2017 07 The Light July 2017
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ِ ی م م الرَّح<br />
ن<br />
ِ<br />
سب ا ہللِ الرَّْحم ٰ<br />
ْ م ِ<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Light</strong><br />
<strong>2017</strong><br />
<strong>July</strong><br />
April<br />
2016<br />
International Organ of the Centre for the Worldwide<br />
Ahmadiyya Anjuman Ishaat Islam<br />
<strong>The</strong> only Islamic organisation upholding the finality of prophethood.<br />
Webcasting on the world’s first real-time Islamic service at<br />
Editors<br />
Shahid Aziz & Mustaq Ali – UK;<br />
Zainib Ahmad – USA;<br />
Gowsia Saleem - India<br />
www.virtualmosque.co.uk<br />
Our Recent English Broadcasts<br />
‣ Bring Your Children to the Mosque.<br />
‣ Refuting Dawkins<br />
Contents<br />
<strong>The</strong> Call of the Messiah 2<br />
Hazrat Ameer’s Eid Message 3<br />
<strong>The</strong>ory_of_Evolution Tijana Radeska 3<br />
Ban_on_<strong>The</strong>ory_of_Evolution 5<br />
James Williams<br />
Lailat_ul_Qadr Ebrahim Mohamed 7<br />
Identity <strong>The</strong>ft Iain Dixon 9<br />
Stellar Artistry Shazia Ahmad 10<br />
Broadcasts (UK time)<br />
1. Skype Urdu lecture: Sunday 09:00<br />
2. Live on www.virtualmosque.co.uk<br />
‣ Friday Sermon 13:00<br />
‣ First Sunday of month lecture 15:00.<br />
3. Radio Virtual Mosque<br />
Websites<br />
1. International HQ<br />
2. Research and History<br />
3. <strong>The</strong> Woking Mosque and Mission<br />
4. <strong>The</strong> Berlin Mosque and Mission<br />
5. Quran search<br />
6. Blog<br />
‣ Evidence of Conspiracies against the Muslims<br />
‣ A Call for a Jihad against Trump.<br />
Interesting external links<br />
‣ Is Muslim heritage being destroyed?<br />
‣ Who wrote these books of the Old Testament?<br />
‣ Don't tell people Muhammad Ali was a<br />
Muslim!<br />
‣ Call for a jihad against Trump.<br />
External Links<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Light</strong> is not responsible for the content<br />
of external sites. <strong>The</strong> inclusion of a link to an external<br />
website should not be understood to be<br />
an endorsement of that website, the views it expresses<br />
or the site's owners (or their products/services).<br />
Some links may have research, which disagrees<br />
with our beliefs. It is for us to consider<br />
such material and provide a rebuttal. Ignoring it<br />
will not make it go away.<br />
We welcome all scholarly contributions to<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Light</strong>.<br />
I Shall Love All Mankind.
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2017</strong> <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Light</strong> 2<br />
<strong>The</strong> Call of the Messiah<br />
by<br />
Hazrat Mirza Ghulam<br />
Ahmad<br />
<strong>The</strong> Promised Messiah and<br />
Mahdi<br />
<strong>The</strong> aim and end of religion is to know the<br />
true and living God Who created the world, to<br />
attain to that stage of perfection in His love at<br />
which the love of others besides Him is completely<br />
consumed, to have full sympathy with<br />
His creatures and to lead a life of true and perfect<br />
purity. But I see that this aim is utterly neglected.<br />
In fact, most religious creeds are, in fact,<br />
one form or other of<br />
atheism. Almighty God<br />
is not known and recognised,<br />
and hence the increasing<br />
boldness upon the commission of sin.<br />
For, it is plain that unless we have knowledge of<br />
a thing, there is no love or fear of it on our part.<br />
<strong>The</strong> prevalence of sin in the world is, therefore,<br />
due to an absence of true knowledge concerning<br />
the Divine Being.<br />
<strong>The</strong> chief criterion of a true religion is that<br />
it should point out the means to a true<br />
knowledge of God, so that through knowledge<br />
men may be kept back from sins, and realising<br />
the Divine beauty and glory, they may so love<br />
God as to deem even a momentary estrangement<br />
from Him more painful than the severest<br />
tortures of hell. <strong>The</strong> truth is that freedom from<br />
sin and the love of God are the highest aims of<br />
man’s life, and in these lies in fact the true bliss<br />
which is known as the heavenly life. Every desire<br />
which goes against the pleasure of God, is<br />
really a flame of hell-fire, and to indulge in such<br />
desires is to lead a hellish life.<br />
<strong>The</strong> aim and end of religion is . . . to<br />
have full sympathy with His creatures<br />
. . .<br />
I Shall Love All Mankind.<br />
<strong>The</strong> question hence arises, how can a man<br />
be saved from this hellish life? I answer this<br />
question with the knowledge which I have received<br />
from God, that no one is saved from this<br />
fire except by a true and perfect knowledge of<br />
God. <strong>The</strong> flood of passions and desires rages<br />
high and nothing but the embankment of a perfect<br />
knowledge of God can withstand it. Salvation,<br />
which means a freedom from the control of<br />
passions and desires, cannot, therefore, be attained<br />
unless our faith is based on the impregnable<br />
fortress of perfect knowledge which no<br />
flood can destroy.<br />
<strong>The</strong> fact that our appraisement of a thing or<br />
our love or fear of it, depends only upon our correct<br />
knowledge of it, needs no argument. Give a<br />
diamond worth a million pounds to a young<br />
child and he would not set upon it a higher value<br />
than a mere plaything. If honey mixed with poison<br />
is given to a person who is ignorant of the<br />
fact, he would take it for honey and eat it with<br />
pleasure, not knowing that the effect would be<br />
fatal. But you cannot thrust your hand into a<br />
hole which you know to be the hole of a serpent,<br />
for you know that such an act might bring about<br />
your destruction. Similarly, no one would dare<br />
take poison with a<br />
knowledge of it, for he<br />
knows that it must<br />
cause his death. What<br />
is the reason then that you do not fear the death<br />
which the transgression of Divine commandments<br />
must certainly bring down upon you?<br />
Only that you have not such knowledge of the<br />
effect of your transgressions as of the biting of a<br />
snake or of poison.<br />
It is certain then that the knowledge of loss<br />
or injury deters a man from doing the deed<br />
which involves such loss or injury, and no belief<br />
in redemption can act as such deterrent. Is it not<br />
true that even the most daring and habitual burglar<br />
would not break into a house where he is<br />
sure to be caught and punished? Are not the<br />
most violent passions subdued when their effect<br />
is known to be sure and certain destruction?<br />
A robber would not in broad daylight dare<br />
