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Stephen King Biography (1947 - )


RELATED WORKS
Novels
1974 Carrie
1975 Salem's Lot
1976 The Shining
1978 The Stand


Writer. Born September 21, 1947 in Portland, Maine. He graduated from his state university and continued to live in Maine, at first supporting himself with odd jobs while establishing his writing career. The success of his first horror novel, Carrie (1974), enabled him to publish earlier work under the pseudonym Richard Bachman (1977–84), a ploy which disguised the true extent of his prolific output of novels, short stories, and screenplays, until the ruse became public knowledge and he abandoned it.

His own name became synonymous with best-selling novels blending horror, fantasy, and science fiction into a consistently scary mix. His books have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide and include Salem's Lot (1975), The Shining (1977), The Dead Zone (1979), Misery (1987), Gerald's Game (1992), and Cell (2006). He has also written collections of short stories, including Hearts in Atlantis (1999). Several were made into successful films, and he himself tried his hand at film directing.

King and his novelist wife live in Bangor, Maine. They have three children: Naomi Rachel, a reverend; Joseph Hillstrom, who writes under the pen name Joe Hill and is a lauded horror-fiction writer in his own right; and Owen Phillip, whose first collection of stories was published in 2005.

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Tafsir Ibn Kathir-Revealed in Al-Madinah - Virtues of Surat Al-Baqarah

The Virtues of Surat Al-Baqarah

In Musnad Ahmad, Sahih Muslim, At-Tirmidhi and An-Nasa'i, it is recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Prophet said,

«لَا تَجْعَلُوا بُيُوتَكُمْ قُبُورًا فَإِنَّ الْبَيْتَ الَّذِي تُقْرَأُ فِيهِ سُورَةُ الْبَقَرَةِ لَا يَدْخُلُهُ الشَّيْطَان»

(Do not turn your houses into graves. Verily, Shaytan does not enter the house where Surat Al-Baqarah is recited.) At-Tirmidhi said, "Hasan Sahih.

Also, `Abdullah bin Mas`ud said, "Shaytan flees from the house where Surat Al-Baqarah is heard.'' This Hadith was collected by An-Nasa'i in Al-Yawm wal-Laylah, and Al-Hakim recorded it in his Mustadrak, and then said that its chain of narration is authentic, although the Two Sahihs did not collect it. In his Musnad, Ad-Darimi recorded that Ibn Mas`ud said, "Shaytan departs the house where Surat Al-Baqarah is being recited, and as he leaves, he passes gas.'' Ad-Darimi also recorded that Ash-Sha`bi said that `Abdullah bin Mas`ud said, "Whoever recites ten Ayat from Surat Al-Baqarah in a night, then Shaytan will not enter his house that night. (These ten Ayat are) four from the beginning, Ayat Al-Kursi (255), the following two Ayat (256-257) and the last three Ayat.'' In another narration, Ibn Mas`ud said, "Then Shaytan will not come near him or his family, nor will he be touched by anything that he dislikes. Also, if these Ayat were to be recited over a senile person, they would wake him up.''

Further, Sahl bin Sa`d said that the Messenger of Allah said,

«إِنَّ لِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ سَنَامًا، وَإِنَّ سَنَامَ الْقُرْآنِ الْبَقَرَةُ، وَإِنَّ مَنْ قَرَأَهَا فِي بَيْتِهِ لَيْلَةً لَمْ يَدْخُلْهُ الشَّيْطَانُ ثَلَاثَ لَيَالٍ، وَمَنْ قَرَأَهَا فِي بَيْتِهِ نَهَارًا لَمْ يَدْخُلْهُ الشَّيْطَانُ ثَلَاثَةَ أَيَّام»

(Everything has a hump (or, high peek), and Al-Baqarah is the high peek of the Qur'an. Whoever recites Al-Baqarah at night in his house, then Shaytan will not enter that house for three nights. Whoever recites it during a day in his house, then Shaytan will not enter that house for three days.) This Hadith was collected by Abu Al-Qasim At-Tabarani, Abu Hatim Ibn Hibban in his Sahih and Ibn Marduwyah.

At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasa'i and Ibn Majah recorded that Abu Hurayrah said, "The Messenger of Allah sent an expedition force comprising of many men and asked each about what they memorized of the Qur'an. The Prophet came to one of the youngest men among them and asked him, `What have you memorized (of the Qur'an) young man' He said, `I memorized such and such Surahs and also Al-Baqarah.' The Prophet said, `You memorized Surat Al-Baqarah' He said, `Yes.' The Prophet said, `Then you are their commander.' One of the noted men (or chiefs) commented, `By Allah! I did not learn Surat Al-Baqarah, for fear that I would not be able to implement it. The Messenger of Allah said,

«تَعَلَّمُوا القُرْآنَ وَاقْرَءُوهُ، فَإِنَّ مَثَلَ الْقُرْآنِ لِمَنْ تَعَلَّمَهُ فَقَرَأَ وَقَامَ بِهِ كَمَثَلِ جِرَابٍ مَحْشُوَ مِسْكًا يَفُوحُ رِيحُهُ فِي كُلِّ مَكَانٍ، وَمَثَلُ مَنْ تَعَلَّمَهُ فَيَرْقُدُ وَهُوَ فِي جَوْفِهِ كَمَثَلِ جِرَابٍ أُوكِيَ عَلى مِسْك»

(Learn Al-Qur'an and recite it, for the example of whoever learns the Qur'an, recites it and adheres to it, is the example of a bag that is full of musk whose scent fills the air. The example of whoever learns the Qur'an and then sleeps (i.e. lazy) while the Qur'an is in his memory, is the example of a bag that has musk, but is closed tight.)

This is the wording collected by At-Tirmidhi, who said that this Hadith is Hasan. In another narration, At-Tirmidhi recorded this same Hadith in a Mursal manner, so Allah knows best.

Also, Al-Bukhari recorded that Usayd bin Hudayr said that he was once reciting Surat Al-Baqarah while his horse was tied next to him. The horse started to make some noise. When Usayd stopped reciting, the horse stopped moving about. When he resumed reading, the horse started moving about again. When he stopped reciting, the horse stopped moving, and when he resumed reading, the horse started to move again. Meanwhile, his son Yahya was close to the horse, and he feared that the horse might step on him. When he moved his son back, he looked up to the sky and saw a cloud radiating with light that looked like lamps. In the morning, he went to the Prophet and told him what had happened and then said, "O Messenger of Allah! My son Yahya was close to the horse and I feared that she might step on him. When I attended to him and raised my head to the sky, I saw a cloud with lights like lamps. So I went, but I couldn't see it.'' The Prophet said, "Do you know what that was'' He said, "No.'' The Prophet said,

«تِلْكَ الْمَلَائِكَةُ دَنَتْ لِصَوْتِكَ وَلَو قَرَأْتَ لَأَصْبَحْتَ يَنْظُرُ النَّاسُ إِلَيْهَا، لَا تَتَوارَى مِنْهُم»

(They were the angels, they came close hearing your voice (reciting Surat Al-Baqarah), and if you had kept reading, the people would have been able to see the angels when the morning came, and the angels would not be hidden from their eyes.)

This is the narration reported by Imam Abu Ubayd Al-Qasim bin Salam in his book Fada'il Al-Qur'an.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir-Meaning of Al Fatiha & its Names

This Surah is called Al-Fatihah, that is, the Opener of the Book, the Surah with which prayers are begun. It is also called, Umm Al-Kitab (the Mother of the Book), according to the majority of the scholars. In an authentic Hadith recorded by At-Tirmidhi, who graded it Sahih, Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,

«الْحَمْدُ للهِ رَبَ الْعَالَمِينَ أُمُّ الْقُرْآنِ وَأُمُّ الْكِتَابِ وَالسَّبْعُ الْمَثَانِي وَالْقُرْآنُ الْعَظِيمُ»

(Al-Hamdu lillahi Rabbil-`Alamin is the Mother of the Qur'an, the Mother of the Book, and the seven repeated Ayat of the Glorious Qur'an.)

It is also called Al-Hamd and As-Salah, because the Prophet said that his Lord said,

«قَسَمْتُ الصَّلَاةَ بَيْنِي وَبَيْنَ عَبْدِي نِصْفَيْنِ، فَإِذَا قَالَ الْعَبْدُ:الْحَمْدُدِلله رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ، قَالَ اللهُ: حَمِدَنِي عَبْدِي»

(`The prayer (i.e., Al-Fatihah) is divided into two halves between Me and My servants.' When the servant says, `All praise is due to Allah, the Lord of existence,' Allah says, 'My servant has praised Me.')

Al-Fatihah was called the Salah, because reciting it is a condition for the correctness of Salah - the prayer. Al-Fatihah was also called Ash-Shifa' (the Cure).

It is also called Ar-Ruqyah (remedy), since in the Sahih, there is the narration of Abu Sa`id telling the the story of the Companion who used Al-Fatihah as a remedy for the tribal chief who was poisoned. Later, the Messenger of Allah said to a Companion,

«وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ أَنَّهَا رُقْيَةٌ»

(How did you know that it is a Ruqyah)

Al-Fatihah was revealed in Makkah as Ibn `Abbas, Qatadah and Abu Al-`Aliyah stated. Allah said,

﴿وَلَقَدْ ءاتَيْنَـكَ سَبْعًا مِّنَ الْمَثَانِي﴾

(And indeed, We have bestowed upon you the seven Mathani) (seven repeatedly recited verses), (i.e. Surat Al-Fatihah) (15:87). Allah knows best.

The Amazing Qur'an-Gary Miller

The Amazing Qur'an
Gary Miller


Calling the Qur'an amazing is not something done only by Muslims, who have an appreciation for the book and who are pleased with it; it has been labeled amazing by non-Muslims as well. In fact, even people who hate Islam very much have still called it amazing.
One thing which surprises non-muslims who are examining the book very closely is that the Qur'an does not appear to them to be what they expected. What they assume is that they have an old book which came fourteen centuries ago from the Arabian desert; and they expect that the book should look something like that - an old book from the desert. And then they find out that it does not resemble what they expected at all. Additionally, one of the first things that some people assume is that because it is an old book which comes from the desert, it should talk about the desert. Well the Qur'an does talk about the desert - some of its imagery describes the desert; but it also talks about the sea - what it's like to be in a storm on the sea.
Some years ago, the story came to us in Toronto about a man who was in the merchant marine and made his living on the sea. A Muslim gave him a translation of the Qur'an to read. The merchant marine knew nothing about the history of Islam but was interešted in reading the Qur'an. When he finished reading it, he brought it back to the Muslim and asked, "This Muhammed, was he a sailor?" He was impressed at how accurately the Qur'an describes a storm on a sea. When he was told,

"No as a matter of fact, Muhammed lived in the desert," that was enough for him. He embraced Islam on the spot. He was so impressed with the Qur'an's description because he had been in a storm on the sea, and he knew that whoever had written that description had also been in a storm on the sea. The description of "a wave, over it a wave, over it clouds"1 was not what someone imagining a storm on a sea to be like would have written; rather, it was written by someone who knew what a storm on the sea was like. This is one example of how the Qur'an is not tied to a certain place and time. Certainly, the scientific ideas expressed in it also do not seem to originate from the desert fourteen centuries ago.
Many centuries before the onset of Muhammed's Prophethood, there was a well-known theory of atomism advanced by the Greek philosopher, Democritus. He and the people who came after him assumed that matter consists of tiny, indestructible, indivisible particles called atoms. The Arabs too, used to deal in the same concept; in fact, the Arabic word dharrah ( ) commonly referred to the smallest particle known to man. Now, modern science has discovered that this smallest unit of matter (i.e., the atom, which has all of the same properties as its element) can be split into its component parts. This is a new idea, a development of the last century; yet, interestingly enough, this information had already been documented in the Qur'an which states:

He Ei.e., Allahl is aware of an atom's weight
in the heavens and on the earth and even anything smaller than that..."2

Undoubtedly, fourteen centuries ago that statement would have looked unusual, even to an Arab. For him, the dharrah was the smallest thing there was. Indeed, this is proof, that the Qur'an is not outdated.
Another example of what one might expect to find in an"old book" that touches upon the subject of health or medicine is outdated remedies or cures. Various historical sources state that the Prophet ~ gave some advice about health and hygiene, yet most of these pieces of advice are not contained in the Qur'an. At first glance, to the non-Muslims this appears to be a negligent omission. They cannot understand why Allah would not "include" such helpful information in the Qur'an. Some Muslims attempt to explain this absence with the following argument: "Although the Prophet's advice was sound and applicable to the time in which he lived, Allah, in His infinite wisdom, knew that there would come later medical and scientific advances which would make the Prophet's advice appear outdated. When later discoveries occurred, people might say that such information contradicted that which the Prophet had given. Thus, since Allah would never allow any opportunity for the non-Muslims to claim that the Qur'an contradicts itself or the teachings of the Prophet
He only included in the Qur'an information and examples which could stand the test of time." However, when one examines the true realities of the Qur'an in terms of its existence as a divine revelation, the entire matter is quickly brought into its proper perspective, and the error in such argumentation becomes clear and understandable. It must be understood that the Qur'an is a divine revelation, and as such, all information in it is of divine origin. Allah revealed the Qur'an from Himself. It is the words of Allah, which existed before creation, and thus nothing can be added, subtracted or altered. In essence, the Qur'an existed and was complete before the creation of Prophet Muhammed soit could not possibly contain any of the Prophet's own words or advice. An inclusion of such information would clearly contradict the purpose for which the Qur'an exists, compromise its authority and render it inauthentic as a divine revelation.
Consequently, there was no "home remedies" in the Qur'an which one could claim to be outdated; nor does it contain any man's view about what is beneficial to health, what food is best to eat, or what will cure this or that disease. In fact, the Qur'an only mentions one item dealing with medical treatment, and it is not in dispute by anyone. It states that in honey there is healing. And certainly, 1 do not think that there is anyone who will argue with that!

If one assumes that the Qur'an is the product of a man's mind, then one would expect it to reflect some of what was going on in the mind of the man who "composed" it. In fact, certain encyclopedias and various books claim that the Qur'an was the product of hallucinations that Muhammed underwent. If these claims are true - if it indeed originated from some psychological problems in Muhammed's mind - then evidence of this would be apparent in the Qur'an. Is there such evidence? In order to determine whether or not there is, one must first identify what things would have been going on in his mind at that time and then search for these thoughts and reflections in the Qur'an.
It is common knowledge that Muhammad had a very difficult life. All of his daughters died before him except one, and he had a wife of several years who was dear and important to him, who not only proceeded him in death at a very critical period of his life. As a matter of fact, she must have been quite a woman because when the first revelation came to him, he ran home to her afraid. Certainly, even today one would have a hard time trying to find an Arab who would tell you, "I was so afraid that I ran home to my wife." They just aren't that way. Yet Muhammed felt comfortable enough with his wife to be able to do that. That's how influential and strong woman she was. Although these examples are only a few of the subjects that would have been on Muhammed's mind, they are sufficient in intensity to prove my point. The Qur'an does not mention any of these things - not the death of his children, not the death of his beloved companion and wife, not his fear of the initial revelations, which he so beautifully shared with his wife - nothing; yet, these topics must have hurt him, bothered him, and caused him pain and grief during periods of his psychological reflections, then these subjects, as well as others, would be prevalent or at least mentioned throughout.
A truly scientific approach to the Qur'an is possible because the Qur'an offers something that is not offered by other religious scriptures, in particular, and other religions, in general. It is what scientists demand. Today there are many people who have ideas and theories about how the universe works. These people are all over the place, but the scientific community does not even bother to listen to them. This is because within the last century the scientific community has demanded a test of falsification. They say, "If you have theory, do not bother us with it unless you bring with that theory a way for us to prove whether you are wrong or not."
Such a test was exactly why the scientific community listened to Einstein towards the beginning of the century. He came with a new theory and said, "1 believe the universe works like this; and here are three ways to prove whether 1 ám wrong!". So the scientific community subjected his theory to the tests, and within six years it passed all three. Of course, this does not prove that he was great, but it proves that he deserved to be listened to because he said, "This is my idea; and if you want to try to prove me wrong, do this or try that."
This is exactly what the Qur'an has - falsification tests. Some are old (in that they have already been proven true), and some still exist today. Basically it states, "If this book is not what it claims to be, then all you have to do is this or this or this to prove that it is false." Of course, in 1400 years no one has been able to do "This or this or this, " and thus it is still considered true and authentic.
I suggest to you that the next time you get into dispute with someone about Islam and he claims that he has the truth and that you are in darkness, you leave all other arguments at first and make this suggestion. Ask him, "Is there any falsification test in your religion? Is there anything in your religion that would prove you are wrong if I could prove to you that it exists-anything?" Well, I can promise right now that people will not have anything - no test, no proof, nothing!
This is because they do not carry around the idea that they should not only present what they believe but should also offer others a chance to prove they're wrong. However, Islam does that. A perfect example of how Islam provides man with a chance to verify it authenticity and "prove it wrong" occurs in the 4th chapter. And quiet honestly, I was surprised when I first discovered this challenge. It states:
"Do they not consider the Qur'an? Had it been from any other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy."3
This is a clear challenge to the non-Muslim. Basically, it invites him to find a mistake. As a matter of fact, the seriousness and difficulty of the challenge aside, the actual presentation of such a challenge in the first place is not even in human nature and is inconsistent with man's personality. One doesn't take an exam in school after finishing the exam, write a note to the instructor at the end saying, "This exam is perfect. There are no mistakes in it. Find one if you can!". One just doesn't do that. The teacher would not sleep until he found a mistake! And yet this is the way the Qur'an approaches people.
Another interesting attitude that exists in the Qur'an repeatedly deals with its advice to the reader. The Qur'an informs that reader about different facts and then gives the advice: "If you want to know more about this or that, or if you doubt what is said, then you should ask those who have knowledge." This too is a surprising attitude. It is not usual to have a book that comes from someone without training in geography, botany, biology, etc., who discusses these subjects and then advises the reader to ask men of knowledge if he doubts anything. Yet in every age there have been Muslims who have followed the advice of the Qur'an and made surprising discoveries. If one looks to the works of Muslim scientists in many centuries ago, one will find them full of quotations from the Qur'an. These works state that they did research in such a place, looking for something. And they affirm that the reason they looked in such and such a place was that the Qur'an pointed them in that direction. For example, the Qur'an mentions man's origin and then tells the reader, "Research it!" It gives the reader a hint where to look and then states that one should find out more about it. This is the kind of thing that Muslims today largely seem to overlook - but not always, as illustrated in the following example. A few years ago, a group of men in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia collected all if the verses in the Qur'an which discuss embryology - the growth of the human being in the womb. They said, "Here is what the Qur'an says. Is it the truth?" In essence, they took the advice of the Qur'an: "Ask the men who know." They chose, as it happened, a non-Muslim who is a professor of embryology at the University of Toronto. His name is Keith Moore, and he is the author of textbooks on embryology - a world expert on the subject. They invited him to Riyadh and said, "This is what the Qur'an says about your subject. Is it true? What can you tell us?"
While he was in Riyadh, they gave him all of the help that he needed in translation and all of the cooperation for which he asked. And he was so surprised at what he found that he changed his textbooks. In fact, in the second edition of one of his books, called Before we are born... in the second edition about the history of embryology, he included some material that was not in the first edition because of what he found in the Qur'an. Truly this illustrates that the Qur'an was ahead of its time and that those who believe in the Qur'an know what other people do not know.
1 had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Keith Moore for a television presentation, and we talked a great deal about this - it was illustrated by slides and so on. He mentioned that some of the things that the Qur'an states about the growth of the human being were not known until thirty years ago. In fact, he said that one item in particular - the Qur'an's description of the human being as a "leech-like clot"4 ('alaqah) at one stage - was new to him; but when he checked on it, he found that it was true, and so he added it to his book. He said, "1 never thought of that before," and he went to the zoology department and asked for a picture of a leech. When he found that it Iooked just like the human embryo, he decided to include both pictures in one of his textbooks.
Dr. Moore also wrote a book on clinical embryology, and when he presented this information in Toronto, it caused quite a stir throughout Canada. It was on the front pages of some of the newspapers across Canada, and some of the headlines were quite funny. For instance, one headline read: "SURPRISING THING FOUND IN ANCIENT BOOK!" It seems obvious from this example that people do not clearly understand what it is all about. As a matter of fact, one newspaper reporter asked Professor Moore, "Don't you think That maybe the Arabs might have known about these things - the description of the embryo, its appearance and how it changes and grows? Maybe there were not scientists, but maybe they did something crude dissections on their own - carved up people and examined these things." The professor immediately pointed out to him that he [i.e., the reporter] had missed a very important point -all of the slides of the embryo that had been shown and had been projected in the film had come from pictures taken through a microscope. He said, "It does not matter if someone had tried to discover embryology fourteen centuries ago, they could not have seen it!".
All of the descriptions in the Qur'an of the appearance of the embryo are of the item when it is still too small to see with the eye; therefore, one needs a microscope to see it. Since such a device had only been around for little more than two hundred years, Dr. Moore taunted, "Maybe fourteen centuries ago someone secretly had a microscope and did this research, making no mistakes anywhere. Then he somehow taught Muhammad and convinced him to put this information in his book. Then he destroyed his equipment and kept it a secret forever. Do you believe that? You really should not unless you bring some proof because it is such a ridiculous theory." In fact, when he was asked Undoubtedly, there is an attitude in the Qur'an which is not found anywhere else. It is interesting how when the Qur'an provides information, it often tells the reader, "You did not know this before." Indeed, there is no scripture that exists which makes that claim. All of the other ancient writings and scriptures that people have, do give a lot of information, but they always state where the information came from. For example, when the Bible discusses ancient history, it states that this king lived here, this one fought in a certain battle, another one had so many sons, etc. Yet it always stipulates that if you want more information, then you should read the book of so and so because that is where the information came from. In contrast to this concept, the Qur'an provides the reader with information and states that this information is something new. Of course, there always exists the advice to research the information provided and verify its authenticity. It is interesting that such a concept was never challenged by non-Muslims fourteen centuries ago. Indeed, the Makkans who hated the Muslims, and time and time again they heard such revelations claiming to bring new information; yet, they never spoke up and said, "This is not new. We know where Muhammad got this information. We learned this at school." They could never challenge its authenticity because it really was new!
In concurrence with the advice given in the Qur'an to research information (even if it is new), when 'Umar was caliph, he chose a group of men and sent them to find the wall of Dhul-Qarnayn. Before the Qur'anic revelation, the Arabs had never heard of such a wall, but because the Qur'an described it, they were able to discover it. As a matter of fact, it is now located in what is called Durbend in the Soviet Union.
It must be stressed here that the Qur'an is accurate about many, many things, but accuracy does not necessarily mean that a book is a divine revelation. In fact, accuracy is only one of the criteria for divine revelations. For instance, the telephone book is accurate, but that does not mean that it is divinely revealed. The real problem lies in that one must establish some proof of the source the Qur'an's information. The emphasis is on the reader. One cannot simply deny the Qur'an's authenticity without sufficient proof. If, indeed, one finds a mistake, then he has the right to disqualify it. This is exactly what th~ Qur'an encourages. Once a man came up to me after a lecture 1 delivered in South Africa. He was very angry about what 1 had said, and 50 he claimed, "1 am going to go home tonight and find a mistake in the Qur'an." Of course, 1 said, "Congratulations. That is the most intelligent thing that you have said." Certainly, this is the approach Muslims need to take with those who doubt the Qur'an's authenticity, because the Qur'an itself offers the same challenge. An inevitably, after accepting it's challenge and discovering that it is true, these people will come to believe it because they could not disqualify it. In essence, the Qur'an earns their respect because they themselves have had to verify its authenticity.

