This volume tries to answer the very basic questions that one unexposed to Islam would like to ask. Such answers had to be, of necessity, very brief. The reader is advised, therefore, to consult other works, some of which are listed at the end of this book. He may also contact one of the Islamic centers, also listed at the end, for further guidance

1. .-le {..tirlllr Jl dgqt I $!l iL!.rJl : pfLsll
TTHEHRREELIE LGIEONCYYOIUOCCAUNNA NN ONOLL OON GENR IIGGCNOENRERO RE

2. A Brief lntroduction ISLAIVI
Introduction To
ISLAM
(Book -- 1)
1)
by
Iqbal zaheer
Syed lqbal Zaheer

3. Copyright Copyright @ © 2000 2000 by by Al-AI-Attique Attique PublisPublis~~ers r~ Inc.
Inc.
All All rightsr rights reserved. eservedN. No o part part of of this this book
book
may may be be reproducedo reproduced or r transmittedi transmitted in n any
forrn form or 0r by any means without written
permission from the Publishers.
Al-AI-Attique Attique Publishers Inc.
Treverton MIK 3S5 Canada
65-Treverton Dr, Toronto,On 385 6 15-1222Fax(l4 16)6 15-0375
Tel: (416) 615-1222 Fax: (416) 615-0375
E-mail: guran@istar.ca
istar.ca
Titte: You can no Longer
Title: Islam: The Religion Ignore
Copyright:
Printed:
Mzo.y 2000
Printing supervised:
Attique
All rights reserved
Ma.'2000
M.R.Attique
ISBN : l-894264-34'7
ISBN: 1-34-7
Mav 2000
First Edition: May in Saudi Arabia bY
Distributed by
Al-HadyanP ublishers& Distributors
OB ox 15031A, l-RiYadh1 1444
Dar AI-Hadyan Publishers & P/O Box 15031, AI-Riyadh 11444
Tel+Tel+Fax: Fa:<966-9:6 6-1-I -463-463-1685
1 685
Distributedi n USA bY
IslamicE ducation& Media
Distributed in USA by
Islamic Education & Media
730 East 10th Street, C.F.Brooklyn, NY 11230
730E astl 0'h StreetC, .F.BrooklynN, Y 11230
T+F (71 8) 42r-s428
T+F (718) 421-5428

4. ln In the name nameo of f Allah, the t heK Kind nd the Beneficent
Benefrcent
Coilentt
Page no.
Preface
Allah Want Of Us?
The Prophets?
the Seal of the Prophethood
Personaliw?
OccasionedA Revelation?
Qur'an14
Qur'an?
of the Qur'an
Of The Qur'an
Nature
I
I
Page no.
10
l 5
I
l0
l 0
15
t 7
t 9
25
Introduction
PreCace
I. Allah
Who Is Allah?
What Does OfUs?
iii
1
2
II Prophets
4
Who Are 4
Muhammad, 4
Muhammad's Personality? 8
III Revelations
What Is Revelation?
What Occasioned A New IV The Qur'an14
What Is The Qur'an?
The Challenge ofthe Qur'an
Predictions OfThe Qur'an
Miracles Of Scientific 10
10
15
15
17
19
25

5. pag€ no.
Of Islam
of the Hand
Resunection
Glossary SuggestedR eadingM aterial
Addresses 29
4 l
29
30
34
36
38
40
46
43
44
46
49
53
V Islam
What Is Islam?
The Pillars Of Islam
The Rest OfIslam
Mu'amalat
Jihad
Ihsan
VI Crime and Punishment
Death Penalty
Amputation ofthe VII The Hereafter
Death
Resurrection
Reckoning and Judgement
Glossary of Terms
Suggested Reading Material
Addresses Of Islamic Centres
page 30
34
36
38
40
41
43
44
47
47
49
55

6. INTRODUCTION
The need for a publication that can introduce Islam and at the same time give an overview of this religion been felt. This is an effort to meet with the need. this is far easilys aidt hand one,b ecauseIs lam is simplya
seto f creedsc, ustomsa ndr ituals,b ut a completew ay that guides man in every field of thought pre-paresh
im for a swift transitiont o the HereafterA. ccordingly,
it neither neglectst he needs, h opesa nd aspirationso f earthly existencen, or doesi t abandonm an world with a soul yearning for peace and tranquility. There-fore,
t o presenIts lami n a brief form,e veni f it bea no verview,
is just out of questionI. endeavotro do it in threev olumes,
and this is the first of the series.
This volumet riest o answerth ev eryb asicq uestiontsh ato ne
unexposetdo Islamw ouldl iket o ask. S ucha nswerhs adt o of necessityv, ery brief. The readeri s advised, t herefore,t o
consult other works, some of which are listed of this
book. H e may alsoc ontacto ne of the Islamicc entersa, lso
listed at the end, for further guidance.
Syed lqbal Zaheer
briefly,
ofthis has long
n~ed. However,
easily said than done, because Islam not simply a
set of creeds, customs and rituals, but complete way of life
and action and pre­pares
him transition to Hereafter. Accordingly,
neglects the hopes and aspirations of this
existence, nor does it abandon man to the mundane
There­fore,
to present Islam in briefform, even ifit be an overview,
just question. I endeavor to three volumes,
volume tries to answer the very basic questions that one
unexposed to Islam would like to Such answers had to be,
necessity, very reader is therefore, to
ofwhich at the end ofthis
He also contact one Islamic centers, also
Iqbal

7. Godns Jabal( ra) reports:" OnceI happenedto be
pillion Prophet, (on
peacea nd blessingso f God). He said 'O
I responded':H ere I am, O Mes-sengero
f Blessedb e thou.' The Prophetc ontin-ued
(to while (without speaking) and then
'O 'Here I am, O Mes-sengero
f Blessedb e thou.'
(BuQh e continued( to somet ime befores peak-ing.
'O I repeated:
'HereI O Messengeor f God. Blessedb et hou.' He
'Do you know what is God's right upon the peo-ple?'
said:' God andH is Messengekrn ow best.' H e
'Verily, right the people that they
(Alone) associaten ot aught with
Thenh e continued( to somem oret ime 'O 'Here O
Messengeor f Cod. Blessedb et hou.' He said:' Do you
of people ifthey
said:' God Messengekr now He 'It is their right upon Him that He shouldn't
punish them."'
i i
God's Right
Mu'adh ibn Jabal (reports: "Once I happened to the rider on a camel behind the whom be peace and blessings of '0
Mu'adh ibn Jabal!' responded: 'Here 0 Mes­senger
of God. Blessed be Prophet contin­ued
ride) for a said: '0 Mu'adh ibn Jabal!' I said: 'Here 0 Mes­senger
of Allah. Blessed be But) he continued (ride) for some time before speak­ing.
Then he said: '0 Mu'adh ibn Jabal!' 'Here I am, 0 Messenger ofGod. Blessed be thou.' said: 'Do peo­ple?'
I said: 'God and His Messenger know He
said: 'Verily, it is His upon worship Him and associate not Him.'
Then he continued (ride) for some more time before
saying: '0 Mu'adh ibn Jabal!' I said: 'Here I am 0
Messenger ofGod. Blessed be thou.' said: 'Do know what is the right ofpeople upon their Lord, do that?' I said: 'God and His Messenger know best.'
said: 'It them.'"
ii

8. cannotl ive peacefullyin thisw orld withoutk nowingw ho
hasc reatedh im ands enth im to this life? What is
role to the best of his
there for him after this life?
Theseb asic questionsc annotb e answeredb y the human in-tellecta
lone- mann eedsD ivine guidancefo r findingther ight
answersto suchb asicq uestions.
SuchD ivine guidanceh asb eeni mplantedi n the innern ature
of man, Adam and Eve (pbuD at the moment
h as beenr evealedt hrougha long chain of
messengerfsro m h asb eenf inally integratedin the
messageo f Muhammad( pbuh), t he sealo f prophethood.
guidancew asi nvariablyc alled" w hich is
"Salam" which means
a nd w hich means" C onse-quently,
I slamm eansp eacefusl ubmissionto thew ill of Allah
completeo bedienc.e t he long chaino f mes-sengersfr
om Muhammad( pbuh) w erea ll Muslims
messagew as invariablyI slam.T hat list includes
(among Hude, Saleh,
IshmaelI,s aac,L ute,J acobJ, osephM, oses,A aron,
u t
PREFACE
Man cannot live peacefully in this world without knowing who
he is. Who has created him and sent him his role in it? How can he fulfil that ability? And what is These basic questions cannot be answered by in­tellect
alone - man needs Divine guidance for finding the right
answers to such basic questions.
Such Divine guidance has been implanted in inner nature
ofman, has been taught to pbut) of their creation, has been revealed through a messengers from Allah, and, has been finally integrated in message of Muhammad (the seal of This Divine guidance was invariably called "Islam" which a word derived from two Arabic roots: "peace" and "Tasleem" which means "submission." Conse­quently,
Islam means peaceful submission to the will ofAllah
and His complete obedience. Hence, the chain of mes­sengers
from Adam to Muhammad (were all and their message was invariably Islam. That many others): Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Lute, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron,
iii

9. Dhulkifl, David, Solomon, Job, Ilyas, El-Yasha', Jonah,
ZachariahJ, ohn,J esusC hrista ndM uhammad( pbut).A nd any
human being at any place or time who would receive someone
claimingt o be a messengefrr om Allah, (someonew ith ample
evidencet o supporth is claim), and acceptsh is messageis a
Muslim.
Hence Islam is not just a religion. lt only religiona cceptableto Allah (swt). This Muslims, b ut a Divine statemenitn Gloriouse ur'an was revealedf rom aboves evenh eavensm ore centu-ries
Dhulkifl, David, Solomon, Job, Ilyas, EI-Yasha', Jonah,
Zachariah, John, Jesus Christ and Muhammad (pbut). And any
human being at any place or time who would receive someone
claiming to be a messenger from Allah, (someone with ample
evidence to support his claim), and accepts his message is a
ago.
The four basic foundations of Islam worship, Moral code anda code for Transactionws ith Thesef our basica reasa reb eyondt he capacityo f mant o and hence all human efforts in miserably, ffid have led people astray.
It follows from the discussiona bovet hat peacefullya nds uccessfullwy ithoutr eligion,a ndr eligionc an-not
be man-madeb, ut hast o be absolutelyD ivine, slightesth umana lteration.I f suchf actsa rea cceptedi,t fol lows
that the only criteriat hat can be usedf or discriminationb e-tween
the true religion and a false authen-ticity
of the revelationt hat was sentd own The only revealed book in the hands of man today that has
iv
just It is the religion, and the
religion acceptable to is not a claim by
but statement in the Glorious Qur'an that
revealed from above seven heavens more than 14 centu­ries
ofIslam are: Faith (creed), Acts of
Worship, Code and a Code Transactions with others.
These four basic areas are beyond the capacity ofman to tailor,
these directions have failed
and discussion above that man cannot live
peacefully and successfully without religion, and religion can­not
made, but has to absolutely Divine, without the
slightesthuman alteration. Ifsuch facts are accepted, it follows
that criteria that used for discrimination be­tween
one would be the authen­ticity
revelation that sent down with the religion.
The revealed book the hands of man today that has
iv

10. beenk ept intact in exactly the samel anguagea nd exactly the
samew ords in which it wasr evealedis the GloriousQ ur'an;
all the previousr evelationsw ere eithert otally lost or suffered
endlessh umanm odificationst hat madet hemu selessfo r hu-man
been kept same language and same words was revealed is Glorious Qur'an;
previous revelations were either totally endless human modifications that made them useless for hu­man
guidance.
Consequently, Consequentlyt,the h e only solution to human humanp problems roblemst that hat are
piling up today is Islam, a s integratedin the final messageo f
Muhammad (pbuh) which is the only Divine guidance in the
hands ofman today. Hence, my heart-felt welcome ofthis book
The Religion You Can No Longer lgnore" by brother
SyedI qbal Zaheer, w hich hasb eenw riffen in a very concise,
but very clear form. I pray to the Almighty Allah to make it a
sourceo fguidancetomanyfe llow humanb eingsa ndt o reward
the authora mply for his appreciatede ffort.
Ilr. Zeghtul El-Professor of Geology,
KFIIPM,Ilhahran
as integrated in message of
ofmantoday. myheart-feltwelcome "Islam: Ignore" Syed Iqbal which has been written source ofguidance to many fellow human beings and to author amply appreciated effort.
Dr. Zeghlul R. EI-Naggar
ProCessor oC KFUPM, Dhahran
Saudi Arabia
v

