Life, the Universe & the Quran

By Dr. Saddique

So you think theres no point in reading Holy Scriptures?
-too complicated, probably all made up by humans and time-consuming?
Science & Religion at odds with each other?
Impossible to figure out the meaning of life?
The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking all that you need to know? - think again.....

Would you believe me if I said that the Quran (written in the 7th century) actually CONFIRMS the immaculate conception of Jesus and that there is a whole chapter devoted to Mary ?
Would you believe that the Quran actually CONFIRMS the previous revelations in the original Torah and Gospel/s ?
How would you feel if you discovered that there are many astronomical, cosmological, scientific and embryological details in the Quran, and that they are accurate to the present day? And that many of them were written centuries before they were scientifically proven-including the Big Bang and the expansion of the Universe? Furthermore, in the Quran, God actually STATES that He did NOT make the Universe because He was bored and actually mentions the specific reasons why he made Mankind. Allah (God) also states that it is up to the individual to make his/her mind up about His existence and that no-one can be forced to be a believer.
The original title for my book was going to be Everything you wanted to know about the Quran but were afraid to ask (!) but for such a book I think humour should take second place to a more solid title, especially considering the subject matter.
This book is timely in that it looks at what the Quran says about Terrorism and openly, and without bias, discusses all the above and other important topics about the Quran and Islam (-see 'Contents') including questioning some verses of the Quran (with respect). This book is up to date, including scientifically, and no household should be without a copy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: May 24, 2011
• ISBN: 9781467891240

Dr. Saddique

Born and brought up as a traditional Muslim to uneducated parents. Became interested in Astronomy, Cosmology, Einsteins Theory of Relativity, Philosophy, and Theology as a teenager; discovered the Night Sky with binoculars and a telescope (all self-taught). Temporary atheist in late teenage years after studying Cosmology at home, and Physics, Maths, Chemistry & Biology at college. Subsequently went to Medical School where he also decided to read the Quran in his spare time, in English, and also came across a book called The Bible, The Quran and Science-by Dr Bucaille, which highlighted the scientific, astronomical and embryological details in the Quran. Graduated as a (medical) doctor in 1993. His interests in all of the above continue and he decided to write this book because he feels the world needs to know the truth about the Quran and Islam (i.e. to put the story straight once and for all) to a world which only sees a very limited (and usually negative) view portrayed by the media. He respects all those who tell the truth and also those in search of the truth-whether scientific or religious.

Book preview

LIFE,

THE UNIVERSE

&

THE QURAN

Dr Saddique

ah1.jpg

AuthorHouse™ UK Ltd.

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© 2011 Dr Saddique. All rights reserved.

Author- Dr Saddique

Editor- Dr Saddique

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 5/18/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4678-9124-0 (ebook)

ISBN: 978-1-4520-8868-6 (sc)

Cover image: ‘The Hubble Ultra Deep Field’- this is an image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope while in orbit around the Earth. It is the deepest image ever taken (to date) of the Universe. It shows the youngest galaxies ever seen and as they were less than 1 billion years after the Big Bang-which means that this is how these galaxies looked like about 13 billion years ago since the Universe is estimated to be about 14 billion years old.

Cover image copyright: NASA/ESA/STScI

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any Web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

PREFACE

TERMINOLOGY

INTRODUCTION

THE QURAN AND THE BIBLE

PURPOSE OF THE QURAN

PROPHET MUHAMMAD

ASTRONOMY & COSMOLOGY IN THE QURAN

SCIENCE & MEDICINE IN THE QURAN

EMBRYOLOGY IN THE QURAN

ADAM & EVE

JUDAISM, ABRAHAM & MOSES IN THE QURAN

MARY & JESUS IN THE QURAN

THE DEAD SEA SCROLLS

WOMEN IN ISLAM

SEX & HOMOSEXUALITY

ALCOHOL IN THE QURAN

PORK IN THE QURAN

CIRCUMCISION IN THE QURAN

CUTTING OFF HANDS OF THIEVES IN THE QURAN

TERRORISM AND THE QURAN

SATAN

HELL

THE DAY OF JUDGEMENT (DOJ)

PARADISE

OTHER INTERESTING VERSES AND OBSERVATIONS IN THE QURAN

CHAPTERS OF THE QURAN

QUERIES

CONCLUSIONS

This book is dedicated to all those in pursuit

of Truth and Wisdom without:

1. Fear

2. Ignorance to Religious Scriptures & Scientific facts

3. Bias for any reason/s

It is also dedicated to those who can handle

the Truth, even if it is against their norms of

behaviour, beliefs or/and understanding.

