The Real Men Of The Renaissance

The Real Men Of The Renaissance Most western authors contend that the Renaissance emerged when Europeans studied Greek and Roman civilizations then developed new arts and sciences. These racist views hide or deny the massive effort to translate Arabic books to Latin, study them, and copy the Muslim civilization without giving appropriate credit to the "real" authors. Most Europeans had discovered the magnificent Muslim civilization during their crusades against the Muslims in Iberia and the Middle East. The Qur'an, as the final word of God, anticipated many of the modern scientific discoveries which were beyond human imagination 14 centuries ago. The Muslim scientific revolution, which produced the renaissance that put Muslims at the top of the civilized world for 8 centuries, was a result of contemplating the clues in the Qur'an about the physical world. The Muslim contributions are still evident today, 7 centuries after the destruction of the Muslim cultural centers in Asia by Genghis Khan and Hulagu, and 5 centuries after the destruction of the great Muslim cultural centers in Iberia by the Spaniards. Arabic numerals, algebra, logarithms, and algorithms prove the West learned mathematics from the Muslims. al-Khawarizmi who died in 850 AD, introduced Algebra, the zero, negative numbers, algorithms (programs or software), and the decimal system to the West. One cannot imagine computers using Roman numerals. One cannot imagine the digital age without zeros. Alchemy, amalgam, sugar, soap, alkali, and alcohol indicate the West learned chemistry from the Muslims. Many stars have Arabic names including Algol, Markeb, Deneb Algedi, Menkar, Ras Al Asad,

Alphard, etc... Muslin (named after the city of Mosul, Iraq), Damask and Damascene (named after the city of Damascus, Syria, the oldest city in the world) indicate the West learned about fine clothing and fine art from the Muslims. More than 1700 words in the Dictionary are derived from Arabic words like admiral, cipher, tariff, check, lute, guitar, Marsala (Marsa ( harbor ) of Allah), and alcove indicate the Muslim influence on the West is extensive. The first medical book ever printed in Europe in 1486 AD was the medical encyclopedia by Abu Bakr al-Razi (Rhazes) (The Worlds Greatest Physician In The Middle Ages who died in 932 AD). It was translated into Latin by Faraj Ibn Salem. Pupil, cornea, abdomen, saphenous, nucha, ass, blind, basilic, cephalic, drug, natron, sherbet, syrup, talc, elixir, and camphor are derived from Arabic words. During the dark age of Europe, monasteries ran hospitals where exorcism and prayers to patron saints were the main cures. Surgery was banned by the church to protect the monks from evil spirits. The first real hospital and apothecary were opened in Baghdad in 805 AD by the Caliph Harun al-Rashid. In 931 AD, 869 physicians applied for licensing examination in Baghdad. Muslims had separate hospitals for men and women; and separate hospitals for mental, contagious and non-contagious diseases. Muslim hospitals were teaching hospitals where physicians taught in the morning and treated patients in the afternoon. Music was played in the hospitals to soothe the patients and speed their recovery. Medications were added to syrups, juleps, and rose and orange blossom water. Anesthetics made from hemp were used to ease the pain. Pharmacists were licensed after passing examinations by the State. Hospitals were supported by the State or by charitable endowments. Patients received treatment for free. Muslims invented the ambulant clinic which was carried on camelback to provide medical services to prisoners, people in remote towns and villages without hospitals, and people afflicted with epidemics or natural disasters. A census taken In 950 AD in the Muslim city of Qurtubah (now Cordoba or Cordova, Spain), which was one of the centers of the Muslim civilization in Europe, counted a population of 600,000, 90,000 businesses, a university for 20,000 students, 600 mosques, 300 public baths, 80 schools, 70 public libraries, and 50 hospitals. Muslims had precise weights and measures. Gold coins made 10

