Throughout ages, people have, widely, differed on the issue of Quran. For many non-Muslims, the Quran was, and is still, believed to be a "piece of litterature", that some could go too far as to say that Quran is poetry due to its usage of rythms and rhyms. Proving that the Quran is divine requires proving, in the first hand, that the it was a revelation upon Prophet Muhammad (pbuh); ie to prove that the Quran was revealed, then recited, but not written. Quran is an Arabic word, which ,simply, means recitation. Most dictionnaries define revelation as the fact of "disclosing a secret to someone", while recitation is defined as an "oral response from a pupil to a teacher" or "or as a period of classroom instruction". While pondering over these terms, it would be clear that revelation and recitation portray a verbal communication involving two people; one is holding the status of a teacher,disclosing a message, while the other is a pupil, receiving it and replying back. In fact, this was quite the same with Prophet Muhammad receiving the divine message(through Angel Gabriel) and reciting it back to people. Naming this Holy Book as "Quran", (or "recitation") is not a coincidence, but it is a proof that it was a revelation; a verbal communication between Muhammad (pbuh) and God through the angel Gabriel.
To illustrate this fact, let us move now to the style of the Quran. The Quran contains rythms and rhyms that is true, yet it would be silly to call it poetry. Despite the fact that the Quran contains rhymed verses, this is not a dominant feature, the way it is with classical Arabic peotry, which relies only on rhyms. The Quran holds other varieties of style, which all of them rely, basically, on an oral process of communication. A stunning feature of the Quranic style is that of order or instruction. God says in the Holy Quran:
“Read in the name of your Lord who created -created Man from a clot. Read: for your Lord is Most Bountiful, who teaches by the pen, teaches Man that which he knew not.” (Quran : The Embryon 96:1-5).
‘O you (Muhammad) enveloped (in garments)! Arise and warn! And your Lord (Allah) magnify! And your garments purify! And keep away from Ar-Rujz (the idols)!’" [74:1-5]
These were the first verses revealed, gradually, to Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in Hiraa's cave, through the Angel Gabriel. God begins the revelation by the word "read". Its usage (twice) in the verse of The Embryon refers to a divine order to "read", ie to get education and knowledge, as the Prophet was an illeterate person. The second revelation moves from the instruction to "read" (to get knowledge on human creation), to the divine instruction to "arise and warn". These verses, being revealed in different stages proves a logical coherence between revealing knowledge, and then reciting and "spreading it to people. Just these two verses, out of many, are great proofs of Quran as a verbal discourse, or a process of communication between God and Muhammad (pbuh), which is highly stressed by the usage of the pronoun "you" and verbs of command. Another stunning style is the inversion of the order of human language, when God says " your Lord mangnify", "your garment purify". Besides, we notice repeated words, to stress the idea of command and highlight the importance of this divine message. For humans, to write by using repetition or inverting the verb/subject/object order create disorder, confusion to the reader, and is wholly regarded as an unskilful usage of language. However, for a divine message like these verses, it creates an accurate usage of language, and a unique style. Now, let us move to another example of verbal discourse. God says in the Holy Quran:
"Say: He is Allah the One and Only. Allah, the eternal, absolute; He begets not, nor is He begotten. And there is none like unto Him" "Say: I seek refuge with the Lord of the dawn from the mischief of created things; from the mischief of darkness as it overspreads; from the mischief of those who practice secret arts, and from the mischief of the envious one, as he practices envy."
There are many verses in Quran beginning with the word "say". To began with it, initiates, beforehand, a question that God is repying to, by a ready-made answer. Whenever the Prophet Muhammad was introduced to a new situation in his life, or was asked about the nature of God, or any specific question that the Prophet can not handle, God reveals another verse depicting the situation and providing answers. "Say" proves, strongly, the concept of revelation, and recitation: God reveals "the answer" (the verse), and commands the Prophet to recite it to people. Examples like this are many in Quran, I just can not cite them all to avoid repetition and summerize my ideas the best I can. Yet, this is one stylistic features among many others, such as oath and story-telling.
Reading the Quran in this light is a proof that it was not written by humans, because if not it would be totally different. Human books are often shaped with the traditional structure of introduction, devellopement, and conclusion, which the Quranic style contradicts. Besides, while reading the Quran, we realise that we can move through different issues in just one verse, while the next issues remain unpredictable till we get to them, which human writting does not as it focuses on one theme, and then moves to another in a quite calculated way.
Tell me, how can Muhammad (pbuh) write Quran if he is illeterate? And if it was written for him according to his instructions, why would the Prophet would mention his status as a messenger, and not as a deity? Just to believe that Quran is human is silly, because how would Muhammad know about the past stories of tribes and Prophets that existed before him long years ago? How would an illeterate man, living in the desert treat issues of war, judicial issues, commercial dealings, and scientific facts, that have been discoverd of late?
This is a very interesting site, which provides modern scientific discoveries, which have been dealt by the Quran, before any human can know anything about science:
http://www.miraclesofthequran.com/index.php
A. Siham