observes the behavior of birds and insects. In fact, some scientists go so far as to say that types of plants also have a language and communication among themselves, in some way – which there is no room to report on, nor does it require it.
So what is so strange after this that the ant speaks, and the hoopoe speaks, in words that Solomon, peace be upon him, understands because – as stated in the Holy Qur’an – he learned the language of birds and was given of all things (An-Naml 16) (818)? As for the fact that they spoke in words that indicate something of reason, whoever observes the behavior of birds and insects will realize with the utmost clarity that their behavior is based on systems of awareness, planning, and work for the sake of goals that their instincts and nature guide them to. The one who is stubborn in this should read something about the behavior of insects and birds in books of experimental science, and he will be amazed by what he reads. He should also observe the work and system in (the kingdom of bees) or in (the world of ants and the villages that they create). All of this is nothing but confirmation of the Almighty’s saying: {Our Lord is He who gave to each thing its form and then guided it} [Ta-Ha: 50] and His saying: {There is no creature on earth or bird that flies with its wings except that they are communities like you. We have not neglected anything in the Book. Then to their Lord they will be gathered} [Al-An’am: 38], which is what all the observations of the verified scholars indicate in truth. The one who doubts this is the one who deserves the mockery of the mockers! So what is so strange then that an ant speaks and a hoopoe speaks? What is so strange about someone who knows the language of each of them understanding them?
This does not lead - as the slanderous atheists have claimed - to any of the sophistry they have mentioned, for the Holy Qur’an did not say anything of that, but rather said what is indicated by observing these types, which is that they have logic. As for the science of geometry, grammar, obligations, and miracles, these are only from the sayings of the atheists that are being refuted by them, because we do not hold the Holy Qur’an to be anything but what it has spoken, not what is in the delusions of the atheists.
(b) Regarding the hoopoe’s flight from Syria to Yemen, then back to Syria, what is mentioned in the Holy Qur’an about it is the Almighty’s saying: “So he stayed not long…” [An-Naml: 22]. The Holy Qur’an does not specify that the hoopoe stayed “for a moment” as these people say, and “not long” in its context is only understood as a period sufficient for flight. It was read to the polytheists of the Arabs during the era of the message – and they were more knowledgeable about the language, and they knew Yemen and Syria – and they did not raise this objection – as far as we know – so it is known from it that the Qur’anic expression is free of reasons for the objection of these atheists.
(c) How was the state of the Kingdom of Sheba hidden from Solomon? The Holy Qur’an did not describe him as knowing the unseen, and this was unseen for him. The only thing that the Holy Qur’an described Solomon, peace be upon him, with was the subjugation of the winds and devils, and the teaching of the language of birds, and the giving of the kingdom that no one after him should have, but there is nothing in it describing him with knowledge other than what God taught him. So what is so strange about there being things and kingdoms on earth that Solomon – despite the greatness of what God gave him – He does not know it? The Holy Quran does not mention anything about Solomon - peace be upon him - being the king of the entire world - as these critics claim - and perhaps their evidence for this is some Israeli exaggerations that were not mentioned in the Quranic revelation.
If one of them understood this from the Almighty’s saying: “And there were gathered before Solomon his soldiers of jinn and men and birds, and they were all in order” [An-Naml: 16], then he does not know anything about the methods of Arabic rhetoric, because (min) here is for partiality, and it does not mean that all mankind – without exception – were under his rule.
Perhaps what led the critics to criticize is what they mentioned that under the banner of the Queen of Sheba were twelve thousand kings, under the banner of each of them was one hundred thousand!
There is absolutely nothing of this in the texts of the Holy Qur’an, and the number they mentioned far exceeds what could have existed at that time in terms of the number of inhabitants, and it reminds us of what Ibn Khaldun criticized of the exaggerations of the ancient historians, and what (Vico) warned of regarding the arrogance of nations when they write their history – so how can these exaggerations be attributed to the texts of the Holy Qur’an that did not address them at all?
It is no wonder then that Solomon – peace be upon him – was ignorant of the matter of the Queen of Sheba with all that God had given him, because he was not given knowledge of everything on earth, and there were no regular communications between the owners such that they would know… Each of them is connected to the other, and is connected to it in the manner that we know in our time, which happened after that due to urban development. The jinn that were subjugated to Solomon - peace be upon him - also did not know the unseen, as mentioned in the Almighty’s saying: (And when We decreed death for him, nothing showed them his death except a creature of the earth that ate away at his staff. So when he fell, the jinn realized that if they had known the unseen, they would not have remained in the humiliating punishment.) [Saba’: 14].
(d) As for where did the hoopoe get his knowledge of God Almighty and the obligation to prostrate to Him and deny their prostration to the sun and attribute it to Satan and embellish it? The hoopoe was from the army of Solomon, peace be upon him, and the verses speak of a (unseen) matter that cannot be compared to the knowledge of humans now about the conditions of birds. What prevents the nature of all creatures from knowing the obligation of prostrating to God Almighty alone? The Holy Qur’an bears witness to that, saying: “Have they not seen what God has created of things? Their shadows spread to the right and the left, prostrating to God, while they are humbled. And to God prostrates whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth of creatures and the angels, and they are not arrogant?” [An-Nahl: 48-49] and His saying: “And the star and the tree prostrate.” [Ar-Rahman: 6] and His saying: “Have you not seen that to God glorifies whoever is in the heavens and the earth and the birds with wings outspread? Each has known its prayer and its glorification. And God is Knowing of what they do.” [An-Nur: 41] and His saying: “The seven heavens and the earth and whoever is in them glorify Him. And there is not a thing but glorifies Him with praise, but you do not understand their glorification. Indeed, He is Forbearing and Forgiving.” [Al-Isra: 44] ... So what is so strange after all this that the hoopoe from the army of Solomon - peace be upon him - knew that prostration is obligatory to God Almighty alone and denied prostration to anyone else?
The issue - as we see it - is an issue of news about the unseen. Human experimental or rational knowledge does not reach anything on which to base the denial of this news that goes beyond the limits of this knowledge. Those who believe in the unseen and in the truth of the Qur’anic revelation believe in it, and the deniers deny everything that does not fall under their direct sense or material experience. However, in such unseen issues, they have no basis for their denial except mere doubt and denial, and comparing the unseen to the seen, and the application of their limited minds to what is from the knowledge of the unseen, ... and we do not possess for these people a means that would lead them to believe in the unseen and not to compare matters in it to the knowledge of human testimony. (And he whom Allah intends to test, you will not possess for him anything from Allah. Those are the ones whose hearts Allah does not intend to purify - for them is disgrace in this world, and for them is a great punishment in the Hereafter.) [Al-Ma'idah: 41]
.... And thus it becomes clear to us that there is nothing in what was mentioned about the story of Solomon in Surat An-Naml that casts doubt on the authenticity of anything mentioned in the Noble Qur’an. (819)
Khalaf Allah mentioned other criticisms, but they do not fall within the subject of (the claim that the Qur’an contradicts historical facts), so I did not mention them, even though someone who responded to Khalaf Allah mentioned them; because I am not responding to Khalaf Allah’s book, but rather I am responding to those who made this claim, and most of his objections are due to the contradiction of the verses with each other, and we have answered most of them in the previous section.

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(780) Horwies [1874-1931] A German Jewish Orientalist, he studied at the University of Berlin, and was appointed as a teacher there in the year [1902], and worked in India from 1907 to 1914 He was a teacher of Arabic at Aligarh Muslim College. He also worked as a curator of Islamic inscriptions in the British Indian government. He returned to Germany in 1914 and was appointed a teacher of Semitic languages ​​at the University of Frankfurt until his death. His doctoral thesis was on Al-Waqidi’s book Al-Maghazi. He edited two parts of “Tabaqat Ibn Sa’d” and wrote “Mabahith Qur’anic Studies” and other works. See: Encyclopedia of Orientalists by Dr. Abd al-Rahman Badawi (p. 621), with some modifications and abridgement, Dar al-Ilm lil-Malayin, Beirut, third edition, 1993.
