Allah has said in the Quran:
16:44: “(We sent them) with Clear Signs and Books of dark prophecies; and We have sent down unto (thee) the Message; that thou mayest explain clearly to men what is sent for them, and that they may give thought.”

This is a Medinese verse. The word “Book” in it leads us to conclude:
It is evident from the Quran that in his preaching in Mecca, Muhammad always insisted, even in the face of severe objection from the Quraish, that the Quran had been revealed in piecemeal through inspiration brought to him by the angel Gabriel, who carried the Soul or Spirit of Allah, hence his title “the Holy Spirit.” When people asked him, “Why not the Quran is revealed to him all at once (jumlatan wahidatan),” Allah had him tell them:
“…Thus (is it revealed), that We may strengthen thy heart thereby, and We have rehearsed it to thee in slow, well-arranged stages, gradually.”

This was not intended to oppose the Jewish—and what Muhammad understood to be the Christian—contention that Scriptures are revealed all at once. Instead, it conforms to the Quran’s descriptions of his early visions and what every Muslim knows, that he continued to receive revelations right down to the very end of his life. But his position on revelations changed after he arrived in Medina; here, he began asserting that the Quran (“The Book”) had in fact, like the Torah, been revealed to him on a single occasion, first, ‘we hypothesize, on Ashura, the very same day as the Torah, and then, after his break with the Jews, on the old Arabian New Year’s “Night of Destiny” ‘for the express purpose of making clear those things (to the Jews) in which they differed.’

But how good is our assumption? Not much, for the Quran says “Ramadhan is the (month) in which was sent down the Quran, as Guide to mankind…." This clearly contradicts Allah’s assertion that He had revealed the entire Quran in a single night.

As it is clear from the above verse, Allah had revealed the entire Quran to Muhammad in the month of Ramadhan, and not in the single Night of Destiny. This being the fact, the question is: What is the significance of the “Night of Destiny” and what He revealed or reveals in this night?
As the Quran explains, the Night of Destiny is a Night, which is better than a thousand months, for “on that night the angels and Spirit by their Lord’s leave come down with each decree. That night is peace, till break of dawn.”

Muslim scholars do not know which night the ‘night’ of the verse refers to, as such, one of them says: “Usually taken to be a night in the month of Ramadhan, say the 23rd, 25th or 27th night of that month.”

Maududi thinks this refers to the Night in which Allah had handed over the entire celestial Quran to the angels from which angel Gabriel “kept on revealing its verses and Ayats from time to time to Rasul Allah for 23 years in accordance with events and circumstances.”

Tafsir al-Jalalayn agrees and accordingly, it translated the verse 97:1 in the following words:

“Lo! We revealed it, that is, the Qur'ān, in its entirety, [sending it down] from the Preserved Tablet to the heaven of this world, on the Night of Ordainment, that is, [the Night] of great eminence.”

But if Allah had revealed the entire Quran in the Night of Destiny or Glory, why has He not stated it clearly in the verse and also what He intended to say by using the word “errand” or “decree” in verse 97:4?

In our understanding, the “Night of Destiny,” or “The Blessed Night”was a new expression, or rather, an old occasion newly employed by Allah to appease the Jews of Medina. From its generic descriptions, the Night of Destiny can be identified with a typical New Year’s day observance, an occasion, as on Rosh ha-Shana, on which Allah determines how the humans and all other creatures would fare in the following year;[14] i.e. their lot; this having been written down by Him in the Heavenly Book before He created the Universe. As we have stated earlier, the Quran is a prototype of the Heavenly Book.

But was the Quran revealed in a single night? Here is Allah’s response to the question:
“(This is) the revelation of the Book in which there is no doubt, - from the Lord of the worlds.”
It is clear from the verse that what the Quran contains are the revelations from the Heavenly Book – referred to in the Quran as the Book - and these came to Muhammad in piecemeal over a period of almost 23 three years. So, the question of the Quran coming to him in the form of a Book did not and could arise, for it took its present shape only after all the revelations were brought together following his death.

