As I am Alive …

The caravan was heading for Syria. The long journey from
Vol. 3 Issue 3 Thu. Jan 17, 2008
The Truth
Karbala was over. When the seized properties from the martyrs
of Karbala were shown to Yazid, there was a banner among them
which surprised the observers as it was torn and damaged but
its stick was unscathed. Yazid asked “who was the bearer of this
banner?” They answered: “Abbas Ibn Ali.”

Yazid in respect of Abbas (P) the bearer of banner in Karbala

The Expansion of The Universe
arose and sat for three times. Then he said to his fellows, “See
this banner which is torn and damaged entirely except its gripper By: Harun Yahya
that the holder has gripped until the last moment.” Then he said,
“This is the meaning of devotion to brother.” In the Qur’an, which was revealed fourteen
centuries ago at a time when the science of
Anyone who has read the tragedy of Karbala or has heard astronomy was still primitive, the expansion of the
about its disastrous events honours the personality of Abbas Ibn universe was described in the following terms:
Ali (P). He manifested bravery, honour, devotion, loyalty and “And it is We Who have constructed the heaven
sacrifice to the extent that his enemies even, could not help with might, and verily, it is We Who are steadily
praising his virtues. History knows no match for him. expanding it.” (Holy Qur’an, 51:47)
Thursday, January 17, 2008. Vol. 3 Issue 3

From the moment of the Big Bang, the

On the 8th day of Dhil Hijjah, one day before the departure of caravan of Imam Hussain (P), The word “heaven,” as stated in the verse above, is universe has been constantly expanding
Abbas Ibn Ali (P) makes a speech on the roof of Kaaba and says, “Until my father Ali was alive at a great speed. Scientists compare the
no one dared to kill the Prophet and until I am alive no one dares to kill my brother Hussain.” expanding universe to the surface of a
CONT’D ON PAGE 2 balloon that is inflated.
He tells the crowd, “Come to tell you the only way of killing Hussain. Kill me, cut my head off
to fulfill you goal.” By these words he meant that it is impossible to kill the Imam as long as Abbas
(P) is alive. This family do not fear death in path of the beloved and have no hesitance in supporting
and protecting the life of their Imam. They do not fear death in the Imam’s path because of his
continuous fight for peace, justice, truth, love, freedom, and human rights.
Prayers of the Master
These words show the highest devotion and sacrifice in the path of Imam of Time. He was the
of Love
one who not only in words but also in action showed his devotion to Imam Hussain (P) and proved
On the day of Ashura, Hussain ibn Ali (P) found the
bravery with sacrifice. He aligned his actions to his words. Abbas Ibn Ali (P) makes his chest the
enemies all set for combat to the extent that they banned
shield against offenders of Imam Hussain (P) in the day of Ashura.
water from his camp and children, and were awaiting
Moreover in the critical moments of war he repeats: “I defend the honour of the heir of the any signal to commence the battle. Despite this situation
Prophet of Islam, Muhammed and defeat you with my sharp sword to keep you away from my Hussain (P) was not willing to begin the battle, as he had
master Hussain (P). I am Abbas lover of Hussain and his family; I am the son of Ali, the one mentioned when entering Karbala. Moreover he wanted
who held the confirmation of Allah.” to give the enemies advice as much as possible.
CONT’D ON PAGE 4
Not only his words and actions were accordant, but also his performance was confirmed by the
Imam of his Time. When Imam Hussain (P), the infallible Imam, came to him at the moment of his
martyrdom, told him: “Brother, may God grant you sufficient reward, you toiled in the path of
Allah, and made Jihad the right way.” The Coming of The
Imam Hussain (P), Abbas, and the rest of the Imam’s followers were martyred, but
they did not submit to injustice, tyranny, and oppression. They fought for the people’s peace,
freedom, justice, and human rights. He taught the world the greatest lesson on liberty and
Universe to Existence
righteousness. By: Harun Yahya

For this reason we call Imam Hussain (P) “Sayyid al-Shuhada” which means the Master
of Martyrs. Now the turn has come for us to safeguard and defend Imam Hussain’s noble
call for peace, love, justice, and human rights. We must carry this magnificent responsibility.
