A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam

This Islamic
guide is for non-Muslims who would like to understand Islam, Muslims
(Moslems), and the Holy Quran (Koran). It is rich in information,
references, bibliography, and illustrations. It has been reviewed and
edited by many professors and well-educated people. It is brief and
simple to read, yet contains much scientific knowledge. It contains the
whole book, A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam, and more.
we will give you each time part of that book to read

A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Book-cover-small

Cover of the book A Brief Illustrated Guide to Understanding Islam. Click on the image to enlarge.

This web site is a brief guide to understanding Islam. It consists of three chapters. A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Preface-img1

A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Preface-img1

The first chapter, Some Evidence for the Truth of Islam, answers some important questions which some people ask:

n Is the Quran truly the literal word of God, revealed by Him?
n Is Muhammad A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Salla

A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Salla

1 truly a prophet sent by God?
n Is Islam truly a religion from God? In this chapter, six kinds of evidence are mentioned:
1) The Scientific Miracles in the Holy Quran:
This section discusses (with illustrations) some recently discovered
scientific facts mentioned in the Holy Quran, which was revealed
fourteen centuries ago.
2) The Great Challenge to Produce One Chapter Like the Chapters of the Holy Quran:
In the Quran, God challenged all human beings to produce a single
chapter like the chapters of the Quran. Ever since the Quran was
revealed, fourteen centuries ago, until this day, no one has been able
to meet this challenge, even though the smallest chapter in the Quran
(Chapter 108) is only ten words.
3) Biblical Prophecies on the Advent of Muhammad , the Prophet of Islam: In this section, some of the Biblical prophecies on the advent of the Prophet Muhammad are discussed.
4) The Verses in the Quran That Mention Future Events Which Later Came to Pass: The Quran mentioned future events which later came to pmind, for example, the victory of the Romans over the Persians.
5) Miracles Performed by the Prophet Muhammad : Many miracles were performed by the Prophet Muhammad . These miracles were witnessed by many people.
6) The Simple Life of Muhammad : This clearly indicates that Muhammad was not a false prophet who claimed prophethood to attain material gains, greatness, or power.
From these six kinds of evidence, we conclude that:

n The Quran must be the literal word of God, revealed by Him.
n Muhammad is truly a prophet sent by God.
n Islam is truly a religion from God. If
we would like to know if a religion is true or false, we should not
depend on our emotions, feelings, or traditions. Rather, we should
depend on our reason and intellect. When God sent the prophets, He
supported them with miracles and evidence which proved that they were
truly prophets sent by God and hence that the religion they came with is
true.
The second chapter, Some Benefits of Islam, mentions some of the benefits that Islam provides for the individual, such as:
1) The Door to Eternal Paradise
2) Salvation from Hellfire
3) Real Happiness and Inner Peace
4) Forgiveness for All Previous Sins.
The third chapter, General Information on Islam,
provides general information on Islam, corrects some misconceptions
about it, and answers some commonly asked questions, such as:

n What does Islam say about terrorism?
n What is the status of women in Islam?

Next: The Scientific Miracles in the Holy Quran

_____________________________
Footnotes:
(1) These Arabic words A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Salla

mean, ‘May God exalt his mention and protect him from imperfection.’ (Click here to enlarge these Arabic words). A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Back

A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Back

Chapter 1
A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Ch1

God supported His last Prophet Muhammad A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Salla

with many miracles and much evidence which proved that he is a true
Prophet sent by God. Also, God supported His last revealed book, the
Holy Quran, with many miracles that prove that this Quran is the literal
word of God, revealed by Him, and that it was not authored by any human
being. This chapter discusses some of this evidence.
(1) The
Scientific Miracles
in the Holy Quran
The Quran is the literal word of God, which He revealed to His Prophet Muhammad A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Salla

through the Angel Gabriel. A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Ch1-1-img1

It was memorized by Muhammad A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Salla

,
who then dictated it to his Companions. They, in turn, memorized it,
wrote it down, and reviewed it with the Prophet Muhammad A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Salla

. Moreover, the Prophet Muhammad A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Salla

reviewed the Quran with the Angel Gabriel once each year and twice in
the last year of his life. From the time the Quran was revealed, until
this day, there has always been a huge number of Muslims who have
memorized all of the Quran, letter by letter. Some of them have even
been able to memorize all of the Quran by the age of ten. Not one
letter of the Quran has been changed over the centuries.
The Quran, which was revealed fourteen centuries ago,
mentioned facts only recently discovered or proven by scientists. This
proves without doubt that the Quran must be the literal word of God,
revealed by Him to the Prophet Muhammad A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Salla

, and that the Quran was not authored by Muhammad A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Salla

or by any other human being. This also proves that Muhammad A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Salla

is truly a prophet sent by God. It is beyond reason that anyone
fourteen hundred years ago would have known these facts discovered or
proven only recently with advanced equipment and sophisticated
scientific methods. Some examples follow.

A) The Quran on Human Embryonic Development:

In the Holy Quran, God speaks about the stages of man’s embryonic development:

We created man from an extract of clay. Then We made him as a drop in a
place of settlement, firmly fixed. Then We made the drop into an alaqah (leech, suspended thing, and blood clot), then We made the alaqah into a mudghah (chewed substance)... 1 (Quran, 23:12-14)
Literally, the Arabic word alaqah has three meanings: (1) leech, (2) suspended thing, and (3) blood clot.
In comparing a leech to an embryo in the alaqah stage, we find similarity between the two2 as we can see in figure 1. Also,
the embryo at this stage obtains nourishment from the blood of the
mother, similar to the leech, which feeds on the blood of others.3

A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Ch1-1-a-img1

Figure 1: Drawings illustrating the similarities in appearance between a leech and a human embryo at the alaqah stage. (Leech drawing from Human Development as Described in the Quran and Sunnah, Moore and others, p. 37, modified from Integrated Principles of Zoology, Hickman and others. Embryo drawing from The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 73.)

The second meaning of the word alaqah is “suspended thing.” This is what we can see in figures 2 and 3, the suspension of the embryo, during the alaqah stage, in the womb of the mother.

Figure 2: We can see in this diagram the suspension of an embryo during the alaqah stage in the womb (uterus) of the mother. (The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 66.) (Click on the image to enlarge it.)
A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Ch1-1-a-img2

A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Ch1-1-a-img2

Figure 3: In this photomicrograph, we can see the suspension of an embryo (marked B) during the alaqah stage (about 15 days old) in the womb of the mother. The actual size of the embryo is about 0.6 mm. (The Developing Human, Moore, 3rd ed., p. 66, from Histology, Leeson and Leeson.)
A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Ch1-1-a-img3

A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Ch1-1-a-img3

The third meaning of the word alaqah is “blood clot.” We find that the external appearance of the embryo and its sacs during the alaqah stage
is similar to that of a blood clot. This is due to the presence of
relatively large amounts of blood present in the embryo during this
stage4 (see figure 4). Also during this stage, the blood in the embryo does not circulate until the end of the third week.5 Thus, the embryo at this stage is like a clot of blood.

