The Meaning Of Muslim And Momin

The Meaning Of Muslim And Momin
The word ‘Islam’ is an Arabic word, which is derived from the word ‘Salima’ or ‘Salaamati’ in the same way as the word ‘Iman’ is derived from ‘Amn’ (peace). Of course, Allah has promised eternal peace and security for every person who enters into the folds of Islam.
The literal meaning of ‘Islam’ is ‘submission, surrender and obedience’ to God. In religious terms, ‘Momin’ means an individual who believes in his Creator and Sustainer, accepts it by tongue and does not attach anybody else with Him, while a Muslim is one who surrenders and subjugates himself in toto, to the will of God.
In other words, ‘Iman’ means putting one’s trust in Allah, his an infinite array of traits, characteristics and powers, and believing and accepting it by tongue and heart. Subsequently, pledging to lead one’s entire life in accordance with the instructions of Allah alone and submitting oneself to His will is nothing but Islam. Aesthetically speaking, where ‘Iman’ is related to heart, ‘Islam’ is related to the body. However, these words are used inter-changeably nowadays. This book also uses both the words inter- changeably at different places.
There are two connotations of submission to God i.e. Islam. One, for which man is helpless, such as to take food, Allah has made the mouth; for speaking, He has given a tongue; for hearing, He has blessed us with ears; and He has made eyes for seeing. Needless to say, man cannot help using them in order to survive; that is to say, even if a person is a Kafir (atheist) or a Mushrik (polytheist), he is a Muslim since all his organs work as per the will of Allah. Similarly, each and every creation is a Muslim since it works and behaves obediently to Allah. The second aspect of Islam is obedience, where man has been given the free will either to believe in Allah and thus prepare himself for the Akhirah (Day of Judgement) by subjugating himself to the Supreme will or to destroy his future in Akhirah by letting himself go astray in the process of getting influenced by Satan and evil. In this perspective, man is certainly not bound by fixed laws so far as obedience to Almighty is concerned. This very aspect of obedience is called Islam both from the point of Islamic Shariah as well as in terms of the present world terminology. A person who follows this connotation of Islam is a Muslim.

The Meaning of Kafir and Mushrik

The Meaning of Kafir and Mushrik
The literal meaning of ‘Kufr’ is ‘to conceal’ or ‘to hide’. It also means ‘disobedience’ or ‘thanklessness’. Similarly, ‘Shirk’ means ‘to make someone the associate or partner of someone’. In terms of Islamic Shariah, whosoever does not believe in Allah together with all His attributes, conceals the Ultimate truth about Tawheed (oneness of God), declines to have faith in it and fails to obey the instructions of Allah, has committed ‘Kufr’ and thus, he is nothing but a ‘Kafir’ and whosoever makes someone the associate or partner of Allah in His traits, powers and characteristics in some way or the other; does not believe that He is the Creator and Sustainer of the entire universe, has committed Shirk and he is nothing short of being a ‘Mushrik’. In the light of the above-mentioned appreciation, it is not only possible but extremely simple and straight to believe in Allah, the Almighty in all His entirety, by all human beings using their own intellect as well as pondering over His creations. This aspect has been dealt in detail in the following pages.
Distinction between Islam and non-Islam

As per the details in the previous pages, whosoever came on this earth since Hazrat Adam up till now, spent his life in accordance with the instructions of Allah, was a Muslim. In other words, in the Ummat gone by, those people who stood by the Ultimate Truth and traversed the righteous path were definitely Muslims, inspite of being Christians, Jews or followers of any other religion. However, as per the terminology of Quran, Islam is the name of the final religion preached by Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) in the sixth century A.D. It was the message of Allah for the entire mankind. People who follow the Prophet are called Muslims. Besides, all the followers of non-Islamic religions at present are non-Muslims and can be termed as Kafir or Mushrik as per the terminology of Quran.

