The Quran—The Miracle Given to the Prophet

THE QURAN—THE MIRACLE GIVEN TO THE PROPHET To prove the Quran’s miraculous nature, one has only to look at all the traumatic experiences that Arabic has been through over the last 1500 years. If it had not been for the protective wing of the Quran, the Arabic language would indeed have been altered. Yet, the unsurpassable model that the Quran established remained the immutable touchstone of standard Arabic. Hijrah’s fall of the Umayyad dynasty in the second century significantly threatened the Arabic language. The Umayyads had been a purely Arab dynasty. Strong supporters of Arab nationalism, they promoted Arabic literature and language almost to the point of partiality. Their capital was situated in Damascus, in the Arab heartland. In their time, both the military and the civil administration were controlled by Arabs. Now the Abbasids took over the reins of power. Iranian support had brought the caliphate to the Abbasids. It was inevitable then that the Iranians should maintain a strong influence on their administration. This influence led to the capital being moved to Baghdad, on the threshold of Persia. The Abbasids gave the Iranians a free hand in government affairs but looked down on the Arabs and their civilization and made conscious efforts to weaken them, unlike the Umayyads, who had always preferred Arabs for high posts. With the wane of pro-Arab favouritism, Iranians, Turks, Syrians, Byzantine and Berber elements could gain control over all affairs of society and state. Marriages between Arabs