Objections of the Quraysh on the Qur’an
Poetry and Story
Telling
When the Qur’an began to be revealed,
the initial verses that are included in the latter part of the
Book were in the form of concise, short but extremely powerful
sentences. This text was, and is, most eloquent,
linguistically sublime, a miraculous example of articulation,
full of depth of meaning, majesty and dignity. It possesses
grandeur and glory which is not of this world. Additionally,
it also rhymes. The verses repeatedly mention the end of this
worldly life, the events that will occur afterwards, the
accountability that human beings will face for their actions,
and subsequent reward and punishment. These matters are all
related to future happenings in another world. Consider for
example the following:
كلَّا وَالْقَمَر وَاللَّيْلِ إِذْ أَدْبَرَ
وَالصُّبْحِ إِذَا أَسْفَرَ إِنَّهَا لَإِحْدَى الْكُبَر نذِيرًا
لِّلْبَشَرِ مَن شَاءَ مِنكُمْ أَن يَتَقَدَّمَ أَوْ يَتَأَخَّرَ
(٧٤:
٣٢-٣٧)
No! By the moon and [by] the night when it
departs. And [by] the morning when it brightens. Indeed, this
is from among great matters. A warning to humanity: to whoever
wills among you to proceed or stay behind. (74:32-37)
Note the repeat of the letter
ر at the end of
each verse.
اذَا السَّمَاءُ انفَطَرَتْ وَإِذَا
الْكَوَاكِبُ انتَثَرَتْ وَإِذَا الْبِحَارُ فُجِّرَتْ وَإِذَا
الْقُبُورُ بُعْثِرَتْ عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ
وَأَخَّرَتْ (٨٢:
١-٥)
When the sky breaks
apart and when the stars fall, scattering, and when the seas
are erupted and when the [contents of] graves are scattered, a
soul will [then] know what it has put forth and kept back.
(82:1-5)
In these verses almost all sentences are
equal and end on تْ.
إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ خُلِقَ هَلُوعًا إِذَا
مَسَّهُ الشَّرُّ جَزُوعًا وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ الْخَيْرُ مَنُوعًا (٧٠:
١٩-٢١)
Indeed, mankind was created anxious: When
evil touches him, he becomes impatient. And when good touches
him, he becomes stingy. (70:19-21)
Here the sentences are of equal length
and end on وُعًا.
كَلَّا إِذَا بَلَغَتِ التَّرَاقِيَ وَقِيلَ
مَنْ رَاقٍ
وَظَنَّ أَنَّهُ الْفِرَاقُ وَالْتَفَّتِ السَّاقُ
بِالسَّاقِ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْمَسَاقُ (٧٥:
٢٦-٣٠)
No! When the soul
has reached the collar bones And it is said: “Who will cure
[him]?” And the dying one is certain that it is the [time of]
separation. And the shank shall embrace the shank. To your
Lord, that day, will be the procession. (75:26-30)
All verses here are ending on
اَق.
The verses appear to be poetry, given
their rhyming nature, but they do not possess the balance that
is found in poetry. This is text in prose. Short sentences
that rhyme with each other were often the style of magicians
and fortune tellers, but the Qur’anic text is purposeful, full
of wisdom and gives a clear message, while that of the
magicians used to be merely rhymes that were difficult to
comprehend. The Qur’anic verses are pointing to a future in
unequivocal terms, explaining an unseen reality, while the
predictions of the fortune tellers were vague and carried
double meanings. As far as eloquence and beauty of language is
concerned, the text is of such noble quality that is not to be
found in the speech or writings of any human being, including
that of the Prophet (sws). It does not contain any of the
meaningless words that are usual in a magician’s incantations.
Each point is full of meaning, pointing to realities of human
existence and appealing to the heart. The entire Qur’an
consists of text that is as eloquent and thoughtful.
Perceiving these characteristics, it was not an easy task to
criticize it and aim to create feelings against it among the
people. But the Quraysh decided to target the Qur’an for the
sake of propaganda, and started to belittle its significance
by calling it poetry, fortune telling, human effort or magic.