(781) Carl Brockelmann [1868-1956] A famous German orientalist, joined the University of Rostock in 1886, studied Arabic there, and studied a lot with Nöldeke. He obtained his doctorate in 1893 in Breslau with a thesis on Ibn al-Jawzi and his book Talqih Fahm Ahl al-Athar, and on his famous works “History of Arabic Literature” in which he mentioned Arabic manuscripts and their locations. It is in five volumes, and he made great efforts in it. He mastered eleven Eastern languages ​​and six Western languages, and his works amounted to (555) works. See the Encyclopedia of Orientalists (p. 98) in brief.
(782) See Orientalists and Islamic Studies, by Dr. Muhammad Hussein al-Saghir (74-75), University Foundation for Studies, Publishing and Distribution.
(783) In Pre-Islamic Poetry by Taha Hussein (p. 26) from the book The Methodology of the Modern Rational School in Interpretation (p. 447).
(784) The copy I have is from Sina Publishing, Cairo, and is the fourth edition, 1999. The first edition was printed in 1951. The thesis was supervised by Amin al-Khuli, the husband of Aisha Abd al-Rahman (Bint al-Shati’), who approved of everything he said. This thesis caused a huge uproar at the time, when in 1947, the student Muhammad Ahmad Khalaf Allah submitted a thesis to obtain a doctorate in the Faculty of Arts at Fuad University on “The Art of Narration in the Holy Qur’an.” He decided in it that the Qur’an mentions things that did not happen. The thesis was rejected and the student was expelled. See: “The Methodology of the Modern Rational School of Rumi,” p. 445. I was keen to meet him, so I asked about him and learned that he had died about three years ago. The strange thing is that he was one of the defenders of Dr. Nasr Hamid Abu Zayd when the apostasy case was brought against him.
(785) See “Introduction to the Science of Interpretation,” by Dr. Muhammad Baltaji, p. 170.
(786) “The Art of Narratives in the Holy Qur’an”, by Muhammad Khalaf Allah (p. 209).
(787) The previous reference, p. 74.
(788) The Art of Narratives, p. 255.
(789) I benefited most from this response from the book “Introduction to the Science of Interpretation”, by our professor Dr. Muhammad Beltaji, published by the Youth Library in Al-Munira, 1998.
(790) See “The Methodology of the Rational School in Interpretation”, by Al-Rumi, p. 442.
(791) See Ibn Kathir’s Interpretation (2/167).
(792) Introduction to the Science of Interpretation, Dr. Beltaji (p. 188).
(793) The Art of Narratives (p. 42).
(794) Interpretation of the Holy Qur’an, Mahmoud Shaltut (p. 273), Dar Al-Shorouk, sixth edition, 1394 AH.
(795) These five proofs were mentioned by Dr. Beltaji in his book “Introduction to the Science of Interpretation” (pp. 194-197).
796 The Narrative Art of Khalaf Allah, p. 25.
797 The previous, p. 27.
(798) Introduction to the Science of Interpretation (p. 216).
(799) Introduction to the Science of Interpretation (p. 213) and (p. 217).
(800) Introduction to the Science of Interpretation (p. 214).
(801) The previous, p. 217.
802 The Narrative Art, p. 28.
(803) See Introduction to the Science of Interpretation (p. 229) and Defense of the Qur’an against its Critics, Dr. Abdul Rahman Badawi (p. 169), The International House of Books and Publishing.
804 Khuff: plural of Khuff, which is a leather garment worn on the foot.
805 Qalanis: plural of Qalansuwa, which is a head garment. Lisan al-Arab (6/181).
(806) Narrated by Muslim (Book of Funerals, Chapter on Visiting the Sick, No. 925).
(807) Narrated by Muslim (Book of Manners, Chapter on the prohibition of using the kunya Abu al-Qasim,And a statement of the recommended names, No.: 2135)
(808) Dr. Abdul Rahman Badawi said after mentioning this answer: Although this assumption is not impossible in itself, it lacks any other evidence to prove it. See: Defense of the Qur’an Against Its Critics, p. 170. He mentioned that there is no evidence for this possibility, but rather it was created by the needs of the issue (Defense of the Qur’an Against Its Critics, p. 171). He said: This problem did not arise during the life of the Prophet (Defense of the Qur’an Against Its Critics, p. 180). I thought at first that he had not seen this hadith, but he said in the conclusion (p. 189): What Muslim and al-Tirmidhi mentioned regarding the subject of the dialogue that took place between al-Mughira, whom the Prophet sent to Najran, and the people of that country, is, in our opinion, fabricated to support the fact that the Prophet himself answered this objection. There is no doubt that this statement is false, because; This hadith has not been weakened by any of the scholars, rather it is in the most authentic book after the Book of Allah, which is Sahih al-Bukhari. What is the reason for not presenting this problem to the Prophet, especially since the people of Najran are Christians and know the history of Jesus and Mary?
(809) Islamic Victories in Uncovering the Resemblance of Christianity, by al-Tawfi (1/302), Al-Ubaikan Library, Riyadh, first edition 1999.
(810) The Art of Narration (p. 65).
(811) Tafsir al-Qurtubi (18/199).
(812) Tafsir Ibn Kathir (2/555).
(813) The Art of Narration (pp. 180-181).
(814) P. 214.
(815) Mafatih al-Ghayb 24/190-191
(816) Mafatih al-Ghayb 24/91
(817) This has been used experimentally to deter birds that pick seeds from the locations of these seeds by broadcasting recordings of warnings and alarms.
(818) Scientists are now trying to understand the logic of some birds.
(819) Introduction to the Science of Interpretation (p. 236).

Fourth Section :
Accusing the Qur’an of Contradicting Facts




The first requirement: The claim that the Qur’an contradicts the facts of Islamic law:

- The first objection: How do you claim that Muhammad (God chose him for the message and prepared him, while describing him as astray (755), so he was like his people a pagan, (And He found you lost and guided you ( [Ad-Duha: 7])?
- The answer:
1- (It was said that when the Arabs found a single tree in a deserted area with no trees around it, they called it lost, so they would be guided by it on the road, so God Almighty said to His Prophet: (And He found you lost and guided (meaning He found you no one on your religion, so I guided creation through you to Me) (756), and from this is the saying: (Wisdom is the lost property of the believer).
That is, what is meant by misguidance here is the linguistic truth, not the religious truth, since there was no law at that time, and some linguistic meanings have a beautiful meaning as you have seen.
2- It was said: It is from your saying: You lost the road. That is, you did not know it (757), and from this is their saying: The lost camels and sheep. Meaning the ones that were not guided to their people. The Prophet (PBUH) was a monotheist who knew God by his nature and mind, but he did not know how to worship Him because no law was sent down to him, so he was lost in this sense, meaning he did not know the correct path of worship.