to lay his hand upon a bag of money lying in a<br />
shop when he knows that there is a sufficient<br />
guard of armed police watching the shop. Are<br />
criminals restrained from theft and extortion<br />
because of their firm faith in the redemption of<br />
sins, or because their hearts feel the awe of execution?<br />
Or is it truer that the police and the fear<br />
of punishment are the real deterrents? This is a<br />
principle the truth of which is witnessed not<br />
only in the case of men, but also of animals. Even<br />
a lion in fury would not throw himself into<br />
burning fire though he sees his prey on the<br />
other side of it. A wolf would not fall upon a<br />
sheep at whose head is standing a guard with a<br />
drawn sword and a loaded gun. (end)
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2017</strong> <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Light</strong> 3<br />
Hazrat Ameer’s Eid ul Fitr<br />
Message<br />
Know that Allah gives life to the earth after<br />
its death (57:17)<br />
Dear Sisters and Brothers,<br />
Assalaam-o-Alaikum Wa Rakhmatullahi Wa<br />
Barakaato Hoo.<br />
As we celebrate Eid ul Fitr, I praise Allah for<br />
providing us with the opportunity to fast and<br />
pray in the Holy month of Ramadan. He has prescribed<br />
fasting for the Muslims as He did for<br />
those before. <strong>The</strong> purpose for enjoining fasting<br />
is the attainment of taqwa, a state of complete<br />
submission to Allah. In the state of taqwa, a person<br />
perceives a sense of regret if he fails to carry<br />
out the commands of Allah. Islam, which literally<br />
means submission and complete obedience<br />
to Allah, expects every Muslim to be muttaqi –<br />
one who submits completely to the Will of Allah.<br />
instructions on diet, exercise and regular adherence<br />
to the drug therapy.<br />
On the day of Eid our spirit is back to good<br />
health but we have a great role to play to keep it<br />
that way. We must make every effort to continue<br />
the close relationship with Allah that we have<br />
developed during Ramadan. <strong>The</strong> regular prayers<br />
and recitation; and above all understanding<br />
and acting on the injunctions of the Holy Quran<br />
that we adhered to during Ramadan must be<br />
continued. Thus, Eid is the day of resolve to<br />
keep alive the achievements of Ramadan.<br />
I pray that we succeed in keeping our resolve.<br />
Please pray for peace amongst all peoples<br />
of the world. I wish you all a very Happy Eid ul<br />
Fitr.<br />
<strong>The</strong> First <strong>The</strong>ory of Evolution<br />
600 years older than Darwin<br />
By Tijana Radeska<br />
Our soul and body are closely connected.<br />
Both have their own life with health, illness and<br />
death. In the verse cited above Allah has said<br />
that He can give life to the dead earth. We observe<br />
annually the death of trees in autumn and<br />
then their revival to life in spring. <strong>The</strong> human<br />
soul can be similarly revived. <strong>The</strong> wellbeing of<br />
the soul is directly dependant on the way it is<br />
nurtured. Allah has instituted the month of<br />
Ramadan as an opportunity for humans to fast<br />
and pray and thus help the sick soul to health or<br />
even restore it to life after it has become lifeless.<br />
<strong>The</strong> soul can be likened to a chargeable battery.<br />
Ramadan charges the soul through the process<br />
of fasting and prayer. On Eid day, we could say<br />
that the battery is fully charged. Now it is up to<br />
us to keep it forever in that state by charging it<br />
regularly.<br />
Let me give you another example. Think of a<br />
gravely ill patient brought to a doctor who diagnoses<br />
it as a state of unconsciousness due to diabetes.<br />
With the correct diagnoses and treatment,<br />
the patient is back to good health. However,<br />
the state of unconsciousness is likely to return<br />
if he ignores the doctor’s advice. To stay<br />
healthy, he will have to continue following the<br />
I Shall Love All Mankind.<br />
(From Administrative Corner Featured Instant<br />
Articles News Aug 27, 2016<br />
https://www.thevintagenews.com/2016/08/27/priority-first-theoryevolution-600-years-older-darwin/<br />
)<br />
Nasī r al-Dī n Tu sī<br />
was a Persian polymath<br />
and prolific<br />
writer: An architect,<br />
astronomer, biologist,<br />
chemist, mathematician,<br />
philosopher,<br />
physician,<br />
physicist, scientist,<br />
theologian and<br />
Marja Taqleed.<br />
He was of the Ismaili,<br />
and subse-<br />
Nasī r al-Dī n Tu sī<br />
quently Twelver Shī ‘ah, Islamic belief. <strong>The</strong> Muslim<br />
scholar Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) considered<br />
Tusi to be the greatest of the later Persian<br />
scholars.<br />
Tusi has about 150 works, of which 25 are<br />
in Persian and the remaining are in Arabic, and
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2017</strong> <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Light</strong> 4<br />
there is one treatise in Persian, Arabic and Turkish.<br />
During his stay in Nishapur, Tusi established<br />
a reputation as an exceptional scholar.<br />
Tusi’s prose writings represent one of the largest<br />
collections by a single Islamic author.<br />
Writing in both Arabic and Persian, Nasir al-<br />
Din Tusi dealt with both religious (“Islamic”)<br />
topics and non-religious or secular subjects<br />
(“the ancient sciences”). His works include the<br />
definitive Arabic versions of the works of Euclid,<br />
Archimedes, Ptolemy, Autolycus, and <strong>The</strong>odosius<br />
of Bithynia.<br />
In his Akhlaq-i-Nasri, Tusi put forward a<br />
basic theory of the evolution of species almost<br />
600 years before Charles Darwin was born. He<br />
begins his theory of evolution with the universe<br />
once consisting of equal and similar elements.<br />
According to Tusi, internal contradictions<br />
began appearing, and as a result, some substances<br />
began developing faster and differently<br />
from other substances. He then explains how<br />
the elements evolved into minerals, then plants,<br />
then animals, and then humans. Tusi then goes<br />
on to explain how hereditary variability was an<br />
important factor for biological evolution of living<br />
things:<br />
and help each other.”<br />
Tusi recognised three types of living things:<br />
plants, animals, and humans. He wrote:<br />
“Animals are higher than plants, because<br />
they are able to move consciously, go after food,<br />
find and eat useful things. […] <strong>The</strong>re are many<br />
differences between the animal and plant species,<br />
[…] First, the animal kingdom is more complicated.<br />
Besides, reason is the most beneficial<br />
feature of animals. Owing to reason, they can<br />
