Surah Yunus (10) — Ayah 37

37. This Qur'an is not such that anyone other than Allah could have produced it [52]; rather, it is a confirmation of what came before it and a detailed explanation of the Book [53]. There is no doubt that it is from the Lord of all the worlds.

[52]
The Various Aspects of the Quran’s Miraculous Nature:

The Quran is not only a miracle in the sense that it possesses unparalleled eloquence and rhetoric, fluency and smoothness, and sweetness in its language, but also in the sense that the comprehensive and all-encompassing guidance it provides for the entire humanity is such that no one except Allah can give. It is also unique in that, no matter how much one reflects upon its verses, new meanings and interpretations continue to emerge. Furthermore, the arguments presented in it are extremely simple and easy to understand, from which everyone can benefit. And these qualities can only be found in the Word of Allah, just as no human can create a moon or sun like the one made by Allah, or an earth like His earth, or a sky like His sky. Similarly, no human can present a speech like the Word of Allah.

[53] In this sentence, two more attributes of the Quran are mentioned: first, that it confirms and authenticates the previous revealed books, meaning that the fundamental principles of religion (i.e., the essence of the Book) mentioned in those revealed books are the same as those mentioned in this Book; it does not present any new principles. Second, that the fundamental principles of religion mentioned in the previous books are explained and clarified in various ways and with arguments and proofs. And these are the characteristics that prove the Quran is revealed from Allah. Among the Christian missionaries in the Indian subcontinent, this objection has been raised with great emphasis: if the Quran only presents the teachings of the previous revealed books and also confirms them, then what was the need for the Quran to be revealed? Books have even been written and distributed among people on the topic of the “unnecessity of the Quran.” The counter-question to this objection is that the Gospel is also not an independent revealed book, but rather presents the explanation and clarification of the Torah, so then what was its need, and what was the benefit of the appointment of Jesusؑ? Now, going further, before the revelation of the Torah, that is, before the Torah was revealed to Mosesؑ, all the prophets from Adamؑ to Mosesؑ received revelation whose fundamentals of religion were the same as those mentioned in the Torah, so then what was the need for the Torah? And the real answer to this objection is that in all the previous revealed books, the original text of none of them has remained preserved. The responsibility for the preservation of these books, in the language in which they were revealed, was placed by Allah upon the scholars of the respective prophets after them. Allah Himself did not take the responsibility for the preservation of those books. As is clear from the following verse: ﴿اِنَّآ اَنْزَلْنَا التَّوْريٰةَ فِيْهَا هُدًي وَّنُوْرٌ ۚ يَحْكُمُ بِهَا النَّبِيُّوْنَ الَّذِيْنَ اَسْلَمُوْا لِلَّذِيْنَ هَادُوْا وَالرَّبّٰنِيُّوْنَ وَالْاَحْبَارُ بِمَا اسْتُحْفِظُوْا مِنْ كِتٰبِ اللّٰهِ وَكَانُوْا عَلَيْهِ شُهَدَاءَ ﴾ [5: 44] “We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light. The obedient prophets and the elders and scholars among the Jews judged by it, for to them was entrusted the protection of Allah’s Book, and they were its guardians.”

Thus, two types of responsibilities were placed upon the elders and scholars of the Jews regarding the Torah: first, to preserve the Book of Allah, and second, to ensure its practical preservation by acting upon its commands and making judgments according to it. And the state of the Jews’ preservation of the Book is such that they received the Torah in written form, which was lost twice, then written again after hundreds of years, in which alterations were made and the sayings of scholars and additional material were included. The situation reached such a point that even the Jewish scholars themselves found it difficult to distinguish and present the revealed and added parts of the Book separately. The state of practical preservation was even worse: they made many forbidden things lawful and lawful things forbidden; they considered it permissible and correct to consume the wealth of non-Jews by any means, lawful or unlawful; they made usury lawful; they issued false verdicts for money; they exempted the noble from the limits set by Allah; and they concealed many verses of the Torah and did not convey them to the people. In such circumstances, it was necessary that Allah send a new, great prophet and reveal the Book, the Gospel, to acquaint people with the true revealed teachings. Thus, this was the very duty performed by Jesusؑ. Now, listen to the state of the Gospel: the Gospel was not written during the lifetime of Jesusؑ; later, everything was based on narration. Its initial narrators are four, and even they did not write it themselves, but rather their later disciples did, in which there is neither mention of chains of transmission nor any standard of narration or verification was observed. Then, whatever there was, it was not preserved in the original language, but only translations of these four Gospels are found, in which there are countless differences and proven alterations. In such circumstances, it was necessary that Allah send another great prophet to warn people with the true teachings, and this need was fulfilled by revealing the Quran and sending the Messenger of Allahﷺ, who gives decisive rulings in all those matters and beliefs in which the People of the Book had differed and had split into many sects.

After the Quran, There Is No Need for Any Other Revealed Book:

Here, another question arises: such differences are also common among Muslims today, so is there a need for a new prophet or a new revealed book even now? The answer is that after the Quran, there is no longer any need for a new revealed book. The reason is that Allah Himself has taken the responsibility for the preservation of the Quran, and even the non-Muslims are compelled to admit that the Quran is preserved today exactly as it was revealed. And the state of Allah’s protection is such that if all the enemies of the Quran in the world tried to erase it from existence or alter it, they could not do so, because in every era there have been millions of memorizers of this Noble Quran. Then, from the very beginning until today, countless means of written preservation have also been in place, and will remain so until the Day of Judgment. And Allah has also arranged for its practical preservation: although there are countless differences and sects among Muslims, not all of them are misguided; rather, according to the command of the Messengerﷺ, there will always remain, until the Day of Judgment, a group that will remain steadfast upon the truth, and this group is the one that relies solely on the Book and the Sunnah, tolerating neither any deficiency nor addition in it. They do not tolerate any innovative belief or practice in their religion. Then, just as Allah has taken the responsibility for the preservation of the words of the Quran, He has also taken the responsibility for the preservation of its meanings, interpretations, and explanations, for mere preservation of words is meaningless. The explanation, clarification, and correct interpretation of the Quran is found in the Ahadith or the Sunnah of the Messenger. How Allah has preserved this Sunnah is a separate topic, which we have mentioned at its appropriate places. From these clarifications, it becomes absolutely clear that with the preservation of the Quran and Sunnah and the presence of a group upon the truth, there remains no need for any new prophet or any new revealed book.