This reality brings us to the question: Why Allah insisted that He revealed the Quran to Muhammad in a single night?
F. E. Peters answers:
“Linked with this new assertion of a single revelation of the Quran was another notion that might also have been Jewish inspired, that an angel, specifically Gabriel, was an agent of that revelation. This too had been thrown up to him earlier (6:8 ) but he {Muhammad} dismissed it (16:43). Now, however, at Medina, he concedes that Gabriel was the messenger for his revelations – an assertion that of course caused later Muslims to read the visions of Sura 53 as referring not to God but to an angel.

But if the identification of Gabriel was intended to make the Quran more “scriptural,” it did not satisfy the “enemies of Gabriel,” probably the Jews of Medina who preferred to see Michael as the guardian of Scripture: “Say: Who is an enemy of Gabriel? For he it is who revealed it [that is, the Quran] to your heart by God’s permission, confirming what was before it, and a guidance and glad tidings to believers (Quran 2:97).”[17]

Conclusion: The Quran is a Book of contradiction, hence it could not have come from Allah or an all-knowing Deity, as Allah is believed to be by Muslims and other monotheists of the world.

http://www.islam-watch.org/MAsghar/Did-Quran-come-down-complete-Book.htm

Does Islam copy Judaism? Absolutely not. There is nothing Islam has in common with Judaism. We only have to look at how each worships to know that they are worlds, apart.

The similar stories are human stories and they are told differently and have different tones and spirituality.

Allah says that the Quran is revealed in the Night of Power to mean the very first revelation of the Quran [Only five verses from Surah Alaq] were revealed in the Night of Power. Do you disbelievers want to teach Allah your religions and teach Him about the Book He revealed, too?

As an illustration of what it means of Quran being revealed in the Night of Power, is like if a man says I married my wife on this xyz date. But it was the very day they say saw each other, both agreeing in that very moment to be husband and wife. Yet the marriage ceremony was months later. Can we say we know when they actually exchanged the vows and peg it as the day they finally say I do in front of everyone, whereas they have said I do privately that very first time? Have you heard "It is just like the very first time"? That first time is what count, just like when Abraham became a father the very first time with his only son Ismail [as].

Anyone who knows anything about the Quran will tell you that, when the 5 verses were revealed, that was Quran. Until another revelation came, the 5 verses were the "Quran". After the new revelation was added, the Quran simply gained more verses, becoming richer and fuller, and at the end of revelation, 23 years later you have the richest and fullest Book of Spirituality guiding into the absolute truth, wherein corrections were made to the falsehood that had entered into the previous Books, changing then to corrupted texts.

Any muslim will recite1 verse and he/she can simply tell you that he/she has recited the Quran. I have made a rakat by just simply reciting "salaamu qawlam min Rabbi Rahim' in Surah Ya Siiin. Or just part of any surah after reciting Surah Fatiha.

To demonstrate the Mercy of Allah on Muslims, if you have not learned any chapter of the Quran, you could simply say Subhannallah {I think 3 time, and other words of praises like Alhamdulillah, Laa ilaha ilallah [i will check]] and that will be sufficient.




To

the Quran was both revealed as a complete book and also in stages.

Is half the Qur'an already fully detailed?

Verses in conflict with the theory of a piecemeal descent of the Qur'an

The Qur'an contains contradictory statements about how the Qur'an was supposedly revealed: Was it at one time as one complete book or did it come in many small installment over the time of twenty-three years?

The belief that the Qur'an was revealed piece by piece is based on passages like these:

We sent down (anzalnahu) the (Qur'an) in Truth, and in Truth has it descended (nazala): and We sent thee but to give Glad Tidings and to warn (sinners). (It is) a Qur'an which We have divided (into parts from time to time), in order that thou mightest recite it to men at intervals: We have revealed it (wa-nazzalnahu) by stages. S. 17:105-106 Y. Ali

And those who disbelieve say: "Why is not the Qur'an revealed (nuzzila) to him all at once?" Thus (it is sent down in parts), that We may strengthen your heart thereby. And We have revealed it to you gradually, in stages. (It was revealed to the Prophet in 23 years.). S. 25:32 Hilali-Khan

However, these verses are not only in conflict with the other passages that speak about the Qur'an having been revealed at once (cf. The descent of the Quran: Piecemeal or all at once?), they also stand in tension with statements like these:

Indeed in their stories, there is a lesson for men of understanding. It (the Quran) is not a forged statement but a confirmation of the Allah's existing Books (the Taurat (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel) and other Scriptures of Allah) and a detailed explanation of everything and a guide and a Mercy for the people who believe. S. 12:111 Al-Hilali & Khan

One day We shall raise from all Peoples a witness against them, from amongst themselves: and We shall bring thee as a witness against these (thy people): and We have sent down to thee the Book explaining all things, a Guide, a Mercy, and Glad Tidings to Muslims. S. 16:89 Y. Ali

The claims that the Qur'an is a detailed explanation of everything are exaggerations to the extreme. As they stand, these claims are simply wrong. The Qur'an is not a book that explains all things. However, for argument's sake, let's assume for a moment that this claim is true in some sense, e.g. that the Qur'an is explaining everything that is necessary to know for right belief and right conduct of a believer.

Why then do these passages conflict with the assumption that the Quran was sent down piecemeal over 23 years?

The theory of a "piecemeal revelation of the Qur'an" comes with an elaborate system of which suras (or even smaller passages) were revealed at what time and occasion in the life of Muhammad. According to Muslim scholars, Sura 12 and Sura 16 [/b]were both revealed in the late Meccan period (cf. the Sura Introductions provided by Yusuf Ali and Maududi). In other words, when these two verses were revealed only about half of the time of Muhammad's prophethood had passed.

[b]Maulana Muhammad Ali states in the introduction to his translation of the Qur'an:

Of the entire number of chapters, 93 were revealed at Makkah and 21 were revealed at Madinah, but the 110th chapter, though belonging to the Madinah period, was revealed at Makkah during the well-known farewell pilgrimage. The Madinan chapters, being generally longer, contain really about a third of the entire Qur'an. In arrangement, the Makkan revelation is intermixed with the Madinan revelation. Thus the Holy Qur'an opens with a Makkan revelation which is entitled the "Opening", and is followed by by four chapters revealed at Medinah, which take up over one fifth of the whole Book. Then follow alternately Makkan and Madinan revelations. (Maulana Muhammad Ali, The Holy Qur'an, Introduction, p. ii; bold emphasis mine)

Here now is the reason why the repeated claim of the Qur'an to be "a detailed explanation of everything" (cf. this article) conflicts with the understanding that it was revealed piecemeal. Particularly the timing of the two verses S. 12:111 and 16:89 in the Makkan period causes the following dilemma:

A. [/b]If the Qur'an was already "a detailed explanation of everything" at the time these particular verses were revealed, what purpose does the rest of the Qur'an serve? Why was the Qur'an not finalized at that time? What more is there to add to a book that is already "a detailed explanation of everything"? Is at least a third of the Qur'an merely redundant repetition?

[b]B. However, if the Quran was NOT YET "a detailed explanation of everything" at the time this claim was made, then the author of the Qur'an made statements that are clearly false. "God revealed" (?) something that was wrong -- at least it was wrong for some time, maybe even for several years until the Quran finally became complete and fully detailed and an explanation of everything. In other words, for at least ten years the Qur'an contained these statements that were false until the book was finally completed.

For illustration, Suras two, three, four and five are from the Medinan period. However, all the instructions about inheritance are found in Sura 4. How can the Makkan part of the Qur'an alone be "a detailed explanation of everything" when it does not contain the laws of inheritance? Moreover, the Makkan part of the Qur'an does not define the Qiblah. That is done in Sura 2:142-150. How can the Qur'an be "a detailed explanation of everything" when it does not even tell the Muslims in what direction they should pray? Many more examples about various sins and their punishments could be listed here, since most of the legal instructions that are the basis of Islamic Law (Sharia) are found in chapters revealed in Madinah when Muhammad had to organize and regulate a Muslim state and community. Additional examples of essential Islamic teachings that came only after S. 12:111 and 16:89 are listed in this article.

Thus, at the time when [b]S. 12:111 and 16:89 [/b]were supposedly revealed they were clearly false. This is a serious problem for the theory that the Qur'an was revealed piecemeal.

The claim that the Qur'an is "a detailed explanation of everything" would make sense in either of these two cases: (A) If the book was sent down complete, i.e. the whole book at once, then this claim could still be true or false but it would at least be meaningful. Or, (B) within the theory that the Qur'an was revealed piecemeal, such verses would make sense when they were revealed at the end, as the final verses added to the Qur'an.

