ISLAMFROMHERE

Our Beginning And Our End

2010-07-29T21:41:00.000+03:00

Our Beginning And Our End
Shaykh Khalid Yasin, a former Christian, is the Executive Director of the Islamic Teaching Institute (ITI); a premier organisation dedicated to the work of Dawah. He has studied the Arabic language in Madina, Saudi Arabia and Cairo, Egypt and has had many mentors and teachers who tutored him in Fiqh us-Sunnah, Fiqh us-Seerah, Islamic History and the memorisation and recitation of the Holy Qur'an.

In the past ten years, the ITI has delivered more than 5000 persons to Islam and an additional 1,476 since the September 11 Attacks. Shaykh Khalid Yasin delivered a lecture in Saudi Arabia in 1994 titled "The Purpose of Life", which resulted in 43 persons accepting Islam on that very night. Khalid Yasin constantly tours the world delivering lectures aimed at removing distortions about Islam and Muslims, conducting Dawah Training Courses, and providing new Muslims with a specially designed Islamic Training Program. Khalid Yasin is committed to raising the consciousness of the Muslims to fulfil the responsibility of Dawah and the establishment of Islamic revival, Insha'Allah.
http://www.muslimvideo.com/tv/watch/0ca0f075ce4afc8e40ac/-Khalid-Yasin---Our-Beginning-Our-End-(Full-Speech)!!

What is Islam ?

2010-07-26T23:26:00.000+03:00

Among the blessings and favors that God has bestowed upon humanity is that He endowed them with an innate ability to recognize and acknowledge His existence. He placed this awareness deep in their hearts as a natural disposition that has not changed since human beings were first created. Furthermore, He reinforced this natural disposition with the signs that he placed in Creation that testify to His existence.

However, since it is not possible for human beings to have a detailed knowledge of God except through revelation from Himself, God sent His Messengers to teach the people about their Creator Who they must worship. These Messengers also brought with them the details of how to worship God, because such details cannot be known except by way of revelation. These two fundamentals were the most important things that the Messengers of all the divine revelations brought with them from God. On this basis, all the divine revelations have had the same lofty objectives, which are:

1.To affirm the Oneness of God - the praised and glorified Creator – in His essence and His attributes.

2.To affirm that God alone should be worshipped and that no other being should be worshipped along with Him or instead of Him.

3. To safeguard human welfare and oppose corruption and evil. Thus, everything that safeguards faith, life, reason, wealth and lineage are part of this human welfare that religion protects. On the other hand, anything that endangers these five universal needs is a form of corruption that religion opposes and prohibits.

4. To invite the people to the highest level of virtue, moral values, and noble customs.

The ultimate goal of every Divine Message has always been the same: to guide the people to God, to make them aware of Him, and to have them worship Him alone. Each Divine Message came to strengthen this meaning, and the following words were repeated on the tongues of all the Messengers: “Worship God, you have no god other than Him.” This message was conveyed to humanity by prophets and messengers which God sent to every nation. All of these messengers came with this same message, the message of Islam.

All the Divine Messages came to bring the life of the people into willing submission to God. For this reason, they all share the name of “Islam”, or “submission” derived from the same word as “Salam”, or “peace”, in Arabic. Islam, in this sense, was the religion of all the prophets, but why does one see different variations of the religion of God if they all emanated from the same source? The answer is twofold.

The first reason is that as a result of the passage of time, and due to the fact that previous religions were not under the Divine protection of God, they underwent much change and variation. As a result, we see that the fundamental truths which were brought by all messengers now differ from one religion to another, the most apparent being the strict tenet of the belief and worship of God and God alone.

The second reason for this variation is that God, in His infinite Wisdom and eternal Will, decreed that all the divine missions prior to the final message of Islam brought by Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, be limited to a specific time frame. As a result, their laws and methodologies dealt with the specific conditions of the people whom they had been sent to address.

Humanity has passed through numerous periods of guidance, misguidance, integrity, and deviation, from the most primitive age to the heights of civilization. Divine guidance accompanied humanity through all of this, always providing the appropriate solutions and remedies.

This was the essence of the disparity that existed between the different religions. This disagreement never went beyond the particulars of the Divine Law. Each manifestation of the Law addressed the particular problems of the people it was meant for. However, the areas of agreement were significant and many, such as fundamentals of faith; the basic principles and objectives of the Divine Law, such as protecting faith, life, reason, wealth, and lineage and establishing justice in the land; and certain fundamental prohibitions, some of the most important of these being idolatry, fornication, murder, theft, and giving false witness. Moreover, they also agreed upon moral virtues like honesty, justice, charity, kindness, chastity, righteousness, and mercy. These principles as well as others are permanent and lasting; they are the essence of all the Divine Messages and bind them all together.

What is Islam? (part 2 of 4): The Origins of Islam

But where does the message of Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, fit in with the previous messages revealed by God? A brief history of the prophets might clear this point.

The first human, Adam, followed Islam, in that he directed worship to God alone and none else and abided by His commandments. But through the passage of time and the dispersal of humanity throughout the earth, people strayed from this message and began directing worship to others instead of or along with God. Some took to worshipping the pious who passed away amongst them, while others took to worshipping spirits and forces of nature. It was then that God started to send messengers to humanity steering them back to the worship of God Alone, which accorded to their true nature, and warning them of the grave consequences of directing any type of worship to others besides Him.

The first of these messengers was Noah, who was sent to preach this message of Islam to his people, after they had started to direct worship to their pious forefathers along with God. Noah called his people to leave the worship of their idols, and ordered them to return to the worship of God Alone. Some of them followed the teachings of Noah, while the majority disbelieved in him. Those who followed Noah were followers of Islam, or Muslims, while those that did not, remained in their disbelief and were seized with a punishment for doing so.

After Noah, God sent messengers to every nation who had strayed from the Truth, to steer them back to it. This Truth was the same throughout time: to reject all objects of worship and to direct all worship without exception to God and none else, the Creator and Lord of all, and to abide by His commandments. But as we mentioned before, because each nation differed in regards to their way of life, language, and culture, specific messengers were sent to specific nations for a specific time period.

God sent messengers to all nations, and to the Kingdom of Babylon He sent Abraham – one of the earliest and greatest prophets – who called his people to reject the worship of the idols to which they were devoted. He called them to Islam, but they rejected him and even tried to kill him. God put Abraham through many tests, and he proved true to all of them. For his many sacrifices, God proclaimed that he would raise from amongst his progeny a great nation and choose prophets from amongst them. Whenever people from his progeny started to stray away from the Truth, which was to worship none but God alone and to obey His commandments, God sent them another messenger steering them back to it.

Consequently, we see that many prophets were sent amongst the progeny of Abraham, such as his two sons Isaac and Ishmael, along with Jacob (Israel), Joseph, David, Solomon, Moses, and of course, Jesus, to mention a few, may the peace and blessings of God be upon them all. Each prophet was sent to the Children of Israel (the Jews) when they went astray from the true religion of God, and it became obligatory upon them to follow the messenger which was sent to them and obey their commandments. All of the messengers came with the same message, to reject worship of all other beings except God Alone and to obey His commandments. Some disbelieved in the prophets, while others believed. Those that believed were followers of Islam, or Muslims.

From amongst the messengers was Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, from the progeny of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, who was sent as a messenger in succession to Jesus. Muhammad preached the same message of Islam as the previous prophets and messengers – to direct all worship to God Alone and none else and to obey His commandments – in which the followers of the previous prophets went astray.

So as we see, the Prophet Muhammad was not the founder of a new religion, as many people mistakenly think, but he was sent as the Final Prophet of Islam. By revealing His final message to Muhammad, which is an eternal and universal message for all of mankind, God finally fulfilled the covenant that He made with Abraham.

Just as it was incumbent upon the those who were alive to follow the message of the last of the succession of prophets which was sent to them, it becomes incumbent upon all of humanity to follow the message of Muhammad. God promised that this message would remain unchanged and fit for all times and places. Suffice is it to say that the way of Islam is the same as the way of the prophet Abraham, because both the Bible and the Quran portray Abraham as a towering example of someone who submitted himself completely to God and directed worship to Him alone and none else, and without any intermediaries. Once this is realized, it should be clear that Islam has the most continuous and universal message of any religion, because all prophets and messengers were “Muslims”, i.e. those who submitted to God’s will, and they preached “Islam”, i.e. submission to the will of Almighty God by worshipping Him Alone and obeying His commandments.

So we see that those who call themselves Muslims today do not follow a new religion; rather they follow the religion and message of all prophets and messengers which were sent to humanity by God’s command, also known as Islam. The word “Islam” is an Arabic word which literally means “submission to God”, and Muslims are those who willfully submit to and actively obey God, living in accordance with His message.

What is Islam? (part 3 of 4): The Essential Beliefs of Islam

There are many aspects of belief in which one who adheres to Islam must have firm conviction. From those aspects, the most important are six, known as the “Six Articles of Belief”.

1)Belief in God

Islam upholds strict monotheism and belief in God forms the heart of their faith. Islam teaches belief in one God who neither gives birth nor was born Himself, and has no share in His caretaking of the world. He alone gives life, causes death, brings good, causes affliction, and provides sustenance for His creation. God in Islam is the sole Creator, Lord, Sustainer, Ruler, Judge, and Savior of the universe. He has no equal in His qualities and abilities, such as knowledge and power. All worship, veneration and homage is to be directed to God and none else. Any breach of these concepts negates the basis of Islam.

2) Belief in the Angels

Adherents to Islam must believe in the Unseen world as mentioned in the Quran. From this world are the angels’ emissaries of God, each assigned with a specific task. They have no free-will or ability to disobey; it is their very nature to be God's faithful servants. Angels are not to be taken as demigods or objects of praise or veneration; they are mere servants of God obeying His every command.

3)Belief in the Prophets and Messengers

Islam is a universal and inclusive religion. Muslims believe in the prophets, not just the Prophet Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, but the Hebrew prophets, including Abraham and Moses, as well as the prophets of the New Testament, Jesus, and John the Baptist. Islam teaches God did not send prophets to Jews and Christians alone, rather He sent prophets to all nations in the world with one central message: worship God alone. Muslim must believe in all prophets sent by God mentioned in the Quran, without making any distinction between them. Muhammad was sent with the final message, and there is no prophet to come after him. His message is final and eternal, and through him God completed His Message to humanity.

4)Belief in the Sacred Texts

Muslims believe in all books that God has sent down to humanity through His prophets. These books include the Books of Abraham, the Torah of Moses, the Psalms of David, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These books all had the same source (God), the same message, and all were revealed in truth. This does not mean that they have been preserved in truth. Muslims (and many other Jewish and Christian scholars and historians) find that the books in existence today are not the original scriptures, which in fact have been lost, changed, and/or translated over and over again, losing the original message.

As Christians view the New Testament to fulfill and complete the Old Testament, Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad received revelations from God through the angel Gabriel to correct human error that had entered into the scriptures and doctrine of Judaism, Christianity and all other religions. This revelation is the Quran, revealed in the Arabic language, and found today in its pristine form. It seeks to guide mankind in all walks of life; spiritual, temporal, individual and collective. It contains directions for the conduct of life, relates stories and parables, describes the attributes of God, and speaks of the best rules to govern social life. It has directions for everybody, every place, and for all time. Millions of people today have memorized the Quran, and all copies of the Quran found today and in the past are identical. God has promised that He will guard the Quran from change until the end of times, so that Guidance be clear to humanity and the message of all the prophets be available for those who seek it.

