Do You Know This Book ?
Introduction
This
booklet is for every freethinking and broadminded human
being
whose goal is to find the truth. We
encourage you to read this booklet
with an
open mind. For a few moments, please set aside
your
pre—conceived notions and take a critical
look at what is presented. It
will open before
you a new dimension of your role as a human being
in
this universe.
This booklet is for every
freethinking and broadminded human being whose goal is
to find the
truth. We encourage you to read this booklet with an open mind.
For
a
few moments, please set aside your pre—conceived notions and take a
critical look
at what is presented. It will open before you a new
dimension of your role as a
human being in this
universe.
When we
want to talk about Islam as a way of life, it is a very difficult
task
especially in the West because o f
several misconceptions and stereotypes that
are prevalent about Islam and Muslims.
One of the
surprising facts for most non-Muslims is that Islam has over
975
million followers all over the world.
Islam has a revelation, a holy book, called
the Qur’an which was revealed to the prophet Muhammad peace be upon
him,
about fourteen hundred years ago. The
Qur’an is the last and final revelation
until
the end of human existence on earth.
When we
talk about Islam or Christianity, we should not consider
some
Muslims ‘ and Christians’ wrongdoing as a
way to judge Islam or Christianity.
As far as
scripture goes, let us see what Dr. Maurice Bucailie said in
his
book The Bible, the Qur’an and Science,
which was published by the
American Trust
Publications 1979:
“Thanks to its undisputed authenticity, the text of the Qur’an holds
a
unique place among the books of Revelation,
shared neither by the Old
nor the New
Testament. In the first two sections of this work, a
review
was made of the alterations undergone
by the Old Testament and the
Gospels before
they were handed down to us in the form we know
today.
The same is not true for the Qur’an for
the simple reason that It was
written down at
the time of the prophet”.
Somebod1y
with a counter argument might ask, "How would I know
that
the Qur’an is a revelation from Allah? Do
you have any evidence?’
I have
evidence that the Qur’an is a revelation from Allah and this
evidence
is presented in the next few pages.
When the revelation of the Qur’an
commenced in
622 A.D., it was a linguistic miracle. The Quran has a
challenge
in it. The challenge is for anybody
to produce some thing like or similar to the
Qur’an.
This
challenge was presented in the Qur’an in Sura No.17, Veise
No.88
which is translated as
follows:
“Say : If
the whole of mankind and Jinn were together
to
produce the
like of this Qur’an, they could not produce the
like
thereof,
even if they back up each other with help
and
support.”
Years
passed and nobody was able to meet the challenge. Later
(after
several years) the challenge in the
Qur’an was eased asking for anyone
to produce
even ten Suras like those in it. This was in the Quran in
Sum
No. 11, Verse no. 13 which is translated
as follows:
“Or they may say, “He forged it”
Say, “Bring ye then
ten
Suras
forged, like unto it, and call (to your aid)
whomsoever
ye
can, other than Allah! If ye speak the truth”
Again
years passed and nobody was able to successfully meet
the
challenge. Later the challenge was eased
for the second time to produce
one Sura like
or similar to the Suras in the Qur'an.
The
challenge (to anyone) to produce one Sura was presented in
the
Qur’an in more than a Sura, one of them
was in Sura No. 2, Verse No. 23 which
is
translated as follows:
" And If ye are in doubt as to what We
have revealed
from
time to
time to Our servant, then produce a Sura
like
thereunto;
and call your witnesses or helpers besides Allah,
if
what you say
is true. "
Since then
more than fourteen hundred years have passed, and
nobody
has been able to meet the challenge,
and nobody will, because the
Qur’an is the
only existing book containing the word of Allah which no
man
can match or imitate. The most eloquent
people in the Arabic language spent
years
going over and searching the Qur’an, trying to find any weak
or
Inadequate word or sentence, but they could
not. They even went further, trying
to find a
way to substitute a word or a sentence in the Qur'an, hoping to
convey
a similar meaning as the original one,
but they failed to do so.
As a
result of this, many people, especially linguists, throughout the
last
fourteen hundred years believed in the
Qur’an as a revelation beyond
any human
capacity.
