Musaylimah used to pray three times a day. He used to lie and say Qur’an was revealed to him, and he’d make up verses of “Qur’an”. In one instance, the people came to him and asked “was anything revealed?” “Not yet.” And later, “anything yet?” “Nope.”. And later “Anything yet?” “Nope.”
At one point, some people came to him and one said “was anything revealed to the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم)?” and another replied “Yeah, wal-Asr …” (Surah Asr). So they asked Musaylimah, “Was anything revealed to you, Musaylimah?” and he said something like, “‘The elephant … and what will make you understand the elephant? It has a ropey tail and a long trunk.’1 … What do you think?” and the person said “I swear by Allah, that you know that I know that you’re a liar.” And on the heels of that: “A liar from Rabiyyah (an area in Najd) is more beloved to us then a truthful person from Muddah (where the Prophet (صلي الله عليه وسلم) was from).”
Subhanallah. That’s tribalism.
And indeed, that is one of the miracles of Qur’an. The best speakers of Arabic language, the masters of the language, back then, failed to create even one verse like it, let alone one chapter. The challange continues undefeated, as it will stay, for all time.
After all, Allah promised it to us, in Surah Baqarah?
Translation: And if you have doubt about what We revealed to Our slave, create a surah like it … and if you can’t, and you will never be able to, fear the Fire whose fuel is men and stones …” (Surah Baqarah, 2:23-24).
(1) “Musaylimah”. Wikipedia. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musaylimah>
(2) Muhammad Alshareef. Lecture. AlMaghrib. Conquest: History of the Khulafa. University of Toronto, Toronto. November 2005.