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Does the Qur'an claim Divine status for itself?
Yes. The Holy Qur'an repeatedly makes clear that it is
Divine.
"(This is) the revelation of the Book in which there
is no doubt, from the Lord of the Worlds." (32:2).
"Verily this is a Revelation from the Lord of the
Worlds" (26:192).
"(It is a Revelation) sent down by (Him), the Exalted
in Might, Most Merciful" (36:5).
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Do not the other religious scriptures also claim the status of Divinity for themselves?
No. None of the other religious scriptures claim
Divine status for themselves in clear and certain
terms.
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It has been mentioned in 3:16 of 2 Timothy that the Bible is the word of God. What is it that is implied here?
".....
and how from infancy you have known the Holy
Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for
salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture
is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness."
(2 Timothy 3:15, 16).
Here, it must be appreciated that the Bible may be
said to have claimed for itself the status of Divine
revelation only if the term ‘Holy Scriptures’ as used
by Paul referred to the books of the Bible. However,
the reality is different.
Amongst the twenty seven books in the New Testament of
the Bible, that came to be accepted as canonical, it
was the epistles of Paul that were first written. It
is the opinion of the scholars that these were first
written between the years 40-60 C.E. The epistles of
Paul aside, all the other books of the New Testament
were written between the years 65-150 C.E. Observe the
quotation that was cited above. Paul has referred to
certain ‘Holy Scriptures’ with which Timothy had been
familiar. The particular way in which he has couched
his words indicate that that ‘Scriptures’ had been in
circulation even before the writings of Paul and as
far as the New Testament is concerned, it is certain
that there is in it no writings, whatsoever, that
existed before those of Paul himself. Thus there can
be no justification in holding on to the idea that the
divinely inspired witings to which Paul alluded were
of the books of the Bible. It is certain, therefore,
that the Holy Scriptures to which Paul makes a
reference here is, in fact, the works that were extant
before the books of the Bible came to be written. Then
how can it be the claim of the Bible that these were,
indeed, Divinely inspired? In fact, this has never
been the claim of the Bible. It is nothing but the
mention of certain writings that were not to be found
in the Bible but to which Paul had alluded. As for
these writings themselves, they are non-existent
today.
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Will a book become Divine merely by way of its own claim of being Divinely inspired?
No. Any book which lays claim to its own Divine status
must necessarily prove that it is, indeed, divinely
inspired. However, on the other hand, it is of primary
importance that if a book is of Divine origin, it
must, of its own accord, or by way of the messenger
who had come with it, raise that claim. In reality,
none has the right to claim divine status for a book
unless and until either the Book itself or the person
who came with it makes that claim first. If, the
followers of the book, then, say that it is of Divine
origin, it will be but their witnessing to the truth
of the claim already made by the book or by the
individual who had come with it. But if that claim
itself is not there, any witnessing to that claim is
obviously irrelevant.
This is the case with all the other religious
scriptures apart from the Qur'an. None of them has
claimed Divine origin for itself. In fact, it was
their followers who conferred on them the status of
Divinity. As of the laws of dialectics and
argumentation, this is but a gross anomaly; a thing so
irrelevant as to be unworthy of consideration by the
intelligent. It is to be dismissed as simply as the
witness who appear in court for the proceedings of a
case in which there is not the very subject of
contention itself.
This, however, is not the case with the Qur'an. It
itself declares that it is of Divine origin. As such
there exists a claim. What remains to be seen, then,
is the veracity of this claim. Indeed, there is
meaning and substance in such a verification. This is
quite unlike the futile and pointless scrutiny of the
Divine origin of books which make no such claim in the
first place.
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