As it stands, claiming that the Qur'an is a detailed explanation of everything together with the chronology of these verses within the theory of a piecemeal revelation of the Qur'an, is a logical problem.

Implication: these verses conflict with the theory that the Qur'an was revealed piecemeal and therefore indirectly support the thesis that the Qur'an was revealed at one time as a complete book.

This is, however, not the end of the confusion. There are other verses which conflict with the theory that the Qur'an was given complete at one time, see the discussion in this article.

Finally, I need to repeat that I had accepted the claim of the Qur'an to be "a detailed explanation of everything" only "for argument's sake" for the purpose of this discussion. In reality, this claim is wrong not only for the Makkan part of the Qur'an. It is still wrong when we look at the full Qur'an. At the most basic level, the Qur'an does not even tell Muslims how often, when and how to pray (what are Muslims supposed to say in prayer, what movements are they required to make and how often are these supposed to be repeated?). Also the inheritance laws now specified in the Qur'an cannot be obeyed (the numbers do not add up), and they are incomplete (e.g. the Qur'an nowhere says that believers and unbelievers cannot inherit each other; this essential aspect of Islamic Law is derived from hadiths only).

In some cases, even the death penalty, certainly the most drastic punishment imaginable, is derived from the sayings of Muhammad only, and not from the Qur'an. Specifically, the command of stoning adulterers is found only in the hadith, not in the Qur'an, and the death penalty for apostasy from Islam rests on a hadith. It is a command issued by Muhammad, but it cannot be derived with certainty from the Qur'an alone. There are many more examples of incoherence and incompleteness of the Qur'an all of which prove false the boisterous claim that the Qur'an is "a detailed explanation of everything".

Jochen Katz


Source

frosbel:

Is half the Qur'an already fully detailed?

Verses in conflict with the theory of a piecemeal descent of the Qur'an

The Qur'an contains contradictory statements about how the Qur'an was supposedly revealed: Was it at one time as one complete book or did it come in many small installment over the time of twenty-three years?

The belief that the Qur'an was revealed piece by piece is based on passages like these:

We sent down (anzalnahu) the (Qur'an) in Truth, and in Truth has it descended (nazala): and We sent thee but to give Glad Tidings and to warn (sinners). (It is) a Qur'an which We have divided (into parts from time to time), in order that thou mightest recite it to men at intervals: We have revealed it (wa-nazzalnahu) by stages. S. 17:105-106 Y. Ali

And those who disbelieve say: "Why is not the Qur'an revealed (nuzzila) to him all at once?" Thus (it is sent down in parts), that We may strengthen your heart thereby. And We have revealed it to you gradually, in stages. (It was revealed to the Prophet in 23 years.). S. 25:32 Hilali-Khan

However, these verses are not only in conflict with the other passages that speak about the Qur'an having been revealed at once (cf. The descent of the Quran: Piecemeal or all at once?), they also stand in tension with statements like these:

Indeed in their stories, there is a lesson for men of understanding. It (the Quran) is not a forged statement but a confirmation of the Allah's existing Books (the Taurat (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel) and other Scriptures of Allah) and a detailed explanation of everything and a guide and a Mercy for the people who believe. S. 12:111 Al-Hilali & Khan

One day We shall raise from all Peoples a witness against them, from amongst themselves: and We shall bring thee as a witness against these (thy people): and We have sent down to thee the Book explaining all things, a Guide, a Mercy, and Glad Tidings to Muslims. S. 16:89 Y. Ali

The claims that the Qur'an is a detailed explanation of everything are exaggerations to the extreme. As they stand, these claims are simply wrong. The Qur'an is not a book that explains all things. However, for argument's sake, let's assume for a moment that this claim is true in some sense, e.g. that the Qur'an is explaining everything that is necessary to know for right belief and right conduct of a believer.

Why then do these passages conflict with the assumption that the Quran was sent down piecemeal over 23 years?

