Islam

Separating Myth from Reality

 The Event
1. 1426 years ago a window opened in the heavens
and God (Allah ) spoke to mankind.
2. The message was the same that had come many
times before in the history of mankind.
3. The difference was that this was the last time this
message would be sent.

The name of that message was ‘Islam’

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 Purpose of this presentation
 To encourage genuine scientific enquiry
into the reality of the Creator and His
Message
 To open minds to the truth of Islam
through a rational approach
 To ask ourselves the question: What
will happen to me when I die?

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 The three basis of Islam
1. Belief in Allah and his Prophet
2. Divine origin of the Qur’an and
Islam
3. Belief in the Day of Judgment when
we will be brought to account
irrespective of what we believed
Because reality does not depend on belief
forForits existence
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Let’s examine each of them

From a standpoint of logic,

not belief
Scientific case for God

Why only one God?

Question for seekers of truth
Qur’an 4:82:
“Do they not carefully consider
the Qur’an ? If it had been from
anyone other than Allah they
would have found in it many
contradictions."
 Creation is not an accident
 Donald Page of the Princeton Institute of Advanced Study has calculated
the odds against the formation of our universe without God putting in the
necessary constants. And the figure comes out to be one out of 10,000,000
to the power 124. To see how impossible it is compare this number to the
total amount of subatomic particles in the whole universe, which has been
calculated to be 10 to the power 80.
 According to physicists, if the neutron mass was 0.998 of its present mass,
the decay of protons would make the existence of atoms impossible. There
would be no life. The designer had life in mind when He set the balance.
 Qur’an 55:7 "He (Allah) has set the balance."

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 Why only one God
 If there were more than one God then different parts of the universe
would not have worked with such uniformity as they did and as is
always the case (when two or more create something), parts of the
matter in the universe would have originated at different times. Yet
scientists and laws are in agreement that the Big Bang was when all
energy and matter originated in the universe.
 Qur’an 23:91" There has never been any other god besides Allah.
Otherwise, each god would have declared independence with their
creations, and they would have competed with each other for
dominance. Allah be glorified; far above their claims."
 Qur’an 21:22. "If there were in them (the heavens and the earth)
other gods beside Allah, there would have been confusion in both."

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 So He said about Himself
 Qur’an: 112: "Say: He is Allah the One.
Allah, the eternal, absolute. He begets
not, nor was He begotten and there is
nothing like Him.”

Logically if Allah were like us,

why would weinformation
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Divine nature of the Qur’an

Is also proof of the Prophethood

of Muhammad
The Messenger of Allah
 Invitation to intelligent people
 Qur’an:3:190-91 Behold! in the creation of the heavens and the
earth and the alternation of night and day there are indeed Signs
for men of intelligence/understanding. Men who celebrate the
praises of Allah standing sitting and lying down on their sides and
contemplate the (wonders of) creation in the heavens and the earth
(with the thought): "Our Lord! not for nothing have you created
(all) this! Glory to You! give us salvation from the penalty of the
fire.

The first sign of intelligence is to recognize our

Creator
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 What is the Qur’an?
 The Qur'an is an eternal miracle. It was revealed to Prophet
Muhammad who was unlettered. Yet it is acclaimed as
the finest example of Arabic literary excellence of all time.
 It also contains information about the universe that was not
discovered by science until several centuries after the
revelation.
 It is the last Book of Allah sent for the guidance of all
humanity through His last Prophet, Muhammad

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 How was it revealed?
 The Qur'an was revealed in stages through
a period of about 23 years.
 The Prophet received the first revelation
in 610 CE, in the Cave of Hira in the
Mountain of Light (Jabal-an-Noor), two and
a half miles away from the city of Makkah

The Angel Jibraeel (Gabriel) used to come

with the Word of Allah
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 The first verses
 The first revelation was the first 5 verses of Surah
(chapter) Al-Alaq (96:1-5)

 "Read in the name of your Lord who created,

created man from a clot. Read, for your Lord is
most Generous, Who teaches by means of the
pen, teaches man what he does not know."