Figure 4: Diagram of the primitive cardiovascular system in an embryo during the alaqah
stage. The external appearance of the embryo and its sacs is similar
to that of a blood clot, due to the presence of relatively large amounts
of blood present in the embryo. (The Developing Human, Moore, 5th ed., p. 65.) (Click on the image to enlarge it.)
A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Ch1-1-a-img4

A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Ch1-1-a-img4

So the three meanings of the word alaqah correspond accurately to the de******ions of the embryo at the alaqah stage.
The next stage mentioned in the verse is the mudghah stage. The Arabic word mudghah means
“chewed substance.” If one were to take a piece of gum and chew it in
his or her mouth and then compare it with an embryo at the mudghah stage, we would conclude that the embryo at the mudghah stage
acquires the appearance of a chewed substance. This is because of the
somites at the back of the embryo that “somewhat resemble teethmarks in a
chewed substance.”6 (see figures 5 and 6).

Figure 5: Photograph of an embryo at the mudghah
stage (28 days old). The embryo at this stage acquires the appearance
of a chewed substance, because the somites at the back of the embryo
somewhat resemble teeth marks in a chewed substance. The actual size of
the embryo is 4 mm. (The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 82, from Professor Hideo Nishimura, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.)
A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Ch1-1-a-img5

A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Ch1-1-a-img5

Figure 6: When comparing the appearance of an embryo at the mudghah stage with a piece of gum that has been chewed, we find similarity between the two.
A) Drawing of an embryo at the mudghah stage. We can see here the somites at the back of the embryo that look like teeth marks. (The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 79.)
B) Photograph of a piece of gum that has been chewed.
(Click on the image to enlarge it.)
A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Ch1-1-a-img6

A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Ch1-1-a-img6

How could Muhammad A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Salla

have possibly known all this 1400 years ago, when scientists have only
recently discovered this using advanced equipment and powerful
microscopes which did not exist at that time? Hamm and Leeuwenhoek were
the first scientists to observe human sperm cells (spermatozoa) using
an improved microscope in 1677 (more than 1000 years after Muhammad A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Salla

).
They mistakenly thought that the sperm cell contained a miniature
preformed human being that grew when it was deposited in the female
genital tract.7
Professor Emeritus Keith L. Moore8 is one of the world’s most prominent scientists in the fields of anatomy and embryology and is the author of the book entitled The Developing Human,
which has been translated into eight languages. This book is a
scientific reference work and was chosen by a special committee in the
United States as the best book authored by one person. Dr. Keith Moore
is Professor Emeritus of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of
Toronto, Toronto, Canada. There, he was mindociate Dean of Basic
Sciences at the Faculty of Medicine and for 8 years was the Chairman of
the Department of Anatomy. In 1984, he received the most distinguished
award presented in the field of anatomy in Canada, the J.C.B. Grant
Award from the Canadian mindociation of Anatomists. He has directed many
international mindociations, such as the Canadian and American
mindociation of Anatomists and the Council of the Union of Biological
Sciences.
In 1981, during the Seventh Medical Conference in Dammam,
Saudi Arabia, Professor Moore said: “It has been a great pleasure for
me to help clarify statements in the Quran about human development. It
is clear to me that these statements must have come to Muhammad from
God, because almost all of this knowledge was not discovered until many
centuries later. This proves to me that Muhammad must have been a
messenger of God.”9 (To view the RealPlayer video of this comment click here A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Video

A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Video

).
Consequently, Professor Moore was asked the following
question: “Does this mean that you believe that the Quran is the word of
God?” He replied: “I find no difficulty in accepting this.”10
During one conference, Professor Moore stated:
“....Because the staging of human embryos is complex, owing to the
continuous process of change during development, it is proposed that a
new system of clmindification could be developed using the terms
mentioned in the Quran and Sunnah (what Muhammad A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Salla

said, did, or approved of). The proposed system is simple,
comprehensive, and conforms with present embryological knowledge. The
intensive studies of the Quran and hadeeth (reliably transmitted reports by the Prophet Muhammad’s A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Salla

companions
of what he said, did, or approved of) in the last four years have
revealed a system for clmindifying human embryos that is amazing since it
was recorded in the seventh century A.D. Although Aristotle, the
founder of the science of embryology, realized that chick embryos
developed in stages from his studies of hen’s eggs in the fourth century
B.C., he did not give any details about these stages. As far as it is
known from the history of embryology, little was known about the staging
and clmindification of human embryos until the twentieth century. For
this reason, the de******ions of the human embryo in the Quran cannot be
based on scientific knowledge in the seventh century. The only
reasonable conclusion is: these de******ions were revealed to Muhammad
from God. He could not have known such details because he was an
illiterate man with absolutely no scientific training.”11 (View the RealPlayer video of this comment A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Video

).

Footnotes:

(1) Please note that what is between these special brackets ... in
this web site is only a translation of the meaning of the Quran. It is
not the Quran itself, which is in Arabic.

(2) The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 8.

(3) Human Development as Described in the Quran and Sunnah, Moore and others, p. 36.

(4) Human Development as Described in the Quran and Sunnah, Moore and others, pp. 37-38.

(5) The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 65.

(6) The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 8.

(7) The Developing Human, Moore and Persaud, 5th ed., p. 9.

(8) Note: The oc A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Cup

A Brief Illustrated Guide To Understanding Islam Cup

ations of all the scientists mentioned in this web site were last updated in 1997.

(9) The reference for this saying is This is the Truth (videotape). For a copy of this videotape, please visit this page.

(10) This is the Truth (videotape).

(11) This is the Truth (videotape). For a copy, see footnote no. 9

B) The Quran on Mountains:

A book entitled Earth is a basic reference
textbook in many universities around the world. One of its two authors
is Professor Emeritus Frank Press. He was the Science Advisor to former
US President Jimmy Carter, and for 12 years was the President of the
National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC. His book says that
mountains have underlying roots.1 These roots are deeply embedded in the ground, thus, mountains have a shape like a peg (see figures 7, 8, and 9).

Figure 7: Mountains have deep roots under the surface of the ground. (Earth, Press and Siever, p. 413.)

Figure 8: Schematic section. The mountains, like pegs, have deep roots embedded in the ground. (Anatomy of the Earth, Cailleux, p. 220.) (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

Figure 9: Another illustration shows how the mountains are peg-like in shape, due to their deep roots. (Earth Science, Tarbuck and Lutgens, p. 158.) (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

This is how the Quran has described mountains. God has said in the Quran:
Have We not made the earth as a bed, and the mountains as pegs? (Quran, 78:6-7)

Modern earth sciences have proven that mountains have
deep roots under the surface of the ground (see figure 9) and that these
roots can reach several times their elevations above the surface of the
ground.2
So the most suitable word to describe mountains on the basis of this
information is the word ‘peg,’ since most of a properly set peg is
hidden under the surface of the ground. The history of science tells us
that the theory of mountains having deep roots was introduced only in
the latter half of the nineteenth century.3

Mountains also play an important role in stabilizing the crust of the earth.4 They hinder the shaking of the earth. God has said in the Quran:

And He has set firm mountains in the earth so that it would not shake with you... (Quran, 16:15)

Likewise, the modern theory of plate tectonics holds that
mountains work as stabilizers for the earth. This knowledge about the
role of mountains as stabilizers for the earth has just begun to be
understood in the framework of plate tectonics since the late 1960’s.5

Could anyone during the time of the Prophet Muhammad have known of the true shape of mountains? Could
anyone imagine that the solid mmindive mountain which he sees before him
actually extends deep into the earth and has a root, as scientists
mindert? A large number of books of geology, when discussing mountains,
only describe that part which is above the surface of the earth. This
is because these books were not written by specialists in geology.
However, modern geology has confirmed the truth of the Quranic verses.

