Islam

Islam is a fastest growing religion in the world because this is the true religion and it is also recorded in Guiness world of record -> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claims_to_be_the_fastest-growing_religion#Islam

Some of the Reverted celebrities are Dave Chappelle , Michael Jackson , Tony Blair Sister in law , Snoop Dogg, Mike Tyson, Chris Tucker etc

Islamic method of slaughtering animal

Zakkaytum is a verb derived from the root word Zakah (to purify). Its infinitive is Tazkiyah which means purification. The Islamic mode of slaughtering an animal requires the following conditions to be met:

a. Animal should be slaughtered with sharp object (knife)

The animal has to be slaughtered with a sharp object (knife) and in a fast way so that the pain of slaughter is minimised.

b. Cut wind pipe, throat and vessels of neck

Zabiha is an Arabic word which means 'slaughtered'. The 'slaughtering' is to be done by cutting the throat, windpipe and the blood vessels in the neck causing the animal's death without cutting the spinal cord.

c. Blood should be drained

The blood has to be drained completely before the head is removed. The purpose is to drain out most of the blood which would serve as a good culture medium for micro organisms. The spinal cord must not be cut because the nerve fibres to the heart could be damaged during the process

Answer 1

Having slaves was very popular allover the world before Islam. Having intercourse with women slaves was also very popular allover the world before Islam. During the Islam era, Quran and Islam teachings followed lots of measure to limit slavery and prohibit it gradually. One of these measures was that if a Muslim performs intercourse with his slave woman then it should be with her satisfaction and acceptance (no rape is allowed in Islam) and if she gives birth due to this intercourse then she and her children become free.

Answer 2

1. Misconception of Slavery in Islam

No, one is not allowed to have sex out of wedlock in Islam as per the Quran. Slavery was completely admonished and your servants are not slaves, they are free human beings. But still let's see if having an intercourse out of wedlock is allowed in the light of Quranic verses.

I have done some research after praying to Allah for true guidance. I prayed if I was wrong to think the way I did, may Allah help me get to the truth or if I was right, may Allah help me spread the truth. I have never been able to document my research ever before but this time Allah made it simple for me to do it. I hope and pray that the below research will guide all those who are confused on the concept of slavery in Islam and all those who believe in it to re-think and read more to understand better.

The method used for the research is fairly simple... first focus on Quran, then if required move to ahadith and so on as per the Islamic belief. Alhamdulillah there were plenty of proof against slavery in Quran itself. People who support slavery from Quran, ahadith and from work of scholars would Insha-Allah be convinced after going through the below from Quran. I have tried to keep the context of Surahs (taking multiple ayahs to not lose the meaning of it).

The English translation of the Quranic verses is taken from the below website. May Allah be pleased with them. There are multiple translations available on this website to do comparison.

Source: http://www.quranexplorer.com/quran

Source: http://www.quran.com

Lets focus on Quran first.

O you who believe! When believing women come to you as emigrants, examine them, Allah knows best as to their Faith, then if you ascertain that they are true believers, send them not back to the disbelievers, they are not lawful (wives) for the disbelievers nor are the disbelievers lawful (husbands) for them. But give the disbelievers that (amount of money) which they have spent [as their Mahr] to them. And there will be no sin on you to marry them if you have paid their Mahr to them. Likewise hold not the disbelieving women as wives, and ask for (the return of) that which you have spent (as Mahr) and let them (the disbelievers, etc.) ask back for that which they have spent. That is the Judgement of Allah. He judges between you. And Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (10)

Commentary: There is ahadith to support that Hazrat Muhammad PBUH would free the captives after a ransom. Another option mentioned is to marry the believing captives (emphasis is on marriage and giving of mahr) if they belong to the unbelievers. Because once a woman accepts Islam, she cannot marry a non believer. However it mentions to return the non believing women to their men as they have spent on them. It does not say to keep them captives and make them slave women.

For me even this one particular ayah was enough proof. But I have found many more for people who still are not convinced.

And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans, marry of the women, who seem good to you, two or three or four; and if ye fear that ye cannot do justice (to so many) then one (only) or (the captives) that your right hands possess. Thus it is more likely that ye will not do injustice. (3)

Commentary: The verse is emphasizing marriage, to upto 4 women and in case one cannot do justice, then only one. It says marry the women who seem good to you OR marry captives (also see verse 25 of Surah-e-Nisa below), but the focus is still marriage in this verse. It also mentions CLEARLY that men will most likely be unjust if they have 2,3 or 4 wives.

O you who believe! You are forbidden to inherit women against their will, and you should not treat them with harshness, that you may take away part of the Mahr[] you have given them, unless they commit open illegal sexual intercourse. And live with them honourably. If you dislike them, it may be that you dislike a thing and Allâh brings through it a great deal of good. (19)

Commentary: Muslims are forbidden to inherit women against their will. This is general for all women.... so there is no concept of slavery. It does not say FREE women.

Also (forbidden are) women already married, except those (slaves) whom your right hands possess. Thus has Allâh ordained for you. All others are lawful, provided you seek (them in marriage) with Mahr (bridal - money given by the husband to his wife at the time of marriage) from your property, desiring chastity, not committing illegal sexual intercourse, so with those of whom you have enjoyed sexual relations, give them their Mahr as prescribed; but if after a Mahr is prescribed, you agree mutually (to give more), there is no sin on you. Surely, Allâh is Ever All¬Knowing, All¬Wise (24)

Commentary: It says that Muslim men are allowed to marry slave women. Nothing MORE! It continues that provided to seek them in marriage with Mahr (mahr is linked to Nikah). Its telling Muslims that if you have had sex with any of the allowed women then marry them (saying give mahr and mahr comes with Nikah). The emphasis is still on MARRIAGE which by far is the BASIS of an Islamic society or for that matter any society.

And whoever of you have not the means wherewith to wed free, believing women, they may wed believing girls from among those (slaves) whom your right hands possess, and Allâh has full knowledge about your Faith, you are one from another. Wed them with the permission of their own folk (guardians, Auliyâ' or masters) and give them their Mahr according to what is reasonable; they (the above said captive and slave-girls) should be chaste, not adulterous, nor taking boy-friends. And after they have been taken in wedlock, if they commit illegal sexual intercourse, their punishment is half that for free (unmarried) women.[] This is for him among you who is afraid of being harmed in his religion or in his body; but it is better for you that you practise self¬restraint, and Allâh is Oft¬Forgiving, Most Merciful (25)

Commentary: Now another very important verse which relates to whether sex is allowed with slave women or not. I would like to remind the readers that first proof from Quran already does not support slavery and slaves should either be returned to their own people or if they become believers, then Muslims can MARRY them. Emphasis on marriage is there or sending them to their own people. There are ahadith to support that at that time they would free slaves on payment of some ransom e.g. teaching the children or camels etc.

This verse says that Muslims who can't find or afford to marry free women, they can marry women slaves. Let me re-iterate, it says marry them. It does not end there, it says marry them with the permission of their folks and give them their mahr (again linked to Nikah). It further mentions that the slave girl should be chaste and not adulterous. Further it mentions that this provision is for those who are afraid to commit sin but it says that it is better if you practice SELF CONSTRAINT. Clearly this verse is about free men who have slave girls. If sex was allowed then there was no need of this verse.

If sex was allowed with slave girls... above situation would never arise. Only reason above situation arises is because sex with slave girls is not allowed.

Allâh wishes to make clear (what is lawful and what is unlawful) to you, and to show you the ways of those before you, and accept your repentance, and Allâh is All¬Knower, All¬Wise. (26)

Allâh wishes to accept your repentance, but those who follow their lusts, wish that you (believers) should deviate tremendously away (from the Right Path). (27)

Commentary: Allah will accept the repentance of everyone except those who follow their lust. And I have read articles proving that Islam allows 100s of concubines for Muslim men, Astaghfirullah! I pray to Allah almighty that we all get guidance. Amen!

You will never be able to do perfect justice between wives even if it is your ardent desire, so do not incline too much to one of them (by giving her more of your time and provision) so as to leave the other hanging (i.e. neither divorced nor married). And if you do justice, and do all that is right and fear Allâh by keeping away from all that is wrong, then Allâh is Ever Oft¬Forgiving, Most Merciful. (129)

But if they separate (by divorce), Allâh will provide abundance for everyone of them from His Bounty. And Allâh is Ever All¬Sufficient for His creatures' need, All¬Wise. (130)

Commentary: Allah says that Muslim men can't do justice with more than one wife, even if they try their best. So if they separate by divorce, Allah will provide to both. Again emphasizing on One wife. Allah hates divorce and it is the most undesirable thing in the eyes of Allah. Despite that Allah knows about the injustice a woman can go through while not being the only wife. So Allah promises to provide abundance if the couple decides to separate ways. I should mention a Hadith which tells us that Hazrat Ali wanted to do a second wife and our prophet PBUH told Hazrat Ali that whoever makes my daughter (part of me) unhappy makes me unhappy and he stopped him from getting married (despite it being a lawful thing). This means Hazrat Muhammad PBUH knew it is a painful thing for a wife. This is also a sunnat of Hazrat Muhammad PBUH.

And marry those among you who are single (i.e. a man who has no wife and the woman who has no husband) and (also marry) the Salihun (pious, fit and capable ones) of your (male) slaves and maid-servants (female slaves). If they be poor, Allah will enrich them out of His Bounty. And Allah is All-Sufficent for His creatures' needs, All-Knowing (about the state of the people).(32)

Commentary: Clearly the direction is to get married to men/women who are single or you can also marry slaves. But the emphasis is on marriage again.

Forbidden unto you (for food) are carrion and blood and swine-flesh, and that which hath been dedicated unto any other than Allah, and the strangled, and the dead through beating, and the dead through falling from a height, and that which hath been killed by (the goring of) horns, and the devoured of wild beasts, saving that which ye make lawful (by the death-stroke), and that which hath been immolated unto idols. And (forbidden is it) that ye swear by the divining arrows. This is an abomination. This day are those who disbelieve in despair of (ever harming) your religion; so fear them not, fear Me! This day have I perfected your religion for you and completed My favour unto you, and have chosen for you as religion AL-ISLAM. Whoso is forced by hunger, not by will, to sin: (for him) lo! Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. (3)

They ask thee (O Muhammad) what is made lawful for them. Say: (all) good things are made lawful for you. And those beasts and birds of prey which ye have trained as hounds are trained, ye teach them that which Allah taught you; so eat of that which they catch for you and mention Allah's name upon it, and observe your duty to Allah. Lo! Allah is swift to take account. (4)

This day are (all) good things made lawful for you. The food of those who have received the Scripture is lawful for you, and your food is lawful for them. And so are the virtuous women of the believers and the virtuous women of those who received the Scripture before you (lawful for you) when ye give them their marriage portions and live with them in honour, not in fornication, nor taking them as secret concubines. Whoso denieth the faith, his work is vain and he will be among the losers in the Hereafter. (5)

Commentary: Surah Maeda talks about what is lawful and what is not. 3rd and 4th are mentioned for the context. 5th clearly mentions that virtuous women of the believers and of those who received scriptures before you are lawful for you (no mention of free vs. slave, meaning the concept of slavery was admonished). Verse also emphasizes marriage and rejects concubinage. Alhamdolillah it is clear that Allah cannot be unjust to women.

I researched about the mention of women whom your right hand possesses in the only 2 surahs which were revealved after Surah-e-Maeda and there is no mention of it. So what surah-e-Maeda states is final revelation about women, marriage and concubinage.

Allah's Apostle said, "He who has a slave-girl and educates and treats her nicely and then manumits and marries her, will get a double reward."

The Prophet said: "The stipulations most entitled to be abided by are those with which you are given the right to enjoy the (women's) private parts (i.e. the stipulations of the marriage contract)."

The Prophet said, "You should not say, 'Feed your lord (Rabbaka), help your lord in performing ablution, or give water to your lord, but should say, 'my master (e.g. Feed your master instead of lord etc.) (Saiyidi), or my guardian (Maulai), and one should not say, my slave (Abdi), or my girl-slave (Amati), but should say, my lad (Fatai), my lass (Fatati), and 'my boy (Ghulami)."

While I was with Abdullah, 'Uthman met him at Mina and said, "O Abu 'Abdur-Rahman ! I have something to say to you." So both of them went aside and 'Uthman said, "O Abu 'Abdur-Rah. man! Shall we marry you to a virgin who will make you remember your past days?" When 'Abdullah felt that he was not in need of that, he beckoned me (to join him) saying, "O 'Alqama!" Then I heard him saying (in reply to 'Uthman), "As you have said that, (I tell you that) the Prophet once said to us, 'O young people! Whoever among you is able to marry, should marry, and whoever is not able to marry, is recommended to fast, as fasting diminishes his sexual power.

We were with the Prophet while we were young and had no wealth whatever. So Allah's Apostle said, "O young people! Whoever among you can marry, should marry, because it helps him lower his gaze and guard his modesty (i.e. his private parts from committing illegal sexual intercourse etc.), and whoever is not able to marry, should fast, as fasting diminishes his sexual power."

We used to fight in the holy battles in the company of the Prophet and we had no wives with us. So we said, "O Allah's Apostle! Shall we get castrated?" The Prophet forbade us to do so.

I said to Ibn 'Abbas, "During the battle of Khaibar the Prophet forbade (Nikah) Al-Mut'a and the eating of donkey's meat."

While we were in an army, Allah's Apostle came to us and said, "You have been allowed to do the Mut'a (marriage), so do it." Salama bin Al-Akwa' said: Allah's Apostle's said, "If a man and a woman agree (to marry temporarily), their marriage should last for three nights, and if they like to continue, they can do so; and if they want to separate, they can do so." I do not know whether that was only for us or for all the people in general. Abu Abdullah (Al-Bukhari) said: 'Ali made it clear that the Prophet said, "The Mut'a marriage has been cancelled (made unlawful)."

The Prophet said, "Set the captives free, accept the invitation (to a wedding banquet), and visit the patients."

I heard Allah's Apostle who was on the pulpit, saying, "Banu Hisham bin Al-Mughira have requested me to allow them to marry their daughter to Ali bin Abu Talib, but I don't give permission, and will not give permission unless 'Ali bin Abi Talib divorces my daughter in order to marry their daughter, because Fatima is a part of my body, and I hate what she hates to see, and what hurts her, hurts me."

'Ali demanded the hand of the daughter of Abu Jahl. Fatima heard of this and went to Allah's Apostle saying, "Your people think that you do not become angry for the sake of your daughters as 'Ali is now going to marry the daughter of Abu Jahl. "On that Allah's Apostle got up and after his recitation of Tashah-hud. I heard him saying, "Then after! I married one of my daughters to Abu Al-'As bin Al-Rabi' (the husband of Zainab, the daughter of the Prophet ) before Islam and he proved truthful in whatever he said to me. No doubt, Fatima is a part of me, I hate to see her being troubled. By Allah, the daughter of Allah's Apostle and the daughter of Allah's Enemy cannot be the wives of one man." So 'Ali gave up that engagement.

'Al-Miswar further said: I heard the Prophet talking and he mentioned a son-in-law of his belonging to the tribe of Bani 'Abd-Shams. He highly praised him concerning that relationship and said (whenever) he spoke to me, he spoke the truth, and whenever he promised me, he fulfilled his promise."

The Prophet said, "No man should stay with a lady in seclusion except in the presence of a Dhu-Muhram." A man stood up and said, "O Allah's Apostle! My wife has gone out intending to perform the Hajj and I have been enrolled (in the army) for such-and-such campaign." The Prophet said, "Return and perform the Hajj with your wife."

Marthad ibn AbuMarthad al-Ghanawi used to take prisoners (of war) from Mecca (to Medina). At Mecca there was a prostitute called Inaq who had illicit relations with him. (Marthad said:) I came to the Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) and said to him: May I marry Inaq, Apostle of Allah? The narrator said: He kept silence towards me. Then the verse was revealed:"....and the adulteress none shall marry save and adulterer or an idolater." He called me and recited this (verse) to me, and said: Do not marry her.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) prohibited temporary marriage with women.

The Apostle of Allah (peace_be_upon_him) said: The marriage of a woman who marries without the consent of her guardians is void. (He said these words) three times. If there is cohabitation, she gets her dower for the intercourse her husband has had. If there is a dispute, the sultan (man in authority) is the guardian of one who has none.

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: There is no marriage without the permission of a guardian.

concerning the Verse: 'Do not prevent them' (2.232) Ma'qil bin Yasar told me that it was revealed in his connection. He said, "I married my sister to a man and he divorced her, and when her days of 'Idda (three menstrual periods) were over, the man came again and asked for her hand, but I said to him, 'I married her to you and made her your bed (your wife) and favored you with her, but you divorced her. Now you come to ask for her hand again? No, by Allah, she will never go back to you (again)!' That man was not a bad man and his wife wanted to go back to him. So Allah revealed this Verse: 'Do not prevent them.' (2.232) So I said, 'Now I will do it (let her go back to him), O Allah's Apostle."So he married her to him again.

(The narrator Isma'il said: I think ash-Sha'bi attributed this tradition to the Prophet)

The Prophet (peace_be_upon_him) said: Curse be upon the one who marries a divorced woman with the intention of making her lawful for her former husband and upon the one for whom she is made lawful.

I read this question, which relates to ahadith regarding the abomination of slavery. I found it to be quite balanced as per what I read in Quran and Hadith.

Question: I am a Captain in the Pakistan army and would like to know if can we have sexual relations with the women we are able to capture in wars? I have heard that in one of the wars during the time of the Prophet (sws), the whole Muslim army raped slave women offered to them provided that they practiced 'Azal (coitus interruptus).

Answer: Well I am afraid you cannot do so. Since the question you have raised is an important one. I'll give you a detailed answer:

In my opinion, among many other misconceptions about Islam is the notion that it gives sanction to slavery and permits its followers to enslave prisoners of war, particularly women and establish extra-marital relations with them. Islam, I must strongly affirm, has not the slightest link with slavery and concubinage. On the contrary, it completely forbids these practices. It is quite outrageous to associate such barbarities with a religion revealed to upgrade humanity.

The point which needs to be appreciated and which, perhaps, is the real cause of the misconception is that Islam had adopted a gradual process to abolish the institution of slavery because of the social conditions prevalent in Arabia at that time. It must be kept in mind that slavery was an integral part of the pre-Islamic Arab society. There were scores of slave men and women in almost every house. This was largely due to two reasons: First, during those times, the standard practice of dispensing with prisoners of war was to distribute them among the army who captured them. Second, there were extensive slave markets in Arabia in that period where free as well as men and women of all ages were sold like animals.

In these circumstances, in which slavery had become an essential constituent of the Arab society, Islam adopted a gradual way to eliminate it. An immediate order of prohibition would have created immense social and economic problems. It would have become impossible for the society to cater for the needs of a large army of slaves, who were, otherwise, dependent on various families. Also, the national treasury was in no position to provide them all on a permanent basis. A large number among them were old and incapable of supporting themselves. The only alternative left for them, if they were instantly freed, would have been to turn to beggary and become an economic burden for the society. The question of slave girls and women was even more critical, keeping in view their own low moral standards. Freeing them, all of a sudden, would have only resulted in a tremendous increase in brothels.

Perhaps, the reason behind this gradual eradication can be understood better if one considers the position which interest occupies in the economy of Pakistan today. No one can refute Pakistan's national economic structure is interest oriented. How the parasite of interest has crippled the national economy is apparent to every keen eye. However, there is no denying the fact that without it our present economic system cannot sustain itself. Every reasonable person will acknowledge that today if a government wishes to rid the economy from this menace then, in spite of its utter prohibition in Islam, it will have to adopt a gradual methodology. During this interim period interest oriented deals will have to be tolerated and temporary laws will have to be enacted to handle them, just as the Qur'an had given certain provisional directives about slaves during the interim period of their gradual eradication. An alternative economic framework will have to be steadily incorporated in place of the existing one. A sudden abolition, without another parallel base, will only hasten the total collapse of the economic system, which, of course, will be disastrous for the country.

To avert a similar disaster and to ward off a similar catastrophe, Islam had adopted a progressive and a gradual scheme, fourteen hundred years ago, to do away with the inhuman institution of slavery. Following are some of the measures it took in this regard:

1. In the early Makkan period, it pronounced that slave emancipation was a great deed of piety. The very initial Makkan surahs appealed to the Muslims to liberate as many slaves as they could.

2. The Prophet (sws), unequivocally, directed the Muslims to raise the standard of living of the slaves and bring it equal to their own standard. This, of course, was meant to discourage people from persisting with them.

3. For the atonement of many sins manumission of slaves was divinely ordained.

4. All slave men and women who could support themselves in the society were directed to marry one another, in order to raise their moral and social status.

5. A permanent head in the public treasury was fixed to set free slave men and women.

6. Prostitution, which was largely carried out through slave women, who were mostly forced by their masters do so, was totally prohibited.

7. The affronting names of 'abd (slave-man) and amah (slave-woman) by which slave men and women were called, were abrogated so that people should stop regarding them as slaves. In their place, the words fata (boy) and fatat (girl) were introduced.

8. Finally, the law of mukatibat provided very easy access for the slaves to the gateway to freedom. Every slave who was capable of supporting himself was allowed by law to free himself, provided that he either gave a certain monetary amount to his master or carried out certain errands for him. After this, he could live as a free man. A special head in the treasury was fixed for this purpose; also, wealthy people were urged to help the slaves in this regard. The net result of this law was that only handicapped and old slaves were left to be provided for by their masters, which not only went in their own favour but also prevented them from becoming an economic burden on the society.

As far as the war you have referred to, let me correct you on your information.

In the battle of Bani Mustaliq, the prisoners captured were either freed in the battlefield as a favour while some others were freed on ransom. The Prophet (sws) brought the remaining prisoners to Madinah and while waiting for their families to procure them, gave them into the temporary custody of his Companions (rta). Since at that time, the prohibition of slavery was passing through the interim period when it was still intact for reasons stated earlier, the Prophet (sws) accepted the right of masters to have sexual intercourse with the slave women as was the international law at that time but set about taking steps that could prevent this from actually happening. Let me explain the most important measure he adopted:

Among the prisoners of this battle was Sayyidah Jawayriyyah as well. Her father arrived with some camels as ransom. The Prophet (sws) inquired about the two well-bred camels he had hid behind. This astounded him so much - for he knew that there could be no way that the Prophet (sws) could have had knowledge of them - that he accepted faith. At this, Sayyidah Jawayriyyah also accepted faith. The Prophet (sws) proposed for her to which her father consented. Upon this, the marriage was solemnized. The result of this marriage was that all the remaining prisoners of war were set free by the Muslim soldiers, since they thought that it was not appropriate to keep the Prophet's in-laws in captivity.

So actually no such instance of sexual intercourse with the slave women took place. It is totally wrong that they were raped. Also today as far as prisoners of was are concerned, they cannot be taken to be slaves and sexually benefited from. After the abolition of slavery that took place in the time of the Prophet (sws) as described above, no one dare maltreat a p.o.w. let alone sexually harass them.

The following table presents the Meccan Surahs in chronological order. Please note that somewhat

unorthodox transliteration is due to font limitations for web pages. I think it will still make sense.

The columns for the first two tables are: Surah number in the Quran, transliteration of Quranic title,

translation of title, and a column of notes describing any exception to that chronological placement, etc.

Surah no. in quran

Quranic Title of Surah

Tranalation of Title

Any Exception

96

al-`Alaq

The Clot

68

al-Qalam

The Pen

except 17-33, 48-50, from Medinah

73

al-Muzammil

The Mantled One

except for 73.10-11, 20, from Medinah

74

al-Muddaththir

The Clothed One

1

al-Fātiĥah

The Opening

111

al-Lahab

The Flame

81

at-Takwīr

The Cessation

87

al-A`lā

The Most High

92

al-Layl

The Night

89

al-Fajr

The Dawn

93

aď-Ďuĥā

The Early Hours

94

al-Inshirāĥ

The Expansion

103

al-`Aşr

Time

100

al-`Ādiyāt

The Assaulters

108

al-Kauthar

Abundance

102

at-Takāthur

Worldly Gain

107

al-Mā`ūn

The Daily Necessaries

only 1-3; rest from Medinah

109

al-Kāfirūn

The Unbelievers

105

al-Fīl

The Elephant

113

al-Falaq

The Daybreak

114

an-Nās

The Men

112

al-Ikhlāş

The Unity

53

an-Najm

The Star

except 32, from Medinah

80

`Abasa

He Frowned

97

al-qadr

The Majesty

91

ash-Shams

The Sun

85

al-Burūj

The Constellations

95

at-Tin

The Fig

106

al-Quraysh

The Quraish

101

al-Qāri`ah

The Terrible Calamity

75

al-Qiyāmah

The Resurrection

104

al-Humazah

The Slanderer

77

al-Mursalāt

The Emissaries

except 48, from Medinah

50

Qāf

Qaf

except 38, from Medinah

90

al-Balad

The City

86

aţ-Ţāriq

The Night-Comer

54

al-Qamar

The Moon

except 44, 45, 46, from Medinah

38

Şād

Sad

7

al-A`rāf

The Elevated Places

except 163-170, from Medinah

72

al-Jinn

The Jinn

36

Yā Sīn

Ya Sin

except 45, from Medinah

25

al-Furqān

The Criterion

except 68, 69, 70, from Medinah

35

al-Fāţir

The Creator

19

Maryam

Mary

except 58, 71, from Medinah

20

Ţā Hā

Ta Ha

except 130, 131, from Medinah

56

al-Wāqi`ah

That Which is Coming

except 81, 82, from Medinah

26

ash-Shu`arā'

The Poets

except 197 and 224-end, from Medinah

27

an-Naml

The Ant

28

al-Qaşaş

The Narrative

except 52-55 from Medinah and 85 from Juhfah at the time of the Hijrah

17

Banī Isrā'īl

(or al-Isrā')

The Israelites

(or The Night Journey)

except 26, 32, 33, 57, 73-80, from Medinah

10

Yūnus

Jonah

except 40, 94, 95, 96, from Medinah

11

Hūd

Hud

except 12, 17, 114, from Medinah

12

Yūsuf

Joseph

except 1, 2, 3, 7, from Medinah

15

al-Ĥijr

The Rock

except 87, from Medinah

6

al-An`ām

The Cattle

except 20, 23, 91, 93, 114, 151, 152, 153, from Medinah

37

aş-Şāffāt

The Rangers

31

Luqmān

Lukman

except 27-29, from Medinah

34

Saba'

Sheba

39

AZ-Zumar

The Companies

40

al-Mu'min

The Forgiving One

except 56, 57, from Medinah

41

Ĥā Mim Sajdah

Revelations Well Expounded

42

ash-Shūrā

The Counsel

except 23, 24, 25, 27, from Medinah

43

AZ-Zukhruf

The Embellishment

except 54, from Medinah

44

ad-Dukhān

The Evident Smoke

45

al-Jāthiyah

The Kneeling

except 14, from Medinah

46

al-Aĥqāf

The Sandhills

except 10, 15, 35, from Medinah

51

adh-Dhāriyāt

The Scatterers

88

al-Ghāshiyah

The Overwhelming Calamity

18

al-Kahf

The Cave

except 28, 83-101, from Medinah

16

an-Naĥl

The Bee

except last three verses 126-128, from Medinah

71

Nūĥ

Noah

14

Ibrāhīm

Abraham

except 28, 29, from Medinah

21

al-Anbiyā'

The Prophets

23

al-Mu'minūn

The Believers

32

as-Sajdah

The Adoration

except 16-20, from Medinah

52

aţ-Ţūr

The Mountain

67

al-Mulk

The Kingdom

69

al-Ĥāqqah

The Inevitable

70

al-Ma`ārij

The Ladders

78

an-Naba'

The Tidings

79

an-Nāzi`āt

Those Who Pull Out

82

al-Infiţār

The Cleaving Asunder

84

al-Inshiqāq

The Rending

30

ar-Rūm

The Romans

except 17, from Medinah

29

al-`Ankabūt

The Spider

except 1-11, from Medinah

83

at-Taţfīf

The Defrauders

last from Mecca

Surah no. in quran

Quranic Title of Surah

Tranalation of Title

Any Exception

2

al-Baqarah

The Cow

except 281 from Mina at the time of the Last Hajj

8

al-Anfāl

The Spoils Of War

except 30-36 from Mecca

3

āl-Imrān

The Family Of Imran

33

al-Aĥzāb

The Allies

60

al-Mumtaĥanah

She Who is Tested

4

an-Nisā'

Women

99

al-Zilzāl

The Shaking

57

al-Ĥadid

The Iron

47

Muĥammad

Muhammad

except 13, from during the Hijrah

13

ar-Ra`d

The Thunder

55

ar-Raĥmān

The Merciful

76

ad-Dahr

The Man

65

aţ-Ţalāq

The Divorce

98

al-Bayyinah

The Proof

59

al-Ĥashr

The Exile

24

an-Nūr

The Light

22

al-Ĥajj

The Pilgrimage

except 52-55, from between Mecca and Medinah

63

al-Munāfiqūn

The Hypocrites

58

al-Mujādilah

She Who Pleaded

49

al-Ĥujurāt

The Chambers

66

at-Taĥrīm

The Prohibition

64

at-Taghābun

The Cheating

61

aş-Şaff

The Ranks

62

al-Jumu`ah

The Day of Congregation

48

al-Fatĥ

The Victory

while returning from Hudaybiyyah

5

al-Mā'idah

The Food

except 3, from Arafat on Last Hajj

9

at-Taubah

Repentance

except last two verses from Mecca

110

an-Naşr

The Help

last one, from Mina on Last Hajj

This is a contentious topic and as a result, has three distinct categories of answers. The answers will be organized by category:

• Answer A: Those that assert that the claim of Islam spreading by war is FALSE. Those who assert this claim hold that Islam spread exclusively through peaceful means
• Answer B: Those that assert that the claim of Islam spreading by war is TRUE, but was a minimal part of the expansion of Islam that occurred only in select instances.
• Answer C: Those that assert that the claim of Islam spreading by war is TRUE, and that Islam spreading by war was an important part in the growth of the faith. Note, that Answer C's position does not mean that the only way that Islam spread was war, but that war was one of several critical mechanisms that led to Islam spreading.

