The Islamic World

The Islamic World

Allah's Questions to Jesus
Almighty Allah asserted: And (remember) when Allah will say (on the Day of Resurrection): "0 Jesus son of Mary! Did you say unto men: 'Worship me and my mother as two gods besides Allah?"' He will say: "Glory be to You! It was not for me to say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, You would surely have known it. You know what is in my inner-self though I do not know what is in Yours, truly, You, only You, are the All-Knower of all that is hidden and unseen. Never did I say to them aught except what You (Allah) did command me to say: 'Worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord', And I was a witness over them while I dwelt amongst them, but when You took me up, You were the Watcher over them, and You are a Witness to all things. (This is a great admonition and warning to the Christians of the whole world). If you punish them, they are Your slaves, and if You forgive them, Verily You, only You are the All-Mighty the All- Wise."

Caesarea was an important town and port on the Mediterranean sea coast. Caesarea is now in ruins, but at the time of the invasion of Syria by the Muslims in the seventh century, it was a large city with three hundred busy streets. The city was populated by the Christians who were completly, hellenised.

As Caesarea was a large port and had communications through sea with Constantinople as well as Alexandria, it continued to receive help from the Byzantines. As the Muslims had no navy they were unable to intercept such aid. As help could come to Caesarea through the sea, and mustered there as a menace to the Muslims, it was even at the early stages of campaigning in Syria felt by the Muslim high command that Caesarea should be captured by the Muslims.

The Idolaters' Punishment
However, the punishment which was imposed upon the calf worshipers was severe: death. And (remember) when Moses said to his people: "0 my people! Verily, you have wronged yourselves by worshipping the calf. So turn in repentance to your Creator and kill yourselves (the innocent kill the wrong-doers among you), that will be better for you in the Sight of your Creator." Then He accepted your repentance. Truly, He is the One Who accpets repentance, the Most Merciful. Surah 2: 54
Therefore, the crime of worshipping the calf did not pass unpunished. Moses commanded the elite of the children of Israel to pray to Allah for forgiveness and demonstrate their repentance. He chose seventy men out of them and ordered them: "Rush towards Allah and repent for what you did and ask His forgiveness for what you left."
Moses's People Demand to See Allah

When the dead body of the Holy Prophet of Islam was being prepared for burial, the Ansar assembled at their meeting place 'Saqifa-i-Bani Sa'dah' to discuss the question of succession to the Holy Prophet. The Holy Prophet was the last of the prophets, and there could be no prophet after him. He was also the Leader of the Muslims, and it was necessary that after him there should be some one who should be the head of the community.

It is related that once 'Utbah bin Abifarqad came to see Umar at his house. 'Utbah was an eminent Companion. When he was announced Umar was taking his meals. 'Utbah was asked to come in. Umar wanted 'Utbah to share his food with him. 'Utbah started eating, but the bread was so coarse that he could not swallow it.

Umar watched 'Utbah and then said:

"'Utbah, what is the matter?"

'Utbah sighed and said:

"O Commander of the Faithful why are you imposing such austerities on your self? Why dont you use finer flour for your bread? You can certainly afford it."

Umar said:

"Fie on you 'Utbab, you are seducing me to the devil's way."

'Utbah said:

"So many Muslims eat fine bread. Do you think they are the followers of the devil?"

Umar said:

"'Utbah tell me, can every Muslim afford fine bread ?"

'Utbah said:

"Of course every Muslim cannot afford such bread, but many can."

Umar said:

Moses's People Find the Right Cow
They went out in search of such a cow. The only one that matched the description was the one owned by the orphaned youth. They met him on the way and asked the price for which he would sell his cow. He told them he would have to consult his mother first, so they accompanied him to his house and offered her three gold coins. She refused their offer, saying that the cow was worth much more.

They went on increasing their offer and the mother kept on refusing. Finally they urged the son to speak to his mother to be reasonable. He told them: "I will not sell the cow without my mother's approval, even if you offered me its skin filled with gold!" On hearing this, his mother smiled and said: "Let that be the price: its skin filled with gold." They realized that no other cow would do; they had to have it at any price. They agreed to buy the cow and paid with its skin filled with gold.