PREFACE  

This book has been written to try and make it easy for those without much knowledge of the Quran (the Muslim Holy Book) to understand what is written in it, in an easily understandable manner, by highlighting selected portions (in the interest of being concise) of each chapter of the Quran in plain English; these ‘portions’ have been chosen without prejudice or bias to the Quran and in an attempt to give the reader what I feel is important in a truly objective study of the Quran; I have not included portions where the reader may say ‘anyone can have written this’ (wherever possible). Also, any misunderstandings and false beliefs about the Quran will be mentioned.

I am 43yrs old, have been brought up by traditional, uneducated, non-English speaking Punjabi parents, and I work as a Medical Doctor. In my childhood years I attended the local Mosque and recited passages of the Quran (in Arabic-the original language of the Quran)-even though I didn’t understand what I was saying (as I had been brought up with the Punjabi language); it would obviously have been much better for me to have learnt Arabic and then read/recited the Quran but this didn’t happen. In my teenage years I became interested in Astronomy, Cosmology, Einstein’s Theory of Relativity and Science which made me wonder whether a God was really necessary to kick-start the Big Bang and my rational scientific mind took over my life from then on. Later, I went to Medical School to study ‘Medicine’ and during that period an acquaintance gave me a book to read called ‘The Bible, The Quran and Science’ by Dr Maurice Bucaille (a French Surgeon); I found this book to be absolutely amazing as it looks, in an objective manner, at the scientific statements in both Holy Books and compares them to today’s modern scientific facts; this was of particular significance to me as I was already aware of these scientific facts. To be truly objective I then had to read a Quran (to confirm Dr Bucaille’s statements) so I did this and my mind was then settled that his writings were accurate. However, as I do not understand Arabic, I relied on an English translation of the Quran (by Muhammad Zafrulla Khan; publisher-Curzon Press 1985 edition) so I am limited to accept this small margin of error (in translation) in my study. It must also be noted that other factual information in this book has been obtained by reliable sources.

To be truly independent ONE MUST STUDY THE QURAN THEMSELVES (i.e. not take my, or anyone else’s, word for it) and make their own decision/s so I must encourage everyone to do this if possible.

If truth be told, people easily have enough time to read the Quran, Bible, etc (although they always seem to say that they are too busy) and it appears to me that most people have just accepted to themselves that there is no answer to the ultimate question of whether there is a God or not, or which religion (if any) is correct (otherwise someone more intelligent would have found the answer by now is what people say/think). Also, people may be afraid of possible restrictions to their life/inheritance should they change their views. But, surely, the truth should be searched for regardless-and there can only be ONE TRUTH-this is all I have ever wanted to know myself, whatever it is.

There is a lot in common between the Quran and the Bible-both confirm the immaculate conception of Jesus (yes, really: Quran Ch19 vs20) and also the stories of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses amongst others are mentioned in both books (incl.Satan and Judgement Day). Sceptics though have (understandably) argued that, since the Quran was written approx 600 yrs after Jesus’ time, the Quran is ‘the Bible copied with some changes made’ (Quran-Ch16 vs102-104 answers this point-see ‘Chapters of the Quran’). Other sceptics have (understandably) said that the Bible is not an accurate representation of its original form because of changes made to it since it was first written (e.g. the New Testament was not written by Jesus and it was written by several authors a long time after Jesus died). However, one can only make these decisions once one has read both books him/herself, without prejudice, and it is only the individual who should truly decide on this matter. THE QURAN STATES IN Ch2 vs257 ‘THERE SHALL BE NO COMPULSION IN RELIGION FOR GUIDANCE AND ERROR HAVE BEEN CLEARLY DISTINGUISHED’ (i.e. Mankind has been given free-will, or freedom of conscience, and also–therefore- you cannot force anyone into religion/Islam) - so this affirms my latter view.

