Saturday, February 4, 2012

Al Insan - Man/Time


Time and again, when I listen to this particular recitation of Al Insan by Sheikh Mishary, I am silent and reduced to tears. There is nothing more peaceful than that few minutes in which the words of the Quran ring true in my heart and remind me not to be swayed.

I used to question many things about Islam (as I'm sure we all must have at some point in our lives) but I must say that the day that I chose to open my heart once again to Islam and re-learn and re-examine the Quran was the best thing that ever happened to me.

But there will always be one thing that stumped me and that is of the accuracy of the description of creation. And here I'm going to share some of the things from this link I have. It shows that God came before Science and not that science is there to disprove God but in fact to ascertain even more that Science came FROM God.

A disclaimer: I hate the word 'proof'' but for the sake of this entry, I shall put this here. The link is here: http://islamtomorrow.com/proofs/


Scientists’ Comments on Scientific Miracles in the Quran:
The following are some comments of scientists1 on the scientific miracles in the Holy Quran.  All of these comments have been taken from the videotape entitled This is the Truth.  In this videotape, you can see and hear the scientists while they are giving the following comments.

1)  Dr. T. V. N. Persaud is Professor of Anatomy, Professor of Pediatrics and Child Health, and Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.  There, he was the Chairman of the Department of Anatomy for 16 years.  He is well-known in his field.  He is the author or editor of 22 textbooks and has published over 181 scientific papers.  In 1991, he received the most distinguished award presented in the field of anatomy in Canada, the J.C.B. Grant Award from the Canadian Association of Anatomists.  When he was asked about the scientific miracles in the Quran which he has researched, he stated the following:

“The way it was explained to me is that Muhammad was a very ordinary man.  He could not read, didn’t know [how] to write. In fact, he was an illiterate.  And we’re talking about twelve [actually about fourteen] hundred years ago.  You have someone illiterate making profound pronouncements and statements and that are amazingly accurate about scientific nature.  And I personally can’t see how this could be a mere chance.  There are too many accuracies and, like Dr. Moore, I have no difficulty in my mind that this is a divine inspiration or revelation which led him to these statements.”  (View the RealPlayer video of this comment Video Clip)
Professor Persaud has included some Quranic verses and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad  in some of his books.  He has also presented these verses and sayings of the Prophet Muhammad  at several conferences.

2)  Dr. Joe Leigh Simpson is the Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Professor of Molecular and Human Genetics at the Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA.  Formerly, he was Professor of Ob-Gyn and the Chairman of the Department of Ob-Gyn at the University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee, USA.  He was also the President of the American Fertility Society.  He has received many awards, including the Association of Professors of Obstetrics and Gynecology Public Recognition Award in 1992.  Professor Simpson studied the following two sayings of the Prophet Muhammad :
{In every one of you, all components of your creation are collected together in your mother’s womb by forty days...}2
{If forty-two nights have passed over the embryo, God sends an angel to it, who shapes it and creates its hearing, vision, skin, flesh, and bones....}3
He studied these two sayings of the Prophet Muhammad  extensively, noting that the first forty days constitute a clearly distinguishable stage of embryo-genesis.  He was particularly impressed by the absolute precision and accuracy of those sayings of the Prophet Muhammad .  Then, during one conference, he gave the following opinion:
“So that the two hadeeths (the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad ) that have been noted provide us with a specific time table for the main embryological development before forty days.  Again, the point has been made, I think, repeatedly by other speakers this morning: these hadeeths could not have been obtained on the basis of the scientific knowledge that was available [at] the time of their writing . . . . It follows, I think, that not only there is no conflict between genetics and religion but, in fact, religion can guide science by adding revelation to some of the traditional scientific approaches, that there exist statements in the Quran shown centuries later to be valid, which support knowledge in the Quran having been derived from God.”  (View the RealPlayer video of this comment Video Clip)

3)  Dr. E. Marshall Johnson is Professor Emeritus of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.  There, for 22 years he was Professor of Anatomy, the Chairman of the Department of Anatomy, and the Director of the Daniel Baugh Institute.  He was also the President of the Teratology Society.  He has authored more than 200 publications.  In 1981, during the Seventh Medical Conference in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, Professor Johnson said in the presentation of his research paper:

“Summary: The Quran describes not only the development of external form, but emphasizes also the internal stages, the stages inside the embryo, of its creation and development, emphasizing major events recognized by contemporary science.”  (View the RealPlayer video of this comment Video Clip)

