What Islam say about dinosaurs?

What does Islam say about Dinosaurs?

Islam agrees with science, whether they existed does not matter:

036.036 سُبْحَانَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ الْأَزْوَاجَ كُلَّهَا مِمَّا تُنبِتُ الْأَرْضُ وَمِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَمِمَّا لَا يَعْلَمُونَ

Al-Qur'an, 036.036 (Ya-Seen [Ya-Seen])
“Glory be to Him Who created all the pairs: from what the earth produces and from themselves and from things unknown to them.”Ya-Sin {36:36}



016.008 وَالْخَيْلَ وَالْبِغَالَ وَالْحَمِيرَ لِتَرْكَبُوهَا وَزِينَةً وَيَخْلُقُ مَا لا تَعْلَمُونَ

Al-Qur'an, 016.008 (An-Nahl [The Bee])

“… And He creates other things that you do not know.”Nahl {16:8}

The rest of this is from a contact of mine:
((The reason people are not finding a verse about dinosaurs could be due to the fact that they haven’t understood the entire Quran. Also, lots of people would just say it’s not there because they haven’t seen it or read the Quran entirely while understanding it 100% to be able to say it does.
The term ‘dinosaur’ is also the modern word of what those creatures were called thousands of years ago. We do not know what those creatures were referred to exactly, but we can only study the Quran further to make that decision, if it indeed exists in the Quran.
For an example, a lot of people used the excuse of how there is no verse that implies that women have to wear the Hijab (headscarf) and point out only one ayah (verse) that tells women to dress modestly. Of course, that is based on their knowledge of the Quran, little do they know that there exists two more versus that relate to the Headscarf and makes it compulsory. Just because they don’t know about it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.
Everyday or every decade, we discover something new. Whether it be a more clear understanding of what we thought a verse meant, or a complete shift in our views. Islam is over 1400 years old, and to this day we still find something new out, and we still don’t completely understand the Quran. Some verses have literal implications, others an underlining meaning or message.
Now, that does not prove that there is a verse about dinosaurs in the Quran, but suggests that it may actually exist in the Quran but has not yet been identified. We do not know what God refers to as ‘dinosaurs’ in the Quran, but we do know that there is a verse that
 discusses ‘giant creatures/beasts (Dabbah)’ in verse 2:164 from the Holy Quran: “…in the beasts of all kinds that He scatters through the earth…are signs for a people that are wise”


The same word ‘Dabbah’ is used the in the verse 24:45: “And God has created every animal from water: of them are some that creep on their bellies; some that walk on two legs; and some that walk on four. God creates what he wills…” There is another verse in the Quran that I found very interesting – Al-Araf:56 “work not confusion in the earth after the fair ordering thereof” which describes how the earth had been “repaired/reordered/restored”, suggesting there had been commotion or some problematic event on earth and was restored. It warns the believers to not cause confusion on earth.
Then again, that could mean a whole different thing. But, I do believe, even though the Quran is meant mainly to guide the believers, that there may be some verse that might further explain life millions of years ago.))

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Transmission technology

Transmission technology

It is preceded in my previous articles published in the Muslim World League Magazine that many verses ofthe Quran referred to the science unknown in 7th century. The following verses from the chapter ‘Al-Araaf were the object ofsevere criticism by the non-Muslim writers butthe modern achievement in the field of science and technology have proved their authenticity and have fully established the truth what the Book of Allah revealed tothe Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).

44. The dwellers in the Heaven call to the dwellers in the Fire we have that, our Lord promised us (as) the Truth, have you that, which your Lord promised you (as) the Truth. They say: Yes. And crier between them crieth the curse of Allah is on theevil doers.

45. Who hinder (men) from the path of Allah and would have it crookedand who are the disbelievers in the Last day.
46. Between them is a veiland on the heights are men who know them allby theirmarks, and they call to the men in the Heavenpeace be unto you, they have not yet entered the Heaventhey hope to enter it with certainty.
47. And when their eyes are turned to the people in the Fire, they say: Our Lord place us notwith the wrong doing folk.
48. The men on the heightscall unto men whom they know by their markssaying: Of what profit to you were your collected wealthand your pride.
49. Are these the men?Of whom you swore that Allah would not show them mercy? Enter you the Heaven no fear shall be on younor ye shall ever grieve.
50. And the men in the Firecry to the men in the Heaven pour out on us some wateror some of that Allah doth provide you of sustenancethey say: Verily Allah hath forbidden both to disbelievers.(Quran-7/44-50)

The aforesaid verses do carry some important facts, which refer to the modern science and technology.
The chief points of discussion are:
1) A dialogue between the people in the Heaven and the people in the Fire.
2) There are people on the height seeing and talking to both of them.
3) There is ‘Hijab’ meaning veil, curtain, or screen between the people in the Heaven and the people in the Fire.
4) The men in the Heaven recognize their acquaintances in the Fire by their face marks and so on the people in the Fire identify the men in the Heaven.
5) The men in the Fire would long for water and sustenance from the people in the Heaven.
The question arises how the men in the Heaven could see the men in the Fire when particularly:

The breadth of the Heaven is as the width of the sky and the earth. (57/21)

And certainly the Hell will be far, far away from the Heaven.
Imam Razi (543-606) has also raised a question; he says from this magnanimous distance how a call can be possible? Imam Razi himself replied it saying ‘To us the extreme closeness or remoteness of the distance is not an impediment in a dialogue’. He added, “Al-Qadhi observed, that there are scientists who say there is a peculiarity about the voice that the distance alone cannot be a hurdle from hearing.”
This statement shows that the scientists of his time were developing some positive theory about the sound waves.
The Dialogue Between the People of the Heaven and of the Fire
Now I revert back to the exegesis of the aforesaid verses. The commentators attempted to explain them to the best of their knowledge, but no satisfactory explanation could be given for a dialogue between the people of the Heaven and the people of the Fire when they both are million, million light years apart. Similarly the word ‘Hijab’ was explained as a wall, it was all-impossible due to magnanimous distance between the Heaven and the Hell. That is why the orientalists, the Jews and the Christians all denied these verses.
There are few other verses correlated with the verses under citation:

And We have fastened everyman’s deeds to his neck, and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall bring forhim a book which he shall find wide open.(17/13-14),

And the Book will be placed, and you will see the criminals, fearful of that which is therein. They will say woe to us! What sort ofBook this is, that leaves neither a small thing nor a big thing except that it has enumerated it.And they will find what they did placed before them. And your Lord treats no one with injustice. (18/49),
Whoso has done an atom’s weight of good, he will see It then. And whoever has done an atom’s weight of evil will see it then. ( 99/7-8).
The above verses of the Holy Quran describe that after resurrection and before the Judgment, the book of deeds of every person will be fastened to his neck. He will find therein all his acts however small are big. It will contain all his good and bad deeds, which he will be able to read and see. The disbelievers denied the contentions of the Quran saying the presentation of the book of deeds on the Day of Judgment to every person is impossible, neither he will read the book nor he will see his past actions.
The acceptance and rejection of a fact depends upon the quantum of knowledge we possess to the tune of our development in a given time period.
Even in the 19th century, the mind could not perceive the phenomena of the atmosphere and space and of the electromagnetic or radio waves etc., but the Quranic facts were far advanced to our the then timid notions. They were reflecting to our scientific progress, which was yet to be achieved by mankind in the 20th century.
In the first quarter of the 20th century Guglielmo Marconi succeeded in establishing the radio service. From 1928 radio telephone circuits were set up. It was found the radio waves are not restricted to earth’s atmosphere. K.G Jansky first discovered radio waves from the Milky Way in 1931 and the radio noise from the sun was discovered in 1942. This proved that the atmosphere and the space preserve the sounds in the shape of the waves and they do not die out.
After the radio the great invention was of television. It was launched in the Great Britain by B.B.C. on 2nd November 1936. That proved not only sound or voices are preserved in the space but also the space carries the pictures of our actions.
By 1970 the color broadcasting was common in all the countries. Only we by the help of machines receive and show them on the T.V. screen. The invention of the video perfected what was lacking in the television. Whenever one desires one can see a story on a videocassette. Thus every videocassette contains a story in it like a book. And when a man can prepare a film having fiction and real stories using the resources present in the atmosphere and show it on television, certainly it is in the power of God the presentation of the book of deeds on the day of Judgment.
Therefore, God said: ‘Whoso has done an atom’s of weight of good will see it then” and so on his evils.
When man will be shown the film of his life he will cry “Woe to us! What a book is this! It leaves out nothing but enumerated it” and they find in it all they did in the world.
One thing remains, God mentioned the reading of the book and seeing of the past actions of every man in the verses under citation, but it did not mention that a man can listen his own voice the like we listen in a video cassette. It is not so. The Quran did mention it too:
This our book speaks about you with truth, Lo! We have caused (all) that you did to be recorded. (45/29)

