Bismillah
as salam alykom
In this thread I m going to post Insh a Allah a series of translated khutbahs addressing the issue of Quran validity and whether or not it was distorted Alhamdulelah for One Who Protected it:
Bismillah
Praise be to Allah King of the Kings and Owner of the universe and prayer and peace be upon His Messenger Mohamed Ibn Abdullah, his household and companions.
We are pleased in islammessage.com to announce the publishing of a number of Jumu`a Khutbah which may be of use for many purposes such as delivered as khutbahs, lessons in Halaqa, learning material to be spread Insh a Allah.
We will be publishing them on a weekly basis Insh a Allah so keep track with us.
"And if you (Arab pagans, Jews, and Christians) are in doubt concerning that which We have sent down (i.e. the Qur'an) to Our slave (Muhammad ﻢﻠﺳﻭ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ ﻪﻠﻟﺍ ﻰﻠﺻ), then produce a Surah (chapter) of the like thereof and call your witnesses (supporters and helpers) besides Allah, if you are truthful.* But if you do it not, and you can never do it, then fear the Fire (Hell) whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers." (Quran2: 23-24)
In this noble Ayah Allah Is addressing all those who did not believe in Quran as being Allah's revelation. It is clearly indicated through the word doubt Allah Used which means being uncertain or unsure. The word A`bd here is a reference to the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam while the sentence We have sent down is an indication to Quran. When Allah Sobhanhu wa Ta`al Say "then produce a Surah of the like" actually Allah by this statement is making a strong challenge to those who don’t believe in Quran as being a Divine revelation. In case the Quran was composed by the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam, he could have never actually challenged those silver tongued Arabs in such a manner. If the Quran was manmade, human beings would have been able to author similar texts which eventually makes the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam loose the challenge and brings the call to an end. The sentence saying of the like is the translation of the meaning of the Arabic word min. The Arabic word min gives the sense of the minimum amount of what may be described as Quran. In this regard, Allah Is challenging them to produce the minimum amount of Quran which is of course a reference to the short chapters such as Kawthar or Asr. Following this strong statement, an even harder argument to stand is brought, Allah Is taking the challenge to a higher level by requesting them to present those who may testify to their false claim being true. But those witnesses must be of those Arab silver tongued. By this Allah Made the highest level of challenge.
Back to the Ayah, the Ayah was revealed in Medina with a majority of non Muslim residence. They were mainly Jews. This indicates that the challenge was directed to them who at the same time are considered among people of the book and knowledge. Several other Ayahs of challenge were also revealed in Mecca addressing the Mushrekeen including:
"And this Qur'an is not such as could ever be produced by other than Allah (Lord of the heavens and the earth), but it is a confirmation of (the revelation) which was before it [i.e. the Tauraat (Torah), and the Injeel (Gospel), etc.], and a full explanation of the Book (i.e. laws and orders, etc, decreed for mankind) - wherein there is no doubt from the the Lord of the 'Alameen (mankind, jinns,and all that exists).* Or do they say: "He (Muhammad ﻢﻠﺳﻭ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ ﻪﻠﻟﺍ ﻰﻠﺻ) has forged it?" Say: "Bring then a Soorah (chapter) like unto it, and call upon whomsoever you can, besides Allah, if you are truthful!" (Quran 10:37- 38)
"Or they say, "He (Prophet Muhammad ﻢﻠﺳﻭ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ ﻪﻠﻟﺍ ﻰﻠﺻ) forged it (the Qur'an)." Say: "Bring you then ten forged Soorah (chapters) like unto it, and call whomsoever you can, other than Allah (to your help), if you speak the truth!" (Quran 11:13)
"Say: "If the mankind and the jinns were together to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they helped one another." (Quran 17:88)
"Say (to them, O Muhammad ﻢﻠﺳﻭ ﻪﻴﻠﻋ ﻪﻠﻟﺍ ﻰﻠﺻ): "Then bring a Book from Allah, which is a better guide than these two [the Taurat (Torah) and the Qur'an], that I may follow it, if you are truthful." (Quran 28:49)
"Let them then produce a recital like unto it (the Qur'an) if they are truthful" (Quran 52:34)
By this Allah made a challenge to the pagans in Mecca followed by another challenge to the people of the book in Medina. Allah Sobhanhu wa Ta`la Took a gradual course in challenging the Kufar. First He requested that they bring similar texts of the Quran, then produce just 10 chapters, then only one chapter and finally just something similar to just a short chapter. This is the utmost underestimation of the challenged party coupled with an evidence that they are incapable of nothing despite their excellence in the Arabic language which made among them professional eloquent and poets. Their excellence in Arabic was amazing to the extend that they held public markets to present and compete in literature production. In order to stress the fact of the non believers' inability Allah Say: let them produce similar text. Actually this implies that Allah Is not only Requesting the level of eloquence, but rather Demanding them to include the meanings born in the texts. Quran carries the methodology, past or future unknown incidents, information about the Day After including its events, as well as information regarding reward and punishment. It also contains Ayahs related to the universe that brought forth totally new information to mankind which was only discovered during the modern era. While it presents as well other Ayahs with specific objective such as healing. Therefore, producing similar text here must carry all of those aspects.
As for the challenging statement: " But if you do it not, and you can never do it, then fear the Fire (Hell) whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers" , the first part of the phrase saying but if u do it not is talking in the past tense while the you can never do it is a confirmation for the same disability for the future and till the Day After. As such Allah Is Raising the level of challenge so as not to be restricted on the time of revealing Quran only but also to cover throughout time till the Hour. When Allah Sobhanhu wa Ta`la Say and you can never do it, Allah Presents a miraculous challenge as it implies a forecast of the future. Actually the statement penetrates into the unknown future. Till this day, the challenge is still standing and no one was able to produce similar texts as the Quran. After the challenge Allah Is Warning them saying fear the hell fire, prepared for the pagans, of which people and stones are fuel.
As long as you were not able and you will not be able in the future to produce similar texts, you might as well better protect yourselves against hell fire which Allah Prepared for those who don’t believe in this book neither in this Prophet and thus don’t embrace Islam.
Narrated Abu Horaira may Allah be Pleased with him that the Messenger salla Allah A`lyhee wa sallam entered the Masjed when a man came in and prayed then greeted the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam and the Messenger greeted him back. Then told him you did not pray go back and pray. He repeated this 3 times. The man replied saying I swear in the name of the One Who Sent you with the truth I don’t know any better so teach me. The Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam said when you go for prayer, say Alalh u Akbar then recite what you know of Quran, then bow and remain in this position for a while, then raise up till you are full standing, then prostrate (go for sujud) and remain there for a while then raise and sit erect then prostrate again for the same period of time. Repeat this throughout your prayer.
(reported by Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Daoud, Nasai and Termidhi)
In Abi Daoud's narration there is an additional part as: if you manage to fulfill this, your prayer is complete and whatever you neglect decreases your prayer.
The meaning of recite an amount of Quran is: Fatiha and one long Ayah or three short ones.