Did Al-Nadr ibn al-Harith Match the Qur'an's Eloquence

Some atheists and Christians claim Al-Nadr ibn al-Harith was able to match the Qur’an’s eloquence and rhetoric before the migration, thereby undermining the Qur’an’s inimitability.

[!scholar] Ibn Hisham — Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah
And al-Nadr ibn al-Harith ibn Alqamah ibn Kalada ibn Abd Manaf ibn Abd al-Dar ibn Qusayy, when the Messenger of God sat in a gathering and called upon God Almighty in it and recited the Qur’an in it and warned the Quraysh of what had befallen the previous nations, he would stand behind him in his gathering when he stood up, and he would tell them about Rustum al-Sindi and about Isfandiyar and the kings of Persia, then he would say, “By God, Muhammad is not the best in speech. From me, and his talk is nothing but legends of the ancients, he wrote them down as I wrote them down.”

[!scholar] Ibn Ishaq — Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah
The Messenger of God sat one day with al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah in the mosque, then al-Nadr ibn al-Harith came and sat with them in the assembly. The Messenger of Allah spoke, and al-Nadr ibn al-Harith came to him. The Messenger of Allah spoke to him until he silenced him. He recited to him and to them: “Indeed, you and what you worship besides Allah are fuel for Hell. You will be brought to it. Had these been gods, they would not have come to it. All of them will abide therein eternally. There will be a sighing therein for them and they do not hear therein.” [Al-Anbiya’ 21:98-100]

[!scholar] Ibn Ishaq — Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah
Then the Messenger of Allah stood up, and Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr as-Sahmi came and sat down. Al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah said to Abdullah ibn al-Zubayr: By Allah, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith did not stand up for Ibn Abd al-Muttalib just now, nor did he sit down, and Muhammad has claimed that we and the gods we worship are nothing but pebbles.

[!admission] Ibn Ishaq, narrated by Yunus ibn Bakir — Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah
When Abu Jahl said that to him, al-Nadr ibn al-Harith ibn Kalda ibn Alqamah ibn Abd Manaf ibn Abd al-Dar ibn Qusayy stood up and said: O people of Quraysh, by God, a matter has befallen you for which you have not yet raised its arrows. Muhammad was among you a young boy, the most content among you, the most truthful in speech, and the most trustworthy among you, until when you saw in his temples are gray and he came to you with what he came to you, you said, a magician, but by God he is not a magician, we have seen magicians and their blowing and their knots, and you said, a soothsayer, but by God he is not a soothsayer, and we have seen the soothsayers and their condition and heard their rhyming prose, and you said, a poet, but by God he is not a poet, and we have narrated poetry and all its types, its zajj, rajzj, and qariza, and you said, he is mad, but by God he is not mad, and we have seen madness, but it is not his strangulation, nor his whispering, nor his confusion. O people of Quraysh, look into your affair, for by God a great matter has befallen you.

[!scholar] Ibn Ishaq — Al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah
Ahmad narrated to us: Yunus narrated to us from Ibn Ishaq, he said: A man from the people of Mecca told me from Saeed ibn Jubayr from Ibn Abbas, he said: God revealed eight verses about al-Nadr. When al-Nadr said that, they sent him and Uqbah ibn Abi Mu’ayt with him to the Jewish rabbis in Medina and said to them: Ask them about Muhammad, describe his characteristics to them, and tell them what he said, for they are the people of the first book, and they have knowledge of what we do not have of the knowledge of the prophets.

[!scholar] Ibn Kathir — Al-Bidayah wa al-Nihayah
Ishaq bin Rahawayh said: Abd al-Razzaq told us, on the authority of Muammar, on the authority of Ayoub al-Sakhtiyani, on the authority of Ikrimah, on the authority of Ibn Abbas, that al-Walid bin al-Mughirah came to the Messenger of God and recited the Qur’an to him, and it was as if he felt sorry for him. This reached Abu Jahl, so he came to him and said: O uncle, your people want to collect money for you. He said: Why? He said: So that they may give it to you, for you came to Muhammad to expose what he had before. He said: Quraysh know that I have more money than them. He said: Then say something about him that will tell your people that you deny it. He said: What should I say? By God, there is no man among you who is more knowledgeable about poetry than I am, nor more knowledgeable about its rajaz, nor about its qasida, nor about the poetry of the jinn. By God, the one who says does not resemble anything of this. By God, what he says has sweetness, and there is freshness in it, and it is fruitful at the top and abundant at the bottom, and it rises and is not surpassed, and it crushes what is beneath it. He said: Your people will not be pleased with you until you speak about it. He said: Then leave me until I think about it. When he thought about it, he said: This is magic that is being transmitted; it is being transmitted from someone else.

