Multifaceted Miraculousness: A Scholarly Response to the Misconception "I See No Miracle in the Qur’ān"

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. All praise is due to Allah, who sent down the Qur’ān as an eternal miracle and a conclusive proof, and peace and blessings be upon the Unlettered Prophet who brought the greatest miracle in human history.

To proceed: Among the misconceptions raised by some skeptics in their attempts to challenge the Holy Qur’ān is the claim: “Muslims claim the Qur’ān is miraculous, but we see no miracle in it. It is merely a book written in Arabic, containing stories, laws, and commands like any other religious book. Where is the alleged miracle?”

They add: “If the Qur’ān were truly miraculous, its miraculous nature would be clear to everyone, as clear as raising the dead or parting the sea. But we find in it only ordinary speech that any human could write similar to, or even better than.”

While this doubt may appear to be based on an objective evaluation, it is actually rooted in clear methodological errors regarding the nature of the Qur’ānic miracle and its multifaceted aspects, as well as a disregard for established historical and scientific facts. It is appropriate that we address this with a comprehensive scholarly view.

Methodological Errors in the Misconception

The First Error: Restricting Proofs of Prophethood to the Qur’ān Alone

The first error is limiting the evidences of the Prophethood of Muḥammad ﷺ to the Qur’ān alone, ignoring the integrated system of proofs that support his truthfulness. The proofs of Prophethood (Dalāʾil al-Nubuwwah) are diverse and mutually reinforcing:

Character and Integrity: He was known as al-Ṣādiq al-Amīn (the Truthful, the Trustworthy) for forty years before his mission; not a single lie was attributed to him, even by his fiercest enemies.

Predictions of the Unseen: His foretelling of events that later came true, such as the conquest of Constantinople, the victory of the Romans over the Persians, and the fall of the Persian and Iraqi empires.

Physical Miracles: Established events such as the splitting of the moon, water flowing from his fingers, the multiplication of food, and the moaning of the palm tree stump.

Divine Support: His victory despite being outnumbered and out-equipped against the two greatest empires of his time.

Transformative Impact: Converting a divided, illiterate nation into the "best nation produced for mankind" in record time.

If one fails to perceive the miracle of the Qur’ān—due to a lack of understanding or a flawed methodology—there are dozens of other clear proofs. A fair-minded person looks at the sum of the evidence, not a single piece in isolation.

The Second Error: Ignorance of the Multifaceted Nature of the Miracle

The claim of not perceiving the miracle stems from a narrow perspective. The Qur’ān’s miraculous nature is diverse (Mutaʿaddid al-Wujūh), covering various fields to suit different people’s capacities, interests, and specializations.

The Third Error: The Fallacy of Demanding a "Sensory" Miracle for All

The demand for a miracle to be as physically direct as parting the sea contains several fallacies:

Temporary vs. Eternal: The miracles of Mūsā (Moses), ʿĪsā (Jesus), and Ṣāliḥ (peace be upon them) were temporary, witnessed only by those present. The Qur’ān is a living, renewed miracle that every generation can examine for themselves.

Witnessing does not guarantee Belief: Pharaoh saw nine clear miracles and witnessed the sea parting, yet he did not believe until he was drowning.

Contextual Appropriateness: Divine wisdom dictates that a miracle matches the field in which a people excel. The Arabs excelled in Bayān (eloquence) and Balāghah (rhetoric), so they were given a linguistic miracle that challenged them in their own specialty.

The Multifaceted Aspects of the Qur’ānic Miracle

1. Linguistic and Rhetorical Miracle (al-Iʿjāz al-Bayānī)

This is the most apparent aspect, which challenged the Arabs at the height of their linguistic power. At the time of revelation, poetry was the Arabs' greatest pride; they hung masterpieces on the Kaʿbah and held literary fairs like ʿUkāẓ. These masters of language were defeated on two levels:

Level One: The Challenge to Produce: They were challenged to produce even a single Sūrah (chapter) like it. It would have been easier for these masters of eloquence to write a few lines than to fight twenty years of destructive wars, yet they could not. Even al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah, a staunch enemy, admitted: “By Allah, it is not poetry, nor magic, nor soothsaying... By Allah, it has sweetness and a special beauty.”

Level Two: Lack of Errors: These people used to hunt for a single mistake in a poem to disgrace a poet. Yet, in thousands of verses, they could not find a single grammatical or linguistic error. Instead, the Qur’ān became the ultimate reference for Arabic grammar and linguistics.

2. Legislative Miracle (al-Iʿjāz al-Tashrīʿī)

Islamic legislation (Sharīʿah) possesses unique characteristics that cannot be explained by human genius alone, especially considering the environment it came from:

Stability and Flexibility: The core principles are fixed, but the branch applications (al-Furūʿ) are flexible. For example, the principle of protecting wealth is fixed, yet it seamlessly accommodates modern banking, e-commerce, and digital currencies—things non-existent fourteen centuries ago.

Psychological Wisdom: As seen in the gradual prohibition of Khamr (intoxicants), which respected the reality of a society addicted for centuries, preparing souls gradually for the final ruling.

