The Message

Picture this: you are walking back home from a busy day and you see a blind person trying to cross the highway. No one …

[callout] [columns] [col_one_third] Click Here To Order [/col_one_third] [col] LIMITED TIME OFFER GET YOUR FREE COPY OF ‘THE ETERNAL CHALLENGE’BOOK NOW [/col] [/columns] [/callout] [columns] [col] [/col] [col] [/col] [/columns] [columns] [col] ORDER YOUR FREE COPY FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY NOW! [/col] [col_one_third] Click Here To Order>> [/col_one_third] [/columns] [columns align_text=”center”] [col] So What’s The Book About? Watch The Video Below To Find Out [/col] [col] What People Are Saying: “This is a great read. I knew nothing about the Qur’an and decided to educate myself and this book really gives a great insight” Darrin Blair “Beautifully simple and elegantly written.”   Hena H. Siddiqui “This is a fascinating read”   Joseph Kelly [/col] [/columns] [columns] [col] DON’T WAIT – ORDER YOUR COPY NOW! [/col] [col_one_third] Click Here To Order>> [/col_one_third] [/columns] A Sneak Preview Inside The Book [columns][col]1. Teachings: The main concepts and themes the Qur’an teaches including its concept of God, the Prophets and the hereafter. 2. God: The fact that the Quranic conception of the Oneness of God is rational, intuitive and provable. 3. Preservation: The fact that Qur’an is an orally and textual preserved book that has stood the test of time. 4. Timelessly Relevant: The fact that it’s descriptions of the world seem to be multi-layered and multi-levelled. There are many meanings that address various levels of understanding. 5. Unmatched: The fact that the Qur’an is linguistic and literary inimitable. It cannot be matched with regards to its eloquence, style and literary features. [/col][col] 6. Structure: The fact that the Qur’an was revealed over a 23 year period yet it displays a remarkable coherent literary structure. 7. Predictions: The fact that the Qur’an and the Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be peace) made accurate predictions of the future. 8. Lost Knowledge: The fact that the Qur’an reveals lost knowledge from history that was inaccessible during the time of its revelation. 9. Impact: The fact that the Qur’an has affected your lives in ways that you cannot imagine. It has facilitated scientific progress, tolerance and justice for all people. 10. Divine: The fact that the Qur’an could not have been produced by a human being, and its miraculous nature cannot be explain naturalistically.[/col][/columns] [columns] [col] ORDER YOUR FREE COPY TO LEARN MORE! [/col] [col_one_third] Click Here To Order>> [/col_one_third] [/columns] About The Author [columns] [col_one_sixth][/col_one_sixth][col] After attaining a degree in Software Engineering, Abu Zakariya now works as an IT Consultant. He lives in the UK with his wife and three children. He has had a life long interest in comparative religion. Being born in Britain and influenced by his mixed heritage of Arab and European descent, he has had a strong focus on researching Islam and Christianity. After many years of research, discussions and led by a desire to share his experiences in discussing Islam with people of all religious backgrounds, Abu Zakariya authored the popular comparative religion blog www.manyprophetsonemessage.com. He has continued his intellectual and academic pursuits by formally studying and learning from academic scholars trained in Islamic thought and theology. [/col][/columns] [columns] [col] ORDER YOUR FREE COPY FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY NOW!! [/col] [col_one_third] Click Here To Order>> [/col_one_third] [/columns] Frequently Asked Questions [callout] [columns] [col_one_third] Click Here To Download [/col_one_third] [col] FREE DOWNLOAD GET YOUR E-COPY OF ‘THE ETERNAL CHALLENGE’BOOK NOW [/col] [/columns] [/callout]

The Noble Quran is a book of guidance and spiritual progress. This book outlines the values and beliefs that can make you the best person you can be. It teaches a way of thinking that is positive, progressive and solution-oriented. Any person who adopts the worldview of this book becomes aperson who believes in justice for all, equality for all and personal responsibility. The Quran is a book of persuasion – it is a book that speaks to you like a friend. Stories of famous people are given only as a way to prove a point, laws are few and are connected with trying to make you a better person. Poetic phrases become beautiful ways to remember sound advice and good teachings. You can open the book at any page, start reading and learn something useful. In short, the Quran is a personal letter from God to you, asking you to become something more than you thought you could be, someone whom God loves and someone who loves His world so much that he or she will do everything in their power to take good care of it. This translation of the meaning of the Quran is not the same as the original Arabic Quran. You can use translations to get at the meanings and message of the Quran, but it is the original Arabic text where the message truly resides. May your search bear fruit and may the message of the Quran guide your way for all the rest of your days. READ THE BOOK THAT SHOOK THE WORLD

  REFLECTIONS Reflect on the following powerful images with deep and thought provoking Qur’anic verses.

