Questions and Answers on
The Inimitability of the Holy Qur’an
Translated
by
Ahmad
H. Al-Hout
Chapter 1:
Selections from the Inimitability of the Holy Qur’an
Question
145: What
are the forms of inimitability found in the Holy Qur’an and holy
prophetic traditions?
Answer
145: The miraculous
forms of the Holy Qur’an and true prophetic traditions share common
totalities, which include:
1.
The Linguistic
Inimitability: The
Holy Qur’an is of the highest degree of eloquence and rhetoric in
the Arabic language and has always rendered the people of eloquence
and rhetoric incapable of producing something similar.
2.
The Legislative
Inimitability: The
Holy Qur’an contains a perfect code of life to secure the interests
of the servants of God in this world and save them from punishment in
the Hereafter. It is valid for all times and places.
3.
The Informative inimitability: A
great deal of news was given in the Holy Qur’an as to what would
happen in the future; events took place accordingly. It also gave
news about past events that had happened long time before, like
telling about the peoples of Noah, Hud, Salih and others. Without
what was revealed in the Holy Qur’an, Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) , he
would not have known anything himself.
4.
The Scientific
Inimitability: Some
verses in the Noble Qur’an indicate scientific facts which had not
been known before, and science has been discovering them with the
course of time. These verses include empirical, human, natural as
well as other kinds of science.
5.
The Inimitability of
Guidance: This is
embodied in various examples; anyone wanting to learn about them, he
can refer to the books written on scientific inimitability in the
Noble Qur’an, in the Prophetic traditions and in the
Inimitability
magazine, which is issued by the Islamic World Association.
Question
146: How
did the modern scientific discoveries confirm the truth of the
well-known saying that “the Qur’an’s inimitability does not
know an end?”
Answer
146: God the
Almighty has pointed out that He taught His prophet what he had not
known before. He says:
“God
has sent down to you the book (The Qur’an), and al-Hikmah
(Islamic laws, knowledge of legal and illegal things i.e. the
Prophet’s Sunnah–legal ways), and taught you that which you knew
not. And Ever Great is the Grace of God unto you (O Muhammad (pbuh).”
(Holy Qur’an: 4: 113).
These
types of knowledge conveyed through the messenger of God (pbuh) were
brought in the form of revelation from God the Almighty and from the
kinds of knowledge the prophet had. The God’s prophet (pbuh) said:
“Every prophet was given knowledge which made his people believe
him and I hope I will be the most followed prophet on the
Resurrection Day.”1
Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) showed that the miracles of his predecessor
prophets (peace be upon the all) were kinds of miracles admitted by
the peoples in their own times. They were supernatural and could not
be challenged neither in their own times nor in times to come; all
confirming the prophethood of those who showed them.
The
miracles of the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) were both scientific and
intellectual. They were heavenly revelations. It will take a man’s
life-long to realize and recognize essence and truth of the heavenly
revelation (the Qur’an). Yet, the miracles of this holy book do
not end in the course of time; in every age a clear sign of this
revelation is confirmed and a bright proof is seen—all conforming
to the true revelation, the Holy Qur’an, from God upon His
prophet/messenger. This also confirms the prophethood of Muhammad
(pbuh). We see in every age natural scientists producing facts after
a long reach and efforts. These facts are taken for granted by the
Muslim who reads the book of God the Almighty and contemplates its
meanings.
Embryology,
for example, is considered to be one of the most modern sciences
which scientists could not explore until modern civilization provided
them with instruments that could show what was happening in the womb
of the mother without hurting the mother or the fetus. They reached
some facts which had been taken for granted by Muslims, things like
the beginning of the formation of the fetus, when the sperm enters
the ovum of the woman. Almighty God said: “And that He [God]
creates the pairs, male and female, from Nutfah (drops of semen –
male and female discharges) when it is emitted.” (Holy
Qur’an: 53: 45-46). God also said: “Was
he not a nutfah (mixed male and female sexual discharge) of semen
emitted (poured forth)?”
(Holy Qur’an: 75: 37).
Out
of the millions sperms man ejaculates during his sexual intercourse,
only one fertilizes the ovum. Human semen forms 99% of the
ejaculated liquid, while the sperms form between 0% and 1% from the
total amount of the semen. Only one sperm out of millions in the
semen is made to fertilizes the ovum, according to the will of God,
so that it grows and becomes a fetus, then a child, then a young boy
or girl, then a man or a woman. Abi Saeed al-Khudri related that the
messenger of God (pbuh) was once asked about ejaculation outside the
vagina during sexual intercourse (for contraceptive purposes), he
said: “The child does not come from all the liquid (sermen) and if
God intends to create anything, nothing can prevent it (from coming
into existence).2
This prophetic hadith
show that a woman perceives from some of the semen, as modern science
says, and that there might be ejaculation without conception. Also
conception is not necessarily formed after each sexual intercourse,
and that there might be ejaculation without conception. This is
explained by gynaecologists who say that the days between the
menstruation periods are not the same with respect to the possibility
of pregnancy, and that sperms might not be strong enough to
fertilises the ovum. Science has proved that the sperms in the semen
must be lively, active and gushing forth, which is one condition for
fertilisation, as science has proved. Science has also proved that
the woman’s liquid, which contains the ovum, comes out flowingly to
the womb canal (Fallopian canal) and that the ovum must be lively,
active and flowing so that fertilisation could be achieved. God the
Almighty said: “So let man see from what he is created! He is
created from a water gushing forth”
(Holy Qur’an: 86: 5-6).
