Muslim Clothing

Many events involving politics and across the world ever since the 1980s have been taking place in line with the systems of the Mahdi and the Messiah

2010-11-14T12:07:00.000-08:00

As Allah commands, Hazrat Mahdi (as) will never shed blood

Many events involving politics and across the world ever since the 1980s have been taking place in line with the systems of the Mahdi and the Messiah. Since 1980 (Hijri 1400) the Islamic world has been awaiting the explicit coming of Hazrat Mahdi (as) as foretold in the hadiths of our Prophet (saas), the verses of the Qur’an and statements by great Islamic scholars. In the light of information in the Torah and the Gospels, these same dates are when the Jews await the coming of the King Messiah (in other words, Hazrat Mahdi [as]) and Christians the return of the Prophet Jesus (as).

To date, and particularly involving certain evangelicals and misinformed Muslims, a most mistaken policy has been followed due to a belief that the movements of the Mahdi and the Messiah will shed blood and that there will be a great battle between Muslims and the People of the Book. The role of evangelicals in American foreign policy in particular led to the invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan in the time of the previous U.S. administration and to the shedding of the blood of millions of innocent Muslims as well as Europeans and Americans. Some evangelicals, Christians belonging to various denominations and a number of Jews, albeit a very low one, believe that this blood shed will grow and intensify and foresee a great battle between Muslims and the People of the Book. The way that some people with low levels of knowledge in the Islamic world depict Hazrat Mahdi (as) as someone who will shed blood and ruthlessly slaughter Shiites, Wahabbists, Jews and Christians will obviously further encourage such expectations.

The fact is, however, that everyone who expects bloodshed in the next part of the End Times are making a serious error. Neither the Prophet Jesus (as) nor Hazrat Mahdi (as) will ever shed blood. On the contrary, they will cause the moral values of the religion to prevail with love, affection, gentle words and compassion. On this subject, evangelicals and those Muslims who regard the People of the Book as the enemy are seriously mistaken.

It is impossible for Hazrat Mahdi (as) to engage in any conflict, encourage any fighting or shed any blood, BECAUSE ALLAH HAS COMMANDED HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) NOT TO SHED BLOOD. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL ACT IN THE LIGHT OF THE MORAL VALUES AND COMMANDMENTS REVEALED BY ALLAH TO OUR PROPHET (SAAS) AND WILL ABIDE BY THE QUR’AN AND THE HADITHS. Our Prophet (saas) has revealed in detail the path that Hazrat Mahdi (as) must follow, the methods he must apply in order to bring about the dominion of Islamic moral values, and how he must behave in what situations. It is Almighty Allah Who provided our Prophet (saas) with this information, by way of the angel Gabriel who imparted it. Therefore, Hazrat Mahdi (as) will act in the light of Allah’s commands in every step he takes, every decision he makes and everything he does. ALLAH'S COMMAND TO HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) IS "THAT HE SHOULD NOT PERMIT ONE DROP OF BLOOD TO BE SHED, THAT HE SHOULD NOT ALLOW ANYONE’S NOSE EVEN TO BLEED, THAT HE CANNOT WAKEN THE SLEEPER AND THAT HE MUST ACT WITH GENTLENESS, WARMTH AND KINDNESS.”

It is impossible, in the light of this explicit command of Allah’s to Hazrat Mahdi (as), for anything different, any fighting, to happen. Hazrat Mahdi (as) is a holy person who greatly loves and fears Allah. He will obey this command of Allah’s to the letter. With the support of Hazrat Khidr (as) and the Prophet Jesus (as), Hazrat Mahdi (as) will never permit any fighting. As Allah’s command requires, Hazrat Mahdi (as) will lovingly embrace and watch over Muslims from all sects and schools of thought and will also never permit the slightest harm to come to Christians or Jews. Just as in the time of our Prophet (saas) and of the Ottoman Empire, Hazrat Mahdi (as) will protect and watch over the People of the Book. He will tell Jews and Christians of the moral values of Islam with kindness and gentle words and will ensure, as Allah teaches in the Qur’an in the words "your religion to you, my religion to me,” that they can live by their own faiths as they please. In the time of Hazrat Mahdi (as) every Christian and every Jew will settle where they wish, worship in freedom, live as comfortably and safely as possible, openly express their opinions and be treated with respect under all circumstances. In the same way, in the Islamic world all Muslims will enjoy equal rights and live in comfort, no matter what their race, beliefs or nation. In the climate established by Hazrat Mahdi (as) as required by the moral values of the Qur’an and the attitude commanded to him by Allah, unbelievers, atheists, Buddhists and whoever else will all be treated as first class citizens.

The hadiths that follow show the path that Allah has commanded, using our Prophet (saas) as His instrument, Hazrat Mahdi (as) to follow. Since we are told in the hadiths that not a single person’s nose will be made to bleed and that all weapons will be eliminated in that time and that he will treat everyone with love and affection, those who anticipate war are doing so in vain. In addition, it must not be forgotten that the Torah and the Gospels also describe how no blood will be shed and how peace will rule the whole world in the time of Hazrat Mahdi (as) and the Prophet Jesus (as). Therefore, under the destiny ordained by Allah for this final age of the world, there will be complete peace, love, friendship and brotherhood under the leadership of Hazrat Mahdi (as) and the Prophet Jesus (as) and the world will enjoy such beauty, enlightenment, well-being, security, quality and modernity that have never been seen before.

NO BLOOD WILL BE SHED IN THE TIME OF HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)

People will seek refuge in Hazrat Mahdi (as) as honey bees cluster around their sovereign. HE WILL FILL THE WORLD THAT WAS ONCE FULL OF CRUELTY, WITH JUSTICE. HIS JUSTICE WILL BE AS SUCH THAT HE WILL NOT WAKE A SLEEPING PERSON OR EVEN SHED ONE DROP OF BLOOD. THE EARTH WILL RETURN TO THE AGE OF BLISS. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 29)

Hazrat Mahdi (as will follow the way of the Prophet (saas). He will not wake up a sleeping person or SHED BLOOD. (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 163)

In the time of [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] no one will be woken up from their sleep OR HAVE A BLEEDING NOSE. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 44)

Those swearing allegiance to him [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will swear allegiance between Rock and Pillar (around Ka’bah). They never wake a sleeping person, NEVER SHED BLOOD. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 24)

HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL CAUSE ISLAM TO RULE THROUGH THE TAKBIR, CALLING ON THE NAME OF ALLAH, KNOWLDEGE, AND LOVE

Our Prophet (saas) stated: “They WILL [SPIRITUALLY] CONQUER CONSTANTINOPLE WITH TASBIH AND TAKBIR, and they will obtain booty the like of which has never been seen…” (Ibn Majah, Kitab Al-Fitan, p. 35)

Narrated from Hazrat Amr ibn Awf (ra):

The Day of Judgment will not come until Constantinople of the Rome IS CAPTURED BY MUSLIMS WITH TASBIH (PRAISING OF ALLAH) AND TAKBIR (proclamation of the greatness of Allah). (Ahmad Diya ad-Din al-Kamushkhanawi, Ramuz al-Ahadith, p. 478)

The Hour will not come until Almighty Allah ensures the [SPIRITUAL] CONQUEST OF CONSTANTINOPLE [ISTANBUL], THE CENTER OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, BY HIS BELIEVING SERVANTS WITH TASBIH [PRAISE ALLAH] AND TAKBIR [declaration of the greatness of Allah]. (Ahmad Diya ad-Din al-Kamushkhanawi, Ramuz al-Ahadith, p. 478)

The Hour will not come until Almighty Allah ensures the [SPIRITUAL] CONQUEST OF CONSTANTINOPLE [ISTANBUL] AND THE ROMAN (LANDS) FOR BELIEVERS THROUGH TASBIH AND TAKBIR. (Daylami, al-Firdaws, 5/82, no: 7524; at-Tabarani, al-Mu`jam al-Kabir, 17/15,21)

In a hadith narrated by Imam Muslim from Abu Hurairah, our Prophet (saas) one day addressed the companions thus:

“… When these strugglers come and settle in that land they will not wage war with weapons, and they will not fire arrows. They will recite the takbir by saying La ilaha illallahu akbar.

At this takbir, one of the ramparts on either side of the city will fall. Then they will recite a second takbir. Subsequently, the other side of the city will fall. THEY WILL THEN RECITE A THIRD TAKBIR. AT THIS, BREACHES WILL OPEN UP IN THE RAMPARTS AND THE ARMY OF ISLAM WILL ENTER AND CAPTURE THE CITY. (Ash-Sharani, Mukhtasar Tazkirah al-Qurtubi, pp. 445-446)

Muslims will not fight when they come to this city. THE SEA SIDE OF THE CITY WILL FALL WHEN THEY RECITE THE TAKBIR, and the other side will fall when they recite the takbir again, when they recite the takbir for the 3rd time, the whole city will be captured. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p.30)

THERE WILL BE NO WAR IN THE TIME OF HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)

All grudges and mutual hatred will be lifted (removed)... Earth will be filled with peace, just as a vessel is filled with water; the word will become one [i.e., there will be only one religion], and only Allah will be worshiped THE (COMPETENTS OF) BATTLE WILL ABANDON ITS LOAD (ARMS AND EQUIPMENT). (Sunan Ibn Majah, 10/334)

(THE COMPETENTS OF) WAR WILL ABANDON ITS LOAD (namely, arms and the like). (Al-Sharani, Mukhtasar Tazkirah al-Qurtubi, p. 496)

PEACE AND SECURITY WILL REIGN IN THE TIME OF HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)

Hazrat Mahdi (as) … WILL WALK IN PEACE. (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 173)

Thanks to him [Hazrat Mahdi (as)], Allah will extinguish blind corruption. PEACE AND SECURITY WILL REIGN ON EARTH... (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 164)

... EVERYWHERE WILL BE SAFE... (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 58)

... IN HIS TIME, THE WOLF WILL GRAZE ALONGSIDE THE SHEEP, CHILDREN WILL PLAY WITH SNAKES AND SCORPIONS... (Imam Suyuti, Kıyamet Alametleri, Olum ve Dirilis, [Portents of the Last Day, Death and Resurrection], pp. 179, 1699)

If there were only one day left for the world, that day would be lengthened until a man from among the people of my household, was sent; JUST AS THE EARTH IS FILLED WITH CRUELTY, HE WILL FILL THE EARTH WITH JUSTICE. (Sunan Abu Dawud, 5/92)
One [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] from my Ahl al-Bayt will emerge. HE WILL FILL THE EARTH WITH JUSTICE, JUST AS IT WAS PREVIOUSLY FILLED WITH OPPRESSION AND ENMITY. (Sunan Abu Dawud, 5/93)

This (Amr) [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] WILL FILL THE EARTH WITH JUSTICE, just as people previously filled it with cruelty. (Sunan Ibn Majah, 10/348)

THE EARTH, which is full of cruelty and oppression, WILL OVERFLOW WITH JUSTICE AFTER HIS [HAZRAT MAHDI’S (AS)] COMING. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 20)

THERE WILL BE SUCH GREAT JUSTICE IN THE TIME OF HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) THAT everything taken away by force will be restored to its true owner. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 23)

... In the same way that Almighty Allah began Islam with us, so He will bring it to an end with him [Hazrat Mahdi (as)]. IN THE SAME WAY THAT THEY WERE FREED FROM POLYTHEISM AND ENMITY AND THEIR HEARTS WERE FILLED WITH FRIENDSHIP AND LOVE THROUGH ME, SO IT WILL BE AGAIN WITH THE COMING OF HAZRAT MAHDI (AS). (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 20)

... The good become even better, and even the wicked ones are treated well. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir al-zaman, p. 17)

ALL OPPRESSION OF AND CRUELTY TOWARD WOMEN WILL BE ELIMINATED IN THE TIME OF HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)

... Security will permeate all over earth and EVEN A FEW WOMEN WILL BE ABLE TO FULFILL THEIR HAJJ WİTHOUT THE COMPANY OF MEN. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 47)

A woman will even be able to go on the Hajj with five other women with no man accompanying them. (Imam Suyuti, Portents of the Judgment Day, Death and Resurrection, p. 179)

PEOPLE WILL BE VERY HAPPY IN THE TIME OF HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)

314 people, including women, will swear allegiance to Hazrat Mahdi (as), and all tyrants will be overthrown before him. HIS TIME WILL BE SO JUST THAT THE DEAD IN THE TOMB WILL ENVY THE LIVING... (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 22)

Hazrat Mahdi’s (as) services will be so significant and very great that IT IS SAID THAT NOT JUST OTHER PEOPLE, BUT ALL THE DWELLERS IN THE EARTH AND SKY WILL BE CONTENT WITH HIM. (Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sabban, Is'afur Raghibin, p.146; As-Suyuti, Al-Hawi Lil-Fatawi, 2:66, 67)

HIS COMING WILL BE A SOURCE OF JOY, NOT JUST FOR BELIEVERS, BUT FOR ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH AND SKY. So much so that even birds, wild animals and the fish in the sea will rejoice. (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, pp. 162, 163)

Everybody shall sit round him like affectionate father to his dear children, or sitting of a merciful king with those under him, showing the introduction to the cheerful verses and glad tidings in the everlasting house of felicity that those present shall witness for those absent. (Sayyid Murtada Mujtahidi Sistani, Selected Supplications from al-Sahifah al-Mahdiyah Selected Supplications, Nashr Almas, p. 257)

[Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will follow the way of the Prophet (saas). He will not wake up a sleeping person or shed blood.... The world with be filled with justice instead of oppression and torture. He [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will distribute all things with equal measures of truth and justice. THUS IN THE SAME WAY THAT THE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH AND SKY BE PLEASED WITH HIM, SO THE BIRDS IN THE AIR, SAVAGE ANIMALS IN THE FORESTS AND EVEN FISH IN THE SEA WILL BE DELIGHTED WITH HIM. (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 163)

In the time of Hazrat Mahdi (as), as in the Age of Felicity, WITHERED EMOTIONS WILL FLOURISH ONE BY ONE AND FLOWER. (Al-Hawi al-Fatawa, pp. 67, 68; Rahbavi, Portents of Doomsday, pp. 162, 163)

BY ALLAH’S LEAVE, HE [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] WILL BE ABLE TO SOFTEN HEARTS THAT HAVE BECOME HARDENED, MAKE DIAMONDS OUT OF SOULS THAT ARE LIKE COAL and resurrect the dead with the radiance of his faith... (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 24; Saban Dogen, Mehdi ve Deccal [The Mahdi and the Antichrist], pp. 194-195)

There will remain no individual WHO WILL NOT BE PLEASED within the Community of Muhammad (saas). (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 163)

Atheist masons are in a state of panic

2010-11-14T12:06:00.000-08:00

Atheist masons are in a state of panic

Atheistic freemasonry, the system of the antichrist, has developed a devilish system to prevent genuine Muslims, Christians and Jews being brothers, acting as one and striving against irreligion, materialism and Darwinism. It is trying to prevent believers acting as one by depicting Muslims, Christians and Jews as the antichrist to one another, thus weakening them. Atheistic freemasonry has used this system to convince and deceive some naive Muslims, Christians and Jews. With this method, atheist masons seek to set believers against one another and maintain their own dominion. They are seeking to distract attention from and conceal themselves by portraying true believers as the antichrist, and are sometime successful in doing this.

By using this cunning method, the antichrist has even set Christians against one another and is trying to prevent them being united. Some evangelicals even regard Catholics as the antichrist. There are currently many evangelicals who believe that. Under the influence of atheistic masonic conditioning, some evangelicals describe the Papacy as the system of the antichrist. Freemasonry is gaining time by dividing believers who fear Allah and causing them to strive against one another.

The battle of Armageddon, which is claimed to be launched by the antichrist and to occur in the future, is also interpreted in a satanic manner. In various different ways, masons express the need for a constant increase in bloodshed and tension in the Middle East. This is described as a religious obligation. This is one of the bloody, vile actions of the system of the antichrist implemented through the revelation that atheistic freemasonry receives from satan. Armageddon, which they say will happen in the future, has in fact already taken place. Iraq has been occupied by troops from the USA, Great Britain, Australia, Spain, Denmark and Poland. A great many soldiers and civilians, including Muslims and Christians or members of other faiths, have been martyred or killed. The occupation of Iraq by various countries, the slaughter in Iraq and this battle of Armageddon has been revealed in the hadiths right down to the finest detail:

Baghdad is destroyed by fire in the End Times ... (Risalat al-Khuruj al-Mahdi, vol. 3, p. 177)

Right from day one of the invasion of Iraq Baghdad was the target of a very intensive bombing campaign. Under heavy bombardment, Baghdad burned in flames, just as the hadith said it would. Images of Baghdad, which appeared on TV and in newspapers, conveyed this reality to the world.

BAGHDAD IN FLAMES, Sabah, March 22, 2003

Our Prophet (saas) said: "There will be such troubles and calamities that nobody will be able to find a place of shelter. These woes will move around Sham (Damascus), fall upon Iraq, and tie the hands and feet of the Arabian Peninsula. The community of Islam will fight against troubles in the steppes. Nobody will feel any sympathy for them or even say: "Alas!" As they try to remedy their woes on the one hand, they will emerge again on the other." (Al Muttaqi al-Hindi, Kanz al-Ummal, vol. 5, pp. 38-39)

The reference in the hadith to “these woes will move around Sham (Damascus) and fall upon Iraq” took place during the recent occupation of Iraq.

BAGHDAD IS BURNING, Tercuman, March 21, 2003

Judgment Day will not come until Iraq is attacked. Innocent people in Iraq will seek shelter in Sham. Sham will be rebuilt, and Iraq will be rebuilt. (Al Muttaqi al-Hindi, Kanz al-Ummal, vol. 5, p. 254)

The hadith refers to the reconstruction of Iraq. Many Iraqi cities were devastated in the wake of the invasion. The reconstruction of Iraq, which was also ruined by the acts of looting that took place during the invasion, is essential. Newspaper reports have devoted wide coverage to this.

(1) USA WILL RECONSTRUCT IRAQ (Ortadogu, March 19, 2003)
(2) THE RECONSTRUCTION OF IRAQ (Oncevatan, April 18, 2003)

The people of Iraq will be divided into three groups. One part will join the looters. One group will flee, leaving their families behind. And one group will fight and be killed. Prepare yourselves for the Day of Judgment when you see this. (Mari’ bin Yusuf Karami Hanbali, Fawaid Fawaid al-Fikr fil Mahdi al-Montazar)

As the hadith relates, some Iraqis will join the "looters." Indeed, at the end of the war, some Iraqis took advantage of the loss of authority and engaged in looting. In fact, some of these people stole and looted, acts that can be defined as "pillaging." The hadith informs us that some people would try so hard to escape that they would not even think about the families they would leave behind. The newspaper reports along these lines are striking. The hadiths show that some people will join the fighting and be killed. There was much fighting during the invasion of Iraq, and a great many people lost their lives.

(left above) PEOPLE FLEE IN MASSES (Tercuman, March 19, 2003)
(right above) SADDAM’S PALACE GUARDS ABANDONED THE PALACE: The Republican Guards Fled the Palace: Some of them jumped into the River Tigris (Vatan, April 8, 2003)
(right, in the middle) THEY LOOT WHATEVER THEY FIND (Milliyet, April 10, 2003)
(right, below) FLEE FROM HUNGER AND DEATH (Yeni Safak, March 30, 2003)

The innocent and immaculate people of Iraq will flee to Sham. (Risalat al-Khuruj al-Mahdi, p. 210)

Immediately before the outbreak of the latest Iraq war, tens of thousands of Iraqis sought to migrate to other countries, especially Syria. This bears a great similarity to the event described in the hadith. News and pictures about this attempted migration appeared in the media.

(Left) Drama of Emigration (Milli Gazete, March 19, 2003)
(Middle) IRAQI PEOPLE ON ROADS (Vatan, March, 2003)
(Right)Emigration Started (Vatan, March 18, 2003)

Abu Nadra reported:" We were in the company of Jabir b. 'Abdullah that he said it may happen that the people of Iraq may not send their qafiz and dirhams (their measures of food stuff and their money). We said: Who would be responsible for it? He said: The non-Arabs would prevent them. He again said: There is the possibility that the people of Syria may not send their dinar and mudd. We said: Who would be responsible for it? He said: This prevention would be made by the Romans. (Sahih Muslim, Book 041, Number 6961)

Iraq was invaded by foreign states, immediately after which and as revealed in the hadiths, foreign powers again imposed a lengthy embargo on Iraq.

" 'The time will come neither a dirham nor a qafiz will be given to Iraq. Its mudd and dinar will also not be given to Sham. Its irdab and dinar will also not be given to Egypt. You will return to the point from which you started.'" (Sahih Muslim, Sunan Abu Dawud)

The Iraqis will be left with no weighing equipment, and no money will be left to them with which to buy and sell. (Al Muttaqi al-Hindi, Kanz al-Ummal, Kanz al-`Ummaal, vol. 5, p. 45)

As revealed in the hadiths, because of the weakening of the Iraqi economy during the invasion and because of the embargos imposed by foreign powers, the public’s purchasing power declines and poverty and want became one of the most pressing problems. The Iraqi dinar was no longer convertible after the invasion. With the last war, the rapid loss of the Iraqi currency's value and the possibility of its being withdrawn from circulation appeared in the newspapers during 2003.

Atheistic freemasonry, the system of the antichrist, desires constant bloodshed, and to gain strength and establish global dominion by weakening believers. In addition to the many people who were martyred or died in this war in Iraq, a great many more were injured or crippled. Homes were destroyed and people left in a wretched condition. The atheistic freemasonry that brought Saddam to power in Iraq inflicted terrible oppression and suffering on Muslims there. Saddam was also an atheist mason, and those who invaded the country were atheist masons, and the people who shed all the blood were atheist masons. But those who suffered were the Muslim public, Muslim troops, and Christian and Jewish soldiers. This is a atheistic masonic strategy that oppresses the weak and innocent.