Allah invites mankind to ‘read’ His signs

in the Universe around us
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 For whom is the Qur’an?
 The teachings of the Qur'an are universal, addressed
to all people throughout the world until the end of
time, regardless of their tribe, race, gender,
nationality, creed or color.
 They enlighten the soul, condemn all wrongs, order
good deeds and call for the establishment of justice
and fraternity through obeying Allah to whom
we will all return and account for our actions.

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How was the Qur’an preserved?
 Memorization
 From the earliest revelation it was memorized by the Prophet
himself as well as by many of his companions
 Writing
 Scribes (there were 42, under Zaid bin Thabit) wrote down the
revelation, which they read out to the Prophet to verify its
correctness.
 As a source of the Shari`ah (Islamic Law)
 The Qur’an and the Sunnah are the sources of Islamic law and
this has helped in preserving both through practicing the
principles enshrined therein.

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The Qur’an and Science

An Inherent Compatibility
 Divine origin of the Qur’an
 The Qur’an is not the words of Prophet
Muhammad . The author of the Qur’an is
Allah himself
 There are many proofs of this, some of
which are mentioned in the following slides

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Our Universe

Signs of the Creator all around us

 The ‘Fundamental Constants’
 Qur’an 31:20 Do they [the disbelievers] not see that Allah has
subjected for them whatsoever is in the heavens and on earth
 Qur’an 54:49 " Indeed We have created everything with a set
measure
 Compare these statements in the Qur’an to what the physicist Paul Davies writes
in his book, The Accidental Universe (1982):

"The numerical values that nature has assigned to the fundamental constants,
such as the charge on the electron, the mass of the proton, and the Newtonian
Gravitational constant, may be mysterious, but they are critically relevant to the
structure of the universe that we perceive. As more and more physical systems
from nuclei to galaxies have become better understood, scientists have begun to
realize that many characteristics of these systems are remarkably sensitive to
the precise value of the fundamental constants. Had nature opted for a slightly
different set of numbers, the world would have been a very different place and
we would not be here to see it." (Davies 1982)
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 The ‘Big Bang’ theory
 Qur’an: 21:30 "Do not the unbelievers see that
the Heavens and the earth were joined together,
then We split them apart."
 Professor Alfred Kroner, chairman of the Department of Geology
at the Institute of Geosciences, Johannes Gutenburg University,
Mainz, Germany stated about this verse in the Qur’an:
"Somebody who did not know something about nuclear physics
1400 years ago could not, I think, be in a position to find out
from his own mind for instance that the earth and the heavens
had the same origin, or many others of the questions that we
have discussed here. (Rehaili 1995)"

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 The Expanding Universe
 The Expanding Universe
 Qur’an:51:47 "And the firmament, We
constructed with power and skill and verily We are
expanding it."
 The Protective Atmosphere
 Qur’an:21:32 "And We have made the
atmosphere a protective roof, yet do they turn
away from the Signs which these things point to."

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 Movement of the Sun
 The sun's movement is not something that is evident to our
eyes but requires specialized equipment to observe.
 Qur’an: 21:33 "It is He who created the night and the day,
and the sun and the moon, all (the celestial bodies) swim along,
each in its orbit with its own motion."
 Qur’an: 36:39 “And the sun constantly journeys towards a
homing place for it and for the moon, We have determined
phases.”
 Modern science discovered that the sun rotates around its axis every
26 days . The Qur’an mentions the movement of the sun, with its own
motion, signified by the verb ‘Yasbahoon’ in Arabic. Thus according to
the Qur’an the sun is not just flying through space but moving on its
own, i.e. rotating. The sun is also continually on a journey in space
towards its homing place, the solar apex, as mentioned in the Qur’an.