In the
beginning of the modern ages, some non-Muslims argued that
the
appreciation of the Arabic language has
declined even among the native
speakers
themselves, and that most of the non-Muslims cannot speak
Arabic.
They conclude that the Qur'an will not
stay till the end of the human existence
on
earth as a miracle.
This is
not a valid argument because, there are still millions of people
all
over the world who have a very good
command of the Arabic language and
could
appreciate the linguistic miracle of the Qur’an But the Quran
has
something else for the modem ages. Some
people have noticed that there are
many facts
about the science of astronomy, human reproduction and
other
scientific fields in the
Qur’an.
Modem
scientists have been amazed by the accuracy of
scientific
information presented in the Quran.
Some people wrote books about this
phenomenon
which attracted the attention of many people in
the
west-both Muslims and
Non-Muslims.
One of
these books is a specialized book in embryology entitled
The
Developing Human by Dr.Keith L. Moore,
published by W.B. Saunders,
1982. In the third
edition of this book, Dr. Moore said:
It is cited in the Koran, the holy book of the Muslims,
that
human
beings are produced from a mixture of secretions
from
the male
and the female. Several references are made to
the
creation of
a human being from a sperm drop and it is
also
suggested
that the resulting organism settles in the
woman
like a
seed, six days after its beginning.
(The human blastocyst begins to implant about six days
after
fertilization.) The Koran, (and prophet saying), also
states
that the
sperm drop develops “into a clot of congealed
blood”
(an
implanted blastocyst or a spontaneously
aborted
conceptus would resemble a blood clot.)
Reference is also made to the
leech-like
appearance of the Embryo ..."
This was
part of what. Dr. Moore wrote in his
book
Later, after more research and study of the Qur’anic terms used
to
describe the development of the embryo in
the mother’s womb and
other related
descriptions, Dr. Moore found that the Qur’anic terms
and
statements are amazing in their scientific
accuracy.
Therefore,
Dr. ‘Moore decided to add a chapter to the next edition of
his
book to discuss the scientific accuracy of
the Qur’anic version, which
was revealed
fourteen hundred years ago. In the seventh Saudi
Medical
Meeting, Dr. Moore wrote a paper about
Human Embryology in the
Qur'an and the Hadith.
He said in the paper 1 was amazed at the
scientific accuracy of these statements (in the Qur’an), which
were
made in the 7th century
A.D.
Now the
question Is: if the Qur'an describes these scientific facts
with
great accuracy, how, could’ it be a human
work? Let us see what Dr.
Maurice Bucaille
said after he had read the Qur’an:
“My first goal was to read the Qur’an and to make a
sentence
by
sentence analysis of it... my approach was to pay
special
attention to the description of numerous natural
phenomena
given
in the Qur’an; the highly accurate nature of
certain
details
referring to them in the Book, which was only
apparent
in the
original, struck me’ by the fact that they were
in
keeping with
present-day ideas although a man living at
the
time of
Muhammad couldn't have suspected this at’ all...
what
initially
strikes the reader confronted for the first time with
a
text of this
kind is the sheer abundance of
subjects
discussed.., where as monumental errors are to be found
in
the Bible I
could not find a single error in the Qur’an. I had
to
stop and ask
myself:
if a man was the author of the Qur’an how could he
have
written
facts in the seventh century A.D. that today
are
shown to be
in keeping with modern scientific knowledge?...
What human explanation can there be to this observation?
In
my opinion
there is no explanation; there is no special
reason
why an
inhabitant of the Arabian Peninsula should have
had
scientific
knowledge on certain subjects that was
ten
centuries
ahead...It is an established fact that at the time
of
the Qur’anic
Revelation, i.e. within a period of roughly
twenty
three
years straddling Hegira (622 A.D.), scientific
knowledge
had
not progressed for centuries and the period of activity
in
Islamic
civilization, with its accompanying scientific
upsurge,
came
after the close of the Qur’anic revelation.”
In
addition to what Dr. Bucaille said, there are more examples
from
different scientific fields other than
embryology.
When I
searched the Qur’an for verses which refer to scientific facts,
I
found a large number of such verses. I will
try to give as many examples as the
space
permits.