Grade: Sahih according to the conditions of al-Bukhari

[!scholar] Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani — Ithaf al-Mahra (7/8515)
That al-Walid bin al-Mughirah came to the Prophet and recited the Qur’an to him, and it seemed that he was moved by it. This reached Abu Jahl, so he came to him and said: O uncle! Your people want to collect money for you… The full hadith. How much in the interpretation of al-Muddaththir: Muhammad bin Ali al-San’ani narrated to us, Ishaq bin Ibrahim narrated to us, Abd al-Razzaq narrated to us, on the authority of Ma’mar, on the authority of Ayyub, on his authority, with it. And he said: It is authentic according to the conditions of al-Bukhari.

[!scholar] Muhammad al-Suwayani — Sahih Ahadith al-Sirah
Its status: Its chain of transmission is authentic. It was narrated by al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak (2/550) and via his path al-Bayhaqi in Dalil al-Nubuwwah (2/198). This chain of transmission is authentic and these narrators are trustworthy imams. Muammar is trustworthy, steadfast, and a hafiz. And Ayoub bin Abi Tamima, a trustworthy, established, and authoritative Imam from the great jurists and worshippers.

[!scholar] Issam al-Humaidan — Asbab al-Nuzul (2)
It was narrated by al-Hakim (al-Mustadrak: 2/506) and al-Bayhaqi in “al-Dala’il” (Fath al-Qadeer: 5/328) on the authority of Abd al-Razzaq, and its chain of transmission is authentic.

[!scholar] Al-Iraqi — Takhrij Ahadith Ihya’ Ulum al-Din
Khalid bin Uqbah came to the Messenger of Allah and said: Recite the Qur’an to me. So he recited to him “Indeed, Allah commands justice, doing good, and giving to kith and kin.” He said: Repeat it. So he repeated it and he said: It has sweetness, and it has freshness, and its lower part is abundant, and its upper part is fruitful, and no human being says this.

Grade: Hasan — authenticated by Muhammad ibn Rizq al-Tarhouni in Sahih al-Sirah al-Nabawiyyah (2/311), and by Muhammad al-Suwayani in Sahih min Ahadith al-Sirah

The disbelievers say, “This is indeed a clear magician.”

The wrongdoers say, “You are following none but a man bewitched.”

The disbelievers say, “This is a lying magician.”

We know best what they listen to when they listen to you, and when they are in private conversation, when the wrongdoers say, “You are following none but a man bewitched.”

Did they not disbelieve in what was given to Moses before? They said, “Two magicians who pretended to do so and said, ‘Indeed, we are disbelievers in both of them.’”

An act in which one gets closer to the devil and with his help. All of that matter is an entity of magic. From magic is the taking that takes the eye until it is thought that the matter is as it is seen, and it is not the original as it is seen. Magic is eloquence with intelligence.

[!scholar] Ibn Manzur — Lisan al-Arab (4)
Al-Azhari: Magic is an act in which you get closer to the devil and with his help. All of that matter is an entity of magic, and from magic is the taking that takes the eye until it is thought that the matter is as it is seen, and it is not the original as it is seen; and magic is the taking. Everything that is subtle and precise in its origin is magic. The plural is magic and sorcery.

Grade: Hasan

It is as if the meaning is that his praise reaches the point where he praises a person and is truthful about him until he turns hearts to his words, then he criticizes him and is truthful about him until he turns hearts to his other words, so it is as if he has bewitched the listeners with that.

He means that some of the explanations lead to sin, which the magician gains through his magic, so it is in the context of blame. It is also possible that it is in the context of praise, because hearts are won over by it, the angry are pleased by it, and the difficult are brought down by it.

The origin of magic is to divert something from its true nature to something else. So it is as if the magician, when he sees falsehood in the form of truth and imagines something other than its true nature, has bewitched the thing from its true nature, i.e. diverted it.

About the Almighty’s statement “How then are you bewitched?” — its meaning is: So how are you turned away? And similar to it: So how are you deluded? Deception and magic are the same.

As for the Prophet’s saying “Whoever learns a chapter of astrology has learned a chapter of magic” — it may be in the first meaning, that is, that learning astrology is forbidden and is disbelief, just as learning magic is likewise.

[!scholar] Ibn Manzur — Lisan al-Arab (4)
And the Almighty’s saying: “You are only one of those bewitched.” It is from nutrition and deception. Al-Farra’ said: “You are only one of the magicians.” They said to the Prophet of Allah: You are not an angel, but a human being like us. He said: The bewitched is the hollow, as if it was taken from your saying, “Your magic has blown up,” meaning that you eat food and drink and are comforted by it. It was also said: “From the bewitched,” meaning from those who have been bewitched time after time.

[!admission] Saeed Attia — The Miracle of Stories in the Qur’an (pp. 120-121)
In truth, the first goals and purposes of the Qur’anic story are derived from the circumstances that inspired these stories. It was reported that “al-Nadr bin al-Harith” used to sit with the people as the Messenger used to sit, and the Quraysh would find his talk enjoyable and turn away from the Prophet. So it was natural — and Muhammad was in the process of proving that what he had brought was true — that God Almighty would teach him such stories to convey to his people, so that they might believe and turn back from their corrupt error. And they had no choice — if they had wanted the truth — except to believe in it and confirm it.