centuries ago had a weight variance if 1/3000th of a gram. Muslims determined that the earth was spherical and invented spherical geometry, the clock pendulum, the magnetic compass, the art of navigation and the astrolabe. Al-Battani calculated the duration of the solar year within 2 minutes of the current estimate. Muslims introduced Europeans to postal service, gold coins, sophisticated cuisine, tulips, perfumes, fruits, vegetables, hospitals, public (Turkish) baths, windmills, waterwheels, troubadours, musical instruments, cavalry, artillery, heraldry, and chivalry. There is an effort underway to restore one of the Muslim public baths in Granada to its former glory. During the 8 centuries when Muslims ruled the civilized world, Muslim scientists compiled accomplishments that are still impressive by today's standards. The list of scientists includes: Jabir Ibn Hayyan (Geber) who died in 808 AD, was the father of modern chemistry; Ibn Firnas, who died in 888 AD, constructed the first man-powered flying machine; Abu Bakr al-Razi (Rhazes) who died in 932 AD, was the world's greatest physician in the middle ages; al-Idrisi who died in 932 AD, prepared the world's first globe; Al-Buzajani who died in 998 AD, discovered the wobble in the moon's orbit; Abu alQasim al-Zahrawi ( Albucasis ) who died in 1013 AD, was the author of the first surgery book ; al-Maqdisi who died in 1101 AD, produced the first map in colors; Omar al-Khayyam, who died in 1131 AD, was a Sufi poet and a mathematician who reformed the Indian calendar with higher accuracy than the 1582 AD Gregorian calendar; Ibn Sina (Avicenna), who died in 1037 AD wrote the world's medical authority until the 19th Century; Ibn al-Haitham, who died in 1039 AD, was the Father Of Modern Optics, a great scientist and Engineer who formulated the laws of reflection and refraction and explained the rainbow phenomenon; Ibn Rushd (Averroes) who died in 1198 AD, was a philosopher, physician, Chief Justice, Minister, and discovered the sunspots; Fakhruddin Al-Razi who died in 1209 AD, determined that the stars were moving and varied in distance from the earth; Ibn al-Nafis, who died in 1288 AD, discovered the blood circulation; al-Jaldaki who died in 1360 AD, produced pure gold ; Ibn Khaldun who died in 1406 AD, was the real father of sociology. Muslim Law (Shari'ah) was the world's most sophisticated legal system through the 15th century. Napoleon returned to France from Egypt with a copy of Shari'ah which influenced Napoleonic Law. The collapse of the Muslim civilization toward the end of the 15th century, after endless Crusades ended 8 centuries of Muslim scholarship when Muslims ruled the civilized world. This put the Muslims under colonial imperialism determined to keep them divided, poor, and uneducated so they may supply their conquerors with

cheap raw materials, labor, and open unregulated markets.

Muslim Law (Shari'ah) Islam has a balanced approach to law. The Qur'an indicates that Punishment must fit the crime, however, forgiveness is preferred [Qur'an 16:126]. Islam is not a vengeful tribal religion trapped in commandments and punishment which lead humans to despair. Islam does not waive punishment for all crimes and all criminals which could easily wreck the society. Punishment or forgiveness must be decided on a case by case basis. Muslim Law is based on several principles derived from the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad's tradition. One of the basic principles is God's desire to ease our lives [Qur'an 2:185]. The details of Muslim legal principles are beyond the scope of this effort. Some of the basic principles are discussed here. The Covenant of Medina (The World's First Written Constitution) sanctified life and individual property and prohibited crime. According to Muslim Law the right to privacy is protected. Spying and entering someone's home without permission are prohibited. The state covered court cost which allowed poor people to seek justice from the rich without fear of financial ruin. Nobody, including the Sultan, was above the law. False accusations and false witness were punished. Character witnesses had to be of good character themselves and had to establish intimate knowledge of the person in question. This intimate knowledge was based on business dealings, or joint long distance travel, or being a neighbor with familiarity of the comings and goings of the person in question.

The Prophet Muhammad considered Islam the Golden Mean. Whatever benefited the majority of Muslims was considered legal. Long term imprisonment was considered inhumane punishment by the freedom loving Arabs. Short term imprisonment was sparingly used for repeat offenders. The most common punishment was lashing the offender in public. One of the basic legal principles Even animal rights were not left out. Inhumane treatment of animals or branding them in the face were prohibited. Animals cannot be used for target practice. Those who slaughtered animals for food were required to sharpen their blades and not to slaughter an animal in view of another animal. Napoleonic Law was influenced by Muslim Law. Napoleon returned to France from his Egyptian campaign with the books of Malik, who founded the traditional school of Muslim Law, and the books of his successors. Three additional principal schools of Muslim Law were founded by Abu Hanifah, Al Shaf'i, and Ibn Hanbal. All four schools thrived during the Renaissance of Arabic civilization when Muslims ruled the civilized world from the 8th through the 15th centuries. Many Muslim legal scholars were also Sufis, scientists and philosophers. This resulted in the world's most sophisticated legal system through the 15th century. The collapse of the Muslim civilization toward the end of the 15th century ended 8 centuries of legal scholarship. This trapped Muslim Law in an alien 15th century world when Muslims ruled the civilized world. Today Muslim countries are using a mixture of 15th century Muslim Law and contemporary Western Laws with mixed results. The need to bring Muslim Law to the 21st century is urgent. It is true that the foundations of Muslim Law, namely the Qur'an and the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, have not changed since the 15th century. It is the legal structure built on the foundations that needs updating following centuries of neglect. The Qur'an is not a book of words, stories or commandments. The Qur'an is the eternal word of God in the form of Arabic clues, signs, and guidelines to help the Muslim succeed in this world and in the hereafter. The massage of Islam cannot be frozen in time and has no single or official interpretation.