Islam’s prominence over other contemporary religions

Islam’s prominence over other contemporary religions
The first and foremost point of distinctive prominence of Islam over other contemporary religions is that it is present in its original form without any modifications or distortions whatsoever, as it sprang forth some fourteen hundred years back. On the contrary, Judaism and Christianity preserved their originality and authenticity only during the lifetime of Hazrat Musa and Hazrat Isa respectively. Thereafter, some of the followers modified the original religion by manipulating and adding incorrect notions, taking a toll of its originality itself.
Similarly, other religions and beliefs have also got restructured and distorted over the epochs. The second most prominent distinction of Islam is that it is not attributed to any human being, not even Hazrat Muhammad (SAW), the most beloved and obedient creation who preached the words of Allah to the entire mankind. On the other hand, it is not so among other religions. To cite some examples, Judaism is attributed to Yahudah (Judah), one of the sons of Hazrat Yaqub, Christianity to Hazrat Isa (A), Buddhism to Gautam Buddha. In this perspective, it would be highly ignoramus to call the revealed words of Allah, preached by Hazrat Muhammad (SAW) as Mohammadi or Mohammedan Laws, the way the Europeans termed them. Infact, these are Islamic Laws, since Prophet Muhammad (SAW) is not the founder of this religion. He was only a means, a messenger in bringing the words of the Almighty to the mankind. In the Quran, Allah says about the Prophet (SAW) that he did not utter a single word in the name of Islamic teachings and guidance from Allah, on his own or as per his own wishes, without the instructions of Allah. It suggests, that whatever were his preaching and sayings, they were spoken by him in accordance with the instructions of Allah. Therefore, it is incumbent on every Muslim to follow them just like the Quran.
Furthermore, the third distinctive feature of Islam is that the name ‘Islam’ and ‘Iman’ itself give a fair idea about its essence, which suggests the existence of real peace and security for its followers, unlike other contemporary religions of the world.

The foundation stone of Islam

The foundation stone of Islam
The fundamental basis of Islam and Iman is that man should accept wholeheartedly and affirm his belief in the fact that Allah alone is worthy of worship. This ultimate truth should pervade his mind and senses like an unquestionable fact. It should not be let off his mind and conscience at any stage in life that the entire unfathomable, ever-expanding, enormous universe has been created by Allah the Almighty alone, He Himself is the driving force behind it and shall continue to sustain in future also, all by Himself. Nobody is sharing his omnipotence, neither does he require anybody nor shall require anybody in future too. He has created each and every thing, all of which is perishable and prone to declination. It is He alone who is ever lasting and has lasted all along. He has not borne anybody, nor anybody was borne him. Neither he has a wife nor any other relative. His soul does not transfuse in anybody and he does not adopt the shape of human beings or that of any other creation. He is limitless and without any boundations. He is aware of each and every act or deed of all of his creations, whatsoever. Not only does He see all of his creations at the same time, He is also aware of their feelings, thinking and deeds more than they themselves are and much earlier than they come to know about it. He also knows what goes on in the heart, even when it has not been delivered by tongue. He listens to one and all and fulfils the needs of the seekers, if it is good for them. There is no need for any intermediary or intercession for invoking Him. Each and every work of Allah embodies wisdom and beneficence. He is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent. None is like Him and He is not governed by anyone, whosoever. Moreover, his instructions cannot be left unheeded. Nobody can challenge Him. He is just and fair in His judgements. He does not even oppress any Mushrik or Kafir, one bit.
He is the master of life and death. He has already pre-determined the moment of death for each and every human being and certainly, there shall not be a moment’s procrastination in this matter. He is the one who sustains the entire universe. All such activities of man like worshipping, bowing, supplication, asking for help, making a vow, hoping, fearing – are directed towards Him alone. He is the one who alone is worthy of worship and obedience in all-possible forms. He is Omniscient and His knowledge pervades the entire universe.
All the qualities mentioned above, fall into His domain alone and nobody other than Him. No one is a party to His unique traits and qualities. In a nutshell, He is the master of all qualities and His existence is entirely immaculate.

Tawheed is indispensable for the entire mankind

Tawheed is indispensable for the entire mankind
It is a human need to have firm belief in Tawheed, which stands for having faith in Allah, accepting that He alone is the Creator and Sustainer of mankind and thus have, trust in Him. Further, such an undiluted faith caters to his nature as well as his intellect. According to one of the greatest think tanks of the Islamic World on the current century, Hazrat Maulana Syed Abul Hasan Ali Nadvi said: Man has always been dependent on others for the fulfillment of his needs. His needs and requirements have gradually exceeded the limits. Also, he has innumerable enemies in this world. Thus, He cannot live depending on someone whose strength, power, information capacity and awareness is limited despite being enormous. He needs someone who can protect him in every way, at every juncture, fulfill his gargantuan needs, which keep on augmenting, one who has absolute control and supremacy over the universe, one who can create and create everything and one who loves His creations more than an affectionate mother does. Such an entity belongs to none other than Allah, the Almighty. Unfortunately, man’s perception and cognitive power takes a beating in such matters and he accepts powerless and helpless entities as his saviours or masters, despite all their shortcomings.