An essential fact that cannot be reiterated enough concerning the authenticity of the Qur'an is that one's inability to explain a phenomenon himself does not require his acceptance of the phenomenon's existence or another person's explanation of it. Specifically, just because one cannot explain something does not mean that one has to accept someone else's explanation. However, the person's refusal of other explanations reverts the burden of proof back on himself to find a feasible answer. This general theory applies to numerous concepts in life, but fits most wonderfully with the Qur'anic challenge, for it creates a difficulty for one who says, "I do not believe it." At the onset of refusal one immediately has an obligation to find an explanation himself if he feels others' answers are inadequate. In fact, in one particular Qur'anic verse which I have always seen mistranslated into English, Allah mentions a man who heard the truth explained to him. It states that he was derelict in his duty because after he heard the information, he left without checking the verity of what he had heard. In other words, one is guilty if he hears something and does not research it and check to see whether it is true. One is supposed to process all information and decide what is garbage to be thrown out and what is worthwhile information to be kept and benefited from at a later date. One cannot just let it rattle around in his head. It must be put in the proper categories and approached from that point of view. For example, if the information is still speculatory, then one must discern whether it's closer to being true or false. But if all of the facts have been presented, then one must decide absolutely between these two options. And even if one is not positive about the authenticity of the information, he is still required to process all of the information and make the admission that he just does not know for sure. Although this last point appears to be futile, in actuality, it is beneficial to the arrival at a positive conclusion at a later time in that it forces the person to at least recognize, research and review the facts. This familiarity with the information will give the person "the edge" when future discoveries are made and additional information is presented. The important thing is that one deals with the facts and does not simply discard them out of empathy and disinterest.
The real certainty about the truthfulness of the Qur'an is evident in the confidence which is prevalent throughout it; and this confidence comes from a different approach - "Exhausting the Alternatives." In essence, the Qur'an states, "This book is a divine revelation; if you do not believe that, then what is it?" In other words, the reader is challenged to come up with some other explanation. Here is a book made of paper and ink. Where did it come from? It says it is a divine revelation; if it is not, then what is its source? The interesting fact is that no one has with an explanation that works. In fact, all alternatives have bee exhausted. As has been well established by non-Muslims, these alternatives basically are reduces to two mutually exclusive schools of thought, insisting on one or the other. On one hand, there exists a large group of people who have researched the Qur'an for hundreds of years and who claim, "One thing we know for sure - that man, Muhammad, thought he was a prophet. He was crazy!" They are convinced that Muhammad was fooled somehow. Then on the other hand, there is another group which alleges, "Because of this evidence, one thing we know for sure is that that man, Muhammad, was a liar!" Ironically, these two groups never seem to get together without contradicting. In fact, many references on Islam usually claim both theories. They start out by saying that Muhammad was crazy and then end by saying that he was a liar. They never seem to realize that he could not have been both! For example, if one is deluded and really thinks that he is a prophet, then he does not sit up late at night planning, "How will I fool the people tomorrow so that they think I am a prophet?" He truly believes that he is a prophet, and he trusts that the answer will be given to him by revelation.
As a matter of fact, a great deal of the Qur'an came in answer to questions. Someone would ask Muhammad a question, and the revelation would come with the answer to it. Certainly, if one is crazy and believes that an angel put words in his ear, then when someone asks him a question, he thinks that the angel will give him the answer. Because he is crazy, he really thinks that. He does not tell someone to wait a short while and then run to his friends and ask them, "Does anyone know the answer?" This type of behavior is characteristic of one who does not believe that he is a prophet. What the non-Muslims refuse to accept is that you cannot have it both ways. One can be deluded, or he can be a liar. He can be either one or neither, but he certainly cannot be both! The emphasis is on the fact that they are unquestionably mutually exclusive personal traits.
The following scenario is a good example of the kind of circle that non-Muslims go around in constantly. If you ask one of them, "What is the origin of the Qur'an?" He tells you that it originated from the mind of a man who was crazy. Then you ask him, "If it came from his head, then where did he get the information contained in it? Certainly the Qur'an mentions many things with which the Arabs were not familiar." So in order to explain the fact which you bring him, he changes his position and says, "Well, maybe he was not crazy. Maybe some foreigner brought him the information. So he lied and told people that he was a prophet." At this point then you have to ask him, "If Muhammad was a liar, then where did he get his confidence? Why did he behave as though he really thought he was a prophet?" Finaily backed into a corner, like a cat he quickly lashes out with the first response that comes to his mind. Forgetting that he has already exhausted that possibility, he claims, "Well, maybe he wasn't a liar. He was probably crazy and really thought that he was a prophet. "And thus he begins the futile circle again.
As has already been mentioned, there is much information contained in the Qur'an whose source cannot be attributed to anyone other than Allah. For example, who told Muhammad about the wall of DhuI-Qarnayn - a place hundreds of miles to the north? Who told him about embryology? When people assemble facts such as these, if they are not willing to attribute their existence to a divine source, they automatically resort to the assumption someone brought Muhammad the information and that he used it to fool the people. However, this theory can easily be disproved with one simple question: "If Muhammad was a liar, where did he get his confidence? Why did he tell some people out right to their face what others could never say?" Such confidence depends completely upon being convinced that one has a true divine revelation. For example, the Prophet had an uncle by the name of Abu Lahab. This man hated Islam to such an extent that he used to follow the Prophet around in order to discredit him. If Abu Lahab saw the Prophet speaking to a stranger, he would wait until they parted and then would go to the stranger and ask him, "What did he tell you? Did he say, 'Black.'? Well, it's white. Did he say, 'Morning.'? Well, it's night." He faithfully said the exact opposite of whatever he
heard Muhammad and the Muslims say. However, about ten years before Abu Lahab died, a little chapter in the Qur'an5 was revealed to him. It distinctly stated that he would go to the Fire (i.e.,Hell). In other words, it affirmed that he would never become a Muslim and would therefore be condemned forever. For ten years all Abu Lahab had to do was say, "1 heard that it has been revealed to Muhammad that 1 will never change - that 1 will never become a Muslim and will enter the Hellfire. Well 1 want to become a Muslim now. How do you like that? What do you think of your divine revelation now?" But he never did that. And yet, that is exactly the kind of behavior one would have expected from him since he always sought to contradict Islam. In essence, Muhammad said, "You hate me and you want to finish me? Here, say these words, and 1 am finished. Come on, say them!" But Abu Lahab never said them. Ten years! And in all that time he never accepted Islam or even became sympathetic to the Islamic cause. How could Muhammad possibly have known for sure that Abu Lahab would fulfill the Qur'anic revelation if he (i.e., Muhammad) was not truly the messenger of Allah? How could he possibly have been so confident as to give someone 10 years to discredit his claim of Prophethood? The only answer is that he was Allah's messenger; for in order to put forth suck a risky challenge, one has to be entirely convinced that he has a divine revelation.
Another example of the confidence which Muhammad had in his own Prophethood and consequently in the divine protection of himself and his message is when he left Makkah and hid in a cave with Abu Bakr during their emigration to Madeenah. The two clearly saw people coming to kill them, and Abu Bakr was afraid. Certainly, if Muhammad was a liar, a forger and one who was trying to fool the people into believing that he was a prophet, one would have expected him to say in such a circumstance to his friend, "Hey, Abu Bakr, see if you can find a back way out of this cave." Or "Squat down in that corner over there and keep quiet." Yet, in fact, what he said to Abu Bakr clearly illustrated his confidence. He told him, "Relax! Allah is with us, and Allah will save us!" Now, if one knows that he is fooling the people, where does one get this kind of attitude? In fact, such a frame of mind is not characteristic of a liar or a forger at all.
So, as has been previously mentioned, the non-Muslims go around and around in a circle, searching for a way out - some way to explain the findings in the Qur'an without attributing them to their proper source. On one hand, they tell you on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, "The man was a liar," and on the other hand, on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday they tell you, "He was crazy." What they refuse to accept is that one cannot have it both ways; yet they refuse to accept is that one cannot have it both ways; yet they need both excuses to explain the information in the Qur'an.
About seven years ago, I had a minister over to my home. In the particular room which we were sitting there was a Qur'an on the table, face down, and so the minister was not aware of which book it was. In the midst of a discussion, I pointed to the Qur'an and said, "I have confidence in that book." Looking at the Qur'an but not knowing which book it was, he replied, "Well, 1 tell you, if that book is not the Bible, it was written by a man!" In response to his statement, 1 said, "Let me tell you something about what is in that book." And in just three to four minutes 1 related to him a few things contained in the Qur'an. After just those three or four minutes, he completely changed his position and declared, "You are right. A man did not write that book. The Devil wrote it!" Indeed, possessing such an attitude is very unfortunate - for many reasons. For one thing, it is a very quick and cheap excuse. It is an instant exit out of an uncomfortable situation. As a matter of fact, there is a famous story in the Bible that mentions how one day some of the Jews were witnesses when Jesus raised a man from the dead. The man had been dead for four days, and when Jesus arrived, he simply said, "Get up!" and the man arose and walked away. At such a sight, some of the Jews who were watching said disbelievingly, "This is the Devil. The Devil helped him!" Now this story is rehearsed often in churches all over the world, and people cry big tears over it, saying, "Oh, if 1 had been there, 1 would not have been as stupid as the Jews!" Yet ironically, these people do exactly what the Jews did when in just three minutes you show them only a small part of the Qur'an and all they can say is, "Oh, the Devil did it. The devil wrote that book!". Because they are truly backed into a corner and have no other viable answer, they resort to the quickest and cheapest excuse available.

