Tahaddi: Difference between revisions

'''Taḥaddī''' (Arabic: {{ia|تَحَدّی}}) or '''the Challenge of the Qur'an''' is a term in Quranic sciences and Islamic [[kalam]] (theology) referring to a challenge made by the [[Quran]] (or in its broader meaning, by every [[prophet]] who had a [[miracle]]) in order to prove the prophet's relation with the hidden world and the failure of opponents to bring the same divine miracle. In the Quran, God asked opponents to bring something similar to the Quran if they reject the [[prophethood]].

The word, "tahaddi", is from the Arabic root, "ḥ-d-y" ({{ia|ح-د-ی}}), which means to challenge someone to combat you or compete with you in order to show that they will fail. Terminologically, it refers to God's challenge for some opponents of [[the Prophet Muhammad (s)]] to bring something similar to what he brought if they are right that Muhammad was not a prophet. The term, "tahaddi", came to be commonly used in works of kalam in the 3rd/9th century for the first time.

Tahaddi is based on the assumption that if the [[Quran]] were not from God, then other people would be able to bring something similar to it, and if they cannot do so, then the Quran will prove to be from God.

Some early scholars of kalam, such as [[al-Sayyid al-Murtada]], believed that if a person intends to oppose the Quran (and bring something similar to it), then God will weaken their will to do so, thereby preventing them from challenging the Quran. This is known as the theory of "sarfa" (divine prevention or deterrence). Given attempts at challenging the Quran, this claim is not true.

There are several [[verses]] of the Quran regarding tahaddi:

* The challenge of the whole Quran, [[Sura al-Isra|17]]:88.

* The challenge of ten chapters of the Quran, [[Sura Hud|11]]:13.

* The challenge of one chapter of the Quran, [[Sura Yunus|10]]:38.

The Quran has not challenged its opponents to bring one verse, since a verse might include a word, such as "{{ia|مُدْهَامَّتَانِ}}" (dark green) without communicating a full concept.

An important point regarding tahaddi is that it is not a challenge to bring sentences apparently similar to those of the Quran, since this is just an imitation of Quranic phrases and would count as plagiarism. Thus it is a challenge to create words that have features like those of Quranic words.

* Quranic challenge to knowledge, that is, if people doubt the divine origins of the Quran, then they can all cooperate to bring a book that is similar to the Quran with respect to knowledge involved in it.

* The Quranic challenge to find contradictions within the Quran, [[Sura al-Nisa'|4]]:82.

* The Quranic challenge to disclose [[knowledge of the hidden]], [[Sura Hud|11]]:49.

The Quranic challenge is addressed to all creatures, including all [[jins]] and humans throughout the history, since [[the Prophet Muhammad (s)]] was the seal of the prophets and his mission was global and eternal, and thus the Quran was addressed to all rational creatures, including humans and jins.

Appealing to Quranic self-descriptions that are directed at its contents, rather than its formal structures, and to the Quran [[Sura al-Qasas|28]]:49, some scholars take tahaddi to be concerned with the contents of the Quran, rather than its words. However, verses of tahaddi are unqualified in this respect, which is why many scholars take tahaddi to include both contents and words.

Some exegetes of the Quran appealed to verses of tahaddi to relate it to knowledge and guidance of the Quran, its issuance from an illiterate prophet, its knowledge of the hidden, there being no contradiction in it, its eloquence, its forms, and its contents.

[[Sayyid Qutb]] and [['Allama Tabataba'i]] generalize the Quranic challenge to all the above respects; otherwise it would be qualified in one way or another. Other respects of tahaddi have also been mentioned, such as eloquence, its rhythm, truth, there being no false statement in it, its rulings and legislations, and its transcendent meanings. They also refer to the above respects. However, the Quran is addressed to all human beings, and its challenge is thus all-inclusive.

When the Quran proposed the tahaddi, eloquent Arabs would not bother to launch battles against the Prophet (s) had they been able to bring a book similar to the Quran. As time went by, the notion of tahaddi came to have close connections with the miraculous nature of the Quran. Tahaddi is suggested as the distinguishing mark of the Quran from the work of genius people, since God might give someone the ability to do super-human actions without that person claiming the prophethood.

Nadr b. Harith, a tough enemy of the Prophet (s), was the first person who attempted to take up the Quranic challenge by narrating the stories of Rostam and Esfandiyar. According to some [[hadiths]], the Quranic verse, [[Sura al-Anfal|8]]:31, is about Nadr b. Harith.

[[Musaylima al-Kadhdhab]] also made up offensive sentences to take up the Quranic challenge.

'Abd Allah b. Muqaffa' is also said to have attempted to challenge the Quran, but he withdrew it after a while and destroyed all he had written. According to [[Abu Bakr al-Baqilani]] and [[Ibn Qayyim]], when Ibn Muqaffa' wanted to create something similar to the verse number 44 of [[Sura al-Hud]], he admitted that humans cannot take up the Quranic challenge.

[[Ibn Abi l-'Awja']], [[Abu Shakir al-Disani]] and [['Abd al-Malik al-Basri]] also attempted to take up the Quranic challenge, but they eventually admitted that they failed to do so.

There have also been attempts to take up the challenge in recent years and they all failed. For example, a Christian priest created two chapters similar to [[Sura al-Hamd]] and [[Sura al-Kawthar]]. [[Ayatollah Khu'i]] and [[Rashid Rida]] examined the attempt and revealed its failure.

The best-known attempt recently made to take up the Quranic challenge was the book, ''[[al-Furqan al-haqq]]'', published by two American publishers with a great deal of propaganda. It was published in 366 pages and 77 chapters similar to the Quran, using its words and verses and mixing it with Jewish and Christian doctrines. It was published with the Quranic orthography.

It is obvious that the verse is a slight modification of the Quran, 14:18.

Chapters of this fake book include "al-Injil" (Gospel), "al-Janna" (the Heaven), "al-Mahabba" (the love), and in some cases even the names of its chapters are the same as Quranic chapters, such as "al-Anbia'" (the prophets), "al-Fatiha", and "al-Munafiqun". Instead of "Bim Allah al-Rahman al-Rahim", the chapters begin with "Bism al-Ab al-Kalimat al-Ruh al-Ilah al-Wahid al-Awhad" (in the name of the Father, the Word, the Spirit, the Lord, the One, and the Only).

The book was examined and scrutinized by some Muslim scholars, such as Salih al-Khalidi in his book, ''al-Intisar li l-Quran''.