"On what foundation do you rest your claims?" is one important question we have to ask in regard to the claims of any religion. The validity of Islam rests first and foremost on the nature of the Qur'an and therefore it means to ask mainly:

How indeed do you know the Qur'an is the word of God?

This page has the goal to investigate the particular claim that the eloquence of the Qur'an is miraculous and therefore the Qur'an has to originate in God Himself.

The Muslim claim: [1], [2], [3], [4], [5], [6], [7], [8], [9], ... [19a1,a2,b]

Challenging the challenge

• Producing a Sura: Reflections on the Challenge by Faruq al-Dhimmi
• According to the Qur'an, the challenge has already been met!
• The Qur'an: Is it a Miracle?
• Ali Dashti on The Miraculous Nature of the Qur'an
• The utterly subjective criterion
• Is there really a miracle at all?
• Willy Wonka and the Prophet Factory: A Tale of Poor Argumentation and Moral Inconsistency
• Miracle of the Quran (Tahaddi and Ijaz), a historical investigation.
• Is the challenge even honest?
• What Is The Challenge Of The Qur'an With Respect To Arabic Prose & Poetry?
• The Jinn and the Challenge of the Qur'an
• Is it about social impact? Further discussion: [1], [2]
• Is it about numerical features?
• The Quranic Definition of the Challenge
• Meeting the Quranic Challenge: How Muhammad's Sunna Trumps Allah's Book
• From the most eloquent of all?
• The Book of Mormon Challenge and A Response
• What about Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's challenge?
• The Alleged Divine Origin of the Qur'an (off site)
• The lack of eloquence in the Qur'an, e.g.
  • The ‘Unsurpassable Eloquence’ of the Qur'an (messed up pronouns and more)
  • Sura 112:1 -- Monotheism vs. Eloquence of the Quran

Meeting the challenge

Old Arabic texts:
• The Satanic Verses
• Surat al-Jinn
• The verse on stoning
• Verses very much like it
• A verse by Quss b. Saida
• Surat al-Nurain
• Surat al-Wilayat
• Sura al-Hafd and Sura al-Khal'
• A Sura by Musaylima

New Arabic texts:

• The Challenge - Produce a Sura Like It (off site) ==> reaction by several educated native speakers of Arabic: Very good!
• The True Furqan (off site) ==> reactions were mixed,
  some: very much like the Qur'an,
  others: the language quality is not good enough.
  Theological problem: It speaks as if it is direct word of God.
  The authors are at fault for not clearly stating that
  this is no claim to bring actual new revelation,
  this way of speaking is done only to be "like the Qur'an" in this regard too.
  Some Muslims have complained that suras like the ones
  on the "Sura Like It" site do not speak in first person as if being directly from God,
  and claimed that they do therefore not qualify.
• We would like to see more people produce texts - please tell us if you know of others.

Texts from around the world:

• You be the judge! by Gerhard Nehls
• Reflections on the challenge
• He will make all things new
• "Suras-like-it" from other scriptures (mainly Hindu)

Note: As we have made clear in the first section: We do not believe that there is a valid challenge. But many Muslims nevertheless insist that we bring texts and do not "run from the challenge with philosophical arguments". If you are one of them, then please read the texts provided in the above section and explain carefully why they are not like the Qur'an. If you cannot do this in an objective way, how can you believe the challenge itself is in any way reasonable?

Examining the Qur'an
Answering Islam Home Page