5)Belief in Life after Death

Muslims believe that a day will come when all of creation will perish and resurrected in order to be judged for their deeds: The Day of Judgment. On this day, all will gather in the presence of God and each individual will be questioned about their life in the world and how they lived it. Those who held correct beliefs about God and life, and followed their belief with righteous deeds will enter Paradise, even though they may pay for some of their sins in Hell if God out of His Infinite Justice chooses not to forgive them. As for those who fell into polytheism in its many faces, they will enter Hellfire, never to leave therefrom.

6)Belief in the Divine Decree

Islam asserts that God has full power and knowledge of all things, and that nothing happens except by His Will and with His full knowledge. What is known as divine decree, fate, or "destiny" is known in Arabic as al-Qadr. The destiny of every creature is already known to God.

This belief however does not contradict with the idea of man's free will to choose his course of action. God does not force us to do anything; we can choose whether to obey or disobey Him. Our choice is known to God before we even do it. We do not know what our destiny is; but God knows the fate of all things.

Therefore, we should have firm faith that whatever befalls us, it is according to God's will and with His full knowledge. There may be things that happen in this world that we do not understand, but we should trust that God has wisdom in all things.

What is Islam? (part 4 of 4): Islamic Worship

There are five simple but essential observances that all practicing Muslims accept and follow. These “Pillars of Islam” represent the core that unites all Muslims.

1) The ‘Declaration of Faith’

A Muslim is one who testifies that “none deserves worship but Allah, and Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” This declaration is known as the “shahada” (witness, testimony). Allah is the Arabic name for God, just as Yahweh is the Hebrew name for God. By making this simple proclamation one becomes a Muslim. The proclamation affirms Islam’s absolute belief in the oneness of God, His exclusive right to be worshipped, as well as the doctrine that associating anything else with God is the one unforgivable sin as we read in the Koran:

“God does not forgive anyone for associating something with Him, while He does forgive whomever He wishes to for anything else. Anyone who gives God partners has invented an awful sin.” (Quran 4:48)

The second part of the testimony of faith states that Muhammad, may the mercy and blessings of God be upon him, is a prophet of God like Abraham, Moses and Jesus before him. Muhammad brought the last and final revelation. In accepting Muhammad as the “seal of the prophets,” Muslims believe that his prophecy confirms and fulfills all of the revealed messages, beginning with Adam’s. In addition, Muhammad serves as the role model through his exemplary life. A believer’s effort to follow Muhammad’s example reflects the emphasis of Islam on practice and action.

2)The Prayer (Salah)

Muslims worship five times a day: at daybreak, noon, mid afternoon, sunset, and evening. It helps keep believers mindful of God in the stress of work and family. It resets the spiritual focus, reaffirms total dependence on God, and puts worldly concerns within the perspective of the last judgment and the afterlife. The prayers consist of standing, bowing, kneeling, putting the forehead on the ground, and sitting. The Prayer is a means in which a relationship between God and His creation is maintained. It includes recitations from the Quran, praises of God, prayers for forgiveness and other various supplications. The prayer is an expression of submission, humility, and adoration of God. Prayers can be offered in any clean place, alone or together, in a mosque or at home, at work or on the road, indoors or out. It is preferable to pray with others as one body united in the worship of God, demonstrating discipline, brotherhood, equality, and solidarity. As they pray, Muslims face Mecca, the holy city centered around the Kaaba - the house of God built by Abraham and his son Ishmael.

3)The Compulsory Charity (Zakah)

In Islam, the true owner of everything is God, not man. People are given wealth as a trust from God. Zakah is worship and thanksgiving to God by supporting the poor, and through it one’s wealth is purified.. It requires an annual contribution of 2.5 percent of an individual’s wealth and assets. Therefore, Zakah is not mere “charity”, it is an obligation on those who have received their wealth from God to meet the needs of less fortunate members of the community. Zakah is used to support the poor and the needy, help those in debt, and, in olden times, to free slaves.

4)The Fast of Ramadan (Sawm)

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar which is spent in fasting. Healthy Muslims abstain from dawn to sunset from food, drink, and sexual activity. Fasting develops spirituality, dependence upon God, and brings identification with the less fortunate. A special evening prayer is also held mosques in which recitations of the Quran are heard. Families rise before dawn to take their first meal of the day to sustain them till sunset. The month of Ramadan ends with one of the two major Islamic celebrations, the Feast of the Breaking of the Fast, called Eid al-Fitr, which is marked by joyfulness, family visits, and exchanging of gifts.

5)The fifth Pillar is the Pilgrimage or Hajj to Mecca

At least once in a lifetime, every adult Muslim who is physically and financially able is required to sacrifice time, wealth, status, and ordinary comforts of life to make the Hajj pilgrimage, putting himself totally at God’s service. Every year over two million believers from a diversity of cultures and languages travel from all over the world to the sacred city of Mecca[1] to respond to God’s call.

Who are Muslims?

The Arabic word “Muslim” literally means “someone who is in a state of Islam (submission to the will and law of God)”. The message of Islam is meant for the entire world, and anyone who accepts this message becomes a Muslim. There a over a billion Muslims worldwide. Muslims represent the majority population in fifty-six countries. Many people are surprised to know that the majority of Muslims are not Arab. Even though most Arabs are Muslims, there are Arabs who are Christians, Jews and atheists. Only 20 percent of the world’s 1.2 billion Muslims come from Arab countries. There are significant Muslim populations in India, China, Central Asian Republics, Russia, Europe, and America. If one just takes a look at the various peoples who live in the Muslim World - from Nigeria to Bosnia and from Morocco to Indonesia - it is easy enough to see that Muslims come from all different races, ethnic groups, cultures and nationalities. Islam has always been a universal message for all people. Islam is the second largest religion in the world and will soon be the second largest religion in America. Yet, few people know what Islam is.

Footnotes:
[1] Mecca city is located in Saudi Arabia.

2010-07-26T02:06:00.002+03:00

A quick introduction To Isalm

2010-07-24T10:25:00.004+03:00

A Quick Introduction To Islam
Daniel Masters, Isma'il Kaka and AbdurRahman R. Squires

The word "Islam" is an Arabic word which means "submission to the will of God". This word comes from the same root as the Arabic word "salam", which means "peace". As such, the religion of Islam teaches that in order to achieve true peace of mind and surety of heart, one must submit to God and live according to His Divinely revealed Law. The most important truth that God revealed to mankind is that there is nothing divine or worthy of being worshipped except for Almighty God, thus all human beings should submit to Him.

The word "Muslim" means one who submits to the will of God, regardless of their race, nationality or ethnic background. Being a Muslim entails willful submission and active obedience to God, and living in accordance with His message. Some people mistakenly believe that Islam is just a religion for Arabs, but nothing could be further from the truth. Not only are there converts to Islam in every corner of the world, especially in England and America, but by taking a look at the Muslim World from Bosnia to Nigeria, and from Indonesia to Morocco, one can clearly see that Muslims come from many various races, ethnic groups and nationalities. It is also interesting to note that in actuality, more than 80% of all Muslims are not Arabs - there are more Muslims in Indonesia than in the whole Arab World! So though even though it is true that most Arabs are Muslims, the large majority of Muslims are not Arabs. However, anyone who submits completely to God and worships Him alone is a Muslim.
Continuity of the Message:

Islam is not a new religion because "submission to the will of God", i.e. Islam, has always been the only acceptable religion in the sight of God. For this reason, Islam is the true "natural religion", and it is the same eternal message revealed through the ages to all of God's prophets and messengers. Muslims believe that all of God's prophets, which include Abraham, Noah, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad, brought the same message of Pure Monotheism. For this reason, the Prophet Muhammad was not the founder of a new religion, as many people mistakenly think, but he was the Final Prophet of Islam. By revealing His final message to Muhammad, which is an eternal and universal message for all of mankind, God finally fulfilled the covenant that He made with Abraham, who was one of the earliest and greatest prophets. Suffice it to say that the way of Islam is the same as the way of the prophet Abraham, because both the Bible and the Qur'an portray Abraham as a towering example of someone who submitted himself completely to God and worshipped Him without intermediaries. Once this is realized, it should be clear that Islam has the most continuous and universal message of any religion, because all prophets and messengers were "Muslims", i.e. those who submitted to God's will, and they preached "Islam", i.e. submission to the will of Almighty God.
The Oneness of God:

The foundation of the Islamic faith is belief in the Oneness of Almighty God - the God of Abraham, Noah, Moses and Jesus. Islam teaches that a pure belief in One God is intuitive in human beings and thus fulfills the natural inclination of the soul. As such, Islam's concept of God is straightforward, unambiguous and easy to understand. Islam teaches that the hearts, minds and souls of human beings are fitting receptacles for clear divine revelation, and that God's revelations to man are not clouded by self-contradictory mysteries or irrational ideas. As such, Islam teaches that even though God cannot be fully comprehended and grasped by our finite human minds, He also does not expect us to accept absurd or demonstrably false beliefs about Him. According to the teachings of Islam, Almighty God is absolutely One and His Oneness should never be compromised by associating partners with Him - neither in worship nor in belief. Due to this, Muslims are required to maintain a direct relationship with God, and therefore all intermediaries are absolutely forbidden. From the Islamic standpoint, believing in the Oneness of God means to realize that all prayer and worship should be exclusively for God, and that He alone deserves such titles as "Lord" and "Savior". Some religions, even though they believe on "One God", do not make all of their worship and prayers for Him alone. Also, they also give the title of "Lord" to beings that are not All-Knowing, All-Powerful and Un-Changing - even according to their own scriptures. Suffice it to say that according to Islam, it is not enough that people believe that "God is One", but they must actualize this belief by proper conduct. In short, in the Islamic concept of God, which is completely based on Divine Revelation, there is no ambiguity in divinity - God is God and man is man. Since God is the only Creator and continual Sustainer of the Universe, He is transcendent above His creation - the Creator and the creature never mix. Islam teaches that God has a unique nature and that He is free from gender, human weaknesses and beyond anything which human beings can imagine. The Qur'an teaches that the signs and proofs of God's wisdom, power and existence are evident in the world around us. As such, God calls on man to ponder over the creation in order to build a better understanding of his Creator. Muslims believe that God is Loving, Compassionate and Merciful, and that He is concerned with the daily affairs of human beings. In this, Islam strikes a unique balance between false religious and philosophical extremes. Some religions and philosophies portray God as just an impersonal "Higher Power" who is uninterested, or unaware, of the life of each individual human. Other religions tend to give God human qualities and teach that He is present in His creation, by being incarnate in someone, something - or even everything. In Islam, however, Almighty God has clarified the truth by letting mankind know that He is "Compassionate", "Merciful", "Loving" and the "Answerer of Prayers". But He as also emphasized strongly that "there is nothing like unto Him", and that He is high above time, space and His creation. Finally, it should be mentioned that the God that Muslims worship is the same God that Jews and Christians worship - because there is only one God. It is unfortunate that some people mistakenly believe that Muslims worship a different God than Jews and Christians, and that "Allah" is just the "god of the Arabs". This myth, which has been propagated by the enemies of Islam, is completely false since the word "Allah" is simply the Arabic name for Almighty God. It is the same word for God which is used by Arabic-speaking Jews and Christians. However, it should be clarified that even though Muslims worship the same God as Jews and Christian, their concept of Him differs somewhat from the beliefs of other religions - mainly because it is based completely on Divine Revelation from God. For example, Muslims reject the Christian belief that God is a Trinity, not only becaue the Qur'an rejects it, but also because if this was God's true nature, He would have clearly revealed it to Abraham, Noah, Jesus and all of the other prophets.
The Qur'an:

The Arabic world "Al-Qur'an" literally means "the recitation". When used in regards to Islam, the word Qur'an means God's final message to mankind that was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. The Qu'ran, sometimes spelled Koran, is the literal the word of God - as it clearly says time and time again. Unlike other sacred scriptures, the Qur'an has been perfectly preserved in both its words and meaning in a living language. The Qu'ran is a living miracle in the Arabic language; and is know to be inimitable in its style, form and spiritual impact. God's final revelation to mankind, the Qur'an, was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad over a period of 23 years. The Qur'an, in contrast to many other religious books, was always thought to be the Word of God by those who believed in it, i.e. it wasn't something decreed by a religious council many years after being written. Also, the Qu'ran was recited publicly in front of both the Muslim and non-Muslim communities during the life of the Prophet Muhammad. The entire Qur'an was also completely written down in lifetime of the Prophet, and numerous companions of the Prophet memorized the entire Qur'an word-for-word as it was revealed. So unlike other scriptures, the Qur'an was always in the hands of the common believers, it was always thought to be God's word and, due to wide-spread memorization, it was perfectly preserved. In regards to the teachings of the Qur'an - it is a universal scripture, and it is addressed to all of mankind, and not to a particular tribe or "chosen people". The message that it brings is nothing new, but the same message of all of the prophets - submit to Almighty God and worship Him alone. As such, God's revelation in the Qur'an focuses on teaching human beings the importance of believing in the Unity of God and framing their lives around the guidance which He has sent. Additionally, the Qur'an contains the stories of the previous prophets, such as Abraham, Noah, Moses and Jesus; as well as many commands and prohibitions from God. In modern times in which so many people are caught up in doubt, spiritual despair and "political correctness", the Qur'anic teachings offer solutions to the emptiness of our lives and the turmoil that is gripping the world today. In short, the Qur'an is the book of guidance par excellence.
The Prophet Muhammad May the Peace and Blessings of God be upon him:

Unlike the founders of many religious, the final prophet of Islam is a real documented and historical figure. He lived in the full light of history, and the most minute details of his life are known. Not only do Muslims have the complete text of God's words that were revealed to Muhammad, but they have also preserved his saying and teachings in what is called "hadith" literature. This having been said, it should be understood that Muslims believe that the Prophet Muhammad was only a man chosen by God, and that he is not divine in any way. In order to avoid the misguided wish to deify him, the Prophet Muhammad taught Muslims to refer to him as "God's Messenger and His Slave". The mission of the last and final prophet of God was to simply teach that "there is nothing divine or worthy of being worshipped except for Almighty God", as well as being a living example of God's revelation. In simple terms, God sent the revelation to Muhammad, who in turn taught it , preached it, lived it and put it into practice. In this way, Muhammad was more that just a "prophet" in the sense of many of the Biblical prophets, since he was also a statesman and ruler. He was a man who lived a humble life in the service of God, and established an all-encompassing religion and way of life by showing what it means to be an ideal friend, husband, teacher, ruler, warrior and judge. For this reason, Muslims follow him not for his own sake, but in obedience to God, because Muhammad not only showed us how to deal with our fellow human beings, but more importantly, he showed us how to relate to and worship God, worship Him in the only way pleasing to Him. Like other prophets, Muhammad faced a great deal of opposition and persecution during his mission. However, he was always patient and just, and he treated his enemies well. The results of his mission were very successful, and even though his mission started in one of the most backward and remotes places on earth, within a hundred years of the death of Muhammad, Islam had spread from Spain to China. The Prophet Muhammad was the greatest of all of God's prophets, not because he had new doctrines or greater miracles, but because the results of his mission have broght more human beings into the pure and proper belief in the One True God than any other prophet.
The Islamic Way of Life:

In the Holy Qur'an, God teaches human beings that they were created in order to worship Him, and that the basis of all true worship is God-consciousness. Since the teachings of Islamic encompass all aspects of life and ethics, God-consciousness is encouraged in all human affairs. Islam makes it clear that all human acts are acts of worship if they are done for God alone and in accordance to His Divine Law. As such, worship in Islam is not limited to religious rituals. The teachings of Islam act as a mercy and a healing for the human soul, and such qualities as humility, sincerity, patience and charity are strongly encouraged. Additionally, Islam condemns pride and self-righteousness, since Almighty God is the only judge of human righteousness. The Islamic view of the nature of man is also realistic and well-balanced. Human beings are not believed to be inherently sinful, but are seen as equally capable of both good and evil. Islam also teaches that faith and action go hand-in-hand. God has given people free-will, and the measure of one's faith is one's deeds and actions. However, human beings have also been created weak and regularly fall into sin. This is the nature of the human being as created by God in His Wisdom, and it is not inherently "corrupt" or in need of repair. This is because the avenue of repentance of always open to all human beings, and Almighty God loves the repentant sinner more than one who does not sin at all. The true balance of an Islamic life is established by having a healthy fear of God as well as a sincere belief in His infinite Mercy. A life without fear of God leads to sin and disobedience, while believing that we have sinned so much that God will not possibly forgive us only leads to despair. In light of this, Islam teaches that: only the misguided despair of the Mercy of their Lord. Additionally, the Holy Qur'an, which was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad, contains a great deal of teachings about the life hereafter and the Day of Judgment. Due to this, Muslims believe that all human beings will ultimately be judged by God for their beliefs and actions in their earthly lives. In judging human beings, Almighty God will be both Merciful and Just, and people will only be judged for what they were capable of. Suffice it to say that Islam teaches that life is a test, and that all human beings will be accountable before God. A sincere belief in the life hereafter is key to leading a well-balanced life and moral. Otherwise, life is viewed as an end in itself, which causes human beings to become more selfish, materialistic and immoral.
Islam for a Better Life:

Islam teaches that true happiness can only being obtained by living a life full of God-consciousness and being satisfied with what God has given us. Additionally, true "freedom" is freedom from being controlled by our base human desires and being ruled by man-made ideologies. This stands in stark contrast to the view of many people in the modern world, who consider "freedom" to be the ability to satisfy all of their desires without inhibition. The clear and comprehensive guidance of Islam gives human-beings a well-defined purpose and direction in life. In addition to being members of the human-brotherhood of Islam, its well-balanced and practical teachings are a source of spiritual comfort, guidance and morality. A direct and clear relationship with Almighty God, as well as the sense of purpose and belonging that ones feels as a Muslim, frees a person from the many worries of everyday life. In short, the Islamic way of life is pure and wholesome. It builds self-discipline and self-control thought regular prayer and fasting, and frees human-beings from superstition and all sorts of racial, ethnic and national prejudices. By accepting to live a God-conscious life, and realizing that the only thing that distinguishes people in the sight of God is their consciousness of Him, a person's true human dignity is realized.

Read more articles by the Authors at: http://www.muslim-answers.org

Who Wrote The Quran ?

2010-07-24T01:20:00.004+03:00

Who Wrote The Quran?
In the name of Allah Most Beneficent Most Merciful
All praise is for Allah the Exalted and may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon His
Messenger Muhammad and his family and companions and all those who follow them
and their way until the Day of Resurrection Introduction

"Do they not then consider the Qur’an carefully? Had it been from other than
Allah, they would surely have found therein much contradiction." [4:82]
God created man for a noble purpose: to worship Him and lead a righteous life based
on His commands and guidance to mankind. Mankind learned this by God sending
Messengers with clear and practical instructions of the meaning of life and how to
worship God properly. God also revealed to these Prophets and Messengers
knowledge about what will happen after death and the rewards and punishments for
one’s actions. These Prophets and Messengers convey the same prevailing message which is
entrusted to them by God. They proclaimed:
"…Oh my people! Worship God! (i.e., without associating anything with him) You
have no other god but Him. [Qur'an: 7:65]
God sent a Prophet and/or Messenger to every nation throughout the history of
mankind."And verily, We have sent among every Ummah (community, nation) a messenger
(proclaiming): Worship Allah (Alone) and avoid (or keep away from) all false
deities"[Qur'an: 16:36]

1- Some of them we have been informed of and others we have not. These Prophets and
Messengers include, but not limited to: Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ismail, Isaac, Jacob,
Joseph, Moses, Aaron, Lot, David, Solomon, Elias, Elisha, Hood, Thul-Kifi, Enoch,
Jonah, Job Shu’aib, Saalih, Ezra, Zachariyyah, John, Jesus , Muhammad and others
peace and blessings be upon them all.
Some of them were sent with Books while others were not.
Some of the books that we were informed of are the Scriptures of Abraham, the Torah
of Moses, the Zaboor of Dawood, and the Injeel which was revealed to Jesus. All of
these scriptures contained the same basic message from God to mankind.
Each Prophet brought specific instructions from God addressed to a particular people
for certain times in history and particular circumstances although the essential message remained the same.

A few examples of this would be the fact that Moses' contemporaries were excellent in
magic. So his major miracle was to defeat the best magicians of his days. Jesus'
contemporaries were recognized as skillful physicians. Therefore, his miracles were to raise the dead and cure the incurable diseases. The Arabs, the contemporaries of the Muhammad, were known for their eloquence and magnificent poetry. So Muhammad's
(Peace and Blessings be upon him) major miracle was the Qur’an, the equivalent of
which the whole legion of the Arab poets and orators could not produce despite the
repeated challenge from the Qur’an itself.
However, the beauty and power of Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon him)
major miracle is that it removes the constraints of place and time. It is the permanent miracle for all generations to see.

Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) is the final Messenger and that his
Prophethood is also not limited to time and place, and is for all peoples (after the advent of his Prophethood) in all times until the Day of Judgement.
Now, many who would agree with everything we have stated above may reject this
about Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) his Messengership and the
scripture with which he was sent. (The Qur’an)
It is our objective here to prove without a shadow of a doubt that the Qur’an is in fact from God Himself and by extension that Muhammad is in fact a Messenger of God. For we cannot accept the Message and reject the Messenger, or vice versa. Both must be accept or both must be rejected.
We can basically divide the groups of opinions on the Qur’an into three groups:

2- Those who say that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) himself
wrote the Qur’an Those who say that the Qur’an was written by someone else and taught to Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him)
- Those who believe that the Qur’an is the pure word of God having no human
author In this article, we will briefly review the above three arguments based on logic, historical evidence, textual analysis and even scientific data.
Based on our arguments above, we can logically conclude tha t if the Qur’an was written
by Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) or some other man (or group of
men) then it is correct to reject the man and his message. However, if it is proven that
the Qur’an is indeed from God, then it is necessary for us to believe in it, follow it and
accept Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) and a Messenger of God.
We ask the reader to reflect…
First Claim:

Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) wrote the Qur’an.

