for Brain and BehavioralSciences: "Darwin’s mistake: explaining the discontinuity between human and
nonhuman minds," by Derek C. Penn, Keith J. Holyoak and Daniel J.
Povinelli.
Their abstract:
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Darwin's Mistake and Darwin's Triumph
After Chris of Mixing
Memory and Deric
Bownds of Deric Bownds' Mindblog had already drawn attention to the prefinal
version of this article, “Darwin’s
mistake: Explaining the discontinuity between human and nonhuman minds” by
Derek
Penn, Keith
Holyoak and Daniel
Povinelli has now finally been published in the current issue of the Behavioral
and Brain Sciences.
Penn, who’s affiliated with the Cognitive
Evolution Group at the University of Louisiana, and the University of
California, Los Angeles, Holyoak, Professor of Psychology at the University of
California, and Povinelli, Professor of Biology at the University of Louisiana,
and also a member of the Cognitive Evolution Group, argue that
“Over the last quarter century, the dominant tendency in comparative
cognitive psychology has been to emphasize the similarities between human and
nonhuman minds and to downplay the differences as “one of degree and not of
kind” (Darwin 1871). In the present target article, we argue that Darwin was
mistaken: the profound biological continuity between human and nonhuman animals
masks an equally profound discontinuity between human and nonhuman minds. To
wit, there is a significant discontinuity in the degree to which human and
nonhuman animals are able to approximate the higher-order, systematic,
relational capabilities of a physical symbol system (PSS) (Newell 1980). We show
that this symbolic-relational discontinuity pervades nearly every domain of
cognition and runs much deeper than even the spectacular scaffolding provided by
language or culture alone can explain. We propose a representational-level
specification as to where human and nonhuman animals’ abilities to approximate a
PSS are similar and where they differ. We conclude by suggesting that recent
symbolic-connectionist models of cognition shed new light on the mechanisms that
underlie the gap between human and nonhuman minds.”
As was to expected the article sparked quite a lot of heated responses in the
comment section both for it’s title and for its discontinuist view of human
cognitive which emphasizes the large gulf that lies between human and nonhuman
cognition. Those who are afraid that again a creationist/ID paper has made it
into a respectable science journal, can calm down. In their first footnote Penn
et al. make clear that:
"All similarities and differences in biology are ultimately a matter
of degree. Any apparent discontinuities between living species belie the
underlying continuity of the evolutionary process and largely result from the
fact that many, and often all, of the intermediate steps are no longer extant.
In the present article, our claim that there is a “discontinuity” between human
and nonhuman cognition is based on our claim that there is a significant gap
between the functional capabilities of the human mind and those of all other
extant species on the planet. Our point, to cut to the chase, is that the
functional discontinuity between human and nonhuman minds is at least as great
as the much more widely acknowledged discontinuity between human and nonhuman
forms of communication. But we do not doubt that both evolved through standard
evolutionary mechanisms. (Penn et al. 2008: 129)
Interestingly, when you google “Darwin’s
mistake” your fist hit is an amazon link for a book called “Darwin's
Mistake: Antediluvian
Discoveries Prove Dinosaurs and Humans Co-Existed” to which I won’t link because
I don’t want to raise the page rank of such junk. The second link is a funny
little poem called "Darwin's mistake",
which goes like this:
“Three monkeys sat on a coconut tree
Discussing things as they're said to be.
Said one to the others, "Now listen, you two,
There is a certain rumor that can't be true
That man descended from our noble race.
That very idea is a disgrace.
No monkey ever deserted his wife,
Starved her babies or ruined her life.
And another thing you will never see:
A monkey build a fence around a coconut tree
And let the coconuts go to waste
Forbidding all the other monkeys to taste.
If I put a fence around this tree,
Starvation would force you to steal from me.
Here's another thing a monkey won't do:
Go out at night and get on a stew,
And use a gun, or club, or knife
To take some other monkey's life.
Yes, man descended, the ornery cuss -
But, brother, he didn't descend from us.”
I must say this poem is actually pretty funny (given that it's not meant as
anti-evolutionary propaganda), although, as primatologists and the Machiavellian
intelligence hypothesis tell us, non-human primates
surely
aren’t saints either.
But Penn et al. make their scientific standpoint absolutely clear with the
title of their response, which is called:
“Darwin’s triumph: Explaining the uniqueness of the human mind
without a deus ex machina”
I am particularly excited by the comment of Graeme Halford,
professor emeritus at the University of Queensland, Australia, and his
colleagues, who write that they
“agree with Penn et al. that the ability to recognise structural
correspondences between relational representations accounts for many distinctive
properties of higher cognition. We propose to take this argument further by
defining both a conceptual and a methodological link between animal and human
cognition. The conceptual link is to treat relational processing (Halford et al.
1998a) as dynamic bindings of chunks to a coordinate system in working
memory (Oberauer et al. 2007). Such a coordinate system consists of slots
and relations between them, and includes relational schemas (Halford &
Busby 2007)” (Halford et al. 2008: 138)
This of course reminds me of Karl Bühler’s (1934) coordinate system of
subjective orientation which I
tried to use as a starting point for
a cognitive theory which sees mental representations as intersubjectively
overlapping and thus shared systemic spaces in
the form of a cognitive coordinate system/frame of reference into which and in
which conceptual representations are imported, integrated, unified, and
blended. In the future, I will have another look at both Penn et al.’s and
Graeme Halford’s claims.
Another ‘interesting’ comment is that of R. Allen Gardner, a
Professor of Cognitive and Brain Sciences at the University of Nevada, Reno.
Here’s the abstract:
“Sound comparative psychology and modern evolutionary and
developmental biology emphasize powerful effects of developmental conditions on
the expression of genetic endowment. Both demand that evolutionary theorists
recognize these effects. Sound comparative psychology also demands
experimental procedures that prevent experimenters from shaping the responses of
human and nonhuman beings to conform to theoretical expectations.” (Gardner
2008: 135).
What now, you may ask, is ‘interesting’ about this article?. Well let’s take
a look at what agrdner had to say about another important Paper on the
difference between human and nonhuman cognition, namely Tomasello et al.’s
(2005): Understanding
and Sharing Intentions: The Origins of Cultural Cognition:
“Sound comparative psychology and modern evolutionary and
developmental biology (often called evo-devo) emphasize powerful effects of
developmental conditions on the expression of genetic endowment. Both demand
that evolutionary theorists recognize these effects. Instead, Tomasello et
al. compares studies of normal human children with studies of chimpanzees reared
and maintained in cognitively deprived conditions, while ignoring studies of
chimpanzees in cognitively appropriate environments.” (Gardner 2005:
699)
To me this sounds a bit like flogging a dead horse, but what do I know. (not
much about evo-devo, that’s for sure)
At least both feature this nice photo of the test apparatus for chimpanzee
Basso, who first was believed to be able to count but, as was found out in 1917,
instead was only reacting to the unconscious cues of the experimenter:
UPDATE:
Chris of
Mixing Memory, John
Wilkins of Evolving Thoughts and George
Junior have already posted about the article, I hope there are more to
come!
References:
Bühler, Karl (1934) Sprachtheorie. Die Darstellungsfunktion der
Sprache. Jena: Gustav Fischer.
Gardner, R. Allen (2005): Animal cognition meets evo-devo. In:
Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28:5. 699-700.
Gardner, R. Allen (2008): Comparative intelligence and intelligent
comparisons. In: Behavioral and Brain Sciences (31:2):
135-136.
Halford, Graeme S..Steven Phillips, and William H Wilson (2008):
The missing link: Dynamic, modifiable representations in working memory.
In: In: Behavioral and Brain Sciences (31:2) : 137-138.
Penn, Derek C, Keith J. Holyoak. and Daniel J. Povinelli (2008): Darwin's
mistake: Explaining the discontinuity between human and nonhuman minds. In:
Behavioral and Brain Sciences (31:2): 109-130.
Tomasello, Michael Malinda Carpenter, Josep Call, Tanya Behne, and Henrike
Moll (2005a): Understanding and Sharing Intentions: The Origins of Cultural
Cognition. In: Behavioral and Brain Sciences 28:5, 675–691
Discontinuities between Human and Animal Cognition
Premack offers a stimulating brief essay (PDF here) pointing out that recent
cognitive studies finding abilities in animals once thought unique to humans
should not lead us to confuse similarity with equivalence, for the human brain
has nerve cell types and connections not found in any other animals. He examines
eight cognitive areas to argue that dissimilarities are large. Here is his
abstract:
Microscopic study of the human brain has revealed neural
structures, enhanced wiring, and forms of connectivity among nerve cells not
found in any animal, challenging the view that the human brain is simply an
enlarged chimpanzee brain. On the other hand, cognitive studies have found
animals to have abilities once thought unique to the human. This suggests a
disparity between brain and mind. The suggestion is misleading. Cognitive
research has not kept pace with neural research. Neural findings are based on
microscopic study of the brain and are primarily cellular. Because cognition
cannot be studied microscopically, we need to refine the study of cognition by
using a different approach. In examining claims of similarity between animals
and humans, one must ask: What are the dissimilarities? This approach prevents
confusing similarity with equivalence. We follow this approach in examining
eight cognitive cases—teaching, short-term memory, causal reasoning, planning,
deception, transitive inference, theory of mind, and language—and find, in all
cases, that similarities between animal and human abilities are small,
dissimilarities large. There is no disparity between brain and
mind.
Another major article on this topic is in draft form for Brain and Behavioral
Sciences: "Darwin’s mistake: explaining the discontinuity between human and
nonhuman minds," by Derek C. Penn, Keith J. Holyoak and Daniel J.
Povinelli.
