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The Final Prophet by Mohammad Elshinawy

7. The Inimitable Qur’an

The inimitable nature of the Qur’an continues to be the most compelling proof that Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم was in fact the final prophet of God. He صلى الله عليه وسلم said, There was no prophet except that he was granted signs that caused the people to believe in him, but what I have been uniquely granted is a revelation that Allah has inspired me with, and thus I am hopeful to have the most followers among them on the Day of Resurrection.403

This does not mean that he صلى الله عليه وسلم had no other signs, just as it does not mean that the previous prophets had no revelation. Rather, the implication here is that the Qur’an would be uniquely effective in guiding people to faith over the passage of time.

It should not surprise us that a permanent living miracle that can be experienced firsthand by successive generations would outperform a miraculous event witnessed by a limited group at a particular moment in history. What does astound many is how any “mere work of literature” could ever qualify as otherworldly in its origins.

The Qur’an presents itself as the literal speech of God,404 and asserts that nothing like it will ever be produced.405 This inimitability is multidimensional, and this chapter will simply provide a taste and overview of some of these dimensions, while addressing “alternative explanations” posited by some critics in their attempts to deny the divine origins of the Qur’an. For a deeper exploration of this topic, readers can avail themselves the expansive genre of books dedicated entirely to it.406

403 al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 9:92 #7274; Muslim, Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim, 1:134 #152.

404 The Qur’an 9:6, Saheeh International Translation.

405 The Qur’an 17:88, Saheeh International Translation.

406 See: Gibril F. Haddad, “Tropology and Inimitability: Ibn Ashur’s Theory of Tafsir in the Ten Prolegomena to Al-Tahrir wa’l-Tanwir,” Journal of Qur’anic Studies, 21.1 (2019): 50-111.

Reference: The Final Prophet - Mohammad Elshinawy

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