11-09-2004, 02:31 AM
Shlama Son of Thunder,
....the Meccans still demanded of him a miracle, and with remarkable boldness and self confidence Mohammad appealed as a supreme confirmation of his mission to the Koran itself. Like all Arabs they were the connoisseurs of language and rhetoric. Well, then if the Koran were his own composition other men could rival it. Let them produce ten verses like it. If they could not (and it is obvious that they could not), then let them accept the Koran as an outstanding evident miracle.H A R Gibb, Islam - A Historical Survey, 1980, Oxford University Press, p. 28.
The Quran is one of the world's classics which cannot be translated without grave loss. It has a rhythm of peculiar beauty and a cadence that charms the ear. Many Christian Arabs speak of its style with warm admiration, and most Arabists acknowledge its excellence. When it is read aloud or recited it has an almost hypnotic effect that makes the listener indifferent to its sometimes strange syntax and its sometimes, to us, repellent content. It is this quality it possesses of silencing criticism by the sweet music of its language that has given birth to the dogma of its inimitability; indeed it may be affirmed that within the literature of the Arabs, wide and fecund as it is both in poetry and in elevated prose, there is nothing to compare with it.Alfred Guillaume, Islam, 1990 (Reprinted), Penguin Books, pp. 73-74.
"A'isha Abd al-Rahman studies inductively other aspects of Qur'??nic usage and offers fresh ideas and new interpretation, uncovering certain consistencies never observed before, such as those regarding the use of passive voice in the Qur'??nic scenes of the day of resurrection, which in her view, emphasize the passivity of the universe and the spontaneity of all creation in obeying the overwhelming events of the day. These and other observations of hers transcend traditional Arabic syntax and rhetoric as she attempts to capture the reality that lies behind Quranic expression. Her conclusion is that the Qur'??n, being neither prose nor verse, is a literary genre of its own that is of the highest eloquence and of matchless stylistic perfection" Andrew Rippin (Ed.), Approaches of The History of Interpretation of The Qur'??n, 1988, Clarendon Press, Oxford, p. 154.
37. This Qur'an is not such as can be produced by other than Allah. on the contrary it is a confirmation of (revelations) that went before it, and a fuller explanation of the Book - wherein there is no doubt - from the Lord of the worlds.
38. Or do they say, "He forged it"? say: "Bring then a Sura like unto it, and call (to your aid) anyone you can besides Allah, if it be ye speak the truth!" (Sura 10:37-38)
There lies the problem.
88. They say: "((Allah)) Most Gracious has begotten a son!"
89. Indeed ye have put forth a thing most monstrous!
90. At it the skies are ready to burst, the earth to split asunder, and the mountains to fall down in utter ruin,
91. That they should invoke a son for ((Allah)) Most Gracious.
92. For it is not consonant with the majesty of ((Allah)) Most Gracious that He should beget a son.
93. Not one of the beings in the heavens and the earth but must come to ((Allah)) Most Gracious as a servant.
94. He does take an account of them (all), and hath numbered them (all) exactly. (Sura 19)
Ali bin Rabb??n at-Tabari said:
"When I was a Christian I used to say, as did an uncle of mine who was one of the learned and eloquent men, that eloquence is not one of the signs of prophethood because it is common to all the peoples; but when I discarded (blind) imitation and (old) customs and gave up adhering to (mere) habit and training and reflected upon the meanings of the Qur'??n I came to know that what the followers of the Qur'??n claimed for it was true. The fact is that I have not found any book, be it by an Arab or a Persian, an Indian or a Greek, right from the beginning of the world up to now, which contains at the same time praises of God, belief in the prophets and apostles, exhortations to good, everlasting deeds, command to do good and prohibition against doing evil, inspiration to the desire of paradise and to avoidance of hell-fire as this Qur'??n does. So when a person brings to us a book of such qualities, which inspires such reverence and sweetness in the hearts and which has achieved such an overlasting success and he is (at the same time) an illiterate person who did never learnt the art of writing or rhetoric, that book is without any doubt one of the signs of his Prophethood.Abdul Aleem, I'jaz ul Qur'??n, Islamic Culture, Op. Cit., pp. 222-223.
He was an Assyrian Christian who converted at seventy, I may add.
Quote:Speaking from a biblical perspective, the broadest definition of a "prophet" is one who speaks for YHWH. However, Akhi Paul is correct in the sense that a prophet is VALIDATED by signs and wonders and fulfillment of the vision in history. Otherwise, he is a false prophet. Furthermore, even if the prophet can work wonders, he can still be false if his doctrine is wrong (Deuteronomy 13). Obviously I don't think Y'shua (Jesus) was a false prophet!
....the Meccans still demanded of him a miracle, and with remarkable boldness and self confidence Mohammad appealed as a supreme confirmation of his mission to the Koran itself. Like all Arabs they were the connoisseurs of language and rhetoric. Well, then if the Koran were his own composition other men could rival it. Let them produce ten verses like it. If they could not (and it is obvious that they could not), then let them accept the Koran as an outstanding evident miracle.H A R Gibb, Islam - A Historical Survey, 1980, Oxford University Press, p. 28.
