the eternal quality of the qur'an
The perfection and completeness of the Qur'an prove that its validity
is not restricted to a particular time or place, since anything perfect
is in need of nothing to complete it.
in chapter lxxxvi:13-14 god confirms that the qur'an is "a conclusive
word" and not a mere "pleasantry." It contains the
purest of teachings concerning belief in life-after-death, together with
an exposition of the realities of existence, while, at the same time, encompassing
the fundamentals of correct human behaviour.
Since laws governing transactions between men are directly linked to
their beliefs, such a book can obviously not be annulled or changed with
the passage of time. as he says in xvii:105, "We have revealed the
qur'an with truth and it has descended with the truth," meaning
that the revelations and their ongoing validity are inseparable from the
truth.
thus in x:32, "after the truth what is there except error, "
and in xli:41-42, "In truth it is an unpenetrable book, error may
not enter in it from before it or behind it. "
In other words the Qur'an repulses, by its own perfection and completeness,
any attempt to alter it; and neither now nor later can it be annulled or
superseded. Many studies have been made of the permanence of the validity
of the laws given in the qur'an.
The reader is advised to consult them if he requires additional knowledge
of the subject; to pursue the matter here, (namely, the position of the
Qur'an in the lives of Muslims and the manner in which it demonstrates
this), would be outside the scope of this book.