But this stratagem will soon be thwarted. Muslims and Christians and Jews are all true believers who have faith in Allah, the hereafter, the angels, paradise and hell. By Allah’s leave, Muslims, Christians and Jews will forge an alliance to thwart this stratagem of the antichrist’s, and will eliminate atheistic freemasonry, Darwinism, materialism, atheism, fascism and communism, the greatest weapons in the antichrist’s hands.

News coverage by international media regarding the Atlas of Creation

2010-11-14T12:04:00.000-08:00

News coverage by international media regarding the Atlas of Creation

Atlas of Creation at a Council of Europe Press Conference - 04.10.2007
France/The Council of Europe
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=720

Islamic Creationist and a Book Sent Round the World - 17.07.2007
USA/The New York Times
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=217

Islamic Creationism On The Rise - 02.12.2009
Australia/ABC1 TV
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=1228

A Campaign about to Conquer Europe - 13.09.2007
Denmark/Politiken
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=570

Turkish Creationist Challenges Dawkins - 19.08.2008
United Kingdom/The Guardian Web Site
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=953

Praise for the Atlas of Creation from the German Weekly Stern - 29.03.2007
Germany/Stern
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=711

The Most Impressive Attack on Evolution: Atlas of Creation - 19.09.2007
Germany/Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=848

Harun Yahya Is the Loudest Voice in the Debate over Evolution in the Islamic World - 12.12.2008
USA/Science
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=1024

In Turkey, Fertile Ground for Creationism - 08.11.2009
USA/The Washington Post
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=1175

Turkish Creationism Takes Root! - 09.06.2007
USA/The Washington Times
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=238

Nicolas Sarkozy Backs Creationism - 22.04.2008
France/La Libération
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=738

The Impact of Atlas of Creation in Italy - 04.06.2007
Italy/Corriere della Sera
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=290

An Empire of Turkish Creationism - 26.07.2007
Netherlands/Trouw
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=468

'The Atlas of Creation Has Caused Great Excitement in French Schools' - 12.11.2008
France/La Croix
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=1013

French Students Stand against the Theory of Evolution - 18.10.2007
France/Le Figaro
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=667

'Creationism's march will go on' - 02.11.2008
United Kingdom/The Observer
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=1009

Mr. Adnan Oktar and the Atlas of Creation in Süddeutsche Zeitung - 08.07.2007
Germany/Süddeutsche Zeitung
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=216

Creationism Is Having an Increasing Impact in Europe - 18.11.2008
France/Le Monde
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=1001

France Has Still Not Recovered From The Shock Of Atlas Of Creation - 01.12.2007
France/Science et Vie
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=838

Creationists are on the March in Europe - 03.05.2008
United Kingdom/New Humanist
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=845

Harun Yahya Is the Greatest Writer and Biggest Publisher in the Islamic World - 19.06.2008
United Kingdom/Reuters
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=836

The Collapse of the Theory of Evolution on the Russian Agenda - 18.10.2007
Russia/Komsomolskaya Pravda
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=690

Teachers in Belgian Schools Are Boycotting the Theory of Evolution - 15.04.2008
Italy/Corriere Della Sera
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=739

It Is Too Late to Save Darwinism Now! - 25.10.2007
France/Le Point
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=821

The Spread of Creationist Belief in Belgium - 07.02.2008
France/Le Monde
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=804

The Next Generation of Teachers Refuse to Teach the Theory of Evolution - 14.04.2008
Belgium/Le Soir
http://www.harunyahyaimpact.com/haberDetay.php?haberId=740

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The knowledge regarding the End of times was given to our Prophet

2010-11-14T12:02:00.000-08:00

Hazrat Mahdi (as) will fulfil the commands that Allah has revealed to our Prophet (saas)

The knowledge regarding the End of times was given to our Prophet (saas) by Allah’s revelation through Gabriel. Our Prophet (saas) communicated this knowledge that had been passed on to him by revelation to Hazrat Mahdi (as) by means of his hadith. Hence Hazrat Mahdi (as) will completely obey these commands of Allah, transmitted from our Prophet (saas). Hazrat Mahdi (as) who fears and loves Allah very much will proceed upon abiding by the path that Allah has shown him and be instrumental in the global prevalence of the Islamic morality with love, peace, wisdom, science, art and good morals.

THE COMMANDS THAT WERE COMMUNICATED TO OUR PROPHET (SAAS) THROUGH REVELATION AND THAT ARE OBLIGATORY TO HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)

1. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL NOT SHED BLOOD

People will GATHER AROUND HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) as honey bees cluster around their sovereign. He will fill the earth that was once full of cruelty with justice. HIS JUSTICE WILL BE AS SUCH THAT HE WILL NOT WAKE A SLEEPING PERSON OR EVEN SHED ONE DROP OF BLOOD. THE EARTH WILL RETURN TO THE AGE OF BLISS. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 29)

Hazrat Mahdi (as will follow the way of the Prophet (saas). He will not wake up a sleeping person or SHED BLOOD. (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 163)

In the time of [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] no one will be woken up from their sleep OR HAVE A BLEEDING NOSE. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 44)

Those obeying him [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will pay homage to him between ruqun and maqam (around Qaba). They will not wake a sleeping person, NEVER SHED BLOOD. (Al-Haytamî, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntazar, p. 24)

2. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL CAUSE THE DOMINION OF ISLAMIC MORALITY THROUGH SCIENTIFIC WORKS

Hazrat Mahdi (as) will be so compassionate that no one will be woken up from their sleep or have a bleeding nose. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 42)

Hazrat Mahdi (as) … will walk in peace. (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 173)

[Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will follow the way of the Prophet (saas). HE WILL NOT wake up a sleeping person or shed blood. (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 163)

3. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL PERFORM HIS DUTY IN ISTANBUL (CONSTANTINOPLE)

Narrated by ibn Amr, who said: "… The Messenger of Allah (saas) said, 'Six things will happen to this community: … The sixth is the conquest of medina.' I asked, 'O Messenger of Allah, which medina?' He said, 'Constantinople [Istanbul].'"

[This is the spiritual conquest of Istanbul by Hazrat Mahdi (as).] (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 204; Ahmad Diya ad-Din al-Kamushkhanawi, Ramuz al-Ahadith 1/296)

Hazrat Mahdi (as) will [spiritually] conquer Constantinople and Mount Daylam. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 27)

Hazrat Mahdi (As) Will Emerge From Istanbul That Contains Our Prophet’s (Saas) Sacred Relics

As for signs, he will have with him the shirt, the sword, and the standard of our Prophet (saas). That standard has never been unfurled since the death of our Prophet (saas). And, it will not be unfurled until the appearance of Hazrat Mahdi (as). (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 164)

Abdullah b. Şurefe'den rivayet edildi ki: Hz. Mehdi (as)'ın beraberinde süslenmiş bir halde Peygamberimiz (sav)'in bayrağı olacaktır. (Kitab-ül Burhan Fi Alamet-il Mehdiy-il Ahir Zaman, s. 65)

4. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL CONQUER ISTANBUL WITH TAKBIR, THAT IS SCIENTIFIC WORKS

The Hour will not come until Almighty Allah ensures the [spiritual] conquest of Constantinople [Istanbul] and the Roman (lands) for believers through tasbih and takbir. (Daylami, al-Firdaws, 5/82, no: 7524; at-Tabarani, al-Mu`jam al-Kabir, 17/15,21)

Our Prophet (saas) stated: “They will [spiritually] conquer Constantinople with tasbih and takbir, and they will obtain booty the like of which has never been seen…” (Ibn Majah, Kitab Al-Fitan, p. 35)

The Prophet of Allah (saas) said:

“The Day of Judgment will not take place until a man from my Ahl al-Bayt, Hazrat Mahdi (as) rules [the world] HE [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] WILL [SPIRITUALY] CAPTURE ISTANBUL AND THE ,DJEBEL [ITS SEVEN HILLS].” (Mari’ bin Yusuf Karami Hanbali, Fawaid Fawaid al-Fikr fil Mahdi al-Montazar)

5. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL SPIRITUALLY CONQUER ROME

"... Hazrat Mahdi (as) and his students will...capture Rome with tasbih [praise Allah] and takbir [declaration of the greatness of Allah] of Allah’s greatness…” (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 204) (As-Suyuti, Al-Hawi lil-fatawi, II. 81)

"...Hazrat Mahdi (as) and his followers will...capture Rome with tasbih (praising of Allah) and takbir (declaration of the greatness of Allah)...The walls of that city [THE VATICAN] will collapse... [by an earthquake]..." (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 204)

6. THE PROPHET JESUS (AS) WILL BE VIZIER (HELPER) TO HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)

The Prophet Jesus (as) will descend from the sky IN ORDER TO HELP THE IMAM AZ-ZAMAN [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)], AND TO EXPRESS HIS DEVOTION TO HIM AND PRAY (SALAT) BEHIND HIM. (Sheikh Sadook, Al-Amaali, Session 39, p. 181. Iqdud Durar, pp. 157 and 230)

The Messenger of Allah (saas) said: "A group within my community will strive intellectually to elevate the truth until the Judgment Day, and JESUS (AS), SON OF MARY, WILL DESCEND TO EARTH. WHEN THEIR LEADER [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] TELLS HIM “LEAD US IN THE PRAYER (SALAT)", HE [JESUS (AS)] WILL SAY "NO" ... AND WILL BESTOW THE RANK OF IMAM ON THE "IMAM MAHDI." (Sahih Muslim, vol. 1, p. 209)

Ibn Abi Shayba relates from Ibn Shirin in his Musannaf. He said: Hazrat Mahdi (as) is of this community and will act as imam to the Prophet Jesus (as). (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 79)

Naim ibn Hammad relates from Abdullah Ibn Amr. He said: Hazrat Mahdi (as) is he who will descend upon the Prophet Jesus (as) son of Mary and behind whom he will perform the prayer (salat). (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 79)

7. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL CAUSE ISLAMIC MORALS TO PREVAIL THE ENTIRE WORLD

Four people became kings on Earth. Two are believers, two are unbelievers. The believers are Dhu'l-Qarnayn (as) and the Prophet Solomon (as); the unbelievers are Nimrod and Bakhtinasr (Nebuchadnezzar). One from the people of my house [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will come as the fifth, and he will be king on Earth. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 10)

Hazrat Mahdi (as) will rule the world just like the Prophet Solomon (as) and Dhu’l-Qarnayn (as). (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 30)

Abu Bashir says: When I asked Imam Jaffar Sadik:"O son of the Messenger of Allah (saas)! Who is the Qaim of your Ahl al-Bayt?" he replied: ... HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL (SPIRITUALLY) CONQUER THE WORLD, the Prophet Jesus (as) son of Mary will pray behind him. AT THAT TIME THE WORLD WILL BE ILLUMINATED BY THE LIGHT OF ALLAH, AND EVERYWHERE IN WHICH AND EVERYWHERE IN WHICH BEINGS OTHER THAN ALLAH ARE WORSHIPPED WILL BECOME PLACES WHERE ALLAH IS WORSHIPED; AND EVEN IF THE POLYTHEISTS DO NOT WISH IT, THE ONLY FAITH ON THAT DAY WILL BE THE RELIGION OF ALLAH.” (Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 51, p. 146)

The Prophet (saas) said to Hazrat Ali (ra): “YOU ARE THE FIRST, AND THE LAST IS HAZRAT MAHDI (AS), UPON WHOM ALLAH WILL BESTOW THE (SPIRITUAL) CONQUEST OF THE ENTIRE WORLD.” (Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 52, p. 378)

HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL (SPIRITUALLY) CONQUER THE EAST AND WEST OF THE WORLD AND BRING ISLAM (Islamic moral values) TO RULE ACROSS THE WORLD… Almighty Allah will give people such a power that everyone will hear his voice from where they are, and HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL GIVE LIFE TO ISLAM… (Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 52, p. 279 and Vol. 53, p. 12; Sheikh al-Saduq, Kamal al-Din, Vol. 2, p. 367)

8. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL BRING THE TURKISH AND ISLAMIC WORLD TOGETHER

... Ibrahim ibn Ubaydullah ibn Alâ narrates that his father said that Imam Jaffar Sadik said: Hazrat Ali (ra) spoke of events that would take place after him to the appearance of the Qaim ... AND DISPERSED TURKISH FLAGS WILL APPEAR AND HELP MY SON (HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)) IN EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY. (Sheikh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Numani, al-Ghaybah al-Numani, p. 323)

Malik ibn Zamra says: Hazrat Ali (ra), the Commander of the Faithful, said to me:

... The most goodness is in that time, O Malik! OUR QAIM [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] WILL APPEAR IN THAT TIME... AND ALLAH WILL THEN GATHER EVERYONE AROUND HIM.” (Sheikh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Numani, al-Ghaybah al-Numani, p. 242)

The lord of believers (saas) says: "... If you wait UNTIL ALLAH MAKES ONE [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] COME FOR YOU WHO WILL UNIFY YOU AND BRING YOU TOGETHER WHEN YOU ARE FRAGMENTED... you will be rewarded, and you will understand with certainty that he [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] is the one who will take revenge (who will provide the requisite intellectual response to Darwinism, materialism and atheism) of you being wronged, and who will salvage your rights…” (Kitab al-Ghayba, [Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 51], Ansariyan Publications, Collected by: Muhammed Baqrr al-Majlis, Iran-Qum, 2003, p. 182)

Amr ibn Nufayl says: I heard the Imam Hussein (as) say: “The one you await (Hazrat Mahdi (as)) will not appear until you say you are distanced from one another, until you spit in one another’s faces and accuse one another of denial and until you curse one another.” I asked, ‘Then there is nothing auspicious at that time?’ He replied: “All the auspiciousness is in that period. Our Qaim (Hazrat Mahdi (as)) will appear and put an end to all that.” (Sheikh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Numani, al-Ghaybah al-Numani, p. 241)

9. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL RULE THE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK WITH THE TRUE TORAH AND GOSPEL

Jabir ibn Yazid al-Jo'fi narrates from Imam Muhammad Baqir:

"... The reason why Hazrat Mahdi (as) is known as Hazrat Mahdi (as) is this; he will be directed toward a secret matter, will extract the Torah and other Divine books from a cave in Antioch and will RULE AMONG JEWS WITH THE TORAH AND AMONG CHRISTIANS WITH THE GOSPEL. (Al-Mahdi al-Maw'ud, Vol. 1, p. 254-255)

"The reason why he is called Hazrat Mahdi (as) is that he will head to one of the mountains in Damascus. From there HE WILL FIND THE [TRUE] BOOKS OF THE TORAH …” (As-Suyuti, Al-Hawi lil-fatawi, II. 81)

10. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL TRIUMPH SCIENTIFICALLY OVER MATERIALISM, ATHEISM, DARWINISM AND IRRELIGION

Sheikh al-Tusi’s Kitab al-Ghayba : “The dominion (authority) of Hazrat Mahdi (as) lies within the proofs about all that Allah has created; these are so numerous that his [Hazrat Mahdi’s (as)] proofs will overcome (will be influential, will be dominant) everyone and nobody will have any counter-propositions against him.” (Kitab al-Ghaybat, [Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 51], Ansariyan Publications, Collected by: Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi, Iran-Qum, 2003, p. 70)

Abu Bashir says: It is narrated from Imam Muhammad Bakr or Imam Jaffar Sadik that: “HE WHO GIVES HIM [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] IMAMATE WILL GIVE HIM KNOWLEDGE AND BOOKS AND WILL NOT LEAVE HIM ALONE.” (Sheikh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Numani, al-Ghaybah al-Numani, p. 387)

11. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) STRUGGLE AGAINST THE BIGOTED AND IGNORANT RELIGIOUS MEN OF HIS TIME

“SEVENTY THOUSAND SCHOLARS WEARING TURBANS FROM MY COMMUNITY WILL FOLLOW THE ANTICHRIST.” (Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, p. 796)

Such a nation will appear in the End Times that THEY WILL RECITE THE QUR’AN BUT IT WILL NOT PASS DOWN THEIR THROATS. THEY WILL BE ABJURED FROM RELIGION LIKE AN ARROW HURLED FROM A BOW. AND EVERY MUSLIM HAS A RIGHT TO STRUGGLE WITH THEM. THEY WILL HAVE SHAVEN HEADS... (Abu Abdur Rahman Ahmad Ibn Shu’aib an-Nasai, Hazrat Ali through the Hadiths, p. 142)

From Amr bin sad:

EVEN IF THE PEOPLE ARE INVITED TO BE WITH [SEEMINGLY] MY CHILD THEY WILL BE FAR DISTANT FROM HIM. THIS IS SUCH AN EVIL COMMUNITY THAT IT HAS NO MORAL VALUES. THEY ARE SCOURGES FOR DESPOTS, THEY TEACH CORRUPTION TO THE CRUEL AND MAKE JUDGES SHED BLOOD. (Sheikh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Numani, al-Ghaybah al-Numani, p. 170)

12. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL BE VERY LOVING, AFFECTIONATE AND COMPASSIONATE

Hazrat Mahdi’s (as) services will be so significant and very great that IT IS SAID THAT NOT JUST OTHER PEOPLE, BUT ALL THE DWELLERS IN THE EARTH AND SKY WILL BE CONTENT WITH HIM. (Muhammad ibn Ali al-Sabban, Is'afur Raghibin, p.146; As-Suyuti, Al-Hawi Lil-Fatawi, 2:66, 67)

HIS COMING WILL BE A SOURCE OF JOY, NOT JUST FOR BELIEVERS, BUT FOR ALL THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH AND SKY. So much so that even birds, wild animals and the fish in the sea will rejoice. (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, pp. 162, 163)

[Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will follow the way of the Prophet (saas). He will not wake up a sleeping person or shed blood.... The world with be filled with justice instead of oppression and torture. He [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will distribute all things with equal measures of truth and justice. THUS IN THE SAME WAY THAT THE INHABITANTS OF THE EARTH AND SKY BE PLEASED WITH HIM, SO THE BIRDS IN THE AIR, SAVAGE ANIMALS IN THE FORESTS AND EVEN FISH IN THE SEA WILL BE DELIGHTED WITH HIM. (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 163)

Everybody shall sit round him like affectionate father to his dear children, or sitting of a merciful king with those under him, showing the introduction to the cheerful verses and glad tidings in the everlasting house of felicity that those present shall witness for those absent. (Sayyid Murtada Mujtahidi Sistani, Selected Supplications from al-Sahifah al-Mahdiyah Selected Supplications, Nashr Almas, p. 257)

[IN THE AGE OF HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] THE SHEEP WILL GRAZE WITH THE WOLF” AND “CHILDREN WILL PLAY WITH SNAKES AND SCORPIONS BUT WILL COME TO NO HARM.” One will sow a handful of seed and reap 700 handfuls... (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 43)

Tawus: “ONE OF THE SIGNS OF HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) IS HIS CLOSE SUPERVISION OF THE OFFICIALS HE APPOINTS...” (As-Suyuti, Al-Hawi Lil-Fatawi, Vol. 2, p. 150)

In the time of [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] no one will be woken up from his sleep or have a bleeding nose. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 42)

His compassion for the poor is one of the signs of Hazrat Mahdi (as). (Mari’ bin Yusuf Karami Hanbali, Fawaid Fawaid al-Fikr fil Mahdi al-Montazar)

13. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL BE DISINCENTIVE TOWARDS THE HYPOCRITES

“MANY MORE PEOPLE WILL AVOID SINS OUT OF FEAR OF HIM [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] RATHER THAN OF THE QUR’AN...” (Muhyiddin Ibn ‘Arabi, Al-Futuhat al-Makkiyah, p. 6)

Asbag Ibn Nabata says: Ali, Commander of the faithful, said: "... No more you than kohl on the eye or salt in food will remain. And I shall give you an example: A man has a quantity of wheat. He cleans it and stores it in his house. When he returns to it a long time later, he sees it is full of weevils. He cleans it again and again puts it in his home. When he comes back to it after another long time, he sees it is again infested with weevils. He repeats the same processes. WHAT EVENTUALLY REMAINS IS A VERY LITTLE HEALTHY WHEAT THAT WEEVILS CANNOT HARM. You are like that. At the end, a small group of you will be left that corruption cannot harm.” (Ahmad Ibn Muhammad Ibn Said also transmits the same hadith.) (Sheikh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Numani, al-Ghaybah al-Numani, p. 246)

14. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL BE A MEANS TO ALL PEOPLE TO SAY THAT ‘MUHAMMAD IS THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH’

Another hadith narrated from Imam Bakr reads: THIS VICTORY AND SUPERIORITY WILL TAKE PLACE WHEN HAZRAT MAHDI (AS), FROM THE FAMILY OF MUHAMMAD (SAAS), APPEARS. SUCH THAT THERE WILL BE NONE LEFT TO DENY [THE PROPHETHOOD OF] THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD (SAAS)." (Tafseer al-Burhan, vol. 2, p. 121)

15. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL REMOVE ALL INNOVATIONS AND CAUSE THE PREVALENCE OF ISLAMIC MORALS AS IT WAS AT THE TIME OF THE AGE OF BLISS

HE [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] WILL DO EVERYTHING THAT THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH (SAAS) DID; HE [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] WILL DEMOLISH PREVIOUS FOUNDATIONS IN THE SAME WAY THAT THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH (SAAS) TORE DOWN THE FOUNDATIONS OF THE SYSTEM OF IGNORANCE, and he will restore Islam again from the beginning. (Mikyaal al-Makaarem, Vol. 1, p. 57)

He [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will sustain Islam in the end just as our Prophet (saas) sustained Islam in the beginning… (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 27)

... Hazrat Mahdi (as) will practice the religion to exactly as it was in the time of the Prophet (saas). He will remove the religious schools from the world. No school will be left apart from the true, pure religion. (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, 186-187)

Hazrat Mahdi (as) will leave no subsequent innovation of religion. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 43)

Hazrat Mahdi (as) will leave no subsequent innovation of religion uneradicated. He will fully discharge the obligations of the religion in the End Times, in exactly the same way as our Prophet (saas)." (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 163)

16. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL REMOVE BOTH VIOLENCE AND THE PHILOSOPHY OF VIOLENCE

Sheikh Tusi's Ghaybat: "Then there will be the rise of Hazrat Mahdi (as)... THROUGH HIM [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)], ALLAH WILL ELIMINATE ALL THE LIES. THROUGH HIM [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] HE WILL ELIMINATE VIOLENCE. He [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will lift the shame of of slavery off your necks." (Kitab al Ghaybat, [Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 51], Ansariyan Publications, Collected by: Muhammad Baqir al-Majlisi, Iran-Qum, 2003, p. 132)

IN THE TIME OF HAZRAT MAHDI’S (AS) LEADERSHIP, THE REIGN OF TYRANTS AND OPPRESSORS AND THE POLITICAL DOMINATION OF HYPOCRITES AND TRAITORS WILL COME TO AN END. (Al-Mahdiyy al-Maw’ud, Vol. 1, p. 252)

17. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL HAVE A STRONG SENSE OF PROTECTION OVER ISLAM, HE WILL PROTECT THE RIGHTS OF MUSLIMS

Even a single word spoken against Islam will offend him. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 30)

Hazrat Mahdi (as) will defend the truth against the oppressors. Indeed, he will extract the molar tooth [anything unjustly held] of a [cruel] person and restore it to its rightful owner. (Al-Uqayli, An-Najmu's-saqib fi Bayan Anna'l Mahdi min Awladi Ali b. Abu Talib Ale't-Tamam wa al-Qamal)

From Nahj al-Balagha: The Lord of believers (saas) said: "When he [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] hides away from people, NOT EVEN TRACKERS WILL BE ABLE TO SEE ANY TRACE OF HIM… (Kitab al-Ghayba, [Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 51], Ansariyan Publications, Collected by: Muhammad Baqir Majlisi, Iran-Q’um, 2003, p. 186)

18. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL EXPLAIN THE HADITH REGARDING THE END TIMES TO PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT WAY

Abu Bashir says: I heard Imam Muhammad Baqr say: “... He said: When Hazrat Mahdi (as) appears he will follow in the path of the Messenger of Allah (saas). ONLY HE [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] WILL EXPLAIN THE WORKS OF THE MESSENGER OF ALLAH...” (Sheikh Muhammad ibn Ibrahim Numani, al-Ghaybah al-Numani, p. 191)

Iqmal ud Din:

Narrated from Muhammad Ibn Sinan, Amir Ibn Shamir, Jabir and Abu Jaffir:

"THE KNOWLEDGE OF ALMIGHTY ALLAH’S BOOK AND THE SUNNAH OF HIS MESSENGER (SAAS) GROW AND FLOURISH LIKE A PLANT IN OUR MAHDI’S HEART.” (Kitab al-Ghaybat, [Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 51], Ansariyan Publications, collected by: Muhammad Baqr al-Majlis, Iran-Qum, 2003, p. 72)

19. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL TELL THE WISDOM OF THE QUR’ANIC VERSES TO PEOPLE AND CAUSE THEM TO BELIEVE

WHEN PEOPLE INTERPRET THE QUR’AN ACCORDING TO THEIR OWN LOWER SELVES, HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL CORRECTLY TURN THEIR THOUGHTS TO THE QUR’AN AND PLACE THEM UNDER THE SERVICE OF THE TRUTHS OF THE QUR’AN. AFTER THAT HE WILL SHOW YOU HOW THE BOOK AND THE SUNNAH HAVE BEEN FORGOTTEN AND REVEAL THEIR LIVE MEANINGS. (Nahj al-Balaghah, Sermon 134)

Hazrat Mahdi’s (as) method of communication will be one that affects the bottoms of people’s hearts and turns them toward Allah with the truest of hearts. Those who have turned away from the religion will return to their religious obligations, satisfaction and security. (Iqdud Durar, p. 156; Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 53, pp. 36, 280)

20. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL BE JUST

THE WORLD filled with oppression and tyranny WILL OVERFLOW WITH JUSTICE AFTER HE [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] COMES. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar, p. 20)

... when their Messenger comes EVERYTHING IS DECIDED BETWEEN THEM JUSTLY. They are not wronged. (Surah Yunus, 47)

21. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL BE GENEROUS

Tawus: ... HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) IS VERY GENEROUS IN DISTRIBUTING GOODS. (As-Suyuti, Al-Hawi Lil-Fatawi, Vol. 2, p. 150)

There will be a successor in the End Times who will distribute goods without counting or calculating them. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 15)

A leader will come from your leaders, and he will not count goods. Whenever he is asked for something, he will say: “Take it.” That person will then lay out his shirt and fill it. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 15)

22. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL ACT ACCORDING TO THE APPROVAL OF ALLAH, NOT TO PEOPLE

Hazrat Ali (ra) says this about what the appearance of Hazrat Mahdi (as) will bring:

HE WILL NOT HEED PEOPLE’S INDIVIDUAL OPINIONS AND JUDGMENTS; HE WILL BEGIN ACTING BY THE PROVISIONS OF THE QUR’AN. (Mikyaal al-Makaarem Vol. 1, p. 81)

The days and nights will not end until a man from the Family of my House [Hazrat Mahdi (as)], who will easily prevent disorder and who will not be dissuaded from doing so even by threatened to be killed, appears. (Al-Muttaqi al-Hindi, Al-Burhan fi Alamat al-Mahdi Akhir az-Zaman, p. 13)

"O lord of believers, tell us of your Mahdi (as)!" And the lord of believers said: "... HE [HAZRAT MAHDI (AS)] WILL NOT FEAR WHEN DEATH COMES; he will not move away and turn his back when believers surround him; HE WILL HAVE NO FEARS WHEN WARRIORS OPPOSE HIM... HE IS GENEROUS AND BOLD...” (Kitab al-Ghayba, [Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 51], Ansariyan Publications, Collected by: Muhammad Baqir Majlisi, Iran-Qum, 2003, p. 184)

23. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL CONTINUE HIS INTELLECTUAL STRUGGLE UNTIL PEOPLE RETURN TO THE TRUE PATH

He will continue his struggle until people return to the truth. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 23)

Even if mountains rise up before him he will crush and cross them, and he will find a path for himself in those mountains. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 39)

Hazrat Mahdi (as) will be dedicated to his work. (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, p. 175)

24. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL ACT VERY SWIFTLY

This will last for 7 years. But one year for him will be like 20 for you. (Ibn Hajar al-Haythami, Al-Qawl al-Mukhtasar fi `Alamat al-Mahdi al-Muntadhar, p. 44)

25. HAZRAT MAHDI (AS) WILL MAKE VERY GOOD USE OF TECHNOLOGY

Hazrat Mahdi’s (as) followers will have the power to traverse the entire earth within moments. (Mikyaal al-Makaarem, vol:1, p. 144)

Imam Sadik (as) said: He [Hazrat Mahdi (as)] will stand between the Corner and the Station of Abraham and will call out in a loud voice: “O my representatives, my special friends, O THOSE WHOM ALLAH PREPARED IN THE WORLD IN ORDER TO HELP ME BEFORE I CAME, obey and come to me.” They WILL HEAR THE VOICE OF IMAM MAHDI (AS), WHETHER THEY ARE IN EAST OR WEST, AT HOME OR AT THE MAHRAP (THE NICHE IN A MOSQUE INDICATING THE DIRECTION OF MECCA). His voice alone WILL REACH THE EARS OF ALL OF THEM AND THEY WILL ALL MOVE TOWARD HIM. THEY WILL ALL ENTER HIS PRESENCE BEFORE MUCH TIME HAS PASSED, IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE. This (great assemblage) will take place between the Corner and the Station of Abraham (before sunrise).” (Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 53, p. 7)

God definitely has the power to protect the Book of Truth which He has revealed

2010-11-07T12:00:00.000-08:00

God definitely has the power to protect the Book of Truth which He has revealed

The Gospel revealed to the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) is a true Book that is guidance and light as revealed in the Qur’an. However, some parts of the Gospel were either lost in time or corrupted. Despite this, many truthful statements which belong to the true religion have been preserved in the Gospel. Muslims appraise the Gospel in the guidance of the Qur’an and hold good opinion of those accounts that conform with the verses and the hadiths, considering these passages were not corrupted. Therefore, Muslims may benefit from the statements in the Gospel which are consistent with the Qur’an and the hadiths.

One may surely understand why some Christians do not want to acknowledge the possibility that the Gospel, the Book of truth, which God revealed as a light, was changed and misinterpreted over time. They may get discontent when they learn that they are abiding by a book that has been corrupted, when all along they thought it was a true book. Yet, sincere Christians should take a fact into consideration: Most parts of the Gospel represent the Truth. The original Gospel sent down to the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) is revelation by God and has deep and profound meaning and exquisite wording that is esteemed in the Qur’an. However, each and every Christian who holds sincere judgment may clearly recognize those parts either incorporated later in the Gospel or wrongly expounded. In order to comprehend this, sincere Christians should take the following facts in consideration and assess these points with wisdom:

Besides consisting of the truthful revelation sent down to the Prophet Jesus (as), the Gospel also includes practices of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh), his sayings narrated from one to another over time, as well as information on various historical events and letters belonging to the apostles. Therefore, claiming that these are “unchangeable and absolute commands of God” is not going to be the right approach. There are passages annexed to the Gospel later on as words of the prophets, but their veracity is controversial as they bear qualities of hearsay.
Some parts were appended to the Gospel centuries later after the time of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and those passages were based on information that was accepted and put into effect by selection of a council. The truthfulness and objectivity of these messages is highly questionable. In fact, due to this, opposing sects in Christianity appeared, and these disagreements caused controversies and disputation. The drastic segmentation of the Christian world in the 3rd century was based on these polemical passages in question.
The four gospels that constitute the Gospel were selected among the many other texts at the Council of Nicea by a majority vote. Just as any person with plain good sense would admit, the authenticity of a book written in various versions and in different context is open to dispute. Besides, there is uncertainty as to how the decision was made to select these different 4 Gospels. There isn’t any certainty as to which one of these canonized four gospels, that are in serious conflict with one another, provides the exact truth.
There is substantial discrepancy among the Gospels, of which the number has been reduced to four. While synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew and Luke) accommodate substantive inconsistencies with the Gospel of John, even those incorporate significant deviation from one another. If we are to accept the message of one of the Gospels as true, then we are required to ignore the contradictory information given in another. If only one of the two messages is factual, then it is not possible to claim that the Gospel is a non-corrupted book, and every word of it is based on revelation. Indeed, only this instance is adequate as clear proof that the Gospel was indeed corrupted.
In the Gospel, information is given on the (so-called) crucifixion of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and the Holy Scripture is proceeded with happenings after his (so-called) death. There is again a very serious contradiction at this point. For example, how come the Holy Gospel, which was revealed to the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and is the greatest verity for him, include events that take place after his (so-called) death? Obviously, those passages in question were comprised, historically compiledby people who witnessed that period. Eventually, it is not possible to call these texts revelations by God.

Almighty God surely has the power to protect the true Books which He revealed to humanity as guidance. Christians, however, bring this superior attribute of our Lord as evidence in order to deny the statements in regard to the corruption of the Gospel. As a matter of fact, there is wisdom hidden here that needs to be appreciated:

To emphasize once again, surely God is supreme and all-powerful to preserve His book. Almighty God is omnipotent over all creation in the universe. Yet, not everything in the universe is flawless and there is a specific wisdom behind the creation of weaknesses.

The corruption which has taken place in the Holy Gospel and made evident with clear proofs has occurred by the will of God and His ordinance. This has come to happen with wisdom and ultimately created for a special test that God decreed. Since God manifests the prevailing circumstances this way and shows the proofs on this matter in plain sight, one should not be obsessed with a fixed idea but try to see and understand the insight behind all this. Obviously, the Christian world is being tested by means of this fact. They are summoned to use their conscience. It is apparent that this situation is a particular requirement for the coming of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh). By means of this trial, false beliefs will obviously be widespread throughout the world and people will fall into turmoil, dispute and bloodshed because of this, and eventually the signs foretold in the Torah, Gospel and Qur’an as well as the hadiths in regard to the End Times will take place. On account of this, the primary responsibility of sincere Christians is to seek the true commands of the Gospel and hold steadfast to these.

In fact, it is to be stated that the Gospel, the book of truth, has really been preserved in conformity to the assertions of our Christian brothers. However, the Gospel which has been preserved is hidden and not found yet. By the will of God, the original Torah and Gospel will be found with the return of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) and both Jews and Christians will be judged according to these books of truth.

At the same time, our Christian brothers should acknowledge the fact that the Qur’an comprises and reveals the entirity of true commands of the Gospel. The righteous decrees of the Gospel have their place in the Qur’an and therefore Muslims are also obliged to observe the true Gospel. The Qur’an is the book of truth which confirms the Gospel and this way discerns the flaws and affirms the truth. In this respect, Muslims are followers of the Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and grant him peace), and followers of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) who observed the true Gospel, also followers of the Prophet Moses (pbuh) who abide by the true Torah. For that reason, if a true Christian is willing to adhere to the true Gospel and judge according to the true commands of the Gospel, then he will be able to find the totality of these decrees in the Qur’an. The Gospel that is the book of truth is our holy book which God praises in the Qur’an. God reveals how the Gospel was a book of guidance for humanity at the time of its revelation in the Qur’an in the following verses:

He has sent down the Book to you with truth, confirming what was there before it. And He sent down the Torah and the Gospel before this, as a guide to mankind… (Surah Al ‘Imran, 3)

And We sent Jesus son of Mary following in their footsteps, confirming the Torah that came before him. We gave him the Gospel containing guidance and light, confirming the Torah that came before it, and as guidance and admonition for those who have taqwa. (Surat al-Ma'ida, 46)

Then We sent Our Messengers following in their footsteps and sent Jesus son of Mary after them, giving him the Gospel. We put compassion and mercy in the hearts of those who followed him. They invented monasticism – We did not prescribe it for them – purely out of desire to gain the pleasure of God, but even so they did not observe it as it should have been observed.To those of them who had iman We gave their reward but many of them are deviators. (Surat al-Hadid, 27)

Finally, before our Christian brothers reject the Qur’an through a prejudiced outlook, they should refer to the Qur’an based on this viewpoint. Every person, who asks for an understanding of judgment between right and wrong in sincerity, will be granted this superior blessing of God.

Photographs from the Conference held in Germany – Lünen on 16 October, 2010

2010-11-07T11:59:00.000-08:00

Photographs from the Conference held in Germany – Lünen on 16 October, 2010

In the town of Lünen in Germany, on October 16, 2010, a conference was held which once again demonstrated the scientific invalidity of the theory of evolution. A theory that is totally built upon imagination and assumption. In the the light of scientific evidence, it was explicitly shown in the conference that the theory of evolution is merely a deception and life cannot be explained through blind coincidences and natural causes as claimed by this fraudulent theory.

Mr. Adnan Oktar participated in the conference via a video-conference system and mentioned that the theory of evolution is absolute falsehood in the face of science and it is an important responsibility to communicate this fact to other people. In addition, Mr. Adnan Oktar stated Germany would realize the fact of Creation very soon – insha’Allah – and Muslims should be in unity with each other.

Moreover, fossils dating back millions of years proved in plain sight that living beings had no evolutionary history and they all appeared instantly and with perfection. Thisemphasis using fossil evidence, demonstrated the theory of evolution’s defeat with science, yet again.. Using scientific evidence, the theory of evolution was shown to be a story rather than science, and furthermore the evidence showed and justified the fact that living beings were not the result of coincidences but the creation by Allah.

Samples of “living fossils” were displayed for the guests during the conference held in Germany’s town of Lünen at Ringhotel am Stadtpark on October 16, 2010. The guests who examined the millions of years old fossils also had a chance to examine ”living”counterparts of the same species, present in the same form, alive in our day. They witnessed in person that living creatures coninued the cycle of life without any changes for millions of years, in other words without having evolved.

The antichrist has taken people under his sway by way of hypnosis

2010-11-07T11:56:00.000-08:00

The antichrist has taken people under his sway by way of hypnosis and put them into such a state that they can no longer see the truth

Our Prophet (saas) who gave the news that the antichrist is the greatest event of the history of humanity also provided expanded information about the ravages and the tribulations the antichrist will cause, how he will take people under his sway and lead them. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi also explained the activities of the antichrist based on these hadith exclusively and explained that the antichrist will influence people by practicing hypnotism.

It could only be a wondrous person with the power of miracles who could make him ineffective and change the way of the awesome antichrist, who will preserve himself through wonders, bestowed on him by Allah in order to lead him astray, such as magic, hypnotic powers, and spiritualism, and will spellbind everyone. And that person will be the Prophet Jesus (as), who is the prophet of the majority of mankind, and whom most people follow. (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Rays, Fifth Ray)

The system of the antichrist, that employs a mass medium such as radio, television, Internet, journals and newspapers intensively, has taken both some Muslims and a great part of the world population under its sway. However, these people who remain under the hypnosis of the antichrist cannot grasp that they are being subjected to hypnosis because they are put under hypnosis. For this reason, they consider a state that they should normally regard as unusual, very ordinary. They assess an incident that will require them to take immediate action as something normal and an everyday situation, and readily accept false information, hearsay, superstitious beliefs that they would normally outright reject. They have their eyes closed to the many wonders and miraculous developments that Allah makes people experience. They don’t even notice these wondrous events.

In the hadith it is also related that satans will also help the antichrist:

... SATANS WILL SAY TO HIM, “TELL US WHAT YOU WANT, AND WE WILL DO IT.” And he will say, “Go, and tell people that I am their Lord,” and will disperse them in all directions... (Al-Barzanji, Al-Isha'ah li-ashrat al-sa'ah, pp. 212-213)

As it is related in the verses of the Qur’an, satan has the attributes of enclosing people all around and making them forgetful.

He (Moses’ servant) said, ‘Do you see what has happened? When we went to find shelter at the rock, I forgot the fish. No one made me forget to remember it except satan. It found its way into the sea in an amazing way.’ " (Surat al-Khaf, 63)

If someone shuts his eyes to the remembrance of the All-Merciful, We assign him a satan who becomes his bosom friend. (Surat az-Zukhruf, 36)

As the verses also indicate, satan may have the attribute of rendering a person forgetful, scattering his attention and concentration, covering his mind, influencing his mental capabilities, and make him lose his foresight. The system of the antichrist also employs satans to create an effect of hypnosis on people. A closer look at the population of the world reveals that a great majority remains under the hypnosis of the system of the antichrist. For this reason, a kind of haze forms in their minds that prevents them from seeing even the clearest facts.

The intensive and uninterrupted hypnosis of the system of the antichrist drift these people in question into great heedlessness. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi draws our attention to this state of heedlessness as follows:

But in these stormy times, currents which numb the senses and scatter man’s attention on peripheral matters, plunging him into them, have deadened his senses and bewildered him. As a result of this the people of misguidance are temporarily unable to feel their torment, while the people of guidance are overwhelmed by heedlessness and cannot truly appreciate its pleasures.(The Rays / The Fifteenth Ray - The Shining Proof - Second Station - p.643)

Just as Bediuzzaman expresses, in the End Times, the hypnosis of the system of the antichrist transformed a great majority of people into those;

* Whose senses have been numbed, that is whose foresight have been lost,

* Whose attention have been scattered; that is who have become so heedless not to notice the abnormal state in which they remain. This heedlessness is so intense that they can even not feel the pain and trouble of their state.

As Bediuzzaman Said Nursi also stated in his words,"It could only be a wondrous person with the power of miracles who could make him ineffective and change the way of the awesome antichrist, who will preserve himself through wonders, bestowed on him by Allah in order to lead him astray, such as magic, hypnotic powers, and spiritualism, and will spellbind everyone. And that person will be the Prophet Jesus." The Prophet Jesus (as)will remove this hypnosis of the antichrist entirely. Until the apparent appearance of the Prophet Jesus (as), Hazrat Mahdi (as) will engage in an effort to break this spell and hypnosis step by step, but the Prophet Jesus (as) will be instrumental in the removal of this hypnosis in its full sense.

To have a better understanding of how this hypnosis takes people under its sway, it will be beneficial to examine which subjects the antichrist applies his hypnosis, to obscure people’s attention and their ability to comprehend.

1. The purpose of the antichrist is to prevent people from seeing the facts. For this reason he will not want the communication and comprehension of the subject of the system of the Mahdi.

One of the meanings of the antichrist is the one who shows the truth as false, and false as true. The antichrist, who desires to destroy the material and spiritual values of people, spread tribulations and conflicts, conceal everything that is good and beautiful, suppress the facts, and thus prevent people from finding the truth. The greatest and most important beauty of the End Times is Hazrat Mahdi (as) and the antichrist will strenuously work on this subject. He will strive to conceal the system of the Mahdi, explain it away and, in his own way, falsify it. For this end;

* He will make some people deny the system of the Mahdi,

The antichrist keeps some people entirely distant to the fact of the system of the Mahdi by;

* Using some people to speak of the system of the Mahdi as a figure in whom one should never believe,

* Causing some people not mention the system of the Mahdi at all,

* Using some people to speak about the delay of the appearance of Hazrat Mahdi (as) to a few centuries ahead,

* Causing some people to think of the system of the Mahdi as a spiritual entity, or as an unseen spirit,

* Causing some people to believe in the lie that Hazrat Mahdi (as) has already appeared and died.

Many people will lose time by explanations that are fantastical and stories that they would, under normal conditions, never believe and hence they will even not notice Hazrat Mahdi (as).

(Click on this link to read which methods are employed to explain away and conceal the system of the Mahdi)

http://us3.harunyahya.com/Detail/T/EDCRFV/productId/29300/
BY_HOW_MANY_MEANS_IS_THE_COMING_OF_HAZRAT_MAHDI_%28AS%29_CONCEALED?

2. Under the hypnosis of the antichrist people will remain in a weird kind of quietness, and they will not grasp that they are living in a very important period.