Perfect Balance: Achieving true justice in inheritance and rights, rather than mere superficial equality, and maintaining realism that considers different societal capacities.

How could a man in the 7th century, in a limited desert environment, produce a legislative system of such depth and balance? A system that addresses issues not even raised in his era and provides solutions for problems appearing centuries later? This points to a Higher Source that encompasses all time and space.

3. Miracle of Information Regarding the Unseen (al-Iʿjāz al-Ghaybī)

A brilliant aspect of the Qur’ānic miracle is its reporting on various matters of the Unseen—past, present, and future—with stunning accuracy, at a time when verifying them was impossible.

Past Unseen: In the story of Moses, the Qur’ān refers to the ruler as "Pharaoh," whereas during Joseph’s time, it uses the term "King." Historical research confirms that "Pharaoh" was only used as a title for Egyptian rulers during specific periods, while during Joseph’s era, Egypt was under the Hyksos, who did not use that title.

Present Unseen: The Qur’ān exposed the secrets of the Munāfiqūn (hypocrites). Verses would descend revealing their secret plots and private conversations; notably, none of them ever dared to deny these revelations.

Future Unseen: The famous prophecy: “The Romans have been defeated * In the nearest land. But they, after their defeat, will overcome * Within three to nine years” [Sūrat al-Rūm: 2-4]. This was revealed when the Persians had achieved a crushing victory and the Romans were at their lowest point. In less than nine years, the tide completely turned, just as the Qur’ān foretold. Furthermore, the preservation of the Pharaoh’s body mentioned in: “So today We will save you in your body that you may be to those who succeed you a sign” [Sūrat Yūnus: 92] was confirmed by the discovery of his mummified remains thousands of years later.

4. Scientific Miracle (al-Iʿjāz al-ʿIlmī)

The Qur’ān contains references to scientific facts unknown in the 7th century that were only discovered recently through modern technology.

Embryology: The description of the embryo’s development in: “Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump [of flesh], and We made [from] the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh” [Sūrat al-Muʾminūn: 14]. Modern embryology confirms that bones begin to form before the completion of muscle formation.

Cosmology: The expansion of the universe in: “And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are [its] expander” [Sūrat al-Dhāriyāt: 47]. The Arabic term mūsiʿūn implies ongoing expansion, aligning with Edwin Hubble's 1929 discovery.

Oceanography: The barrier between seas in: “He released the two seas, meeting [side by side]; Between them is a barrier [so] neither of them transgresses” [Sūrat al-Raḥmān: 19-20]. This phenomenon of internal waves and density barriers at the meeting of different bodies of water is now well-documented.

Geology: The role of mountains in: “And He has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it shift with you” [Sūrat al-Naḥl: 15]. Modern geology confirms that mountains have deep "roots" that help stabilize the Earth's tectonic plates.

5. Miracle of Preservation (al-Iʿjāz fī al-Ḥifẓ)

The Qur’ān is the only book in human history preserved letter-for-letter and dot-for-dot for over 1,400 years. This preservation has unique dimensions:

Preservation in Hearts: Millions of Muslims, including ten-year-old children, memorize all 600 pages of the text perfectly. No other scripture, such as the Torah or the New Testament, is memorized in its entirety by such a vast number of people.

Mass Transmission (al-Tawātur): The text did not rely on a single copy or narrator. Thousands of companions learned it directly from the Prophet ﷺ and passed it to tens of thousands in the next generation.

Continuous Review: During the month of Ramaḍān, the entire Qur’ān is recited in Ṣalāt al-Tarāwīḥ (special night prayers) in millions of mosques. Any error made by an Imām (prayer leader) is immediately corrected by the congregation.

Unified Text: Despite thousands of miles and fourteen centuries, a Muṣḥaf (written copy of the Qur'ān) in Indonesia is identical to one in Morocco. This fulfills the Divine promise: “Indeed, it is We who sent down the message and indeed, We will be its guardian” [Sūrat al-Ḥijr: 9].

Rebuttal to Other Objections

"The miracle isn't clear to everyone": The multifaceted nature is a mercy. A linguist is awed by the rhetoric, a lawyer by the legislation, and a doctor by the scientific signs. An eternal miracle must be multifaceted to remain relevant to every generation.

"This can be explained by chance or genius": The combination of all these diverse miracles in one book brought by an unlettered man in a desert environment makes "chance" statistically impossible. Human genius is always limited by its era; it cannot produce facts discovered 1,300 years later.

"Other books claim to be miracles": A claim is one thing; proof is another. No other book has maintained its original text, challenged humanity to produce its like, and contained such a breadth of miraculous aspects.

Conclusion: The Radiant Truth

The misconception that the Qur’ān is not miraculous collapses when examined fairly. The Qur’ān is a just and comprehensive miracle. It challenged the Arabs in their specialty and addresses the rest of humanity through its scientific, legislative, and historical depth. For the one who looks with sincerity, it is impossible to conclude that this is the speech of a human.

We ask Allah to increase our understanding of His Book and to make us among the People of the Qur’ān. And Allah knows best. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muḥammad, his family, and all his companions.