Those who claim that the Qur’an was written by Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be
upon him) have given him a different motive for doing so and can basically be divided
into the following groups
- For Material Gain/ Power and Glory
- To Unite the Arabs or to morally reform them
- Epileptic Seizures or Self-Delusions
With Muhammad being perhaps the most well documented man in human history, we
can easily examine these claims and compare them to his life.
Firstly, the claim that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) wrote the Qur’an
is not new. His own people made this claim. In response, to this claim, God revealed the
following:
Say: "It is not for me to change it on my own accord; I only follow that which is
revealed unto me. Verily, I fear if I were to disobey my Lord, the torment of the
Great Day (i.e. the Day of Resurrection)." Say: "If Allah had so willed, I should not
have recited it to you nor would He have made it known to you. Verily, I have
stayed amongst you a life time before this. Have you then no sense?"
[Qur’an 10:15-16]

3-This verse is telling his critics to reflect on the fact that Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) lived amongst them from forty (40) years before reciting the
Qur’an to them while never showing any signs of inclination to poetry and themselves
knowing that he was illiterate. If he could no t read or write, then where did these
magnificent verses come from?
Also reflect on the fact that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) is
commanded in the verses above to “Say” twice. This is a command to make a certain
statement to the people. One can find this command “Say” 332 times throughout the
Qur’an. In other places in the Qur’an he is ordered to “proclaim”, “Glorify Your Lord”,
“Prostrate Yourself” etc. So we ask is this how a man talks to himself or writes a book?
Also one must consider the fact that even before his Prophethood Muhammad (Peace
and Blessings be upon him) was known amongst his people as “Al-Amin”, the
trustworthy and the truthful. No one ever recorded a lie against him.
Many Western historians agree with this analysis:
"If a man like Muhammad were to assume the dictatorship of the modern world, he
would succeed in solving its problems that would bring it the much needed peace and
happiness." George Bernard Shaw
"My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may
surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in
history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular level."
--Michael H. Hart, THE 100: A RANKING OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL PERSONS IN HISTORY, New
York: Hart Publishing Company, Inc ., 1978, p. 33
"Muhammad was the soul of kindness, and his influence was felt and never forgotten by
those around him."
--Diwan Chand Sharma, The Prophets of the East, Calcutta 1935, p. l 22.
"He was Caesar and Pope in one; but he was Pope without Pope's pretensions, Caesar
without the legions of Caesar: without a standing army, without a bodyguard, without a palace, without a fixed revenue; if ever any man had the right to say that he ruled by the ight divine, it was Mohammed, for he had all the power without its instruments and
without its supports."
--Bosworth Smith, Mohammad and Mohammadanism, London, 1874, p. 92.
"Philosopher, orator, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational dogmas, of a cult without images; the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and of one spiritual empire, that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by which human
4-greatness may be measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater than he?"
Lamartine, HISTOIRE DE LA TURQUIE, Paris, 1854, Vol. II, pp. 276 -277
"It is impossible for anyone who studies the life and character of the great Prophet of
Arabia, who knows how he taught and how he lived, to feel anything but reverence for
that mighty Prophet, one of the great messengers of the Supreme. And although in what
I put to you I shall say many things which may be familiar to many, yet I myself feel
whenever I re-read them, a new way of admiration, a new sense of reverence for that
mighty Arabian teacher."
Annie Besant, THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF MUHAMMAD, Madras,1932, p. 4.
"His readiness to undergo persecutions for his beliefs, the high moral character of the men who believed in him and looked up to him as leader, and the greatness of his
ultimate achievement - all argue his fundamental integrity. To suppose Muhammad an
impostor raises more problems than it solves. Moreover, none of the great figures of
history is so poorly appreciated in the West as Muhammad."
W. Montgomery Watt, MOHAMMAD AT MECCA, Oxford, 1953, p. 52.
So, we ask the reader to reflect on the following:

Is it logical to believe that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) who, until the age of forty and, as we mentioned earlier, was known to his people as al-Amin (The Trustworthy) and who is still admired even by Western scholars for his honesty and integrity, all of a sudden began to write a book that is unmatched in literary merit and that has not be matched by legions of the Arab poets and orators of the highest caliber throughout history?

Is it reasonable to say that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him), made a
false claim and on that very falsehood trained thousands of individuals of outstanding
character, integrity, and honesty who were able to establish the best human society that
the world has ever known?
Material Gain? Power and Glory?
Some claim that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) wrote the Qur’an for
some type of material gain or for power and glory. However, this claim is at odds with
the historical evidence.
In fact, when one studies the history of Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon
him) life, we find that he was actually materially more well off BEFORE claiming
Prophethood than afterwards.
5
At twenty-five years old, Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) was married
to the wealthy widow named Khadijah and lived a life of relative comfort.
However, after his call to Prophethood, his standard of living declined dramatically,
sometimes going two months without cooking anything, surviving only on dates and
water, because of the extreme hardships that he and his family endured after
proclaiming God’s message.
This would not be a temporary sacrifice, but a way of life for him until he died. At no time
in his Prophethood did he ever live in a fancy palace, wear the finest clothes or enjoy
the luxuries of this world. Even after the early Muslims became successful and started
to make financial gains, Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon him) wives
complained about their living conditions and wondered why they had to continue to live
so poorly when there was (seemingly) no need.
A revelation then came from God stating:
O Prophet! Say to your wives: If you desire the life of this world, and its glitter,
Then come! I will make a provision for you and set you free (i.e., divorce) in a
handsome manner But if you desire Allah and His Messenger, and the home of
the Hereafter, then verily, Allah has prepared for the good doers amongst you an
enormous reward. (i.e., Heaven)
[Qur’an 33:28-29]
One of Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon him) companions, describing his
room said:
“I noticed that the contents of his room comprised of only three pieces of tanned skin and a handful of barley in a corner. I looked but failed to find anything else. I began to cry. He (Muhammad, Peace and Blessings Be Upon Him) said: “Why are you
weeping”? I replied, ‘O’ Prophet of Allah! Why should I not cry? I can see the patterns of the mat imprinted on your body and I am also beholding all that you have in this room. O’ Prophet of Allah! Pray that Allah may grant ample provisions for us. The Persians and the Romans, who have no true faith and who do not worship Allah but
they worship their Kings, live in gardens with streams flowing in their midst. But the chosen Prophet and accepted slave of Allah should live in such dire poverty?!” The Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) was resting against his pillow, but when he heard me talk like this, he sat up and said, ‘O’ Umar! Are you still in doubt about this matter?

Ease and comfort in the hereafter are much better than ease and comfort in this world. The disbelievers are enjoying their share of the good things in this world,
whereas the Believers have all such things in store for them in the next’ “ (Muslim)
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be Upon Him) died poor and his deprivation of this
world was self-imposed.
6 -The most significant refutation to this claim that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) was seeking wealth and power is the following story when the Chiefs of
Makkah came to him trying to get him to stop preaching his message:
“O’ Muhammad, You are, as you know a noble from your tribe and your lineage assures
you a place of honor. And now you have brought to your people a matter of grave
concern, whereby you have split their community, declared their way of life to be foolish, spoken shamefully of their gods and religion and called their forefathers disbelievers.
Listen to what I propose and see if any of it is acceptable to you. If it is wealth that you seek, we will gather our wealth and make you the richest amongst us. If you seek honor, we will make you our overlord and we will make no decision without your
consent. If you seek Kingship, then we will make you our King. And if you can not get rid of this demon that appears to you, we will find you a physician and spend all our money until you are cured.”

Life of the Prophet Muhammad, Ibn Hishaam
When he finished, Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) had received
revelation which stated:
Haa Meem. A revelation from Allah, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. A
Book whereof the Verses are explained in detail; A Qur'an in Arabic for people
who know. Giving glad tidings and warning, but most of them turn away, so they
don’t listen. And they say: "Our hearts are under coverings (screened) from that
to which you invite us, and in our ears is deafness, and between us and you is a
screen, so work you (on your way); verily, we are working (on our way). Say: "I
am only a human being like you. It is inspired in me that your God is One,
therefore take Straight Path to Him and obedience to Him, and seek forgiveness
of Him. And woe to the polytheists. Those who give not the Zakât and they are
disbelievers in the Hereafter. Truly, those who believe and do righteous good
deeds, for them will be an endless reward that will never end
[Qur’an 41:1-8]
So had his aim been wealth and power, then he could have easily achieved his goal
without going through the hardship and poverty he went throug h up until his death.
To Unite The Arabs?
The claim that Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon him) goal was to unite the
Arabs is also difficult to defend when one looks into the life of Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) and his own statements against nationalism, tribalism etc.
Firstly, again, had this been his goal, he could have archived it when the Chiefs of
Makkah offered him wealth and riches in exchange for him agreeing to stop preaching.
7 -Secondly, the concept of nationalism does not exist in Islam. Islam made the bond of faith and truth and falsehood the most important basis for binding people together and not nationalism, tribe affiliation, race, or ethnicity.
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) himself spoke out on numerous
occasions against this type of ideology stating:

"Let people stop boasting about their forefathers who have died, who are merely fuel for the Hell Fire; or they will certainly be more insignificant with Allah than the beetle which rolls dung with its nose. Allah has removed from you the partisanship of the days of Jaahiliyyah (refers to the Pre-Islamic days) and the boasting about one's forefathers.
Indeed a person is either a pious Believer or a wretched sinner. All of mankind are the
children of Adam, and Adam was created from clay. [Related by Abu Dawood and at-
Tirmithi]
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) also said: "Indeed there is no
excellence for an Arab over a Non-Arab, nor a Non-Arab over an Arab, nor a white
person over a black one, nor a black person over a white one, except through piety.”
[Related by Ahmad]
The Qur’an is filled with the same message. One example of this is in the following
verse:
"O’ mankind, we have created you from male and female and have made you into
nations and tribes, that you may know one another. Indeed the most noblest of
you with Allah is the one who has the most piety." [Surah al-Hujuraat 49:13]
The examples from both the Qur’an and the statements of Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) are too numerous to mention them all but this should suffice to make the point.
Regardless of one’s color, nationality, or tribe, anyone who believes in the Islamic
message is part of the brotherhood.
With the above being the case, the logical question beckons that had this been written by Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) as these people allege for the
purpose of uniting the Arabs, then why would he have put the exact opposite message
in this book? Indeed, from the story we quoted above, we can see that this Islamic
message actually divided the Arabs into two distinct groups: Muslims and non-Muslim.
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) also had companions that were from
different tribes and were other than Arab.

8 -He had Epilepsy?
Other people who reject the Prophethood of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon
him) agree because of the historical evidence of Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be
upon him) impeccable character and truthfulness that he would not have deliberately
fabricated the Qur’an and his Prophethood, so they allege for some reason that he
either had epilepsy or was delusional and actually believed that he was a Prophet.
Firstly, again keeping in mind that Muhammad is perhaps history’s most well
documented man, there is absolutely no evidence from his life to support this claim, and all evidence suggests that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) lived a
normal and sane life all the way up to his death at the age of sixty (60). However in spite of that, we will nonetheless prove that this claim is false and malicious.
Secondly, even some Orientalists (non-Muslims who have achieved considerable status
as authorities on Islam) themselves have rejected these claims of epilepsy as false and ridiculous. Daniel commenting on the claim of epilepsy said:
“…epilepsy as applied to the Prophet was the explanation of those who sought to
amuse rather than to instruct”
Khalifa, Mohammad The Sublime Qu’ran and Orientalism p. 13
John Davenport said,
"This remark that Muhammad has suffered the atta cks of epilepsy is one of the false,
awkward sayings of the Greeks by which they meant to stain the prestige of the
propagator of a new religion, and turn the world of Christianity against his moral
behavior and qualities."
Udhri Taqsir, p.20
There are various types of epilepsy, the main ones being grand mal, petit mal and
psycho motor.

