Moving forward from the second part (of this series of articles) wherein we covered the advanced literary form of the Qur-aan and why it means that the Qur-aan is not the product of a human mind. I have also listed and discussed my arguments that I had developed in my agnostic skeptic days against the advanced literary features of the Qur-aaan. I’ll now present my findings which countered my agnostic arguments and ultimately got me back to Islam on the 11th of February 2021 after more than half a decade of divorce from the religion which was so dear to me!
(1.) I’ll respond to my argument (3.iv) first as this was the one that I had managed to crack before the rest. But before the response, let’s recap the argument:
New languages, dialects, literary styles, all evolve naturally with time, across geographies. So it’s no big deal that the super ingenious Muhammad too developed a new form of Arabic literature in 23 years!
(a.) What struck me against this argument is that the novel literary form of the Qur-aan was there from the very first day, it was not developed over a 23 year period. What developed in 23 years was the entire book; as regards the literary form, it was dished out with the first surah/chapter itself, and then the entire book followed in the same form. So my argument was misplaced to begin with!
(2.) Let’s move on to tackle the arguments (3.i) and (3.ii) now, starting with a gist of the two arguments combined together:
Muhammad’s illiteracy couldn’t have been an impediment in his composing the Qur-aan orally as oral composition of lengthy poetry and prose was in vogue in pre-Muhammadan Arabia. Oral composition doesn’t require the ability to read and write, so Muhammad too could have composed the Qur-aan orally, especially since he was a super ingenious man.
(a.) This hypothesis of mine got debunked when I read a paper on the oral composition of Arabic poetry in that era. I realized that the oral composition of literary works was an extremely tough skill that had to be learned through years of rigorous training!
(b.) So no matter how ingenious a person, it’s simply impossible that he could produce something remarkable in any field of intellectual enterprise which requires several years of grueling training, and that too in an altogether novel form, without any interest, talent, and training in that field whatsoever!
(c.) Moreover, in case of the Qur-aan, it’s not just the novel form of literature that’s a big deal, but the fact that its an entire book in the new literary form, produced consistently over a 23 year period, containing impactful discourse on almost all domains of human existence: (i) spiritual (ii) conscious (iii) rational (iv) moral (v) individual-social-economic-political (vi) emotional (vii) aesthetic, and (viii) material or physical! A book which entirely transformed several nations globally!
(d.) To produce such a book in an entirely new form of literature, that too orally, given the fact that oral composition is an extremely tough job, without any interest-talent-training in literature, is simply a miraculous feat! Just as it would be considered ‘miraculous’ if Einstein and Newton would have produced their novel theories without any training in physics! If Mozart and Beethoven would have produced their compositions without any training in music! Or if Shakespeare would have produced his literary masterpieces without any interest, talent, and training in literature! Or if Plato and Aristotle would have produced their groundbreaking works in philosophy without any interest, talent, and training in philosophy! Just as these feats are unimaginable, it’s unimaginable that the Qur-aan and its novel form could have been produced by someone untrained in literature!
(e.) In face of these realizations, broke down my skeptical agnostic arguments, and intellectually convinced me that the Qur-aan is indeed a very advanced book in terms of its literature, as the Qur-aan itself claims to be.
(f.) Although there are several other advanced features of the Qur-aan which I would discuss in a series of forthcoming articles, the Qur-aan claims its literary feat to be its most advanced feature which it claims qualifies it to be labeled as a Divine Book!
(g.) Going forward, the basic argument which translates from the observation of advanced features (of Islam) to its source (God) is:
The Qur-aan and Islam have mind-blowing advanced features which are beyond human, i.e., not the brainchild of Muhammad the man, its source is therefore not human, and hence it’s from God!
(3.) Surprisingly, even this realization was not the final point of my return to Islam, as my skeptic mind identified and wrestled with a subtle logical fallacy in the argument (2.g.) above! I’ll keep the discussion on it for the next article. Keep reading!