ANSWER A: ISLAM WAS NOT SPREAD BY WAR

Answer A1

Some non-Muslims claim that Islam would not have millions of adherents all over the world, if it had not been spread by the use of force. The following arguments may prove that it was the inherent force of truth, reason and logic that was responsible for the rapid spread of Islam.

1. Islam means peace

Islam means peace. It means, also, full submission of one's will to God (Allah). Thus Islam is a religion of peace, which is acquired by submitting one's will to the will of the Supreme Creator, Allah. Islam is an Arabic word that means submission and surrender to God will. It is the faith and religion of all God creatures since start on universe creation. Refer to question below on when Islam was made. The root word of Arabic 'Islam' is 'Salem' that means be in peace and its noun is 'salam' that means peace.

2. Sometimes force has to be used to maintain peace

Every one in this world is in favor of maintaining peace and harmony. There are many, who would disrupt it for their own vested interests. Sometimes force has to be used to maintain peace. It is precisely for this reason that we have the police who use force against criminals to maintain peace within the community. Islam promotes peace. At the same time, Islam urges its followers to fight when there is no other way to resist oppression. The fight against oppression may, at times, require the use of force. In Islam force can only be used to promote peace and justice.

3. Opinion of the historian De Lacy O'Leary

The best reply to the misconception that Islam was spread by the war is given by the noted historian De Lacy O'Leary in the book "Islam at the cross road" (Page 8):

"History makes it clear however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myth that historians have ever repeated."

4. Muslims ruled Spain for 800 years

Muslims ruled Spain for about 800 years. The Muslims in Spain never used the sword to force the people to convert. Later the Christian Crusaders came to Spain and wiped out the Muslims and Spanish Muslims were not exempted from torture and expelling. There was not a single Muslim in Spain who could openly call for prayers.

Just as one example to explain that Islam was not spread by war is that: could you explain how Spain was under Muslims control for over than 800 years and when left control of it was still the wide majority of the Spanish Christians (Spain has less than 1% Muslims).

5. Around 14 million Arabs are Coptic Christians

Muslims controlled Arabia for 1400 years. For a few years the British ruled, and for a few years the French ruled. Overall, the Muslims are controlling Arabia for 1400 years. Yet today, there are 14 million Arabs who are Coptic Christians i.e. Christians since generations. If the Muslims had used the sword there would not have been a single Arab who would have remained as Christian.

6. More than 80% non-Muslims in India

The Muslims ruled India for about a thousand years. If they wanted, they had the power of converting each and every non-Muslim of India to Islam. Today more than 80% of the population of India are non-Muslims. All these non-Muslim Indians are bearing witness today that Islam was not spread by war or by force.

7. Islam in Indonesia and Malaysia

Indonesia is a country that has the maximum number of Muslims in the world. The majority of people in Malaysia are Muslims. May one ask, "Which Muslim army went to Indonesia and Malaysia?". Of course, no Muslim forces or armies reached these places.

8. East Coast of Africa

Similarly, Islam has spread rapidly on the East Coast of Africa. One may again ask, if Islam was spread by the sword, "Which Muslim army went to the East Coast of Africa?"

9. Sayings of Thomas Carlyle

The famous historian, Thomas Carlyle, in his book "Heroes and Hero worship", refers to this misconception about the spread of Islam:

"The sword indeed, but where will you get your sword? Every new opinion, at its starting is precisely in a minority of one. In one man's head alone. There it dwells as yet. One man alone of the whole world believes it. There is one man against all men. That he takes a sword and try to propagate with that, will do little for him. You must get your sword! On the whole, a thing will propagate itself as it can."

10. No compulsion in religion

With which sword was Islam spread? Even if Muslims had it they could not use it to spread Islam because the Quran says [Quran chapter 2, verse 256]:

"Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from error"

11. Sword of the Intellect

It is the sword of intellect. The sword that conquers the hearts and minds of people. Qur'an says [Quran, chapter 16, verse 125]:

"Invite (all) to the way of thy Lord with wisdom and beautiful preaching;and argue with them in ways that are best and most gracious."

12. Increase in the world religions from 1934 to 1984

An article in Reader's Digest 'Almanac', year book 1986, gave the statistics of the increase of percentage of the major religions of the world in half a century from 1934 to 1984. This article was published also in 'The Plain Truth' magazine. At the top was Islam, which increased by 235%, and Christianity had increased only by 47%. May one ask, which war took place in this period which converted millions of people to Islam?

13. Islam is the fastest growing religion in America and Europe

Today the fastest growing religion in both America and Europe is Islam. Which war or sword is forcing people in the West to accept Islam in such large numbers?

14. Dr. Joseph Adam Pearson sayings

Dr. Joseph Adam Pearson rightly says: "People who worry that nuclear weaponry will one day fall in the hands of the Arabs, fail to realize that the Islamic bomb has been dropped already, it fell the day Mohamed (peace upon him) was born."

15. Irrelevance of the Battles in Arabia

It is true that in the early years of Islam; per Quran revelation to prophet Muhammad; there were many military battles with the pagans. However, all these battles were on defence by Muslims especially that they were less in number and provisions. Only that one against the Makkahans in which Muslims moved to Makkah (or Mecca), destroyed the idols, prayed in Al-Kaaba, and left it back to Medina without war, without single blood shed, and without taking any one's properties. Although Muslims when left Makkah (or Mecca), all their properties were taken by force by the pagans at that time.

Concerning what is discussed in Answers C, the following are some challenges to those arguments:

Concerning the Copts in Egypt:

It is true that the followers of the former president Morsi raised fires in some churches but this was due to political reasons that is to raise the protest of the West against the following presidency and rule. It is true also that all Egyptians; Muslims and Christians; payed charities in a campaign to repair and rebuild all the churches and mosques that were harmed by the former president Morsi.

Concerning Punishments to Apostasy:

It is true that converting out of Islam would subject the one to penalty but this was only in the early days of Islam because many non Muslims converted to Islam for short periods and then reconverted back to give the impression that Islam is not a true Divine religion. Then this penalty was applied for anyone to convert into Islam he/she should think deliberately and when is truly convinced with Islam faith he/she can convert. Currently, there is no restriction (in Islamic or non Islamic country for any Muslim or non Muslim to convert to the faith he/she is convinced with. In Egypt, it is the opposite, if one converts to Islam he/she is returned by the authorities to the church to decide what to do with him/her.

Concerning the Wars in Arabia:

However, all Islamic wars during Muhammad were to repel attacks on them by the pagans and non believers.

Concerning the Conquest of Persia:

However, no Muslims was forced to convert to Islam. Refer to historical books to find that Muslims became majority over hundreds of years which means that it was by their free will and not by force. The evidence is that no Muslims was forced to convert to Islam. Refer to historical books to find that Muslims became majority over hundreds of years which means that it was by their free will and not by force.

Answer A2

The question of Islam's spread by Sword is a very complex one. The Muslim faith has often been credited as a religion spread by force and coercion. The question, if answered in a logical way, has two answers: Yes and No. Let us take a look at the 'Yes' first,

"Unlike Christianity, which preached a peace that it never achieved, Islam unashamedly came with a sword."

Steven Runciman (1903 - 2000)

Muhammad, the founder and prophet of Islam, began preaching his visions in Mecca (in present-day Saudi Arabia) in 610. Within 25 years he and his supporters, called Muslims, had gained control of the whole Arabian Peninsula. By 650 a structured Islamic state ruled the Arabian Peninsula, the entire Fertile Crescent and Egypt; by the early 700s Islam subjugated a wide area, stretching from the edges of China and India in the east to North Africa and Spain in the West

This rapid spread of the religion was due to two factors: Conquest and Conversion. These two ideas were mutually dependent. The former, no doubt, was a contributor to the propagation of Islam.

In the later days of Islam, many tyrants started converting their subjects to Islam by force. These conversions didn't take place in very large numbers and cannot be called responsible for such a great populace of Muslims throughout the world.

Then we examine the 'No' position.

It is an irrefutable fact that a portion of the Muslim populace (a very small one) was converted by force.

"Every new opinion, at its starting is precisely in a minority of one. In one man's head alone. There it dwells as yet. One man alone of the whole world believes it, there is one man against all men. That he takes a sword and try to propagate with that, will do little for him."

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881),

As pointed by Carlyle, It is impossible for an idea to spread by force. There must be some logic to it that tempts the conscious of people and makes them accept it. So is it with Islam. When an Idea is deeply rooted in the mind, it is impossible to replace it with the use of force. Force only reduces the allure of an idea, no matter how great it is. Even if a person is coerced into believing a notion, he will never accept it by heart.

De Lacy O'Leary rightly pointed out that "History makes it clear however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races is one of the most fantastically absurd myth that historians have ever repeated."

If Islam was spread by sheer force, then how can you explain these facts?

1. In spite of Muslim dominion of the Arabian Peninsula and neighboring countries, 14 million Arabs belong to the Coptic Christian Church.

2. Indonesia is the country with the largest Muslim population. It is a historical fact that no Muslim Army ever entered Indonesia.

3. Muslims ruled India for nearly a millennium. So why the 80% of the Indian populace is non-Muslim (primarily Hindu).

4. Muslims ruled Spain for some 800 years. When they left the country, a major portion of the population was Christian.

5. In the mid portion of the last century, the amount of Muslim population increased rapidly. Which war forced such large amount of converts?

6. Today, Islam is the fastest growing religion in U.S.A. Which war is causing this huge explosion in the population of Muslims?

The answer is clear. Sword was and is being used to convert people to Islam but this is the sword of intellect, not of coercion.

Let me present an analogy: During the Portuguese colonization of the Indian subcontinent, the Christian preachers were able to convert many people to Christianity (especially in Goa). After some decades, they started the Inquisition of new converts. Instead of an increase in the number of converts, there was a rapid decrease in number of converts to Christianity and a rapid increase of converts from Christianity.

Conclusion: The notion that Islam was spread by sword is as absurd as the notion that the Christian faith was spread by thumbscrews.

The above arguments were all from facts; let's now explore the idea of forced conversion in the context of the Islamic set of beliefs.

The word 'Islam' itself means peace. According to the faith, it is haram to force anybody to the convert to Islam. Allah proclaims straightaway in the Holy Qur'an that:

'The truth is from your Lord; so let whosoever will, believe, and let whosoever will, disbelieve' ( 1 8.28).

These words prove that the very essence of Islam is against the notion of forced conversion and depends upon the free will of a person. It is also said in the Qur'an that:

"Let there be no compulsion in religion: Truth stands out clear from error" [2:256]

Even if the rightful Muslims were tempted to resort to the use of force, they were prohibited from using it by the proclamation of the Lord.

Conclusion: The idea of forced conversions is against the essence of Islam. No fair Muslim will ever resort to such a heinous method.

In a nutshell; it can be said that the overall spread of Islam was not due to the sword, as is regurgitated by most Western historians but due to some other factors among which the effective preachers are one.

Answer A3

No. Islam was spread by love, peace, good morals, forgiveness, and tolerance.

Otherwise, how do you explain that it took hundreds of years for Muslims to become majority in the Persian empire, in Indonesia, in Malaysia, ...etc. Muslims were in control of Spain for 800 years. According to Western Historians, they never killed a civilian, a woman, or a child for being non Muslim. This explains that when they lost control of the country after 800 years Muslims were still not majority.

Muslims believe that no compulsion in religion as commanded in Quran and prophet Muhammad (PBUH) teachings.

Islam was never spread by violence, it is a message of love and it was spread by love and peace. It was the beauty of Islam which invited people towards the religion and the fact that it is a religion which covers the complete way of life.

refer to question below for more information.

Answer A4

Muslims were in control of Spain for 800 years. According to Western Historians, they never killed a civilian, a woman, or a child for being non Muslim. This explains that when they lost control of the country after 800 years Muslims were still not majority.

Islam was spread by love, peace, good morals, forgiveness, and tolerance.

Answer A5

simple thing to realize which is the country having largest Muslim population: Indonesia. Now which Islamic army in past went there conquered Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, etc. Now Muslims ruled the Indian sub continent for more than 1000 years in which for 800 years Muslims were undisputed rulers but today if you will check demographic of Indian subcontinent, Muslims are not more than Hindus. Third and most important thing soon after the death of Prophet of Islam peace be upon him. Muslims conquered the Arabic Peninsula but today if you see there are more than 200 million non Muslims in the Islamic countries. so all these facts proves that Islam was not spread with sword. It was spread with love and with its principles like equality of mankind.

ANSWER B: ISLAM WAS RARELY SPREAD BY WAR

Answer B1

Islam was indeed spread by war, from the time of Muhammad onwards. The word 'Islam' does not mean 'peace' as stated in Answer A1. The Arabic for peace is salam (as in al-salam 'alaykum). Islam means 'submission', which is a very different thing. Islam has always been the most violent of religions. Until Muslims come to terms with their own history, they cannot hope to answer this question. The answer is, yes Islam was spread by war, but forced conversion following conquest was rare.

Answer B2

Never is not to be used in history.

In the middle ages, as any other religion or ideology, Islam's expansion from Spain to Philippines had known military conquests. But, actually, much less than Christianity in Europe. History of Islam has been more based on trade.

Most of the regions were Islam had became the predominant religion were much more tolerant than in christian Europe.

In Spain, Muslims, Christians and Jews had lived for 800 years in harmony until the Catholic kings came in power and instated the Inquisition.

The message of Islam was (and still is) morality, forgiveness, love, and tolerance. Moreover, Islam was often advanced in science, literature, philosophy, medicine, ... etc. The list of enlightened Muslim scientists, philosophers of Medicine men is long and their contribution to human knowledge is priceless.

ANSWER C: ISLAM WAS OFTEN SPREAD BY WAR

Answer C1

General Answer

Islam was also a political force, i.e the Islamic Caliphates. The armies of these Caliphates were also fighting an expansionary war for territory just as every other empire did in those days. As the above answers note, the call to "convert or die" was very rare, but when countries were annexed to the Caliphates, many citizens did convert either because they saw the Truth of the religion or to gain from the tax, work-related, and legal benefits that came from conversion. As a result the massive expansion of these empires was the primary method of gaining converts and it had spill-over effects. When more people had converted to Islam under the various Islamic Empires, more merchants from non-Islamic States gained exposure to Muslims and Islam. The same is true today in that with the mass immigration of Muslims to Europe, common Europeans have more exposure to Muslims and therefore a higher likelihood of converting themselves.

Many Muslims claim that these empires expanded peacefully. They did not, but by the sword as no country just opens it doors to a new power. In fact, Muslims are very proud of their conquest of the Byzantine Empire and the "liberation" of its territories under General Khaled ibn Waleed and the destruction of the Sassanid Zoroastrian Persian Empire under General Sa'ad ibn Waqas. Some particularly useful examples, due how thoroughly they have been researched are: the Muslim Conquest of Iberia, the Mughal Conquest of central India, and Ottoman expansion into the Balkans.

Discussion of Various Apologist Arguments:

Answers A1 and A2 present some very interesting arguments, points, or rhetorical questions in an attempt to advocate the incorrect view that Islam spread peacefully. It is worthwhile to examine these arguments. They roughly follow the order in A1, and there will be a notation if they also correspond with the rhetorical questions in A2.

1. Meaning of the word Islam - Peace vs. Surrender

The problem with this debate is that it does not go anywhere. The root S-L-M (سلم) is part of Salaam (سلام) which means peace and Istislaam (إستسلام) which means surrender. The essence of the idea is that when somebody surrenders to the Divine Will, they will be at peace. This following of Divine Law that creates peace is what Islam means. Of course, this says nothing about those who refuse to surrender to the Divine Will, which is what the war issue is about.

2. Defensive War and Resistance

This is a red-herring. Nobody objects to defensive warfare to protect your beliefs and the question does not even ask about this. It asks about "spreading" which implies offensive war, militant outreach, or peaceful outreach with the intent to expand Islam. It is undeniable that armies of Muslims conquered neighboring regions and continued on an expansionary conquest. Even if they were being threatened by the Byzantine Empire and Zoroastrian Empire, which are unlikely, stripping one of 2/3 of its territory, completely enveloping the other and then sending military missions beyond the borders of those countries to the hinterland is not defensive warfare.

3. Opinion of the historian De Lacy O'Leary and the Christian Polemicist Dr. Joseph Adam Pearson

Both of the quotes referred to in Answer A1 are quote-mined and taken entirely out of context. De Lacy O'Leary was not saying that there was no conquest, but that the conquest was not subject to fanaticism.

This is the full quote from De Lacy O'Leary in context:

"The loss of revenue from conversions was so serious that, in spite of protests, tribute was levied even from those who had embraced Islam. In fact, within ten years from the Prophet's death, by the conquest of great and wealthy provinces, Islam was faced with conditions which had never been contemplated and the attempt to reconstruct it so as to preserve the original purpose under these new conditions, was too artificial to last. History makes it clear, however, that the legend of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon conquered races, is one of the most fantastically absurd myths that historians have ever repeated. There are plenty of instances of such fanaticism and forced conversion, but these do not belong to the early history of Islam nor that of the Arabs; those stories come from the banks of the Niger, from the Sudan, and from Sumatra, and are connected with Muslim religious revivals of later days and dubious orthodoxy."

Dr. Joseph Adam Pearson was not describing the "Islamic Bomb" in a positive sense, but in a strongly negative fashion. His book: The Koran: Testimony of Antichrist, makes the ridiculous claim that Mohammad was himself the Anti-Christ and that Islam is a demonic scourge on mankind and is causing wanton damage like a nuclear bomb does. A link to web-version of the book is provided to demonstrate that this is the proper interpretation of the quote regardless of the fact that his views are incendiary and ridiculous. When Muslim Apologists, like Zakir Naik, actually uses this source, they have undermined their argument because Pearson is claiming that Islam is violent and very un-peaceful.

4. Islamic Rule of Spain -- A2 Question #4

Almanzor was one of the most famous rulers of Andalucia (Islamic Spain), even if he was not a proper Caliph of the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba (also known as Andalucia). Almanzor is remembered historically in Spain precisely for punitive raids and devastating the various cities throughout northern Spain. He conducted over 60 such operations which destroyed Leon (984), Barcelona (985) Santiago de Compostela (997) Pamplona (999) and San Millan de la Cogolla (1002) along with other emblematic cities in the northern Christian Kingdoms. Almanzor fervently believed that he was acting in full compliance with the requirement of jihad (regardless of whether he was or not) and it is said that he would collect the dust and blood that stained his clothes during these anti-Christian incursions so that he could be interred with them. The argument that the Muslim invasion and conquest of Spain was peaceful is incorrect.

It is true that there are not many Muslims in Spain, but this is due to causes other than the way Islam was spread. First, there was never a major intent to convert Spaniards. Also between 1293 and 1492, the only area under Muslim control was Granada which meant that most Muslims were under Christian rule. Many of them converted to Christianity in order to reap the benefits of being Christian in a Christian society and to avoid the various massacres that occurred in 14th and 15th century Spain against Muslims. And of course, most importantly, after the Muslims left, there was the Spanish Inquisition which forced many Iberian Muslims to convert to Christianity or flee to Islamic States. This led to a precipitous drop in the Muslim population.

5. There are 8 million Christian Copts in Egypt and roughly 14 million worldwide -- A2 Question #1

This is true, but what happened to all of the Christians who lived in Tunisia (Tunis was an important Christian city). What happened to all of the Moroccan Jews (there were 260,000 in 1940 and there are now 3,600)? What happened to the Christian population of Anatolia? The fact that there are some Arab Christians left does not mean that force was not used, but merely that the result of the use of force has not fully achieved its goal. As concerns Copts specifically, throughout Morsi's Presidency, Coptic Churches in Egypt were bombed more frequently than usual and there was no recourse for Copts other than to flee. This resulted in some of the highest Coptic emigration rates in decades in the last two years.

6. 80% of Indians are non-Muslim and are Hindu -- A2 Question #3

Using the population of India alone is disingenuous. Muslims controlled Pakistan and Bangladesh as well as India as part of one unified Empire. If the populations of Pakistan and Bangladesh are added to India, the subcontinent is 35% Muslim, which makes sense given that Muslims only occupied the area for less than 500 years and internal information movement in India is very slow given a high terrain difficulties. This is why the largest Muslim populations were along Rivers where major cities were built by the Mughal. The closer to such a population center, the more likely a person would be compelled to convert. Akbar was known for his tolerance and reviled by Muslims for it although loved by non-Muslim Indians. His grandson Aurangzeb was known for compelling conversion and loved by Muslims for it and hated by non-Muslim Indians.

7. Islam spread to Indonesia and Malaysia without war -- A2 Question #2

It is true that Indonesia has the largest Muslim populations and no foreign Islamic army conquered Indonesia. However, once Islam established a beachhead in Indonesia through commerce and peaceful religious acquisition, Muslim armies did exist in Indonesia that were composed by Muslim Indonesian Sultanates (like the Acehnese). It took centuries of Sultanates and repressive policies in Indonesia for most Indonesians to convert to Islam. Even today, Indonesian Islam is the most syncretic forms of Islam outside of Africa since not all of the local culture has been successfully purged.

Additionally, even if it were the case that Indonesian Islam was propagated entirely peacefully, just as European Jehovah's Witnesses were propagated entirely peacefully, it does not disprove the claim that Islam was spread by war. If Islam was spread by war even one time in a different context, the claim that it is not spread by war at all is incorrect.

8. Islam spread to the East Coast of Africa without war

It's really the same argument as Indonesia (7): peaceful beachhead to indigenous sultanate. However, there were some Arab conquests of East Africa (Omani Empire) as well as indigenous sultanates like the Zanzibar Sultanate and several Somali ones like Ajuuran State and the Warsangali Sultanate.

9. Forced Conversion Works

The quote from Carlyle is used to justify the view that forcing a person to accept an idea does not work. However, while the religion of Islam did not usually expand through forcible conversion, it is not a ridiculous assertion to say that forcible conversion works, such as the quote and Answer A2 claim. Europe did this in many places which is what assured the strength of Catholicism in Spain, Austria, and France as opposed to Protestantism which grew organically in each of those territories. By using Inquisitions, Stake Burnings, and numerous other suppression techniques, the Catholics prevented the rise of Protestantism in these areas. As for citing Qur'anic verses in support of this idea, there is also verse 9:5 which is the famous "kill them wherever you find them" verse. Of course, Islamic Empires have typically been more tolerant (and thus more approving of the "no compulsion" verse) but the treatment of non-Muslims by Muslims was conditioned more on the governmental powers at any one time than by actions proscribed in the Qur'an since the Qur'an could sensibly be read either way. As to the Goa Analogy, since the Portuguese only controlled Goa, the Indian converts could easily flee to non-Portuguese controlled areas, but when you have an Empire whose borders stretch across timezones without break, there is no way to escape and so you are forced to deal with whatever the government may send your way. Additionally, the children of forced converts are often more accepting of the faith that their parents were compelled to join.

10. Pressure through Dhimmi Status

While forced conversion was rare, there was certainly pressure placed on Non-Muslims of Islamic States called Dhimmi to convert within Islamic States. There is also Qur'anic verse 9:29 which provides an antipode to 2:109. There were economic, social, and political benefits to being a Muslim, which creates compulsion. Read about the status of Non-Muslims conquered by Islamic States in the Related Question below.

11. Intellectual Complexity of Islam

This is a red-herring. Many very intellectual ideas, ideologies, and religions were exported through violence and many were not. This does not provide any useful information.

12. Conversion Rates -- A2 Questions #5 & #6

The statistics on Western Conversion to Islam are taken out of context. In many Muslim countries it is either by law or by de facto societal conduct that conversion out of Islam to other religions (such as Christianity) is forbidden and punishable by death. On top of that, proselytization of these non-Muslim faiths is also punishable by long jail terms. As a result, Muslims who realize the Truth of other religions are few and far between and those who would admit to doing so are even rarer. As a result, most Muslim conversion to Christianity is minimal and kept secret to avoid death. The fact that Muslims are compelled to stay Muslims by force is just as problematic as forcibly converting non-Muslims to Islam. Compare that to Western countries where multi-culturalism and liberal values have allowed Islam to come to various countries and expose new people to its religion and its Truth. Additionally, conversion out of Christianity is barely even a consideration among other Westerners and certainly not something worth killing over.

If the marketplace of ideas were freer, it is likely that many more Muslims would convert to Christianity, given how effective Christian proselytizers have been in places where there is no ban on their activities (even with rules on no material inducements).

13. Key Importance of the Battles in Arabia

The Arabian Tribal Wars were where Islam was developed and where Mohammed set the example that would be followed for generations. It created a theology with clear war doctrines and determined how wars would be fought int the future. Rather than being irrelevant to discussing how Islamic Empires and the Islamic Religion expanded, the Battles in Arabia were important to explain why Islam has such a developed position on war and expansion.

14. Conquest of Persia

The Conquest of Persia that answers C2 and A4 argue about is worth discussing. Persia is a clear example of the violence of Islamic conquest. After Mohammed's death several Arab Muslim tribes began to attack and pillage Sassanid Persian controlled cities in Mesopotamia. King Yazdagerd III of Sassanian Persia asked if the Arabs, led by Sa'ad ibn Abi Waqqas, would be willing to agree to a peace treaty where most of Mesopotamia would be under Arab control in return for no more pillaging. Waqqas replied that the only way that there could be peace between the Arabs and the Sassanid Persians was if (a) the Persians all converted to Islam; or (b) the Sassanid Persian government paid a collective jizya tribute to the Muslims as a symbol of Muslim ascendance. Yazdagerd III refused both of these options and engaged the Arab Muslims. He was routed by the Arab Muslims in the Battles of Qadisiyyah and Nahavand, leading to the fall of Persia.

Answer C2

in old Persian empire, for sure yes!

they killed thousands of people with the excuse of spreading Islam.

Praise be to Allaah.

1 - Facing the direction of the Ka'bah

1- When you stand up to pray, face the direction of the Ka'bah wherever you are, in both fard (obligatory) and naafil (supererogatory) prayers. This is one of the pillars of prayer, without which prayer is not valid.

2- The obligation of facing the direction of prayer does not apply to one who is engaged in warfare, when he prays the fear prayer (salaat al-khawf) or is engaged in heavy fighting. It also does not apply to those who are unable to do it, such as one who is sick, or one who is traveling on a ship, in a car or on a plane, if they fear that the time of the prayer will elapse (before they reach a place where they can find the correct direction). And it does not apply to one who is praying a naafil prayer or Witr prayer whilst riding on a riding-animal etc., but it is mustahabb for him to face the qiblah if he is able to do so when pronouncing the takbeer of ihraam (at the beginning of the prayer), then he may face whatever direction he is facing.

3- Everyone who can see the Ka'bah must face it; those who cannot see it must face its direction.

Ruling on not facing the Ka'bah in prayer by mistake:

4- If a person prays not facing the qiblah, because of clouds [preventing him from working out the direction from the position of the sun] or some other reason, after he did his best to work out the right direction, his prayer is valid and he does not have to repeat it.

5- If someone whom he trusts comes - whilst he is praying - and tells him of the right direction, then he must hasten to turn that way, and his prayer is valid.

2 - Qiyaam (standing in prayer)

6- It is obligatory to pray standing. This is a pillar (essential part of prayer), except for the one who is praying the fear prayer or at times of intense fighting, when it is permitted to pray whilst riding; for the one who is sick and unable to stand, who should pray sitting if he is able, otherwise lying on his side; and the one who is praying a naafil prayer, who may pray whilst riding or sitting if he wishes, and he indicates the rukoo' and sujood with his head. The one who is sick may also do this, and he should make his sujood lower than his rukoo'.

7- It is not permissible for one who is praying sitting down to put something raised up on the ground in order to prostrate on it. Rather he should make his sujood lower than his rukoo' - as we have mentioned - if he is unable to touch the ground directly with his forehead.

Prayer on board a ship or airplane

8- It is permissible to pray fard prayers on board a ship or airplane.

9- It is permissible to pray them sitting down if one fears that one may fall.

10- It is permissible to lean on a pillar or stick when standing, if one is old or weak in body.

