All scholars of Islam believe that the Quran is the greatest miracle of the Prophet of Islam. When we say the most superior, it is because, in the first place, the Quran is not an intellectual miracle but rather has to do with the spirit and intellect of the people and secondly, it is eternal and everlasting and third, it is a miracle which has cried out for 14 centuries. It says, “If you do not believe that this is a Book of God, bring one like it.” This invitation to an equivalent or something like it or challenge has appeared several times in the Holy Quran. In one place it says,

قل لءن اجتمعت ا لانس و ا لجن علی ا ن یَُِأتوا بمثل هذا القرا ن لا یأتون بمثله و لو کان بعضهم لبعض ظهیرا
الاسراء 17/88

“Say: If the whole of humanity and jinn were to gather together to produce the life of this Quran, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they backed up each other with help and support. “(17:88)

In another place, it has made the condition for the bringing of something like it even easier. It says:

ام یقو لون افتریه قل فأتوا بعشر سور مثله مفتریات و ادعوا من اسطعتم من دون الله ان کنتم صادقین
هود 11/13

“Bring ten suras forged like unto it and call to your aid whomever you can other than God if you speak the truth. “ (11: 13)

“If they (your false gods) answer not your (call), know that this Revelation is sent down (replete) with the knowledge of God... “(11:14)

و ان کنتم فی ریب ما نزلنا علی عبدنا فأتوا بسورة من مثله و ادعوا شهداءکم من دون اله ان کنتم صادقین
البقره 2/23

“And if you are in doubt about that which We have revealed to Our Servant, then bring a surah like it and call your witnesses, other than God, if you are truthful.” (2:23)

In the next verse, it directly states, 

فان لم تفعلوا و لن تفعلوا فاتقوا النار التی وقودها الناس و الحجاره
البقره 2/24

“But if you do not and you shall never do — guard yourselves against the fire.” (2:24)

These continuous and successive invitations to challenge the Quran show that the Holy Prophet placed the greatest of emphasis and importance upon the miracle of the Quran even though many other miracles have been recorded about the Prophet and have appeared in books on Islamic history.

As the Holy Quran is a living miracle, we will, in this discussion, give greater emphasis to it.

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How they have remained impotent in face of this challenge It is interesting that the Holy Quran places the greatest emphasis upon inviting the opponents to the arena and with stimulating comparisons, it challenges them to enter the arena so that no excuse remain for anyone.

Words like, “If you speak the truth...”, “You can never do so...”, “Even if you seek help from all of humanity...”, “Bring at least one verse like it...”, “If you become a kafir, a flaming fire is awaiting you...” speak of this truth.

These are all on one side. On the other side, the struggle of the Holy Prophet with the opponents was not a simple struggle, because Islam not only endangered their religion which they firmly supported, but also endangered their economic, political interests and even their very existence.

In other words, the progress and influence of Islam caused all of the lives to be turned upside down. Thus, they were obliged to come to the arena with all of their power and force.

No matter what the cost, in order to disarm the Holy Prophet, they would have to bring a verse like a verse of the Holy Quran so that they could no longer rely on the Quran as a miracle, and everyone who believed in it would become defective and it would become a document for proving their truth.

They invited all of the Arabs who were learned scholars to help them but every time that they tried to challenge the Holy Quran, they were defeated and they very readily retreated. The story of these events have been recorded in the history books.