The Miracle of the Qur’an in the Pendulum of Nature-Modality

Abstract

Miracles are extraordinary events that occur in the hands of those who claim to be prophets and which cannot be repeated by others. By these miracles, the prophets prove to society that the truths they convey are of divine origin. The miracles bestowed upon prophets vary according to the scope of the message they deliver and the interests and relevance of the societies with which they deal. Accordingly, Islamic scholars have classified miracles into three groups. The miraculous events that appeal to people's senses and lead them to the truths they convey by captivating their astonishment are called emotional miracles. Such miracles are events that occur without cause by overcoming the laws of nature, which are in the realm of causes, through the direct intervention of Allah. On the other hand, spiritual miracles are truths that arouse the interlocutor's interest in moral conduct and rational conclusions rather than in his sensory perceptions. Since these truths are attained through contemplation, they are not confined to a particular time and place, as in the case of emotional miracles. Some Kalam scholars have also considered the Prophets' revelational knowledge about events that have occurred in the past or will occur in the future as miracles. They have studied these events that a person could not bear in the past or could not predict for the future under the title of "The news miracle" Among these three types of miracles, scholars have considered spiritual miracles superior to the others both in terms of the breadth of their influence and their continuity. That Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) is the last of the prophets, and that the teachings he received through revelation remain valid until the Day of Judgment necessitates that some of the miracles bestowed upon him must be of a quality that attracts the attention of all people. For this reason, Islamic scholars have placed the permanent miracle of Prophet Muhammad in the category of spiritual miracles. Scholars agree that his greatest miracle that has astonished all humankind is the Qur'an. The clearest proof of this are the verses in the Qur'an that challenge the opponents to bring a similar one. Allah commands the disbelievers first to bring a similitude of the Qur'an (al-Isra' 17:88), then the equivalent of ten surahs (Had 11:13), and finally any surah of the Qur'an (al-Baqara 2:23). Thus, the deniers are made aware of their inability to meet this challenge under gradually mitigating circumstances. Although scholars agree on the Qur'anic miracle's reality, they have expressed different views on its nature and essence. Thus, some scholars have argued that the miracle of the Qur'an does not arise from some properties special to it but from the direct intervention of Allah in human who have the ability to bring something like it. Most Islamic scholars, on the other hand, pointed out that the Qur'an has aspects that exceed human powers in various fields, and they explained the inability to reply in the same vein to the Qur'an due to its uniquenesses. Accordingly, some scholars have argued that miracles are perceptible, but it is never possible to define them. Other scholars, however, viewed miracles as an identifiable phenomenon and stated that the Qur'an is an unusual and unique book in terms of verses.In this article, the questions Why was the Quran sent down as a miraculous Kalam with an attribute not found in other divine books and in what way did the Qur'an make people weak to have a similar of it?were scrutinized, thus, some fundamental questions regarding the nature and character of i'djaz al-Qur'an are elucidated. Since the topic deals with history and literature, scanning sources and data analysis were mainly used as methods in the research. The results can be summerized as follows: Although the Prophet was supported by both emotional and mental miracles in proving the Prophetic case, his greatest miracle is the Quran. The miracle of the Qur'an is different from the other miracles, based on both the challenging verses and the Prophet's explanations of the miracles. The reason for this difference lies in the fact that the miracle of the Qur'an is based on reason, unlike the other miracles which are emotional. Most Islamic scholars who deal with the miracle of the Qur'an emphasize the issues of rhetoric, verse, style, and content. At this point, they emphasized that the Qur'an has a unique expression and content that cannot be surpassed.