Combining standing and sitting in prayer

11- It is permissible to pray qiyaam al-laylstanding or sitting with no excuse, or to do both. So a person may pray and reciting sitting down, and just before doing rukoo'he may stand up and recite the rest of the aayahs standing up, then do rukoo' and sujood, then he can do likewise in the second rak'ah.

12- If he prays sitting down, he should pray sitting cross-legged or in whatever position he finds comfortable.

Praying wearing shoes

13- It is permissible to pray barefoot, or to pray wearing shoes.

14- It is better to pray sometimes barefoot and sometimes wearing shoes, according to what is easy; one should not make it difficult to put shoes on or to take them off in order to pray If a person is barefoot, he should pray barefoot and if he is wearing shoes then he should pray wearing shoes, except when there is a reason not to do so.

15- If he takes them off, then he should not place them to his right; rather he should place them to his left, if there is no one on his left, otherwise he should put them between his feet. There is a subtle hint that he should not place them in front of himself. This is the etiquette which most worshippers ignore, so you see them praying facing their shoes! This is what was narrated in the saheeh reports from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

Praying on the minbar

16- It is permissible for the imaam to pray on an elevated place such as the minbar, in order to teach the people. So he should stand up on it to pray, then say takbeer, recite Qur'aan and do rukoo' whilst he is on that place, then he should come down backwards so that he can prostrate on the ground at the base of the minbar, then he may go back to it and do the same in the second rak'ah as he did in the first.

It is obligatory to pray facing a sutrah and be close to it

17- It is obligatory to pray facing a sutrah (screen or cover), there is no difference whether that is in the mosque or elsewhere, whether the mosque is big or small, because of the general meaning of the hadeeth of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), "Do not pray except facing a sutrah, and do not let anyone pass in front of you, and if he insists then fight him, for he has a companion (qareen) with him" - meaning the Shaytaan.

18- It is obligatory to be close to the sutrah, because this is what the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded.

19- Between the place where the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) prostrated and the wall there would be a space nearly big enough for a sheep to pass through. Whoever does that is close enough [to the sutrah] as is required. I say: from this we known that what people do in all the mosques that I have seen in Syria and elsewhere, by praying in the middle of the mosque far away from the wall or pillars is but negligence towards the command and action of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

How high should the sutrah be?

20- The sutrah should be approximately a handspan or two above the ground, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "When one of you places in front of him something such as the stick on the end of a saddle, he should pray and not worry about anyone who passes in front of that." This hadeeth indicates that a line on the ground is not sufficient, and the hadeeth narrated concerning that is da'eef (weak).

21- He should face the sutrah directly, because this is apparent meaning of the command to pray towards the sutrah. Stepping slightly to the right or left so that one is not facing it directly, is not correct.

22- It is permissible to pray facing a stick planted in the ground and the like, or a tree, or a pillar, or one's wife lying down in bed underneath her blanket, or an animal, even if it is a camel.

Prohibition of praying towards graves

23- It is not permitted to pray facing graves at all, whether they are the grave of Prophets or of others.

Prohibition of walking in front of one who is praying even in al-Masjid al-Haraam

24- It is not permitted to walk in front of one who is praying if there is a sutrah in front of him [i.e., it is not permissible to come between him and his sutrah]. There is no difference in this regard between al-Masjid al-Haraam and other mosques, all of them are the same in that this [walking in front of one who is praying] is not permitted, because of the general meaning of the words of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): "If the person who passes in front of one who is praying knew how great a burden of sin resulted from that, standing for forty [years] would be better for him than passing in front of one who is praying." This refers to passing between him and the place of his prostration. The hadeethwhich speaks of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaahbe upon him) praying in Haashiyat al-Mataaf without a sutrah and with people passing in front of him is not saheeh, even though it does not say that they were passing between him and his place of prostration. It is obligatory for the one who is prostrating to prevent the one who wants to pass in front of him, even in Masjid al-Haraam.

25- It is not permissible for the one who is praying towards a sutrah to let anyone pass in front of him, because of the hadeeth quoted above, "Do not let anyone pass in front of you…" And because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaahbe upon him) said: "When one of you is praying towards something which is a sutrah between him and the people, and someone wants to pass in front of him, then he should push him in the upper chest and repel him as much as he can." According to another report: "… he should stop him twice, but if he insists then he should fight him, for he is a devil."

Stepping forward to prevent someone passing in front of him

26- It is permissible for a person to take one or two steps to the front, in order to prevent one who is not responsible from passing in front of him, such as an animal or a small child, and to make them pass behind him.

What breaks prayer

27- The sutrah is so important to prayer that it prevents a person's prayer from being invalidated, if someone passes in front of him. This is in contrast to the one who does not use a sutrah, whose prayer is broken if an adult woman, a donkey or a black dog passes in front of him.

3 - Niyyah (intention)

28- The worshipper must have the intention of praying the prayer for which he is standing. He must have the intention in his heart of performing a specific prayer, such as the fard(obligatory prayer) of Zuhr or of 'Asr, or the Sunnah of those prayers. This is a condition or pillar (essential part) of the prayer, but uttering the intention verbally is a bid'ah which goes against the Sunnah, which was not suggested by any of the imams who are followed.

4 - Takbeer

29- Then he should start the prayer by saying "Allaahu akbar (Allaah is Most Great)." This is an essential part of the prayer, because the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: "The key to prayer is purifying oneself (wudoo'), it is entered by takbeer (saying 'Allaahu akbar') and exited by tasleem (saying 'al-salaamu 'alaykum')" i.e, once you say takbeer, certain things are prohibited and this prohibition ends when you say tasleem.

30- He should not raise his voice when saying takbeer in all the prayers, unless he is acting as an imaam.

31- It is permissible for the muezzin to convey the takbeer of the imaam to the people, if there is a need to do so, such as if the imaam is sick and his voice is weak, or because there are many worshippers praying behind him.

32- The one who is following the imaam should not say takbeer until the imaam has finished saying takbeer.

Raising the hands - how it is to be done

33- He should raise his hands when saying the takbeer, or before or after doing so. All of these are proven in the Sunnah.

34- He should raise them with the fingers stretched out.

35- He should raise them level with his shoulders, or sometimes until they are level with his earlobes. I say: with regard to touching the earlobes with the thumbs, there is no basis for this in the Sunnah, rather in my view this has to do with waswaas (insinuating whispers of the Shaytaan).

Placing the hands - how it is to be done

36- Then he should place his right hand on his left, immediately after the takbeer. This is the way of the Prophets (peace be upon them), and this is what the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) enjoined upon his companions. It is not permissible to let the arms hang at the sides.

37- The right hand should be placed on the back of the left hand, wrist and forearm.

38- Sometimes the left hand may be grasped with the right. The combination of placing and grasping, which was favoured by some later scholars, has no basis.

Where they should be placed

39- The hands should be placed on the chest only; there is no difference between men and women in this regard. I say: placing them anywhere other than on the chest is da'eef (weak) or has no basis.

40- It is not permissible to put the right hand on the waist.

Humility and looking at the place of prostration

41- The worshipper must be humble in his prayer, and should avoid everything that may distract him from it, such as adornments and decorations. He should not pray where there is food that he wants to eat, or when he needs to urinate or defecate.

42- Whilst he is standing, he should look towards the place where he will prostrate.

43- He should not look to the right or the left, because looking here and there is a snatching away which the Shaytaan steals from the prayer of the slave.

44- It is not permissible for him to look up at the sky.

Du'AA' al-Istiftaah (du'AA' at the start of prayer)

45- Then he should start the prayer with some of the du'AA's which are narrated from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him). There are many of these, the most famous of which is "Subhaanaka Allaahumma WA bihamdika, WA tabaaraka ismuka WA ta'aala jadduka, WA laa ilaaha ghayruka (Glory and praise be to You O Allaah, blessed be Your name and exalted be Your Majesty, and there is no god but You)." The command to do this is proven so we should adhere to it. Whoever wants to see the other du'AA's may refer to Sifat al-Salaah, p. 91-95, Maktabat al-Ma'aarif, Riyadh, edition. [In English, see "The Prophet's Prayer described" by Shaykh al-Albaani, al-Haneef Publications, p. 14-19]

Recitation of Qur'aan

46- Then he should seek refuge with Allaah - this is obligatory, and he is sinning if he omits to do so.

47- The Sunnah is sometimes to say "A'oodhu Billaahi min al-Shaytaan il-rajeem, min hamzihi WA nafkhihi WA nafathihi (I seek refuge with Allaah from the accursed Satan, from his madness, his arrogance and his poetry)," - poetry here refers to blameworthy kinds of poetry.

48- And sometimes he may say, "A'oodhu Billaah il-Samee' il-A'leem min al-Shaytaan… (I seek refuge with Allaah, the All-Hearing, All-Knowing, from the Shaytaan…)."

49- Then he should say silently - whether the prayer is to be recited aloud or silently - "Bismillah il-Rahmaan il-Raheem (In the Name of Allaah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful)."

Reciting al-Faatihah

50- Then he should recite Soorat al-Faatihah (the first soorah of the Qur'aan) in full, including the Basmalah (Bismillaahi il-Rahmaan il-Raheem). This is an essential part of the prayer, without which the prayer is not valid. Those who do not speak Arabic must memorize this soorah.

51- Those who cannot remember it should say: "Subhaan Allaah, WA'l-hamdu-Lillaah, WA laa ilaaha ill-Allaah, WA Allaahu akbar, WA laa hawla WA laa quwwata illa Billaah (Glory be to Allaah, praise be to Allaah, there is no god but Allaah, Allaah is Most Great, and there is no strength and no power except with Allaah)."

52- The Sunnah is to recite it one verse at a time, and to pause at the beginning of each aayah. So he should say: "Bismillaah il-Rahmaan il-Raheem (In the Name of Allaah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful)," then pause. Then say, "Al-Hamdu Lillaahi Rabb il-'Aalameen (All the praises and thanks be to Allâh, the Lord of the 'Aalameen (mankind, jinn and all that exists), then pause. Then say: 'al-Rahmaan il-Raheem (The Most Gracious, the Most Merciful), then pause… and so on, until the end of the aayah.

This is how the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to recite the whole soorah, pausing at the end of each aayah and not joining one aayah to the next, even if there is continuity of the meaning.

53- It is permissible to read it as Maaliki Yawm id-Deen or Maliki Yawm id-Deen.

How the one who is praying behind the imaam should recite it

54- The one who is praying behind the imam should recite it behind the imaam in prayers where Qur'aan in recited silently and in prayers where it is recited aloud, if he cannot hear the imam's recitation, or if he pauses after completing it so that those who are praying behind him can recite it. We think that this pause was not proven in the Sunnah. I say I have mentioned the evidence of those who think that this pause is permissible and the refutation of that evidence, in Silsilat al-Ahaadeeth al-Da'eefah, no. 546, 547, part 2, p. 24-26, Dar al-Ma'aarif edition.

Recitation after al-Faatihah

55- It is Sunnah to recite - after al-Faatihah - another soorah, even in Salaat al-Janaazah (funeral prayer), or some aayahs, in the first two rak'ahs.

56- The recitation may be made lengthy sometimes, and shorter sometimes, for reasons of travel, coughing, sickness or the crying of an infant.

57- The recitation varies according to the prayers. The recitation in Fajr prayer is longer than it is in all the other prayers. Next longest is Zuhr, then 'Asr, then 'Isha', then Maghrib, usually.

58- The recitation in the night prayers (qiyaam al-layl) is longer than all of these.

59- The Sunnah is to make the recitation longer in the first rak'ah than in the second.

60- He should make the recitation in the last two shorter than in the first two rak'ahs, half the length. If you want more details on this topic, see Sifat al-Salaah p. 102 (Arabic original).

Reciting al-Faatihah in every rak'ah

61- It is obligatory to recite al-Faatihah in every rak'ah.

62- It is Sunnah to add to it in the last two rak'ahs as well.

63- It is not permissible for the imaam to make his recitation longer than that which is described in the Sunnah, because that is difficult for those who may be praying behind him, such as the elderly and sick, or nursing mothers, or those who have other things to do.

Reciting aloud and reciting quietly

64- Qur'aan should be recited aloud in Fajr and Jumu'ah prayers, Eid prayers, prayers for rain (istisqaa'), prayers at the time of an eclipse (kusoof) and in the first two rak'ahs of Maghrib and 'Isha'.

He should recite silently in the first two rak'ahs of Zuhr and 'Asr, in the third rak'ah of Maghrib and in the last two rak'ahs of 'Ishaa'.

65- It is permissible for the imaam occasionally to make an aayah audible in the prayers where recitation is to be done silently.

66- In Witr and Qiyaam al-Layl, he should recite silently sometimes and aloud sometimes, and he should be moderate in raising his voice.

Tarteel - reciting at a measured pace

67- The Sunnah is to recite the Qur'aan at a measured pace, not quickly or hastily. It should be read in a manner that clearly distinguishes each letter, beautifying the Qur'aan with one's voice. He should observe the well known rulings of the scholars of Tajweed and he should not recite it in the innovated manner of singers or according to the rules of music.

Prompting the imaam

68- It is prescribed for the one who is praying behind the imaam to prompt the imaam if he hesistates in his recitation.

6 - Rukoo' (bowing)

69- When he has completed the recitation, he should pause briefly, to catch his breath.

70- Then he should raise his hands in the manner described for takbeerat al-ihraam (the takbeer at the beginning of prayer).

71- And he should say takbeer ("Allahuakbar"). This is obligatory.

72- Then he should do rukoo', bowing as deeply as his joints will let him, until his joints take the new position and are relaxed in it. This is an essential part of prayer.

How to do rukoo'

73- He should put his hands on his knees, firmly, spacing the fingers out, as if he is grasping his knees. All of this is obligatory.

74- He should spread his back and make it level so that if water were poured on it, it would stay there (not run off). This is obligatory.

75- He should not lower or raise his head, but make it level with his back.

76- He should keep his elbows away from his sides.

77- In rukoo', he should say "Subhaana Rabbiy al-'Azeem (Glory be to my Lord, the Almighty) three times or more. There are others kinds of dhikr which may be said in rukoo', some of which are long, some of medium length and some short. See Sifat Salaat al-Nabi (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), p. 132, Maktabat al-Ma'aarifedition [The Prophet's Prayer Described, p. 44].

Making the essential parts of prayer equal in length

78- It is Sunnah to make the essential parts of prayer equal in length, so the rukoo', the standing after rukoo', the prostration and the sitting between the two prostrations should be make approximately the same in length.

79- It is not permissible to recite Qur'aan in rukoo' or in sujood.

Straightening up from rukoo'

80- Then he should straighten up from rukoo'. This is an essential part of the prayer.

81- Whilst straightening up, he should say, "Sami'aAllaahu liman hamidah (Allaah listens to the one who praises Him)." This is obligatory.

82- He should raise his hands when straightening up, in the manner described above.

83- Then he should stand straight until every vertebra has returned to its place. This is an essential part of the prayer.

84- Whilst standing thus, he should say, "Rabbanaa WA laka al-hamd (our Lord, to You be all praise)." (There are other kinds of dhikr which may be said at this point. See Sifat al-Salaah, p. 135/The Prophet's prayer described, p. 47). This is obligatory for every person who is praying, even if he is following an imaam, because this is the dhikr of standing after rukoo', and saying "Sami'aAllaahu liman hamidah" is the dhikr of straightening up from rukoo'. It is not prescribed to put the hands one over the other during this standing, because this was not narrated (from the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)). For more details, see Sifat Salaat al-Nabi, 1 - Istiqbaal al-Qiblah (The Prophet's Prayer Described - Facing the Ka'bah).

85- He should make this standing equal in length to the rukoo', as stated above.

7 - Sujood (prostration)

86- Then he should say "Allaahu akbar" - this is obligatory.

87- He should raise his hands sometimes.

Going down on the hands

88- Then he should go down into sujood on his hands, putting them down before the knees. This is what was commanded by the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and it is proven that he did this, and he forbade imitating the manner in which a camel sits down, which camel is by kneeling with its forelegs first.

89- When he prostrates - which is an essential part of the prayer - he should put his weight on his palms and spread them out.

90- He should keep the fingers together.

91- And point the fingers towards the qiblah.

92- He should put his palms level with his shoulders.

93- Sometimes he should make them level with his ears.

94- He should keep his forearms off the ground. This is obligatory. He should not spread them along the ground like a dog.

95- He should place his nose and forehead firmly on the ground. This is an essential part of the prayer.

96- He should also place his knees firmly on the ground.

97- The same applies to his toes.

98- He should hold his feet upright with his toes touching the ground. All of this is obligatory.

99- He should make his toes point in the direction of the qiblah.

100- He should put his heels together.

Being at ease in sujood

101- He should be at ease in sujood, distributing his weight equally on the parts of the body which should be in contact with the ground during sujood. They are: the nose and forehead, the palms, the knees, and the toes.

102- Whoever is at ease in his sujood in this manner has got it right. And this being at ease is also an essential part of the prayer.

103- In sujood, he should say, "Subhaana Rabbiy al-'A'laa (Glory be to my Lord Most High)" three times or more. (There are other kinds of dhikr also, see Sifat Salaat al-Nabi (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), p. 145/The Prophet's Prayer described, p. 55).

104- It is mustahaab to offer a lot of du'AA'during sujood, because it is a time when du'AA' is likely to be answered.

105- He should make his sujood almost as long as his rukoo', as described above.

106- It is permissible to prostrate on the bare ground, or on something covering the ground such as a garment or carpet, or a mat, etc.

107- It is not permitted to recite Qur'aan whilst prostrating.

Iftiraash and Iq'AA' between the two sajdahs

[Iftiraash means sitting on the left thigh with the right foot upwards and its toes pointed towards the qiblah; IQ'AA' means resting on both heels and feet]

108- Then he should raise his head, saying takbeer. This is obligatory.

109- He should raise his hands sometimes.

110- Then he should sit at ease, until every vertebra returns to its place. This is obligatory.

111- He should spread his left leg and sit on it. This is obligatory.

112- He should put his right foot upright.

113- And make its toes point towards the qiblah.

114- It is permissible to sit in IQ'AA' sometimes, which means resting on the heels and feet.

115- Whilst sitting thus, he should say, "Allaahumma ighfir li warhamni wajburni, warfa'ni, WA'aafini warzuqni (O Allaah, forgive me, have mercy on me, strengthen me, raise me in status, pardon me and grant me provision)."

116- If he wishes, he may say, "Rabbi ighfir li, Rabbi ighfir li (My Lord, forgive me, my Lord, forgive me)."

117- He should make this sitting almost as long as his sujood.

The second sajdah

118- Then he should say takbeer - this is obligatory,

119- He should raise his hands sometimes when saying this takbeer.

120- He should do the second prostration - this is also an essential part of the prayer.

121- He should do in the second prostration what he did in the first.

The sitting of rest

122- When he raises his head from the second prostration and he wants to get up for the second rak'ah, he should say takbeer. This is obligatory.

123- He should raise his hands sometimes.

124- He should sit up straight, sitting on his left foot, until every bone returns to its place.

The second rak'ah

125- Then he should get up for the second rak'ah, supporting himself on his hands with his fists clenched as if kneading dough. This is an essential part of the prayer.

126- He should do in the second rak'ah what he did in the first.

127- Except that he should not recite the du'AA' for starting the prayer.

128- He should make it shorter than the first rak'ah.

Sitting for the Tashahhud

129- When he completes the second rak'ah, he should sit for the Tashahhud. This is obligatory.

130- He should sit in iftiraash, as described above for the sitting between the two prostrations.

131- But it is not permitted to sit in IQ'AA' at this point.

132- He should put his right hand on his right thigh and knee, and the end of the right elbow on the thigh, not far from it.

133- He should spread his left palm on his left thigh and knee.

134- It is not permissible to sit resting on one's arms, especially the left arm.

Moving the finger and looking at it

135- He should clench all the fingers of his right hand, and put the thumb on the middle finger sometimes.

136- Sometimes he should make a circle with them.

137- He should point with his index finger towards the qiblah.

138- He should look towards it.

139- He should move it, making du'AA' with it, from the beginning of the Tashahhud until the end.

140- He should not point with the finger of his left hand.

141- He should do all of this in every Tashahhud.

How to say Tashahhud and the du'AA' following it

142- The Tashahhud is obligatory, and if he forgets it, he must do the two prostrations of forgetfulness (sajdat al-sahw).

143- He should recite it silently.

144- The wording of the Tashahhud is: "Al-tahiyyaatu Lillaahi WA'l-salaawaatu WA'l-tayyibaat. Al-salaamu 'alayka ayyuha'l-Nabiyyu WA rahmat-Allaahi WA barakaatuhu. Al-salaamu 'alayna WA 'ala 'ibaad-Illaah il-saaliheen. Ash-hadu an laa ilaaha ill-Allaah WA ash-hadu Anna Muhammadan 'abduhu WA rasooluhu (All compliments, prayers and pure words are due to Allaah. Peace be upon you, O Prophet, and the mercy and blessings of Allaah. Peace be upon us and upon the righteous slaves of Allaah. I bear witness that there is no god except Allaah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the slave and Messenger of Allaah)." [Other versions are mentioned in Sifat Salaat al-Nabi/The Prophet's Prayer Described, but what is mentioned here is the most sound].

Sending salaams upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him): this is what was prescribed after the death of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), and is narrated in the Tashahhud of Ibn Mas'ood, 'Aa'ishah and Ibn al-Zubayr (may Allah be pleased with them). For more details see Sifat Salaat al-Nabi, p. 161, Maktabat al-Ma'aarif, Riyadh, edition/ The Prophet's Prayer Described, p. 67).

145- After that, he should send prayers upon the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), by saying: "Allaahumma salli 'ala Muhammad WA 'ala aali Muhammad kama salayta 'ala Ibraaheem WA 'ala aali Ibraaheem, innaka hameedun majeed. Allaahumma baarik 'ala Muhammad WA 'ala aali Muhammad kama baarakta 'ala Ibraaheem WA 'ala aali Ibraaheem, innak hameedun majeed (O Allaah, send prayers upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent prayers upon Ibraaheem and upon the family of Ibraaheem; You are indeed Worthy of Praise, Full of Glory. O Allaah, send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad as You sent blessings upon Ibraaheemand upon the family of Ibraaheem); You are indeed Worthy of Praise, Full of Glory)."

146- If you wish you may shorten it and say: "Allaahumma salli 'ala Muhammad WA 'ala aali Muhammad, WA baarik 'ala Muhammad WA 'ala aali Muhammad, kama salayta WA baarakta 'ala Ibraaheem WA 'ala aali Ibraaheem, innaka haamedun majeed (O Allaah, send prayers upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, and send blessings upon Muhammad and the family of Muhammad, as You sent prayers and blessings upon Ibraaheem and the family of Ibraaheem; You are

Talkhees Sifat Salaat al-Nabi (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) min al-Takbeer ila al-Tasleem ka annaka turaahaa by Shaykh Muhammad Naasir al-Deen al-Albaani (may Allaah have mercy on him).

Source: Islam Q&A (http://www.Islam-qa.com/en/ref/13340/prayer)

The following is a description of the historic event of Ghadir Khumm. Click on the book icons below to see the detailed references backing up each key element of this event. The separation into contexts enables one to see how well each component of the event is attested in the sources. For example, to see how many Sunni sources record the sentence uttered by the Prophet [s] to appoint Imam 'Ali [a] - man kuntu mawlahu fa `Aliyyun mawlahu - click here: . ---- The Farewell Pilgrimage

Ten years after the migration (hijrah), the Messenger of Allah [peace and blessings be upon him and his Progeny] ordered to his close followers to call all the people in different places to join him in his last pilgrimage. On this pilgrimage he taught them how to perform the pilgrimage in a correct and unified form. This was first time that the Muslims with this magnitude gathered in one place in the presence of their leader, the Messenger of Allah [s]. On his way to Makkah, more than seventy thousand people followed Prophet [s]. On the fourth day of Dhu'l-Hijjah more than one hundred thousand Muslims had entered Makkah. ---- Date The date of this event was the 18th of Dhu'l-Hijjah of the year 10 AH (10 March 632 CE). ---- Location After completing his last pilgrimage (Hajjatul-Wada'), Prophet [s] was leaving Makkah toward Madinah, where he and the crowd of people reached a place called Ghadir Khumm (which is close to today's al-Juhfah). It was a place where people from different provinces used to greet each other before taking different routes for their homes. ---- Revelation of Qur'anic Verse 5:67

In this place, the following verse of the Qur'an was revealed: "O Apostle! Deliver what has been sent down to you from your Lord; and if you don't do it, you have not delivered His message (at all); and Allah will protect you from the people ..." (Qur'an 5:67) The last sentence in the above verse indicates that the Prophet [s] was mindful of the reaction of his people in delivering that message but Allah informs him not to worry, for He will protect His Messenger from people. ---- The Sermon

Upon receiving the verse, the Prophet [s] stopped on that place (the pond of Khumm) which was extremely hot. Then he sent for all people who have been ahead in the way, to come back and waited until all pilgrims who fell behind, arrived and gathered. He ordered Salman [r] to use rocks and camel toolings to make a pulpit (minbar) so he could make his announcement. It was around noon time in the first of the Fall, and due to the extreme heat in that valley, people were wrapping their robes around their feet and legs, and were sitting around the pulpit, on the hot rocks. On this day the Messenger of Allah [s] spent approximately five hours in this place; three hours of which he was on the pulpit. He recited nearly one hundred verses from The Glorious Quran, and for seventy three times reminded and warned people of their deeds and future. Then he gave them a long speech. The following is a part of his speech which has been widely narrated by the Sunni traditionists: ---- Tradition of the Two Weighty Things (thaqalayn) The Messenger of Allah [s] declared: "It seems the time approached when I shall be called away (by Allah) and I shall answer that call. I am leaving for you two precious things and if you adhere to them both, you will never go astray after me. They are the Book of Allah and my Progeny, that is my Ahlul Bayt. The two shall never separate from each other until they come to me by the Pool (of Paradise)."

