The Evolution of the Views of Muslim Scholars about the Audiences of the Quran as a Rational Miracle

One of the issues related to the ijaz (inimitability) of the Holy Quran is dividing miracles into two categories of intellectual and sensual. But how this category was created? What did Muslim scholars mean by “intellect”, and to whom did they refer? Based on a historical survey carried out in this regard, this study has achieved the following This category was first introduced by Jahiz (death: AH 255) in response to the question of how the only book as a miracle, namely Quran, is allocated to Muhammad (PBUH) among all the prophets. Answering this question, Muslim scholars have followed three different approaches throughout history: 1. Some considered it ethnically and claimed that the superiority of Arabs’ intellect among whom Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) appeared, was the reason why Quran was revealed to him.
2. Others referred to the religion of audiences and believed that the intellectual superiority of the Islamic Ummah over Jews and Christians was the main reason.
3. The rest, considering the mankind as a whole, believed that the growth of human intelligence in the era of Prophet Muhammad’s (PBUH) was the reason.