Before the coming of Islam the world was in a state of oppression and injustice. Pre-Islamic Arabia was a dreadful place to live in as the Arabs were a people without any set moral values. Slavery was an economic institution of the Arabs. Male and female slaves were bought and sold like animals, and they formed the most depressed class of the Arabian society. Illiteracy was common among the Arabs, as were alcoholism and adultery. Those with power and money took advantage of the poor by charging 100 per cent interest on loans. Arabia was a male-dominated society, men could marry any number of women and when a man died, his son “inherited” all his wives except his own mother. Women had virtually no legal status, for example they had no right to possess property and had little to no inheritance rights. Female infanticide was widely practiced as they used to bury their daughters alive. I think you can appreciate why this period of Arab history before the dawn of Islam is known as the period of ignorance! Can you imagine being tasked with reforming such a society? Have a think about how long it would take one person to cure all these social ills. One generation? Perhaps several generations? You may even view it as an impossible task. Just to give you an idea of the scale of the challenge, let’s look at an attempt in recent Western history to eradicate just one of these social ills, alcoholism. In 1920 the United States government passed a nationwide law to ban the sale, production, importation, and transportation of alcoholic beverages for moral and health reasons. This is commonly known as Prohibition and although consumption of alcohol fell at the beginning of Prohibition, it subsequently increased and led to other problems such as corruption and organised crime. The law was repealed in 1933. The failure of one of the most powerful governments in the world to tackle just a single social ill should make us reflect on the Qur’an. The Qur’an managed to completely reform not only alcoholism but all the social ills of Arabian society in a single generation, just 23 years! This was a revolution the likes of which the world has never witnessed. Now perhaps you might be thinking to yourself, these social ills of Arabia were a result of the tribal nature of society and the harsh desert environment the Arabs dwelt in. But the fact is that even the super powers of the world at the time, the Byzantine and Persian Empires, who ruled much of the world between them, were also in a state of oppression and injustice. Pope Gregory I, head of the Catholic Church and a contemporary of Prophet Muhammad, had this to say: “What is there now, I ask of delight in this world? Everywhere we observe strife; fields are depopulated, the land has returned to solitude…And yet the blows of Divine justice have no end, because among the blows those guilty of evil acts are not corrected…”[1] Gregory was referring to the oppression and tyranny he was facing at the hands of the Germanic Lombards and he was bemoaning the pitiful condition of his world, the world of the city of Rome. The Pope was not alone in his grief, as almost every society in the world was experiencing some oppression and injustice. Syrian Orthodox Christians were witnessing heavy persecution due to their differences with the ruling Byzantine Church. The Egyptian Coptic Church was also under the persecution of the Byzantines and Jews were on the brink of extinction at the hands of the Catholic Church in Spain. It was against this backdrop that the Qur’an was revealed, transforming not only Arabia but also the rest of world. One of the reasons for the revelation of the Qur’an was to bring mankind out of this state of oppression and injustice. The Qur’an proclaimed loud and clear: “[This is] a Book which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], that you might bring mankind out of darknesses into the light by permission of their Lord – to the path of the Exalted in Might, the Praiseworthy.” The Qur’an 14:1 Peace and justice was not only delivered to the Arabs, but the whole world reaped the fruits of this blessing from God. As we will see, the peace and justice emanating from the Islamic system produced some of the most civilised societies in the history of mankind. HOW THE QUR’AN BROUGHT JUSTICE TO THE WORLD Just how did the Qur’an and early Muslims go about reforming society? This is the testimony of Ja’far bin Abi Talib, who was a contemporary of Prophet Muhammad. Here he informed the king of Abyssinia about the condition of his people and the positive change Islam had brought for them: “O King, we were an uncivilised people, worshipping idols, eating corpses, committing abominations, breaking natural ties, treating guests badly, and our strong devoured our weak. Thus we were until God sent us an apostle whose lineage, truth, trustworthiness, and clemency we know. He summoned us to acknowledge God’s unity and to worship him and to renounce the stones and images which we and our fathers formerly worshipped. He commanded us to speak the truth, be faithful to our engagements, mindful of the ties of kinship and kindly hospitality, and to refrain from crimes and bloodshed. He forbade us to commit abominations and to speak lies, and to devour the property of orphans, to vilify chaste women. He commanded us to worship God alone and not associate anything with him, and he gave us orders about prayer, almsgiving, and fasting. We confessed his truth and believed in him, and we followed him in what he had brought from God, and we worshipped God without associating aught with him…”[2] The people of Arabia were transformed within few decades and they became the torch bearers of a new civilisation in the world, a civilisation that would change the course of human