Thus the deeds of every man are not only being written but his voice is also being recorded. This proved the angels are preparing the record of every man like that of a color film.
We can say there are two kinds of film, the one we prepare for a videocassette etc., the other, which angels prepare for the whole life span of every man.
The Omniscient, the Creator of the Universe has appointed sentinels on every person to note down, prepare a film of all his actions in the shape of a cassette and call it a book of deeds. When the guilty will refuse to admit his sins:
On the Day when their tongues, their hands and their feet will testify against themwhat they used to do. (24/24)

There is no wonder in it. Who can give speech to a tongue can give speech to other limbs. Had the tongue speech on its own, the tongues of the animal would have spoken. If the guilty would reject the testimony of their own limbs and insist on refusal, the angels would make for them to play the cassette of their lives before them. He would see all his past life as he used to see in the films. This is:
‘Who so hath done an atoms weight of good will see it then, and whoso hath done an atoms weight of evilwill see it then.’


It is a warning to those who see dances and listens songs on a videocassette, which give vent to sexual desires, they should remember that Allah (God) would not treat them with injustice.
However, with the invention of radio, television, and video the Quranic verses, which looked incredible to the unbelievers, became the most credible. In other words the Quran has prophesied with modern development in the technology when no one could conceive it in the 7th century.
We return to the dialogue, which is to occur between the men in the Heaven and men in the Fire.
It is aforementioned that the Quranic verse referring to ‘Hijab’ (screen, curtain) between two aforesaid people remained unexplained till we enter the era of modern technology. Now we can interpret the real meaning of the word ‘Hijab’ is screen and not wall as contended by the previous interpreters. That is to say the aforesaid parties of the Heaven and the Hell would be able to see each other on a screen, the like we see in our television news program. The people on height would also participate in the dialogue between the two parties like a T.V host.
It is very amazing that the Quranic description having been declared far beyond the truth is proved after 1400 years. The Quran in the seventh century had announced:
We will show them Our signs in the universe and in their own selves, until it becomes manifest to them that this (Book) is the truth. (41/53)

The persons on the height would be intermediaries in this transmission. The Quran also mentions that both the parties will recognize each other with their face marks. Certainly it is so the recognition dawns upon us when we see a character on a T.V. screen.
Lastly when the people in the Fire see the people in the Heaven eating and drinking, they would long for to get some food and drink, though they know that they cannot get to those provisions.
However, the modern inventions finally upheld the Quranic assertions as to the reckoning of all and after their final destination in the Heaven or the Hell, they proved the possibility of a dialogue, which is to occur between the people in the Heaven and in the Fire.

Fingerprint

The Identity Hidden in the Fingerprint While it is stated in the Qur’an that it is easy for Allah to bring man back to life after death, peoples’ fingerprints are particularly emphasized: 075.004► بَلَى قَادِرِينَ عَلَى أَنْ نُسَوِّيَ بَنَانَهُ Yes, We are able to put together in perfect order the very tips of his fingers. (Qur’an, Al-Qiyama -75:4) The emphasis on fingerprints has a very special meaning. This is because shapes and details on everyone’s fingerprint are unique to each individual. Every person who is alive or who has ever lived in this world has a set of unique fingerprints. Furthermore, even identical twins having the very same DNA sequence have their own set of fingerprints. Fingerprints attain their final shape before birth and remain the same for a lifetime unless a permanent scar appears. That is why fingerprints are accepted as a very important proof of identity, exclusive to their owner. The science of fingerprints has been used as a non-erring identity determination method. However, what is important is that this feature of fingerprints was only discovered in the late 19th century. Before then, people regarded fingerprints as ordinary curves without any specific importance or meaning. However in the Qur’an, Allah points to the fingertips, which did not attract anyone’s attention at that time, and calls our attention to their importance. This importance has only been fully understood in our day

Army-ant technology Then, when they reached the Valley of the Ants, an ant said: “Ants! Enter your dwellings, so that Sulayman and his troops do not crush you unwittingly.” (Qur’an, 27:18) The “Valley of the Ants” refers to a special place and special ants. In addition, the fact that Prophet Sulayman (as) could hear the ants talking among themselves may contain striking references to future developments in computer technology. The present-day term “Silicon Valley” refers to the centre of the world of technology. It is most significant that a “valley of the ants” appears in the account of Prophet Sulayman’s (as) life. Allah may be drawing our attention to the advanced technology of the future. Furthermore, ants and other insect species are widely used in advanced technology as models in robot projects and are intended to serve in a wide range of areas, from the defence industry to technology. The verse may also be referring to these developments. Latest Developments in Miniature Technology: Army-Ant Robots The best known project using ants as a model are the “Army-Ant Robot” projects being carried out independently in several countries. One study being carried out by the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Virginia State University seeks to develop small, inexpensive, and simple physically identical robots that can be used as a robot army. Project officials explain these robots’ functionality in the following terms: “The way they behave as a group, in a coordinated manner, perform a series of physical actions, and take joint decisions.” These robot armies’ mechanical and electrical designs have been based on the behaviour of an ant community. They are called the “army-ant” robots because of their similarities to their insect counterparts. The “army-ant” robot system was originally designed as a “material-carrying system.” According to this scenario, several small robots would be charged with jointly lifting and carrying objects. It was later decided that they could be used for other tasks. One report describes other tasks to which they might be assigned in the future:Nuclear and hazardous waste cleanup with robotic “swarms,” mining (including material removal and search-and-rescue), mine sweeping (both land and water), surveillance and sentry, planetary surface exploration and excavation.In a report by Israel A. Wagner, an expert on ant robot technology, the ant robot projects were described in these terms:Ant-robots are simple physical or virtual creatures designed to cooperate in order to achieve a common goal. They are assumed to have very limited resources of energy, sensing and computing, and to communicate via traces left in the workspace or on the ground, like many insects naturally do… The distribution of work among multiple a(ge)nts can be made by either a central controller who sends orders to the agents, or by an a-priori agreement on a certain partitioning that, if obeyed by the agents, eventually leads to a completion of the given mission. A third way, used throughout the current work, is to design the behavior of individuals such that cooperation will naturally emerge in the course of their work, without making a-priori decisions on the structure of the cooperation. The specific application that we address is covering, which is also known as exploring or searching. This variety of names hints to the many applications this problem might have: from cleaning the floor of a house to mapping an unknown planet or demining a mine field.As can be seen in these examples, an ant’s social lifestyle forms the basis of many projects, and the various ant-based robot technologies are providing benefits for human beings. That is why it is so important that ants and their valley are referred to in the Qur’anic account of Prophet Sulayman’s (as) life. The term “ants” in the verse may refer to an army consisting of robots, future developments in robot technology, and how robots will play an important role in human life. For example, they may perform many arduous tasks and thus make people’s lives more comfortable. (Allah knows best.)