Their abstract:
for Brain and BehavioralSciences: "Darwin’s mistake: explaining the discontinuity between human and
nonhuman minds," by Derek C. Penn, Keith J. Holyoak and Daniel J.
Povinelli.
Their abstract:
Over the last quarter-century, the dominant tendency in
comparative cognitive psychology has been to emphasize the similarities between
human and nonhuman minds and to downplay the differences as “one of degree and
not of kind” (Darwin 1871). In the present paper, we argue that Darwin was
mistaken: the profound biological continuity between human and nonhuman animals
masks an equally profound discontinuity between human and nonhuman minds. To
wit, there is a significant discontinuity in the degree to which human and
nonhuman animals are able to approximate the higher-order, systematic,
relational capabilities of a physical symbol system (Newell 1980). We show that
this symbolic-relational discontinuity pervades nearly every domain of cognition
and runs much deeper than even the spectacular scaffolding provided by language
or culture alone can explain. We propose a representational-level specification
of where human and nonhuman animals’ abilities to approximate a PSS are similar
and where they differ. We conclude by suggesting that recent
symbolic-connectionist models of cognition shed new light on the mechanisms that
underlie the gap between human and nonhuman minds.
Errors in Darwin's Dangerous Idea
Errors in Darwin's Dangerous Idea
Daniel C. Dennett
As of January 25, 2006, readers have identified the following errors in Darwin's Dangerous Idea. (I have considered other criticisms offered by readers, but decided that they were in error. Further criticisms are, of course, invited.):
P24. I describe Aristotle’s Prime Mover as a final cause, but this is incorrect; Aristotle’s Prime Mover is the efficient cause of all things. Pointed out by Chris Hammel, 1/23/06.
p57. "Simulated annealing" may be a misnomer, since the process I describe--and describe blacksmiths as employing--is signicantly different from standard annealing practices. source: John Verhoeven.
p97. My argument about how to identify Mitochondrial Eve (ME) is flawed. This has been pointed out by Ian Gillies, Bill Margolis, Chris Viger, and Gilbert Scott Markle. (See also, the useful discussion in Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart's new book Figments of Reality). There are two complications, which I will call multiple local MEs and grandmother stacks.
Multiple local MEs: There could in principle be long periods of "stasis" in which the sets of mothers of mothers of . . . . didn't shrink in size for hundreds or thousands of years on end. No set can be larger than its successor, but it needn't be any smaller. In such a circumstance, going backwards in time, the "remaining" lineages each funnel down to a "local ME" (with two daughters) and that local ME's mother, (maternal) grandmother, greatgrandmother and so forth, single-file lineages marching back into the past. Whenever two such local ME strands converge, they discover a "new," less local ME, discharging their two more local double-daughtered MEs. In principle such multiple local ME strands could go back to multiple independent origins of mitochondrial life (of eukaryotes)--but there is very good reason to suppose that global ME (the True Mitochondrial Eve) is a hominid of some ilk, if not a member in clear standing of H. sapiens. I was wrong to suggest (by saying the sets "must" contract") that such a twin-lineage (to take the simplest case) couldn't "go on forever"; in principle it could, but with negligible--but not Vanishing--probability.
A grandmother stack is a subset of women related by maternity within any of the sets A, B, C, of mothers of mothers . . . . Thus in set B, the mothers of people alive today, there is the following grandmother stack: Andrea (mother of my grandson), Susan (my wife), Ruth (my mother-in-law), and her mother, the late Sylvia. Set C will drop Andrea and add Sylvia's mother, and so forth. Subsequent sets will always have a four-member grandmother stack generated by today's contemporaneous generations in my family. There are probably some seven- or eight-deep grandmother stacks somewhere in the world today, but I would think that the biological limit is about nine (you can get a ten-deep stack by assuming a stack of 13-year-old mothers with a still living 104-year-old ancestor). When local MEs evaporate by coalescence in the manner described above, the grandmother stacks involved do not shrink in the sets in which they appear. But the number of distinct grandmother stacks diminishes. When we reach Mitochondrial Eve, we will go right by her, since when she first appears she will be a member of a set of at least four women (Brandon's maternal ancestors) and probably seven or eight or nine. But this will quickly be apparent, since soon enough all members of the set will be a single grandmother stack, and we can locate ME as the only one with two daughters in the previous set.
p122-23. The standard account of the QWERTY phenomenon, as presented here (and by Papert and Gould and others), has been challenged by S. J. Liebowitz and Stephen E. Margolis, in "The Fable of the Keys," Journal of Law and Economics, 33, April 1990, pp1-25. source: [I have misfiled the letter that drew this article to my attention. My apologies, whoever you are.] But see also Jared Diamond's article, "The Curse of QWERTY," in Discover, April 1997, pp. 34-42, and the further bibliography he lists on the last page, including the web site http://ww.ccsi.com/~mbrooks/dvorak/dvorak.html. Diamond, in a letter to me, finds grounds for disagreeing with Liebowitz and Margolis, so the issue remains unresolved.
p126. H. Allen Orr says: "Population genetic theory, for instance, does not prove that evolution by random change is faster than evolution by natural selection." ("Dennett's Strange Idea," Boston Review, 21, Summer 1996, p28.) I misspoke, but the result was ambiguity, not error. If we compare regions of DNA that are under selection pressure with regions that are not, we discover that ON AVERAGE, the regions that are under selection pressure show a lower rate of change--because of stabilizing selection. That is, when a new selection pressure is introduced, this typically leads to a relatively short, rapid burst of change followed by a long period of near stasis. If you stop the race at fixation time, then of course evolution by natural selection looks faster than random drift, but that is an artifact of the time window chosen. In his reply to my original clarification of this point in the Boston Review (October/November, 1996, p37), Orr claimed not to know what I was talking about, and rudely suggested-- "I can find no polite way of putting this"--that I didn't either, but when I gave him this elaboration of my intended meaning, he acknowledged that it was not mistaken, but that in the context he had not considered it.
p171. line 9: "figure 7.6" should be "figure 7.7" source: W. Luff
p207. fn, line 2: "their" should be "its" source: W. Luff
p271. Robert Mark's fine article, "Architecture and Evolution," in the July-August 1996 issue of American Scientist (pp383-389), shows that I underestimated the structural demands of support for a large dome over arches, so that my bracket diagram (the middle diagram in Figure 10.3) would not be sound, lacking the necessary surcharge. Squinches would also not be sufficient, he claims, for such large, heavy domes. His final conclusion is that my "treatment of crucial structural elements as a kind of surface decoration that can be altered at will--'You have to put something there to hold up the dome--some shape or other, you decide which"--ignores the years, or in some cases even centuries, of construction experience that led to their incorporation in historic buildings." In other words, according to Mark, the pendentives of San Marco are very definitely structural adaptations, not Gouldian "spandrels". This point is elaborated upon by Alasdair I. Houston, in "Are the spandrels of San Marco really panglossian pendentives?" in Trends in Ecology and Evolution, March 1997, 12.
p.274. Robert Mark (see above) also criticizes my claim that the bosses in the fan vaults of King's College Chapel could have been replaced by "neat round holes," but see the letter from Stephen Grover, and Robert Mark's reply, in American Scientist Nov/Dec 1996, p518. As Grover points out, Walter C. Leedy's 1980 book Fan Vaulting does support me on this, and Patrick Bateson, Provost of King's College, has also written to me supporting my account.
p300. Cambrian explosion occurred around 530 million years ago, not "around 600 million years ago" source: Stephen Jay Gould.
p301. line two. Walcott himself did not "literally dissect" the fossils. source: Stephen Jay Gould.
p304. up 4-6 lines: the spelling should be Naraoia, Sanctacaris, and Leanchoilia. source: Stephen Jay Gould. As Gould points out (Wonderful Life, p68-9), Walcott's terms are "a strange-sounding lot. Decidedly not Latin in their roots, they are . . . sometimes nearly unpronounceable. . . . Walcott, who loved the Canadian Rockies, . . . labeled his fossils the the names of local peaks and lakes, themselves derived from Indian words."
p320. Teilhard de Chardin did his work in China before, not after, his difficulties with the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church. "His 'exile' was to the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research in New York City." source: Christopher Peebles.
p360. Richard Feynman is wrong! As Irwin Tessman, Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, points out in a letter to Nature ("Feynman faux pas," 381, 30 May, 1996, p361), "The example he gives would not prove replacement; in fact, it suggests quite the opposite. In an endearing lapse, Feynman appers to have blanked out on the half-life for the decay of 32P to sulphur, which just happens to be two weeks; if the radioactivity decreases to one-half in two weeks it means (within experimental error) that there was no turnover of phosphorus in the cerebrum."
p370. Goethe did indeed say it, in Faust. Mephistopheles says, in Part I:
Denn eben wo Begriffe fehlen,
Da stellt ein Wort zur rechten Zeit sich ein.
Ernst Mayr was the first to draw this to my attention, and his citation from memory [!] was almost exactly correct. Simon van der Meer also sent me the German text, and Wolfgang Heinemann provided me with the Wayre translation:
For if your meaning's threatened with stagnation,
Then words come in, to save the situation:
They'll fight your battles well if you enlist 'em,
Or furnish you a universal system.