Footnotes:
(1) Earth, Press and Siever, p. 435. Also see Earth Science, Tarbuck and Lutgens, p. 157.
(2) The Geological Concept of Mountains in the Quran, El-Naggar, p. 5.
(3) The Geological Concept of Mountains in the Quran, p. 5.
(4) The Geological Concept of Mountains in the Quran, pp. 44-45.

(5) The Geological Concept of Mountains in the Quran, p. 5.

C) The Quran on the Origin of the Universe:

The science of modern cosmology, observational and
theoretical, clearly indicates that, at one point in time, the whole
universe was nothing but a cloud of ‘smoke’ (i.e. an opaque highly dense
and hot gaseous composition).1 This is one of the undisputed principles of standard modern cosmology. Scientists now can observe new forming out of the remnants of that ‘smoke’ (see figures 10 and 11).

Figure 10:
A new star forming out of a cloud of gas and dust (nebula), which is
one of the remnants of the ‘smoke’ that was the origin of the whole
universe. (The Space Atlas, Heather and Henbest, p. 50.)

Figure 11:
The Lagoon nebula is a cloud of gas and dust, about 60 light years in
diameter. It is excited by the ultraviolet radiation of the hot that have recently formed within its bulk. (Horizons, Exploring the Universe, Seeds, plate 9, from mindociation of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc.) (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

The illuminating we see at night were, just as was the whole universe, in that ‘smoke’ material. God has said in the Quran:
Then He turned to the heaven when it was smoke... (Quran, 41:11)

Because the earth and the heavens above (the sun, the moon, ,
planets, galaxies, etc.) have been formed from this same ‘smoke,’ we
conclude that the earth and the heavens were one connected entity. Then
out of this homogeneous ‘smoke,’ they formed and separated from each
other. God has said in the Quran:

Have not those who disbelieved known that the heavens and the earth were one connected entity, then We separated them?... (Quran, 21:30)

Dr. Alfred Kroner is one of the world’s renowned
geologists. He is Professor of Geology and the Chairman of the
Department of Geology at the Institute of Geosciences, Johannes
Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany. He said: “Thinking where Muhammad
came from . . . I think it is almost impossible that he could have
known about things like the common origin of the universe, because
scientists have only found out within the last few years, with very
complicated and advanced technological methods, that this is the case.”2 (To view the RealPlayer video of this comment click here ).
Also he said: “Somebody who did not know something about nuclear
physics fourteen hundred years ago could not, I think, be in a position
to find out from his own mind, for instance, that the earth and the
heavens had the same origin.”3 (View the RealPlayer video of this comment ).

Footnotes:

(1) The First Three Minutes, a Modern View of the Origin of the Universe, Weinberg, pp. 94-105.
(2) The reference for this saying is This is the Truth (videotape). For a copy of this videotape, please visit this page.

(3) This is the Truth (videotape).

D) The Quran on the Cerebrum:

God has said in the Quran about one of the evil unbelievers who forbade the Prophet Muhammad from praying at the Kaaba:

No! If he does not stop, We will take him by the naseyah (front of the head), a lying, sinful naseyah (front of the head)! (Quran, 96:15-16)
Why did the Quran describe the front of the head as being
lying and sinful? Why didn’t the Quran say that the person was lying
and sinful? What is the relationship between the front of the head and
lying and sinfulness?

If we look into the skull at the front of the head, we
will find the prefrontal area of the cerebrum (see figure 12). What
does physiology tell us about the function of this area? A book
entitled Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology says about this area, “The motivation and the foresight to plan and initiate ments occur in the anterior portion of the frontal lobes, the prefrontal area. This is a region of mindociation cortex...”1
Also the book says, “In relation to its involvement in motivation, the
prefrontal area is also thought to be the functional center for
aggression....”2

Figure 12:
Functional regions of the left hemisphere of the cerebral cortex. The
prefrontal area is located at the front of the cerebral cortex. (Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology, Seeley and others, p. 210.) (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

So, this area of the cerebrum is responsible for
planning, motivating, and initiating good and sinful behavior and is
responsible for the telling of lies and the speaking of truth. Thus, it
is proper to describe the front of the head as lying and sinful when
someone lies or commits a sin, as the Quran has said, “...A lying, sinful naseyah (front of the head)!”
Scientists have only discovered these functions of the
prefrontal area in the last sixty years, according to Professor Keith L.
Moore.3

Footnotes:

(1) Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology, Seeley and others, p. 211. Also see The Human Nervous System, Noback and others, pp. 410-411.
(2) Essentials of Anatomy & Physiology, Seeley and others, p. 211.

(3) Al-E’jaz al-Elmy fee al-Naseyah (The Scientific Miracles in the Front of the Head), Moore and others, p. 41.

E) The Quran on Seas and Rivers:

Modern Science has discovered that in the places where
two different seas meet, there is a barrier between them. This barrier
divides the two seas so that each sea has its own temperature, salinity,
and density.1
For example, Mediterranean sea water is warm, saline, and less dense,
compared to Atlantic ocean water. When Mediterranean sea water enters
the Atlantic over the Gibraltar sill, it s
several hundred kilometers into the Atlantic at a depth of about 1000
meters with its own warm, saline, and less dense characteristics. The
Mediterranean water stabilizes at this depth2 (see figure 13).

Figure 13:
The Mediterranean sea water as it enters the Atlantic over the
Gibraltar sill with its own warm, saline, and less dense
characteristics, because of the barrier that distinguishes between them.
Temperatures are in degrees Celsius (C°). (Marine Geology, Kuenen, p. 43, with a slight enhancement.) (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

Although there are large waves, strong currents, and tides in these seas, they do not mix or transgress this barrier.

The Holy Quran mentioned that there is a barrier between two seas that meet and that they do not transgress. God has said:

He has set free the two seas meeting together. There is a barrier between them. They do not transgress. (Quran, 55:19-20)

But when the Quran speaks about the divider between fresh
and salt water, it mentions the existence of “a forbidding partition”
with the barrier. God has said in the Quran:

He is the one who has set free the two kinds of water, one sweet and
palatable, and the other salty and bitter. And He has made between them
a barrier and a forbidding partition. (Quran, 25:53)

One may ask, why did the Quran mention the partition when
speaking about the divider between fresh and salt water, but did not
mention it when speaking about the divider between the two seas?

Modern science has discovered that in estuaries, where
fresh (sweet) and salt water meet, the situation is somewhat different
from what is found in places where two seas meet. It has been
discovered that what distinguishes fresh water from salt water in
estuaries is a “pycnocline zone with a marked density discontinuity
separating the two layers.”3 This partition (zone of separation) has a different salinity from the fresh water and from the salt water4 (see figure 14).