Prohibit of drug

Why Islam Forbids Drugs? ALCOHOL and narcotic drugs are now the greatest social problem all over the world. It is said that Omar (later the Second Rightly-Guided Caliph) prayed: O Allah give us a decisive indication about wine, it takes away the money and the intellect. (Imam Ahmad) Allah revealed: “They ask you (O Muhammad) concerning alcoholic drink and gambling. Say: In them is great sin, and (some) benefits for men, but the sin of them is greater than their benefit.” (2:219) Omar continued to pray: “O Allah indicate a manifest indication about wine.”Allah revealed” “O you who believe! Approach not As-Salat (the prayer) when you are in a drunken state until you know (the meaning) of what you utter.” (4:43) Omar prayed again: “O Allah indicate us about wine.”Allah revealed:   “O you who believe intoxicants (all kinds of alcoholic drinks), and gambling … are an abomination of Shaitan’s (Satan) handiwork. So avoid (strictly all) that (abomination) in order that you may be successful. Satan wants only to excite enmity and hatred between you with intoxicants and gambling, and hinder you from the remembrance of Allah and from As-Salat (the prayer). So will you not then abstain?” (5:90-91) After hearing this revelation, Omar exclaimed: “We are refrained, we are refrained.” The ban on the use of intoxicants was gradual. This evil was eradicated by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). He warned about the curse of Allah on all those associated with it from production to its consumption. The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Whatever much of it intoxicates, then little of it is also prohibited.” (Abu Dawood from Jabir) Abdullah Bin Omar is quoted to have said: “The Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) said that ‘Anybody who attributed to me anything which I did not say will go to Hell.” After this Abdullah Bin Omar said: “I heard the Apostle of Allah (peace be upon him) saying ‘No doubt Allah has prohibited the wine, games of chance and the wine extracted from “Ghabeera” (a flower tree with fruit). Narcotic drugs are also banned in Islam. This ban was enforced in 7th century for the welfare of humanity. The latest developments in medical science have proved the consumption of alcohol and narcotics to be a social evil causing great harm not only to the society but also to human health. If we look into the expenditure incurred on drinks (intoxicants) in European and American countries we get an alarming figure of thousands of millions of dollars. France has the highest alcohol consumption. Frenchmen consume 200 million liters of alcoholic beverages every year. Alcohol makes the man unstable and creates multifarious problems. It breaks the family ties and brings about a complete disruption in family life. The man under its influence fills the destructive bowl, gets excited with an urge to commit crimes and does not hesitate to commit adultery, incest and fornication. Alcohol abuse presents the society with a staggering bill. In the US, somewhere between $25 billion to $40 billion are lost in terms of labor productivity, treatment and welfare. (Koffend 1979) In 1979, the World Health Organization in a report stated that alcoholism is becoming a major problem in developing countries. In Zambia and Venezuela the abuses of alcohol are linked with increasing crimes and is the major cause of road accidents. In South Africa, 75 percent of the population is affected directly with adverse affects of alcoholism. In US, 40 percent of all road accidents are due to alcohol abuse and alcohol accounts for 50 percent of criminal arrests. Man is a social animal. He is superior to animals by virtue of his mental faculties. If these faculties are impaired, he will act like an animal. Alcohol and narcotic drugs impair the higher centers of the brain with the result a man loses judgment, intellect, learning reason, memory and orientation. The lower centers of the brain are freed from the inhibiting influence of the higher centers causing excitement and animalistic behaviors. Owing to this, the intoxicated person behaves recklessly and become loquacious and loses self-control, totters and is led by evil desires to commit crimes. The following are the bodily harms or diseases of alcoholism observed by the medical science. Peripheral Neuritis, i.e. numbness and weakness in nervous system. Wernicks Encephalopathy, causing the disturbance in consciousness and neurological problems. Korsakoffs Psychosis i.e. impairment of memory delusion. Delirium Tremens. The alcoholic is confused, restless, misidentifies people and places and has severe tremor. Cerebella degeneration. Alcoholic gastritis causes heartburn, anorexia, nausea, and vomiting. Pancreatitis. It may result into hemorrhage resulting in death. There are some other sever diseases like cardiomyopathy abnormality of the rhythm of the heart and beri beri heart disease etc., etc. The above facts make it crystal clear that alcohol and narcotic drugs not only take away the hard-earned money of the people but also their intellect and health and leave them worthless. Caliph Omar was wise when he prayed in earlier 7th century for the ban saying intoxicants take away the money and the intellect. Allah the Omniscient, the All-Wise Who cares for the welfare of his bondmen banned intoxicants and delivered them from the pernicious evil. Now in 20th century all the sensible world is making a lot of hue and cry to stop alcoholism only to learn that it is reaching epidemic proportions. It is Islam which tackled all social evils and crimes and devised ways and means to save humanity from the menace of narcotics and alcoholism.

