proof of authenticity: an approach

it must be stressed here that the quran is accurate about

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 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.

once a man came up to me after a lecture i delivered in

south africa. he was very angry about what i had said, and so he claimed, "i am going to go home tonight and find a mistake in the quran." of course, i said, "congratulations. that is the most intelligent thing that you have said." certainly, this is the approach muslims need to take with those who doubt the quran's authenticity, because the quran itself offers the same challenge. and inevitably, after accepting its challenge and discovering that it is true, these people will come to believe it because they could not disqualify it. in essence, the quran earns their respect because they themselves

have had to verify its authenticity.

an essential fact that cannot be reiterated enough

concerning the authenticity of the quran is that one's

inability to explain a phenomenon himself does not require his acceptance of the phenomenon's existence or another person's explanation of it. specifically, just

because one cannot explain something does not mean that one has to accept someone else's explanation. however, the person's refusal of other explanations reverts the

burden of proof back on himself to find a feasible answer. this general theory applies to numerous concepts in life, but fits most wonderfully with the quranic challenge, for it creates a difficulty for one who says, "i do not believe it." at the onset of refusal one immediately has an obligation to find an explanation himself if he feels others' answers are inadequate.

in fact, in one particular quranic verse which i have

always seen mistranslated into english, allah mentions a man who heard the truth explained to him. it states that he was derelict in his duty because after he heard the information, he left without checking the verity of what he had heard. in other words, one is guilty if he hears something and does not research it and check to see whether it is true. one is supposed to process all

information and decide what is garbage to be thrown out and what is worthwhile information to be kept and

benefited from immediately or even at a later date.