Holy War (Jihad) Non - Muslim authors accuse Muslims of spreading Islam by the sword, by waging holy wars. They ignore the fact that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world today. They cannot find a trace of evidence showing that swords or force of any kind are responsible for the current high rate of conversion to Islam. The concepts of "holy war" and "just war" were developed by the Holy (Christian) Roman Empire to force the pacifist Middle Eastern Christians into the Roman army. These Christians believed in turning the other cheek and renounced violence for 3 centuries before the Romans converted to Christianity under the rule of Constantine. It is not surprising that the Christian Roman Empire was militant, It's first emperor believed he conquered Rome after a vision in which he saw a cross over the sun and heard a voice telling him that he would win under the religion of the cross. Those who claim that Jesus preached only love and peace ignore Jesus' words: "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." [Matthew 10:34]. " Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. [Matthew 21:18,19]. Jesus died in his thirties leaving behind few followers. He was not responsible for a new nation under siege by the hostile Persian and Holy Roman Empires as Muhammad was. Western authors erroneously translate the Arabic term jihad to mean holy war. Jihad means struggle or resistance. Muhammad defined the struggle with the self to be a better person or to resist temptation as the major jihad. He also defined the struggle with others to defend the Muslim Nation and to resist their threat as the minor jihad.

Islam is spreading today for the same reasons it spread rapidly in the past. Islam presents the seeker with a natural, sound, logical, believable, practical, simple, balanced and achievable belief and practice system. Islam does not contradict human nature or modern science. The Qur'an anticipated many of the modern scientific discoveries which were beyond human imagination 14 centuries ago. This separates the Qur'an from other religious texts. The Qur'an advises against using force to change people's religion [Qur'an 2:256] or being the aggressor [Qur'an 2:190]. Muslims are asked to refrain from vengeance against prisoners of war or civilians in defeated regions [Qur'an 16:126,127; 8:67]. Muslims were bound by the guidelines of the Qur'an since they fought and did everything, in the name of God. Muslims fought against the rulers who opposed them and their armies not against the people or their institutions. Non - Muslims were admitted to Muslim Universities. Those who excelled became top advisers to Muslim leaders regardless of race, religion, color, or ethnic background. This was another factor which accelerated the spread of Islam. A search for the word "kill" found it 442 times in the Revised Standard Version, and 271 times in the King James Version of the Bible compared to 40 times in the Pickthall Version and 22 times in the Yusuf-Ali Version of the Qur'an! The facts show that Islam tolerates non - Muslim minorities within the Muslim Nation and treats them as independent nations free to worship and live according to their own religious laws. This was outlined in the Covenant of Medina which became the world's first written constitution in 622 AD. In contrast, the Christian Romans used force to convert all the countries under their dominion to Christianity. When Roman Catholicism became the state religion, the Romans persecuted the Orthodox Christians who did not convert. The number of Orthodox Christians killed by Rome reached 200,000 which is huge considering the small population of Egypt at the time (elshaab.com, 1/4/99, page2). The spread of Islam in the 7th century threatened the Romans and Persians who shared dominion over Arabia and collected heavy taxes from the Arabs. This led to a series of wars between the Romans and Persians on one side and the Muslims on the other. The Muslims won the war with Persia and restricted the Romans to Asia minor until the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in the