Figure 14:
Longitudinal section showing salinity (parts per thousand ‰) in an
estuary. We can see here the partition (zone of separation) between the
fresh and the salt water. (Introductory Oceanography, Thurman, p. 301, with a slight enhancement.) (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

This information has been discovered only recently, using
advanced equipment to measure temperature, salinity, density, oxygen
dissolubility, etc. The human eye cannot see the difference between the
two seas that meet, rather the two seas appear to us as one homogeneous
sea. Likewise, the human eye cannot see the division of water in
estuaries into the three kinds: fresh water, salt water, and the
partition (zone of separation).

Footnotes:
(1) Principles of Oceanography, Davis, pp. 92-93.

(2) Principles of Oceanography, Davis, p. 93.

(3) Oceanography, Gross, p. 242. Also see Introductory Oceanography, Thurman, pp. 300-301.

(4) Oceanography, Gross, p. 244, and Introductory Oceanography, Thurman, pp. 300-301.

F) The Quran on Deep Seas and Internal Waves:

God has said in the Quran:

Or (the unbelievers’ state) is like the darkness in a deep sea. It is
covered by waves, above which are waves, above which are clouds.
Darknesses, one above another. If a man stretches out his hand, he
cannot see it.... (Quran, 24:40)

This verse mentions the darkness found in deep seas and
oceans, where if a man stretches out his hand, he cannot see it. The
darkness in deep seas and oceans is found around a depth of 200 meters
and below. At this depth, there is almost no light (see figure 15).
Below a depth of 1000 meters there is no light at all.1
Human beings are not able to dive more than forty meters without the
aid of submarines or special equipment. Human beings cannot survive
unaided in the deep dark part of the oceans, such as at a depth of 200
meters.

Figure 15: Between 3 and 30 percent of the sunlight is reflected at the sea surface. Then almost all of the seven ors of the light spectrum are absorbed one after another in the first 200 meters, except the blue light. (Oceans, Elder and Pernetta, p. 27.)

Scientists have recently discovered this darkness by
means of special equipment and submarines that have enabled them to dive
into the depths of the oceans.

We can also understand from the following sentences in the previous verse, “...in a deep sea. It is covered by waves, above which are waves, above which are clouds....”,
that the deep waters of seas and oceans are covered by waves, and above
these waves are other waves. It is clear that the second set of waves
are the surface waves that we see, because the verse mentions that above
the second waves there are clouds. But what about the first waves?
Scientists have recently discovered that there are internal waves which
“occur on density interfaces between layers of different densities.”2 (see figure 16).

Figure 16:
Internal waves at interface between two layers of water of different
densities. One is dense (the lower one), the other one is less dense
(the upper one). (Oceanography, Gross, p. 204.)

The internal waves cover the deep waters of seas and
oceans because the deep waters have a higher density than the waters
above them. Internal waves act like surface waves. They can also
break, just like surface waves. Internal waves cannot be seen by the
human eye, but they can be detected by studying temperature or salinity
changes at a given location.3

Footnotes:

(1) Oceans, Elder and Pernetta, p. 27.
(2) Oceanography, Gross, p. 205.

(3) Oceanography, Gross, p. 205.

G) The Quran on Clouds:

Scientists have studied cloud types and have realized
that rain clouds are formed and shaped according to definite systems and
certain steps connected with certain types of wind and clouds.

One kind of rain cloud is the cumulonimbus cloud.
Meteorologists have studied how cumulonimbus clouds are formed and how
they produce rain, hail, and lightning.

They have found that cumulonimbus clouds go through the following steps to produce rain:

1) The clouds are pushed by the wind:
Cumulonimbus clouds begin to form when wind pushes some small pieces of
clouds (cumulus clouds) to an area where these clouds converge (see
figures 17 and 18).

Figure 17:
Satellite photo showing the clouds moving towards the convergence areas
B, C, and D. The arrows indicate the directions of the wind. (The Use of Satellite Pictures in Weather Analysis and Forecasting, Anderson and others, p. 188.) (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

Figure 18:
Small pieces of clouds (cumulus clouds) moving towards a convergence
zone near the horizon, where we can see a large cumulonimbus cloud. (Clouds and Storms, Ludlam, plate 7.4.) (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

2) Joining: Then the small clouds join together forming a larger cloud1 (see figures 18 and 19).

Figure 19:
(A) Isolated small pieces of clouds (cumulus clouds). (B) When the
small clouds join together, updrafts within the larger cloud increase,
so the cloud is stacked up. Water drops are indicated by ·. (The Atmosphere, Anthes and others, p. 269.) (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

3) Stacking: When the small clouds join together,
updrafts within the larger cloud increase. The updrafts near the
center of the cloud are stronger than those near the edges.2
These updrafts cause the cloud body to grow vertically, so the cloud
is stacked up (see figures 19 (B), 20, and 21). This vertical growth
causes the cloud body to stretch into cooler regions of the atmosphere,
where drops of water and hail formulate and begin to grow larger and
larger. When these drops of water and hail become too heavy for the
updrafts to support them, they begin to fall from the cloud as rain,
hail, etc.3

Figure 20: A cumulonimbus cloud. After the cloud is stacked up, rain comes out of it. (Weather and Climate, Bodin, p.123.)

Figure 21: A cumulonimbus cloud. (A Colour Guide to Clouds, Scorer and Wexler, p. 23.)

God has said in the Quran:

Have you not seen how God makes the clouds gently, then joins them together, then makes them into a stack, and then you see the rain come out of it.... (Quran, 24:43)

Meteorologists have only recently come to know these
details of cloud formation, structure, and function by using advanced
equipment like planes, satellites, computers, balloons, and other
equipment, to study wind and its direction, to measure humidity and its
variations, and to determine the levels and variations of atmospheric
pressure.4

The preceding verse, after mentioning clouds and rain, speaks about hail and lightning:

....And He sends down hail from mountains (clouds) in the sky, and He
strikes with it whomever He wills, and turns it from whomever He wills.
The vivid flash of its lightning nearly blinds the sight. (Quran, 24:43)

Meteorologists have found that these cumulonimbus clouds,
that shower hail, reach a height of 25,000 to 30,000 ft (4.7 to 5.7
miles),5 like mountains, as the Quran said, “...And He sends down hail from mountains (clouds) in the sky...” (see figure 21 above).

This verse may raise a question. Why does the verse say “its lightning”
in a reference to the hail? Does this mean that hail is the major
factor in producing lightning? Let us see what the book entitled Meteorology Today
says about this. It says that a cloud becomes electrified as hail
falls through a region in the cloud of supercooled droplets and ice
crystals. As liquid droplets lide
with a hailstone, they freeze on contact and release latent heat. This
keeps the surface of the hailstone warmer than that of the surrounding
ice crystals. When the hailstone comes in contact with an ice crystal,
an important phenomenon occurs: electrons flow from the der
object toward the warmer object. Hence, the hailstone becomes
negatively charged. The same effect occurs when supercooled droplets
come in contact with a hailstone and tiny splinters of positively
charged ice break off. These lighter positively charged particles are
then carried to the upper part of the cloud by updrafts. The hail, left
with a negative charge, falls towards the bottom of the cloud, thus the
lower part of the cloud becomes negatively charged. These negative
charges are then discharged as lightning.6 We conclude from this that hail is the major factor in producing lightning.

