RAMADAN 2008 - THE 28th DAY

Moment by moment, every picture above shows an image of the vehicle crossing the bridge. A person travelling by this vehicle supposes that a particular period of time is spent in crossing the bridge. However, we can see all of these pictures at a single moment.

An example will lead us to a better understanding of the fact that, in the sight of God, every incident takes place in a single moment. Assume that you have the picture of a big city spread in front of you. Streets, vehicles, buildings lined up side by side and people are clearly seen in this picture. Let’s also imagine that there is a man trying to reach the other end of this city. From the point of view of this man, there is a certain distance to be crossed from one end of this city to another in a definite time. It surely takes some time for this man to reach his destination.It is unlikely that he can be present at two distinct places at the same time. Yet, this is not the case for a person like you who looks at this picture from the outside. At a first glance, you can see all the details of the city in a single moment. Moreover, you do not even need a specific time in which to do this.

This state outlined in the above example also holds true for people like us confined to a specific dimension. For us, reaching a destination becomes possible only with the passage of time and by expending some energy. However, for God, the Creator of all dimensions, it takes only a single moment for all events to occur.

The second important fact is the simultaneity of these events. As stated earlier, in the sight of God, it is not possible to talk about the notion of time; everything takes place and ends in a single instant.

The Prophet Adam is created from clay right at this moment, angels are prostrating themselves before the Prophet Adam right now. Likewise, he is now being sent to earth. Furthermore, the "moment" we are talking about is the "moment" you are reading these lines.

Another example will further clarify this explanation. Let’s think about the Prophet Moses (Musa). The moment his mother decided to place the baby Moses in a box and set him adrift on the water is still present; that moment never disappeared and will continue to exist forever. The moment the Prophet Moses went to Pharaoh (Fir’awn) and conveyed the message of God to him still exists. In reality, just at this moment, the Prophet Moses is inviting Pharaoh to accept the religion of truth. It is a fact that this is also the moment the Prophet Moses is receiving the revelations of God in the sacred valley of Tuwa. It is also this instant the Prophet Moses is running away from Pharaoh with his people, and at this moment the Red sea opens a way for the Prophet Moses and his people to walk across. For all eternity, this moment when the sea opens will remain and exist in God's memory.

The moment Mary became pregnant, the moment she gave birth to Prophet Jesus ('Isa) under a date palm, the moment she returned to her people, the moment the Prophet Jesus talked to them while he was still in his cradle, as well as the moment he asked the question "Who will be my helpers to God?" to his disciples, and was resurrected by God, are all happening right at this moment. Indeed, not only the past events we are familiar with, but also the ones of which we have no idea because they will happen in the future are, in reality, happening just at this moment. Every second the Prophet Jesus spent in this world, his communication of the message of God to his disciples, his return to the earth, every speech he delivered to call people to the path of God, his death and his resurrection on the Day of Judgement as well as the moments he will be greeted by angels in his entrance to Heaven are actually happening at this moment.

The same also holds true for someone who lived 3,000 years ago. A man who sat under a tree at noontime in 3000 BC, reflecting on a ladybird perched on his finger and who therefore glorified the creation of God, is actually performing these actions right at this moment.Moreover, the moment the ladybird returned to its nest, as well as all the phases the ladybird went through, from the moment it was in its egg to its death, are all kept in the memory of God. Consequently, all these happen in a single moment, at the very moment you are reading this passage.

Each incident, each moment in timelessness exists simultan eously everywhere and will continue to exist for all eternity. None of the moments, none of the events, none of the living beings which existed in the past have disappeared, nor will they ever disappear. The Prophet Noah is building the ark right at this moment. The flood at the time of Noah, too, is making its impact right now; everything, every moment related to the flood is taking place during the time you read these lines. These are certainly not the incidents of the past. The ongoing events, as well as the aforementioned incidents, all happen at the same time, since each one of them is fated to remain in the memory of God for all eternity.

All these examples indicate, once again, an important fact: None of the moments, none of the events, none of the living beings which existed in the past ceased to exist and they will never disappear. A film we watch on television is recorded on a filmstrip and the moving pictures composing the film are not lost, whether we watch them or not. The same thing also holds true for each and everything which has to do with life relating to the past or future.

It is essential that this point should be well grasped. None of these occurrences are similar to a memory, reminiscence or an image. They are all vivid, everything being preserved as it is, and are just like the moment we experience right now. We perceive them as incidents of the past simply because God does not present these perceptions to us. However, whenever He wills, God may display these images to us, making us believe that we truly experience them.

PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE; THEY ARE ALL THE SAME

All construction stages of these buildings as well as their current state are in the sight of God. Every deed engaged in by the former dwellers of these buildings is kept "right now" in the sight of God.

As has already been clarified, in the sight of God, all events, which have occurred on earth so far, take place at a single moment. What the Prophets Moses, Abraham (Ibrahim), Noah, Solomon, and Muhammad, together with all the other prophets, went through is experienced in the time we actually live in. Likewise, the experiences of our grandsons, of their grandsons, as well as of all the people who will live until the Judgement Day take place at one and the same moment. Among these people those who believe are now in heaven, while the disbelievers are in hell, suffering agonies.

What our Prophet went through, too, will remain in the sight of God forever. These events are presented to our sensations as if they happened 1400 years ago. However, the truth is, right at this moment, our Prophet Muhammad is ascending to heaven, right now, he is taking refuge in the cave with his friend. Again, this is the moment our Prophet is communicating the message of God to disbelievers. Actually these are not events, which occurred in the past. On the contrary, they are incidents doomed to exist for all eternity. The reason why we do not see, witness or experience these events is simply because they are not present in our memory.

The same thing holds true for all the events that took place and the people who appeared on earth throughout history. Philosophers in ancient Greece, those Sumerian people who cuneiform writing, Cleopatra, the Egyptian Queen, artists of the renaissance period, scientists of the 19th century, dictators of the 20th century and all other people, even your grandfather, his grandgrandfather and you are, in reality, living at the same moment.

None of these events disappear; they continue to exist without changing. The Crusades, the great migration, World Wars I and II, though seemingly distinct historical events, are actually events happening right at this moment and they will continue to do so for all eternity. Likewise, Egyptian, ancient Mexican, Greek and Anatolian civilisations all existed at the same moment.

The rain, which watered the field of a man who earned his living as a farmer in 1000 BC in Mesopotamia, and the very moment this farmer got wet in this rain are also present in the sight of God. A spider which wove a net in the branches of a willow in the Akkadian period is, likewise, weaving this net just now. The same spider, in a corner of this net, is also waiting for its prey right at this moment. Furthermore, the very same moment you try to visualise this spider in your mind, it is laying its eggs, collecting them on its back, and also taking care of them. Also, at this very moment, the eggs are cracking and its many offspring are hatching.

Nothing is left out or forgotten; the creation of God serves various purposes. So, nothing disappears, vanishes or is wasted. That people do not see, know or experience these various occurrences does not mean that they are not happening right now. As God is unbounded by time, everything has already taken place and finished in His sight. However, being bound by time, the experiences of an individual appear to be arranged in a series of events the order of which is apparently based on the criterion of the past, the present and the future. However, as also mentioned earlier, "events not yet experienced" are not "yet experienced" for us. Past, future and present are all the same to God. That is why God knows everything. This fact is also stated in the following verse:

"My son!" (said Luqman), "Even if something weighs as little as a mustard-seed and is inside a rock or anywhere else in the heavens or earth, God will bring it out. God is All-Pervading, All-Aware." (Surah Luqman: 16)


The delicate balances in the magnificently large universe prove that this flawless order came into being as the result of God's superior creation.

American scientists have discovered the furthest planet from the Solar System, of which our Earth is a part. According to a report on the Internet space site, the planet, the same size as Jupiter, revolves in a narrow orbit around a star 5,000 light years away from the Milky Way. The scientists stated that the planet revolves around the star in as little as 29 hours, and recorded that its surface is very hot, several thousand degrees. Astronomers at the Harvard Smithsonian Center located the star as the result of minute variations emitted by the star around which it revolves. The astronomers revealed that the planet passed in front of the star every 29 hours, during which times there was a reduction in the amount of light emitted by the star. The variation in that light, they announced, was the equivalent of a mosquito passing in front of the headlight of a car 186 miles away. Astronomers have also so far determined more than 100 stars outside the Solar System by this method.

The above scientific discovery indicates a very important truth; the magnificent size of the universe!

Bearing in mind that light travels at approximately 186 411 mps, the distance it travels in 5,000 light years is beyond human comprehension. In addition, that distance is only very small in proportion to the size of the universe, within the Solar System of which we are a part.

Even more astounding dimensions emerge when we consider the size of the universe.

Let us now continue this examination in order to understand the size of the universe... The planet Earth is a part of the solar system. In this system there are nine major planets with fifty-four satellites, and an uncounted number of asteroids all revolving around a single star called "Sun", a middle-sized star compared with others in the universe. Earth is the third planet from the sun.

The diameter of the sun is 103 times that of the earth. To visualize this, the planet Earth has diameter of 7581 miles. If we scaled that down to the dimensions of a glass ball, the sun would be about the size of soccer ball. But the interesting thing is the distance between the two. Keeping to the same scale, the two balls should be 919 feet apart. Some of the objects representing the outer planets would have to be set several kilometers away.

Big though this might seem, the solar system is a quite miniscule in size compared with the Milky Way, the galaxy in which it is located. There are over 250 billion stars in the Milky Way-some similar to the sun, others bigger, others smaller. The star nearest to the sun is Alpha Centauri. If we wanted to add Alpha Centauri in our model system, it would have to be located 484, 669 miles away.

That's too big for almost anyone to grasp, so let's reduce the scale. We'll assume the earth to be as big as a dust-particle. That would make the sun as big as a walnut about three meters from the earth. On this scale, Alpha Centauri would have to be located 398 miles from the sun.

The Milky Way consists of about 250 billion stars with similarly mind-boggling distances between them. The sun is located closer to the edge of this spiral-shaped galaxy than it is to the justify.

Even the Milky Way is dwarfed by the vast size of the whole universe. It is just one of many galaxies-nearly 300 billion of them according to recent calculations. And the distances between galaxies are millions of times greater than that between the sun and Alpha Centauri.

George Greenstein, in The Symbiotic Universe, comments on this unimaginable vastness:

Had the stars been somewhat closer, astrophysics would not have been so very different. The fundamental physical processes occurring within stars, nebulas, and the like would have proceeded unchanged. The appearance of our galaxy as seen from some far-distant vantage point would have been the same. About the only difference would have been the view of the night time sky from the grass on which I lie, which would have been yet richer with stars. And oh, yes-one more small change: There would have been no me to do the viewing…All that waster space! On the other hand, in this very waste lies our safety. (George Greenstein, The Symbiotic Universe, p. 21)

Greenstein also explains the reason for this. In his view, the huge distances in space makes it possible for certain physical variables to be arranged so as to be exactly suitable for human life. He also notes the importance of this huge space in allowing Earth to exist while minimizing the risk of collision with other stars. (For more details, see Harun Yahya's The Creation of the Universe, Al-Attique Publishers Inc., Canada: 2000)

Doubtlessly, the design of the universe is evidence of God's power to establish. The precise balances and all the human beings and other creatures are the evidence of God's supreme power and act of creation. This result discovered by modern science is just a reworking of a truth revealed fourteen centuries ago in the Qur'an:

Your Lord is God, Who created the heavens and the Earth in six days and then settled Himself firmly on the Throne. He covers the day with the night and, each pursuing the other urgently; and the Sun and Moon and stars are subservient to His command. Both creation and command belong to Him. Blessed be God, the Lord of all worlds. (Surat al-A'raf, 54)

In recent interviews with various television stations and newspapers, Adnan Oktar has noted the vital importance for world peace and security of the establishment of a Turkish-Islamic union. The importance of the subject is also set out in announcements in newspapers based on the works of Harun Yahya.

One of the aspects Adnan Oktar stresses in these announcements is the commercial and economic benefits the founding of a Turkish-Islamic Union will provide. For that reason, in his works and press announcements Mr. Oktar has particularly emphasized the importance of Turkish-Islamic countries making joint investments, the reinvigoration of trade between these countries, and the making of the necessary technological and infrastructural investment.

The recent increase and strengthening of steps being taken in the direction of such a union is a sign of the impact Adnan Oktar's works and activities are having. Leading Turkish nongovernmental organizations are issuing statements noting the importance of co-operation in the Turkish-Muslim world, and various civil initiatives are taking significant steps along those lines. One of these is the statement issued by Rıfat Hisarcıklıoğlu, president of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB), at a meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference held on 5-6 July, 2008.

The following is a selection of the statements made by Mr. Hisarcıklıoğlu, who said that:  

• With their different economic structures and capacities, Islamic countries, which represent 28% of the surface of the world, have very rich resources and potential, especially in labor force terms;
  
  
• These great human and material resources leading to an equivalent measure of economic success is everyone's common ideal, and that 
   
• High-quality and high-technology-based production and productivity need to be raised to the desired level.
  
  

He is Allah—the Creator, the Maker, the Giver of Form . To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names. Everything in the heavens and Earth glorifies Him. He is the Almighty, the All-Wise. ( Surat al-Hashr, 24)

... “Our Lord gives each thing its created form and then guides it.” (Surah Ta Ha, 50)