The People are Asked to Slaughter a Cow - Qur'anic

In Islam, there is no conflict between faith in God and modern scientific knowledge. Indeed, for many centuries during the Middle Ages, Muslims led the world in scientific inquiry and exploration. The Quran itself, revealed around 14 centuries ago, is filled with facts and imagery that are supported by modern scientific findings. Three of those will be mentioned here. Of them, the development of language and mitrochondrial Eve (genetics) are relatively new areas of scientific research.

The Quran instructs Muslims to “contemplate the wonders of creation” (Quran 3:191)

One of the items for contemplation is the statement:

“Truly, I am going to create man from clay...” (Quran 38:71)

When the Holy Prophet migrated to Madina, there was a considerable number of Jews there. They were wealthy, and commanded great influence as they controlled all trade. The Holy Prophet laid down the policy of "Live and let live" with reference to the Jews. He accordingly entered into a treaty of mutual cooperation and collaboration with them. According to the terms of the treaty, the Jews were to enjoy religious freedom and there was to be no interference .in religious affairs. The Muslims and the Jews were to be on friendly terms, and were to help each other in the promotion of objects of common interest. It was stipulated that the Muslims and the Jews would jointly defend Madina against any enemy from. Without. The Jews were not to give protection to the Quraish of Makkah, and in the event of any attack by the Quraish, both the Muslims and the Jews were to join hands in the defense of the city.

Betrayal of the Jews

Abu Musa Ashari was the Governor of Basra. He held the chief command of the operations in Persia. After the victory of Isfahan Abu Musa sent a delegation of sixty persons to Madina. A young man Zaba bin Mahsin waited on Abu Musa and desired that he should also be included in the delegation. Abu Musa regretted his inability as persons more derserving than Zaba had been included in the delegation. Zaba felt dissatisfied and he held out a threat of complaining to the Caliph. Abu Musa informed Umar of the threat of Zaba.

Zaba went to Madina and there lodged a complaint against Abu Musa. Umar recorded the complaint and summoned Abu Musa to Madina. When Abu Musa came to Madina, Umar showed him the list of charges against him and asked for his explanation.

The Number of Believers
Noah's wife was not a believer with him, so she did not join him; neither did one of Noah's sons, who was secretly a disbeliever but had pretended faith in front of Noah. Likewise most of the people were disbelievers and did not go on board.
The scholars (Ulama) hold different opinions on the number of those who were with Noah on the ship. Ibn Abbas stated that ther were eighty believers, while Ka'ab Al-Ahbar held that there were seventy-two. Others claimed that there were ten believers with Noah.

Noah Appeals to His Son

Abraham Sacrifices His Son

It had been close to ten years since Abraham had left his wife and baby in Mecca in the care of God. After a two month journey, he was surprised to find Mecca a lot different than how he had left it. The joy of reunion was soon interrupted by a vision which was to be the ultimate test of his faith. God commanded Abraham through a dream to sacrifice his son, the son he had had after years of prayers and had just met after a decade of separation.

We know from the Quran that the child to be sacrificed was Ishmael, as God, when giving the glad tidings of the birth of Isaac to Abraham and Sarah, also gave the glad tidings of a grandson, Jacob (Israel):

“…But we gave her glad tidings of Isaac, and after him, of Jacob.” (Quran 11:71)

Similarly, in the biblical verse Genesis 17:19, Abraham was promised:

When after the assassination of Uthman, Ali became the Caliph Talha and Zubair took the allegiance to Ali, but soon they repudiated such allegiance and supported the demand for vengeance for the blood of Uthman. Talha, Zubair, and Ayesha occupied Basra and the battle of the Camel was fought between the supporters of Ali, and the supporters of Talha, Zubair, and Ayesha outside Basra. In this battle, Ali won and the cause of Talha and Zubair was lost. Talha escaped from the battlefield, but fell a victim to an arrow shot by Marwan b Hakam. If is reported on the authority of Alqama b Waqas that in Basra, Talha said that he was guilty of a lapse in the matter of his conduct towards Uthman, and he wanted to atone for such lapse by supporting the demand for the vengeance for the blood of Uthman.

Taha Hussain's view