learn new things and adopt new, non-inherent<br />
abilities. For example, the trained horse or<br />
hunting falcon is at a higher point of development<br />
in the animal world. <strong>The</strong> first steps of human<br />
perfection begin from here.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> Astronomical Observatory of Nasir<br />
al-Dī n Tusi.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> organisms that can gain the new features<br />
faster are more variable. As a result, they<br />
gain advantages over other creatures. […] <strong>The</strong><br />
bodies are changing as a result of the internal<br />
and external interactions.”<br />
Tusi discusses how organisms are able to<br />
adapt to their environments:<br />
“Look at the world of animals and birds.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y have all that is necessary for defence, protection<br />
and daily life, including strengths, courage<br />
and appropriate tools [organs] […] Some of<br />
these organs are real weapons, […] For example,<br />
horns-spear, teeth and claws-knife and needle,<br />
feet and hoofs-cudgel. <strong>The</strong> thorns and needles<br />
of some animals are similar to arrows. […] Animals<br />
that have no other means of defence (as<br />
the gazelle and fox) protect themselves with the<br />
help of flight and cunning. […] Some of them, for<br />
example, bees, ants and some bird species, have<br />
united in communities to protect themselves<br />
I Shall Love All Mankind.<br />
Tusi then explains how humans evolved<br />
from advanced animals:<br />
“Such humans [probably anthropoid apes]<br />
live in the Western Sudan and other distant corners<br />
of the world. <strong>The</strong>y are close to animals by<br />
their habits, deeds and behaviour. […] <strong>The</strong> human<br />
has features that distinguish him from<br />
other creatures, but he has other features that
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2017</strong> <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Light</strong> 5<br />
unite him with the animal world, vegetable<br />
kingdom or even with the inanimate bodies. […]<br />
Before [the creation of humans], all differences<br />
between organisms were of the natural origin.<br />
<strong>The</strong> next step will be associated with spiritual<br />
perfection, will, observation and knowledge.<br />
[…] All these facts prove that the human being<br />
is placed on the middle step of the evolutionary<br />
stairway. According to his inherent nature, the<br />
human is related to the lower beings, and only<br />
with the help of his will can he reach the higher<br />
development level.” (end)<br />
Turkey Bans Teaching of<br />
Evolution<br />
Science is More Than a Belief System<br />
By James Williams<br />
Lecturer in Science Education,<br />
Sussex School of Education and Social<br />
Work, University of Sussex<br />
(http://theconversation.com/turkey-bansteaching-of-evolution-but-science-is-morethan-a-belief-system-80123)<br />
in science are more difficult than evolution, yet<br />
they still get taught.<br />
Creationist arguments<br />
Evolution, creationists argue, is just a theory<br />
– it’s not proven and so up for debate. Evolutionary<br />
trees (especially for humans) are regularly<br />
re-drawn after new fossil discoveries,<br />
showing how poor the theory is. After all, if the<br />
theory was correct, this wouldn’t keep changing.<br />
Often, creationists will pose a challenge for<br />
science to prove how life started, knowing that<br />
there is not yet a firm, accepted theory. Finally,<br />
there’s the king of all arguments: if we all<br />
evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?<br />
<strong>The</strong>se arguments are packed with factual<br />
inaccuracies and logical fallacies. Evolution<br />
doesn’t need an explanation of how life started.<br />
It simply describes how life develops and diversifies.<br />
Humans did not evolve from monkeys –<br />
we’re great apes. Modern apes, including humans,<br />
evolved from now extinct pre-existing<br />
ape species. We’re related to, not descended<br />
from, modern apes.<br />
In the US, there have been many attempts to<br />
expunge evolution from the school curriculum<br />
or demand that creationism – the idea that all<br />
life was uniquely created by God – is given equal<br />
treatment in science textbooks. While all these<br />
have failed, the government in Turkey has now<br />
banned evolution from its national curriculum.<br />
US creationists want<br />
both views to be presented,<br />
to let children decide<br />
what to believe. Bids<br />
to reject this are wrongly characterised as attempts<br />
to shut down debate or free speech – to<br />
promote a scientific, atheistic, secular, ideology<br />
over a more moral, ethical, common sense religious<br />
worldview.<br />
Turkey’s decision goes much further. This<br />
isn’t about claiming equal treatment, it’s an outright<br />
ban. <strong>The</strong> government justifies it by claiming<br />
evolution is “difficult to understand” and<br />
“controversial”. Any controversy however is one<br />
manufactured by ultra-religious communities<br />
seeking to undermine science. Many concepts<br />
. . .evolution itself is not a theory.<br />
Evolution happens.<br />
I Shall Love All Mankind.<br />
Key creationist misconceptions<br />
Darwin led a massive step forward. Creationists<br />
fail to understand that evolution itself is<br />
not a theory. Evolution happens. Life develops<br />
and diversifies, new species come into existence.<br />
We can see intermediate life forms right<br />
now, such as fish that<br />
are transitioning to living<br />
on land and land<br />
mammals that recently<br />
transitioned into<br />
aquatic life. <strong>The</strong> “theory of evolution” explains<br />
how evolution takes place. Charles Darwin and<br />
Alfred Russel Wallace first described the mechanism<br />
that drives the change — natural selection<br />
— in 1858.<br />
Creationists also fail to understand the difference<br />
between a theory and a law in science.<br />
This is something that even science graduates<br />
suffer from, as I’ve noted in my own research.<br />
<strong>The</strong>ories explain scientific concepts. <strong>The</strong>y are<br />
evidenced and accepted by the scientific community.<br />
<strong>The</strong>ories are the pinnacle of scientific
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2017</strong> <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Light</strong> 6<br />
explanation, not just a hunch or a guess. Laws<br />
however have a different role, they describe<br />
natural phenomena. For example, Newton’s<br />
laws of gravity do not explain how gravity happens,<br />
they describe the effects gravity has on<br />
objects. <strong>The</strong>re are laws and theories for gravity.<br />
In biology however, there are few laws, so there<br />
is no law of evolution. <strong>The</strong>ories do not, given<br />
sufficient proof, become laws. <strong>The</strong>y are not hierarchical.<br />
A third issue is the lack of understanding of<br />
the nature of science. Science aims not to find<br />
some objective truth, but to elicit an explanation<br />
of natural phenomena. All scientific explanations<br />
are provisional. When new evidence is<br />
found that contradicts what we think we know,<br />
we change our explanations, sometimes rejecting<br />
theories that were once thought to be correct.<br />
Science is always working to try and falsify<br />
ideas. <strong>The</strong> more those ideas pass our tests, the<br />
more robust they are and the greater our confidence<br />
is that they are correct. Evolution has<br />
been tested for nearly 160 years. It’s never been<br />
falsified. Science only deals with natural phenomena,<br />
it doesn’t deal with or seek to explain<br />
the supernatural.<br />
Why the ban is dangerous<br />
Banning good science undermines all science,<br />
especially considering evolution’s place<br />
underpinning modern biology, with plenty of<br />
evidence to support it. For mainstream scientists,<br />
the fact that evolution happens is neither<br />
seriously questioned nor<br />
controversial. Any controversy<br />
in discussions of<br />
evolution resides in the<br />
role natural selection has<br />
in driving diversity and<br />
change, or the pace of that<br />
change.<br />
This ban on teaching<br />
evolution in Turkish<br />
schools opens the possibility<br />
that alternative, unscientific ideas may enter<br />
science teaching, from those who believe in<br />
a flat earth to deniers of gravity.<br />
How do we deal with the apparent schism<br />
Read in the name of thy<br />
Lord Who creates- Creates<br />
man from a clot,<br />
Read and thy Lord is<br />
most Generous,<br />
Who taught by the pen,<br />
Taught man what he<br />
knew not<br />
I Shall Love All Mankind.<br />
between religious belief and scientific evidence?<br />
My research and approach has been to distinguish<br />
between religion, a belief system, and<br />
science, which works on the acceptance of evidence.<br />
Beliefs, including but not limited to religious<br />
beliefs, are often held irrationally, without<br />
evidence, and are resistant to change. Science is<br />
rational, based on evidence and is open to<br />
change when faced with new evidence. In science,<br />
we accept the evidence, rather than<br />
“choose to believe”.<br />
Turkey’s move to ban the teaching of evolution<br />
contradicts scientific thinking, and tries to<br />
turn the scientific method into a belief system<br />
— as if it were a religion. It seeks to introduce<br />
supernatural explanations for natural phenomena,<br />
and to assert that some form of truth or explanation<br />
for nature exists beyond nature. <strong>The</strong><br />
ban is unscientific, undemocratic and should be<br />
resisted. (end)<br />
<strong>The</strong> Significance of Lailatul<br />
Qadr<br />
<strong>The</strong> Night of Majesty<br />
By Ebrahim Mohamed<br />
I begin in the name of Allah the Beneficent<br />
the Merciful.<br />
Surely, We revealed it on the Night of Majesty<br />
And what will make thee comprehend what<br />
<strong>The</strong> Night of Majesty is?<br />
<strong>The</strong> Night of Majesty is<br />
better than a thousand<br />
months <strong>The</strong> angels and the<br />
Spirit descend in it by the<br />
Permission of their Lord –<br />
for every affair- Peace! It is<br />
till the rising of the morning.<br />
(97:1-5)<br />
Lailatul Qadr or the<br />
‘Night of Majesty’ is the<br />
name given in the Holy Quran to that eventful<br />
night when the first five verses of the Holy Quran<br />
was revealed to the Holy Prophet Muhammad<br />
(peace be upon him). He was sitting alone in the
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2017</strong> <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Light</strong> 7<br />
cave of Hira when he heard the angel Jibreel announce<br />
to him Iqra - Read! He said: Fa qoel toe<br />
maa annaa bi qaari ‘I am not one who can read.’<br />
Again Jibreel said Iqra - Read! and again he said:<br />
Fa qoel toe maa annaa bi qaari ‘I am not one that<br />
can read.’ And a third time the Angel Jibreel said<br />
Iqra - Read! and again he said: Fa qoel toe maa<br />
annaa bi qaari ‘I am not one that can read.’<br />
<strong>The</strong>n Jibreel revealed the following words to<br />
the Holy Prophet (s):<br />
Read in the name of thy Lord Who creates-<br />
Creates man from a clot,<br />
Read and thy Lord is most Generous,<br />
Who taught by the pen,<br />
Taught man what he knew not – (96:1-5) 1<br />
It is indeed noteworthy that these very first<br />
verses revealed to the Holy Prophet (s) do not mention<br />
anything about worship but instead appeal to<br />
the human intellect and draw attention to man’s<br />
creation from an insignificant clot of blood. Instead<br />
it contains the command to ‘read’ the Divine<br />
Wisdom of which unfolds as we proceed through<br />
the Holy Quran and we come to realize that worship<br />
amounts to nothing if not accompanied with<br />
true understanding and knowledge of a Superior<br />
Being, that we cannot see with our physical eyes.<br />
It thus becomes imperative to study and observe<br />
the works of our Creator and study His nature and<br />
attributes as manifested in the world we find ourselves<br />
in, to attain (haqqal yaqeen), absolute certainty<br />
of His existence. We are commanded to read<br />
with the assistance of our Rabb, the One Who<br />
nourishes and sustains us through various stages of<br />
evolution to perfection. So, our Rabb is our Guide<br />
along the path to perfect knowledge and absolute<br />
certainty of His existence. This is the foundation<br />
on which we are commanded to build our faith in<br />
Him. Without such a solid foundation of true divinely<br />
guided knowledge, our faith will be like the<br />
roots of a tree, which are so weak that. the slightest<br />
occurrence of a severe<br />
storm will eventually cause<br />
it to topple. Sure,<br />
knowledge of our Rabb, on<br />
the other hand, strengthens<br />
the roots of our faith in Him and renders us capable<br />
to weather all storms of opposition with solid arguments<br />
in His defence and serves as a shield for<br />
us against sin.<br />
This revelation indeed brought about a revolution<br />
of light and learning in a dark world. <strong>The</strong>refore,<br />
its timing is called ‘Lailatul Qadr’ the Night<br />
of Majesty. <strong>The</strong> night refers to the moral and spiritual<br />
darkness the Arabs, the Jews, and the Christians,<br />
nay civilization found itself in at the time.<br />
<strong>The</strong> revelation on that majestic night sort of unleashed<br />
a ‘Big Bang’ of spiritual awakening that<br />
brought about a flurry for knowledge tempered<br />
with a deep spirituality never experienced before.<br />
As the Holy Quran says:<br />
Tannazalul malaai katoe wa ruhu feehaa bi<br />
idhni Rabbi him min kulli amr<br />
<strong>The</strong> angels and the Spirit descend in it by the<br />
permission of their Lord — for every affair.<br />
Although the revelation of the entire Quran<br />
took twenty-three years, the euphoria and majesty<br />
that accompanied the first revelation that came to<br />
the Holy Prophet (s) on the night of Lailatul Qadr<br />
was more glorious than any other time and that is<br />
why the Holy Quran says, ‘it is better than a thousand<br />
months.’ A thousand months means a very<br />
long period of about 83 years which is approximately<br />
the average life span of a normal human being<br />
on earth. 83 years is also approximately the<br />
timing when spiritual revolutions occur in the universe<br />
with the advents of Mujaddidiyya or spiritual<br />
Revivers of the Faith raised by Almighty Allah<br />
Himself. With the advent of a Mujaddid which<br />
usually coincides with an age of dark nights of corruption<br />
and irreligion, we again find a spiritual resurgence<br />
on a large scale. <strong>The</strong>refore, it is said that<br />
when the souls of such holy persons are enlightened<br />
the ‘angels and the spirit’ again descend on<br />
the earth like rain by which humble and sincere<br />
souls, not<br />
Do men think that they<br />
will be left alone on saying,<br />
We believe, and will<br />
not be tried?<br />
blinded by ego<br />
and pompousness,<br />
are inspired<br />
1 <strong>The</strong>re is consensus amongst most scholars that the<br />
last two verses were also part of the first verses revealed.<br />
I Shall Love All Mankind.
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2017</strong> <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Light</strong> 8<br />
and find themselves naturally drawn to such spiritual<br />
luminaries. We also find with the assignment<br />
by Almighty Allah of such Revivers of Faith the<br />
trials and tribulations which the Holy Prophet and<br />
his companions had to face, resurfacing once again<br />
as a ‘faith building’ test for the believers. This is<br />
how Almighty Allah in His Wisdom strengthens<br />
the believers. <strong>The</strong> Holy Quran makes it quite clear:<br />
from today are owing to those pioneer Muslim<br />
scholars. <strong>The</strong> question we sadly ask is, ‘Where are<br />
the scholars of such calibre today?’ Nay most<br />
scholars today engage in tedious religious debates<br />
often of a petty and shallow nature with each one<br />
trying to outdo the other, while the West are already<br />
on the way to the next galaxy in search of<br />
knowledge.<br />
Do men think that they will be left alone on<br />
saying, We believe, and will not be tried? And indeed,<br />
We tried those before them, so Allah will certainly<br />
know those who are true and He will know<br />
the liars. – 29:2,3<br />
Here the generations of Believers that will<br />
come after the era of the Holy Prophet (s) and the<br />
rightly guided Khalifas, are addressed. <strong>The</strong>ir firmness<br />
under trial will be tested like those before<br />
them. Like those before them there will be those<br />
who will be firm under these trials and those who<br />
will fall by the wayside.<br />
<strong>The</strong> command ‘Iqra’ - ‘Read’ must have baffled<br />
the Arabs who were not a nation known for its<br />
literary prowess like<br />
the ancient Greeks<br />
for example. In fact,<br />
they are referred to in<br />
the Holy Quran as an<br />
ummi people, meaning<br />
they were not literary<br />
well-endowed.<br />
So, this commandment, to seek true knowledge, is<br />
for all times even in an advanced age like today.<br />
History, however, bears out that when this command<br />
was transmitted to the people by the Holy<br />
Prophet (s) those Arabs who had abandoned all<br />
forms of idolatry and adopted Islam as their faith,<br />
became the torch-bearers of learning and<br />
knowledge which lasted for many centuries, because<br />
they were moved into action by these commands.<br />
<strong>The</strong> lesson in this is that it is not enough<br />
merely to make lengthy duas and recite lengthy surahs<br />
these nights; nay one should also resolve to<br />
carry into action what we are called upon to do<br />
here in these verses revealed to the Holy Prophet<br />
(s) on the night of Laylatul Qadr, to gain the true<br />
benefits of the guidance provided by the Holy<br />
Quran. Much of the sciences which we benefit<br />
I Shall Love All Mankind.<br />
By Almighty Allah granting true knowledge to<br />
humankind is meant His attribute - Raheem, i.e.<br />
His Mercy that comes in the form of the endless<br />
benefits humanity derives by putting to good use<br />
their human faculties and the embellishments their<br />
Lord has provided them with through His Rahma<br />
i.e. His Beneficence which knows no boundaries.<br />
He gives it to whom He pleases whether you are a<br />
Believer in Him or not. That is why the Quran says,<br />
‘Thy Lord is Most Generous’ after the command to<br />
‘Read’. This means that true knowledge is NOT a<br />
hand-out; rather, it is a reward that comes with hard<br />
labour.<br />
<strong>The</strong> mention of the ‘pen’ in seventh century<br />
Arabia leaves<br />
much to ponder<br />
about. Who would<br />
have thought, then,<br />
that there would<br />
come a time when<br />
the might of the<br />
pen would be far<br />
superior to the<br />
might of the sword in the defence of Islam? <strong>The</strong><br />
great general in the army of Muhammad (s) in this<br />
age, Hazrat Mirza Sahib, declared a Jihad bil<br />
Qalam i.e. a Jihad with the pen in his defence of<br />
Islam and not a Jihad with the sword or guns and<br />
bullets. Though he was condemned for this peaceful,<br />
yet most effective stance he took at the time,<br />
today everyone agrees that the pen is indeed mightier<br />
than the sword. <strong>The</strong> ‘qalam’ or pen, however,<br />
has a deeper significance in the verse; it is symbolic<br />
of knowledge of all the perceivable sciences<br />
not just that pertaining to religion. Nevertheless,<br />
although we have seen how advanced technology<br />
has raised the material standards of civilization —<br />
we have internet; cell phones; televisions etc — we<br />
can also destroy ourselves intellectually and physically,<br />
if we do not heed the moral code laid down<br />
for us to follow by our Rabb (Creator) in His Book,<br />
Who would have thought, then,<br />
that there would come a time<br />
when the might of the pen would<br />
be far superior to the might of<br />
the sword in the defence of Islam?
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2017</strong> <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Light</strong> 9<br />
the Holy Quran.<br />
After the first revelation on the night of<br />
Laylatul Qadr, there came a lapse of about six<br />
months during which there was no revelation<br />
which pressed heavily on the Holy Prophet (s). Finally,<br />
chapter 74 of the Holy Quran al Muddathir,<br />
‘<strong>The</strong> One Who Is Enwrapping Himself,’ was revealed.<br />
He was commanded thus:<br />
O Thou who wrappest thy self up<br />
Arise and Warn – 74:1-2<br />
This indeed signalled the dawning of a new<br />
age that would encompass not just certain nations<br />
but the entire world. <strong>The</strong> Holy Prophet Muhammad<br />
(peace be upon him) was charged with the<br />
completion and perfection of Islam and to take it<br />
to the whole world. Our Prophet’s lifetime was the<br />
time when the angels and the spirit were descending<br />
on earth. On the one hand, the Holy<br />
Quran was being revealed, and on the<br />
other hand, the hearts of the believers<br />
were being suffused with spiritual life. For<br />
every act of sacrifice and selflessness<br />
there flowed a constant stream of assistance<br />
and support – angels descended,<br />
faith was revived and strengthened, hearts<br />
were invested with spiritual power – and<br />
even during all these dangers, the message of<br />
peace was silently working its way into the hearts<br />
of people to such an extent that eventually the dark<br />
cloud of unbelief was lifted, and the divine light of<br />
guidance spread its glorious rays all over the<br />
world.<br />
Over the last thousand years, Islam witnessed<br />
a temporal and spiritual decline amongst its followers<br />
of the worst kind. Again, we find ourselves<br />
in an age where there is a need for transformation<br />
that will bring back the glorious days of Islam.<br />
During these last few days of Ramadan we should<br />
we find ourselves in an age<br />
where there is a need for<br />
transformation that will<br />
bring back the glorious<br />
days of Islam.<br />
I Shall Love All Mankind.<br />
increase our prayers and pray for our spiritual welfare<br />
and the world at large. We should pray for the<br />
victory of the true Islam as it existed during the<br />
time of the Holy Prophet 1400 years ago and restored<br />
to its pristine purity by the Imam of this<br />
Age, to whom we owe our full support with honesty<br />
and sincerity of heart as called upon by none<br />
other than the Messenger of Allah, the Prophet<br />
Muhammad (s). (end)<br />
Identity <strong>The</strong>ft<br />
Part 2<br />
By Iain Dixon<br />
Asalamu aleikum!<br />
May the peace of Allah be upon you! Isn’t it<br />
sad that Islam has been used by many as a vehicle<br />
of terror across the earth, instead of a vehicle<br />
of blessing? People have ‘hijacked’ the loving<br />
"Great is the LORD, and greatly<br />
to be praised, and his greatness<br />
is unsearchable!" Psalm 145:3<br />
character of God. Not only have they stolen His<br />
identity, but they have warped, twisted, and reshaped<br />
it into something that no longer represents<br />
His beauty and splendour. It is like someone<br />
walking into an art gallery and defacing a<br />
beautiful painting with graffiti. Allahu Akbar becomes<br />
the battle cry of the vicious and violent,<br />
rather than the symphony of the servant. In the<br />
Honoured Quran we read a simple, but powerful<br />
statement: “We gave to David (the gift of) the<br />
Psalms.”— Al Isra 17:55 (Yusuf Ali Translation)<br />
<strong>The</strong> Psalms were given by inspiration to David,<br />
and were intended to be sung for the worship<br />
and praise of Allah. In the Holy Bible in Psalm<br />
145:3 the prophet David declares the majesty of<br />
Allah: “Great is the LORD, and greatly to<br />
be praised, and His greatness is unsearchable!”<br />
This is the real “Allahu Akbar”<br />
— Allah’s greatness is beyond<br />
measure, unsearchable. <strong>The</strong> reality of Allah<br />
is not to be found in bullets and<br />
bombs, but rather as David says: “<strong>The</strong><br />
LORD is gracious and full of compassion,<br />
slow to anger and of great mercy. <strong>The</strong>
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2017</strong> <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Light</strong> 10<br />
LORD is good to all, and his tender mercies are<br />
over all his works.” — Psalm 145:8-9.<br />
It is true that there are verses in the Honoured<br />
Quran (and the Holy Bible) that could be<br />
used to justify violence, but we need to understand<br />
context, and why things were originally<br />
said, rather than using a few isolated verses to<br />
describe who Allah is and how we should behave.<br />
When I was younger, my parents had<br />
thirty clocks in the home. Big clocks, little clocks<br />
… clocks that ticked, and clocks that even made<br />
bird sounds on the hour! Very occasionally, 28<br />
clocks would be telling us it was 2.30pm. But<br />
two clocks for example, might have stopped, or<br />
were running a little slow. But just because one<br />
clock was saying it was midnight, or one clock<br />
was saying it was ten to three in the afternoon,<br />
we knew the real time was 2.30pm because of<br />
the testimony of the vast evidence of the other<br />
clocks! No one would have ever suggested it was<br />
midnight or ten to three! Similarly, those who<br />
have committed ‘identity theft’ may try and justify<br />
their violent actions by looking at one or<br />
two verses in the Quran, rather than knowing<br />
