One of the most famous questions asked by non-Muslims is: who wrote the Quran? Is it the word of God or it was made up by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ ? This has always been a point of debate between Muslims and non-Muslims. The answer to this question shall be highlighted showing from the life of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ that he couldn’t have made up the Quran because it is the absolute and pure word of God and because it was impossible for Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to make up the content of the Quran by himself.
Did Prophet Muhammad ﷺ make up the Quran to be a leader?
Let’s think about it. If you want to be a leader and to gain fame, money and authority, then your mind brought you to make up a book and say it is from God. What shall be the content of this book? Would you try to please your people by that book and not to collide with their main beliefs or you shall keep on attacking their beliefs and be subject to their insults and torture? Most probably you won’t try to collide with their beliefs but you will try to gain them and bring new followers by telling what pleases them. Actually this wasn’t the case with the Quran. The main message of the Quran is actually the main message of all prophets; to worship God alone and believe in all of God’s prophets. The Quran kept on saying people in Arabia are worshiping false gods that shall lead them to Hell. This made Prophet Muhammad ﷺ subject to torture and persecution for 13 years in Mecca then to continuous wars with Arab tribes for 10 years afterwards. If Prophet Muhammad ﷺ really wanted to write a book which shall make him a leader, he won’t have kept on insulting idols and exposing the false beliefs of his people. But actually even when the people of Mecca offered to be him a leader and a king on condition that he stops preaching the Quran, he actually refused.
The Quran Blaming Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in some Situations
If the Quran was really written by Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, it won’t have blamed him for some of his actions. One of the cases was when he was speaking in direct conversation with one of the leaders of the polytheists in Mecca, Ibn Umm Maktum, one of those who had accepted Islam in its earliest days came to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. He (Ibn Umm Maktum) then began asking him about something, urgently beseeching him. The Prophet ﷺ hoped that the man would be guided, so he asked Ibn Umm Maktum to wait for a moment so he could complete his conversation. He frowned in the face of Ibn Umm Maktum and turned away from him in order to face the other man. Thus, Allah revealed
He frowned and turned away. Because there came to him the blind man. And how can you know that he might become pure……. (Holy Quran 80:1-10)
Another situation when the Prophet ﷺ’s front tooth was broken during the battle of Uhud and he also sustained injuries on his forehead until blood dripped on his face. The Prophet ﷺ said:
How can a people achieve success after having done this to their Prophet ﷺ who is calling them to their Lord, the Exalted and Most Honored?
Allah revealed to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ:
Not for you is the decision; whether He turns in mercy to (pardons) them or punishes them; verily, they are the wrongdoers. (Holy Quran 3:128)
A third situation when Abu Talib, the Prophet’s uncle who helped him much died as a polytheist, Prophet Muhammad said:
(I will invoke Allah for forgiveness for you, as long as I am not prohibited from doing so.)
This verse was revealed:
(It is not (proper) for the Prophet and those who believe to ask Allah’s forgiveness for the polytheists, even though they be of kin, after it has become clear to them that they are the dwellers of the Fire.) (Holy Quran 9:113)
The Prophet ﷺ said:
(Abraham, Allah’s Khalil, invoked Allah for his father.)
Allah revealed:
And the request of forgiveness of Abraham for his father was only because of a promise he had made to him. But when it became apparent to Abraham that his father was an enemy to Allah , he disassociated himself from him. Indeed was Abraham compassionate and patient. (Holy Quran 9:114)
Did Prophet Muhammad ﷺ use the Quran for his own Benefit?
If someone came and charged a great king’s wife with adultery, then some people began to believe this man and began to talk about that. This king has the media with him and can easily say that this man is a liar and knows that people shall believe the king’s media. Shall the king who loves his wife more than anyone else use the media and say that this man is a liar? This happened with Prophet Muhammad ﷺ when Abdullah ibn Salul the leader of the hypocrites insulted the Prophet ﷺ’s wife Aisha. Prophet Muhammad ﷺ spent a month suffering till the Quran was revealed saying that ibn Salul is a liar. If Prophet Muhammad ﷺ made up the Quran, he won’t have waited and spent one month in torture and agony and he knows that the Quran would end it up and people would believe it.
Not only that, Abu Bakr, the father of Aisha was helping Mostah, one of those who talked about his daughter. When the verses were sent down telling that Aisha is innocent, he swore not to help Mostah again. The Quran was revealed ordering him not to do that but to forgive Mostah, don’t you like that Allah forgives you?
And let not those of virtue among you and wealth swear not to give [aid] to their relatives and the needy and the emigrants for the cause ofAllah , and let them pardon and overlook. Would you not like that Allah should forgive you? AndAllah is Forgiving and Merciful. (Holy Quran 24:22)
Conclusion
If Prophet Muhammad was the one who wrote the Quran, he would have used it for his own benefit. But actually it is the case in many portions in the Quran that it didn’t agree with Prophet Muhammad ﷺ in some situations, and it caused him to be tortured by his people because it was colliding against their beliefs. That’s why the simple conclusion is that Allah revealed the Quran. The next article shall show how Prophet Muhammad ﷺ didn’t write the Quran from the Quran content perspective.
This post is also available in: French Spanish