Thus words will serve you grandly for a creed,
Where every syllable is guaranteed."
p488. Many readers have urged that I am wrong about which cards need to be turned over in the Wason test, but it is they who are mistaken--which just goes to show how powerful this cognitive illusion is. However, Simon van der Meer finds fault with my expression of the task: I should have said "Your task is to find all exceptions to the rule" (since otherwise, one could sometimes find an exception by just turning over the first card).
p499. Three Mile Island was in 1979, not 1980. source: Joseph P. Calendriello.
p.544. Quine's Word and Object was published by MIT Press, not Harvard University Press. source: Lynwood Bryant.
p545. Schrödinger's first name is Erwin, not Ernst. (Elsewhere in the book I get it right.) source: Andrew P. Cassidy.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
THE MOON'S ORBIT
THE MOON'S ORBIT
And We have decreed set phases for the moon, until it ends up
looking like an old date branch. It is not for the sun to overtake the moon nor
for the night to outstrip the day; each one is swimming in a sphere. (Qur'an,
36:39-40)
The Moon does not follow a regular orbit like the satellites of other
planets. As it orbits the Earth, it sometimes moves behind it and sometimes in
front. As it also moves with the Earth around the Sun, it actually follows a
constant pattern resembling the letter "S" in space. This route, traced by the
Moon in space, is described in the Qur'an as resembling an old date branch and
does indeed resemble the twisted form of the date tree branch. Indeed, the word
"urjoon" employed in the Qur'an refers to a thin and twisted date branch and is
used to describe that part left after the fruit has been picked. The way that
this branch is described as "old" is also most appropriate since old date
branches are thinner and more twisted.
|
Since the Moon revolves around the Sun together with the
Earth, it follows a path through space which resembles the letter “S.” The appearance of this orbit resembles the twisted shape of a dry date branch, as is revealed in the Qur’an. |
There is no doubt that it was impossible for anyone to have any knowledge
about the orbit of the Moon 1,400 years ago. The way that this pattern,
identified by modern technology and accumulated knowledge, was revealed in the
Holy Book is yet another scientific miracle of the Qur'an
- Labels: THE MOON'S ORBIT
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IDENTITY ON FINGER TIPS
3- Does the human being think that We cannot assemble his bones? 4- Surely, We are able to reconstruct even his fingertips. 75-The Resurrection, 3-4 Fingerprints did not mean much to the people at the Prophet’s time. An Englishman by the name of Genn Ginsen, in 1856, found out that the pattern of lines at the tip of a person’s finger was something unique to the individual. Until 1856, men knew nothing about this characteristic of fingertips. The discovery of the fact that the pattern of lines on fingertips was a sort of identity card is often used by the police to help find criminals. The pattern lines of the fingertips differ even in identical twins. This identity card cannot be forged; it affixes a unique signature to whatever it touches. One cannot imitate or deny it. We carry it about us till the end of our days. Epidermal burns or injuries or aging distort our bodies in one way or another, yet cannot change this fact. These patterns of lines are traced within the womb when the fetus completes its three months’ period. Research is currently being carried out to see whether these lines may be used to detect genetic defects in our body. To the best of our knowledge so far, nothing positive has been discovered on this issue. It is, however, likely that something new may emerge any day. At the time of the descent of the Quran, fingertips had nothing special about them. God, who will cause man to come back to life on the Day of Judgment, stresses the importance of fingertips.
DATA CONCEALED ON FINGERTIPSOne of the basic indications of this verse may refer to the patterns of lines on man’s fingertips. There may be other indications, according to which all the characteristics of our body are encoded on our fingertips. It could be implied that during our re-creation all the particularities and features of our body will be restored, so it may be that what lies on our fingertips, apparently of little significance, will be sufficient for this process. The reason why fingertips are given as example is the general acceptance that they are simple things of not much worth. Nevertheless, even the seemingly insignificant tip of a finger is a data bank, thanks to which the entire body may be re-fashioned. DNA is one of the most important discoveries in human history. The discovery of DNA put an end to the idea that the human cell had a simple structure with its contents. As the cell came to be analyzed more and more, the complexity of its makeup was better understood. Even one piece of DNA includes a cipher formed of a series of more than three billion codes. From the color of our hair to our little finger, everything is contained in this code. A printout of data related to DNA would form the contents of about 1000 volumes of one million pages. What is more, DNA has the capacity to duplicate all these data within 20 to 80 minutes. In the lore contained in the 1000 volumes of one single DNA, one can find all the characteristics of the body. The DNA of a simple cell on the fingertip will give one all the necessary information. Our Creator can easily have recourse to this lore to re-create man. It would be as easy for Him to do so as if He were creating him for the first time. 78- And he makes comparisons for Us and forgets his own creation. He says “Who can resurrect the bones after they are rotten?” 79- Say “He who created them the first time. He has knowledge of every creation.” 36-Ya-Seen, 78-79
DATA CONCEALED ON FINGERTIPSOne of the basic indications of this verse may refer to the patterns of lines on man’s fingertips. There may be other indications, according to which all the characteristics of our body are encoded on our fingertips. It could be implied that during our re-creation all the particularities and features of our body will be restored, so it may be that what lies on our fingertips, apparently of little significance, will be sufficient for this process. The reason why fingertips are given as example is the general acceptance that they are simple things of not much worth. Nevertheless, even the seemingly insignificant tip of a finger is a data bank, thanks to which the entire body may be re-fashioned. DNA is one of the most important discoveries in human history. The discovery of DNA put an end to the idea that the human cell had a simple structure with its contents. As the cell came to be analyzed more and more, the complexity of its makeup was better understood. Even one piece of DNA includes a cipher formed of a series of more than three billion codes. From the color of our hair to our little finger, everything is contained in this code. A printout of data related to DNA would form the contents of about 1000 volumes of one million pages. What is more, DNA has the capacity to duplicate all these data within 20 to 80 minutes. In the lore contained in the 1000 volumes of one single DNA, one can find all the characteristics of the body. The DNA of a simple cell on the fingertip will give one all the necessary information. Our Creator can easily have recourse to this lore to re-create man. It would be as easy for Him to do so as if He were creating him for the first time. 78- And he makes comparisons for Us and forgets his own creation. He says “Who can resurrect the bones after they are rotten?” 79- Say “He who created them the first time. He has knowledge of every creation.” 36-Ya-Seen, 78-79
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Monday, July 19, 2010
ATOMIC ENERGY AND FISSION
ATOMIC ENERGY AND FISSION
Allah splits the seed and kernel. He brings forth the living from the dead, and produces the dead out of the living. That is Allah, so how are you misguided? (Qur'an, 6:95)
The terms "seed" (al-habb) and "kernel" (an-nawa) in the above verse may indicate the splitting of the atom. Indeed, the dictionary meanings of an-nawa include "nucleus, centre, atomic nucleus." Furthermore, the description of bringing forth the living from the dead can be interpreted as Allah creating matter from dead energy. Producing the dead out of the living may refer to energy (dead) emerging from matter (living), since the atom is in motion. (Allah knows best.) That is because as well as "living," al-hayy can also mean "active, energetic." With its meaning of "non-living," al-mayyit, translated above as "dead," may very probably refer to energy.
Scientists define energy as the capacity for doing work. Matter, the material that comprises all things on Earth and in the universe, consists of atoms and molecules that can be seen to be in motion under an electron microscope. In the early twentieth century, Albert Einstein (d. 1955) theorised that matter could be converted into energy, suggesting that the two were inter-related at the atomic level.199 This may be the bringing forth of the dead from the living, as described above, or, in other words, obtaining energy from matter, which is in motion at the atomic level. In addition, yukhriju, translated as "bringing forth," also means "bringing out, emitting" (as in the case of electrical waves). Therefore, the terms in this verse may be indicating the form of energy obtained from the atom. (Allah knows best.)
 Today, atomic nucleus can be split into smaller nuclei by means of nuclear fission. |
Scientists can now split the atom by dividing its nucleus. Taking Einstein's theories as their starting point, they obtained energy from matter in the 1940s by means of nuclear fission, the process of splitting the atomic nucleus. The verb faliqu in Surat al-An`am 95, translated as "to split," may be a reference to fission's dictionary meaning: the process of splitting (the atom's nucleus). When this process takes place, enormous amounts of energy are released.
The words in Surat al-An`am 95 are very wise in terms of their meanings. The phenomena described in this verse bear a very close resemblance to the splitting of the atom's nucleus in order to obtain atomic energy. The verse may therefore be a reference to nuclear fission, which was only made possible by twentieth-century technology. (Allah knows best.)
199. “Energy and Matter,” Fundamentals of Physical Geography, www.physicalgeography.net/fundamentals/6a.html.
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Sunday, July 18, 2010
THE CLONING OF LIVING THINGS
THE CLONING OF LIVING THINGS
[Satan said:] “I will lead them astray and fill them with false hopes. I will command them and they will cut off cattle’s ears. I will command them and they will change Allah’s creation.” Anyone who takes satan as his protector in place of Allah has clearly lost everything.” (Surat an-Nisa’, 119)
The above verse contains the expression “yubattikunna,” which derives from the verb "battaka” meaning ”to cut off or break off.” The term “yughayyirunna” in the verse derives from the verb “ghayyara,” meaning “to change, alter, impair a thing’s original form.” At the end of both verbs appears the confirmatory letter ”nun.” With these expressions, verse 119 of Surat an-Nisa’ may, in one aspect, be pointing to the scientific activity of copying or cloning of organisms. (Allah knows the truth.) That is because cloning experiments are generally conducted with cells taken from an animal’s ear. To put it another way, a replica living thing is produced with the taking of cells from tissue samples “cut from animals’ ears,” just as described in the verse.