Al-Raghib said: (Misguidance is abandoning the straight path, whether intentionally or unintentionally, whether little or much. It is correct to use the word misguidance for someone who makes some mistake, and for this reason it is attributed to the prophets and to the disbelievers, even though there is a great distance between the two misguided ones. Do you not see that He said about the Prophet (PBUH): (And He found you lost and guided you) [Ad-Duha: 7], meaning not guided to the prophethood that came to you before, and He said about Jacob (PBUH): (They said: By God, you are indeed in your old error) [Yusuf: 95], and his sons said: (Indeed, our father is in manifest error) [Yusuf: 8] refers to his passion for Joseph and his longing for him, and also (He has become passionately in love with her. Indeed, we see her in clear error. [Yusuf: 30]), and he said about Moses, peace be upon him: (He said, “Then I did it, and I am among those astray.” [Ash-Shu’ara’: 20], indicating that this was an oversight on his part, and his saying: (That one of them should stray… [Al-Baqarah: 282]), meaning she would forget, and this is from the forgetfulness imposed on man, and error from another perspective is of two types; Misguidance in theoretical sciences, such as misguidance in knowing God and His Oneness, and knowing prophethood and the like, referred to in His saying: (And whoever disbelieves in God and His angels and His books and His messengers and the Last Day has certainly strayed far astray ([An-Nisa’: 136]), and misguidance in practical sciences, such as knowing the legal rulings which are acts of worship) (758), and this type is excused for a person if he does not attain it. Do you not see that Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl (759) entered Paradise even though he did not know how to worship God Almighty? Al-Bukhari narrated on the authority of Abdullah ibn Umar (that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) met Zayd ibn Amr ibn Nufayl At the bottom of Baldah, before the revelation came down to the Prophet (peace be upon him), a meal was brought to the Prophet (peace be upon him), but he refused to eat from it. Then Zaid said: I do not eat from what you slaughter on your idols, and I do not eat except that which the name of Allah has been mentioned over. And Zaid bin Amr used to criticize the Quraysh for their slaughtering, and he used to say: Allah created the sheep and sent it down from the sky. Water, and He caused to grow for it from the earth, then you slaughter it in other than the name of God. Denying that and glorifying Him (760).
Al-Bukhari also narrated on the authority of Ibn Umar (that Zaid bin Amr bin Nufail went out to the Levant to ask about religion and follow it. He met a Jewish scholar and asked him about their religion. He said: I may follow your religion, so tell me. He said: You will not follow our religion until you take your share of Allah’s wrath. Zaid said: I only flee from Allah’s wrath and not from the wrath of Allah. I can bear the wrath of Allah forever, but how can I do it? Can you guide me to another one? He said: I do not know of anything except that he is a Hanif. Zaid said: What is a Hanif? He said: The religion of Abraham. He was neither a Jew nor a Christian, and he did not worship except Allah. So Zaid went out and met a Christian scholar and mentioned something similar to him. He said: You will never be of our religion until you take With your share of Allah’s curse. He said: I only flee from Allah’s curse, and I will never bear any of Allah’s curse or His wrath, and how could I? Can you guide me to another? He said: I do not know him except that he is a Hanif. He said: What is a Hanif? He said: The religion of Abraham. He was neither Jewish nor Christian, and he did not worship except Allah. When Zaid saw what they said about Abraham, peace be upon him, he went out. When he came out, he raised his hands and said: O Allah, I bear witness that I am on the religion of Abraham.
Al-Layth said: Hisham wrote to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Asma bint Abi Bakr, may God be pleased with them both, she said: I saw Zaid bin Amr bin Nufayl standing with his back leaning against the Kaaba, saying: O people of Quraysh, by God, none of you follows the religion of Abraham except me. And he used to revive the buried girl and say to the man when he wanted to kill his daughter: Do not kill her, I will take care of her expenses for you. So he would take her and when she grew up, he would say to her father: If you wish, I will hand her over to you, and if you wish, I will take care of her expenses for you (761).
Imam Ahmad narrated on the authority of Nufayl ibn Hisham ibn Sa`id ibn Zayd ibn `Amr ibn Nufayl, on the authority of his father, on the authority of His grandfather said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was in Mecca with Zaid bin Haritha, and Zaid bin Amr bin Nufail passed by them. They invited him to a meal of theirs, and he said: O son of my brother, I do not eat of that which is slaughtered on altars. He said: After that, the Prophet (peace be upon him) was not seen eating anything of that which was slaughtered on altars. He said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, my father was as you have seen and heard. And if he had lived to see you, he would have believed in you and followed you, so ask forgiveness for him. He said, “Yes.” So ask forgiveness for him, for he will be resurrected on the Day of Resurrection as a nation by himself (762). Ibn Hajar mentioned in Al-Isabah that Al-Waqidi and Al-Fakihi narrated with their chains of transmission on the authority of Aamer bin Rabi’ah in a long hadith, in which it says that the Prophet (saw) said, “I saw him in Paradise dragging his tails” (763).
Zayd ibn Amr, despite his ignorance of the path of worship, his nature showed him the existence of God, and his mind guided him to the oneness of God, so he worshipped God according to his own efforts. Despite his straying from the path of correct worship, he was excused for that, so He admitted him into Paradise. From this chapter is the meaning of the Almighty’s saying:
(And He found you astray and guided you (i.e. straying from the path of correct worship, so He guided you to it for him, even though he knew God and believed in Him.
3- Then we oblige them with a matter, which is: Do they also say this about Moses when he said about himself, (I did it then, and I am among those astray ([Ash-Shu’ara: 20]).
4- Then if we were to concede to them and accept the meaning they want, then this does not harm him; he is excused for not knowing, since he did not stray with knowledge, but rather strayed without knowledge, and there is no blame upon him and no accountability for this. Sheikh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah said: (As for the necessity of him being (before he was sent as a prophet who did not make mistakes or sin, then there is nothing in prophethood that This requires (764).
But the hardship is all the hardship for someone who knows knowledge and guidance and then abandons it, as is the case of the Jews and Christians who know the Prophet (as they know their sons.
- The second objection: How was the Prophet bewitched (even though God Almighty mentions the words of the infidels, and described the Prophet as bewitched in the context of censure in God’s statement on their tongues: (You follow none but a bewitched man ( [Al-Furqan: 8]).
- The answer:
This doubt has been repeated a lot, and unfortunately it is repeated a lot by contemporary secularists, and by those who follow the rational school, and by those who know their righteousness and show their love for religion (765).
- The answer:
First: We must know that the hadith of the Prophet being bewitched is proven in the two Sahihs, and we have already mentioned the narration from Ibn al-Salah, which is that what was in the two Sahihs was accepted by the Ummah (766). The text of the hadith is from Aishah, who said: The Prophet was bewitched (to the point that it seemed to him that he was doing something when he did not do it - and in another narration: and that he was coming to his wife when he was not - until one day when he was with me, he called upon Allah and called upon Him, then he said: “Do you realize, O Aishah, that Allah has given me a fatwa regarding what I asked Him about?” I said: : What is that, O Messenger of Allah? He said: “Two men came to me, one of them sat at my head and the other at my feet. Then one of them said to his companion: What is the man’s affliction? He said: He has been treated. He said: Who treated him? He said: Labid ibn al-A’sam - the Jew from Banu Zurayq. He said: For what? He said: For a comb, a combing tool, and a dried date palm stalk. He said: Where is it? He said: In the well of Dhu Arwan. He said: So the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) went to the well with some of his companions, and looked at it and there were palm trees on it. Then he returned to Aisha and said: “By Allah, its water is as if it were the dregs of henna, and its palm trees are as if they were the heads of devils.” I said: O Messenger of God, did you take it out? He said: “No, as for me, God has healed me and cured me, and I feared that I would cause evil to the people because of it.” And he ordered that it be buried (767).
It is clear from the hadith that magic was in worldly matters, so he imagined that he had come to his wife, but he did not, and he imagined that he had done something, but he did not do it (768). As for religious matters and revelation, he is protected from error in them, as is proven in many texts, such as the saying of Allah the Almighty: (Nor does he speak from [his own] inclination. It is only a revelation revealed ( [An-Najm: 3-4]. And on the authority of Abdullah bin Amr, he said: I used to write down everything I heard from the Messenger of Allah (I wanted to memorize it, but the Quraysh forbade me and said: Do you write down everything you hear, while the Messenger of Allah (I am a human being who speaks in anger) And contentment, so I stopped writing, and I mentioned that to the Messenger of God (so he pointed with his finger to his mouth and said: “Write, for by the One in Whose Hand is my soul, nothing comes out of it except the truth” (769) and other abundant texts.