This information on lightning was discovered recently.
Until 1600 AD, Aristotle’s ideas on meteorology were dominant. For
example, he said that the atmosphere contains two kinds of exhalation,
moist and dry. He also said that thunder is the sound of the lision
of the dry exhalation with the neighboring clouds, and lightning is the
inflaming and burning of the dry exhalation with a thin and faint fire.7 These are some of the ideas on meteorology that were dominant at the time of the Quran’s revelation, fourteen centuries ago.

Footnotes:
(1) See The Atmosphere, Anthes and others, pp. 268-269, and Elements of Meteorology, Miller and Thompson, p. 141.

(2) The updrafts near the center are stronger, because
they are protected from the cooling effects by the outer portion of the
cloud.

(3) See The Atmosphere, Anthes and others, p. 269, and Elements of Meteorology, Miller and Thompson, pp. 141-142.

(4) See Ee’jaz al-Quran al-Kareem fee Wasf Anwa’ al-Riyah, al-Sohob, al-Matar, Makky and others, p. 55.

(5) Elements of Meteorology, Miller and Thompson, p. 141.

(6) Meteorology Today, Ahrens, p. 437.

(7) The Works of Aristotle Translated into English: Meteorologica, vol. 3, Ross and others, pp. 369a-369b.

H) Scientists’ Comments on the Scientific Miracles in the Holy Quran:

The following are some comments of scientists1 on the scientific miracles in the Holy Quran. All of these comments have been taken from the videotape entitled This is the Truth.
In this videotape, you can see and hear the scientists while they are
giving the following comments. (To view the RealPlayer video of a
comment, click on the link at the end of that comment. For a copy of
this videotape, please visit this page.)

1) Dr. T. V. N. Persaud is Professor of Anatomy, Professor of Pediatrics and Child Health, and Professor of Obstetrics, Gyneogy,
and Reproductive Sciences at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg,
Manitoba, Canada. There, he was the Chairman of the Department of
Anatomy for 16 years. He is well-known in his field. He is the author
or editor of 22 textbooks and has published over 181 scientific papers.
In 1991, he received the most distinguished award presented in the
field of anatomy in Canada, the J.C.B. Grant Award from the Canadian
mindociation of Anatomists. When he was asked about the scientific
miracles in the Quran which he has researched, he stated the following:

“The way it was explained to me is that Muhammad was a
very ordinary man. He could not read, didn’t know [how] to write. In
fact, he was an illiterate. And we’re talking about twelve [actually
about fourteen] hundred years ago. You have someone illiterate making
profound pronouncements and statements and that are amazingly accurate
about scientific nature. And I personally can’t see how this could be a
mere chance. There are too many accuracies and, like Dr. Moore, I have
no difficulty in my mind that this is a divine inspiration or
revelation which led him to these statements.” (View the RealPlayer video of this comment )

Professor Persaud has included some Quranic verses and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad in some of his books. He has also presented these verses and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad at several conferences.

2) Dr. Joe Leigh Simpson is the Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gyneogy, Professor of Obstetrics and Gyneogy,
and Professor of Molecular and Human Genetics at the Baylor College of
Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA. Formerly, he was Professor of Ob-Gyn and
the Chairman of the Department of Ob-Gyn at the University of
Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee, USA. He was also the President of the
American Fertility Society. He has received many awards, including the
mindociation of Professors of Obstetrics and Gyneogy Public Recognition Award in 1992. Professor Simpson studied the following two sayings of the Prophet Muhammad :

{In every one of you, all components of your creation are lected together in your mother’s womb by forty days...}2

{If forty-two nights have pminded over the embryo, God
sends an angel to it, who shapes it and creates its hearing, vision,
skin, flesh, and bones....}3

He studied these two sayings of the Prophet Muhammad
extensively, noting that the first forty days constitute a clearly
distinguishable stage of embryo-genesis. He was particularly impressed
by the absolute precision and accuracy of those sayings of the Prophet
Muhammad . Then, during one conference, he gave the following opinion:

“So that the two hadeeths (the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad )
that have been noted provide us with a specific time table for the main
embryological development before forty days. Again, the point has been
made, I think, repeatedly by other speakers this morning: these hadeeths
could not have been obtained on the basis of the scientific knowledge
that was available [at] the time of their writing . . . . It follows, I
think, that not only there is no conflict between genetics and religion
but, in fact, religion can guide science by adding revelation to some of
the traditional scientific approaches, that there exist statements in
the Quran shown centuries later to be valid, which support knowledge in
the Quran having been derived from God.” (View the RealPlayer video of this comment )

3) Dr. E. Marshall Johnson is Professor Emeritus
of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at Thomas Jefferson University,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. There, for 22 years he was Professor
of Anatomy, the Chairman of the Department of Anatomy, and the Director
of the Daniel Baugh Institute. He was also the President of the
Teratology Society. He has authored more than 200 publications. In
1981, during the Seventh Medical Conference in Dammam, Saudi Arabia,
Professor Johnson said in the presentation of his research paper:

“Summary: The Quran describes not only the development of
external form, but emphasizes also the internal stages, the stages
inside the embryo, of its creation and development, emphasizing major
events recognized by contemporary science.” (View the RealPlayer video of this comment )

Also he said: “As a scientist, I can only deal with
things which I can specifically see. I can understand embryology and
developmental biology. I can understand the words that are translated
to me from the Quran. As I gave the example before, if I were to
transpose myself into that era, knowing what I knew today and describing
things, I could not describe the things which were described. I see no
evidence for the fact to refute the concept that this individual,
Muhammad, had to be developing this information from some place. So I
see nothing here in conflict with the concept that divine intervention
was involved in what he was able to write.”4 (View the RealPlayer video of this comment )

4) Dr. William W. Hay is a well-known marine
scientist. He is Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of
Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA. He was formerly the Dean of the
Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of
Miami, Miami, Florida, USA. After a discussion with Professor Hay
about the Quran’s mention of recently discovered facts on seas, he said:

“I find it very interesting that this sort of information
is in the ancient ******ures of the Holy Quran, and I have no way of
knowing where they would come from, but I think it is extremely
interesting that they are there and that this work is going on to
discover it, the meaning of some of the pmindages.” And when he was
asked about the source of the Quran, he replied: “Well, I would think it
must be the divine being.” (View the RealPlayer video of this comment
)

5) Dr. Gerald C. Goeringer is Course Director and
mindociate Professor of Medical Embryology at the Department of Cell
Biology, School of Medicine, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.
During the Eighth Saudi Medical Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia,
Professor Goeringer stated the following in the presentation of his
research paper:

“In a relatively few aayahs (Quranic verses) is
contained a rather comprehensive de******ion of human development from
the time of commingling of the gametes through organogenesis. No such
distinct and complete record of human development, such as
clmindification, terminology, and de******ion, existed previously. In
most, if not all, instances, this de******ion antedates by many
centuries the recording of the various stages of human embryonic and
fetal development recorded in the traditional scientific literature.” (View the RealPlayer video of this comment )

6) Dr. Yoshihide Kozai is Professor Emeritus at
Tokyo University, Hongo, Tokyo, Japan, and was the Director of the
National Astronomical Observatory, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan. He said:

“I am very much impressed by finding true astronomical
facts in [the] Quran, and for us the modern astronomers have been
studying very small pieces of the universe. We’ve concentrated our
efforts for understanding of [a] very small part. Because by using
telescopes, we can see only very few parts [of] the sky without thinking
[about the] whole universe. So, by reading [the] Quran and by
answering to the questions, I think I can find my future way for
investigation of the universe.” (View the RealPlayer video of this comment )

7) Professor Tejatat Tejasen is the Chairman of
the Department of Anatomy at Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai,
Thailand. Previously, he was the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the
same university. During the Eighth Saudi Medical Conference in Riyadh,
Saudi Arabia, Professor Tejasen stood up and said:

“During the last three years, I became interested in the
Quran . . . . From my study and what I have learned from this
conference, I believe that everything that has been recorded in the
Quran fourteen hundred years ago must be the truth, that can be proved
by the scientific means. Since the Prophet Muhammad could neither read
nor write, Muhammad must be a messenger who relayed this truth, which
was revealed to him as an enlightenment by the one who is eligible [as
the] creator. This creator must be God. Therefore, I think this is the
time to say La ilaha illa Allah, there is no god to worship except Allah (God), Muhammadur rasoolu Allah,
Muhammad is Messenger (Prophet) of Allah (God). Lastly, I must
congratulate for the excellent and highly successful arrangement for
this conference . . . . I have gained not only from the scientific point
of view and religious point of view but also the great chance of
meeting many well-known scientists and making many new friends among the
participants. The most precious thing of all that I have gained by
coming to this place is La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadur rasoolu Allah, and to have become a Muslim.” (View the RealPlayer video of this comment )

After all these examples we have seen about the
scientific miracles in the Holy Quran and all these scientists’ comments
on this, let us ask ourselves these questions:

n

Could it be a coincidence that all this recently discovered scientific
information from different fields was mentioned in the Quran, which was
revealed fourteen centuries ago?
n
Could this Quran have been authored by Muhammad or by any other human being?
The only possible answer is that this Quran must be the literal word of God, revealed by Him.

Footnotes:
(1) Note: The ocations of all the scientists mentioned in this web site were last updated in 1997.

(2) Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, #2643, and Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #3208.
Note: What is between these special brackets
{...} in this guide is a translation of what the Prophet Muhammad said. Also note that this symbol # used in the footnotes, indicates the number of the hadeeth. A hadeeth is a reliably transmitted report by the Prophet Muhammad’s companions of what he said, did, or approved of.
(3) Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, #2645.

(4) The Prophet Muhammad
was
illiterate. He could not read nor write, but he dictated the Quran to
his Companions and commanded some of them to write it down.

(2) The Great Challenge to Produce
One Chapter Like the Chapters
of the Holy Quran

God has said in the Quran:

And if you are in doubt about what We have revealed (the Quran) to Our worshiper (Muhammad ),
then produce a chapter like it, and call your witnesses (supporters and
helpers) besides God if you are truthful. And if you do not do it, and
you can never do it, then fear the Fire (Hell) whose fuel is men and
stones. It has been prepared for disbelievers. And give good news (O
Muhammad) to those who believe and do good deeds, that for them are
gardens (Paradise) in which rivers flow.... (Quran, 2:23-25)

Ever since the Quran was revealed, fourteen centuries
ago, no one has been able to produce a single chapter like the chapters
of the Quran in their beauty, eloquence, splendor, wise legislation,
true information, true prophecy, and other perfect attributes. Also,
note that the smallest chapter in the Quran (Chapter 108) is only ten
words, yet no one has ever been able to meet this challenge, then or
today.1 Some of the disbelieving Arabs who were enemies of the Prophet Muhammad tried to meet this challenge to prove that Muhammad was not a true prophet, but they failed to do so.2
This failure was despite the fact that the Quran was revealed in their
own language and dialect and that the Arabs at the time of Muhammad were a very eloquent people who used to compose beautiful and excellent poetry, still read and appreciated today.

The
smallest chapter in the Holy Quran (Chapter 108) is only ten words, yet
no one has ever been able to meet the challenge to produce one chapter
like the chapters of the Holy Quran.

Footnotes:

(1) See Al-Borhan fee Oloom Al-Quran, Al-Zarkashy, vol. 2, p. 224.

(2) See Al-Borhan fee Oloom Al-Quran, Al-Zarkashy, vol. 2, p. 226.

3) Biblical Prophecies on the Advent of
Muhammad , the Prophet of Islam

The Biblical prophecies on the advent of the Prophet Muhammad are evidence of the truth of Islam for people who believe in the Bible.

In Deuteronomy 18, Moses stated that God told him: “I
will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I
will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I
command him. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet
speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account.” (Deuteronomy
18:18-19).1

From these verses we conclude that the prophet in this prophecy must have the following three characteristics:

1) That he will be like Moses.

2) That he will come from the brothers of the Israelites, i.e. the Ishmaelites.

3) That God will put His words in to the mouth of this prophet and that he will declare what God commands him.

Let us examine these three characteristics in more depth:

1) A prophet like Moses:

There were hardly any two prophets who were so much alike as Moses and Muhammad .
Both were given a comprehensive law and code of life. Both encountered
their enemies and were victorious in miraculous ways. Both were
accepted as prophets and statesmen. Both migrated following
conspiracies to assmindinate them. Analogies between Moses and Jesus
overlook not only the above similarities but other crucial ones as well.
These include the natural birth, the family life, and death of Moses
and Muhammad
but not of Jesus. Moreover Jesus was regarded by his followers as the
Son of God and not exclusively as a prophet of God, as Moses and
Muhammad were and as Muslims believe Jesus was. So, this prophecy refers to the Prophet Muhammad and not to Jesus, because Muhammad is more like Moses than Jesus.
Also, one notices from the Gospel of John that the Jews
were waiting for the fulfillment of three distinct prophecies. The
first was the coming of Christ. The second was the coming of Elijah.
The third was the coming of the Prophet. This is obvious from the three
questions that were posed to John the Baptist: “Now this was John’s
testimony, when the Jews of Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask
him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am
not the Christ.” They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” He answered, “No.” (John
1:19-21). If we look in a Bible with cross-references, we will find in the marginal notes where the words “the Prophet” occur in John 1:21, that these words refer to the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18:15 and 18:18.2 We conclude from this that Jesus Christ is not the prophet mentioned in Deuteronomy 18:18.

2) From the brothers of the Israelites:

Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac (Genesis 21).
Ishmael became the grandfather of the Arab nation, and Isaac became
the grandfather of the Jewish nation. The prophet spoken of was not to
come from among the Jews themselves, but from among their brothers, i.e.
the Ishmaelites. Muhammad , a descendant of Ishmael, is indeed this prophet.
Also, Isaiah 42:1-13 speaks of the servant of God, His “chosen one” and “messenger” who will bring down a law. “He
will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.
In his law the islands will put their hope.” (Isaiah 42:4). Verse 11, connects that awaited one with the descendants of Kedar. Who is Kedar? According to Genesis 25:13, Kedar was the second son of Ishmael, the ancestor of the Prophet Muhammad .

