Islam

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

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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.

When a Muslim girl gets her puberty, she is accountable for ALL her deeds...which means she is responsible for everything she says or does...

So...she will first have to wear hijab(scarf), of course...

and, also pray ALL the 5 prayers correctly and on time..

Circumcision, though not mentioned in the Qur'an, is practiced among Islamic peoples and is most often considered to be a Sunnah (a holy tradition). The explanation for Muslim circumcision is that it is a sign of Abraham's covenant with God. This is the same explanation that is used in Judaism.

Some Muslim scholars believe circumcision is a requirement. Some others say it is not required. There is even a movement within Islam that opposes circumcision on the basis of the belief that it is a sin to alter the body in any way.

In Muslim countries where it is practiced circumcision usually pre-dates Islam. For instance, there are records of it being common in Egypt as far back as the Sixth Dynasty (2345 - 2181 BC).
Because Gods wanted all descendants of Abraham to be circumcised.