Grand Mal includes generalized convulsions in which there is sudden unconsciousness
with falling and shaking of the limbs. Sometimes the person screams just before the
seizure and it is followed by stiffening and halted respiration. Next come jerky moves and one can bite one’s tongue and the person experiences a headache. Afterwards,
they have no recollection of what happened.
When Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) received revelation, it was
described like the ringing of a bell, while other times the Angel Gabriel came to him in the form of a man and delivered the message directly. When one compares grand mal
to the description of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) receiving
revelation, it is obvious that he did not suffer from grand mal.

9 -Petit Mal involves momentary lapses of awareness and more than seventy percent
(70%) of patients have their first attack before the age of twenty. It involves no
involuntary movements and can happen several times in a day without interruption of
consciousness. This too, is in opposition to the description of Muhammad’s (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) receiving revelation.
Firstly, Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) was forty (40) years old when
he began to receive revelation. And each time he received revelation, it was for several minutes – not moments.
Psych omot or seizures involve convulsions. They last only a few seconds are
accompanied with screams and mumbles which do not make words and sentences,
much less entire chapters of a book which are not only completely understandable, but
of the highest eloquence.
Epilepsy takes control of one’s thoughts during seizures, yet Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) was in complete control during the revelation and was able to
recall the event in detail, unlike one who would have an epileptic seizure.
Beyond the above facts, one must ask how could Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be
upon him) unconsciously know about previous nations? How could he unconsciously
answer questions people asked him and be so correct? No one ever stood up to claim
that they too are familiar with these stories.
How could he know about future events which would later come to pass? How could he
have known that the Persians and Romans would go to war and who would win the war
years in advance?
Therefore when the facts are examined, the epileptic seizures theories can not only be easily ruled out as absurd but we can only conclude that this claim is made out of
outright maliciousness because the evidence is overwhelmingly against them.
Norman Daniel commenting on the slanders made against Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) said:
"All writers (referring to Western Writers) tended - more or less - to cling to fantastic
tales about Islam and its Prophet... The use of false evidence to attack Islam was all but universal."
Norman Daniel, Islam and the West, One world Publications 1993, p.267
Daniel also goes on to explain: "At the worst there was the assertion of the fantastic,
and its repetition without discrimination; at the best there was the selection of only those
facts that served the purpose of controversy."
ibid, p.268

10 -Nonetheless, material gain; desire for power; desire to unify the Arabs and ever having had epilepsy are all easily ruled out when any unbiased reader one looks into the life of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him)
Second Claim: Someone other than Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) wrote the
Qur’an
Some people claim that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) did not write
the Qur’an, but actually either copied it from other sources or learned it from someone else.

Let us examine these claims separately Copied from Other Sources?
Amongst those who claim that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) did not
write the Qur’an but got it from other sources are those who claim that he simply copied either the Apocrypha (Some of the scriptures not included in the canon from the Council of Nicea in 325 CE that became known as the Bible, and later the “Catholic Version” of the Bible) and/or the Bible itself.

The first problem with this argument is that Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon
him) as we mentioned earlier was illiterate and could not copy what he could not read.
Please keep in mind what we stated earlier about Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings
be upon him) well known impeccable character and the fact that it was known that he
was illiterate and that there is also no record of the pagan Arabs in Mecca accusing
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) of not being illiterate.
Had he not been illiterate, as the Qur’an itself stated, would this have not been easy to prove during Muhammad’s lifetime by his enemies who were eager to discredit him?

This fact alone shows that it was common knowledge during his lifetime that he was
indeed illiterate and no one questioned this.
Secondly, even if one were to assume, for argument’s sake, that he could read, then the first Arabic translation of what is known as the “Old Testament” was not produced until some two hundred (200) years after Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon him)
death and the first Arabic translation of the “New Testament” did not appear until one thousand years after his death.

11 -Sidney Griffith, after extensive study, concludes that:
All one can say about the possibility of a pre-Islamic, Christian version of the Gospel in
Arabic is that no sure sign of its actual existence has yet emerged.
"The Gospel In Arabic: An Enquiry Into Its Appearance In The First Abbasid Century", Oriens Christianus, Volume 69, p. 166 Ernst Würthwein states in his book The Text Of The Old Testament that:
With the victory of Islam the use of Arabic spread widely, and for Jews and Christians in the conquered lands it became the language of daily life. This gave rise to the need of Arabic versions of the Bible, which need was met by a number of versions mainly independent and concerned primarily for interpretation
The Text Of The Old Testament, 1988, William B Eerdmans Publishing Company, Grand Rapids, Michigan, pp. 104. So it is clear that no Arabic translations of the Bible or the Apocrypha existed during the lifetime of Muhammad (Peace and Blessing be upon him) Thirdly, the historical evidence suggests that there was no Christian or Jewish influence in the Hijaz (Inner part of the Arabian Peninsula) and particularly in Makkah where Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) was born and raised.
Before the birth of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) the Hijaz was for the
most part ignored by the major empires of that time (The Persian and Roman) and left
isolated with the exception of the time of when the Ethiopian King Abraha briefly tried
and failed to conquer Makkah during the year Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be
upon him) was born.
The New Catholic Encyclopedia states concerning the time of the Muhammad (Peace
and Blessings be upon him) that:
The Hijaz [Arabian Peninsula] had not been touched by Christian preaching. Hence
organization of the Christian church was neither to be expected nor found
New Catholic Encyclopedia, Op.Cit, Vol. 1, pp. 721-722
There is a wealth of historical evidence to show similar evidence that there was no
Christian influence in the Hijaz where Muhammad (Peace and Blessing be upon him)
lived, so we must ask ourselves who then would have taught him the Bible and/or the
apocrypha (which were not even in Arabic) for him to later take from these sources, that he would have had to memorize, to later write the Qur’an?