Basis of Shirk (polytheism) and Kufr (Infidelity)

Basis of Shirk (polytheism) and Kufr (Infidelity)
When we understood the foundation stones of Tawheed, Islam and Iman, we also got an idea about the basis of Shirk and Kufr. It is so because whatever is contrary to Tawheed and Iman is Shirk and Kufr. In other words, the way fire and water cannot come together, Iman and Kufr or Islam and Shirk also cannot get together. Putting in simpler words, Shirk can be broadly defined as the belief of man, that somebody else is an associate of Allah in terms of His qualities and powers or that Allah’s soul can pervade into any creation or that He can adopt some kind of worldly form or that somebody else is running the universe along with Him or that somebody else might be having the knowledge of the unseen and unknown or that he can solve the problems of the people and give happiness to the world or that he can prolong the life - spans or can delay the moment of death or he is dependent on any sort of intercession for fulfilling the needs and requirements of His creations.
If a person harbours such unrealistic views and beliefs about some creation, be it a prophet or messenger, he shall be disowned from Islam and shall fall under the purview of Shirk and Kufr.
Incorrect interpretation of Shirk
Nowadays, Shirk exists in such forms in which the person neither denies the existence of Allah nor does he negate Him as his Creator and Sustainer. Instead, although he accepts the fact that Allah as the Creator and Sustainer of the World, yet he includes others, making them His partners in his powers and possessions. He makes excuses that he worships others as a means to get closer to Allah and that, basically, he worships Allah alone. However, even this aspect falls under the category of Shirk because a similar belief was harboured by Mushrikeen for Allah, in the times of Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Regarding them, Allah says in the Quran: O Mohd. (SAW), if you ask these Mushrikeen and Kuffar as to who has created the skies and earth, they will promptly say that it is Allah. However, they were disowned from Islam by Allah since they believed in Allah yet they did not believe in Allah alone. Islam stands for having belief in Allah alone, not Allah also. Islam extended the message of pure Tawheed without an iota bit of Shirk. It emphasises that man does not need any means or leverage to approach Allah.
Root cause of Shirk
The underlying basic reason behind Shirk is that man has not recognized Allah, the Almighty in totality along with all of His real characteristics, powers and traits. Moreover, he presumed Him like those rulers and kings, who themselves seek help and guidance from their ministers and aides. He made Allah’s existence comparable and synonymous with the likes of those rulers who can be won over by appeasing their ministers. He believed that God forbid, even Allah could be appeased by means of idols, prophets, angels and saints. They conceived this illogical notion that the way in which the recommendations of the loved ones of the kings are not turned down in his court, the commendations by statues and prophets will also not be turned down in the court of Allah. When man begins to believe in Allah in totality with all of His real attributes and qualities, the beliefs pertaining to Shirk, themselves, vanish away.
Basically, Shirk got imbued in human beings by the influence of Satan or Iblees upon them or losing control over their desires or emulating blindly the traditions of their ancestors and forefathers. This is evident because we find several instances in history where the rationality of men scored over worshipping and bowing before mere idols, Their conscience used to oppose their deeds now and then, however they kept denying the perfectly rational concept of Tawheed as mentioned in the Quran by simply quoting their ancestors and forefathers, despite the fact that their hearts used to decried that their inappropriate deeds were laid upon the bedrock of ignorance. Whoever thinks a little bit, is aware of the history and background of Satan’s enmity with man and realizes that the Satan is seeking vengeance from man by distracting him to Shirk, spoiling, thereby, his Akhirah (the life hereafter) and thus making him destined for the Fire of Hell. Such a person shall not even imagine about Shirk and Kufr, the least bit.