Determination
of the baby’s sex (male or female):
Scientists
have found out that the number of genes in every human cell is 23
pairs, one gene from each pair is responsible for determining the sex
of the baby in all dimensions of man, physical and psychological, and
that the key to the determination of the sex of the baby exists in
this pair of genes. It was noticed that this pair in the male is
different and it is referred to as (XY). Also, the feminine ova have
only one chromosome of one shape (XX), while the sperms of man have
two shapes of genes (X) and (Y).
The
determination of the baby’s sex as such becomes obvious. The sperm
is responsible for the determination of the sex of the baby for it
contains the contrasted shapes of sexual genes. If the sperm has a
(Y) gene, and it combines with an (X) gene in the ovum, the bay will
be a baby-boy, and if an (X) gene unites with an (X) gene in the
ovum, the baby will be a baby-girl. Here are some formulas clarifying
the point further:
A
(Y) gene + (X) = baby-boy (YX)
An
(X) gene + (X) = baby-girl
Four
possibilities:
1)
XX female 2) YX male 3) XX female 4) YX male
This
is what has been mentioned in the Noble Qur’an fourteen hundred
years ago, when it attributed the responsibility of determining the
sex of the baby to the sperm of the man. God Almighty said: “And
that He [God] creates the pairs, male and female, from Nutfah (drops
of semen – male and female discharges) when it is emitted.” (Holy
Qur’an: 53: 45-46).
The prophetic tradition expresses this fact accurately. If the sperm
of the man dominates, i.e. (Y) gene dominates and united with an (X)
chromosome – the baby will be a boy, and if the liquid of the woman
dominates, the baby will be a girl. Thawban related that a Jew once
approached the prophet and asked him about the (sex) of the child.
The prophet (pbuh) said:
“The
reproductive substance of man is white and that of woman (i. e. ovum
central portion) yellow, and when they have sexual intercourse and
the male's substance (chromosomes and genes) prevails upon the
female's substance (chromosomes and genes), it is the male child that
is created by Allah's Decree, and when the substance of the female
prevails upon the substance contributed by the male, a female child
is formed by God’s decree.”3
After
fourteen hundred years, nobody can speak more clearly than what the
prophet has stated.
Question
147: Modern
technology has helped contemporary scientists to understand the
scientific inimitability in the Qur’an and the prophetic
traditions. How could the Muslim ancestors understand this
inimitability without possessing the modern technology?
Answer
147: The Muslim
surely believes that the Noble Qur’an is the words of God the
Almighty, and that the prophetic traditions are what He revealed to
His messenger, prophet Muhammad (pbuh). Everything mentioned in
either source is completely true, and should be taken for granted by
every faithful believer whether he/she knew know that before, or
could not know it practically. These above mentioned scientific
matters like the embryo, for example, are regarded as absolutely true
by the Muslim. It is taken for granted as absolutely true, because
it is the word of God, although the Muslim could not see what
happened in the womb of the woman. Modern technology has only made
these facts clearer. The same applies to other matters: for example,
Muslims believe that mountains are pegs to fix the land although he
does not know that a third of the mountain height goes above the land
while two thirds are deeply planted under the earth, like pegs. The
same could be said about the formation of mountain-like clouds in the
sky. The hale stones come down from those mountains of clouds. The
Muslim believes that although he did not ascend to sky. He knows
that clouds gather together in the form of mountains. He absolutely
believes and acknowledges every scientific discovery that had already
been mentioned in the Qur’an or concorded with it, or even came
mentioned in the tradition of the prophet. The Noble Qur’an,
therefore, refers to the scientific discoveries that will show people
the miracles of God the Almighty. God says: “We will show them Our
Signs in the universe, and in their own selves, until it becomes
manifest to them that this (the Qur’an) is the truth.”
(Holy Qur’an: 43: 53).
Question
148: Muslims
believe that only God knows what exists in the wombs, how could they
reconcile between this and the modern technology that could show the
embryo and know its sex before birth?
Answer
148: This question
refers to the saying of God the Almighty:
“Verily,
Allah, with Him (Alone) is the knowledge of the Hour, he sends down
the rain, and knows that which is in the wombs. No person knows what
he will earn tomorrow, and no person knows in what land he will die.
Verily God is All-Knower, All-Aware (of things) (Holy
Qur’an: 31:34).
Abdullah
Bin Umar related that the prophet (pbuh) said: “The keys to the
unseen world are five and nobody knows them except Allah,” then he
quoted the above verse from the Noble Qur’an. It is God alone who
knows absolutely what is in the wombs in every moment and at every
stage; He knows everything small and big. No doubt that He knows
every conception when it comes into existence, when the conception
does not even show a sign of weight or form; and He knows whether the
sex of the conception is male or female, at the time when no one
could have the ability to know anything about at the first moment of
the uniting of the sperm and the ovum, and the features, the
characteristics, the condition and readiness of the embryo. This
knowledge is absolutely exclusive to God, the All-Knowing, and the
All-Aware. The term “what is in the womb” is more general than
the embryo, and mean more than its sex, whether it is perfect or
imperfect in physically, sane or insane, believing or non-believing.
We
have already mentioned in a previous answer the possible equation of
the determination of the sex of the embryo, whether male or female.
The same could be said about every characteristic of the embryo, as
to what colour of the complexion and body will be, the colour of the
eyes, the size of every organ, etc. All this is subject to the law
of possibilities, according to medical specialists. This is an
uncontrolled law, and nobody knows how the chromosomes will combine
in the embryo, how the new features will be. No one knows when the
baby will be a boy or a girl. Man is unable to know that before and
during its happening. It is only God who knows this. As to the
period after its determination, it becomes a fact and is not more a
part of the unseen. Man may know something about the embryo, as he
knew the stages of the formation of the embryo. The verse and the
prophetic traditions speak about the stage when the baby is a part of
the unseen. If it becomes a part of the factual world that man can
know, there is no objection to knowing it.
