This article will document some of the most common reasons given by Muslims for Islam's veracity, and offers a short response to each one.
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The argument that the Quran is a literary miracle which cannot be truly reproduced comes from the Quran itself (Surah 10:38, 11:13-14, 17:88, and 52:34):
Surah 2:23-24
23 And if you are in doubt about what We have revealed to Our servant, then produce a sûrah like it and call your helpers other than Allah, if what you say is true.
24 But if you are unable to do so - and you will never be able to do so - then fear the Fire fuelled with people and stones, which is prepared for the disbelievers.
The Quran is, in reality, very easy to reproduce, and has been in works like The True Furqan. However, since the challenge must be judged by Muslims, is regarded as blasphemous to even attempt, and has a foregone conclusion - "you will never be able to do so" - it is not a serious or genuine challenge. Even if the Quran were impossible to reproduce, that would do nothing to prove it is from God, but rather it would prove that it is unique.
Muslims, also, will often claim that the Quran is regarded by Muslims and non-Muslims alike as the greatest work of literature in Arabic, or even in any language:
The Qur'an: A Literary Masterpiece That Transcends Generations
The Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, is widely regarded as a literary masterpiece. Its profound impact on Arabic literature, its eloquence, and the timeless message it conveys have captivated both scholars and believers for centuries.
The Qur'an was revealed in the Arabic language, and it showcases unparalleled linguistic excellence. The book's language is pristine, with a flawless blend of eloquence, rhythm, and precision. Despite being revealed more than 1400 years ago, the Qur'an's linguistic beauty remains unmatched. Its expressive metaphors, captivating narratives, and compelling arguments demonstrate the ingenuity of its composition, leaving a lasting impact on those who delve into its verses.
Contrary to the above, some of the literary issues with the Quran are as follows, and can be verified by anyone who simply sits down to read Surah 1-5:
The fact that anyone can make the argument that the Quran is a literary masterpiece shows the depth of self-deception that someone can be goaded into by their beliefs.
The argument that the Quran is divine because it contains no contradictions also comes from the Quran itself:
Surah 4:82
82 Do they not then reflect on the Quran? Had it been from anyone other than Allah, they would have certainly found in it many inconsistencies.
To begin, the lack of contradictions in a book does not make that book divine. There are math books, fictional books, tutorial books, historical books, and books in other genres, which do not contain self-contradictory information. That does not mean they are from God.
Secondly, the Quran does have contradictions, even according to Muslims. The aforementioned doctrine of abrogation (Surah 2:106, 16:101) is a method to resolve contradictory revelations that Muhammad delivered, teaching to always favor whatever is latest, if there is contradiction.
One example of this would be the punishment for adultery. First, the Quran's prescribed punishment for an adulterous woman involves her being placed under house arrest for the rest of her life (Surah 4:15). Then, the punishment of stoning was prescribed, which is now lost (Sahih al-Bukhari 6830). Then, the punishment of being flogged 100 times was given, and this is what is authoritative today (Surah 24:2).
The doctrine of abrogation is a demonstration of how ad-hoc Muhammad's revelations were. If the Quran was Allah's eternal word, written on a tablet in Heaven (Surah 85:21-22), would it need to have sections abrogated over the span of just a few decades, as Muhammad's circumstances changed?
One of the most common Muslim claims about the Quran is that it is perfectly preserved, and exists in one form only, and this constitutes proof that it is divine in origin:
The Preservation of the Glorious Quran
The Glorious Quran is the pure word of God. There is not a single word therein that is not divine. The Book has been handed down to our age in its complete and original form since the time of Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
The Book that God revealed to him for the guidance of mankind exists today in its original language without the slightest alteration in its vocabulary.
What is the Quran? - Intro to the Clear Quran, Mustafa Khattab
The Quran is the holy book of Islam. It is a collection of revelations that were received by the Prophet Muhammad over the course of twenty-three years in the 7th century CE. There is only one version of the Quran, perfectly preserved in written and oral records around the world for nearly 1400 years.
The above statements are inaccurate. The Quran has not been perfectly preserved, even according to Islam's own sources - the subject of this article.