A report by the German Federal Agricultural Research Center provides the following information:
The tissue collection phase is short and simple. Once an animal has been located and restrained, a tissue sample like an ear clipping can be collected within seconds. Furthermore, somatic cells can be collected from all species. … For cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, camelids and llamas, a unified and identical procedure can be used by obtaining a tissue sample from the ear using notchers which are also used for setting earmarks… Clearly, for all species lymphocytes could be used, but somatic cells from ear clippings will be much easier to obtain and are therefore preferable. 1
Some reports concerning organisms cloned by taking samples from ear tissue include:
- According to a report by Reuters dated 1 May, 2002, a research veterinarian at the University of Sao Paolo in Brazil, Jose Visintin, produced cloned embryos for the first time in the country by using cells taken from the ear of an adult cow.2
- According to a BBC report, South Korean scientists cloned a dog called Snuppy from cells taken from a 3-year-old Afghan hound. Researchers at the Seoul National University extracted genetic material from the cells taken from the ear and placed it into an empty egg cell. An embryo was then obtained by stimulating the cell to divide.3
- Another BBC report said that a new clone had been produced using ear cells from an adult cow in research carried out by Dr. Jean-Paul Renard et al. at the Institute National de la Recherche Agronomique in France.4
- According to information of the official Human Genome Project website, in February 2002, scientists from the Advanced Cell Technologies (ACT) biotechnology company carried out experiments on cloning a cow embryo using the skin cell of the donor cow’s ear.5
- A report by Associated Press, dated 24 January, 2000, announced that Japanese scientists had cloned the clone of a bull for the first time. In the re-cloning, skin tissue samples from the first generation cloned bull’s ear were taken when it was four months old. These cells were then fused with an unfertilized egg from which the nucleus had been removed.6
The way that changes in the creation of living things are referred to in the Qur’an and the expression “cutting off cattle’s ears,” at a time when no branches of science such as genetics or embryology existed, shows that the Qur’an has come down from the Sight of our Lord, Allah, Who is unfettered by time. We are also told at the end of the verse that these people will be disappointed when they alter what Allah has created. The verse may therefore be indicating that cloning will give rise to various problems for human beings. (Allah knows the truth.) Indeed, statements from the Genetic Science Learning Center of the University of Utah provide the following information:
When we hear of cloning successes, we learn about only the few attempts that worked. What we don't see are the many, many cloning experiments that failed! And even in the successful clones, problems tend to arise later, during the animal's development to adulthood.7
Information from the Human Genome Project website take this form:
Dolly, the first mammal to be cloned from adult DNA, [died on] Feb. 14, 2003. Prior to her death, Dolly had been suffering from lung cancer and crippling arthritis. … More than 90% of cloning attempts fail to produce viable offspring. … In addition to low success rates, cloned animals tend to have more compromised immune function and higher rates of infection, tumor growth, and other disorders. Japanese studies have shown that cloned mice live in poor health and die early. … Appearing healthy at a young age unfortunately is not a good indicator of long term survival. Clones have been known to die mysteriously. For example, Australia's first cloned sheep appeared healthy and energetic on the day she died, and the results from her autopsy failed to determine a cause of death.8
In general terms, the risks arising from cloning experiments are as follows:
1) A high failure rate: The level of success is just 0.1%-3%. That means a failure rate of 970-999 for every 1000 experiments.9
2) Problems during development: Cloned animals that do survive generally have abnormally larger organs compared to the originals. This may lead to respiration and circulation difficulties, unhealthy kidneys and brain, and an impaired immune system.
3) Abnormal gene expression patterns: Although clones have the same DNA sequences as the originals, the cell nucleus in the clone does not have the same program as that in a natural embryo. To put it another way, the DNA cannot express the right set of genes essential for the development of the clone at the right time. For example, cells of all kinds, nerve, bone, blood or skin for example, all have different programs but the genetic programs in the clone embryo do not work as healthily as those in a natural embryo.
4) Telomeric differences: Chromosomes are shortened as cells divide. The reason for this is that DNA sequences at both ends of a chromosome, known as telomeres, are shortened during each DNA replication. As an animal grows older, the telomeres shorten as part of that aging. Therefore, the copied life form has shortened chromosomes from the moment it is born, just as if it were actually older.
Genetic material taken from living cells is used in cloning experiments, but fertilization takes place artificially. The reproduction mechanism created by Allah is thus impaired with these methods, and unidentified diseases, developmental deficiencies and early deaths are encountered. The way that it was reported 1400 years ago that scientists would engage in cloning and that the problems awaiting people therefrom are emphasized, clearly reveals that the Qur’an is a Divine scripture.
In the cloning process, DNA from a cell of the living thing planned to be copied is placed under the microscope and placed into an egg cell from another member of the same species. The DNA of the animal intended to be copied is used for this. An electric shock is then applied, which stimulates the egg cell to start dividing. The embryo continues to divide and is placed into the womb of a member of the species, and is then left to develop and be born.
1 http://www.fao.org/docrep/008/a0070t/a0070t05.htm
2 http://ngin.tripod.com/010502b.htm
3 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/4742453.stm
4 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/331793.stm
5 http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml
6 http://www.gene.ch/info4action/2000/Jan/msg00061.html
7 http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/units/cloning/cloningrisks/
8 http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/cloning.shtml
9 http://learn.genetics.utah.edu/units/cloning/cloningrisks/
Saturday, July 17, 2010
DEATH OF THE STARS AND THE SUN
8- When the stars are put out. 77-The Emissaries, 8 At the time of the descent of the Quran, people believed that the light of the stars would last forever. This at a time when the inner structure of the stars was a mystery and the fact that the energy of the stars would, one day, be exhausted was not known. The Quran’s prediction about the end of the stars is a miraculous statement. 2- When the planets are scattered. 82-The Shattering, 2 While the verses speak of the putting out of stars, the planets, not light sources, will scatter. The Arabic word for a star is “najm,” while “kavkab” is a planet. Given the fact that the planets are dependent on a central star, when this star is no more, the planets will necessarily scatter. (There have been translators who translated both words as stars without heeding the difference between them.) Planets are not light sources, therefore their extinction is out of question. The Quran displays its miraculous attribute in all its statements. 1- When the sun is rolled. 81-The Rolling, 1 The Arabic word “takwir” refers to the wrapping of the turban around the head in a spiral form; it also means the rolling or winding of a thing into a ball or round mass, or around something. The scene describes how the end of the sun will come. Like all the other stars, our sun also consumes hydrogen atoms by transforming them into helium atoms and releasing energy in the form of radiation, heat and light. The transformation of hydrogen into helium stops with the exhaustion of the hydrogen. Even without the effect of other potential causes, the sun will have to come to an end for this reason. Before their extinction, the stars, according to their sizes, pass through such phases as red giant, white dwarf or black hole. In view of its magnitude, our sun must turn first into a red giant before dying. The sun has been a subject of worship in the history of mankind. People who did not believe in the end of the universe considered the sun itself to be an immortal divinity and thought that the universe and the earth would last eternally; there have been those who believed in the transmigration of souls everlastingly. Having eventually been convinced by scientific discoveries that the world was doomed to die one day, the minds that idolized the sun and the belief in the eternal reincarnation cycle lost their support. The belief in the Hereafter described in the Quran and the end of the universe are interconnected as the stages of a system. Taking cognizance of the fact that the end of the universe will eventually come has reinforced the belief in the Hereafter. 7- And verily the Hour is coming, no doubt about it, and that God will resurrect those who are dead. 22-The Pilgrimage, 7 The description of the end of the universe in the Quran relating to the end of the sun and of the world is given in striking colors. What the people at the Prophet’s time knew about astronomy could not possibly have permitted them to describe such occurrences. Muslims who lived at the time of the revelation of the Quran believed in all these, not because of scientific deductions but because they had faith in the fact that it was easy for God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, to destroy them. All the statements of the Quran about the disappearance of the stars, the sun and the earth are corroborated today by scientific discoveries.
EARTHQUAKES WITH BOILING SEAS4- When the earth will be shaken up. 56-The Inevitable, 4 When the Hour comes, the entire earth will be shaken by a terrible earthquake. The Quran says that the tremor will cause mountains to be pulverized, and men will run to and fro in panic. As for the sea, we have the following indications: 6- When the seas boil. 81-The Rolling, 6 3- When the seas are suffered to burst forth. 82-The Shattering, 3 An earthquake will pulverize mountains, hot lava will burst forth from many corners of the earth. Volcanoes will erupt and lava will rise from the sea. It is unlikely that the depiction of the end of the world was an exaggeration of natural disasters that Muhammad experienced in his lifetime. The area where Muhammad lived was not on a major earthquake fault-line, and those who spent most of their lives in the middle of desert, most likely, never witnessed the eruption of a volcano in mid-ocean! 5- When the wild beasts are summoned. 81-The Rolling, 5 The Quran draws our attention to the herding together of animals. We know today that animals react to a tremor even before we, as human beings, realize it. For instance, in the zoo in Seattle Woodland, the odd movements of elephants and the restlessness of gorillas in their cages were observed before the earthquake was felt by human beings. This is a domain in which further research studies are being conducted. In view of this statement of the Quran, we think that this research should be intensified. 3- And when the earth is flattened out. 4- And when it throws out whatever it contains and is empty. 84-The Splitting, 3-4 The contents of the earth, the magma, the molten rock, will rise to the surface as lava, as described in the verses quoted. The Quran would like us to turn our attention to the most serious event of earth history to come. Advanced science has demonstrated that the end of the world and the universe is inevitable. No one can assert any longer that the stars and the sun will shine forever, and that the universe and the earth will abide to eternity. 18- Are they waiting until the Hour comes to them suddenly? Its signs have already appeared. How can they benefit then when it has come upon them? 47-Muhammad, 18
EARTHQUAKES WITH BOILING SEAS4- When the earth will be shaken up. 56-The Inevitable, 4 When the Hour comes, the entire earth will be shaken by a terrible earthquake. The Quran says that the tremor will cause mountains to be pulverized, and men will run to and fro in panic. As for the sea, we have the following indications: 6- When the seas boil. 81-The Rolling, 6 3- When the seas are suffered to burst forth. 82-The Shattering, 3 An earthquake will pulverize mountains, hot lava will burst forth from many corners of the earth. Volcanoes will erupt and lava will rise from the sea. It is unlikely that the depiction of the end of the world was an exaggeration of natural disasters that Muhammad experienced in his lifetime. The area where Muhammad lived was not on a major earthquake fault-line, and those who spent most of their lives in the middle of desert, most likely, never witnessed the eruption of a volcano in mid-ocean! 5- When the wild beasts are summoned. 81-The Rolling, 5 The Quran draws our attention to the herding together of animals. We know today that animals react to a tremor even before we, as human beings, realize it. For instance, in the zoo in Seattle Woodland, the odd movements of elephants and the restlessness of gorillas in their cages were observed before the earthquake was felt by human beings. This is a domain in which further research studies are being conducted. In view of this statement of the Quran, we think that this research should be intensified. 3- And when the earth is flattened out. 4- And when it throws out whatever it contains and is empty. 84-The Splitting, 3-4 The contents of the earth, the magma, the molten rock, will rise to the surface as lava, as described in the verses quoted. The Quran would like us to turn our attention to the most serious event of earth history to come. Advanced science has demonstrated that the end of the world and the universe is inevitable. No one can assert any longer that the stars and the sun will shine forever, and that the universe and the earth will abide to eternity. 18- Are they waiting until the Hour comes to them suddenly? Its signs have already appeared. How can they benefit then when it has come upon them? 47-Muhammad, 18
Friday, July 16, 2010
CREATION FROM A QUINTESSENCE AND CHILD’S SEX
8- Then made his offspring from the quintessence of the nature of a despised fluid.
