The news which the Koran gives concerning the past

Although as unanimously agreed, it was communicated by an unlettered, trustworthy one, the wise Koran mentions in a solemn, powerful manner, the important experiences of the Prophets from the time of Adam to the Time of Happiness, and the main aspects of their mission. The information it gives about those important past events usually coincide with the commonly agreed descriptions of the previous Scriptures, while it corrects the points on which their corrupted forms disagree. This means that the Koran has an all-seeing vision penetrating the whole of the past better than the previous Scriptures. The information the Koran gives about the past is not something rational, but it may be traditional. Tradition is usually particular to lettered persons, whereas, as unanimously agreed by friend and foe alike, the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was completely unlettered (and, what is more, there was no one in his environment to tell him about the past). While the stories of the previous Prophets are mostly mentioned in the suras that were revealed in Makka, there was no one in Makka who knew about them. Furthermore, traditions are partly founded on hearsay and usually, far from giving exact information, true and false are mixed up in them. But the Koran speaks about past events in such a manner that it describes them as if seeing them: it gives an eye-witness account. It extracts the kernel of a long series of events and presents its argument through that kernel. The extracts, summaries and indications in the Koran therefore demonstrate that the One Who presents them is actually seeing all the past in all its dimensions. For just as a substantial summary or a fine extract or a telling example shows the skill or expert knowledge of one in a certain field, so too, the chief points and main themes the Koran chooses out of certain events demonstrate that the One Who chooses them, has an all-encompassing knowledge of the whole of the events and is describing them—if one may so express it— with an extraordinary skill.

The predictions of the Koran

.There are many categories of predictions. One category is particular to men of sainthood and spiritual unveiling. For instance, Muhy al-Din ibn al-‘Arabi found many predictions in sura al-Rum, beginning with, Alif Lam Mim. The Romans have been vanquished (30.1-2). Imam Rabbani discovered the signs of many future events in the muqatta’at, the individual, disjunct letters at the beginning of certain suras. In fact, for the scholars studying the inner aspects and esoteric meanings of the Koran and of creation, the Koran is full of predictions from beginning to the end. However, I will only point to the category which everyone can see. Of many varieties of this category, I will concentrate on only one and be content with mentioning some examples, without going into detail.

The wise Koran says to the noble Messenger of God, upon him be peace and blessings:

• So be you patient: surely God’s promise is true. (30:60)
• You shall enter the Holy Mosque, if God wills, in security, your heads shaved, your hair cut short, not fearing. (48:27)
• It is He who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the religion of truth, that He may uplift it above every religion. (48:28)
• The Romans have been vanquished in the nearer part of the land; and, after their vanquishing, they shall be the victors in a few years. To God belongs the Command. (30:3-4)
• So you shall see, and they will see, which of you is the demented. (68:5-6)
• Or do they say, ‘He is a a poet for whom we await what fate will bring. Say: ‘Await! I shall be waiting with you.’ (52:30-31)
• God will protect you from men. (5:67)
• If you are in doubt concerning that We have sent down on Our servant, then bring a sura like it, and call your witnesses, helpers, apart from God, if you are truthful. If you do not —and you will never do it—then fear the fire... (2:23–4)
• Say: ‘If the Last Abode with God is yours exclusively, and not for other people, then long for death—if you speak truly.’ But they will never long for it. (2:95)
• We shall show them Our signs in the outer world and in themselves, till it is clear to them that it is the truth. (41:53)
• Say: ‘If men and jinn banded together to produce the like of this Koran, they would never produce its like, not though they backed one another.’ (17:88)
• God will assuredly bring a people He loves, and who love Him, humble towards the believers, mighty and dignified against unbelievers, men who struggle in the path of God, not fearing the reproach of any reproached. (5:54)
• Say: ‘All praise be to God. He shall show you His signs and you will recognize them.’ (27:93)
• Say: ‘He is the All-Merciful. We believe in Him, and in Him we put all our trust. Assuredly, you will soon know who is in manifest error.’ (67:29)
• God has promised those of you who believe and do righteous deeds that He will surely make you successors in the land, even as He made those who were before them successors, and that He will surely establish their religion for them that He has approved for them, and will bring them, after their fear, into security. (24:55)

All of the predictions made in the verses above came true. Therefore, if a person who was subject to the severest criticisms and objections, in whom even a single fault was certain to lead to the failure of his cause, makes predictions so unhesitatingly and confidently of himself and in so serious a manner, it shows without doubt that he speaks not of himself but of what he receives from his Eternal Teacher.

Is the Koran also a miracle with respect to the information it gives about the Unseen, Divine truths, the realities pertaining to the Hereafter; and truths of creation?

The Koran’s explanations of Divine truths and its statements about the realities of creation which solve the mystery of creation and disclose the meaning of the universe, are among the most important news or information it gives concerning the Unseen. For it is beyond the mental capacity of man to advance in a straight direction amidst the paths of misguidance and reach those truths or realities of the Unseen. The deep, endless disagreements between schools of philosophy and scientists show explicitly that even the greatest geniuses of science and philosophy are unable to find out even the least of those truths by unaided reasoning. With souls purified, hearts refined, spirits evolved, and intellects perfected by the Koran, mankind was able to perceive and accept those truths and realities, and then could not help but remark: May God bless the Koran!

As for the events, states, conditions, and stages of the Hereafter, including the life of the grave, no human mind can discover and perceive them by itself. However, it can penetrate and comprehend them in the light of the Koran as if seeing and observing them plainly. You may refer to The Tenth Word where we have elaborated how right and true are the Koran’s explanations of that Unseen world of the Hereafter.