Question
149: I
would like you to explain the following Qur’anic verses
scientifically:
A.
“The likeliness of those who take (false deities as) Auliya’
(protectors, helpers) other than God is the likeness of a spider who
builds (for itself) a house; but verily, the frailest (weakest) of
houses is the spider’s house – if they but knew. Verily, God
knows what things they invoke instead of Him. H e is the Al-Mighty,
the All-Wise. And these similitudes We put forward for mankind; but
none will understand them except those who have knowledge (of God,
and His Signs)” (Holy
Qur’an: 29: 41-43).
B.
“So I swear by the setting of the stars. And verily that is indeed
a great oath, if you but know”
(Holy Qur’an: 56:75-76).
C.
“See they not that We gradually reduce the land (of the
disbelievers, by giving it to the believers, in war) from its
outlying borders” (Holy
Qur’an: 13:41).
D.
“With power did We construct the heaven. Verily, We are Able to
extend the vastness of space thereof” (Holy
Qur’an: 51:47).
E.
“And whomsoever God will s to guide, He opens his breast to Islam,
and whomsoever He wills to send astray, He makes his breast closed
and constricted, as if he is climbing up to the sky”
(Holy Qur’an: 3:26).
F.
“And has made the moon a light therein and made the sun a lamp”
(Holy Qur’an: 71:16).
Answer
149: The answer to
this question is as follows:
A.
The esteemed verses are given as sayings for those who worship
deities other than God the Almighty, they depend on, trust, and give
them their pledges and charters ignoring that resorting to those
powers, whether they are in the hands of individuals or groups, are
like the resort of the spider to its web. The spider’s web is
weak, powerless and defenseless against its molluscan physique:
spiders are helpless against their weak houses. God, the Almighty,
and the all-Powerful protect them. It is this great fact that the
Noble Qur’an is interested in establishing in the selves of the
faithful. It is with this fact that the faithful were more powerful
than all the powers that tried to block their way, and treaded on the
pride of the oppressors on this earth and destroyed their fortresses
and castles. The enemies of the call for God who seek the help of
supporters other than Him, who knows the truth about those
supporters, it is the truth described in the previous saying, a
spider seeking refuge in its web. The witty scholar is the one who
understands this saying, and realizes that everyone on earth is as
powerless and weak as the spider’s web. The inimitability in this
verse is the reference to the web rather than to its threads.
Scientifically speaking, the threads of the spider, in terms of
length and diameter, are four times stronger than cast iron. The
weakness lies in the web not in the threads. The spider’s web,
despite the strength of its threads, is weak from within, as it
stands for the killing of its household. The female spider kills its
male mate after impregnation if it does not run away from it quickly,
and it eats its offspring when they hatch if they do not flee, and
the little ones each other. The spider’s web, then, is the most
rhetorical example of what man may imagine about the best house which
becomes the worst in destiny. The conclusion of the holy verse “if
they but knew” has come as a reference to the fact that there will
come a time when man will know that fact though this might come late.
It is known that these biological secrets have been scientifically
proved only recently.
B.
Those addressed in this verse, “So I swear by the setting of the
stars. And verily that is indeed a great oath, if you but know”
(Holy Qur’an: 56:75-76)
knew only little about
the setting of the stars which they saw with their naked eyes, yet
they felt the greatness of their setting in their hearts. Despite
our limited knowledge of the settings of the stars; yet, we do
recognize the greatness of this oath (which is related to God who
swear by His own creation). We know for example that the star galaxy
our solar system belongs to comprises billions of starts, some of
these stars could see with the naked eye, others can only be seen
with microscopes/ and or telescopes, still others cannot be seen.
All these stars swim
in the mysterious space, and there is no possibility that one
magnetic orbit can come near another, or that one star would run into
another orbit. The location of each star, which must be far from its
fellow stars, has been situated carefully and wisely: it is
well-coordinated in terms of effects and mutual effects with all the
other stars and planets so that all of them could be balanced in this
vast space. The positions of stars in their orbits are the secrets
of their balance; neither a star goes near another, nor a planet goes
near another, nor a sun goes near another. Each has its own position
in which it revolves and does not go beyond or exceed. If a star
deviates from its position and moves in another track, it will be
gravitated into another space and will collide with another star,
which adds to the size of the new star formed from the collision of
the two stars. Eventually, its gravitation increases and attracts a
third star, and so on and so forth until the end of the universe as a
whole. This is what is referred to, according to scholars, by God’s
words “the perforating star”, which is described by space
scientists as “the black hole.” Therefore, God’s oath by the
setting of stars, which He created for us, is an allusion to
contemplate and know that this universe is run under the management
of the Lord of the heavens and earth. One of the examples of the
setting of stars is the sun, as mentioned in the French magazine
Science and Life
(issue: June, 1986) which includes the following facts: if the
position of the earth with respect to the sun where the ray of its
orbit around the sun is 4% less than it is now, i.e. 144 km instead
of 150 million km, the temperature of the earth will increase
gradually to 450 centigrade, will cause the water to evaporate and
life will disappear, as it is on Venus. Likewise, if location of the
earth is 1% more, i.e. 151.5 million km, the temperature of the earth
will be go down gradually to –4 centigrade, and water will freeze
and life will be impossible on its surface, as the case is on mars.
