What does "i'jaz al-Qur'an" mean — in what ways is the Quran considered miraculous?

I'jaz al-Qur'an, "the inimitability of the Quran," refers to the belief that the Quran's language, structure, and content cannot be matched by human effort, and that this inability is itself proof of its divine origin. The Quran repeatedly challenges skeptics on this point, daring them to produce anything comparable: "Say, 'If mankind and the jinn gathered in order to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce the like of it, even if they were to each other assistants'" (17:88). Earlier, easier challenges ask for even just ten surahs like it (11:13) or a single surah (2:23). Scholars have discussed i'jaz from several angles: linguistic — its unmatched eloquence and rhetorical structure in a culture that prized poetry above all else; biographical — that an unlettered man from a remote setting produced a text of this sophistication; structural — its internal consistency despite piecemeal revelation over 23 years; and historical — its accurate references to past events and figures unknown to Arabian society at the time. Since Prophet Muhammad was known to be unlettered, classical scholars saw this as reinforcing that the text's source could not have been his own composition.

Ask your own question → All questions