Beginning of Shirk
We know that all the human beings on this planet today are the progeny of Hazrat Adam (A). He was the first man to be created by Allah and the entire lineage of man has been derived from him. After coming into existence, Hazrat Adam along with his wife Hazrat Hawwa, were kept in the Heavens, where Iblees was already staying. He had been bestowed extraordinary knowledge by Allah. After creating man, Allah declared him as the most superior amongst all the creations. It was made known to all the angels as well as Iblees. They were also enjoined to bow before Hazrat Adam (A) as a gesture of respect. They bowed down except Iblees. He refused to comply with the orders out of haughtiness and made an excuse that he himself was created from Fire, while Adam was created from clay and since fire is superior to clay, he will not bow down. Because of such defiance, Allah expelled him from the Heavens forever. He was also deprived of Allah’s grace. Albeit, he was given certain powers as per his request and desire, that he could modify his form, disguise himself even as human beings and divert them from the Righteous path of Allah by means of his tricks and deceits to make them condemnable and disgraced. Moreover, he could sway them away from Tawheed and make them indulge in Shirk and Kufr. In this way, he can vest his ire on man and can take several others along with himself to Hell. With such powers, Allah also foretold him that his influence shall only work on those who would listen to him whereas the virtuous and righteous people would not heed to him at all. Because of his affection, Allah told man straightway, while expelling him out of the Heaven: look, Satan is your real enemy. He would try to divert you from the Righteous path. He would not let go any available opportunity. Beware of him. Never fall prey to his deceitful tactics. In view of such clear instructions from Allah for human beings, the Satan could no longer assume his original form and divert people from the Righteous path. Since, the Satan was very shrewd and knew Allah’s promise to human beings that He might excuse all their sins and follies except Shirk which is absolutely unpardonable. Hence, the Satan made a last-ditch attempt by bringing the true Muslims or followers of Allah out of the folds of Tawheed and Iman towards the swamps of Shirk and Kufr. He started off his wily campaign soon after Hazrat Adam arrived into this world. However, his misleading campaign could cut no ice on man for a long period of time. The Satan could not persuade the human beings not to worship Allah and not to include someone else along with Him. Therefore, he devised a plan that whenever any pious and virtuous person died, he used to assume form of a human being and tell the bereaved people: The virtues and qualities of the deceased are such that they should be remembered forever. Moreover, one should try to follow his steps. For this purpose, you can keep a picture of him in your home so that you cannot forget him. At first, some innocent people got misled by him. They could not comprehend his wily tricks. The process continues for long such that a time came when he exhorted them to replace the pictures of those saintly souls with her statues. These statues were sculpted with pure intentions. In order to preserve the memories of these saints, intact, a large number of statues were sculpted and began to be place in homes and places of worship. Consequently, whenever a virtuous man died, his statue was made and kept inside the places of worship. The statue was known by the deceased person’s name. The hundreds of statues belonging to the polytheists of Makkah and the infidels of Arab, such as the famous statues of Late Uzza and Manat were also linked with their forefathers. Initially, the people had made these statues for remembering their pious and righteous deceased people only. Later on, the oncoming generations started kissing them onto of respect. Even later, the most generations began to bun before them and much later, prostrating before them, sacrificing in their names, making vows to them, and seeking help from them.
Some even started to make them a means of reaching Allah. Finally, a generation emerged which began regarding them as gods. They even failed to know why did their ancestors sculpt their statues and place them in their homes and places of worship and what was the underlying objective. Those statues of pious men, which made people remember their virtues and propel them to follow their steps, had lost all meaning. Rather, they themselves were being worshipped. In this way, the elusive and shrewd Satan managed to imbue Shirk in human beings by means of covert trickery. The process continued for long to the extent that man started worshipping anything, which could benefit him. Some started to worship the Sun and Moon because of their characteristic luminance, some others worshipped the Trees on account of their productivity; some people worshipped the cow for its milk while others started worshipping the snake or fire for it’s pernicious potential.
Under the guidance of the messengers sent by Allah, some civilizations regretted and sought forgiveness for their misdemeanor in adopting Shirk. They reaffirmed their faith in Tawheed but the oncoming generations distorted the religious teachings on their own and added certain facts, which they had not said at all. Consequently, the further generations could hardly distinguish between the right and wrong. The Truth got concealed with the inter-mixing of the Falsehood with the Truths. Thereafter, an epoch came when their Prophets and Messengers themselves were regarded as gods. God forbid! some called a Prophet as the son of Allah like the Christians and some regarded a prophet as some regarded a prophet as some deity or incarnation, like the Jews.