It is said that the galaxies and stars may seem static, but they are
mobile and their distances increase continuously, as it is the case
in the theory in the expansion of the universe. Eventually, the star
acquires new positions continuously and with those new positions of
billions of galaxies and stars, the balance of the powers of the
universe remain as gravitation forces. All of this makes the oath in
the verse so great.
C.
“See they not that We gradually reduce the land (of the
disbelievers, by giving it to the believers, in war) from its
outlying borders.”
(Holy Qur’an: 13:41).
This verse means that the land is gradually reduced from its
outlying borders and that people can see that? How does this happen?
First, the reduction of the
land from its northern and southern sides should include its two
poles. It is known that the land is not completely globular, it is
elliptical, i.e. the equator is longer than the line going through
the two poles. Scientists have found out that the equator is 21 km
longer and that this length increases gradually in the course of time
and the globe becomes more elliptical, and the line going through the
two poles is getting shorter and shorter.
Second, the crust of the earth
is exposed to sunshine, rain, wind and the various elements of
corrosion and erosion—something that reduces the crust of the earth
gradually. Scientists expect that the continuous corrosion is the
cause of the earthquakes and giving away of the earth. This also
indicates that the earth is reduced from its outlying borders, which
is one of the things that man can see in all parts of the earth. It
is a clear scientific miracle throughout all ages.
D.
This verse shows that God the Almighty created the vast sky including
the stars, planets and suns and moons; it continues to expand
throughout time, and this verse, which proves the expansion of the
universe. The well-known theory of the expansion of the universe has
come into existence in the scientific field. In 1912, this theory
was affirmed by the scientist Silipher who said that certain galaxies
are moving away, increasingly, from our galaxy. In 1916, Einstein’s
Theory of Relativity has come to confirm the theory of the universe
expansion. He tried to calculate the speed of that expansion
associating it with the speed of the light, 300,000 km/s. In 1929,
the two scientists Hobble and Humoson confirmed the theory of the
expansion of the universe. Hobble has set a law carrying his name,
which estimates the increasing distance of the galaxies from each
other and from ours. By virtue of this law, it was possible to use
the reverse way to calculate the approximate age of the universe.
With the progress of modern physics and the introduction of the study
of specter, it was possible to study the light of stars and galaxies,
and the turning of the specter into red, and eventually calculated
the speed of the departing of the galaxies away from each other
according to the theory. The further the galaxies and stars depart
from our galaxy, the redder their specter turns. For instance, the
distance of the galaxy Amos de Lavierge from ours, the milky way,
increases at 1200 km/s, and the distance of Amos de Lavierge
increases at 60 km/s. It is two billion light year speed.
Contemporary astrologists confirm that theory. Hubert Reeves said:
“We can say that the expansion of the universe is almost certain.”
Maurice Bukaille said: “The expansion of the universe is the
greatest phenomenon modern science has discovered and completely
confirmed today. The discussion deal only with the pattern through
which the expansion is happening.” One of the phenomena that
support this theory is what is called the “night darkness.” In
spite of the big number of galaxies in the sky, and although they
consist of billions of stars, there are not enough stars to fill the
sky with light. Moreover, the expansion of the universe disperses
the light of the stars. Therefore, the light seems insufficient
although it is very strong and the night appears dark. The point of
inimitability in this Qur’anic verse is that suppose there was a
man in the present age who knew nothing about astronomy and
scientific laws, did not have any modern technology, especially
optical one, furthermore if he had lived in a remote unknown jungle,
a desert or a mountain, stated such laws, and reached those
conclusions which scientists reached only after spending a great deal
of efforts, long research and coordinated efforts of cooperation,
people would consider that a sort of fiction and an impossibility.
Eventually they would attribute such information to an external
supernatural power. What could be said then about this man, the
prophet, who lived fourteen hundreds ago? He was illiterate, living
in a desert far from the centers of any science and civilization
then, and in age whose people knew nothing about the universe, its
beginning, life and its evolution. This man states his theory firmly
and in a certain manner, while connecting it firmly with other
phenomena and theories. What could be said then? It is undoubtedly,
the information coming from revelation from God the Almighty.
E.
“And whomsoever God will s to guide, He opens his breast to Islam,
and whomsoever He wills to send astray, He makes his breast closed
and constricted, as if he is climbing up to the sky”
(Holy Qur’an: 3:26).
This verse gives a
picture of two personalities:
First,
the Islamic personality which believes in God and the prophethood of
Muhammad; whose breast
opened, expanded and felt the spaciousness of the world crated by God
the Almighty; and recognized the universal and Qur’anic miracles
Second, the non-believing
personality which is fed up with Islam and does not get guided to the
right path. It feels breathless because disbelief is a kind of
contrition and stagnation. It is discomfort, deviation from the easy
human common sense; it is hardship, deprivation and worry. God the
Almighty gave an example of this kind of personality and described it
as feeling breathless like the one who climbs to the sky.
But
why does one’s breast feel closed when climbing to the sky? One
may wonder, who told Muhammad (pbuh) in the 6th
century A.D. that the layers of air get looser the more we rise up in
the sky? Oxygen decreases and breathing becomes difficult. It is
well know that scientists have discovered this fact only recently.
There is no doubt that these words in this verse were the revelation
of God upon His prophet. Man feels more difficult to breathe the
more he goes up into the sky, which is well-known, scientifically
speaking, as the upper air layers are looser and their pressure is
lower. Now, who taught Muhammad (pbuh) this scientific truth, which
was unknown to the people of his age and even to the people of the
later ages after him until the present age with its amazing advanced
technology to prove the scientific truth? It is the Lord of mankind
and the jinn, the Lord who created everything, then proportioned it,
and who has measured preordainments, then guided, and Who taught us
what we had not known.