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 Death of Stars, Phases of Moon
 The Death of Stars
 Qur’an: 77:7-8 Assuredly what ye are promised must
come to pass. Then when the stars become dim;

 Phases of the Moon

 Qur’an:36:38-39 And the Sun runs his course for a period
determined for him: that is the decree of (Him) the exalted
in Might the All-Knowing. And the Moon We have measured
for her phases (to traverse) till she returns like the old (and
withered) lower part of date-stalk.

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 Origin of all life from water
 Qur’an:21:30 Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens
and the earth were joined together (as one unit of Creation)
before We clove them asunder? We made from water every
living thing. Will they not then believe?

 Qur’an:25:54 It is He Who has created man from water: then

has He established relationships of lineage and marriage: for
thy Lord has power (over all things).

 Qur’an:24:45 And Allah has created every animal from water:

of them there are some that creep on their bellies; some that
walk on two legs; and some that walk on four. Allah creates
what He wills: for verily Allah has power over all things.

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 Queen ant & Queen bee
 Qur’an:68-69 And thy Lord taught the Bee to build its cells in hills on trees
and in (men's) habitations; Then to eat of all the produce (of the earth) and find
with skill the spacious paths of its Lord: there issues from within their bodies a
drink of varying colors wherein is healing for men: verily in this is a Sign for
those who give thought. (The Qur’an uses the female verb in describing the bee,
in Arabic faslukee.)
 Qur’an:27:18-19 At length when they came to a (lowly) valley of ants one of
the ants said: "O ye ants get into your habitations lest Solomon and his hosts
crush you (under foot) without knowing it." So he smiled amused at her speech;
and he said: "O my Lord! so order me that I may be grateful for Thy favors
which Thou hast bestowed on me and on my parents and that I may work the
righteousness that will please Thee: and admit me by Thy Grace to the ranks of
Thy righteous Servants.“ (The Qur’an uses the female verb Qalat to refer to the
speech of the ant)
 It is known only in modern times that in bee and ant colonies, it is the female
queen that is the only one who gives directions to the entire colony.

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 Invisible barrier between seas
 Qur’an:55:19-20 He has let free the two bodies of
flowing water meeting together. Between them is a
Barrier which they do not transgress:
 The French scientist Jacques Yves Cousteau conducted various
undersea investigations at the Strait of Gibraltar and explaining
these phenomena concluded:

"Unexpected fresh water springs issue from the southern and

northern coasts of Gibraltar. These mammoth springs gush
towards each other at angles of 45 degrees forming a reciprocal
dam. Due to this fact the Mediterranean and the Atlantic
Oceans cannot intermingle (as quoted by Nurbaki)."

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 Isostacy & Mountain roots
 Qur’an:78:6-7 "Have we not expanded the earth and made the
mountains as tent pegs"
 Qur’an:31-10 " We have cast into the earth anchors lest it shake
with you"
 This fact was discovered less than 150 years ago by scientists and now accepted as a
fundamental law in geology, the concept of Isostacy. M. J Selby in a standard-text on the
subject entitled "Earth's Changing Surface (Clarendon Press, Oxford 1985) states:
"G.B Airy in 1855 suggested that the crust of the earth could be likened to rafts of timber
floating on water. Thick pieces of timber float higher above the water surface than thin
pieces and similarly thick sections of the earth's crust will float on a liquid or plastic
substratum of greater density. Airy was suggesting that mountains have a deep root of
lower density rock, which the plains lack. Four years after Airy published his work, J.H Pratt
offered an alternative hypothesis...By this hypothesis, rock columns below mountains must
have a lower density, because of their greater length, than shorter rock columns beneath
plains. Both Airy and Pratt's hypothesis imply that surface irregularities are balanced by
differences in density of rocks below the major features (mountains and plains) of the
crust. This state of BALANCE is described as the concept of ISOSTACY (Selby1985:32) ."

