Bismillah
Praise be to Allah, King of the Kings and Creator of all creations, prayer and peace be upon His Messenger Mohamed Ibn Abdullah.
To continue on the Ayah:" "Verily We: It is We Who have sent down the Reminder (i.e. the Qur'an) and surely, We will guard it (from corruption)." (Quran 15:9)
Was the Quran subject to distortion or falsification?
Evidences from Quran that prove falsification as impossible-3:
Command verb "say":
The number of times the command verb "say" came in Allah's book is 168, of which 15 were in response to questions raised by either Muslims or Jews that Allah quoted in His holy book.
One of the questions raised by the Jews were the following:
" They ask you (O Muhammad) about the new moons Say: These are signs to mark fixed periods of time for humankind and for the pilgrimage" (Quran 2:189)
" And they ask you about Dhul-Qarnayn. Say: "I shall recite to you something of his story." (Quran 18:83). Jews used to teach the pagans those questions for them to bring it to the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam.
As for the questions raised by the believers:
" They ask you (O Muhammad) what they should spend. Say: Whatever you spend of good must be for parents and kindred and orphans and the poor and the wayfarers, and whatever you do of good deeds, truly, Allah knows it well" (Quran 2:215)
" They ask you concerning fighting in the Sacred Months. Say, "Fighting therein is a great (transgression)" (Quran 2:217)
In another case, the question raised by the pagans was a ridiculous one, thus, Allah Did not include it in His book, however, Allah brought forth the reply. They asked the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam saying: introduce to us the lineage of your Lord. They wanted him to mention who is his father, grandfather and tribe. Allah Replied to them with Surat Ikhlas (Quran 112):
"Say (O Muhammad): "He is Allah, (the) One.
Allah-us-Samad (The Self-Sufficient Master, Whom all creatures need, He neither eats nor drinks). He begets not, nor was He begotten; And there is none co-equal or comparable unto Him."
Other occurrences of the command verb say in Quran came in response to issues raised by either the pagans or people of the book, such as:
" And they say, "The (Hell) Fire shall not touch us
but for a few numbered days. *Say: "Have you taken a covenant from Allah, so that Allah will not break His Covenant? Or is it that you say of Allah what you know not?" (Quran 2:80)
"
"And when it is said to them (the Jews), "Believe in what Allah has sent down," they say, "We believe in what was sent down to us." And they disbelieve in that which came after it, while it is the truth confirming what is with them. Say (O Muhammad to them): "Why then have you killed the Prophets of Allah aforetime, if you indeed have been believers?" (Quran 2:91)
" And when they meet you, They say, "We believe". But when they are alone,
they bite the tips of their fingers at you in rage. Say: "Perish in your rage." (Quran 3:119)
Usually, when someone commands another to utter something in the sentence form: say so and so. The recipient is supposed to say only what has been requested to be uttered without the verb "say". Such as when a judge requests to the witness: Say: In the name of Allah Almighty I would say the truth. The witness will say: In the name of Allah Almighty, I will say the truth. In such case the witness omits the word "say". Unlike in the case of Quran, the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam when those Ayahs containing the verb "say" were revealed, he recited them as is including the word "say". Scribes of the revelation also wrote the Ayahs down including the word "say" which of course makes Muslims read it the same way till the Day After. No one came with the inquiry of why do we read "say" when the command was directed to the Messenger. Neither did anyone recite Suratu Al Ikhlas saying:” He is Allah, (the) One” except a number of initiatives of individuals claiming to belong to Islam who come up from time to time with opinions that reveal nothing but a total detachment of Islam. Someone called for this idea since a number of years. However, he found no followers. On the contrary this idea made him a subject to mockery. But what is more important is the command verb “Say” remined to be scribed and recited. Instead of eliminating or replacing the verb, scholar who handle the interpretation of Quran (Tafseer) strove to understand the contained wisdom within. What they found was intriguing, they found that the verb is employed as an evidence to the authenticity of the Messenger’s communication to the message. The answer to the question or the controversial issue shall not be taken from him but rather from his Lord. For example, if someone sent his son to convey a message to his uncle. The father would command the son saying: Tell (say) to your uncle that you are invited to lunch with us tomorrow. The son would go to the uncle and say: you are invited to lunch with us tomorrow. The invitation might, in such case, sound like being extended from the son. However, if the son says: my father told me: tell (say) to your uncle you are invited to lunch with us tomorrow, as such, there shall be no doubt that the invitation is extended by the father and not the son. Based on this anology, if the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam said: They These are signs to mark fixed periods of time for humankind and for the pilgrimage (Quran 2:189)
The answer would have appeared to be given from the Messenger salla Allah a`lyhee wa sallam. However, the sentence as revealed saying:” Say: These are signs to mark fixed periods of time for humankind and for the pilgrimage”. Is an evidence that the response is from Allah and not from the Messenger.