The theory of a "piecemeal revelation of the Qur'an" comes with an elaborate system of which suras (or even smaller passages) were revealed at what time and occasion in the life of Muhammad. According to Muslim scholars, Sura 12 and Sura 16 [/b]were both revealed in the late Meccan period (cf. the Sura Introductions provided by Yusuf Ali and Maududi). In other words, when these two verses were revealed only about half of the time of Muhammad's prophethood had passed.

[b]Maulana Muhammad Ali states in the introduction to his translation of the Qur'an:

Of the entire number of chapters, 93 were revealed at Makkah and 21 were revealed at Madinah, but the 110th chapter, though belonging to the Madinah period, was revealed at Makkah during the well-known farewell pilgrimage. The Madinan chapters, being generally longer, contain really about a third of the entire Qur'an. In arrangement, the Makkan revelation is intermixed with the Madinan revelation. Thus the Holy Qur'an opens with a Makkan revelation which is entitled the "Opening", and is followed by by four chapters revealed at Medinah, which take up over one fifth of the whole Book. Then follow alternately Makkan and Madinan revelations. (Maulana Muhammad Ali, The Holy Qur'an, Introduction, p. ii; bold emphasis mine)

Here now is the reason why the repeated claim of the Qur'an to be "a detailed explanation of everything" (cf. this article) conflicts with the understanding that it was revealed piecemeal. Particularly the timing of the two verses S. 12:111 and 16:89 in the Makkan period causes the following dilemma:

A. [/b]If the Qur'an was already "a detailed explanation of everything" at the time these particular verses were revealed, what purpose does the rest of the Qur'an serve? Why was the Qur'an not finalized at that time? What more is there to add to a book that is already "a detailed explanation of everything"? Is at least a third of the Qur'an merely redundant repetition?

[b]B. However, if the Quran was NOT YET "a detailed explanation of everything" at the time this claim was made, then the author of the Qur'an made statements that are clearly false. "God revealed" (?) something that was wrong -- at least it was wrong for some time, maybe even for several years until the Quran finally became complete and fully detailed and an explanation of everything. In other words, for at least ten years the Qur'an contained these statements that were false until the book was finally completed.

For illustration, Suras two, three, four and five are from the Medinan period. However, all the instructions about inheritance are found in Sura 4. How can the Makkan part of the Qur'an alone be "a detailed explanation of everything" when it does not contain the laws of inheritance? Moreover, the Makkan part of the Qur'an does not define the Qiblah. That is done in Sura 2:142-150. How can the Qur'an be "a detailed explanation of everything" when it does not even tell the Muslims in what direction they should pray? Many more examples about various sins and their punishments could be listed here, since most of the legal instructions that are the basis of Islamic Law (Sharia) are found in chapters revealed in Madinah when Muhammad had to organize and regulate a Muslim state and community. Additional examples of essential Islamic teachings that came only after S. 12:111 and 16:89 are listed in this article.

Thus, at the time when [b]S. 12:111 and 16:89 [/b]were supposedly revealed they were clearly false. This is a serious problem for the theory that the Qur'an was revealed piecemeal.

The claim that the Qur'an is "a detailed explanation of everything" would make sense in either of these two cases: (A) If the book was sent down complete, i.e. the whole book at once, then this claim could still be true or false but it would at least be meaningful. Or, (B) within the theory that the Qur'an was revealed piecemeal, such verses would make sense when they were revealed at the end, as the final verses added to the Qur'an.

As it stands, claiming that the Qur'an is a detailed explanation of everything together with the chronology of these verses within the theory of a piecemeal revelation of the Qur'an, is a logical problem.

Implication: these verses conflict with the theory that the Qur'an was revealed piecemeal and therefore indirectly support the thesis that the Qur'an was revealed at one time as a complete book.

This is, however, not the end of the confusion. There are other verses which conflict with the theory that the Qur'an was given complete at one time, see the discussion in this article.

Finally, I need to repeat that I had accepted the claim of the Qur'an to be "a detailed explanation of everything" only "for argument's sake" for the purpose of this discussion. In reality, this claim is wrong not only for the Makkan part of the Qur'an. It is still wrong when we look at the full Qur'an. At the most basic level, the Qur'an does not even tell Muslims how often, when and how to pray (what are Muslims supposed to say in prayer, what movements are they required to make and how often are these supposed to be repeated?). Also the inheritance laws now specified in the Qur'an cannot be obeyed (the numbers do not add up), and they are incomplete (e.g. the Qur'an nowhere says that believers and unbelievers cannot inherit each other; this essential aspect of Islamic Law is derived from hadiths only).