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Within Ourselves

Qur’an:55:18
Then which of the favors of your
Lord will you deny?
 The challenge of the Qur’an
 Qur’an 41: 53: “We will show them
Our Signs in the universe and in their
own selves, until it becomes manifest to
them that this (Qur’an) is the truth. Is it
not sufficient in regard to your Lord that
He is a Witness over all things?”

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 Embryology
 Qur’an:16:4 “Allah fashioned man from a small quantity (of sperm”
 Qur’an:23:13-14 “Then We placed him as a drop in a place of rest.
Then We made the drop into a leech like structure..."
 Qur’an:32:9 “And He (Allah) gave you hearing and sight and feeling
and understanding."

 Dr. E. Marshall Johnson Professor of Anatomy, concluded after studying verses

from Qur'an:
 "The Qur'an describes not only the development of external form but
emphasizes also the internal stages - the stages inside the embryo of its
creation and development, emphasizing major events recognized by
contemporary science... so I see nothing in conflict with the concept that
divine intervention was involved..."

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 Testimony of scientists
 Keith Moore, head of the department of anatomy, at the University of
Toronto, was shown verses of the Qur’an dealing with the microscopic
stages of the human embryo. He was so surprised at what he found
that he went back and revised the history of embryology in his standard
texts on the subject. The books that Keith Moore authored are used at
prestigious institutions like Yale and at universities all around the world.
He stated, after being unable to provide an explanation on how
microscopic details of the embryo could be accurately described in a
book written before the discovery of the microscope:

"It is clear to me that these statements (in the Qur’an on embryology)

must have come to Muhammad from God. This proves to me that
Muhammed must have been the Messenger of God or Allah." (Rehaili
1995)

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 Circulation of blood & food
 Qur’an:16-6 "And surely in the cattle, there is a lesson for you.
We give you to drink of what is inside their bodies, from
between digested food and blood, pure milk, pleasant to those
who drink it."

The above verse of the Qur’an calls our attention to the food
distribution function of blood. It should be kept in mind however that
this information was made known to the west by William Harvey, 1000
years after the Prophet’s death. If he was the author of the Qur’an (as
his enemies claim) how would he have known, at the time that he lived
that digested food is transported via blood and then becomes the
constituent of milk secreted by the mammary glands?

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 Maurice Bucaille
 Maurice Bucaille, one of the first to popularize the linking of the Qur’an and
Science, in his best selling books, The Bible, the Qur’an and Science,
and What is the Origin of Man, concluded that given the history of the
origin of the Qur’an, it could not have been the work of a man or group of
men living in Arabia or anywhere else at that time, considering the nature of
the scientific information in the Qur’an. Lecturing at the French Academy of
Medicine, he concluded on the subject: "It makes us deem it quite
unthinkable for a man of Muhammad's time to have been the author of such
statements on account of the state of knowledge in his day. Such
considerations are what give the Qur’anic revelation its unique place and
forces the impartial scientist to admit his inability to provide an explanation
which calls solely on materialistic reasoning.” (Bucaille 1985)

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 Resurrection of the dead
 Qur’an: 75:1-6 I do call to witness the Resurrection Day; And I
do call to witness the self-reproaching spirit; (eschew Evil).
Does man think that We cannot assemble his bones? Nay We
are able to put together in perfect order the very tips of his
fingers. But man wishes to do wrong (even) in the time in front
of him. He questions: "When is the Day of Resurrection?
 Qur’an: 75:36-40 Does Man think that he will be left
uncontrolled (without purpose)? Was he not a drop of sperm
emitted (in lowly form)? Then did he become a leech-like clot;
then did (Allah) make and fashion (him) in due proportion. And
of him He made two sexes male and female. Has not He (the
same) the power to give life to the dead

So why then will we still not believe?