The Qur’an
states several facts about astronomy which were
discovered
in the late twentieth century. One
of these facts is about the expansion
of the
universe. Let us see what Dr. Bucaille said about that:
The expansion of the universe is the
most
imposing discovery of modern science today it is
a
firmly established concept and the only
debate
centers around the way this is taking place.
It was
first suggested by the general theory of relativity and is
backed
up by physics in the examination of
the
galactic spectrum; the regular movement
towards
the red section of their spectrum may be
explained
by the distancing of one galaxy from another.
Thus the size of the Universe is
probably
constantly increasing and this increase will
become
bigger the further away the galaxies are from
us.
The speeds at which these celestial bodies
are
moving may, in the course of this
perpetual
expansion, go from fractions of the speed of
light
to speeds faster than this.
The
following Verse of the Qur'an Sura 51, verse 47 where God is
speaking,
may perhaps be compared with modern
ideas;
“The
heaven, We have built it with power. Verily We are expanding
it.
“Heaven” is the translation of the word
“sama”
and this is exactly the extraterrestrial world that
is
meant. “We are. expanding it” is the translation
of
the plural present participle” musi’una” of the
verb
“aus'a” a meaning" to make wider”,
more
spacious, to extend, to expand.”
Another
example from a different scientific field is about the living
things
in general which we can find in more
than one verse in the Qur’an. For
example Sura
21, Verse 30 was chosen by Dr. Bucaille to present how
the
Qur’an talked about these scientific
facts. The Verse is translated as follows:
“ Do not the Unbelievers see that the
heavens and the
earth
were
joined together, then We clove them asunder and
We
got every
living thing out of the water. Will they then
not
believe?
”
The
notion of “getting something out of something” does not give rise
to
any doubts. The phrase can equally mean
that every living thing was
made of water (as
its essential component) or that every living
thing
originated in water. The two possible
meanings are strictly in accordance
with
scientific data. Life is in fact of aquatic origin and water is the
major
component of all living cells. Without
water, life is not possible. When the
possibility of life on another planet is discussed, the first question
is
always: does it contain a sufficient
quantity of water to support life?
From the
Animal Kingdom there are so many facts stated in the
Qur’an.
One of these facts is about the source
of the constituents of animal milk
which has
been described in the Qur’an fourteen hundred years
before.
It has been understood only in recent
times. Let us see how Dr. Bucaille
explained
that when he made comments on Sura 16,Verse 66 which
is
translated as
follows:
“ Verily, in cattle there is a lesson
for you. We give you
to
drink of what
is inside their bodies, coming from a
conjunction
between the contents of the intestine and the blood, a
milk
pure and
pleasant for those who drink it.”
“From
a scientific point of view, physiological notions must be
called
upon to grasp the meaning of this
verse.
The
substances that ensure the general nutrition of the body come
from
chemical transformations which occur
along the length of the digestive
tract. These
substances come from the contents of the intestine.
On
arrival in the intestine at the appropriate
stage of chemical
transformation, they pass
through its wall and towards the systematic
circulation.
This
passage is effected in two ways: either directly, by what are called
the
‘lymphatic vessels’, or indirectly, by the
portal circulation.
This
conducts them first to the liver, where they undergo alterations,
and
from here they then emerge to join the
systematic circulation. In this
way everything
passes through the bloodstream..
The
constituents of milk are secreted by the mammary
glands.
These
are nourished, as it were, by the product of food digestion
brought
to them via the bloodstream. Blood
therefore plays the role of collector
and
conductor of what has been extracted from food, and it
brings
nutrition to the mammary glands, the
producers of milk, as it does to any
other
organ. Here the initial process which sets everything else in
motion
is the bringing together of the
contents of the intestine and blood, at the
level of the intestinal wall itself. This very precise concept is the result
of
the discoveries made in the chemistry and
physiology of the digestive
system. It was
totally unknown at the time of the Prophet
Muhammad
and has been understood only in
recent times. The discovery of the
circulation
of the blood, was made by Harvey roughly ten centuries
after.
The Qur’anic
Revelation.
