When the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) claimed that the Qur’an was a divine book revealed to him by God for the guidance of man, there were many who did not believe him. The scriptures to them were a human rather than a divine composition. The Qur’an then gave a challenge to these skeptics, asking them to produce “a scripture similar to it,” if what they said were true. (52:34)It declared, moreover, in no uncertain terms that, even if all the human beings and the jinns made collective and concerted efforts to produce a book like the Qur’an, they would all fail miserably in their attempt. (17:88).
The Qur’an, being an eternal book, poses a perennial challenge, addressed to every human being under the sun until Doomsday.
Now the question arises as to the characteristics this sacred book possesses which render it inimitable. Several aspects of its uniqueness are mentioned in the Qur’an, one of which is its consistency:
Do they not ponder over the Qur’an? If it had not come from God,
they would have found in it many contradictions (ikhtilaf).
(4:82)
(Professor Arberry has translated the Arabic word ikhtilaf as ‘inconsistency’. Other renderings of the word include contradiction, disparity and difference.)
