Some Miracles of the Qur’an (1/2)

1- The eloquence of the Qur’an –  the beauty of its meanings, the accurateness of its structure, the loftiness of its goals and its challenge to the Arabs to produce even one of its verses—all of this makes it a lasting miracle. Although the Arabs were well-known for their eloquence and literary sophistication, they did not dare to accept the challenge. That is because the Qur’an is not a human effort; it is the Words of Allah, the Glorious Creator.

As proof, you may read what Allah Almighty says,

“Those whom Allah (in His plan) wills to guide, * He opens their mind to Islam; those whom He wills to leave astray, * He makes their chest closed and constricted, as if they had to climb up to the skies * thus does Allah (heap) the penalty upon those who refuse to believe.” [Surah Al-An`aam, 6: 125]
Look at this verse; it describes the person Allah choses to mislead. It includes a complete description of his state: he is like someone rising through the highest layers of the atmosphere where the pressure is very low. This causes him to feel irritation and have difficulty breathing. This scientific fact was not discovered until the modern age, yet this noble verse pointed to that meaning and explained it in only three words. The first two words, “narrow” and “uneasiness,” describe his state and that his chest felt narrow and uneasy. The third word, “climb,” shows how the movement of climbing is not easy. A person rising finds hardship going up against atmospheric pressure[1].

A witness from the Jews: – A Jewish law professor was arguing with a Muslim student, trying to defame Islam. The Muslim wanted to confute him, so he asked him about the size of U.S. inheritance law.  The Jewish professor answered that it was more than eight volumes long.

The Muslim said, “I can summarize these volumes in just eight lines, including every aspect of inheritance law and its translation into a foreign language.”

So he proceeded to distribute an inheritance to all parties, in absolute fairness, without oppressing anyone. Because of the verses on inheritance, this Jew accepted Islam as his religion[2].

The Holy Qur’an is a miraculous book. It is a masterpiece in its words, sentences and rhetoric, as well as in the loftiness of its goals.

2 – The Qur’an informs us about the fate of some of the unbelievers of Quraish. Among them were Abu Lahab (the Prophet’s uncle) and his wife. Allah says about them in the Qur’an,

“Perish the two hands of Abu Lahab (the Prophet’s uncle) and may he perish! * His wealth and his children will not benefit him! * He will be burnt in a Fire of blazing flames! * And his wife, too, who carries the wood (thorns of sadan which she used to put on the Prophet’s path or she used to slander him) * Around her neck is a twisted rope of masad (palm fiber).” [Surah Al-Masad, 111:1-5]

Abu Lahab and his wife (or any of the unbelievers in whom Qur’an told us about their fate and that the Hell is their final abode) could have tried to discredit the religion and disprove these verses by claiming to become Muslims, and if they had done so, people might have had suspicions about the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and his call. But none of them dared fake a conversion, for the Qur’an is the Word of Allah, and it informs us about the unknown and what the hearts conceal. Allah Almighty already knew that they would not dare pretend to become Muslim, so in the Qur’an, He challenges them to do so.

The verses inform them of their ill fate and the consequences of their actions. None of the unbelievers could doubt that the Qur’an was sent by Allah.

Those noble verses are clear evidence that the Qur’an is the Word of Allah, the Glorious Creator, and none but Him knows the unknown and the unseen.

3 – The Qur’an includes metaphysical news, which the Prophet (Peace be upon him) did not know anything about, but when he received the information, he found it to be entirely accurate. Each prophet before Muhammad (Peace be upon him) had been sent to a specific people for certain length of time, so Allah supported them with concrete miracles, which would have the desired effect for a while. By as time passed, these tangible miracles lost their immediacy and were gradually forgotten. So, Allah sent His final prophet with the law ultimately acceptable to Him, and with a new material miracle: to preserve the Qur’an forever. Allah supported this prophet with both concrete and abstract miracles. Some of these miracles will be experienced in the future to be believed by nations yet to come. But this miracle, the Qur’an, will last amongst the people until the Day of Judgment. The news of the unseen that the Qur’an and the honest prophet told us about were all true and right. They were all about universal facts and issues. These noble verses of Qur’an and the Prophet’s Hadiths bring news of amazing incidents and true testimony that bear witness to the trustworthiness of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and his call. He was an instructor sent by the Glorious Creator, Allah, Lord of the whole universe. Some of this news of the Unseen referred to in the Qur’an were:

News about the Past: One is the story of the ancient people of `Ad.