The Quran is one of the world's classics which cannot be translated without grave loss. It has a rhythm of peculiar beauty and a cadence that charms the ear. Many Christian Arabs speak of its style with warm admiration, and most Arabists acknowledge its excellence. When it is read aloud or recited it has an almost hypnotic effect that makes the listener indifferent to its sometimes strange syntax and its sometimes, to us, repellent content. It is this quality it possesses of silencing criticism by the sweet music of its language that has given birth to the dogma of its inimitability; indeed it may be affirmed that within the literature of the Arabs, wide and fecund as it is both in poetry and in elevated prose, there is nothing to compare with it.Alfred Guillaume, Islam, 1990 (Reprinted), Penguin Books, pp. 73-74.
"A'isha Abd al-Rahman studies inductively other aspects of Qur'??nic usage and offers fresh ideas and new interpretation, uncovering certain consistencies never observed before, such as those regarding the use of passive voice in the Qur'??nic scenes of the day of resurrection, which in her view, emphasize the passivity of the universe and the spontaneity of all creation in obeying the overwhelming events of the day. These and other observations of hers transcend traditional Arabic syntax and rhetoric as she attempts to capture the reality that lies behind Quranic expression. Her conclusion is that the Qur'??n, being neither prose nor verse, is a literary genre of its own that is of the highest eloquence and of matchless stylistic perfection" Andrew Rippin (Ed.), Approaches of The History of Interpretation of The Qur'??n, 1988, Clarendon Press, Oxford, p. 154.
Quote:But as for Mohammed, he seems to shy away from direct, on point prophecy that we can quantify. He also shies away from miracles, at least in the sense that Jews and Christians have come to expect them. By contrast, both Moses and Y'shua were BRIMMING with miracles when it came time for them to speak their "prophecy", or what you Bar Khela call "receiving divine revelation". The whole "if the mountain won't come to Mohammed" line may be apocryphal (I believe it is) but that does not mean it is not a fair assessment of what the historical Mohammed did, or more importantly, what he did NOT do. From Jewish and Christian views though (and others feel free to correct me if I don't speak well for you) there was really nothing new in what Mohammed said, which was, among other things:
1) Only one God
2) Pray a lot.
3) Give alms.
4) Rest on Friday night.
5) Don't eat pork.
37. This Qur'an is not such as can be produced by other than Allah. on the contrary it is a confirmation of (revelations) that went before it, and a fuller explanation of the Book - wherein there is no doubt - from the Lord of the worlds.
38. Or do they say, "He forged it"? say: "Bring then a Sura like unto it, and call (to your aid) anyone you can besides Allah, if it be ye speak the truth!" (Sura 10:37-38)
Quote:[In fact, without it, as the apostle Paul says, our preaching is worthless! So maybe there's an issue there too.
There lies the problem.
88. They say: "((Allah)) Most Gracious has begotten a son!"
89. Indeed ye have put forth a thing most monstrous!
90. At it the skies are ready to burst, the earth to split asunder, and the mountains to fall down in utter ruin,
91. That they should invoke a son for ((Allah)) Most Gracious.
92. For it is not consonant with the majesty of ((Allah)) Most Gracious that He should beget a son.
93. Not one of the beings in the heavens and the earth but must come to ((Allah)) Most Gracious as a servant.
94. He does take an account of them (all), and hath numbered them (all) exactly. (Sura 19)
Ali bin Rabb??n at-Tabari said:
"When I was a Christian I used to say, as did an uncle of mine who was one of the learned and eloquent men, that eloquence is not one of the signs of prophethood because it is common to all the peoples; but when I discarded (blind) imitation and (old) customs and gave up adhering to (mere) habit and training and reflected upon the meanings of the Qur'??n I came to know that what the followers of the Qur'??n claimed for it was true. The fact is that I have not found any book, be it by an Arab or a Persian, an Indian or a Greek, right from the beginning of the world up to now, which contains at the same time praises of God, belief in the prophets and apostles, exhortations to good, everlasting deeds, command to do good and prohibition against doing evil, inspiration to the desire of paradise and to avoidance of hell-fire as this Qur'??n does. So when a person brings to us a book of such qualities, which inspires such reverence and sweetness in the hearts and which has achieved such an overlasting success and he is (at the same time) an illiterate person who did never learnt the art of writing or rhetoric, that book is without any doubt one of the signs of his Prophethood.Abdul Aleem, I'jaz ul Qur'??n, Islamic Culture, Op. Cit., pp. 222-223.
He was an Assyrian Christian who converted at seventy, I may add.
???Do not give up, for that is ignorance and not according to the rules of this art... Like the lover, you cannot hope to achieve success without infinite perseverance.???