Also he said: “As a scientist, I can only deal with things which I can specifically see.  I can understand embryology and developmental biology.  I can understand the words that are translated to me from the Quran.  As I gave the example before, if I were to transpose myself into that era, knowing what I knew today and describing things, I could not describe the things which were described.  I see no evidence for the fact to refute the concept that this individual, Muhammad, had to be developing this information from some place.  So I see nothing here in conflict with the concept that divine intervention was involved in what he was able to write.”4  (View the RealPlayer video of this comment Video Clip)

4)  Dr. William W. Hay is a well-known marine scientist.  He is Professor of Geological Sciences at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA.  He was formerly the Dean of the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.  After a discussion with Professor Hay about the Quran’s mention of recently discovered facts on seas, he said:
“I find it very interesting that this sort of information is in the ancient scriptures of the Holy Quran, and I have no way of knowing where they would come from, but I think it is extremely interesting that they are there and that this work is going on to discover it, the meaning of some of the passages.”  And when he was asked about the source of the Quran, he replied: “Well, I would think it must be the divine being.”  (View the RealPlayer video of this comment Video Clip)

5)  Dr. Gerald C. Goeringer is Course Director and Associate Professor of Medical Embryology at the Department of Cell Biology, School of Medicine, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA.  During the Eighth Saudi Medical Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Professor Goeringer stated the following in the presentation of his research paper:
“In a relatively few aayahs (Quranic verses) is contained a rather comprehensive description of human development from the time of commingling of the gametes through organogenesis.  No such distinct and complete record of human development, such as classification, terminology, and description, existed previously.  In most, if not all, instances, this description antedates by many centuries the recording of the various stages of human embryonic and fetal development recorded in the traditional scientific literature.”  (View the RealPlayer video of this comment Video Clip)

6)  Dr. Yoshihide Kozai is Professor Emeritus at Tokyo University, Hongo, Tokyo, Japan, and was the Director of the National Astronomical Observatory, Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan.  He said:
“I am very much impressed by finding true astronomical facts in [the] Quran, and for us the modern astronomers have been studying very small pieces of the universe.  We’ve concentrated our efforts for understanding of [a] very small part.  Because by using telescopes, we can see only very few parts [of] the sky without thinking [about the] whole universe.  So, by reading [the] Quran and by answering to the questions, I think I can find my future way for investigation of the universe.”  (View the RealPlayer video of this comment Video Clip)

7)  Professor Tejatat Tejasen is the Chairman of the Department of Anatomy at Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai, Thailand.  Previously, he was the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the same university.  During the Eighth Saudi Medical Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Professor Tejasen stood up and said:
“During the last three years, I became interested in the Quran . . . . From my study and what I have learned from this conference, I believe that everything that has been recorded in the Quran fourteen hundred years ago must be the truth, that can be proved by the scientific means.  Since the Prophet Muhammad could neither read nor write, Muhammad must be a messenger who relayed this truth, which was revealed to him as an enlightenment by the one who is eligible [as the] creator.  This creator must be God.  Therefore, I think this is the time to say La ilaha illa Allah, there is no god to worship except Allah (God), Muhammadur rasoolu Allah, Muhammad is Messenger (Prophet) of Allah (God).  Lastly, I must congratulate for the excellent and highly successful arrangement for this conference . . . . I have gained not only from the scientific point of view and religious point of view but also the great chance of meeting many well-known scientists and making many new friends among the participants.  The most precious thing of all that I have gained by coming to this place is La ilaha illa Allah, Muhammadur rasoolu Allah, and to have become a Muslim.”  (View the RealPlayer video of this comment Video Clip)

After all these examples we have seen about the scientific miracles in the Holy Quran and all these scientists’ comments on this, let us ask ourselves these questions:
Could it be a coincidence that all this recently discovered scientific information from different fields was mentioned in the Quran, which was revealed fourteen centuries ago?
Could this Quran have been authored by Muhammad  or by any other human being?
The only possible answer is that this Quran must be the literal word of God, revealed by Him.
 


Wallahualambissawab.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Walk with him


I want to share a note that my friend posted on facebook. I think it's very meaningful and we should all take time to think about it. 

Sometimes I see something on Facebook which reminds me of what I missed out. What my life would have been like had I said or done something else at some critical point in my history. How much happier I would be had I achieved what I have always wanted. And how my future might be different than what I can project now.

