The Amazing Quran (part 4 of 9)

You Did Not Know This Before!

Undoubtedly, there is an attitude in the Quran which is not found anywhere else.  It is interesting how when the Quran provides information, it often tells the reader, “You did not know this before.” Indeed, there is no scripture that exists which makes that claim.  All of the other ancient writings and scriptures that people have do give a lot of information, but they always state where the information came from.

For example, when the Bible discusses ancient history, it states that this king lived here, this one fought in a certain battle, another one had so many sons, etc.  Yet it always stipulates that if you want more information, then you should read the book of so and so because that is where the information came from.  In contrast to this concept, the Quran provides the reader with information and states that this information is something new.  Of course, there always exists the advice to research the information provided and verify its authenticity.  It is interesting that such a concept was never challenged by non-Muslims fourteen centuries ago.  Indeed, the Makkans who hated the Muslims, and time and time again they heard such revelations claiming to bring new information; yet, they never spoke up and said, “This is not new.  We know where Muhammad got this information.  We learned this at school.” They could never challenge its authenticity because it really was new! 

Proof of Authenticity: An Approach

It must be stressed here that the Quran is accurate about many, many things, but accuracy does not necessarily mean that a book is a divine revelation.  In fact, accuracy is only one of the criteria for divine revelations.  For instance, the telephone book is accurate, but that does not mean that it is divinely revealed.  The real problem lies in that one must establish some proof of the source of the Quran’s information.  The emphasis is in the other direction, in that the burden of proof is on the reader.  One cannot simply deny the Quran’s authenticity without sufficient proof.  If, indeed, one finds a mistake, then he has the right to disqualify it.  This is exactly what the Quran encourages.

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