Another example of people's use of this weak stance can be found in the Makkans' explanation of the source of Muhammed's message. They used to say, "The devils bring Muhammad that Qur'an!" But just as with every other suggestion made, the Qur'an gives the answer. One verse in particular states:
"And they say, 'Surely he is possessed [byjinn], 'but it [i.e., the Qur'an] is not except areminder to the worlds."6

Thus it gives an argument in reply to such a theory. In fact, there are many arguments in the Qur'an in reply to the suggestion that devils brought Muhammad ~ ~ ~ his message. For example, in the 26th chapter Allah clearly affirms:

"No evil ones have brought it [i.e., this revelation] down. It would neither be fitting for them, nor would they be able. Indeed they have been removed far from hearing."7

And in another place in the Qur'an, Allah instructs us:

"So when you recite the Qur'an seek refuge in Allah from Shaytaan, the rejected."8

Now is this how Satan writes a book? He telis one, "Before you read my book, ask God to save you from me."? This is very, very tricky. Indeed, a man could write something like this, but would Satan do this? Many people clearly illustrate that they cannot come to one conclusion on this subject. On one hand, they claim that Satan would not do such a thing and that even if he could, God would not allow him to; yet, on the other hand, they also believe that Satan is only that much less than God. In essence they allege that the Devil can probably do whatever God can do. And as a result, when they look at the Qur'an, even as surprised as they are as to how amazing it is, they still insist, "The Devil did this!"
Thanks be to Allah, Muslims do not have that attitude. Although Satan may have some abilities, they are a long way separated from the abilities of Allah. And no Muslim is a Muslim unless he believes that. It is common knowledge even among non-Muslims that the Devil can easily make mistakes, and it would be expected that he would contradict himself if and when he wrote a book. For indeed, the Qur'an states:

"Do they not consider the Qur'an? Had it been from any other than Allah, they would surely have found therein much discrepancy."9

In conjunction with the excuses that non-Muslims advance in futile attempts to justify unexplainable verses in the Qur'an, there is another attack often rendered which seems to be a combination of the theories that
Muhammad was crazy and a liar.
Basically, these people propose that Muhammad was insane, and as a result of his delusion, he lied to and misled people. There is a name for this in psychology. It is referred to as mythomania. It means simply that one tells lies and then believes them. This is what the non-Muslims say Muhammad suffered from. But the only problem with this proposal is that one suffering from mythomania absolutely cannot deal with facts, and yet the whole Qur'an is based entirely upon facts. Everything contained in it can be researched and established as true. Since facts are such a problem for a mythomaniac, when a psychologist tries to treat one suffering from that condition, he continually confronts him with facts. For example, if one is mentally ill and claims, "I am the king of England," a psychologist does not say to him "No you aren't. You are crazy!" He just does not do that. Rather, he confronts him with facts and says, "O.K., you say you are the king of England. So tell me where the queen is today. And where is your prime minister? And where are your guards?" Now, when the man has trouble trying to deal with these questions, he tries to make excuses, saying UIh... the queen... she has gone to her mother's. Uh... the prime minister... well he died." And eventually he is cured because he cannot deal with the facts. If the psychologist continues confronting him with enough facts, finally he faces the reality and says, "1 guess 1 am not the king of England."
The Qur'an approaches everyone who reads it in very much the same way a psychologist treats his mythomania patient. There is a verse in the Qur'an which states:
"Oh mankind, there has come to you an
admonition [i.e., the Qur'an] from your Lord and a healing for what is in the hearts - and guidance and mercy for the believers."°

At first glance, this statement appears vague, but the meaning of this verse is clear when one views it in light of the a forementioned example. Basically, one is healed of his delusions by reading the Qur'an. In essence, it is therapy. It literally cures deluded people by confronting them with facts. A prevalent attitude throughout the Qur'an is one which says, "Oh mankind, you say such and such about this; but what about such and such? How can you say this when you know that?" And so forth. It forces one to consider what is relevant and what matters while simultaneously healing one of the delusions that the facts presented to mankind by Allah can easily be explained away with flimsy theories and excuses.
It is this very sort of thing - confronting people with facts - that had captured the attention of many non-Muslims. In fact, there exists a very interesting reference concerning this subject in the New Catholic Encyclopedia. In an article under the subject of the Qur'an, the Catholic Church states, "Over the centuries, many theories have been offered as to the origin of the Qur'an... Today no sensible man accepts any of these theories."!! Now here is the age-old Catholic Church, which has been around for so many centuries, denying these futile attempts to explain away the Qur'an. Indeed, the Qur'an is a problem for the Catholic Church. It states that it is revelation, so they study it. Certainly, they would love to find proof that it is not, but they cannot. They cannot find a viable explanation. But at least they are honest in their research and do not accept the first unsubstantiated interpretation which comes along. The Church states that in fourteen centuries it has not yet been presented a sensible explanation. At least it admits that the Qur'an is not an easy subject to dismiss. Certainly, other people are much less honest. They quickly say, "Oh, the Qur'an came from here. The Qur'an came from there." And they do not even examine the credibility of what they are stating most of the time.
Of course, such a statement by the Catholic Church leaves the everyday Christian in some difficulty. It just may be that he has his own ideas as to the origin of the Qur'an, but as a single member of the Church, he cannot really act upon his own theory. Such an action would be contrary to the obedience, allegiance and loyalty which the Church demands. By virtue of his membership, he must accept what the Catholic Church declares without question and establish its teachings as part of his everyday routine. So, in essence, if the Catholic Church as a whole is saying, "Do not listen to these unconfirmed reports about the Qur'an," then what can be said about the Islamic point of view? Even non-Muslims are admitting that there is something to the Qur'an -something that has to be acknowledged - then why are people so stubborn and defensive and hostile when Muslims advance the very same theory? This is certainly something for those with mind a to contemplate -something to ponder for those of understanding!
Recently, the leading intellectual in the Catholic Church - a man by the name of Hans - studied the Qur'an and gave his opinion of what he had read. This man has been around for some time, and he is highly respected in the Catholic Church, and after careful scrutiny, he reported his findings, concluding, "God has spoken to man through the man, Muhammad
Again this is a conclusion arrived at by a non-Muslim source - the very leading intellectual of the Catholic Church himself! I do not think that the Pope agrees with him, but nonetheless, the opinion of such a noted, repute public figure must carry some weight in defense of the Muslim position. He must be applauded for facing the reality that the Qur'an is not something which can be easily pushed aside and that, in fact God is the source of these words. As is evident from the aforementioned information, all of the possibilities have been exhausted, so the chance of finding another possibility of dismissing the Qur'an is nonexistent. For if the book is not a revelation, then it is a deception; and iiit is a deception, one must ask, "What is its origin" And where does it deceive us?" Indeed, the true answers to these questions shed light on the Qur'an's authenticity and silence the bitter unsubstantiated claims of the unbelievers. Certainly, if people are going to insist that the Qur'an is a deception, then they must bring forth evidence to support such a claim. The burden of proof is on them, not us! One is never supposed to advance a theory without sufficient corroborating facts; so I say to them, "Show me one deception! Show me where the Qur'an deceives me! Show me, otherwise, don't say that it is a deception!" An interesting characteristic of the Qur'an is how it deals with surprising phenomena which relate not only to the past but to modern times as well. In essence, the Qur'an is not and old problem. It is
still a problem even today - a problem to the non-Muslims that is. For everyday, every week, every year brings more and more evidence that the Qur'an is a force to be contended with - that its authenticity is no longer to be challenged! For example, one verse in the Qur'an reads;
"Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together, then We clove them asunder, and made from water every living thing? Will they not then believe?"1'

Ironically, this very information is exactly what they awarded the 1973 Noble Prize for - to a couple of unbelievers. The Qur'an reveals the origin of the universe - how it began from one piece - and mankind continues to verify this revelation, even up to now. Additionally, the fact that all life originated from water would not have been an easy thing to convince people of fourteen centuries ago. Indeed, if 1400 years ago you had stood in the desert and told someone, "All of this, you see (pointing to yourself), is made up of mostly water," no one would have believed you. Proof of that was not available until the invention of the microscope. They had to wait to find out that cytoplasm, the basic substance of the cell, is made-up of 8O% water. Nonetheless, the evidence did come, and once again the Qur'an stood the test of time.
In reference to the falsification tests mentioned earlier, it is interesting to note that they, too, relate to both the past and the present. Some of them were used as illustrations of Allah's omnipotence and knowledge, while others continue to stand as challenges to the present day. An example of the former is the statement made in the Qur'an about Abu Lahab. It clearly illustrates that Allah, the Knower of the Unseen, knew that Abu Lahab would never change his ways and accept Islam. Thus Allah dictated that he would be condemned to the Hellfire forever. Such a chapter was both an illustration of Allah's divine wisdom and a warning to those who were like Abu Lahab.
An interesting example of the latter type of falsification tests contained in the Qur'an is the verse which mentions the relationship between the Muslims and the Jews. The verse is careful not to narrow its scope to the relationship between individual members of each religion, but rather, it summarizes the relationship between the two groups of people as a whole. In essence, the Qur'an states that the Christians will always treat the Muslims better than the Jews will treat the Muslims. Indeed, the full impact of such a statement can only be felt after careful consideration of the real meaning of such a verse. It is true that many Christians and many Jews have become Muslims, but as a whole, the Jewish community is to be viewed as an avid enemy of Islam.