The Arabs were great critics of
literature and could discern between the good and bad.
Declaring the Qur’an a form of poetry was to admit to their
foolhardiness. But there was one point which the Quraysh could
give in support of their claim. Arabs believed that poets
presented their work under the influence of a jinn. Since the
Prophet (sws) had said that an angel had brought the wahi to
him, the Quraysh attributed this to a misunderstanding, saying
that the angel was in reality a jinn, who brought poetry to
people.
The Arabs were also great admirers of
sorcerers who claimed to predict the future. When people
approached them to take advice on any matter, they would
pretend to go into a trance in order to contact jinn and
devils. Then they would speak in a form of poetry that had
short lines that rhymed. Their claim about such poems that
ended with rhyming words at the end of both verses was that
these had been revealed to them. It was always possible to
interpret more than one meaning from what they said which held
some predictive elements too. Whenever the Quraysh compared
the Qur’an to fortune telling, they had in mind the initial
verses that were short, their rhyme and the manner in which
they foretold of the future. Thus they declared it to be the
result of contact with jinn.
This propaganda was completely baseless.
The reasons are obvious. Firstly, poetry is based on the
emotions, thoughts and experiences of the poet. The poet
moulds whatever affects his heart into a unique form of verse
and presents it to his audience. Poets are not concerned with
the fact that if they had said something with a clear
conscience in the past, why are they now presenting poetry
with obscene messages today? If one looks at the works of the
greatest of poets, one realizes that they have expressed the
best and the vilest human feelings when under their passing
influence. There is a clear difference between what they wrote
in their youth, and in their old age. At one stage, they
appear to be overly fond of wining and whoring, and at another
stage, they seem pious and true believers in God. Secondly,
poets are masters of the language; they are least concerned
with character. Their poetry may contain the message of
obedience to God and His prophet, but their own acts belie
their word. They may expound the details of mysticism, but
much of their time might be spent in drunken stupor. In their
martial poetry, they exaggerate to create scenes of courage
and chivalry, but may be such cowards in their own lives as to
cringe on seeing a house lizard. Thirdly, all kinds of people
find topics of their interest in the work of poets, and they
become their fans. Some good people are among their followers,
as well as those who are misguided, who create problems for
others and are corrupt.
As opposed to characteristics of poetry
and the character of poets, the text that was being revealed
to the Prophet (sws) had a very clearly identified target
audience. The message that he gave the very first day was
clarified in different ways subsequently without wavering. In
actual fact, this was the greatest cause of worry for the
Quraysh. For example, if the theme of tawhid, or the Oneness
of God had been incidental, and came occasionally, they might
have tolerated it. It was the consistent repetition of the
theme that hammered at their system, and this was what was so
painful for them. Then, the Prophet (sws) was practicing what
he preached, and so were his companions. Consequently, a large
group of people was emerging within the society that had no
contradiction between its word and action. They were ready to
sacrifice everything for their belief. This was the reason
that others sought also to follow in their footsteps. No
wayward or immoral person could join the Prophet’s followers
because he and his companions valued a strict moral code of
belief and action. The Qur’an often asked the Quraysh to
reflect on the fact why so many honest and pious individuals
of society were becoming believers and followers of the
Prophet (sws). Why did this message not appeal to dissolute
individuals and people with loose morals? The only reason was
that the Prophet (sws) was establishing the highest codes of
ethical values in society. He was placing submission to one
God, a sense of sacrifice for others, feelings of benevolence
and kind heartedness for the poor as the target for life for
others, and strove to achieve this target himself while
presenting the case for it with substantive arguments. This
was the basis of the strong appeal of Islam for the
individuals who are already inclined towards goodness and
piety. Had the Prophet (sws) been a poet, he would not have
been different from other poets.