Al-Maziri said: “The innovators denied this hadith and claimed that it diminishes the position of prophethood and casts doubt on it. They said: Everything that leads to that is false. They claimed that permitting this undermines trust in the laws that he legislated, since it is possible that he imagined that he saw Gabriel, but he was not there, and that he was revealing something to him, but nothing was revealed to him.” Al-Maziri said: All of this is rejected because the evidence has been established for the truthfulness of the Prophet (in what he conveys from Allah the Most High) and for his infallibility in conveying the message, and the miracles bear witness to his truthfulness. So permitting what there is evidence to the contrary is invalid. As for what is related to some worldly matters for which he was not sent and for which the message was not sent, then in that case he is exposed to what... It befalls people like diseases, so it is not far-fetched that he might imagine in a worldly matter something that is not true, despite his infallibility from such a thing in matters of religion. He said: Some people have said: What is meant by the hadith is that he used to imagine that he had intercourse with his wives, but he had not, and this often happens to a person in his dreams, so it is not far-fetched that he might imagine To him while awake. I said (770): This has been explicitly mentioned in the narration of Ibn Uyaynah in the chapter following this, and his wording is: “Until he thought that he was coming to women but he was not coming to them.” And in the narration of Al-Humaydi: “He was coming to his family but he was not coming to them.” I said: It was mentioned in the mursal of Abd al-Rahman ibn Ka’b according to Ibn Sa’d: “The sister of Labid ibn al-A’sam said: If he is a prophet, he will be informed, otherwise this magic will astound him until he loses his mind.” I said: So the first part (771) was mentioned as in this authentic hadith. Some scholars said: The fact that he thought he did something but did not do it does not necessarily mean that he is certain that he did it. Rather, it is a type of thought that occurs but is not proven, so the atheist has no argument based on this. Iyad said: All of the above is supported by the fact that it was not narrated from him in any report that he said something that was contrary to what he reported. Al-Muhallab said: The protection of the Prophet (from the devils) does not prevent their desire to plot against him. It has already been mentioned in the Sahih that a devil wanted to spoil his prayer, but Allah enabled him to do so. Likewise, magic caused him harm that would impair what is related to conveying the message. Rather, it is of the same type as the harm that befell him from other diseases, such as weakness in speaking, or inability to do some actions, or… The occurrence of an imagination does not continue, but rather it disappears, and God nullifies the plot of the devils (772).
And similar to this is the saying of Allah the Almighty about Moses (He said: "Rather, throw." And behold, their ropes and their staffs appeared to him, because of their magic, to be moving swiftly (Taha: 66). The magic of the Prophet (is like the magic of Moses (which is that something appears to him). So whoever denies the hadith, what does he say about this verse?
We will further clarify the matter and say that the magic that the polytheists intended is not the magic that happened to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). They intended the one who was bewitched, meaning the one who reaches the level of madness and slander, and saying what is not reasonable and the jinn entering into the one who was bewitched. This is undoubtedly false with regard to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). As for the magic of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), it is a type of imagination that happens to any person while awake or asleep, and this does not harm the status of prophethood. - The third objection: How can the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) be bewitched, even though the devils do not have power over the righteous servants of Allah, as Allah the Almighty said: (Indeed, My servants - you have no power over My servants. (There is no authority over them except for those who follow you of the deviators) [Al-Hijr: 42] (Indeed, he has no authority over those who believe and rely upon their Lord (99) His authority is only over those who take him as a friend and those who associate others with him (100) [An-Nahl: 99-100], so the Prophet’s magic is evidence that he is one of the deviators and that he is one of those who take Satan as a friend (773)?
Answer:
Magic has types (774):
1- Magic with medicines.
2- Magic that has no reality but is rather an illusion or sleight of hand.
3- Magic with the help of devils.
So not all types of magic are imposed by the devils on the bewitched person. Some scholars have said that the magic of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) is a type of medicine. Ibn Hajar said: Ibn al-Qassar provided evidence that what afflicted him was a type of illness by saying at the end of the hadeeth: “As for me, Allaah has healed me.” There is some doubt about the evidence for that, but the claim is supported by the fact that in the narration of ‘Amrah from ‘Aa’ishah, according to al-Bayhaqi in al-Dala’il, “He was turning and did not know what was afflicting him.” And in the hadeeth of Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allaah be pleased with him, it says: Abbas, according to Ibn Sa`d: The Prophet fell ill (and was prevented from women, food, and drink, so two angels descended upon him... the hadith) (775).
Even if we assume that it is of the satanic type, not every exposure of the devil to a person means that he is not one of the servants of Allah. There is a big difference between exposure and harassment and domination. This is supported by what Muslim narrated on the authority of Jabir, who said: I heard the Prophet (say: “The devil has despaired of being worshipped by the worshippers in the Arabian Peninsula, but he is in inciting discord among them” (776). So every righteous person is exposed to the devil, rather this is his job in life, and he is He swore to tempt the children of Adam. Even if we accept that this is a form of domination, it is for a limited period, then after that Allah the Most High removes it, and the Muslim returns to his original state.
This is Adam, peace be upon him, who was tempted by Satan until he fell into eating from the tree, and this is Moses who killed a soul without a soul, so he said: (This is from the work of Satan ([Al-Qasas: 15]). No one should say that this is a form of domination in the sense of controlling, tempting, and misleading. Rather, Adam and Moses remain among the best of Allah’s prophets and messengers, may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon them all. -
The fourth objection: (How is it mentioned in the Qur’an that Allah commanded the angels to prostrate to Adam - meaning from the words of Allah the Most High: (And when We said to the angels, “Prostrate to Adam,” and they prostrated ([Al-Baqarah: 34]) - even though this religion is famous for its strictness in denying polytheism and declaring as a disbeliever anyone who prostrates to anyone other than Allah) (777).
The answer:
Prostration is of two types: prostration of greeting and honor, and prostration of worship and glorification. Prostration of worship is not permissible in all religions and by all messengers. Rather, a person does not prostrate except to God alone. As for prostration of greeting, this was permissible in the law of those before us, as happened to Joseph when his parents and brothers prostrated to him, and he did not denounce them. The angels prostrated to Adam from this perspective. As for our law, prostration of greeting was abrogated, to prevent temptation and block the doors and paths of polytheism.
Al-Qurtubi - may Allah have mercy on him - said in his interpretation of the Almighty’s saying: (And he raised his parents to the throne and they fell down before him in prostration... ([Yusuf: 100]): (Allah has abrogated all of that in our law, and made speech a substitute for bowing. The commentators have agreed that this prostration, whatever its form, was a greeting, not an act of worship. Qatada said: This was the greeting of kings among them, and Allah gave this nation peace, the greeting of the people of Paradise) (778).
However, many scholars say: What is meant by prostration here is the linguistic meaning of prostration, which is general bowing, inclination, and respect, and it does not necessarily mean that he falls to the ground (779).

===========

(755) See the book: Refuting Slanders Against Islam, by Shalabi, p. 38, from the message of the Coptic Orthodox National Council in Alexandria, Encyclopedia Britannica (p. 22).
(756) Thamarat al-Awraq by Ibn Hajjah al-Hamawi (p. 293), Dar al-Jeel, Beirut, second edition. 1987.
(757) See Lisan al-Arab (11/391)
(758) Al-Mufradat (p. 510).
(759) He is Abu Saeed bin Zaid, one of the ten who were promised Paradise. He met the Prophet (before he was sent, and he died five years before the mission. He was one of the seekers of the true religion. (See his biography in Al-Isabah by Ibn Hajar (2/613)).
(760) Narrated by Al-Bukhari: (Book of Virtues, Chapter of the Hadith of Zaid bin Amr bin Nufayl, No. 3614).
(761) Narrated by Al-Bukhari: Book of Virtues, Chapter of the Hadith of Zaid bin Amr, No. 3616.
(762) Narrated by Imam Ahmad in Al-Musnad (No. 1651) and its chain of transmission is good.
(763) Al-Isabah (2/616).
(764) The Method of the Prophetic Sunnah in Responding to the Rafidah and the Qadariyyah, by Ahmad ibn Abd al-Halim ibn Taymiyyah (2/396), Ibn Taymiyyah Library, Cairo.