11. tn In the name of Allah, the Knd, Kind, the Compassionafe
Compassionate
Who is Allah?
Who I ALLAH
Attaft in Arabic applied to the
&lIah is the proper noun Only True God Who exists necessarily, by encompassing all the excellent Divine Attributes of
perfection.
Cod existsn ecessarilyb,y Himself,
encompassinagl l excellentD ivine Attributeso f
Allahi sO nea ndU nique;H eh asn o partnern, o equal.
Allah is One and Unique; He has no partner, no He does not beget, nor begotten. · not inhere in anything, nothing inheres in is the sale Creator and Sustainer of that exists. He
is the One God, besides whom there is other god.
And there is none Him.
was He begoften. He does
inherei n anythingn, othingi nheresin Him. He
ist he soleC reatoar ndS ustaineorf all thate xists.H e
ist he Cod, besidesw hom therei s no otherg od.
worthy of worship save Him'
and no father. He has no
He has no wife, no son, form or no material substance. He does not sleep nor
does He take rest. He is the First, with and the Last, with is the All-Knowing who
knows what passes through a man's heart. He Omnipotent who has the free wi II that is not restrained
by any power. When He desires a thing to says, "Be, II and it is. He is also the Beneficent, the
materiasl ubstanceH. e doesn ot sleepn or
doesH e taker est.H e ist he Firstw, ith no beginning,
andt he Lastw, ith no end. He ist heA ll-Knowingw ho
knowsw hat passetsh rougha man'sh eart.H e is the
Omni potenwt ho hast hef reew i ll thati sn otr estrained
by any power. When He desiresa thingt o be, He
says," 8e," and it is. He is alsot he Beneficentt,h e

12. Kind and the Merciful whose love for man is timesg reaterth ant hat of a motherf or her child.
And the Cod of lslam is neither remote He ist he RealL ordo f the universew hosel oves wells
the hearta nd intoxicatesth e soul. Thosew ho Him do not havet o dependo n the vicariousc onvic-tion
of a priesto, rthea rgumentisn theb ooks,t o them that He exists. They can feel His existencein
themselvesa,s w ell asi n botht he animatea nd inani-mate
objects around them.
And this is not the prerogativeo f spiritualists."
Any laymanw, ho followsH isg uidancea nds eeksH is
Presencew, ill find Him closet o himself.
Thisi st her easonw hy peopleo f all sorts- scientistsp, riestsa, sw ell as peoplef rom walkso f
life - enter into the fold of lslam every lslam
theyf ind a Cod who respondtso theirc all.
What Does Since Allah is One and Unique, qualitieso f perfectionth at no one sharesw ith and sinceH e ist he soleC reatorS, ustainearn d 2
seventy
times greater than that mother for God Islam nor abstract.
is the Real Lord of universe whose love swells
heart and intoxicates the Those who seek
have to depend on vicarious convic­tion
ofapriest, orthe arguments in the books, to assure
existence in
themselves, as well as in both the animate and inani­mate
prerogative of the "spiritualists. It
layman, who follows His guidance and seeks His
Presence, will close to This is the reason why people ofall sorts - intellectuals,
scientists, priests, as well people from all walks of
- Islam day. In Islam
they find God responds to their call.
Allah Want of Us?
endowed with the
qualities of perfection that shares with Him,
since He is the sale Creator, Sustainer and Nour-
2

13. ishero f H e demandst hat worshipH im n ot associataen yonew ith and obey Him guidance re-ceived
isher of all that exists, He demands that man should
worship Him alone, not associate anyone with Him,
from by following the he has re­ceived
Him through His Prophets.
It may be pointed juncture man is a follower lf devoted to Allah, he will deities, s aintst,h inkers,p hilosopherso,r nationalh e-roes:
out at this that by nature
and a worshipper. If he is not
saints, thinkers, philosophers, or national he­roes:
following in devote himself to others:
them thought and action. And they,
being human like himself (or worse - - in the case of
deities)w, ill lead him nowhere. In fact, t hey guidancet hemselvesa,l thought heya ret oo proudt o
admit it. Aren't they who have brought this pass? The asks: "S^y, 'Of Qur'an your partners
(that you associatew ith Allah),i s there can guide to Truth?' Tell them, 'lt is Allah who guides
to Truth. ls He then who can guide to Truth more
worthy following than cannot guide he himselifs g uided?'Sowhat'swrongwityho u?H ow
do you judge?'( Ch.10v, erse3 5).
deities), will they need
guidance themselves, although they are too proud to
the world to
Qur'an Say, 'Of partners
associate with Allah), is anyone who
can guide 'It Allah guides
Is can more
of he who until
himselfis guided?' So what's wrong with you? How
judge?" (Ch.l 0, verse 35).
3

14. II PROPHETS
Who Frophets are Allah's chosen men sent from time to
time with revealedm essagetsh at containg uidance
for man. There have been a series of Prophets
throughouth istory.T hes eriess tartedw ith Adama nd
endedw ith Muhammad. N uh (Noah)l,b rahim( Abra-ham),
M usa( Moses)a, nd 'lsa( Jesusth, e sono f were a few prominent ones among them, Allah's
peacea nd blessingb e upont hema ll. TheseP rophets
were humans. They ate and slept, had wives children( exceptJ esusw, ho will marrya t coming) and earned their living with their hands.
Theyw ere neitherg ods,d emigodss, onso f Cod, an-gels,
nor were they endowed with any Divine quality.
Theyw ere absolutelyh umane xceptt hatA llah to addressth em throught he mediumo f Muhammad, Muhammadw ast he finalP rophest entb y in Makkah5 70 yearsa fterh isp redecessor'lsfale sus),
he was up untilt he ageo f 40 indistinguishabflreo m
4
Are The Prophets?
[Prophets revealed messages that contain guidance
throughout history. The series started with Adam and
ended with Nuh (Noah), Ibrahim (Abra­ham),
Musa (Moses), and 'Isa Oesus, the son of Mary)
peace and blessing be upon them all. These Prophets
and
children (except Jesus, who marry at his second
They were neither gods, demigods, sons of God, an­gels,
They were absolutely human except that Allah chose
address them through the medium of angels.
the Seal of Prophethood
Muhammad was the final Prophet sent by God. Born
Makkah 570 years after his predecessor 'Isa Oesus),
until the age of indistinguishable from

15. any other man except that his extreme honesty had
him the "the Trustworthy." The
earned appellation Encyclopaedia Britannica says about him: a mass
EncyclopaediBar itannicas aysa bouth im: "...am ass
of detail in the early sources sourcess shows howst that hat he was an
honest and upright man who had gained the respect
and loyalty of others who were like-like.wise wise honest and
men." (Vol. p. 609) He was unlettered.
upright 12, At forty fortyh he e was wasa addressed ddressebdy by Allah, through t hrought the he angel
Jibril( Cabriel)a, ndc ommissionetdo preachH i sO ne-nessa
Jibril (Gabriel), and commissioned to preach His One­ness
nd warn the peoplea gainstth ew orshipo f false
and people against the worship of gods. What he preached can be summed up in the
words wordso of f one of his hisf followers ollowersw who, ho, along alongw with ith some
others, fled f led to Abyssinia Abyssiniaw when hen his people began begant to
o
persecute persecuteth them emf for or embracing embracingls Islam. lam. After Aftert their heirf flight
light
the Makkan heathens heathenss sent enta an n emissary emissaryto to Abyssinia
to persuade persuadeth the e King Kingt to o return returnt these heser refugees efugeetso to them.
When Negus Negust the he King, asked a skedt the he Muslims Muslimst to o explain
their presence presencein in his country, one o ne of them, Ja'far J a'farb b.
.
Abi Talib, a cousin cousino of f the Prophet, spoke s pokei in n the fol-lowing
fol­lowing
manner:
"0 O King, we w ew were erea an n uncivilised uncivilisepde people, oplew, worshipping
orshipping
idols, eating carrion, committing abominations,
breakingn aturatli es,t reatingg uestsb adly,a ndo ur
strongd evouringth ew eak. Thusw e wereu ntilG od
sentu s an apostlew hosel ineaget,r uth,t rustworthi-any
breaking natural ties, treating guests badly, and our
strong devouring the weak. Thus we were until God
sent us apostle whose lineage, truth, trustworthi-
5

16. ness,a nd clemencyw e know. He summonedu s to
acknowledgeG od's unitya nd to worshipH im and
to renounceth e stonesa nd images,w hichw e and
our fathers formerly worshipped. He commanded
ust o speakthetr uth,b efaithfulto urengagements,
mindfulotfh et ieso f kinshipa ndk indh ospitalitya,n d
to refrain from crimes and bloodshed. He forbade
us to commita bominationasn d to speakl ies,a nd
to devour the property of orphans, to vilify women. He commandedu s to worshipG od andn ott o associatea nythingw ithH im,a ndh eg ave
us orders about prayer,a lmsgivinga, nd (enumeratintgh e commandso f lslam). con-fessedh
ist rutha ndb elievedin him, a ndw ef ollowed
him in whath e had broughftr omG od,a ndw e wor-shippedG
od alonew ithouta ssociatinga ughtw ith
Him. We treateda s forbiddenw hath e forbadea, nd
as lawfulw hat he declaredl awful. Thereupono ur
peoplea ttackedu s,t reatedu s harshlya nds educed
us from our faith to try to make us go worship of idols instead of the worship to regard as lawful the evil deeds we commit-ted.
So when they got the better of us, unjustlya nd circumscribeodu r lives, a nd cameb e-tweenu
s ando ur religionw, e camet o yourc ountry,
having chosen you above all others. Here beenh appyi n yourp rotectiona, ndw e hopet hatw e
6
ness, and clemency we know. He summoned us to
acknowledge God's unity and to worship Him and
to renounce the stones and images, which we and
our fathers formerly worshipped. He commanded
us to speak the truth, be faithful to our engagements,
mindful of the ties of kinship and kind hospitality, and
to refrain He commit abominations and speak lies, and
property chaste
commanded us worship God alone
and not to associate anything with Him, and he gave
us prayer, almsgiving, and fasting
(enumerating the commands of Islam). We con­fessed
his truth and believed in and we followed
him in what he brought from God, and we wor­shipped
God alone without associating aught with
Him. treated as forbidden what he forbade, and
lawful what declared lawful. Thereupon our
people attacked us, treated us harshly and seduced
us from back to the
worship of God, and
to regard once commit­ted.
So got treated us
unjustly and circumscribed our and came be­tween
us and our religion, we came to your country,
having chosen you we have
been happy in your protection, and we hope that we

17. shall shalln not ot be treated treatedu unjustly njustlyw while hilew we e are with you,
o O King.King."( 1I (The TheL life ifeo of f Muhammad, MuhammadP, P., .,151 1 51- -152, 152,Tr.,
T r.,
Alfred Guillaume).
InitiallytheP rophewt asa blet o win somef ollowers.
But the new religiond id not servet he interestos f the
classesth at held power influence. lt anguished
Initially.the Prophet was able to some followers.
religion did serve the interests of classes that and It them deeply to see that their religion and the entire
system of hegemony they had buiIt built for themselves
around aroundi it, t, was being beingq questioned. uestioned.They T heyh had ad no doubt
that if allowed allowedt to o flourish, Islam l slamw would ould destroy destroyth their
eir
privileges privilegesa and nd bring them down to the level of the
commoners. commonersT. This hisw was as unacceptable unacceptablteo to them. There­fore,
There-fore,
they begant o oppose lslam and persecutet he
began to Islam persecute the
The weak among them, the slaves and those
strata of became easy targets.
Muslims. T hew eaka mongt hem,t hes lavesa ndt hose
in the lower stratao f the society, b ecamee asyt argets.
They were abused, beaten up, and tortured with such
vengeance vengeanceth that at ultimately ultimatelyt the he Prophet Propheth had ad to allow
them themt to o migrate migratet to o other otherp places lacess such ucha as sA Abyssinia byssiniaa and
nd
later Madinah. Finally, with hopes of the Makkan
heathens heathense ever vera accepting cceptingh his is call receding recedingto to zero, he
h e
was himself ordered by Allah to move to Madinah
whose people had shown interest interesti in n Islam lslama and nd had
invited invitedh him im there, promising p romisingto to protect protecth him. im. But as
soon as he stepped on the soil of Madinah, the sur­rounding
sur-rounding
began to conspire with the Makkans
Jews to destroy him and his call. This led to the outbreak
7