Science has changed the world. From medicine to telecommunications, science has improved our lives and well-being in ways that no other field of study has achieved. Simply put, science continually elevates our lives, and our understanding of the world and the universe. Thus, it is not surprising that many of us see science as the yardstick for truth, or as the only way to establish the truth about man, life and the universe. Although science is phenomenal, it can’t answer all the questions. It has limitations. It cannot be our only way to understand reality. The Limitations of Science The claim that science is the only method to find out the truth about man, life and the universe is wrong. Science cannot prove moral truths, like what is right and wrong. Science tells us what is, not what ought to be. In this sense science is amoral; it is not an appropriate means of making moral decisions. Whilst it may be used to support our moral decisions, ethical choices are beyond science. Science cannot prove logical truths. For example, take the following into consideration: All unmarried men are bachelors. John is a bachelor. Therefore, John is an unmarried man. The conclusion here necessarily follows. Its truth is established using our understanding of logical connections. These connections are extremely important when we make conclusions. The bachelor syllogism above is true because it logically follows that it is true, however science cannot show how these logical connections are true.  . Science Doesn’t Lead to Certainty Not only is science limited by its inability to address all the questions about life and reality, but it also does not provide certainty. Certainty is not a word that scientists like to use due to the process of induction. Induction is used in science to form conclusions from the data captured in experiments. Induction essentially takes a finite, limited set of observations and concludes on a pattern which may help to understand the next observation or entire set of observation. Immediately we see that induction does not provide certainty: we cannot guarantee the next observation will concur with our conclusion. This is because there is always the possibility of new observations that contradict the previous observations or conclusions. This is why science continually changes. One day you’ll read in a popular magazine or newspaper that coffee is good for your heart, and in another that coffee is bad for your heart. Thus, we cannot use science alone to establish religious truths. Science changes and improves, whereas religious claims are static, unchanging and timeless. This doesn’t mean, however, that religion and science contradict each other. Islam and Science Take Islam as an example. Islam never suffered the same historical issues as Christian Europe. It is well established that during medieval European history, the Church in power would struggle against any science that contradicted its doctrines and beliefs. In contrast, Islam facilitated science. David C. Lindberg, a historian of science, asserts that it was a Muslim scientist, Ibn al- Haytham that developed the scientific method as we know it today.[1] Professor Thomas Arnold, an Arabist and a historian, made the claim that Muslim Spain facilitated the European renaissance:       Muslim Spain had written one of the brightest pages in the history of Medieval Europe. Her influence had passed through Provence into the other countries of Europe, bringing into birth a new poetry and a new culture, and it was from her that Christian scholars received what of Greek philosophy and science they had to stimulate their mental activity up to the time of the Renaissance. [2] So what is the relationship between Islam and science? Specifically, what is the relation between the book of God – the Qur’an – and science? The Qur’an is a book that makes us reflect upon ourselves, and the world around us. The Qur’an mentions knowledge over 100 times. It encourages profound thought: The example of this worldly life is but like rain which We have sent down from the sky that the plants of the earth absorb – those from which men and livestock eat – until, when the earth has taken on its adornment and is beautified and its people suppose that they have capability over it, there comes to it Our command by night or by day, and We make it as a harvest, as if it had not flourished yesterday. Thus do we explain in detail the signs for a people who give thought. [3] However, this doesn’t mean that science can prove the Qur’an’s Divine origins. Due to the tentative conclusions created by induction, this cannot be the case. The Remarkable Qur’an The Qur’an addresses various levels of intellect. Each particular word it employs to describe the natural world has many meanings. These words can relate to past and present understanding of the natural world, and they can relate to the non-scientific areas of spirituality and morality.. We need to appreciate what the main purpose of Qur’anic verse, before we can explore examples of how the Qur’an appeals to varying intellects with its profound range of meanings. These verses are signposts pointing us towards God as the only being worthy of worship. They also serve to aid our understanding and appreciation of God’s Majesty, Power, Glory, Mercy and Love. They are not there to provide details on science, this is not their purpose.  The sub-continent thinker and scholar Amīn Aḥsan Iṣlāḥī in his Tadabbur-e-Qur’ān elaborates on this point: The reference to the creation of the heavens and the earth indicates and demonstrates the tremendous power and might of their Creator. The way they are fashioned testifies to the uniqueness of His handiwork and astounding wisdom. It also refers to the beneficial nature of the creation and its harmony with human life and needs, the benefits and advantages we gain and depend upon. All these are indicative of the grace and Mercy of the Creator and His providential care for His servants. Besides, these also clearly demonstrate that there is a