(765) See: The Method of the Modern Rational School in Interpretation, by al-Rumi, (p. 347).
(766) Ibn al-Qayyim said: It is an authentic hadith among the scholars of hadith, and they do not differ about its authenticity. The authors of the two Sahihs agreed on its authenticity, and none of the scholars of hadith said a single word about it. The story is well-known among the scholars of tafsir, Sunan, hadith, history, and jurists, and they are more knowledgeable about the conditions of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) and his days than the theologians. (Al-Tafsir al-Qayyim by Ibn al-Qayyim (p. 566).
(767) Agreed upon (Al-Bukhari: Book of Medicine, Chapter on Magic, No. 5433, and Muslim: Book of Peace, Chapter on Magic, No. 2189).
(768) Sheikh Rashid Rida believes that this was specific only to his intercourse with his wife, and that the meaning of Aisha’s statement: He imagined that he was doing something when he was not doing it. It is a metaphor for intercourse, as stated in his tafsir in the second narration. (See the tafsir of al-Fatihah and six surahs from the last chapters of the Qur’an, by Muhammad Rashid Rida, p. 137).
(769) Narrated by Abu Dawud (Book of Knowledge, Chapter on the Book of Knowledge, No. 3646). And Imam Ahmad in Al-Musnad (No. 6474) and Al-Darimi (Introduction, Chapter on those who are permitted to write down knowledge, No. 484), and it is authentic; see: Sahih Sunan Abi Dawud by Al-Albani (2/695) No. 3099.
(770) The one who said it is Ibn Hajar, may God have mercy on him.
(771) Meaning that he was informed.
(772) Fath Al-Bari (10/237).
(773) This doubt was mentioned in the Christians’ room on Paltalk on the Internet, unfortunately, and no Muslim responded to it.
(774) See Fath al-Bari (10/239).
(775) Fath al-Bari (10/238).
(776) Narrated by Muslim (Book of the Description of the Resurrection, Paradise and Hell, Chapter on Satan’s Incitement and Sending His Troops to Confuse People, No.: 2812).
(777) The Facts of Islam and the Falsehoods of Its Opponents, by al-Aqqad (p. 276), Modern Library, Beirut.
(778) The Compendium of the Rulings of the Qur’an, by al-Qurtubi (9/174).
(779) See the previous reference, and From the Means of Intellectual Invasion, by our professor Dr. Nabil Ghunaim (p.: 589).

Topic Four :
Accusing the Qur’an of Contradicting Facts




Third Requirement: The Claim that the Qur’an Contradicts Cosmic Facts or the Facts of Experimental Science:


One of the attacks on the Qur’an is the claim that it contradicts cosmic facts or the facts of modern experimental science. Accordingly, the Qur’an is not the word of God Almighty, because God Almighty knows everything. Those who attack this have mentioned examples that will be mentioned.
First of all, some rules must be established for this issue:
1- This experimental information must have reached the stage of established scientific truth that is agreed upon (820). It is not permissible to argue with the Qur’an with theories that explain some phenomena of the universe, or that the scientific issue is experiments that have not reached the level of established and definitive truth, such as the theory that the origin of man is an ape and then he went through stages until he reached this level (821), which contradicts the fact that the beginning of the creation of people was from Adam, whom God Almighty created all at once without gradualness.
2- This contradiction must be from every aspect such that it is not possible to carry the wording with another meaning, for the conjectural meaning of the Qur’an is one of those that can be carried with several meanings (822), and among these meanings are meanings that do not contradict science, such as the claim that the earth revolves around the sun, which contradicts the statement of God Almighty: (And you see the sun when it rises, declining from . . . ( So the action of rotation is attributed to the sun, and this is incorrect; for the statement is not conclusive in this meaning, rather it began with the statement: (And you see the sun ( i.e. this matter with regard to human vision, and the context of the verse as is apparent is not intended to prove the rotation of the earth around the sun or vice versa, so the text should not be burdened with what it cannot bear.
So if the issue is in a proven scientific fact, and it contradicts a Qur’anic text in every aspect, then here the contradiction occurs.
As is our custom, we begin first with the general responses and then the detailed ones:
1- That science and the Qur’an cannot – rationally – contradict each other; this is because their source is one and their goal is one, so their source is God Almighty And the Most High, for God is the One who created this universe and what is in it of knowledge and sciences, and He is the One who legislated this religion and what is in it of news and rulings, and whatever is from God does not contradict, (for the Qur’an and the universe - and they are the source of religious and scientific truths - are both from God and His creation. He sent down the Qur’an with the truth just as He created the universe with the truth, so man should not seek the truth except in them, and thus it is inconceivable that the truth would clash with itself) (823).
They also agree in the goal and purpose, which is to make humanity happy and to make life’s difficulties easier, so whatever agrees in the source and purpose cannot contradict each other, for true knowledge does not contradict the Qur’an, rather they are two cooperating brothers (824).
2- The fair-minded among the people of other religions testified that the Qur’an does not contradict science at all.
Ibrahim Khalil says: (This prophet is linked (to the miracle of eternity with what Christ - peace be upon him - tells us in his saying about him: (And he informs you of things to come). And this miracle is the Holy Qur’an, the miracle of the Messenger that will remain as long as time remains, for the Holy Qur’an precedes modern science in all its aspects; from medicine, astronomy, geography, geology, law, sociology, and history... In our days, science has been able to see what the Qur’an preceded in explanation and definition...) (825), and he said: (I believe with certainty that if I were an existentialist who did not believe in a heavenly message, and a group of people came to me and told me what the Qur’an preceded modern science in all its aspects; I would believe in the Lord of Glory and Power, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, and I will not associate anyone with Him) (826).
Potter said: (When I finished reading the Holy Qur’an, I was overwhelmed with a feeling that this is the truth, which includes satisfactory answers about the issues of creation and others, and that it presents events to us in a logical way, which we find (827) Potter also said: “How could Muhammad (the illiterate man who grew up in an ignorant environment) know the miracles of
the universe described in the Holy Qur’an, which modern science is still striving to discover to this day? These words must therefore be the words of God Almighty” (828). Hitti said: “The style of the Qur’an is different from others,
and it cannot be compared to any other style, and it cannot be imitated. This is, in essence, the miracle of the Qur’an. Of all the miracles, the Qur’an was the greatest miracle” (829).
Dr. Murad Hoffman, the former German ambassador to Rabat, wrote the book “Islam as an Alternative” (830), in which there are many testimonies of the miracle of the Qur’an, its truthfulness, the truthfulness of the Prophet (and the perfection of legislation).