16th century. This spread the Muslim influence over the civilized world from the seventh to the fourteenth centuries. The way Muslims conducted the affairs of state and their personal lives led many Christians, Jews and others to embrace Islam. Muslims in Europe: When the Muslims ruled European countries including Spain, Portugal, southern France, southern Italy, and Sicily; Christians and Jews thrived and were allowed in Muslim Universities. This gave Europeans the scientific and artistic tools which helped them start the Renaissance several centuries later when the hold of the Catholic Church over Europe was weakened. Muslim taxes were a fraction of the Roman taxes. Muslims considered their sphere of influence as one nation. They did not transfer wealth from the countries they occupied to Arabia or practice genocide against the native population. When the tables were turned and the Catholic Spaniards defeated the Muslims in Spain and Portugal, they instituted the Spanish Inquisition which killed or expelled millions of Muslims who refused to convert to Christianity. The Jews suffered a similar fate at the hands of the Spaniards. While millions of Christians and Jews continue to thrive in the Muslim countries after 14 centuries of Muslim domination, there is no trace of the millions of Muslims who lived for centuries in Spain and Portugal. Evidence of their past existence can only be found in beautiful palaces like Alhambra in Granada, flamenco music and dancing, Portuguese fado singing, and the abundance of Arabic words in the Spanish and Portuguese languages. The Crusades: The "real" holy wars were waged by the Crusaders against the Muslims in the Middle East. The Crusaders were brutal in their treatment of Muslim prisoners of war and civilians. When the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem, they killed 70,000 Muslims. When the Muslims re-conquered the city they did not kill anybody. Orthodox Christians were considered heretics and therefore did not escape the Crusaders' brutality. The Orthodox Churches, which were safe during centuries of Muslim rule, were looted by the Crusaders. The Holy Grail was not the only thing the Crusaders took from the Orthodox churches. When Muslims ended the Crusades by re-conquering Acre from the Crusaders, Pope Nicolas IV barred Christians from selling timber to

Muslims. This embargo did not result in persecution of the Christians in the Muslim countries. Napoleonic Crusade: The Crusades were not an unfortunate episode during the dark age in Europe that ended a long time ago. When Napoleon invaded Egypt, he ordered his troops to destroy the face of the sphinx and the tip of the great pyramid to leave his mark on them. His cavalry desecrated al-Azhar mosque, the Muslim World's equivalent of the Vatican and the first university in the world, with their horses. The French soldiers burned the rare manuscripts in its library to keep warm. Napoleon was proud that he had ordered beheading 5-6 people daily and parading their heads in the streets to scare the population! After defeating the Turks in Jaffa, Napoleon ordered his troops to kill about 2500 Turkish soldiers from the city garrison who surrendered. The soldiers were led to the shore and the French kept firing at them until they ran out of ammunition then finished them off with bayonets. The water turned red from the blood of the slain Turks. In the city, the killing, raping, looting and burning lasted for 2 days and did not stop until the French troops were too exhausted to continue. When a survivor of the Jaffa massacre killed a French general, his hands were cut, his wrists were burned then he was impaled. After his slow death, his head was severed and was given to a French surgeon who showed the skull to his students in Paris as an example of a terrorist and a criminal. It seems that the principles of the French revolution: Freedom, equality and brotherhood did not apply to Muslims! This was later confirmed when the French occupied Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia and declared them French territories. The French citizenship was given to Jews and Christians but not to Muslims! Modern Crusades: When general Allenby, the commander of the British forces in the Middle East during World War I, entered Jerusalem and Damascus he proclaimed the end of the Crusades. Nazi Crusade: Abdel Wahab El-Messeri (Al-Ahram Weekly, 23 - 29 December 1999, reported:

Issue No. 461)

"In the course of my research for the Encyclopedia of Jews, Judaism

and Zionism, I was surprised to find how frequently the word "Muselmann" (Muslim) appeared in the Auschwitz concentration camp lists. According to one source, the victims who were led off to the gas chambers were called "aliens" ((??)) and according to other sources, "Muselmanner". In the Encyclopedia Judaica, I came across the following entry: "Muselmann (Muslim in German) was a commonly used terms in the concentration camps, used to refer to the prisoners who were on the brink of death, that is to say those who began to show the final symptoms of starvation, disease, mental apathy and physical weakness. The term was primarily used in Auschwitz, but was also used in other camps." We see here an epitome of one central dimension of the Western mentality. Whenever it destroys its victims it perceives them as "other," and the other, since the time of the Crusades, has always been the Muslim. In the Middle Ages, moreover, Muslims and Jews were closely linked in the Western mind. One can find, for instance, many paintings which portray the Prophet Muhammad (born 570 AD) flogging Christ. The Nazi experience is an authentic product of this Western mindset. The Nazis were the standard bearers of this vision. They epitomised the Western confrontation with the oriental civilisation closest to Europe: the Islamic civilisation. They never forgot this burden, even when annihilating millions of inhabitants of Europe. The connotation of the term "Muselmann" was simply extended to include the "other" in general, whether Slavs, Jews or Gypsies (as has occurred in a similar manner with the word "Arab" in Zionist discourse). The writer of the preceding entry in the Encyclopedia Judaica attempted to explain how this term came into currency in the camps. The Nazis' victims, he said, would crouch cross-legged in the "oriental" manner and the expression on their faces would be wooden, as lifeless as a mask. One notes that the writer, in his definition, made no attempt to avoid the customary Western stereotype of Muslims. He simply substituted the word "oriental" for "Muselmann"." Terrorist and fundamentalist have frequently replaced the word "oriental". Muslims revere Moses, Jesus and all the prophets and consider Judaism and Christianity earlier phases of the primordial religion of God: Islam. The Muslims in Bulgaria, for example, were very active in protecting Jewish groups from persecution, and King Hussein V of Morocco refused to hand over his Jewish subjects to the Vichy government in France. Unfortunately, Jews and Christians do not recognize Islam or the Prophet Muhammad's mission. Most Christians and Jews consider