Hijri 1400 is one of the holiest, greatest and the most glorious ages of the history of the world, because this age is the one for the appearance of Hazrat Mahdi (as). Allah gave the news of his appearance to all of His prophets, and provided information about him even in the most ancient pages revealed to prophets. Providing hundreds of details about him, Allah introduced Hazrat Mahdi (as).

In this century, the Prophet Jesus (as) will descend and the morality of Islam will dominate the world. From the beginning of the first days of Hijri 1400, the portents that we are living in a holy age have appeared. Within a period of 30 years more than 150 portents that our Prophet (saas) heralded came to appear one by one. This state is an evident sign of Hazrat Mahdi’s (as) appearance.

Under normal conditions a Muslim who is knowledgeable of the hadith about the system of the Mahdi, and observe these hadith coming true must be greatly excited and strive to seek and find Hazrat Mahdi (as). It is unbecoming for a Muslim who has faith in the words of our Prophet (saas) to remain silent and go on with his daily life as if nothing has happened after learning that more than 150 pieces of news given by our Prophet (saas) has come true. Every Muslim who is aware of this knowledge will naturally be in a pursuit to serve Islam with all his might in order to be a follower of Hazrat Mahdi (as). He will spread the morality of religion with passion and give a scientific struggle against disbelief.

(For the portents that have appeared please read the following link:
http://www.harunyahya.com/books/faith/
jesus_and_mahdi_will_come_this_century/jesus_and_mahdi_01.php)

However when the Islamic world is considered in general, some Muslims remain very calm by saying, “Yes, it is true that the portents that our Prophet (saas) has foretold have come true, how great it is! But what shall I cook for the dinner?” This calmness is the consequence of their being under the antichrist’s hypnotism. A person who is under the hypnosis of the antichrist cannot get rid of the inertia in which he remains and devote his attention on any other subject other than daily, trivial issues even though he knows all the related hadith and verses of the Qur’an.

3. The hadith of our Prophet (saas) shows that there is a very short time left until the Day of Judgment. Due to the hypnosis of the antichrist even this piece of information does not prompt people to action.

Theauthentic hadith related from our Prophet (saas) gives the news that the life of the world is 7000 years. An authentic hadith by Ahmad bin Hanbal, on the other hand, informs that 5600 years of the life of the world has already passed.

(http://us3.harunyahya.com/Detail/T/EDCRFV/productId/28217/OUR_PROPHET_%28SAAS%29_REVEALED_THAT_THE_LIFE_SPAN_OF_THE_WORLD_WAS_7000_YEARS )

Bediuzzaman Said Nursi expounded the information given in these authentic hadith and expressed – he said “Allah knows the truth”- that the Day of Judgment will take place at around 1545.

“A group from my community will remain in truth until Allah’s command [the Judgment Day].”

The abjad calculation of the clause “A group from my community...” which is 1542 (2117) implies its [the community’s] time of survival. The abjad calculation of the clause “will remain in truth” (when the gemination mark is counted) gives 1506 (2082); it indicates until that date it will continue its work of enlightenment evidently and obviously, and maybe victoriously; then until 1542 (2117) in secrecy and defeat. The abjad calculation of the clause “until Allah’s command” (when the gemination mark is counted) suggests that THE JUDGMENT DAY WILL BEFALL the unbeliever in 1545 (2120). (Kastamonu Addendum, p. 33)

We are now living in the year Hijri 1431. As we clearly understand from the hadith and the explanations of scholars of the Ahl-Al Sunnah the life of the world has, Allah knows the truth, 70 years left. Within this 70 years, we will, by Allah’s leave, see Prophet Jesus’ (as) descend, Hazrat Mahdi’s (as) appearance, the unity of the Islamic world under the leadership of Hazrat Mahdi (as), the dominance of the morality of Islam over the world. No doubt this is a very important piece of information that will add to everyone’s zeal and enthusiasm. A great part of the world population are aware of this information by means of the advanced communication technology of our day.

Despite this, a great majority of the people in the world is involved in trivial details of daily life as if there is nothing unusual, that they will live for hundreds of years. They assess this substantial truth as ordinary information. It is a great wonder that a great prophet, who is very meticulous about Allah’s commands and who was, 2000 years ago, taken out of time and space into the Sight of Allah, is returning to the Earth. It is another wonder that Hazrat Mahdi (as), whom Allah rendered blessed and chosen and whose attributes He communicated to all His prophets, gets into action in this century. It is also another wonder that in the coming years all people will, by Allah’s leave, turn to faith and the morality of Islam will dominate the world. However it is a very great wonder that for some people, issues such as school payments of their children, commercial agreement they will sign or the decoration of their summer house are much more important, despite their awareness of these wonders. The very absence of any response to these wonders is one of the most explicit indications of the effect of the hypnosis of the system of the antichrist.

4. In all corners of the world the blood of Muslims flow in abundance, the Islamic world suffers greatly, but under the hypnosis of the antichrist a great majority of people watch this state with apathy.

Almost everyday news of martyrdom come from Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine, East Turkestan or other Islamic countries. Almost everyday newspapers abound with the news of innocent, enslaved Muslims who are bombed, attacked, executed by shooting, unjustly captured, tortured or raped. A great majority of people watch these news in sheer silence and usually give no response other than saying, “Look what is happening in the world?” What is more bitter is that a greater majority turn the pages of a newspaper without reading these news, and pay more attention to the scores of a football match or the recent hair style of a celebrity. While that person sips his soup or tea, and talks for hours over insignificant issues that has no urgency. Millions of homeless people in Pakistan find nowhere to take refuge in the cold of winter, a Palestinian woman feels desperate for not being able to take her sick son to hospital, an Afghan father’s wife is raped before his very eyes, or an Iraqi child is losing his newborn brother in a delivery room that has been bombed. No doubt each Muslim very well knows that all kinds of ordeals are created by the will of Allah and it is obligatory upon Muslims to respond to them with the morality of the Qur’an and the Sunnah. However the Qur’an and the hadith also provide the way Muslims should follow when they face such cruelty and injustice.

Allah commands Muslims to unite like well-built walls and respond to this cruelty with scientific methods, and culture. Our Prophet (saas) also told that in the End Times, the Islamic community will go through great cruelty and pain, and that they will be oppressed under the pressure of the system of the antichrist. He further stated that the only way to get rid of this captivity is their getting united around the leadership of Hazrat Mahdi (as). Struggling for the unity of Muslims, striving to unite the community of Islam - no matter what their race, school and thought may be - within a spirit of brotherhood is obligatory upon all Muslims. Each Muslim living in the End Times must, with all his might, desire the unity of Islam and struggle to be a follower of Hazrat Mahdi (as), whom Allah sent as a savior to all Muslims, and to prepare the most beautiful environment for this blessed person. While Muslims in Afghanistan, Iraq, Patani, East Turkistan, Palestine, Philippines and in places we are unaware of around the world try to survive in pain and agony, people who do not strive for the unity of Muslims for a moment, and even do not utter the words, “Let the Islamic world unite, let the union of Islam come true” only for once are surely under a spell and hypnosis. While it is impossible for an ordinary person to remain calm in light of such images and information, the great majority of the Islamic world, consisting of 1.5 billion people, watch with apathy, what befall our mothers, sisters, children, grandfathers and elderly women. This is because of the influence of hypnosis.

The hypnosis of the antichrist is dividing the community of Islam into small pieces while Allah openly commands Muslims to unite. The hypnosis of the antichrist is rendering Muslims indifferent while Allah openly commands Muslims to run for the aid of the needy. The hypnosis of the antichrist is leading Muslims into other ways while our Prophet (saas) openly showed the way to salvation. The hypnosis of the antichrist is rendering Muslims to think only of their own comfort, pleasure, food, needs, subsistence and commerce while millions of Muslims are being subjected to incredible cruelty.

5. Darwinism that bases the origin of life on an unreasonable and irrational explanation like blind chance is accepted by people under the hypnosis of the antichrist.

One of the overt activities of the antichrist is that Darwinism is kept as a state policy in many countries and imposed on people, although it is obvious that even the formation of a single protein is impossible, more than 300 million fossils reveal that living beings remained unchanged for millions of years and each piece of information mankind gets from all branches of science reveal constantly the invalidity of the theory of evolution. Bediuzzaman Said Nursi also said that the antichrist would spread the diseases of Darwinism and materialism by way of indoctrination and devastate humanity by this way. Darwinism is the religion of the system of the antichrist. In its struggle against religion, the antichrist is in need of a false religion, which is Darwinism. They formulate an irrational theory by way of false drawings, false formulas and false stories and this false theory is impressed on to people as if it were a scientific fact.

Today it is an evident fact that Darwinism is a superstitious religion inherited from the ancient Sumerians and ancient Egyptians and that it is not based on any scientific evidence. Despite this fact, another indication of the hypnosis of the antichrist is that the story of living creatures coming into existence by themselves in mud is taught with Latin words as if it were actually scientific and with great seriousness. Furthermore even people are professors believe in this story. Anyone who notices that this story is very unusual and express it openly, are subjected to tremendous pressure and intimidation. This hypnosis has become so effective that even some newspapers, journals and Internet sites that are known as pro-Islam and conservative, have been made instrumental in Darwinist propaganda. What is surprising is that, under the hypnosis of the antichrist, people’s consciousness have closed in such a way that, these people, who overtly engage in Darwinist propaganda, give answers revealing their unawareness of what they are really doing when they are inquired as to why they are involved in such propaganda.

6. Allah promises Muslims the domination of Islamic morality over the world, but a large part of the Muslim population disregard this blessed promise under the influence of the antichrist.

In many verses of the Qur’an, Allah promises that He will make the genuine believers as inheritors of the earth. This means the domination of the morality of Islam over the earth. Apart from this, many hadith give the good news that during the period of Hazrat Mahdi (as), that is, during the time in which we live, the morality of Islam will dominate the world. Every Muslim who has faith in Allah, submitted himself to Allah and puts his trust in Allah’s will, knows that Allah’s promise will definitely come true. The domination of Islam over the world is also a promise of Allah, and a Muslim makes every effort so as to be instrumental in making this promise come true. He engages in material and physical effort. Another obvious command of Allah to Muslims is to struggle until no more tribulation exists on earth and the religion is Allah’s alone, that is, until the morality of Islam dominates the world. (Surat al-Anfal, 39). Just as fulfilling regular prayers, fasting or giving alms are commands of Allah, struggling on Allah’s path until the religion is Allah’s alone is also a commandment of Allah upon Muslims. In order to fulfill this provision, every Muslim is obliged to struggle against fitnah. That is to say, he must struggle against what gives him trouble, predicament and affliction, and deprives him of his happiness. A Muslim must strive against disbelief, materialism, and Darwinism, and what makes this system seem normal but in actuality legitimizes conflict, struggle and egoism. This struggle should definitely take place at the ideological level, since most of the pain and suffering we face in the world today have an ideological basis. As long as this ideological basis is not eradicated, it is unlikely for this pain to come to an end. The ideological basis in question is Darwinism and materialism.

While a Muslim gives an ideological struggle against Darwinism and materialism on one hand, he, on the other hand, is obliged to tell the signs of Allah’s existence and unity, and the signs that will lead people to sincere faith in the most beautiful, wisest, kindest and the most rational style. He is responsible for communicating to the people the facts of the Qur’an, the superior morality of our Prophet (saas) and the Islam according to the Age of Bliss. This communication has to be made as a requisite of the verse, “Struggle with them until the religion is Allah’s alone.”

Some people completely despair of the domination of the morality of Islam over the world because of the hypnosis of the antichrist. These people forget Allah’s obvious promise and the glad tidings Allah gives in the Qur’an, and do not deem the domination of the morality of Islam likely. In other words, they consider this obvious fact as impossible. If one asks these people if communism can ever dominate the world, their answer would be “Yes.” These people also consider the domination of atheist freemasonry or fascism quite possible. They only deem the domination of the morality of Islam as unlikely. The reason for this is that; under the influence of the hypnosis of the antichrist, they lose their foresight and forget the promise of Allah. However a Muslim knows that Allah certainly fulfills His promise. Whether Allah preordains domination of Islam during his lifetime or not, he puts all the resources at his disposal into use and engages in an ideological struggle for the domination of Allah’s religion. It is obvious that those who feign ignorance about Allah’s promise and, in their own way, try to humiliate those Muslims who endeavor for the domination of the morality of Islam, and instill indolence and idleness by saying, “Such a domination never happens.” These people are under the influence of the system of the antichrist.

7. The hypnosis of the antichrist distance some people from having a faithful, loyal, gentle, noble and respectful style peculiar to a Muslim and turn them into cold, pretentious, rude and unfaithful people with inferiority complex.

For a genuine Muslim, the only measures are the Qur’an, the Sunnah of our Prophet (saas) and the works of the Ahl al-Sunnah scholars. Apart from his worship, his life, morality, reactions, style and attitude also comply with the Qur’an and the Sunnah. No matter in which period and under which conditions a genuine believer lives, he adopts the morality that Allah has commanded and communicated to people since Prophet Adam (as). Improvement of technology, passage of time, or other conditions has no affect on this morality. No matter where a Muslim may be, he conducts himself as a wise, rational, moderate, balanced, gentle, loving, compassionate, merciful, faithful, helpful and loyal person who protects the people around him and beautifies his surroundings. If a person, feels concerned about being unaccepted, oppressed or alienated, and makes concessions to this superior morality by saying “the times have changed”, then that means that he follows a very different way and not the Qur’an or the Sunnah.

A Muslim does not imitate a person he sees in the workplace, a cafe, on the television or the Internet. He does not emulate their life or style. He does not strive to be like them. He does not act a little bit like a Muslim and a little bit like them in order to curry favor with them. He does not assume their wicked jokes, or mimics their reactions, because he, in his way, will be popular. A Muslim takes our Prophet’s (saas) nobility, kindness, compassion, activeness, love and quality as an example to himself. He strives to assume his superior morality and fine attitude. He very well knows that a person who abides by the Qur’an and follows the way of our Prophet (saas) leads the most modern, beautiful and quality life that a person can ever have. People who, despite knowing this, aspire for the applause, style and appearance of unbelievers and suffers from a kind of inferiority complex, and has set aside virtues such as loyalty, faithfulness, respect for the elderly, for the sake of being so-called “modern.” These people make such a choice under the hypnosis of the system of the antichrist. When considered with an open consciousness, these people have to see that this weird style, and unfaithful, disloyal and pitiless system may one day devastate them. They should be able to notice that such a model will demolish a Muslim’s real purpose, and what upholds him in life and makes him strong. People who use computers, shorten religious terms such as Insha’Allah and masha’Allah in writing, they make jokes about religious issues because they, in their own way, think it is popular. They associate showing respect to the elderly and protecting them with being obscurant. They assume that they would be better if they imitate unbelievers, who tend to oppress the innocent and poor. They side with those having power and they don’t notice that they are, under the guidance of the system of the antichrist, and pushed towards a hazy and dark spirit distant from the morality of Islam. They must immediately abandon this unacceptable mindset.

It is possible to expand on these characteristics and add new ones. However even only the ones cited above suffice to see that the minds of a great majority of people have been numbed under the influence of the antichrist.

The hypnosis of the antichrist is removed by a sincere, profound and attentive faith

The End Times in which we live is a very blessed time that is full of glad tidings. It also imposes important responsibilities upon all Muslims. Muslims cannot succeed against the antichrist, who is proclaimed as the greatest incident in the history of humanity, by disregarding him, acting as if he does not exist or ignoring him. A Muslim must have a complete understanding of the danger, with all its aspects, so that he can take the most rational and efficient measures. As the hadith inform us, the Prophet Jesus (as) will be instrumental in removing the hypnosis of the antichrist from all people. Only by means of sincere and profound faith will it be possible to avoid this hypnosis and to be safe against the spell of the antichrist. Satan aims directly at the mind, and Muslims can remove the hypnosis of the antichrist by prayer, by putting their trust in Allah and displaying a very sincere and determined will. Otherwise they cannot get rid of the influence of this hypnosis.

Indeed Bediuzzaman Said Nursi stated that, Prophet Jesus (as) and Hazrat Mahdi (as) can be recognized by the light of their faith and added that genuine Muslims can remain secure against the hypnosis of the antichrist by the light of faith and also see the facts that the system of the antichrist wants to conceal.

In the End Times Muslims must break through the veil drawn by the system of the antichrist. For this, it is essential to engage in a very strong intellectual propaganda against the system of the antichrist. Sharp attention and open consciousness as commanded by Allah in the Qur’an, vigilance, realization, and awareness of the existence of Allah at every moment in life will keep the hypnosis of the antichrist distant from believers. Just as how the system of the antichrist strives to uphold its own system by way of indoctrination, Muslims must also render its inculcations ineffective by remembering Allah every moment, and finding solutions by keeping the way that our Prophet (saas) showed. Muslims must, remind themselves of the fact that we are living in the End Times, by passing on the message and letting people know that Prophet Jesus (as) and Hazrat Mahdi (as) are on duty and striving to make the morality of Islam dominate the world.

The source of peace and security

2010-11-07T11:54:00.000-08:00

The source of peace and security

The Qur'an is a true Book revealed to people as a guide to the true path and in this Book, Allah commands man to adopt good morals. This morality is based upon concepts such as love, compassion, understanding and mercy. The word "Islam" is derived from the word meaning "peace" in Arabic. Islam is a religion revealed to mankind with the intention of presenting a peaceful life through which the infinite compassion and mercy of Allah manifest on earth.

Some of those who say that something is done in the name of religion may, in fact, misunderstand that religion and as a result, practice it wrongly. For that reason, it would be wrong to form ideas about that religion by taking these people as an example. The best way of understanding a religion is to study its divine source.

Islam's divine source is the Qur'an, which is based on concepts of morality, love, compassion, humility, sacrifice, understanding and peace. A Muslim who lives by those precepts in its true sense will be most polite, careful of thought, modest, decent, noble, just, trustworthy and easy to get on with. He will spread love, respect, harmony and the joy of living all around him.

Islam is the Religion of Peace

Terror, in its broadest sense, is violence committed against non-military targets for political purposes. To put it another way, targets of terror are entirely innocent civilians whose only crime, in the eyes of terrorists, is to represent "the other side".

For this reason, terror means subjecting innocent people to violence, which is an act bereft of any moral justification. This, as in the case of murders committed by Hitler or Stalin, is a crime committed against mankind.

O You who believe! Enter absolutely into peace (Islam). Do not follow in the footsteps of Satan. He is an outright enemy to you.

As the verse makes clear, security can only be ensured by "entering into Islam", that is, living by the values of the Qur'an. The values of the Qur'an hold a Muslim responsible for treating all people, whether Muslim or non-Muslim, kindly and justly, protecting the needy and the innocent and "preventing the dissemination of mischief". Mischief comprises all forms of anarchy and terror that remove security, comfort and peace. As Allah says in a verse, "Allah does not love corruption". (Surat al-Baqara, 205)

Murdering a person for no reason is one of the most obvious examples of mischief. Allah repeats in the Qur'an a command He formerly revealed to Jews in the Torah thus:

...if someone kills another person – unless it is in retaliation for someone else or for causing corruption in the earth – it is as if he had murdered all mankind. And if anyone gives life to another person, it is as if he had given life to all mankind... (Surat al-Ma'ida, 32)

As the verse suggests, a person who kills even a single man, "unless it is in retaliation for someone else or for causing corruption in the earth", commits a crime as if he had murdered all mankind. This being the case, it is obvious what great sins are the murders, massacres and attacks, popularly known as "suicide attacks", committed by terrorists. Allah informs us how this cruel face of terrorism will be punished in the hereafter in the following verse:

There are only grounds against those who wrong people and act as tyrants in the earth without any right to do so. Such people will have a painful punishment. (Surat ash-Shura, 42)

All these reveal that organizing acts of terror against innocent people is utterly against Islam and it is unlikely that any Muslim could ever commit such crimes. On the contrary, Muslims are responsible for stopping these people, removing "mischief on earth" and bringing peace and security to all people all over the world. Islam cannot be reconciled with terror. Just the contrary, it should be the solution to and the path to the prevention of terror.

Allah has Condemned Wickedness

Allah has commanded people to avoid committing evil: oppression, cruelty, murder and bloodshed are all forbidden. He describes those who fail to obey this command as "following in satan's footsteps" and adopting a posture that is openly revealed to be sinful in the Qur'an. A few of the many verses on this matter in the Qur'an read:

But as for those who break Allah's contract after it has been agreed and sever what Allah has commanded to be joined, and cause corruption in the earth, the curse will be upon them. They will have the Evil Abode. (Surat ar-Ra'd, 25)

Eat and drink of Allah's provision and do not go about the earth corrupting it. (Surat al-Baqara, 60)

Those who think that they will be successful by causing wickedness, upheaval and oppression, and by killing innocent people are committing a great error. Allah has forbidden all acts of wickedness involving terrorism and violence, condemned those who engage in such acts and said "Allah does not uphold the works of those who cause mischief." in one of His verses. (Surah Yunus, 81)

In the present age, however, acts of terrorism, genocide and massacres occur all over the world. Innocent people are being savagely killed, and countries where communities are being brought to hate each other for artificial reasons are drowning in blood. These horrors in countries with different histories, cultures and social structures may have causes and sources peculiar to each. However, it is evident that the fundamental cause is a moving away from morality based on love, respect and compassion that is commanded in the Qur'an. As a result of lack of religion, communities emerge that have no fear of Allah and that are deceived by the lie that they will not be called to account in the hereafter. Since they falsely believe that, "I will not have to account for my actions to anyone," they can easily act with no compassion, morality or conscience.