Likewise, there is not "only one version" of the Quran. The text of the Quran used by most Muslims today was not standardized until 1924 in Cairo, Egypt. There are more than 30 Arabic versions of the Quran, containing thousands of textual variants between them, as collated by Hatun Tash and the team at DCCI Ministries. There are also textual variants within the manuscript traditions for each of these Arabic versions.
In addition, even if the Quran were to be perfectly preserved, that would not be proof of its divine origin. It would be proof of a dedicated following, or good textual transmission practices. With the advent of computing, there will be millions of books written every year, which will be perfectly preserved.
So, the Quran is not perfectly preserved, however, if it were, that would still not prove that Islam is the true religion.
Many Muslims claim that the Quran contains advanced knowledge of scientific discoveries that would have been impossible to know in the 7th century:
Miracles of the Quran
The Quran contains scientific knowledge that could not have been known 1400 years ago. It ranges from basic arithmetics to the most advanced topics in astrophysics. You are invited to go through those miracles and judge for yourself.
While this short section cannot hope to address all of the verses claimed to teach some scientific fact, if one does bother to investigate such claims, they will find that one of two things are true:
However, not only does the Quran contain no scientific miracles whatsoever, it does contain scientific errors, and so do the Hadith. What follows are five examples, along with articles covering them in more detail:
Muhammad did not have advanced scientific knowledge. This is an exceptionally weak, demonstrably false argument.
Anyone who engages with Muslims on the popular level will find that one of the most common proofs that they submit for the truthfulness of Islam - no doubt something they personally find very compelling - are variations of the following:
Firstly, neither of these claims can be granted - at least not without asterisks. There are not anywhere near 2 billion Muslims, and Islam spreads via birthrates, not conversions by educated, rational adults. This is almost ubiquitously stated in all of the studies that Muslims will link to in order to validate their claim.
For example:
Why Muslims are the World's Fastest-Growing Religious Group
The main reasons for Islam's growth ultimately involve simple demographics. To begin with, Muslims have more children than members of the seven other major religious groups analyzed in the study. Muslim women have an average of 2.9 children, significantly above the next-highest group (Christians at 2.6) and the average of all non-Muslims (2.2). In all major regions where there is a sizable Muslim population, Muslim fertility exceeds non-Muslim fertility.
Actual converts of conviction to Islam are rare, and often paraded around, precisely for that reason.
Further, there are not 2 billion Muslims. That figure includes government-reported census data in Sharia nations, often boasting a 95-99% Muslim population, which is comical. These figures are not representative, because many become silent apostates, due to the penalty for leaving the false religion of Islam being death (Sahih al-Bukhari 3017, etc.), not to mention the huge range of other temporal penalties that public apostasy opens one up to in most of these nations.
This is evidenced by polls such as this one from a non-government organization in Iran - a nation which officially reports to be 99% Muslim - wherein less than half of the respondents professed to believe in Islam. There is no reason to believe that the case is not similar in other Sharia nations. Adding to this all of the cultural or nominal Muslims, and Islam becomes a much smaller religion.
However, even if both of these claims are granted, they are meaningless as far as determining the true religion is concerned. Christianity is still the world's largest religion. Does that prove anything? No, it does not. At one point, Communism was growing so fast, that it went from not formally existing, to dominating some of the largest nations on earth, in less than 150 years. Does that prove anything? Further, there are over 1 billion Hindus, and over 1 billion people who profess no formal adherence to any religion. Does that make those positions correct? Of course not.
If one is a Muslim, they are asserting that all 2 billion Christians, 1 billion Hindus, and 1 billion religiously-unaffiliated people are wrong, and basing their lives on lies and falsehood. Therefore, a Muslim must concede that it is possible for a huge amount of people to be deceived. And, that is precisely what has happened with Islam.
The frequency at which this claim is used is actually evidence that Islam truly has no compelling evidence to offer. Therefore, its adherents latch on to meaningless arguments like this.
The argument that prophecies of Muhammad are found in the Bible is from the Quran itself:
Surah 7:157
157 Those who follow the Messenger, the Unlettered Prophet, whom they find mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel in their possession. He directs them to righteousness, and deters them from evil, and allows for them all good things, and prohibits for them wickedness, and unloads the burdens and the shackles that are upon them. Those who believe in him, and respect him, and support him, and follow the light that came down with him—these are the successful.