Allah alone is the Creator and Sustainer

Allah alone is the Creator and Sustainer
If man ponders only over the extremities of the enormous, ever-expanding universe created by Allah, the visible sky and all that is underneath it, that has been discovered by man through scientific breakthroughs, he will definitely conclude that the entire universe is not the handwork of any human being or any other creation but of Allah and Allah alone. If he ponders for a while over the beauty of the universe, the ever-so-successful system and it’s functioning which can mind-boggle anybody, his heart and conscience would surely be convinced of the fact that Allah alone is infusing life into the system functioning as a unified whole. Time and again, he would be astonished by the uniqueness, miraculous powers and superb craftsmanship of the Creator such that the irrational man-created twin concepts of Shirk and Kufr along with other illogical imagination shall vanish into thin air. Even in a latent state of mind, he would never even dream of including anybody else with Allah.
The vast expanse of universe
In the twenty - first century, the discoveries made by man because of scientific advancements and the mind-boggling information that has been gathered by him, presents an amazing picture, which makes the task of believing in the unity of Allah, His Omniscience and Omnipotence, a much simpler task than ever before.
First of all, we should know that the Earth, the world and the universe are three different terminology and each of them have a distinct connotation. ‘Earth’ is the planet on which we live. ‘World’ denotes all those things under the lowermost sky, which are visible to us. It also includes the sun, the moon, the billion of stars and galaxies as well as the myriad creations of Allah while ‘Universe’ refers to an agglomeration of all the creations of Allah, as a whole, which is inclusive of the seven skies, the earth, the heaven and hell and Allah’s empyrean among others.
The vast expense of the universe, the estimated of which has been put at no less than 50 billion years by the scientists, can be gauged from the fact that the earth, which is home of about 6 billion human beings and over 10 million species of flora and fauna, is comparable to a negligible speck of dust in the world itself, leave alone the universe. Let’s have a glimpse of the speck of dust – our earth that completes a revolution around the sun covering an orbital distance of about 190 miles. Its statistics are as follows; At a distance of nearly 150 million kilometres from the sun, rotating at about 1000 miles/hour around it’s axis, the surface area of the earth is of a magnitude of 510 million square kilometres. About 71 per cent of the earth, that is 360 million square kilometres of the earth’s surface is watery, which suggests that merely 29 per cent of the earth comprises of land. Startlingly enough, nearly 6 billion people and millions of species of animals are packed on just 10 per cent of the land which again points to the fact that the remaining 90 percent of the area consists of forests, deserts and mountains. There are five huge oceans on this planet. The description of one of them, the Pacific Ocean is itself worth mentioning. It’s total area is spread over 1652 million square kilometres, even more than the total land area. The average depth of the ocean is approximately 17 thousand feet, that is to say, a huge edifice of 17 hundred storeys can be made to stand on it to touch the sea level. The whale, a mammal that lives in these oceans itself is about 150 feet long or a 15 storeyed building. Such is the width of its mouth that 20 to 25 people can stand altogether easily. Millions of such creatures are fund in a single ocean only. A fair estimate of the number of such fishes is an ocean can be had from a fish - catching competition that took place in Scotland some years back, in which over a billion fishes were caught altogether. One can guess the worth of gold and other minerals lying on the ocean bed from the fact that over 50-lakh rupees worth of gold is available in the particles of sand in just one square mile of oceanic bed. It is worth mentioning that water is preset over 320 million square kilometers in the oceans. These oceans have close to 7 lakh islands. Greenland, just one of these numerous islands has a total area of 2.175 million square kilometers, that is over two-thirds of India can comfortably fit into this piece of land. This was a short description of our huge Earth. Now we shall see as to how small this is. The Sun, which is the nucleus of our solar system, is so enormous that about 1.3 million planets of the size of the Earth can get accommodated in it whereas the Sun itself is much smaller as compared to other Suns, such that over 1 thousand such Suns equivalent to 1.3 billion planets of Earth’s dimensions can fit into it. Till now, scientists have captured photographs of about 30 billions stars with the help of telescopes and sophisticated spacecrafts. It is noteworthy to mention that at one given time, man can see at the most 5 thousand stars and meteors with his naked eyes. Using an average telescope, one can see more than 2.2 million stars whereas our vision gets increased manifold using the American Hubble telescope by which we can see several billion stars in the open space.
Our solar system, which comprises the Sun, the Earth and other heavenly bodies, has a planet called Pluto, which is nearly 586 billion kilometers away from the Earth. There are a number of such solar system in the universe, the collection of which is known as Galaxy. Its vast expanse can be estimated from the fact that light, approximately 3 lakh kilometers per second takes nearly one lakh years to travel from one end of the galaxy to the other. The average distance of this galaxy is nearly 800 billion kilometers. So far, about five hundred million galaxies have been discovered in the universe. Moreover, each of the galaxies has nearly a billion stars like our Sun. Another way of estimating the enormous expanse of our universe could be from the distance of the Earth from the Sun, that is 150 million kilometres, from where light takes about 8 minutes to reach the Earth. The Sun itself revolves at a speed of 6 lakh kilometres per hour. Also, there are certain other stars in our proximity whose light takes over 15 million years to reach us. The famous American expert of astronomy and mathematics, Einstein who had a German origin and died in 1955, revealed his thoughts about the expanse of the world discovered until 50 years back in the following words: The world is so gargantuan that if a place is built which has the speed of light, that in 3 lakh kilometer per second, it would take a billion years to circumambulate around the world. Even this was merely guesswork. The reality could be much more enormous than this revelation.
If the question keeps propping up with you as to how was the distance of these planets and stars known without man travelling to them, it should be mentioned that such powerful astronomical telescopes have been built which can measure millions of kilometres with tremendous accuracy. To cite an example, using these telescopes man could find out the exact distance from the Moon to the Earth, that is 364 thousand kilometres. Also, it was discovered that its diameter is 3475 kilometres wide; that is to say, it is 50 times smaller than the Earth. For the first time, when man landed on the moon on 16 July 1969 by the Apollo 11 spacecraft sent by NASA (National Aeronautics & Space Administration), the claims of measuring accurate distance between the two bodies were found perfectly true – not even a kilometre mismatching!