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 And on the Day of Judgment?
 Qur’an:32-10-12 And they say: "What! when we lie hidden
and lost in the earth shall we indeed be in a creation renewed?"
Nay they deny the meeting with their Lord! Say: "The Angel of
Death put in charge of you will (duly) take your souls: then shall
ye be brought back to your Lord. If only thou couldst see when
the guilty ones will bend low their heads before their Lord
(saying:) "Our Lord! We have seen and we have heard: now
send us back (to the world): we will work righteousness: for we
do indeed (now) believe.

But on that dayFor nothing can be changed

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 All that we need to do today…
 Accept in our heart that there is nobody
worthy of worship except Allah who
created us and sustains us and who will kill
us and resurrect us and who we will stand
before to be judged.
 And accept that Muhammad is His slave
and Messenger

Its as simple as For

that to become a Muslim!!
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 And what will happen then??
 Qur’an:25;70-1 But if he repents, believes and works
righteous deeds, Allah will change the evil of such
persons into good and Allah is Oft-Forgiving Most
Merciful. And whoever repents and does good has
truly turned to Allah with an (acceptable) conversion
 The Mercy of Allah is such that not only will he forgive
our sins but will change them into good deeds. If only
we are ready to accept and obey Him.

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Popular Notions and
Prejudices about Islam

Frequently Asked Questions

and their Answers
The Prophet of Islam

What others say about him

 John William Draper
A history of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Vol. 1

 “Four years after the death of Justinian,

A.D. 569, was born at Mecca in Arabia,
the man who of all men, has exercised
the greatest influence upon the human
race…Mohammad….”

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 Major Arthur Glyn Leonard
Islam – Her Moral and Spiritual Value, London 1927, p.20-1

 “Mohammad was no mere spiritual peddler, no vulgar

time-serving vagrant, but one of the most profoundly
sincere and earnest spirits of any age or epoch. A
man not only great, but one of the greatest (i.e.
truest), men that humanity has ever produced.
Great, not simply as a prophet but as a patriot and a
statesman: a material as well as a spiritual builder
who constructed a great nation, a greater empire and
more even than all three, a still greater Faith, true
moreover, because he was true to himself, his people
and above all, to his God.”

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 Prof. K. S. Ramakrishna Rao,
Head of the Department of Philosophy,
Government College for Women University of Mysore, Mandya-571401
(Karnataka). Mohammed The Prophet -Re-printed from "Islam and
Modern age", Hyderabad, March 1978.

 “The theory of Islam and Sword for instance is not heard now
frequently in any quarter worth the name. The principle of
Islam that there is no compulsion in religion is well
known. Gibbon, a historian of world repute says, "A pernicious
tenet has been imputed to Mohammadans, the duty of
extirpating all the religions by sword.This charge based on
ignorance and bigotry, is refuted by Qur'an, by history of
Musalman conquerors and by their public and legal toleration of
Christian worship. The great success of Mohammad's life had
been effected by sheer moral force, without a stroke of sword.”

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 Prof. K. S. Ramakrishna Rao,
Head of the Department of Philosophy,
Government College for Women University of Mysore, Mandya-571401
(Karnataka). Mohammed The Prophet -Re-printed from "Islam and
Modern age", Hyderabad, March 1978.

 “The personality of Muhammed, it is most difficult to

get into the whole truth of it….There is Muhammed,
the Prophet. There is Muhammed, the General;
Muhammed, the King; Muhammed the Preacher;
Muhammed the Philosopher; Muhammed the
Statesman; Muhammed the Orator; Muhammed the
Reformer; Muhammed the Protector of Slaves;
Muhammed the Emancipator of Women; Muhammed
the Judge; Muhammed the Saint. And in all these
magnificent roles, in all these departments of human
activities, he is alike, a hero.”

