CHAPTER 1: GLAD TIDINGS ABOUT THE COMING OF PROPHETS
Many Christians, concerning their belief or disbelief in a certain Prophet, depend on the prophecies conveyed to them by the prophets before him. They say, ‘The glad tidings about the coming of Christ was conveyed to us by the Prophets before him, unlike Muhammad (peace be upon him) about whom none of the Prophets prophesized.”
The Answer to that Incorrect Assertion Consists of Two Points:
Point One: Prophecying the coming of Muhammad is much more significant in the earlier Divine Books than prophecying the coming of Christ (peace be upon him). The Jews falsely interpreted the prophecy about Christ’s coming, claiming that the person sent to them was not Christ but someone who merely claimed prophethood, and moreover, they say they are still waiting for the real prophet. In fact, the Jews are only waiting for the coming of the Antichrist whom they will follow. The Christians did the same; they falsely interpreted the prophecy of Muhammad’s coming.
Point Two: It is not a precondition for someone to be proven as a prophet that earlier prophets would prophecy about his coming. Musa (Moses, peace be upon him) was sent to Fir’awn (Pharaoh), while Fir’awn had not received the glad tidings of his advent. The same could be said about Ibrahim (Abraham, peace be upon him), the closest one to Allah, whose coming was never foretold to Namrud, the king of Iraq at that time. The same could also be said about Nuh (Noah), Salih, Shu’aib, Lut and several other Prophets whose glad tidings were conveyed by none to whom they were sent, although they were truthful Prophets. Thus, the signs of prophethood for any Prophet are not confined to the prophecy concerning his coming, but rather they include many other aspects such as miracles and other matters.
The Qur’an was Revealed in Arabic
As for their excuse that the Qur’an was revealed in Arabic, our answer will be displayed in the discussion of the following aspects:
Aspect One:
The Torah was revealed in the Hebrew language and Musa (Moses, peace be upon him) spoke no other language other than Hebrew. Similarly, Christ (peace be upon him) did not recite the Torah and the Gospel except in Hebrew. Each Divine Book is written in a single language; that is the language of the Prophet upon whom the revelation was sent and which is also the language of his people. All Prophets conveyed their messages in the language of their people first, and then they would convey the Book revealed to them to the other nations. This is done in a number of ways: by translating it for those who do not know its original language, by learning its language so that people may know its meanings, or people may learn the meaning of the message in their language and, in this case, it is not binding on them to know all the contents of the message, but it is sufficient for them to know what is necessary
Aspect Two:
The language of Christ (peace be upon him) and his Disciples was Hebrew; however, he sent them to other nations to address them and translate his instructions and sayings into their own language. Some Christians might say, “But the messengers of Christ knew the language of the people to whom they were sent.” We reply by saying, ‘That is a feature known about the messengers of Christ and about those of Muhammad (peace be upon them both). There is no doubt that the disciples of the Messengers of Allah, like those of Christ and Muhammad, must have known the language of the people to whom they were sent, or those people would have other people who knew the language of those messengers in order to translate their words to their people.”
Aspect Three:
There were many Arabs among the Christians during the lifetime of the Prophet (peace be upon him). It was easy for anyone who knew Arabic to understand the meanings of the Qur’an even if his mother tongue was Persian, Roman, Turkish, Indian or Coptic. Moreover, those who wrote this book (to which this book of ours is a reply) from amongst the Christian scholars, had read the Qur’an, understood its content, even though it is written in Arabic and furthermore, they used its verses in their argument. So how can they say that they cannot believe in a Book, which is not written in their language?
Aspect Four:
The judgment concerning the people of the Book is the same as that of the polytheists concerning this matter. It is well known that there were both Arabs and non-Arabs among the polytheists, such as Turkish, Indians and others. So, all the polytheists are just like the Arab polytheists and all the people of the Book are just like the people of the Book amongst the Arabs. They are all included in the huge number, which is incomprehensible except by Allah, of the people who know the Arabic language.
Aspect Five:
It is not obligatory for every Muslim to know and understand every single verse of the Qur’an. But it is incumbent on him to know everything, which Allah commanded him to do and abandon everything, which Allah forbade him to commit, in whatever language he knows. That is quite possible for all nations and for all sorts of people from amongst the non-Arabs, such as the Persians, Turks, Indians, Berbers and other nationalities. Some of them know Arabic, while others came to know the obligations Allah enjoined on mankind through translation.
As for these verses:
which means, “Verily, We have sent it down as an Arabic Qur’an in order that you may understand.” (Yusuf, 12: 2)
which means, “And if We had sent this as a Qur’an in a foreign language other than Arabic, they would have said: ‘Why aren’t its verses explained in detail (in our language)? What! (A Book) not in Arabic and (the Messenger) an Arab.'” (Fussilat, 41:44)
which means, “We verily, have made it a Qur’an in Arabic.” (Az-Zukhruf, 43:3).
These verses state how Allah conferred His blessings upon His servants by sending down the Qur’an in Arabic, for it is the most perfect language and the most powerful language as regards conveying meanings and figures of speech. Thus, it is considered a Divine blessing that the Qur’an was revealed in Arabic and not in any other language. In addition, it addressed the Arabs at first, therefore it was revealed in Arabic so that they could understand it. Those who learn their language will understand the Qur’an in the same way they do, while those who do not know their language, the Qur’an can be translated into their language at the hands of those who know their language. Moreover, it was not only a blessing bestowed upon the Arabs that the Qur’an was revealed in Arabic, for it also represented an obligation and a responsibility (that they have no excuse not to believe in it and that they should spread the religion all over the world.)
By: Sheikhul-Islaam Ibn Taymiyah
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