Calling the Qur’an a collection of poems
divined through the jinn and the devils was a shot in the dark
by the Quraysh. Text such as that of the Qur’an is so pure,
meaningful, God conscious and replete with calls to mankind to
serve its fellow creatures that it cannot have any
relationship with satanic aims. Why would evil forces bring
such a message to mankind and create problems for themselves?
The message of God was also very different from that of the
practitioners of the occult. The latter were totally incapable
of creating such eloquence of content and word. Devils do not
send their messages down to human beings with deep rooted
morality. Only liars and cheats are influenced by Satan,
because the sorcerers themselves make fools of people through
fraudulent means. Such people also possess poor ethical
values. The predictions made by sorcerers are often a mix of
truth and lies, because the jinn and the devils do not have
access to matters related to God. They possess much that is
nonsensical and filthy, messy information based on untruths
that they pass on to those who believe in them. In contrast, a
prophet obtained his information through divine sources (the
Angel Gabriel), and possessed unparalleled honesty and moral
values.
Human
Endeavour
When the Qur’an presented evidence for
its message, and people reflected on it, wondering on the
improbability of any human being able to do so without divine
guidance, and came to the leaders of the tribe to raise their
doubts, the latter attempted to convince them otherwise,
saying that it was, in fact, Muhammad (sws) who was
fabricating the message, but that he was not doing it alone.
He was being helped by some non-Arabs and some People of the
Book who developed it together. When they were ready with a
piece, Muhammad (sws) came and delivered it, and in order to
give it authenticity, claimed it to have come from God. Had it
been from God, it would not have come down in pieces, but in
one whole piece at one time.
This objection from the Quraysh, too,
was unfounded and lacked a basis. The Qur’an is worded in the
purest form of Arabic. It was impossible for any non-Arab or
even the Prophet (sws) to have created such a text. Had the
Qur’an been a human effort, the Quraysh had no lack of
excellent poets or orators. It would not have been difficult
to gather scores of individuals who could have been charged
with creating such text. That it proved to be impossible to do
so was evident when the Quraysh were asked to create just one
surah, they did not take up the challenge. The Qur’an was not
revealed in one piece because it is not advisable to reveal a
message so serious and full of such wisdom when its purpose is
to provide guidance and the knowledge of the truth to people.
A work of fiction may be read in one sitting, but it is not
possible to read and comprehend a book of science or
philosophy thus. The manner in which the Qur’an was revealed
is not related to the power of God, but to the capacity of
human beings to absorb and understand.
Magic
The manner in which the message of the
Qur’an was attracting people was evidence to the fact that not
only was it unique in beauty and eloquence, but held great
impact and influence on the human heart and mind. When one
heard it, one was spellbound and would not pay heed to one’s
family or tribe’s protests. This is why the Quraysh attributed
the Qur’an to magic. Such kind of influence was not limited to
the Qur’an only. Moses’ (sws) call to his people was also
branded magic by his adversaries. This opinion of the Quraysh
was also wrong. Divine revelation and magic spells have
absolutely nothing in common. The latter is a temporary
condition that can never be successful over the long term, and
is quickly dispersed. The Qur’an has the power to change the
hearts and minds of people completely. Magic is based on lies
and proves to be baseless when faced with the truth. The
Qur’an is truth to the core, and has come to destroy every
falsehood. The Quraysh were witness to their falsehoods being
crushed constantly by the Qur’an. Magic does not create people
with lofty characters, whereas the Qur’an was instrumental in
character building of a large number of people. The propaganda
generated by the Quraysh may have satisfied the simple minded,
or sycophants, but the more intelligent among them were not
influenced.
