ReThink MUHAMMAD (pbuh)
Blog
The Quran is the Divine Book of Islam, and Muslims believe that it is the Word of God, unaltered. And Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said it will remain “his greatest miracle until the end of time.”
Clearly, these are bold claims, and a non-Muslim has every right to be skeptical about their truth. I will discuss these claims and the evidence put forward in detail in future posts.
For now though, what matters is that regardless of whether you believe this or not, these statements reflect how Muslims view the Quran.So, if you want to know what Islam is — as understood by Muslims — you start with the Quran.
First: A unique feature of the Quran is its hierarchical structure: that all the (600-page!) Quran is summarized in its first Chapter (1/3-page long!), and that the first chapter is summarized in the first Sentence.
(You may notice that this is precisely the format of modern scientific articles: “Article summarized in Introduction summarized in Abstract”, which I find pretty remarkable for a book that goes back 1500 years.)
So, what does that first sentence say? Here it is:
A Story for young adults, those young at heart, and all Harry Potter fans.
A gaggle of Hogwarts students, their robes askew and faces alight with curiosity, once gathered around me in the shadowy depths of the library. “Professor”, they whispered, their voices hushed with reverence:
“Tell us of ‘the Secret One’. Our teachers speak only of potions, spells, and charms, but not of the Secret One who first conjured real magic into being.”
I smiled, a twinkle in my eye. “Ah, but my dear students,” I replied, “each subject you study, every potion you brew, and every charm you cast, whispers of the Secret One in its own mystical tongue… Listen closely, and you shall hear the echoes of His divine hand in every incantation.”
“Imagine, if you will,” I began, “a most extraordinary apothecary, its shelves brimming with shimmering glass bottles and bubbling cauldrons. Within each jar, a wondrous elixir, brewed with ingredients gathered from the farthest reaches of the enchanted world, each measure precise and potent…
Surely, such a wondrous place would speak of a master alchemist, a potioneer of unparalleled skill. So much so that, even our legendary Headmaster Albus Dumbledore wishes he could be an apprentice at the feet of such a Lord of Magical Medicine.”
“And so it is with our Earth,” I continued, “a living apothecary, teeming with millions of species of magical creatures and fantastical plants, each a vessel brimming with life-giving remedies. This Earthly apothecary, far grander than a thousand Diagon Alleys, whispers of a Divine Healer, a Genius Scientist who breathed life into every beast and bloom.”