18. of hostilitiesb etweent het wo: theM uslimso n theo ne
side, a nd the resto f the Arabss pearheadebdy their
mostp owerfula nd leadingt ribe,t he Quraysh,o n other. The battles that ensued saw the Muslims
emergev ictoriouss ometimesw, hile at othersi t their enemiesw ho triumphed. Finallya peaced eal
was struck in the sixth year after migration. This al-lowedf
reea nde asyi ntermixingo f Muslimsw ith non-Muslimsg ivingt he latterf reea ccessto the mes-sage
of lslam. During the two years morep eopleh ads uccumbedto the call lslamt han
they had in the pastn ineteeny earss incei tsb irth. a short while later, the peace was the Makkans. T heP rophemt archedo n themw ith thousandfo llowersa ndM akkahw ass ubduedw ithout
resistanceT. he resto f the Arabs, w aitingf or out-come
of the struggle between the paganl eadersb, egant o embracel slami n and thousands. T he Prophetd ied two yearsl ater.
Muhammad's Thep ersonalitoyf PropheMt uhammado, n peace,i s one of the mostf ascinatingin reformerh asb eent estedw ith harshecr onditionsth an
he. A ppearingin Arabiaw hen it wasp assingth rough
its darkest period, he was given a people I
hostilities between the two: the Muslims on the one
and rest of Arabs spearheaded by thei r
most powerful and leading tribe, the Quraysh, on the
emerge victorious sometimes, while others it was
enemies who Finally a peace deal
al­lowed
free and easy intermixing of Muslims with the
Muslims giving the latter free access to mes­sage
Islam. that followed
more people had succumbed to of Islam than
past nineteen years since its birth. But
treaty breached by
The Prophet marched on them with ten
thousand followers and Makkah was subdued without
resistance. The rest of waiting for the out­come
Prophet and the
pagan leaders, began to embrace Islam in hundreds
The Prophet died years later.
Personality
The personality of Prophet Muhammad, on whom be
peace, is most fascinating in history. No
reformer has been tested with harsher cond itions than
Appearing in Arabia when was passing through
that were
8

19. consideredth e lowesto f the low in thoset imes.T hey
considered the lowest of those times. They
were held such low esteem that the Romans and Persians, who thought them incorrigible,
in suchl ow esteemt hatt he neighbouring
Romansa ndP ersiansw, ho thoughtt hemi ncorrigible,
did not wish to expand their rule over them. Also,
Prophetd id not enjoyt he helpa nd supporto f his
people. On the contrary, they opposed him
the Prophet did enjoy the help and support of own tooth and nail. Nor did he have the nobility on his
side. In fact, one o ne of the complaints complaintso of f the prominent
chieftains chieftainsw was as that the Prophet Prophetw was as all the time sur­rounded
sur-roundedb
y, what they considereda s, lowly people
by, considered as, they detested. Finally, he was op-posed
whose company op­posed
even by the Jews Jewsa and nd Christians, to t o whom a
Messenger Messengefrr from om God Cod was not a new phenomenon.
Yet, overcomingt he universaol ppositiont o his mis-sion,
overcoming the universal opposition to mis­sion,
he was able to transform the unruly desert-dwell­ers
h ew asa blet o transformth eu nrulyd esert-dwell-ers
into the most mostc civilised iviliseda and nd dynamic dynamicp people eoplea any
ny
produced. Shortly after him the Muslims
the centuries-old Roman and Persian em-pires,
age has defeated old em­pires,
and subduing the best part of the then known
world, established establishetdh their eir own rule, religion, culture,
c ulture,
and language languageth that at have lasted lastedt to o this day. No man
has achieved this in history. No doubt, his own
charming charmi nga and ndv very eryp powerful owerfulp personality ersonalitpy played layeda avery
very
important role in this transformation. It lt deserves,
therefore, thereforec, closer losere examination.
xamination.
9

20. III REVELATIONS
What ls Revelation?
Eiuin" revelationsa re messageosf cod to mankind
sentd own through Prophets.R evelationsg ive a de-tailedd
escriptiono f theq ualitiesa nda ttributeos f cod
in whom man is requiredt o believea nd required to serve and worship. revelationsa lso containt he dependsp eople'sw ell-beingi n in the Hereafters. ome of the existingr evearedB ooks
are the Torah (the Pentateucho, r of the old Testamentw) hich revealedt o (Moses),Z abur (Psalmsr)e vealedt o Da,ud (David),
/niil (the New Testamentr)e vealedt o ,lsa
flesus)a, nd
finafl y, the r evealedt o Muhammad,( peace
be upon him and on all prophets).
What Occasioned TheQ ur'ant ellsu st hat itsr evelationw aso ccasioned
by the corruption'st hat previousm essageosf Cod
suffereda t the handso f their foff owers.T heT orahf or
instance has been re.written entirely from memory
l 0
III REVELAliONS
What Is Revelation?
@ivine revelations are messages of God to mankind
sent down Prophets. Revelations give a de­tailed
description ofthe qualities and attributes ofGod
required to believe and whom he is
required In addition, Divine
revelations also contain the code of life on which
depends people's well-being in this life and salvation
in Hereafter. Some existing revealed Books
are (the Pentateuch, or the first five Books
of Old Testament) which was revealed to Musa
(Moses), Zabur (Psalms) revealed to Da'ud /njiJ (the Testament) revealed to 'Isa (Jesus), and
finally, Qur'an, revealed to Muhammad, (Prophets).
A New Revelation?
The Qur'an tells us that its revelation was occasioned
by the corruption's that previous messages of God
suffered at the hands of their followers. The Torah for
instance has been re-entirely from memory
10

21. after it was lost for a long period. lt contains stories
of Prophetsg ettingd runk( Cenesis9, :20),o thersh av-ing
sexuali ntercourswe ith noneo thert hant heiro wn
daughters( Cen.,2 0:30-38),a nd yet othersw orship-ping
idols( 1 Kings, 1 1 : 1-8).E vent he concepto f the
One Universal Cod had been replaced by that of
Yahweh, t he nationaCl od of theJews.M ax l. Dimont
the well knownJ ewishs cholarw ritesi n his famous
work "Jews, Cod and History': "The final fusion of
the five bookso f Moses, c alledt he Pentateuch(,t he
Old Testamento) ccurreda round4 50 B.C.- in other
words, eight to sixteen hundred years after some the eventsn arratedin themt ook place." T hist ime lag
obviouslyl edt o manye rrorsa ndi nterpolationcsr eep-ing
intot het ext,w hich ledt o innovationisn practicesw, arrantingth e raiseo f a new Prophetw ith
a new revelation.
It wasJ esusC hrist,p eaceb e upon him, who was to reformJ udaismr,e instaltlh e ruleo f DivineL awa s
stated in the Torah, and sweep away all innovations
introduced after Moses. But he was rejected majority who tried to get him crucified. But Most High raisedh im to the heavensa live. He de-parteds
aying:" Neverthe/essI ,t ell you the truth; it is
expedientfor you that I go away; for if I go not the Comforter will not come unto you; but if depart,
l l
It Prophets getting drunk (Genesis, 9:20), others hav­ing
sexual intercourse with none other than their own
daughters (Gen., 20:30-38), and others worship­ping
idols (1 11: 8). Even the concept of God the national God ofthe jews. Max I. known jewish scholar writes in Jews, God History": books of called the Pentateuch, (the
Testament) occurred around 450 C. - of
events narrated in them took This time obviously led to many errors and interpolations creep­ing
into the text, which led to innovations in religious
practices, warranting the raise of Prophet with
was jesus Christ, peace be sent
reform judaism, reinstall the rule of Divine Law as
by the
Allah
raised him heavens alive. de­parted
saying: "Nevertheless, I tell expedient for away,
I 11

22. I will sendh im unto you." (John,1 6:h. F-|ew as of
courser eferringt o Muhammad, m ay Allah's peace
and blessingbse upon him.
will send him unto you." (John, 16:7). He was course referring to may The messagere vealedto Jesusw as alsod istortedb y
his followers. T hish appenedp rimarilyb ecauseth e
messagree vealetdo himd id nots urvivein itso riginal
form. What are known as the Cospels of Matthew,
Mark, Lukea ndJ ohn( theN ew Testamenta)r en ot the
writingse ithero f Christo, r of Christ'sA postlesT. hey
arew orkso f latera ndo bscurea uthorsa ndt hee arliest
of them was probably committed to writing at least
half a centurya fterJ esusC hrist,i f not later. Event he
originalso f theseC ospelsh ave not survived. The
oldestm anuscrip(tw hichd atesa round1 3 5y earsa fter
fe susi)s i n ancienCt reek,w hichw asn ott hel anguage
of eitherC hristo r his ApostlesT. hereforei,t cannot
bes aida bouta nyp ortiono f theC ospelsw ith certainty
that it is the word of God.
Thef ollowingi sa statemenfrto m" TheJ eromeB iblical
Commentary,a" voluminousw ork which hasb een
preparedb y leadingC atholica nd Protestanstc holars:
"The term "divine inspirationo f Scriptured" enotes
the speciailn fluenceo f God upont he humanw riters
of the Bible, a n influenceo f sucha naturet hatC od
iss aidt o bet hea uthoro f theb iblicalb ooks"( p., 5 00).
t2
blessings be message revealed to jesus was also distorted by
This happened primarily because the
message revealed to him did not survive in its original
Gospels Luke and john (the New Testament) are not writings either of Christ, or Christ's Apostles. They
are works of later and obscure authors and the earliest
century after Jesus Christ, if Even the
originals of these Gospels have oldest manuscript (which dates around 135 years after
jesus) is in ancient Greek, which was not the language
either Christ or Apostles. Therefore, it be said about any portion ofthe Gospels with Thefollowing is astatement from "Thejerome Biblical
Commentary," a voluminous work has been
prepared by leading Catholic and Protestant scholars:
inspiration of Scripture" denotes
special influence of upon the human writers
an influence of such a nature that God
is said to be the author of the biblical books" (500).
12

23. This is to say they admit that these are not the
actuawl ordso f Cod buto nlyw rittenu ndert hed ivine
guidance. The samew ork statesfu rther:" Although
Cod is the authoro f SacredS cripturei,t is alsot rue
that human beings made their own genuine contribu-tion
to the production of the sacred books - a point
firmly stated by (Pope) Pius Xll in Divino Afflante
Spi r i tu"( p. ,5 03) .
Thus, t he losso f the originalr evelationa, nd the fact
thatJ esusC hristw asw orshippedin placeo f the One
Cod, necessitatead f reshr evelation.lt wass entd own
about6 00 yearsa fterJ esusa nd is in our handst oday
in the form of the Qur'an. As againstth e previously
revealedb ooks,t he Qur'an hasb eenp reservedin its
originalf orm. A well known Arabist, A rthurJ . Ar-berry,
writes in the foreword to his work "The Koran
Interpreted": "Apart from certain orthographical
modi f icat ionosf the or iginal lys omewhapt r imi t ive
methodo f writing, i ntendedto renderu nambiguous
and easyt he tasko f readinga nd recitationt,h e Koran
as printedi n the twentiethc enturyi s identicawl ith
the Korana sa uthorisebdy Uthmanm oret han1 ,4 00
years ago."
Uthman (ra), it may be noted, was the third caliph
after Muhammad, peace be upon h im, who got copies
l 3
that actual words of God but only written under the divine
same work states further: "God author of Sacred Scripture, it also true
contribu­tion
- Pope) XII Spiritu" (p., 503).
the loss of original revelation, and that Jesus Christ was worshipped in place of God, necessitated a fresh revelation. It was sent down
about 600 years after Jesus and hands today
Qur'an. against the revealed books, the Qur'an has been preserved in original form. Arthur J. Ar­berry,
modifications of originally somewhat primitive
method of intended to render unambiguous
easy the task of reading and recitation, the printed in twentieth century is identical with
Koran as authorised by Uthman more than 1, 400
ra), him, 13