F.
“And has made the moon a light therein and made the sun a lamp”
(Holy Qur’an: 71:16).
In this verse, we find
that God the Almighty differentiates in His description between His
two creations the sun and the moon. He describes the sun as a
“lamp.” In another verse of the Holy Qur’an God says: “and
We have made (therein) a shining lamp (the sun)
(Holy Qur’an: 78:13).
The sun is described a
glowing lamp. It is the heat-generating machine, on whose power so
many things in life depend. It affects the formation of the clouds,
through the evaporation of water from the vast ocean one earth and
raising it to the upper layers of air. In the lamp, there is
burning, heat and light; all are available in the sun. The choice of
the word “lamp” is so accurate and has been chosen carefully to
suit reality. As for the moon, God describes it as illuminating
only, something which does not mean that it is a source of heat: it
only conveys light. The scientific discoveries have come to prove
that the sun is a source of heat. The temperature degree of it mounts
to 15 million centigrade. The sun only reflects the sunlight, not
more. It is not a source of light; it only reflects as a mirror does.
Therefore, the Qur’anic expression about the moon is also an
accurate one. Astronomers have established this fact only recently.
The sun light consists of seven shining waves known as “white
light” which constitutes the spectrum colors (from ultra to infra
violet). It also contains gamma rays, radio short waves, and some
unknown kinds of rays. The accuracy of the Qur’anic description is
crystal clear in God’s words: “It is He Who made the sun a
shining thing and the moon as a light.” So the light that comes
from the moon is not more a reflection of the sunshine, which falls
on its surface. As to the sunlight, it consists of seen shining
(light and heat), and unseen ray (which scientists use in the
lighting, x-ray films, astronomy and biology).
Question
150: Why
does the Holy Qur’an focus on man’s forelock and not other parts
of the body in God’s words “if he ceases not, We will catch him
by the forelock”— The frontal lobe is mentioned in another verse:
“I put my trust in Allah, my Lord and your Lord! There is not a
moving (living) creature but He has the grasp of its forelock.
Verily, my Lord ion the Straight Path (the truth)” (Holy Qur’an:
11: 56).
Answer
150: At to the top
of the forehead, there is one bone in the skull called frontal bone.
It protects the frontal lobe which contains many neural centers: the
main and secondary centers of motion, the frontal eye field, the
centers of articulation movements, and the most important part, the
pre-frontal cortex which represents the biggest part of the frontal
lobe of the brain. The function of the frontal cortex is associated
with the formation of the individual’s personality; it performs an
organized role in the depth of the individual’s senses and
feelings. It influences the taking of initiative and judgment. It
directs some of man’s acts which express his personality, like
honesty, lying, right and wrong.
The
destruction of this cortex because of a certain disease, tumor, or an
accident, leads to the loss of initiative taking and recognition.
Some emotional changes may take place also; which leads to cheering
up and trance. One loses his interest in his social appearance.
Instead of being wise, observing others’ affairs around him, he
becomes indifferent, irresponsible for himself and for others around
him. The intoxicating drinks affect the tissues of the frontal areas
of the brain.
The
frontal folds of the brain are important for the mind, for they are
connected with the supreme mental acts. We do those plans inside
these folds. Thus, they affect the acts and functions of the other
parts of the brain, like our thoughts, feelings and emotions.
The
frontal lobe, then, is the location that controls the behavior of
animals; eventually those ayas which were mentioned in the Noble
Qur’an in the seventh century (A.D.) include knowledge
understanding the whole functions of the frontal folds of the brain.4
Chapter 2:
Selections from the Inimitability of the Prophet’s Tradition (Sunnah)
Question
151: What
is the attitude of modern science towards the prophetic hadith: “When
a dog licks a utensil belonging to any one of you, (the thing
contained in it) should be thrown away and then (the utensil) should
be washed seven times, the first one with earth.”5
Answer
151: This hadith
was reported by Abu Hurayrah, who was one of the prophet’s close
companions. Jurisprudents and scholars were surprised by that fact
that earth could be used as a purifier: they thought that it soils,
rather than cleans. However, it was (and still) believed to be a
matter of worship which must be taken for granted. So, Muslims have
to wash pots which dogs have licked (or eaten in) seven times
including one with earth. Muslims just follow the apparent meaning
of the words of the hadith
because it came to us from the prophet.
The
Noble Qur’an has come with its studies, researches and advanced
means that facilitate research and prove things that were difficult
for people to conduct in the previous ages simply because of lack of
advanced technology.
One
of the researches was conducted on the relationship between earth and
rabies. Rabies is a disease whose bacteria lie in the saliva of the
dog and they are transmittable to man. The dog may have this kind of
bacteria even though the symptoms of rabies do not appear on the dog.
It may have the disease, just like any animal or living being having
or carrying the disease without being infected by it. Research on
this matter was conducted in Spain long time ago; recently by a
Pakistani doctor. It was found that rabies and its germs no matter
how much are washed with water; the germs will not be removed
completely unless rubbed at least once with earth. Earth kills germs
completely. The same applies to other diseases, which confirms the
prophetic tradition.
Question
152: What
is the form of inimitability in each of the following matters:
A.
Women’s
menstruation/period.
B.
Circumcision of
sexes, males and females.
C.
Eating the meat of
dead animals.
D.
Prohibition of
eating the pig’s meat.
E.
Fasting during the
“white days”.
F.
AIDS spread as a
result of adultery.
Answer
152: The answer to
this question comprises the following:
A.
