The Holy War — Page 197
Proceedings—Debate 1 June 1893 197 His Excellency, Muhammad, absolutely refuses to be known as a miracle-maker. Some Muslims maintain that in the verse 1 اْوُتْاَف ٍةَرْوُسِب ْنِّم ٖهِلْثِّم a great miracle on the eloquence and articulacy of the Quran has been stated, but there is no mention in the verse regarding what the example is being sought, and there is not a word in the Quran regarding the claim for eloquence and fluency anywhere. Perhaps what is meant by this Quranic claim is that the Quran is a summary of the Books of the previous Prophets which could not have been made by any creature other than God; therefore, it—the Quran— too is without equal; that is to say, it contains the claim to contain- ing holy teachings but not of eloquence and fluency. In fact, contrary to being eloquent and articulate, it is also written in the Quran that it has been made easy in Arabic for the Arab people, yet whatever eloquence and fluency is absolutely new becomes in need of being explained and instead of being easy, does not remain easy at all. And it should also be remembered that according to the Quran, His Excellency, Muhammad, was not absolutely illiterate, but the Quran actually says that whoever is not from among the People of the Book is illiterate. And in actuality, it seems that His Excellency, Muhammad, did not have knowledge of Hebrew and Greek. Likewise, it should also be remembered that the word ‘Book’ in Quranic terminology normally means only a ‘revealed Book’ and not any worldly book. Fourthly: you did not fully answer one of my questions yester- day. I had wished to know if the birth of Jesus was indeed a miracle or not? In other words, did he have a father or not, did the angel— specifically Gabriel—bring glad tidings to Mary or did he not? And what you asserted regarding your vision that you had conversed with His Excellency, Muhammad, in our opinion, the proof of this 1. S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:24 [Publisher]