Literary Inimitability
2 items across 2 content types
Questions (1)
beginner
Scripture
Why do Muslims believe the Qur'an is divine?
Muslims believe the Qur'an is divine based on its historical preservation, literary inimitability, internal consistency, and the inability of any human to have produced its content given the historical context of 7th century Arabia.
1 related debate
Qur'an Verses (1)
Qur'an
Surah Al-Baqarah (2:23)وَإِن كُنتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِّمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَىٰ عَبْدِنَا فَأْتُوا بِسُورَةٍ مِّن مِّثْلِهِ وَادْعُوا شُهَدَاءَكُم مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ
Wa in kuntum fi raybin mimma nazzalna 'ala 'abdina fa'tu bisuratin min mithlihi wad'u shuhada'akum min dunillahi in kuntum sadiqin
“And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant, then produce a surah the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful.”
This verse presents the divine challenge (tahaddi) — a recurring theme in the Qur'an. It invites any skeptic to produce even a single chapter comparable to the Qur'an in eloquence, coherence, and depth. Classical scholars like Al-Baqillani wrote extensively about the linguistic dimensions of this challenge in his work 'I'jaz al-Qur'an' (The Inimitability of the Qur'an).