What is the noble quran? What does noble quran means in islam?
1. Its Revelation and Preservation
Allah the Exalted has revealed the Noble Quran in installments rather than in one go for many wise reasons. This situation has provided human beings with many benefits and many important conveniences. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) had many scribes of revelation. The number of these reaches 65 by some accounts. When part of the Noble Quran was revealed, he would call those from among the scribes who were available and would have the revelation recorded in written form.[1] They would write the revealed verses with the writing tools of the time, and then they would read back these writings and have the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) check them.[2]
The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) used to recite the revealed verses first to men and then to women Companions.[3] Muslims also used to memorize the revelation and some of them would keep the revelation with them by writing it down. The revealed verses of the Quran used to be recited in the ritual prayers that were performed five times a day. In the month of Ramadan, the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) and Gabriel (peace be upon him) used to recite the Quran to each other mutually. In the last year of Prophet’s life, they did this twice.[4] During these interchanges some Companions also used to be present and would follow the Quran. After the final interchange of HE Prophet and Gabriel, our Master the Prophet, Zayd bin Saabit and Ubay bin Ka’b (Allah be pleased with them) recited the Quran to each other. The Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) recited it twice to Ubay bin Ka’b.[5]
On top of these, our Master the Prophet and his companions spent sustained efforts to teach the Quran. Thus, all preparations were being completed for the Noble Quran to take the form of a book, all of which text had been verified.[6]
2. Its Miraculous Nature
Every Prophet worked many miracles according to the requirements of his era. In the time of HE Jesus, the most acceptable science was medicine and the most popular people were the physicians. For this reason, miracles that left even physicians dumbfounded were given to HE Jesus (upon him peace), such as restoring sight to the blind and raising the dead. In the time of HE Moses (upon him peace) spectacular feats were accomplished through magic, so miracles that would silence magicians were given to him. In the time of HE Muhammad (blessings and peace be upon him) eloquence and fluency, the skills of brilliance in speech, were in vogue. For this reason, the miracle of the Noble Quran, which represents the peak of Arabic eloquence and fluency, was granted to him.[7]
With its many aspects of eloquence and fluency, law-making, the information it contains, and its disclosures of the unknownm the Quran is a magnificent miracle.[8] When the pagans did not believe in the Quran, Allah Almighty challenged them. He asked them to call on anyone they wished in all creation for help and try to reduplicate it, even partially:
“And if you are in doubt as to what We have revealed to Our servant, then produce a Sura the like thereof; and call your witnesses or helpers (If there are any) besides Allah, if your (doubts) are true. But if you cannot – and of a surety you cannot – then fear the Fire whose fuel is men and stones, which is prepared for those who reject Faith.” (Al-Baqara (The Cow), 2:23-24)
The expression “and of a surety you cannot” states such a feeling of assurance and certainty that such a judgment can only be made by a complete and flawless person whose knowledge and power is unlimited, that is Allah. Indeed, no one other than Allah can judge something related to the future which is unknown from the perspective of human beings, that is, uncertain and inaccessible, can use such strong and certain statements.
Disbelievers heard these divine words that state their incapability and these words haunted them, increased their ambition, but they could not do anything. This verse spread the word of their weakness from tongue to tongue and horizon to horizon, and registered their incapability and virtually stamped their tongues.[9]
Since they could not respond to the challenge of the Quran, the pagans instead resorted to aggressive means such as refutation, agitation, insult, and slandering. By saying “Listen not to this Qur’an, but talk at random in the midst of its reading, that you may gain the upper hand!” (Fussilat (Made Plain), 41: 26) they revealed that they were completely defeated by the divine power.