Allah is capable of producing even the tiniest particle

Allah is capable of producing even the tiniest particle
The way this gigantic universe is a perfect evidence of the unity of Allah, the way He is capable of creating such enormous heavenly bodies and the massive distances between them, He can also create the tiniest of particles, with each particle revealing the truth about the unity of Allah.
So far, according to scientific researches, the tiniest of particle in this world is the Atom, which cannot be seen by man even through those powerful microscopes which are able to magnify the objects several million times. Surprisingly, even these tiny atoms have a well - structured and functional revolving system having it’s own orbits and distances. Now, man has come to discover the massive powers and strength concealed within these tiny by the Creator, which are themselves not visible even with the most powerful microscopes known to man. Gradually, he has realised that the most dangerous things in the universe, are these minuscule particles, which are potent enough to destroy millions of people within a fraction of a second. An example of the deadly power of these atoms was witnessed by the world with the dropping of the Atom Bomb on Hiroshima (Japan) on 6 August 1945 by America during the Second World War from an altitude of 18 hundred feet. Within a matter of just minutes, over 1,36,900 people perished and an endless destruction was seen all around. Out of a total of seventy - five thousand houses in this city, nearly 50 thousand had got razed to the ground. The destruction spread over an area of 18 thousand square miles. The gigantic dust-clouds, which emerged from the atomic explosion, rose to a height of 50 thousand feet. A similar atomic explosion within matter of just three days on 9th August 1945 completely destroyed the population of the Japanese port city of Nagasaki, taking a toll of over 73,804 people and injuring about 76 thousand people. Man discovered the atom within 100 years only, however, Allah the almighty not only revealed about it over fourteen hundred years back, He also foretold that many a more miniscule particles than the atom could also be found in the world and that they are also very much before Our eyes.
Allah says, ‘O mankind! We keep an eye on even the most trivial of your activities. Our vision is so powerful and dynamic that it can keep track of the minutest of the particles such as the atom, which is invisible to naked eye as well as the mighty heavenly bodies and the gigantic galaxies. It should be noted that an atom is called ‘Zarra’ in Arabic.
"And nothing is hidden from your Lord (so much as) the weight of an atom (or small ant) on the earth or in the heaven. Not what is less that or what is greater than that but is (written) in a Clear Record." (10:61)
The recent advancements in medical sciences have found out why blood is reddish in colour. It’s because it contains such minute particles (Zarrat) which measure up to one part in seven thousand parts of an inch and cannot be seen even through an ordinary microscope.

Is the huge universe within the bounds of any creature?

