What Does Lack of 'Ikhtilaafan Katheeran' in the Qur’an (Al-Nisaa 4: 82) Imply?
I was pondering on the Qur’anic verse 4:82 "Do they not consider the Qur'an (with care)? Had it been from other than God, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy."
Notice the verse says, "many or much discrepancy". I was wondering does this mean that if a person was to find just ONE discrepancy in the Qur’an, this would NOT mean that it is not from Allah - because the Qur’an asks for "many" not "one"? And if this is the case, then there would be a contradiction because we Muslims believe that even if ONE mistake is found, then it can be disproved (or is this a misunderstanding?)
On the other hand, brother Gary Miller in one of his writings says this:
"The author of this sentence said if this book came from someone besides God then you will find in it many Ikhtalafan (inconsistencies). The word Ikhtilaf is found many times in the Qur'an. But the word Ikhtilafan is only found once in the Qur'an. So there are not many Ikhtilafan in the Qur'an, there is only one - where the sentence is mentioned. So you see how things are put together perfectly. It has been suggested to mankind: Find a mistake. Man could not get hold of a mistake, and he is very clever, because this sentence could also mean: Find many Iktilafan and so he quickly goes to the index to see if he can find many of them and there is only one... Sorry clever person!"(Gary Miller: Difference Between the Bible and Qur’an)
But what if one were to find not one Ikhtilafan but one mistake (i.e. contradiction of some sort), does this mean the Qur’an would still be from Allah (swt), as the verse seems to imply? And if so would this not contradict the Muslim view that even one mistake means it is disproved?
Please reply if you can inshallah,
Salaam,
Essam, UK
Reply
What the referred verse implies is not: “because the Qur’an does not contain “Ikhtilaafan Katheeran”, therefore it is a book of God[1]”. On the contrary, the verse actually implies that because the Qur’an is a book of God, therefore, it does not contain any “Ikhtilaaf”; whereas, had the case been otherwise, it would have contained the “Ikhtilafan Katheeran”, which is a “common characteristic” of all human (or non-Divine) productions. Thus, had there even been a single “Ikhtilaaf” in the Qur’an, it would have put a serious question mark on the Divine origin of the Qur’an.
The word “Ikhtilaaf” in the Arabic language implies: difference, dissimilarity, unlikeness, disparity, discrepancy, contrast, distinction, divergence, dissimilitude, disagreement, variance, variation, inconsistency, incongruity, contradiction, contrariness, and contrariety. In the referred verse, the word has been used to imply: all kinds of inconsistencies and discrepancies (besides any contradictions). In other words, the referred verse forcefully stressed that if a mortal had written the Qur’an, it would, without a chance of an exception, have entailed:
Inconsistencies in style of language as well as in content;
Discrepancies with reference to facts of nature and history
These are two common characteristics of all human productions. The reason why all human productions are prone to these characteristics is that the particular individual as well as the society in which the individual lives his life, continuously undergoes a process of development and evolution. A human being, in his individual capacity, as well as the human society, in its collective capacity, do not represent a stagnant phenomena. Both the individual as well as the collectivity, of which the individual is a member, is in a continuous process of development. There is absolutely no exception from this rule. All humans go through this process. This process, if you would closely observe, has a tremendous bearing on the life long works of the individual. You need not go far to fully appreciate this point. You can take any writer (whether in the field of literature, philosophy, science, history or any other discipline) and study his development overtime. You shall see that every writer, without even a single exception, is prone to:
Evolution in the style of writing[2];
Evolution in ideas[3];
Evolution in the scientific and historical knowledge available to the person[4];
As a person progresses through the various stages in his life and encounters these various kinds of, internal and external, evolutions, the style of his writing, the formation and presentation of his ideas and the references that he uses in his writings goes through a process of development as well. This, in other words, introduces a kind of inconsistency and, sometimes, grave discrepancies in his writings and presentations, over time.
There is not a single exception to this rule in human history. Every individual, whom we know as a writer, has undergone these, internal and external, developments in life. These, indeed, are only a few of the limitations to which the works of an individual are subjected.
Seen in this perspective, the Qur’an has declared itself to be an exception, not because Mohammed (pbuh) – the alleged author of the Qur’an – did not go through any, internal or external, developments in his life, but because the real source of the Qur’an – The All-Knowing, All-Encompassing God – is beyond any, internal or external, developments and evolutions.
Thus, the Qur’an is absolutely clear of any:
Inconsistencies in its literary style;
Developments and changes in ideas and thoughts;
References to such phenomena, which although were held to be correct during the times of the revelation of the Qur’an, but were later discovered to be incorrect.
This, in my opinion, is what the referred verse implies.
I hope this helps.
Regards,
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