The Status of the Qur’an
The propaganda of the Quraysh was
answered within the Qur’an itself in various ways, and the
status of the message being delivered by the Prophet (sws) was
clarified again and again to remove the confusions in their
minds. The purpose was to assist those with a pragmatic turn
of mind to give up their racial and tribal prejudices and open
their minds to the Prophet’s message. Several verses explained
the source of the Qur’an, the characteristics of the angel who
brought it and the Prophet (sws) who
received it and propagated it:
فَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِمَا تُبْصِرُونَ وَمَا لَا
تُبْصِرُونَ إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلُ رَسُولٍ كَرِيمٍ وَمَا هُوَ
بِقَوْلِ شَاعِرٍ قَلِيلًا مَّا تُؤْمِنُونَ وَلَا بِقَوْلِ
كَاهِنٍ قَلِيلًا مَّا تَذَكَّرُونَ تَنزِيلٌ مِّن رَّبِّ
الْعَالَمِينَ (٦٩:
٣٨-٤٣)
So I swear by what
you see. And what you do not see [that] indeed, the Qur’an is
the word of a noble Messenger. And it is not the word of a
poet; little do you believe. Nor the word of a soothsayer;
little do you remember. [It is] a revelation from the Lord of
the worlds. (69:38-43)
فَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِالْخُنَّسِ الْجَوَارِ
الْكُنَّسِ وَاللَّيْلِ إِذَا عَسْعَسَ وَالصُّبْحِ إِذَا
تَنَفَّسَ إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلُ رَسُولٍ كَرِيمٍ ذِي قُوَّةٍ عِندَ
ذِي الْعَرْشِ مَكِينٍ مُّطَاعٍ ثَمَّ أَمِينٍ وَمَا صَاحِبُكُم
بِمَجْنُونٍ وَلَقَدْ رَآهُ بِالْأُفُقِ الْمُبِينِ وَمَا هُوَ
عَلَى الْغَيْبِ بِضَنِينٍ وَمَا هُوَ بِقَوْلِ شَيْطَانٍ
رَّجِيمٍ فَأَيْنَ تَذْهَبُونَ (٨١:
١٥-٢٦)
So I swear by the
retreating stars – those that run [their courses] and
disappear, and by the night as it closes in and by the dawn
when it breathes [that] indeed, the Qur’an is a word [conveyed
by] a noble messenger [who is] possessed of power and with the
Owner of the Throne, secure [in position], obeyed there [in
the heavens] and trustworthy. And your companion is not [at
all] mad. And he has already seen Gabriel in the clear
horizon. And Muhammad is not a withholder of [knowledge of]
the unseen. And the Qur’an is not the word of a devil,
expelled [from the heavens]. So where are you going?
(81:15-26)
وَإِنَّهُ لَتَنزِيلُ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
نَزَلَ بِهِ الرُّوحُ الْأَمِينُ۔عَلَىٰ قَلْبِكَ لِتَكُونَ مِنَ
الْمُنذِرِينَ بِلِسَانٍ عَرَبِيٍّ مُّبِينٍ وَإِنَّهُ لَفِي
زُبُرِ الْأَوَّلِينَ أَوَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُمْ آيَةً أَن
يَعْلَمَهُ عُلَمَاءُ بَنِي إِسْرَائِيلَ (٢٦:
١٩٢-١٩٧)
And indeed, the
Qur’an is the revelation of the Lord of the worlds. The
Trustworthy Spirit has brought it down. Upon your heart, [O
Muhammad] – that you may be of the warners – In a clear Arabic
language. And indeed, it is [mentioned] in the scriptures of
former peoples. And has it not been a sign to them that it is
recognized by the scholars of the Children of Israel?
(26:192-197)
These verses make it clear that the Lord
of the universe made elaborate arrangements to send His
message for the guidance of His subjects in this world. The
angel He selected for this purpose was extremely powerful,
wise and honest and true in his character. He took his
responsibilities seriously and fulfilled them to the last
level of detail. He was bestowed with the best of qualities
and no one except the Lord Himself has any power over him. No
one could ever take advantage of him, and he could never be
tempted by anything. Thus the mixing of any falsehood in the
message from God could be ruled out completely. This confidant
angel taught the divine revelation to the Prophet (sws) with
full attention, focus and kindness. The Prophet himself had no
desire for revelation; such a responsibility came upon him
suddenly and he fulfilled it to the best of his capabilities.