Additionally, very few people realize what such an open declaration in the Qur'an invites. In essence, it is an easy chance for the Jews to prove that the Qur'an is false - that it is not a divine revelation. All they have to do is organize themselves, treat the Muslims nicely for a few years and then say, "Now what does your holy book say about who are your best friends in the world - the Jews or the Christians? Look what we Jews have done for you!" That is all they have 10 do to disprove the Qur'an's authenticity, yet they have not done it in 1400 years. But, as always, the offer still stands open!
All of the examples so far given concerning the 1 various angles from which one can approach the Qur'an have undoubtedly been subjective in nature; 1 however there does exist another angle, among others, which is objective and whose basis is mathematical. It is surprising how authentic the Qur'an becomes when one assembles what might be referred to as a list of good guesses. Mathematically, it can be explained using guessing and prediction examples. For instance, if a person has two choices (i.e., one is right, and one is wrong), and he closes his eyes and makes a choice, then half of the time (i.e., one time out of two) he will be right. Basically, he has a one in two chance, for he could pick the wrong choice, or he could pick the right choice. Now if the same person has two situations like that (i.e., he could be right or wrong about situation number one, and he could be right or wrong about situation number two), and he closes his eyes and guesses, then he will only be right one fourth of the time (i.e., one time out of four). He now has a one in four chance because now there are three ways for him to be wrong and only one way for him to be right. In simple terms, he could make the wrong choice in situation number one and then make the wrong choice in situation number two; OR he could make the wrong choice in situation number one and then make the right choice in situation number two; OR he could make the right choice in situation number one and then make the wrong choice in situation number two; OR he could make the right choice in situation number one and then make the right choice in situation number two.
Of course, the (only instance in which he could be totally right is the last scenario where he could guess correctly in both situations. The odds of his guessing completely correctly have become greater because the number of situations for him to guess in have increased; and the mathematical equation representing such a scenario is Vz x '/2 (i.e., one time out of two for the first situation multiplied by one time out of two for the second situation).
Continuing on with the example, if the same person now has three situations in which to make blind guesses, then he will only be right one eighth of the time (i.e., one time out of eight or '/2 x V2 x '/2). Again, the odds of choosing the correct choice in all three situations have decreased his chances of being completely correct to only one time in eight. It must be understood that as the number of situations increase, the chances of being right decrease, for the two phenomena are inversely proportional. Now applying this example to the situations in the Qur'an, if one draws up a list of all of the subjects about which the Qur'an has made correct statements, it becomes very clear that it is highly unlikely that they were all just correct blind guesses. Indeed, the subjects discussed in the Qur'an are numerous, and thus the odds of someone just making lucky guesses about all of them become practically nil. If there are a million ways for the Qur'an to be wrong, yet each time it is right, then it is unlikely that someone was guessing. The following three examples of subjects about which the Qur'an has made correct statements collectively illustrate how the Qur'an continues to beat the odds.
In the 16th chapter the Qur'an mentions that the female bee leaves its home to gather food.'2 Now, a person might guess on that, saying, "The bee that you see flying around - it could be male, or it could be female. 1 think 1 will guess female." Certainly, he has a one in two chance of being right. So it happens that the Qur'an is right. But it also happens that was not what most people believed at the time when the Qur'an was revealed. Can you tell the difference between a male and a female bee? Well, it takes a specialist to do that, but it has been discovered that the male bee never leaves his home to gather food. However, in Shakespeare's play, Henry the Fourth, some of the characters discuss bees and mention that the bees are soldiers and have a king. That is what people thought in Shakespeare's time - that the bees that one sees flying around are male bees and that they go home and answer to a king. However, that is not true at all. The fact is that they are females, and they answer to a queen. Yet it took modern scientific investigations in the last 300 years to discover that this is the case.
So, back to the list of good guesses, concerning the topic of bees, the Qur'an had a 50/50 chance of being right, and the odds were one in two.
In addition to the subject of bees, the Qur'an also discusses the sun and the manner in which it travels through space. Again, a person can guess on that subject. When the sun moves through space, there are two options: it can travel just as a stone would travel if one threw it, or it can move of its own accord. The Qur'an states the latter - that it moves as a result of its own motion.'3 To do such, the Qur'an uses a form of the word sabaha to describe the sun's movement through space. In order to properly provide the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the implications of this Arabic verb, the following example is given. If a man is in water and the verb sabaha is applied in reference to his movement, it can be understood that he is swimming, moving of his own accord and not as a result of a direct force applied to him. Thus when this verb is used in reference to the sun's movement through space, it in no way implies that the sun is flying uncontrollably through space as a result of being hurled or the like. It simply means that the sun is turning and rotating as it travels. Now, this is what the Qur'an affirms, but was it an easy thing to discover? Can any common man tell that the sun is turning? Only in modern times was the equipment made available to project the image of the sun onto a tabietop so that one could look at it without being blinded. And through this process it was discovered that not only are there three spots on the sun but that these spots move once every 25 days. This movement is referred to as the rotation of the sun around its axis and conclusively proves that, as the Qur'an stated 1400 years ago, the sun does, indeed turn as it travels through space.
And retuming once again to the subject of good guess, the odds of guessing correctly about both subjects - the sex of bees and the movement of the sun - are one in four!
Seeing as back fourteen centuries ago people probably did not understand much about time zones, the Quran's statements about this subject are considerably surprising. The concept that one family is having breakfast as the sun comes up while another family is enjoying the brisk night air is truly something to be marveled at, even in modern time. Indeed, fourteen centuries ago, a man could not travel more than thirty miles in one day, and thus it took him literally months to travel from India to Morocco, for example. And probably , when he was having supper in Morocco, he thought to himself, "Back home in India they are having supper right now." This is because he did not realize that, in the process of traveling, he moved across a time zone. Yet, because it is the words of Allah, the All-Knowing, the Qur'an recognizes and acknowledges such a phenomenon. In an interesting verse it states that when history comes to an end and the Day of Judgment arrives, it will all occurring an instant; and this very instant will catch some people in the daytime and some people at night. This clearly illustrates Allah's divine wisdom and His previous knowledge of the existence of time zones, even though such a discovery was non-existent back fourteen centuries ago. Certainly, this phenomenon is not something which is obvious to one's eyes or a result of one's experience, and this fact, in itself, suffices as proof of the Qur'ans authenticity.
Returning one final time to the subject of good guesses for the purpose of the present example, the odds that someone guessed correctly about all three of the aforementioned subjects - the sex of bees, the movement of the sun and the existence of time zones -are one in eight!
Certainly, one could continue on and on with this example, drawing up longer and longer list of good guesses; and of course, the odds would become higher and higher with each increase of subjects about which one could guess. But what no one can deny is the following; the odds that Mohammed an illiterate, guessed correctly about thousands and thousands of subjects, never once making a mistake, are so high that any theory of his authorship of the Qur'an must be completely dismissed - even by the most hostile enemies of Islam!

Indeed, the Qur'an expects this kind of challenge. Undoubtedly, if one said to someone upon entering a foreign land, "1 know your father. 1 have met him," probably the man from that land would doubt the newcomer's word, saying, "You have just come here. How could you know my father?" As a result, he would question him, "Tell me, is my father tall, short, dark, fair? What is he like?" Of course, if the visitor continued answering all of the questions correctly, the skeptic would have no choice but to say, "1 guess you do know my father. 1 don't know how you know him, but 1 guess you do!" The situation is the same with the Qur'an. It states that it originates from the One who created everything. So everyone has the right to say, "Convince me! If the author of this book really originated life and everything in the heavens and on the earth, then He should know about this, about that, and so on." And inevitably, after researching the Qur'an, everyone will discover the same truths. Additionally, we all know something for sure: we do not all have to be experts to verify what the Qur'an affirms. One's iman (faith) grows as one continues to check and confirm the truths contained in the Qur'an. And one is supposed to do so all of his life.

Supplement
An engineer at the University of Toronto who was interested in psychology and who had read something on it, conducted researched wrote a thesis on Efficiency of Group Discussions. The purpose of his research was to find out how much people accomplish when they get together to talk in groups of two, three, ten, etc. The graph of his findings: people accomplish most when they talk in groups of two. Of course, this discovery was entirely beyond his expectations, but it is very old advice given in the Qur'an:
"Say, 'I exhort you to one thing - that you stand for Allah, [assessing the truth] by twos and singly, and then reflect '14

Additionally, the 89th chapter of the Qur'an mentions a certain city by the name of 'Iram (a city of pillars)15, which was not known in ancient history and which was non-existent as far as historians were concerned. However, the December 1978 edition of National Geographic introduced interesting information which mentioned that in 1973, the city of Elba was excavated in Syria. The city was discovered to be 43 centuries old, but that is not the most amazing part. Researchers found in the library of Elba a record of all of the cities with which Elba had done business. Believe or not, there on the list was the name of the city of 'Iram. The people of Elba had done business with the people of 'Iram!
In conclusion I ask you to consider with care the following:
"And they say, 'Why are not signs sent down to him from his Lord?' Say, 'Indeed, the signs are with Allah, and I am but a clear warner.' But is sufficient for them that We have sent down to you the Book [i.e. Qur'an] which is rehearsed to them? Verily, in that is mercy and a reminder to people who believe."16

May God (2~) guide everyone close to the truth.

Courtesy of www.darulkautsar.com/keindahanislam

Fatwa Rokok Itu Haram

APAKAH HUKUM MEROKOK ATAU ROKOK ITU SENDIRI

- Pendahuluan
- Sebab diharamkan
- Mudarat harta
- Mudarat penghambaan
- Merokok diharamkan di sisi syarak

Pendahuluan

Segala pujian bagi Allah, selawat dan salam kepada pesuruhNya ( Nabi Muhammad S.A.W ),ahli keluarganya, sahabat-sahabat juga orang-orang yang mengikut jejak langkahnya.
Sesungguhnya telah muncul pokok ini yang dikenali dengan nama " والتتن " التمباك " والتبغ والدخان " di akhir kurun ke sepuluh hijrah. Oleh kerana pokok ini digunakan secara meluas di kalangan orang ramai, maka ianya telah memaksa alim ulama di zaman itu membahas dan mengkajinya untuk memberi penjelasan hukum dari segi syarak.
Memandangkan masalah ini adalah masalah baru, tidak ada hukum yang di keluarkan oleh Fuqaha, Mujtahidin yang lalu serta ulama-ulama selepas mereka dari kalangan Ahli Takhrij dan Tarjih dalam mazhab berkenaan perkara ini. Mereka juga tidak mendapat gambaran yang jelas tentang hakikat dan implikasinya berdasarkan kajian ilmiah yang betul,maka berlakulah perbedaan pendapat yang ketara di kalangan ulama pada waktu itu. Ada di kalangan mereka yang memfatwakan haram, ada yang memfatwakan makruh,ada yang mengatakannya harus dan ada yang mengambil sikap berdiam diri tanpa membincangkannya. Fenomena ini juga berlaku kepada ke empat-empat mazhab ahli sunnah waljamaah.
Justeru itu kita tidak boleh menisbahkan kepada mana-mana mazhab, pendapat atau fatwa yang nengatakan merokok itu harus,atau haram atau makruh.
Nyata kepada saya bahawasanya perbezaan pendapat di kalangan ulama mazhab-mazhab, ketika permulaan munculnya rokok, penggunaannya begitu meluas dan berlaku perbezaan mereka dalam mengeluarkan hukum tentangnya,bukanlah perbezaan dari segi dalil-dalil, bahkan perbezaan berlaku dalam menentukan `ilat (مناط ) yang ada pada rokok.
Ada di kalangan mereka yang mendakwa terdapat beberapa manfaat atau faedah pada merokok. Ada juga ulamak yang mendakwa terdapat mudarat dan manfaat yang sama berat pada rokok. Terdapat juga ulamak yang tidak menyabitkan apa-apa faedah pada rokok tetapi menafikan terdapat mudarat pada rokok. Ini bermakna sekiranya mereka dapat memastikan ada mudarat pada perkara ini, pasti mereka mengharamkannya tanpa wujud perdebatan.
Di sini kami berpendapat untuk menyabitkan ada dan tidak ada implikasi buruk terhadap tubuh badan pada rokok dan benda-benda lain yang ada unsur ketagihan,ianya bukan bidang kuasa ahli feqah,bahkan ianya adalah bidang kuasa ahli perubatan dan penganalisis. Merekalah sepatutnya yang dirujuk dalam masalah ini kerana mereka adalah ahli sains dan banyak pengalaman. Firman Allah S.W.T yang bermaksud :” Tanyalah orang yang tahu tentang perkara itu”, “ Tidak boleh menceritakan kepada engkau seperti mana orang yang alim”.

Secara umumnya para doktor dan penganalisis sebulat suara menjelaskan implikasi buruk merokok ke atas tubuh badan secara umum, dan secara khususnya terhadap paru-paru dan organ pernafasan, seterusnya boleh membawa kepada kanser paru-paru. Inilah faktor yang meyebabkan masyarakat dunia sejak tahun-tahun kebelakangan ini menyeru agar berhati-hati terhadap aktiviti merokok.
Sepatutnya di zaman kita ini para ulamak sepakat membuat keputusan ini. Sesungguhnya keputusan ahli feqah dalam masalah ini diasaskan atas pandangan pakar perubatan. Bilamana pakar perubatan menjelaskan bahawa gejala ini (merokok) meninggalkan implikasi buruk kepada kesihatan manusia. Sepatutnya ahli feqah menetapkan hukum haram kepada aktiviti merokok, kerana setiap perkara yang meninggalkan implikasi buruk kepada kesihatan manusia mesti diharamkan di sisi syarak.