24. of the originalc ompilationc irculatedw idely world of lslam.
t4
original compilation circulated widely in the
Islam.
14

25. IV THE QUR'AN
What ls The Glur'an?
m.
Ll he Qur'an is the final Revelation of Cod to man. lt
was revealed to the final Prophet, Muhammad, on
whom be peace. ltsm aint opicsa re:t he Existencoef
Cod, the Unityo f HisB eing;H ise ualitiesa ndA ttrib-utes,
e pisodesfr omt he liveso f the prophetsth atw ere
sentt o variousn ationsw ith the speciael mphasiso n
the accounto f the struggleb etweent hem who rejected them, the uftimate re-jectiono
f God'sr nessageth; ep rincipleso f a gooda nd
virtuousl ife;t he frame-worko f rulesa nd for organisingp ersonalf,a mily,a nd communityl ife,
the returnt o cod, the settingu p of scalea nd judgement of each man's faith and of Resurrectioann d Reckoningfo llowedb y entryi nto
everlastingH eaveno r Hell. The eur,an men-tions
in passings omeh istoricatlr uths,s cientificfa cts,
makes observations on natural phenomena prophesizecse rtaine vents.
Herea res omee xampleso f eur'anic revelationsT. he
first chapter says:
l 5
IV THE QUR'AN
What Is The Qur'an?
lrhe Qur'an is the final Revelation of God to man. It
was revealed Prophet, Muhammad, on
whom peace. Its main topics are: the Existence of
God, the Unity of His Being; His Qualities and Attrib­utes,
episodes from the lives of Prophets that were
sent to various nations with special emphasis on
the account of struggle between them and those
who rejected ultimate outcome of the re­jection
of God's message; the principles of agood and
virtuous life; the work of rules and regulations
for organising personal, family, and community life,
the return to God, setting up the Scale and the
judgement deeds on the Day
of Resurrection and Reckoning followed by entry into
everlasting Heaven or Qur'an also men­tions
in passing some historical truths, scientific facts,
makes and
prophesizes certain events.
Here are some examples of Qur'anic revelations. The
first chapter 15

26. "ln then ameo f Atlaht,h eC ompassionatthee, M erciful'
flffpraise6 et oAffafrt,f reL or[of Worffs.
rITuC otnpassioruttfeic,f rlercifu[
Lor[ of tficD, a1o f Tu[gemcnt-
Itfieea torcf ,ow ew orsfitpa,r rtlfrl hefpa tonr[o wes eefr
Suilt tu tfres traigfrPt atfr.
Itfrep atfro f tfrosteft ou frafsa voure['
Noto f tfiostefi nte arnedllfrayr yer,n oro f tfrosetf rntf ostt fre
eloyJ'
shortesct haptero f the says:
"In tfren rtmor fA ttafr,t fteC omPf,ssiotuthteef, u lercifu[
'(I swear$) y tfref iffia.
IltritJ fuIanis in Peri[
Saaet ftoswe fro6 e[iweda nl fr[ gooff eeds.( Ani saaet)f tose
tfut enoj in^I et f re l lrutf i an"der yoi i rcd p e r sw er 4n ce '" (Cf rnpt e t
103)
Thef ollowingp iecei st hef irstp arto f a chapteer ntitled
"The Sun":
l 6
"In the name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
;4.[[praise 6e to ;4.ffali, tlie LordofWorCdS.
fJ1ie Compassionate, tlie :Merciful
Lordoftlie ClJay ofJudgement. .
lJ1iee alone do we worsliip, andlJ1iy liefp alone do we seeR.:.
guide us to tlie straiglit patli.
lJ1ie patli oftliose lJ1iou liasfavoured.
:Not oftliose tliat eamedrzTiy anger, nor ofthose tliat Cost tlie
Way."
One of the shortest chapter of Qur'an says:
"In tlie name ofjtffali, the Compassionate, the :Merciful
rIswear) (By tlie rrime.
Verify :Man is peril
Save tliose who 6e[ievedanddidgooddeeds. (JIntfsave) those
qJUzt enjoinedtlie rr'rutli andenjoinedperseverance. " (Cliapter:
103)
The following piece is the first part ofa chapter entitled
"The Sun":
16

27. "tficn nmeo fAtkt tficg ompassionnttfeie,f uIercifuf
'81 tfics una ntritsm omingfi rigfttness
on[ 6Jt ftem oonwfi.esnfr cfo[Iawist,
arr[ q tfied ayw frpnit dispfuyist
n r[ b tfrcn igfitw frenit ensfrrouift,!s
{fi tfu freaveann trI{imw froS uitti t
n t[ fu tfrc eartft arr[ 6J I{im wfto e4enfef it!
cBytf rc souta, n^[t{imwfrop erfecte[it
antrhupirej[t .(witfr conscicnocfel wfrati s wrongfori t an[
wtut ts) rwttt!
Wosperouiss fiew fio punfics anf,faitefis frcw fio sef,uceist. "
Ghallenge Many questionsc an be raiseda bout the Qur'an.
What is the proof that it is the revelation of Cod?
Maybe Muhammad made it up himself. Also, if the
previousr evelationsh aveb eent amperedw, hat ist he
proof that the Qur'an has been preserved as it was
revealed?
The answert o thef irstq uestionis a counter-question.
ls there another example in history of an unlettered
man producinga literarym asterpiecelt?s g reatr elig-l
7
''In tfie mzme ofAlCali, tfie CompassioTUlte, tlie :MercifuL
ItBy tlie sun antiits momino 6riglitness
and6y tlie moon wfien sfiefo«OWs it,
and6y tfie tfay wfien it d'ispCays it
and6y tlie nifjlit when it enshrouds it!
<By tlie fieaven antiHim who 6ui{t it
and6y tlie earth and'6y Jfim who eJ(J:end'ed'it!
<By tfie sou£, andJfim who perfected'it
and'inspired'it (witli conscience of) wliat is wrono for it atuf
(what zs) right!
Prosperous is he who purifies it,
and'fai£ed' is fie who seduces it. /I
The Challenge of the Qur'an.
questions can raised about Qur/an.
God?
previous revelations have been tampered, what is the
Qur'an answer to the first question is question.
Is producing a literary masterpiece? Its great relig-
17

28. apart, the Qur'an has been acknowledged
ious merit Qur'an as an unparalleled piece could Muhammad, who received no education, who
could even nothing till the age of suddenly come up all-time masterpiece, and unparalleledp iece of Arabic literature. How
w ho receivedn o educationw, ho
not read and write, and who produced
nothingt ill ageo f 40, suddenlyc omeu p with an
timem asterpiecea,n d at one stroke?
Therei se videnceg aloret o provet hatn eitherM uham-mad
There is evidence galore to prove that neitherMuham­mad
nor other human could have authored this
Befored iscussinga ny of it, let us look into the
Qur'an to find out how it clears these doubts.
We find thatt he Qur'an repeatedlya sserttsh ati t isn o
man'sw riting but a directr evelationo f Cod. lt also
tellsu st hatA llah Himselfh asu ndertakento preserve
in itso riginafl orm. To furtherit sc laimi t challenges
itsr eadersth ati f theya rei n anyd oubta bouti tsD ivine
t hent hey mayp roducea notherw ritinge qual
it in merit. Thel ogicb ehindt hisc hallenges hould
be obvious. lf this Booki s not Cod's revelationb ut
a producto f humanm ind,t hen,w hat is possiblefo r
one man is possiblef or another. lf the challenge
cannot be answered by one set of people it can be
by another set of people. lf it is not an-sweredi
n one age, it will be answeredi n another.
And the challengeis simplyt o producet hreev erses,
or a singlec haptero f equalm erit. Buti f it could not
18
any Book. Before discussing any Qur'an itself that the Qur'an repeatedly asserts that it is no
man's writing direct revelation of God. It tells us that Allah Himself has undertaken to it its original form. further its claim it its readers that if they are in any doubt about its 0 origin, then they may produce another writing equal
to The logic behind this challenge should
If Book is God's revelation but
product of human mind, then, what possible for
possible for If answered If an­swered
in answered in challenge is simply to produce three verses,
single chapter of equal merit. But if

29. be done in 14 hundred years - and it has not been
done - then it must be admitted that it is of Divine
origin. The challengeo f courser emainso pent o this
day.
be done in 14 hundred years - and it has not been
done - then it must be admitted that it is of Divine
origin. The challenge of course remains open to this
Nonethelesso,t hert hant hec hallengew, hich we can-not
Nonetheless, other than the challenge, which can­not
ignore, w e presents omeo therr easonsto demon-strate
why could not have been written we present some other reasons to demon­strate
Qur'an by
Muhammad, or, by any other human.
PREDIGTIONS THE About Arabs and lslam
Dur,ingi ts revelation, w hich took 23 yearst o com-plete,
the made several predictions ultimated estructiono f thosew ho opposedi ts mes-sage.
When revealed, the predictions wishfult hinkinga st he responsteo the Prophet'sm es-sage
had been far from encouraging. During 2O of the 23 years of his Apostolic mission win very few people to his side. However, pre-diction
was so cleara nd specifict hat it can given
no othere xplanatione xceptD ivine.
l 9
PREDICTIONS OF QUR'AN
Islam
During its which years to com­plete,
Qur'an of the
ultimate destruction of those who opposed its mes­sage.
sounded a
wishful thinking as the response to Prophet's mes­sage
the first
20 years he could
win people one pre­diction
clear and specific that be no other explanation except Divine.
19

30. year migration from Makkah to Mad-inah,
Prophet with about seven hundred
In the sixth after Mad­inah,
followers for Makkah with the intention to perform
lessepr ilgrimagek nowni n Arabica s' Umrah. He
was stopped by the Quraysh outside Makkah at a
place Hudaibiyyah and refused entry to the
holy city. Thisw as againsat ll prevalentr ules. Nev-erthelesst
he Propheta pplied for peace. lt was ac-cepted.
But the conditions set by the Quraysh were
humiliatingt hat some seniorC ompanionse x-pressedt
heir strongd ispleasureO. ne of the condi-tions
was that the Muslims would return from where
theyc amew ithoutp erformingth ep ilgrimageF. ort hat
they would have to come the next year.
Butt ruly speakingth e Muslimsh adn o choice. T hey
weret oo weaka gainstth e paganA rabs.D uringt hose
dayst he Prophets aw in a dreamt hat he would enter
Makkah triumphantly and also received revelation
confirmingh isv ision.l t said:" Trulyh asA llahf ulfilled
the vision He showed to His Messenger. You shall
surely the Holy Mosque, with Allah's Will, in
security, (some of you) shaving your heads, (others)
cutting (theirh air) short, n ot fearing( anyone)" f fhe
Qur'an - 48: 271. The prophecy, however, impossibleo f fulfilment. T he Prophetth en hadw ith
him sevenh undredm en and perhapstw 'icea s many
?0
the set out perform
the lesser pilgrimage known in Arabic as 'Umrah. Quraysh called This was against all prevalent rules. Nev­ertheless
the Prophet appl ied It ac­cepted.
Quraysh so humiliating that senior Companions ex­pressed
their strong displeasure. One condi­tions
they came without performing the pi Igrimage. For that
But truly speaking the Muslims had no They
were too weak against the pagan Arabs. During those
days the Prophet saw dream that confirming his vision. It said: "Truly has Allah fulfilled
enter their hair) not fearing ([The
Qur'an - 48: 27]. seemed
impossible of The Prophet then had with
seven hundred men perhaps twice as 20