It was not a creation of his mind. The revelation was of the
very highest of standards and clear, of which there was no
example available anywhere. The message it carried had no
distortions or unclear ideas: its guidance was natural,
appealed to human intellect and pointed in the right
direction. Its arguments were rooted in wisdom, nature, the
universe and human psychology. If the Quraysh resisted the
message despite these facts, it was due entirely to their
prejudice, arrogance and personal interests.
Similar views of the Quraysh about
Pilgrims
Makkah was the religious centre of all
Arab tribes, and offering hajj and ‘umrah were popular
rituals, due to which there was regular inflow of pilgrims to
the city. The Quraysh were worried in case they came to learn
of the prophethood of an individual and were curious to know
the details. They might wish to meet the Muslims and thus
cause Islam to spread more widely. Steps had to be taken to
curb this possibility. When Walid ibn Mughirah, one of the
older and more intelligent leaders realized this, he suggested
that instead of giving different opinions to the pilgrims when
meeting them and creating in them a desire to meet the Prophet
(sws), they should present a single view of what they think of
him. It was decided that each one of them would think about
what should be said and meet again. At the next meeting, some
suggested that Mohammed’s verses be called the poems of those
who practiced the occult. Walid responded by saying that they
had seen such practitioners and heard them too. Mohammed’s
message was not all similar to the rhyme of their poetry. Some
suggested that Mohammed (sws) be presented as a madman. Walid
disagreed, saying that Mohammed (sws) did not have any
symptoms of madness, such as fears and confusion of mind.
Other people wanted the Prophet (sws) to be shown to be a
poet. Waleed rejected this idea too, since all of them
recognised all forms of poetry, and the Qur’an did not possess
any of the characteristics. Yet another suggestion was to say
that the Prophet (sws) was a magician. Walid said that
magicians speak mantras, blow on and make knots. Muhammad (sws)
does nothing of the sort. Finally, the people asked him to
give his opinion which they would then follow. He said: “By
God, Mohammed’s message has sweetness in it. It is like a tree
that is growing deep down in the pit, whose branches bear
fruit. Whatever you say about Muhammad (sws) will be
considered a falsehood. However, if you declare him to be a
sorcerer, that is one possible way out. We can say that his
message carries the impact of a spell. Just as spells have the
power to create feelings of love, hatred and animosity, so
does this message that creates divisions between a man and his
father, between brothers, between a husband and wife and
between members of a tribe”. Thus it was decided that if
anyone coming to Makkah asked about the Prophet (sws), he
would be told that the latter’s message was in reality magic
and he would be frightened away from its impact. Although the
Quraysh implemented this suggestion, the results were not
encouraging.
Biographies of the Prophet (sws) mention
Tufayl ibn ‘Amr, a very able leader of the tribe of Daws. When
he went to Makkah for ‘umrah, and heard that a man had claimed
prophethood, and people were listening to him, he made
inquiries. Everyone from the Quraysh spoke ill of the Prophet
(sws) and warned him to stay away. They told him that the
Prophet (sws) possessed such a magic that divided a husband
and wife. Tufayl avoided the Prophet (sws) for a few days.
When he came to the mosque, he would put cotton in his ears,
in case he might hear whatever the Prophet (sws) was saying.
One day, the Prophet (sws) was offering prayers when Tufayl
heard a few verses of the Qur’an. He realised that he was
being immature, since he was himself capable enough, had seen
the world and could distinguish between good and evil. He
could also tell the difference between good and bad poetry
since he was a poet too. How could another man lead him
astray? He waited until the Prophet (sws) had finished his
prayers and followed him to his house, where he requested a
meeting. He then introduced himself and asked if he was
spreading a spell inducing message. He was very truthful and
told the Prophet (sws) clearly why he had been avoiding him,
and that he now wanted to hear the Qur’an. When the Prophet (sws)
recited a few verses, Tufayl was so impressed that he accepted
Islam immediately. Upon his return, he also converted his
father and wife. Later, several members of his tribe accepted
Islam.
(Translated from Hayat-i Rasul-i Ummi by
Nikhat Sattar)
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