When we want to talk about Islam as a way of life, it is a very difficult task especially in the West because of several misconceptions and stereotypes that are prevalent about Islam and Muslims.
One of the surprising facts for most non-Muslims is that Islam has over a billion followers all over the world. Islam has a revelation, a holy book, called the Quran which was revealed to the prophet Mohammed , about fourteen hundred years ago. The Quran is the last and final revelation until the end of human existence on earth.
When we talk about Islam or Christianity, we should not consider some Muslims’ and Christians’ wrongdoings as a way to judge Islam or Christianity.
As far as scripture goes, let us see what Dr. Maurice Bucaille ** “The Bible, the Quran and Science”,**
“Thanks to its undisputed authenticity, the text of the Quran holds a unique place among the books of Revelation, shared neither by the Old nor the New Testament. In the first two sections of this work, a review was made of the alterations undergone by the Old Testament and the Gospels before they were handed down to us in the form we know today. The same is not true for the Quran for the simple reason that it was written down at the time of the prophet”.
Somebody with a counter argument might ask, “How would I know that the Quran is a revelation from Allah?” Do you have any evidence?"
I have evidence that the Quran is a revelation from Allah and this evidence is presented in the next few pages. When the revelation of the Quran commenced in 622 A.D., it was a linguistic miracle. The Quran has a challenge in it. The challenge is for anybody to produce some thing like or similar to the Quran.
This challenge was present in the Quran in Sura no. 17, verse no. 88 which is translated as follows:
" Say: If the whole of mankind and Jinn were together to produce the like of this Quran, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they back up each other with help and support."
Years passed and nobody was able to meet the challenge. Later (after several years) the challenge in the Quran was eased asking for anyone to produce even ten Suras like those in it. This was in the Quran in Sura no. 11, verse no. 13 which is translated as follows:
" or they may say, “He forged it” Say, “Bring ye then ten Suras forged, like unto it, and call (to your aid) whomsoever ye can, other than Allah! If ye speak the truth”
Again years passed and nobody was able to successfully meet the challenge. Later the challenge was eased for the second time to produce one Sura like or similar to the Suras in the Quran. The challenge (to anyone) to produce one Sura was presented in the Quran in more than a Sura, one of them was in Sura no. 2, Verse no. 23 which is translated as follows:
“And if ye are in doubt as to what We have revealed from time to time to Our servant, then produce a Sura like thereunto; and call your witnesses or helpers besides Allah, if what you say is true.”
Since then, more than fourteen hundred years have passed, and nobody has been able to meet the challenge, and nobody will, because the Quran is the only existing book containing the word of Allah which no man can match or imitate. The most eloquent people in the Arabic language spent years going over and searching the Quran, trying to find any weak or inadequate word or sentence, but they could not. They even went further, trying to find a way to substitute a word or a sentence in the Quran, hoping to convey a similar meaning as the original one, but they failed to do so.