An Invitation to Peace

So the Qur’an goes so far as to invite us to check for any
inconsistencies, contradictions or mistakes in it saying, “Do they not
consider the Qur’an with thoroughness? Had it been from other than
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God, they would surely have found in it much discrepancy!”
This is such a bold statement to make for a book which has so many
enemies already scrutinising it very critically, just waiting for something
to pounce on! In the words of Gary Miller, a former Christian
missionary,
“The seriousness and difficulty of the challenge aside, the actual
presentation of such a challenge in the first place is not even in human
nature… One doesn’t take an exam… [and] write a note to the
instructor at the end saying, “This exam is perfect. There are no
mistakes in it. Find one if you can!” One just doesn’t do that. The
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teacher would not sleep until he found a mistake!”
And so did the Makkan idol-worshippers try their utmost to find a
mistake too. The Qur’an itself mentions one pathetic attempt of theirs:
“And when the son of Mary is held up as an example, behold! Your
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people raise a clamour!”
What had happened is God revealed a verse saying to the worshippers
of idols, “Truly you and those you worship other than God are (to be)
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the fuel of Hell; to it have you to come!” At this the idolaters thought
they could prove an inconsistency in the Qur’an: if all false gods are to
go to Hell along with their worshippers, surely that had to include Jesus
son of Mary too, someone the Qur’an had mentioned as an
honourable messenger! Their argument, however, missed one slight
detail: God had already made His decree about the righteous: “Truly
those for whom goodness had already been decided by Us, they will
Qur’an 4:82 Gary Miller, The Amazing Qur’an, p. 3
Qur’an 43:57 Qur’an 21:98
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An Invitation to Peace