This part is a continuation of the last two verses, which demanded Allah’s worship alone. The following two verses indirectly demand that we accept the Messenger (SAW). This is because we received the message of the Quran through Muhammad (SAW). The Kalimah is proof that we testify that there is no God but Allah, and Muhammad (SAW) is the Messenger of Allah.
In these two ayahs, there is a focus on those people who are in doubt of what has been revealed to them, which is the Quran. The ayahs are translated as “ And if you are in doubt as to that which we have revealed to Our servant, then bring a Surah the like of this, and do call your supporters other than Allah, if you are true”. Allah (SWT) establishes that RasulAllah is bringing the message from Allah Himself.
Each Prophet that was sent to give the message of Allah had his own miracle, and that miracle was appropriate according to their given time. For example:
i) Prophet Musa (AS) was given the miracle of magic, and this is because during his time, people were into magic, and that is what impressed them most. Because of this, when Musa (AS) threw his stick on the floor and it turned into a snake, the other magicians present there all went into sujood because they knew that he was no ordinary man. They were impressed by his magic.
ii) Isa (AS) came with the miracle of curing and healing, because there was a trend of curing and medicine during his time. He could cure people by his mere touch (because Allah gave him the powers to do so), and could even make the dead become alive. This is what impressed the people most at his time.
iii) During Prophet Muhammad (SAW)’s time, there was great emphasis on eloquence and poetry. This is what captured the hearts of Arabs at that time. This is where the challenge is coming from. Allah challenges the disbelievers to create a single Surah like that of the Quran, but no one was able to do so.
The next ayah continues: “But if you do not-and you never shall- then guard yourselves against the fire, the fuel of which are men and stones. It has been prepared for disbelievers”. The mindset of the kafirs during that time was such that they would go to any extent, including sacrificing their lives, to destroy Islam. Because of this, Allah challenges them to disprove Muhammad (SAW). Nobody could do this. The essence of the challenge lies in the fact that the Quran is a miracle. There are different layers of miracles in the Quran:
i)The language and the linguistics. When Prophet Muhammad (SAW) used to recite the Quran out loud in front of the public, they would just become mesmerized and enchanted by its magic.
ii)Even 1400 years later, the Quran is still relevant. Everything in the Quran has been scientifically proven.
iii)The ability of the Quran to change the hearts of people is still alive today. We ave to make an effort to take some time out to read the Quran in order to appreciate its beauty.
iv)The Quran is in its original form till date.
Now we get on to the result of the disbelievers failing to prove Islam wrong. They will be thrown into the hellfire of extremely high intensity, “the fuel of which are men and stones”. When the companions of the Prophet (SAW) heard this they began to weep. They thought that they might be the ones who are the fuel for the hellfire. If that’s what such pious people thought, where does that leave us? We should beg Allah for His mercy. We should inculcate the Quran in our hearts and pass on whatever knowledge we have, because we may be questioned about that as well.
SUMMARY:
-Those who disbelieve in the fact that Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was revealing what Allah has said, and claimed that he was making things up himself, are challenged to create a Surah similar to one in the miraculous Quran. Nobody is able to do so.
-Those who continue disbelieving will be thrown into the hellfire, of which the fuel is men and stones. This detail is like a wake-up call for all of us and should shake us, and help us to strive to become better Muslims.
May Allah give us the tawfiq to apply the Quran in our lives, and understand how miraculous the Quran is, and may He save us from the hellfire. Ameen.
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