(Selection taken from the book “Speaker at the Kaaba” by Ali Asgha Younesian”)
Until the mid-20th century, the prevalent view across the world was that the universe was infinite,
had existed forever and that it will continue to do so for all time. According to this view, known as
the “static universe model,” the universe had no end or beginning.
In maintaining that the universe is a collection of fixed, static and unchanging substances, this view
CONT’D ON PAGE 7

8 The Truth
 IF YOU WANT TO
The Expansion
From PAGE 1
RECEIVE YOUR WEEKLY
used in various places in the Qur’an. It is referring to space
DIGITAL COPY
and the wider universe. Here again, the word is used with this
(PDF FORMAT) meaning, stating that the universe “expands.” The Arabic
PLEASE SUBSCRIBE word “moosiaaoona” in the term “inna lamoosiaaoona,”
TO THE TRUTH’S translated into English as “it is We Who are steadily
expanding it”, comes from the verb “evsea,” meaning “to
MAILING LIST @ expand.” The prefix “la” emphasises the following name or
HTTP://GROUPS.GOOGLE. title and adds a sense of “to a great extent.” This expression
COM/GROUP/THET- therefore means “We expand the sky or the universe to a
RUTH110 great extent.” This is the very conclusion that science has
reached today. [1]
Until the dawn of the 20th century, the only view prevailing
in the world of science was that “the universe has a
constant nature and it has existed since infinite time.”
IF YOU WANT ANY However, modern research, observations, and calculations
MATERIAL TO BE carried out by means of modern technology have revealed
Thursday, January 17, 2008. Vol. 3 Issue 3
that the universe in fact had a beginning and that it
PUBLISHED PLEASE constantly “expands.”
SEND US AN E-MAIL. At the beginning of the 20th century, the Russian physicist
Alexander Friedmann and the Belgian cosmologist Georges
PLEASE NOTE THAT WE Lemaitre theoretically calculated that the universe is in
HAVE THE RIGHT constant motion and that it is expanding.
TO ACCEPT, This notion was confirmed by the use of observational data
in 1929. While observing the sky with a telescope, Edwin
EDIT OR REFUSE Hubble, the American astronomer, discovered that the stars
ANY CONTENT. and galaxies were constantly moving away from each other.
This discovery is regarded as one of the greatest in the
history of astronomy. During these observations, Hubble
EDITOR IN CHIEF:
established that the stars emit a light that turns redder
HASSAN TABATABAI
EDITOR:
according to their distance. That is because according
to the known laws of physics, light heading towards a
AHMAD AL NAJJAR point of observation turns violet, and light moving away
from that point assumes a more reddish hue. During his
DESIGNED BY: observations, Hubble noted a tendency towards the colour
NAGI GIRGUIS red in the light emitted by stars. In short, the stars were
moving further and further away, all the time. The stars and
PLEASE SEND US galaxies were not only moving away from us, but also from
each other. A universe where everything constantly moves
YOUR FEEDBACKS, away from everything else implied a constantly expanding
COMMENTS, universe. The observations carried out in the following
AND SUGGESTIONS years verified that the universe is constantly expanding.
TO THE FOLLOWING In order to gain a clearer understanding of this, let us
E-MAIL: imagine the universe to be the surface of a balloon being
inflated. In the same way that the more the balloon is
thetruth110@gmail.com inflated, the further away the points on its surface move
from one another, celestial bodies also move away from one
2 The Truth
The Coming of The Universe to Existence
From PAGE 1
has constituted the basis of materialist philosophy and has consequently rejected
the existence of a Creator. However, as science and technology progressed during
the 20th century, the static universe model has been completely uprooted.