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Is the huge universe within the bounds of any creature?
The above-mentioned discussion entails that leave alone the vast universe, even creating a particle billion and trillion times smaller is out of bounds of human beings or any other entity whatsoever barring Allah. When it is established that the Creator and Sustainer of one and all is none other than Allah, a question comes up that for whom has this universe been created and why so. Moreover, who is running it so smoothly, systematically in a well-organized way. Profoundly speaking, Islam or Iman is the name of having faith in such true facts, accepting them, acknowledging them and leading a life in consonance with Allah’s instructions by realizing His greatness. If someone like the atheists claims that these things came into existence on their own, they ought to prove how did it really happen. Man came into existence from a mother’s womb out of sperms. The womb was developed out of human diet. The diet originated from tiny seedling, then from where did the seedling originate? The mystery would keep on going intricate as one goes further. Everything developed from some other thing – this fact needs to be registered in the minds of human beings. When such a tiny object cannot earn it’s own existence, how can this mighty universe come into existence by itself? Alternatively, if someone claims that it is the hard work of his statues and self-made gods, in such a case, the Quran throws an open challenge that, do they have the powers to infuse life even into a tiny housefly?
Surprisingly, even the Kafirs and Mushriks believe that the creator of one and all is Allah alone. However, they have been termed so because they claim that some of His creations assist him in running the universe although they have no role to play in creating it. Islam., on the other hand, asserts that Allah alone has created the universe and He alone runs it, all by Himself. In this process, He shall never require anybody’s help, neither He has required in the past nor in the present.
The well-knit system of the universe is an evidence of the unity of Allah
If a Kafir or Mushrik ponders seriously for a while over the entire system of the universe, which is highly, well structured and organized, he would renounce his misdemeanors and have faith in the oneness of Allah at that very instant. In the Quran, Allah asks the mankind, "O mankind, who has created the sprawling skies which stand by themselves without any support? Do you notice any fault or lacuna in it? Not once, look at it again and again. Looking at it will exhaust you but you shall never find any shortcoming. Who is preventing it from falling upon you, within whose bounds does it lie, except that of Allah?
The sky is so distant from us, so high above us and so vast, an idea can be had from the fact that man has been able to locate such stars beyond the Sun whose light reaches the Earth in 15 million years despite travelling at an electrifying speed of 300 thousand meters per second. However, despite locating such distant stars, it has been virtually impossible to calculate the distance of the sky from the Earth.
All the stars and the planets underneath the sky move around the fixed orbits. Such is the fine balance existing between them, that they have not moved an inch out of their pre-determined paths even in thousands of years and there has not been a delay of a fraction of a second in their period of revolution, else the whole system would go haywire. Because of such high levels of precision, scientists are able to make accurate predictions about forthcoming solar or lunar eclipses even years before the event. In a similar way, the time period of each star or heavenly body is also fixed.
Allah, the Almighty says, " Each running (its course) for a term appointed." (13:2)
That is, all objects move as per the stipulated time - frame only. There is no collision or mis-management in this system, whatsoever. Take the example of the Sun, which has been destined by Allah to be a source of energy for Earth and other planets. It is basically a ball of fire having a temperature around a million degree Celsius at the core. The temperature is sufficient to melt the Earth several times over. It rotates at a speed of a million kilometres per hour around its axis while moving at a speed of 12 miles per second on it’s infinite, fixed orbit.
It has been referred to as "And the sun runs on its fixed course for a term (appointed)." (36:28) in the Quran, which suggests that the Sun is moving swiftly towards its destination. Despite running away at such an awe-inspiring speed, it nevertheless, takes 250 million years to complete one revolution around its galaxy alone. If the distance between the Sun and the Earth is reduced, the heat generated would be certainly unbearable for the life on the Earth.
On the contrary, if it pushed further away, the cold would threaten the very existence of man on this planet. Similarly, if any other energy-emitting star replaces over Sun, still the Earth would be incapable of braving the intense heat generated. To protect the Earth dwellers from the excessive temperature of the Sun and to reduce the intensity of heat, Allah has enveloped the planet with an invisible layer of Ozone, beyond which life cannot be sustained naturally, despite all efforts by man in terms of scientific advancements. Thus, Allah had already told the mankind some 14 hundred years back itself that inspite of the infinite vastness of the universe, the ideal conditions for existence of the life are present on the blue planet alone.
" On Earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment for a time." (2:36)
The outcome has been clear. Man’s efforts to find the possibility of life in the universe has not borne fruit up till now. If he finds oxygen on one planet, there is no water and if water exists then there is no oxygen on the other. Without doubt, they shall never be able to find a star or planet like Earth in the entire universe until eternity, in the light of the Quran.
Furthermore, if man examines the vast, infinite and deep stretches of called Oceans closely, the oceanic system would be sufficient enough to comprehend the greatness of Allah. To start with, we can take Water. We know, water starts rotting and smelling if kept for a long time. However, the ocean water has not become smelly even after millions of years by virtue of the magnificent system of the waves and the flux and reflux created by Allah. As per fair estimates, if the ocean water we re to be transferred to any other place, it would require a stretch of over 323 million and 722 thousand cubic miles about 1.5 kilometres wide and deep. The water in oceans is s saline that if all the salt could be extracted from it and spread out, an area of nearly seven million square kilometres of this Earth could have been covered by it with a thickness of about a mile. Let’s look at another miracle. There happens to be an island in the high seas. The island is surrounded by saline water from all sides and beneath, however when a well is dug on it, it gives fresh potable water.
Allah says: "And the two seas (kinds of water) are not alike: this is fresh sweet and pleasant to drink and that is salt and bitter." (35:12)
Similarly, we know that one of the primary characteristics of water is that is cannot exist along with any substance retaining it’s own properties. Either it dominates or is subdued by the substance. If it is in a lesser quantity, it acquires the characteristics and color of the solvent and in case it is in a larger quantity, it forces the soluble to part with its characteristics. To elaborate it further, if we mix a little bit of gravy or syrup to water, they tend to lose their existence in it. On the other hand, if more of them are added to less water, the water simply becomes a part of them. Similar is the behaviour of fresh or salty water. It suggests that, water or other liquids having different colors or taste cannot exist together retaining their characteristic features. However, contrary to this logic, several such places have been found in the oceans by man where water of different colors are flowing together bearing their distinctive features such as colors. A similar panoramic view can be seen even in our own country at Allahabad in Uttar Pradesh, at Sangam, the confluence of the rivers Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati. Similar features have also been observed at places in the sea adjoining Bahrain, a country in the Arabian Peninsula, the Bay of Bengal as well as the Persian Gulf. After all, what would be the hindering force or substance, which prevents the water having different, tastes and colors from retaining their original properties. Modern Science is virtually incapable of solving the mystery, however Allah unfolds the mystery behind it, in the glorious Quran itself, saying that He Himself has kept the oceans from not mixing together by a thin invisible barrier between them, which prevents them from inter - mingling.
" He has let loose the two seas (the salt and fresh water) meeting together. Between them is a barrier which none of them can transgress." (55:19,20)
During the summer season, the saline water of the oceans gets evaporated and takes the form of clouds at higher attitudes. Surprisingly, it itself gets condensed into water and freshwater falls on Earth. Needless to say, is there anybody else other than Allah, who is capable of converting the saline water going up into freshwater pouring down?