31. able bodied men at Madinah. As against this the
Christians Christianso of f Najran Najrana alone lonew were erec capable apableo of f raising raisinga an
n
army of a hundred hundredt thousand housands soldiers oldiersa at t short shortn notice.
otice.
And the Christians Christiansw were ere not the most mostn numerous umerousp peo­ple
eo-ple
in Arabia, nor were they the most powerful. A
single tribe, the Banu Hawazin, devoid of the help of
w as ablet o raise2 2,OOApe oplea gainst he
Quraysh, was able to raise 22,000 people against the
Prophet two years later. The Makkans themselves had
casually collected an army of 20,000 to raid Madinah
Prophett wo yearsl ater.T heM akkanst hemselvesh ad
casuallyc ollecteda n armyo f 20,000t o raidM adinah
an year earlier. Had the MakkansJ, ewsa nd other
tribesw anted,t heyc ould havej ointly raiseda n army
of a quarterm illion againsth e Muslims, a lthough,
just 10,000w ould haveb eens ufficientto wipe Mad-inaho
ff the map. With sucha n imbalanceo f power,
what chanced id the ageingP rophett,h en5 9, haveo f
entering Makkah triumphant? But, true to predic-tion,
it did happen. ln just two years Makkah subduedw ithoutr esistanceN. o humanc ould foreseenth is turn of events.
About The The above was a prophecy in the Qur'an an event in Arabia. But Arabia was a remote of the then known world, known to the outsidersfo r
its hungry, f erocious,u ntamedd esertdwellers.T he
civilised world was divided into major powers.
2 l
Makkans, Jews and tribes wanted, they could have jointly raised an quarter million against the although,
just 10,000 would have been sufficient to Mad­inah
off such an imbalance of chance did ageing Prophet, then 59, have of
the predic­tion,
In just was
subdued without resistance. No human could have
foreseen this Romans
Qur'an concerning
corner
outsiders for
ferocious, untamed desert-dwellers. The
two 21

32. Both vast, powerful, and several centuries old: the
Roman Romana and nd the Persian. The T he Romans Romans( (known knownb by y the
later laterh historians istorianass as the t he Byzantine) Byzantiner)ruled u ledo over vers some omep parts
arts
of Europe, t he whole Syria, P afestineE, gypt,a nd
North Africa. The Persian Empire had its roots in
Persia. The two super powers of the time had long
been warring with each other in an effort to expand
territories. L atelyt,h e Persianws ere particularlys uc-cessfulu
ndert he greatesot f their emperorsC hosroes
ll who hadb egunh isc ampaignas gainstth e Romans
earlyi n the seventhc enturyo f Christiane ra (Mu-hammad
was then about 30 years old and not yet a
Prophet). C hosroesto ret hrought he Romand efences
and within 30 yearsr educedt he illustriouse mpiret o
shambles having wrested away the best part of PalestineE, gypta nd all the areasb elowt he Capitalo f
the empire, C onstantinopl(et oday'sls tanbul).
Twelveo f the thirty yearso f victory-filledc ampaigns
of Chosroesw ere conductedd uringt he reigno f the
Romane mperorH eracliusw, ho, beingm ore of the pleasantrieosf the palacet hant he battlefields,
watchedw ith completeh elplessnestsh e of his empire. The greatestb low came when Persianws restedfr omh ish andsJ erusaleman dc arried
away the relicso f the holy city to Persiai,n cluding
the "Holy Cross,"o n which Christw as supposedto
72
the of Palestine, Egypt, and
Lately, the Persians were particularly suc­cessful
under the greatest of emperors Chosroes
II had begun his campaigns against the early in seventh century of the Christian era Mu­hammad
Chosroes tore through the Roman defences
years reduced the illustrious empire to
Syria,
Palesti ne, Egypt and areas below the Capital of
Constantinople (today's Istanbul).
Twelve of years of filled campaigns
Chosroes were conducted during the reign of Roman emperor Heraclius, who, being more a man
pleasantries of palace than the watched with complete helplessness the destruction
greatest blow the
Persians wrested from his hands Jerusalem and carried
relics of Persia, including
Cross,lI on Christ was supposed to
22

33. have been crucified. It lt was at this juncture juncture that the
Prophet, then in his 4th or 5th year of Apostleship,
received receivedt the he following followiriga astonishing stonishinpgr prediction: ediction:" "Alif.
AIif.
Lam. Lam.M7m. M im.Ihe The Romans Romansh have aveb been een defeated, defeatedi,in n (the
the
land) Iand)/ lowest owesto on n earth. earth. But after after( (this) this)defeat d efeata of f theirs
theirs
they theyw will ill soon soonb be e victorious. victorious.Within W ithin a few few years. years.With
W ith
Allah Allah is the decision, in the the past and and in the future.
On that day shall shall the faithful rejoice" reioice" (Ch. Ch. AI-AI-Rum:
Rum:
1-4).
4).
Referringto thisp redictionth e famousE nglishh isto-rianE
Referring to this prediction the famous English histo­rian
dwardC ibbon( 1737-17941wrotthee f ollowing
Edward Gibbon (1794) wrote the following
lines in the great historical work of the eighteenth
century, "The The Decline Decline And And Fall Of The Roman Roman Em­pire"
Em-pi
re" ((vol. vol .5 5 P., P. ,7 79, 9, London, London,'1911):
1 911) :
'At "At the thet time imew when hent the he prediction predictionis is said saidt to o have haveb been
een
delivered, deliveredn, no o prophecy prophecyc could ouldb be e more mored distant istantf from
rom
its accomplishment, accomplishmenst,since i ncet the he first twelve twelvey years earso of
f
Heraclius Heracliuasn announced nouncetdh the ea approaching pproachindgi dissolution ssolutioonf
of
the empire."
But then somethingh something happened. appened.Heraclius H eracliusc changed.
hanged.
Assumingth Assuming the e role of a hero, a and nd borrowing borrowinga all ll the
gold gold that the churchesc churches could ould lend him, he set sail
quietlyi quietly into ntot the he MediterraneaSne Mediterranean Sea aw with ith a smallb small band
and
of soldiers. He landed at the shores of Svria Syria and
23

34. defeatedth e Persiana rmy sentt o intercepth im. He
defeated the Persian army sent to intercept him. marched on carrying armies far Ispahan,
which em­peror
in the process his victorious
as as the royal cities of Casbin and lspahan,
had never been approached by a Roman em-peror
before. Thereh e facedt he largeste ver-Persian
so fearful that his bravest veterans were left
speechlesws ith awe. Althoughh e knew nothingo f
prophecyo f the Qur'an, Heracliusa ddressedh is
commandersin propheticw ords:" Ben ot terrifiedb y
multitude of your foes. With the aid of Heaven,
Romanm ayt riumpho vera thousandb arbarians."
victory was his. The decisive battle was at
Ninevah. And a little later he recoveredth e "Holy
I n seveny earsH eracliush ad liberateda ll the
provinces that had been lost in thirty years. The pre-diction
of the Qur'an had come true. And
astonishinglayg ain,H eracliusw ent backt o the same
life of pleasurea nd easef,o rcingC ibbon to state:
"Of the charactersc onspicuousin history, t hat of
Heracliusis one of the moste xtraordinarayn d in-consistent.
In the "first and last years" of a long
reign, t he emperora ppearsto be the slaveo f sloth,
of pleasure, a nd of superstitiont,h e carelessa nd
impotenst pectatoro f publicc alamities."
24
There he faced the largest ever-Persian
army, speechless with Although he nothing of
the prophecy of Qur'an, Heraclius addressed his
commanders in prophetic words: "Be not terrified by
the one Roman may triumph over a thousand barbarians."
The recovered the Cross." In seven years Heraclius had liberated all pre­diction
Qur'an astonishingly again, Heraclius went back to old pleasure and ease, forcing Gibbon characters conspicuous in that Heraclius is most extraordinary and in­consistent.
the emperor appears to slave of and superstition, the careless and
impotent spectator of public calamities."

35. It was as if Heraclius had woken up from his sloth
only to fulfil the prophecy of the Qur'an.
The Qur'an is a Book of guidance and not a treatise
on science. But it does make passingr eferencetso
scientifica nd naturalp henomena. How do these
statementsso und,a ftera thousanda nd four hundred
years? They should seem outdated. But that's not the
case.
EmbryologyA: Muslims cholarS, heikhA bdulM ajeed
Zindani, s aysh e gatheredto getherth osev erseso f the
Qur'an that speako f the processo f humanc oncep-tion,
developmenat nd birth, put them in order, a nd
showedt he collectiont o a world-knownP rofessoorf
embryology, s eekingh is opinion. The scientisto ld
him thati f SheikhZ indaniw rotea n articleo n embry-ology,
basing it entirely on the material he had on
hand, n o onew ould believet hati t is froma book 14
centurieso ld!
25
Qur'an.
Miracles of Scientific Nature
Qur'an passing references to
scientific and natural phenomena. statements sound, after a thousand and Embryology: AMusl im scholar, Sheikh Abdul Majeed
says he gathered together those verses of Qur'an speak of process of human concep­tion,
development and and
showed the collection to known Professor of
seeking his scientist told
that if Sheikh Zindani wrote an article on embry­ology,
no one would believe that it from a centuries old!

36. Barriersin the Sea: I n severapl lacesth eQ ur'ans tates
thatA llah hasp laceda barrierb etweent he seas. F or
instance: "He has set free the two seas so that they
might meet; yet between them is barrier which they
may not transgress(c" h. 55, verses1 9&20).S imilar
statementas ppeari n verse6 1 of Chailter2 7. Now
verseso f this kind had remainede nigmaticu ntilt he
very modernt imesw hen it wasd iscoveredth atw hen
a straits eparatetsw o seasa, st he Reds eai s separated
fromt he IndianO ceanb y theS traiot f BabA l-Mandab,
the two seasa red istinctlys eparatedfr om eacho ther
so that both the physicala nd chemicalp ropertieso f
the two waters, as well as the maritime life in both
thes easis d istinctlyd ifferenftr omt heo ther.T hes trait
actsa sa wall clearlys eparatintgh e two into different
maritimew orlds.
Barriers in In several places the Qur'an states
that Allah has placed a barrier between the For
Somes cholarws ho haves tudiedth eQ ur'ana ndc om-paredi
ts statementos n scientificm attersw ith those
in otherr evealedli teraturess,u cha s Dr. MauriceB u-caille
who is a French surgeon, have reached inter-est
ingc onclusioncso ncernintgh eD ivineo r igino ft he
holy and the interpolationosf the previous
revelat ionsD. r . Bucai l leh asp ubl ishedth e f indings
of hiss tudiesin a bookc alled:" TheB ible,t heQ ur'an,
and Science"( "LaB ible,l e Corane t /e Science" fi rst
26
meet; between a barrier which they
not transgress" (ch. verses 19&20). Similar
statements appear inverse 61 Chapter 27. verses of remained enigmatic until the
modern times when was discovered that when
strait separates two seas, as the Red sea is from the Indian Ocean by the Strait of Bab AI-Mandab,
seas are distinctly separated from each other
physical and chemical properties of
the seas is distinctly different from the other. The strait
acts as a clearly separating the maritime worlds.
Some scholars who have studied the Qur'an and com­pared
its statements on scientific matters with other revealed literatures, such as Maurice Bu­caille
inter­esting
conclusions concerning the Divine origin of the
Qur'an interpolations of revelations. Dr. Bucaille has published the findings
his studies in book called: "The Bible, the Qur'an,
Science" ("La Bible, Ie Coran et Ie first