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 Jules Masserman
U.S. psychoanalyst, Time Magazine, July 15, 1974

 Leaders must fulfill three functions – provide for the

well-being of the led; provide a social organization in
which people feel secure and provide them with a set
of beliefs.
 People like Pasteur and Salk are leaders in the first
sense. People like Gandhi and Confucius on one hand
and Alexander, Caesar and Hitler on the other are
leaders in the second and perhaps the third. Jesus
and Buddha belong in the third category alone.
 Perhaps the greatest leader of all times was
Mohammad who combined all three functions.”

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 Mahatma Gandhi
in Young India

 “Some one has said that Europeans in South Africa

dread the advent of Islam -- Islam that civilized Spain,
Islam that took the torch light to Morocco and preached
to the world the gospel of brotherhood.The Europeans
of South Africa dread the Advent of Islam. They may
claim equality with the white races. They may well dread
it, if brotherhood is a sin. If it is equality of colored races
then their dread is well founded.”

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 Mahatma Gandhi again…..
in Young India

 “I become more than ever convinced that it was not

the sword that won a place for Islam in those days.
 It was the rigid simplicity, the utter self-effacement
of the Prophet, the scrupulous regard fro pledges, his
intense devotion to his friends and followers and his
intrepidity, his fearlessness, his absolute trust in God
and in his own mission.
 These and not the sword carried everything before
them and surmounted every obstacle.”

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 Dr. Annie Besant
The Life and Teachings of Muhammad

 “It is impossible for anyone who studies the

life & character of the great Prophet of
Arabia, …., to feel anything but reverence for
that mighty Prophet, one of the great
messengers of the Supreme.  …I myself feel
whenever I re-read them, a new way of
admiration, a new sense of reverence for that
mighty Arabian teacher.”

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 Sir George Bernard Shaw
‘The Genuine Islam,’ Vol. 1, No. 8, 1936

 “I have studied him – the wonderful man – in in my

opinion far from being an anti-Christ he must be
called the Savior of Humanity. I believe that if a man
like him were to assume the dictatorship of the
modern world, he would succeed in solving the
problems in a way that would bring much needed
peace and happiness.
 I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad that
it would be acceptable to the Europe of tomorrow as
it is beginning to be acceptable to the Europe of
today.”

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 Rev. Bosworth Smith
“Mohammed and Mohammedanism”, 1874

 “By a fortune absolutely unique in history,

Mohammed is a threefold founder, of a nation, of an
empire and of a religion.
 He was Caesar and Pope in one, but he was Pope
without the Pope’s pretensions and Caesar without
the legions of Caesar: without a standing army,
without a bodyguard, without a palace, without a
fixed revenue, if ever any man had the right to say
that he ruled by right Divine, it was Mohammed, for
he had all the powers without its instruments and
without its supports.”

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 Alphonse de Lamar tine
Historie de le Turquie, Paris 1854, Vol.11.Pages 276-77

 “If greatness of purpose, smallness of means and

astounding results are the three criteria of human
genius, who would dare to compare any great man in
history with Muhammad?
 Philosopher, apostle, legislator, warrior, conqueror of
ideas, restorer of rational beliefs, of a cult without
images, the founder of twenty terrestrial empires and
one spiritual empires, that is Muhammad. As regards
all standards by which human greatness may be
measured, we may well ask, is there any man greater
than he?”

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 Dr. Sarojini Naidu
IDEALS OF ISLAM, vide Speeches & Writings, Madras, 1918

 “It was the first religion that preached and

practiced democracy; for, in the mosque,
when the call for prayer is sounded and
worshippers are gathered together, the
democracy of Islam is embodied five times a
day when the peasant and king kneel side by
side and proclaim: 'God Alone is Great'... I
have been struck over and over again by this
indivisible unity of Islam that makes man
instinctively a brother.”