Allah says,

“Dost thou not see how thy Lord dealt with the ‘Ad (people) * of the (city of) Iram, with lofty pillars * the likes of which were not produced in (all) the land?” [Surah Al-Fajr, 89: 6-8]
And He says,

“And as for `Ad, they were destroyed by a furious violent wind! * Which Allah imposed on them for seven nights and eight days in succession, so that you could see men lying overthrown (destroyed), as if they were hollow trunks of date-palms! * Do you see any remnants of them?” [Surah Al-Haqqah, 69:6-8]
Allah also told us about the people of Hud, a nation of tyrants from a well-known tribe in Yemen. Allah granted them strength and well-built bodies, but they walked with arrogance and insolence upon the earth.
With this blessing, they erected enormous buildings with great and strong columns, but because of their arrogance, Allah punished them with a stormy wind. For seven nights and eight days, they suffered until it destroyed them completely.
Surprisingly, a few years ago, the Americans provided one of the space shuttles with a radar that had the ability to penetrate soil to a depth of about ten meters. When it passed over the Arabian Peninsula, which is considered the most arid desert of all, it took a photo of the source of two dry rivers, one moving from east to west and the other moving from south to north. The Americans were amazed, for they knew that this area is one of the driest regions in the world. On another trip, they provided the shuttle with another radar that could penetrate the soil, but with a wider scope. It photographed two rivers that branched out and poured into a lake with a diameter of more than 45 meters. Again, it took photos of the boundaries of the lake. These photos were of a structure so large that mankind had never seen one like it before. Religious scholars, geologists and geographers agreed that this was the area mentioned in the Holy Qur’an.
Historians had previously denied the existence of the people of `Ad because they had never found any traces of their civilization. They believed it was just a fable, but the Qur’an mentioned it as an example.
One of the largest institutions of scientific research in California submitted a report entitled, “Journey across the Arabian Peninsula;” it was supported by these noble verses of the Qur’an,
”Of Iram (who were very tall) like (lofty) pillars, * the likes of which were not created on the land?”[Surah Al-Fajr, 89: 7-8]
The report said that this civilization, which could not be compared to any other, was submerged by an unusual sandy wind. Yet, Allah Almighty informed us of this more than 1400 years ago.
What this institute mentioned is the best witness to the trustworthiness of Muhammad (Peace be upon him) and the truth of his message and sayings.
The Qur’an refers to scientific facts, too small for the eye to see, that were unknown until recently – things no one could have had the slightest idea about, like the development of the embryo. Some verses of the Qur’an describe the stages of the development of the embryo.
Allah says,

“And indeed we created man (Adam) out of an extract of clay (water and earth). * Thereafter we made him (the offspring of Adam) as a nutfah (the mixture of drops of male and female discharge) in a safe lodging (the woman’s womb). * Then We made the nutfah into a clot (a bit of thick coagulated blood), then We made the clot into a little lump of flesh, then We made out of that little lump of flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh, and then We brought it forth as another creation. So Blessed is Allah, the Best of creators.” [Surah Al-Mu’minun, 23: 12-14]
• Many verses of the Qur’an and the Prophet’s Hadiths mention the stages of the development of the embryo.
• When these verses of Qur’an were shown to Keith Moore, who is a leading lecturer in embryology and has a book which has been translated into many languages, he included them in one of his lectures, entitled, “The Correspondence of Embryology with What Is Mentioned in the Qur’an and Sunnah.”
• He agreed to support his scientific book with these verses of Qur’an and the Prophet’s Hadiths. In a press conference in Moscow, he said that the expressions in the Qur’an are so accurate and comprehensive that modern science cannot surpass their eloquence and style.
• They asked him if he was Muslim, and he said no, but he stated that the Qur’an must be the words of God and that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) must be a prophet of God and His messenger. He added that he was under certain pressures which would not allow him to declare his acceptance of Islam, but that people might one day learn that Keith Moore had embraced Islam as a religion[3].
He also wrote a book, entitled, The Developing Human with Islamic Additions,  which is a very advanced call to Islam, that great religion brought by Muhammad (Peace be upon him), the last of the prophets and messengers.
• Among the metaphysical evidence the Holy Qur’an points to is: numerical miracles, of which there are many in the Qur’an.
There are many more amazing invisible and scientific facts that were not previously known to anyone. But the Qur’an informed us about them more than 1400 years ago.
Allah says,