[See also: Hadith al-Thaqalayn: A Study of its tawatur] ---- Acknowledgement of Authority Then the Messenger of Allah continued: "Do I not have more right over the believers than what they have over themselves?" People cried and answered: "Yes, O' Messenger of God." ---- Text (nass) of the Designation Then followed the key sentence denoting the clear designation of 'Ali as the leader of the Muslim ummah. The Prophet [s] held up the hand of 'Ali and said: "For whoever I am his Leader (mawla), 'Ali is his Leader (mawla)." ---- [In some narrations the word used was wali rather than mawla - with the same implication] ---- The Prophet [s] continued: "O' God, love those who love him, and be hostile to those who are hostile to him." ---- These were the key parts of the speech of the Prophet [s]. There are also more detailed versions of this sermon which are recorded by many Sunni authorities. 'Coronation' of Imam 'Ali [a]

[under development] ---- Revelation of Qur'anic Verse 5:3

Immediately after the Prophet [s] finished his speech, the following verse of the Qur'an was revealed: "Today I have perfected your religion and completed my favour upon you, and I was satisfied that Islam be your religion." (Qur'an 5:3) The above verse clearly indicates that Islam without clearing up matter of leadership after Prophet [s] was not complete, and completion of religion was due to announcement of the Prophet's immediate successor. ---- Hassan b. Thabit's poetry

Immediately after the Prophet's speech, Hassan b. Thabit, the Companion and poet of the Messenger of Allah [s], asked for his permission to compose a few verses of poetry about Imam 'Ali [a] for the audience. The Prophet [s] said: "Say with the blessings of Allah". Hassan stood up and said: "O' people of Quraysh. I follow with my words what preceded and witnessed by the Messenger of Allah [s]. He then composed the following verses at the scene: He calls them, (on) the day of Ghadir, their Prophet

In Khumm so hear (and heed) the Messenger's call,

He said: "Who is your guide and leader? (mawlakum wa waliyyukum)"

They said, and there was no apparent blindness (clearly):

"Your God, our guide, and you are our leader

And you won't find from among us, in this, any disobedient,"

He said to him: "Stand up O' Ali, for I am

pleased to announce you Imam and guide after me (min ba'di imam(an) wa hadiy(an)),

So whomever I was his leader (mawla), then this is his leader (mawla)

So be to him supporters in truth and followers,"

There he prayed: "Allah! Be a friend and guide to his follower

And be, to the one who is Ali's enemy, an enemy" ---- Oath of Allegiance

After his speech, the Messenger of Allah [s] asked everybody to give the oath of allegiance to 'Ali [a] and congratulate him. Among those who did so was 'Umar b. al-Khattab, who said: "Well done Ibn Abi Talib! Today you became the Leader (mawla) of all believing men and women." ---- Number of Companions in Ghadir Khumm

Allah ordered His Prophet [s] to inform the people of this designation at a time of crowded populous so that all could become the narrators of the tradition, while they exceeded a hundred thousand. Narrated by Zayd b. Arqam: Abu al-Tufayl said: "I heard it from the Messenger of Allah [s], and there was no one (there) except that he saw him with his eyes and heard him with his ears." ---- Revelation of Qur'anic Verse 70:1-3

Some Sunni commentators further report that the first three verses of the chapter of al-Ma'arij (70:1-3) were revealed when a dispute arose after the Prophet [s] reached Madinah. It is recorded that: On the day of Ghadir the Messenger of Allah summoned the people toward 'Ali and said: "Ali is the mawla of whom I am mawla." The news spread quickly all over urban and rural areas. When Harith Ibn Nu'man al-Fahri (or Nadhr Ibn Harith according to another tradition) came to know of it, he rode his camel and came to Madinah and went to the Messenger of Allah [s] and said to him: "You commanded us to testify that there is no deity but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah. We obeyed you. You ordered us to perform the prayers five times a day and we obeyed. You ordered us to observe fasts during the month of Ramadhan and we obeyed. Then you commanded us to offer pilgrimage to Makkah and we obeyed. But you are not satisfied with all this and you raised your cousin by your hand and imposed him upon us as our master by saying `Ali is the mawla of whom I am mawla.' Is this imposition from Allah or from you?" The Prophet [s] said : "By Allah who is the only deity! This is from Allah, the Mighty and the Glorious." On hearing this Harith turned back and proceeded towards his she-camel saying: "O Allah! If what Muhammad said is correct then fling on us a stone from the sky and subject us to severe pain and torture." He had not reached his she-camel when Allah, who is above all defects, flung at him a stone which struck him on his head, penetrated his body and passed out through his lower body and left him dead. It was on this occasion that Allah, the exalted, caused to descend the following verses: "A questioner questioned about the punishment to fall. For the disbelievers there is nothing to avert it, from Allah the Lord of the Ascent." (70:1-3) ---- Presented by the Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project team The following is a description of the historic event of Ghadir Khumm. Click on the book icons below to see the detailed references backing up each key element of this event. The separation into contexts enables one to see how well each component of the event is attested in the sources. For example, to see how many Sunni sources record the sentence uttered by the Prophet [s] to appoint Imam 'Ali [a] - man kuntu mawlahu fa `Aliyyun mawlahu - click here: . ---- The Farewell Pilgrimage

Ten years after the migration (hijrah), the Messenger of Allah [peace and blessings be upon him and his Progeny] ordered to his close followers to call all the people in different places to join him in his last pilgrimage. On this pilgrimage he taught them how to perform the pilgrimage in a correct and unified form. This was first time that the Muslims with this magnitude gathered in one place in the presence of their leader, the Messenger of Allah [s]. On his way to Makkah, more than seventy thousand people followed Prophet [s]. On the fourth day of Dhu'l-Hijjah more than one hundred thousand Muslims had entered Makkah. ---- Date The date of this event was the 18th of Dhu'l-Hijjah of the year 10 AH (10 March 632 CE). ---- Location After completing his last pilgrimage (Hajjatul-Wada'), Prophet [s] was leaving Makkah toward Madinah, where he and the crowd of people reached a place called Ghadir Khumm (which is close to today's al-Juhfah). It was a place where people from different provinces used to greet each other before taking different routes for their homes. ---- Revelation of Qur'anic Verse 5:67

In this place, the following verse of the Qur'an was revealed: "O Apostle! Deliver what has been sent down to you from your Lord; and if you don't do it, you have not delivered His message (at all); and Allah will protect you from the people ..." (Qur'an 5:67) The last sentence in the above verse indicates that the Prophet [s] was mindful of the reaction of his people in delivering that message but Allah informs him not to worry, for He will protect His Messenger from people. ---- The Sermon

Upon receiving the verse, the Prophet [s] stopped on that place (the pond of Khumm) which was extremely hot. Then he sent for all people who have been ahead in the way, to come back and waited until all pilgrims who fell behind, arrived and gathered. He ordered Salman [r] to use rocks and camel toolings to make a pulpit (minbar) so he could make his announcement. It was around noon time in the first of the Fall, and due to the extreme heat in that valley, people were wrapping their robes around their feet and legs, and were sitting around the pulpit, on the hot rocks. On this day the Messenger of Allah [s] spent approximately five hours in this place; three hours of which he was on the pulpit. He recited nearly one hundred verses from The Glorious Quran, and for seventy three times reminded and warned people of their deeds and future. Then he gave them a long speech. The following is a part of his speech which has been widely narrated by the Sunni traditionists: ---- Tradition of the Two Weighty Things (thaqalayn) The Messenger of Allah [s] declared: "It seems the time approached when I shall be called away (by Allah) and I shall answer that call. I am leaving for you two precious things and if you adhere to them both, you will never go astray after me. They are the Book of Allah and my Progeny, that is my Ahlul Bayt. The two shall never separate from each other until they come to me by the Pool (of Paradise)."

[See also: Hadith al-Thaqalayn: A Study of its tawatur] ---- Acknowledgement of Authority Then the Messenger of Allah continued: "Do I not have more right over the believers than what they have over themselves?" People cried and answered: "Yes, O' Messenger of God." ---- Text (nass) of the Designation Then followed the key sentence denoting the clear designation of 'Ali as the leader of the Muslim ummah. The Prophet [s] held up the hand of 'Ali and said: "For whoever I am his Leader (mawla), 'Ali is his Leader (mawla)." ---- [In some narrations the word used was wali rather than mawla - with the same implication] ---- The Prophet [s] continued: "O' God, love those who love him, and be hostile to those who are hostile to him." ---- These were the key parts of the speech of the Prophet [s]. There are also more detailed versions of this sermon which are recorded by many Sunni authorities. 'Coronation' of Imam 'Ali [a]

[under development] ---- Revelation of Qur'anic Verse 5:3

Immediately after the Prophet [s] finished his speech, the following verse of the Qur'an was revealed: "Today I have perfected your religion and completed my favour upon you, and I was satisfied that Islam be your religion." (Qur'an 5:3) The above verse clearly indicates that Islam without clearing up matter of leadership after Prophet [s] was not complete, and completion of religion was due to announcement of the Prophet's immediate successor. ---- Hassan b. Thabit's poetry

Immediately after the Prophet's speech, Hassan b. Thabit, the Companion and poet of the Messenger of Allah [s], asked for his permission to compose a few verses of poetry about Imam 'Ali [a] for the audience. The Prophet [s] said: "Say with the blessings of Allah". Hassan stood up and said: "O' people of Quraysh. I follow with my words what preceded and witnessed by the Messenger of Allah [s]. He then composed the following verses at the scene: He calls them, (on) the day of Ghadir, their Prophet

In Khumm so hear (and heed) the Messenger's call,

He said: "Who is your guide and leader? (mawlakum wa waliyyukum)"

They said, and there was no apparent blindness (clearly):

"Your God, our guide, and you are our leader

And you won't find from among us, in this, any disobedient,"

He said to him: "Stand up O' Ali, for I am

pleased to announce you Imam and guide after me (min ba'di imam(an) wa hadiy(an)),

So whomever I was his leader (mawla), then this is his leader (mawla)

So be to him supporters in truth and followers,"

There he prayed: "Allah! Be a friend and guide to his follower

And be, to the one who is Ali's enemy, an enemy" ---- Oath of Allegiance

After his speech, the Messenger of Allah [s] asked everybody to give the oath of allegiance to 'Ali [a] and congratulate him. Among those who did so was 'Umar b. al-Khattab, who said: "Well done Ibn Abi Talib! Today you became the Leader (mawla) of all believing men and women." ---- Number of Companions in Ghadir Khumm

Allah ordered His Prophet [s] to inform the people of this designation at a time of crowded populous so that all could become the narrators of the tradition, while they exceeded a hundred thousand. Narrated by Zayd b. Arqam: Abu al-Tufayl said: "I heard it from the Messenger of Allah [s], and there was no one (there) except that he saw him with his eyes and heard him with his ears." ---- Revelation of Qur'anic Verse 70:1-3

Some Sunni commentators further report that the first three verses of the chapter of al-Ma'arij (70:1-3) were revealed when a dispute arose after the Prophet [s] reached Madinah. It is recorded that: On the day of Ghadir the Messenger of Allah summoned the people toward 'Ali and said: "Ali is the mawla of whom I am mawla." The news spread quickly all over urban and rural areas. When Harith Ibn Nu'man al-Fahri (or Nadhr Ibn Harith according to another tradition) came to know of it, he rode his camel and came to Madinah and went to the Messenger of Allah [s] and said to him: "You commanded us to testify that there is no deity but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah. We obeyed you. You ordered us to perform the prayers five times a day and we obeyed. You ordered us to observe fasts during the month of Ramadhan and we obeyed. Then you commanded us to offer pilgrimage to Makkah and we obeyed. But you are not satisfied with all this and you raised your cousin by your hand and imposed him upon us as our master by saying `Ali is the mawla of whom I am mawla.' Is this imposition from Allah or from you?" The Prophet [s] said : "By Allah who is the only deity! This is from Allah, the Mighty and the Glorious." On hearing this Harith turned back and proceeded towards his she-camel saying: "O Allah! If what Muhammad said is correct then fling on us a stone from the sky and subject us to severe pain and torture." He had not reached his she-camel when Allah, who is above all defects, flung at him a stone which struck him on his head, penetrated his body and passed out through his lower body and left him dead. It was on this occasion that Allah, the exalted, caused to descend the following verses: "A questioner questioned about the punishment to fall. For the disbelievers there is nothing to avert it, from Allah the Lord of the Ascent." (70:1-3) ---- Presented by the Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project team The following is a description of the historic event of Ghadir Khumm. Click on the book icons below to see the detailed references backing up each key element of this event. The separation into contexts enables one to see how well each component of the event is attested in the sources. For example, to see how many Sunni sources record the sentence uttered by the Prophet [s] to appoint Imam 'Ali [a] - man kuntu mawlahu fa `Aliyyun mawlahu - click here: . ---- The Farewell Pilgrimage

Ten years after the migration (hijrah), the Messenger of Allah [peace and blessings be upon him and his Progeny] ordered to his close followers to call all the people in different places to join him in his last pilgrimage. On this pilgrimage he taught them how to perform the pilgrimage in a correct and unified form. This was first time that the Muslims with this magnitude gathered in one place in the presence of their leader, the Messenger of Allah [s]. On his way to Makkah, more than seventy thousand people followed Prophet [s]. On the fourth day of Dhu'l-Hijjah more than one hundred thousand Muslims had entered Makkah. ---- Date The date of this event was the 18th of Dhu'l-Hijjah of the year 10 AH (10 March 632 CE). ---- Location After completing his last pilgrimage (Hajjatul-Wada'), Prophet [s] was leaving Makkah toward Madinah, where he and the crowd of people reached a place called Ghadir Khumm (which is close to today's al-Juhfah). It was a place where people from different provinces used to greet each other before taking different routes for their homes. ---- Revelation of Qur'anic Verse 5:67

In this place, the following verse of the Qur'an was revealed: "O Apostle! Deliver what has been sent down to you from your Lord; and if you don't do it, you have not delivered His message (at all); and Allah will protect you from the people ..." (Qur'an 5:67) The last sentence in the above verse indicates that the Prophet [s] was mindful of the reaction of his people in delivering that message but Allah informs him not to worry, for He will protect His Messenger from people. ---- The Sermon

Upon receiving the verse, the Prophet [s] stopped on that place (the pond of Khumm) which was extremely hot. Then he sent for all people who have been ahead in the way, to come back and waited until all pilgrims who fell behind, arrived and gathered. He ordered Salman [r] to use rocks and camel toolings to make a pulpit (minbar) so he could make his announcement. It was around noon time in the first of the Fall, and due to the extreme heat in that valley, people were wrapping their robes around their feet and legs, and were sitting around the pulpit, on the hot rocks. On this day the Messenger of Allah [s] spent approximately five hours in this place; three hours of which he was on the pulpit. He recited nearly one hundred verses from The Glorious Quran, and for seventy three times reminded and warned people of their deeds and future. Then he gave them a long speech. The following is a part of his speech which has been widely narrated by the Sunni traditionists: ---- Tradition of the Two Weighty Things (thaqalayn) The Messenger of Allah [s] declared: "It seems the time approached when I shall be called away (by Allah) and I shall answer that call. I am leaving for you two precious things and if you adhere to them both, you will never go astray after me. They are the Book of Allah and my Progeny, that is my Ahlul Bayt. The two shall never separate from each other until they come to me by the Pool (of Paradise)."

[See also: Hadith al-Thaqalayn: A Study of its tawatur] ---- Acknowledgement of Authority Then the Messenger of Allah continued: "Do I not have more right over the believers than what they have over themselves?" People cried and answered: "Yes, O' Messenger of God." ---- Text (nass) of the Designation Then followed the key sentence denoting the clear designation of 'Ali as the leader of the Muslim ummah. The Prophet [s] held up the hand of 'Ali and said: "For whoever I am his Leader (mawla), 'Ali is his Leader (mawla)." ---- [In some narrations the word used was wali rather than mawla - with the same implication] ---- The Prophet [s] continued: "O' God, love those who love him, and be hostile to those who are hostile to him." ---- These were the key parts of the speech of the Prophet [s]. There are also more detailed versions of this sermon which are recorded by many Sunni authorities. 'Coronation' of Imam 'Ali [a]

[under development] ---- Revelation of Qur'anic Verse 5:3

Immediately after the Prophet [s] finished his speech, the following verse of the Qur'an was revealed: "Today I have perfected your religion and completed my favour upon you, and I was satisfied that Islam be your religion." (Qur'an 5:3) The above verse clearly indicates that Islam without clearing up matter of leadership after Prophet [s] was not complete, and completion of religion was due to announcement of the Prophet's immediate successor. ---- Hassan b. Thabit's poetry

Immediately after the Prophet's speech, Hassan b. Thabit, the Companion and poet of the Messenger of Allah [s], asked for his permission to compose a few verses of poetry about Imam 'Ali [a] for the audience. The Prophet [s] said: "Say with the blessings of Allah". Hassan stood up and said: "O' people of Quraysh. I follow with my words what preceded and witnessed by the Messenger of Allah [s]. He then composed the following verses at the scene: He calls them, (on) the day of Ghadir, their Prophet

In Khumm so hear (and heed) the Messenger's call,

He said: "Who is your guide and leader? (mawlakum wa waliyyukum)"

They said, and there was no apparent blindness (clearly):

"Your God, our guide, and you are our leader

And you won't find from among us, in this, any disobedient,"

He said to him: "Stand up O' Ali, for I am

pleased to announce you Imam and guide after me (min ba'di imam(an) wa hadiy(an)),

So whomever I was his leader (mawla), then this is his leader (mawla)

So be to him supporters in truth and followers,"

There he prayed: "Allah! Be a friend and guide to his follower

And be, to the one who is Ali's enemy, an enemy" ---- Oath of Allegiance

After his speech, the Messenger of Allah [s] asked everybody to give the oath of allegiance to 'Ali [a] and congratulate him. Among those who did so was 'Umar b. al-Khattab, who said: "Well done Ibn Abi Talib! Today you became the Leader (mawla) of all believing men and women." ---- Number of Companions in Ghadir Khumm

Allah ordered His Prophet [s] to inform the people of this designation at a time of crowded populous so that all could become the narrators of the tradition, while they exceeded a hundred thousand. Narrated by Zayd b. Arqam: Abu al-Tufayl said: "I heard it from the Messenger of Allah [s], and there was no one (there) except that he saw him with his eyes and heard him with his ears." ---- Revelation of Qur'anic Verse 70:1-3

Some Sunni commentators further report that the first three verses of the chapter of al-Ma'arij (70:1-3) were revealed when a dispute arose after the Prophet [s] reached Madinah. It is recorded that: On the day of Ghadir the Messenger of Allah summoned the people toward 'Ali and said: "Ali is the mawla of whom I am mawla." The news spread quickly all over urban and rural areas. When Harith Ibn Nu'man al-Fahri (or Nadhr Ibn Harith according to another tradition) came to know of it, he rode his camel and came to Madinah and went to the Messenger of Allah [s] and said to him: "You commanded us to testify that there is no deity but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah. We obeyed you. You ordered us to perform the prayers five times a day and we obeyed. You ordered us to observe fasts during the month of Ramadhan and we obeyed. Then you commanded us to offer pilgrimage to Makkah and we obeyed. But you are not satisfied with all this and you raised your cousin by your hand and imposed him upon us as our master by saying `Ali is the mawla of whom I am mawla.' Is this imposition from Allah or from you?" The Prophet [s] said : "By Allah who is the only deity! This is from Allah, the Mighty and the Glorious." On hearing this Harith turned back and proceeded towards his she-camel saying: "O Allah! If what Muhammad said is correct then fling on us a stone from the sky and subject us to severe pain and torture." He had not reached his she-camel when Allah, who is above all defects, flung at him a stone which struck him on his head, penetrated his body and passed out through his lower body and left him dead. It was on this occasion that Allah, the exalted, caused to descend the following verses: "A questioner questioned about the punishment to fall. For the disbelievers there is nothing to avert it, from Allah the Lord of the Ascent." (70:1-3) ---- Presented by the Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project team The following is a description of the historic event of Ghadir Khumm. Click on the book icons below to see the detailed references backing up each key element of this event. The separation into contexts enables one to see how well each component of the event is attested in the sources. For example, to see how many Sunni sources record the sentence uttered by the Prophet [s] to appoint Imam 'Ali [a] - man kuntu mawlahu fa `Aliyyun mawlahu - click here: . ---- The Farewell Pilgrimage

Ten years after the migration (hijrah), the Messenger of Allah [peace and blessings be upon him and his Progeny] ordered to his close followers to call all the people in different places to join him in his last pilgrimage. On this pilgrimage he taught them how to perform the pilgrimage in a correct and unified form. This was first time that the Muslims with this magnitude gathered in one place in the presence of their leader, the Messenger of Allah [s]. On his way to Makkah, more than seventy thousand people followed Prophet [s]. On the fourth day of Dhu'l-Hijjah more than one hundred thousand Muslims had entered Makkah. ---- Date The date of this event was the 18th of Dhu'l-Hijjah of the year 10 AH (10 March 632 CE). ---- Location After completing his last pilgrimage (Hajjatul-Wada'), Prophet [s] was leaving Makkah toward Madinah, where he and the crowd of people reached a place called Ghadir Khumm (which is close to today's al-Juhfah). It was a place where people from different provinces used to greet each other before taking different routes for their homes. ---- Revelation of Qur'anic Verse 5:67

In this place, the following verse of the Qur'an was revealed: "O Apostle! Deliver what has been sent down to you from your Lord; and if you don't do it, you have not delivered His message (at all); and Allah will protect you from the people ..." (Qur'an 5:67) The last sentence in the above verse indicates that the Prophet [s] was mindful of the reaction of his people in delivering that message but Allah informs him not to worry, for He will protect His Messenger from people. ---- The Sermon

Upon receiving the verse, the Prophet [s] stopped on that place (the pond of Khumm) which was extremely hot. Then he sent for all people who have been ahead in the way, to come back and waited until all pilgrims who fell behind, arrived and gathered. He ordered Salman [r] to use rocks and camel toolings to make a pulpit (minbar) so he could make his announcement. It was around noon time in the first of the Fall, and due to the extreme heat in that valley, people were wrapping their robes around their feet and legs, and were sitting around the pulpit, on the hot rocks. On this day the Messenger of Allah [s] spent approximately five hours in this place; three hours of which he was on the pulpit. He recited nearly one hundred verses from The Glorious Quran, and for seventy three times reminded and warned people of their deeds and future. Then he gave them a long speech. The following is a part of his speech which has been widely narrated by the Sunni traditionists: ---- Tradition of the Two Weighty Things (thaqalayn) The Messenger of Allah [s] declared: "It seems the time approached when I shall be called away (by Allah) and I shall answer that call. I am leaving for you two precious things and if you adhere to them both, you will never go astray after me. They are the Book of Allah and my Progeny, that is my Ahlul Bayt. The two shall never separate from each other until they come to me by the Pool (of Paradise)."

[See also: Hadith al-Thaqalayn: A Study of its tawatur] ---- Acknowledgement of Authority Then the Messenger of Allah continued: "Do I not have more right over the believers than what they have over themselves?" People cried and answered: "Yes, O' Messenger of God." ---- Text (nass) of the Designation Then followed the key sentence denoting the clear designation of 'Ali as the leader of the Muslim ummah. The Prophet [s] held up the hand of 'Ali and said: "For whoever I am his Leader (mawla), 'Ali is his Leader (mawla)." ---- [In some narrations the word used was wali rather than mawla - with the same implication] ---- The Prophet [s] continued: "O' God, love those who love him, and be hostile to those who are hostile to him." ---- These were the key parts of the speech of the Prophet [s]. There are also more detailed versions of this sermon which are recorded by many Sunni authorities. 'Coronation' of Imam 'Ali [a]

[under development] ---- Revelation of Qur'anic Verse 5:3

Immediately after the Prophet [s] finished his speech, the following verse of the Qur'an was revealed: "Today I have perfected your religion and completed my favour upon you, and I was satisfied that Islam be your religion." (Qur'an 5:3) The above verse clearly indicates that Islam without clearing up matter of leadership after Prophet [s] was not complete, and completion of religion was due to announcement of the Prophet's immediate successor. ---- Hassan b. Thabit's poetry

Immediately after the Prophet's speech, Hassan b. Thabit, the Companion and poet of the Messenger of Allah [s], asked for his permission to compose a few verses of poetry about Imam 'Ali [a] for the audience. The Prophet [s] said: "Say with the blessings of Allah". Hassan stood up and said: "O' people of Quraysh. I follow with my words what preceded and witnessed by the Messenger of Allah [s]. He then composed the following verses at the scene: He calls them, (on) the day of Ghadir, their Prophet

In Khumm so hear (and heed) the Messenger's call,

He said: "Who is your guide and leader? (mawlakum wa waliyyukum)"

They said, and there was no apparent blindness (clearly):

"Your God, our guide, and you are our leader

And you won't find from among us, in this, any disobedient,"

He said to him: "Stand up O' Ali, for I am

pleased to announce you Imam and guide after me (min ba'di imam(an) wa hadiy(an)),

So whomever I was his leader (mawla), then this is his leader (mawla)

So be to him supporters in truth and followers,"

There he prayed: "Allah! Be a friend and guide to his follower

And be, to the one who is Ali's enemy, an enemy" ---- Oath of Allegiance

After his speech, the Messenger of Allah [s] asked everybody to give the oath of allegiance to 'Ali [a] and congratulate him. Among those who did so was 'Umar b. al-Khattab, who said: "Well done Ibn Abi Talib! Today you became the Leader (mawla) of all believing men and women." ---- Number of Companions in Ghadir Khumm

Allah ordered His Prophet [s] to inform the people of this designation at a time of crowded populous so that all could become the narrators of the tradition, while they exceeded a hundred thousand. Narrated by Zayd b. Arqam: Abu al-Tufayl said: "I heard it from the Messenger of Allah [s], and there was no one (there) except that he saw him with his eyes and heard him with his ears." ---- Revelation of Qur'anic Verse 70:1-3

Some Sunni commentators further report that the first three verses of the chapter of al-Ma'arij (70:1-3) were revealed when a dispute arose after the Prophet [s] reached Madinah. It is recorded that: On the day of Ghadir the Messenger of Allah summoned the people toward 'Ali and said: "Ali is the mawla of whom I am mawla." The news spread quickly all over urban and rural areas. When Harith Ibn Nu'man al-Fahri (or Nadhr Ibn Harith according to another tradition) came to know of it, he rode his camel and came to Madinah and went to the Messenger of Allah [s] and said to him: "You commanded us to testify that there is no deity but Allah and that you are the Messenger of Allah. We obeyed you. You ordered us to perform the prayers five times a day and we obeyed. You ordered us to observe fasts during the month of Ramadhan and we obeyed. Then you commanded us to offer pilgrimage to Makkah and we obeyed. But you are not satisfied with all this and you raised your cousin by your hand and imposed him upon us as our master by saying `Ali is the mawla of whom I am mawla.' Is this imposition from Allah or from you?" The Prophet [s] said : "By Allah who is the only deity! This is from Allah, the Mighty and the Glorious." On hearing this Harith turned back and proceeded towards his she-camel saying: "O Allah! If what Muhammad said is correct then fling on us a stone from the sky and subject us to severe pain and torture." He had not reached his she-camel when Allah, who is above all defects, flung at him a stone which struck him on his head, penetrated his body and passed out through his lower body and left him dead. It was on this occasion that Allah, the exalted, caused to descend the following verses: "A questioner questioned about the punishment to fall. For the disbelievers there is nothing to avert it, from Allah the Lord of the Ascent." (70:1-3) ---- Presented by the Ahlul Bayt Digital Islamic Library Project team

Adam was the most beautiful human that ever existed, for Allah created him with his own "hands", so that means he perfected him and made him soo beautifull.

God did not create Adam pbuh in his own image... Quran 112:4 says;"And there is none like unto Him."

And God said to the angels:

"'Verily, I am going to place mankind generations after generations on earth.' They said: 'Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood(like the demons that are there now?), while we glorify You with praises and thanks and sanctify You.' God said: 'I know that which you do not know.'" (Quran 2:30)

"And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: 'I am going to create a human (Adam) from sounding clay of altered black smooth mud. So when I have fashioned him and breathed into him (his) soul created by Me, then you fall down prostrate to him." (Quran 38:71-72)

[Quran 51:56] I did not create the jinns and the humans except to worship Me ALONE.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet pbuh said,

"Allah created Adam, making him 60 cubits(I think this is 30 meter) tall. When He created him, He said to him, "Go and greet that group of angels, and listen to their reply, for it will be your greeting (salutation) and the greeting (salutations of your offspring)." So, Adam said (to the angels), As-Salamu Alaikum (i.e. Peace be upon you). The angels said, "As-salamu Alaika WA Rahmatu-l-lahi" (i.e. Peace and Allah's Mercy be upon you). Thus the angels added to Adam's salutation the expression, 'Wa Rahmatu-l-lahi,' Any person who will enter Paradise will resemble Adam (in appearance and figure). People have been decreasing in stature since Adam's creation. Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "The best of days on which the sun has risen is Friday. One this day Adam was created, and on this day he was descended to earth." (al Bukhari)

The Angel of Death ascended with it, Allah soaked the clay till it became sticky. Then Allah said to the angels: "Truly, I am going to create man from clay. So when I have fashioned him and breathed into him (his) soul created by Me, then you fall down prostrate to him." (Chapter 38:71-72 Quran).

So Allah shaped Adam into a human being, but he remained a figure of clay for 40 years. The angels went past him. They were seized with fear by what they saw, and Iblis felt fear most. He used to pass by the figure of Adam, buffeting it, which would make a sound like pottery. Allah told us: "He created man (Adam) from sounding clay like the clay of pottery." ( 55:Quran). Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "Allah created Adam from dust after He mixed the clay and left him for some time until it became sticky mud, after which Allah shaped him. After that Allah left him till it became like potter's clay. Iblis used to go past him saying 'You have been created for a great purpose.'

When the time drew near to breathe the spirit into Adam, as Allah decreed, He commanded the angels: "When I breathe My spirit into him prostrate before him." Allah breathed His spirit into Adam and when it reached his head Adam sneezed. The angels said: "Say all praise belongs to Allah." Adam repeated: "All praise belongs to Allah." Allah said to him: "Your Lord has granted you mercy." When the spirit reached his eyes, Adam looked at the fruits of Paradise. When it reached his abdomen Adam felt an appetite for food. He jumped hurriedly before the spirit could reach his legs, so that he could eat from the fruits of Paradise. Allah, therefore, said: "Man is created of haste." ( 21:37 Quran). And then: The angels prostrated themselves all of them together. Except Iblis, he refused to be among the prostrators. ( 15:31-32 Quran).

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Iblis tried in vain to justify his refusal: "Shall I prostrate to one whom You created from clay?" Iblis said: "See? those whom You have honored above me, if You give me respite (keep me alive) to the Day of Resurrection, I will surely seize and mislead his offspring (by sending them astray) all but a few!" (17:62 Quran).

Adam was following what was happening around him and had feelings of love, awe, and astonishment. Deep love of Allah,Who had created and glorified him and Who had made His angels prostrate before him. Awe of the Creator's wrath when He excluded Iblis from His mercy. Adam was surprised by this creature, Iblis who abhorred hiwithout even knowing him and who imagined himself better than Adam without having proved that he was worthier. What a strange creature Iblis was, and how strange was his excuse for not prostrating!

From the dialogue Adam realized that Iblis was a creature characterized by cunning and ingratitude. He then knew that Iblis was his eternal enemy. He was greatly astonished at Iblis's audacity and Allah's tolerance. Immediately after his creation Adam witnessed the large amount of freedom that Allah gives to His commissioned creatures.

Allah knew that Iblis was not going to obey Him in prostrating before Adam. Allah could have totally annihilated him or turned him into a handful of dust or stifled the refusal in his mouth. Yet, Allah gives His commissioned creatures absolute freedom even to the extent that they can refuse Allah the Almighty's commands. He grants them the freedom of denial, disobedience, and even disagreement with Him.

There were many traditions about Iblis at the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Ibn Masud, Ibn Abbas and a group of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said that Iblis had been the head of the angels in the worldly heavens. Ibn Abbas said in one narration that his name had been Azazil and in another narration he said it had been Al Harith. Ibn Abbas also said that Iblis was a jinn and that they had once been the keepers of Paradise, with Iblis the most honorable and the most learned and the most pious of them. Another tradition says that he had been one of the famous four possessors of wings (angels), before Allah transformed him into the accursed Satan.