Alien in Quran

What does Qur'an exactly say about-Alien "Among His (God's) signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the living creatures that He has scattered through them : and He has power to gather them together when He wills. (Holy Qur'an 42:29) On 7th August 1996, NASA (1) scientists made an announcement that made front page headlines throughout the world. Within a Martian meteorite, they had found evidence of a microscopic life form that may have existed on Mars more than three billion years ago. (2) Although other studies were later published which challenged this conclusion, (3) numerous recent discoveries, for example, the discovery by the Galileo spacecraft, (4) in February 1997, of a possible red-coloured sea under the ice crust of Jupiter's moon, Europa, (5) are raising hopes that we may soon be able to get an answer to one of the oldest and most interesting questions asked by humans-"Is anyone out there, or are we alone in the universe?" However, it may be that none of us may live to see the day when scientists will give us a definitive answer to this question. For Muslims, that should not be a problem. We already have the answer. Although many Muslims are unaware of the fact, the Qur'an (6) explicitly mentions the existence of extraterrestrial life. The existence of creatures of a spiritual nature, such as angels, in the universe, is accepted as a fact by all Muslims, as well as people of other religions, such as Christians. The point that generates excitement among the public, and scientists is the question of whether material life forms like ourselves, which can be found by science, do actually exist outside the earth. (7) The objective of this article is to present evidence from the Qur'an for the existence in the universe, of MATERIAL life forms ("Life as we know it"). "Dabbatun" In Sura 42, Verse 29 (42: 29) of the Qur'an, we are told, "Among His (God's) signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the living creatures that He has scattered through them : and He has power to gather them together when He wills. "  (8) Before proceeding further, a point or two must be noted. The word "sama", translated "heavens", is also the Arabic for "sky". One may object that the verse refers to creatures in the sky (which would be birds), not in the heavens. However, birds are mentioned separately from creatures of the heavens in 24: 41, "Seest thou not that it is God Whose praise all beings in the heavens and on earth do celebrate, and the birds (of the air) with wings outspread? . . . "  (9) In a note to 42; 29, Muhammad Asad states, "In the Qur'an, the expression "the heavens and earth" invariably denotes the universe in its entirety. " (10) The Qur'an mentions that inanimate objects also worship God: "Do they not look at God's creation, (even) among (inanimate) things- how their (very) shadows turn round, from right to left, prostrating themselves to God. . . "(16: 48). (11) Therefore, may not the creatures spoken of in 42: 29 in the heavens, be inanimate creatures of God. No. The next verse, 16: 49 goes, "And to God doth obeisance all that is in the heavens and earth, whether moving (living) creatures or the angels. . . ". (12) The word translated "living creatures" here is the same as that in 42: 29- "Dabbatun". Comments Asad, "The word dabbah denotes any sentient, corporeal being capable of spontaneous movement and is contrasted here with the non-corporeal, spiritual beings designated as "angels" ". (13) In other words, 42: 29 is referring to precisely the type of life forms that science is searching for, not some metaphysical entities. Yusuf Ali says, "Dabbatun: beasts, living, crawling creatures of all kind. " (14) This is the same word used in 2: 164, ". . . in the beasts of all kinds that He scatters through the earth. . . are signs for a people that are wise, " (15) and in 24: 45, "And God has created every animal from water: of them are some that creep on their bellies; some that walk on two legs; and some that walk on four. God creates what he wills. . . " (16) Commenting on 42: 29, Allama Shabbir Ahmad Usmani says, "From the verse it appears that like on the earth, there are some kinds of animals- living creatures- in the heavens also. " (17) On the same verse, Yusuf Ali comments, "Life is not confined to our one little Planet. It is a very old speculation to imagine some life like human life on the planet Mars. . . it is reasonable to suppose that Life in some form or other is scattered through some of the millions of heavenly bodies scattered through space. " (18) >From such remarks, the reader will realize that Muslim scholars are well aware of the fact that 42: 29 clearly mentions the existence of aliens. Is There Any Alien Intelligent Life ? Although the discovery of any form of life outside the earth would be dramatic, humankind is especially interested in knowing whether there is any alien intelligent life in the universe. NASA previously had a program on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). Although now scrapped due to budget cuts, private SETI organizations (19) have now been made which continue the search. The Planetary Society, (20) a private organization, in which the film director Steven Speilberg (21) is a member of the Board of Directors, has the largest SETI program in the world. So far, no sign of alien intelligent life has turned up. Can the Qur'an provide an answer? Sura 27: 65 commands, "Say: None in the heavens or on earth, except God, knows what is hidden: nor can they perceive when they shall be raised up (for Judgement). " (22)  This shows that, like humans, there are other creatures in the universe that will also be raised from the dead. We are told in 19: 93-96, "Not one of the beings in the heavens and the earth but must come to (God) Most Gracious as a servant. He does take an account of them (all), and hath numbered them (all) exactly. And everyone of them will come to Him singly on the Day of Judgement. On those who believe and work deeds of righteousness, will (God) Most Gracious bestow love. " (23) From these verses we learn that there are alien life forms that, like us, will also be judged according to the works that they do during their lives. Among them are the believers. Therefore, naturally, there will also be those aliens who are unbelievers. The believers will be rewarded. The life forms being described in the above verses can hardly be expected to be microorganisms. The Qur'an is referring to creatures of a level of development that makes them morally accountable beings. They must be organisms possessing qualities which we would ascribe to intelligent life forms. In Sura 72: 14-15, jinn (a type of spiritual life form, which the Qur'an mention as living on the earth) say, "Amongst us are some that submit their wills (to God), and some that swerve from justice. Now those who submit their wills- they have sought out (the path) of right conduct: But those who swerve- they are (but) fuel for Hell-fire. " (24)  The Qur'an mentions that good jinn will be rewarded with Paradise. Summing up from all the above verses, it is clear that Judgement Day is for creatures in the whole universe (Sura 39: 68- "The Trumpet will (just) be sounded when all that are in the heavens and on earth will swoon, except such as it will please God (to exempt). Then will a second one be sounded, when, behold, they will be standing and looking on! ") (25)  and like jinn, aliens will also be sharing Paradise and Hell with humans. In fact, the Qur'an mentions that Paradise is of a size like that of our present universe- 57: 21, "Therefore (vie) with one another for the pardon of your Lord, and for a Paradise as vast as heaven and earh, prepared for those who believe in Allah and His apostles.  " (26) Therefore, it is not surprising that when we are sharing this universe with aliens, we should share Paradise and Hell with them too. The Qur'an shows us, therefore, that not only do aliens exist, but among them are also intelligent beings. Where Can Aliens be Found? Knowing that aliens, including intelligent life forms exist elsewhere, our next question would be, "Where do they live? "Scientists naturally expect them to live on planets. They look for other planets around other stars- planets that have the right conditions to harbour life- in other words, other earths. In October 1995, scientists announced the discovery of the first extra-solar planet around the star 51 Pegasi. (27) Since then, there have been a string of discoveries of other planets. At the time of writing of this article, fifteen planets have been claimed to have been discovered. (28) Although some of these objects have been dismissed as brown dwarfs (including the object around Pegasi 51) by some scientists, (29) at least some of the fifteen objects are agreed upon as being planets. Scientists believe that on potential moons around planets found to be orbiting two stars, the right conditions may exist for life to be present. (30) In Sura 65: 12, we are informed, "God is He Who created seven heavens and of the earth a similar number. . . " (31) This verse, although usually translated properly, is very commonly misinterpreted by commentators. They give their interpretation that space is divided into seven zones, and likewise, as Yusuf Ali puts it, "the crust of the earth is built up of geological strata one above another". (32) This interpretation arises due to a misunderstanding of what a "heaven" is as mentioned in the Qur'an. Before continuing further about the topic of aliens, it is necessary to clear up this confusion. The answer can be deduced from verses in the Qur'an itself and comparing them with our current scientific knowledge about the universe. Sura 21: 30 asks, "Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before we clove them asunder? . . . " (33)  Sura 41: 11-12 tell us, "Then turned He to the heaven when it was smoke, and said unto it and unto the earth: come both of you, willingly or loth. . . Then We ordained them seven heavens. . . and inspired in each heaven its mandate; and We decked the lowest heaven with lamps. . . " (34) and Sura 71: 15-16, "See ye not how Allah hath created seven heavens in