Sebab diharamkan:

Ada sesetengah orang mengatakan “ Bagaimanakah mereka boleh mengharamkan pokok ini tanpa nas ? “

Jawapannya :

Sesungguhnya tidak mesti penggubal undang-undang menaskan setiap satu perkara-perkara yang diharamkan , memadailah mereka menetapkan garis panduan atau kaedah-kaedah yang akan termasuk di bawahnya pecahan-pecahan dan unit-unit. Kaedah-kaedah ini boleh membataskannya. Adapun perkara-perkara yang khusus maka tidak mungkin membataskannya.
Memadai bagi penggubal undang-undang mengharamkan sesuatu yang jelek dan memudaratkan, supaya termasuk di bawahnya kebanyakan makanan dan minuman lain yang juga mempunyai unsur jelek dan memudaratkan. Kerana inilah ulamak sepakat mengharamkan pokok Hasyisyah ( pokok yang menyebabkan ketagih ) dan pokok lain yang mempunyai unsur ketagihan,walaupun tidak ada nas tertentu yang mengharamkannya secara khusus.
Imam Abu Muhammad Bin Hazam Azzahiri, kita sedia maklumi dia seorang yang berpegang dengan zahir nas, walaupun begitu beliau tetap mengharamkan sesuatu yang memudaratkan dengan memakannya, kerana berpegang dengan nas-nas yang umum. Beliau mengatakan : “ Setiap sesuatu yang boleh memudaratkan maka ianya adalah haram, berdasarkan sabda nabi S.A.W yang bererti : “ Sesungguhnya Allah mewajibkan berlaku ihsan terhadap sesuatu, maka sesiapa memudaratkan dirinya sendiri atau orang lain maka dia telah tidak melakukan ihsan dan sesiapa yang tidak melakukan ihsan, maka dia telah menyalahi ketetapan,iaitu ketetapan Allah mesti melakukan ihsan terhadap segala sesuatu.”
Boleh juga menjadikan dalil untuk hukum ini, sabda Nabi S.A.W yang bererti : “ tidak boleh memudaratkan dan tidak boleh dimudaratkan” , begitu juga firman Allah yang bermaksud : “ Janganlah kamu membunuh diri kamu, sesungguhnya Allah sangat mengasihi kamu”.
Antara ungkapan feqah yang paling baik berhubung pengharaman memakan makanan yang boleh memudaratkan ialah ungkapan Iam Nawawi didalam kitab ‘ Raudah ‘, beliau berkata ;” Setiap sesuatu yang memudaratkan apabila dimakan seperti kaca, batu, racun maka hukum memakannya adalah haram. Setiap sesuatu yang suci yang tidak menimbulkan mudarat memakannya maka hukum memakannya adalah halal kecuali sesuatu yang dianggap jelek seperti mani dan hingus, maka memakannya adalah haram mengikut pendapat yang betul. Harus meminum ubat yang mengandungi sedikit racun yang tidak membahayakan, jika diperlukan.

Mudarat Harta

Manusia tidak harus membelanjakan hartanya kepada perkara yang tidak berfaedah sama ada di dunia atau akhirat, kerana mereka sebenarnya pemegang amanah ke atas harta yang ditinggalkan kepada mereka. Sebenarnya kesihatan dan harta adalah dua amanah Allah,maka tidak harus manusia memudaratkannya atau mensia-siakannya. Kerana hakikat inilah,maka Nabi S.A.W melarang sesorang mensia-siakan hartanya.

Perokok membeli kemudaratan dirinya dengan kesucian hartanya, ini tidak harus di sisi syarak. Firman Allah yang bermaksud : “ Janganlah kamu membazir,sesungguhnya Allah tidak suka kepada orang-orang yang membazir.

Tidak ragu-ragu lagi bahawa menghabiskan harta dengan merokok adalah perbuatan mensia-siakan harta. Maka bagaimana pula jika di samping merosakkan harta ( kerosakan yang diyakini berlaku atau tidak yakin ) wujud juga perbuatan merosakkan badan ?



Mudarat Penghambaan

Di sana ada kemudaratan lain yang biasanya tidak disedari oleh penulis-penulis mengenainya, iaitulah kejiwaan, saya maksudkan dengan mudarat jiwa ialah kebiasaan merokok dan seumpamanya akan memperhambakan jiwa manusia dan seterusnya kebiasaan yang hina ini akan menjadikan jiwa manusia sebagai mangsanya. Manusia tidak mampu meloloskan diri daripadanya dengan mudah apabila mereka ingin melakukannya pada sesuatu ketika kerana sebab-sebab tertentu,seperti kemunculan bahaya pada badannya, menampakkan kesan yang negatif dalam pendidikan anaknya ataupun kerana keperluannya yang mendesak untuk membelanjakan harta pada benda lain yang lebih berguna dan sepatutnya ataupun untuk sebab-sebab lain.
Melihatkan kepada mudarat penghambaan jiwa ini , kami mendapati sesetengah perokok sanggup menganiayai makan minum anak-anaknya dan perbelanjaan asas keluarganya, kerana ingin memuaskan tabiatnya ini, kerana dia sememangnya sudah tidak boleh dianggap orang yang mampu membebaskan diri daripadanya. Di suatu hari nanti apabila perokok telah menjadi lemah seumpama ini, kehidupannya pasti goyah, pertimbangannya jadi tidak seimbang, keadaannya hina, pemikirannya bercelaru dan emosinya mudah tertekan kerana satu-satu sebab atau tanpa sebarang sebab. Tidak ragu-ragu lagi kemudaratan seumpama ini patut diambil kira dalam mengeluarkan hukum merokok.


Merokok diharamkan disisi syarak :

Di zaman kita ini tidak ada pendapat yang boleh menghalalkan merokok dalam apa bentuk sekalipun, selepas Persatuan Sains Perubatan membicarakan panjang lebar implikasi buruk merokok serta kesannya yang negatif, golongan elit dan orang awam juga mengetahui keburukan merokok dan dikuatkan lagi oleh perangkaan.
Apabila telah gugur pendapat bahawa merokok harus secara mutlak, maka yang ada hanyalah pendapat makruh dan haram. Sesungguhnya telah jelas kepada kita melalui perbincangan lalu bahawa hujjah haram merokok lebih kemas dan mantap. Inilah pendapat kita . Perbincangan lalu juga dijadikan garis panduan bagi memastikan terdapat mudarat pada tubuh badan, mudarat pada harta, dan mudarat pada jiwa dengan sebab merokok berterusan. Sesungguhnya setiap perkara yang boleh menjejaskan kesihatan manusia ianya mesti diharamkan disisi syarak.
Allah Taala berfirman dan maksudnya : “ Dan janganlah kamu campakkan diri-diri kamu ke kancah kebinasaan”, “ Dan janganlah kamu membunuh diri-diri kamu,sesungguhnya Allah amat mengasihi kamu” , “ Dan janganlah kamu membazir, sesungguhnya Allah tidak suka kepada orang-orang yang membazir”. “ Dan janganlah kamu melakukan pembaziran,sesungguhnya orang-orang yang membazir adalah saudara syaitan.” Di sana ada kemudaratan tubuh badan dan di sana juga ada kemudaratan harta benda, maka menggunakan sesuatu yang memudaratkan manusia adalah diharamkan, berdasarkan firman Allah yang bermaksud : “ Janganlah kamu membunuh diri-diri kamu “. Kerana fakta inilah wajib kita berfatwa, merokok adalah haram di zaman kita ini.
Hakikat yang tidak boleh diragukan lagi bahawa kalangan doktor sepakat mengatakan terdapat kesan yang sangat buruk dalam aktiviti merokok. Benar kesan buruknya tidak segera tapi beransur-ansur. Namun kesan mudarat segera dan beransur-ansur adalah sama saja dari segi haramnya. Racun yang memberi kesan lambat atau segera sama saja, kedua-duanya diharamkan.

Manusia tidak harus memudaratkan atau membunuh dirinya dan mereka juga tidak boleh memudaratkan orang lain. Berkenaaan ini Nabi S.A.W bersabda : “ Tidak memudaratkan dan tidak boleh dimudaratkan “ , iaitu engkau tidak boleh memudaratkan diri engkau dan orang lain.
Merokok meninggalkan implikasi yang sangat buruk kepada diri manusia mengikut kesepakatan doktor sedunia, lantaran ini kerajaan-kerajaan sedunia mewajibkan syarikat yang mengiklan rokok menyebut “ Merokok Membahayakan Kesihatan”, selepas mereka yakin merokok memudaratkan semua orang. Justeru itu golongan fuqaha tidak boleh berselisih pendapat tentang mengharamkan merokok.
Lima unsur asasi yang disebut oleh ahli-ahli usul dan orang yang mendalam dalam bidang agama, serta mewajibkan supaya bersungguh-sungguh dijaga dan tidak boleh dimudaratkannya, ialah Agama, Jiwa, Akal, Keturunan dan Harta Benda. Maka kesan merokok terhadap agama : ada di kalangan orang ramai tidak dapat berpuasa di bulan Ramadhan lantaran tidak dapat menahan diri dari merokok.
Keturunan turut menerima kesan buruk dari merokok, samada perokok itu salah seorang dari ibu, bapa atau kedua-duanya. Bahkan janin akan menerima kesan buruk ekoran ibu yang merokok. Ini bermakna perokok tidak memudaratkan dirinya sahaja bahkan ianya turut memudaratkan orang lain. Di sini ada yang dinamakan merokok secara terpaksa ataupun merokok dengan paksaan. Ini boleh berlaku melalui orang lain yang merokok tanpa rasa malu, sedangkan dia tidak merokok, dia hanya menyedut asap rokok secara tidak langsung ketika dia duduk berhampiran perokok atau berada di persekitaran yang ada aktiviti merokok.
Maka anda wahai perokok, secara tidak langsung anda telah memudaratkan diri anda sendiri dan juga orang lain. Maka kerana kemudaratan ini dan kemudaratan yang lain merokok mesti diharamkan dan ulamak mesti sepakat mengharamkannya. Sesungguhnya ada sesetengah ulamak meletakkan sebagai paksi sebilangan besar hukum merokok di atas kemampuan kebendaan sahaja. Maka haram merokok bila mana perokok berada dalam kesempitan duit untuk merokok dan makruh bagi orang yang mampu membeli rokok. Ini adalah pendapat yang tidak betul dan tidak mantap.
Para ulamak dan doktor sedunia sepakat, menjadikan faktor mudarat tubuh badan dan mudarat jiwa sebagai satu faktor besar dalam menentukan hukum merokok, disamping mudarat harta. Sesungguhnya orang kaya tidak berhak membelanjakan dan menghabiskan hartanya dengan sewenang-wenangnya,kerana hartanya itu sebenarnya milik Allah dan masyarakat.
Orang Islam yang rasional sepatutnya menjauhkan diri dari penyakit yang merosakkan ini, kerana rokok telah diyakini mempunyai unsur-unsur yang jelek,ianya tidak tergolong dalam makanan yang berkualiti lantaran tiada faedah samada untuk dunia dan akhirat.
Nasihat saya kepada pemuda-pemuda secara khusus, supaya mereka mengelak diri dari terjebak dengan penyakit yang boleh merosakkan kesihatan mereka, melemahkan kekuatan dan kesuburan mereka. Mereka hendaklah tidak menjadi mangsa kekeliruan yang dibayangkan kepada mereka, bahawa merokok adalah tanda kelelakian dan tanda peribadi merdeka.
Mana-mana individu dari kalangan pemuda yang terlibat dengan aktiviti merokok, mampu melepaskan diri daripadanya dan mengalahkannya (kerana beliau masih diperingkat awal ) sebelum penyakit ini bertapak kukuh dan mengalahkannya jika tidak nanti sukar baginya melepaskan diri dari cengkamannya kecuali orang yang diberi rahmat oleh Allah.
Menjadi tanggungjawab media massa memfokuskan kempen yang teratur dengan berbagai cara untuk menjelaskan keburukan merokok. Tanggungjawab penyusun skrip, pengeluar dan penerbit filem, teater dan drama bersiri pula ialah mengekang propoganda ke arah merokok dengan mempamerkan rokok dalam gambaran yang sesuai dan tidak sesuai pada setiap keadaan.
Tanggungjawab kerajaan pula ialah berganding bahu membasmi penyakit ini dan membebaskan rakyat dari bahananya walaupun kerajaan mengalami kerugian cukai berjuta-juta, namun kesihatan rakyat dan anak bangsa dari segi jasmani dan spiritual lebih penting dan berharga dari wang ringgit. Sebenarnya kerajaan menanggung kerugian dari segi kebendaan ketika mana kerajaan mengizinkan merokok. Ini adalah kerana kos yang dikeluarkan oleh kerajaan untuk menjaga pesakit yang menghidap pelbagai penyakit dan ancaman ekoran aktiviti merokok berlipat kali ganda melebihi hasil kutipan cukai yang dikenakan ke atas tembakau, kalau dibandingkan kerugian ekoran kekurangan produktiviti negara dengan sebab ramai perokok tidak dapat menjalankan tugas lantaran menderita pelbagai penyakit.
Kami memohon ke hadrat Allah Taala agar menyinari hati-hati kami memberi kefahaman yang mendalam kepada kami tentang agama kami,mengajar apa yang boleh memberi faedah kepada kami,memberi faedah dengan sesuatu yang kami telah tahu, sesungguhnya Allah Maha Mendengar lagi hampir dengan hamba-hambaNya. Selamat dan salam ke atas penghulu kami Muhammad S.A.W,ahli keluarganya dan sahabat-sahabatnya.
WALLAHU A`LAM