After this lesson about freedom Adam learned another lesson, one about knowledge. Adam realized that Iblis was the symbol of evil in the universe and that the angels were the symbol of good. However he did not yet know anything about himself. Then Allah made him perceive his true identity and the reason for his creation, and the secret of his glorification.

Allah the Exalted said: He taught Adam all the names of everything. (2:31 Quran).

Almighty Allah granted Adam the power to know the natures of all things and to summarize them by names; that is a bird, that is a star, that is a tree, etc Allah implanted in Adam an insatiable need for and love of knowledge and a desire to bequeath knowledge to his children. This was the reason for his creation and the secret of his glorification.

After Adam had learned the names of all things, along with their properties and uses, Allah presented them to the angels and said: "Tell Me the names of these if you are truthful." (2:31 Quran) the angels admitted their inability: "Glory be to You, we have knowledge except what You have taught us. Verily it is You the All Knower, the All Wise." ( 2:32)

Allah Almighty then turned to Adam: "O Adam! Inform them of their names, " and when he had informed them of their names, He(Allah) said: "Did I not tell you that I know the unseen in the heavens and the earth, and I know what you reveal and what you have been hiding?" (2:33 Quran).

Allah wanted the angels to know that He knew of their astonishment when He had told them about the creation of Adam and that He also knew of their confusion which they had not revealed, as well as what Iblis had concealed of his disobedience and ingratitude.

Ibn Abbas and a group of companions of the Prophet (PBUH) narrated that when Iblis was sent out of Paradise and Adam was accommodated therein, Adam was alone in Paradise and did not have a partner from whom he could get tranquility. He slept for some time and when he woke up, he saw a woman whom Allah had created from his ribs. So he asked her, "Who are you? She replied, "A woman" He asked: "Why have you been created?" She said :"So that you could find tranquility in me." The angels, trying to find out the extent of his knowledge, asked him: "What is her name O Adam?" He replied, "Eve" They asked "Why was she so named?" He replied, " Because she was created from something living."

Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "O Muslims! I advise you to be gentle with women, for they are created from a rib, and the most crooked portion of the rib is its upper part. If you try to straighten it, it will break and if you leave it, it will remain crooked, so I urge you to take care of the women." (Sahih Bukhari).

Allah commanded Adam to dwell in Paradise: "O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the Paradise and eat both of you freely with pleasure and delight of things therein as wherever you will, but come not near this tree or you both will be of the Zalimeen (wrong doers).(2:35)

The location of this Paradise is unknown to us. The Quran did not reveal it, and the commentators had five different opinions. Some said that it was the paradise of our refuge and that its place was heaven. Others regreted that statement because if it was the paradise of refuge Iblis would have been forbidden admission and disobedience would have been forbidden as well. Still others said that it was another paradise that was created by Allah for Adam and Eve. A fourth group said it was a paradise on the earth located in a high place. Another group of commentators accept what was in the Quran without questioning where this paradise was located. We agree with this last opinion as the lesson we learn from its location is immaterial compared to the lesson we leafrom the events that took place there.

Adam and Eve understood that they were forbidden to eat the fruit of that tree. Adam was however a human being and man tends to forget. His heart changes and his will weakens. Iblis summoned all the envy within him and took advantage of Adam's humanity to exploit him. He started to whisper to him day after day, coaxing him: "Shall I guide you to thTree of Immortality and the Eternal Kingdom?" He said to them: "Your Lord did not forbid you this tree save you should become angels or become of the immortals." He (Satan) swore by Allah to them both saying: "Verily I am one of the sincere well wishers for you both." (7:20-21)

Adam asked himself: "What will happen if I eat from this tree? It might truly be the Tree of Immortality." His dream was to live forever in the pure innocence of Paradise."

Years went by, and Adam and Eve were preoccupied with thoughts of that tree. Then one day they decided to eat of its fruit. They forgot that Allah had warned them not to approach it and that Iblis was their sworn enemy. Adam stretched out his hand, picked one of the fruits and offered it to Eve. They both ate of the forbidden tree.

Allah Almighty told us: "So he (Satan) misled them with deception." (Ch 7:22) Allah said: "Thus did Adam disobey his Lord so he went astray." (20:121).

Adam had hardly finished eating when he felt his heart contract, and he as filled with pain, sadness and shame. The surrounding atmosphere had changed and the internal music had stopped. He discovered that he and his wife were naked, so they both started cutting tree leaves with which to cover themselves.

Allah the Almighty addressed him: "Did I not forbid you that tree and tell you: Verily Satan is an open enemy unto you?" They said: "Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers." Allah said; "Get down, one of you an enemy to the other (Adam, Eve, and Satan etc). On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment, for a time." He said: "Therein you shall live and therein you shall die, and from it you shall be brought out (resurrected)." (7:22-25).

Allah the Almighty addressed him: "Did I not forbid you that tree and tell you: Verily Satan is an open enemy unto you?" They said: "Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers." Allah said; "Get down, one of you an enemy to the other (Adam, Eve, and Satan etc). On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment, for a time." He said: "Therein you shall live and therein you shall die, and from it you shall be brought out (resurrected)." (7:22-25).

O Children of Adam! Let not Satan deceive you, as he got your parents (Adam and Eve) out of Paradise stripping them of their rainments; to show them their private parts. Verily he and Qabiluhu (his soldiers from the jinn or his tribe) see you from where you cannot see them. .. (Ch 7:27)

Al Hafez Ibn Asaker narrated that Allah commanded two angels to remove Adam from His holy proximity. So Gabriel stripped him of the crown on his head, and Michael took the diadem from his forehead. So Adam walked (or run) away, and on his way a tree catched him by his forehead. So Allah asked: "are you running away from me?" Adam thought that his punishment had been hastened and bowed down crying; "Forgiveness! Forgiveness!" so Allah asked: "Are you running away from Me?" Adam replied, "No, my Lord, but I am shy of You (because of what I did)."

Adam knew he bade farewell to peace and he left Paradise. On earth he had to face conflict and struggle. No sooner had one ended than another began. He also had to toil to sustain himself. He had to protect himself with clothes and weapons and protect his wife and children from the wild beasts. Above all he had to struggle with the spirit of evil. Satan, the cause of his expulsion from Paradise, continued to beguile him and his children in an effort to have them thrown into the eternal hellfire. The battle between good and evil is continuous, but those who follow Allah's guidance and should fear nothing while those who disobey Allah and follow Iblis will be damned along with him.

Adam grasped all of this and with the knowledge of this suffering he started his life on the earth. The only thing that allowed his grief was that he was master of the earth and had to make it yield to him. He was the one who had to perpetuate, cultivate and construct and populate the earth. He was also the one who had to procreate and raise children who would change and improve the world.

Adam understood his 3rd lesson. He knew now in a practical way that Iblis was his enemy, the cause of his losing the blessing of living in Paradise, and the cause of his distress. Adam also understood that Allah punishes disobedience and that the way of Paradise has to be through submission to the will of Allah. And he learned from Allah Almighty to ask for forgiveness.

Allah accepted Adam's repentance and forgave him. He then sent him to the earth as His first messenger.

Allah the Almighty recounted this third lesson Adam learned in Paradise: Indeed We made a covenant with Adam before, but he forgot, and We found on his part no firm will power. Remember when We said to the angels "Prostrate yourselves to Adam." They prostrated (all) except Iblis, who refused. then We said: "O Adam! verily, this is an enemy to you and to your wife. so let him not get you both out of Paradise, so that you be distressed in misery. Verily, you have (a promise from Us) that you will never be hungry therein nor naked. And you will suffer not from thrist therein nor from the sun's heat."

then Satan whispered to him, saying "O Adam! Shall I lead you to the Tree of Eternity and to a kingdom that will never waste away?" Then they both ate of that tree, and so their private parts appeared to them, and they began to stick on themselves the leaves from Paradise for their covering. Thus did Adam disobey his Lord, so he went astray. Then his Lord chose him, and turned to him with forgiveness and gave him guidance.

Allah said: "Get you down (upon the earth), both of you, together from Paradise, some of you are an enemy to some others. THen if there comes to you guidance from Me, then whoever follows My Guidance shall neither go astray, nor fall into distress and misery. But whosoever turns away from My Reminder (neither believes in this Quran nor acts on its orders etc). Verily, for him is a life of hardship and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection."

He will say: "O my Lord! Why have you raised me up blind, while I had sight before." Allah will said: "like this, Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc). came unto you, but you disregarded them (you left them, did not think deeply in them, and you turned away from them), and so this Day, you will be neglected in the Hellfire, away from Allah's Mercy.)"

And thus do We requite him who transgresses beyond bounds (commits the great sins and disobeys his Lord (Allah) and believes not in His Messengers, and His revealed Books, and believes not in the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc). of his Lord, and the torment of the Hereafter is far more severe and more lasting. ( 20:115-127)

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The time arrived when the two young men desired life partners. This was part of Allah's plan for mankind, to multiply and form nations with different cultures and colors. Allah revealed to Adam that he should marry each son to the twin sister of the other. Adam instructed his children according to Allah's command, but Cain was displeased with the partner chosen for him, for Abel's twin sister was not as beautiful as his own.

Adam was in a dilemma. He wanted peace and harmony in his family, so he invoked Allah for help. Allah commanded that each son offer a sacrifice, and he whose offering was accepted would have right on his side. Abel offered his best camel while Cain offered his worst grain. His sacrifice was not accepted by Allah because of his disobedience to his father and the insincerity in his offering.

This enraged Cain even further. Realizing that his hopes marrying his own beautiful sister were fading, he threatened his brother. "I will kill you! I refuse to see you happy while I remain unhappy!"

Abel feeling sorry for his brother, replied, "It would be more proper for you, my brother to search for the cause of your unhappiness and then walk in the way of peace. Allah accepts the deeds only from those who serve and fear Him, not from those who reject His Commands."

Abel was intelligent, obedient, and always ready to obey the will of Allah. This contrasted sharply with his brother who was arrogant, selfish and disobedient to his Lord. Abel did not fear his brother's threats, but neither did he want his brother to be hurt, Allah had blessed Abel with purity and compassion.

Hoping to allay the hatred seething in his brother Abel said, " My brother, you are deviating from the right path and are sinful in your decisions. It is better that you repent to Allah and forget about your foolish threat. But if you do not then I will leave the matter in the hands of Allah. You alone will bear the consequence of your sin, for the Fire is the reward of the wrong-doers."

This brotherly plea did nothing to lessen the hatred in Cain's heart, nor did he show fear of Allah's punishment. Even familial considerations were cast aside. Cain struck his brother with a stone killing him instantly. This was the 1st death and the 1st criminal act committed by man on earth.

When Abel had not appeared for some time, Adam began to search for him but found no trace of his beloved son. He asked Cain about Abel's whereabouts. Cain insolently replied that he was not his brother's keeper nor his protector. From these words his father understood that Abel was dead and Adam was filled with grief

Meanwhile Cain did not know what to do with his brother's corpse. He carried it on his back wandering from place to place trying to hide it. His anger had now subsided and his conscience was saddled with guilt. He was tiring under the burden of the corpse which had started to have a stench. As a mercy, and to show that dignity could be retained even in death, Allah sent two ravens that began fighting, causing the death of one. The victorious bird used its beak and claws to dig a hole in the ground, rolled its victim into it and covered it with sand.

Witnessing this, Cain was overcome with shame and remorse. "Woe unto me!" he exclaimed. "I was unable to do what this raven has done, that is to hide my brother's corpse." Cain then buried his brother. This was also the 1st burial of man.

Allah the Almighty revealed: And (O Muhammad) recite to them the story of the two sons of Adam (Abel and Cain) in truth; when each offered a sacrifice to Allah, it was accepted from the one but not from the other. The latter said to the former; "I will surely kill you." the former said: "Verily Allah accepts only from those who are Al Muttaqeen (the pious). If you do stretch your hand against me to kill me I shall never stretch my hand against you to kill you, for I fear Allah; the Lord of the Alameen (mankind, jinn, and all that exists). Verily I intend to let you draw my sin onyourself as well as yours then you will be one of the dwellers of the Fire, and that is the recompense of the Zalimeen (polytheists, and wrongdoers)." So the self of the other (latter one) encouraged him and made fair seeming to him the murder of his brother; he murdered him and became one of the losers. Allah sent a crow who scratched the ground to show him to hide the dead body of his brother. He (the murderer) said: "Woe to me! Am I not even able to be as this crow and to hide the dead body of my brother?" Then he became one of those who regretted. ( 5:27-31).

According to Abu Ja'afar al Baqer, Adam was watching their offering and was sure that Abel's sacrifice would be accepted. Cain complained to Adam that the acceptance was due to his supplication for Abel and that he had not done the same for him, so he promised his father to settle the matter between himself and his brother. One night, Abel was late returning from tending his flock. Adam sent Cain to see what happened to him. When he found him, he glared at him saying: "yours was accepted, and mine was not." Abel replied, "Allah only accepts from the Allah-fearing." Cain became angry on hearing this and hit him with a piece of iron that was with him and thus killing him. In another version it was said that he killed him with a rock to the head while he was sleeping.

Adam was utterly grief stricken by the loss of his two sons. One was dead, the other was won over by the devil. Adam prayed for his son and turned to mundane matters for he had to toil for his sustenance. At the same time he was a prophet advising his children and grandchildren, telling them about Allah and calling them to believe in Him. He told them about Iblis and warned them by recounting his own experience with the devil and of how the devil had tempted Cain to kill his brother.

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So they went away searching for what Adam had requested. They met with the angels, who had with them his shroud and what he was to be embalmed with. They said to them: "O Children of Adam, what are you searching for? What do you want? Where are you going?"

They said: "Our father is sick and has an appetite for the fruits of Paradise." the angels said to them: "Go back, for your father is going to meet his end soon."

So they returned (with the angels) and when Eve saw them she recognized them. She tried to hide herself behind Adam. He said to her. "Leave me alone. I came before you; do not go between me and the angels of my Lord.' So they took his soul, embalmed and wrapped him, dug the grave and laid him in it. They prayed on him and put him in his grave, saying: 'O Children of Adam, this is your tradition at the time of death.""

Before his death Adam reassured his children that Allah would not leave man alone on the earth, but would sent His prophets to guide them. the prophets would have different names, traits and miracles, but they would be united in one thing; the call to worship Allah alone. This was Adam's bequest to his children. Adam finished speaking and closed his eyes. Then the angels entered his room and surrounded him. When he recognized the Angel of Death among them, his heart smiled peacefully.

After Adam's death, his South Seth (Shiith) took over the responsibilities of prophethood, according to a hadith narrated by Abu Dhar. Abu Dhar narrated that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: "Allah sent down one hundred and four psalms, of which fifty were sent down to Seth." (Sahih al Bukhari) When the time of his death came Seth's son Anoush succeeded him. He in turn, was succeeded by his son Qinan, claim that Mahlabeel was the King of the Seven Regions, that he was the first one to cut down trees to build cities and large forts and that he built the cities of Babylonia. He reigned for a period of forty years. When he died his duties were taken ov er by his son Yard, who on his death, bequeathed them to his son Khonoukh, who is Idris (pbuh) according to the majority of the scholars.

"The first man to be called on the Day of Resurrection will be Adam who will be shown his offspring, and it will be said to them, 'This is your father, Adam.' Adam will say (responding to the call of Allah), 'Labbaik and Sa'daik (I respond to Your Calls, I am obedient to Your orders), wal Khair fi Yadaik (and all the good is in Your Hands)!' Then Allah will say (to Adam), 'Take out of your offspring, the people of Hell.' Adam will say, 'O Lord, how many should I take out?' Allah will say, 'Out of every thousand (take out) nine-hundred and ninety-nine (persons).' At that time children will become hoary-headed and every pregnant female will drop her load (have an abortion) and you will see the people as if they were drunk, yet not drunk; But Allah's punishment will be very severe." That news distressed the companions of the Prophet too much, and they said, "O Allah's Apostle! Who amongst us will be that man (the lucky one out of one-thousand who will be saved from the Fire)?" He said, "Have the good news that one-thousand will be from Gog and Magog, and the one (to be saved will be) from you." He added:"You Muslims (compared to the large number of other people/nations) will be like a black hair on the side of a white ox, or a white hair on the side of a black ox, and I hope that you will be one-fourth of the people of Paradise." On that, we glorified and praised Allah and said, "Allahu-Akbar!" Then he said, "I hope that you will be one-third of the people of Paradise." We again said, "Allahu-Akbar!" Then he said, "(I hope that you will be) one-half of the people of Paradise." So we said, Allahu Akbar."

Volume 9, Book 93, Number 607:

Narrated Anas:

Allah's Apostle said, "The believers will be assembled on the Day of Resurrection and they will say, 'Let us look for someone to intercede for us with our Lord so that He may relieve us from this place of ours.' So they will go to Adam and say, 'You are Adam, the father of mankind, and Allah created you with His Own Hands and ordered the Angels to prostrate before you, and He taught you the names of all things; so please intercede for us with our Lord so that He may relieve us.' Adam will say, to them, 'I am not fit for that,' and then he will mention to them his mistake which he has committed.' "

Volume 8, Book 77, Number 611:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, "Adam and Moses argued with each other. Moses said to Adam. 'O Adam! You are our father who disappointed us and turned us out of Paradise.' Then Adam said to him, 'O Moses! Allah favored you with His talk (talked to you directly) and He wrote (the Torah) for you with His Own Hand. Do you blame me for action which Allah had written in my fate before my creation?' So Adam confuted Moses, Adam confuted Moses," the Prophet added, repeating the Statement three times.

Just like the other two Abrahamic religions (Judaism & Christianity) Islam's basic foundational belief on the origin of man is that all mankind are descendants of Adam and Eve (peace be upon them), the first man and woman on earth. Adam (pbuh) was created in Heaven by Allah (God) from seven different kinds of earth, whilst Eve was created by Allah from one of Adam's ribs. Both Adam & Eve were evicted from Heaven and sent to earth when they were conned by Satan and disobeyed Allah's command by eating the forbidden fruit.

Adam was the most beautiful human that ever existed, for Allah created him with his own "hands", so that means he perfected him and made him soo beautifull.

God did not create Adam pbuh in his own image... Quran 112:4 says;"And there is none like unto Him."

And God said to the angels:

"'Verily, I am going to place mankind generations after generations on earth.' They said: 'Will You place therein those who will make mischief therein and shed blood(like the demons that are there now?), while we glorify You with praises and thanks and sanctify You.' God said: 'I know that which you do not know.'" (Quran 2:30)

"And (remember) when your Lord said to the angels: 'I am going to create a human (Adam) from sounding clay of altered black smooth mud. So when I have fashioned him and breathed into him (his) soul created by Me, then you fall down prostrate to him." (Quran 38:71-72)

[Quran 51:56] I did not create the jinns and the humans except to worship Me ALONE.

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet pbuh said,

"Allah created Adam, making him 60 cubits(I think this is 30 meter) tall. When He created him, He said to him, "Go and greet that group of angels, and listen to their reply, for it will be your greeting (salutation) and the greeting (salutations of your offspring)." So, Adam said (to the angels), As-Salamu Alaikum (i.e. Peace be upon you). The angels said, "As-salamu Alaika WA Rahmatu-l-lahi" (i.e. Peace and Allah's Mercy be upon you). Thus the angels added to Adam's salutation the expression, 'Wa Rahmatu-l-lahi,' Any person who will enter Paradise will resemble Adam (in appearance and figure). People have been decreasing in stature since Adam's creation. Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "The best of days on which the sun has risen is Friday. One this day Adam was created, and on this day he was descended to earth." (al Bukhari)

The Angel of Death ascended with it, Allah soaked the clay till it became sticky. Then Allah said to the angels: "Truly, I am going to create man from clay. So when I have fashioned him and breathed into him (his) soul created by Me, then you fall down prostrate to him." (Chapter 38:71-72 Quran).

So Allah shaped Adam into a human being, but he remained a figure of clay for 40 years. The angels went past him. They were seized with fear by what they saw, and Iblis felt fear most. He used to pass by the figure of Adam, buffeting it, which would make a sound like pottery. Allah told us: "He created man (Adam) from sounding clay like the clay of pottery." ( 55:Quran). Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "Allah created Adam from dust after He mixed the clay and left him for some time until it became sticky mud, after which Allah shaped him. After that Allah left him till it became like potter's clay. Iblis used to go past him saying 'You have been created for a great purpose.'

When the time drew near to breathe the spirit into Adam, as Allah decreed, He commanded the angels: "When I breathe My spirit into him prostrate before him." Allah breathed His spirit into Adam and when it reached his head Adam sneezed. The angels said: "Say all praise belongs to Allah." Adam repeated: "All praise belongs to Allah." Allah said to him: "Your Lord has granted you mercy." When the spirit reached his eyes, Adam looked at the fruits of Paradise. When it reached his abdomen Adam felt an appetite for food. He jumped hurriedly before the spirit could reach his legs, so that he could eat from the fruits of Paradise. Allah, therefore, said: "Man is created of haste." ( 21:37 Quran). And then: The angels prostrated themselves all of them together. Except Iblis, he refused to be among the prostrators. ( 15:31-32 Quran).

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Iblis tried in vain to justify his refusal: "Shall I prostrate to one whom You created from clay?" Iblis said: "See? those whom You have honored above me, if You give me respite (keep me alive) to the Day of Resurrection, I will surely seize and mislead his offspring (by sending them astray) all but a few!" (17:62 Quran).

Adam was following what was happening around him and had feelings of love, awe, and astonishment. Deep love of Allah,Who had created and glorified him and Who had made His angels prostrate before him. Awe of the Creator's wrath when He excluded Iblis from His mercy. Adam was surprised by this creature, Iblis who abhorred hiwithout even knowing him and who imagined himself better than Adam without having proved that he was worthier. What a strange creature Iblis was, and how strange was his excuse for not prostrating!

From the dialogue Adam realized that Iblis was a creature characterized by cunning and ingratitude. He then knew that Iblis was his eternal enemy. He was greatly astonished at Iblis's audacity and Allah's tolerance. Immediately after his creation Adam witnessed the large amount of freedom that Allah gives to His commissioned creatures.

Allah knew that Iblis was not going to obey Him in prostrating before Adam. Allah could have totally annihilated him or turned him into a handful of dust or stifled the refusal in his mouth. Yet, Allah gives His commissioned creatures absolute freedom even to the extent that they can refuse Allah the Almighty's commands. He grants them the freedom of denial, disobedience, and even disagreement with Him.

There were many traditions about Iblis at the time of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Ibn Masud, Ibn Abbas and a group of the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said that Iblis had been the head of the angels in the worldly heavens. Ibn Abbas said in one narration that his name had been Azazil and in another narration he said it had been Al Harith. Ibn Abbas also said that Iblis was a jinn and that they had once been the keepers of Paradise, with Iblis the most honorable and the most learned and the most pious of them. Another tradition says that he had been one of the famous four possessors of wings (angels), before Allah transformed him into the accursed Satan.

After this lesson about freedom Adam learned another lesson, one about knowledge. Adam realized that Iblis was the symbol of evil in the universe and that the angels were the symbol of good. However he did not yet know anything about himself. Then Allah made him perceive his true identity and the reason for his creation, and the secret of his glorification.

Allah the Exalted said: He taught Adam all the names of everything. (2:31 Quran).

Almighty Allah granted Adam the power to know the natures of all things and to summarize them by names; that is a bird, that is a star, that is a tree, etc Allah implanted in Adam an insatiable need for and love of knowledge and a desire to bequeath knowledge to his children. This was the reason for his creation and the secret of his glorification.

After Adam had learned the names of all things, along with their properties and uses, Allah presented them to the angels and said: "Tell Me the names of these if you are truthful." (2:31 Quran) the angels admitted their inability: "Glory be to You, we have knowledge except what You have taught us. Verily it is You the All Knower, the All Wise." ( 2:32)

Allah Almighty then turned to Adam: "O Adam! Inform them of their names, " and when he had informed them of their names, He said: "Did I not tell you that I know the unseen in the heavens and the earth, and I know what you reveal and what you have been hiding?" (2:33 Quran).

Allah wanted the angels to know that He knew of their astonishment when He had told them about the creation of Adam and that He also knew of their confusion which they had not revealed, as well as what Iblis had concealed of his disobedience and ingratitude.

Ibn Abbas and a group of companions of the Prophet (PBUH) narrated that when Iblis was sent out of Paradise and Adam was accommodated therein, Adam was alone in Paradise and did not have a partner from whom he could get tranquility. He slept for some time and when he woke up, he saw a woman whom Allah had created from his ribs. So he asked her, "Who are you? She replied, "A woman" He asked: "Why have you been created?" She said :"So that you could find tranquility in me." The angels, trying to find out the extent of his knowledge, asked him: "What is her name O Adam?" He replied, "Eve" They asked "Why was she so named?" He replied, " Because she was created from something living."

Abu Hurairah narrated that the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said: "O Muslims! I advise you to be gentle with women, for they are created from a rib, and the most crooked portion of the rib is its upper part. If you try to straighten it, it will break and if you leave it, it will remain crooked, so I urge you to take care of the women." (Sahih Bukhari).

Allah commanded Adam to dwell in Paradise: "O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the Paradise and eat both of you freely with pleasure and delight of things therein as wherever you will, but come not near this tree or you both will be of the Zalimeen (wrong doers).(2:35)

The location of this Paradise is unknown to us. The Quran did not reveal it, and the commentators had five different opinions. Some said that it was the paradise of our refuge and that its place was heaven. Others regreted that statement because if it was the paradise of refuge Iblis would have been forbidden admission and disobedience would have been forbidden as well. Still others said that it was another paradise that was created by Allah for Adam and Eve. A fourth group said it was a paradise on the earth located in a high place. Another group of commentators accept what was in the Quran without questioning where this paradise was located. We agree with this last opinion as the lesson we learn from its location is immaterial compared to the lesson we leafrom the events that took place there.

Adam and Eve understood that they were forbidden to eat the fruit of that tree. Adam was however a human being and man tends to forget. His heart changes and his will weakens. Iblis summoned all the envy within him and took advantage of Adam's humanity to exploit him. He started to whisper to him day after day, coaxing him: "Shall I guide you to thTree of Immortality and the Eternal Kingdom?" He said to them: "Your Lord did not forbid you this tree save you should become angels or become of the immortals." He (Satan) swore by Allah to them both saying: "Verily I am one of the sincere well wishers for you both." (7:20-21)

Adam asked himself: "What will happen if I eat from this tree? It might truly be the Tree of Immortality." His dream was to live forever in the pure innocence of Paradise."

Years went by, and Adam and Eve were preoccupied with thoughts of that tree. Then one day they decided to eat of its fruit. They forgot that Allah had warned them not to approach it and that Iblis was their sworn enemy. Adam stretched out his hand, picked one of the fruits and offered it to Eve. They both ate of the forbidden tree.

Allah Almighty told us: "So he (Satan) misled them with deception." (Ch 7:22) Allah said: "Thus did Adam disobey his Lord so he went astray." (20:121).

Adam had hardly finished eating when he felt his heart contract, and he as filled with pain, sadness and shame. The surrounding atmosphere had changed and the internal music had stopped. He discovered that he and his wife were naked, so they both started cutting tree leaves with which to cover themselves.

Allah the Almighty addressed him: "Did I not forbid you that tree and tell you: Verily Satan is an open enemy unto you?" They said: "Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers." Allah said; "Get down, one of you an enemy to the other (Adam, Eve, and Satan etc). On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment, for a time." He said: "Therein you shall live and therein you shall die, and from it you shall be brought out (resurrected)." (7:22-25).

Allah the Almighty addressed him: "Did I not forbid you that tree and tell you: Verily Satan is an open enemy unto you?" They said: "Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If You forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers." Allah said; "Get down, one of you an enemy to the other (Adam, Eve, and Satan etc). On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment, for a time." He said: "Therein you shall live and therein you shall die, and from it you shall be brought out (resurrected)." (7:22-25).

O Children of Adam! Let not Satan deceive you, as he got your parents (Adam and Eve) out of Paradise stripping them of their rainments; to show them their private parts. Verily he and Qabiluhu (his soldiers from the jinn or his tribe) see you from where you cannot see them. .. (Ch 7:27)

Al Hafez Ibn Asaker narrated that Allah commanded two angels to remove Adam from His holy proximity. So Gabriel stripped him of the crown on his head, and Michael took the diadem from his forehead. So Adam walked (or run) away, and on his way a tree catched him by his forehead. So Allah asked: "are you running away from me?" Adam thought that his punishment had been hastened and bowed down crying; "Forgiveness! Forgiveness!" so Allah asked: "Are you running away from Me?" Adam replied, "No, my Lord, but I am shy of You (because of what I did)."

Adam knew he bade farewell to peace and he left Paradise. On earth he had to face conflict and struggle. No sooner had one ended than another began. He also had to toil to sustain himself. He had to protect himself with clothes and weapons and protect his wife and children from the wild beasts. Above all he had to struggle with the spirit of evil. Satan, the cause of his expulsion from Paradise, continued to beguile him and his children in an effort to have them thrown into the eternal hellfire. The battle between good and evil is continuous, but those who follow Allah's guidance and should fear nothing while those who disobey Allah and follow Iblis will be damned along with him.