harmony, and hath made the moon a light therin, and made the sun a lamp? " (35) Sura 51: 47 informs us, "And it is We who have built the universe with (Our creative) power; and, verily, it is We who are steadily expanding it. " (36) Asad, comments on the above verses as follows: about 21: 30, ". . . the above unmistakable reference to the unitary origin of the universe- metonymically described in the Qur'an as "the heavens and the earth"- strikingly anticipates the view of almost all modern astrophysicists that this universe has originated as one entity from one single element, namely, hydrogen, which became subsequently consolidated through gravity and then separated into individual nebulae, galaxies, and solar systems, with individual parts progressively breaking away to form new entities in the shape of stars, planets and the latter's satellites"; (37) about 41: 11, he explains the word "smoke" as, "a gas- evidently hydrogen gas, which physicists regard as the primal element from which all material particles of the universe have evolved and still evolve. . . " (38) and says about the verse, "explaining this passage, Zamakhshari observes: "The meaning of God's command to the skies (heavens) and the earth to "come". . . is this: He willed their coming into being. . . ""; for 41: 12, he explains "seven heavens" as, "a multiplicity of cosmic systems"; (39) about 51: 47 he says, "the phrase "inna la-musi'un" clearly foreshadows the modern notion of the "expanding universe"- that is, the fact that the cosmos, though finite in extent, is continuously expanding in space. " (40) Finally, three more verses need to be referred to- 50: 38, "And verily We created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them. . . and naught of weariness touched us" (41) , 21: 104, "The Day when We shall roll up the heavens as a recorder rolleth up a written scroll. As We began the first creation, We shall repeat it. (It is a promise binding) upon Us. Lo! We are to perform it" (42) , and 14: 48, "One day the Earth will be changed to a different Earth, and so will be the heavens. . . " (43) From the verses above, we learn this from the Qur'an: a heaven is a material entity which arose from the same material as the earth originated from. Initially, there was one gaseous mass. A cleavage process occurred resulting in the making of the "seven heavens" and "all that lies between them". The sun, moon and earth are constituents of a heaven. Therefore, a heaven must be larger than a star (sun). When the end of the universe is at hand, the heavens, which till then were in an expanding universe (51: 47) will come together. Then, the way our present universe came into being, in a similar manner, a new creation will come into being, containing other heavens and another earth. Any astronomer reading these verses can tell you that there is only one entity that fits the description of a heaven in the Qur'an- a "heaven" in the Qur'an must be referring to a "galaxy". According to modern science, the universe arose from a singularity, at the Big Bang, and has since, been expanding. From a primordial gas cloud arose huge fragments from which the galaxies and their clusters arose. Today, the galaxies are moving apart from each other in space. They are separated by intergalactic space in which may lurk invisible dark matter, making up to 90% of the total mass of the universe. if there is sufficient dark matter, at some time in the future, the universe will stop expanding and enter a contraction phase in which the galaxies will finally come close together in a Big Crunch marking an end to the present universe. The universe would have returned to a singularity state similar to that from which the present universe arose. Then, once again, scientists predict, a new universe may rebound from the singularity of the Big Crunch, as another Big Bang gives rise to a universe with its own galaxies and planets etc. Verses in the Qur'an agree amazingly with our current ideas about the universe! The purpose of our lengthy divergence from the main topic of this article was to prove that the "seven heavens" are not zones into which the universe is divided, but large astronomical entities, the galaxies. Some people have interpreted a heaven as being a solar system. However, while this view may seem appropriate for some verses, it does not tally with all the verses. The Qur'an mentions the creation of seven heavens. Asad explains that, ". . . as regards the "seven heavens", it is to be borne in mind that in Arabic usage. . . the number "seven" is often synonymous with "several". " (44) I have shown that the heavens are the galaxies and we can see that millions of them exist. Even if we assume that the heaven are some other astronomical objects that arose from the primary gas cloud, they definitely are not literally seven in number, but in the millions. The relevance of this to our discussion on aliens is that the Sura 65: 12 tells us that, as God has created "seven Heavens", He has created, "of the earth a similar number. . . " Therefore, as there are millions of galaxies, God has also created millions of earths scattered throughout the universe. Usmani comments on 65: 12, "The earths as well, He created seven (Usmani thinks literally seven. We know it actually means "many"), as given in the Tradition of Tirmizi etc. It is possible they are not visible, it is possible they are visible, but people think them to be stars or planets, as the scientists of today have predicted the possibility of life on Mars etc. . . " (45) An important thing to point out in 65: 12 is that God does not use the word "worlds", but specifically, "earth". An 'earth' would be a planet that harbours life. Scientists also often speak of looking for other earths. They mean not just any planet, but one sustaining or capable of sustaining life. In his book, The Bible, The Qur'an and Science, Maurice Bucaille writes, ". . . it comes as no small surprise to the reader of the Qur'an to find that earths such as our own may be found in the Universe. . . " (46) We have finally arrived at the Qur'an's answer as to where aliens can be found. They inhabit the millions of earths that God has created among the millions of heavens (galaxies) in the universe. The Qur'an therefore, gives us a magnificent view of the universe- a universe teeming with life, a place that the late astronomer Carl Sagan described as a "cosmic fugue, with themes and counter- points, dissonances and harmonies, a billion different voices playing the life music. " (47) Will we ever Discover Aliens? So far, we have learnt from the Qur'an that extraterrestrial life, including intelligent life, exists throughout countless earths in the universe. But this is not sufficient to satisfy our curiosity. We want scientists to actually discover aliens. Only after we have found incontrovertible scientific evidence that aliens exist, will our (unbelieving) hearts see that the Qur'an was correct all along. We actually won't be satisfied till we meet an alien face to face. Is there any chance that in the future we will actually discover, through science, the existence of aliens and establish some kind of contact with them or even meet them? To get some idea on this matter, we must return to Sura 42: 29. We are told over there that the scattering of living creatures in the heavens and the earth is a "sign". What is a sign? Sura 6: 104 says,  "Momentous signs have come to you from your Lord. He that sees them shall himself have much to gain, but he who is blind to them shall lose much. " (48) Sura 6: 109, "They solemly swear by Allah that if a sign be given them they would believe in it. " (49) Sura 7: 73, "A clear proof has come to you from your Lord. Here is Allah's she-camel: a sign for you. " (50) Clearly, a sign is something which we can see, or at least, experience with our senses. Otherwise, it would not be a sign. Some signs are those that God showed to humans in the past. Other signs remain for God to show us in the future- "Soon we will show them Our Signs in the (furthest) regions, and in their own souls, until it becomes manifest to them that this is the Truth" (41: 53). (51) THERFORE, SURA 42: 29 CONTAINS A PROPHESY THAT A TIME WILL INDEED COME IN THE FUTUTE WHEN HUMANS WILL DISCOVER ALIENS. In Sura 55: 33-34, we are addressed, "O ye assembly of Jinn and men! If it be you can pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, pass ye! Not without authority will ye be able to pass! Then which of the favours of your Lord will ye deny? " (52) Why does God ask us to go into space? There must be some purpose. Maybe it be for us to fulfill some grand destiny in store for our species- maybe to become a galactic race, a respectable part of the galactic community of civilizations. Maybe, it is our travels in space that may lead to our encounter with aliens and fulfill the prophesy in 42: 29. Only time will tell. In anticipation of the time when we become space-travellers, we are told in Sura 29: 22, "Neither on earth nor in heaven shall you be beyond reach: nor have you any guardian or helper besides Allah. " (53) To reach other civilizations, we must be capable of feasible interstellar transport. Might we one day be capable of undertaking such a voyage? Sura 16: 8 says, "And (it is He Who creates) horses and mules for you to ride. . . and He will yet create things of which (today) you have no knowledge. " (54) The latter part of this verse is often translated in the present tense but as Asad points out, "The use in this context, of the aorist "yakhluqu" implies the future tense ("He will create") . . . Since this reference to God's continuing creation comes immediately after a mention of primitive means of transport, it obviously relates to other- as yet unknown- things of the same category: that is to say, to new means of transport which God unceasingly creates through the instrumentality of the inventiveness with which He has endowed man's mind. " (55) Therefore, it is possible that we may one day make the spacecraft required for interstellar travel. After all, God Himself has encouraged us to, "pass beyond the regions of the heavens". Sura 42: 29 ends with the statement that God has the power