12- The Hijaz was so isolated that four men from amongst the Makkans who were
searching for the true religion of Abraham had to leave Makkah in search of it. Waraqa
Ibn Nawfal, was amongst them and returned as a Christian. We will discuss him more in
detail below.
Fourthly, the Qur’an itself answers these claims that someone was teaching
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) and at the same time points to the fact
that the Arabic used in the Qur’an is pure.
And indeed We know that they (The Disbelievers) say: "It is only a human being
who teaches him (Muhammad Peace and Blessings be upon him)." The tongue of the
man they refer to is foreign, while this (the Qur'an) is a clear Arabic tongue.
[Qur'an 16:103]
The Qur’an also says referring to Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him)
Neither did you (Muhammad, Peace and Blessing be upon him) read any book
before it (the Qur'an), nor did you write any book with your hand. In that case,
indeed, the followers of falsehood might have doubted
[Qur'an 29:48]
This argument was answered over one thousand four hundred years ago, by the Qur’an
itself, yet these critics are still unable to provide any new evidence for their erroneous
claims
Learned the Qur’an from another human?
Others, from amongst those who argue that Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon
him) got the Qur’an from some other source allege that he was taught by another
person.
Some of them specifically allege that he was taught by Waraqa Ibn Nawfal who, as we
mentioned earlier, was one of the four men who le ft the pagan faith of Makkah in search
for the true religion of Abraham and returned as a Christian.
Here we must state that the true religion of all of the Prophets including that of Abraham
and Jesus was Islam.
By “Islam”, we mean submission to God’s will. It is the same way, as we mentioned in
the introduction that all of the Prophets called to: Pure Monotheism.
By “Christian” (in the case of those like Waraqa Ibn Nawfal and Salman the Persian) we
mean that he was a person who was following to the best of his ability the true Islamic
teachings of Jesus which was in line with the teachings of all the other Prophets and
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expecting the last Prophet. This is what is meant by the religion of Abraham that they
were in search of.
This is the religion that Waraqa Ibn Nawfal was looking for and apparently found
because when Muhammad was seeking an explanation of what he had seen after his
first revelation Waraqa told him
"This is the same one who keeps the secrets (angel Gabriel) whom Allah had sent to
Moses. I wish I were young and could live up to the time when your people would turn
you out." Allah's Messenger (Peace and Blessings be upon him) asked, "Will they drive
me out?" Waraqa replied in the affirmative and said, "Anyone who came with something
similar to what you have brought was treated with hostility; and if I should remain alive
till the day when you will be turned out then I would support you strongly." But after a
few days Waraqa died. [Sahih al-Bukhari]
While it is clear in the passage above that Waraqa died just a few days after
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) first received revelation from the Angel
Gabriel, it was also clear that Waraqa Ibn Nawfal believed in his Prophethood.
So the claim that Waraqa taught the Qur’an to Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be
upon him) simply holds no water.
Others try to allege that Salman the Persian taught the Qur’an to Muhammad (Peace
and Blessings be upon him).
Salman, who was from Persia, was a Zoroastrian who converted to Christianity and
ventured to Syria to learn more about his religion. There, he learned from one of the
Christian Bishops about the coming of the last Prophet and the signs accompanying his
advent. He then traveled to Hijaz where he was seized, sold into slavery, and taken to
Madinah, where he eventually met Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him).
When he found in Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) the fulfillment of all
the signs of which he had been informed, he became a Muslim.
In Ibn Ishaq's Sirat Rasul Allah, we find the following account of Salman's journey in
search of the true religion and the coming Prophet:
"`Asim ibn `Umar ibn Qatada said that he was told that Salman the Persian told the
Prophet (Peace and Blessings be upon him) that his master in 'Ammuriya told him to go
to a certain place in Syria where there was a man who lived between two thickets.
Every year as he used to go from one to the other, the sick used to stand in his way and
everyone he prayed for was healed. He said, 'Ask him about this religion which you
seek, for he can tell you of it.' So I went on until I came to the place I had been told of,
14
and I found that people had gathered there with their sick until he came out to them that
night passing from one thicket to the other. The people came to him with their sick and
everyone he prayed for was healed. They prevented me from getting to him so that I
could not approach him until he entered the thicket he was making for, but I took hold of
his shoulder. He asked me who I was as he turned to me and I said, 'God have mercy
on you, tell me about the Hanifiyyah, (the religion of Abraham).' He replied, 'You are
asking about something men do not inquire of today; the time has come near when a
prophet will be sent with this religion from the people of the haram (i.e. the hijaz) . Go to
him, for he will bring you to it.' Then he went into the thicket.
So, as we can see, had Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) been a
impostor as the people who make this claim against him imply, then Salman would not
have accepted his Prophethood, much less participated in the writing of the Qur’an with
him.
Secondly, Salman did not meet Muhammad (Peace and blessings be upon him) until
after the migration to Madinah and hence AFTER more than two -thirds of the Qur’an
(which includes the stories of the Prophets mentioned in the Bible) had already been
revealed In Makkah.
Thirdly, Salman was a Persian and his original tongue was not Arabic. The Qur’an’s
literary style is so brilliant and awe-inspiring that even Linguists who were born speaking
the Arabic language have not been successful at replicating it (despite repeated
challenges from the Qur’an itself to be discussed later) much less a Persian who’s
mother tongue was not Arabic.
Even if someone wanted to claim that it was someone other than the people mentioned
above, then we repeat the challenge of the Qur’an
…Say: "Bring your proof if you are truthful."
[Qur’an 2:111]
As for anyone other than that, then we ask would there not be some evidence that
someone was teaching Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him)? Would not
someone have stepped forward to say that he was Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings
be upon him) “teacher”? Yet, we find no such evidence of this.
15
Third Claim:
The Qur’an is the pure word of God having no human author
After having examined the theories that either Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be
upon him) wrote the Qur’an and that he got it from other sources and discussing the
flaws in those arguments, the logical question beckons that if Muhammad (Peace and
Blessings be upon him) did not write the Qur’an nor get it from another human or collect
it from other sources, then where did it come from?
We must now examine the theory that says that the Qur’an is the word of God sent to
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) and by extension that he is the
Messenger of God.
The Challenge
First of all, the Qur’an in several places challenges mankind by saying:
Say: "If the mankind and the jinns were together to produce the like of this
Qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they helped one another."
[Qur'an 17:88]
And if you (Arab pagans, Jews, and Christians) are in doubt concerning that
which We have sent down (i.e. the Qur'an) to Our slave (Muhammad, Peace be
upon him ), then produce a surah (chapter) of the like thereof and call your
witnesses (supporters and helpers) besides Allah, if you are truthful. [Qur'an 2:23]
And this Qur’an is not such as could ever be produced by other than Allah (Lord
of the heavens and the earth), but it is a confirmation of (the revelation) which
was before it [i.e. the Taurat (Torah), and the Injeel (Gospel), etc.], and a full
explanation of the Book (i.e. laws and orders, etc, decreed for mankind) - wherein
there is no doubt from the the Lord of the Worlds. Or do they say: "He
(Muhammad, Peace be upon him) has forged it?" Say: "Bring then a surah
(chapter) like it, and call upon whomsoever you can, besides Allah, if you are
truthful!" [Qur’an 10:37-38]
Or they say, "He (Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him) forged it (the Qur’an)."
Say: "Bring you then ten forged surah (chapters) like unto it, and call
whomsoever you can, other than Allah (to your help), if you speak the truth!"
[Qur’an 11:13]
16
Or do they say: "He (Muhammad peace be upon him) has forged it (this Qur’an)?"
Nay! They believe not! Let them then produce a recital like unto it if they are
truthful. [Qur’an 52:33-34]
However, despite these repeated challenges, the Arabs who were at the height of their
poetic eloquence during the time of revelation of the Qur'an still could not even produce
the shortest surah like it. Alqama bin cAbd al-Manaf confirmed this when he addressed
the Quraysh Tribe by saying:
Oh Quraish, a new calamity has befallen you. Mohammed was a young man the most
liked among you, most truthful in speech, and most trustworthy, until, when you saw
gray hairs on his temple, and he brought you his message, you said that he was a
sorcerer, but he is not, for we have seen such people and their spitting and their knots;
(i.e., signs of people who engage in black magic) you said, a mystic, but we have seen
such people and their behavior, and we have heard their rhymes; you said a
soothsayer, but he is not a soothsayer, for we have heard their rhymes; and you said a
poet, but he is not a poet, for we have heard all kinds of poetry; you said he was
possessed, but he is not for we have seen the possessed, and he shows no signs of
their gasping and whispering and delirium. (signs of possession) Oh men of Quraish,
look to your affairs, for by Allah a serious thing has befallen you.
This is a challenge that still stands today, as no one has met this challenge in the over
one thousand four hundred (1,400) years since it was first made. This is a point upon
which we ask the reader to ponder.
Unmatched Eloquence
One of the most well-known stories of how the Qur’an’s miraculous eloquence effected
individuals is the story of al-Waleed ibn al-Mugheerah, who was the most eloquent and
highly esteemed poet of Makkah at the time of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be
upon him)
Al-Waleed ibn al-Mugheerah passed by Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon
him) and heard him reciting the Qur’an and this had a visible effect upon him. He was
shaken and startled by what he had heard. The news of this incident spread throughout
Makkah.
Abu Jahl (the arch enemy of Islam) afraid that the people of Makkah might be affected
by the news and convert to Islam, rushed to al-Waleed and told him “Oh my uncle! Say
something (against Muhammad) so that the people will know that you are against him
and hate (his message)”
17
Al-Waleed replied, “And what can I say? For I swear by Allah, there is none amongst
you who knows poetry as well as I do, nor can any compete with me in composition or
rhetoric-not even in the poetry of the jinns! And yet, I swear by Allah, Muhammad’s
speech (meaning the Qur’an) does not bear any similarity to anything I know and I
swear by Allah, the speech that he says is very sweet, and is adorned with beauty and
charm. Its first part is fruitful and its last part is abundant (meaning that it is full of deep
meaning) and it conquers (all other speech) and remains unconquered! It shatters and
destroys all that has come before it (because of its eloquence)
Abu Jahl responded “Your people will not be satisfied until you speak against him!” Al-
Waleed therefore requested Abu Jahl “Leave me for a few days, so that I may think of
an appropriate response to give the Qur’aish”
After a few days, Abu Jahl came back to him and asked him what he had prepared. Al
Waleed, during this time could not think of any explanation to give except “This (the
Qur’an) is a type of magic that has an effect on its listeners.”
Biography of Prophet Muhammad, Ibn Hishaam p. 225
In response to this God Revealed in the Qur’an:
Nay! Verily, he (al-Waleed) has been stubborn and opposing our signs….verily he
thought and plotted; so let him be cursed, how he plotted! And once more let him
be cursed; how he plotted! Then he thought! Then he frowned and was irritated;
then he turned back and was proud! Then he said, ‘This is nothing but magic
from old; this is nothing but the word of a magician!’ I will cast him into the Hell-
Fire [Qur’an 74:16-26]
This was the testimony of the greatest poet alive during the time of Muhammad (Peace
and Blessings be upon him)
Orientalist Author Arthur Arberry, who studied and became fluent in the Arabic language
while studying in Egypt recognized the beauty of the Qur’an.
He said: “…the rhetoric and rhythm of the Arabic of the Qur’an are so characteristic, so
powerful, so highly emotive, that any version whatsoever is bound by the nature of
things to be but a copy of the glittering splendor of the original”
Arthur Arberry, The Koran Interpreted p. 24
Many other non-Muslims have also confirmed the Qur’an’s unmatched eloquence.
Hamilton Gibb, the famous University of Oxford Arabist said:
...the Meccans still demanded of him a miracle, and with remarkable boldness and self
confidence Mohammad appealed as a supreme confirmation of his mission to the Koran
itself. Like all Arabs they were the connoisseurs of language and rhetoric. Well, then if
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the Koran were his own composition other men could rival it. Let them produce ten
verses like it. If they could not (and it is obvious that they could not), then let them
accept the Koran as an outstanding evident miracle
H A R Gibb, Islam - A Historical Survey, 1980, Oxford University Press, p. 28
Alfred Guillaume wrote:
The Qur’an is one of the world's classics which cannot be translated without grave loss.
It has a rhythm of peculiar beauty and a cadence that charms the ear. Many Christian
Arabs speak of its style with warm admiration, and most Arabists acknowledge its
excellence. When it is read aloud or recited it has an almost hypnotic effect that makes
the listener indifferent to its sometimes strange syntax and its sometimes, to us,
repellent content. It is this quality it possesses of silencing criticism by the sweet music
of its language that has given birth to the dogma of its inimitability; indeed it may be
affirmed that within the literature of the Arabs, wide and fecund as it is both in poetry
and in elevated prose, there is nothing to compare with it
Alfred Guillaume, Islam, 1990 (Reprinted), Penguin Books, pp. 73-74
It is a miracle in itself that for over one thousand, four hundred years, this challenge to
match the Qur’an’s is still stands unmet today despite many failed attempts to do so.
Could a human being have known these things?
Although the Qur’an is a book of guidance for all of mankind and not a science book ,
one of the great miracles of the Qur’an is its conformity with modern science. It is a sign
of its miraculous nature that it mentions things that no human being could have possibly
known one thousand four hundred (1,400) years ago! We will give just a few examples
here with commentary from some modern scientists who have read the Qur’an and
compared it with science.
…He creates you in the wombs of your mothers, from one stage to another, and
all along three veils of darkness surrounded you [Qur’an 39:6]
Dr. Keith Moore, one of the world’s prominent scientists of anatomy and embryology at
the University of Toronto said:
"The realization that the embryo develops in stages in the uterus was not proposed until
the 1940's, and the stages used nowadays were not adopted worldwide until the 15th
century C.E."
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The Qur’an also says:
From what thing did He create him? From Nutfa (male and female semen drops)
He created him, and then set him in due proportion. [Qur’an 80:18]
Commenting on this verse, Dr. Moore said:
"The idea that development results from a genetic plan contained in the chromosomes,
of the zygote was not discovered until the end of the 19th century C.E. The verse from
the Qur'an (80:18) clearly implies that the nutfa (i.e. the initial drop of fluid) contains the
plan or blueprint for the future characteristics and features of the developing human
being".
Then We made the Nutfa into a clot (a piece of thick coagulated blood), then We
made the clot into a little lump of flesh, then We made out of that little lump of
flesh bones, then We clothed the bones with flesh, and then We brought it forth
as another creation. So blessed be Allah, the Best of creators. [Qur’an 23:14]
The best way to really appreciate the beauty of the verses above is to see pictures of
the human embryo as it goes through the various stages of development. The reference
to “…chewed lump of flesh” is remarkably similar to the appearance of the embryo
after the first month.
Consider this in light of the fact tha t if one reads what embryologists said on the subject
just one hundred years ago, one would laugh at its inaccuracies.
Some of the other facts given in the Qur’an include the formation of milk (16:66), the
orbiting of planets (21:33 and 36:40) and the description of the water cycle (15:22 and
35:9)
Maurice Bucaille writes on this topic:
“The above observation makes the hypothesis advanced by those who see Muhammad
as the author of the Qur'an untenable. How could a man, from being illiterate, become
the most important author, in terms of literary merits, in the whole of Arabic literature?
How could he then pronounce truths of a scientific nature that no other human being
could possibly have developed at that time, and all this without once making the
slightest error in his pronouncement on the subject?”
- Maurice Bucaille, The Bible, the Qur'an and Science, 1978, p 125.
Professor Alfred Kroner who is one of the world’s most famous geologists said:
"Thinking about many of these questions and thinking where Muhammad came from, he
was after all a bedouin. I think it is almost impossible that he could have known about
things like the common origin of the universe, because scientists have only found out
20
within the last few years with very complicated and advanced technological methods
that this is the case
We ask the sincere reader to ponder on these facts
The Miracle not limited by place and time
We mentioned in the introduction that every Prophet is sent with miracles to establish
his Prophethood.
Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) performed many miracles which have
been documented by those who witnessed them such as the splitting of the moon, the
increase of an inadequate amount of food to a large number of people, and many other
miracles that were not permanent and could not be seen by every generation in every
place.
The Qur’an, however is the permanent miracle and it is not limited by time and place.
Generations far removed from Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon him) time
can witness it for themselves.
Ibn Khaldoon, a renowned Muslim historian put it very beautifully when he said:
“Know that the greatest of all miracles, and the most sacred and blessed and the
clearest proof is the Qur’an that was revealed to the Prophet (Peace and Blessings be
upon him). This is because all other miracles, in general, were brought forth separate
from the actual inspiration (that the Prophet received), as a means of proving the
truthfulness of the inspiration. As for the Qur’an, it is the inspiration and the miracle in
one, and is therefore the clearest and most powerful miracle, since it combines the
boast and the proof into one.”
Itr, p. 113
Also, we ask the reader to reflect on the following statement of Ibn Taymiyyah:
“The greatest (of all the miracles) is the Qur’an that the Prophet (Peace and Blessings
be upon him) came with, for it is the religion of God and His speech, and it is proof of
the Prophethood of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him). Its very revelation
is one of the most supernatural and extraordinary of acts, for it is the call (to the worship
of God alone) and the proof (of the Prophethood of Muhammad, peace and blessings
be upon him) and the miracle (i.e., all in one)”
Collection of Islamic Rulings, vol. 11 p. 324
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The Life Changing Effect Of The Qur’an
The Qur’an says:
“Verily this Qur’an leads to that which is most right…”
[Qur’an 17:9]
The Qur’an is a book for all of mankind that is meant to reform the individual and even
the society. It changes the individual that is devoid of guidance and improves an
individual if he is already on the straight path.
Before the Prophethood of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon him) the Arabs
were heavy drinkers of alcohol, engage in tribal battles and even bury their female
babies alive. Yet, when one studies the history of the Qur’an, one finds that within a
span of twenty years, due to the miraculous effect of the Qur’an, was able to change
almost all the Arabs and non-Arabs in the Arabian Peninsula and bind them into a
brotherhood of faith and love that was so strong that if any part of the brotherhood
would anguish, the whole brotherhood was affected negatively.
These people became leaders of the world and cornerstones of a great civilization
whose influence would remain centuries
This effect lasted long after Muhammad’s (Peace and Blessings be upon him) death.
We see this in the following passage:
The sterling character and qualities of the Muslim soldiers were once praised by a
Roman Officer in these words: “At night you will find them prayerful; during the day you
will find them fasting. They keep their promises, order good deeds, suppress evil and
maintain complete equality among themselves”
Another testified thus: “They are horsemen by day and ascetics by night. They pay for
what they eat in territories under their occupation. They are first to salute when they
arrive at a place and are valiant fighters who just wipe out the enemy.”
And a third testified: “During the night it seems that they do not belong to this world and
have no other business than to pray, and during the day, when one sees them mounted
on their horses, one feels that they have been doing nothing else their whole lives. They
are great archers and great lancers, yet they are so devoutly religious and remember
God so much and so often that one can hardly hear talk about anything else in their
company”
Ibn Kathir, Bidayyah wa Nihayyah pg. 53
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Lack of Contradiction
The Qur’an challenges mankind by saying:
"Do they not then consider the Qur’an carefully? Had it been from other than
Allah, they would surely have found therein much contradiction." [4:82]
The fact that there are no contradictions in the Qur’an, despite being revealed over the
twenty-three year period, under different circumstances, addressing different problems,
is a clear indication to the sincere and objective reader of its divine origin.
The Logical Conclusion
We have established that the Qur’an could not have been written by Muhammad
(Peace and Blessings be upon him) nor did he learn it from someone else or collect it
from other sources. Are you, the reader, still in doubt about this?
We ask you, if you are still in doubt to then take up the challenge of the Qur’an itself and
prove it to be false.
Ponder upon that fact that not one of the legions of brilliant poets that have lived in the
past 1,400 years have been able to match the Qur’an beauty and eloquence despite
repeated challenges from the Qur’an to do so. And they never will.
Why are they not successful? Because the Qur’an is indeed the word of God and who
can compete with God? God has told us in the Qur’an that they will never be able to do
it.
Say: "If the mankind and the jinns were together to produce the like of this
Qur'ân, they could not produce the like thereof, even if they helped one another."
[Qur’an 17:88]
In other words, the Qur’an itself has predicted that it will remain unparalleled and
unrivaled for all of eternity.
The futility of trying to match the Qur’an’s brilliance and eloquence has been foretold:
And if you are in doubt concerning that which We have sent down (the Qur'an) to
Our slave (Muhammad Peace be upon him), then produce a Surah (chapter) of the
like thereof and call your witnesses (supporters and helpers) besides Allah, if you
are truthful. But if you do not do it, and you can never do it, then fear the Fire
(Hell) whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers.
[Qur’an 2:23-24]
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The above is exactly what has occurred! None have been able to meet this challenge to
his day and they can not do so.
Throughout this work, we have asked the sincere reader to ponder. We also stated in
the beginning that if we conclude that the Qur’an is the word of God, then we must by
extension accept the Messengership of Prophet Muhammad (Peace and Blessing be
upon him)
The rational criteria is at the sincere reader’s disposal, and one's emotional commitment
to religion should be preceded by an intellectual commitment to it. Reason, in fact, is our
primary means for finding the Truth.
We can put any religion or system of beliefs to test by examining whether it is rational,
universal, applicable at all times, in all places, and by people of all colors and
languages, and whether the religion's Scripture is free of alteration, internal and external
inconsistencies.
A scripture is internally inconsistent if it contains discrepancies and contradictions within
its text, and externally inconsistent if it contradicts facts (not theories) from science and
nature as we know them. For it is impossible that God does not know His creation or
that which He creates.
Our experience tells us that a few minutes of reasoning can usually leave us persuaded
in the truth of God's absolute Oneness and Uniqueness, so what remains to be studied
is which religion is truly monotheistic in its nature.
One of the major criteria for distinguishing the Truth from errors, that we would like to
stress, is the authenticity of the religious scripture.
We have presented above indisputable proof that the Qur’an is the word of God.
The reality is that Muslims are the only ones who even claim to have an authentic
scripture from God, in its original form, of which not a single letter has been changed.
Most other religions admit that their scriptures are in fact human writings. And if we say
that there is a Truth and God, we are likely to believe that God wants us to do certain
things and abstain from others.
If we are of the view that God would not leave us without a reliable Revelation, then the
mere fact that Muslims are the only ones who even claim to have an authentic
revelation could attest to the truthfulness of their claim.
However, as mentioned earlier, the Qur'an invites us to ponder and reason and to
accept faith based on knowledge, rather than the blind following of our traditions.
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As we have quoted throughout this work from the Qur’an
"Do they not then consider the Qur’an carefully? Had it been from other than
Allah, they would surely have found therein much contradiction." [4:82]
Again we ask the sincere reader to ponder.
25