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 Sharma & Guillaume
 Diwan Chand Sharma
The Prophets of the East, Calcutta 1935, p.122
 “Muhammad was the soul of kindness and his
influence was felt and never forgotten by those
around him.”
 Alfred Guillaume,
Islam, Harmondsworth, London, 1954, p.2
 “At the outset let it be said that Muhammad was
one of the great figures of history….His ability as a
statesman faced with problems of extraordinary
complexity is truly amazing.”
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Thomas Carlyle
On Heroes, Hero-Worship and the Heroic in History, London
1888,p.61

 “His household was the frugalest; his common diet

barley-bread and water; sometimes for months there
was not a fire once lighted on his hearth. They
record with just pride that he would mend his own
shoes, patch his own cloak. A poor, hard-toiling, ill
provided man; careless of what vulgar men toil for.
 No emperor with his tiaras was obeyed as this man in
a cloak of his own clouting. During his three and
twenty years of rough trial, I find something of a
veritable hero necessary for that of itself.”

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Islamic Fundamentalism

Myth or Reality?
 De Lacy O’Leary
Historian in “Islam at the cross road”

 “History makes it clear however, that

the legend of fanatical Muslims
sweeping through the world and forcing
Islam at the point of the sword upon
conquered races is one of the most
fantastically absurd myth that historians
have ever repeated.”

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 John Esposito,
Professor, Georgetown University & Advisor to the US Government
on Islamic affairs, in 'The Islamic Threat': Myth or Reality?

 “I regard 'fundamentalism as too laden with Christian

presuppositions and Western stereotypes, as well as implying a
monolithic threat that does not exist; more fitting general terms
are "Islamic Revivalism" or "Islamic Activism", which are less
value-laden and have roots within the Islamic tradition.

 Islam possess a long tradition of revival (tajdid) and reform

(islah) which includes notions of political and social activism
dating from early Islamic centuries to the present day.”

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 About double standards: John Esposito

 "Focus on "Islamic fundamentalism" as a global

threat has reinforced a tendency to equate violence
with Islam, to fail to distinguish between illegitimate
use of religion by individuals and the faith and
practice of the majority of the world's Muslims who,
like believers in other religious traditions, wish to live
in peace.”

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 About double standards: John Esposito

 “To uncritically equate Islam and Islamic

fundamentalism with extremism is to judge Islam
only by those who wreak havoc, a standard not
applied to Judaism and Christianity. Fear of
fundamentalism creates a climate in which Muslims
and Islamic organizations are guilty until proven
innocent. Actions, however heinous, are attributed to
Islam rather than to a twisted or distorted
interpretation of Islam.”

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 And the effect of this: John Esposito

 “Thus, for example, despite the historic track record

of Christianity and Western countries in conducting
warfare, developing weapons of mass destruction,
and imposing their imperialist designs, Islam and
Muslim culture are portrayed as somehow peculiarly
and inherently expansionist and prone to violence
and warfare (jihad)“.

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Women in Islam

The Myth & The Reality

 Equality of Men and Women
 In Islam there is complete equality between
men and women in all respects of duties and
rewards and a difference in responsibilities in
relation to their nature of creation.
 One is not superior to the other; only
different in terms of some responsibilities, like
the upbringing of children.

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 Equality of Men and Women
 Qur'an 49:13 O mankind! We created you from a single (pair)
of a male and a female.
 Qur'an 4:1 O Mankind! Reverence your Guardian-Lord, Who
created you from a single person, created of like nature his
mate, from them scattered countless men and women. Fear
Allah, through whom you demand your mutual rights and
reverence the wombs (that bore you), for Allah ever watches
over you.
 Qur'an 3:195 Never will I waste the work of a worker among
you, whether male or female, the one of you being from the
other.