“Nor does he speak of (his own) desire. * It is only a Revelation revealed. * He has been taught (this Qur’an) by one mighty in power (Jibril: Gabriel).” [Surah Al-Najm, 53:3-5]
The Qur’an contains a lot of news about the Unseen, and it tells us about them before they occur.
Allah says,

“Alif-Lam-Mim. * The Romans have been defeated * in the nearer land (Syria, Iraq, Jordan, and Palestine), and they, after their defeat, will be victorious * within a few years. The decision of the matter, before and after (these events) is only with Allah. And on that day, the believers (the Muslims) will rejoice * at the Help of Allah. He helps whom He wills, and He is the All-Mighty, the Most Merciful.” [Surah Al-Rum, 30: 1-5]
These noble verses descended when the Sabour overcame the region of Syria and the nearby parts of the Arabian Peninsula, as well as the far away Persian lands.
The word translated as “a few” in these verses means: “between three and nine.”
These noble verses explained that the Persians conquered the nearer land. Heraclius, the Byzantine Emperor, was obliged to ask for help from the capital (Byzantium: present-day Istanbul), where he was trapped for a long time, but then Heraclius restored his empire as the Qur’an explained. That happened seven years before the victory of Persians. How could Muhammad (Peace be upon him) have known about that? Undoubtedly, Allah informed His prophet of all these unseen things. Allah informed His prophet that the Byzantine Empire would win the war even though they had just been defeated by the Persians. Not only that, but also that the period in which victory would be had would be seven years.
All of this proves that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) was sent by Allah Almighty. These noble verses are true witness of the trustworthiness of the Prophet’s call and that the Qur’an is the Word of Allah.
Allah says,

“Indeed Allah shall fulfill the true vision which He showed to His Messenger (Peace be upon him) in truth. Certainly, you shall enter al-Masjid-al-Haram (the Ka’aba), if Allah wills, secure, (some) having your heads shaved, and (some) having your hair cut short, having no fear. He knew what you knew not, and He granted besides that an imminent victory.” [Surah Al-Fath, 48: 27]
This noble verse was sent down in the sixth year after the migration of the Prophet (Peace be upon him) to Medina, after leaving al-Hudaybia (where a treaty was signed to the apparent disadvantage of the Muslims), the Prophet (Peace be upon him) told his companions that he had a dream, (and the dreams of prophets are true visions) in which he saw himself entering Mecca and going around the Ka’aba. When the Prophet (Peace be upon him) signed a treaty with the unbelievers stipulating that the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and his companions should turn back without completing the pilgrimage and come back the next year instead. The next year – the seventh year – the Prophet (Peace be upon him) and his companions did actually succeed in gaining access to the Ka’aba. Thus, the Prophet’s (Peace be upon him) dream was fulfilled, for it was Qur’anic inspiration. That incident made people sure that Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was a true prophet. They became convinced of his sayings and mission.
Allah says,

“Allah has promised those among you who believe and do righteous good deeds, that He will certainly grant them succession to (the present rulers) in the earth, as He granted it to those before them, and that He will grant them the authority to practice their religion, which He has chosen for them (i.e. Islam). And He will surely give them in exchange a safe security after their fear (provided) they (the believers) worship Me and do not associate anything (in worship) with Me. But whoever disbelieves after this, they are the fasiqun (rebellious, disobedient to Allah).” [Surah Al-Nur, 24: 55]
This noble verse is a promise and good news from Allah to his Muslim believers and worshippers. And it came true. This promise was fulfilled, and Muslims built a vast empire that ruled by Allah’s Scripture. The Islamic empire spread so far that when one of the second generation Muslims saw a cloud in the sky, he would say that its rain would fall on a spot under Muslim protection.