In the Holy Qur’an God the Almighty say:
“They
ask you concerning menstruation. Say: “That is the an adha
(a harmful thing for a husband to have a sexual intercourse with his
wife while she is having her menses), therefore keep away from women
during menses and go not unto them till they are purified (from
menses and have taken a bath. And when they have purified themselves,
then go in unto them as God has ordained for your (go in unto them in
any manner as long as it is in their vagina). Truly, God loves those
who turn unto Him in repentance and loves those who purify themselves
by taking a bath and cleaning and washing thoroughly their private
parts, bodes, for their prayers) (Holy Qur’an: 1: 222).
Clearly,
this was God’s revelation to this enquiry which was once raised by
one of the companions of the prophet about menstruation (the monthly
menstruation of the woman). God calls it adha
(a harmful thing). Therefore, men should refrain from an sexual
intercourse with their wives during their period, as it might cause
harm for either the man or woman, or both. In this context, the
prophet (pbuh) said: “Do everything except sexual intercourse.”6
In the same context it was reported that Hakeem Bin Huzam once asked
the prophet (pbuh): “What can I do with my wife while she is having
her period?”7
The prophet’s answer was: “Everything above the waist wrapper is
yours.”8
Concerning menstruation, research has proved the following facts:
-Harmful bacteria exist
plentifully in the vagina during the period, while dederline
organisms disappear. Dederline organisms exist naturally in the
vagina, they are considered as a natural guard against harmful germs.
These organisms live on the sugar preserved in the vagina walls.
Their number decreases until they disappear completely a few hours
before menstruation and during it. Doderlins reach their highest
number of growth and activity half way during the absence of
menstruation period. Their normal rate is 5x1 mm, but it decreases
sharply before menstruation.
-During menstruation, the
degree of acid ionization of the vagina changes from acid to
alkaline. This makes the organisms die while blood takes them out of
the vagina on its way.
-During the period, the vagina
becomes the most appropriate place for the production, development,
and activity of the harmful germs.
-In the absence of these
organisms, with the change of acid ionization into an alkaline one,
and in the presence of blood, the vagina becomes extremely liable all
kinds of the harmful germs, that find a fertile soil for growing and
reproduction. The activity is not limited to those organisms, but
also to its accompanying anus and urine pass way germs while the
guard, the doderline organisms, are absent. There is no harmful
germs than those which might penetrate into the womb’s broken walls
at this particular time, as they might go into the abdomen;
consequently, into the body. They can quite easily find their way to
the loose tissues which become so soft in that critical time; nothing
would prevent them except the blood stream coming in the opposite
direction from top to bottom. It is not wise or logical then at all
to defy nature by breaking into the first defense line and other
lines of menstruation.
Studies
have found out that the parasite trichomonas vaginalis becomes
guardable during menstruation. This parasite exists the tope of the
vagina during menstruation awaiting its chance and watching its
catch. It is known that it causes infection in the urinal and
reproductive system of man. It is conveyed to man only through
sexual intercourse. Both the Qur’anic text and prophetic hadith
in this context lay the condition for the intercourse after the
menstruation that cleanliness is a must. In order to achieve
cleanliness, blood should stop first; then it traces must be removed
with clean water. It was reported by Aishah (the prophet’s wife)
that a woman once asked the prophet about bathing after menstruation.
He told her how to bathe by saying: “Take a clean and perfumed
piece of cotton and bathe three times.” She asked: “How can I
purify?” The Prophet (pbuh) was shy to answer her. So, Aishah
says, “I took her by the hand and told her what the Prophet (pbuh)
meant, i.e. “follow the path of the blood.”
In
that way of purifying, the harmful germs disappear at the time when
there is no running current of blood to wash them naturally and
prepare the atmosphere for the existence of doderline once more,
especially that the prophetic tradition commands the use of musk
(perfume), which germicides, not to mention its fragrance.9
B.
Circumcision of sexes, males and females:
Abu
Hurayrah related that the prophet (pbuh) said: “There are five
things that ever man should naturally do: circumcision, shaving the
public hair, taking out the armpit hair, nail trimming, moustache
cutting.”10
Circumcision
is cutting off the piece of skin which covers the glans. It is
recommended that the whole piece should be removed. Shaddad Bin Aws
related the following hadith
from the prophet
(pbuh): “Circumcision is obligatory for men, and a dignitary act
for women.”11
Circumcision is a regulation for Muslims and a discriminatory mark
and an emblem. The Jews share Muslims this tradition, because the
first prophet to command it was Ibrahim (Abraham, pbuh).
In
1987 The Medical
British Magazine
published an article stating: “Penis cancer is rare among the Jews,
and in the Muslim countries, where circumcision is done during
infancy...” The American magazine Pediatrics
stated: “The Jewish and Muslim religious obligation plays an
essential role in urging them to practice this natural deed,
circumcision. In other words, the foreskin surrounding the glans is
like a moor, where most disease circumstances develop, and urine
irrigates it; white material is formed on the walls of this pocket
resulting from the remaining germs and fungi, the excretions of the
fat and sweat glands with the phosphate of the mucous tissue, and the
remains of urine and its elements.
It
is easy for us now to imagine the interference of disease factors,
like urine meatus with the uncircumcised. This substance goes into
the urethra, then into the bladder, then the kidney. It may continue
its way to prostate, the testicle and epididymis; it may cause
infertility to men as a result of testitis and epididymitis.