Then I realize that I cannot be any happier than what I am feeling right now. That it’s sufficient for me what God has provided for me. He knows what is best for me and that which I know not, lends me comfort and not fear.

So I shall walk this life with Him. So that when I come across a similar reminder down the road He has led me to, I can turn to Him and smile with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for always being taken care of.

Walk this life with Allah. You will never get lost.

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Dependence


Today I visited one of my aunts and we were talking about another aunt who has been through a lot in her life and there was one thing that my aunt said that struck at my heart:

She said that when Allah has chosen someone very special, He will put forth in front of this person obstacle after obstacle; taking away each and every one of the persons that he/she depends on such that the only one left to depend on is Him.

And it made me tear.

The aunt we're talking about is a cancer patient but beyond that, she has lost all three of her precious daughters -the first was taken at a young age, then the second is mentally ill and the third and the one whom she put all her hopes for passed away a few years back. That daughter was only 40 then.

It's a sad story and yet this aunt never shed a tear or blamed God or anyone for everything that has happened to her. She's cancer stricken and yet she cares for her mentally ill daughter and does her best to support them both as well as provide an anchor to her grandchildren (those from her late daughter).

A pious woman who truly deserves our prayers.

It just made me think - sometimes we think that God has forgotten us when He puts before us so much hardship... but what if He is truly thinking of us every step of the way; that's why He has carefully planned these obstacles so we will always seek Him in remembrance.

Wallahualambisawab

Sunday, August 7, 2011

The month of patience and perseverance


Truly, He only shows us things when we are ready to see... or to remind us of our wrongdoings so that we can quickly return to the right path. 

He does this in subtle ways... sometimes you might miss it if you're not looking or paying attention. But more importantly is what you do after He has given you the knowledge. 

But this is after all the month to test your patience and perseverance... and like Ustadz said, if you can learn to stay away from what is good for you (food and water) then surely you can stay away from what is bad. 

I have asked Allah for forgiveness for past sins... but truly sometimes it is the humans on earth that know no forgiveness. 

They say that the truth hurts but it is also cathartic. When you pray for forgiveness, I guess there's no need to hide anything since He knows everything. 

For truly He is Most Knowledgeable and Forgiving. 

Monday, June 27, 2011

10 year old disappointment

"In the name of God, most Gracious, most Compassionate"

My purpose in this entry is not to bad-mouth but to share an experience that I hope parents and soon-to-be parents could take into consideration when raising their kids. 

My relationship with children are quite ambiguous. Sometimes I like them, sometimes I don't and sometimes they are just students for me to teach.  But they are always innocent, truthful and protected by His grace. 

Today I went to teach a ten year old girl who on the first glance seem like a normal child but according to her parents, she's slow and has difficulty learning. 

But when I started the lessons, I found the child very intelligent -maybe not in the mainstream way but her non-academic intelligence is stifled to make way for 'rules' and 'forced practices' of the curriculum. Her parents focus only on her results and don't really care if one of her art work got sent for a competition of if she plays brilliant music. 

And the saddest thing she said to me was this:

On my birthday, I wished that I would become clever so that I will not disappoint anyone ever again, especially my father and mother. 

My academia background tells me to define 'clever' and to take note of the placement of 'father' before 'mother'. 

So I asked her what does it mean to be clever?
She said it is to pass all her subjects well and become a teacher. 

Then I asked, are you not clever now? 
She says no. 

Then I asked, says who?
She says when I never pass my exams and my father scolds me.

So I said, Do you know where cleverness comes from?
She shakes her head then frowns. Is it from studying hard? She asks. 

No, I said. It comes from God. It comes from Allah. And He never makes his creations imperfect. Everyone is clever in their own little way. So maybe you're not good in maths and science but I saw you had really high marks for your mother tongue. What do you think that means?

Then she got excited. I later learn that everyone seems to ignore her strengths and focus only on her weakness. So after 5 minutes of sharing, I finally said -see, you can be a language teacher! I'm not saying that you don't have to still put in effort for your weak subjects but that you should be proud that you have a strength to lean on. 

-sigh- 

It hurts me that a child thinks she's a disappointment... because seriously, she isn't. The education system is just that - it divides and separates; gives labels to children, traumatize them and make them think themselves as stupid or clever according to some grade they get. 

Until they forget that it is the learning that is important... every thing we learn is one step closer to God. So parents, don't just care about your child's result. Because sometimes, Allah has other plans for them.