RAMADAN 2007 The 17th Day

You are the best nation ever to be produced before mankind. You enjoin the right, forbid the wrong and believe in Allah. (Surah Al 'Imran: 110)

	Whoever is not merciful towards people, will not be treated mercifully by Allah. (Ahmad)

NOT FEARING ANYONE BUT ALLAH

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HARUN YAHYA

One of the responsibilities of any true believer is to be conscious of the truth revealed in the following verse, and to reach a level of faith sufficient to "honor Allah with honor that is due to Him." Allah can only be honored if all His attributes are known and the revelations of these attributes are seen and grasped at any given moment. One could only fear Allah and restrain himself, and therefore attain a sincere faith, if he truly grasps the extent of His greatness.

One should be conscious of the truth that "there are no greater forces than Allah" in order to duly honor Him. Those who fail to duly appreciate Allah are deceived by the outer appearances of the worldly life and base their lives upon this deception. They tend to grant undue importance to those with money, respect and authority, deemed important according to worldly values. They tend to overemphasize their worth, and misjudge them as being people of power and status, with the ability to control others as well as life itself. Therefore, they strive to win their love and appreciation. They are attentively on their guard against their wrath, and fear becoming the target of any harm that could be inflicted by them.

If you were to ask these people about their faith, you will likely find out that some of them claim to have faith in Allah. However, these people who claim to know and recognize Allah tend to divine those they fear as beings who could act independently of Allah. Such thinking impinges upon the sincerity of their worship. In the below verse of the Qur'an, Allah denounces this line of thinking:

If you ask them, "Who created the heavens and the earth?" they will say, "Allah." Say: "So what do you think? If Allah desires harm for me, can those you call upon besides Allah remove His harm? Or if He desires mercy for me, can they withhold His mercy?" Say: "Allah is enough for me. All those who truly trust put their trust in Him." (Surat az-Zumar: 38)

In regards to this truth, Allah reminds mankind not to fear any other except Him:

... then you should not fear them but rather fear Me-and so that I can complete My blessing to you so that hopefully you will be guided.. (Surat al-Baqara: 150)

This level of morality, that assists people in acquiring pure faith and sincerity, can be observed in the prophets. In the Qur'an, it has been emphasized that the prophets feared no one but Allah. The following verse underlines this fact:

Those who conveyed Allah's Message and fear Him, fearing no one except Allah. Allah suffices as a Reckoner. (Surat al-Ahzab: 39)

Every human who succeeds giving due honor to Allah, knows that there are no forces but Allah, and never fears any one but Him. He also knows that nothing could ever happen without His consent. This understanding enables him to continuously worship Allah in a pure, sincere and untainted fashion. If he is to do a good deed, he does it not because he is afraid of others people's reactions, but because he will fail to fulfill Allah's commands if he does not do it. Similarly, he gives up any deed or form of behavior, not because he thinks he will be exposed to the anger of others, but because he desires to win Allah's compassion and avoid His chastisement.

For instance, when people who work in an office are asked to donate to a charitable foundation, some will see the opportunity as a requirement of the morality of the Qur'an and make their donations purely out of the fear of Allah. Whereas, others will donate money thinking that their friends might accuse them saying "How tight he is!", or if they fail to donate, "He is the only one who didn't donate," or "He probably has no money." Thus, they act reluctantly, not sincerely wanting to give any money. However, they feel forced to do so, since they do not want to be perceived negatively by others. It is certain that the recompense for these alms in Allah's presence will be very far from the recompense for alms donated by sincere believers. Such people have tainted their sincerity and have strayed from the morality of the Qur'an. However, those who act out of fear of Allah may hope to be rewarded by Him.

The difference between those who fear others and those who fear Allah could also be observed under adverse circumstances. For instance, let us take the example of a man who made a habit of making use of unfair advantages in his office. If this man remains unaffected when reminded that his acts will not be accepted by Allah, though stops as soon as he is told that his immoral actions will be revealed in detail to his colleagues, then it will be impossible to assert that he is sincere. Although it might have appeared outwardly that he had stopped acting immorally, he is, nevertheless, insincere. He has corrected his actions not out of his fear of Allah, but out of his desire to protect himself from the wrath of his colleagues. However, he will always be able to make amends for what he did. If he sincerely repents and corrects his way of thinking, he may then act sincerely. It is very important for anyone who wishes to act sincerely to heed the right approach as in these examples we have given of types of circumstances we commonly encounter in daily life. Thus, he should monitor himself accordingly. If he fears any other being or status other than Allah, he should then purify himself of this fear, if he wishes to achieve sincerity.

THE UNIQUE ARTISTRY OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

HARUN YAHYA

Fruits and vegetables spring from the same soil and are watered with the same water, yet they come in a dazzling variety. When we consider the multitude of different tastes and smells of fruits and vegetables, the question of how such a variety ever came about in the first place comes to mind. What causes this miscellany of the tastes and fragrances of grapes, melons, kiwis, pineapples and the like, using the same water and minerals for centuries on end, yet without ever mixing them up with each other and without ever getting them confused? Allah gives them their matchless tastes and appearances.

Both animals and humans obtain the energy they need to survive through nutrition which is produced by plants. In other words, plants have been created as a blessing to benefit all living things. Most of these blessings have been designed especially for humans. Let's take a look at our surroundings, at what we eat, and then think. First let's look at the bone-dry stalk and very thin roots of a grape vine. This bone-dry structure, one that seems so fragile that it could be broken with the slightest pull, can produce dozens of kilos of juicy grapes whose color, smell and taste have been designed especially to give pleasure to man. Now let's think about watermelons.

