Quranic scholars have traditionally interpreted the challenge to produce a "Sura like it" found in the Quran as something to do with its eloquence, its moral and spiritual message. The submitters at www.submission.org/challenge.html say that it is the Mathematical Miracle of the Quran which has to be taken into consideration. Though I am happy that at least some one has come out with some objective rules for the challenge game, I feel their challenge is rather unrealistic.
The Challenge, Sura like it: at www.submission.org/challenge.html reads as follows:
"Please produce a sura like it ,that has the following criteria ,that is similar to some of what we see in the Quran. You can write it in either Arabic, English or any other language of your choice. Arabic will meet all the criteria as it is the language of the Quran, however using any other language to try to achieve all the rest of the criteria will be acceptable. This means the challenge is open to all the human beings in all the languages"And this introduction is followed by 19 specifications or criteria: that it should contain 19 verses, the number of words should be a multiple of 19, the word Messenger should be used 5 times, the word Law should be used 7 times and so on. I wondered whether any sura from the Quran itself qualifies these criteria.
Sir,
Assalamu Alaikkum! I read
article 34 (Challenging the Quran) under "Mathematical Miracle of Quran".
The challenge is very good. I am interested in knowing which sura in the
Quran has those conditions you have listed for meeting the challenge. i.e.
which one has 19 verses, words in multiple of 19 etc. If you at least suggest
me the URL, it will be useful.
With regards,
Ashraf
Salam Ashraf,
The challenging verse is verse
1 of sura 1, the Basmallah, "In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful".
This verse is very complicated mathematically, beyond any human or Jinn
capability. This verse tops all the suras of the Quran (except Sura 9 that
it has its own complicated system of mathematical structure). Any person
willing to produce a sura like Quran, e.g. the very short sura 103 will
have to produce a verse like the Basmallah first and he/she will not be
able to. God stopped them at the very beginning of any attempt, not allowing
them to proceed even to verse 2. To understand why, please read the file
at: http://www.submission.org/beyond.html
=====
Sharif
http://www.submission.org/
Dear sir,
Thanks for the immediate reply.
But still I haven't got the answer for my question. I just wanted to know
which SURA in the Quran has the details you have listed under "Sura like
it". Sorry for troubling you. I am already aware of the Bismi verse and
other exciting things in the Quran.
Cordially,
With Salaam,
Ashraf
Sura 1
======
Sharif
http://www.submission.org/
Dear sir,
Assalamu alaikkum! I got the
reply that it is Sura 1 which contains the 19 mathematical criteria your
site has laid down as guidelines at www.submission.org/challenge.html.
I am unable to appreciate this because Sura 1 (Al-Fatiha) contains only
7 verses and not 19 sentences/verses as you have insisted.
If it is a mistake on your
part, please inform me which Sura in Quran meets the criteria you have
laid down.
With love,
Ashraf Kunhunu
Salaam Dr. Ashraf,
You have a problem. The challenge
mentioned was given as a hypothetical example but it does not have to be
19 verses (sentences.) If you can meet the challenge in 7 verses, go ahead.
If you can meet the challenge in the shortest sura, with 3 verses with
a verse like the Basmallah on top, go ahead. We are waiting.
======
Sharif
http://www.submission.org/
Dear Mr. Sharif,
Thanks again for the prompt
reply. So your earlier reply that it is Sura 1 was incorrect.
Your reply goes on to prove
that there is no verse in Quran that meets all the17 criteria you laid
down for the sura challenge! The Quran challenges only to produce a
Sura LIKE-IT and NOT like anything outside it!
You have a real problem now.
I request you to remove this part from your article (and retain only the
VERSE-LIKE-IT challenge) as it is totally misleading! Particularly when
we read the las paragraph of your article:
"We received one request from one of the viewers who is upset that we chose
SURA ONE
as an example for the challenge..."
When you say that it is not
Sura 1 and only a hypothetical one, how can you say here that it is Sura
One? I presume you would have received many questions like this from others.
Sorry for all this..... I
had to clarify my doubts.
With love,
Ashraf
| Note: Every query of mine about their "Challenge to Produce a Sura/Verse" was so far promptly answered. But not this time. I sent them a reminder but to no avail. |
Dear Mr. Sharif,
Every doubt of mine was so
far promptly replied. Last week, I had emailed you about the problem in
asking others to produce a Sura that does not exist in the Quran. I haven't
received a reply so far. Is my observation correct? Or do you have anything
else to say?
I would like to get back to
the VERSE-LIKE-IT challenge once this point is clarified. It would be better
for all of us to remove that part of the challenge from the article.
With Salam,
Sincerely,
Ashraf
| I doubt if they are Submitters or Decievers! They did not reply. I waited for one more week and then proceeded to answer their other challenge to "Produce a Verse-Like-It" based on the "Bismilla" verse in Quran. I replied this Challenge with a Challenge! |
Dear Mr. Sharif,
Assalamu alaikkum. Hope you
should have received my earlier mails. For some strange reasons, you haven't
replied to them so far. I had asked you about the logic of using a hypothetical
Sura as a challenge.
Now I would like to focus
my attention on the mathematical miracles in Bismilla. Though the verse
fails in many simple mathematical combinations, it does have some amazing
complex ones. I appreciate the findings, though I cannot say anything on
the logic of placing a number before or after another series of numbers.
Please read my counter challenge,
and you will appreciate the point I am trying to emphasize.
With regards,
Ashraf
Attachment: Challeng.html
| This Counter Challenge, based on my findings from Thirukkural, a 2000
year old Tamil Classic, was however promptly replied by Mr. Sharif! Before
going to his replies, click below to view
|
Salaam Dr. Ashraf,
Thanks for proving to us that
you failed to produce even a verse like it,
not a more complicated sura like it.
We did not ask you to produce
a challenge, but to answer the challenge.
Any one can create a challenge but you never
answered our challenge.
This is very similar to us
challenging you to lift a weight of 200 kgs
but instead of you admitting that you cannot
lift 200 kgs you are
challenging us to eat 50 pounds of eggs in one
meal to prove you are
correct for what ever you think about.
I will be happy to report
on our web site about your failure in meeting
the challenge. one more down.
Thank you.
=====
Sharif
http://www.submission.org/
Dear Mr Sharif,
Thanks for bothering to reply
this time. I liked your example of "Weights and Pounds" to drive home your
point. But you must remember that you have not asked people to lift 200
kg (which is possible!) but 2000 kg!!
You wrote....
"Confound not truth with falsehood; Nor knowingly conceal the truth"If you are a `true' Muslim, I expect you to live to this verse and display the entire article of mine on the net without concealing the truth!
(Quran 2:42)
|
Truth alone triumphs! வாய்மையே வெல்லும்! |