Al-Tahaddi Verses
Al-Taḥaddī Verses (Arabic: آیات التحدي) are six verses of the Qur'an challenging deniers of the Prophet of Islam (s) to bring something like the Qur'an or at least part of the Qur'an. Some of these verses challenge the opponents to bring something like the whole Qur'an, some of them to bring ten suras like those of the Qur'an, and some of them to one sura.
According to some exegetes, tahaddi was presented in stages from the hardest to the easiest; that is, from a challenge to bring the whole Qur'an to the challenge to bring one sura. However, some people believe that the order of revelation of these Quranic verses attest against these alleged stages.
Tahaddi
"Tahaddi" is to challenge someone to combat in order to reveal their failure.[1] It is a terminology in Quranic sciences[2] and Islamic theology,[3] referring to a condition of miracles[4] according to which a prophet asks his opponents to bring miracles like his if they deny his prophethood.[5] For if these miracles are not from God, others can do similar things.[6]
Tahaddi to the Qur'an
Tahaddi to the Qur'an is to invite eloquent Arabs to bring verses similar to Quranic verses. Their failure to do so is evidence for the miracle of the Qur'an.
The Qur'an proves its miraculous nature and the prophethood of the Prophet (s) by inviting deniers to bring something similar to the Qur'an if they think it is not revealed by God.
Types of Tahaddi in the Qur'an
The Qur'an calls for tahaddi in six verses known as "al-Tahaddi Verses."[7] These verses are of three types: three verses challenge opponents to bring something like the whole Qur'an, one verse to ten suras, and two verses to one sura:
Tahaddi to the Whole Qur'an
Three verses of the Qur'an call to tahaddi to the whole Qur'an:
- Qur'an 52:34: "Let them bring a discourse like it, if they are truthful."
- Qur'an 28:49: "Say, 'If you are truthful, bring some Book from Allah better in guidance than the two on them so that I may follow it."
- Qur'an 17:88: "Say, 'Should all humans and jinn rally to bring the like of this Quran, they will not bring its like, even if they assisted one another."
Tahaddi to Ten Suras
In Qur'an 11:13, disbelievers are called to bring ten suras like those of the Qur'an:
- "Do they say, 'He has fabricated it?' Say, 'Then bring ten suras like it, fabricated, and invoke whomever you can, besides Allah, should you be truthful.'"
Tahaddi to One Sura
Two verses of the Qur'an makes tahaddi to one verse:
- Qur'an 10:38: "Do they say, 'He has fabricated it?' Say, 'Then bring a sura like it, and invoke whomever you can, besides Allah, should you be truthful.'"
- Qur'an 2:23: "And if you are in doubt concerning what We have sent down to Our servant, then bring a sura like it, and invoke your helpers besides Allah, if you are truthful."
Order of the Revelation
Some exegetes believe that al-Tahaddi Verses were revealed in an order or stages from the hardest to the easiest:[8] God has first challenged disbelievers to bring something like the whole Qur'an, but they failed. Then God asked them to bring ten suras like those of the Qur'an, but they failed again. Then God asked them to bring one sura like the ones in the Qur'an.[9]
To the contrary, some scholars believe that the order of revelation of the Qur'an is evidence that al-Tahaddi Verses were not revealed in order. Instead, they were revealed on different occasions without the above order.[10]
Notes
- ↑ Sharḥ al-muṣṭalaḥāt al-kalāmīya, p. 64.
- ↑ Jawāhirī, Wākāwī-yi milāk-i taḥaddī dar Qurʾān wa naqd-i manṭiq-i tanazzulī, p. 112.
- ↑ Sharḥ al-muṣṭalaḥāt al-kalāmīya, p. 64.
- ↑ Bāqlānī, Iʿjāz al-Qurʾān, p. 161.
- ↑ Muʾaddab, Iʿjāz-i Qurʾān dar nazar-i Ahl Bayt, p. 17.
- ↑ Khurramshāhī, Dānishnāma-yi Qurʾān wa Qurʾān pazhūhī, vol. 1, p. 481.
- ↑ Khurramshāhī, Dānishnāma-yi Qurʾān wa Qurʾān pazhūhī, vol. 1, p. 481.
- ↑ Zamakhsharī, Tafsīr al-kashshāf, vol. 2, p. 383.
- ↑ Jaṣṣāṣ, Aḥkām al-Qurʾān, vol. 1, p. 33.
- ↑ Bahjatpūr, Barrasī-yi seyr-i tanzīlī-yi āyāt-i taḥaddī, p. 77.
References
- Bāqlānī, Abūbakr. Iʿjāz al-Qurʾān. Edited by ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ʿAwīḍa. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1407 AH.
- Bahjatpūr, ʿAbd al-Karīm and Zahrā. Barrasī-yi seyr-i tanzīlī-yi āyāt-i taḥaddī. Qabasāt: No 77. Fall 1394 Sh.
- Group of writers. Sharḥ al-muṣṭalaḥāt al-kalāmīya. Mashhad: Āstān-i Quds-i Raḍawī, 1415 AH.
- Jawāhirī, Muḥammad Ḥasan. Wākāwī-yi milāk-i taḥaddī dar Qurʾān wa naqd-i manṭiq-i tanazzulī. Pazhūhishhā-yi Qurʾānī. No 2. 1395 Sh.
- Jaṣṣāṣ, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Aḥkām al-Qurʾān. Edited Muḥammad Ṣādiq Qamḥāwī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1405 AH.
- Khurramshāhī, Bahāʾ al-Dīn. Dānishnāma-yi Qurʾān wa Qurʾān pazhūhī. Tehran: Nashr-i Nāhīd, 1377 Sh.
- Muḥaqiq Sabziwārī, Muḥammad Bāqir. Asrār al-ḥikam. Edited by Karīm Fayḍī. Qom: Maṭbūʿāt-i Dīnī, 1383 Sh.
- Muʾaddab, Sayyid Riḍā. Iʿjāz-i Qurʾān dar nazar-i Ahl Bayt iṣmat wa bīst nafar az ʿulamā-yi buzurg-i Islām. Qom: Aḥsan al-Ḥadīth, 1379 Sh.
- Zamakhsharī, Maḥmūd b. ʿUmar al-. Tafsīr al-kashshāf ʿan ḥaqāʾiq ghawāmiḍ al-tanzīl. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿArabī, 1407 AH.