The Qur'an and Its Study. Adnan Zarzour
to receive the revelation. Others suggest that such elevation was necessary and that the Prophet (peace be upon him) went into an angelic or superior state at the time of revelation so that he would be able to take whatever the angel gave him. Yet we do not need any of these suggestions, for two reasons:
The first is that the verses that we may quote again here specify where the revelations are received, which is the Prophet’s heart: ‘The trustworthy Spirit has brought it down into your heart – so that you may give warning, in the clear Arabic tongue’ (26: 192–195); and ‘Say: Whoever is an enemy of Gabriel should know that he revealed it [the Qur’an] to your heart by God’s leave’ (2: 97). The second is that the Prophet (peace be upon him) described the sound he heard as resembling a ringing bell. This either signalled the start of revelation, or it meant that the Prophet (peace be upon him) heard a very quick sound that came from the realm of the ghayb. He would then be absorbed in a spiritual state during which he felt the heavy weight of revelation. If he was riding at that time his camel would sit down on the ground, it too feeling the weight. Once, he received revelation when he was sitting next to Zayd ibn Thābit, with their thighs almost making contact. Zayd found the weight so overwhelming he thought his own thigh would be crushed.53 Indeed God informed His Messenger of this in Surah 73, which was one of the earliest to be revealed, stating: ‘We shall bestow on you a weighty word’ (73: 5). Those present might even hear a sound similar to the buzzing of bees, but they would not understand what was being said or make out its wording. Yet within a few moments, the difficult situation would clear and the revelation would finish. The Prophet (peace be upon him) would find whatever was given to him clear in his memory, and it would then form part of the Qur’an which he would read out to people: ‘It goes away and I would have whatever was said clear in my mind.’ The Prophet (peace be upon him) always said the truth.
2. Erroneous Views of the Phenomenon of Revelation
We may add a brief word about the strange and erroneous views that speak of the revelation phenomenon as a manifestation of an illness that afflicted Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), or, at best, as some sort of personal inspiration. The first view has been expressed by some Western researchers in Islamic studies, and perhaps this is not surprising as they have a long history of attacking Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and persistently denying his prophethood.
So, what sort of illness could produce an inimitable speech that is totally different from, and much superior to, the Prophet’s own style, as clearly expressed in the Hadith? It has proved impossible for all human and jinn, across the centuries, to produce even a single surah like the Qur’an. The mention of the jinn in this context is intentional because they belong to the realm of the ghayb. Yet at the same time, it has not been difficult for some people to imitate the Prophet’s style in the Hadith, which was not a product of those alleged manifestations of illness. Indeed, such people have produced statements that they falsely attribute to the Prophet (peace by upon him). We can judge these fabrications on the basis of the rules that scholars of Hadith have developed to ascertain what is authentic of the Hadiths attributed to the Prophet (peace be upon him) and what is not. For this purpose, they have developed a unique academic discipline called Mustalaḥ al-Hadith, or Hadith Terminology. The Qur’an, on the other hand, does not admit any strange word or fabricated sentence. Rather, it has always been impossible to imitate even the shortest of its surahs. Furthermore, no one has ever needed to apply such rules as pertain to Hadith to dismiss what some people have alleged to be part of the Qur’an. Such claims speak of a lost text or an omitted surah. Indeed, the mere statement of the presence of such a surah, or its mere reading, demonstrates to any reader of the Qur’an, regardless of their level of education, that it is totally different from it. At any rate, such a fabricated surah would be of no more than a few sentences and contain expressions taken from the Qur’an itself and rearranged for a purpose. In other words, the Qur’an’s own elegance of style, its music and inimitability would be completely absent. Hence, such attempts will never be openly declared, let alone cited as a challenge. Consider too that the fact of Hadith fabrication is cited as evidence of the Qur’an’s authenticity.
We may add that people who lose consciousness or suffer from epilepsy, which is the illness some Western researchers in Islamic studies allege to have afflicted the Prophet (peace be upon him), do not remember, when they come to, what happened to them during such attacks.54 None though ever produced fine words like the Qur’an.
Such bizarre views stemming from some Western researchers in Islamic studies, and others who follow their lead, come from an attitude borne out of a stubborn rejection of Islam, one that fuels their persistent attempts to turn people away from it. They try to erect barriers to prevent people, particularly their own, from understanding the message of Islam or being influenced by the Qur’an. Such views, however, do not withstand clear logical argument.
To refute the second claim that revelation was merely personal inspiration experienced by the Prophet, we need only cite the Hadith reported by ‘Ā’ishah, the Prophet’s wife. This is recounted in the two most authentic anthologies of Hadith, namely, al-Bukhārī and Muslim:
The first aspect of revelation to God’s Messenger was that his dreams came true. Whatever vision he might have had in his sleep would occur as he had seen. Then, he began to enjoy seclusion. He used to retreat alone into the cave of Ḥirā’, where he would spend several days in devotion before going back to his family. He used to take some food with him, and when he came back he would take a fresh supply for another period. He continued to do so until he received the truth while in the cave of Ḥirā’. The angel came to him and said: ‘Read’. He replied: ‘I am not a reader’. The Prophet says: ‘He held me and pressed hard until I was exhausted, then he released me and said: “Read,” and I replied: “I am not a reader.” So, he held me and pressed me hard a second time until I was exhausted, then he released me and said: “Read”. I replied: “I am not a reader.” He then held me and pressed hard for a third time. Then he said: “Read, in the name of Your Lord Who created. It is He Who created man from clots of blood. Read! Your Lord is the most bounteous, Who has taught the use of the pen. He has taught man what he did not know.”’ The Prophet returned home to Khadījah, trembling, and said: ‘Wrap me! Wrap me!’ They wrapped him and his fear subsided.55 He turned to Khadījah and exclaimed: ‘What has happened to me?’ He related to her what happened and said: ‘I fear for myself,’ and Khadījah replied: ‘You have nothing to fear; be calm and relax. God will not let you suffer humiliation, because you are kind to your relatives, you speak the truth, you assist anyone in need, you are hospitable to your guest and you help in every just cause.’ Then she took him to Waraqah ibn Nawfal, her paternal cousin who was a Christian convert and a scholar with good knowledge of Arabic, Hebrew and the Bible...
This Hadith confirms that the Prophet (peace be upon him) always upheld the truth, both with regard to himself and to God. The revelation from on High in the cave in Mount Hira’ came as a total surprise. Hence, he found himself trembling as he went home at speed, subsequently saying to his wife: ‘I fear for myself.’ This was not the case of a man in a state of a spiritual uplift, or absorbed in deep thinking. Had he been waiting for something of the sort, or expecting it, he would not have feared it when it took place. God says the truth as He says to the Prophet (peace be upon him): ‘You could never hope that this Book would be conferred on you. But it came by your Lord’s grace. Hence, lend no support to the unbelievers’ (28: 86). ‘Say: Had God so willed, I would not have recited it to you, nor would He have brought it to your knowledge. I spent a whole lifetime among you before it [was revealed to me]. Will you not, then, use your reason?’ (10: 16).
3. The True Phenomenon of Revelation
We will limit ourselves here to speaking about two aspects. Both include many sub-classes that touch on the area of proofs of prophethood. Much has also been written under this heading across the centuries.
3.1 The Prophet’s Condition when Receiving Revelations
We need only look at the Prophet’s condition when revelations were given to him to confirm that it was by no means something that sprang out from within him, but was rather an external thing given to him.
i.There were times when the Prophet (peace