The Quran: A Simplified Guide to Islam’s Holy Book

A need, or a luxury

TLDR

Measuring and improving morality implies an objective anchor that keeps it future-proof and solid against the waves of desire, ignorance, and social conditioning. Moral progress is only possible with an absolute, universally common standard of right and wrong.

“ Descend, both of you ˹Adam and Eve˺, from here together ˹with Satan˺ as enemies to each other. Then when guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance will neither go astray ˹in this life˺ nor suffer ˹in the next˺.”
Quran 20:123

Personal opinions prejudice bias. Concept of facts and biases on wooden desk.

God reveals Himself through Scripture.

Just as a manufacturer provides an instruction manual for a device, the All-Wise and All-Merciful Creator has graciously guided us in reaching Him and living according to His will personally and communally.
Humans recognize any intelligent or conscious being through communication and interaction. This principle applies equally to acknowledging God. His consciousness can be observed in his creation (design), and throughout human history, He has used scripture to communicate with us.
By studying the universe (God’s effect) and sincerely contemplating revealed scriptures (communication), we can understand the Supreme purpose behind the creation and align our lives with His will, leading to true fulfillment and eternal success.

“We have given them a scripture that is fully detailed, with knowledge, guidance, and mercy for the people who believe.”
Quran 7:52

However, for worldly gains, individuals and institutions continue to claim they received a divine revelation, using various methods and schemes of conviction or deception. Which take us to the next logical question:

What makes any scripture authentically Divine!?

Because I am not going to blindly accept any individual’s claim to be a prophet from God, and by God’s justice and mercy, I can argue that we all have the right to reject a “message” brought hundreds of years ago presented as proof some miracles I didn’t witness and have no historical record of except for the same book that claims it, or at least doubts that claim or give it some scientific explanation.

A step further, I can use the (objective) reasoning faculty that God gave me to refute the divinity of that message or book by exploiting errors, contradictions, and scientific mistakes in it, proving its imperfection, which makes it undivine.
Therefore, we can consider criteria, a checklist, to confirm, with confidence, if any book is a revelation from God:

1. Divine Claim of divine authorship within that Scripture.
2. No contradictions or errors.
3. Preservation.
4. Universal and timeless relevance and moral guidance.
5. 100% fulfilled prophecies.

The Quran: Introduction

Islam is a religion that claims to be the everlasting final message for all mankind. It presents evidence that can be analyzed objectively and logically. It brings an everlasting miracle that challenges not only a specific nation or a kind of knowledge but all mankind and bases that challenge on the two abilities that all humans possess: language and reasoning. This miracle is called the Quran.

The Quran is the holy scripture of Islam and is believed by Muslims to be the literal verbatim of God (Allah) revealed over 23 years to the Prophet Muhammad through the Angel Gabriel. It is written in Arabic and is considered the ultimate guide for Muslims, encompassing teachings on faith, morality, law, and guidance for personal and social conduct.
The Quran consists of 114 chapters, called surahs, which vary in length. Each chapter contains verses known as ayahs. The revelation was gradual, addressing the needs and situations of the early Muslim community as they arose.

Core Themes:
It is a book from God, not about Mohammed.

Monotheism : The Quran emphasizes God’s oneness, urging people to worship and submit to Him alone. It also teaches moral values, social justice, lawful conduct, and specific laws related to marriage, inheritance, business, social and political laws and other aspects of daily life.

Social Justice: It speaks against oppression, emphasizes charity, and advocates for compassion, honesty, and equity in society. It uses the stories of many prophets, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus…, as models of faith and patience. The book frequently discusses the afterlife, describing Heaven and Hell and stressing accountability for one’s actions on Judgment Day.

Why is the Quran different from any other scripture!?

We will dedicate the rest of our article to the Quran, which is claimed to be divine scripture and the final revelation called The Quran, and put it through the lenses of our checklist.

Divine Authorship: The Quran explicitly and constantly declares that it is a direct revelation from God, providing a signature confirming ownership and eliminating confusion and doubts.

No Contradictions or errors: The Quran, revealed over twenty-three years ago, accurately accounts for future predictions, anecdotes of past communities and Prophets, scientific truths unknown at the time of revelation and laws and regulations that will govern Muslim life until the end of time. Its lack of a single contradiction or error proves its Divine authorship.

“Do they not reflect on the Quran? If this book were from other than GOD, they would certainly find much variation and contradiction in it”. Quran (4:82)

Preservation: The Quran has been preserved in its original form since the time of its revelation to the Prophet Muhammad. The process of preservation is seen as a divine undertaking to ensure the integrity and accuracy of the Quranic text through the primary means of preservation: Oral Transmission (Memorization) and then the Written Manuscript. Unlike any other religion, The concept of the preservation of the Quran is fundamental to Islamic belief and is guaranteed by God:

“It is certainly We Who have revealed the Reminder, and it is certainly We Who will preserve it.” Quran(15:9).