It is quite impossible for someone who fears Allah and has grasped the morality of Islam to support violence or wickedness, or to take part in such actions. That is why Islam is the true solution to terrorism. When the sublime morality of the Qur'an is explained, it will be impossible for people to connect true Islam with those who support or join groups that aim at hatred, war and disorder. That is because Allah has forbidden wickedness:

Whenever he holds the upperhand, he goes about the earth corrupting it, destroying (people's) crops and breeding stock. Allah does not love corruption. When he is told to have fear of Allah, he is seized by pride which drives him to wrongdoing. Hell will be enough for him! What an evil resting-place. (Surat al-Baqara, 205-206)

As can be seen from the above verses, it is out of the question for someone who fears Allah to turn a blind eye to even the smallest action that might harm mankind. Someone who does not believe in Allah and the hereafter, however, can easily do all kinds of evil, since he thinks he will not have to account to anyone.

The first thing that needs to be done to rid the world of the present-day scourge of terrorism is to use education to do away with deviant irreligious beliefs that are put forward in the name of religion, and to teach people true Qur'anic morality and to fear Allah.

Why is the trinity creed dangerous?

2010-11-01T11:44:00.001-07:00

Why is the trinity creed dangerous?

The creed of trinity and trinitarianism advocated by some Christians in our day is a very serious delusion. Apart from being a great slander against God and the Prophet Jesus (pbuh), it is also a serious threat. In our previous articles, we dwelled on how this creed that Christians call trinity or trinitarianism contradicts with the creed of unity of God explained in the Gospel, and that the trinity creed became widespread due to the misinterpretations made after the Prophet Jesus (pbuh).

We also explained that that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) being a manifestation of God does not mean that he is the Self of God, and God is beyond this. This is certainly contrary to God’s ruling, His might, His attributes, wisdom and rationale. (You can read the other related articles here and here)

In these articles we show and express that this false creed is a great threat. It is of great importance for our Christian brothers to be aware of these dangers that the creed of trinity brings forth and that it may bring forth in the future. Some of these dangers are as follows:

1. The danger of ascribing partners to God:

According to both the Gospel and the Torah ascribing partners to God means polytheism. Consequently with the creed of trinity, genuine Christians inadvertently fall into this great danger of ascribing partners to God by ascribing the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) to God (Surely God is beyond that). This danger of ascribing partners to God is not an issue that should be ignored. All-Mighty God states in the Qur’an, regarding this dangerous idea as follows: " The heavens are all but rent apart and the earth split open " (Surah Maryam, 90). Ascribing partners to God is a great sin in God’s Sight. In the Qur’an God expresses His threat against those who commit this sin:

God does not forgive anything being associated with Him but He forgives whoever He wills for anything other than that. Anyone who associates something with God has committed a terrible crime. (Surat an-Nisa’, 48)

In the Gospel, Christians are forbidden from ascribing partners to God:

And [they] exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. [Surely God is beyond that]…They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator. [Surely God is beyond that]—Who is forever praised. (Romans, 1:23-25)

Jesus answered, "It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.'” (Luke, 4:8)

The oneness of God is also clearly and comprehensively stated in the Gospel. Indeed, in one part of the Gospel, the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) states that one of the most important commands of God is to remember God as the One and Only:

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?". "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One. "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is One and there is no other but Him.(Mark, 12:28-32)

(You can read the Gospel sections in which faith is preserved for God as the One and Only and without ascribing partners to Him here.)

In light of these explanations, some Christians may gloss this stating that they, in fact, have faith in God as the One and Only God; but that they do not accept the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) as a separate being; (Surely God is beyond that) since that One Being manifests itself in three different forms as the body, spirit and consciousness. However, in its essence, this explanation harbors a very serious contradiction and error. You can read our explanations related to this here.

2. The danger of all endeavors coming to naught

Another great danger our genuine Christian brothers will face with the error of trinity is the possibility of all effort they claim to make in the name of God to come to naught. This is a great danger for Christians who, disregarding reminders and warnings, continue to ascribe partners to God only because of this delusion, and do not resort to their conscience, but assume themselves to be on the true path. Such a danger should not be underestimated. In the Qur’an, God warns: "Some faces on that Day will be downcast, laboring, toiling endlessly" (Surat al-Ghashiyya, 3). In the Torah, on the other hand, the prayers of those who sincerely believe is as follows: May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands. (Psalms 90:17).

Consequently there will be people whose endeavors will come to naught in the hereafter. A devout believer should not see this danger far from himself and should resort to his conscience. Right now, God calls our Christian brothers who were inculcated with the creed of trinity for years to search their hearts with these reminders and warnings.

3. The danger of hidden disbelief and atheism

Another danger brought by the creed of trinity is that it causes hidden disbelief or that it drifts people into atheism. It is no doubt and not difficult for any person who is well acquainted with the Gospel to grasp the irrationality of the creed of trinity. In fact almost all Christians are aware of this fact. But they make themselves believe in it putting forth many pretexts or remain silent under the threat that otherwise “they will abandon the religion.”

Some of them, on the other hand, are drifted into disbelief because consciously and logically they cannot accept this creed and they inwardly do not believe. This is a great threat. There are hidden unbelieving people in Christianity who appear devout although they are aware of the invalidity of the trinity. The hidden unbelievers who lose their religion due to this superstitious creed constitute the danger of hypocrisy in Christianity. Hypocrites, on the other hand, are the main reason of conflict and separation in religion. They are the source of brand new innovations and superstitious beliefs developed to render Christians weak and draw them away from worshipping.

Apart from this, growing number of Christians totally divert from the true path and become atheists because they feel that the idea of the trinity opposes sound logic and rationale. The atheists in question also openly express their arguments. Our Christian brothers are, no doubt, aware of this situation. Of course just because these people cannot be convinced about the truth of trinity does not justify their drifting into disbelief, hypocrisy, or atheism. If a person is truly sincere, he is obliged to turn to God by heart, strive to see and understand the truth, and abide by what his conscience guides him towards. However, no matter how mistaken these people may be, one should not ignore that the source of danger from hidden disbelief and atheism is the idea of trinity.

From the history of Christianity, it is also possible to understand the great ideological and actual conflicts brought by the idea of trinity, which have been carried forward to our day. It is impossible for a righteous creed to be the source of such great conflicts and tribulations. It is possible that until now, some Christians have not assessed the dimensions of this danger. It is likely that, they try to uphold a false belief inherited from their forefathers, assuming that it is a provision of the Gospel. However, this is a belief definitely contrary to God’s command. When they consider the Gospel in a rational way and see the tribulations brought by a superstitious belief, they will understand this better. Consequently, we call genuine Christians to take refuge in God, to think without being under the sway of inculcations, and to make their decision with their purest of conscience.

Science is anti-Darwinist, anti-atheist

2010-11-01T11:41:00.001-07:00

Science is anti-Darwinist, anti-atheist

SCIENCE IS THE ENEMY OF DARWINISM. SCIENCE IS AGAINST DARWINISM. SCIENCE IS ANTI-COMMUNIST, ANTI-MARXIST. SCIENCE DESTROYS THE MARXIST, ATHEIST AND DARWINISM THOUGHT. It is with science that the Darwinist deceit hascollapsed. It is science that has given the Darwinist propaganda the biggest blow. Science has defeated the evolutionist deceit that has been suggested to the masses for years. Science has destroyed the foundation of the atheist philosophy. Science anhiliates and destroys Darwinism wherever it goes, wherever it becomes a current issue and wherever it shows itself. Therefore, SCIENCE IS ANTI-PAGAN. Science eradicated pagan thoughts, superstitious religions, and false ideologies. Therefore, SCIENCE IS ONE OF THE GREATEST PAINS FOR DARWINISTS.Displaying darwinism as science is part of the ugly game that is being played around the world. The system of the anti-christ,which needs a new religion in order to eradicate the belief in Allah from the world (Allah is beyond that), identified the most effective method of hypnosis years ago through the use of science. The system of the anti-christhas realized that it can deceive people, reach the whole world and occupy the key posts in education systems by making use of science for its deception. Furthermoreit can realize all of its false pretences in the name of science. The mass hypnosis employed by the system of the anti-christ throughout the world has been extended in the name of science.

The science that is considered to be a friend has destroyed Darwinists

Darwinists did not think that science would cause them so much pain when they werefearlessly engaging in scientific deceits. They were shocked to see that science serves only religion. They were appalled when the greatest scientists in history declared their faith in Allah to the whole world. They tried to hold on to the fallacy of using science to decieve people, but they have lost their grip. They have lowered their voices helplessly. They have seen with their own eyes that science has suffocated and destroyed Darwinism, Marxism, communism, materialism and all other ideologies. Darwinists experienced their greatest defeat in the face of science. The science they considered to be a friend, has destroyed them.

One of the greatest truths that have come to the surface with the development of science in the 21st century is this: Science is for those who have faith in Allah. Science benefits sincere believers. Allah attracts attention to the mosquito (Surat al-Baqara, 26), the honey bee, (Surat an-Nahl, 68), stars that move on orbit (Surat adh-Dhariyat, 7), the ships that flow on water (Surat al-Hajj, 65) Allah draws attention to the leaves that turn to green (Surat al-An‘am, 59) and the seven layers of the sky (Surat al-Isra’, 44). Allah calls for believers to be careful about these signs leading to faith in the Qur’an. Human beings discover the depths of these systems only by science and research.

It is science, which informs us about how the mosquito places its pipe using the method of narcosis and the molecular structure of the material where that local narcosis takes place. The miracle of photosynthesis by green leaves, the physical laws of the waters that allow the ships to sail, and the huge celestial bodies hung in sky that never lose their balance (by Allah’s leave), are the facts that science shows us. Science proves everthing that is in the Qur’an. Therefore, a person who is able to think with his or her conscience and mind immediately understands the existence of Allah from a single example in the Qur’an. For this reason, even a single mosquito given as an example in the Qur’an is sufficient to have faith in our Almighty Lord. Allah reveals in His verses as follows:

Allah is not ashamed to make an example of a gnat or of an even smaller thing. As for those who believe, they know it is the truth from their Lord. But as for those who disbelieve, they say, ‘What does Allah mean by this example?’ He misguides many by it and guides many by it. But He only misguides the deviators. (Surat al-Baqara, 26)

Mankind! an example has been made, so listen to it carefully. Those whom you call upon besides Allah are not even able to create a single fly, even if they were to join together to do it. And if a fly steals something from them, they cannot get it back. How feeble are both the seeker and the sought! (Surat al-Hajj, 73)

Signs leading to faith are the gifts shown to us by science. Allah makes science an instrument to show us His Greatness, Might, and Power. He is Allah, the Lord of all things, Who created science and all that science discovers.

Darwinists are now in grave shock. Much to their suprise and astonishment, they have come to the realization that science is anti-pagan and anti-Darwinist. The shock has also been painful. This is the biggest pain that Darwinist have experienced for 150 years. The fact that those who understand science and who are involved with science have revolted againstDarwinism has increased this pain. The fact that science serves Islam has increased this pain. As such the Darwinists have announced aliens as saviors in their shame. This is the situation of the system of the anti-christ, which has kept people undermass hypnosis for 150 years.

Science exposes the existence of Almighty Allah through all of its branches. The 21st century will be the century of this discovery and the great Darwinist defeat.

You can read our article about science proving that not even a single protein can form by chance here.

You can read our article about science proving that there is not even a single transitional fossil here.

You can readthe information about the fact that 350 million fossils prove the fact of Creationhere.

source : http://us3.harunyahya.com/Detail/T/EDCRFV/productId/32738/SCIENCE_IS_ANTI-DARWINIST,_ANTI-ATHEIST

Freedom of Thought in Islam

2010-11-01T11:40:00.000-07:00

Freedom of Thought in Islam

The world we live in contains societies with all kinds of beliefs. Muslims living in such a world must be tolerant of all beliefs they come up against, no matter what they may be, and behave forgivingly, justly and humanely. This responsibility placed on believers is to invite people to the beauty of the religion of Allah by means of peace and tolerance.

Islam is a religion which provides and guarantees freedom of ideas, thought and life. It has issued commands to prevent and forbid tension, disputes, slander and even negative thinking among people. In the same way that it is determinedly opposed to terrorism and all acts of violence, it has also forbidden even the slightest ideological pressure to be put on them.

Forcing people to believe in a religion or to adopt its forms of belief is completely contrary to the essence and spirit of Islam. That is because according to Islam, true faith is only possible with free will and freedom of conscience. Of course, Muslims can advise and encourage each other about the features of Qur’anic morality. All believers are charged with explaining Qur’anic morality to people in the nicest manner possible. They will explain the beauties of religion in the light of the verse, “Call to the way of your Lord with wisdom and fair admonition...” (Surat an-Nahl, 125), however, they must also bear in mind the verse, “You are not responsible for their guidance, but Allah guides whoever He wills.” (Surat al-Baqara, 272)

They will never resort to compulsion, nor any kind of physical or psychological pressure. Neither will they use any worldly privilege to turn someone towards religion. When they receive a negative response to what they say, Muslims will reply along the lines of: “To you your religion, and to me, mine” (Surat al-Kafirun, 6)

The world we live in contains societies with all kinds of beliefs: Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, atheist, deist and even pagan. Muslims living in such a world must be tolerant of all beliefs they come up against, no matter what they may be, and behave forgivingly, justly and humanely. This responsibility placed on believers invites people to the beauty of the religion of Allah by means of peace and tolerance. The decision whether or not to implement these truths, whether or not to believe, lies with the other party. Forcing that person to believe, or trying to impose anything on him, is a violation of Qur’anic morality.

A model of society in which people are forced to worship is completely contradictory to Islam. Belief and worship are only of any value when they are directed to Allah by the free will of the individual. If a system imposes belief and worship on people, then they will become religious out of fear of that system. From the religious point of view, what really counts is that religion should be lived for Allah’s good pleasure in an environment where peoples’ consciences are totally free.

Allah Has Made The Killing Of Innocent People Unlawful

According to the Qur'an, one of the greatest sins is to kill a human being who has committed no fault:

...If someone kills another person - unless it is in retaliation for someone else or for causing corruption in the earth - it is as if he had murdered all mankind. And if anyone gives life to another person, it is as if he had given life to all mankind. Our Messengers came to them with Clear Signs but even after that many of them committed outrages in the earth. (Surat al-Ma'ida: 32)

As we can see in the verses above, those who kill innocent human beings without a cause are threatened with evil punishment. Allah has revealed that killing one person is as great a sin as killing all mankind. Anyone who respected the prerogatives of Allah would not do harm to even one individual, let alone murdering thousands of innocent people. Those who think that they will escape justice and punishment in this world will never escape the account they must give in the Presence of Allah on the Last Day. So, those believers who know they will give an account to Allah after their death, will be very careful about respecting the limits Allah has established.

Allah Commands Believers To Be Compassionate And Merciful

In this verse, Muslim morality is explained:

...To be one of those who believe and urge each other to steadfastness and urge each other to compassion. Those are the Companions of the Right. (Surat al-Balad: 17-18)

As we see in this verse, one of the most important moral precepts that Allah has sent down to His servants so that they may receive salvation and mercy and attain Paradise, is to "urge each other to compassion".

The true source of compassion is love of Allah. A person's love of Allah gives rise to his feeling love for the things He has created. Someone who loves Allah feels a direct link and closeness to the things He has created. This strong love and closeness he feels for the Lord, who created him and all mankind, leads him to display a pleasing morality, as commanded in the Qur'an. True compassion emerges as he lives by this morality.

This high level of morality that is demanded from believers, described in the Qur'an, stems from their deep love of Allah. Thanks to their devotion to Him, they scrupulously abide by the morality revealed by Him in the Qur'an. Believers never try to make people feel indebted because of the compassion they demonstrate and the help they offer people, and do not even expect to be thanked. Their true aim is to try to gain Allah's good pleasure by means of the morality they exhibit, because they know that they will be called to account for that morality on the Day of Judgement.

Allah Has Commanded Tolerance And Forgiveness

Surat al-A'raf, verse 199, which says "practice forgiveness", expresses the concept of forgiveness and tolerance which is one of the basic principles of the religion of Islam.

When we look at Islamic history, we can see clearly how Muslims established this important precept of the moral teaching of the Qur'an in their social life. At every point in their advance, Muslims destroyed unlawful practices and created a free and tolerant environment. In the areas of religion, language and culture, they made it possible for people totally opposite to each other to live under the same roof in freedom and peace, thereby giving to those subject to them the advantages of knowledge, wealth and position. Likewise, one of the most important reasons that the large and widespread Ottoman Empire was able to sustain its existence for so many centuries was that its way of life was directed by the tolerance and understanding brought by Islam. For centuries Muslims have been characterized by their tolerance and compassion. In every period of time they have been the most just and merciful of people. All ethnic groups within this multi-national community freely practiced the religions they have followed for years and enjoyed every opportunity to live in their own cultures and worship in their own way.

All this shows that the moral teaching offered to humanity by Islam is one that will bring peace, happiness and justice to the world. The barbarism that is happening in the world today under the name of "Islamic Terrorism" is completely removed from the moral teachings of the Qur'an; it is the work of ignorant, bigoted people, criminals who have nothing to do with religion. The solution which will applied against these individuals and groups who are trying to commit their deeds of savagery under the guise of Islam, will be the instruction of people in the true moral teaching of Islam.

In other words, the religion of Islam and the moral teaching of the Qur'an are not the supporters of terrorism and the terrorists, but the remedy by which the world can be saved from the scourge of terrorism.

Compassion in the Qur'an

2010-11-01T11:38:00.001-07:00

Compassion in the Qur'an

All Muslims must embrace the moderate, gentle, compassionate, calm and kind style Allah depicts in the Qur’an.

Radicalism means supporting sudden revolutionary destructive changes in any sphere and applying a strict uncompromising policy in order to achieve them. Radicals are characterised by their desire for revolutionary change and the stern, sometimes aggressive attitude they adopt.

In this, as in every sphere of life, the guide for the Muslim is the Qur'an. When we look at radicalism in the light of the Qur'an, we see that it has nothing to do with the way in which Allah commands the believers to behave. When Allah describes a believer in the Qur'an, He depicts him as a loving, soft-spoken person, shunning conflicts and arguments, approaching even the most hostile people with warmth and friendship.

Beautiful Examples from our Prophet (saas)

An example to guide us in this matter is the command given by Allah to Moses and Aaron to go to Pharaoh and speak gently to him:

Go to Pharaoh; he has overstepped the bounds. But speak to him with gentle words so that hopefully he will pay heed or show some fear. (Surah Ta Ha, 43-44)

Pharaoh was one of the most cruel and rebellious unbelievers of his time. He was a despot who denied Allah and worshipped idols; moreover, he subjected believers (the Israelites of the time) to terrible cruelties and murder. But Allah commanded His prophets to go to such a hostile man and speak to him gently.

You will notice that the way shown by Allah was the way of friendly dialogue, not the way of conflict with sharp words, angry slogans and agitated protests.

If we examine the Qur'an you will see that a warm, gentle and compassionate disposition characterized all the prophets. Allah describes Abraham as "tender-hearted and forbearing." (Surat at-Tawba, 114) and in another verse, the prophet Muhammad's moral principles are described in this way:

It is a mercy from Allah that you were gentle with them. If you had been rough or hard of heart, they would have scattered from around you. So pardon them and ask forgiveness for them, and consult with them about the matter. Then when you have reached a firm decision, put your trust in Allah . Allah loves those who put their trust in Him. (Sura Al’Imran, 159)

Compassion in Islam

An obvious characteristic of radicalism is its anger. This disposition can be clearly seen in the speeches, writings and demonstrations of radicals. However, anger is not an attribute of Muslims. When Allah describes believers in the Qur'an, he describes, "those who give in times of both ease and hardship, those who control their rage and pardon other people - Allah loves the good-doers" (Surah Al’Imran, 134)

Therefore, it is the duty of a Muslim only to explain the facts and to invite people to accept them. Whether or not people accept the invitation is completely up to their own conscience. Allah reveals this truth in the Qur'an when He says that there is no compulsion in religion.

There is no compulsion where deen is concerned. Right guidance has become clearly distinct from error...(Surat al-Baqara, 256)

Therefore, there is no coercion to make people believe and become Muslims, or to make Muslims perform prayers and beware of sin. There is only advice. Allah reveals in a few verses addressed to the Messenger of Allah that Muslims are not oppressors:

We know best what they say. You are not a dictator over them. So remind, with the Qur'an, whoever fears My Threat. (Surah Qaf, 45)

Muslims are responsible only for explaining their religion, they apply no pressure or coercion on anyone and are enjoined to speak gently to even the most tyrannical deniers. Such persons cannot be radicals,

The Behind the Scenes of Radicalism

There is no radicalism in the religion of Islam. Islam commands to be moderate, temperate and compassionate and prohibits extremism. In one verse Allah relates thus:

"Say: ‘People of the Book! Do not go to extremes in your religion, asserting other than the truth, and do not follow the whims and desires of people who were misguided previously and have misguided many others, and are far from the right way.’ (Surat al-Maida, 77)

When the social phenomena depicted as “radicalism” are examined, it will be seen that they are actually a compilation of the methods and statements formerly employed by communists.

