المعنى الاصطلاحي

Manifesting the truthfulness of the Prophet, may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him, with regards to his Message by manifesting the failure of the Arabs and any others to produce the like of the Qur'an.

الشرح المختصر

"I`jaaz al-Qur'an" means the miraculous nature of the Qur'an, which is the evident proof of the truthfulness of he who came with it, and the validity of his Message. Allah, the Exalted, revealed it through the tongue of His Prophet Muhammad, may Allah’s peace and blessing be upon him, and challenged the people to produce the like of it, then to produce ten chapters like its chapters, and finally just one chapter, and they could not. This miraculous nature is manifested in the following aspects: 1. The gradualness in challenging the Arab polytheists to match the Qur'an. At first, the challenge was to produce the like of the Qur’an, then to produce ten chapters like it, and finally to produce only one chapter like it. 2. Allowing the polytheists to seek the help of whomever they wished from men of rhetoric, poets and litterateurs, human or Jinn, groups or individuals, in any place or time. Nevertheless, they produced nothing. 3. Their failure and inability to produce its like, even though they possessed all the means and powers of eloquence and oration, were skilled in the arts of speech and literary styles, and were intensely fervent in fighting the Quran. Despite all this, it is not reported from a single one of them that he responded to the challenge posed by the Qur’an, or even thought about it within himself. 4. The Arabs’ agitation, bewilderment, and fleeing from the challenge; as they labeled the Quran as poetry, magic, sorcery, and madness, etc. In desperation, they resorted to force by killing and torturing the Muslims. The Qur’an is miraculous in the full sense of the word. Among the most important aspects of its miraculous nature are the following: 1. The information it reports about the unseen, the past and the future. 2. The precise legislation it includes that is valid for all times and places. 3. The eloquence manifested in the beauty and clearness of its words, the soundness and splendor of its meanings, its coordination and arrangement, and the greatness of its styles and expressions. 4. Its strong proofs and power of persuasion. 5. The magnificence of its meanings and sciences, and its infallibility against error, contradiction, and discrepancy.