Adam grasped all of this and with the knowledge of this suffering he started his life on the earth. The only thing that allowed his grief was that he was master of the earth and had to make it yield to him. He was the one who had to perpetuate, cultivate and construct and populate the earth. He was also the one who had to procreate and raise children who would change and improve the world.

Adam understood his 3rd lesson. He knew now in a practical way that Iblis was his enemy, the cause of his losing the blessing of living in Paradise, and the cause of his distress. Adam also understood that Allah punishes disobedience and that the way of Paradise has to be through submission to the will of Allah. And he learned from Allah Almighty to ask for forgiveness.

Allah accepted Adam's repentance and forgave him. He then sent him to the earth as His first messenger.

Allah the Almighty recounted this third lesson Adam learned in Paradise: Indeed We made a covenant with Adam before, but he forgot, and We found on his part no firm will power. Remember when We said to the angels "Prostrate yourselves to Adam." They prostrated (all) except Iblis, who refused. then We said: "O Adam! verily, this is an enemy to you and to your wife. so let him not get you both out of Paradise, so that you be distressed in misery. Verily, you have (a promise from Us) that you will never be hungry therein nor naked. And you will suffer not from thrist therein nor from the sun's heat."

then Satan whispered to him, saying "O Adam! Shall I lead you to the Tree of Eternity and to a kingdom that will never waste away?" Then they both ate of that tree, and so their private parts appeared to them, and they began to stick on themselves the leaves from Paradise for their covering. Thus did Adam disobey his Lord, so he went astray. Then his Lord chose him, and turned to him with forgiveness and gave him guidance.

Allah said: "Get you down (upon the earth), both of you, together from Paradise, some of you are an enemy to some others. THen if there comes to you guidance from Me, then whoever follows My Guidance shall neither go astray, nor fall into distress and misery. But whosoever turns away from My Reminder (neither believes in this Quran nor acts on its orders etc). Verily, for him is a life of hardship and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection."

He will say: "O my Lord! Why have you raised me up blind, while I had sight before." Allah will said: "like this, Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc). came unto you, but you disregarded them (you left them, did not think deeply in them, and you turned away from them), and so this Day, you will be neglected in the Hellfire, away from Allah's Mercy.)"

And thus do We requite him who transgresses beyond bounds (commits the great sins and disobeys his Lord (Allah) and believes not in His Messengers, and His revealed Books, and believes not in the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc). of his Lord, and the torment of the Hereafter is far more severe and more lasting. ( 20:115-127)

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The time arrived when the two young men desired life partners. This was part of Allah's plan for mankind, to multiply and form nations with different cultures and colors. Allah revealed to Adam that he should marry each son to the twin sister of the other. Adam instructed his children according to Allah's command, but Cain was displeased with the partner chosen for him, for Abel's twin sister was not as beautiful as his own.

Adam was in a dilemma. He wanted peace and harmony in his family, so he invoked Allah for help. Allah commanded that each son offer a sacrifice, and he whose offering was accepted would have right on his side. Abel offered his best camel while Cain offered his worst grain. His sacrifice was not accepted by Allah because of his disobedience to his father and the insincerity in his offering.

This enraged Cain even further. Realizing that his hopes marrying his own beautiful sister were fading, he threatened his brother. "I will kill you! I refuse to see you happy while I remain unhappy!"

Abel feeling sorry for his brother, replied, "It would be more proper for you, my brother to search for the cause of your unhappiness and then walk in the way of peace. Allah accepts the deeds only from those who serve and fear Him, not from those who reject His Commands."

Abel was intelligent, obedient, and always ready to obey the will of Allah. This contrasted sharply with his brother who was arrogant, selfish and disobedient to his Lord. Abel did not fear his brother's threats, but neither did he want his brother to be hurt, Allah had blessed Abel with purity and compassion.

Hoping to allay the hatred seething in his brother Abel said, " My brother, you are deviating from the right path and are sinful in your decisions. It is better that you repent to Allah and forget about your foolish threat. But if you do not then I will leave the matter in the hands of Allah. You alone will bear the consequence of your sin, for the Fire is the reward of the wrong-doers."

This brotherly plea did nothing to lessen the hatred in Cain's heart, nor did he show fear of Allah's punishment. Even familial considerations were cast aside. Cain struck his brother with a stone killing him instantly. This was the 1st death and the 1st criminal act committed by man on earth.

When Abel had not appeared for some time, Adam began to search for him but found no trace of his beloved son. He asked Cain about Abel's whereabouts. Cain insolently replied that he was not his brother's keeper nor his protector. From these words his father understood that Abel was dead and Adam was filled with grief

Meanwhile Cain did not know what to do with his brother's corpse. He carried it on his back wandering from place to place trying to hide it. His anger had now subsided and his conscience was saddled with guilt. He was tiring under the burden of the corpse which had started to have a stench. As a mercy, and to show that dignity could be retained even in death, Allah sent two ravens that began fighting, causing the death of one. The victorious bird used its beak and claws to dig a hole in the ground, rolled its victim into it and covered it with sand.

Witnessing this, Cain was overcome with shame and remorse. "Woe unto me!" he exclaimed. "I was unable to do what this raven has done, that is to hide my brother's corpse." Cain then buried his brother. This was also the 1st burial of man.

Allah the Almighty revealed: And (O Muhammad) recite to them the story of the two sons of Adam (Abel and Cain) in truth; when each offered a sacrifice to Allah, it was accepted from the one but not from the other. The latter said to the former; "I will surely kill you." the former said: "Verily Allah accepts only from those who are Al Muttaqeen (the pious). If you do stretch your hand against me to kill me I shall never stretch my hand against you to kill you, for I fear Allah; the Lord of the Alameen (mankind, jinn, and all that exists). Verily I intend to let you draw my sin onyourself as well as yours then you will be one of the dwellers of the Fire, and that is the recompense of the Zalimeen (polytheists, and wrongdoers)." So the self of the other (latter one) encouraged him and made fair seeming to him the murder of his brother; he murdered him and became one of the losers. Allah sent a crow who scratched the ground to show him to hide the dead body of his brother. He (the murderer) said: "Woe to me! Am I not even able to be as this crow and to hide the dead body of my brother?" Then he became one of those who regretted. ( 5:27-31).

According to Abu Ja'afar al Baqer, Adam was watching their offering and was sure that Abel's sacrifice would be accepted. Cain complained to Adam that the acceptance was due to his supplication for Abel and that he had not done the same for him, so he promised his father to settle the matter between himself and his brother. One night, Abel was late returning from tending his flock. Adam sent Cain to see what happened to him. When he found him, he glared at him saying: "yours was accepted, and mine was not." Abel replied, "Allah only accepts from the Allah-fearing." Cain became angry on hearing this and hit him with a piece of iron that was with him and thus killing him. In another version it was said that he killed him with a rock to the head while he was sleeping.

Adam was utterly grief stricken by the loss of his two sons. One was dead, the other was won over by the devil. Adam prayed for his son and turned to mundane matters for he had to toil for his sustenance. At the same time he was a prophet advising his children and grandchildren, telling them about Allah and calling them to believe in Him. He told them about Iblis and warned them by recounting his own experience with the devil and of how the devil had tempted Cain to kill his brother.

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So they went away searching for what Adam had requested. They met with the angels, who had with them his shroud and what he was to be embalmed with. They said to them: "O Children of Adam, what are you searching for? What do you want? Where are you going?"

They said: "Our father is sick and has an appetite for the fruits of Paradise." the angels said to them: "Go back, for your father is going to meet his end soon."

So they returned (with the angels) and when Eve saw them she recognized them. She tried to hide herself behind Adam. He said to her. "Leave me alone. I came before you; do not go between me and the angels of my Lord.' So they took his soul, embalmed and wrapped him, dug the grave and laid him in it. They prayed on him and put him in his grave, saying: 'O Children of Adam, this is your tradition at the time of death.""

Before his death Adam reassured his children that Allah would not leave man alone on the earth, but would sent His prophets to guide them. the prophets would have different names, traits and miracles, but they would be united in one thing; the call to worship Allah alone. This was Adam's bequest to his children. Adam finished speaking and closed his eyes. Then the angels entered his room and surrounded him. When he recognized the Angel of Death among them, his heart smiled peacefully.

After Adam's death, his South Seth (Shiith) took over the responsibilities of prophethood, according to a hadith narrated by Abu Dhar. Abu Dhar narrated that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: "Allah sent down one hundred and four psalms, of which fifty were sent down to Seth." (Sahih al Bukhari) When the time of his death came Seth's son Anoush succeeded him. He in turn, was succeeded by his son Qinan, claim that Mahlabeel was the King of the Seven Regions, that he was the first one to cut down trees to build cities and large forts and that he built the cities of Babylonia. He reigned for a period of forty years. When he died his duties were taken ov er by his son Yard, who on his death, bequeathed them to his son Khonoukh, who is Idris (pbuh) according to the majority of the scholars.

"The first man to be called on the Day of Resurrection will be Adam who will be shown his offspring, and it will be said to them, 'This is your father, Adam.' Adam will say (responding to the call of Allah), 'Labbaik and Sa'daik (I respond to Your Calls, I am obedient to Your orders), wal Khair fi Yadaik (and all the good is in Your Hands)!' Then Allah will say (to Adam), 'Take out of your offspring, the people of Hell.' Adam will say, 'O Lord, how many should I take out?' Allah will say, 'Out of every thousand (take out) nine-hundred and ninety-nine (persons).' At that time children will become hoary-headed and every pregnant female will drop her load (have an abortion) and you will see the people as if they were drunk, yet not drunk; But Allah's punishment will be very severe." That news distressed the companions of the Prophet too much, and they said, "O Allah's Apostle! Who amongst us will be that man (the lucky one out of one-thousand who will be saved from the Fire)?" He said, "Have the good news that one-thousand will be from Gog and Magog, and the one (to be saved will be) from you." He added:"You Muslims (compared to the large number of other people/nations) will be like a black hair on the side of a white ox, or a white hair on the side of a black ox, and I hope that you will be one-fourth of the people of Paradise." On that, we glorified and praised Allah and said, "Allahu-Akbar!" Then he said, "I hope that you will be one-third of the people of Paradise." We again said, "Allahu-Akbar!" Then he said, "(I hope that you will be) one-half of the people of Paradise." So we said, Allahu Akbar."

Volume 9, Book 93, Number 607:

Narrated Anas:

Allah's Apostle said, "The believers will be assembled on the Day of Resurrection and they will say, 'Let us look for someone to intercede for us with our Lord so that He may relieve us from this place of ours.' So they will go to Adam and say, 'You are Adam, the father of mankind, and Allah created you with His Own Hands and ordered the Angels to prostrate before you, and He taught you the names of all things; so please intercede for us with our Lord so that He may relieve us.' Adam will say, to them, 'I am not fit for that,' and then he will mention to them his mistake which he has committed.' "

Volume 8, Book 77, Number 611:

Narrated Abu Huraira:

The Prophet said, "Adam and Moses argued with each other. Moses said to Adam. 'O Adam! You are our father who disappointed us and turned us out of Paradise.' Then Adam said to him, 'O Moses! Allah favored you with His talk (talked to you directly) and He wrote (the Torah) for you with His Own Hand. Do you blame me for action which Allah had written in my fate before my creation?' So Adam confuted Moses, Adam confuted Moses," the Prophet added, repeating the Statement three times

Who goes to heaven is ultimately in the hands of God, so the question might better be: does The Bible teach who goes to heaven? The answer is yes. Romans 10: 9 says "If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." It is on that basis, that Christians believe any person will be saved.

As a Christian, I believe that the criteria set out in this verse apply to everyone. It isn't a matter of what label you wear, though. The Bible does not teach that if you wear the label of 'Christian' that you will automatically go to heaven either. In Matthew 7, Jesus says 21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'" Clearly, Jesus is speaking to people who claim to be His followers, and even do great works on His behalf, but their hearts are anything but His.

Does that Bible teach that Muslims, believing the Muslim creed, will go to heaven? The answer has to be no. The criteria are spelt out clearly in Romans 10: 9. 1) Jesus must be the Lord of a person's life. ie the first and foremost, his/her God. Muslim teaching denies that. 2) the resurrection is a compulsory belief, because it places humans and God in the right perspective. Humans rebelled against their creator. By that act, all humans were cut off from heaven. God sent His divine and sinless Son to die on the cross, to pay the penalty humans could not, to make it possible for ANYONE to enter heaven, and He rose from the dead to prove who He was and how He had power over sin and death. The Muslim scriptures deny the crucifixion and the resurrection. Therefore, believing in Islam denies the basis of salvation as set out in the Bible.

However, does that mean that NO Muslims will go to heaven? Not at all. Every day, we are hearing of Muslims who are having dreams and visions of Jesus and coming to a saving knowledge of Him. Some of these are escaping to places where they can worship freely but there is no doubt that there are many behind the Muslim Curtain who are worshipping secretly, and even dying for their faith, and yet we hear nothing of them. The challenge is there though, in Romans 10: 9: you cannot serve the god of Islam AND Christ. You have to choose. As a Christian, I pray that God will reveal Himself in dreams and visions to my Muslim friends and enemies and set them on the path towards His Son, Jesus, who DID die on the cross for their sins (and mine) and who DID rise from the dead. I also pray for those who call themselves Christians, but do not believe, and for those who have turned away from Christian teachings, that they, too, might, one day, enjoy the presence of Jesus in heaven. Amen.

This is a contentious question and accordingly has numerous disparate answers. The answers will be organized by category:

• Answer A :those that assert that God provided the Qur'an or that the Qur'an has a Divine Origin (asserted by most Muslims)

• Answer B: Those that claim that Mohammed did write the Qur'an (asserted by some non-Muslims).

• Answer C: Those that assert that the Qur'an was written by humans other than Mohammed (asserted by some non-Muslims.
• Answer D: Islamic Counterpoint to Answers B & C

Additionally, see the Related Questions and Links for more information.

The Quran is the miracle given to Muhammad. Yes, it is just "a book" compared to the miracles of the Jesus, Solomon, Moses or any other prophets.

However, this book given to him is the main source of law in Islam. Quranic teachings cover all areas of this life and the life after death.The whole of the Quran is from God. Each and every single word is a revealed word. It was sent down to Muhammad through the angel Gabriel. The Quran is in the Arabic Language and all the words have remained unchanged, even to the last of dot, for over 1400 years now. The Quran exists today is in its original form, unaltered and undistorted. It is a living miracle in the sense that it has survived so many centuries without suffering any change. Many non-Muslims claim that Quran is written by Muhammad itself. If that was true, and if u have read the Quran, you would agree with me that Muhammad is indeed the most genius person on earth God ever created. But no. Before he was a prophet, he couldnt even read but he was trustworthy, kind and well-known for his honesty. Muhammad can never have written the Quran. It is the word of God. Let me tell you why.

FIRSTLY, in the Quran, There is a chapter named Surah Maryam (CHAPTER MARY) named in honor of Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. In fact, in one of the verses in the Quran (Al-Imran, Ayah 42) says..

"Behold! The angels said "O mary! Allah has chosen you and purified you, chosen you above the women of all nations."

Such an honor is not to be found given to Mary in any of The Christian Bible. If Muhammad was the author of the Quran, then he would not have failed to include in it with Maryam (Mary), his own mother - Aminah, his dear wife - Khadijah, or his beloved daughter - Fatima. But NO! This can never be. Why? Because The Quran is not his handiwork! And if you think further, why would Muhammad, the Prophet of Islam honor a woman from his opposition? And a Jewess at that! Belonging to a race which had been looking down upon his people for 3,000 years? Just as they still look down upon their Arab brethren today. But no. The words in the Quran is the word of God, sent to Muhammad as God's messenger, for him to deliver them to the people. And yes, Muslims believe in Jesus. But as a prophet, not as God. We love Jesus just like you love Jesus.

SECONDLY in the Quran, it is full of scientific evidence. I cant elaborate more on this but this is what i got from my research...

Maurice Bucaile (Prof of Surgery, France) in his book. "The BIBLE, the Quran and Science" mentions the following: (quoting page 120)

"What initially strikes the reader confronted for the first time with a text (The Quran) of his kind, is the sheer abundance of subjects discussed; The Creation, Astronomy, the Explanation of Certain Mailers concerning the Earth, The Animal and Vegetable Kingdoms and Human Reproduction.

Whereas monumental errors are to be found in the Bible, I could not find a single error in the Quran. I had to stop and ask myself; If a man was an author of the Quran, how could he have written facts in the seventh century AD.. that today are shown to be in keeping with modern scientific knowledge?

There was absolutely no doubt that it, the text of the Quran we have today is most definitely a text of the period, if i may be allowed to put it in these terms. What human explanation can there be for this observation? In my opinion there is no explanation; there is no special reason why an inhabitant of the Arabian Peninsula should, at a time when King Dagobert was reigning in France (629-639AD) have had scientific knowledge on certain subjects that was ten centuries ahead of our own."

Another eminent French Researcher Professor, Captain Jacques Cousteau embraces Islam as a result of reading in the Holy Quran verses which 1,400 years ago were related to the result of his recent research work. That is, there are phenomenal barriers at connections of certain oceans, and that waters of one sea do not mix with that of the other.

The Quran clearly states the above fact: (Quran: Ar-Rahman, Ayah 19-20)

19: He (God) has let free the two bodies of flowing water, meeting together

20: Between them is a barrier, which they do not trangress

.

Professor Leith Moore (Anatomy, University of Toronto, Canada) describes the stages of human development, in his book "The Developing Human, Clinically Oriented Embryology" says:

"Growth of science was slow during the medieval periods, and a few high points of embryological investigation undertaken during this age are known to us.

It is cited in the Quran that human beings are produced creation of a human being from a sperm drop, and it is also suggested that the resulting organism settles in the womb like a seed, six days after its beginning. The human blastocyst begins to impant about six days after fertilization.

The Quran also states that the sperm drop develops "into a congealed clot of blood". An impanted blastocyst or a spontaneously aborted conceptus would resemble a blood clot."

Answer A2

No, it is impossible, he is an ummi(illiterate; someone who can not read or write).

Almighty Allah says: (And thou (O Muhammad) wast not a reader of any scripture before it, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand, for then might those have doubted, who follow falsehood.) (Al-`Ankabut 29: 48) He also says: (Those who follow the messenger, the Prophet who can neither read nor write, whom they will find described in the Torah(old testament) and the Gospel (which are) with them …) (Al-A`raf 7: 157)

[Sahih bukhari, Volume 1, Book 1, Number 3] ...He used to take with him the journey food for the stay and then come back to (his wife) Khadija to take his food like-wise again till suddenly the Truth descended upon him while he was in the cave of Hira. The angel came to him and asked him to read. The Prophet replied, "I do not know how to read... (but the word "iqraa" has two meanings ("recite" and "read"), so at the end, muhammed pbuh understood that the angel was saying "recite (repeat)"!.

The Qur'an clearly says: (Will they not then ponder on the Qur'an? If it had been from other than Allah they would have found therein much incongruity.) (An-Nisaa' 4: 82) At the time the Qur'an was revealed, the Arabs recognized that the language of the Qur'an was unique and that it was distinctly different from the language normally used by the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him. The Arabs of that time, by the way, were known for their beautiful poetry and Muhammad was known to be an illiterate man!

some claim that he removed his name in the agreement with quraish. this is wrong because they said: "we refuse to call you muhammed apostale of allah, you are muhammed son of abdullah. so he aked his companions to remove his nam, but they could not do it. So he asked were is my name?, they pointed out his name. and he only removed his name by the pen, that's all. and the quraish wrote his name; muhammed son of abdullah.

If this Quran was made (or a product of) in Baghdad 8th,9th century,, we would find different versions and archeloges would certainly find one in arabia. But there is never found another version than the Quran we know today. And there is only one Quran. Thescholars that say Quran is dubious are (probebly) christians, funny how they try to convert people with lies.

Answer A3

Is Quran the word of God?

What does the Quran claim?

[This is] the revelation of the Book about which there is no doubt from the Lord of the worlds. Or do they say, "He invented it"? Rather, it is the truth from your Lord, [O Mohammed], that you may warn a people to whom no Warner has come before you [so] perhaps they will be guided. 32:2-3

What do the Disbelievers say?

And those who disbelieve say, "This [Qur'an] is not except a falsehood he invented, and another people assisted him in it. But they have committed an injustice and a lie. And they say, "Legends of the former peoples which he has written down, and they are dictated to him morning and afternoon. Say, [O Mohammed], "It has been revealed by He who knows [every] secret within the heavens and the earth. Indeed, He is ever forgiving and Merciful." 25:4-6

Neutral approach to come to a rational conclusion:

There are only two possibilities. They are:

1. The claim what the Quran makes is true

2. The claim what the disbelievers make is true

To know which of the above two claims is true, we will analyze the possible sources of the Quran.

Possible sources of the Quran:

There are 4 possible sources.

1. Quran was written by Mohammed(peace be on him) himself

2. Mohammed(peace be on him) copied it from other sources

3. Some other human / Satan taught Mohammed (peace be on him) or a psychiatric source like Epilepsy, Visions etc caused him to recite Quran

4. Quran was revealed by God

We will use the technique of "Exhausting the alternatives" to conclude on the source of the Quran.

First Possible Source -- Quran was written by Mohammed (peace be on him) himself

· If we analyze the background and education of Mohammed (peace be on him), he was an illiterate man who had NO formal education in any science, language, religious or secular.

· Quran speaks about a variety of branches of science like: Astronomy, Embryology, Hydrology, Geology, Sociology, Psychology, Oceanography, Law etc.

· Until the age of forty, there is NO historical account in his life that shows his scholarly tendencies or achievements in any of the spectrum of subjects the Quran deals with. How could such an illiterate man, suddenly, at the age of forty, bring about a book like the Quran which brought about an ideological and religious revolution that changed the face of history?

· If Mohammed (peace be on him) had authored the Quran, why would he honor and mention Mary (May Allah be pleased with her), the mother of Jesus (peace be on him) and NOT mention his own family members? (NOTE: Quran does NOT have the names of any of the family members of Mohammed (peace be on him)?

· If he had authored the Quran, why would he consistently deny authorship of the Quran? Not once, did he claim authorship of Quran.

· If he had authored the Quran, why would he disclose verses that reprimand him? Examples - 33:37 and 80:1-3

Inference: It is ONLY rational to conclude that Mohammed (peace be on him) himself is NOT the author of the Quran.

Second Possible Source -- Mohammed (peace be on him) copied it from other scriptures

When the critics are asked to name the scripture or the source from which Mohammed (peace be on him) could have copied, they say: from the Old and New Testament of the Bible. Let us examine if this claim can be true.

· Mohammed (peace be on him) was an illiterate and Quran testifies to this historical fact. Quran Chapter 29 Verse 48

· The Arabic version of the Bible was not present at the time of Prophet Mohammed (peace be on him). The earliest Arabic version of the Old Testament is that of R. Saadias Gaon of 900 C.E. - more than 250 years after the death of our beloved Prophet. The oldest Arabic version of the New Testament was published by Erpenius in 1616 C.E. - about a thousand years after the demise of our Prophet.

· Scientifically incorrect information in the bible

o Sun created after the creation of earth. Genesis 1:9-19

o Vegetation created before the Sun. Genesis 1:11-13, 14-19

o First man Adam appeared on earth approximately 5800 years ago. 1948 years between Adam and Abraham, Approximately 1800 years between Abraham and Jesus, 2000 years from Jesus till today. Genesis 5,9,11 etc.

o Noah's flood = Universal and occurred in the 21st or 22nd Century B.C (Genesis 6, 7 & 8).

· Quran mentions the same incidents as above without mistakes. It is illogical to assume that Mohammed (peace be on him) had borrowed the information from the Bible and corrected the mistakes before mentioning it in the Qur'an.

· How could so many Jews and Christians [some of them were scholars in their religion] amongst Mohammed (peace be on him)'s contemporaries become Muslims if Mohammed (peace be on him) was copying from their scriptures?

· If someone copies during an examination he will surely not write in the answer sheet that he has copied from his neighbor or Mr. XYZ. Prophet Mohammed (peace be on him) gave due respect and credit to all the previous prophets (peace be on them all). The Qur'an also mentions the various revelations like Torah, Zabur, and Injeel given by Almighty God to different prophets. Is it rational to believe that a person who copied from the previous scriptures gave due credit by mentioning them in the Quran?

How do we then explain the similarities between Quran and the previous scriptures? Is it NOT because the Quran was copied from the previous scriptures (Bible)?

The similarity is NOT because Quran was copied from the previous scriptures BUT rather due to the fact that the source for all the scripture is the same.

For example: First commandment given by Moses -- Deuteronomy 6:4. First Commandment given by Jesus -- Mark 12:29. If we use the same logic used by the critics, we will have to conclude that Jesus copied from Moses.

All the scriptures including the Quran have a common source -- God and hence the similarity.

Inference: It is ONLY rational to conclude that Mohammed (peace be on him) could NOT have copied the Quran from other scriptures.

Third Possible Source -- Some other human / Satan taught Mohammed (peace be on him) or a psychiatric source like Epilepsy, Visions etc

A) HUMAN TEACHER / TEACHERS:

1. Who was /were the person / persons who taught Mohammed (peace be on him)? Despite abundance of historical material on the Prophet's life, why is it not possible to discover that mysterious teacher(s)?

2. Quran was NOT revealed in a day. It was revealed in stages over a period of 23 years. "And [it is] a Qur'an which We have separated [by intervals] that you might recite it to the people over a prolonged period. And We have sent it down progressively." 17:106 and "And those who disbelieve say: "Why is not the Quran revealed to him all at once?" Thus (it is sent down in parts), that We may strengthen your heart thereby. And We have revealed it to you gradually, in stages." 25:32.

Is it rational to believe that someone was teaching Mohammed (peace be on him) consistently for a period of 23 years? How could he have hidden himself for a period of 23 years?

3. Quranic revelations sometimes came down in the presence of the people. Where then was the mysterious, invisible teacher?

4. What kind of a teacher would have taught Mohammed (peace be on him) a coherent and complete religion that changed the face of history? Why didn't he claim the credit for himself? Why couldn't he or they speak against the alleged student who continued learning from them for 23 years, while ignoring them and claiming some other divine source for his teachings?

5. Mohammed (peace be on him) was surrounded by his companions all the time and every minute detail of his life was recorded. In fact, no human being's life was recorded in so much detail as it was done for the life of Mohammed (peace be on him). How could Mohammed (peace be on him) make frequent secret visits to that mysterious teacher or teachers for 23 years without being caught even once?

6. How could so many Jews and Christians [some of them were scholars in their religion] amongst Mohammed (peace be on him)'s contemporaries become Muslims if Mohammed (peace be on him) was learning from their priests or rabbis?

B) SATAN:

1. If Satan would have taught the Qur'an, he would not have mentioned in the same Qur'an in chapter 16 verse 98 "So when you recite the Qur'an, [first] seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the expelled". Is this how you feel Satan would teach a book? Will he tell us; "Before you read my book ask God to save you from me?"

2. There are several verses in the Qur'an which will give enough evidence that Satan is not the author of the Qur'an. In chapter 7 verse 200, "And if an evil suggestion comes to you from Satan, then seek refuge in Allah. Indeed, He is Hearing and Knowing." Why would Satan tell his followers, that whenever he gives any suggestions to them, they should seek refuge in Allah?

3. Quran says in Chapter 2 Verse 208 and in several other places that "do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy." If it was Satan who taught Mohammed (peace be on him), why would he ask the readers not to follow him? Does it make any sense?

C) Psychiatric Source:

a. Epilepsy:

· Critics say that due to epileptic seizure Mohammed (peace be on him) recited something and that became the Quran. What is overlooked in this argument is that during the epileptic seizure, the functioning of the brain is disturbed. As such, sensible speech is impossible and the person affected by epilepsy will ONLY mumble something which he will forget after he recovers. All available recorded history of Mohammed (peace be on him) unanimously say that he was a man with excellent physical and mental health throughout his life.

· Quran was revealed in stages for a period of 23 years. This means the seizure continued for 23 years non-stop and enabled a man produce a book. Does this sound rational to believe?

· How could his followers (several thousands of them) believe in him without knowing that he is an epileptic and the Quran is from his epileptic seizures?

· Quran was revealed in the presence of people. Had Quran been due to epileptic seizures, people would have got to know about it.

· Saying Quran came from epileptic seizure is tantamount to saying Hamlet was produced by the epileptic seizures of Shakespeare.

b. Mythomania:

· This is a psychological disorder in which a person tells lies and then believes in them as if it were true.

· The Qur'an talks facts -- things that you can go and look and see that they are true, things you can verify. The mythomaniac cannot do this. Facts are a problem for him. Therefore psychologists treat a man suffering from mythomania by confronting him with facts.

· The Qur'an approaches its readers by confronting them with facts and thus heals them of their delusions. The Qur'an poses questions: "O human being -- you say so and so, but then what about such and such? Do you say this when you know that . . .?" A mythomaniac can never do this.

