Three Questions by a Christian and their Answers — Page 46
46 been detailed in the books of Hadith, which have been com- piled with great care. The Quranic description of these prophecies, though brief, is quite satisfactory and effective. What is more, Muslims do not live by old tales alone, as do the followers of other religions. In every century, Muslims have told followers of other religions that these blessings are ever-present in Islam, and even today Muslims continue to invite them to come and test this claim before they accept it, but they do not pay heed. God’s argument has been com- pleted against them, for we invite them and they do not come; we show them but they refuse to see; they have com- pletely turned away their eyes and ears from us lest they should hear and see and be guided. The critic’s second misunderstanding—that the Holy Quran has given an inaccurate account of the number of the People of the Cave—is a mere assertion. The critic does not say why this account is wrong and, as against this, what is the correct account. Nor does he advance any arguments so that they may be analyzed and answered to satisfaction. If the critic had any objection to the Quranic text, he ought to have given his reasons, for, it does not behove a seeker after truth to reject something without giving any reason for it. The third misunderstanding which has arisen in the mind of the critic relates to the Holy Quran’s account of a king (whose travels have been described in the Quran), who, during his travels, came to a place where he saw the Sun setting in a murky pool. Treating the metaphor as a literal expression, the Christian gentleman asks how it could be