TEKS ASAL


ما هو حكم التدخين أو الدخان؟ مقدمة علة التحريم الضرر المالي ضرر الاستعباد التدخين محرم شرعامقدمةالحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسوله وعلى آله وصحبه ومن نهج نهجه، أما بعد فقد ظهر هذا النبات المعروف الذي يطلق عليه اسم "الدخان" او "التبغ " أو " التمباك " أو " التتن"، في آخر القرن العاشر الهجري، وبدأ استعماله يشيع بين الناس، مما أوجب على علماء ذلك العصرأن يتكلموا في بيان حكمه الشرعي.ونظرا لحداثته وعدم وجود حكم سابق فيه للفقهاء المجتهدين، ولا من لحقهم من أهل التخريج والترجيح في المذاهب، وعدم تصورهم لحقيقته ونتائجه تصورا كاملا ، مبنيا على دراسة علمية صحيحة، اختلفوا فيه اختلافا بينا فمنهم من ذهب إلى حرمته ، ومنهم من أفتى بكراهته ، ومنهم من قال بإباحته ، ومنهم من توقف فيه وسكت عن البحث عنه، وكل أهل مذهب من المذاهب الأربعة- السنية- فيهم من حرمه، وفيهم من كرهه، وفيهم من أباحه. ولهذا لا نستطيع أن ننسب إلى مذهب القول بإباحة أو تحريم أو كراهة. ويبدو لي أن الخلاف بين علماء المذاهب عند ظهور الدخان، وشيوع تعاطيه، واختلافهم في إصدار حكم شرعي في استعماله، ليس منشؤه في الغالب اختلاف الأدلة، بل الاختلاف في تحقيق المناط. فمنهم من أثبت للتدخين عدة منافع في زعمه. ومنهم من أثبت له مضار قليلة تقابلها منافع موازية لها. ومنهم من لم يثبت له أية منافع، ولكن نفى عنه الضرر وهكذا. ومعنى هذا أنهم لو تأكدوا من وجود الضرر في هذا الشيء لحرموه بلا جدال. وهنا نقول: إن إثبات الضرر البدني أو نفيه في "الدخان " ومثله مما يتعاطى ليس من شأن علماء الفقه،. بل من شأن علماء الطب والتحليل. فهم الذين يسألون هنا، لأنهم أهل العلم والخبرة. قال تعالى: "فاسأل به خبيراً" وقال: "ولا ينبئك مثل خبير". أما علماء الطب والتحليل فقد قالوا كلمتهم في بيان آثار التدخين الضارة على البدن بوجه عام، وعلى الرئتين والجهاز التنفسي بوجه خاص، وما يؤدي إليه من الإصابة بسرطان الرئة مما جعل العالم كله في السنوات الأخيرة يتنادى بوجوب التحذير من التدخين. وفي عصرنا ينبغي أن يتفق العلماء على الحكم وذلك أن حكم الفقيه هنا يبنى على رأي الطبيب، فإذا قالت الطبيب إن هذه الآفة- التدخين- ضارة بالإنسان فلابد أن يقول الفقيه هذه حرام، لأن كل ما يضر بصحة الإنسان يجب أن يحرم شرعا. على أن من أضرار التدخين مالا يحتاج إثباته إلى طبيب اختصاصي ولا إلى محلل كيماوي، حيث يتساوى في معرفته عموم الناس، من مثقفين وأميين. علة التحريم أما ما يقوله بعض الناس: كيف تحرمون هذا النبات بلا نص؟فالجواب أنه ليس من الضروري أن ينص الشارع على كل فرد من المحرمات، وإنما هو يضع ضوابط أو قواعد تندرج تحتها جزئيات نخشى، وأفراد كثيرة. فإن القواعد يمكن حصرها. أما الأمور المفردة فلا يمكن حصرها. ويكفي أن يحرم الشارع الخبيث أو الضار، ليدخل تحته ما لا يحصى من المطعومات والمشروبات الخبيثة أو الضارة، ولهذا أجمع العلماء على تحريم الحشيشة ونحوها من المخدرات، مع عدم وجود نص معين بتحريمها على الخصوص. وهذا الإمام أبو محمد بن حزم الظاهري، نراه متمسكا بحرفية النصوص وظواهرها، ومع هذا يقرر تحريم ما يستضر بأكله، أخذا من عموم النصوص. قال: " وأما كل ما أضر فهو حرام لقول النبي صلي الله عليه وسلم : "إن الله كتب الإحسان على كل شيء، فمن أضر بنفسه أو بغيره فلم يحسن، ومن لم يحسن فقد خالف كتاب " أي كتابة الله الإحسان على كل شئ". ويمكن أن يستدل لهذا الحكم أيضأ بقوله صلى الله عليه وسلم : " لا ضرر ولا ضرار". كما يمكن الاستدلال بقوله تعالى: " ولا تقتلوا أنفسكم إن الله كان بكم رحيما " ومن أجود العبارات الفقيهة في تحريم تناول المضرات عبارة الإمام النووي في روضته قال: "كل ما أضر أكله، كالزجاج والحجر والسم، يحرم أكله. وكل طاهر لا ضرر في أكله يحل أكله، إلا المستقذرات الطاهرات، كالمني والمخاط. فإنها حرام على الصحيح... ويجوز شرب دواء فيه قليل سم إذا كان الغالب السلامة، واحتيج إليه. الضرر المالي لا يجوز للإنسان أن ينفق ماله فيما لا ينفعه لا في الدنيا ولا في الدين، لأن الإنسان مؤتمن على ماله مستخلف فيه. وكذلك فإن الصحة والمال وديعتان من الله ولذا لا يجوز للإنسان أن يضر صحته أو يضيع ماله. ولذلك نهى النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم عن إضاعة المال. والمدخن يشتري ضرر نفسه بحر ماله. وهذا أمر لا يجوز شرعا. قال الله تعالى: " ولا تسرفوا، إنه لا يحب المسرفين " ولا يخفى أن إنفاق المال في التدخين إضاعة له. فكيف إذا كان مع الإتلاف للمال ضرر متحقق يقينا أو ظنا. أي أنه اجتمع عليه إتلاف المال وإتلاف البدن معا. ضرر الاستعباد وهناك ضرر آخر، يغفل عنه عادة الكاتبون في هذا الموضوع وهو الضرر النفسي، وأقصد به، أن الاعتياد على التدخين وأمثاله، يستعبد إرادة الإنسان، ويجعلها أسيرة لهذه العادة السخيفة، بحيث لا يستطيع أن يتخلص منها بسهولة إذا رغب في ذلك يوما لسبب ما، كظهور ضررها على بدنه، أو سوء أثرها في تربية ولده، أو حاجته إلى ما ينفق فيها لصرفه في وجوه أخرى أنفع وألزم، أو نحو ذلك من الأسباب. ونظرا لهذا الاستعباد النفسي، نرى بعض المدخنين، يجور على قوت أولاده، والضروري من نفقة أسرته، من أجل إرضاء مزاجه هذا، لأنه لم يعد قادرا على التحرر منه. وإذا عجز مثل هذا يوما عن التدخين، لمانع داخلي أو خارجي، فإن حياته تضطرب، وميزانه يختل، وحاله تسوء، وفكره يتشوش، وأعصابه تثور لسبب أولغيرسبب. ولاريب أن مثل هذا الضررجدير بالاعتبار في إصدارحكم على التدخين. التدخين محرم شرعا ليس للقول بحل التدخين أي وجه في عصرنا بعد أن أفاضت الهيئات العلمية الطبية في بيان أضراره، وسيء آثاره، وعلم بها الخاص والعام، وأيدتها لغة الأرقام. وإذا سقط القول بالإباحة المطلقة، لم يبق إلا القول بالكراهة أو القول بالتحريم. وقد اتضح لنا مما سبق أن القول بالتحريم أوجه وأقوى حجة. وهذا هو رأينا. وذلك لتحقق الضرر البدني والمالي والنفسي باعتياد التدخين. لأن كل ما يضر بصحة الإنسان يجب أن يحرم شرعا. والله تعالى يقول: " ولا تلقوا بأيديكم إلى التهلكة " ويقول جل جلاله " ولا تقتلوا أنفسكم إن الله كان بكم رحيما " ويقول الله عزوجل " ولا تسرفوا إنه لا يحب المسرفين" ، " ولا تبذر تبذيرا إن المبذرين كانوا إخوان الشياطين " ، فهناك ضرر بدني ثابت وهناك ضرر مالي ثابت كذلك، فتناول كل ما يضر الإنسان يحرم، لقوله تعالى: " ولا تقتلوا أنفسكم " . من أجل هذا يجب أن نفتي بحرمة هذا التدخين في عصرنا. والواقع الذي لاشك فيه هو ان الأطباء يجمعون على أن في التدخين ضررا مؤكدا. صحيح أن ضرره ليس فوريا ، ولكنه ضرر تدريجي. والضرر التدريجي كالضرر الفوري في التحريم، فالسم البطيء كالسم السريع كلاهما يحرم تناوله على الإنسان .والانتحار محرم بنوعيه السريع والبطيء، والمدخن ينتحر انتحارا بطيئا. والإنسان لا يجوز أن يضر أو يقتل نفسه، ولا أن يضر غيره. ولهذا قال النبي صلي الله عليه وسلم : " لا ضرر ولا ضرار" أي لا تضر نفسك ولا تضر غيرك، فهذا ضرر مؤكد على نفس الإنسان بإجماع أطباء العالم، لهذا أوجبت دول العالم على كل شركة تعلن عن التدخين أن تقول إنه ضار بالصحة بعد أن استيقن ضرره للجميع، لهذا لا يصح أن يختلف الفقهاء في تحريمه. والضرورات الخمس التي ذكرها الأصوليون وفقهاء الدين، وأوجبوا الحرص على المحافظة عليها وعدم الإضرار بها هي الدين والنفس والعقل والنسل والمال. وكلها تتأثر بهذه الآفة. فدين الإنسان يتأثر، فمن الناس من لا يصوم رمضان لأنه لا يستطيع أن يمتنع عن التدخين. والنسل يتضرر بالتدخين، سواء كان المدخن أحد الأبوين أو كلاهما، بل إن الجنين يتضرر من تدخين أمه، بما يعني أن المدخن لا يضر نفسه فقط وإنما يضر غيره، وهناك ما يسمى الآن التدخين القسري، أو التدخين بالإكراه، فيدخن الإنسان رغم أنفه وهو لا يتناول السجارة وإنما يتناولها قهرا عندما يجلس بجوار إنسان مدخن أو في بيئة فيها التدخين. فأنت أيها المدخن تضر نفسك وتضر غيرك رغم إرادته وأنفه، فمن أجل هذا الضرر وغيره يجب أن يحرم التدخين وأن يجمع العلماء على تحريمه. وقد أدار بعض العلماء معظم الحكم في التدخين على المقدرة المالية وحدها، أو عدمها، فيحرم في حالة عجز المدخن عن مصاريف التدخين، ويكره للقادر عليه. وهذا رأي غير سديد ولا مستوعب. فإن الضرر البدني والنفسي الذي أجمع العلماء والأطباء في العالم على تحققه له اعتباره الكبير، بجوار الضرر المالي. ثم إن الغني ليس من حقه أن يضيح ماله، ويبعثره فيما يشاء. لأنه مال الله أولا، ومال الجماعة ثانيا . وينبغي للإنسان المسلم العاقل أن يمتنع عن هذه الآفة الضارة الخبيثة، فالتبغ لاشك من الخبائث، وليس من الطيبات، إذ ليس فيه أي نفع دنيوي أو نفع ديني. ونصيحتي للشباب خاصة، أن ينزهوا أنفسهم عن الوقوع في هذه الآفة، التي تفسد عليهم صحتهم، وتضعف من قوتهم ونضرتهم، ولا يسقطوا فريسة للوهم الذي يخيل إليهم أن التدخين من علامات الرجولة، أو استقلال الشخصية. ومن تورط منهم في ارتكابها يستطيع التحرر منها، والتغلب عليها وهو في أول الطريق، قبل أن تتمكن هي منه، وتغلب عليه، ويعسر عليه فيما بعد النجاة من براثنها، إلا من رحم ربك. وعلى أجهزة الإعلام أن تشن حملة منظمة بكل الأساليب على التدخين، وتبين مساوئه. وعلى مؤلفي ومخرجي ومنتجي الأفلام والتمثيليات والمسلسلات، أن يكفوا عن الدعاية للتدخين، بوساطة ظهور السيجارة بمناسبة وغير مناسبة في كل المواقف. وعلى الدولة أن تتكاتف لمقاومة هذه الآفة، وتحرير الأمة من شرورها، وإن خسرت خزانة الدولة الملايين فإن صحة الأمة وأبنائها، الجسمية والنفسية، أهم وأغلى من الملايين. والواقع أن الدولة هي الخاسرة ماليا عندما تسمح بالتدخين، لأن ما تننفقه في رعاية المرضى الذين يصيبهم التدخين بأمراض عديدة وخطيرة تبلغ أضعاف ما تجنيه من ضرائب تفرضها على التبغ، بالإضافة إلى ما تخسره من نقص الإنتاج بسبب زيادة تغيب المدخنين عن العمل نتيجة ما يعانونه من أمراض.نسأل الله تبارك وتعالى أن ينير بصائرنا، وأن يفقهنا في ديننا، وأن يعلمنا ما ينفعنا، وينفعنا بما علمنا، إنه سميع قريب. وصلى الله على سيدنا محمد وعلى آله وصحبه وسلم. والسلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