The Noble Quran is neither poetry nor prose. In contrast, it has an unmatched style that combines the merits of both poetry and prose. It has a beauty that cannot be found in poetry or music. When repeatedly reading it no monotony is felt, each of the readers and listeners gets the same share of bounties from the sounds that continuously change and become refreshed.[10]
Quran affects the hearts. Indeed, three of the ferocious pagans who used to prevent people from listening to the Quran, Abu Sufian, Abu Jahl, and Ahnes bin Shariq, without informing each other, had each secretly come to listen to the Messenger of Allah (blessings and peace be upon him) when he was praying at night and reciting the Quran. When they ran into each other, they condemned each other. The incident repeated itself for three nights. Finally they said to each other:
“Let us tell no one of this. If people learn about our situation, by Allah, we shall be extremely disgraced! After this, we can never impress anyone in this matter!..” After condemning what they did, they agreed among themselves that they would no longer eavesdrop.[11]
The Noble Quran addresses many different people who live in different times and spaces according to their levels whose knowledge levels are very different. A verse that provides room for different understandings is understood by the first generations according to their situations and by the latter generations according to the scientific levels that they reached. In this subject, the great Arab writer Mustafa Sâdık er-Râfiî says the following:
“One of the miracles of the Noble Quran is that it stores up, within wordings known to every historical era, truths that are not known to every era, which it brings into light at their appropriate time.” (Wahy ul Kalem, Kuwait ts., II, 66)
3. It Informs Us of the Unknown
The Noble Quran gives news from the unknown. This information shows that it is a clear miracle. Even though it touches upon many scholarly and scientific issues from historical events to events that will take place in the future, no discovery for 1,400 years has been able to refute it. Even the most famous encyclopedias of the world end up having to adjust and renew themselves from time to time by issuing additional volumes and revising old ones.
In the time the Quran was revealed, there were fragments of information on the destruction of the nations of ‘Ad, Thamud and Noah’s Flood only in the form of myths. However, the Noble Quran has presented these facts to humanity in a form that is approved by the current historical knowledge and philosophy of history.
Quran also communicated news related to the future. Let us cite some of these:
There was a war between the Romans and the Zoroastrians which the latter won. The pagans who wanted to utilize this opportunity said to the Muslims:
“You thought you would prevail because of the divine Book. See, the Zoroastrians defeated the Romans who are People of the Book,” and they tried to break their belief and resoluteness. As a consequence, Allah the Exalted revealed the following verses, which cheered up the believers and saddened the pagans:
“A. L. M. The Roman Empire has been defeated in a land close by; but they, after this defeat of theirs, will soon be victorious within a few years. With Allah is the Decision, in the past and in the Future: on that Day shall the Believers rejoice in the help of Allah. He helps whom He will, and He is exalted in might, most merciful.” (Ar-Rum (The Romans), 30:1-5)
At that time Byzantium had become so weak that no one would have found it likely that after such a devastating defeat, they would prevail again. But the Noble Quran firmly stated:
“(It is) the promise of Allah. Never does Allah depart from His promise: but most men understand not.” (Ar-Rum (The Romans), 30:6)
At last, Allah the Exalted fulfilled His promise. With the unanimity of historians the Romans defeated the Persians within a period of less than nine years. The same day, Muslims also rejoiced by becoming victorious in the Battle of Badr against the pagans.[12]
Allah the Exalted said to the drowning Pharaoh, when the latter predictably reached for the lifebuoy of belief as he was about the be engulfed in the Red Sea:
“(It was said to him): Ah now! But a little while before, you were in rebellion and you did mischief! This day shall We save you in the body, that you may be a sign to those who come after you! but verily, many among mankind are heedless of Our Signs!” (Yunus (Jonah), 10:91-92)
The body of Pharaoh was found in recent discoveries. Now this corpse, in the form of prostration and its hair and skin intact, can be visited in the 94th hall of the British Museum in London.
4. It Sheds Light on Scientific Discoveries
In the Noble Quran, there are many noble verses that shed light over scientific advancements and discoveries. These verses can also be viewed as informing us of the future. The principal goal of Islam is to establish the oneness of God in the hearts of people and be a guide to them to the true path. Indeed, it presents all the topics it considers with reference to this principal goal. However, the information it gives in the realm of the physical sciences serves as a lesson to humanity and is also completely in compliance with known truths as the following examples show.
