Q: It is well known that it is the duty of every Muslim to stand up to anyone who tries to defame Islam as much as they can. Thus, a Muslim should not accept any degradation or contempt to the Book of Allah, for the Noble Qur'an is the Word of Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) (Part No. 3; Page No. 57) revealed to His Messenger (peace be upon him). It is not a kind of poetry. Therefore, a Muslim can never accept the comparison of the Qur'an to poetry.I would like to inform you that two years ago Professor Baha' Al-Din Sulaym `Ayish, a Palestinian professor and a member of the Board of Teaching at the Arabic Language department at the Faculty of Teachers, Riyadh, was entrusted with teaching the prosody course at the faculty. He compiled a book on the subject and sold it to the students despite that there are plenty of good available books in this regard at bookstores. However, this book has a serious defect, for the writer mentions the poetic measurement in his book and gives examples of it with some Ayahs (Qur'anic verses) that match with the rhythm claiming that the Words of Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) are poetry. He teaches and implants this in the students' minds imitating the sayings of the Kafirs (disbelievers) of Quraysh mentioned by Allah: Or do they say: "(Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) is a poet! We await for him some calamity by time!" Allah (Glorified and Exalted be He) cleared His Prophet and His Word from the charge of poetry. He (Exalted be He) says: And We have not taught him (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) poetry, nor is it suitable for him. This is only a Reminder and a plain Qur’ân. (Part No. 3; Page No. 58) The writer of the book might not be blamed due to his lack of religious awareness. However, the head of the Department is to blame for assigning the teaching of this subject to this teacher despite the presence of a brilliant Saudi professor in this field.Defending the Book of Allah and caring for our children, I put this matter before your Eminence hoping that you will take the necessary measures towards the head of the Department and the book.

A: All Muslims consensually agree that the Prophet (peace be upon him) is the most eloquent among the offspring of Adam, and that he (peace be upon him) was cleared of saying any poetry, for Allah (Exalted be He) says: And We have not taught him (Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) poetry, nor is it suitable for him. They also consensually agree that the lofty eloquence of the Noble Qur'an is a miracle in favor of the Prophet (peace be upon him), affirming the truth of his Prophethood. They also consensually agree that the Noble Qur'an is free from poetry. Allah (Exalted be He) says: It is not the word of a poet The Qur'an does not include a single complete Ayah that has a complete metrical line of verse. However, reading the mentioned book "Al-Tatbiq Al-`Arudhy" (Rhythmic Application), I found on pages (36, 40, 45, 49, 53, 57, 61, 68) that some parts of Ayahs are in correspondence with a hemistich of some meters, (Part No. 3; Page No. 59) not a perfect line of verse. Again, on page (71), an Ayah is given as an example for hemistich of verse line. Moreover, on page (65), an Ayah is given as an example for Al-Mutaqarib meter. However, he adds to the Ayah an extra letter that does not belong to it.Citing these examples, the writer says: "It is interesting to find this meter in some Ayahs, such as His Saying: ...Etc."To summarize, what the author mentions is but part of an Ayah that only corresponds with a half line of verse, not a complete one. Allah (Glorified be He) revealed His Book with all its Surahs and Ayahs but no Surah or Ayah is found in rhyme with a complete line of verse. Indeed, this is one of the forms of the inimitability of the Qur’an.Thus, based on what has been said above the book in question is a source of confusion to the minds of readers in general and students in particular. So, the Committee recommends prohibiting the circulation of the mentioned book. Furthermore, it is not permissible to teach it to the students, out of preserving the Book of Allah (Exalted be He) and protecting the `Aqidah (creed) of Muslims from delusion and doubt. The author should also omit the parts concerned with the previous matter from the book and not be deluded by those who did the same before and their acts were discarded by scholars.May Allah grant us success. May peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions.