| THE AYAT AND THE HADITH OF THE DAY |
SEEKING ONLY ALLAH'S CONSENT
HARUN YAHYA
In one of his works treating the conditions to be fulfilled to acquire sincerity, Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, renown Turkish scholar, highlighted the importance of cleansing one's self from the need of acceptance from others and turning only to obtain Allah's consent, by saying, "You should seek Divine pleasure in your actions. If Almighty Allah is pleased, it is of no importance even should the whole world be displeased. If He accepts an action and everyone else rejects it, it has no effect. Once His pleasure has been gained and He has accepted an action, even if you do not ask it of Him, should He wish it and His wisdom requires it, He will make others accept it. He will make them consent to it too. For this reason, the sole aim in this service should be the direct seeking of Divine pleasure." 1This example is of great consequence in understanding the meaning of sincerity. It stresses that once Allah assents, nothing matters, even if the whole world were to turn in opposition to you. Besides, Allah controls the hearts of them all. If He so willed, then He makes them all to agree with you.
On the other hand, if Allah does not give His assent, then it is unimportant whether the whole world were to give theirs. Any true believer knows with certainty that if he earns only the assent of people it is not worth anything in Allah's presence, and that he will have acquired nothing on his way to the next world, unless Allah willed otherwise. Those who had assented may well be great in number, or powerful in terms of wealth or authority. Yet, these beings are all weak, and proceed through Allah's permission, and will one day lose their power and might after having decomposed in the earth. For this reason, the support of even large groups will not be beneficial in the hereafter. Only Allah is Everlasting and worthy of granting consent. It is only by comprehending this truth that one can acquire the understanding of lasting sincerity. He should turn towards acquiring Allah's assent by freeing himself from the "opinions of others." In the Qur'an, Allah describes this with a metaphor:
Allah has made a metaphor for them of a man owned by several partners in dispute with one another and another man wholly owned by a single man. Are they the same? Praise be to Allah! The fact is that most of them do not know. You will die and they too will die. (Surat az-Zumar: 29-30)
In the Qur'an, seeking the consent of others besides Allah is described as "idolatry (shirk)" or "ascribing partners to Allah." In the above-mentioned verse, Allah compares the one who seeks the consent of others and ascribes partners to Allah to a man owned by several partners in dispute with one another. He also compares the one of faith who firmly serves Allah with the one wholly owned by a single man. Allah reminds us that all beings other than Him will surely meet their end some day. Thus, He invites people to ponder the importance of seeking only His consent.
Therefore, one should guard against the vain desires of his inner self, and evualuate himself sincerely without letting his lower-self deceive him. One of the strongest inclinations of one's lower-self is the desire to acquire the approbation of others, as opposed to complying with the morality of the Qur'an. Likewise, many people act the way they do not because they like or approve of it, but to be appreciated by their peers. In other words, they strive to increase their status in society. Therefore, the primary motive in their lives becomes the "desire to acquire the consent of others."
Many of you have no doubt often heard people saying such things as "What will people say?", "How could we explain this to others?", "We have become the laughingstock of the neighborhood" or "Now we can never go out in public again."
In general, these reactions stem from attaching too much importance to what people say, and think. Sometimes people feel the pangs of their conscience, not because they have committed a wrong, but because others have come to know about it. However, if a wrong is committed, the fact that Allah knows about it is truly what matters. And, once again, one should turn only to Allah to seek repentance. When one feels no responsibility whatsoever towards Allah for committed errors, but feels ashamed or embarrassed in front of others, then it is clear that he accords more importance to the consent of other people than that of Allah's. When outside, such people fail to be as committed to fulfilling religious duties as they are when at home. Excessively concerned with others' opinions, they prefer to gain their consent to Allah's.
Thus, any true believer wishing to acquire sincerity should completely free himself from the worry of "what would people say." Such a concern is well entrenched in ignorant communities. Hence, one can never experience pure sincerity, as long as he holds on to the need for other people's approval.
One should always be sincere in his intentions and seek purely turn to Allah's consent in order to acquire sincerity. The fact that people grant him their assents would in no way be beneficial for him unless Allah wishes so. Yet, one who earns the consent, support, love and approval of Allah has already acquired the support that all these people can provide. If he behaves sincerely, Allah will enable him to lead the best of lives, both in the world and in the hereafter, provide a means of support that no human being can provide, and grant him a friendship incomparable to any friendship among humans.
1) Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, The Risale-i Nur Collection, The Flashes Collection, The Twentyfirst Flash
| WONDERS OF CREATION FOR THE 15th DAY |
THE PEERLESS PLANET: EARTH
HARUN YAHYA
Think for a moment about what is necessary for a man to survive. Water, the sun, oxygen, the atmosphere, plants and animals… All kinds of details, all kinds of conditions you can or can't think of at that moment are naturally available on the Earth. In addition, when we investigate further, we can see that all these vital needs have a web of interrelated details, and that all these details exist in their full splendor on Earth. Everything on Earth, its living things, plants, the sky, and the seas, all these have been created in the best and most complete way in order to suit the existence and survival of humanity.
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Along with the Earth, there are also other planets in our solar system. However, among these planets, the only planet that is suitable for life is Earth. The distance of the Earth from the sun, the rotational speed of the Earth on its axis, the inclination of its axis to its orbit, the structure of the Earth's surface and many other independent factors much like these enable our planet to enjoy a warm temperature which is appropriate for life and to diffuse this warmth all over the Earth in a homogeneous way. The composition of the Earth's atmosphere and the size of the Earth are also just as they should be. The light coming to us from the sun, the water we drink, and the foods we enjoy are extremely suitable for our lives.
In short, any sort of close look at the planet we live on will show us that the Earth was designed especially for man. For us to see that the conditions on Earth were specially designed, it will be enough to take a rough look at conditions on other planets. Take Mars, for example. The atmosphere of Mars is a toxic mixture containing a heavy dose of carbon dioxide. There is no water on the surface of the planet. Huge craters caused by the impact of massive meteors are obvious in the picture on the right. As for the weather, monster storms and sandstorms which last for months on end are quite common. The temperature averages -53° C (-64° F).
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Considering these features as a whole, Mars, which among our neighboring planets shares the most in common with the Earth, is clearly a dead planet where life is not possible. This comparison palpably demonstrates that the features which make the Earth a livable place are truly tremendous blessings. The One Who has created the entire universe, formed perfectly its stars, planets, mountains and seas, is Allah. Throughout our lives, we should be thankful for His creations and blessings, and take Him as a friend and protector. Allah, Who is the owner of all these things, is the One Who is worthy of all praise. Allah informs us of this fact in the Qur'an:
Is He Who creates like him who does not create? So will you not pay heed? If you tried to number Allah's blessings, you could never count them. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surat an-Nahl: 17-18)
| COLLAPSE OF THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION DAY BY DAY |
HOW DO THE COMPLEX STRUCTURES OF THE MOST ANCIENT CREATURES DEMOLISH THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION?
HARUN YAHYA
Living things form a chain in the fossil record. When we look at these from the oldest to the more recent, they emerge in the form of micro organisms, invertebrate sea creatures, fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Proponents of the theory of evolution describe this chain in a prejudiced manner, and try to present it as proof of the theory of evolution. They claim that living things developed from simple to complex forms, and that during this process a wide variety in living species came about. The statement that living things developed from primitive forms to complex ones is an evolutionist prejudice that in no way reflects the truth. The American professor of biology Frank L. Marsh, who considered that evolutionist claim, maintains in his book Variation and Fixity in Nature, that living things cannot be arranged in a continuous, unbroken series from simple to complex. 1
The fact that almost all known animal phyla suddenly emerged in the Cambrian period is strong evidence against evolutionist claims in this regard. Furthermore, those creatures which suddenly emerged possessed complex bodily structures, not simple ones-the exact opposite of the evolutionist assumption.
In Darwin's time, the Cambrian Age was included in the Silurian Age, and Darwin remained silent in the face of the complex structures of the living things that suddenly emerged at that time. In the succeeding 150 years, Darwinism's dilemma on this matter has grown even greater. Above: The Silurian Age by Zdenek Burian.