The Noble Quran presents some original pieces of information on the issues of reproduction and the formation of the embryo, which modern science was only recently able to discover.[13] In his book on embryology, after explaining the stages of the human embryo in the womb, Prof. Dr. Keith L. Moore compares them in his book on embryology with the noble verses in the Quran. He concludes that science is in agreement with the Noble Quran, even more, that Quran is ahead of the science of medicine with the examples and descriptions it gives. After his research, Moore felt great admiration for the Quran and HE Prophet (blessings and peace be upon him), and he acknowledged this miracle of the Quran from 1,400 years ago with a state of great belief. He added the information he learned from the Quran to the second edition of his book Before We are Born. When he was asked:
“How can you explain the existence of this information in the Quran?” He responded:
“That Quran is nothing but revelation from Allah.”[14]
In recent years, it was discovered that the universe was expanding and the galaxies moving away from each other with tremendous speed. According to this law, which shows that the universe is in possession of an infinite power, these grand galaxies are moving away from each other in proportion with their distance from each other. For example, a galaxy which is 10 million light years away from us is moving away from us with a speed of 250 kilometers a second, whereas a galaxy which is 10 billion light years away from us is moving away with a speed of 250,000 kilometers a second.[15] This situation is pointed out in the Noble Quran as follows:
“With power and skill did We construct the Firmament: for it is We Who create the vastness of pace.” (Adh-Dhariyat (The Scatterers), 51:47)
The Exalted Creator protects the earth from the pieces of stars (meteors) that completed their life and exploded. Jupiter and, with its huge gravity, Saturn are in a position of gatekeepers that do not allow many heavenly bodies which can endanger the earth to pass. Sometimes, there may be some meteors who pass over these two planets and approach our world. Then, another guard awaits them, that is, the Moon. Since it has no atmosphere, all the meteors that fall on the Moon impact its surface. We can see the craters that these impacts have formed even with a small pair of binoculars. The meteors that bypass the Moon start burning when they enter the atmosphere, unless they are too big. As a result of this phenomenon, which we also call the “shooting star,” the meteors break up into little particles of dust in the Mesosphere layer before they can reach Earth’s surface. Then, each of these dust particles becomes a seed comparable in size to one drop of rain.[16] The atmosphere also protects the Earth from the harmful rays that come from space. These truths are pointed out in the Quran as follows:
“And We have made the heavens a canopy well guarded: yet do they turn away from the Signs which these things point to!” (Al-Anbiya` (The Prophets), 21:32)
Thus the Noble Quran, on the one hand, states the truths that order the acts and behavior of human beings, while on the other hand, it points out the secrets of the universe and asks that the universe be read like a book wherein secrets can be researched and revealed.
Fourteen centuries ago, the Noble Quran said:
“And We send the fecundating winds, then cause the rain to descend from the sky, therewith providing you with water (in abundance)…” (Al-Hijr, 15:22)
Centuries after the revelation of this verse it was discovered that the winds fecundated the plants and clouds.
In the 19th and 20th verses of Surah Ar-Rahman (The All-Merciful) it is said that “He has let free the two bodies of flowing water, meeting together: Between them is a Barrier which they do not transgress.” There are similar expressions in the 53rd verse of Surah Furqan.
In the latest discoveries in the strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlas Ocean meets, it was found that there was an unknown barrier, and unseen curtain that prevented the waters to mix. Thus, the two waters of the two seas do not mix with each other and both parties preserve their original character. Captain Jacques Cousteau later on discovered that the same water curtain exists in the meeting points of all the seas with different structures.[17]
The Noble Quran is an even greater miracle in the fact that the rulings it contains satisfy the needs of all eras. There is no deficiency or irrelevancy in it that could be criticized by any person of conscience. It keeps presenting solutions to issues that boggle other legal systems. The rulings it establishes contain great wisdom, and instilled a magnificent social and political order which it carried to its peak in a very short time, unlike any other civilization. In a nation devoid of science and culture, through a Prophet who was illiterate and unschooled, there appeared suddenly a perfect order, and in a very short period of 23 years it changed the whole Arabian peninsula’s morality and mentality.