3) God will put His words in the mouth of this prophet:

The words of God (the Holy Quran) were truly put into Muhammad’s mouth. God sent the Angel Gabriel to teach Muhammad
the exact words of God (the Holy Quran) and asked him to dictate them
to the people as he heard them. The words are therefore not his own.
They did not come from his own thoughts, but were put into his mouth by
the Angel Gabriel. During the life time of Muhammad , and under his supervision, these words were then memorized and written by his companions.
Also, this prophecy in Deuteronomy mentioned that
this prophet will speak the words of God in the name of God. If we
looked to the Holy Quran, we will find that all its chapters, except
Chapter 9, are preceded or begin with the phrase, “In the Name of God,
the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.”

Another indication (other than the prophecy in Deuteronomy) is that Isaiah ties the messenger connected with Kedar with a new song (a ******ure in a new language) to be sung to the Lord (Isaiah 42:10-11). This is mentioned more clearly in the prophecy of Isaiah: “and another tongue, will he speak to this people” (Isaiah 28:11 KJV).
Another related point, is that the Quran was revealed in sections over
a span of twenty-three years. It is interesting to compare this with Isaiah 28 which speaks of the same thing, “For it is: Do and do, do and do, rule on rule, rule on rule; a little here, a little there.” (Isaiah 28:10).

Note that God has said in the prophecy of Deuteronomy 18, “If
anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I
myself will call him to account.” (Deuteronomy, 18:19). This means
that whoever believes in the Bible must believe in what this prophet
says, and this prophet is the Prophet Muhammad .

Footnotes:
(1) All of the verses on this page have been taken from The NIV Study Bible, New International Version, except where noted as being KJV which means King James Version.

(2) See the marginal notes in The NIV Study Bible, New International Version on verse 1:21, p. 1594.

(4) The Verses in the Quran That Mention Future Events Which Later Came to Pmind

One example of the events foretold in
the Quran is the victory of the Romans over the Persians within three to
nine years after the Romans were defeated by the Persians. God has said
in the Quran:

The Romans have been defeated in the nearest land (to the Arabian
Peninsula), and they, after their defeat, will be victorious within bedd’ (three to nine) years.... (Quran, 30:2-4)

Let us see what history tells us about these wars. A book entitled History of the Byzantine State
says that the Roman army was badly defeated at Antioch in 613, and as a
result, the Persians swiftly pushed forward on all fronts.1
At that time, it was hard to imagine that the Romans would defeat the
Persians, but the Quran foretold that the Romans would be victorious
within three to nine years. In 622, nine years after the Romans’
defeat, the two forces (Romans and Persians) met on Armenian soil, and
the result was the decisive victory of the Romans over the Persians, for
the first time after the Romans’ defeat in 613.2 The prophecy was fulfilled just as God has said in the Quran.

There are also many other verses in the Quran and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad that mention future events which later came to pmind.

Footnotes:
(1) History of the Byzantine State, Ostrogorsky, p. 95.

(2) History of the Byzantine State, Ostrogorsky, pp. 100-101, and History of Persia, Sykes, vol. 1, pp. 483-484. Also see The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, Micropaedia vol. 4, p. 1036.

(5) Miracles Performed by
the Prophet Muhammad

Many miracles were performed by the Prophet Muhammad by God’s permission. These miracles were witnessed by many people. For example:

n
When the unbelievers in Makkah asked the Prophet Muhammad to show them a miracle, he showed them the splitting of the moon.1
n
Another miracle was the flowing of water through Muhammad’s
fingers when his companions got thirsty and had no water except a
little in a vessel. They came to him and told him that they had no
water to make ablution nor to drink except for what was in the vessel.
So, Muhammad
put his hand in the vessel, and the water started gushing out between
his fingers. So, they drank and made ablution. They were one thousand
five hundred companions.2
There were also many other miracles that were performed by him or which happened to him.

Footnotes:
(1) Narrated in Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #3637, and Saheeh Muslim, #2802.

(2) Narrated in Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #3576, and Saheeh Muslim, #1856.

(6) The Simple Life of Muhammad

If we compare the life of Muhammad
before his mission as a prophet and his life after he began his mission
as a prophet, we will conclude that it is beyond reason to think that
Muhammad was a false prophet, who claimed prophethood to attain material gains, greatness, glory, or power.

Before his mission as a prophet, Muhammad had no financial worries. As a successful and reputed merchant, Muhammad
drew a satisfactory and comfortable income. After his mission as a
prophet and because of it, he became worse off materially. To clarify
this more, let us browse the following sayings on his life:

n
Aa’isha, Muhammad’s
wife, said, “O my nephew, we would sight three new moons in two months
without lighting a fire (to **** a meal) in the Prophet’s houses.” Her nephew asked, “O Aunt, what sustained you?” She said, “The two black things, dates and water, but the Prophet had some Ansar neighbors who had milk-giving she-camels and they used to send the Prophet some of its milk.”1
n
Sahl Ibn Sa’ad, one of Muhammad’s companions, said, “The Prophet of God did not see bread made from fine flour from the time God sent him (as a prophet) until he died.”2
n
Aa’isha, Muhammad’s wife, said, “The mattress of the Prophet , on which he slept, was made of leather stuffed with the fiber of the date-palm tree.”3
n
Amr Ibn Al-Hareth, one of Muhammad’s companions, said that when the Prophet
died, he left neither money nor anything else except his white riding
mule, his arms, and a piece of land which he left to charity.4
Muhammad
lived this hard life till he died although the Muslim treasury was at
his disposal, the greater part of the Arabian Peninsula was Muslim
before he died, and the Muslims were victorious after eighteen years of
his mission.

Is it possible that Muhammad
might have claimed prophethood in order to attain status, greatness,
and power? The desire to enjoy status and power is usually mindociated
with good food, fancy clothing, monumental palaces, orful guards, and indisputable authority. Do any of these indicators apply to Muhammad ? A few glimpses of his life that may help answer this question follow.

Despite his responsibilities as a prophet, a teacher, a statesman, and a judge, Muhammad used to milk his goat,5 mend his clothes, repair his shoes,6 help with the household work,7 and visit poor people when they got sick.8 He also helped his companions in digging a trench by moving sand with them.9 His life was an amazing model of simplicity and humbleness.

Muhammad’s
followers loved him, respected him, and trusted him to an amazing
extent. Yet he continued to emphasize that deification should be
directed to God and not to him personally. Anas, one of Muhammad’s companions, said that there was no person whom they loved more than the Prophet Muhammad , yet when he came to them, they did not stand up for him because he loved their standing up for him,10 as other people do with their great people.