Among those who specialized in this field, and who was one of the most hostile people to the Qur’an and the Messenger (Dr. Maurice Bucaille), whenever a Muslim patient came to him who needed surgical treatment, when he completed his treatment he would say to him: What do you say about the Qur’an, is it from God who revealed it to Muhammad or from the words of Muhammad who attributed it to God as a slander against him? If the patient answered that it was from God and that Muhammad was truthful, he would say: I believe that it is not from God and that Muhammad is not truthful. He remained like that for a period of time until the late King Faisal bin Abdulaziz, King of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, came to him. Bucaille says: I treated him surgically until he recovered, then I asked him the same question, and he said to me: Have you read the Qur’an? I said: Yes, repeatedly and I pondered it. He said to me: In its language or with a translation? I said: With a translation. He said: Then you are imitating the translator, and the imitator has no knowledge; since he did not know the truth, but he was told something and believed it, and the translator is not infallible from error and deliberate distortion, so promise me that you will learn the Arabic language and read the Qur’an in it, and I hope that this false belief of yours will change. He said: I was amazed by his answer, and I put my hand in his hand and promised him that I would not speak about the Qur’an until I learned Arabic. I went that day to the Grand University in Paris, and I learned the Arabic language in two years, and I took a lesson every day until my day off. Then I read the Qur’an carefully, and I found it to be the only book that forces a person educated in modern sciences to believe that it is from God, not adding a letter or subtracting from it. As for the Torah and the four Gospels, they contain many lies that a modern scholar cannot believe (831). The fruit of this deep study of the Qur’an was the writing of his famous book “The Torah, the Bible, and the Qur’an according to the Standard of Modern Science.” Among what Bucaille said in this book: “I first studied the Holy Qur’an, without any prior thought, and with complete objectivity, searching for the degree of agreement between the text of the Qur’an and the data of modern science. I knew - before this study and through translations - that the Qur’an mentions many types of natural phenomena, but my knowledge was brief. Thanks to the conscious study of the Arabic text, I was able to achieve a list, and after completing it, I realized that the Qur’an does not contain any statement that can be criticized from the point of view of science in the modern era. With the same objectivity, I conducted the same examination of the Old Testament and the Gospels. As for the Old Testament, there was no need to go beyond the first book, i.e. the Book of Genesis, as I found statements that cannot be reconciled with the most established data of science in our time. As for the Gospels, we find that the text of the Gospel of Matthew clearly contradicts the Gospel of Luke, and that the latter explicitly presents to us something that does not agree with modern knowledge.” (832)
- Second: The detailed response:
1- Perhaps one of the oldest challenges to the claim that the Qur’an contradicts experimental science is what some have claimed about contradicting the Almighty’s statement about honey: “Therein is healing for people” [An-Nahl: 69].
Al-Qurtubi said: “Some heretical doctors objected to this hadith, saying: Doctors have agreed that honey causes laxatives, so how can it be prescribed for someone who has diarrhea? The answer is that this statement is true in itself for the one who has achieved belief in his Prophet, peace be upon him (833), so he uses it in the manner he specified and in the place he ordered with good intention and good nature, for he will see its benefit and realize its blessing, as happened to the owner of this honey and others as mentioned above. As for what was narrated about the consensus, it is evidence of his ignorance of the transmission; since he did not specify and make it general. Imam Abu Abdullah Al-Mazari said: It should be known that diarrhea occurs from many types, including diarrhea resulting from indigestion and diarrhea; and doctors agree in such a case that its treatment is to leave it to nature and its actions, and if it needs help with diarrhea, it will help as long as the strength remains, but withholding it is harmful. If this is made clear, we say: It is possible that this man had diarrhea due to fullness and diarrhea, so the Prophet ordered him (to drink honey, He increased it until the substance was exhausted and the diarrhea stopped, and he agreed to drink honey. If this is outside the scope of medicine, then it indicates the objector’s ignorance of that art. He said: We do not rely on the statement of our Prophet to prove that the doctors believe him, but if they lied to him, we would lie to them and disbelieve in them and believe him. If they find from observation the truth of what they said, then we are in need of interpreting the statement of the Messenger of God (and interpreting it in a way that is correct, since the evidence has been established that he does not lie) (834). Ibn Hazm - may God have mercy on him - responded to Ibn al-Naghrilah the Jew that the word (in it is healing) is indefinite and does not require generality (835), and we have already mentioned the statement of Imam al-Dani (836) that the (al) in the word (for people) is not for generality but for the genus.
These are the scientific objections mentioned by the Christian National Council and Dr. Shalabi responded to them: -
2_ The Earth is fixed and does not move:
(It is stated in Surah Luqman: (And He has cast into the earth firm mountains, lest it should shake with you (. This is stated in another Surah... And the men of the National Council said: Science proves that the Earth rotates around itself once every 24 hours, so how can the Qur’an say that it is firm and stable (837)?
The answer: (The meaning of shaking is to be disturbed and shaken, and the field does not mean just a balanced movement, and the triliteral source (Fa’laan) comes to convey this meaning, such as Maidan, Ghaliyan, Thawran, and Jolan... and so on, and the verse mentions that God fixed the Earth so that humans can settle on it in their sleep, and plant and graze their livestock, and if it were disturbed, people would not be able to rest assured on it and do these works.
We sleep on the plane, on the train, and on the ship, and if one of them is disturbed, we wake up and feel tired, and we may ask the driver to do something to calm it down. To prove, and its proof does not mean that it stands and does not move, but that its disturbance is stopped, and the people will mention after objecting to the Qur’an that it mentioned (and each in an orbit floats (), and (each (a word that includes the sun and its satellites from the moon and the earth and the other planets, so the Qur’an then establishes the movement of all these planets) (838).
3_ The planets are the size of stones:
(It is stated in the Qur’an: (And We have certainly adorned the lowest heaven with lamps and made them missiles to drive away the devils ([Al-Mulk: 5], and it is also stated: (And We have certainly placed in the heaven constellations and have adorned them for the observers and have protected them from every devil expelled, except for one who steals a hearing and is pursued by a clear flaming fire ([Al-Hijr: 16-18], and the men of the council said: The Qur’an made the stars and planets the size of stones, with which the angels throw the devils, and modern science proves that every planet is a huge world.
What is in the verse is that there are fiery bodies that strike the devils, and it is not mentioned that a star falls on the devil or that the angels throw it at him. Modern science and astronauts talk about meteors that are seen in the vast space as luminous comets, and some of them are fiery and go out and disintegrate in their path, and some of them reach the earth, and they are similar to volcanic projectiles. Those who have studied astronomical geography know this, for these projectiles are pieces that separate from the planets and move in space, especially if the star or planet is close to the earth, and God Almighty strikes with them whomever He wills and protects with them whomever He wills, and they may be cold pieces but they are luminous like the moon. Haven’t the geniuses of the age, the companions of Timothy, heard that those who landed on the surface of the moon saw there areas of still fire and others that were blazing? And that they saw the earth radiant as we see the moon? And that space is filled with floating pieces of fire, some of which reach the earth? (839)
4_ Space is a smooth surface that can fall, and so is the Earth:
(This is because it was mentioned in the Qur’an (Allah is He Who created seven heavens and of the earth the like of them) [At-Talaq: 12], and it was mentioned: (And Allah is He Who made for you the earth as a carpet) [Noah: 19], and it was mentioned: (O mankind, worship your Lord Who created you and those before you that you may become righteous) [Al-Baqarah: 21], (Who made for you the earth as a bed) [Al-Baqarah: 22], and this and similar verses were mentioned in other verses, and its mistake in the view of the men of the council is that the Earth is one planet and not seven, and so is the sky!
The first verse came at the end of Surat At-Talaq, and it draws attention to the great power of Allah Almighty: (Allah is He Who created seven heavens and of the earth the like of them. The command descends between them so that you may know that Allah is over all things competent and that Allah has encompassed all things in knowledge) .
An amazing and terrifying verse that shows the insignificance of man in this great universe, and more than one of the writers stands in amazement before the expression, before its meaning, and before this Qur’anic miracle.
What These heavens? And what are these earths? Everyone looks from a special angle, and everyone finds in the verse something that amazes him.
The heaven that our knowledge has reached with all its planets, stars and orbits may be one of seven heavens, and the Earth that we live on is also like that! Modern astronomy supports this, and states that the solar system to which our world is related is only one of other groups that only God, who created them, knows.
This is a miracle of the Qur’an, as Muhammad did not study astronomy and did not know anything about these modern discoveries.
In the Arabic language, the number is mentioned to mean multiplication, and they express it as a number that has no concept, and this is like when you say to your friend: I visited you a thousand times and you did not visit me. You do not mean a thousand in number, but rather you mean I visited you many times. If we interpret the number in the verse in this way, the meaning is that God created many heavens and many earths, and this is true and clear.
The seven lands may mean different types of soil on the Earth, and each type is called a land. This and that are like what you say: So-and-so became rich and owns a lot of land. The land is of different types according to its soil and the elements from which each soil is composed. Some are sandy and some are limestone, some contain iron minerals and others contain copper elements, and so on, as God Almighty said: (And among the mountains are streaks white and red, of varying colors and [others] are very black.) [Fatir: 27].
