the miracle of influence: an analysis of the core of the quran’s challenge (taḥaddī) at the time of revelation

Readers of the quran acknowledge that this book, besides conveying knowledge and expressing divine teachings, stirs the emotions and feelings of its audience. therefore, in addition to the function of imparting knowledge, the language of the quran also has a motivational function. the question that the present study addresses is whether the stirring and influential nature of the quran’s language can be one of the aspects of its miracle. although many topics such as eloquence and rhetoric, guidance, informing about the unseen, and so on have been mentioned as criteria of similarity in the challenge verses in both shia and sunni exegeses, a historical approach to this issue has generally not been considered in these writings. therefore, in this study, based on a historical method, an effort has been made to clarify the axis of the quran’s challenge by re-reading the mindset of the contemporaries of the revelation and uncovering the reason for their helplessness before the quran. the results indicate that based on historical evidence, the characteristic that made the opponents of the quran feel helpless and desperate during its time of revelation, and due to which they were called to compete, was the stirring and influential nature of the quran.