Muslims must refrain from a harsh, angry, and challenging approach, for these are contrary to the Qur'an's method and essence. Instead, Muslims must adopt the accepting, moderate, calm, and rational approach described in the Qur'an. In other words, they must be role models for humanity and earn people's admiration for the morality of Islam and themselves. Muslims should also make great progress and produce superb works of science, culture, art, and aesthetics, as well as live Islam in the best way, and thus represent it to the world. (Harun Yahya, Justice and Compassion in the Qur’an)

source : http://us3.harunyahya.com/Detail/T/EDCRFV/productId/33079/COMPASSION_IN_THE_QUR_AN

The Prophet Jesus (pbuh) did not die, he was raised to God's Sight

2010-11-01T11:37:00.000-07:00

In our previous article, we explained that the Christians’ faith of crucifixion could not have been originated from the original Gospel which was revealed to the Prophet Jesus (pbuh). There are various Gospels which were written after the Prophet Jesus (pbuh). Each one of these Gospels depict the very same incident in a different way and each Book has many contradictions within itself. Only these two features provide enough evidence to be doubtful about the information conveyed in these books. Our Christian brothers are also aware that, apart from the existence of many true and righteous accounts in the Gospel, the parts in question which they claim to be divine revealations do not provide a common account; accordingly this state casts serious doubts over the accuracy of the information provided. These contradictory passages must make our Christian brothers adopt a more objective view about the issue, because the contradictions in question are not the kind of statements that can be explained away or denied. They are solid evidences sufficient enough to present the inaccuracy of the conservative belief that the current Gospel is of undistorted, precise pronouncements. Accordingly it is of great importance for our Christian brothers to pay attention to the evidence provided below. This aside, it is unacceptable that a piece of information conveying the so-called death of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) is considered as a righteous revelation revealed to the Prophet Jesus (pbuh):

In the Qur’an God expresseses certain information that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) did not die:

In the Qur’an God provides accurate information about the crucifixion of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh), which is described in the Gospel with contradictory and doubtful explanations. In the Qur’an, God makes it clear that SCHEMES MADE TOWARDS THE PROPHET JESUS (PBUH) ARE THWARTED AND THAT THEY CERTAINLY DID NOT KILL HİM:

and their saying, ‘We killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, Messenger of God.’ THEY DID NOT KILL HIM AND THEY DID NOT CRUCIFY HIM but it was made to seem so to them. Those who argue about him are in doubt about it. They have no real knowledge of it, just conjecture. BUT THEY CERTAINLY DID NOT KILL HIM. (Surat An-Nisa’, 157)

In the Qur’an, that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was not killed is stressed twice in the same verse and it is stated that those who advocate the belief that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was killed have no real knowledge of it. This is a very clear statement.

Someone resembling to the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was crucified:

In the same verse in the Qur’an God reveals, "They did not kill him and they did not crucify him but IT WAS MADE TO SEEM SO TO THEM.” (Surat an-Nisa’, 157), and informs us that the person who was crucified was another person who was resembling the Prophet Jesus (pbuh). The individual who was crucified instead of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was Judas Iscariot, who acted treacherously towards the Prophet Jesus (pbuh). As a great miracle, God made Judas Iscariot seem like the Prophet Jesus (pbuh). When they came to take the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) to crucify him, they took Judas Iscariot who was present there and crucified him. Besides, because Judas Iscariot’s face was covered with blood, people also did not understand that it was not the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) who was crucified. In the latter part of Surat an-Nisa’ 157, God relates, "They have no real knowledge of it, just conjecture." Indeed, in the Gospel, the words which are conveyed as the last words of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) ["Elohi, Elohi, lama sabachthani?" which means, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?"], is again a continuation of the same delusion and the expression of disbelief in question belong to Judas Iscariot, whose plot was thwarted and was crucified instead of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh). Indeed, it is obvious that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh), who was a servant of God who wholeheartedly submitted to God and loved Him, could not have told these words. One can only expect to hear such rebellious expressions from a hypocrite.

The disappearance of Judas Iscariot cccording to the Gospel:

Parallel to what is revealed by the verses of the Qur’an and these explanations also supported by various sources, there are passages in Gospel that may provide evidence that a disciple of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh), Judas Iscariot, was crucified instead of him. According to these passages we need to notice that just after the crucifixion Judas Iscariot disappeared. Various Gospel authors try to explain away this subject in many ways and have contradicted with one other. The contradictory explanations regarding the disappearance of Iscariot in the Gospel is as follows:

Early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people came to the decision to put Jesus to death. They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.

When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests and the elders. "I have sinned," he said, "for I have betrayed innocent blood." "What is that to us?" they replied. "That's your responsibility." So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself. (Matthew 27: 1-5)

In those days Peter stood up among the believers and said, "Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled ...through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus—he was one of our number and shared in this ministry."

With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. (Acts 1: 5-18)

Despite the fact that some explanations in the Gospel contradict with one another, there is consensus on the disappearance of Judas Iscariot just after the crucifixation. Judas Iscariot disappeared, because the one who was crucified and killed was Judas Iscariot. Judas Iscariot, who normally looked like the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) in the physical sense, was made to seem more like the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) as a miracle of God. Upon this, soldiers were mistaken and took him to the crucifix instead of The Prophet Jesus (pbuh). Just before this incident, by God’s command, the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was taken to the heavens by angels, into the Sight of God.

In the Qur’an God informs that the plot against the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was “thwarted”:

In the leadership of Judas Iscariot who was a hypocrite, unbelievers plotted against the Prophet Jesus (pbuh). The purpose of this plot was to kill the Prophet Jesus (pbuh). However, in the Qur’an God INFORMS US THAT THE PLOT AGAINST THE PROPHET JESUS (PBUH) WAS THWARTED. If, in one way, The Prophet Jesus (pbuh) died, this would mean unbelievers’ plot coming to a favorable end on their part, and this is impossible. THAT PLOT WAS THWARTED. THE PROPHET JESUS (PBUH), IN NO WAY, DIED AND WAS NOT MURDERED. God informs us about this fact in the Qur’an thus:

When Jesus sensed disbelief on their part, he said, ‘Who will be my helpers to God?’ The disciples said, ‘We are God's helpers. We believe in God. Bear witness that we are Muslims. Our Lord, we have faith in what You have sent down and have followed the Messenger, so write us down among the witnesses.’THEY PLOTTED AND GOD PLOTTED. BUT GOD IS THE BEST OF PLOTTERS. (Surah Al ‘Imran, 52-54)

If the plots of unbelievers succeeded, this would surely be related in the Qur’an. On the contrary, we know from the Qur’an that the plots against the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) came to nothing and that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was raised to the Sight of God.

You can read further information about the subject on this link.

It is a great blessing for sincere believers that a stealthy plot against The Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was thwarted:

Despite very clear evidence, those who insist on the claim that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was killed should think wisely and re-read the Qur’an with an open mind and and keep their mind free of any prejudices. The Prophet Jesus (pbuh) did not die; he was honorably raised to the heavens. For a sincere Christian, there is no meaning in being insistent upon the claim that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) was killed. For a Christian, it is a blessing to know and believe that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) did not die, that he was saved from the plots of unbelivers and that he is in our Lord’s Sight. Insistently turning one’s face from such glad tidings, not wanting the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) to be alive despite all these facts revealed is a strange attitude.

Some Christians claim that Muslims object the belief that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) is not alive, because they think it is unbecoming for a prophet to suffer. However Muslims believe in it simply because it is stated so in the Qur’an. The key point that deserves mention here is the following:

Surely God has tested Prophets with various affliction, hardships and trials. As a requisite of the trial in this world, God also granted temporary triumph to unbelievers. But God never lets His Prophets to be in a state that will, in the eyes of unbelievers, make them seem as if they were weak. Accordingly, such a state also holds true for the Prophet Jesus (pbuh). Believing that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) did not die is also good for Christians. Indeed, in the End Times when the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) will be sent back to earth, Christians will see that he has no scar on his palms or feet. In the End Times in which we live the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) will come back to earth with the clothes, belongings he had on 2000 years ago, and the money dating back to 2000 years. When these happen, Christians will be better convinced, Insha'Allah.

You can read further information about the subject on this link.

The delusion of redemption:

One of the main reasons why this claim – the so-called death of the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) - was subsequently introduced into the Gospel and has been since persistently upheld is to be able to lay the ground for another erronous viewpoint, that is, Redemption. This subject will be expanded on our next article. However we can briefly say that according to the Qur’an, it is impossible for a baby to be born as a sinner. Again according to the Qur’an, no one can take on another’s wrongdoing, and everyone will give an account of his deeds and every moment he spends in this life by himself. The contrary would be incompatible with God’s justice and the purpose of this life’s creation. Accordingly a life that is free of sins can by no means be valid in Christianity or any other religion. This claim was probably introduced to Christianity by various circles in order to put away with religious responsibilities in daily life and those that are brought by as the requisite of faith in God. In order to validate it, the circles in question had to spread the view that the Prophet Jesus (pbuh) had died. Sincere Christians need to see the inaccuracy of this belief.

source :http://us3.harunyahya.com/Detail/T/EDCRFV/productId/33218/THE_PROPHET_JESUS_%28PBUH%29_DID_NOT_DIE,_HE_WAS_RAISED_TO_GOD_S_SIGHT

Madinah City Profile

2010-11-01T09:08:00.000-07:00

Introduction

Al-Madinah Al-Munawarah is the second holy city to Muslims after Makkah Al-Mukkaramah. It has also got many other names such as Taibah, Yathrib, the City of the Messenger, and Dar Al-Hijri (i.e. Home of Immigration). It is the city whose people supported Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him) when he immigrated to it from Makkah. It comprises the Mosque of the Prophet, his grave, the Islamic University, King Fahd Complex for the Printing of the Holy Quran and many archaeological Islamic features. The first mosque of Islam is also located in Madinah and is known as Masjid Al Quba.

Madinah (Almadina Al-Munawara) the light city is the city of the Prophet Muhammad (saw) and also his burial place. It was the first Islamic City to support the Prophet Muhammad, and it joined him in fighting decisive battles which were instrumental in the victory of Islam and its subsequent spread. This is the city of the "Ansaar" (Supporters) and their brothers the "Muhajireen" (Emigrants), who together formed the first Islamic army which entered Makkah in triumph eight years after the Prophet's "Hijrah" (Migration). It was a city which loved the Prophet, and which he in turn loved. On its soil he built his sacred mosque, and it was here that he was buried.

Madinah was also the city of the "Khulfai Rashiduun" (Orthodox Caliphs of Islam), who shouldered the responsibility of Jihad, or holy struggle, fighting against renegades and propagating Islam in the countries surrounding the Arabian Peninsula. It was the seat of the first Islamic state, and witnessed the Prophet's companions administering the affairs of the Moslem community, compiling the Holy Koran, and dispatching armies to Persia, Syria and Egypt.

To visit Madinah is not a Hajj or Umrah rite, but the unique merits of the Prophet's city, his Mosque and his sacred tomb attract every pilgrim to visit it. There is neither Ihram nor talbiyah for the visit to Madinah or the Prophet's Mosque.

The Prophet had great love for this city. He once said that "There is a cure for every disease in the dust of Madinah" (Al-Targhib).

The Prophet himself participated in the construction of this mosque, called it "My Mosque" and led prayers in it for years. He has also said that a prayer performed in the Prophet's Mosque is better than a thousand prayers in any other place except Masjid Al-Haram in Makkah. It was also reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) has also said: "The person who offers 40 prayers consecutively in my Mosque, without missing a prayer in between, will secure immunity from the fire of Hell and other torments and also from hypocrisy."

Madinah has 95 names, including Taibah, Tabah, Qubbat Al-Islam, Al-Mu'mina, Al-Mubarakah, Al-Mukhtarah, Dar Al-Abrar, Dar Al-Sunnah, Dar Al-Akhyar, Dar Al-Fateh, Dhat Al-Hirar, Dhat Al-Nakhl, Al-Barrah and Al-Jaberah.

Geographic Location

Al Madinah Al Munawarah is located at Eastern Part of Al Hijaz Region in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on longitude (39 36 6) and Latitude (24 28 6).

Madinah is located in the north-western part of the Kingdom, to the east of the Red Sea, which lies only 250 km (155 miles) away from it. It is surrounded by a number of mountains: Al-Hujaj, or Pilgrims' Mountain to the West, Salaa to the north-west, Al-E'er or Caravan Mountain to the south and Uhad to the north Madinah is situated on a flat mountain plateau at the junction of the three valleys of Al-Aql, Al-Aqiq, and Al-Himdh. For this reason, there are large green areas amidst a dry mountainous region. The city is 620 meters (2034 ft) above sea level. Its western and southwestern parts have many volcanic rocks. Madinah lies at the meeting-point of longitude 39 36' east and latitude 24 28' north. It covers an area of about 50 square kilometers (19 square miles).

Al Madinah Al Munawwarah is a desert oasis surrounded with mountains and stony areas from all sides. It was mentioned in several references and sources. It was known as Yatrib in Writings of ancient Maeniand, this is obvious evidence that the population structure of this desert oasis is a combination of north Arabs and South Arabs, who settled there and built their civilization during the thousand years before Christ.

Geographical Features of Al Madinah

Natural conditions have donated Al Madinah several features that made the city more important, water supplies in Al Madinah are abundant, its land is fertile with high and abundant productivity, there are natural roads and paths that link Al Madinah with Najid Tuhamah and Al Hijaz, in addition to the old trade road between south, north and east which made the city a center of important trade markers.

Geological Structure

Geographical environment of Al Madinah consists of basalt and indesite rocks or metamorphosed schisr or granite rocks, which are traversed by a group of valleys that fall from the high mountains. The geological history of the area, with respect to its history and structure is related to the same history of Al Hijaz ridge.

Terrain

The land of Al Madinah Al Munawwarah is fertile volcanic hill that inclines towards North direction. It is (597-639 Meters) above sea level. Al Madinah Al Munawwarah was a group of green oasis before the advancement of building; especially in the area form kaaba to the Eastern Stony area. Borders

	From the North: Uhod Mountain
	From the South West: A group of Basaltic Stony areas

Climate

The area has a hot, continental climate. The climate is affected by the Mediterranean in the north and by the seasonal climate in the south. The temperature ranges between 36-45 degrees celsius during the summer months and between 15- 20 degrees Celsius during winter.

Little rain falls in this area with an average of only 94mm. When rain does fall it is generally in November and January.

There is low humidity most of the year, with an average of 22% that increases with rainfall to 35%. During summer the humidity rarely rises above 14%.

Southwesterly winds usually blow in the area. They are mostly hot and dry. The average speed of the wind is 5 - 8 knots per hour, which is considered to be quite strong.

Weather

The average temperature in summer is 30ْ C and from May to September it may reach 46ْ C.

The Lowest average temperature is in January, as it is 15ْ C.

Humidity

Humidity in Al Madinah Al Munaearah is considered among areas with the least degrees of humidity, where the average humidity is 22 degrees that rises in winter.

Rains

Quantity of rain in Al Madinah varies from of the year to another, it usually ranges from 0.70 MM to 4.0 MM Rains fall in winter, and in spring there are scattered showers.

Winds

Westerly from March to July and Easterly from November to February.

Velocity of the winds range from 5 to 8 knots through the year.

Topography of Al Madinah The topographic characteristics of the city, which are represented in four main parts:

	Mountains Which surrounds the Oasis from all directions the most important are Uhod Mountain and Aseer Mountain.
	Stony Areas Which link the mountains and the Oasis, Waqim stony area at east direction, Al Bourah stony area at west and Shouran stony area at south.
	Valleys A group of valleys fall from the mountains and traverse the oasis. They run towards the north east until they meet at Zugabah. The most important of which are Al Ageeg Canal, Batthan, Abu Jeedah (Zanotah), Muzeneb and Mahzouz.
	Underground Water Al Madinah like other cities of Al Hijaz is of limited water resources where the natural water resources can not fulfill the increased requirements of the inhabitants.

Water Desalination stations at Yanbu, are the main source of fresh water for inhabitants and visitors of the holy places in Al Madinah.

THE HISTORY OF THE MADINAH

Al Madinah Al Munawwarah before the Prophetic Hijrah

Sources and references agree that Al Madinah before the Prophetic emigration was not an integrated urbanized city from either the population structure point of view or architectural point of view. The first inhabitation in the area was by Yathrib Bin Mahlaeil, the Amaliqide, whose pedigree is tracked back to Shem son of Noah, as mentioned by Al Zajahi. The first aggregation was in Adham area as mentioned in Wafa Al Wafa, which the area is known by the name Al Uyun (springs). As this area is a fertile land with abundant water, vegetables and fruits, it became a center of attraction for the emigrants from the neighboring areas. About 455 B.C. some Arabic tribes from the North had emigrated to Al Madinah. Al Madinah was mentioned in the Maeinian inscriptions, books of Ptolemaists and Geography of Byzantines especially the books of Ptolemy as it was also mentioned In the Holy Quran.

It is shown from what have been mentioned in historical sources that Al Madinah before Al Hijrah was a group of small residential communities with no tie, specially after the arrival of the Jewish settlers and their dependence on special communities, their Monopoly of gold trade, building of trade markets, building of forts and residential communities around the forts, as mentioned in the book of "Wafa Al Wafa".

On Monday, 8th Rabia I, corresponding to 20th September of the year 622 A.D. the Messenger arrived at Al Madinah, and people welcomed him with songs.

That was a distinct day in the history of Al Madinah, when the noble Messenger familiarized between the hated hearts and fraternized between Emigrants and supporters, and he built his Mosque, which became the center of the Capital of Islamic State, and the Center of command for the armies of conquest.

Since then, the residential communities changed into an urbanized residential unit. The Mosque was the first unit in the Islamic Urbanization structure; hence, the Holy Prophetic Mosque has become the center of Al Madinah Al Munawarah.

Al Madinah in the First Period of Islam

Epoch of the Noble Messenger and the Orthodox Caliphs (1h-40h)

In 17th Rabbia I of the first year of Al Hijrah, corresponding the year 14 of the blessed prophetic revival, and corresponding to 24th December of the year 622 A.D. the Messenger of Allah,( peace of Allah be upon him ) arrived of Al Madinah with his companion Abu Bakr Al Sideeq, may Allah be pleased with him.

Since that history, Al Madinah [Taybah] [Dar Al HijrahJ has become the center of Islamic radiation and the first capital of the Islamic world. Messenger had spent, and during eleven years that the Messenger had spent in Al Madinah before his demise, Islam spread in the Arabian Peninsula, and Allah (the Most High) completed his grace to his noble Messenger with the great conquest of Makkah Al Mukarramah. Then the Messenger, Peace of Allah be upon him, completed his message in the pilgrimage of farewell, and in Arafah Day, Allah (the Most High) said:" Surah Al Ma'idah (3):

(This day I have perfected your religion for you, completed my favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.

And the Messenger, Peace of Allah be upon him, said in Khutbah Al Wadaa (farewell ceremony), "Learn your rituals from me, because I may not meet you after this year.

Al Mustafa Al Mukhtar demised on Monday, l2th Rabia of the year 11 H. Muslims forwarded by Omar Bin Al Khatab made the pledge of allegiance to Abu Bakr Al Sideeq, may Allah be pleased with him, as he was the second person with the Messenger in the cave, he is the father of the Messenger's wife, and he is the first one that the Messenger ( Peace of Allah be upon him ) deputized to lead people in performing of the prayer during the illness of the Messenger Sayyidna Abu Bakr Al Sideeq, may Allah be pleased with him, made great works that no one else could have done, and in two years, in which he was the caliph, the Islamic state managed to control who tried to dissident and managed to establish the bases of Islam. Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, demised after he had appointed the great companion, Sayyidna Abu Bakr was hurried near the Messenger, Peace of Allah be upon him, in the house of Al Sayeeda Aishah Bint Abu Bakar, may Allah be pleased with them all.

Sayyidina Omer Bin Al Khatab, may Allah be pleased with him, became the caliph in 22nd Jumada of the year 13 of Al-Hijrah, Sayyidina Omar is the one that the Messenger (Peace of Allah be upon him) said about him. "I have never seen a genius doing an unprecedented things such as Omar do". And he also said "If Omar followed a road, the devil would follow another road" and he is the companion that the Holy Quran approved his opinion in several circumstances such as Badr's captives prohibition of wine, and veil of women.

Messenger of Allah married his daughter, when the Messenger, Peace of Allah be upon him, asked Allah to support Islam with one of the two Omar, it was Omar Bin Al Khatab. He was the first one in Islam who was called the Emir of believers (Ameer Al Moomineen), he has made the prophetic Hijrah the beginning of the Islamic calendar, and he is the one that Allah inspired him in "O Sarriah, the mountain, the mountain". Sayyidna Omar established the administrative and organizational structure of the Islamic state, he established the mail, he founded the bureaus, and the Islamic conquests extended under his rule. His rule in Al Madinah Al Munawarah continued until Zu Al Hija of the year 23 H, when he martyrized by a stab with a poisoned dagger from Abu Luluah Al Majusi, this was the interpretation of the dream that he had seen as a read cock. He was buried near his two friends in Aishah's house, may Allah be pleased with them.

The great companions of the emigrants and supporters met and agreed upon choosing Sayyidna Othman Bin Affan, companion of the Messenger, the one who married two of the Messenger's daughter, one of ten who are announced with paradise, the owner of Roumah well, the one that his trade was with Allah (the Most High), and the one who equipped Al Usra Army.

The great companion proceeded the great deeds which were started by Sayyidna Omar (May Allah be pleased with him) and he built the first military marine fleet in the Islamic state with which he invaded Europe in the Mediterranean Sea. Sayyidna Othman transferred Makkah Al Mukarramah seaport from Al Suhaiba to Jeddah.

With the extension of conquests, Sayyidna Othman found that the companions of the Messenger, (Peace of Allah be upon him) had dispersed in the conquest areas, and some of them had martyrized, and he was afraid that the Holy Quran might be lost. Accordingly, he had accomplished he most important and the greatest project, which was the gathering of the verses of Holy Quran that were kept in the hearts of men, the readers of the Messenger, (Peace of Allah be upon him).

The abstinent caliph demised in Zulhijjah of the year 35 H and he was buried in Baqeea of Al Garqad, (May Allah be pleased with him).

After the demise of Sayyidna Othman Bin Afan, Muslims agreed to Make pledge of allegiance to Sayyidna Ali Bin Abu Talib, may Allah honor him, as he is the cousin of the Messenger and the husband of his daughter, who sacrificed himself for the Messenger ( Peace of Allah be upon him ) in the night of his Hijrah from Makkah to Al Madinah Al Munawwarah, he is one of the first who believed in Mohammed and he was the first young man who believed in Mohammed, (Peace of Allah be upon him), he was one of the swords of Allah that supported the Prophet by the help of Allah, he had never bowed for an idol, he had never seen his genitals, and he is the husband of Fatima Al Zahara, daughter of the Messenger ( Peace of Allah be upon him ) and the father of Al Hassan and Al Hussain, the supreme of young men paradise people. He became the caliph in l7th of Zulhijjah of the year 35 of Al Hijrah.

