A Response to Three Questions of a Christian — Page 13
Reply to the First Question 13 in pursuit of enemies; sometimes he was speaking with the igno- rant and faithless people of Arabia and sometimes debating with the scholars of the Christians and the Jews. At times he was short of provisions and at other times he was self-sufficient, etc. , etc. During such times of varying circumstances , the thoughts of a weak individual can never remain steady, and discord and deviation inevitably transpire. Yet, there is no discord in the Holy Quran even though it was revealed over a period of twenty-three years under varying circumstances. The Holy Quran has also said to its own credit: اًبٰتِك اًهِباَشَتُّم [‘a Book, whose verses are mutually supporting’]. 1 Having proven from the Holy Quran that neither the Holy Prophet, peace be upon him, entertained any uncertainty or doubt, nor any contra- diction exists in the Quran, I will now focus on the question of the critic. Why? Because, as mentioned above, it stands proven to me from the Holy Book and the Praiseworthy Furq a n, 2 that the Most Noble Messenger, peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, held the highest degree of certainty, and there is no contradiction in the Quran; yet the critic alleges that the Holy Quran depicts the Guide of Islam as being riddled with doubt. The primary argu- ment of the critic is the following verse of S u rah al-Baqarah: S u rah al-Baqarah, 2:148— ُّقَحْلَا ْنِم َكِّبَّر اَلَف َّنَنْوُكَت َنِم َنْيِرَتْمُمْلا 1. S u rah az-Zumar, 39:24 [Publisher] 2. Furq a n (Discrimination) is another name of the Holy Quran. [Publisher]