Muslims, eager to prove the above verse true, have submitted various Bible verses over the centuries which are allegedly a fulfillment of this passage. This has resulted in some of the most egregious, dishonest twisting of Scripture ever performed by anyone.
Firstly, note that Muhammad himself did not give the reference to what supposedly mentioned him. In the New Testament, Old Testament verses that Jesus Christ fulfilled are often quoted in the text of the New Testament, as the event is being narrated. Muhammad did not do this, because he could not do this - he had only an oral familiarity with a few Bible stories, being otherwise totally ignorant of its contents.
Secondly, to keep this section to a reasonable size, only the two most common passages used by Muslims to support Muhammad will be addressed here. More detailed responses to these passages, and responses to other passages, can be found in the article Is Muhammad Prophesied in the Bible?
The most common passage used by Muslims in the Old Testament for Muhammad is:
Deuteronomy 18:15, 18-19
15 The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;
18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
Muhammad was not the prophet like unto Moses for the following reasons:
The most common passage used by Muslims in the New Testament for Muhammad is in John chapters 14 through 16, especially:
John 14:16
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
John 16:7-8
7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.
8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
Muhammad was not the Comforter for the following reasons:
Finally, unlike Muhammad, Jesus was clearly and powerfully prophesied in the Old Testament, as detailed in this series of articles. Therefore, if one finds prophecy compelling as a proof for the truthfulness of a religion, the case is far more powerful for Christianity, and not Islam.
Muslims claim that Muhammad is God's messenger because of remarkable prophecies that he made, which later came to pass:
The Prophecies of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
Some of the greatest and most convincing testimonies to the prophethood of Muhammad ﷺ are the numerous occasions on which he correctly predicted future events. Only one to whom God had granted access to the realm of the unseen could have, time and again, accurately foretold the future.
Firstly, this proof, as well as the following section on miracles, are non-starters. They are Biblically irrelevant, in light of Deuteronomy 13:1-5, in which God says that even if someone performs a miracle, or gives a prophecy, they are still a false prophet, if they preach another God. Muhammad certainly preached another God - a childless, Unitarian God called "Allah", not Yahweh (Exodus 3:15), who is the Father (Deuteronomy 14:1, John 1:12, etc.). Jesus gave the same principal (Matthew 24:24, Mark 13:22), as did the Apostles (2 Thessalonians 2:9-12).
Secondly, even according to Muhammad, fulfilled prophecies do not of themselves prove that someone is a true prophet of God:
Sahih al-Bukhari 5762
Narrated `Aisha:
Some people asked Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) about the foretellers. He said, "They are nothing". They said, "O Allah's Messenger (ﷺ)! Sometimes they tell us of a thing which turns out to be true." Allah's Messenger (ﷺ) said, "A Jinn snatches that true word and pours it Into the ear of his friend (the fore-teller) (as one puts something into a bottle) The foreteller then mixes with that word one hundred lies."
This is also narrated in Sahih al-Bukhari 6213, 7561, and Sahih Muslim 2228a-c.
In the above narration, people came to Muhammad, and asked him about people who foretell the future. After he dismisses them, they retort that what they prophesied sometimes comes true. He dismisses them anyway. Therefore, even according to the false prophet Muhammad, fulfilled prophecies are not of themselves a valid way to determine if someone is a true prophet.
Thirdly, Muhammad gave false prophecies, such as that the world would end within 100 years (Sahih al-Bukhari 116, 564, Sahih Muslim 2538a, 2539), or within the life of a young slave in his presence (Sahih al-Bukhari 6167), or within the lifespan of an Ansari child (Sahih Muslim 2952, 2953a-c). He frequently claimed that the Last Hour was very near (Sahih al-Bukhari 2222, 3448, 4936, 5301, 6503-05, Sahih Muslim 155a, 867a, 2950, 2951b-e). He even was open to a young man named Ibn Sayyad being the Dajjal, which is an End Times figure in Islam (Sahih al-Bukhari 3055, Sahih Muslim 169d, 2924a-b, 2925, 2930a-c, 2931), even spying on him (Sahih al-Bukhari 3056-57, Sahih Muslim 169d, 2930a-c, 2931), and causing much trouble for him (Sahih Muslim 2927a-c, 2929).