[1] Prof. Dr. M. M. el-A‘zami, Kur’ân Tarihi (History of Quran), pp. 106-107.[2] Bukhari, Fedâilü’l-Kur’ân, 4; Tirmizî, Menâkıb, 74/3954; Ahmad bin Hanbal, V, 184.[3] Ibn-i Ishâk, Sîret, p. 128[4] Bukhari, Bed’ü’l-halk, 6; Fedâilü’l-Kur’ân, 7.[5] Mukaddimetân, pub. A. Jeffery, pp. 74, 227; Tâhir el-Cezâirî, et-Tibyân, p. 26.[6] In this matter the following books can be consulted: Prof. Dr. M. M. el-A‘zami, The History of the Qur’anic Text from Revelation to Compilation: A Comparative Study with the Old and New Testaments, Leicester: UK Islamic Academy, 2003; M. Hamidullah, Kur’ân-ı Kerîm Tarihi (The History of the Noble Quran) (Introduction Section of Le Saint Coran).[7] Al-Ankabût (The Spider), 29: 50-51; Bukhari, I‘tisam 1, Fedâilü’l-Kur’ân 1; Muslim, Îmân, 279. In addition to the miracle of Quran that will continue until the Day of Judgement, there are also countless miracles of our master the Prophet, like earlier prophets, that are transmitted, filling many volumes of works. For example, see Beyhakî, Delâilü’n-Nübüvve (7 volumes), Beirut 1985; Ebu Nuaym el-Isfahânî, Delâilü’n-Nübüvve (2 volumes), Halep 1970-1972; Suyûtî, Olağanüstü Yönleriyle Peygamberimiz (el-Hasaisü’l-Kübra) (3 volumes), Istanbul 2003; and the 1,000-page tome by al-Nabhânî, Hujjatullâh ‘alâ al-âlamîn bi-mu‘jizât Sayyid al-Mursalîn.[8] Prof. Dr. M. S. R. el-Bûtî, Min Ravâi’ı’l-Kur’ân, p. 125.[9] M. S. Râfi‘î, I‘câzü’l-Kur’ân, Beirut 2003, p. 142.[10] Prof. Dr. M. A. Drâz, en-Nebeü’l-Azîm, Dâru’l-kalem, ts., p. 102.[11] Ibn-i Hişâm, I, 337-338; Taberî, Târih (History), II, 218-219, Ibn-i Esîr, Kâmil, II, 63-64, Ibn-i Seyyid al-Nâs, Uyûnü’l-eser, I, 99; Zehebî, Târîhu’l-Islâm (History of Islam), pp. 160-161; Ibn-i Kathir, el-Bidâye, III, 47; Halebî, Insânu’l-uyûn, I, 462.[12] See Tirmizî, Tefsîr, 30/3191-3194; Ahmad bin Hanbal, I, 276; Kurtubî, XIV, 3.[13] Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage), 22: 5; Al Mu’minûn (The Believers), 23: 11-13.[14] Gary Miller, The Amazing Qur’an, pp. 34-39.[15] Prof. Dr. Osman Çakmak, Bir Çekirdekti Kâinat (The Universe was a Seed), p.28.[16] Prof. Dr. Osman Çakmak, Bir Çekirdekti Kâinat (The Universe was a Seed), pp. 94, 127.[17] For details on the subject of Quran and science see Dr. Maurice Bucaille, La Bible le Coran et la science: les ecritures saintes examinees a la lumiere des connaissances modernes, Paris: Seghers, 1980 (The Bible, the Qur’an and science, trc. Alastair D. Pannell, Karaçi, t.y.); Afzalurrahman, Quranic Sciences, London 1981; http://www.islamiyayinlar.net/content/view/106/8/.
Source: Dr. Murat Kaya,The Final Divine Religion: ISLAM