In some cases, even the death penalty, certainly the most drastic punishment imaginable, is derived from the sayings of Muhammad only, and not from the Qur'an. Specifically, the command of stoning adulterers is found only in the hadith, not in the Qur'an, and the death penalty for apostasy from Islam rests on a hadith. It is a command issued by Muhammad, but it cannot be derived with certainty from the Qur'an alone. There are many more examples of incoherence and incompleteness of the Qur'an all of which prove false the boisterous claim that the Qur'an is "a detailed explanation of everything".

Jochen Katz


Source

[size=18pt]Rebuttal to Jochen Katz's Article "Is half the Qur'an already fully detailed? Verses in conflict with the theory of a piecemeal descent of the Qur'an"[/size]

SOURCE


Jochen argues that since the Qur'an had been revealed gradually and Surah 12:111 and 16:89 state that the Qur'an is fully detailed while they were revealed in Mecca, it therefore means:

(A) If the book was sent down complete, i.e. the whole book at once, then this claim could still be true or false but it would at least be meaningful. Or, (B) within the theory that the Qur'an was revealed piecemeal, such verses would make sense when they were revealed at the end, as the final verses added to the Qur'an.

Jochen summarizes his argument:

Here now is the reason why the repeated claim of the Qur'an to be "a detailed explanation of everything" (cf. this article) conflicts with the understanding that it was revealed piecemeal. Particularly the timing of the two verses S. 12:111 and 16:89 in the Makkan period causes the following dilemma:

A. If the Qur'an was already "a detailed explanation of everything" at the time these particular verses were revealed, what purpose does the rest of the Qur'an serve? Why was the Qur'an not finalized at that time? What more is there to add to a book that is already "a detailed explanation of everything"? Is at least a third of the Qur'an merely redundant repetition?

B. However, if the Quran was NOT YET "a detailed explanation of everything" at the time this claim was made, then the author of the Qur'an made statements that are clearly false. "God revealed" (?) something that was wrong -- at least it was wrong for some time, maybe even for several years until the Quran finally became complete and fully detailed and an explanation of everything. In other words, for at least ten years the Qur'an contained these statements that were false until the book was finally completed.

Jochen bases this whole argument on the assumption that when verses 12:111 and 16:89 say that the Qur'an is fully detailed and explains all things that the verses are trying to define "Qur'an" as only what has been revealed up to that point. The verses in no way give that indication. Here are the verses:

Indeed in their stories, there is a lesson for men of understanding. It (the Quran) is not a forged statement but a confirmation of the Allah's existing Books (the Taurat (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel) and other Scriptures of Allah) and a detailed explanation of everything and a guide and a Mercy for the people who believe. S. 12:111 Al-Hilali & Khan

One day We shall raise from all Peoples a witness against them, from amongst themselves: and We shall bring thee as a witness against these (thy people): and We have sent down to thee the Book explaining all things, a Guide, a Mercy, and Glad Tidings to Muslims. S. 16:89 Y. Ali

No where do these verses state that only the Qur'an revealed up to that particular point in time is the Qur'an that explains all things. Rather, the verse is making a general statement about the Qur'an. The Qur'an is everything that was revealed before and after this verse. It is as simple as that.

We can give a similar example from the Bible. In 2 Timothy 3:16 it is said that all scripture is God breathed. Note that this statement was uttered before the book of Revelation (which is scripture) was written. If we were to use Jochen Katz's logic then that means that we should say that the book of Revelation is not scripture because it came after the statement uttered in 2 Timothy 3:16.

However, as Jochen might rightfully argue back, 2 Timothy 3:16 did not limit what scripture is until that particular point in time. Rather it was making a general claim regarding scripture and scripture would include all those that came before and after 2 Timothy.

Similarly, I will argue that Surah 12:111 and 16:89 does not limit the meaning of "Qur'an" to only refer to the revelations up to that particular point. Rather, it is making a general statement about the Qur'an and the Qur'anic Surahs were defined by our Prophet (peace be upon him).