Fourthly, in the same vein as the "scientific miracles" in the Quran and Hadith, the prophecies that are commonly purported to have been given by Muhammad and fulfilled are unremarkable. They are either vague, obvious, or truisms, which anyone could have predicted, or they were not far enough removed in time from what they were predicting to preclude fabrication, or they are specific predictions which have not been fulfilled at all, and require one to reinterpret them into saying something that they do not even say, in order to pretend that they have been fulfilled. Every single one without exception is invalidated under one of these basic criticisms.
Also, virtually all of the alleged fulfilled prophecies are from the Hadith, and not the Quran. In the Quran, Muhammad repeatedly claimed to have no knowledge of the unseen (Surah 6:50, 7:188, 10:20, 11:31, 27:65), and therefore, the Quran is bereft of future prophecy. The quintessential example of fulfilled prophecy in the Quran, Surah 30:2-5, is a vague predication that one empire will win a battle in the coming years against another. There are many prophecies of this type in the Bible, which Muslims disregard (Isaiah 45:1-3: 2 Samuel 5:19: 2 Chronicles 20:15, etc.). And, there is a narration stating that this passage of the Quran was revealed after the event took place, meaning it would not be a prophecy at all (Jami at-Tirmidhi 3192). There are also textual difficulties with this passage, and historical controversy over whether it was actually completed within the alleged allotted time frame. Yet, apart from this alleged prophecy, the Quran is basically bereft of any attempts at prophecy, especially when compared to the Biblical prophets.
The Hadith, on the other hand, were compiled hundreds of years after Muhammad died - long after anyone could scrutinize him - and in the case of some of the prophecies in question, hundreds of years after they were allegedly fulfilled. The next section will touch on why that is such a problem.
In summary, Islam is prophetically desolate, containing nothing like the Bible's prophecies of Jesus Christ - such as Abraham offering Isaac (Genesis 22), or the symbol of the Passover Lamb (Exodus 12).
This argument for Islam is one of the more interesting claims of Muslims, because it actually contradicts the Quran, and highlights a major contradiction between the Quran and the later Hadith narrations, which came about 200 years after Muhammad died, at the earliest.
In the Quran, Muhammad frequently revealed verses which vindicated himself as a prophet despite the fact that he performed no miracles or signs, which evidently, people were asking him for:
Surah 6:37
37 They ask, "Why has no sign been sent down to him from his Lord?" Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ "Allah certainly has the power to send down a sign—though most of them do not know."
Surah 10:20
20 They ask, "Why has no sign been sent down to him from his Lord?" Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ "˹The knowledge of˺ the unseen is with Allah alone. So wait! I too am waiting with you."
Surah 13:7
7 The disbelievers say, "If only a sign could be sent down to him from his Lord." You ˹O Prophet˺ are only a warner. And every people had a guide.
Above, after being asked for a sign, and questioning why Muhammad did not have a single sign as a verification of his divine commission, what does Allah say? Does he say, "I already gave you lots of signs"? No, rather Allah tells Muhammad that he is "only a warner". In other words, his role is not to perform miracles, but to warn, and that is why he did no miracle.
In one passage in particular, Allah says that the Quran alone is to be regarded as sufficient for those asking for a sign:
Surah 29:48-51
48 You ˹O Prophet˺ could not read any writing ˹even˺ before this ˹revelation˺, nor could you write at all. Otherwise, the people of falsehood would have been suspicious.
49 But this ˹Quran˺ is ˹a set of˺ clear revelations ˹preserved˺ in the hearts of those gifted with knowledge. And none denies Our revelations except the ˹stubborn˺ wrongdoers.
50 They say, "If only ˹some˺ signs had been sent down to him from his Lord!" Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ "Signs are only with Allah. And I am only sent with a clear warning."
51 Is it not enough for them that We have sent down to you the Book, ˹which is˺ recited to them? Surely in this ˹Quran˺ is a mercy and reminder for people who believe.
Unless the Quran later became insufficient, why would anything in the above statement change? Muhammad had not performed a miracle, because he was sent with the Quran as a warner, which is "enough", or other translators say, "sufficient".
Allah also says that the reason that Muhammad performs no signs is (conveniently) because those who came beforehand rejected them:
Surah 17:59
59 Nothing keeps Us from sending the ˹demanded˺ signs except that they had ˹already˺ been denied by earlier peoples. And We gave Thamûd the she-camel as a clear sign, but they wrongfully rejected it. We only send the signs as a warning.