37. publishedi n Frenchi n May 1976). He statesh is
conclusionisn thef ol lowingw ords:
published in French in states his
conclusions in the following words:
'What initiallys trikest he readerc onfrontedfo r the
first time with a text of this kind is the sheer abun-danceo
f subjectsd iscussedt:h e Creationa, stron-omy,
t he explanationo f certainm attersc oncerning
the earth, t he animala ndv egetablek ingdomsh, u-man
reproductione,t c. Whereasm onumentael r-rors
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 manw ast he authoro f the Qur'an, h ow
could he have written facts in the seventh century
A.D. that today are shown to be in keeping with
moderns cientifikcn owledge("p .,1 20,E nglishe di-tion,
A mericanT rustP ublication1,9 79).
Here is further evidence from another authority in
science. This is from Keith L. Moore, Professoor f
Anatomya nd AssociateD ean,B asicS ciencesU, ni-versity
of Toronto, Canada. He writes in his book:
"The DevelopingH uman"( Saunders1,9 82):
"lt is cited in the Koran...thaht umanb eingsa re
producedfr oma mixtureo f secretionfr omt he male
andt hef emale.S everarl eferenceas rem adet o the
creationo f a humanb eingf roma sperm-dropa nd it
27
'What initially strikes the reader confronted for abun­dance
of subjects discussed: the Creation, astron­omy,
the explanation of certain matters concerning
the animal and vegetable kingdoms, hu­man
reproduction, etc. Whereas monumental er­rors
man was the author of how
D. modern scientific knowledge" (p., 120, English edi­tion,
American Trust Publication, 1979).
Professor of
Anatomy and Associate Dean, Basic Sciences, Uni­versity
The Developing Human" (Saunders, 1982):
It that human beings are
produced from a mixture of secretion from the and the female. Several references are made to creation of human being from a drop and

38. is also alsos suggested uggestedth that att the he resulting resultingo organism rganisms settles
ettles
in the woman like a seed, six days after its begin-ning."
(The Human blastocysbt eginst o implant
abouts ix daysa fterf ertilisation)T. he Koran,( and
the Prophet's ayingsa) lsos tatet hatt hes permd rop
develops into a "clot of congealed blood" (an im-plantedb
lastocysot r a spontaneouslayb ortedc on-ceptusw
ouldr esemblea bloodc lot). Referenceis
also madet o the leech-likea ppearanceo f the em-bryo..."
Thesea rej ust a few of the instancefsr om the Qur'an
which demonstrateth at we will encounterv ery seri-ousp
roblemsin explainingth ec ontentso f theQ ur'an
if we assumeth atM uhammadi s itsa uthor.
begin­ning:'
blastocyst begins to about six days after fertilisation). The Koran, (sayings) also state that the sperm drop
im­planted
blastocyst or spontaneously aborted con­ceptus
would resemble a blood clot). Reference is
made to like appearance of em­bryo..."
These are just instances from Qur'an
demonstrate that encounter very seri­ous
problems in explaining the contents of the Qur'an
assume that Muhammad is its author.
28

39. lslam?
[n thiss implestte rm: lslami s submissiown ith love
theW i ll lt cana lsob ed efineda st hes um
thoset ruthst o Cod's Messengerhsa ve in-vited
immemorial. In practical
ancient lmam
lslam is by which a man is per-suadedto
submitt o Allah, i n thata reao f hise xistence
free will, just as he is already
submittedin the areai n which he hasn o choiceb ut
liveb y instincts.T" hew ord lslama lsos ignifies
peace. so it also be defined as a system of
life of practice that puts man at peace with
Allaha ndw ith Hisc reation.P ropheMt uhammado, n
peace has defined "the Muslim as one from
whoseh andsa ndt ongueo therM usli msa rea t peace".
now look at some of the practical aspects of
lslam.
29
V ISLAM
What is Islam?
TIn this simplest term: "Islam is submission with to the Wi II of Allah." It can also be defined as the sum
of those truths to which God's Messengers have in­vited
mankind since times terms and in the words of an scholar, Imam
Shatibi: "Islam the system per­suaded
to submit to in that area of his existence
in which he enjoys submitted in area in has no choice but
to live by his instincts." The word Islam also signifies
And can Iife and a code Allah and with His creation. Prophet Muhammad, on
whom be whose hands and tongue other Musl ims are at peace."
Let us Islam.

40. The Pillars of lslam
Apartf rom beinga faith,l slami s alsoa systemo f life,
fol lowingw hich the individuaal nd the communi ty
are requiredt o organiseth eir lives. Thereforet,h ere
are many things in lslam that are obligatory: those
withoutw hich neithert he faith is n or responsibilityo f beinga Muslim can Of theseo bligationsf,i ve are of utmosti mportance.
They are traditionally known as pillars lslam, i.e., those on and around which fs fa m isb uilt. Theya re1 . Faith2, . Salah(t hef ived aily
Prayers)3, . Zakah( or the welfared ue),4 . Fastsa nd,
5. Haii.
Faith: l t is the declaration(,s hahadahin t hat
"There is no god save Allah (the Cod), (that)
Muhammadi s His Messenger."
Salah( Prayers)E: veryb elieveri n lslami s requiredt o
pray five times every day: before dawn, mid-afternoon,
sunset, and at nightfall. obligatoryf or men to offert he prayersi n in congregationt,h e Prayersc anb e offereda nywhere.
Zakah (Ihe Weffareduel: welfar+.due
offeredi n the way of Allaht o secureH is pleasurea nd
30
The Pillars of Islam
Apart from being a faith, Islam is also a system of life,
following which the individual and the community
are required to organise their lives. Therefore, there
are many things in Islam that are obligatory: those
without which neither the complete, nor the
responsibility of being a be shouldered.
these obligations, five utmost importance.
the five of
Islam, e., the edifice of
Islam is built. They are 1. Faith, 2. Salah (the five daily
Prayers), 3. Zakah (or welfare due), 4. Fasts and,
5. Hajj.
It declaration, (shahadah in Arabic) that
One God), and Muhammad is Salah (Prayers): Every believer in Islam is required to
pray at noon, mid­afternoon,
Although it is
obligatory for offer the Prayers in the mosque
in congregation, the Prayers can be offered anywhere.
(The Welfare-due): Zakah is the welfare-due
offered in Allah to secure His pleasure and
30

41. purify wealth and soul. There are two kinds
to one's of zakah: the voluntary vol­untary
and the obligatory. The vol-untary
zakah( knowna ss adaqahin Arabic) s houldb e
zakah (known as sadaqah in should be
practisedb y asf requentlya s possiblea, nd
althoughi ts literalm eaningi s charity, i t can alsoi n-clude
practised by a Muslim as frequently as possible, and
although its literal meaning is it also in­clude
can be to promote general
happinessP. ropheMt uhammado, n whom be peace,
in the face of your brother is
your (efforts to) promote virtue and stamp
is sadaqaht;o guide a ma who has lost
way is sadaqaht;o help a man who hasl osth is
is sadaqah, to remove the stones, thorns, and
bonesf romt he patho f the peoplei ss adaqaha, ndt he
emptyingo f your pail intoa notherm an'sp ail (att he
is zakah is due once every year from
everyonew ho holdsa boutB 0 gramso f gold, s ilvero f
price, or equal amount of money in possession
yeara nd above. T he calculationa nd spending
zakah-sumasr et he individual'sr esponsibility.
Thea mountd ue ist wo anda halfp ercenot f theg old,
or in possession.
Fasts: O ne month, everyy ear,d uring the month of
Ramadhana, Muslim is requiredt o fastf rom dawn to
31
anything that done happiness. Prophet Muhammad, on has said: "Your smile sadaqah; out the evil sadaqah; to his sadaqah; to has lost his
sight bones from the path of people is sadaqah, and the
emptying of into another man's pail (at the
well) sadaqah."
The obligatory zakah everyone who holds about 80 grams of si Iver of
equal for a year and The calculation and of the zakah-sums are the individual's responsibility.
The amount due is two and a half percent of the gold,
silver cash One every year, during Ramadhan, a required to fast from

42. dusk, abstainingf rom food, drinks, smoke,s exual
intercoursea nd all immoral actsa nd utterances.
dusk, abstaining from food, drinks, smoke, sexual
intercourse and all immoral acts and utterances.
Hajj Haij ((Pilgrimage): PilgrimagelHz Hajj aijiso is obligatory bligatoryo once ncei in n a a lifetime,
lifetime,
on every adult Muslim, male or female, afford to travel to Makkah. The rites include the garbo f a pilgrim, c ircumambulatintgh e Ka'bah( a
cubicle structure, e mpty from inside) s event imes,
walking seven times between Safa and mounts between which Hajar, the wife lbrahim
(peaceb e on her), r an in searcho f waterl,t arryingi n
thew ide plaino f 'Arafats, pendinga nighti n Muzdali-fahw
hile returningto theM inav alley,t arryingin valleyf or threed aysa nd nightsd uringw hich ani-maf
is to be offered in sacrifice. lt is spotsa ret o be stonedw, herel brahim,( peaceb e him), threw stones at Satan for trying away from sacrificingh is son, a so rderedb y a test. The pilgrim shavesh is head( womant akeo ff
onfy an inch) t o completet he riteso f Haii.
Summary
To sum up: T he shahadashe tsr ighta man,sr elation-shipw
i th Al lah. l t alsoc reatetsh e minimumc ondi -
tion for salvation in the Hereafter, associateodt hersw ith cod will nevere nterp aradise.
32
who can
travel wearing
garb of circumambulating the Ka'bah (a
empty seven times,
walking seven Marwah
[mounts of Ibrahim
(peace be ran search of water], tarrying in
the wide plain of 'Arafat, spending a night in Muzdali­fah
while returning to the Mina valley, tarrying in this
valley for three days and nights during which an ani­mal
It here that those
spots are to stoned, where Ibrahim, (peace be upon
to tempt him
sacrificing his as ordered by Allah as
shaves his head (woman take off
only to complete the rites of Hajj.
To sum The shahadah sets right a man's relation­ship
with Allah. It also creates the minimum condi­tion
for since he who
associated others with God never enter Paradise.
32

43. has to be drawn
However, in this earthly life a line between the believer and the unbeliever: the mini­mum
betweent he believera nd t he mini-mum
withoutw hich forfeitsth e rightt o be called
Musfim . Thatm inimumi s salaha ndz akah:o ne is
Cod, right of man. One
strengthenhs is otherc reatesp ropers o-cial
The fourth
pillaro f lslam,f astsh, elpst heM uslimr egainh isn atu-ral
b y abstaininfgr omt he essentialosf life, h e is
freedf rom hiso wn selfa nd learnsth at he can survive
alsor ealizesth atf or thatb arem ini-mum
needn ot compromiseh imself.O n the other
handi t alsoc leansehsi ss elft hrougha bstinencfer om
in word and deed, thus
pur i fyingh ism inda nds oul .
Haij him for a while to a new multi-racial,
nationaslo cietyw herem ani sj ustm an,w ith no
identitya, humbleu niti n thes eao f humanitys, haring
samed resst,h e samef ood,t he samec omfortsa nd
a nd learningt hat even if the colours,
languageasn d faciala nd bodilyf eaturesa red ifferent,
or the nation of lslam, is one entity. He
alsol earnst,h roughd irecto bservationo f a largen um-ber
people, that he is not alone in his devotion to
that there are millions of all colour and hue
living under more difficultc onditionsa re yet
33
without which one forfeits the right to a Muslim. That minimum is salah and zakah: one the right of God, and the other the strengthens his soul and the other creates proper so­cial
conditions for such strengthening. pillar of Islam, fasts, helps the Muslim regain his natu­ral
self: by abstaining from the essentials of he freed from his own self and learns that on very little. He also realizes that for that bare mini­mum
he need not compromise himself. On hand it also cleanses his self through abstinence from
all that is vile and wicked purifying his mind and soul.
Hajj takes off racial,
multi-national society where man is just man, with identity, a humble unit in the sea of humanity, sharing
the same dress, the same food, the same comforts and
discomforts, and learning that languages and facial and bodily features are different,
the ummah, Islam, also learns, through direct observation of large num­ber
of Allah, who, difficult conditions are yet
33