· Mohammed (peace be on him) was NOT only a spiritual leader BUT was also an astute and successful political leader. Had he been a mythomaniac he could have never been a successful political leader.

Inference: It is ONLY rational to conclude that someone could NOT have taught the Quran to Mohammed (peace be on him) and there could NOT have been a psychiatric source for the Quran.

Conclusion:

Using the technique of "Exhausting the alternatives", we are left with ONLY one possible source for the Quran -- God. A neutral researcher will have no choice BUT to agree that Quran could NOT have been authored by Mohammed (peace be on him) either consciously or unconsciously.

Quran's challenge to the mankind:

1. There is NOT a single scripture on the face of the earth, which gives a falsification test to disprove its authenticity.

"Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an? If it had been from [any] other than Allah, they would have found within it much contradiction." 4:82

And if you are in doubt about what We have sent down upon Our Servant [Mohammed], then produce a chapter the like thereof and call upon your witnesses other than Allah, if you should be truthful. But if you do not - and you will never be able to - then fear the Fire, whose fuel is men and stones, prepared for the disbelievers. 2:23-24

2. Unlike many scriptures, where FAITH is the only way to approach the scripture, Quran appeals to the mind and rationale of a human being. Quran is a unique scripture that encourages the reader to think and ponder over it, which is not the same case with most of the scriptures.

"Then do they not reflect upon the Qur'an, or are there locks upon [their] hearts?" 47:24

"And those who, when reminded of the verses of their Lord, do not fall upon them deaf and blind." 25:73

Invitation to Mankind:

"It (Quran) is not except a reminder to the worlds. For whomever amongst you wish to take a right course." 81:27-28

"O mankind, worship your Lord, who created you and those before you, that you may become righteous" 2:21

"And say, "The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills - let him believe; and whoever wills - let him disbelieve." Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose walls will surround them. And if they call for relief, they will be relieved with water like murky oil, which scalds [their] faces. Wretched is the drink, and evil is the resting place. Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds - indeed, We will not allow to be lost the reward of any who did well in deeds." 18:29-30

Answer A4

The answer is no.

Quran was a revelation from God to Prophet Muhammad through the Angel Gabriel. This God revelation of Quran started in year 610 AD and continued until year 632 Ad (by Prophet Muhammad death.

However, some historians claim that prophet Muhammad wrote the Quran by himself. Arguments against this claim are: Prophet Muhammad was an illiterate man who had no formal education in any science, language, religious or secular.

• Quran speaks about a variety of branches of science like: Astronomy, Embryology, Hydrology, Geology, Sociology, Psychology, Oceanography, Law etc. including lots of scientific statements thar were validated only recently and were not know in the time of the prophet.

• It was not known about prophet Muhammed any scholarly tendencies or achievements until the age of forty (when he received the first verses of Quran). So, how this illiterate man suddenly brings about a book like the Quran which brought about an ideological and religious revolution that changed the face of history?
• Why prophet Muhammad (peace be on him), if he authored the Quran, honor the virgin Mary (May Allah be pleased with her), the mother of Jesus (peace be on him) as the best woman over all women on earth over all ages until day of judgment and (an honor that even not offered by the bible) while not mentioning his own family members with a single word and even not mentioning any name of them.?
• If he had authored the Quran, why he didn't claim this authorship of Quran and consequently gaining higher prestige among his followers who may consider him as a God.
• Why he mentioned Quran verses that reprimand him (as that of chapter 33, verse 37 and chapter 80 verses 1-3) if he wrote Quran by himself?.

Some others claim that Prophet Muhammad copied the Quran from the Bible. Arguments against this claim are:

• No Arabic version of the Bible was available at the time of Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him). The oldest Arabic version of the New Testament was published by Erpenius in 1616 AD (about one thousand years after Quran start of revelation)

• Quran included correct scientific information on some incidents that are scientifically incorrect in the bible (e.g. sun was created after the creation of earth Genesis 1:9-19 and vegetation was created before the Sun-Genesis 1:11-13, 14-19). had prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) copied the information from the Bible and corrected the mistakes before mentioning it in the Qur'an? In addition, Quran includes lots of other scientific statements, that currently proven as correct, and not mentioned in the Bible.

• How so many Jews and Christians, including many who were werescholars in their religion, converted to Islam if there was doubt that Prophet Muhammad was copying from their scriptures?
• If Quran has some preachings or tales that are similar to that in the Bible, then this is because all holy books came from a single source (God).

Some others claim that a person or group of persons taught Muhammad (peace be on him) on how to write the Quran. Arguments against this claim are:

• If this is true, then why not discovered a single teacher of them in the time of the prophet.

• Quran was revealed over 23 years and not at once. Is it logic that that someone or more taught prophet Muhammad over a period of without being known.

• Sometimes Quran revelations occurred in the presence of the people.

• Why the teacher, who taught Quran to the prophet, didn't claim it and its credit to himself?

• Muhammad (peace be on him) was surrounded by his companions all the time and every minute detail of his life was recorded. How could Muhammad (peace be on him) make frequent secret visits to that mysterious teacher or teachers for 23 years without being caught even once?

• How could so many Jews and Christians convert to Islam[some of them were scholars in their religion] amongst Muhammad (peace be on him)'s contemporaries become Muslims if Muhammad (peace be on him) was learning from their priests or rabbis?

Answer A5

Most people who answer this question will speak from a biased perspective. The non Muslims will tell you it was written by Muhammad (saw) & that he copied the bible. The Muslims will tell you otherwise.

To get to the answer we must look at the facts

There are definitely some themes in the Qur'an which are shared with the bible, there also things which are contrary.

Muhammad could not read or write, he was unlettered, interestingly enough the bible predicts the coming of an unlettered prophet who shall carry a message from God.

The Qur'an is a fairly long book, it is also written in a poetic sort of style. It includes things like rhetorical questions & metaphors to get to the message.

Whilst the bible is written like a story book & i quote from numerous places in the bible 'now it came to pass' (once upon a time), the Qur'an is written in a more journalistic style with straightforward commands.

Whether Muslim or Non Muslim, no true academic can deny that the Quran is a literary masterpiece.

At the time of Muhammad there were no bibles written in Arabic, so even if for the sake of the argument he could read he would not have access to the bible.

We have established therefore that certain Stories in the Qur'an are Indeed similar to ones in the bible, & that Muhammad could not have copied these from the bible, it would be an absurdity for any one who has studied this thoroughly to say the Qur'an plagiarized from the bible.

Now that we have established the Qur'an is not a copy of the bible we must consider the psychological possibility of Muhammad writing the Qur'an himself.

It would be impossible for Muhammad to know of stories from the bible with such accuracy even if for the sake of the argument he as certain people claim did meet with Jews whilst he was trading & copy them.

When somebody cites discrepancy from the stories in the bible, one must remember that Muslims believe the bible to be a corrupted book.

Is it really plausible to assume an illiterate man could write such a book just from memory, he would have to not only formulate stories, he would need to think of these stories & present them in a poetic way.

Would a man who was illiterate be able to do all this & remember if i am correct 6346 verses of varying lengths.

Based on psychology i doubt that an illiterate man would be able to remember the whole Qur'an if he had to make it all up himself.

We must also consider this, Muhammad was an Arab, the Arabs & Jews are noted for there rivalry, the name of Jesus (a Jew) is mentioned 25 times more than the name of Muhammad in the Qur'an.

Once again reason dictates that if the Qur'an was written by Muhammad he would favor himself more than others. The mother of Muhammad is not mentioned by name once in the Qur'an. Mary the mother of Jesus on the other hand has a whole chapter named after her. Not only this but the grandfather of Jesus 'Imran'/Joachim also has a chapter which has the same name as him.

Reason & psychology dictates to me, that the Qur'an could not have been written by 1 illiterate man.

Answer B1

Non-Muslim's claim that Quran came from Muhammad himself. Among the many reason including the revelations that approves his behavior (marrying (Adopted son's)daughter-in-law and intimate relation with slave girls) two are given here.

1) Mohammad got Christian and Jewish Scripture details mainly from his Christian wife Khadijah and her cousin Waraqa: Muhammad's first wife was a Christian. Her uncle Waraqa was a monk who spends time at Hira Caves. Mohammad used to visit him to hear Biblical accounts. Mohammad never wrote anything. However, Mohammad retold these biblical incidents to Mohammad's followers as revelations from Allah. This is why Qur'an contains Biblical accounts. Many times Mohammad messed up the Biblical incidents and told them a distorted version of the true Biblical accounts. This is why Qur'an contradicts with the Biblical incidents. Mohammad does not have to be a learned person to recite what he heard from Waraqa and others.

2) Mohammad heard fables and tales from others and recited as Allah's revelation: Education is not necessary to repeat a story. During Mohammad's time, many people accused him of repeating these fables as revelation from Allah (Qur'an 8:31, 16:24, 25:5, 27:68, 46:17, 68:15). Some of the examples of the fables of that time found in Qur'an are the following: (None of these are included in the New Testament because they were fables)

• Qur'an mentions the story of Satan and his conflicts with Adam and God (7:11-12). This was mentioned in the Gospel of Bartholomew written in 3rd century A.D
• Qur'an mentions an altered version of Mary's betrothal to Joseph (3:44). This was mentioned in the gospel of the Birth of Mary written before the 4th Century A.D
• Qur'an mentions Jesus speaking from cradle (3:36, 5:110 & 19:29-34). This was written in The First Infancy Gospel Of Jesus Christ (1:1-3)
• Qur'an mentions Child Jesus making a clay bird and giving life (3:39, 5:110). This was written in two sources - Infancy Gospel of Thomas (A.D. 150) and Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ (15:1-7).

Answer C1

The most correct answer to this claim is no. Most Quranic experts attribute the Qur'an in its form today to post-7th Century alterations. The consensus is, "independent scholars studying the Qur'an and Hadith, have concluded that the Islamic scripture was not revealed to just one man, but was a compilation of later redactions and editions formulated by a group of men, over the course of a few hundred years. The Qur'an which we read today is not that which was in existence in the mid-seventh century, but is a product of the eighth and ninth centuries. It was not conceived in Mecca or Medina, but in Baghdad."

Because the origins of Islam and the Qur'an are dubious. This is the opinion of renowned scholars and professors of Islam, history, Arabic and many other fields. Among them - Dr. John Wansbrough, American historian who taught at London University's School of Oriental and African Studies; Professor Joseph Schacht, professor of Arabic and Islam at Columbia University in New York and a leading Western scholar of Islamic law; Dr. Patricia Crone, a scholar, author and historiographer of early Islamic history working at the Institute for Advance Study; R. Stephen Humphreys, professor of history and Islamic studies at the University of California at Santa Barbara; and Professor Andrew Rippin, professor of history and specialist in Islamic studies at the University of Victoria, B.C., Canada

"Almost universally, independent scholars studying the Qur'an and Hadith, have concluded that the Islamic scripture was not revealed to just one man, but was a compilation of later redactions and editions formulated by a group of men, over the course of a few hundred years. The Qur'an which we read today is not that which was in existence in the mid-seventh century, but is a product of the eighth and ninth centuries. It was not conceived in Mecca or Medina, but in Baghdad. It was then and there that Islam took on its identity and became a religion. Consequently, the formative stage of Islam was not within the lifetime of Muhammad but evolved over a period of 300 years."

Gerd Puin on Qur'anic Integrity

Gerd Puin, a German scholar and the world's foremost authority on Qur'anic paleography, the study and scholarly interpretation of ancient manuscripts. He is a specialist in Arabic calligraphy:

"My idea is that the Koran is a kind of cocktail of texts that were not all understood even at the time of Muhammad. Many of them may even be a hundred years older than Islam itself. Even within the Islamic traditions there is a huge body of contradictory information, including a significant Christian substrate; one can derive a whole Islamic anti-history from them if one wants. The Qur'an claims for itself that it is 'mubeen,' or clear, but if you look at it, you will notice that every fifth sentence or so simply doesn't make sense. Many Muslims will tell you otherwise, of course, but the fact is that a fifth of the Qur'anic text is just incomprehensible. This is what has caused the traditional anxiety regarding translation. If the Qur'an is not comprehensible, if it can't even be understood in Arabic, then it's not translatable into any language. That is why Muslims are afraid. Since the Qur'an claims repeatedly to be clear but is not-there is an obvious and serious contradiction. Something else must be going on."

Imperfect Qur'an

Another reason why the Qur'an fails the criteria as the word of a perfect God is because of the imperfections within the Qur'an. The Qur'an is riddled with literary contradictions, scientific errors and historical errors.

Plagiarism in Muhammad's Time

The Qur'an tells us that Muhammad's critics caught him plagiarising traditions, folklore and Jewish and Christian scripture. Examples: "We have heard this (before): if we wished, we could say (words) like these: these are nothing but tales of the ancients" (8:31). "Such things have been promised to us and to our fathersbefore! They are nothing but tales of the ancients!" (23:83)"

Zoroastrians Traditions

In regard to the Islamic versions of heaven, 'paradise', plagiarism from non-Abrahamic beliefs is also evident. "None of this, of course, can be found in the Jewish or Christian Scriptures, but it is in the writings of the Zoroastrians of Persia, who were a considerable presence in the areas around the Persian Empire before the advent of Islam. According to historian W. St. Clair Tisdall, who did pioneering work on these questions in his monograph "The Sources of Islam," which he later expanded into a book, and in his other writings, "the books of the Zoroastrians and Hindus... bear the most extraordinary likeness to what we find in the Koran and Hadith. Thus in Paradise we are told of 'houris having fine black eyes,' and again of 'houris with large black eyes, resembling pearls hidden in their shells.'... The name houry too is derived from an Avesta or Pehlavi Source, as well as jinn for genii, and bihisht (Paradise), signifying in Avestic 'the better land.' We also have very similar tales in the old Hindu writings, of heavenly regions with their boys and girls resembling the houris and ghilman of the Koran.""

Source: The Truth About Muhammad by Robert Spencer (2006)

Different Qur'ans in Muhammad's Time

Islamic sources tell us that Muhammad's followers would argue because Muhammad provided contradicting versions of the Qur'an. A notable example appears in Bulhari's Hadith:

"Umar bin Khattab [the second Caliph] said, 'I heard Hisham bin Hakim bin Hizam reciting Surat Al-Furqan ["Al-Furqan," the title of the 25th surah, has no meaning in any language.] during the lifetime of Allah's Apostle. I listened to his recitation and noticed that he recited it in several ways which Allah's Apostle had not taught me. So I was on the point of attacking him in the prayer, but I waited till he finished, and then I seized him by the collar. "Who taught you this Surah which I have heard you reciting?" He replied, "Allah's Apostle taught it to me." I said, "You are lying. Allah's Apostle taught me in a different way this very Surah which I have heard you reciting." So I led him to Muhammad. "O Allah's Apostle! I heard this person reciting Surat-al-Furqan in a way that you did not teach me." The Prophet said, "Hisham, recite!" So he recited in the same way as I heard him recite it before. On that Allah's Apostle said, "It was revealed to be recited in this way." Then the Prophet said, "Recite, Umar!" So I recited it as he had taught me. Allah's Apostle said, "It was revealed to be recited in this way, too." He added, "The Qur'an has been revealed to be recited in several different ways, so recite of it that which is easier for you."(Bukhari:V6B61N561)

Devoid of Context

The Qur'an in itself as a source for anything is devoid of context and thus arbitrary. Being devoid of context and any understanding, how can it be understood as the word of God?

"We do not have material in the Qur'an to compose a biography of Muhammad because the book is a disjointed discourse, a pastiche [imitation, parody] of divine monologues that can be assembled into a homily [lecture, sermon] or perhaps a catechism [snippets of dogma] but that reveals little or nothing about the life of Muhammad and his contemporaries.... The Qur'an give us no assurance that its words and sentiments are likely to be authentic in the light of the context they were delivered and in the manner of their transmission. There are no clues as to when or where or why these particular words were being uttered.... The Qur'an is of no use whatsoever as an independent source for reconstructing the life of Muhammad. The Qur'an is not terribly useful even for reconstructing the Meccan milieu much less the life of the man who uttered its words; it is a text without context."

Source: Jay Smith, "Is the Qur'an the Word of God?" A debate between on the Qur'an hosted at Trinity College, Cambridge and Dr Jamal Badawi in 1995

Answer C2

Whether or not Mohammed wrote the Qur'an is certainly debatable, but its claim to be Divine is at best questionable. It is impossible to prove that the Qur'an is not a Divine Holy Book simply because it is impossible to prove a negative in an absolute sense. For example, it is impossible to absolutely prove that there is no teapot in the Asteroid Belt, because our telescopes can't see something that small. There is no disagreement between Islamic Apologists and Critics that the Qur'an was physically written on Earth by humans. Islamic Tradition asserts that different groups in the Early Caliphate transcribed Mohammed's revelations. However, what splits the Islamic Apologists from the Critics the claim that humans wrote the Qur'an with Divine Assistance and this is a positive claim, an assertion of information. Muslims understand rightly that they have to justify this belief. Therefore, if all of their positive arguments can be dispelled, then the Qur'an returns, by default to human authorship without provable Divine Assistance.

1) Lack of Changes in the Qur'an Text: Muslims hold that the Qur'anic Text has never been altered from the moment of revelation until today. This is generally considered a defensible claim since most Qur'ans that have been discovered from the Middle Ages are consistent with the current Qur'an. However, recent archaeology has discovered Qur'ans in Sana'a, Yemen which have small differences with the current Qur'an. It is nothing major, but it shows that the Qur'an has not been consistently preserved. Additionally, even according to Islamic Tradition, Caliph 'Othman burned all of the Qur'ans that did not agree with his standardized version, meaning that there must have been some incorrect copies. The Bible was compiled over 600 years, whereas the Qur'an was compiled in, at most 200 years, but probably much less. There are fewer transcription problems when the first revelation and final revelation come closer in history.

2) Illiteracy: There is the claim that Mohammed's illiteracy proves that God inspired him. How else could he craft poetry or read the Bible? While the latter will be covered in #3, the former is easy to explain; poetry was an oral contest. Arab Poets would come together in the marketplace and have poetry contests much like "slam poetry" in the modern day. Being illiterate, while a possible hurdle, would not prevent someone with an incredible acumen from creating incredible poetry. There is also the question of how he could create a scholarly work if he were illiterate, but he was never tasked with writing the Qur'an, only speaking it. Illiteracy does not pose a problem to Mohammed having created the Qur'an himself and having it written down by others.

3) Bible Stories: There is the question of how Mohammed knew Biblical stories without a Bible to read. Of course, the assumption here is that a person would only be able to learn Bible stories by reading the Bible. This is not necessary. There were numerous Christian and Jewish groups who practiced their faith quite openly in Arabia and during his younger years, Mohammed could easily have spoken to them and learned the Bible stories. His memory may not have been perfect, so he retold some of the stories differently. It was likely that when he was confronted with this difference, he chose to blame the original sources for being wrong as opposed to himself. Also, it is worth noting that many of the differences between Biblical stories and Qur'anic stories of the same events that do not rise to textual disagreement use Jewish Midrash or Talmudic commentaries as opposed to new insights.

Additionally, there is the argument that Qur'an corrects certain scientific errors in the Bible such as greenery appearing before the sun and Noah's flood covering the whole world. While it is true that the Qur'an does not make these mistakes, it does not actually "fix them"; it just ignores the point. This is because the Qur'an is structured as a number of commands to believers and interpretations of stories that were already well known. As a result, it talks about Creation in sweeping terms as opposed to dealing with the events of every single day. As for the flood, prior to the modern age, there are no Qur'anic commentaries showing that Noah's flood was localized; this has developed recently.

Finally, some have questioned how Mohammed could have learned Bible stories on-the-spot during his 23-year revelation, but the answer was that he did not need to. He had forty years during which he was not a prophet and could learn the Bible stories that interested him. He could then take his time in retelling them.

4) Science: Qur'anic Science is as nonsensical as Biblical science. The Qur'an asserts many scientific claims that are untrue, such as: the idea that mountains hold the earth firm like tent pegs instead of plate tectonics (Q: 78:6-7), that the sky/heaven is a protected ceiling instead of a slowly thinning layer of gasses (Q: 21:32), that the Sun orbits the Earth like the moon (Q: 21:23), that two bodies of water will form a barrier instead of noting that the contents of the two bodies of water will diffuse (Q: 25:53), etc.

There are also very vague Qur'anic verses that have been adapted to refer to current scientific knowledge. For example see, Q: 21:30 (cited below). Qur'an Scientists argue that this indicates the Big Bang Theory and the fact that humans and other animals are over 60% water. However, the verse does not describe the fundamental basics of the Big Bang Theory nor does it account for all of the time between the beginning of the universe and living creatures on Earth. Additionally, the terms "heaven" and "earth" are the same ones used in the Genesis account in Arabic Christian Bibles, referring to a creation of the Earth. Similar vague Qur'anic verses are used in the following claims: that a fertilized zygote is a blood clot (Q: 22:5), that all creatures come in pairs, even bacteria (Q: 51:49), etc.

Q: 21:30: (Sahih International) Have those who disbelieved not considered that the heavens and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?

5) Failure to Self-Glorify: Qur'anic Apologists point to the fact that Mohammed did not refer to himself often in Qur'an and occasionally referred to himself in a less-than-flattering light as evidence he did not write it. On the contrary, Mohammed was interested in creating a unified religion for all Arabs and so would naturally stress elements such as the Jewish and Christian Prophets/Heroes/Messiahs to attract their followers as opposed to self-glorifying which would highlight his differences with their traditions.

6) Conversions of Jewish and Christian Scholars: There can be many reasons for a person to convert and some of these scholars may very well have believed that Mohammed was Prophet. Others may have believed that he was an ascendant power and wanted to join him. Additionally, Jewish and Christian scholars had been incorrect before. Rabbi Akiva was a big supporter of failed Messianic Candidate Bar Kochba around 130 C.E. Paul of Tarsus believed that Jesus would return before he died. Both were very smart men in the Jewish and Christian traditions and both were wrong.

7) No Teachers to Show Mohammed How to Write the Qur'an: This is patently false. There were numerous Jewish, Christian, Hanif, and Henotheist religious groups who could have provided the information that he would need to put together a Qur'an.

8) No Contradictions: The Qur'an challenges believers to find contradictions in its text (Q: 4:82). Well, there are many, but Muslims refuse to acknowledge them or they abrogate one of the verses (Q: 2:106). For example, the Qur'an argues in some places that God leads people astray (Q: 2:6-7, 18:57) and in other places that Iblis (the Devil) leads people astray (Q: 19:83); it argues that Jews and Christians should be treated with kindness and patience (Q: 2:109) and elsewhere it argues that they should be fought against and subdued (Q: 9:29); it argues that all of Noah's family was saved from the flood (Q: 21:76) and that one of Noah's sons died in the flood (Q: 11:42-43).

9) Why Would Someone Lie?: There is an implicit assumption in this claim that either Mohammed truthfully revealed the Divinely Inspired Qur'an or Mohammed falsely created a book and pretended that it was God's. This ignores the very real possibility that he could have written a book of his own while truly believing that God had told him the information. However, even if we assert that Mohammed lied, there are many noble reasons for him to have done so. He wanted to end centuries of Arab internecine strife and end corruption in Mecca. Those are laudable goals and may have been sufficient to induce him to lie, if you refuse to accept the possibility that he truly believed that God revealed the Qur'an to him when God actually did not.

10) Satan is not the author: If you disprove Satan as the author, that does not say anything as to whether or not God is the author.

Concerning Answer B1

1) Khadijah was not Christian. She was Muslim. Waraqa is the one that told prophet Muhammad that what he received is God holy words conveyed to him through the prophets angel Gabriel or Jibril. It is logic to have some resemblance in Quran and the Bible as they are coming from the same God source.

2) It is logic to have some resemblance in Quran and the Bible as they are coming from the same God source. أHowever, you find in Qur'an other facts not mentioned in other God holy books. You may refer to the chapters titled Mariam, Ibrahim, Youcef, and Younis.

Concerning Answer C1

1) What are secular scholarly proofs especially that the Arabians of the seventh and eighth centuries are not Muslims. Quran was recited daily during prophet life and was concluded, written, and compiled during his life. Otherwise, how it comes that Qur'an is recited every day during praying and then comes new Quran verses after prophet death. It is not logic. Qur'an is not like the Bible that was written hundreds of years after Jesus (peace be upon him) lifetime.

2) The argument that the Arabic is not understandable it fatuous. Proofs on these sayings are required especially that these sayings come from a non Muslim who most probably doesn't know Arabic that is the language of the original Quran God revelation)

3) Please confirm the conclusion that there are literary contradictions with examples to be possible to reply upon.

4) Concerning the Plagiarism Argument, this is your own understanding because you didn't study carefully the Quran and didn't understand correctly the meanings of the Arabic words or you may not even read it completely.. Refer to the related question below to know what is revealed in Quran)

5) Again, what is wrong if some facts are common in different faiths or beliefs such as Zoroastrianism. This is not a proof that Quran is human written or is imitation of other faiths or religions.

6) Unfortunately, the hadith concerning the different recitations of the Qur'an is not properly understood. The point is that Muslims from different tribes used to talk in different accents. There were seven different accents that was approved by the prophet to recite the Qur'an with. The differences are in accents and not in Quran written words)

7) Quran is God holy book that calls people to full submission to God. It is not a historical book written by others to decribe prophet Muhammad personal history as in the Bible that was written by many authors and accordingly they devote particular chapters on Jesus family and hierarchy. As a result, it does not have a prosaic nature.

Concerning Answer C2

0) Introduction: Quran was written and compiled during prophet Muhammad life immediately upon the revelation of Qur'an verses. Many parts were also maintained with other Muslims and kept by heart by many Muslims as well as being recited during the daily prayers something with which it is impossible to introduce any alterations to the Quran original texts. During the first and second Caliph, it was maintained in one hand without single letter change. During the third caliph, Othman, different copies were made and distributed over the different parts of the empire.)

1) Lack of Changes in the Qur'an Text: However, in many occasions some non Muslims try to publish different versions of Quran but they never succeeded because of the availability of same reference copies in different countries, having Quran fully in the hearts of millions of Muslims, and because of Quran daily recitation in prayers and outside prayers.

2) Illiteracy: If created by prophet Muhammad himself while he is illiterate then how he would know the historical stories that are even different in details than what is mentioned even in previous holy books)

3) Bible Stories: How could you confirm that the Bible stories or the Jewish stories are the correct ones?. Otherwise, the Bible has different issues than the Jewish faith. How could you resolve these discrepancies. It means either the Bible or the Jewish holy books is not correct. Quran is not a book of science to say that the flood was local or worldwide. However, Quran scientific issues are validated just recently and sure these scientific facts were not known from 14 centuries ago when Quran was revealed. Quran is not only stories to be copied from other religions. In the meantime the stories in Quran are including some details that never mentioned before or recorded in other holy books. Refer to related question below

4) Science: It is not mentioned that the sun orbits the earth but mentioned that the sun moves also. something that was only proved recently. As for the mountains, it was proved just recently that any mountain has almost two thirds of it underground, something is resembling the tent pegs. It is true that sky/heaven is protecting ceiling something that was only recently proved as this air blanket protects us from the cosmic rays and ultraviolet radiation. Could you explain why two bodies of water (one fresh and the other saline) not diffusing into each other as the laws of physics state?). it is not required from Quran as religious holy book to speak on the details of scientific stories it is proved scientifically that any living thing is containing water. It is a challenge Quran scientific statement.

5) Failure to Self-Glorify: Even if the arguments above are correct, what is against mentioning the prophet explicitly by name as many times as Jesus, Moses and other are mentioned. Why neither of Muhammad wives are mentioned explicitly by name while Mariam (or Mary was mentioned explicitly more than once?)

6) Conversions of Jewish and Christian Scholars: How would you justify many scientists, priests and rabbis till present convert to Islam. Are they all wrong.

7) No Teachers to Show Mohammed How to Write the Qur'an: What they benefit from this support. How do you explain one of different religion help one in developing another religion that is not his?

8) No Contradictions: Read the verses carefully in its whole context and understand their occasions then you will be sure that there are no contradictions as proved by many non Muslims. For example; God lead people who are willing to follow God right path while Iblis/satan leads people who don't believe in God oneness. Treating Jews and Christians kindly is for those who don't expel Muslims from their homes and lands and don't break their treaties with Muslims and those who don't betray Muslims by uniting with the pagans against Muslims. Read the verses in this sense you find no contradictions. As for prophet Noah, it was clearly mentioned that his wife and son were not rescued as they were not believing in prophet Noah message.

9) Why Would Someone Lie?: If prophet Muhammad lied how do you explain that he was told by the pagans themselves that he is the honest and most trustful in Makkah/Mecca? even before he was assigned by God as prophet.

10) Satan is not the author: Many verses in Quran assures that God is the Qur'an author and that Quran is God revelation words to prophet Muhammad.