the true character of Allah by reading everything<br />
else that is said.<br />
It is commonly said that “the heart of the<br />
problem, is the problem of the heart.” I wonder<br />
sometimes, if the real cause of evil mistakenly<br />
performed in the Name of Allah is not just found<br />
in misrepresenting and misreading a text in the<br />
Honoured Quran.<br />
Terrorism has no religion.<br />
Gardeners often<br />
speak of the perils<br />
of Japanese Knotweed. This weed is aggressive,<br />
and spreads rapidly. In summer, its bamboo<br />
like stems can shoot up to seven feet, and<br />
can choke and suppress the growth of good<br />
plants. In this climate of fear and violence all<br />
done in the name of religion (even by those declaring<br />
“Allahu Akbar”), maybe we need to understand<br />
the nature of spiritual Japanese Knotweed.<br />
What is it that can turn hearts that are as<br />
pure as ice, to hearts that are as black as the<br />
darkest cave with no stars or sunlight visible?<br />
Terrorism has no religion.<br />
In the Honoured Quran, we read: “And behold,<br />
We said to the angels: ‘Bow down to Adam’<br />
and they bowed down. Not so Iblis, he refused<br />
and was haughty: He was of those of who reject<br />
Faith.” — Al Baqarah 2:34. Those who “reject<br />
faith” — these are strong words. Could it be that<br />
the real problem of those who are guilty of<br />
I Shall Love All Mankind.<br />
‘identity theft’ (and distortion) of Allah’s character<br />
have also followed the haughtiness of Iblis<br />
… refusing to truly submit to Allah? Could<br />
haughtiness be like spiritual Japanese Knotweed,<br />
crushing and distorting hearts that were<br />
created to surrender to Allah the Lord of the<br />
Universe? A true surrender that honours God’s<br />
Law, and wants to willingly follow it?<br />
(To be continued)<br />
<strong>The</strong> Holy Quran<br />
Stellar Artistry<br />
By Shazia Ahmad<br />
At the age of seven, I felt I had done my duty<br />
by reciting from the beginning to the end a set<br />
of words that meant nothing to me; triumphant<br />
on completion, I shut the book, never believing<br />
that it would re-enter my life in subtle ways.<br />
In the 1980’s, I went through a haze believing<br />
this book to be nothing more than a set of<br />
edicts. A book of rules. However, at university,<br />
the haze began to clear; a smiling young woman<br />
set me on my journey, No, she countered; it is a<br />
book of arguments. This intrigued me; argument<br />
is an intellectual concept which I had<br />
never associated with the Quran. I started to attend<br />
lectures in and out of campus to learn<br />
more.<br />
I was startled when<br />
ideas that I was coming<br />
across in Mathematics<br />
started enigmatically to appear in the Quranic<br />
surah’s I was encountering at the time, e.g., the<br />
concept of axioms or foundational facts upon<br />
which further facts can be built or the ideas of<br />
existence and uniqueness — for example in Surah<br />
Ikhlas one of the last surah’s in the Quran,<br />
Allah (swt) declares<br />
Say: He is Allah who is One (here Allah is<br />
stating the fact that- He exists)<br />
<strong>The</strong> eternal refuge<br />
He begets not and is not begotten<br />
Nor is there to him any equivalent<br />
(Here Allah is making a statement of<br />
uniqueness)<br />
Structurally it is in the right place in the<br />
Quran, as the ayah’s and surah’s that have gone
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2017</strong> <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Light</strong> 11<br />
entire surah’s within the Quran are in<br />
ring formation.<br />
before offer proofs of His existence and uniqueness.<br />
It is interesting to note that the verse itself<br />
is also in logical order: He exists is declared before<br />
His uniqueness. One cannot show that<br />
something is unique until you can prove it exists.<br />
Magnetised, I explored further. I learnt that<br />
the first recipients of these recited words were<br />
mesmerised; believers and non-believers felt its<br />
impact. <strong>The</strong> bloodless conquest of Makah and<br />
the spread of Islam across the Arabian Peninsula<br />
happened in an unbelievably short burst of<br />
time. Al Aziz, the Mighty, one of the many titles<br />
of Allah Taala given in this book, had overpowered<br />
these people. By all accounts, it is a unique<br />
event in history. How wonderful it would be if I<br />
could get some sense of that impact, I thought.<br />
In this revered month, I would like to share<br />
with you some illuminating research that is going<br />
on in the literary aspects of the Quran.<br />
In France, Germany and here in the UK researchers<br />
are embarking upon a field of study<br />
focusing on the organisation of the Quran. It is a<br />
pursuit being taken up by Muslims and non-<br />
Muslims alike.<br />
Before I begin, I need to acknowledge my<br />
source: the Bayyninah blog, that goes into much<br />
more detail than I will be here. It also lists a set<br />
of books and authors studying this aspect of the<br />
Quran. I also need to explain some terms.<br />
To begin simply, I will introduce you to word<br />
parallelism. Here is a quote from Malcolm X:<br />
A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.<br />
Here opposite words: Stand, fall, Nothing,<br />
Anything- connect the<br />
two parts of the sentence<br />
a man who with words, sentences, themes or<br />
A ring composition has a centre<br />
stands for nothingideas<br />
radiating out but connected<br />
will fall for anything<br />
in reverse order focussing on the<br />