to gather the creatures of the heavens and earth together if He wills. This also points to the possibility of our meeting aliens in the future. However, this gathering may well refer to that which will occur on Judgement Day as mentioned in Sura 19: 93-96 (see above). Man's Position Among Creation The most revolutionary discoveries in history have been those which altered the way humans perceived themselves in the universe. We discovered that the earth was not at the centre of the universe. We discovered that our Sun was a very ordinary star located in an insignificant part of an ordinary galaxy, which was only one of millions of galaxies. These discoveries should have humbled us. Yet, even today, many of us triumphantly proclaim ourselves as being the most supreme creation of God. It is common to ascribe our cherished position among all living things to our higher intellectual abilities. If we were to find out that there are other intelligent beings in the universe, and that some may be intellectually more superior to us, where would that leave us ? Would we finally be dethroned? Sura 17: 70 informs us, "Verily We have honoured the children of Adam. . . and preferred them above many of those whom We created with a marked preferment. " (56) Many translations fail to mention the "marked preferment" in the verse, although the verse contains the Arabic "tafzelan" which conveys this. Note that the verse mentions that there are other creatures besides humans, who have also been given a position of distinction, and humans have been preferred above many, not all, of these creatures. Usmani states in a comment on this verse, "Under this verse a debate is opened: Who is superior- Man or Angel? But logically this verse does not decide the issue. " (57) Another scholar has written, "From this (verse) it is evident that whatever superiority humans have got over other creatures is not whole. Allah's creatures contain such creatures upon which humans have got no superiority. "It must be remembered here that while so far we have been discussing material alien life forms, the debate of man's position in creation includes both material and spiritual creatures of God. Some early authorities, such as Hasan, have not accepted the word "akser" mentioned in 17: 70 as meaning "many". Hasan maintains that the word "akser", as used in 17: 70, should be understood as meaning "all", since the same word is used in 26: 233 and 10: 36, where it would be inappropriate to take its meaning as "many" but rather as "all". With such a substitution in verse 17: 70, the meaning would be altered to mean that man is preferred by God over all creatures. The debate on man's status continues among scholars and also among the public. Let us make an analogy to the debate of whether man is superior to woman. Suppose for a moment that we hand the trophy to man and let him enjoy his "superior" position. On the Day of Judgement, it will only be deeds that count and good women will go to Paradise and bad men will burn in Hell. Who would have been more superior? As you can see, in the final analysis, any debate on the status of a race, or species is useless. From earlier verses mentioned in this article, the reader will remember that, according to the Qur'an, God will judge humans as well as aliens on the basis of their deeds and reward them accordingly. Many humans will be sent to Hell for their wrongdoings. At the same time there will be aliens who will be rewarded for their good deeds. Who would be more superior- the unbelieving human or the faithful alien? The answer is obvious. Therefore, what's the use of debating this point? Status of a creature is relative to its moral conduct. Sura 95: 4-5 states, "Surely We created man of the best stature, then We reduced him to the lowest of the low. " (58) Islam and the Geocentric Universe It is the fanciful idea of religion-bashers that the discovery of extraterrestrial life will undermine any remaining credibility that religion may have. In the case of Islam, as one can see from this discussion, that can hardly be the case. On the contrary, such a discovery would verify the truth of the statements contained in the Qur'an relating to the subject of alien life, and strengthen the position of Muslims. The vision of Islam is that of a truly universal religion. It is far removed from the exclusiveness of Judaism ("We are the Chosen Ones for God's message"). It is a pity that the image of all religions has suffered a setback from the great scandal of the Church- its treatment of Galileo, for (rightly) challenging their views of a geocentric universe, in which Man was The Central Figure in God's Plan of Creation, living on a planet around which all the rest of creation revolved. The Qur'an gives us a picture of our place in the universe that is quite different. In Sura 40: 57, God says,  "Assuredly the creation of the heavens and the earth is a greater (matter) than the creation of men: yet most men understand not. " (59) Comments Yusuf Ali, "Man is himself a tiny part of creation. Why should he be so ego-centric? " (60) No one race of humans was chosen to be the exclusive custodians of the truth. Sura 16: 36 tells us, "For We assuredly sent amongst every People an apostle, (with the command), "Serve God, and eschew Evil": of the people were some whom God guided, and others on whom Error became inevitably (established). So travel through the earth, and see what was the end of those who denied (the Truth). " (61) According to some Traditions of The Prophet (pbuh), 124, 000 messengers have been sent into the world by God, throughout the ages to people all over the world. No nation was denied access to the Truth. Even on earth, guidance was provided not only to humans, but also the Jinn who co-habit this planet with us- 6: 130: "(Then He will say): "Jinn and men! Did there not come to you apostles of your own who proclaimed to you my revelations and warned you of this day? " (62) . God's bounty, according to Islam, is not confined to creatures of the earth because He is, ". . . Lord of the heavens and Lord of the earth, the Lord of the Worlds" (45: 36). (63) To the people were sent revealed Books also, the last of which is the Qur'an. About the Qur'an itself, we are told in 43: 4, "It is in the Mother Book with Us, sublime and full of wisdom. " (64) About other planets, S. Bashir-ud-din Mahmood has this to say, "On the basis of the interpretation of verse 65: 12 by Ibn-e-Abbas (May Allah be pleased with him), we can say that inhabitants of these worlds must have their religion like ours and so the Holy Books. They all come from the same "Supreme Source" of revelation from where the Holy Qur'an originated for us on the Earth. It is evident from the verse of the Holy Qur'an" (i.e.. 43; 4. All Books come from the "Mother Book with Us"). (65) The very first verse of the Qur'an begins, "Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds. " (66) Summing up, while the Qur'an does point out that man has a favoured position on earth, (2: 30- "Behold, thy Lord said to the angels: "I will create a vicegerent on earth. ""; (67) 2: 34- "We said to the angels: "Bow down to Adam. . . "" (68) 95: 4- We have indeed created man in the best of moulds. " (69) ) there are other creatures of God who have also been favoured in the universe (17: 70). Humans are just a small part of God's creation (40: 57). When they act wrongly, they are reduced to the lowest of the low (95: 5). Salvation is not only for some race of humans, but for all humans and creatures throughout the universe. There is a grand destiny planned by God for all of them. All humans as well as aliens who follow the guidance that God sent to their respective planets, will be rewarded (19: 96). ". . . it is God Whose praise all beings in the heavens and on earth do celebrate. . . " (24: 41). (70) All will return to Him. How far the picture of the universe that Islam paints is from that of a geocentric universe! Conclusion - A "Secret" Waiting to be Told If the Qur'an is so explicit in stating the existence of living organisms in the universe (42: 29), we would suppose that the Muslim population would generally be aware of the fact that the Qur'an mentions extraterrestrials. Unfortunately that is not the case. A significant proportion of Muslims have no idea that this exciting piece of information is provided in their Holy Book. I have quoted a number of scholars in this article, who have commented on the verses relating to extraterrestrials. Among them are those such as Yusuf Ali and Muhammad Asad, whose works are known to Muslims throughout the world. Allama Shabbir Ahmad Usmani was a prominent figure in the Freedom Movement of Pakistan. All scholars quoted are from the mainstream of Islam. So, at least, Muslim scholars are aware of the Qur'an mentioning aliens. Yet, there are scholars also who have no idea about this subject. Surprisingly, even Maurice Bucaille, whose brilliant book, The Bible, The Qur'an and Science is extensive in its coverage of scientific topics in the Qur'an, completely overlooked the mention of aliens. How aware were the early Muslims, about the existence of extraterrestrials, or verses in the Qur'an on this topic? Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood writes, "The idea that there is life elsewhere in the universe also, was derived from the Prophet of Allah (pbuh) when he told Muslims, "When you sit down in the prayer for the Attahiyat and say: "Peace be upon us, and the righteous servants of Allah" you actually send peace on all the righteous people living on the Earth and in the heavens. "This clearly implies that all type of people, good and bad live in the other worlds as they live on our Earth. " (71) He also writes, with reference to the Rasial Imam Ghazali, "According to Imam Muhammad Ghazali (11th Century), people in some of these planetary worlds have learnt to travel and communicate with each other. " (72) The case of Ibn-e-Abbas is interesting. He was one of the Companions of the Prophet (pbuh). The Prophet (pbuh) had prayed to God specially to endow Ibn-e-Abbas(73) with knowledge of the Qur'an, and he became one of the great scholars of the Qur'an. Maulana Maududi writing in his Tafhim-ul-Qur'an, tells us that, "Ibn-e-Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him). . . believed with confidence that there are many more earth-like bodies in the heavens. . . . He not only thought that such earths are inhabited by intelligent beings but also that their people are exactly like the inhabitants on the Earth. He even went so far as to say that they may have a Prophet like Muhammad (pbuh), and had a Adam, like our Adam, a Noah, like our Noah, an Ibrahim like our Ibrahim, and a Jesus like our Jesus (pbut). " (74) The knowledge of the existence of aliens and that they are mentioned in the Qur'an, has been present among Muslims from the earliest days of Islam! There is something else that we know about Ibn-e-Abbas. He did not widely publicize his views about aliens. Rather, he was quite secretive about this matter. The reason is that he was afraid that his ideas would confuse people. In fact, he was afraid that people would be in danger of becoming unbelievers by not accepting the truth of this matter, which the Qur'an itself attested to. Perhaps it was such considerations that lead Muslim scholars of later times not to touch on the topic of aliens much, and so today, also, so many Muslims remain unaware about this matter. But times have changed. We've come a long way in our voyage of discovery of the wonders that surround us. The recent discoveries of extra-solar planets, of ice on the moon (75) , of microbes deep beneath the earth's surface and around thermal vents in the oceans (76) , of water on the sun (77) and many other amazing findings are setting the stage for a grand finale. The public is mentally prepared to hear soon about the discovery of life outside the earth. In recent times, Muslims have missed golden opportunities of propagating their religion to the peoples of the world. For example, the Qur'an mentions the expansion of the universe. This phenomenon was discovered by scientists only in 1929. If Muslims had let the world know beforehand, that the Qur'an mentioned this fact, then upon its discovery, a big impact could have been made on the non-Muslim world. We would have shown the world the power, the miracle, of the Qur'an. Of course, even today, the miracle remains that the Qur'an mentions the expansion of the universe, but non-Muslims tend to say, "Now you tell us, after science has already discovered this! You must be construing the meaning of Qur'anic verses to suit your wishes. " Today, as we stand at the threshold of making the most revolutionary discovery in the history of humankind, we Muslims should ask ourselves, "Hasn't the time finally come for the "secret" that Ibn-e-Abbas held to be made known to the whole world? "Yes, the time is ripe. Let the world know, before it discovers for itself, that 1400 years ago in the deserts of Arabia, a prophet received revelations, mentioning the existence of extraterrestrial life through countless heavenly bodies in the universe, and prophesying that one day, humans will indeed discover aliens. The Qur'an contains many amazing statements relating to science. There is no reason to believe that it has finally yielded all of its scientific secrets and as we enter the next century, we can be confidant that the Qur'an will continue to shed light on some of the most enduring and intriguing scientific mysteries of our times. By: Samir Khalid Munir -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- References and Links Introduction 1. NASA Home Page 2. Medline citation --Ref: Search For Past Life On Mars: Possible Biogenic Activity In Martian Meteorite 2. ALH84001. McKay et al. in Science, Vol. 273, pages 924-930; August 16, 1996. --Scientific American: The Case For Relic Life On Mars. December 1997. 3. Ref: Scott, Edward R. D. et al, Petrological evidence of shock melting of carbonates 3. in the Martian meteorite ALH84001. Nature, 387, 377-379(22 May, 1997). 4. Galileo Home Page 5. Water on Europa: --Scientific American: Exhibit: Great Balls of Ice: August 19, 1996. --NASA Space Science News: The Frosty Plains of Europa 6. The Qur'an: --Translations by Yusuf Ali, Pickthall and Shakir. Muslim Students Association site --(MSA-USC), containing the entire translated text by three scholars. --Qur'an Search Engine. Search for verses in the Qur'an by key words. --Transliteration of the Qur'an. The complete transliterated text of the Qur'an. --Listen to the Qur'an. The complete text recited in Arabic and English in RealAudio files. --Qur'an in MP3 format. Download the Qur'an as mp3 files. 7. The Astrobiology Web. Information on space life science. Highly recommended. "Dabbatun" 8. Sura 42: 29. The Holy Qur'an. Text, Translation and Commentary. Abdullah Yusuf Ali. 9. Sura 24: 41. Yusuf Ali. 10. Note 33 on Sura 42: 29. The Message of the Qur'an. Muhammad Asad. 11. Sura 16: 48. Yusuf Ali. 12. Sura 16: 49. Yusuf Ali. 13. Note 55 on Sura 16: 49. Asad. 14. Note 4568 on Sura 42: 29. Yusuf Ali. 15. Sura 2: 164. Yusuf Ali. 16. Sura 24: 45. Yusuf Ali. 17. Note 43 on Sura 42: 29. The Nobel Qur'an. Tafseer-e-Usmani. Allama Shabbir Ahmed 17. Usmani. 18. Note 4569 on 42: 29. Yusuf Ali. Is There Any Alien Intelligent Life ? 19. SETI organizations: ---The SETI Institute. ---SETI@home. Now you can participate in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence ---from your own home by installing a screen saver. Check it out. 20. The Planetary Society. This has the world's largest SETI program. 21. Steven Spielberg. 22. Sura 27: 65. Yusuf Ali. 23. Sura 19: 93-96. Yusuf Ali. 24. Sura 72: 14-15. Yusuf Ali. 25. Sura 39: 68. Yusuf Ali. 26. Sura 57: 21. The Meaning of the Qur'an. Dr. Mahmud Y. Zayid. Where Can Aliens be Found ? 27. A planet around 51 Pegasi: ----Mayor, M. & Queloz, D. A Jupiter-mass companion to a solar-type star. Nature ----378, 355-359. (1995). 28. The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia. The main internet catalogue of all extrasolar planets 28. discovered so far. 29. Challenge to a planet around 51 Pegasi: ----Walker, Gordan. One of our planets is missing. Nature, 385, 775-776. (27 Feb 1997). ----Gray, David F. Absence of a planetary signature in the spectra of the star 51 Pegasi. ----Nature, 385, 795-796. (27 Feb 1997). ----Update: - New evidence for a planet around 51 Pegasi: ----Marcy, Geoffrey. Extrasolar planets: Back in focus. Nature, 391, 127. (8 Jan 1998). ----Gray, David F. A planetary companion for 51 Pegasi implied by absence of pulsations in the ---- stellar spectra. Nature, 391, 153-154. (8 Jan 1998). ----Hatzes, Artie P. et al. Further evidence for the planet around 51 Pegasi. Nature, 391, ----154-156. (8 Jan 1998). 30. The possible earths are potential moons of planets orbiting 16 Cygni B in the Swan ----and 47 Uma in Ursae Majoris. ----Chyba, Christopher F. Exobiology: Life on other moons. Nature, 385, 201. (16 Jan '97). ----Williams, Darren M. et al. Habitable moons around extra-solar giant planets. Nature, ----385, 234-236. (16 Jan 1997). 31. Sura 65: 12. Yusuf Ali. 32. Note 5527 on Sura 65: 12. Yusuf Ali. 33. Sura 21: 30. Yusuf Ali. 34. Sura 41: 11-12. The Glorious Qur'an. Text and Explanatory Translation. Muhammad ----Marmaduke Pickthall. 35. Sura 71: 15-16. Pickthall. 36. Sura 51: 47. Asad. 37. Note 38 on Sura 21: 30. Asad. 38. Note 12 and Note 13 on Sura 41: 11. Asad. 39. Note 14 on Sura 41: 12. Asad. 40. Note 31 on Sura 51: 47. Asad. 41. Sura 50: 38. Pickthall. 42. Sura 21: 104. Pickthall. 43. Sura 14: 48. Yusuf Ali. 44. Note 20 on Sura 2: 29. Asad. 45. Note 32 on Sura 65: 12. Usmani. 46. Ref: Bucaille, Maurice. The Bible, The Qur'an and Science. Section: The Qur'an and 46. Modern Science. Chapter III: The Creation of the Heavens and the Earth. 46. Subheading: The Basic Process of the Formation of the Universe and the Resulting 46. Composition of the Worlds. 47. Ref: Sagan, Carl. Cosmos. Chapter II. ----Read the classic article: The Quest for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. By Carl Sagan. Will we ever Discover Aliens ? 48. Sura 6: 104. Zayid. 49. Sura 6: 109. Zayid. 50. Sura 7: 73. Zayid. 51. Sura 41: 53. Yusuf Ali. 52. Sura 55: 33-34. Yusuf Ali. 53. Sura 29: 22. Zayid. 54. Sura 16: 8. Asad. 55. Note 6 on Sura 16: 8. Asad. Man's Position Among Creation 56. Sura 17: 70. Pickthall. 57. Note 105 on Sura 17: 70. Usmani. 58. Sura 95: 4-5. Pickthall. Islam and the Geocentric Universe 59. Sura 40: 57. Yusuf Ali. 60. Note 4431 on Sura 40: 57. Yusuf Ali. 61. Sura 16: 36. Yusuf Ali. 62. Sura 6: 130. Zayid. 63. Sura 45: 36. Pickthall. 64. Sura 43: 4. Zayid. 65. Ref: Mahmood, Bashir-ud-din. Doomsday and Life After Death. Chapter 18, 65. Sub-heading: The Qur'an in Other Worlds. Ta-Ha Publishers. 66. Sura 1: 1. Pickthall. 67. Sura 2: 30. Yusuf Ali. 68. Sura 2: 34. Yusuf Ali. 69. Sura 95: 4. Yusuf Ali. 70. Sura 24: 41. Yusuf Ali. Conclusion - A "Secret" Waiting to be Told 71. Ref: Mahmood, Bashir-ud-din. Doomsday and Life After Death. Chapter 18, 71. Sub-heading: Life in Other Worlds. 72. Ref: Mahmood, Bashir-ud-din. Doomsday and Life After Death. Chapter 18, 72. Sub-heading: Life in Other Worlds. 73. Ibn-e-Abbas- a short biographical note 74. Maududi, Abul Ala. Tahfhim-ul-Qur'an. 75. Ice on the Moon: ----Scientific American: Science and the Citizen. Water, Water Everywhere: May 1998. ----NASA Press Release: Ice on the Moon. 76. Subterranean microbes: ----Wellsbury, Peter et al. Deep marine biosphere fuelled by increasing organic matter ----availability during burial and heating. Nature, 388, 573-576. (7 Aug 1997). ----Scientific American: Article: Microbes Deep Inside the Earth. October 1996. 77. Water on the Sun: ----Polyansky, Oleg L. et al. Water on the Sun: Line Assignments Based on Variational ----Calculations. Science, Vol. 277, pages 346-348; July 18, 1997. ----Science magazine -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Free Online Video on Islam & Science: 78. The Qur'an and Space Sciences- by Zahir Abbas- watch this 30 minutes movie online for free, 78. using Real Player! The movie also discusses aliens in the Qur'an. Free Online Books on Islam & Science: 79. The Bible, The Qur'an and Science- by Maurice Bucaille- read the entire book online! http://www.islamic-paths.org/Home/English/Eng_Home.htm