I
consider that the existence in the Qur’an of the verse referring to
these
concepts can have no human explanation
on account of the period in
which they were
formulated.”
The
last example I would cite from Dr. Bucaille’s book is what I consider
a
very interesting one, because this example
illustrates where the Qur’an
showed the people
facts that have not even been discovered without
the
help of the information given in the
Qur’an. This example is about the
story of the
Pharaoh and Noses which was presented in the Qur’an
in
more than one
Sura.
The
Verses which inspire Dr. Bucaille to do the research around
this
incident are in Sura 10, Verses 90 to 92,
which means as follows:
“We (Allah) took children of Israel across the sea.
Pharaoh
with his
hosts pursued them in rebellion and hostility
till,
when the
fact of his drowning overtook him he said: I
believe
there is
no True God except the God in whom the Children
0]
Israel
believe. I am of those who submit themselves to
Him.
(It was
said to him)’ Now! Thou has rebelled and
caused
depravity: This day We save thee in thy body so that
thou
mayest be a
sign for those who come after thee’ But
verily,
many
among mankind are heedless of Our signs.
This is
what the Holy Qur’an said about the story of Moses and
the
Pharaoh and the sign Allah left for the
people who come after the
Pharaoh to see who
has a revelation from Allah and who does not
have.
Let us hear from Dr. Bucaille how he
conducted research to verify this
Qur’anic
story:
“In June 1975, the Egyptian high authorities
very
kindly allowed me to examine the parts of
the
Pharaoh’s body that had been covered until
then.
They also allowed me to take photographs...
What may already be derived from
this
examination is the discovery of multiple lesions
of
the bones with broad lacunae, some of which
may
have been mortal although it is not yet possible
to
ascertain whether some of them occurred
before
or after the Pharaoh’s death. He most
probably
died either from drowning, according to
the
scriptural narrations, or from very violent
shocks
preceding the moment when he was drowned
or
both at once.
The connection of these lesions with
the
deterioration whose sources have been
mentioned
above renders the correct preservation of
the
mummy of the Pharaoh somewhat
problematical,
unless precautionary and restorative
measures
are not taken very soon. These measures
should
ensure that the only concrete evidence which
we
still possess today concerning the death, of
the
Pharaoh of the Exodus and the rescue of his
body,
willed by God; does not disappear with
the
passage of time.
It is always desirable for man to apply himself
to
the preservation of relics of his history, but
here
we have something which goes beyond that: it
is
the material presence of the mummified body
of
the man. who knew Moses, resisted his
pleas,
pursued him as he took flight and lost his life in
the
process. His earthly remains were saved by
the
Will of God from destruction to become a sign
to
man, as it is written in the Qur’an.
Those who seek among modern data for proof of the
veracity
of the
Holy Scriptures will find a magnificent illustration of
the
verses of
the Qur’an dealing with the Pharaoh’s body
by
visiting the
Royal Mummies Room of the Egyptian
Museum,
Cairo!”
These are
a few examples just to illustrate what I am talking about
in
this booklet. There are over a hundred of
these examples in several
scientific fields in
the Quran which all have been proven to be
scientifically true; in this Book which was revealed fourteen
hundred
years ago. Anybody who would like to
examine more of these concepts
could read the
Qur’an and find out for himself or, an interested
person
could get Dr. Bucaille’s book The Bible
The Qur’an and Science, which is
available in
bookstores and check the accuracy of what he referred
to.
Not only Dr. Bucaille and Dr. Moore, but
many scholars have researched
these concepts
and a lot of this research was presented on
September
23rd, 1985 in the conference which
was held in Cairo under the title of
The
Scientific Concepts in the Qur’an.
Severa1
papers were presented at the conference. One of the
most
interesting papers was from Dr. T.V.
persuade, a professor at the
University of
Manitoba, Canada, about human reproduction.
Another
interesting paper was presented by Dr.
Marshal Johnson Ph.D., the
Director of Daniel
Baugh Institute, Philadelphia, U.S.A., also
about
embryology in the Qur’an. Dr. Johnson
said at the conference that he
started to use
the Qur’anic terms in teaching embryology to his
students
because they were more accurate and
easier to learn than the terms in
textbooks.