This juicy fruit, which again comes out of dry soil, develops precisely in the season when people begin to feel the need for it, that is, in summer. Let's think about the marvelous smell of the melon that has been provided since it first came into existence, without any deterioration in its quality, and about its famous taste. When fragrances are produced in factories, people use complex quality controls and take great pains to produce a uniform odor that mimics nature; but there is no need for quality checks to preserve the natural odor of fruits.

In addition to their enticing smells, each fruit also contains ingredients that are suitable to the season. In winter, for example, we have tangerines and oranges, which are full of vitamin C and energy. Vegetables also possess any and all kinds of vitamins and minerals that living things may need.

By thinking in this manner, we could examine in turn all the plants present in nature. And at the end of this examination, we would have learned that the plants around us have been especially designed for human beings and all other creatures, in other words they have been created. Allah, Who is the Lord of the worlds, has brought into existence all nutrition for living things and has created them in such a way that the taste, smell and use of each one of them is wonderfully varied. This reveals His might and matchless artistry in creation. He informs us of this in the Qur'an:

And also the things of varying colors He has created for you in the earth. There is certainly a Sign in that for people who pay heed. (Surat an-Nahl: 13)

You can also watch the movie >> Miracle of Seed
You can also read the book >> The Miracle of Creation in Plants

WHY IS IT MISTAKEN TO THINK THAT GOD COULD HAVE CREATED LIVING THINGS BY EVOLUTION?

HARUN YAHYA

The Qur'an contains not one verse about creation being based on evolution.

While it has been scientifically proven that the magnificent design apparent in all living and non-living things in the universe could not have come about by the blind forces of nature and chance, some people nevertheless claim that there is indeed a Creator, but that He created life through an evolutionary process.

It is evident that God, the Almighty, created the whole universe and life. It is His decision whether creation should be instantaneous or by stages. We can only understand how it happened by means of the information God has given us (in other words, from the verses of the Qur'an), and the scientific evidence apparent in nature.When we look at these two sources, we see no case for "creation by evolution."

God has revealed many verses in the Qur'an which deal with the creation of man, life, and the universe. None of these verses contains any information about creation through evolution. In other words, not one verse indicates that living things came about by evolving from one another. On the contrary, it is revealed in those verses that life and the universe were brought into being by God's command "Be!"

Scientific discoveries have also revealed that "creation by means of evolution" is out of the question. The fossil record shows that different species emerged not by evolving from one another, but independently, suddenly, and with all their individual structures. In other words, creation is different for every species.

If there were such a thing as "creation by means of evolution," we should be able to see the proof of it today. God has created everything in a particular order, within a framework of causes and laws. For instance, it is most certainly God Who makes ships float on water. However, when we look for the cause of this, we see that it is the creation of the supporting power of water. It is nothing other than the might of God that allows birds to fly. In fact, when we examine how it happens, we find the laws of aerodynamics. For this reason, if life had been created by a process of various stages, there would obviously be systems that provide the laws and advances in genetics to explain it. Furthermore, other physical, chemical, and biological laws would be known. There would be proof from laboratory research to show that one living species could turn into another. Yet again, it should be possible thanks to that research to develop enzymes, hormones, and similar molecules that a species lacks in order to bring advantages to it. In addition, it would be possible to create new organelles and structures that the living thing in question had never possessed before.

Laboratory studies would be able to show examples of creatures that had been mutated and actually benefited from the process. We would furthermore see that these mutations could be passed on to subsequent generations and actually become a part of the species. Then again, there would be millions of fossils of intermediate forms that had lived in the past, and there would be living things in our time that had not yet completed their transition processes. In short, there should be countless examples of such a process.

However, there is not a single piece of evidence that one species transmutates into another. Fossil data show that living species emerged all at once, with no ancestors behind them. In the same way as this fact destroys the theory of evolution, which claims that life came about by chance, it also shows the scientific invalidity of the claim that God brought life into being and then it evolved by stages.

God created living things in a supernatural way, by the single command "Be!" Modern science confirms this fact, and proves that living things emerged suddenly on the Earth.

Those who support the idea that "It is possible that God created living things by means of evolution" are actually trying to build "reconciliation" between creation and Darwinism. They are making a fundamental mistake, however. They are missing the basic logic of Darwinism and the kind of philosophy it serves. Darwinism does not consist of the concept of the transmutation of species. It is actually an attempt to explain the origin of living species by material factors alone. To put it another way, it tries to gain acceptance for the claim that living things are the product of nature, by giving it a scientific veneer. There can be no "common ground" between that naturalistic philosophy and a belief in God. It is a grave error in an effort to seek to find such common ground, to cede ground to Darwinism, and to agree with the false claim that it is a scientific theory. As 150 years of history have shown, Darwinism is the backbone of materialist philosophy and atheism, and no search for common ground will ever change the fact.

(For further reading, see "The collapse of the theory of evolution in 20 questions" by Harun Yahya)

THE 123 SIGNS OF THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS

Jesus, the Prophet and Messiah, is alive and will return to the Earth in the near future. We are Muslims who love Jesus, believe in all his miracles and noble morality, know that he will come back to the world again to save humanity and we are eagerly waiting for this great and blessed event to happen. We believe that Jesus would come back to the earth miraculously in the last days and bring peace, justice and happiness by uniting Christians and Muslims in a common religion and morality. Come, let us prepare together for the second coming of Jesus.

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