Why do Muslims think that Islam is true ?

2010-07-23T19:53:00.005+03:00

Why do Muslims think that Islam is true. Is there any factual basis?

Praise be to Allah.

This is a reasonable enough question for one who has not entered Islam, but one who believes in and practices this religion already knows the blessings which are his because of this religion. There are many reasons for this, which include the following:

(1) The Muslim worships One God, Who has no partner, and Who has the most beautiful names and the highest attributes. Thus the Muslim’s focus and aim is concentrated, focused on His Lord and Creator; he puts his trust in Him and asks Him for help, patience and support; he believes that Allaah is able to do all things, and has no need of a wife or son. Allaah created the heavens and earth; He is the One Who gives life and death; He is the Creator and Sustainer from Whom the slave seeks provision. He is the All-Hearing Who responds to the supplication of His slave, and from Whom the slave hopes for a response. He is the All-Merciful and All-Forgiving, to Whom the slave turns in repentance when he has committed a sin or fallen short in his worship of Allaah. He is the Omniscient and All-Seeing, who knows all intentions and what is hidden in people’s hearts. The slave feels ashamed to commit a sin by doing wrong to himself or to others, because his Lord is watching over him and sees all that he does. He knows that Allaah is All-Wise, the Seer of the Unseen, so he trusts that what Allaah decrees for him is good; he knows that Allaah will never be unjust to him, and that everything that Allaah decrees for him is good, even if he does not understand the wisdom behind it.

(2) The effects of Islaamic worship on the soul of the Muslim include the following:
Prayer keeps the slave in contact with his Lord; if he enters it in a spirit of humiliation and concentration, he will feel tranquil and secure, because he is seeking a "powerful support," which is Allaah, may He be glorified and exalted. For this reason, the Prophet of Islaam, Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to say: "Let us find relaxation and joy in prayer." If something distressed him, he would hasten to pray. Everyone who finds himself faced with disaster and tries prayer finds strength, patience and consolation, because he is reciting the words of his Lord, which cannot be compared to the effect of the words of a created being. If the words of some psychologists can offer a little comfort, what do you think of the words of the One Who created the psychologist?

Now let us look at zakaat, which is one of the pillars of Islaam. Zakaat purifies the soul from stinginess and miserliness, and accustoms people to being generous and helping the poor and needy. It will bring a great reward on the Day of Resurrection, just like other forms of worship. It is not burdensome, like man-made taxes; it is only 25 in every thousand, which the sincere Muslim pays willingly and does not try to evade or wait until someone chases him for it.

Fasting involves refraining from food and sex. It is a form of worship, and a way in which one can feel the hunger of those who are deprived. It is also a reminder of the blessings of the Creator, and it brings rewards beyond measure.

Hajj is the Pilgrimage to the sacred House of Allaah, which was built by Ibraaheem (Abraham, upon whom be peace). By performing Hajj one is obeying the command of Allaah and the call to come and meet Muslims from all over the world.

(3) Islaam commands all kinds of good and forbids all kinds of evil. It encourages good manners and proper treatment of others. It enjoins good characteristics such as truthfulness, patience, deliberation, kindness, humility, modesty, keeping promises, dignity, mercy, justice, courage, patience, friendliness, contentment, chastity, good treatment, tolerance, trustworthiness, gratitude for favours, and self-control in times of anger. Islaam commands the Muslim to fulfil his duty towards his parents and to uphold family ties, to help the needy, to treat neighbours well, to protect and safeguard the wealth of the orphan, to be gentle with the young and show respect to the old, to be kind to servants and animals, to remove harmful things from the road, to speak kind words, to forgive at the time when one has the opportunity to take revenge, to be sincere towards one’s fellow-Muslims, to meet the needs of the Muslims, to give the debtor time to repay his debt, to prefer others over oneself, to console others, to greet people with a smiling face, to visit the sick, to support the one who is oppressed, to give gifts to friends, to honour his guest, to treat his wife kindly and spend on her and her children, to spread the greeting of peace (salaam) and to seek permission before entering another person’s house, lest one see something private that the other person does not want one to see.

Some non-Muslims may do these things out of politeness or good manners, but they are not seeking reward from Allaah or salvation of the Day of Judgement.

If we look at what Islam has prohibited, we will find that it is in the interests of both the individual and society as a whole. All these prohibitions serve to safeguard the relationship between the slave and his Lord, and the relationship of the individual with himself and with his fellow-man. The following examples demonstrate this:

Islam forbids the association of anything in worship with Allaah and the worship of anything other than Allaah, because this spells doom and misery. Islaam also forbids visiting or believing soothsayers and fortune-tellers; magic or witchcraft that may cause a rift between two people or bring them together; belief in the influence of the stars on events and people’s lives; cursing time, because Allaah is directing its affairs; and superstition, because this is pessimism.

Islam forbids cancelling out good deeds by showing off, boasting or reminding others of one’s favours; bowing or prostrating to anything other than Allaah; sitting with hypocrites or immoral people for the purposes of enjoying their company or keeping them company; and invoking the curse or wrath of Allaah on one another or damning one another to Hell.

Islaam forbids urinating into stagnant water; defecating on the side of the road or in places where people seek shade or where they draw water; from facing the qiblah (direction of prayer) or turning one’s back towards it when passing water or stools; holding one’s penis in one’s right hand when passing water; giving the greeting of salaam (peace) to one who is answering the call of nature; and putting one’s hand into any vessel before washing it, when one has just woken up.

