سورة البقرة

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): After Allah struck parables [in the previous verses] for those disbelievers who strove to prevent the spread of the call of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and for the hypocrite enemies of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) — those very enemies and hypocrites who resisted the words of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) about his brother Ali (peace be upon him), and those who said, "What Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) has brought of miracles and proofs, together with the matters he has stated about his brother Ali (peace be upon him) in Mecca and Medina, is not from Allah" — while their rebellion and tyranny [despite seeing these signs] continually increased, Allah revealed this verse concerning the disbelievers of Mecca and the rebellious ones of Medina: وَ إِنْ کُنْتُمْ فِی رَیْبٍ مِمَّا نَزَّلْنا عَلی عَبْدِنا [And if you are in doubt as to that which We have revealed to Our servant].

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said: O polytheists, Jews and all the other hostile ones among those who deny Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) in the Quran, in his giving preference to his brother Ali (peace be upon him), who excels the excellent, who surpasses those who strive, who has no equal in aiding the Allah-conscious, suppressing the sinful, destroying the disbelievers, and spreading the religion of Allah among the worlds: 'إِنْ كُنْتُمْ فِي رَيْبٍ مِمَّا نَزَّلْنَا عَلَى عَبْدِنَا [If you are in doubt as to that which We have revealed to Our servant].'

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): Allah says: "Do you have so much doubt about what We have revealed to Our servant that you deny that he is Our Messenger and that what has been revealed to him is My speech?" ... If you are in doubt about these verses, then bring from someone like him a speech resembling the Quran and his miracles, so it may become clear whether the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) is lying — because whatever is not from Allah, its equal will be found among people. And if you Jews and Christians are in doubt about the laws which Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) has brought, and about his designation of his brother as the master of the successors (awsiya), [then bring the like of the Quran]; and this doubt of yours is after [seeing] the miracles which the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) has shown you! For example: the leg of the poisoned kid [which you had brought as food to kill the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family)] that spoke, or the wolf that spoke with the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), and the piece of wood (the pillar) which moaned out of separation from the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) when he chose the pulpit in place of that pillar for speaking, or that Allah warded off from him the harm of the poison which the Jews had put in his food and turned the calamity back upon the opponents and killed them by that calamity, or that He made a small amount of food into much. (In this narration also, the meaning of doubt in the phrase إِن کُنتُمْ فِی رَیْبٍ [If you are in doubt] is stated to be doubt about the prophethood of the Messenger (peace be upon him and his family) and the wilayah of Amir al-Muminin (peace be upon him).)

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said: If you are in doubt about [the truth of] the matters We have revealed to Our servant [then bring forth something like it] - matters such as the invalidation of worshipping idols besides Allah, the prohibition of befriending the enemies of Allah and being hostile to the friends of Allah, and doubt about the Prophet's exhortations to obey the brother of the Messenger of Allah (Ali, peace be upon him), to take him as Imam, and to believe him to be excellent and preferred; such that Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, accepts no faith without obedience to him (Ali, peace be upon him), and no act of obedience except through love and wilayah (guardianship) of him. You imagine that Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) fabricated that book of his own accord and attributed it to Allah.

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): O community of Quraysh and the Jews, and O community of the hostile ones who falsely claim Islam while being free of it, and O eloquent, articulate Arabs, masters of tongues: bring forth a chapter like it, like that of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), like that of a man among you who could not read, could not write, had not studied any book, had not frequented any scholar, and had not learned from anyone ... 'Then bring forth a chapter like it' means like the Quran, from the Torah, the Gospel, the Psalms, the Scrolls of Ibrahim, and the fourteen books - for you will not find in any of Allah's other books a chapter like a chapter of this Quran. And how could the words of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), which you claim he fabricated, be superior to the rest of the words and books of Allah, O community of the Jews and Christians?

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): [It is] like Muhammad, the Ummi (who never once associated with the people of scripture and knowledge, never studied under anyone, and never learned from anyone; while he is someone you knew both at home and on his travels. He never once set out to travel to a land without a group of you going with him, so that some of you would watch over his condition and know of his affairs. Then, after that, he brought you this Book, filled with these wonders. So if he made it up from himself, as you claim, then you are the eloquent, the orators, the poets and the men of letters, who have no equal among other religions and other nations. And if he lied, then his language is your language, his race is your race, and his nature is your nature, and soon your group, or some of you, will find it possible to counter this speech of his with something better than it or the like of it, because whatever comes from a human being and not from Allah, there must be someone among humans capable of the like of it. So bring that, so that you and the rest of those watching your condition may recognize him as one who nullifies and denies against Allah.]

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): Then he said to their assembly: وَادْعُواْ شُهَدَاءكُم مِّن دُونِ اللهِ [And call your witnesses besides Allah] — meaning: O polytheists, call upon your idols which you used to worship; O company of Christians and Jews, call upon your devils too (whom you used to follow); and O hypocrites from among the Muslim nation who are enemies of the Prophet's pure household, call upon your accomplices from among the disbelievers whom you used to follow — call upon whomever you wish from among your other associates!

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): What is meant by 'witnesses besides Allah' are those you imagine will testify to your being in the right, and to your speech resembling the speech of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family); those you imagine will bear witness before the Lord of the worlds to your acts of worship, and will intercede for you with Him.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): If you are truthful about Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him).

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): If you are truthful in saying that Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) fabricated this Quran himself and Allah did not reveal it, and that what he stated about Ali's (peace be upon him) authority over his entire nation, and the entrusting of the reins of leadership over them (the Muslim nation) to Ali (peace be upon him), was not by the command of the Most Wise of Judges ... [then produce the like of the Quran.]

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): If you are truthful in this claim of yours, that Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) produced the Quran from himself ...