Circumcision prevents the top-of-the-penis cancer, as this kind of
circumcision rare with the uncircumcised men. Any likely infection
in the penis may quite easily be transmitted to the woman, which
causes her aidoiitis/vulvitis, and elytritis bartholinitis, it may
cause the womb neck to be infected or to ulcerate. This infection
could develop further ominously and affect the womb, or its
accessories, which may lead to infertility. I do not say the
circumcision prevents, or reduces those infections significantly
only, but there are certain diseases, which can be prevented only by
circumcision, such diseases as the narrowing of the back foreskin, or
front and back foreskin infection, the sticking of the foreskin with
the glans, and some forms of frequent urinary continence caused by
the foreskin. The husband’s circumcision plays an important role in
preventing the wife of most of the women’s gynecological
infections.
As
for women’s circumcision, which is known in Islamic sharia as
khafdh,
it is optional. Women are urged to circumcise, especially when the
outer genitals, like the clitoris, or labia minora, are
overgrown—cases which might cause repellence or disgust. Also,
this overgrowth and dangling outside may cause in the future
continuous sexual excitement because of constant friction, which may
lead to lack of shyness at her, and she may deviate to perversion and
disobedience, and that is whey the God prophet called it a “noble”
deed.
When
those genitals overgrow to the extreme, they may prevent sexual
intercourse: it prevents the penis from penetrating the vagina. If
the girl has no overgrown genitals to be cut off, or if her genitals
are moderate in length, there is no justification for circumcision.
It
is generally noticed that women’s outer genitals are longer the
colder they get to the Equator, and the shorter they the further we
move north. This becomes rare in the northern people.
C.
Eating the meat of a dead animal:
Dr.
Jon Hanover, a Profess at the Department of bacteriology, Guess
Hospital, the governmental and biggest hospital in Copenhagen stated:
“the meat of dead animals is a reservoir of germs, and –
reservoir of killing diseases. Therefore, laws were legislated in
Europe to prohibit eating it.” He mentioned that animals that die
because of suffocation, the germs in which are transmitted to their
meat eaters, as the wall of the large entrails, where the excrement
is, works as a barrier that prevents the transmission of germs from
the large entrails to the body of the animal and to its blood as long
as the animal is alive.
It
is known that the large entrails are a big reservoir of germs, which
are harmful to man. The internal wall of these entrails prevents the
movement of those germs to the body of the animal. Also, in the
blood of the animals there is another wall that prevents to movement
of the germs to the animal’s blood. If an animal is suffocated, it
dies slowly, and the danger lies in this kind of death, as the
resistance of the wall coating the large entrails loses its strength
gradually which eventually allows the harmful germs to penetrate the
wall of the entrails and go into the blood and neighbouring flesh,
then they move through the blood cycle to the rest of the body, for
the animal is not dead yet. The germs go out from the wall of the
veins to the flesh due to the lack of resistance in the walls of the
veins, which consequently makes the animal a big reservoir of these
harmful germs, which attack the health of the animal until it dies.
The death of the animal in this way means there is a big danger in
the body of the creature which has been strangled to death. Dr.
Hanover added that all this might happen any animal that dies in any
other way except slaughtering. Muslims slaughter the animal in order
to purify it animal from such likely germs. In this light we can
understand God’s words better:
“Forbidden
to you (for food) are: al-maitah (the dead animals – cattle –
beast not slaughtered), blood, the flesh of swine, and that one which
Allah’s name has not been mentioned while slaughtering, (that which
has been slaughtered as a sacrifice for others than Allah, or has
been slaughtered for idols) and that which has been killed by
strangling, or by a violent blow, or by a headlong fall, or by the
goring of horns – and that which has been (partly) eaten by a wild
animal – unless you are able to slaughter it (before its death)”
(Holy Qur’an: 5: 3).
D.
Prohibition of eating the pig’s meat (and its derivatives: pork,
ham, etc.):
Dr.
John Hanover Larsen stated that he discovered a new germ called
“parsina.” This germ exists only in pigs, and lives only at low
temperature degrees, 4 centigrade. Many Europeans contract it and
many diseases that infect the backbone and joints are attributed to
this germ (See Inimitability
Magazine, No. 3).
Besides, he discovered tapeworms and their coated eggs in their meat,
blood and bowls in spite of the many attempts of the veterinarians to
burn quantities of pig’s meat to get rid of that tapeworms, as they
re-appear constantly. Psychoanalysts have found that a man eating
the meat of a certain animal might become infected by certain
qualities of this animal. The pigsty is one of the filthiest places
and this animal is least jealous among animals about its females.
The lack of jealousy about one’s own mother, sister(s), spouse, and
daughter(s) in the west might be attributed to their devouring of
vast quantities of pork.
E.
Fasting 6 days of the 10th
Hijri month, Shawwal
(the month that comes after the fasting month of Ramadhan):
These
are known as the “white days.” Many prophetic traditions urged
Muslims to fast three days of every month, the three days whose
nights are white because of the moonlight when it is a full moon.
They are 13, 14 and 15 of every lunar month. Abu Dhar reported that
the prophet (pbuh) “commanded us to fast the three white days: the
thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth.”12
Researchers
have found out that during these three days, the moon becomes a full
at night and the sea ebbing reaches its highest level—something
that causes a big excitement. They also noticed that this excitement
during those days, particularly in sexual activities, affects man.
They also found out that during these three days of every month
crimes increase. Other researchers connected between what happens on
earth with that in the human body, as the percentage of water on the
globe is 75% and that in the body of the human being is approximately
the same. Fasting had been the only medicine, which reduces man’s
tension and/or his sexual excitement. It is a fact that the
strongest motives in man are the natural ones, then the motive for
food, then sexual motives. Fasting reduces the strength of man’s
motive for food, drink and sex. Thus, we realize that God the
Almighty gave man a natural and useful medicine to appease him in the
time of agitation and excitement. The prophet’s tradition echoes
this.
F.