44. more devoted to Allah than him. This teaches him
humility.
more devoted to Allah than him. This teaches him
humility.
The Rest of lslam
we have stated earlier that lsram is also a code of
practiceth atg uidesa Muslimi n all affairso f his life.
This code of practice is also known by the term
Shari'ah(t hew ay,o r the Law).T heS hair, a'hi sdivided
into two categoriest:h e 'iba&t or the systemo f wor-ship,
and the mu?malat or the worldly dealings.
what we haved iscusseudn derthefi vep illarso f lslam
are the 'ibaffit. we shalln ow presentt he othera s-pects
of the shari'ah very briefry. But first, in order to
gets omei deao f thes pirito f the shari,ahth ef olfo wing
will be useful.
Knowledge and Learning
seeking knowledge should the first priority in a be-liever's
life. lt is on knowredge that the character,
depth, and purity of action depends. "A man in the
patho f knowledget readso n the wingso f the angels,,,
PropheMt uhammadh ass aid.A nd knowledgeis d e-fineda
st hatp ieceo f informationth at leadst oa better
34
The Rest of Islam
We have stated earlier that Islam is also a code of
practice that guides a Muslim in all affairs of his life.
This code of practice is also known by the term
Shari'ah (the way, or the law). The Shari'ah is divided
into two categories: the 'ibacJat or the system of wor­ship,
and the mu~mafat or the worldly dealings.
What we have discussed underthefive pillars of Islam
are the /ibacfiit. We shall now present the other as­pects
of the Shari'ah very briefly. But first, in order to
get some idea ofthe spirit of the Shari'ah the following
will be useful.
Knowledge and Learning
Seeking knowledge should the first priority in a be­liever's
life. It is on knowledge that the character,
depth, and purity of action depends. "A man in the
path of knowledge treads on the wings of the angels,"
Prophet Muhammad has said. And knowledge is de­fined
as that piece of information that leads to a better
34

45. understandinogf theW il I Cod, andt hed emando f
understanding of the Will of God, and the demand of
the Shari'ah Shari'ah upon an individual at any given time.
Gleanliness Cleanlinesiss parto f believeris requiredto
week, as also after every
sexuailn tercourseW. omena rea dditionallyre quired
menstruacl ycle' A
prerequisiteo f five Prayersis ablution. Ab-lution
purity achieved by washing the
parts body like the mouth, nose, face,
Clothesa nd one'ss urroundingssh oulda lsob e kept
Propheth asi nstructedth ate vent he back-yard
be kept clean. However, it is
merelyp hysicacl leanlinestsh at is required. A
believeri s requiredt o be pure in thoughtsa nd inten-tionsa
lso. The Propheto nce addresseda young lad
following words: "Son! lf you can achieve it,
you pass your morning and your evening in a
statet hat you bearn o grudgea gainsat nybodyi n your
- (go ahead and) do it, for that is my way
Sunnah)A. nd hew ho followedm y way will be with
in Paradise."
35
Cleanliness and Purity
Cleanliness is part of faith. A believer is required to
take a bath at least once a sexual intercourse. Women are additionally required
to take a bath at the end of the menstrual cycle. prerequisite of the daily Prayers is Ab­lution
is a state of exposed of the hands and feet.
Clothes and one's surroundings should also be clean. The Prophet has instructed that even the back­yard
of a house should not merely physical cleanliness that believer is required to thoughts and inten­tions
also. Prophet once addressed a in the Son! If that state that bear no grudge against anybody in heart, - go (Sunnah). And he who followed my me 35

46. MuEmalEf (Dealings)
Familyi s of prime importancein lslam. lt is consid-ered
as the first social unit on the health of depends the health of the society. A harmonious
socialo rder is createdb y the existenceo f familiesa t
peace with each other, are at peace with each other.
A man is recommended, therefore, home as soona s possibleo ncet he outsidei s
over. Thata ppliest o journeysa lso,d uringw hich is preferableth at his wife accompaniehsi m. expectedt o love her, o verlookh er weaknessa, s must his, and both create a peaceful children. The Prophet has said that rhe
man who puts in a morsel (such as piece his wife's mouth with his very hand.
Them otheri sa tt heh ighesrtu ngo f the laddero f A manw asc arryingh isa gedm othero n hiss houlders
around the Ka'bah. He turned to the prophet asked if he had fulfilled his duty his was told: "Not in the least. Not even you againa nds pendt hew holeo f yourl ifei n hers ervice."
The Propheto ld a man complaininga bouth ise arn-ingst
akena wayb y hisf ather": Youa ndy oure arnings
36
Mu'imalit (Dealings)
Family is of prime importance in Islam. It is consid­ered
as the first social unit on the health of which
depends the health of the society. A harmonious
social order is created by the existence of families at
peace with each whose individual members
are peace to return to his
soon as possible once the work outside is
That applies to journeys also, during which it
preferable that accompanies him. He is
expected to overlook her weakness, as she
home for the
Allah loves the
puts a of cake) in
The mother is at the highest rungofthe ladderof rights.
man was carrying his aged mother on his shoulders
around Prophet and
asked to mother. He
was if are born
again and spend the whole of your Iife in her service. II
The Prophet told complaining about his earn­ings
taken away by his father: "You and your earnings
36

47. belong belong to to him." him." People People related related by by blood blood come come next
next
in in righlss rights starting tartingw with ith the the closesst closest such ucha as sb brothers rothersa and
nd
sisteis. sisters. To To spend spend one's one's charity charity on on them, them, if if they they be
be
needy, needy, will will earn earn double double the the reward. reward. A A hadith hadith ((tradi-tion
tradi­tion
of of the the Prophet) says says the the he who who wished wished that that his
his
materials material share hareo of f this life be increaseda increased and nd his life
life
lengthenedm, lengthened, may ay treath treat his is relativesw relatives well.
ell'
Neighboursh Neighbours have avet their heir rights." rights. "lt It is not righto right of f a man
man
that that he shouldf should fill ill his stomachw stomach while hile his neighbour
sleeps sleeps hungry," said the Prophet. He also recom-mendedt
recom­mended
he housewifet hats hea dd a little moreg ravy
the housewife that she add Iittle more gravy
to able to send the neighbour
to the dish in order to be a part of it. And, in another to have said that Archangel Jibril spoke "so often
of the rights of the neighbour that thought he include him in the inheritance."
tradition he is reported
to haves aidt hatA rchangelJibrsilp oke" to me soo ften
of rightso f neighbourt hat I thoughth e would
Them inimumr ighto f theg enerapl ublici st o lett hem
The minimum right of the general public isto letthem
be in peace from one's evi Is. doing them good is to Socialising is also recommended. Says a hadith: "He
who mixes with the masses and bears their company
in patience, is better than he who distances himself
away from them."
evils. And the best way of
is guide them to the path of Allah.
Socialisinigs a lsor ecommendedS. aysa hadith:" He
who mixesw ith the massesa nd bearst heir company
in patience,i s bettert han he who distancesh imself
away from them."
37
37

48. It must be remembered, however, that Islam does not
rely on a few moral exhortations alone. Individuals,
society and state, everyone's rights have been clearly
and minutely delineated and guaranteed by the Law.
This we shall discuss in later books of this series, Allah
willing.
It mustb e rememberedh, owever,t hat lsramd oesn ot
rely on a few moral exhortationsa lone.I ndividuals,
societya nd state,e veryone'sr ightsh aveb eenc learly
and minutelyd elineateda nd guaranteedb y the Law.
Thisw e shalld iscussin laterb ookso f thiss eriesA, ff ah
w i l l i n g .
Jihad
Jihad
lslam is an ideal and yet a practical and pragmatic
religion. wherevere stablishedw,h etheri n a home
or in a nation, it createst he conditionso f peacea s
well as an atmosphereo f hearthyg rowth and devef-opment.
Islam is an ideal and yet a practical and pragmatic
religion. Wherever established, whether in a home
or in a nation, it creates the conditions of peace as
well as an atmosphere of healthy growth and devel­opment.
But the world we live in is far from being
But the world we live in is far from being
ideal. ideal. It lt neither neithere encourages ncouragevsi virtue rtuen nor or suppresses suppressetsh the
e
evil. evil. Also, Also,at a t the the individual individuafr level, evel,it i t is is neither neit-heer easy asyt to
o
rise rise from from bed bed an an hour hour and and a a half haff before before dawn dawn for
for
morn morni ing ng Prayers, Prayersn, nor or to to give givea away wayc cheerfu heerfuIl Ily y two two and
and
a a half half percent percento of f one's one's savings savingse every veryy year ear in in charity.
charity.
Surely, surely,Islam l slamw will iff not not be be established, estabifs hed,neither n eitherw within
ithin
oneself oneselnf nor or outside outsidew without ithouta a struggle. struggle.In I n the the Islamic
lslamic
terminology terminology this this struggle struggle is is known known by by the the much
much
feared, feared,but b ut little littleu understood nderstoodw word ord jihad. jihad. The Thes struggle
truggle
to to establish establish Islam lslam starts starts ,:",with ith one's one's own own self, self, and
ano
spreads spreadst thereon hereont to o the the outside outsidew world, orld, where where every
every
rightful rightful means, means, except except force, force, may may be be employed employed to
to
establish establisht the he ways ways approved approvedb by y Allah. Alfah. A A Qur'anic
eur,anic
38
38

49. lt 'There com-pulsion
verse clearly sets the rule. It says: "There is no com­pulsion
religion.'
But what happens when opposed to conformationo, pposedt o submis-sion
to Allah armsa gainst he faithful? What will happeni f believersi n show timidity? We all How-everm
uchw e mayd isliket he ideao f losinga an eye, or the whole self, force will with force. Without that, virtue gain upperh and. God's revelationte llsu s: Fightingh as
been presuibed for you, although is disgust-ing
you. But it is possiblet hat you dislikea and it may be good for you. And is possible you may like thing and it may bad you. Allah
knows. And you know not." (2:2161
However, let there be no confusion. is fighting for? To force people to fall down knees before Allah? Not at all. Allah does not deedsp erformedu nderd uress.T het rial of man con-sistsi
n determiningif he will succumbt o his base
desires, o r he will use his free will to follow guidanceg ivent o him. Forceg oesa gainstth e whole
scheme. T hereforef,o rcei st o be usedo nly to remove
those who, to safeguardth eir own interestsk, eep 39
in religion."
nappenswhen forces opposed to change,
non-conformation, opposed to submis­sion
take up arms against the faith and the
happen if the believers in truth
know the answer. No! How­ever
much we may dislike the idea of losing a limb,
wi II have to be met
will never an
upper hand. revelation tells us: "Fighting has
prescribed although it much disgust­ing
to possible that dislike a thing,
and may good And it that
like a and be bad for Allah
And 216)
What this
on their
accept
deeds performed under duress. The trial con­sists
in determining if succumb to or the
guidance given to Force goes against the Therefore, force is to used only safeguard their interests, keep a

50. massesa, nd preventt he messageo f lslam
hold on the masses, and prevent the message of Islam
from reaching them; whereas it is the right of the
people IhsEn
w hat strugglea bout? ls it simplyt o
establisha seto f lawsa nd try live asb est
as you is the relationshipb etweenA llah
us? ls it just that He is the Lord we His slaves we obey? is more it? is.
At the beginning of this book we defined lslam submissiont o the will of Allah with love. Love of
Allah, t hereforei,s the movingf orce. lt ist ruet hatt o
obey Allah is also an expressiono f love. But are fields that can be traversedh, orizonst hat can be
reached, s tagesth atc an be climbed, u ntil one reaches
that stagew hen he actuallys eesA llah when he wor-ships
Him. This is known as ihsan.
The subjec't of course needs further elaboration,
which we shall, A llahw illing,a ttemptin otherb ooks
of this series.
40
that they should be allowed free access to
Allah's message.
Ihsin
Finally, what is all this struggle about? Is simply to
establish a set of laws and and Iive by them as best
can? What relationship between Allah
and Is lord so He commands,
and so Or there to
There Islam as
submission to therefore, is moving force. It is true that to
expression of there
traversed, horizons that stages that can until stage when actually sees Allah wor­ships
subject Allah willing, attempt in other books