32-The Prostration, 8
In the 46th chapter, our attention was drawn to the fact that man was created from a quintessence of clay. The Arabic meaning of the word, “quintessence” is “sulala.” Just as man is created from a “quintessence” of the earth, he is also created from a “quintessence” of semen. While the word “drop” signifies just a small amount of semen, the word “quintessence” draws attention to the essence of semen. Sperm constitute only a part of the semen, in fact they are the basic element of it. The particular sperm that fertilizes the egg is but a tiny member of hundreds of millions of sperm in semen; it is also the swimmer that reaches the finish, having overtaken all the others. Each of us is the winner sperm’s product. Every human being coming to the world has behind him hundreds of millions in this swimming race. We, who are reading these lines, have come out victorious, since we are far ahead of those we have left behind. Each of us has carried the day. And we are the quintessence!
57- It is We who created you, so why do you not affirm the truth?
58- Do you then see the semen that you emit?
59- Is it you who create it or are We the creator?
56-The Inevitable, 57-59
DETERMINATION OF THE CHILD’S SEX
45- That He did create in pairs, male and female;
46- From a drop of semen which emitted.
53-The Star, 45-46
Even today there are still people and families on the husband’s side who blame mothers for giving birth to girls rather than to boys. That it is the mother who decides on the sex of her child is a lingering prejudice among the ignorant. Although well-informed scientific circles were exempt from such misconceptions, even they had until quite recently the impression that the child’s sex was the joint product of equal contribution by the mother’s egg and the father’s sperm. The fact that it is the sperm that determines the child’s sex has only recently been established. In a fabricated hadith falsely attributed to the Prophet, we read: “Male’s water is white. Woman’s water is yellow. If the two come together and the man’s water overcomes the woman’s, a male child is born, if, on the other hand, it is the woman’s water that dominates, the child is a girl.” One can see that during and centuries after the time of the Prophet the factor that determined the sex of the child was not known.
The implication in the Quran of the formation of sex is astounding, as it indicates that it is a drop of semen that determines it. The 46 chromosomes that human cells contain form the genetic code of a human being. Two of these determine the child’s sex. Male chromosomes are defined as XY and the female ones as XX. The chromosomes are split during ovulation into two each, containing an X chromosome. Some sperms contain X and some Y chromosome. If an X chromosome unites with an X chromosome in the woman’s egg, the sex of the child to be born will be female, while a Y chromosome in man uniting with an X chromosome in woman means the offspring will be of the male sex. We see that whether the future child will be a boy or a girl is entirely dependent on the arrival of an X or Y chromosome from the sperm. Biological research continues. The discovery in the1990s of the SRY protein in the Y chromosome, and the conclusions derived from it, have enriched the available data on the issue. This information that the Quran implied more than 1400 years ago was not known until quite recently. We can mention, for example, the story of Henry the VIII, who divorced Catherine his queen for having 168 given him a girl child. This fact, alluded to in the Quran, had also an ironical touch. Women have been blamed for centuries for having been responsible in the determination of the sex of the child they were going to give birth to. The discoveries of science have explained this miraculous event, while ruling out the grounds which put the blame on the woman.
SECURE PLACE
20- Have We not created you from an unassuming fluid?
21- The which We placed in a secure place.
77-The Emissaries, 20-21
The uterus is described as a secure place. Being placed in the center of the pelvic cavity, it is well protected. Man’s organ is not favored with such an endowment. The uterus is a cavity whose walls are made of muscles and have the shape of a pear. In an adult woman the length of it is 8cm, the width measures 5cm and the height 2.5cm. The uterus, relatively small in size, dilates considerably during the last phase of pregnancy. The weight of it is 50gr while it attains about 1000 gr at the end of pregnancy. The child it holds within it can even exceed 5000 grams. This means that the child is 100 times heavier than the uterus itself.
It is the only organ that can grow so rapidly and is given to rapid development. With its tightly wedged thick muscles, it protects the fetus, rapidly growing in size, against all kinds of external impacts and adverse conditions. The fetus, exposed to all sorts of dangers, owes its survival to the solid structure of the uterus, its ideal place. The
Quran’s drawing our attention to the solidity and durability of the womb calls for our studying it more deeply is a proof of the God whose grace protects the fetus against all ill intentions.
1- In the name of God, Gracious, Merciful.
1-The Prologue, 1
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Whos Imam Hussain?
Al-Husayn ibn 'Ali Sayyidu'sh-Shuhada
(Peace be Upon him)
Name: al-Husayn.
Title: Sayyidu'sh-Shuhada'. Agnomen: Abu 'Abdillah. Father' s name: 'Ali Amir al-Mu'minin. Mother's name:Fatimah (Daughter of the Holy Prophet). Birth: In Medina on Thursday, 3rd Sha'ban 4 AH. Death: Martyred in Karbala' (Iraq) at the age of 57, on Friday, 10th Muharram 61 AH and buried there.
In the House of the Holy Prophet, which presented the best image of both the worlds - the heaven and the earth- a child who benefited humanity as if he was a Divine Impression reflecting the earth, was born on one of the nights of the month of Sha'ban. His father was Imam 'Ali, the best model of kindness towards his friends and the bravest against the enemies of Islam, and his mother was Hadrat Fatimah, the only daughter and child of the Holy Prophet, who had as universally acknowledged, inherited the qualities of her father. Imam Husayn, is the third Apostolic Imam. When the good news of his birth reached the Holy Prophet, he came to his daughter's house, took the newly-born child in his arms, recited adhan and iqamah in his right and left ears respectively, and on the 7th day of his birth, after performing the rites of 'aqlqah, named him al-Husayn, in compliance with Allah's command. 'Abdullah ibn 'Abbas relates: "On the very day when Imam Husayn was born, Allah ordered angel Gabriel to descend and congratulate the Holy Prophet on His Behalf and on his own.
While descending, Gabriel passed over an island where the angel Futrus had been banished due to his delay in executing a commission assigned by Allah. He was deprived of his wings and expelled to the island where he remained for several years praying and worshipping Allah and asking for His forgiveness. "When the angel Futrus saw Gabriel, he called out, ' Where are you going, O Gabriel?' To this he replied, ' Husayn, the grandson of Muhammad is born, and for this very reason Allah has commanded me to convey His congratulations to His Apostle.' Thereupon, the angel said, ' Can you carry me also along with you? May Muhammad recommend my case to Allah.' Gabriel took the angel along with him, came to the Holy Prophet, offered congratulations to him on behalf of Allah and himself and referred the case of the angel to him.
The Holy Prophet said to Gabriel, 'Ask the angel to touch the body of the newly-born child and return to his place in Heaven.' On doing this, the angle re-obtained his wings instantly and praising the Holy Prophet and his newly- born grandson, ascended towards the Heaven. Hasan and Husayn, the two sons of the Holy Imam 'Ali ibn Abi Talib and Hadrat Fatimah, our Lady of Light, were respected and revered as the 'Leaders of the Youths of Paradise' as stated by the Holy Prophet. The Holy Prophet Muhammad, peace be Upon him and his progeny, had openly prophesied that the faith of Islam would be rescued by his second grandson Husayn, when Yazid, son of Mu'awiayh, would endeavour to destroy it. Yazid was known for his devilish character and brutish conduct. He was known as the most licentious of men. The people having known and understood the character of Yazid, formed a covenant by which Mu'awiyah could not appoint Yazid as his successor. This undertaking was given by Mu'awiyah to Imam Hasan from whom Mu`awiyah had snatched power. Mu'awiyah violated this undertaking and nominated Yazid who succeeded his father. Immediately as he came to power, Yazid began acting in full accordance with his known character. He started interfering in the fundamentals of the faith and practiced every vice and wickedness freely with the highest degree of impunity and yet held himself out as the successor of the Holy Prophet, demanding allegiance to himself as the leading guide of the faith.