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Trilobites belonged to the Arthropoda phylum, and were very complicated creatures with hard shells, articulated bodies, and complex organs. The fossil record has made it possible to carry out very detailed studies of trilobites' eyes. The trilobite eye is made up of hundreds of tiny facets, and each one of these contains two lens layers. This eye structure is a real wonder of design. David Raup, a professor of geology at Harvard, Rochester, and Chicago Universities, says, "the trilobites 450 million years ago used an optimal design which would require a well trained and imaginative optical engineer to develop today." 2
Another interesting aspect of the matter is that flies in our day possess the same eye structure. In other words, the same structure has existed for the last 520 million years.
Another example demonstrating that life did not develop from primitive forms to complex ones and that life was already exceedingly complex from the moment when it first emerged is the shark, which the fossil record shows to have emerged some 400 million years ago. This animal possesses superior features not even seen in animals created millions of years after it, such as the way it can regenerate lost teeth. Another example is the astonishing resemblances between mammals' eyes and those of octopuses which lived on Earth millions of years before mammals.
These examples make it clear that living species cannot be neatly arranged from the primitive to the complex.
This fact also emerged as the result of analyses of studies of living things' forms, functions, and genes. For instance, when we examine the very lowest levels of the fossil record from the point of view of shape and size, we see many creatures that were much larger than those which came later (such as dinosaurs).
When we look at the functional properties of living things, we see exactly the same thing. As regards structural development, the ear is an example that disproves the claim of "development from the primitive to the complex." Amphibians possess a middle-ear space, yet reptiles, which emerged after them, have a much simpler system, based on a single small bone, and have no middle-ear space at all.
The number of chromosomes is not directly related to the complex structures of living things. This is a fact that invalidates the claims of the theory of evolution. |
Genetic studies have produced similar results. Research has demonstrated that the number of chromosomes has no relation to animals' complexity. For example, human beings possess 46 chromosomes, the copepode six, and the microscopic creature called radiolaria exactly 800.
If evolutionists wish to show that one species turned into another, then showing that living things emerged step by step on the Earth is no good. The evidence they have to come up with is fossils of the intermediate forms that link these different species together. A theory that maintains that invertebrates turned into fish, fish into reptiles, and reptiles into birds and mammals has to find the fossils to prove it. Darwin accepted that, and wrote that countless examples of these would have to be found, even though none were so far available. In the 150 years that have passed since then, no intermediate forms have been found. As the evolutionist paleontologist Derek W. Ager has admitted, the fossil record shows "not gradual evolution, but the sudden explosion of one group at the expense of another." 3
In conclusion, natural history reveals that living things did not come about by chance, but that they were created, stage by stage, over long periods over time. This is in complete agreement with the information about creation given in the Qur'an, in which God reveals that he created the universe and all living things in "six days":
God is He Who created the heavens and the Earth and everything between them in six days and then established Himself firmly upon the Throne. You have no protector or intercessor apart from Him. So will you not pay heed? (Qur'an, 32: 4)
The word "day" in the verse (yawm in Arabic) also means a long period of time. In other words, the Qur'an notes that all of nature was created over different times, not all at once. Modern geological discoveries paint a picture that confirms this.
1) www.icr.org/creationproducts/creationscienceproducts/Variation_and_Fixity_in_Nature.html2) David Raup, "Conflicts Between Darwin and Paleontology," Bulletin, Field Museum of Natural History, vol. 50, January 1979, p. 2
3) Derek A. Ager, "The Nature of the Fossil Record," Proceedings of the British Geological Association, vol 87, 1976, p. 133
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The purpose of this site is to examine the signs of the Hour through the verses of the Qur’an and hadiths of the Prophet (saas), and to show that these signs have begun to appear in our present time. The fact that the advent of these signs was revealed fourteen centuries ago should increase a believer’s faith in Allah and his devotion to Him. The following pages have been written keeping in mind our Lord’s promise: “Say: Praise be to Allah. He will show you His Signs and you will recognize them…” (Surat an-Naml: 93)"
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