Part 2: Conclusion

I wonder why all this debate about Quran if it is God holy book or not. If one believe in its divinity that is fine. If not, then it is his/her own choice and responsibility. Only God will resolve these debates on the Resurrection Day.No one is forced to be Muslim or not or to believe in Qur'an divinity or not. It is a matter of faith. Otherwise, could someone give a single proof of the divinity of the current versions of the Bible or the Torah. It remains to only mention that many non Muslims convert every day to Islam including religious leaders and famous scientists. They convert without any persuasion from others. They don't convert to Islam to get food or medical treatment or better education. They convert just because they got convinced in Islam authenticity and in Quran divinity and in prophet Muhammad as God prophet and messenger. Refer to the related question below on What are the proofs that the Bible is God revelation words and not a human authored text to find that the same arguments apply on other God holy books including the Qur'an. you may refer to the other related Questions for more information.

Muslims hate neither Christians nor Jews. They do not hate even atheists. Hate doesn't exist in Islam against the people of other faiths.

As the Quran teaches us, we as Muslims do have sympathy toward all humanity, animals, plants, nature without any discrimination of faith, race, country color or anything else. We are taught to have love for every creature and the universe since all are created by Almighty God. If one is not a believer we might show mercy to help him or her see the facts of the intelligent creation of God.

Those who think that Muslims hate Christians can refer to the Quran sayings (English translation):

".... You will find the nearest in love to Muslims those who say "we are Christians'. That is because amongst them are men devoted to learning and men who have renounced the world and they are not arrogant. And when they listen to the Quran's revelation received by the Messenger (Muhammad), you see their eyes overflowing with tears because of the truth they have recognized. ... So because of what they said, Allah (God) rewarded them ...."

[Quran, chapter 5, verses 82-86]

God explains in the Quran that he caused the different nations with different beliefs only for them to compete in doing good deeds that bring them closer to God, but not to stay in conflict or hatred. The Quran says:

In addition, the Quran's Golden Rule says (English translation):

Also, God commands Muslims to maintain friendly and cooperative relations with people of other beliefs. In the Quran, the Holy book of Islam, God has said:

" God does not forbid you from showing kindness and dealing justly with those who have not fought you about religion and have not driven you out of your homes. God loves just dealers."

[Quran, chapter 60/ verse 8]

Refer to western Historians' writings to compare what Muslims did when they took control of Spain (the spread of advanced sciences and civilization, they never killed a woman, child, or old man, no tree was cut or house is destroyed or set in fire, no church was destroyed,...) with what was done on the other hand when Christians took control of Spain.

Other opinions

Quote 1) "Muslims don't hate Christians, they just want Christians and all other non-Muslims to be Dhimmis in a Sharia controlled world that is dominated by Islam."

Comment 1) As long as there is freedom in a country Muslims don't interfere in this country just because it is non-Muslim. They do not war or try to dominate this country. They do not have any right to war against this country if they live their life by their own free will.

Response to comment 1)

Islamic trilogy, consisting of the Koran, Hadith and Sira, is the basis of political Islam. In the past few years sophisticated scientific analysis of the trilogy has been carried out. The Center for Study of Political Islam has published a series along these lines. Their analysis points to a very dominant political nature of the trilogy - i.e. domination of political deeds of Islam's founder Mohammed - as opposed to spirituality. Hence it is very reasonable to conclude that political Islam is almost Islam.

In the context of the trilogy, inner political Islam prevents Muslims from acquiring new knowledge to create a better future for themselves; external political Islam commands them to wage a religious war (called jihad) with unbelievers until the whole of humanity is converted to Islam.

Trilogy-based evidence and early Islamic history suggest that political Islam's intent on absolute control of Muslim masses and channeling of their energies toward conquest gives an impression of an ideology that is primarily designed for extending the powerbase of Mohammed during his times and that of extended tribes of Saudis, non-Saudi Arab Muslims and non-Arab Muslims (in that order) subsequent to his death.

This strong political component also means that Islam may not be structurally amenable to reform or moderation. If one takes away this political component, there is no Islam.

Hint : Scientific analysis of the so called trilogy is a necessity. Every religion has its own scholars who take the responsibility to clear out texts to nonspecialists.

The history of Islamic spread gives the clear evidence that Islam didn't mean to establish a great empire, or extend the powerbase of anybody. When revising the history, one can find that Islamic rulers after the Prophet Muhammad didn't save anything for themselves, but in fact, the Islamic economy was so strong to the extent that made other nations conquered by Romans or Greek (who were really looking for that so-called powerbase) wish for being shaded by the Islamic umbrella, to get rid of humiliation and poverty.

If all the countries that embraced Islam were doing this under threat, the simplest thing is that they would revert during the times of weakness of Islamic government. This didn't happen, even when they were conquered again by non-Muslim countries, and even after their governments had been recomposed of non-Muslim members.

Islam throughout history ha proven to be flexible regarding relationships with non-Muslim nations or individuals. Non-Muslim Arabs admit that they had their full rights during Islamic eras, which they didn't have during Catholic Roman empire control over Egypt till Syria.

Yes Islam is not just a religion, it is a way of life that mentioned every small detail in human life and offered the best way to practice it, from the individual basis till the national basis, and from religious practice till economy and politics. You can hardly find an issue -no matter how tiny or big it is- not mentioned in Islam, this is why Islam is universal.

During years of strong Islamic nation, science and literature were developing so fast, while other nations suffered from poverty and ignorance, there are big lists of Muslim scientists who changed the fate of humanity, and opened new sciences, in almost all aspects of life, like Ibn Sina. Gaber Ibn Hayyan, Ibn el Haitham, Ibn el NAfis, Ibn Majid,…and so on

Islam never called for compulsion in religion, Allah created humans and He alone can make them all Muslim or all non-Muslim.

99. And if thy Lord willed, all who are in the earth would have believed together. Wouldst thou (Muhammad) compel men until they are believers ?

Jihad was ordered to Muslims for defending their religion, lives, families and possessions. It was also ordered to protect the frontiers of Islamic lands, and to expel the unjust rulers upon the request of people of such countries themselves.

One can't deny that Jihad also had a rule in spread of Islam, this was because people who were new to Islam were amazed by the great morals of Muslims, as happened when a Muslim army once entered a country by force without 1st negotiating with its people, so, the people sent their representatives to the Caliph, who ordered his army to get out of the country, and the army obeyed that order and got out of the country till the last soldier, an action that raised the wonder and admiration of the people, and embraced Islam happily.

History states that when Islam entered Egypt, the Muslim population was around 10%, this percentage has now reached 95% although Islamic nation has now become weaker.

Quote 2) "Muslims refuse to follow western ways when they move to the west and demand and expect accommodation. Even so, the majority of Muslims have no ill feelings to westerners. Many Muslims, in reality, are indifferent to Christians but hate Jews."

Comment 2) We do not hate Jews in general or some Jews in particular. We hate only their behaviour not them as humans. We hate their politics that terrorize innocent people who just would like to live on their lands in freedom and peace. But this is not only against the behaviour of Jews. We also hate the behaviour of some Muslims and Christians. We do have hate and hatred against all the injustice no matter who makes it. If their is an unfairness, cruelty or injustice somewhere, it doesn't matter who makes it. Islam teaches us to be against it.

Response to comment 2)

It is common knowledge that the Ummah hates Israel and it is also a fact that the hatred of Israel and Jews extends back to the days of Muhammad where he slayed the Quraish tribes men himself and the number was over 900 Jewish men he beheaded himself. This is in the Quran.

Hint: the tribe meant here is Quraizah, and the story is well known,

Jews of Quraiza had a deal with Muslims, to be indifferent or neutral when there is an attack on Muslims, and not to let nonbelievers enter Al Madina from their side. Ther betrayed Muslims despite that written agreement, and helped nonbelievers to enter Al Madina while there were only women and children, coz men were busy in the war.

After war has ended, Prophet Muhammad sent them a messenger to tell them to choose a man to judge, and what he says is what will be done to them as a punishment for breaking the agreement and Exposing Muslim families to death. So they chose a Muslim man who was the chief of Al Madins tribes before Islam, and had had excellent relationships with Jews before, that man was Saad Ibn Ubadah, he was injured and dying..

So when they asked his opinion, he said their men should be killed, and coz they chose that person, his opinion should be obeyed, and so it was.

Quote 3) Muslims are duty bound to follow the teachings of Islam. Not the peaceful teachings from Mecca but the violent Medina Suras as these have over ridden and or abrogated the peaceful Suras. Muslims like to quote the peaceful passages in the Quran but know that they are lying to Infidels as war is deceit and Muslims are in a constant state of war with all non-Muslims.

Comment 3) We cannot say that some Suras in Quran are overridden by others. There is no such information in Quran that we may follow some of the orders of God and disobey others. We may either accept Quran as a whole or deny it as a whole. We cannot say peaceful Suras was overridden by violent ones.

Response to comment 3)

It is a fact that all the schools of Islamic thought adhere to the abrogation of the previous Meccan suras by the Medina suras. Of the Koran's 114 suras (chapters), only 43 are without abrogated or abrogating verses.

Hint: This particular issue needs deep studies, the overridden verses (not whole chapters), are not available for us to judge, they had a specific job that they did, and there was no need for them so they were overridden, and peaceful verses are indeed still there, very reasonably explaining the best way to treat brothers of humanity

8. Allah forbiddeth you not those who warred not against you on account of religion and drove you not out from your homes, that ye should show them kindness and deal justly with them. Lo! Allah loveth the just dealers.

9. Allah forbiddeth you only those who warred against you on account of religion and have driven you out from your homes and helped to drive you out, that ye make friends of them. Whosoever maketh friends of them - (All) such are wrong- doers.

Quote 4) Islam should not be blamed for what SOME Muslims. The truth is that all children born to a Muslim man are Muslim.

Comment 4) We as Muslims believe that every child who was born by either a believer or a non-believer is accepted as a Muslim. Until the ages of maturity when a person may differentiate what is right or wrong by himself, he is accepted as Muslim.

Response to comment 4)

The concept of all people being born Muslim is insulting to all other religions and atheists. In this train of thought, if all people are born Muslim, those that do not accept Islam as their faith are apostates and the death penalty is afforded apostates. I was not born a Muslim any more than I was born a Buddhist or a Mormon or a Catholic.

Hint: the meaning of this is that every baby is born on the Nature that God created man on, which is monotheism and submission, but his parents change this according to their religions. This is why Muslims don't baptize, coz Muslims believe that Islam is the religion of nature, this must not carry any kind of insult to non-Muslims.

In fact, not only Muslims not allow their children to carry another religion, but any follower of any religion would do the same, and there must be a judgment here, so Islam states that religion of the child must be according to his father, and this seems fair and applicable in any kind of nation.

Quote 5) Muslims also like to point out the atrocities of the Crusaders but conveniently ignore the fact that the Muslims for centuries persecuted and executed millions of non-Muslims and the Crusades was a legitimately defensive reaction to centuries of Muslim conquest and tyranny. This does not mean the Crusaders were right in killing but the Muslims like to write revisionist history to eliminate the brutal mass killings the Muslims have always done to conquered peoples and exaggerates and vilifies the Christians. Muslims like to justify the Terrorists by bringing up what Timothy McVeigh did when murdering so many innocent people in Oklahoma City as if that has any bearing on the issue. What Osama Bin Laden's Al Qaeda network did to the world trade center was cheered by some Muslims in the world when it happened.

Comment 5) Briefly in our history I did not hear any mass killings made by a Muslim nation to non-Muslims. Some Muslims in some part of the world may have committed some of such acts. But there were no mass killings made by a Muslim nation. Western history might have many sources to claim such things about Muslim nations but to learn the facts we should read history not only from some particular sources written by the member of other religions.

Response to comment 5)

Islam is revisionist concerning history. All non-Islamic history is destroyed or ignored after conquest of a defeated people. In the Quran and throughout published history, Muslims have enslaved and killed Infidels by the millions. The giant Buddha statues in Afghanistan were all but completely destroyed because they weren't Islamic.

If Muslims in a Muslim nation not containing non-Muslim figures, wished to destroy something for fear it would cause harm to anybody within the country, this is not a sign of violence. If there was a single Buddhist that worshipped that statue, then Muslim have no right to break it, but Afghanis may have done that as a means to protect people from forgetting their own God and turning back to idolatry after they had been guided to the right path, like what children of Israel did when they worshipped the calf.

Yet it is good to mention that when early Muslims entered Egypt, they didn't touch a single statue, though Egypt was full of them, and it was Napoleon Bonaparte who broke the nose of the Sphinx upon trying to break it down.

So it is an action that is attributed to the Afghani government and its view to the issue according to the good of its nation, and has nothing to do with Islam.

And why then not mentioning the violent actions taken by Israelites with the support of some Christians against Muslims in Palestine and their ongoing ruining of their Masjids and possessions?

Quote 6) "As for hatred, I'd say it's for the same reason that fundamentalists of Islam in particular seem to hate all "unbelievers"--because their twisted interpretation of their faith taps into a pre-existing need to hate and destroy anyone who threatens their sense of security and superiority."

Comment 6) There is no fundamentalist in Islam. One is either Muslim or not. If a Muslim is doing something against Islam (e.g. terrifying civilians, killing innocents, denying Islam worships, ...) then he/she will be sinful. And if this person is also claiming that it is right to do in Islam then he is not the member of Islam anymore unless he repents and accepts all the rules of his faith as a whole. So we might call such people sinful Muslims or non-Muslims.

Response to comment 6)

Based upon this, Osama Bin Laden is a good Muslim and is typical. He is not a fundamentalist or a radical, just a good Muslim. That is true unless if proved involved in killing innocents or terrifying civilians then he is no longer faithful to Islam or even considered Muslim.

Bin Laden has his own agenda, which has a great deal of political background, its America who helped him destroy Russia, not Muslims, and American Government knew his previous plan to destroy the trade centers and chose not to interfere, but the truth can't stay hidden. There are some people in America who gained benefit from that ongoing war, and previously wanted it.

What happened was a normal result of the American policy in Iraq and other Muslim countries, including Palestine, it was just a feed back, but don't convince me that American government had no idea about it.

Quote 7) Not all Muslims hate Christians, just like not all white people hate black people and vice versa. These are examples of how a few extremists are setting a bad example of their people to the world, causing them to be stereotyped. It of course doesn't help when Muslims worldwide cheer when Westerners are killed by natural disasters or from the World Trade center catastrophe. Muslims only want People of the Book (Christians) to be Dhimmis, which are kind of like how it was in southern States of the USA when the blacks had to ride in the back of the bus, cannot eat or drink from the same place and generally feel subdued constantly and in fear for their safety as well as paying an exhorbitant poll tax called the Jizyah for protection just like the Mafia collects protection money. Islam is dedicated to the subjugation of the entire world through Jihad.

Comment 7) Literate Muslims do not hate non-Muslims and do not cheer when disasters happen in non-Muslim nations. They may only have love and mercy against them. They may also pray for them. This is what I have learnt from my faith and from my family. I have cried for the people of Iraq when I saw them in Iraq and I have cried for the innocent people in the US when the trade centers were hit. I cannot think of any human to have pleasure from seeing the suffering of innocent people. And Islam values the life of humans the most and then animals and plants. I do not know any literate Muslim around me who would have pleasure from such disasters.

Moreover, one can walk across Arizona to find the houses built by Qatar for the homeless families after Katrina hurricane, a man that doesn't fell sorry for the disasters that happen to other humans, is just a man of no heart, and no religion.

Quote 8) "Muslims are commanded to help and protect any Muslim who is being oppressed, or if they are being attacked and killed. It does not matter who is right or wrong, Muslims must always help the Muslim."

Comment 8) I do not now by whom Muslims are commanded to help and protect all Muslims no matter if they are right or wrong. In Islam, under laws all people are equal regardless of their faith. In Ottoman Empire even a Sultan were judged in front of the Court when he violated the right of a non-believer. And In many verses in Quran it is very clear that we have to defend the right one first not the Muslim one. In Quran there is no verse to defend a Muslim first no matter if he is right or wrong.

Response to comment 8)

When you talk about laws and Islam, you are talking about Sharia. Non-Muslims testimony is inadmissable and worthless in a Sharia court. A Muslim Women's testimony is only worth 1/2 that of a Muslim Man in a Sharia court. Further Dhimmis are commanded to feed and shelter any Muslim if he requests it for a period of 3 days but the reverse is not true for the Dhimmi.

Hint: Non-Muslims' testimony isn't worthless, no verse nor a situation proves that, instead, Prophet Muhammad was ordered to take the testimony of a Jew and punish a Muslim for stealing money and accusing the Jew of the stealing action,

8. O ye who believe! Be steadfast witnesses for Allah in equity, and let not hatred of any people seduce you that ye deal not justly. Deal justly, that is nearer to your duty. Observe your duty to Allah. Lo! Allah is Informed of what ye do.

Dhimmi have all the rights of Muslims, and Jizyah was removed when non-Muslims submitted to Muslim army, this means it isn't an "exhorbitant poll tax" coz as soon as the reason for it was over, it was removed.

Testimony of the woman if half that of man due to the sensitive state of women, they have changing health and moods during their menstrual periods, and this is not the case always, but we may find also iin the Sharia, the testimony of the woman is being taken alone, with no need of another man, as the case when a woman witnesses that she breastfed somebody, something that may or maynot hinder a certain marriage.

As for the feed and shelter mentioned here, I don't know from what book that claim came, it is clear that Muslims used to shelter non-Muslims even in the times of war, and the Quran states that:

6. And if anyone of the idolaters seeketh thy protection (O Muhammad), then protect him so that he may hear the Word of Allah, and afterward convey him to his place of safety. That is because they are a folk who know not.

Quote 9) "A proper Muslim state has a duty to protect all of its inhabitants, including Christians and Jews as Jiyzah paying Dhimmis. A prime example of this is Andalusia (present day Spain and Portugal) where Muslims ruled while Jews, Christians and Muslims lived together in peace and safety as the Christians and Jews were slowly eradicated, Churches and synagogues destroyed and forced conversion of any orphan 16 or younger.

Comment 9) Yes an Islamic state has this duty and in Ottoman Empire they applied this very successfully. They got some taxes from non-believers. But they also made shelters and homes for them to live in peace and even places for them to pray. And they had same equal rights with Muslims in front of laws and in social life. They were not isolated from society. If anybody has doubt they may see it in Istanbul, Turkey and Alexandria, Egypt, and many other countries today with places where a church a Masjid and a synagogue all exist together side by side. And all the churches were saved and protected just like Masjids. A Muslim has no right to destroy a church or a synagogue or to force non-believers to accept Islam. This is very clear in Islam that there is no compulsion in faith. All people are free in their faiths.

Response to comment 9)

Non-Muslims do not have equal rights as Muslims and are to be made to feel subdued. They are not allowed to display crosses or wine, if the church or synagogue is destroyed or in disrepair, it is not allowed to be rebuilt or repaired. No new church has been built in a Muslim occupied land in the last 100 years. Turkey's Christian population was at 20% 100 years ago and is at .1% now due to continued violence upon non-Muslims. Furthermore millions of Christian Armenians were killed by the Turks and the Turks deny this just as many Muslims deny the Jewish genocide under Hitler.

Hint: If a Muslim country doesn't allow wine, it is a full right for it, just Ike a Hindu country doesn't allow slaughtering cows, although it is not prohibited in all other nations and although it is harmless which is not the case in wine. Every country has its unique shape and unique traditions that must be respected. But despite that, wine is indeed available in many Muslim countries, specifically for foreigners.

When someone claims that Turks killed Christians, there must be a detailed history for the political background behind that, not only throwing accusations on religion! History is being told from the writers' points of view, not from the reality and fact, in order to collect the parts of the history puzzles, we must read all these point of view to bring up a final image that may be closer to reality.

Quote 10) "The Prophet Muhammad said that "killing one person is like killing all of mankind" but he meant that only in context of killing Muslims."

Comment 10) This verse should be read from Quran. It is very clear that no matter if it is a Muslim or a Christian or a non-believer killing of one "innocent" regardless of faith is like killing of all humanity.

This particular verse came after the mention of the story of Abel and his brother, when Abel finally killed his brother and didn't know what to do with his dead body the Qurainc comment was so strong and tough, saying:

32. For that cause We decreed for the Children of Israel that whosoever killeth a human being for other than manslaughter or corruption in the earth, it shall be as if he had killed all mankind, and whoso saveth the life of one, it shall be as if he had saved the life of all mankind. Our messengers came unto them of old with clear proofs (of Allah's Sovereignty), but afterwards lo! many of them became prodigals in the earth.

Response to comment10)

This depends upon interpretation.

Quote 11) Muslims do not have any responsibility for others becoming Muslim. In fact, the definition of being a Muslim is "one who willingly submits to the will of the Creator of mankind and the universe", making it impossible for someone to become a Muslim by force. This of course does not take into account the forced conversion of anyone born to a Muslim man whether he is born a Muslim or converts at a later date or the forced conversion of any orphans of a non-Muslim. If a non-Muslim is given the opportunity to become a Muslim and refuses, they are called Infidel and are less human and treated as so as a Dhimmi.

Comment 11) Non-Muslims are not called infidel in Islam. All the members of the Holy Religions; Muslims, Christians and Jews are called believers. We may have different beliefs in our religions but we all believe in the same God and so we are all accepted as believers. We just know God in different ways. Only non-believers are called blasphemers. But they are treated the same as Muslims in Islam. There is no verse in Quran that orders bad treatment against blasphemers. On the contrary we are ordered to fairly treat them and to try to be a good model for them to help them see the good values that our faith brings us.

Response to comment 11)

We are called "People of the Book" if we are Christians or Jews. Blasphemers are executed in Muslim countries..that is a fact. The Quran does not tell Muslims to treat non-Muslims bad, the Hadith does and you cannot separate them.

Quote 12) "When an infidel's country is conquered by a Muslim ruler, its inhabitants are offered three alternatives:--

(1) The reception of Islam, in which case the conquered become enfranchised citizens of the Muslim state.

(2) The Payment of a poll-tax (Jizyah) , by which unbelievers in Islam obtain protection, and become Dhimmis , provided they are not the idolaters of Arabia.

(3) Death by the sword, to those who will not pay the poll tax."

Comment 12) Yes they are invited to accept Islam but only by their own free will not by force. Jizyah existed as in many other countries in the world. Like Romans and Greeks did in the past to protect the members of another nation. But Jizyah in Islam is a little bit different. It is taken from non-Muslim mens only. But Muslims are already obliged to pay alms. So this Jizyah is not a money that is taken unfairly. It is to protect those non-Muslims who would like to live in a Muslim nation or a nation ruled by Islam. When a non-Muslim dies before paying Jizyah his or her debt is not taken from their inheritance. This makes it clear that this money is taken only to protect non-Muslims. Jizyah is not taken from women, the old, the sick, nonadults, slaves, the disabled and mental patients.

Response to comment 12)

Osama Bin Laden gave the USA these three choices before 911. This has been standard Muslim practice since the time of Muhammad. Jiyzah is a poll tax, not alms for the poor and many times non-Muslims in a conquered territory were refused when the wanted to convert to Islam as the rulers wanted them to pay the Jiyzah. The Jizyah was established to be approximately double the alms required of Muslims. Also the Jizyah was forced from the non-Muslims who were not allowed to leave.

Quote 13) "Those fight for the cause of Allah and kill pagans wherever they are found. Whenever believers meet unbelievers, Muslims are encouraged to smite their neck and to fight those who believe not in Allah and the last day (2:244; 47:4; 9:5; 9:29).

5:82

Thou wilt find the most vehement of mankind in hostility to those who believe (to be) the Jews and the idolaters. Tradition approves of violence against infidels and those who leave Islam as their native or chosen religion. Fighting and killing are described as beloved activities. Apostasy is punished by death.

8.12'Remember thy Lord inspired the angels (with the message): "I am with you: give firmness to the believers: I will instill terror into the hearts of the unbelievers: smite ye above their necks and smite all their finger-tips off them."3.39 'O believers, fight them (ie. unbelievers) until there is no more mischief and the Deen of Allah (way of life prescribed by Allah) is established completely.'47:4 "So, when you clash with the unbelieving Infidels in battle,

fighting Jihad in Allah's Cause, smite their necks until you overpower them,

killing and wounding many of them. At length, when you have thoroughly

subdued them, bind them firmly, making (them) captives. Thereafter either

generosity or ransom (them based upon what benefits Islam) until the war

lays down its burdens. Thus are you commanded by Allah to continue carrying out Jihad against the unbelieving infidels until they submit to Islam."

Muslim men are allowed to marry believing, practicing Christian and Jewish women, but Muslim Women are forbidden from marrying any non-Muslim man which makes this idea of mutual religious respect a fallacy.

How can Muslims treat any non-Muslim as an equal when the Quran has passages such as this that call anyone who does not believe as Muslims do as being Apes and pigs.

5.60 Say: "Shall I point out to you something much worse than this, (as judged) by the treatment it received from Allah? those who incurred the curse of Allah and His wrath, those of whom some He transformed into apes and swine, those who worshipped evil;- these are (many times) worse in rank, and far more astray from the even path!"

2.65 And well ye knew those amongst you who transgressed in the matter of the Sabbath: We said to them: "Be ye apes, despised and rejected."

7.166 When in their insolence they transgressed (all) prohibitions, We said to them: "Be ye apes, despised and rejected."

Read it directly from Quran to see whether there is hatred or love in Islam. It is better to learn Islam from Quran and trusted interpretations of it today. I recommend the books of Said Nursi who is one of the biggest scholars of this century. His books are published in many countries today and he wrote about faith in God. It gives great examples in philosophical ways leaving no doubt in the minds of the readers. His books can be understood by anybody without any prior knowledge. Today it is difficult to point out a nation that could be a model of any of the Holy Religions. We have lost many of the good values we had in the past. So we shouldn't judge any religion by looking at the members of it and we should learn from trustable books and internet sites not from any source on the internet.

Said Nursi is not a widely accepted Islamic Scholar so his writings have no power of being embraced by all of Islam. Besides the Quran, the Hadith must be read to decipher the Quran as it is not in chronological order but is in alphabetical order. This is specifically why this question was asked. It is because in war there is deceit and Muslims are at war with the world and are bent on the conquest of the world. Until the whole world is under Muslim control and a Caliphate is in place, there can be no peace.

Hint: Yes, Islam MUST be taken as a whole, so you made a little mistake here, you ignored some scripts in the Holy Quran that clear out the verses you mentioned above:

Nations whom God turned out into apes and pigs are stated in the Torah, their story is well known, it is a sort of torture God prepared for those who broke their deal and disobeyed God's commandments. Every disobedient nation in the past decades was punished by a different means that suits their sins:

40. So We took each one in his sin; of them was he on whom We sent a hurricane, and of them was he who was overtaken by the (Awful) Cry, and of them was he whom We caused the earth to swallow, and of them was he whom We drowned. It was not for Allah to wrong them, but they wronged themselves.

You fell in another mistake, you ignored the 3rd arm of the triangle, which is the Sira, the Quranic script can't be fully understood without revising the Sira, and it is full of situations between Prophet Muhammad and non-Muslims of all religions, there is no enough place to mention here, but one can give an example with the idolaters of Makkah and Taef, during their opening, and the letters Prophet Muhammad sent to all kings of the nearby nations.

Any nation in the world has relationships with the neighbors in one of two ways: either peace, or war. Muslims are not in a constant state of war, and not with all non-Muslims anyway, and this verse is the evidence:

72. Lo! those who believed and left their homes and strove with their wealth and their lives for the cause of Allah, and those who took them in and helped them: these are protecting friends one of another. And those who believed but did not leave their homes, ye have no duty to protect them till they leave their homes; but if they seek help from you in the matter of religion then it is your duty to help (them) except against a folk between whom and you there is a treaty. Allah is Seer of what ye do.

92. It is not for a believer to kill a believer unless (it be) by mistake. He who hath killed a believer by mistake must set free a believing slave, and pay the blood- money to the family of the slain, unless they remit it as a charity. If he (the victim) be of a people hostile unto you, and he is a believer, then (the penance is) to set free a believing slave. And if he cometh of a folk between whom and you there is a covenant, then the blood-money must be paid unto his folk and (also) a believing slave must be set free. And whoso hath not the wherewithal must fast two consecutive months. A penance from Allah. Allah is Knower, Wise.

93. Whoso slayeth a believer of set purpose, his reward is hell for ever. Allah is wroth against him and He hath cursed him and prepared for him an awful doom.

94. O ye who believe! When ye go forth (to fight) in the way of Allah, be careful to discriminate, and say not unto one who offereth you peace: "Thou art not a believer," seeking the chance profits of this life (so that ye may despoil him). With Allah are plenteous spoils. Even thus (as he now is) were ye before; but Allah hath since then been gracious unto you. Therefore take care to discriminate. Allah is ever Informed of what ye do.

Muslims hate neither Christians nor Jews. They do not hate even atheists. Hate doesn't exist in Islam against the people of other faiths.

As the Quran teaches us, we as Muslims do have sympathy toward all humanity, animals, plants, nature without any discrimination of faith, race, country color or anything else. We are taught to have love for every creature and the universe since all are created by Almighty God. If one is not a believer we might show mercy to help him or her see the facts of the intelligent creation of God.

Muslims hate terrorism and the aggression of some countries over other Muslim countries. They hate the deviation of other God believers from the real God message to humanity. They hate worshiping partner to God the Creator. However, they never hate any human based on his/her belief or faith.