We have now entered the 21st century and a new dawn is upon us. Through
numerous experiments, observations and calculation conducted by some of the
world’s most prominent thinkers, modern physics has proven that the universe did
indeed have a beginning, that it came into being from nothing in a single moment
in a huge explosion. Furthermore, it has been established that the universe is
not fixed and static, as materialists still stubbornly maintain. On the contrary,
it is undergoing a constant process of movement, change and expansion. These Edwin Hubble with
his giant telescope
recently-established facts all act as nails in the coffin of the static universe theory.
Today, all these facts are universally accepted by the scientific community.
The origin of the universe is described in the Qur’an in the following verse:
“He is the Originator of the heavens and the earth.” (Holy Qur’an, 6:101)
Thursday, January 17, 2008. Vol. 3 Issue 3
This information is in full agreement with the findings of contemporary scientists.
As we stated earlier, the conclusion that astrophysics has reached today is that
the entire universe, together with the dimensions of matter and time, came into
existence as a result of a great explosion that occurred a long time ago. This
event, known as “The Big Bang,” is the catalyst for the creation of the universe
Georges Lemaitre
from nothingness. This explosion, all parties in the scientific community agree,
emanated from a single point some 15 billion years ago. (See Harun Yahya, The
Creation of the Universe, Al-Attique Publishers Inc. Canada, 2000)
Before the Big Bang, there was no such thing as matter. From a condition of non-existence in which
neither matter, nor energy, nor even time existed-and which can only be described metaphysically-
matter, energy, and time were all created in an instant. This fact, only recently discovered by modern
physics, was announced to us in the Qur’an 1,400 years ago.
A Rainy Miracle
A man came to Prophet Muhammed (M) on a Friday while
he (the Prophet) was delivering a sermon at Medina, and
said, “There is lack of rain, so please invoke your Lord to
bless us with the rain.” The Prophet looked at the sky
when no cloud could be detected. Then he invoked Allah
for rain. Clouds started gathering together and it rained till
the Medina valleys started flowing with water. It continued
raining till the next Friday. Then that man (or some other man) stood up while the Prophet
was delivering the Friday sermon, and said, “We are drowned; Please invoke your Lord to
withhold it (rain) from us” The Prophet smiled and said twice or thrice, “O Allah! Please let
it rain round about us and not upon us.” The clouds started dispersing over Medina to the
right and to the left, and it rained round about Medina and not upon Medina. Allah showed
them (the people) the miracle of His Prophet and His response to his invocation.
Footnote: (M) May Allah’s Peace and Blessings be upon him and his Progeny / Refers to Prophet
Muhammed
The Truth 7
 Leaving Empty Handed
One of the kings of Buwaih Dynasty,
Fakhr ad-Daulah, said “I collected enough
wealth for my children and their army to
suffice for them for fifteen years to come.”
But when he died, the keys to his
treasures were with his sons who ignored
his funeral. Consequently, the people
searched for an appropriate cover for
Thursday, January 17, 2008. Vol. 3 Issue 3
him. They eventually bought one from
the caretaker of the mosque. All the while
his sons and soldiers bickered among
themselves until his corpse rotted.
When the disputing was over, the people
had to lasso his corpse and pull it from a
distance because of its horrid smell. As
they pulled his corpse, it fell apart on the
stairway of his castle.
Here was a king who owned a great
portion of the worldly life, a legacy of
two million dinars, eight hundred and fifty
six thousand dirhams, and a sensational
amount of 14,000 pieces of jewels, gems,
pearls, diamonds, and gold. This is not
to mention leaving behind incredible
amounts of silverware, furniture, weapons
and carpets.
But when he died no one attended to
him, with nothing to cover him with
except what they could scavenge from the
caretaker of the mosque.
This is the reality of this life. We
come to this world empty handed and
we will leave this world empty handed.
Indeed, the wisest person is he who
prepares himself for the afterlife by
obeying Allah in the best of manners.