AIDS spread as a result of the spread of adultery:
Sodomy
(homosexuality) is one of the most wicked and ugliest crimes. It
indicates the deviation of inborn nature, corruption in the mind and
perversion. It denotes sexual intercourse between two males, or
between a male and a female where male has sex with a female in the
anus. God the Almighty said: “You - Go you in unto the males of
the alamin
(mankind),” and leave those whom God has created for your to be
your wives? Nay, you are a trespassing people!” (Holy
Qur’an: 26:164-5).
In Arabic it was is
known as Liwaat,
adjective of Lut’s people, who were the first people to have
practiced this act, “which none has preceded you in committing”
in the alamin (mankind and jinn,” as God said. God the Almighty
punished the people of Lut most severely by making the earth sink
under them; they were rained with stones as a punishment for their
dirty act. Qur’anic verses were revealed condemning their act,
which is still being recited throughout the world and will continue
to be recited for generations to come. God said:
“So
when Our Commandment came, We turned (the towns of Sodom in
Palestine) upside down, and rained on them stones of backed clay, in
a well-arranged manner one after another, marked from your Lord; and
they are not ever far from the zalimun
(polytheists, evil-doers)”
(Holy Qur’an: 11:34).
This
has been proved in the history of mankind. God punished them by
killing them all, so that not a single criminal would remain alive
would remain to transmit any social and/or physical diseases to
ancestor generation. God wants man’s life to be clean of the dirt
of vice and perversion; hence, the prophet’s guidance cam to show
us the great atrocity of this crime in the prophetic traditions which
made the path of truth clear to be taken. Jabir ibn Abdullah related
that prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “The most thing I fear about my
nation is the act of the people of Lut (homosexuality).”13
Ibn Abbas reported another hadith
from the prophet, who said: “God does not look at a man who went in
unto a man, or woman in her anus.”14
Abu Hurayrah also reported that the prophet said: “May he be
cursed, he who does the deed of the Lutians
(homosexuality).”15
“Curse” means here the dismissal from the mercy of God the
Almighty. This is deserved only because of the one of the heinous
acts of sin and disgust of it, the repetition of that in the crime of
sodomy is a clear proof of the heinousness of this sin, and the one
who does it deserves every kind of punishment. There are many
prophetic traditions in this respect.
Prophet
Muhammad (pbuh) warned us against the committing of sins as a whole
and particularly committing sin public. Abdullah ibn Amr related
that the prophet said: “O, folk of immigrants, there are five sins
I take resort in God from that you do not see: ‘No people amongst
whom adultery appears publicly will escape being plagued with
pestilence, diseases which did not appear among their ancestors, and
if they do not weight properly what they sell, they will be inflicted
with famine, adversity and the oppression of the ruler. If they do
not pay zakat from their money, they will not have rain from the
sky. Had it not been for the animals, they would not be rained. If
they disobey God and His messenger, God will allow an enemy from
others to take some of what they have. If their rulers do not
implement Allah’s book and choose from what God has revealed, God
will make their strength among themselves’.”16
Those
crimes which the prophet (pbuh) mentioned are inflicted upon anyone
who avoids Islam partly or completely. Every criminal act has its
own consequence: sodomy and its spread in the human society brings
about new diseases which did not exist before among the ancestors,
which is what we live in this century.
In
the 20th
century God decreed to send to those who commit sodomy a wild dragon
in order to awaken the sleepy and cause horror in the hearts of those
whose insight has been blinded by false civilization. How could they
be prevented without having any deterrent system or considerable
values? The 20th
century civilization has paddled in the liberty of sex, and did not
leave any virtue without fooling with it, or honour or chastity
without destroying its pillars, nor left women’s dignity without
desecrating it.
AIDS
hs been a cry that turned the life of the west upside down. it has
been a stigma on those who avoided marriage and practiced sodomy as a
way of living.
Dr.
George Dunia wrote: “The demonstrations of the sexual perverts in
the streets had disappeared. The public water closets have closed
their doors and the call for purity, chastity and marriage to one
woman has returned, and he fear of AIDS has many restored the moral
and social values of the 50s to reappear and the sanctifying of the
virgin woman may come back again.”
“Purity,”
“chastity” and “virgin women” are words that are being
repeated by millions. They had been absent for long years in vice
and immorality. Statistics classified AIDS patients into four kinds:
1
Cited in Bukhari
and Muslim,
from the narration of Abu Hurayrah.
2
Cited in Muslim,
Nikah Book as narrated by Abi Saeed al-Khudri.
3
Cited in Muslim,
The Book of Marriage.
4
See Scientific Inimitability in Frontal Lobe, Qur’anic and
Prophetic Tradition Inimitability, Islamic World Association.
5
Cited in Muslim,
The Purification Book.
6
Cited in Ahmad,
Muslim
and Abu Dawud.
7
Cited in Abu Dawud.
9
See Inimitability Magazine, Issue No. 3.
10
Cited in Bukhari,
hadith
No. 5889, 5891, 6297, and Muslim
No. 257. It is also cited in the canonical books of hadiths.
11
Documented by Ahmad, Sunan Ahmad, with a weak support (02,67) and
Tabarani, Bayhaqi, Abi al-Shaykh, Tabarani and Bayhaqi.
12
Cited in Nisai,
Tirmidhi,
Ahmad, and others.
13
Cited in Tirmidhi,
Ibn Majih,
and al-Hakim.
14
Cited in Tirmidhi,
Ibn Abi Shaybah
and Ibn Habban.
15
Cited in Ahmad
in Musnad,
and Tirmidhi.
16
Cited in Ibn Majih
in Fitan Book, hadith
No. 9004.