The types of land may mean what is suitable for its growth, so a land with forests and a land with flowers, and a third is barren and does not grow anything.
The verse in Surat Al-Baqarah: (Who has made the earth a bed for you) [Al-Baqarah: 22] is not the only one that mentions this in the Qur’an, but there are other verses that mention this, and the meaning of (bed) is: spread out under our feet, flat like a bed, we sleep on it and walk and plant, and also settle our livestock and homes, and if Allah the Almighty had made it many curves and very convex, we would not have been able to rest on it, nor to do all these works, so the verse mentions a blessing from Allah’s blessings upon us, and there is nothing in this that indicates that the earth is liable to fall!
As for the verse in Surat Al-Anbiya, it came within verses of the utmost magnificence and astronomical scientific miracle, and many people are amazed at how the Qur’an decided these facts since that ancient time. Read the words of Allah the Almighty: (Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Will they not then believe? And We have placed on the earth firm mountains, lest it should quake with them, and We have placed therein paths Ways that they may be guided. And We have made the sky a protected ceiling, but they, from its signs, turn away. And it is He who created the night and the day and the sun; each, in an orbit, is floating. (Al-Anbiya: 30-33) The many heavens and the earth were one part, then the Creator split them apart and separated some of them from others: Blessed be Allah, and His noble Prophet spoke the truth! He did not speak from [his own] inclination. It is only a revelation revealed!!
In the Middle Ages, the age of intellectual darkness and scientific stagnation, the Holy Quran rightly establishes the most recent scientific theories, which modern science has not been guided to until recently!
All these planets, including the Earth, were pieces of fire that separated from the sun during its eternal, mighty rotation, and were scattered in space, the extent of which is known only to God. It took millions and billions of years for their outer crust to cool, and God split rivers and seas with them, and sent rainwater down upon them, so that after millions of years, different forms of life from lowly plants and algae, then different animals, some of which became extinct and some of which remained, flourished in them. Thus God made every living thing from water, everything from plants, birds, worms, insects, snakes, beasts and humans, all of them are from water and their life depends on it.
This is God’s creativity and creation, His glory and guidance, and none of His works came about by chance.
As for the Torah, it says: (In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the earth, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters).
Thus God began and created the heavens and the earth all at once, and He did not mention anything about water.
A naive expression and pagan thinking that only understands the embodied thing; Where was God if his spirit fluttered and hovered around the water? Was he without a spirit, or was he the one who became incarnate and became this tiny space like a dove? He created the entire universe while he was a small part of it.
(And God said, Let there be light. And there was light. And God saw the light that it was good)!
He did not know that it would be good, but when it appeared to him, he was pleased. He worked by pure chance, and an experiment that succeeded and produced something beautiful.
Is this eloquence?! No expressive eloquence or scientific truth.
We read the rest of this beginning and find: God separated the light from the darkness, and called the light day and the darkness night, and said, Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear. And he called the dry land earth.
And thus the Book of Genesis continues, disturbed in the few words with which it began.
In the beginning He created the heavens and the earth, and the earth was formless. Then He created in the midst of the water something solid and called it earth, and He called part of it sky.
Can science support this or can reason accommodate it? He created the heavens and the earth, then He created something and called it earth and sky!
The old idea was that the whole world was water, and that the earth floated on the water like a grape, and this is thinking that arose from limited perspective. The Book of Genesis and the rest of the Holy Bible - or what is called the Holy Bible - are of late human composition.
Despite the confusion of expression, the weakness of style, and the meaning’s contradiction with the facts of science, the pious and intelligent Timothy admired it and criticized the Qur’an.
(Have those who disbelieve not seen that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Will they not then believe? [Surat Al-Anbiya: 30].
(And We made the sky a protected ceiling, but they, from its signs, turn away. [Surat Al-Anbiya: 32].
The sky is everything we see above us, and Timothy understood that the sky can only mean space, which is blatant ignorance. The Arabs used to say to Muhammad, “Drop the sky upon us in fragments,” meaning in pieces. Did they mean space?
We look up night and day and see the floating planets, and neither we nor the jinn and humans can change anything in their system, or modify it in the slightest way? We cannot even reach it. It was one of the wonders of science that people reached the land of the moon, and the moon is a satellite of the earth and a small planet! So where is the human effort in these distant, gigantic planets? Where are they? And what is the extent of knowledge about them?
God’s truth (And you have been given of knowledge only a little.) [Surat Al-Isra: 30]. (840)
5- The Qur’an has decided that Mount Qaf surrounds the entire earth,
and this is in the beginning of Surah Qaf, in the Almighty’s saying: (Qaf. By the Glorious Qur’an). This is a mistake, because science shows that the highest peak is Everest (841).
This is a myth that originated from the book of the Jews! Which talks about the mythical Mount Qaf.
As for the Qur’an, it did not mention mountains or peaks, and the letter Qaf is one of the many letters that began surahs of the Qur’an, such as: Sad, Nun, Ha Mim, Alif, Ra, etc.
But the purely materialistic formula that the false Torah left in the minds of the people, directed their minds in this purely materialistic direction, and if this is a myth originating from a Jewish book, then how can the Qur’an be held accountable for it?! The books of the Jews are the books of the Christians, so let the people direct the blame to themselves. As for them being so ignorant, then ascribing their ignorance to the Qur’an, this is something that only their minds can accept (842).
These are other scientific objections from the words of the Orientalists, as stated by Professor Miller Brose (Head of the Department of Near Eastern Languages ​​and Literatures, and Professor of Evangelical Jurisprudence at Yale University) in his research entitled: (Proposals on the Subject of the Relationship between Religion and Science in Islam) (843), and our professor Dr. Beltagy responded to them as follows:
6- Miller said: (It is well-known that the results that modern science has reached regarding the origins of science completely contradict what is stated in the Holy Book and in the Qur’an that God created the world in six days. It is true that the Qur’an states that a day with God is like a thousand years of what man counts, but this does not solve the dilemma; the long period of time that the universe has passed through in its existence cannot be compressed into six thousand or six million years) (844).
The answer:
(A- The verses referred to by Miller Bros. state that God Almighty created the heavens and the earth and what is between them in six days and then He established Himself on the throne, but they do not address the age of the created universe since God Almighty created it until this day. However, Miller Bros. in his previous statement confuses the two matters, referring to a (dilemma) that does not exist, as he speaks about (the extended period of time that the universe went through in its existence, which cannot be compressed into six thousand or six million years). So what do the Qur’anic verses he refers to have to do with the age of the universe?!
They only state the time in which God Almighty created the universe, without addressing the time that passed after creation over the created universe until this day.
The contradiction that this orientalist speaks about came as a result of his mixing between the two matters, and his giving the Qur’anic verses a meaning other than what they carry. This is a matter that is extremely clear to anyone who reviews the texts of the verses referred to and then reviews the orientalist’s statement about them) (845).
B- Miller Bros. - or anyone else - cannot offer any denial of what these verses have stated, that God Almighty created the heavens and the earth in six days and then established Himself on the throne. Because the act of creation and its time preceded human existence, no one can ever claim that he witnessed - by any means - or observed how the heavens and the earth were created and its time, and the material knowledge of humans - with all its branches - arose after creation was completed, and there is no way for him to know the details of the creation of the heavens and the earth and what is between them - in terms of time - except what the true revelation has informed us of from God Almighty in these verses, and in what is related to them of prophetic hadiths that were authentically narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him), and man does not possess - in his human knowledge - another means by which he can retrieve the manner of creation or its time to measure what was mentioned in the revelation, and from here human knowledge cannot in any way reach in this issue anything on which to rely in denying what was mentioned in the revelation; because the revelation here tells of a (unseen) matter that humans did not witness and their material knowledge does not reach in any way, as God Almighty said: (I did not make them witness to the creation of the heavens and the earth or to the creation of themselves, and I would not have taken the misguiders as supporters) [Surat Al-Kahf: 30].