Islaam forbids the offering of any nafl (supererogatory) prayers when the sun is rising, when it is at its zenith, and when it is setting, because it rises and sets between the horns of Shaytaan (Satan); praying when there is food prepared that a person desires; praying when one urgently needs to pass water, stools or wind, because that will distract a person from concentrating properly on his prayer.

Islam forbids the Muslim to raise his voice in prayer, lest it disturb other believers; to continue offering supererogatory prayers at night when one feels drowsy - such a person should sleep then get up; to stay up all night in prayer, especially one night after another; and to stop praying when there is doubt as to the validity of one’s wudoo’ - unless one hears a sound or smells an odour.

Islaam forbids buying, selling and making "lost and found" announcements in the mosque - because it is the place of worship and remembrance of Allaah, where worldly affairs have no place.

Islam forbids haste in walking when the iqaamah (call immediately preceding congregational prayer) is given, and prescribes walking in a calm and dignified manner. It is also forbidden to boast about the cost of building a mosque; to decorate a mosque with red or yellow paint or adornments which will distract the worshippers; to fast day after day without a break; and for a woman to observe a supererogatory fast when her husband is present without his permission.

Islaam forbids building over graves, making them high, sitting on them, walking between them wearing shoes, putting lights over them or writing on them. It is forbidden to disinter the dead or to take graves as places of worship. Islam forbids wailing, tearing one’s clothes or leaving one’s hair unkempt when a person dies. Eulogizing the dead in the manner of the times of Ignorance (Jaahiliyyah) is also forbidden, although there is nothing wrong with informing others that a person has died.

Islaam forbids the consumption of riba (interest); all kinds of selling which involve ignorance (of the product), misleading and cheating; selling blood, wine, pork, idols and everything that Allaah has forbidden - their price, whether bought or sold - is haraam; najash, which is offering a price for something one has no intention of buying, as happens in many auctions; concealing a product’s faults at the time of selling; selling something which one does not own or before it comes into one’s possession; undercutting, outbidding or out bargaining another; selling produce before it is clear that it is in good condition and free of blemish; cheating in weights and measures; and hoarding. A partner who has shares in a plot of land or a date palm tree is forbidden to sell his share without consulting his partners. It is forbidden to consume the wealth of orphans unjustly; to bet or gamble; to take anything by force; to accept or offer bribes; to steal people’s wealth or to consume it unjustly; to take something for the purpose of destroying it; to undermine the value of people’s possessions; to keep lost property which one has found, or to keep quiet about it and not announce it, for it belongs to the one who recognizes it; to cheat in any way; to ask for a loan with no intention of repaying it; to take anything of the wealth of a fellow-Muslim, unless it is given freely, because what is taken because of another person’s shyness is haraam; and to accept a gift because of intercession.

Celibacy and castration are forbidden, as is marrying two sisters, or a woman and her aunt (paternal or maternal), whether he marries the aunt after marrying her niece or vice versa, for fear of breaking the ties of kinship. It is forbidden to make deals in marriage, such as saying "Let me marry your daughter and I will give you my daughter or sister in marriage." Such reciprocal deals are a form of oppression and injustice, and haraam. Islaam forbids mut’ah (temporary marriage), which is a marriage contract for a period of time agreed by the two parties, at the end of which the marriage expires. Islaam forbids intercourse with a menstruating woman, until she has purified herself (by taking a bath after her period ends), and also forbids anal intercourse. A man is forbidden to propose marriage to a woman when another man has already proposed to her, unless the other man withdraws his proposal or gives him permission. It is forbidden to marry a previously-married woman without consulting her, or a virgin without seeking her permission. It is forbidden to wish (a newly married couple) "Bi’l-rafaa’ wa’l-baneen (a joyful life and many sons)," because this is the greeting of the people of Jaahiliyyah, who hated daughters. The divorced woman is forbidden to conceal what Allaah has created in her womb (if she is pregnant). A husband and wife are forbidden to speak (to others) about the intimacies of married life. It is forbidden to turn a woman against her husband or to take divorce lightly. It is forbidden for a woman to ask for another’s divorce, such as asking a man to divorce a woman so that she can marry him. A wife is forbidden to spend her husband’s money without his permission, or to keep away from his bed without good reason, because the angels will curse her if she does that. A man is forbidden to marry his father’s wife, or to have intercourse with a woman who is pregnant from another man. It is forbidden for a man to practise ‘azl (coitus interruptus) with his free wife without her permission. It is forbidden for a man to return home from a journey late at night and startle his family, unless he has previously notified them when he will arrive home. A man is forbidden to take anything of his wife’s mahr (dowry) without her consent, or to keep annoying his wife so that she will give up her wealth.

Islaam forbids women to make a wanton display of themselves (tabarruj). It also forbids extreme forms of female circumcision. Women are forbidden to admit anyone into their husband’s home without his permission; his general permission is acceptable so long as they stay within the limits of sharee’ah. It is forbidden to separate a mother and child (in case of divorce); to let one’s womenfolk behave foolishly (in an immoral fashion) and not say anything; to let one’s gaze wander everywhere; and to follow an accidental glance with an intentional glance.

Islaam forbids the eating of dead meat, regardless of whether it died by drowning, strangulation, shock or falling from a high place; eating blood, pork and anything slaughtered in a name other than that of Allaah or for idols; eating the flesh or drinking the milk of beasts that feed on filth and waste matter; eating the flesh of every carnivorous beast that has fangs and every bird that has talons; eating the meat of domesticated donkeys; killing animals by keeping them and throwing stones at them until they die, or detaining them without food until they die; slaughtering with teeth or nails; slaughtering one animal (for food) in front of another; or sharpening the knife in front of the animal to be slaughtered.

In the area of clothing and adornment, men are forbidden the extravagance of wearing gold. Muslim are forbidden to be naked or to expose their thighs; to leave their clothes long (below the ankles) and trail them on the ground for the purpose of showing off; and to wear clothes that will attract attention.

It is forbidden to bear false witness; to make false accusations against a chaste believing woman; to accuse someone who is innocent; to utter lies; to slander and backbite; to call people by offensive nicknames; to spread gossip and malicious slander; to make fun of the Muslims; to boast about one’s status; to shed doubts on a person’s lineage; to utter slander, insults and obscenities; to speak in an indecent or rude manner; or to utter evil in public, except by one who has been wronged.

Islaam forbids telling lies; one of the worst kinds of lie is to lie about dreams, like fabricating dreams and visions in order to prove one’s virtue, or make some material gains, or to frighten an enemy.

Muslims are forbidden to praise themselves, or to talk in a secret way: two may not converse secretly to the exclusion of a third, because this is offensive. It is forbidden to curse a believer or someone who does not deserve to be cursed.

Islaam forbids speaking ill of the dead; praying for death; wishing for death because of some suffering that one is passing through; praying against one’s self, one’s children, one’s servants or one’s wealth.

Muslims are told not to eat the food that is directly in front of others or to eat from the centre of the dish or platter; rather they should eat from what is directly in front of them or thereabouts, because the barakah (blessing) comes in the middle of the food. It is forbidden to drink from a broken edge of a vessel, because this could cause harm; or to drink from the mouth of a vessel; or to breathe into it. It is forbidden to eat while lying on one’s stomach; to sit at a table where wine is being drunk; to leave a fire burning in one’s house when one sleeps; to sleep with Ghamr in one’s hand, like an offensive smell or the remainder of food (grease); to sleep on one’s stomach; or to talk about or try to interpret bad dreams, because these are tricks of the Shaytaan.

It is forbidden to kill another person except in cases where it is right to do so; to kill one’s children for fear of poverty; to commit suicide; to commit fornication, adultery or sodomy (homosexuality); to drink wine, or even to prepare it, carry it from one place to another, or sell it. Muslims are forbidden to please people by angering Allaah; to offend their parents or even to say "Uff" (the slightest word of contempt) to them; to claim that a child belongs to anyone but his real father; to torture by means of fire; to burn anyone, alive or dead, with fire; to mutilate the bodies of the slain; to help anyone commit falsehood; or to cooperate in wrongdoing and sin.

It is forbidden to obey any person by disobeying Allaah; to swear falsely; to swear a disastrous oath; to eavesdrop on people without their permission; to invade people’s privacy or look at their private parts; to claim something that does not belong to one or that one did not do, for the purpose of showing off; to look into someone’s else’s house without permission; to be extravagant; to swear an oath to do something wrong; to spy on others or be suspicious about righteous men and women; to envy, hate or shun one another; to persist in falsehood; to be arrogant or feel superior; to be filled with self-admiration; to be pleased with one’s arrogance. Islam forbids taking back one’s charity, even if one pays to get it back; employing someone to do a job without paying him his wages; being unfair in giving gifts to one’s children; bequeathing everything in one’s will and leaving one’s heirs poor - in such a case the will should not be executed; writing a will that concerns more than one third of one’s legacy; being a bad neighbour; or changing a will to the detriment of one or some of one’s heirs. A Muslim is forbidden to forsake or shun his brother for more than three days, except for a reason sanctioned by sharee’ah; to hold small stones between two fingers and throw them because this could cause injury to eyes or teeth; to include his heirs in a will, because Allaah has already given heirs their rights of inheritance; to disturb his neighbour; to point a weapon at his Muslim brother; to hand someone an unsheathed sword, lest it harm him; to come (walk) between two people except with their permission; to return a gift, unless there is some shar’i objection to it; to be extravagant; to give money to foolish people; to wish to be like someone to whom Allaah has given more of something; to cancel out his charity by giving offensive reminders of his giving; to wilfully conceal testimony; or to oppress orphans or scold one who asks for help or money. It is forbidden to treat with evil medicines, because Allaah would not create a cure for this ummah which includes something that He has forbidden. It is forbidden to kill women and children in warfare; to boast to one another; or to break promises.

Islaam forbids betraying a trust; asking for charity that one does not need; alarming a Muslim brother or taking away his possessions, whether jokingly or seriously; changing one’s mind after giving a gift, except in the case of a gift from a father to his child; practising medicine without experience; or killing ants, bees and hoopoe birds. A man is forbidden to look at the ‘awrah (private parts) of another man, and a woman is forbidden to look at the ‘awrah of another woman. It is forbidden to sit between two people without their permission; or to greet only those whom one knows, because the greeting is to be given to those whom you know and those whom you do not know. A Muslim is forbidden to let an oath come between him and good deeds; he should do what is good and make expiation for the oath. It is forbidden to judge between two disputing parties when one is angry, or to judge in favour of one party without hearing what the other has to say. It is forbidden for a man to walk through the market-place carrying something - like a sharp weapon - that could harm the Muslims, unless it is properly covered. A Muslim is forbidden to make another person get up, so that he can take his place.

There are more commands and prohibitions which came for the benefit and happiness of individuals and mankind as a whole. Have you ever seen any other religion that can compare to this religion?

Read this response again, then ask yourself: is it not a great pity that I am not one of them? Allaah says in the Qur’aan (interpretation of the meaning): "And whoever seeks a religion other than Islam, it will never be accepted of him, and in the Hereafter he will be one of the losers." [Aal ‘Imraan 3:85]

Finally, I hope that everyone who reads this will be guided to the correct way and to follow the truth. May Allaah protect you and us from all evil.

Islam Q&A
Sheikh Muhammed Salih Al-Munajjid