Allah’s omnipotence in creation

Allah’s omnipotence in creation
Not only is Allah the Almighty the sole Creator and Sustainer of one and Allah, He also has unparalleled skills in creating in each an every thing. He did not claim that He can create these particular objects, rather He declared: ‘What is that, which I cannot create, in fact I can create everything.’
"Allah is able to do all things" (2:109)
His omnipotence can be estimated from the unique attributes of His creations as well as their unimaginable balance and temperance, dynamic equilibrium, strength and might. Let us consider the birth of a Child growing in mother’s womb. Out of the millions of sperms, Allah creates such a wonderful and beautiful entity called Man, when just one of them is successful in fertilization. Time and again, Allah urges the mankind, in the Holy Quran, to ponder over the intricacies of Nature. How wonderfully He creates a clean and pure entity in the form of man by fertilizing a dirty drop of water in the Mother’s womb! Further, one gets over awed by the way in which He gives him a foetal form with the help of clotted blood and then bestows a bony structure to this foetus, then how He adds flesh to the structure and then creates the tiny functional systems or organs in the process. Finally, He puts a soul into the assembly and then very easily sends off this living creature into the outside world after a period of 9 months. Leave alone creating a functional living entity in the form of a man from a miniscule particle called sperm, is any human being capable of sending back the child into the Mother’s womb, after the birth? Is it possible with the best of technology available to man? Despite the great advancements in the field of medicine and science, man still is helpless. Then let us just ponder for a while, as to how does Allah put a soul into the tiny frame after 6 months and then lets it grow further for 3 months within a special bag-like structure in the mother’s body, called the womb. Moreover, he enables the foetus to get adequate nutrition in the form of blood. For three months, it sustains itself with blood. On the contrary, can we ever imagine the child to survive by drinking even a few drops of this blood, having taken birth in this world. Also, it is quite unimaginable to believe as to how could this living infant survive in the mother’s womb for 3 months without having any opening in it for breathing. How could he survive having been submerged in the fluid present in this little bag for so long? On the other hand, can he survive even for a few minutes, if all the passages of breathing are shut down or say, he is drowned in a bucketful of water?
As a matter of fact, those who do not believe in Allah could only know about the process of development, that is the fertilization of the sperm and the egg resulting in a zygote that develops into a clot of blood called foetus which further develops bones, then flesh and finally a soul put into the structure, with the recent advancements in the 20th century. However, the Muslim had already come to know about these stages of growth 14 hundred years ago through the Quran. Was it possible for anybody to describe the whole process accurately without observing it closely? Who else but Allah can describe it. Of course He is the Creator of one and all. Many a non-Muslim scientists and physicians were left aghast to know that the Quran had precisely described about it, some 14 hundred years erstwhile. They readily embraced Islam. In a similar way, He created human beings as the most beautiful and astounding of all species in the universe. Obviously, man is certainly incapable of creating such wonderful entries. In fact, he cannot even get rid of an imperfection given to him by the Almighty. For example, if He left somebody bereft of eyesight, the whole world with all its might, wealth and intellect could not restore his eyesight. If someone was born dumb, they could not give back his voice. Allah reiterates that, ‘ It is We who not only create human-beings but also bestow them with charming and exquisite faces.’
Allah, the Almighty has so far, created billions of human beings from similar type of sperm and a similar organ. Surprisingly, the features of all of them are different from each other. There did exist some or the other physical difference in the appearance even though twins were also born from the same womb of the mother and the same sperm of the father. Are not the fruits growing on trees or developing from a single seed at the same time on the same tree at the same place under the same climatic conditions different in size, colour and taste? Can any human being produce varied types of items at the same time from the same raw materials using the same machines in the same factory? Have not the human beings seen the babies of such huge animals like elephants and camels come out through such a small opening.
Do we not see those tiniest of tiny insects that can comfortably accommodate in dozens even in a speck of mustard seed. When seen through the microscope, scientists could even identify and classify their outward features as the eye, the ears, the mouth, the nose, the limbs, the stomach and the back as well as their internal organs like the liver, the kidneys, the heart, the lungs, the intestines and the brain. Who else but Allah can demonstrate His miraculous skills even in such miniscule creatures. Man developed a robot and programmed it to obey his order. But, could he put a soul into it and was he able to lend it the heart and the prowess of intelligence. Now. When man has deeply annualized the brilliant creative prowess of Allah within himself and the astounding universe outside and when his heart and mind have also accepted the rationale and logic underlying the fact that it is Allah alone who is capable of such miraculous creations, what stops him from having faith in Allah. Allah Himself answers: "These people, basically, are blind and their hearts are concealed behind curtains. That is why, they are not embracing the Righteous Path and all are not embracing faith by accepting the truth."