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Doubts Regarding the Authenticity of the Qur’an: I Really Need Help

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Answered by Ustadh Tabraze Azam
Question: Since the end of Ramadan, I try to maintain good habits that I took during Ramadan. My belief in the Quran was so high a that time but now I am overwhelmed with doubts regarding its authenticity. I’m always trying to pray the best way but I have to break my prayer many times and repeat it again and again to make it perfect. Doubts regarding the Qur’an have made my worship very difficult. I really need help.
Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh,
I pray that you are in the best of health and faith, insha’Allah.
(1) It is not permitted to break your prayer because “it is not perfect enough.” Pray once.
(2) I’d advise reading: The History of the Qur’anic Text by Mustafa al-Azami
(3) Ignore such whisperings. All of them are from the devil who wants nothing better than to confuse you and make you leave your religion.
(4) Misgivings of such a nature arise from a lack of knowledge, a lack of study, and a lack of asking the scholars of the religion.
Please read the following: How Do We Know That the Qur’an Is Inimitable and Thus From Allah? and: Tormented by Thoughts of Disbelief and: What is the Ruling For Someone Who Has Thoughts of Disbelief Without Saying Them Aloud?
And Allah alone gives success.
wassalam,
Tabraze Azam
Checked & Approved by Shaykh Faraz Rabbani.

How Do I Know that Allah Most High Exists and is Actively Maintaining Creation?

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Answered by Shaykh Faraz A. Khan

Question: Science is affecting my faith, so my questions are:

(1) How do I know that Allah Most High exists?

 

(2) How do I know the Qur’an is in fact revelation and truly miraculous?

 

(3) How do I know that He is Active, i.e., He did not just create the world and stepped back?

 

Answer: Assalamu alaikum wa rahmatullah,

I pray this finds you in the best of health and states.

The Existence of Allah Most High

With respect to the existence of Allah Most High, the signs are far too numerous and overwhelming to even attempt to delineate in an answer such as this. Revelation itself is the greatest proof for humanity, and indeed each verse of the Qur’an is called a ‘sign’ (aya), as it indicates that it is none other than divine speech.

I would like to, however, point out two other dimensions of ‘divine signs’ that might be of interest to you: (a) the cosmos, and (b) your own self, both of which — even if analyzed from a purely scientific perspective — are replete with innumerable wonders, that direct the mind towards a very real awareness of the one Creator.

With respect to the greater cosmos, you can read for example “The Privileged Planet”, a detailed exposition of how our planet is perfectly designed to support life, and moreover precisely positioned for us to marvel over the universe.

And to appreciate how the human body is itself a universe, filled with the most wondrous engineering and design, you can read for example “Signature in the Cell”, referring to the biochemical and genetic complexity of the very building blocks of human life.

Keep in mind that these authors are scientists and are engaged in scientific discourse. They are simply presenting evidence for their theories, and they themselves may not believe in the Creator. Yet for those whose minds are not limited to a scientific paradigm, but can simply reflect as human beings, such books provide detailed information of clear design and specification, which intuitively leads to recognition of the Designer and Specifier.

The Qur’an: True Revelation

As for the truthfulness and miraculous nature of the Qur’an — revelation from the Creator and Designer of all things — please see this related answer:

The Truth of Islam, the Qur’an, & the Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him)

Allah’s Constant Maintaining of Creation

The proof of this reality — that Allah the Creator is active and constantly maintains creation in existence, creating every moment as well as everything that exists in each moment — is based on His own statements revealed to us.

In more than one verse, Allah Most High describes Himself as “Creator of everything” (13:16, 39:62, 40:62), and indeed, every moment is a “thing”, as well as every substance, quality, cause and effect that exists in that moment.

Allah Most High also states about Himself, “Every day, He is engaged in a matter” (55:29). “Day” in this context simply refers to a unit of time, as the great exegete Imam Baydawi comments, “That is, in every moment, He creates persons and recreates states and situations, based on His pre-eternal determination.” [Anwar al-Tanzil wa Asrar al-Ta’wil]

Surely, creation is always on the verge of winking back into nonexistence. Were it not for Allah’s constant ‘activity’, it would all disappear.

And Allah knows best.
wassalam
Faraz

Checked & Approved by Faraz Rabbani

How Do We Know That the Qur’an Is Inimitable and Thus From Allah?

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Answered by Shaykh Akram Abd al-Wahhab al-Mawsuli

Translated by Sr. Wajihah Gregor

Question: How do we know that the Quran is inimitable and thus from Allah?

Answer: The questioner believes in the inimitability of the Qur’an, however he did not comprehend the way this belief was derived [from its sources], and not the character of its inimitability, and his state is the state of most Arab people today who did not investigate the subtleties of its inimitability. Nonetheless, I say:

(1) The perfection of its guidance

Every Muslim believes that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, was unlettered, living among his people. Nonetheless, there proceeded from him a tremendous book in its details and the teachings, in matters of belief, society, ethics, and [even] inheritance law. These principles are guidance for a remarkable civilization. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) informed us that this book is from Allah, so we know with utmost certainty that it is the book of Allah, Exalted is He.

(2) The Quran’s linguistic inimitability

The Prophet, upon him be blessings and peace, lived in a community [that spoke] with the utmost rhetorical ability and the peak of eloquence. They were challenged to come with something remotely like the Qur’an and they could not. They were then challenged to come with merely ten verses like it and they proved incapable. Thereafter, they were challenged to come with just one verse [like it] and they could not. If these people at the pinnacle of rhetorical ability, eloquence, and literary skills proved thus incapable then those after them were yet more incapable and this is sufficient in establishing the matter for the creation.

(3) Informing of matters of the Unseen

The Qur’an informed the Prophet, upon him be blessings and peace, concerning the unseen and the fine points of matters of which was never before contained in a book, or of anything that was known among them. The Prophet [Allah bless him and give him peace] could not read or write which is an intellectual proof that this is the book of Allah, Exalted is His matter.


(4) Its guidance in matters of knowledge

In this tremendous book are points of knowledge that were realized by its bearers over a period of a quarter millenium until they reached a civilizational peak that was not realized by the Arabs before them, and they excelled tremendously in scientific and other knowledge. All of this indicates that this tremendous book is the book of Allah in its magnificence and inimitability.

Shaykh Akram Abdul Wahhab Muhammad Amin

Director, Dar al-Nur for Shari’a Studies

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Shaykh Akram Abd al-Wahhab is one of the major scholars of our time. He was the head of the Council of Scholars of Mosul, and has taught and authored in the major sciences of Islam fiqh, aqida, tafsir, the language sciences, logic, hadith, sira, tasawwuf, and more. He has authored a 1,100 line poem about his teachers and some of his many chains of transmission in the Islamic sciences, and has written a 15-volume commentary on this poem. This commentary contains invaluable biographies of the ulema of Mosul, Iraq, and elsewhere. He is the director of the al-Nur Institute for Islamic Studies, and a PhD in Tafsir. He currently resides and teaches in Amman (Jordan).