There are many such passages in the Quran testifying that Muhammad was only sent with a warning, which corroborate the message of the above verses (Surah 2:118, 11:12, 22:49, 26:115, 38:70, 46:9, etc.).
However, according to Muslims today, and the Hadith collections, Muhammad was prolific in his ability to perform miracles.
For instance:
One is left to wonder why people in the Quran were asking Muhammad for signs, when according to the above, he was prolifically performing signs. The most straightforward answer is that these miracle accounts are pious fabrications, gathered two centuries after Muhammad died.
Commenting on this development, Henry Heydt, in his book "A Comparison of World Religions", referring to the Persian historian Mirkhvand, says:
A Comparison of World Religions, pg. 32
Although (Muhammad) himself disclaimed working miracles, Mirkhond wrote in the fifteenth century a life of Muhammad including some fifty pages of miracles he was supposed to have performed.
To get to his 50 pages of miracles, Mirkhvand, of course, was using Hadith, and maybe some earlier biographies. If one expands their sources outside of the six canonical Hadith collections, 50 pages would not suffice at all. They would need hundreds of pages.
So, why is all of that so absent from the Quran? And, why does Muhammad deny the ability to perform signs so often in the Quran, when asked to? Why doesn't he say, "Watch me walk past this tree, and listen to it greet me"? Or, "I just did 5 miracles last week, what are you talking about"? Rather, he describes himself repeatedly as a "plain warner".
So, one can conclude that Muhammad did not perform any miracles, because that was his sheepish testimony in the Quran, when he was faced with people during his life, who could actually watch him. In the later narrations one can see fantastic embellishments, invented long after Muhammad was dead, and not subject to scrutiny by people who could actually observe him.
This tendency toward embellishment is evident if one examines the account of the compilation of the Hadith narrations themselves, in which Bukhari was said to have sorted through 600,000 narrations for his Sahih, discounting 99% of them. This demonstrates the penchant for legendary accounts in the Muslim community, and their willingness to believe and repeat legends for which they had no veracity. The later traditions chronicling Muhammad's miracles show that the Hadith fundamentally cannot be trusted, and include lots of legendary tales that had begun to develop of the miraculous exploits of Allah's self-professed "plain warner".
Finally, as mentioned in the section above, this argument is, Biblically speaking, dead on arrival, because miracles do not of themselves vindicate someone as a true prophet, if what they preached was contrary to the preaching of the prophets before them (Deuteronomy 13:1-5, Matthew 24:24, Mark 13:22: 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12). Yet, if one were to use miracles as a criteria for truthfulness, the Bible records many miracles being done by Christians (Acts 3:1-10, 5:12-16, 9:36-42, 14:8-10, 20:9-12, Romans 15:18-19: 2 Corinthians 12:12, etc.) - not to mention the miracles of Jesus Christ Himself - and unlike the Hadith, these accounts were written in the lifetimes of the eyewitnesses of the events.
Muslims assert that evidence for Muhammad's prophethood can be found in his impeccable moral character:
The Character of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ
God combined in Muhammad ﷺ the most illustrious qualities, as evidence that he was in fact authorized by the Divine. His character sparkled from every angle, and this was noticed both by those who experienced him firsthand and those who later read his biography. They all found in Muhammad ﷺ a lifestyle of extraordinary sincerity, conviction, and virtue that posed a formidable challenge to any doubter in his prophethood.
To begin, regardless of how moral or sincere someone may be, that does not mean they are a divine prophet. They could be sincerely deceived. Self-deception is the worst kind of deception, because one is sincerely doing wrong, believing that it is right. Every single religious official of any religion would claim sincerity, and they believe that what they are doing is correct, and godly. They may even do many kind and humanitarian things for others. All of this says nothing about whether their religion is correct.
Next, an examination of Muhammad's life reveals many unmerciful and immoral actions:
Of course, from a Christian perspective, the worst thing Muhammad did was tell constant, egregious lies about God and Jesus Christ, and deceive people with a false religion, which has perpetuated misery and suffering for 1,400 years.
When examined, all of the proposed reasons to join Islam fall apart. There is no proof for the veracity of Islam, which is why the above reasons, all of which are invalid, need to be appealed to.