Role of Rhetorical Sciences in Responding to Objections against the Inimitability of the Quran

Presenting the principles of eloquence, rhetoric plays an undeniable role in explaining the inimitability of the Quran in literary form and responding to the objections against the Quran as a miracle. Knowledge of the quality and quantity of this contribution identifies the position of these sciences in the issue of inimitability of the Quran indicating the necessity of studying them as introductory studies of Quranic sciences. The significance of rhetorical sciences is so high that the first books on the inimitability of the Quran havedealt mainly with rhetorical issues.Benefiting from the achievements of rhetorical sciences, we can respond not only to the spurious argument of Sarfa (divine prevention of people from imitating the Quran) but to various other arguments against the Quran as a miracle. These arguments may be classified in three general fields: inimitability in terms of literary form, that of harmony and that of the contents. In the domain of inimitability of the Quranic literary form, theobjections of repetition and challenge can be answered. In the field of inimitability in terms of harmony, the objections concerning restrictions, perfect similes, and seemingly undue displacement of Quranic terms are responded. Rhetorical sciences may also put an end to certain objections aiming at finding flaws in the teachings and messages of the holy Quran