Paying allegiance to Yazid was nothing short of acknowledging the devil as Cod. If a divine personality like the holy Imam Husayn had agreed to his authority, it would be actually recommending the devil to humanity in place of Cod. Yazid demanded allegiance from the Holy Imam Husayn, who could have never agreed to it at any cost. The people fearing death and destruction at the hands of the tyrant had yielded to him out of fear. Imam Husayn said that come what- ever may, he would never yield to the devil in place of God and undo what his grandfather, the Holy Prophet had established. The refusal of the Holy Imam to pay allegiance to this fiend, marked the start of the persecution of the Holy Imam. As a result he had retired to Medina where he led a secluded life. Even here he was not allowed to live in peace, and was forced to seek refuge in Mecca where also he was badly harassed, and Yazid plotted to murder him in the very precincts of the great sanctuary of Ka'bah.
In order to safeguard the great sanctuary, Imam Husayn decided to leave Mecca for Kufah just a day before tile haj (pilgrimage). When asked the reason for the mysterious departure from Mecca foregoing the pilgrim- age which was only the next day Imam Husayn said that he would perform this year's pilgrimage at Karbala', Offering the sacrifice not of any animals, but of his kith and kin and some faithful friends. He enumerated the names of his kith and kin who would lay down their lives with him in the great sacrifice at Karbala'. The people of Kufah getting tired of the tyrannic and satanic rule of Yazid, had written innumerable letters and sent emissaries to Imam Husayn to come over and give them guidance in faith. Although Imam
Husayn knew the ultimate end of the invitations, he as the divinely chosen Imam could not refuse to give the guidance sought for. When the Holy Imam with his entourage had reached karbala', his horse mysteriously stopped and would not move any further. Upon this the holy Imam declared: "This is the land, the land of sufferings and tortures." He alighted from his horse, and ordered his followers to encamp there saying: Here shall we be martyred and our children be killed. Here shall our tents be burned and our family arrested. This is the land about which my grandfather the Holy Prophet had foretold, and his prophecy will certainly be fulfilled."
On the 7th of Muharram water supply to the lmam's carnp was cut and the torture of thirst and hunger started. the holy Imam's camp consisted of ladies, innocent children including babies and some male members of the Holy prophet's family; along with a small band of some faithful friends of Imam Husayn who had chosen to die with the Holy Imam, fighting against the devil for the cause of Allah.
* * *
The Day of 'Ashura (10th of Muharram):
At dawn the Imam glanced over the army of Yazid and saw 'Umar ibn Sa'd ordering his forces to march to- wards him. He gathered his followers and addressed them thus: "Allah has, this day, permitted us to be engaged in a Holy War and He shall reward us for our martyrdom. So prepare yourselves to fight against the enemies of Islam with patience and resistance. O sons of the noble and self-respecting persons, be patient ! heath is nothing but a bridge which you must cross after facing trials and tribulations so as to reach Heaven and its joys. Which of you do not like to go from this prison (world) to the lofty palaces (Paradise ) ? " Having heard the Imam's address, all his companions were overwhelmed and cried out, "O our Master! We are ail ready to defend you and your Ahlu 'I-hayt, and to sacrifice our lives for the cause of Islam." Imam Husayn sent out from his camp one after an- other to fight and sacrifice their lives in the way of the Lord. Lastly, when all his men and children had laid down their lives, Imam Husayn brought his six-month old baby son 'Ali al-Asghar, and offering him on his own hands, demanded some water for the baby, dying of thirst. The thirst of the baby was quenched by a deadly poisoned arrow from the brute's forces, which pinned the baby's neck to the arm of the helpless father. At last when the six-month old baby also was killed, Imam Husayn addressed Allah: "O Lord! Thy Husayn has offered in Thy way whatever Thou hath blessed him with. Bless Thy Husayn, O Lord! with the acceptance of this sacrifice.
Everything Husayn could do till now was through Thy help and by Thy Grace." Lastly, Imam Husayn came into the field and was killed, the details of which merciless slaughter are heart rending. The forces of Yazid having killed Imam Husayn, cut and severed his head from his body and raised it on a lance. The severed head of the Holy Imam began glorifying Allah from the point of the lance saying, 'Allahu Akbar'. "All glory be to Allah Who is the Greatest!" After the wholesale, merciless and most brutal slaughter of the Holy Imam with his faithful band, the help- less ladies and children along with the ailing son of Imam Husayn, Imam 'Ali Zaynu 'l-'Abidin, were taken captives.
* * *
Some Sayings of the Holy Prophet During his Lifetime with Reference to Imam Husayn:
1. Hasan and Husayn are the Leaders of the Youths of Paradise.
2. Husayn is from me and I am from Husayn, Allah befriends those who befriend Husayn and He is the enemy of those who bear enmity to him.
3. Whosoever wishes to see such a person who lives on earth but whose dignity is honoured by the Heaven- dwellers, should see my grandson Husayn.
4. O my son! thy flesh is my flesh and thy blood is my blood; thou art a leader, the son of a leader and the brother of a leader; thou art a spiritual guide, the son of a spiritual guide and the brother of a spiritual guide; thou art an Apostolical Imam, the son of an Apostolical Imam and the brother of an Apostolical Imam; thou art the father of nine Imams, the ninth of whom would be the Qa'im (the last infallible spiritual guide).
5. The punishment inflicted on the murderer of Husayn in Hell would be equal to half of the total punishment to be imposed on the entire sinners of the world.
6. When the Holy Prophet informed Hadrat Fatimah of the martyrdom in store for his grandson, she burst into tears and asked, "O my father ! when would my son be martyred?" "In such a critical moment," replied the Holy Prophet, "When neither I nor you, nor 'ALI would be alive." This accentuated her grief and she inquired again, "Who then, O my father, would commemorate Husayn's martyrdom? " The Holy Prophet said, "The men and the women of a particular sect of my followers, who will befriend my Ahlul-Bayt, will mourn for Husayn and commemorate his martyrdom each year in every century."
Ibn Sa'd narrates from ash-Sha'bi:
Imam 'Ali, while on his way to Siffin, passed through the desert of Karbala', there he stopped and wept very bitterly. When interrogated regarding the cause of his weeping, he commented that one day he visited the Holy Prophet and found him weeping. When he asked the Apostle of Allah as to what was the reason which made him weep, he replied, "O 'ALI, Gabriel has just been with me and informed me that my son Husayn would be martyred in Karbala', a place near the bank of the River Euphrates. This moved me so much that I could not help weeping."
Anas ibn Harith narrates:
One day the Holy Prophet ascended the pulpit to deliver a sermon to his associates while Imam Husayn and Imam Hasan were sitting before him. When his address was over, he put his left hand on Imam Husayn and raising his head towards Heaven, said: "O my Lord! I am Muhammad Thy slave and Thy Prophet, and these two are the distinguished and pious members of my family who would fortify my cause after me. O my Lord! Gabriel has in- formed me that my son Husayn would be killed. O my Lord! bless my cause in recompense for Husayn's martyrdom, make him the leader of the martyrs, be Thou his helper and guardian and do not bless his murderers."
Sir Muhammad Iqbal says:
Imam Husayn uprooted despotism forever till the Day of Resurrection. He watered the dry garden of freedom with the surging wave of his blood, and indeed he awakened the sleeping Muslim nation. If Imam Husayn had aimed at acquiring a worldly empire, he would not have traveled the way he did (from Medina to Karbala'). Husayn weltered in blood and dust for the sake of truth. Verily he, therefore, became the bed-rock (foundation) of the Muslim creed; la ila ha illai Allah (There is no god but Allah).
Khwaja Mu'inu 'd-Din Chishti says:
He gave his head, but did not put his hand into the hands of Yazid. Verily, Husayn is the foundation of la ila ha illa Allah. Husayn is lord and the lord of lords. Husayn himself is Islam and the shield of Islam. Though he gave his head (for Islam) but never pledged Yazid. Truly Husayn is the founder of "There is no Deity except Allah."
Brown in his A Literary History of Persia writes:
As a reminder, the blood-stained field of Karbala' where the grandson of the Apostle of God fell at length, tortured by thirst and surrounded by the bodies of his murdered kinsmen, has been at any time since then sufficient to evoke, even in the most lukewarm and heedless, the deepest emotion, the most frantic grief and the exaltation of spirit before which pain, danger, and death shrink to unconsidered trifles. Yearly, on the tenth day of Muharram, the tragedy is rehearsed in Persia, in India, in Turkey, in Egypt, wherever a Shi'ite community or colony exists; . . . As I write it all comes back; the wailing chant, the sobbing multitudes, the white raiment red with blood from self inflicted wounds, the intoxication of grief and sympathy.
Allamah Tabatabai writes:
Imam Husayn (Sayyidu sh- Shuhada', "the lord among martyrs"), the second child of 'ALI and Fatimah, was born in the year 4 A H, and after the martyrdom of his brother, Imam Hasan Mujtaba, became Imam through Divine Command and his brother's will. Imam Husayn was Imam for a period of ten years, all but the last six months coinciding with the caliphate of Mu'awiyah. Imam Husayn lived under the most difficult outward conditions of suppression and persecution. This was due to the fact that, first of all, religious laws and regulations had lost much of their weight and credit, and the edicts of the Umayyad government had gained complete authority and power. Secondly, Mu'awiyah and his aides made use of every possible means to put aside and move out of the way the Household of the Prophet and the Shi'ah, and thus obliterate the name of 'Ali and his family. And above all, Mu'awiyah wanted to strengthen the basis of the caliphate of his son, Yazid. who because of his lack of principles and scruples was opposed by a large group of Muslims.
Therefore, in order to quell all opposition, Mu'awiyah had undertaken newer and more severe measures. By force and necessity Imam Husayn had to endure these days and to tolerate every kind of mental and spiritual agony and affliction from Mu'awiyah and his aides-until in the middle of the year 60 AH, Mu'awiyah died and his son Yazid took his place. Paying allegiance (bay'ah) was an old Arab practice which was carried out in important matters such as that of kingship and governmentship. Those who were ruled, and especially the well-known among them, would give their hand in allegiance, agreement and obedience to their king or prince and in this way would show their support for his actions. Disagreement after allegiance was considered as disgrace and dishonour for a people and, like breaking an agreement after having signed it officially, it was considered as a definite crime. Following the example of the Holy Prophet, people believed that allegiance, when given by free will and not through force, carried authority and weight. Mu'awiyah had asked the well-known among the people to give their allegiance to Yazid, but had not imposed this request upon Imam Husayn.
He had especially told Yazid in his last will that if Husayn refused to pay allegiance he should pass over it in silence and overlook the matter, for he had understood correctly the disastrous consequences which would follow if the issue were to be pressed. But because of his egoism and recklessness, Yazid neglected his father's advice and immediately after the death of his father ordered the governor of Medina either to force a pledge of allegiance from Imam Husayn or send his head to Damascus. After the governor of Medina informed Imam Husayn of this demand, the Imam, in order to think over the question, asked for a delay and overnight started with his family toward Mecca. He sought refuge in the sanctuary of God which in Islam is the official place of refuge and security. This event occurred toward the end of the month of Rajab and the beginning of Sha'ban of 60 AH. For nearly four months Imam Husayn stayed in Mecca in refuge. This news spread throughout the Islamic world. On the one hand many people who were tired of the iniquities of Mu'awiyah's rule and were even more dissatisfied when Yazid became caliph, corresponded with Imam Husayn and expressed their sympathy for him. On the other hand, a flood of letters began to flow, especially from Iraq and particularly the city of Kufah, inviting the Imam to go to Iraq and accept the leadership of the populace there with the aim of beginning an uprising to overcome injustice and iniquity. Naturally, such a situation was dangerous for Yazid.
The stay of Imam Husayn in Mecca continued until the season for pilgrimage when Muslims from all over the world poured in groups into Mecca in order to perform the rites of the hajj. The Imam discovered that some of the followers of Yazid had entered Mecca as pilgrims (hajj) with the mission to kill the Imam during the rites of hajj with the arms they carried under their special pilgrimage dress (Ehram). The Imam shortened the pilgrimage rites and decided to leave. Amidst the vast crowd of people he stood up in a short speech announced that he was setting out for Iraq. In this short speech he also declared that he would be martyred and asked Muslims to help him in attaining the goal he had in view and to offer their lives in the path of God. On the next day he set out with his family and a group of his companions for Iraq. Imam Husayn was determined not to give his allegiance to Yazid and knew full well that he would be killed.
He was aware that his death was inevitable in the face of the awesome military power of the Umayyads, supported as it was by corruption in certain sectors, spiritual decline, and lack of will power among the people, especially in Iraq. Some of the outstanding people of Mecca stood in the way of Imam Husayn and warned him of the danger of the move he was making. But he answered that he refused to pay allegiance and give his approval to a government of injustice and tyranny. He added that he knew that wherever he turned or went he would be killed. He would leave Mecca in order to preserve the respect for t}abuse of God and not allow this respect to be destroyed by having his blood spilled there.
While on the way to Kufah and still a few days journey away from the city, he received news that the agent of Yazid in Kufah had put to death the representative of the Imam in that city and also one of the Imam's determined supporters who was a well-known man in Kufah. Their feet had been tied and they had been dragged through the streets. The city and its surroundings were placed under strict observation and countless soldiers of the enemy were awaiting him. There was no way open to him but to march ahead and to face death. It was here that the Imam expressed his definitive determination to go ahead and be martyred; and so he continued on his journey. Approximately seventy kilometers from Kufah in a desert named Karbala', the Imam and his entourage were surrounded by the army of Yazid. For eight days they stayed in this spot during which the circle narrowed and the number of the enemy's army increased. Finally the Imam, with his Household and a small number of companions were encircled by an army of thirty thousand soldiers. During these days the Imam fortified his position and made a final selection of his companions. At night he called his companions and during a short speech stated that there was nothing ahead but death and martyrdom.
He added that since the enemy was concerned only with his person he would free them from all obligations so that anyone who wished could escape in the darkness of the night and save his life. Then he ordered the lights to be turned out and most of his companions, who had joined him for their own advantage, dispersed. Only a handful of those who loved the truth about forty of his close aides and some of the Banu Hashim remained. Once again the Imam assembled those who were left and put them to a test. He addressed his companions and Hashimite relatives, saying again that the enemy was concerned only with his person. Each could benefit from the darkness of the night and escape the danger. But this time the faithful companions of the Imam answered each in his own way that they would not deviate for a moment from the path of truth of which the Imam was the leader and would never leave him alone. They said they would defend his Household to the last drop of their blood and as long as they could carry a sword. On the ninth day of the month the last challenge to choose between "allegiance or war" was made by the enemy to the Imam. The Imam asked for a delay in order to worship overnight and became determined to enter battle on the next day.
On the tenth day of Muharram of the year 61(680) the Imam lined up before the enemy with his small band of followers, less than ninety persons consisting of forty of his companions, thirty some members of the army of the enemy that joined him during the night and day of war, and his Hashimite family of children, brothers, nephews, nieces and cousins. That day they fought from morning until their final breath, and the Imam, the young Hashimites and the companions were all martyred. Among those killed were two children of Imam Hasan, who were only thirteen and eleven years old; and a five-year-old child and a suckling baby of Imam Husayn. The army of the enemy, after ending the war, plundered the haram of the Imam and burned his tents. They decapitated the bodies of the martyrs, denuded them and threw them to the ground without burial.
Then they moved the members of the haram, all of whom were helpless women and girls, along with the heads of the martyrs, to Kufah. Among the prisoners there were three male members: a twenty-two years old son of Imam Husayn who was very ill and unable to move, namely, 'Ali ibn al-Husayn, the fourth Imam; his four years old son, Muhammad ibn 'Ali, who became the fifth Imam; and finally Hasan al-Mujtaba, the son of the second Imam who was also the son-in-law of Imam Husayn and who, having been wounded during the war, lay among the dead. They found him near death and through the intercession of one of the generals did not cut off his head. Rather, they took him with the prisoners to Kufah and from there to Damascus before Yazid. The event of Karbala', the capture of the women and children of the Household of the Prophet, their being taken as prisoners from town to town and the speeches made by the daughter of 'Ali, Zaynab, and the fourth Imam who were among the prisoners, disgraced the Umayyads.
Such abuse of the Household of the Prophet annulled the propaganda which Mu'awiyah had carried out for years. The matter reached such proportions that Yazid in public disowned and condemned the actions of his agents. The event of Karbala' was a major factor in the overthrow of Umayyad's rule although its effect was delayed. It also strengthened the roots of Shi'ism. Among its immediate results were the revolts and rebellions combined with bloody wars which continued for twelve years. Among those who were instrumental in the death of the Imam not one was able to escape revenge and punishment.
Anyone who studies closely the history of the life of Imam Husayn and Yazid and the conditions that prevailed at that time, and analyses this chapter of Islamic history, will have no doubt that in those circumstances there was no choice before Imam Husayn but to be killed. Swearing allegiance to Yazid would have meant publicly showing contempt for Islam, something which was not possible for the Imam, for Yazid not only showed no respect for Islam and its injunction but also made a public demonstration of impudently treading under foot its basis and its laws. Those before him, even if they opposed religious injunctions, always did so in the guise of religion, and at least formally respected religion. They took pride in being companions of the Holy Prophet and the other religious figures in whom people believed.
From this it can be concluded that the claim of some interpreters of these events is false when they say that the two brothers, Hasan and Husayn, had two different tastes and that one chose the way of peace and the other the way of war, so that one brother made peace with Mu'awiyah although he had an army of forty thousand while the other went to war against Yazid with an army of forty. For we see that this same Imam Husayn, who refused to pay allegiance to Yazid for one day, lived for ten years under the rule of Mu'awiyah, in the same manner as his brother who also had endured for ten years under Mu'awiyah, without opposing him. It must be said in truth that if Imam Hasan or Imam Husayn had fought Mu'awiyah they would have been killed without there being the least benefit for Islam. Their deaths would have had no effect before the righteous appearing policy of Mu'awiyah, a competent politician who emphasized his being a companion of the Holy Prophet, the "scribe of the revelation," and "uncle of the faithful" and who used every stratagem possible to preserve a religious guise for his rule. Moreover, with his ability to set the stage to accomplish his desires he could have had them killed by their own people and then assumed a state of mourning and sought to revenge their blood, just as he sought to give the impression that he was avenging the killing of the third caliph. (Shl'ite Islam)
al-Imam al-Husayn ibn 'Ali, peace be Upon him, said:
Beware of your apologies; for a true believer does not sin and does not have to apologize, whereas the hypocrite commits sins everyday and apologizes everyday.
When other people turn to you in need, consider it a favour of Allah. Do not be wearied of this favour, or it will move on to someone else.
Experience enhances the intellect.
* * *
- Labels: Whos Imam Hussain?
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CLOUDS AND THE PROCESS OF RAIN
CLOUDS AND THE PROCESS OF RAIN
43- Do not you see that God drives the clouds, then joins them together, then piles them on each other, then you see the rain comes forth from between them. And He sends down hail from the sky, where there are mountains of it. And strikes those with it whom He will and diverts it from whomever He wills. The vivid flash of its lightning nearly blinds the sight. 24-The Light, 43 Water is life. The greater portion of water that is the basic need for the living beings on earth is in continuous motion and transformation. The uninterrupted sequence of these successive transformations is referred to as cycling. Water is always present in the air. It goes without saying that this state of water differs from its state in the seas and rivers. The formation of clouds by water in the state of vapor, the transformation of these clouds into rainwater and their falling upon the earth as precipitation are the result of God’s impeccable cycling system. More than 1400 years ago, the Quran began to draw our attention to the facts that today can be established only by the help of satellites. Scientists studied types of clouds and established that they were the consequence of well-designed systems and stages. Meteorologists examined the cumulonimbus clouds. The stages they described tallied with the process described in the sura The Light, verse 43. 1- Clouds move thanks to winds: The fact that the wind is the primary cause in the process of the formation of clouds that generates rain is depicted in the sura, The Romans, verse 46 (In the previous chapter, we saw the role played by wind in the formation of clouds). 2- Joining: Then the small clouds combine to form a single large cloud. 3- Piles them on each other: When the small clouds join together, updrafts within the larger cloud increase. The updrafts near the center of the cloud are stronger than those near the edges. These updrafts cause the cloud body to grow vertically, so the cloud is stacked up. This vertical growth causes the cloud body to stretch into cooler regions of the atmosphere where drops of water and hail formulate. When these drops of water and hail become too heavy for the updrafts to support them, they begin to fall from the cloud as rain, hail, etc.
GENIUS OF A MAN? Meteorologists have acquired what they know about the formation, structure and function of clouds only in recent years by the help of satellites, computers and balloons. It is significant to read about the formation of clouds in the Quran. Today’s data are obtained through the use of instruments and satellites that have a panoramic view of clouds from above, otherwise, it would be impossible for men living on the surface of the earth to have an insight into the updraft in the clouds during their formation and the precipitation emerging from this cloud expanding vertically. In the verse above, the simile of “mountain masses” is an apt one, since the cumulonimbus rain clouds at an altitude of 5-6 km present a formation like a mountain. While the verse reveals knowledge unavailable at the time of the Prophet, there is no mention whatsoever of the misconceptions of the time. Up until the 1600s the western world was dominated by the meteorological lore of ancient Greece, itself a hotchpotch of correct and wrong data. It was believed that the atmosphere was made up of two different types of vapor, namely the dry and the moist; that thunder was the outcome of the collision of dry clouds with their neighbors, and that the flash of lighting was produced by the kindling of the dry vapor. In the verse in question no such false information has been provided, while a description is made of the flash of lightning, along with the downfall of rain and hailstones, establishing a link between them. The lightning flash in atmospheric electricity is the total observed luminous phenomena accompanying a lightning discharge, which is a series of electric processes by which change is transferred within the atmosphere along a channel of high ion density between electric charge centers of opposite sign. The water droplets within the clouds are a source of electricity. The water droplets falling down as a result of gravitation break down into yet smaller droplets with positively charged electricity while the surrounding atmosphere is negatively charged. The electric charge of droplets increases at each division into smaller units. Along with the emergence of the electrical charge as a consequence of disintegration of water droplets, the ice crystals at the upper portion of the cloud gain positive electricity charge, thus separating from the atmosphere with negative charge and increasing the electrical charge of the cloud. This process results in an electric arc, i.e., a flash of light. The verse draws attention to the connection of the precipitation with the flash of lightning, leaving out the wrong information that attributes this process to the kindling of clouds. Describing the meteorological process that creates rain accurately, while eliminating the false ideas predominant at the time successfully, cannot be explained as pure coincidence or the genius of a man. 12- It is He who shows you the lightning for fear and hope, and raises heavy clouds. 13-The Thunder, 12
THE FECUNDATING WINDS
THE FECUNDATING WINDS
In one verse of the Qur'an, the "fecundating"
characteristic of the winds, and the resulting formation of rain are
mentioned.
And We send the fecundating winds, then cause water to descend
from the sky, therewith providing you with water in abundance. (Qur'an,
15:22)
This verse points out that the first stage in the formation of rain is wind.
Until the beginning of the 20th century, the only relationship known between the
wind and the rain was that it was the wind that drove the clouds. However,
modern meteorological findings have demonstrated the "fecundating" role of the
wind in the formation of rain.
As explained earlier, this fecundating function of the wind works in the
following way:
On the surface of oceans and seas, a large number of air bubbles form because
of the water's foaming action. The moment these bubbles burst, thousands of tiny
particles, with a diameter of just one hundredth of a millimetre, are thrown up
into the air. These particles, known as "aerosols," mix with dust carried from
the land by the wind, and are carried to the upper layers of the atmosphere.
These particles carried to higher altitudes by winds come into contact with
water vapour up there. Water vapour condenses around these particles and turns
into water droplets. These water droplets first come together and form clouds,
and then fall to the Earth in the form of rain. As mentioned, winds "fecundate"
the water vapour floating in the air with the particles they carry from the sea,
and eventually help the formation of rain clouds.
If winds did not possess this property, water droplets in the upper
atmosphere would never form, and there would be no rain.
The most important point to be recognized here is that this critical role of
the wind in the formation of rain was stated centuries ago in the Qur'an, at a
time when very little was known about natural phenomena…
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The picture above shows the stages in the formation of a wave. |
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Further information provided in the verse about the fertilising quality of
the wind is its role in the pollination of flowers. Many plants on Earth
disperse their pollen by means of the wind in order to ensure the survival of
their species. Several open-seeded plants, pine trees, palm and similar trees,
seeded plants that produce flowers, and grass-like plants are entirely
pollinated by the wind. The wind carries the pollen from the plants to others of
the species, thus fertilising them.
Until recently, the way that the wind was able to fertilise plants was
unknown. When it was realised, however, that plants are divided into males and
females, the fertilising role of the wind was also discovered. This truth was
already indicated in the Qur'an: "… [He] sent down water
from the sky by which We have brought forth various different types of plants in
pairs." (Qur'an, 20:53)
- Labels: THE FECUNDATING WINDS
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Tuesday, July 13, 2010
HANGING ON THE WALL OF UTERUS
13- Then We placed him as a drop in a firmly established lodging 14- Then We developed the drop into a hanging... 23-The Believers, 13-14
“Alaq” is the Arabic word referring to something that is hanging on a place. Embryology did not exist as a science at the time of the Prophet. Neither was there special terminology yet. The Quran described the stages using the words current at the time. According to this description, the zygote then hangs on the wall of the uterus. The Quran brings clarification to something unknown at the time. To render the word “alaq” with the signification ‘embryo’ may not exactly reflect its original meaning, and would moreover fail to convey the spirit of it. To translate it as “a clot of blood” deviates from the literal meaning of the word. This rendering has often been adopted, giving it the attribute of a secondary meaning of the word. The reason was the failure of exegetists to conceive the true meaning of the word. In 1641, Harvey’s statement, according to which the origin of every living thing was an egg, and saying that the embryo underwent transformations, passing through stages of development, was one of the major contributions to the advancement of science. In the 17th century, when man already had the microscope at his disposal, the respective roles of the egg and of the sperm were topics of discussion. Bonnet (1720-1793) speculated that female eggs consisted of a countless number of smaller eggs, one inside the other, and generalized on the “preformation theory,” which maintains that a child arises from an adult in miniature contained within the egg, and he applied this theory to all animals. This hypothesis found many adherents in the 18th century. Men, some thousand years prior to the 18th century, had been acquainted with the Quran. What was said in it about the reproduction of the human organism was rendered in a clear expression that was to take man centuries to confirm. Keith Moore, anatomy professor in the Toronto University of Canada, says that the information contained in the Quran about embryology cannot be accounted for by the data available in the 7th century. He goes further and says that, even a century back, this was hardly known. Only today are we in a position to understand what the verses of the Quran meant, thanks to the development of modern embryology. In history, the only book that exactly describes the development of the human being within the womb is the Quran. Let us once again tackle the subject of hanging to the uterus wall. Only after the invention of the microscope was man able to bring this fact to light as a result of developments in the fields of physiology, anatomy and embryology.
PROOFS FROM THE STAGES OF THE EMBRYO6- These are the signs of God which We rehearse to you in truth. Then in which word other than God and His signs do they believe? 45-Kneeling, 6 The sperm that encounters its other half in the fallopian tube continues its way from there toward the uterus. The embryo, in its journey, does not cling on to the fallopian tube. The embryo proceeds on, and when it reaches the uterus hangs onto a spot where the blood vessels are dense. The stage of “alaq” referred in the Quran has started. How is it that this powerless cell devoid of all intelligence eventually finds for itself a shelter in the uterus, the ideal place for it? How is it that the embryo that arrives at the uterus hangs on its wall and is able to receive all the nourishment necessary for its development, like a leech? (One of the meanings of the word “alaq” is “leech.”) All these things are carefully planned by God’s ingenious artistry. Those who are blind to this fact and refuse to see in this God’s doing, interpreting it as pure coincidence or the embryo’s genius, will be in a ridiculous situation. The process of the embryo hanging on the uterus wall is the result of a complicated system. To penetrate the acid layer of the uterine wall, the embryo secretes an enzyme (hyaluronidase) that catalyzes the uterine tissue and allows the penetration of the embryo, which settles in it like a plant. Henceforth, it will supply its need for food and oxygen from this very point. The hyaluronidase secreted by the embryo catalyzes the breakdown of the hyaluronic acid. Furthermore, the embryo releases some chemicals to protect itself from the mother’s immune system, which would otherwise treat the embryo as a foreign invader to be destroyed. The embryo’s discovery of the place where it is going to hang is a marvel. The embryonic cells have so many activities to perform that a scientist who studies them can easily come to the conclusion that they are entities of high intelligence. 1. Read in the name of your Lord who created 2. He created man from a hanging. 96-The Hanging, 1-2
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