This book is only for those with an open mind and nothing in this book is meant to offend anyone, any religion (and I will always maintain the view that no religion should be insulted) or country. It is mainly a presentation of facts about the Quran (with my views added separately) and IT IS FOR THE READER TO MAKE THE FINAL DECISION/S HIM/HERSELF-EVERYONE HAS A RIGHT TO THEIR OWN OPINIONS on everything, including where they stand on religion.

I have tried to make sure that all the scientific data is up to date to the present day.

As a final point I would like to say that about a quarter of planet Earth is occupied by Muslims-approx 1.5 billion people, so understanding their Holy Book would be a good start in one’s general education/knowledge.

TERMINOLOGY  

ALLAH means (is the Arabic for) ‘God’.

‘DOJ’ is shorthand for ‘Day of Judgement’.

HADITH/s- also known as ‘Sunnah’- are ‘the sayings/preaching of Prophet Muhammad’. These were written down after Muhammad died and so, like the Bible, can be questioned on their authenticity although some, written down by those closest to Muhammad (his disciples/family/friends), are accepted as fact (e.g. the method of Prayer etc).

ISLAM means ‘to submit’ i.e. a Muslim must totally submit to God-‘Islam’ does not ‘mean’ peace, although the Quran and Islam definitely preach ‘peace’ as the higher moral ground.

JINN- another form of creation that God made before Mankind (see Ch15 vs27 and Ch55 vs13-14). They are made of ‘smokeless fire’, or energy, and were also given ‘free-will’; just like Mankind they will also be accountable on the DOJ. They are believed to be invisible beings (Ch7 vs28) that are good and bad-just like humans. As mentioned later, Iblis (for some thought to be a ‘fallen angel’) is more accurately believed to have been a Jinn until he challenged God (Ch18 vs51).

KA’ABA- this is the cube-shaped small building in Mecca, around which Muslims circuit during pilgrimage. It is described more fully in my ‘Introduction’ chapter and is regarded as the Holiest place to/of Muslims, or God’s House/the focal point of Islam.

MUSLIM means ‘one who follows the religion of Islam’ (the Quran and the Hadith/s).

QIBLA means ‘direction of Prayer’ (towards the Ka’aba); you will see this as an arrow on the ceiling in Muslim countries.

QURAN means ‘the recitation’ or ‘that which will be recited’ –the very word ‘Quran’ is thought to be a prophecy in itself (as it is recited to this very day).

ZAKAT means giving to the poor/needy, or ‘charity’ -this contributes to the sharing of one’s wealth with those less well off in society.

Please Note also:

‘We’ is probably meant as ‘God and the angels’ when God is talking in the Quran.

‘Heaven/s’ probably means the sky and/or beyond (not ‘Paradise’ which is mentioned as a separate word with a different meaning).

When I quote a verse number it is an approximate number in ‘The Quran’ translated by Muhammad Zafrulla Khan (who was not a scientist, astronomer or medical doctor to my knowledge-unlike Dr Bucaille or Prof Moore).

The Old Testament is also known as the ‘Hebrew Bible’.

Abraham and Moses are thought to have lived around 2000BC and 1450BC respectively.

The earliest Old Testament documents have been dated at 200BC (from the ‘Dead Sea Scrolls’) and the earliest New Testament documents at 125AD.

INTRODUCTION  

Nobody alive today was present when the Quran was originally written down (and the oldest Quran today is in Tashkent, Uzbekistan-although not complete-and dated at approx 651AD) so the following is the best accepted information about this Holy Book and about (Prophet) Muhammad:

Muhammad himself was born in Mecca in 570AD and died in Medina in 632AD