Chiasmus is reverse<br />
parallelism.<br />
idea at the centre.<br />
I<br />
I Shall Love All Mankind.<br />
will explain this with an<br />
example. In Matthew<br />
19:30 Jesus says: ‘But<br />
many who are first will be<br />
last, and the last will be first’. Here the term in<br />
the first clause: first will be last, is repeated but<br />
in reverse order (last will be first), tying the two<br />
clauses together.<br />
Whole books can be in written chiastic<br />
structure. <strong>The</strong> one newly discovered in the<br />
Quran is called the ring composition. A ring<br />
composition has a centre with words, sentences,<br />
themes or ideas radiating out but connected<br />
in reverse order focussing on the idea at<br />
the centre.<br />
I will try to explain this using Surah Yusuf.<br />
<strong>The</strong> following is the sequential order of the trials<br />
of Yusuf (AS).<br />
A. Joseph’s (AS) dream (vv. 4-6)<br />
B. <strong>The</strong> brothers’ plot against Joseph (vv. 7-<br />
22)<br />
C. Minister’s wife attempt to seduce Joseph<br />
(vv. 23-29)<br />
D. Lynch pin of the whole incident<br />
A similar attempt by some ladies (vv.<br />
30-34)<br />
E. Joseph’s imprisonment (vv. 35-42)<br />
F. <strong>The</strong> king’s dream (vv. 43-44)<br />
F’: <strong>The</strong> king’s dream interpreted (vv. 45-<br />
49)<br />
E’. Joseph’s release from prison (v. 50)<br />
D’. Confession of the Egyptian ladies (v.<br />
51a)<br />
C’. Confession of minister’s wife (vv.<br />
51b-57)<br />
B’. <strong>The</strong> brothers learn their lesson (vv.<br />
58-99)<br />
A’. Fulfilment of Joseph’s<br />
dream (vv.<br />
100-101)<br />
And now the<br />
ring structure:<br />
<strong>The</strong> surah opens
<strong>July</strong> <strong>2017</strong> <strong>The</strong><br />
<strong>Light</strong> 12<br />
Surah Baqara has rings within rings.<br />
with Joseph’s dream, this is connected to the<br />
last part with the fulfilment of his dream. <strong>The</strong><br />
trials begin in the 2 nd part of the story B, the resolution<br />
to this part can be found in the 2 nd last<br />
part B’<br />
<strong>The</strong> 3 rd part of the story . . . 3 rd Last etc<br />
6 th part King’s dream, 6 th last… <strong>The</strong> reason<br />
for the trials that Yusuf (AS) underwent.<br />
Perfect symmetry; and there are other balances<br />
as well. For instance, the story begins<br />
with a dream sequence and first half of the ring<br />
completes in a dream sequence. <strong>The</strong> 2 nd half of<br />
the ring begins with the realization of the king’s<br />
dream and the 2 nd half ends with the grand reality<br />
of Hazrat Yusuf’s dream.<br />
What the French and English researchers<br />
are finding is that entire surah’s within the<br />
Quran are in ring formation.<br />
Surah Baqara has rings within rings or sub<br />
rings. A YouTube channel gives a good visualisation<br />
of this, called Remarkable structure of the<br />
Qura: <strong>The</strong> ring composition.<br />
In Suratul Baqara a Structural Analysis, Dr R<br />
K Farrin states:<br />
descending piecemeal in response<br />
to events unfolding<br />
in the life of the prophet (s)<br />
and the community around him. A seeming randomness<br />
of events was dictating the revelations.<br />
Moreover, the honoured Prophet (s) was receiving<br />
revelations right up towards the end of<br />
his life. He had no idea what the next word, next<br />
ayah, next surah would be as this was dictated<br />
by external events.<br />
Yet, researchers are finding precision in the<br />
placement of each surah, each ayah even down<br />
to each word. Subhan Allah.<br />
I want to leave you with a verse to ponder<br />
over. In light of the current research work, it<br />
seems to me that Allah is alluding to this remarkable<br />
precision in positioning within the<br />
Quranic text by using the imagery of stars.<br />
Sura Waqia v 75-77<br />
فَلَ<br />
No, I swear by the لنُّجُو ِم<br />
ٱ بِمَوَ قِعِ أُقْسِ ُم<br />
placement of the stars<br />
وَ ۥ إِنَّهُ لَقَسَم لَّ ْو تَعْلَمُو َن<br />
in- and that is عَظِيم<br />
deed a mighty oath, if you but knew.<br />
no- That (this) is indeed a كَرِ يم ۥ إِنَّهُ لَقُرْ ءَان<br />
ble Qur'an(end)<br />
Indeed, this chapter exhibits marvellous justness<br />
of design. It is precisely and tightly arranged,<br />
. . . even the section lengths fit perfectly<br />
in the overall scheme. Moreover, the precise<br />
structure serves as a guide, pointing to key<br />
themes in the chapter. <strong>The</strong>se occur, according to<br />
the logic of the pattern, at the centre of individual<br />
rings and particularly at the centre of the whole<br />
chapter.<br />
What is astonishing is that the ayahs were<br />
Ameer of the Worldwide Ahmadiyya<br />
Movement arrives in the UK<br />
on 22 <strong>July</strong> <strong>2017</strong>. He leaves on 14 th<br />
August <strong>2017</strong> for Holland. Members<br />
are requested to make special efforts<br />
to contact him, attend Friday<br />
prayers and other meetings<br />
at the Centre and other places to<br />
benefit from his spiritual insights.<br />
Ahmadiyya Anjuman Isha‘at Islam Lahore (UK)<br />
Founders of the first Islamic Mission in the UK, established 1913 as the Woking Muslim Mission.<br />
Dar-us-Salaam, 15 Stanley Avenue, Wembley, UK, HA0 4JQ<br />
Centre: 020 8903 2689 ∙ President: 01793 740670 ∙ Secretary: <strong>07</strong>737 24<strong>07</strong>77 ∙ Treasurer: 01932 348283<br />
E-mail: info@aaiil.uk<br />
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Donations: https://www.cafonline.org/charityprofile/aaiiluk<br />
I Shall Love All Mankind.