Dr. Arthur Elson from the City University in
London,
U.K., stated that he was amazed by the
scientific
accuracy of the statements which had been
made
in the Qur’an. He had no doubt in his mind
that
these were not human words because these
facts
had lust been discovered recently.
I would
like to quote a Verse from the Qur’an which may sum up
the
purpose of having these scientific facts
in the Quran as signs for the
people.
The verse
is from Sura 41, Verse 53 which is translated as follows:
" We (Allah) will show them (the
unbe lievers) Our signs
in
the farthest
regions, and within their own selves until
it
becomes
manifest to them that this is the Truth.”
What is the Qur'an all about ?
The Qur'an is
written in beautiful prose that continues to be marvelled
by
the experts of the Arabic language. But it
is not merely a literary
masterpiece.
The Qur'an
contains scientific facts and explanations that
fascinate
scientists of all fields. But it Is
not an encyclopedia of science.
The Quran
mentions stories of people and places in the past with
vivid
detail. But it is not merely a book of
history.
So
what is Qur'an ?
The Qur'an is a
revelation from the Creator of this universe to all
human
beings.
Its most
important message is the Unity of God - that there is only
One
Supreme Being who has no partners and is
not dependent on anyone or
anything. He is the
Creator of everything and the whole universe is in
His
control. He is the only One worthy of
being worshipped.
It is impossible
for the created to fully comprehend the Creator - so
the
Qur'an makes us aware of Him by mentioning
His Attributes. He is the
most Merciful, the
Loving, the Majestic, the Oft-Forgiving. The name
that
He has chosen for Himself is
Allah.
In His infinite
mercy, Allah has not left mankind to wander searching
for
the correct path. He has revealed the
Qur'an which includes a code for
all people to
follow. Islam is not just a set of beliefs. It is a complete
way
of life which covers all spheres of human
activity - the social, economic,
political,
educational as well as the spiritual. Islam enjoins
good
manners for every occasion and stresses
treating people, particularly
relatives and
neighbors, with kindness. The family enjoys a high
status
in Islam - it is viewed as the nucleus
of society.
Allah has also
sent messengers to guide mankind to the truth and to
be
an example for others to emulate. Stories
of these messengers starting
from Adam and
including those of Noah, Abraham, Moses and Jesus,
and
ending with Muhammad ( may peace be
upon them all ) are found in the
Qur'an.
ThiS final
revelation from Allah to mankind has been safeguarded
from
any alteration. Since the Qur'an has been
preserved in its original Arabic
it has not
lost any meaning in translation to another language. Millions
of
people from all parts of the world have
memorized the complete Qur'an.
So even if all
printed copies of the Qur'an were destroyed it
would
continue to live in the hearts of these
people.
What do Muslims believe?
There is only one
God, Allah, who alone is worthy of being worshipped.
Mankind has been
guided at various times by the messengers of Allah
of
whom the most prominent were Noah, Abraham,
Moses, Jesus and
Muhammad. The final message
was sent to the last prophet,
Muhammad, which
replaces all previous messages. None of the
prophets
claimed to be god or part-god - they
were human and were obedient to
Allah.
Finally, I want
to inform you that Islam is the universal message of
Allah
to all mankind and prophet Muhammad
(peace be upon him) is the last
and final
messenger of Allah. Therefore, Allah will not accept any way
of
life except Islam. He said in the Gracious
Qur’an which is translated as
follows:
" And any one who chooses a way of life other than Islam,
it will not be
accepted from him and in the
hereafter he will be one of the losers. "
(3:85)
Please save yourself from the hell fire by embracing Islam
Suggested Reading
If you wish to Know
More about Islam
YOU may refer to the following books:
1. Fundamentals of Tawheed by Bilal Phillips.
2. Towards understanding Islam by Abul Ala Al-Moudoodi.
5. Salvation through Repentance by Bilal Phillips.
4. The Bible, The Qur’an and Science by Maurice Bucaille.
5. Al-Qur’an The Miracle of Miracles by Ahmed Deedat.
6. The True Religion by Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips.
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