Long before there was any prospect of success for Islam
and at the outset of a long and painful era of torture, suffering, and
persecution of Muhammad
and his followers, he received an interesting offer. An envoy of the
pagan leaders, Otba, came to him saying, “...If you want money, we will lect
enough money for you so that you will be the richest one of us. If you
want leadership, we will take you as our leader and never decide on any
matter without your approval. If you want a kingdom, we will crown you
king over us...” Only one concession was required from Muhammad
in return for that, to give up calling people to Islam and worshipping
God alone without any partner. Wouldn’t this offer be tempting to one
pursuing worldly benefit? Was Muhammad
hesitant when the offer was made? Did he turn it down as a bargaining
strategy leaving the door open for a better offer? The following was
his answer: {In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful} And he recited to Otba the verses of the Quran 41:1-38.11 The Following are some of these verses:

A revelation from (God), the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful; a Book
whereof the verses are explained in detail; a Quran in Arabic, for
people who know, giving good news and warning, yet most of them turn
away, so they do not listen. (Quran, 41:2-4)

On another occasion and in response to his uncle’s plea to stop calling people to Islam, Muhammad’s answer was as decisive and sincere: {I
swear by the name of God, O Uncle!, that if they place the sun in my
right-hand and the moon in my left-hand in return for giving up this
matter (calling people to Islam), I will never desist until either God
makes it triumph or I perish defending it.}12

Muhammad and his few followers did not only suffer from persecution for thirteen years but the unbelievers even tried to kill Muhammad
several times. On one occasion they attempted to kill him by dropping a
large boulder, which could barely be lifted, on his head.13 Another time they tried to kill him by poisoning his food.14
What could justify such a life of suffering and sacrifice even after
he was fully triumphant over his adversaries? What could explain the
humbleness and nobility which he demonstrated in his most glorious
moments when he insisted that success is due only to God’s help and not
to his own genius? Are these the characteristics of a power-hungry or a
self-centered man?

Footnotes:
(1) Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, #2972, and Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #2567.

(2) Narrated in Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #5413, and Al-Tirmizi, #2364.

(3) Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, #2082, and Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #6456.

(4) Narrated in Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #2739, and Mosnad Ahmad, #17990.

(5) Narrated in Mosnad Ahmad, #25662.

(6) Narrated in Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #676, and Mosnad Ahmad, #25517.

(7) Narrated in Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #676, and Mosnad Ahmad, #23706.

(8) Narrated in Mowatta’ Malek, #531.

(9) Narrated in Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #3034, and Saheeh Muslim, #1803, and Mosnad Ahmad, #18017.

(10) Narrated in Mosnad Ahmad, #12117, and Al-Tirmizi, #2754.

(11) Al-Serah Al-Nabaweyyah, Ibn Hesham, vol. 1, pp. 293-294.

(12) Al-Serah Al-Nabaweyyah, Ibn Hesham, vol. 1, pp. 265-266.

(13) Al-Serah Al-Nabaweyyah, Ibn Hesham, vol. 1, pp. 298-299.

(14) Narrated in Al-Daremey, #68, and Abu-Dawood, #4510.

(7) The Phenomenal Growth of Islam

At the end of this chapter, it may be
appropriate to point out an important indication of the truth of Islam.
It is well known that in the USA and the whole world, Islam is the
fastest-growing religion. The following are some observations on this
phenomenon:

n

“Islam is the fastest-growing religion in America, a guide and pillar of
stability for many of our people...” (Hillary Rodham Clinton, Los Angeles Times).1
n
“Moslems are the world’s fastest-growing group...” (The Population Reference Bureau, USA Today).2
n
“....Islam is the fastest-growing religion in the country.” (Geraldine Baum; Newsday Religion Writer, Newsday).3
n
“Islam, the fastest-growing religion in the United States...” (Ari L. Goldman, New York Times).4
This phenomenon indicates that Islam is truly a religion
from God. It is unreasonable to think that so many Americans and people
from different countries have converted to Islam without careful
consideration and deep contemplation before concluding that Islam is
true. These converts have come from different countries, clmindes,
races, and walks of life. They include scientists, professors,
philosophers, journalists, politicians, actors, and athletes. (To read
the stories of people who have converted to Islam, please visit the
links at Stories of New Muslims.)

The points mentioned in this chapter constitute only some
of the evidence supporting the belief that the Quran is the literal
word of God, that Muhammad is truly a prophet sent by God, and that Islam is truly a religion from God.

Footnotes:
(1) Larry B. Stammer, Times Religion Writer, “First Lady Breaks Ground With Muslims,” Los Angeles Times, Home Edition, Metro Section, Part B, May 31, 1996, p. 3.

(2) Timothy Kenny, “Elsewhere in the World,” USA Today, Final Edition, News Section, February 17, 1989, p. 4A.

(3) Geraldine Baum, “For Love of Allah,” Newsday, Nmindau and Suffolk Edition, Part II, March 7, 1989, p. 4.

(4) Ari L. Goldman, “Mainstream Islam Rapidly Embraced By Black Americans,” New York Times, Late City Final Edition, February 21, 1989, p. 1.

Chapter 2

Islam
provides many benefits for the individual and the society. This
chapter mentions some of the benefits gained through Islam for the
individual.
(1) The Door to Eternal Paradise

God has said in the Quran:

And give good news (O Muhammad) to those who believe and do good deeds,
that they will have gardens (Paradise) in which rivers flow.... (Quran, 2:25)

God has also said:

Race one with another for forgiveness from your Lord and for Paradise,
whose width is as the width of the heavens and the earth, which has been
prepared for those who believe in God and His messengers.... (Quran, 57:21)

The Prophet Muhammad told us that the lowest in rank among the dwellers of Paradise will have ten times the like of this world,1 and he or she will have wlovever he or she desires and ten times like it.2 Also, the Prophet Muhammad said: {A space in Paradise *****alent to the size of a foot would be better than the world and what is in it.}3 He also said: {In Paradise there are things which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no human mind has thought of.}4 He also said: {The
most miserable man in the world of those meant for Paradise will be
dipped once in Paradise. Then he will be asked, “Son of Adam, did you
ever face any misery? Did you ever experience any hardship?” So he
will say, “No, by God, O Lord! I never faced any misery, and I never
experienced any hardship.”}5

If you enter Paradise, you will live a very happy life
without sickness, pain, sadness, or death; God will be pleased with you;
and you will live there forever. God has said in the Quran:

But those who believe and do good deeds, We will admit them to gardens
(Paradise) in which rivers flow, lasting in them forever.... (Quran, 4:57)

Footnotes:
(1) Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, #186, and Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #6571.

(2) Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, #188, and Mosnad Ahmad, #10832.

(3) Narrated in Saheeh Al-Bukhari, #6568, and Mosnad Ahmad, #13368.

(4) Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, #2825, and Mosnad Ahmad, #8609.

(5) Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, #2807, and Mosnad Ahmad, #12699.

(2) Salvation from Hellfire

God has said in the Quran:

Those who have disbelieved and died in disbelief, the earth full of
gold would not be accepted from any of them if one offered it as a
ransom. They will have a painful punishment, and they will have no
helpers. (Quran, 3:91)

So, this life is our only chance to win Paradise and to
escape from Hellfire, because if someone dies in disbelief, he will not
have another chance to come back to this world to believe. As God has
said in the Quran about what is going to happen for the unbelievers on
the Day of Judgment:

If you could but see when they are set before the Fire (Hell) and say,
“Would that we might return (to the world)! Then we would not reject
the verses of our Lord, but we would be of the believers!” (Quran, 6:27)

But no one will have this second opportunity.

The Prophet Muhammad said: {The
happiest man in the world of those doomed to the Fire (Hell) on the Day
of Judgment will be dipped in the Fire once. Then he will be asked,
“Son of Adam, did you ever see any good? Did you ever experience any
blessing?” So he will say, “No, by God, O Lord!”}1

Footnotes:

(1) Narrated in Saheeh Muslim, #2807, and Mosnad Ahmad, #12699.