The power of the Quran’s preservation lies in the parallelism of the writing and memorization processes, and in order to tamper with one, you must alter the other, which is physically impossible.
And that alone answers the claim that “a chunk of a page of the book is missing because a goat ate it.” For the simple reason that the same goat should eat the thousands of memorizers alive at that period.

Prophecies: In the religious world, a prophecy, quite distinct from an educated and wise guess, is considered the most authentic criterion and a vital proof of the truthfulness of a prophet.
The Quran is no exception, and it provides plenty of fulfilled prophecies. There is one Modern Example: The rise and fall of the state of Israel in Jerusalem.

“Then We gave back to you [children of Israel] a return victory over them. And We reinforced you with wealth and offspring and made you more numerous in manpower. [And said], “If you do good, you do good for yourselves; and if you do evil, [you do it] to yourselves.” Then when the final promise came, [We sent your enemies] to sadden your faces and to enter the temple in Jerusalem, as they entered it the first time, and to destroy what they had taken over with [total] destruction. ” Quran (17:6).

Inimitability: Since it’s God’s verbatim, its style, eloquence, and linguistic features are so unparalleled that no human can produce anything like it, and even its translation is just an approximative explanation of the meaning, not a literal one. The Quran challenges people to make just one chapter similar to its style and perfection, then confirms firmly they will not be able to do so until the end of time.

“And it was not [possible] for this Qur’an to be produced by other than Allah, but [it is] a confirmation of what was before it and a detailed explanation of the [former] Scripture, about which there is no doubt, from the Lord of the worlds. Or do they say [about the Prophet], “He invented it?” Say, “Then bring forth a chapter like it and call upon [for assistance] whomever you can besides Allah, if you should be truthful.” Quran(10:38).

And guess what? For over 1400 years, that challenge has persisted unbroken!

Universal and Timeless Relevance: The Quran’s teachings are relevant across time, place, and cultural contexts. Its messages resonate beyond the era of its revelation, offering wisdom for all of humanity. It provides a high standard of moral and ethical guidance and laws for all people and situations, encouraging integrity and justice. Thus, the Quran sustains its promise as a universal message, which no man can fulfill for a consecutive 1400 years and still.

“And it was not [possible] for this Qur’an to be produced by other than Allah, but [it is] a confirmation of what was before it and a detailed explanation of the [former] Scripture, about which there is no doubt, from the Lord of the worlds. Or do they say [about the Prophet], “He invented it?” Say, “Then bring forth a chapter like it and call upon [for assistance] whomever you can besides Allah, if you should be truthful.” Quran(10:38)

And guess what? For over 1400 years, that challenge has persisted unbroken!

Authenticity – no scientific errors: If the universe and the Quran are God’s products, we should see harmony and synchronicity between the two. For example, the Quran 1440 years ago described the origin of the universe and life:

“Do the disbelievers not realize that the heavens and earth were ˹once˺ one mass then We split them apart? And We created from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?.”
Quran (21:30)

Here, the Big Bang theory and water being the main component of every living thing in one verse.
Uniqueness and Eloquence: The Quran demonstrates a unique style, language, and literary quality that cannot be replicated or matched. It suggests divine influence beyond human capability and even challenges all mankind to produce just one chapter like it.

With all those falsification tests set by the Quran itself and for centuries, Islam has been straightforward to discredit. There is no need for war, struggle, or debates: make one chapter of the Quran or bring a single contradiction, and that’s it!
Isn’t that miraculous enough for you?!

In the first verse, just one word used in Arabic is “Ahad” but translated as One and Indivisible; in the next verse, a single word is used: “Samad” but translated as a sentence: Sustainer and needed by all.

Muslim women reading the Quran with stream of light in a dark room.

Summary

In the end the greatest person to describe the final testament was its final recipient, Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), who said:

“ The Book of God, in which is the news of what came before you, and the news of what comes after you, and the ruling of what is between you. It is the Criterion (between right and wrong) without jest. Whoever among the oppressive abandons it, Allah crushes him, and whoever seeks guidance from other than it, then Allah leaves him to stray. It is the firm rope of Allah, it is the wise remembrance, it is the straight path, and it is the one that the desires cannot distort, nor can the tongues twist it, nor can the scholars ever have enough of it, and it shall not become dull from reciting it much, and the amazement of it does not diminish. It is the one that when the Jinns hear it, they did not hesitate to say about it: ‘Verily, we have heard a wonderful Recitation (this Qur’an)! ‘It guides to the Right Path, and we have believed therein.’ Whoever speaks according to it then he has said the truth, and whoever acts according to it he is rewarded, and whoever judges by it he has judged justly, and whoever invites to it then he guides to the straight path.”