التدخين حرام تعاطيه واستيراده وبيعه والترويج له والإعلان عنهفي أحدث فتاواه التي أصدرها مؤخرا أعاد فضيلة العلامة القرضاوي القول بحرمة التدخين، وأوضح سبب ذهابه للحرمة - وليس مجرد الكراهة، كما يشيع عند بعضهم - بأنه ضار مسبب للسرطان، ليس للمدخن فقط ولكن لمن يجالسه أيضا، ورآه إسرافا وتبذيرا مضرا بالضرورات الخمس. جاء ذلك في فتوى أصدرها فضيلته ردا على سؤال حول التدخين توجهت به إليه جمعية الهلال الأحمر القطرية. حيث قال فضيلته: إنه حرام، لأنه مضر بالصحة، مسبب للسرطان، وهو قتل بطيء للنفس، والله تعالى يقول: (ولا تقتلوا أنفسكم إن الله كان بكم رحيما) وهو حرام، لأنه يضر بمن يجالس المدخن، ويشركه في التدخين رغما عنه، والحديث النبوي يقول: «لا ضرر ولا ضرار». وهو حرام، لأنه خبيث في رائحته وفي أثره، والإسلام جاء ليحل الطيبات ويحرم الخبائث.. وهو حرام، لأنه من باب الإسراف أو التبذير وإضاعة المال فيما لا ينفع في الدنيا والآخرة.. وهو حرام لأنه يضر الضرورات الخمس: يضر بالدين، ويضر بالنفس، ويضر بالنسل، ويضر بالعقل، ويضر بالمال، لهذا كان تعاطيه محرما، واستيراده محرما، وبيعه محرما، والترويج له والإعلان عنه محرما.. وختم فضيلته بقوله: اللهم اكفنا بحلالك عن حرامك، وبطاعتك عن معصيتك، آمين. المصدر جريدة الشرق القطرية

Courtesy of www.darulkautsar.com/fatwaqardawi

Riba (Usury and Interest)

Courtesy of WWW.MUTTAQUN.COM

Defining the Problem

Riba (Usury) is of two major kinds:
Riba An-Nasia - Interest on lent money
Riba Al-Fadl - Taking a superior thing of the same kind of goods by giving more of the same kind of goods of inferior quality, eg.,dates of superior quality for dates of inferior quality in great amounts.

The definition of Interest, the literal meaning of interest or Al-Riba as it is used in the arabic language means to excess or increase. In the Islamic terminology interest means effortless profit or that profit which comes free from compensation or that extra earning obtained that is free of exchange. Riba has been described as a loan with the condition that the borrower will return to the lender more than and better than the quantity borrowed.
As muslims, our main concern when it comes to financial transactions is to avoid Riba in any of its forms, despite the fact that the basic foundation of the world economics and finance today is that of riba and dealing in usury.
The Prophet has foretold us of a time when the spread of riba would be so overwhelming that it would be extremely difficult for the muslim to avoid it. This situation calls for muslims to be extra cautious before deciding on what money payment of financial methods to use in any personal or business transaction.
To make sure that we are safe from Riba, we have to learn which transactions lead to it.
Interest in Pre-Islamic Times

HafizIbn hajr writes in his commentary of Sahih Bukhari (Fathul Bari), Vol. IV p.264:
Imam Malik reports on the authority of Zaid Ibn Aslam that in the period of ignorance (pre-Islamic times) interest was changed according to the following scheme. One person had a right to the property of another person. It may have been a general right because of the amount lent or the price of something purchased or in any other form. A time was set when the claim would be settled.When the appointed time arrived the creditor would ask the debtor if he wanted to settle the claim or pay interest with an extension of time. If the claim was settled then there was no increase in the payment. Otherwise the debtor would increase the amount payable and the creditor would extend the period further.

Textual Evidence
Hadith - Sahih Bukhari, Volume 3, No. 299; Narrated ‘Aun bin Abu Juhaifah, r.a.
My father bought a slave who practised the profession of cupping, (My father broke the servants instruments of cupping). I asked my father why he had done so. He replied, "The Prophet forbade the acceptance of the price of a dog or blood, and also forbade the profession of tatooing, or getting tatooed and receiving or giving Riba (Usury), and cursed the picture makers."

Hadith - Sahih Bukhari, 2.468, Narrated Samura bin Jundab, r.a.
He speaks of in a dream related to the Prophet (SAW) that there is a river of blood and a man was in it, and another man was standing at its bank with stones in front of him,facing the man standing in the river. Whenever the man in the river wanted to come out , the other one threw a stone in his mouth and caused him to retreat back into his original position.The Prophet was told that these people in this river of blood were people who dealt in Riba (usury).
The Noble Qur'an - Al-Baqarah 275-281

275. Those who eat Ribâ (usury) will not stand (on the Day of Resurrection) except like the standing of a person beaten by Shaitân (Satan) leading him to insanity. That is because they say: "Trading is only like Ribâ (usury)," whereas Allâh has permitted trading and forbidden Ribâ (usury). So whosoever receives an admonition from his Lord and stops eating Ribâ (usury) shall not be punished for the past; his case is for Allâh (to judge); but whoever returns [to Ribâ (usury)], such are the dwellers of the Fire - they will abide therein.
276. Allâh will destroy Ribâ (usury) and will give increase for Sadaqât (deeds of charity, alms, etc.) And Allâh likes not the disbelievers, sinners.
277. Truly those who believe, and do deeds of righteousness, and perform As-Salât (Iqâmat-as-Salât), and give Zakât, they will have their reward with their Lord. On them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.
278. O you who believe! Be afraid of Allâh and give up what remains (due to you) from Ribâ (usury) (from now onward), if you are (really) believers.
279. And if you do not do it, then take a notice of war from Allâh and His Messenger but if you repent, you shall have your capital sums. Deal not unjustly (by asking more than your capital sums), and you shall not be dealt with unjustly (by receiving less than your capital sums).
280. And if the debtor is in a hard time (has no money), then grant him time till it is easy for him to repay, but if you remit it by way of charity, that is better for you if you did but know.
281. And be afraid of the Day when you shall be brought back to Allâh. Then every person shall be paid what he earned, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly.
The Noble Qur'an - Al-Imran 3:130
O you who believe! Eat not Ribâ (usury) doubled and multiplied, but fear Allâh that you may be successful.

Hadith - Mishkat-ul-Masabih
The following three ahadith have been taken from Mishkat-ul-Masabih under the section of interest and the English translation has been taken from its English version written by Al Hajj Moulana Fazl Karim (218-227 vol.11)
Hazrat Jabir r.a. has reported that the Messenger of Allah cursed the devourer of usury, its payer, its scribe and its two witnesses. He also said that they were equal (in sin).
Hazrat Abu Hurairah r.a. reported that the Prophet said : A time will certainly come over the people when none will remain who will not devour usury. If he does not devour it, its vapour will overtake him. [Ahmed,Abu Dawood,Nisai,Ibn Majah]
Hazrat Abu Hurairah radiyallahu anhu reported that the Messenger of Allah said: I came across some people in the night in which I was taken to the heavens.Their stomachs were like houses wherein there were serpents,which could be seen from the front of the stomachs. I asked :O Gabriel! Who are these people? He replied these are those who devoured usury. [Ahmed,Ibn Majah]
Hadith - ??
Hazrat Al-Khudri radiyallahu anhu reported that the Prophet said: Gold in exchange for gold, silver in exchange for silver, wheat in exchange for wheat, barley in exchange for barley,dates in exchange for dates, salt in exchange for salt is in the same category and (should be exchanged) hand to hand, so whoever adds or demands increase he has practised usury. The giver and taker are the same.


Conclusion
After reading the above, it is apparent to us that interest is haram (prohibited). How could anybody even take the time out to think about a matter in which Allah has declared war on the user and his Beloved Prophet has cursed him? As sensible people we can understand that what our Creator has chosen for us is for our own prosperity and benefit.
Islam has encouraged men to earn their own provision and provide for their families. The condition is that the earning has to be according to the Shari’ah. These rules can be found under the heading of trade in the books of jurisprudence. Interest is amongst those conditions which all dealings must be free from.
Imam Abu Hanifah has ruled that if the measurement system (volumetric or in compounds) is the same and the two items are in the same category, then they should be sold in the same amount and direct not in credit otherwise interest will be found.
Imam Shaf’ee says that if the items are valuable and could be considered food then there is the chance of interest.
Imam Malik says that if the items are valuable and are edible then interest is a subject.