[columns] [col_one_third] [/col_one_third] [col] There is a profound question that each and every one of us reflects on at some point during our lives: “Why am I here, what is my purpose?” The Qur’an puts forward a simple but powerful argument with regards to our origins: Were they created without any agent? Were they the creators? [52:35] [/col] [/columns] The Qur’an engages its audience by inviting us to ponder some rational, logical questions which we can use to arrive at a conclusion about our origins. The first question that the Qur’an poses to us is: were we created by nothing? Can something really come from nothing? This is impossible, as we know from our own personal experiences of life as well as the laws of the universe that we couldn’t have come out of nothing, because out of nothing, nothing comes! This leads us to the next possibility that the Qur’an proposes: did we create ourselves? Can something create itself? This is a self-contradiction, because for you to create yourself you would have to already exist, and you can’t exist and not exist at same time. This would be like saying that your mother gave birth to herself! Since something cannot come from nothing, and self-creation is absurd, this leaves one final possibility: we have a creator.  This is the best explanation not only for our origins but also the universe and everything in it, because it is intuitive and also agrees with reality: whatever begins to exist has a cause or a creator. This cause or creator must itself be uncaused due to the absurdity of a never ending chain of causes. To illustrate this better, if the cause of the universe had a cause and that cause had a cause and so on and so forth forever, then there wouldn’t be a universe to talk about. For example, imagine if you were told that you couldn’t read this book until you handed it to someone else, and then this other person would also have to give it to someone else, and this went on forever, then would anyone ever read this book? The answer is no. If we apply this principle to the universe then we would have to conclude that the cause behind it is uncaused out of rational necessity. The Qur’an confirms the uncreatedness of the creator: “He begot no one nor was He begotten.” [112:3] Now, having a creator is one thing, but how do we know we have a purpose? Everything in this universe has a purpose. Even simple things like a chair, a bowl and even the book you are holding in your hands serves a purpose. Wouldn’t it be sad if we didn’t too have a purpose? If we reflect and look at the world around us, we can easily come to the conclusion that we must have a purpose. Think about the vastness of our universe with all its billions of galaxies and trillions of planets. The Qur’an tells us that God did not create all this for no reason: “We did not create the heavens and the earth and everything between them playfully.” [21:16] The sun gives us warmth, the clouds give us rain and the trees and animals give us food. Since a lot of the systems that God has put in place in our universe are to ensure our survival and wellbeing then God must have a purpose in mind for us, too. This is what the Qur’an tells us: “It is God who created the heavens and earth, who has sent down water from the sky and with it brought forth produce to nourish you; He has made ships useful to you, sailing the sea by His command, and the rivers too; He has made the sun and the moon useful to you, steady on their paths; He has made the night and day useful to you and given you some of everything you asked Him for. If you tried to count God’s favours you could never calculate them” [14:32–34] So that nagging question comes up again, what is our purpose? Again the Qur’an has the answer: “I created jinn [spirits] and mankind only to worship Me” [51:56] Now, what do you understand about ‘worship’? Most will say prayer. This is correct, however in the Qur’an, worship is much more comprehensive than just praying. It includes all acts of obedience that are pleasing to our Creator. Even exercise and eating can be an act of worship if our intention is to stay healthy as we can’t stand up and pray if we are ill! Why perform worship? It’s important to understand that our Creator does not need our worship. In fact the Qur’an tells us this; it is us who are in need of worship. We as human beings are more than just flesh and bone, we have a spiritual side that also needs nourishing. Many people are wealthy materially speaking but unhappy with their lives because they neglect their spiritual wellbeing. In order for us to experience true peace both our bodies and soul need to be in tune with our Creator: “Truly it is in the remembrance of God that hearts find peace” [13:28] So by converting every aspect of our lives into pleasing our Creator, then we will be in a state of constant remembrance of God and our hearts will be at peace. This is a revolutionary way of thinking but practically, if someone were to do this, a lot of their actions wouldn’t change; however their thought process behind their actions would and they would find the inner peace so needed in today’s society! So, the question arises – what is the best way to worship God? Let’s think about mobile phones. Mobile phones are obviously not as sophisticated as human beings, but we share many things in common. We both have a life span, we both require energy to function correctly, and we can both be damaged if we are