Sayyidna Ali, may Allah be pleased with him and horror him, completed the establishment of the bases of the Islamic state. The Islamic scale began to be the subject of conspiracies of the enemies, accordingly, he commanded his armies in the third year of Al Hijrah and left Al Madinah as a fighter for the sake of Allah after he had deputized Sahl Bin Haneef in the year 37H and Abu Ayoub Al Ansari in the year 40H, and he martyrized in the 40 of Al Hijrah.

Principality of Almadinah Al Manawaraha

From the Ommiad Epoch, to the Saudi Epoch

After the establishment of the Ommaid state in Damascus under the Leadership of Muawiyah Bin Abi Sufiyan in the year 40 H, the center of the Islamic Caliphate transferred from Al Madinah to Damascus but Al Madinah preserved its importance and its position in the sentiment of the Islamic society. Khalifas, Kings and Sultans did their best to appoint Amirs for Al Madinah in order to and administer its affairs. The glorious Sandi epoch arrived when Al Madinah surrendered in 19.5.1344 H, and Prince Mohammed Bin Abdul Aziz received in Madinah from the Commander of the military garrison of Al Madinah.

Since the first day l9th Jumada 1 of the year 1344, the city of Messenger ( Peace of Allah be upon him) had gained the attention of the founder, King Abudl Aziz Bin Abdul Rahman Al Saud, the king of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and his sons after him. The city began to accompany the movement of development in this big entity.

THE PROPHETIC HOLY MOSQUE

When the Messenger, Peace of Allah be upon him, migrated to Al Madinah, he stayed in Kaaba for some days, then he directed to Al Madinah, and when he entered Al Madinah, he left his she-camel to kneel were Allah wished. Where the she-camel had knelt, the Messenger, Peace of Allah be upon him. Wanted to build a Mosque on that piece of Land so, he bought an area which was owned by two orphans, Sahl and Suhail, sons of Rafia Bin Umro. He paid ten Dinars for the areas from the money of Abu Bakr Al Sideeq. The site of the Mosque was occupied by Palm trees, ruins and graves, so the Messenger, Peace of Allah be upon him, ordered to transfer the graves, palm trees were cut, and the bases of the Mosque were built to height of one fathom. At the beginning, there was no roof, and then it was roofed by Palm stumps and shaded with Palm branches. After that they smoothed it with mud and they white washed it. Also, they made a court in its center, while the Kiblah Direction was towards Jerusalem, and three doors were opened. When the Kiblah was changed to Al Kaaba, the position of Al Qiblah in the Mosque has changed, and some doors were closed. The area of the Mosque was 1050 Square Meters, as its Length was 35 Meters and its width was 30 meters.

In the year seven of Al Hijrah, after Khaibar, The Prophet Peace of Allah be upon him, in- creased the area from east and west Directions, so the area became 2,500 Square Meters, and the shape became a Square with side Length of 50 Meters.

In the year 29 H, Othman Bin Affan may Allah be pleased with him, increased the area of the Mosque about 5 Meters to the South, 15 Meters to the North and 10 Meters to the East , and the area became 4,200 Square Meters. Omer built the Mosque with Sun-dried bricks, and made its columns of wood.

In the year 29 H, Othman Bin Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, renewed the building of the Mosque, and he added a riwaq at north, west, and south directions of area 496 square meters. Sayyidna Othman built the Mosque with inscribed stones and plaster, he made the columns of hallow stones and he put iron bars inside the stones and tilled it with brass. He made the roof sink.

In the year 88 H, Al Waleed Bin Malik ordered Omer Bin Abdul Aziz, Emir of Al Madinah, to renew the Mosque. Omer Bin Abdul Aziz, renewed the Mosque and he included the rooms of wives of Messenger Peace of Allah be upon him. He added 2,369 Square Meters at east, west and north, and built it with stones filled with iron and brass, he made the mosaic and marble and he roofed.

In the year 161 H, The Abbaside Al Mahdi increased the area of the Mosque 2,450 Square Meters. He completed his work in 165 H.

Al Mutasim renewed the Mosque when it was burned in the year 655 H. The work completed in the epoch of Al Zahir Baibers the Bandaqdari.

King Al Nasir Mohammed Bin Oalaoun renewed the roof to the east and west of the court, and added two Riwaqs to the south of the court, in the year 705 H and 706 H and 729 H.

In the year 879 H, King Oaiytby achieved an important restoration in the Mosque which included some roofs, columns, and he added 120 Square Meters at southeast direction.

In the night of l3th of Ramadan, 886 H, a thunderbolt hit the big minaret, and it transferred to the roof and destroyed it. Al Ashraf Oaiyt by sent Emir Sungur Al Jamali to Al Madinah in order to restore the Mosque. Sungur Al Jamali brought with him the necessary workers and equipments, and restored the Mosque. They added 1672 Square Meters at the eastern direction. King Qaiytby spent about 60,000 Egyptian Pounds for this restoration.

Sultan Saleem renewed the entire western wall from Al Rahma Gate to the Sulaimanic Minaret in the year 974 H, as indicated from the engraving at the inside face of the wall near Al Rahma Gate. He also built the Sulaimanic Mihrab in 938 H and the Prophetic Mihrab, as indicated from the shape of the later.

In the year 980, Sultan Saleem II restored the Mosque and built Mihrab to the west of the Prophetic Mihrab at the edge of the original Mosque towards Al Kiblah direction.

In the year 1265 H, Sultan Abdul Majeed Bin Murad, the Ottoman, ordered to restore the Mosque completely except the cabinet and some walls of tight bases. Old columns were replaced with better ones, northern and eastern riwaq were enlarged and made two instead of three, and the western riwaqs were made three instead of four. After that, two riwaqs were added at the Kiblah direction next to the courtyard of the Mosque. Some other items were added, and restoration completed in 1277 H in twelve years. Total cost was 750,000 Majeedi Ponds. The total area of the Mosque became four acres (12,600 Square Meters).

In the year 980, Sultan Saleem II restored the Mosque and built a second mihrab to the west of the original.

In the year 1265 the sultan Adul Majeed bin Murad ordered the restoration of the complete mosque as well as adding extra features.

In the year, 1336 H, Fakhri Basha repaired the Prophetic and Sulaimanic Mihrabs.

On Friday 11th Ramadan, 1370 H corresponding to l5TH June, 1950 A.D. King Abdul Aziz Bin Abdul Rahman A1 Saud issued an order to accomplish a complete restoration to the Prophetic Holy Mosque and to expand it. Execution started in l0th July, 1951. Houses surrounding the Mosque were purchased for 115,000 Golden Ponds and removed. Foundation stone was laid in Rabia I, 1372 H, corresponding to November, 1952 A. D. work was completed in 6th Rabia I, 1375, corresponding to 22 TH October, 1955 A.D. Expenses were Fifty Millions of Saudi Riyals. The total area of the Mosque is 16327 Square Meters, 4056 Square Meters of it is an old Ottomanic building, and12271 Square Meters is a Modern Saudi Building.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahad Bin Abdul Aziz ordered to expand the Prophetic Hoty Mosques, and the work is continuing until now.

HE King Fahd's Expansion of the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah

he expansion and development plans formulated by King Fahd for the Prophet's Mosque in the Holy City of Madinah were as ambitious as those for the Holy Mosque in Makkah.

Work on the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah was launched by King Fahd in 1985 (1405/06 AH) and the Mosque can now accommodate in excess of one million worshippers at the busiest times.

A unique feature of the expansion project was the development of the 27 main plazas. Each plaza is now capped by a state-of-the-art sliding dome, which can be rapidly opened or closed according to the weather and can be used in unison or separately as required. Elaborately carved stone friezes decorate the domes, and the plazas have been paved in decorative geometrically patterned marble tiles. The project also necessitated the building of six additional minarets, each 105-meter construction crowned with a 4 ton gold-plated crescent.

The development of the surrounding open areas and the seven newly constructed entrances ensure the smooth passage of pilgrims into the Prophet's Mosque. Indeed, the designers of the entire project have masterfully considered every eventuality of the existing and future capacity of the Mosque, and all this within the constraints of the existing architectural pattern. The building extensions have therefore been fitted out with a suitable number of staircases and escalators. The designers have added an extension to the roof area for praying purposes, whilst also allowing for the possibility of adding another floor to accommodate worshippers in the future.

Like the splendidly redeveloped Holy Mosque in the Holy City of Makkah, the Prophet's Mosque is now fully air-conditioned. The comfort of worshippers has been further enhanced, however, by the unique and ingeniously conceived shading system. Twelve enormous mechanically operated Teflon umbrellas, six in each court of the Mosque, have been developed by King Fahd's architects to protect pilgrims and help them withstand the high temperatures.

The Prophet's Mosque project also includes provision of extensive car parking facilities and the construction of a new dual carriageway, the Bab Al-salam Road, linking Madinat-Al-hujjaj on the western side of the Holy City of Madinah to the site of the Mosque. A labyrinth of service tunnels, drainage systems and supply networks also now criss-crosses the area. In fact, the magnitude of support services made it necessary to construct a vast basement complex in which to accommodate the service equipment and wiring needs, as well as various other maintenance works.

The reconstructed main gate leading into the Mosque site, the new King Fahad entrance, is situated on the northern side, and is topped with a profusion of domes and minarets on both sides. The exquisite decorations and architectural touches here and elsewhere are in complete harmony with earlier building work on the site, and they feature wonderfully crafted golden grilles, cornices, pillars, brass doors and marble works, as well as special ornately carved pigeon holes for the Holy Quran.

The kingdom

2010-11-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

Storyline

After a terrorist attack to an American housing compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where families and the spy Francis Manner are murdered, FBI agent Ronald Fleury blackmails the South Arabian consul to get five days of investigation in the location. He travels with agent Grant Sykes, Janet Mayes and Adam Leavitt to revenge their friend and try to find the responsible for the bombing. The agents find all sorts of difficulties in their investigation, but they are supported by Colonel Faris Al Ghazi that advises the team how to act in a hostile environment. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Arab citizens of Israel

2010-11-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Arab citizens of Israel^[2] is a phrase used to refer to the legal Israeli citizens or residents whose cultural and linguistic heritage or ethnic identity is Arab.^[3]

The traditional and current vernacular of Arab citizens, irrespective of religion, is the Arabic language, or more precisely, the Palestinian dialect of Arabic. Most Arab citizens of Israel are functionally bilingual, their second language being Modern Hebrew. By religious affiliation, most are Muslim, particularly of the Sunni branch of Islam. There is a significant Arab Christian minority from various denominations, as well as Druze, among other religious communities. Jews of Arab extraction are not considered to form part of this population.

As of 2008, Arab citizens of Israel comprise just over 20% of the country's total population. The majority of these identify themselves as Arab or Palestinian by nationality and Israeli by citizenship.^[3]^[4]^[5] Many have family ties to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, as well as to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon. Negev Bedouins tend to identify more as Israelis than other Arab citizens of Israel.^[6] Unlike other Arabs, the Druze are conscripted into the Israel Defense Forces.^[7]^[8]

Special cases include Arabs living in East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights, administered by Israel since the Six-Day War of 1967. The residents of East Jerusalem became permanent residents of Israel shortly after the war. Only a few of them accepted Israeli citizenship, and most of them keep close ties with the West Bank. They are allowed to vote for municipal services.^[9] The mostly Druze residents of the Golan Heights are considered permanent residents under the Golan Heights Law of 1981. The vast majority have refused to accept full Israeli citizenship, choosing to retain their Syrian citizenship and identity.^[10]

1948 Arab-Israeli War

Most Israelis refer to the 1948 Arab-Israeli War as the War of Independence, while most Arab citizens refer to it as the Nakba (catastrophe), a reflection of differences in perception of the purpose and outcomes of the war.^[15]^[16]
In the aftermath of the 1948 war, British Mandate of Palestine was de facto divided into three parts: the State of Israel, the Jordanian-held West Bank, and the Egyptian-held Gaza Strip. (Jordan had been separated from the mandatory area several years earlier.) Of the estimated 950,000 Arabs that lived in the territory that became Israel before the war,^[11] over 80% left. While it is disputed how many fled or were expelled; some 156,000 remained.^[17] Benny Morris says

Most of Palestine's 700,000 "refugees" fled their homes because of the flail of war (and in the expectation that they would shortly return to their homes on the backs of victorious Arab invaders). But it is also true that there were several dozen sites, including Lydda and Ramla, from which Arab communities were expelled by Jewish troops.^[18]

Arab citizens of Israel are largely composed of these people and their descendants. Others include some from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank who procured Israeli citizenship under family-unification provisions that were recently made significantly more stringent.^[19]
Arabs who left their homes during the period of armed conflict, but remained in what had become Israeli territory, were considered to be "present absentees". In some cases, they were refused permission to return to their homes, which were expropriated and turned over to state ownership, as was the property of other Palestinian refugees.^[20]^[21] Some 274,000, or 1 of every 4 Arab citizens of Israel are "present absentees" or internally displaced Palestinians.^[22]^[23] Notable cases of "present absentees" include the residents of Saffuriyya and the Galilee villages of Kafr Bir'im and Iqrit.^[24]

[edit] 1949–1966

Seif el-Din el-Zubi, member of the first Knesset

While most Arabs remaining in Israel were granted citizenship, they were subject to martial law in the early years of the state.^[25]^[26] Travel permits, curfews, administrative detentions, and expulsions were part of life until 1966. A variety of legal measures facilitated the transfer of land abandoned by Arabs to state ownership. These included the Absentee Property Law of 1950 which allowed the state to take control of land belonging to land owners who emigrated to other countries, and the Land Acquisition Law of 1953 which authorized the Ministry of Finance to transfer expropriated land to the state. Other common legal expedients included the use of emergency regulations to declare land belonging to Arab citizens a closed military zone, followed by the use of Ottoman legislation on abandoned land to take control of the land.^[27]
Arabs that held Israeli citizenship were entitled to vote for the Israeli Knesset. Arabic Knesset members have served in office since the First Knesset. The first Arab Knesset members were Amin-Salim Jarjora and Seif el-Din el-Zoubi which were members of the Democratic List of Nazareth party and Tawfik Toubi member of the Maki party.
In 1965 a radical independent Arab group called al-Ard forming the Arab Socialist List tried to run for Knesset elections. The list was banned by the Israeli Central Elections Committee.^[28]
In 1966, martial law was lifted completely, and the government set about dismantling most of the discriminatory laws, while Arab citizens were granted the same rights as Jewish citizens under law.^[29]

[edit] 1967–2000

A monument for the residents of Arraba whom were killed during the Arab-Israeli conflict located at the Arab village of Arraba in the Galilee

15 April 2010: The residents of Shfaram protest in front of the court in Haifa against the prosecution of the suspects in the killing of Eden Natan-Zada. Palestinian flags have become a growing phenomenon in the demonstrations of the Arab citizens of Israel in the first decade of the 21st century.

The Six Day War marked a dramatic turning point in the lives of Israel's Arab citizens. For the first time since Israel's establishment, Arab citizens had contact with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. This along with the lifting of military rule, led to increased political activism among Arab citizens.^[30]^[31]
In 1974, a committee of Arab mayors and municipal councilmen was established which played an important role in representing the community and pressuring the Israeli government.^[32] This was followed in 1975 by the formation of the Committee for the Defense of the Land, which sought to prevent continuing land expropriations.^[33] That same year, a political breakthrough took place with the election of Arab poet Tawfiq Ziad, a Maki member, as mayor of Nazareth, accompanied by a strong communist presence in the town council.^[34] In 1976, six Arab citizens of Israel were killed by Israeli security forces at a protest against land expropriations and house demolitions. The date of the protest, 30 March, has since been commemorated annually as Land Day.
The 1980s saw the birth of the Islamic Movement. As part of a larger trend in the Arab World, the Islamic Movement emphasized moving Islam into the political realm. The Islamic movement built schools, provided other essential social services, constructed mosques, and encouraged prayer and conservative Islamic dress. The Islamic Movement began to have an impact on electoral politics particularly at the local level.^[35]
Many Arab citizens supported the First Intifada and assisted Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, providing them with money, food, and clothes. A number of strikes were also held by Arab citizens in solidarity with Palestinians in the occupied territories.^[35]
The years leading up to the Oslo Accords were a time of optimism for Arab citizens. During the administration of Yitzhak Rabin, Arab parties played an important role in the formation of a governing coalition. Increased participation of Arab citizens was also seen at the civil society level. However, tension continued to exist with many Arabs calling for Israel to become a "state of all its citizens", thereby challenging the state's Jewish identity. During the 1999 elections for Prime Minister, 94% of the Arab electorate voted for Ehud Barak. However, Barak formed a broad left-right-center government without consulting the Arab parties, disappointing the Arab community.^[30]

[edit] 2000–present

Tensions between Arabs and the state rose in October 2000 when 12 Arab citizens and one man from Gaza were killed while protesting the government's response to the Second Intifada. In response to this incident, the government established the Or Commission. The events of October 2000 caused many Arabs to question the nature of their Israeli citizenship. To a large extent, they boycotted the 2001 Israeli Elections as a means of protest.^[30] Ironically, this boycott helped Ariel Sharon defeat Ehud Barak. In 1999 elections, more than 90 percent of Israel's Arab minority had voted for Ehud Barak.^[36] IDF enlistment by Bedouin citizens of Israel dropped significantly.^[37]
During the 2006 Lebanon War, Arab advocacy organizations complained that the Israeli government had invested time and effort to protect Jewish citizens from Hezbollah attacks, but had neglected Arab citizens. They pointed to a dearth of bomb shelters in Arab towns and villages and a lack of basic emergency information in Arabic.^[38] Many Israeli Jews viewed the Arab opposition to government policy and sympathy with the Lebanese as a sign of disloyalty.^[39]
In October 2006, tensions rose when Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert invited a right-wing political party Yisrael Beiteinu, to join his coalition government. The party leader, Avigdor Lieberman, advocated the transfer of heavily populated Arab areas (such as Umm al-Fahm) to the Palestinian Authority as part of a peace proposal.^[40]
In January 2007 the first non-Druze Arab minister in Israel's history, Raleb Majadele, was appointed minister without portfolio (Salah Tarif, a Druze, had been appointed a minister without portfolio in 2001). The appointment was criticized by the left, which felt it was an attempt to cover up the Labor Party's decision to sit with Yisrael Beiteinu in the government, and by the right, who saw it as a threat to Israel's status as a Jewish state.^[41]^[42]

[edit] Ethnic and religious groupings

Religious groups

Muslim			82%
Christian			9%
Druze			9%

In 2006, the official number of Arab residents in Israel - including East Jerusalem permanent residents many of whom are not citizens - was 1,413,500 people, about 20% of Israel’s population.^[43] According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (May 2003), Muslims, including Bedouins, make up 82% of the entire Arab population in Israel, with around 9% Druze, and 9% Christians.^[44]
The national language and mother tongue of Arab citizens, including the Druze, is Arabic and the colloquial spoken language is of the Palestinian Arabic dialect. Knowledge and command of Modern Standard Arabic varies.^[45]

[edit] Muslims

Birth Rate (Children per woman)

Muslim Israeli Arabs			4.0
Israeli Jews			2.7

Outside of the Bedouin population, traditionally settled communities of Muslim Arabs comprise about 70% of the Arab population in Israel.
Muslims in Israel have the highest birthrate of any group: 4.0 children per woman, as opposed to 2.7 for Jewish Israelis, a natural reproduction rate of 3% compared to 1.5%.^[46] Around 25% of the children in Israel today were born to Muslim parents. The Muslim population is mostly young: 42% of Muslims are children under the age of 15, compared with 26% of the Jewish population. The median age of Muslim Israelis is 18, while the median age of Jewish Israelis is 30. The percentage of people over 65 is less than 3% for Muslims, compared with 12% for the Jewish population.^[44] According to forecasts, the Muslim population will grow to over 2,000,000 people, or 24-26% of the population within the next 15 years. They will also comprise 85% of the Arab population in Israeli in 2020 (up 3% from 2005).^[47] See the section on Demographics for more on this issue.

[edit] Bedouin

Traditional Bedouin camel race in the northern Negev near Arad, Israel

Rahat, the largest Bedouin city in the Negev

According to the Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel, 110,000 Bedouins live in the Negev, 50,000 in the Galilee, and 10,000 in the central region of Israel.^[48]
The term "Bedouin" ("Badawi" or "Baddu" in Arabic) defines a range of nomadic desert-dwelling ethnic groups spanning from the western Sahara desert to the Nejd desert including one of its arms, the Negev ("Naqab" in Arabic). Through the latter half of the 19th century, the traditionally pastoral nomadic Bedouin in Palestine began transitioning to a semi-nomadic pastoral agricultural community, with an emphasis on agricultural production and the privatization of tribal lands.^[49] Although the Bedouin in Israel continue to be perceived as nomads, today all of them are fully sedentarized, and about half are urbanites.^[50]
Prior to the establishment of Israel in 1948, there were an estimated 65,000-90,000 Bedouin living in the Negev.^[49] The 11,000 who remained were relocated by the Israeli government in the 1950s and 1960s to an area called the siyag ("enclosure" or, "fence") made up of relatively infertile land in the northeastern Negev comprising 10% of the Negev desert.^[49] Negev Bedouins, like the rest of the Arab population in Israel, lived under military rule up to 1966, after which restrictions were lifted and they were free to move outside the siyag as well. However, even after 1966 they were not free to reside outside of the siyag; they came to reside within 2% of the Negev^[51] and never returned to their former range.
The Israeli government encourages Bedouin to settle as permanent residents in these development towns. Around half the Bedouin population lives in seven towns built for them by the Israeli government between 1979 and 1982. The largest Bedouin locality in Israel is the city of Rahat. Other towns include Ar'arat an-Naqab (Ar'ara BaNegev), Bir Hadaj, Hura, Kuseife, Lakiya, Shaqib al-Salam (Segev Shalom) and Tel as-Sabi (Tel Sheva).
Approximately 40%-50% of Bedouin citizens of Israel live in 39-45 Unrecognized bedouin villages.^[52]^[53] The unrecognised villages are ineligible for municipal services such as connection to the electrical grid, water mains or trash-pickup.^[52] The unrecognized villages are not precisely marked on commercial maps.