In conclusion, I don't find Jochen's argument to be convincing and I find his mishandling of the Qur'anic text to be unprofessional and unscholarly.


Recommended Reading

http://www.call-to-monotheism.com/rebuttal_to_sam_shamouns_article__the_descent_of_the_quran__piecemeal_or_all_at_once__
http://www.call-to-monotheism.com/refuting_the_argument_that_the_quran_is_complete_and_therefore_we_don_t_need_hadith_
Appendix

Jochen Katz and Mutee'a Al-Fadi responded to my article above. However, I will only be addressing Jochen's comments since Mutee'a didn't add anything extra in substance to the argument.

Jochen states:

What did these verses mean to the Muslims present at the time when they were first recited? How would they have understood them?

It of course referred to whatever was revealed from the Qur'an up until that time. However, they have also understood that the Qur'an was continuously being revealed gradually and hence the statements continuously remained true. So if the Qur'an says that one should recite the Qur'an (Surah 73:4) they didn't understand that they should only be reciting the Qur'an that was revealed up until Surah 73:4, but continuously up until the end of the revelation of the Qur'an. Hence, they were able to comply with this verse's commands easily during all the stages of the revelation of the Qur'an.

Jochen said:

Does it really say:

Indeed in their stories, there is a lesson for men of understanding. It (the Quran) is not a forged statement but a confirmation of the Allah's existing Books (the Taurat (Torah), the Injeel (Gospel) and other Scriptures of Allah) and IN ABOUT TEN YEARS IT WILL EVEN BECOME a detailed explanation of everything and a guide and a Mercy for the people who believe. S. 12:111

And:

The problem with these two verses still remains: The Qur'an was clearly not an explanation of all things, not even an explanation of all things of importance in Islam, at the time this claim was made.

We would like to ask Jochen what he thinks "explanation of all things" means according to the intention of the Author of the Qur'an? Does the Qur'an intend to say that it is intended to explain matters of physics, chemistry and mathematics in addition to theology? No, I think Jochen would agree that the Qur'an is intending to say that it provides a detailed explanation of how to attain salvation. Well, was this statement true during the time this verse was revealed? Of course it was. Not all Muslims who accepted Islam lived up until the time the Qur'anic revelation stopped. Many Muslims died in wars or from illnesses. Does that mean that they went to hell because they couldn't see all the laws and theological statements put forth by the Qur'an? Well of course not. We know this because the Prophet (peace be upon him) would speak about Muslims going to paradise even though they died before the completion of the revelation of the Qur'an (e.g. Summayah, Ja'far ibn Abi Talib, etc.) These Muslims will be judged according to the time and stage of Qur'anic revelation that they were living in. There were Muslims who were drinking alcohol before the Qur'an revealed that it was forbidden. Would they be held accountable for that? The answer is no. Similarly, the statement in the Qur'an regarding it being a detailed explanation of all things holds to be true for the time and people it was revealed to and since the Muslims understood that the Qur'an was making general statements of it self and not only limited itself to the time of revelation that means they also understood that as more verses of the Qur'an were being revealed then the new verses revealed wouldn't change the truth of the previous statements and that they would have to incorporate the new verses into the Qur'an now.

In summary:

-         The Qur'an's claim that it is a detailed explanation of all things refers to it being able to communicate everything that is relevant or important to the salvation of the individual for that time.

-          Muslims were only held accountable according to the stage of the Qur'anic revelation that they were living in. So they were able to attain salvation even if they died before the completion of the revelation of the Qur'an. Hence, the statement "detailed explanation of all things" was true during their time and abided by during their time.

-          The statement continued to be true despite new revelations since now the statement would have to be read by incorporating the other Qur'anic statements. So whatever was available from the Qur'an at a specific time was good enough to provide salvation to the Muslims living during that time, hence the statement "detailed explanation of all things" was true during that time.

-          Now that we are reading the verse after the completion of the revelation of the Qur'an we read this verse as referring to the entire Qur'an since this is the stage we are in when reading the verse.

Jochen said:

Another substantial problem is that the Qur'an is still not an explanation of all things, even in its final form - see the various instances of incompleteness that are listed at the end of the original article (*).

The only substantial problem is Jochen's inability to read and understand the Qur'an properly.