Prohibition of alcohol

Why is the consumption of alcohol prohibited in Islam?

Alcohol has been the scourge of human society since time immemorial. It continues to cost countless human lives, and causes terrible misery to millions throughout the world. Alcohol is the root cause of several problems facing society. The statistics of soaring crime rates, increasing instances of mental illnesses and millions of broken homes throughout the world bear mute testimony to the destructive power of alcohol.

1.   Prohibition of alcohol in the Qur’an
The Glorious Qur’an prohibits the consumption of alcohol in the following verse:
“O ye who believe! Intoxicants and Gambling, (Dedication of) stones, And (divination by) arrows, Are an Abomination Of Satan’s handiwork; Eschew such (abomination), That ye may prosper.” [Al-Qur’an 5:90]


2.   Prohibition of alcohol in the Bible
The Bible prohibits the consumption of alcohol in the following verses:

1. “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging; and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.”[Proverbs 20:1]

1. “And be not drunk with wine.”      [Ephesians 5:18]

3.   Alcohol inhibits the inhibitory centre
The human beings possess an inhibitory centre in their brains. This inhibitory centre prevents the person from doing things that he considers wrong. For instance a person does not normally use abusive language while addressing his parents or elders. If he has to answer the call of nature, his inhibitory centre will prevent him from doing so in public. Therefore he uses the toilet.
When a person consumes alcohol, the inhibitory centre itself is inhibited. That is precisely the reason that an inebriated person is often found to be indulging in behaviour that is completely uncharacteristic of him. For instance the intoxicated person is found to use abusive and foul language and does not realize his mistake even if he is addressing his parents. Many even urinate in their clothes. Neither do they talk nor walk properly. They even misbehave.
4.   Cases of adultery, rape, incest and AIDS are found more among alcoholics
According to National Crime Victimization Survey Bureau of Justice (U.S. Department of Justice) in the year 1996 alone everyday on an average 2,713 rapes took place. The statistics tell us that the majority of the rapists, were intoxicated while committing the crime. The same is true in cases of molestation.
According to statistics, 8% of Americans commit incest i.e. one in every twelve to thirteen persons in America is involved in incest. Almost all the cases of incest are due to intoxication of one or both the persons involved.
One of the major factors associated with the spread of AIDS, the most dreaded disease, is alcoholism.

5.   Every alcoholic was initially a social drinker
Many may argue in favour of liquor by calling themselves ‘social drinkers’. They claim that they only have one or two pegs and they have self-control and so never get intoxicated. Investigations reveal that every alcoholic started as a social drinker. Not a single alcoholic or drunkard initially starts drinking with the intention of becoming an alcoholic or a drunkard. No social drinker can say that I have been having alcohol for several years and that I have so much self-control that I have never been intoxicated even a single time.

6.   If a person is intoxicated just once and commits something shameful, it will remain with him for a lifetime.
Suppose a ‘social drinker’ loses his self-control just once. In a state of intoxication he commits rape or incest. Even if the act is later regretted, a normal human being is likely to carry the guilt throughout his life. Both the perpetrator and the victim are irreparably and irreversibly damaged.

7.   Alcohol is prohibited in the Hadith
The Prophet of Islam Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:

1. In Sunan Ibn-I-Majah Volume 3, Book of Intoxicants, Chapter 30 Hadith No. 3371.

“Alcohol is the mother of all evils and it is the most shameful of evils.”

1. In Sunan Ibn-I-Majah Volume 3, Book of Intoxicants, Chapter 30 Hadith No. 3392

“Anything which intoxicates in a large quantity, is prohibited even in a small quantity.” Thus there is no excuse for a nip or a tot.

1. Not only those who drink alcohol are cursed but also those who deal with them directly or indirectly are cursed by Allah.

According to Sunan Ibn-I-Majah Volume 3, Book of Intoxicants, Chapter 30 Hadith No. 3380.
It was reported by Anas (may Allah be pleased with him), that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said:
“God’s curse falls on ten groups of people who deal with alcohol. The one who distills it, the one for whom it has been distilled, the one who drinks it, the one who transports it, the one to who it has been brought, the one whom serves it, the one who sells it, the one who utilizes money from it, the one who buys it and the one who buys it for someone else.”

8.   Diseases associated with alcoholism
There are several scientific reasons for the prohibition of consumption of intoxicants i.e. alcohol. The maximum number of deaths in the world related to any one particular cause is due to the consumption of alcohol. Millions of people die every year only because of intake of alcohol. I need not go into the details of all the ill-effects of alcohol since most of them are commonly known. Below is a simple list of few of the alcohol related illnesses:

1. Cirrhosis of Liver is the most well known alcohol associated disease.
2. Others are Cancer of Oesophagus, Cancer of Head and Neck, Cancer of Liver (Hepatoma), Cancer of Bowel, etc.
3. Oesophagitis, Gastritis, Pancreatitis and Hepatitis are linked with alcohol consumption.
4. Cardiomyopathy, Hypertension, Coronary Artherosclerosis, Angina and Heart Attacks are linked with heavy alcohol intakes.
5. Strokes, Apoplexy, Fits and different types of Paralysis are linked with alcohol intake.
6. Peripheral Neuropathy, Cortical Atrophy, Cerebellar Atrophy are well-known syndromes caused by alcohol consumption.
7. Wernicke – Korsakoff syndrome with amnesia of recent events, confabulations and retainment of memory to old events with different types of paralysis are mainly due to thiamine deficiency due to excessive alcohol intake.
8. Beriberi and other deficiencies are not uncommon among alcoholics. Even Pellagra occurs in alcoholics.
9. Delerium Tremens is a serious complication that may occur during recurrent infection of alcoholics or post operatively. It also occurs during abstention as a sign of withdrawal effect. It is quite serious and may cause death even if treated in well equipped centres.

10. Numerous Endocrine Disorders have been associated with alcoholism ranging from Myxodema to Hyperthyroidism and Florid Cushing Syndrome.
11. Hematological ill effects are long and variable. Folic acid deficiency, however, is the most common manifestation of alcoholic abuse resulting in Macrocytic Anemia. Zeive’s syndrome is a triad of Hemolytic Anemia, Jaundice and Hyperlipaedemia that follows alcoholic binges.
12. Thrombocytopenia and other platelet abnormalities are not rare in alcoholics.
13. The commonly used tablet metronidazole (flagyl) interacts badly with alcohol.
14. Recurrent infection is very common among chronic alcoholics. The resistance to disease and the immunological defense system are compromised by alcohol intake.
15. Chest infections are notorious in alcoholics. Pneumonia, Lung Abcess, Emphysema and Pulmonary Tuberculosis are all common in alcoholics.
16. During acute alcoholic intoxication, the drunk person usually vomits, the cough reflexes which are protective are paralysed. The vomitus thus easily pass to the lung causing Pneumonia or Lung Abscess. Occasionally it may even cause suffocation and death.
17. The ill effects of alcohol consumption on women deserves special mention. Females are more vulnerable to alcohol-related Cirrhosis than men. During pregnancy alcohol consumption has a severe detrimental effect on the foetus. Foetal Alcohol Syndrome is being recognised more and more in the medical profession.
18. Skin diseases are also related to alcohol indulgence.
19. Eczema, Alopecia, Nail Dystrophy, Paronychia (infection around the nails) and Angular Stomatitis (inflammation of the angle of the mouth) are common diseases among alcoholics.

9.   Alcoholism is a ‘disease’
Medical doctors have now turned liberal towards alcoholics and call alcoholism a disease rather than an addiction.
The Islamic Research Foundation has published a pamphlet that says:
If alcohol is a disease, it is the only disease that:
- Is sold in bottles
- Is advertised in newspapers, magazines, on radio and television
- Has licensed outlets to spread it
- Produces revenue for the government
- Brings violent deaths on the highways
- Destroys family life and increases crime
- Has no germs or viral cause
ALCOHOLISM IS NOT A DISEASE – IT IS SATAN’S HANDIWORK
Allah (swt) in His Infinite Wisdom has warned us against this snare of Satan. Islam is called the “Deen-ul-Fitrah” or the natural religion of Man. All its injunctions are aimed at preserving the natural state of man. Alcohol is a deviation from this natural state, for the individual as well as for society. It degrades man to a level below that of the beasts he claims to be superior to. Hence the consumption of alcohol is prohibited in Islam.