[edit] Druze

Main article: Israeli Druze

Druze commander of the IDF Herev battalion

The Druze are members of a sect residing in many countries, although predominantly in mountainous regions in Israel, Lebanon, and Syria. Druze in Israel live mainly in the north, notably in Carmel City, near Haifa. There are also Druze localities in the Golan Heights, such as Majdal Shams, which were captured in 1967 from Syria and annexed to Israel in 1981.
It is in keeping with Druze religious practice to always serve the country in which they live.^[54] So while the Druze population in Israel are Arabic speakers like their counterparts in Syria and Lebanon, they often consider themselves Israeli and unlike the Arab Muslims and Arab Christians in Israel they rarely identify themselves as Palestinians.^[55] As early as 1939, the leadership of one Druze village formally allied itself with pre-Israeli militias, like the Haganah.^[7] A separate "Israeli Druze" identity was encouraged by the Israeli government who formally recognized the Druze religious community as independent of the Muslim religious community in Israeli law as early as 1957.^[56]
The Druze are defined as a distinct ethnic group in the Israeli Ministry of Interior's census registration. While the Israeli education system is basically divided into Hebrew and Arabic speaking schools, the Druze have autonomy within the Arabic speaking branch.^[56]
The Druze of British Mandate of Palestine showed little interest in Arab nationalism that was on the rise in the 20th century, and did not take part in the early Arab-Jewish skirmishes of the era either. By 1948, many young Druze volunteered for the Israeli army and actively fought on their side. Unlike their Christian and Muslim counterparts, no Druze villages were destroyed in the 1948 war and no Druze left their settlements permanently.^[23] Unlike most other Arab citizens of Israel, right-wing Israeli political parties have appealed to many Druze. Ayoob Kara, for example, represented the conservative Likud in the Knesset, and other parties such as Shas and Yisrael Beiteinu have likewise attracted Druze voters.^{[citation needed]} Currently, a Druze MK, Majalli Wahabi of the centrist Kadima, as Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, is next in line to the acting presidency.^[57]

[edit] Christians

Boutros Mouallem

[edit] Self-identification

Moslem In America

2010-11-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

Natural Light
A young woman looks out the window of the Jarrahi Order Mosque, a non-profit organization, in Spring Valley, N.Y.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1725413_1554985,00.html#ixzz142wurjfa

MAS Freedom

2010-10-20T07:07:00.001-07:00

Overview

Visit us at http://www.masfreedom.org

"O you who believe, Be upright for Allah, bearers of witness with justice, and let not hatred of a people incite you not to act equitably; act equitably, that is nearer to piety, and be careful of your duty to Allah; surely Allah is Aware of what you do." -Holy Quran (5:8)

As the national grassroots advocacy arm of the Muslim American Society, we at MAS Freedom focus on striving for liberty and justice, as noted in the MAS mission. Inspired by the struggle for rights and liberty that Americans have engaged in since the time of independence, we are committed to helping make this country a safe and welcoming home for all, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or other. We believe that this can only be accomplished by an active and involved citizenry, and we hope to instill that within the Muslim American community and the American community at large through a variety of programs.

Our mission is to advance a broad agenda for justice, freedom and peace in the United States and throughout the world through a comprehensive empowerment process which includes civic education and political engagement, coalition building, media outreach, and civil and human rights protection.

Through our programs and activities, we hope to contribute to the promotion of peace and social justice. Ultimately, we seek to build an American Muslim community that is politically empowered, civically engaged, fully protected in the areas of civil and human rights, and able to contribute to the advancement of society, both in the United States and the world. In this effort, we are guided by our Islamic beliefs and American values.

Activities

Civil and human rights advocacy
Civic education and engagement
Youth leadership mentoring
Coalition building
Media relations
Congressional affairs and public policy
Legal activism
Workshop and training forums
Director action campaigns
Immigration reform and litigation

Signature Programs

The Center for Civic Empowerment (CCE) / Voting is Power (VIP)- This project was established in 2006 to promote good citizenship through civic training, education, and non partisan electoral involvement. Through the centers Voting is Power (VIP) campaign, emphasis is placed on voter registration, education and mobilization.
The Community Outreach Campaign, "Faith Over Fear" - This project was established as an avenue through which the Muslim community joins forces with the interfaith community in striving to promote the values of tolerance and understanding between religious and ethnic groups through dialogue, domestic services, i.e., hunger, poverty, health care, unemployment, public safety and disaster responsiveness, etc., and advocacy of public policy addressing social and economic justice.
Young Muslim Leadership of America Project & MAS Freedom Leadership Civic and Certification Training Program - This project provides workshops, lectures, and seminars that focus on building an understanding of the civic, political, cultural, religious, and media landscape of America. These programs are designed to stretch the leadership skill-sets of American Muslim youth by fostering a confidence within our youth that they can successfully lead and engage the greater American society without compromising their religious integrity and core values.
The MAS Freedom Thurgood Marshall Legal/Immigration Clinic -A Bureau of Immigration certified and accredited project, the immigration clinic provides immigration services to indigent immigrants regardless of religion or national origin.

For more details about all of our programs, please visit our website at http://www.masfreedom.org

Arab Media Watch travel feature: Yemen

2010-10-20T07:04:00.001-07:00

Arab Media Watch travel feature: Yemen

This article, by Arab Media Watch director Judith Brown, was originally published in the British-Arab magazine Sharq.

If you are looking for something quite different for a holiday then you can do no better than travel to Yemen, in the south of the Arabian peninsula. The tourist posters for this ancient land where the Queen of Sheba once reigned proclaim that visitors should "prepare to be amazed". This is good advice.

The capital of Yemen is Sana'a. The old city is a World Heritage site and it is like wandering about in a living museum. The multi-story brick and mud houses have elaborate plaster decorations, with their unique gomerias or half-moon shaped windows. Wander through the city in the evening and it is like fairyland as soft light from the multi-coloured glass illuminates your way. You can visit the ancient souq to haggle for pungent spices, exotic perfumes, vibrant dressmaking materials, silver jewellery or souvenirs, or just to watch life going on around you in much the same way as it has for centuries, untouched by time. Most men still wear the traditional jambiyya or dagger around their waist, whilst the women drape themselves in a blue and red cloth that covers the whole of their head and body as they go about their daily business. In the evening you might even see a wedding dance in the streets.

Outside Sana'a there are many interesting villages, some of which like Mahweet, Kawkaban or Manakha sit on the top of mountains, enjoying the most spectacular views of terraced farmland and other mountain ranges. In many of these villages you can find clean and inexpensive local traditional accommodation, eat delicious home-cooked food, and arrange for a guide to take you on breathtaking country walks. If you go walking early in the morning take your binoculars - there is abundant bird life and you might even see the Yemeni national bird, the hoopoe, with its large black and white crest.

Each part of Yemen has a unique character and in one visit you cannot see it all, but it is worth leaving Sana'a to try to see something of the rest of this glorious country. You can visit Hadramaut, where the ancient town of Shibam has towering mud skyscrapers and ornately carved wooden doors and window frames, and nearby you can see the huge elaborate mud palaces of Seiyoon and Tarim - now unfortunately falling into disrepair. You can buy Hadramaut honey, collected from date trees and said to be the best in the world. You can watch the women working in the fields in intense heat, wearing tall pointed straw hats topping their black clothing.

Or you can go to the Yemeni island of Suqatra off the coast of Somalia, which for centuries was cut off from the rest of the world by ferocious seas and in consequence has developed its own unique flora and fauna - amongst them the huge umbrella shaped Dragon's Blood Tree with its bright red sap, or the wide Bottle Trees with their delicate pink flowers. Suqatra is being gradually opened up for tourism, although at a gentle pace to prevent damage to this very special protected environment. Another island destination is Kamaran in the Red Sea, from where you can snorkel or scuba dive in order to explore the reefs and watch a huge variety of colourful aquatic life.

Yemen has a long coastline, an impressive 1,906 kilometres, a lot of which is fringed with white sands but as yet largely untouched by tourism. The most well known coastal destination is Aden - a popular holiday town for Yemenis. Aden is built on black volcanic rock which rises up from the sea in spectacular cliffs, and embedded in these cliffs you can see the remains of a vast ancient water collection system. You can go to the fish market and choose one of today's catch to be cooked in a local restaurant, and after eating it sit in the warm evening air smoking shesha whilst watching the never-ending line of ships coming in and out of Aden harbour. During the day you can sunbathe and bathe in the warm Gulf of Aden waters.

Yemen has a range of hotels, from luxurious five-star accommodation to simple local hostelry where you sleep in the traditional way on mattresses on the floor. The food is wonderful - you must try the fish restaurants where fish is rapidly baked in very hot tanour ovens and served with freshly baked flaky bread. In Sana'a the local dish is Salta, a stew of meat and vegetables topped with the uniquely flavoured fenugreek, served straight from the oven in a piping hot dish and eaten with bread. In a family-run hotel you might be served Bint Es-sahn, a soft thick pastry dish topped with Yemeni honey. And everywhere you will see fruit and vegetable markets where you can buy locally grown Yemeni fruits. If you are feeling adventurous you can try Qat, leaves with a mildly stimulant effect that are chewed by most Yemeni men in the afternoons. Beware - if this is the first time you have tried it, it takes away the appetite and you might find it difficult to sleep afterwards. For non-Muslims, buying alcohol is difficult outside the five-star hotels, but you are allowed to take alcohol into Yemen in your baggage.

Sana'a has a very efficient bus service and it is very easy and cheap to get about. Between cities there are reliable taxi and coach services. The Yemeni national airline flies - not always a very reliable service - to most cities and Suqatra. Car hire is a new phenomenon in Yemen and with a British driving licence you can now hire a car in Sana'a, but unless you are used to driving in developing countries you could find it a bit daunting.

The Yemeni government has recently removed restrictions on travelling to Yemen, and people with an EU passport can buy a one-month visitors' visa at Sana'a airport for about $60. Costs of staying in Yemen can vary according to what type of holiday you want, but you can live and travel very cheaply in Yemen if you are on a tight budget. The biggest cost is getting to Yemen itself. The only direct flight is on Yemenia from Heathrow to Sana'a or Aden.

I feel very safe in Yemen, the people are most hospitable and friendly and the climate is wonderful. I personally like the winter weather in the mountain areas (this area includes Sana'a), where every day has clear blue skies and the temperature is about 22-28 degrees, although it can get cold - even to freezing point - at night. It doesn't get too hot in summer but there can be heavy rain, especially in July and August. Hadramaut and the costal areas are hot at any time of the year. Yemen has a very conservative culture and I would advise visitors to wear modest loose-fitting clothes - although this is not required by Yemeni law, it stops people staring at you. However in coastal resorts and hotel swimming pools you can bathe in your normal swimming clothes.

Taking travellers cheques to Yemen can be a problem because they incur a high cost to redeem them to riyals. Instead, take British pounds or US dollars and you can change them at one of the many change shops that are found throughout Yemen. Generally these moneychangers are honest and you usually get a significantly better rate than changing money in banks and hotels. There are a few banks now in big cities that offer an ATM service, but these are not open 24 hours and they are not found in smaller towns.

If you want to book your travel arrangements within Yemen before you fly you can contact a local Yemeni travel company; you can find many of them if you search the web. I found FTI Yemen very helpful, reliable and trustworthy and they speak excellent English. When I checked out a number of travel companies recently, they also did the best deals on hotel prices. You can check their website on www.ftiyemen.com.

the Home and the Faith

2010-10-20T07:00:00.001-07:00

Al-Madinah has been ascribed many names, all of them indicative of the high place it holds in the hearts of the Muslims. It was the first capitol of Islam, it embraces the Prophet's Mosque and contains the final resting place of the mortal remains of the most beloved of all time, the Prophet Mohammed (Peace be upon him).

Historians trace the origins of those names, which number about one hundred. Those that that have reached us however, are those contained in the Glorious Qur'an and correctly reported Prophetic Hadith (traditions of the Prophet – Peace be upon him). There are not many to the exclusion of them. As far as the remaining names, it is clear that some are derived from descriptions in the noble hadith and others from place descriptions.

The names that have reached us from correct reports are as follows:

Yathrib: which was the pre-Islamic name. It is mentioned in the Glorious Qur'an on the tongues of some of Al-Munaafiqeen (the Hypocrites), for Allah, the Almighty, has said in Surah 33 Al-Ahzaab, Verse 13: "And when a party of them said: 'O people of Yathrib (Madinah), There is no stand (possible) for you …' ".

Al-Madinah (the City): is the name by which it became famous after the emigration. This name is mentioned in the Glorious Qur'an a number of times. Of them, from the words of Allah, the Most High, as He said in Surah 9 Al-Taubah, Verse 120: "It was not becoming of the people of Al-Madinah and the bedouins of the neighbourhood to remain behind Allah's Messenger …

Taabah (good, pleasant, agreeable): is the name by which the Messenger of Allah (Peace be upon him) eloquently spoke of it.

Taibah (pleasantness, goodness, agreeable): has reached us from Prophetic traditions, a number of times.
Al-Daar wa Al Imaan (the Home and the Faith): these two names are mentioned in the Glorious Qur'an. In the words of Allah, the Almighty, in Surah 59 Al Hashr, Verse 9: "And (it is also for) those who, before them, had homes (in Al-Madinah), and had adopted the Faith … ".

Historians derive the rest of the names of Madinah from some weak hadith and from some of its descriptions. Of those that have reached us are: Al-Miskeenah (the Humble), Al-Jibaarah (the Extraordinary), Al-Mujboorah (the Formidable), Al Jaabirah (the Comforter), Al Mahboobah (the Beloved), Al Qaasamah (the Destroyer of Disbelief), Daar Al Abraar (Abode of the Justified), Daar Al Hijrah (Centre of Emigration), Daar As Salaam (Abode of Peace), Daar Al Fath (Centre of Conquest), Al Mukhtaarah (the Preferred), Al Saalihah (the Excellent), Al Munawwarah (the Illuminated), Daar Al Mustafa (Abode of the Chosen), Qariyah Al Ansaar (Village of the Helpers), Dthaat Al Nakhl (Possessed of Date Palms), Sayyidah Al Baldaan (Eminent of Towns), Dthaat Al Harraar (Possessor of Nobility), Daar Al Akhyaar (Abode of Superiority), Al Marhoomah (the Kindness), Al Khairah (the Best), Al Shaafa'ah (the Mediator), Al Mubaarakah (the Blessed), Al Mu'minah (the Believer), Al Marzooqah (the Successful) … etc.. names of The mosque : Masjid Nabawee al-Masjid an-Nabawee al-madeenah an-nabawiyyah Masjid -e- Nabawee المسجد النبوي the Prophet's Mosque

هتمناله الخير

2010-10-13T09:42:00.001-07:00

al-xeer (الخير) - goodness, good, wellness
al-farHa (الفرحة) - joy, happiness
ya3ni (يعني) - it means, I mean, you know, like (filler)
eh ya3ni? (ايه يعني؟) - so what?
3ashaan (عشان) - because, because of, in order to, for the sake of
3alashaan (علشان) - variant of
yaama (ياما) - so often!, so much!
maa been (ما بين) - between, in between
hawa (هوا) - love

itmanna (اتمنّى) - to wish, to hope for
faat (فات) - to pass
iftikir (افتكر) - to remember, to think
it'aabil (اتقابل) - to meet, to run into each other, to make acquaintance

In the last lesson using the song "lissah baHibbak (لسه بحبك)" by Tamer Hosni, we learned, among many things, to say that one is holding a grudge "shaayil min (شايل من)" someone. In this lesson featuring the song "hatmanna lu al-xeer (هتمنّاله الخير)" by Angham, you will certainly find a different sentiment." You guys are really accumulating some knowledge now, so I will be providing less and less explanation, allowing you to do your own reflection on and comprehension of the lyrics.

The title, "hatmanna lu al-xeer (هتمناله الخير)" can be translated as "I will wish him well," using the verb "itmanna (اتمنى)." "al-xeer (الخير)" is "goodness" or "good" or "wellness."

"ma xalaaS (ما خلاص)" by Samira Said,

2010-10-13T09:41:00.001-07:00

aazim (لازم) - must, gotta, it is necessary that
3ayza (عايزا) - I, you, she wants (female)
baHibb (بحب) - I love, I'd like to
'awiy (أوي) - very, a lot
Haaga (حاجة) - thing
'albi (قلبي) - my heart
garH (جرح) - wound
akiid (أكيد) - for sure, certainly
al-dunya (الدنيا) - the world, everyone
aywah (أيوه) - yes, yeah
ha (ه or ح) - future tense marker, will
b- (ب) - present tense marker

masha (مشى) - to leave, to go, to walk
3aash (عاش) - to live
istana (استنى) - to wait for, to await

In the last lesson we examined the song "ma xalaaS (ما خلاص)" by Samira Said, and we learned many new basics of Egyptian Arabic. So now that we know a few things about Egyptian Arabic, the different prefixes for verbs, the differences in pronunciation and some different vocabulary, let's see how easy it is to understand another song. The following song is by Sherine Ahmed, who is possibly the most prominent Egyptian female pop artist currently. This song is entitled "laazim a3iish (لازم أعيش)" which means "I gotta live." We know that in Standard Arabic to say that something is necessary we may use the phrase "من اللازم" and this is the same in principle. However, it is much simpler; to communicate the meaning of something being necessary one must just say "laazim (لازم) ..."

السلام عليكم

2010-10-13T09:40:00.001-07:00

as-salaamu 3aleekum (السلام عليكم) - Peace be upon you (greeting)
wa-3aleekum as-salaam (وعليكم السلام) - And upon you peace (response)
yalla bina (يلله بنا) - Let's go!
ta3aala (تعالى) - Come on!
Habiibi (حبيبي) - my darling, my beloved
al-salaam (السلام) - peace, a greeting

sallam (سلّم) - to say hi
Habb (حب) - to love

Before moving into some of the songs and breaking down their sentences, it will be nice to enjoy this video and get a simple introduction to Egyptian Arabic as well as Egyptian music. This song by Hakim is entitled "as-salaamu 3aleekum (السلام عليكم)" which means "Peace be upon you." This is a common way of saying hi in Egypt as well as much of the Muslim world. The response to "as-salaamu 3aleekum (السلام عليكم)" is "wa-3aleekum as-salaam (وعليكم السلام)" which should be said whenever anyone greets you saying "as-salaamu 3aleekum (السلام عليكم)." The verb "to say hi" or "to say salaam" is thus, "sallam (سلّم)."

The musical style in this song is shaabi, which means "folk" or "people's" music but refers to a certain style of pop music driven by the distinct kind of rhythm you'll find in this song optimized for dancing with lyrical emphasis on repetition of catchy lines.

Depending on your level of Arabic you may or may not understand much of this song. Try to focus on reading along and making out the words, picking out the few phrases and vocabulary I've highlighted above. Also, enjoy the video, which depicts various potential Cairo scenarios.

New Vocabulary

2010-10-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

xalaaS (خلاص) - that's it
3aayiz (عايز) - want
faakir (فاكر) - remembering
taani (تاني) - again, another
bit'uul (بتقول) - you say
bititkallim (بتتكلّم) - to talk
eh (ايه) - what?
mish (مش) - not
illi (اللي) - which, that, that which

gah (جه) - to come
gaab (جاب) - to bring
ba3ad (بعد) - to get far away, to go away
nasa (نسى) - to forget
ba'a (بقى) - to be, to become, to get
3amal (عمل) - to do

For those who are familiar with Standard Arabic or a dialect of Arabic other than Egyptian, this song is ideal for illustrating many of the basic aspects of Egyptian Arabic that can be challenging if you have no experience with the dialect. However, if you learn a few basic points about Egyptian colloquial you will find that is it not so different from the version of Arabic that you know.

Pop music is one of the portals to the world of spoken Arabic. Music of the Arabic-speaking world is typically sung in dialects as opposed to Standard Arabic, and many singers regardless of origin sing in Egyptian dialect of Cairo due to the size of the Egyptian market and the relative familiarity that people have with this dialect. The song "ma xalaaS (ما خلاص)" by Samira Said is a case in point. Samira Said was born in Morocco but has since moved to Egypt to become one of the more successful pop artists in the Arab world today. The song's title, "ma xalaaS (ما خلاص)," contains the very common word "xalaaS (خلاص)," which means "that's it," or "it's over." It has both the connotations as "that's all" and "it's done" just like the phrase "that's it" in English. This word is not explicitly Egyptian but can be found much more in colloquial speech because saying "that's it" is a very idiomatic aspect of speech not found in written Arabic. The "ما" adds emphasis to the phrase to the effect of "it's soooo over" or something along those lines.

Nancy Ajram - Say it Again

2010-10-13T09:36:00.001-07:00

Nancy Ajram - Say it Again

Say it again
Who do you mean, me?
Our love, our passion
Is that what you're talking about

Oh you forget our love and take with you our nights, our years, and our lives
It's me who was faithful to you, fell in love and adored you
Our love was lost by your hands

What kind of lover are you?
Is this your love?
Wake up
Do you think that with one word from you
That's it I'll forgive you and I'll forget right away?

For passion, it's still early for you
And I'll never think of you again
I was by your side and your heart left me
Looks like your love was just talk

نانسي عجرم - قول تاني كده

قول تاني كده
مين تقصد انا؟
حبنا عشقنا
هو انت بتتكلم عننا

ياناسي هواك وواخد معاك ليالي وسنين عمرنا
ده انا اللي اشتريت ودوبت وهويت
وضاع من ايديك حبنا

انت مين ف الهوي وفي الشوق
هو انت حبك ده ايه
ماتفوق
ولا انت فكرك بكلمه منك
خلاص حسامحك وحنسي قوام

في الغرام لسه بدري عليك
ولاعمري تاني حفكر فيك
ده انا كنت جنبك وسابني قلبك
اتاري حبك كلام في كلام