[!admission] The Talmud: Its Origin, Sequence, and Etiquette (p. 8)
There was no indication at all of the existence of an Arabic translation of the Talmud. The conclusion that we can draw from these results is that the Jews in the Arab countries were keen to hide the Talmud and prevent the Muslims from seeing it. They used to discuss some of what was mentioned in it with the Muslim scholars orally when they would ask them about what was mentioned in their books about this story or this issue of issues and problems of interpretation, which would explain the reason for the existence of the Israelite narrations in some Islamic interpretations of the Holy Quran. It is known that the Talmud (whether the Babylonian Talmud written in Babylon or the Palestinian Talmud written in Palestine) was not available to anyone other than Jewish rabbis to study and teach until the age of printing began in Europe in the sixteenth century.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan says: A gentile who engages in Torah study is liable to receive the death penalty; as it is stated: “Moses commanded us a law [torah], an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob” (Deuteronomy 33:4), indicating that it is an inheritance for us, and not for them.

[!admission] Dr. Israel Wolfenson — History of the Jews in the Lands of the Arabs (p. 114)
And the Arabs were ignorant of the Jewish religion and used to say to the Jews, “You have knowledge that we do not have.”

[!admission] Al-Anwar and Al-Muraqib (2/12, pp. 161-165)
They claimed that the Creator, glory be to Him, when He gave the Torah to Moses in Sinai, made known to him its interpretations and meanings and taught that to Moses to the Children of Israel and explained it to them beyond the Jordan, as He said in Deuteronomy 1:5 “On the other side of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses elaborated on this Torah.” And they said in some of their sayings that God gave Moses all that he needed of charms. And Moses gathered the sages of the Children of Israel and explained to them the meanings of the Torah and the light and heavy, which are not explained in the Torah except by symbolism. Therefore, He said: To them Deuteronomy 1:13 “Bring to you wise and understanding men.” The Mishnah and the Talmud are like a deed where there are two witnesses; they testify by the remembrance and by their handwriting on the deed, so who can overturn them? Likewise the wise men testify to the written Torah, and they bear witness to the Torah that is by mouth, and their testimony has been passed down from generation to generation on the Torah, the Mishnah, and the Talmud, so who can reject their testimony? Rather, in the same place 17:11 “What they say to you, you shall do.” So whoever thinks that he can explain the words of the Torah without the word of the wise men will not succeed in doing so.

[!admission] Reinhart Dozy — Spanish Islam: A History of the Moslems in Spain (p. 13)
In Mohammed’s time, three religions shared Arabia — Judaism, Christianity and a vague form of Polytheism. The Jewish tribes alone were sincerely attached to their faith and were alone intolerant. In the early history of Arabia, persecutions are rare, and when they occur, it is usually the Jews to blame. Christianity could count but a few adepts, for most of those who professed the faith had but very superficial knowledge of its tenets.

The Hijaz. In speaking of Christians in the Hijaz one must limit the term to mean Mecca, Tayma’, Khaibar, al-Ta’if, and Medina. The existing evidence refers to the time just before or during the lifetime of Muhammad. The Hijaz had not been touched by Christian preaching. Hence organization of a Christian church was neither to be expected nor found. What Christians resided there were principally individuals from other countries who retained some Christianity. Such were African (mainly Coptic) slaves; tradespeople who came to the fairs from Syria, from Yemen, and from among the Christian Arabs under the Ghassanids or Lakhmids; Abyssinian mercenary soldiers; and miscellaneous others whose Christianity was evidenced only by their names. The few native Christians whose names have come down to us furnishing us with more questions than answers. This Christianity had the marks that go with want of organization. It lacked instruction and fervor. It is therefore not surprising that it offered no opposition to Islam. Finally it is to be borne in mind that it was the Christianity in Arabia, here briefly sketched, that projected the image of Christianity seen in the Qur’an.

[!admission] Richard Bell — The Origin of Islam in its Christian Environment (p. 42)
From the northwest it spread into the northern center of the peninsula and southward to the shores of the Red Sea but — and this is important — in spite of traditions to the effect that the image of Jesus was found on one of the pillars of the Ka’ba, there is no good evidence of any seats of Christianity in the Hijaz or in the near neighborhood of Mecca or even of Medina.

Al-Nadr ibn al-Harith never challenged the Qur’an’s eloquence — he told Persian folk tales to distract from it. Quraysh themselves admitted his failure and sent him to Jewish rabbis for questions instead. The sources they cite confirm the opposite of their claim: the Qur’an’s inimitability was acknowledged even by its enemies, and the knowledge required to replicate its stories was inaccessible in the Hijaz.