So every claim of trying to cast doubt on God Almighty: He created the heavens and the earth in six 846. As for what Miller Bros. refers to as (the results that modern science has reached about the origins of the world),
there is nothing in these results - which are mere hypotheses in themselves - that exposes anything about the amount of time in which God created the heavens and the earth, even though there are hypothetical estimates of the age of the material universe, and that is another issue as we have previously decided) (846). 7- Miller said
: (Man himself was not created by God all at once, separate from the creation of animals, but rather he came as a result of a long evolution from the lower forms of life, so how then do we overcome this problem) (847).
(c) As for what Miller Bros. refers to from Darwin’s theory of evolution and selection when he says: “Man himself was not created by God in one go, separate from the creation of animals, but came as a result of a long development of lower forms of life,” he is referring to a theory that was not at any time a definitive scientific fact that religious texts could be measured against. It has never been more than a mere assumption for which there has never been conclusive evidence, or even close to conclusive and certain, since Darwin announced it, it has had opponents from among the men of experimental science, because there has never been tangible evidence of its validity. Rather, it is a rational assumption by which Darwin explained some phenomena and observations, but none of those who believe in it have ever observed a material development that confirms its validity. On the contrary, in October 1974 CE (Shawwal 1394 AH), news agencies reported to us that members of the French-British archaeological mission, which is conducting a series of excavations in Ethiopia, have discovered the remains of a human skeleton dating back about four million years. The members said: The mission: This discovery will completely change the previous known theories about the origin of man (Al-Akhbar newspaper, Cairo, 10/28/1974, p. 1).
There is no doubt that the first thing that this discovery will change is Darwin’s theory. Is it right after this for a person to question the truth of the Qur’anic revelation about creation, based on a hypothetical conclusion of a natural scientist, which neither he nor anyone else has proven conclusively, but rather discoveries have been found that question its validity? Hence, this theory is not suitable - in any way - to be a standard by which the texts of the Holy Qur’an about creation can be measured.
Our approach in all theories far from describing certainty is that we clear the Qur’an from the beginning from saying anything in its interpretation that is related to mere assumptions and conclusions that are subject to change, or even cancellation in the first place.
Thus it becomes clear that the talk of Miller Bros. and his likes about (the creation of man in a long evolution from lower forms) - as an issue whose validity is certainly accepted - is a false tactic that you know from them and it is based on making (suppositions and perceptions) definitive facts whose validity is accepted. This method based on obfuscation and ignorance of the facts of things should not deceive any of the researchers who respect their minds (848). 8- In the Almighty’s saying: (Until, when he reached the setting of the sun,
he found it setting in a spring of murky water. And he found near it a people. We said, “O Dhul-Qarnayn, either you punish them or you treat them kindly.” [Al-Kahf: 86]). Khalaf Allah says: (It became clear to the Islamic mind that the issue of the sun setting in a spring of murky water does not agree with what is known of the facts of this universe) (849). - The answer: We have already stated that it is not correct to take ambiguous expressions and claim that they contradict science, (for the precise and miraculous Qur’anic expression says (he found it setting) and it did not say that it sets; so that this would be an expression of the absolute cosmic truth) (850). Ibn Kathir - may God have mercy on him - said: (His saying: (He found it setting in a murky spring) means he saw the sun in his view setting in the surrounding sea, and this is the case with everyone who reaches its shore, he sees it as if it is setting in it, and it does not leave the orbit in which it is fixed and does not leave it) (851).





Al-Qurtubi - may God have mercy on him - said: (Al-Qaffal said: Some scholars said: What is meant is not that he reached the sun, both in the west and the east, and reached its mass and touched it; because it revolves with the sky around the earth, without sticking to the earth, and it is too large to enter into any of the springs of the earth, rather it is many times larger than the earth. Rather, what is meant is that he reached the end of the building from the west and the east, and he found it in the view of the eye setting in a muddy spring, just as we see it on smooth earth as if it enters the earth; and for this reason he said: “He found it rising upon a people for whom We had not made any covering besides it.” He did not mean that it rose upon them by touching them and sticking to them, rather he meant that they were the first upon whom it rose) (852).
So the claim that this verse contradicts science is undoubtedly a false claim.
Thus, if you look at most of their attacks on the Qur’an on the grounds of its contradiction of modern science, they hardly go beyond the first two criteria in this discussion; Either they are theories that have not reached the level of the accepted truth, or they burden the wording of the Qur’an with what it cannot bear.
And Allah is Most High and All-Knowing.

And Allah is the Grantor of success and the Guide to the straight path.


==========

(820) See: Al-Tafsir wa al-Mufassirun, by Al-Dhahabi (2/470), Wahba Library, Cairo, fifth edition 1993, and Introduction to the Science of Interpretation, Dr. Beltaji, p. 208, and p. 26.
(821) See: Introduction to the Science of Interpretation, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Beltaji Hasan (p. 203), as he quoted it from Miller Brose (Head of the Department of Near Eastern Languages).
(822) Al-Tafsir wa al-Mufassirun (2/480), and Introduction to the Science of Interpretation, Dr. Beltaji, p. 26.
(823) Trends of Renewal in the Interpretation of the Qur’an, by Dr. Sharif, p. 639.
(824) See: Trends of Renewal in the Interpretation of the Holy Qur’an in Egypt, by Dr. Sharif, p. 628.
(825) Muhammad in the Torah, the Bible, and the Qur’an (pp. 47, 48).
(826) The previous reference (p. 48).
(827) What they said about Islam (p. 55).
(828) What they said about Islam (p. 55).
(829) What they said about Islam (p. 58).
(830) From the publications of Al-Ubaikan Library, Riyadh, third edition, 2001.
(831) An article in Al-Sumou Magazine, second issue (November 2001), by Dr. Walid Al-Tabtabaei, entitled “King Faisal invites the world-renowned surgeon Maurice Bucaille to Islam,” on the last page. He mentioned in the introduction that this story is found in the book “Anecdotes of History” by Salih Muhammad Al-Zamam.
(832) What they said about Islam (p. 56).
(833) It means in the hadith of Abu Sa`id that a man came to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) and said: My brother is complaining about his stomach. He said: “Give him honey to drink.” Then he came a second time and said: “Give him honey to drink.” Then he came a third time and said: “Give him honey to drink.” Then he came to him and said: I have done so. He said: “Allaah has spoken the truth and your brother’s stomach has lied. Give him honey to drink.” So he gave him honey to drink and he was cured. Agreed upon (Bukhari: Book of Medicine, Chapter on Medication with Honey, No. 5684, and Muslim: Book of Peace, Chapter: Treatment by drinking honey, No.: 2217.
(834) Al-Jami’ li Ahkam al-Quran (10/91)
(835) Al-Radd ‘ala Ibn al-Naghrilah the Jew (p.: 62).
(836) Al-Radd al-Musallaq al-Islam, p.: 66.
(837) Al-Radd al-Musallaq al-Islam, p.: 130.
(838) The previous source (p.: 130).
(839) Refuting Slander against Islam (p. 132).
(840) “Refuting Slander against Islam” (pp. 132-136
). (841) Previous (p. 142).
(842) “Refusing Slander against Islam” p. 142.
(843) See: Introduction to the Science of Interpretation, by our professor Dr. Beltaji (p. 203).
(844) Previous (p. 203).
(845) Previous (p. 206).
(846) Introduction to the Science of Interpretation, p. 207.
(847) Previous, p. 203.
(848) “Introduction to the Science of Interpretation” (p. 209).
(849) The Art of Narration (p. 34).
(850) Introduction to the Science of Interpretation (p. 233).
(851) Interpretation of the Great Qur’an by Ibn Kathir (3/103).
(852) Collection of the Rulings of the Qur’an by Al-Qurtubi (11/50).