51. PUNISHMEN'I
Fror hasp recededi t shouldb e cleart hat lslam
beginsw ith l tsc all ist o individual
worthy of worship
lts reforma-tion
a ttemptsa t reformingt he hu-man
lt be seen
thati tsb asicp hilosophyis p ersuasionl.t believesth at
lastingc hangec anb e broughta boutt hroughc om-pulsion.
with individ-ual.
lt realisetsh att he individualw ill find it veryh ard
and
in his efforts by creating an
atmospherec onductivet o it. Accordingly, l slam lays
guidelinesfo rt hec reationo f a statea, ndd efines
delineatesit s dutiesa nd functions. We shall
brieflyt ouchu pono nly onef unctiono f the stateh ere:
thato f maintainingla w ando rdert hrought he preven-tion
crimea nd administratioonf punishment.
be at the outset that neither all
crimesa re committedb y the mentallyd erangeda, s
modern legal experts believe, nor are all hu-manse
vil, and pronet o crimes, a s Christianitys ug-gestsb
y implication. A greatm ajorityo f crimesc an
4 l
VI CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
~rom what has preceded it should be clear that Islam
begins with the individual. Its call is to the to accept Allah as the only Lord and obedience. Its belief is that without the reforma­tion
of the individual, attempts at reforming the hu­man
society will end in failure. It will also that its basic philosophy is persuasion. It believes that
no lasting change can be brought about through com­pulsion.
However, it does not stop the individ­ual.
It realises that the individual will very hard
to lead a virtuous life, were not the community the state to help him atmosphere conductive to Islam down guidelines for the creation of astate, and defines
and delineates its duties and briefly touch upon only one function of state here:
that of maintaining law and order through the preven­tion
of crime and administration of It must understood crimes are committed by mentally deranged, as
some bel ieve, hu­mans
evil, prone to as Christianity sug­gests
by great majority of crimes can
41

52. be prevented if the community and state will open
the ways for free economic activities, and do not
hinderp eacefupl ursuits.A lso,t hey shoutdc ome to
the rescue of the individual if he fails to obtain his
basicn eeds.T hisp reciselyis t hef unctiono f the state,
which it hast o fulfillb eforei t cana ssumeth ea uthority
to enforce punishments. incident Prophet'sti me will clarifyt hisp oint.
be prevented if the community and state wi II open
the ways for free economic activities, and do not
hinder peaceful pursuits. Also, they should come to
the rescue of the individual if he fails to obtain his
basic needs. This precisely is the function of the state,
which it has to fulfill before it can assume the authority
to enforce punishments. An incident from the
Prophet's time clarify this point.
When there was famine Bedouin arrived at Madinah. plucked corn and began to eat The owner of the farm surprisedh im. and took away hisc loak. The reportedth e inci-dent
to the Prophet. The Prophetr eproachedth e
owner of the farm saying: didn,t wash ungry,a ndd idn'tt eachh im hew asi gnorant.,'
Then he ordered him to return giveh im somethingfo r hiss ustenance.
Accordingt o lslamt hen,t he statea ndt he arer esponsiblfeo r the basicn eedso f if the individuafl ailst o obtaint hemt hroughh iso wn
honeste fforts.B ut if the individualr esortsto ways, despite the state and community taken
care of him, then lslam comes down heavily upon
him. lt recommendesx emplaryp unishmentsso t hat
42
in the provinces a starving
He entered a farm,
piucked some and pack the rest.
surprised him. He beat him
his cloak. man reported the inci­dent
Prophet reproached the
"You didn't feed him if he
was hungry, and didn't teach him if he was ignorant."
the man his cloak and
give him something for his sustenance.
According to Islam then, the state and the community
are responsible for basic needs of the individual,
if the individual fails to obtain them through his own
honest efforts. But individual resorts to criminal
ways, having taken
care of him, Islam down heavily upon
him. It recommends exemplary punishments so that
42

53. a cri'minal criminal is forced to think many times over before
he hev ventures enturesto to commit commita a crime. Punishments Punishmentisn in Islam
lslam
are not a meanso f reformationa, st heya re in secular
legals ystemsr,a therd eterrentsl.t is in the lighto f this
that the following must be understood.
lslam prescribesd eath penaltyf or:
1) Premeditatedm urder,
2) Adultery,
3) H ighway robbery &
4) Rebelliona gainsta n establishedls lamicg overn-ment.
However, certain conditions have to be met for the
imposition of the maximum punishment. For in-stance,
in caseo f adulteryf ollowingc onditionsm ust
be fulfilled:
. The adulterer should be a married person.
. The crime must have been proven beyond a
shadow of doubt and in the absence of
confession, four adult men of integrity must
bear witness to having seen the very act,
(The emphasis on the very act may be noted.
43
means of reformation, as they are legal systems, rather deterrents. It light of Death Penalty
Islam prescribes death penalty for:
1) Premeditated murder,
Highway Rebellion against an established Islamic govern­ment.
in­stance,
case of adultery following conditions must
. . act.
(The

54. Anything less, however close to the act, will
not be considered enough for imposing the
maximum penalty).
· . If lf the accused recants the confession at any
time, death penalty will be rescinded for
reasons of doubt having entered the case.
· offender must be a Muslim.
· must be sane.
· must have reached age of
. The . The offender . The offender the puberty.
It is only when all the above conditions have been
satisfactorilmy et the maximump enaltym ay imposeda lthought he heado f Statew ill havet he
rightt o exerciseh isp rerogativeo f finalv erdicti nvolv-ing
satisfactorily met that maximum penalty may be
imposed although the head of the State will have the
right to exercise his prerogative of final verdict involv­ing
certain kinds of cases that cannot be here.
discussed
Amputation of the Hand
The punishment for theft is amputation of the hand
from the wrist. However, the following conditions
must be fulfilled:
The property stolen must have been in a secure place, requiring force · stored
to open.
44

55. The property stolen must reach a certain
value (niiab)'which will vary according to the
· The stolen must reach a certain
value nisabl will vary according to the
financial status of the state.
· Either a confession testi­mony
by the accused or testi-mony
males of integrity is
grass
must not be food, fruit,
wood.
not have been in a des-perate
very straitened circum-stances.
must be an adult.
sane.
45
by two righteous required for conviction.
· The article
stolen game, or forest · The criminal should des­perate
need or in circum­stances.
· The offender · The offender must be 45

56. VII THE HEREAFTER
Death
According Accordingt to o Islam, lslam,this t his life is transient transienat and nd a trial.
The trial consistsin determiningi f man usest he gift
of 'free will'that he enjoys to follow by the prophets; or does he insist on following own desires. And, just as any individual given a certain time which is the period him, the humanr aceh asa lsob eena llotteda period
of trial. When corruptionw ill becomes o thatn o goodw i l l remaino n thise ar tha, l l l i fewi l l destroyedA. fters omet ime,e verys ouI thato nceI i ved
will be resurrectedfo r the evaluationo f she used the free will given. In other every-one's
faith and deeds will be examined. Those answered the call of the prophets and followed commandmentso f Cod will be rewardedw ith Para-dise,
w hi le thosew ho deniedw i l l be punishedw i th
Hell-fire in which they will abide forever. a sw ell ast he traditionso f the Propheth, ave
extensivelyd ealtw ith thes ubjecto f Resurrectioann d
Reckoning. W e shalls tates omeo f the high points
here.
46
consists in determining if uses the 'free wi II' that the way shown
his
just has been
given of trial for
human race has also been allotted a corruption will become so rampant
that no good will remain on this earth, all life will be
destroyed. After some time, every soul that once lived
resurrected for evaluation of how he or
words, every­one's
who
the
commandments of God rewarded with Para­dise,
while those who denied will punished with
fire The
Qur'an, as well as the traditions of Prophet, have
extensively dealt with the subject of Resurrection and
We shall state some of

57. Resurrection
No one hasb eeng ivent he knowledgeo f this Day,s o
that whenever it occurs, it will be a sudden affair.
Accordingtothetraditionosf t heP rophe(ta swsi)t be precededb y signss ucha sa ppearancoef massive
vegetation watered by canals and rivers in lands,a very disproportionatien creasein population,r ampantm oralp erversionc,r imea ndv io-lence,
t he appearancoef Dajjal( theA nti-Christ)w, ho
will claimt o be Cod,a ndh isd estructioant t he of JesusC hristw ho will descendf rom And then, as peoplew ould havef orgottena ll these signs - as a long time would eachs ign- then, o n a suddent,h eyw ill heara noise,l ike a milliont rumpetsb eingb lown Thatw ill causee veryoneto die. With anotherb low,
peoplew ill starte mergingfr om theirg raveso, r wher-evertheirr
emainsw ill be, e veni f in thef ormo f Reckoning and Then extp hasewilbl et hato f ReckoningI.n t hisp hase
peoplew ill be givent heir" Booko f Deeds," they will find recordede verythingth att hey or done in their life on this earth, 47
Resurrection
No one has been given the knowledge of this Day, so
that whenever it occurs, it will be a sudden affair.
According to the traditions of the Prophet (asws) it will
be preceded by signs such as appearance of massive
vegetation in the Arab
lands, disproportionate increase in the female
population, rampant moral perversion, crime and vio­lence,
the appearance of Dajjal (the Anti-Christ), who
will claim to God, and his destruction at the hands
of Jesus Christ who descend from the heavens.
And people would have forgotten all about
- elapse between
each sign - on sudden, they will hear a terrible
noise, like million trumpets being blown together.
That will cause everyone to another blow,
people will start emerging from their graves, or wher­evertheir
remains will even if the form of atoms.
Judgement
Thenextphasewill be that of Reckoning. In this phase
people will given their "Book of in which
they recorded everything that they had said
or whether good or
47

58. m ajoro r Then" Scalesw" ill bes etu p and
bad, major or minor. Then "Scales" will be set up and
the process of weighing good (or ap­proved)
each person's good (or ap-proved)
d eedsa gainsht ise vil (ord isapprovedd)e eds
whose good deeds will overweigh
theire vil onesw ill be allowedt o proceedto Paradise,
while thosew hosee vild eedsw ill overweighth eg ood
onesw ill sentt o Hell-fire,w heret hey will stayi n
deeds: some for a few days
long duration - although even a
be long.
had denied Allah and His Mes-sengerso,
r hada scribedp artnerso r equalsu nto Him,
go throught his processo f Reckoning. T hey
straightawayd riven to Hell-firew here they
will you and me from such and end, Amin-
48
deeds against his evil (or disapproved) deeds
will begin. Those their evil ones will allowed to proceed to whilethosewhose evil deeds will overweigh the good
ones will be sent to fire, where they stay in
proportion to their evil and some for a very - moment in it will too However, those who Mes­sengers,
or had ascribed partners or equals unto will not through this process of They
will be straightaway driven fire where wi II abide forever.
May Allah save Amin.
48

59. Glossaryo f Tems
Glossary of Tenns
(of). Abu al-
Qasim mean father of
Qasim.
form of a ndu sedb yMuslims
place of..
I).: Since
on whom be
not die but was
Heaven and will
again towards
of the world.
form of (of the Prophet
saws - to Madinah). Islamic
from this
event.
(p1., The
who helped
the immi-grants
to Madinah during the
Prophet (asws).
Modern are not
ASTWS: S hortf orm of Arabic
Alayhi al-Salat Wa al-
Salam"m eaning", him be
peace (of Al-lah)."
blessingo, r increasein quan-tity
improvemenitn qual-ity
of a thing its
normal, bythe grace ofAllah
(swt).
Bint: Also lbnah; (of), narratorso f For instanceZ am'ah
will inean Zam'ah
daughtero f Da'wah: Mission, call or
preachinogf Islam.Ini tsr oot
meansto Abu: Father ot). al­Qasim
would Qasim.
A.C.: Short "After
Christ," and used by Muslims
in A.D.: "After Death." Jesus Christ, peace, did lifted to the be sent down the end ofthe A.H.: Short "After
Hijrah," ­saws
- calendar dates Ansari pl., Ansar): Helpers; those and supported immi­grants
time of the Modem day "Ansaris" their descendants.
ASWS: Short form ofArabic
"'A/ayhi a/-Sa/at a/­Sa/
am" meaning, "On and blessings Al­lah)."
Barakah: Benediction,
blessing, or increase in quan­tity
or improvement in qual­ity
beyond by the Dint: Ibnah; daughter
ot), normally occurs in the
chain of narrators of an early
report. instance Zam'ah
bint Suda mean the daughter of Suda.
Da'wab: preaching ofIslam. In its root
it means to invite.
49