[columns] [col_one_third] [/col_one_third] [col] There have been many incredible works of literature, such as Shakespeare’s plays and fantasy epics like Lord of the Rings. What ties these works together is that they are the product of great human minds. As amazing as these works are, can you imagine how much more amazing a book would be if God Himself authored it, surely it would be the greatest book ever produced. Moreover, imagine that God answers all the important questions that human beings have about life, such as why we are here and what happens to us after we die. Finally, imagine if God authored this book with you in mind, a book that addresses you as an individual. Wouldn’t you want to read such a book? The Qur’an is exactly that book. [/col] [/columns] The word “Qur’an” is Arabic for “recitation”. Indeed one of the many things that make the Qur’an unique is that it claims to be the literal speech of God. Muslims believe that the Qur’an was dictated to Prophet Muhammad, may God’s peace be upon him (or pbuh for short), by God Almighty through the angel Gabriel over 1,400 years ago. The Qur’an was not revealed all at once but rather gradually over a period of 23 years during the lifetime of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). It may surprise readers to learn that the Qur’an contains the same core message as other divinely revealed Scriptures, such as the Torah of Moses and Gospel of Jesus (peace be upon them) and Muslims believe that in their original form, these previous Scriptures were also sent from God. The Qur’an informs us that Muhammad (pbuh) is the final Messenger in a long line of Messengers that God sent before him, such as Abraham, Moses and Jesus. This is another of the unique aspects of the Qur’an; it acknowledges all of the Abrahamic faiths and all of the Prophets sent by God. The Qur’an is also unique in history in terms of the revolutionary impact it had on society. Pre-Islamic Arabia was not a very pleasant place to live in. Given the tribal structure of Arab society, any disputes often led to blood feuds between tribes that would consume whole generations. Slavery was an economic institution of the Arabs. Male and female slaves were sold and bought like animals, and they formed the most depressed class of the Arabian society. Arabia was a male-dominated society to say the least. A man could marry any number of women and when a man died, his son “inherited” all his wives except his own mother. Women, as a general rule, had virtually no legal status: fathers sold their daughters into marriage for a price and women had little or no property or succession rights. The most powerful class of the Arabs was made up by the capitalists and money-lenders who took 100 per cent interest on loans. Infanticide, particularly the burying alive of female infants, was a norm. Finally, illiteracy was common among the Arabs, as were alcoholism and adultery. I think you can appreciate why this period of Arab history before the dawn of Islam is known as the period of ignorance! Can you imagine being tasked with reforming such a society? Have a think about how long it would take one person to cure all these social ills. One generation? Perhaps several generations? You may even view it as an impossible task. Just to give you an idea of the scale of the challenge, let’s look at an attempt in recent Western history to eradicate just one of these social ills, alcoholism. In 1920 the United States government passed a nationwide law to ban the sale, production, importation, and transportation of alcoholic beverages for moral and health reasons. This is commonly known as Prohibition and although consumption of alcohol fell at the beginning of Prohibition, it subsequently increased and led to other problems such as corruption and organised crime. The law was repealed in 1933. The failure of one of the most powerful governments in the world to tackle just a single social ill should make us reflect on the Qur’an. The Qur’an managed to completely reform not only alcoholism but all the social ills of Arabian society in a single generation, just 23 years! This was a revolution the likes of which the world has never witnessed. The impact of the Qur’an on the world is not just historical. What must be noted is that although the Qur’an was revealed in 7th century Arabia, its message is meant for the whole of mankind. In fact there are over 1.5 billion Muslims in the world today because of the Qur’an. Just to give you a practical demonstration of just how many Muslims there are in the world, at any given moment on any day someone, somewhere, is praising God by reciting the Qur’an in their prayers. You must be wondering to yourself, what is it about the Qur’an that has made such an imprint on the hearts of over a billion Muslims?