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 Comparison of some of the Rights of
Women & Men
 Right to own property and
income. She need not share it
with the husband at all.
 Right to be paid to bring up
children including nursing them
 Right to marry anyone of their
choice
 Right to divorce the husband
even without his consent and
to have this written in the
marriage contract
 Right to receive the Mehr
(bridal present) and not to pay
any dowry at all
 Wife has a right in the
husband’s property and
income. It is the duty of the
husband to support the wife
unconditionally.
 Right to have the wife obey
him in all matters that are not
against Islam.
 Right to divorce the wife for
specific reasons in the
presence of 2 witnesses after
first exhausting all avenues of
resolving differences
 The wife need not serve her
husband’s parents or family

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 Women as an example for all time
 Qur’an 66: 10-12: Allah sets forth, for an example to the unbelievers,
the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. They were both under two of our
righteous servants, but they were false to their husbands and they
profited nothing before Allah on their account, but were told: 'Enter you
the Fire along with others that enter! And Allah sets forth, as an example
to those who believe, the wife of Pharaoh. Behold she said: 'O my Lord!
Build for me, in nearness to You, a mansion in Paradise, and save me
from Pharaoh and his doings, and save me from those who do wrong.'
And Mary, the daughter of Imran, who guarded her chastity. We
breathed into her body of Our Spirit and she testified to the truth of the
words of her Lord and of His revelations and was one of the devout.

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 The Veil
 In Islam men and women are equally directed to be modest and
to dress and conduct themselves in a way that sets them apart
from others and makes them recognizable as Muslims.
 Qur’an 33:59 O Prophet! Tell your wives and your daughters and
the women of the believers to draw their cloaks (veils) all over their
bodies (i.e.screen themselves completely except the eyes). That
will be better, that they should be known (as free respectable
women) so as not to be annoyed and Allah is Ever Oft-Forgiving,
Most Merciful.
 Qur’an 24:30 Tell the believing men to lower their gaze and
protect their private parts (from illegal sexual acts, etc.). That is
purer for them. Verily, Allah is All-Aware of what they do.

Symbol of Freedom or Oppression?

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 Is this Freedom or Oppression?
 33% of women in America are unwed mothers bringing up children
born out of wedlock on their own.
 ‘Beauty Contests’ which treat women as a sex object and reinforce the
myth that unless a woman is attractive to men she is worthless.
 ‘Proms’ in Western schools where girls who can’t get a partner
(because they are not attractive) commit suicide every year.
 Peer pressure on girls to have boy friends and be attractive to boys by
dressing provocatively (case in point: TV serials about schools)
 Using the female body as an object to attract attention in liquor, car,
motorcycle, advertising
 Teen pregnancy, abortion, free sex, teen magazines: are these signs of
freedom or of female enslavement by a male dominated society

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 Did you ever wonder?
 Why despite all the hype about women’s rights,
America feels it can’t even think of a woman
President in the next 20 years? (Gallup Poll, 1998)
 Why women executives and workers in the US are
paid less than their male counterparts to this day?
 Why is it that despite all the noise, the number of
female top executives in American & European
industry or government is still a miniscule number?

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 Did you ever wonder?
 When a western woman stays at home to look after the house
and kids she's sacrificing herself and doing good for the
household, but when a Muslim woman does so, she "needs to be
liberated"?
 When anyone chooses to express their identity in the form of
their dress or way of life this is acceptable but when a Muslim
does it, it is seen as adversarial?
 When a person of another faith (Zionist, IRA, VHP, Bajrang Dal,
Khalistan, LTTE) kills someone, religion is not mentioned, but
when a Muslim is charged with a crime, it's Islam that goes to
trial?

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 Did you ever wonder?
 Why a nun can be covered from head to toe and she’s
respected for devoting herself to God, but when a Muslim
woman does that, she’s “oppressed”?
 Why a Jew, Sikh or Hindu can grow a beard and he’s just
practicing his faith, and when a Muslim does that, he's an
“extremist”?
 Why a Hindu can go to the temple every day and wear viboodhi
(ash) on his forehead, or a Sikh can wear a turban to work but
when a Muslim prays regularly and wears Islamic dress he is a
“fundamentalist”?

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But then again, why is it after all
that, that Islam is still the fastest
growing religion in the world?
 For further information please feel free to
contact me by email:

 yawarbaig@gmail.com

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