the heavens and the earth able to create their like?” And His words:
“Does man think that he will be left to himself? Was he not a drop of semen emitted? Then he became a clinging clot, and He created and fashioned him, and made from him the two sexes, male and female. Is He not able to give life to the dead?”
And His words:
“Have you considered the semen you emit? Is it you who create it, or are We the Creator?”
And His words:
“They say, ‘Why does he not bring us a sign from his Lord?’ Has there not come to them clear proof of what is in the former scriptures?”
And His words:
“Is it not enough for them that We have sent down to you the Book, which is recited to them?”
And His words:
“Is it not a sign for them that the scholars of the Children of Israel know it?”
And His words:
“Have We not given him two eyes, a tongue and two lips, and shown him the two ways?”
There are many similar passages in which He addresses them through questions that elicit their acknowledgement and admission of the demonstrative premises establishing the intended conclusion. This is among the finest forms of debate through demonstration. For dialectical argument requires only that the opponent concede the premises, even if they are not clear and known. When they are clear and known, however, they are demonstrative.
In its debates, the Quran does not invoke a premise merely because the opponent concedes it, as is the dialectical method of the logicians and others. Rather, it uses propositions and premises that people acknowledge and that are demonstrative. If some accept them while others dispute them, it presents evidence of their soundness, as in His words:
“They did not give Allah His due when they said, ‘Allah has sent down nothing to any human being.’ Say, ‘Who sent down the Book which