A Historical Interpretation of the Challenge by the Qur’ān and its Consequences

In some chapters of the Qur’ān, the opponents of the divinity of the Qur’ān are challenged to bring a text like that of the Qur’ān. Based on the revelation order, this challenge has been done in the chapters of the Night Journey, Jonah, Hūd, the Mount, and the Cow. The first four chapters have been revealed in Mecca, while the Cow chapter has been revealed in Medina. These have been descended during the middle one-third of the ۲۳-year-long mission of the noble Prophet (s). A historical analysis of these verses along with their collocate verses – which have been revealed before and after these verses – clearly proves the divine nature of the qur’ānic text. More importantly, this analysis demonstrates that even if the qur’ānic challenge is limited to the Prophet (s) era and his nation, the failure of the Prophet's opponents to respond to this challenge is the best evidence for the confirmation of the divinity of the Qur’ān. Even the present-day audience of the Qur’ān can also realize the divinity of the Qur’ān by adopting a historical view toward what happened in the Challenge.

Keywords:

Challenge , Miraculousness , Historical interpretation , Divinity of the Qur’ān , The Challenge process