6 The Truth
Death of a Friend
Ferdows Ahmed died at the age of 35. He
recently got married and had one son. Even
just a few days ago, he was playing with
his little son in front of us. One day he
approached us and said that someone asks him
strange questions from the unseen. We wanted
to know what type of questions he hear but he
only mentioned one of them which is “Who
is your God?” 1 Soon after, he started offering
his prayers regularly and participated in
various Islamic events.
Then came the day when he is to breathe his
last. He came home from work at around
5 p.m. and told his family that he wasn’t
feeling good. He ate some food and went to
the washroom. There he vomited but made
ablution to perform his daily prayer. As he
approached his bedroom, the angel of death
came and took his life. He fell on the ground
lifeless. Everyone was in utter shock after
hearing about his demise. No one knew that
he would die at this early age. As we were
washing his dead body, we realized how
short this life could be. His doctor told him
even few days before that he had no disease.
However, death doesn’t rely upon any disease
or accident. It depends on the command of
Allah. Anytime it could come and take our
lives.
My friends, take warning from this incident
and prepare for death before it comes.
Footnote:
1
According to the Islamic belief, Whoever dies will be
asked in his/her grave, “Who is your God? Who is your
Prophet? Who is your Imam?”
of The Universe
another as the universe expands. This was technological advancements were not even
theoretically discovered by Albert Einstein, close to being invented. This is because the
regarded as one of the greatest scientists of Qur’an is the Word of God: the Creator and
the 20th century. However, in order to avoid Ruler of the entire universe.
violating the “static universe model” that was
Footnotes:
generally accepted at that time, Einstein laid
that discovery aside. He would later describe [1.] S. Waqar Ahmed Husaini, The Quran for
this as the greatest blunder of his life. [2] Astronomy and Earth Exploration from Space 3rd ed.
(New Delhi: Goodword Press: 1999), 103-108.
This fact was explained in the Holy Qur’an [2.] www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/
in a time when telescopes and similar hubble.html.
Time - Use It, Do Not Abuse It
Our attitude towards time indicates our attitude towards the value of the
capital of life. If we want to purchase something, we require financial
capital; and if we want to do something in life, we require the capital of life,
Thursday, January 17, 2008. Vol. 3 Issue 3
time. That is why the Qur’an exhorts us to value the time we have before life
is up especially in the following verse
“And spend out of what We have given you before death comes to one
of you, so that he should say: My Lord! why didst Thou not respite me
to a near term, so that I should have given alms and been of the doers of good deeds?” Holy
Quran (63:10)
Realize that...
• Time is the measure of life, time is a trust, time is a gift from the Creator and its proper use
will determine our outcome for eternity.
• We are born in time, live in time and die in time; time is the ambit within which we
operate. What we do with time is what we do with our lives.
• Each one must realize that every moment that passes by is an opportunity gone, used or
abused; never to return. Soon time will be up and we'll have to leave this physical world and give
account for our lives.
• The more we remind ourselves of the responsibility of the present the better we get at
living the moment and the better we live the present moment the better the consequence for the
future.
The Characteristics of Time
We are to bear in mind that time has certain characteristics, among of which are the following:
1. Time passes quickly.
2. Time that passes can never return, nor can it be compensated for, for time is irretrievable.
3. Time is the most precious thing that man possesses.
Our attitude towards the future influences our mind-set towards the rest of life. Being positive
about life ahead is among life’s greatest motivators. Hope is the best attitude one can harbor
towards the future; this realistic expectation that something good or better could/will happen
if only we continue doing the best we can. Remember that today well-lived makes yesterday a
dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.
Wise are the words of the one who said ... “I expect to pass through this world but once; any good
therefore that I can do, or any kindness that I can show to any fellow creature, let me do it now; let
me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”
“O Allah! Make life a means for every dimension of goodness.” [Prayer of the Prophet
Mohammad (P)]
The Truth 3
>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Prayers of the Master of Love
From PAGE 1
Thursday, January 17, 2008. Vol. 3 Issue 3
Imam Hussain (P) wanted them to
recognize truth from false; also, he did not
want anyone to participate in killing him
unknowingly and ignorantly, and to fall in
eternal calamity while being unaware of the
truth. In the morning of that day (Ashura),
after organizing his army, Imam Hussain
(P) got on his horse, stepped away from
his tents, and addressed the army of Umar
Sa’ad with a loud voice:
>>>>
“O people! Listen to my words
and do not rush into combat so that I
would fulfill my duty of advising you
and explaining the reason for my trip to
this region. If you accept my explanation
and treat me with fairness, indeed you
will find salvation and you will have
no reason to fight me. But if you do not
accept my explanation and do not treat
me fairly, you can get together and
perform whatever erroneous action you
decide to do with me without any delay.
However, it shall not be concealed from
you that my supporter is Allah Who has
revealed the Holy Quran, and He is the
4
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
friend and supporter of the good”.
One of the
historians has narrated
that, when Hussain ibn
Ali (P) realized that
the people of Kufa
are determined to kill
him, he took a Quran,
opened it, put it on his
head, and addressed
the army of enemies,
“May the judge
between me and you
be this book of Allah
and my grandfather,
the Messenger of
God. O people! For
what sin have you
made shedding my
blood lawful? Am
I not the son of the
daughter of your Prophet? Have you not
heard the saying of my grandfather about
me and my brother that, ‘These two are
the masters of the youth of paradise?”
“O servants of Allah! Fear Allah and
refrain this world, because if it were to be
given to an individual or only one person
were to stay in it for ever, the prophets
would have been more appropriate
for this possession and pleasing them
would have been more suitable. Never!
Because Allah has created this world to
be transient; its news become old; its
blessings pass away; its joys turn into
griefs; it is an inferior residence and a
temporary home. So prepare provisions
for your journey to the Hereafter, and
the best provisions for the Hereafter are
piety and fear from Allah...”
This is the kindness and sympathy of
an Imam and a Divine leader towards his
cruel enemy; this is the virtue of Imam
Hussain (P) that in all instants, even the last
The Truth
>>>>
moments of his life, he says nothing but people, O the best of judges!”
remembrance of God. In the last moments
of his life when all his companions were And when putting his face on earth
martyred and his was facing the cruel army while his body was mixed with blood, he
alone, Imam Hussain (P) faced the heaven said:
and prayed to his Lord, the Lord of the
universe, for the last time as:
“In the name of Allah; and with the
help of Allah; and in the way of Allah;
“I am patient with your fate and and in the religion of the Messenger of
destiny O Allah! There is no God but Allah”
you. O helper of the help-seekers! I have
no God but you. I am patient with your
rulings and destiny. O rescuer of those
who have no rescuers! O the live Who
Thursday, January 17, 2008. Vol. 3 Issue 3
(Selected from “The Words of Hussain
has no ending! O reviver of the dead! ibn Ali (PBUT) from Medina to Karabala”, by
O Allah that judges everyone based on Muhammad Sadiq Najmi)
their deeds! Judge between me and these
Imam Hussain (P)
and Kindness to Animals
Imam Hussain (P) saw a Muslim slave in a farm eating
together with a dog. On being questioned by the Imam Hussain
(P), the slave replied. “I remained sad due to the bad treatments
from my master who overworks me. However, I take joy in
feeding this dog with me with whatever I get to eat.”
>>>>
On hearing this, the Imam Hussain (P) made contact with
the master and offered him 200 Ashrafi (A type of currency) for
the slave. The master was so much impressed by the Imam’s
generosity that he offered the slave to Imam Hussain (P) free
of charge. Imam Hussain (P) accepted the slave with a kind
gesture and gave a gift of 200 Ashrafi to the slave boy and set
him free. The wife of the master
was watching all this and came
forward and forgave her dowry money to her husband, the
master. At this goodness of the wife the husband gave his wife
the whole house and the farm as gift.
All this happened due to the kindness of the slave for
feeding the dog from the same food that he was eating.
5
The Truth