Muslims sinners who are not chosen by God or saved and are, therefore, not entitled to equal or humane treatment. Jewish Crusade: The United Nations records document countless atrocities against Muslim civilians by the Jews in Palestine. Infamous examples are the massacres in Kafr Qasim, Dir Yasin by the Jewish terrorist gangs before the UN divided Palestine into a Palestinian and Jewish states. An Israeli historian uncovered credible evidence that troops massacred 200 Palestinians in a single village on the day Israel came into being in 1948. Teddy Katz, who researched events in the village of Tantura for a masters degree, said he had spoken to witnesses including soldiers who were present to support his findings. ``It started at night and was over in a few hours,'' Katz said 14 Israeli soldiers were killed in the ambush on the village. Tantura, near Haifa in northern Israel, had 1,500 residents at the time. It was later demolished to make way for a parking lot for a nearby beach and the Nahsholim kibbutz, or cooperative farm. Katz said the killing spree in Tantura was more tragic and bigger than in the village of Deir Yassin just west of Jerusalem, where scores of Palestinians were killed on April 9, 1948, in an assault by Jewish armed groups. Reports just after the Deir Yassin killings spoke of some 240 deaths. Up to 700,000 Palestinians fled from their towns and villages or were driven out by Jewish troops in the conflict between Arab and Jew that surrounded Israel's creation. Fawzi Tanji, now 73 and a refugee at a camp in the West Bank, is from Tantura and worked until May 1948 as a guard for the army in British Mandate Palestine. He told Reuters he had watched as Israeli troops took over the village, lined men up against a cemetery wall and shot them. Katz said 95 men were killed at the cemetery. ``I was 21 years old then. They took a group of 10 men, lined them up against the cemetery wall and killed them. Then they brought another group, killed them, threw away the bodies and so on,'' Tanji said. The Israeli newspaper Maariv, which reported Katz's findings Wednesday, quoted the commander of the Tantura attack as saying his troops had no grounds to ask questions or spare lives.

``It was war...When you see the enemy opposite you, he doesn't have a note saying he doesn't mean to shoot you. When you see him, you shoot him,'' retired colonel Bentz Pridan said. (New York Times, January 19, 2000) Other infamous massacres include the massacres in Palestinian refugee camps in Sabra and Shatila, and the recent massacre in Qana (where Jesus once attended a wedding and changed water into wine!) More than 200 women, children and old men who were seeking shelter near a UN camp were killed by deliberate Israeli bombing. Israel occupied southern Lebanon for 20 years. In 1978, UN Security Council Resolution 425 called " upon Israel immediately to cease its military action against Lebanese territorial integrity and withdraw forthwith its forces from all Lebanese territory. Instead of complying with the UN Security Council Resolution, Israel invaded additional Lebanese territory in 1982, 1993, and 1996 killing tens of thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians. Israel has been holding scores of innocent Lebanese hostages, some for more than a decade, in prisons in Israel and Israeli-occupied south Lebanon. Recent news reports also suggest that Israel has been systematically stealing fertile topsoil from Israeli-occupied southern Lebanon and trucking it to Israel. The value of property, seized by Israel from 700,000 Palestinians who fled Palestine when the Jewish terrorists announced the formation of Israel in 1948, is estimated at more than 6 billion dollars excluding interest. Violation of the civil, religious and human rights of the Muslim and Christian minorities in Israel, which are 18% of the population, had no effect on the flow of unlimited aid to Israel. Israel has destroyed about 400 mosques and 400 churches since the UN divided Palestine into Palestinian and Jewish States in 1948. It seems that the US policy of linking foreign aid to human rights and religious persecution records of foreign countries does not apply to Israel. Serbian Crusade: The Serb Christians waged war on the Muslim civilians in Bosnia and Kosovo. In Bosnia, more than 200,000 Muslims have been killed and more than 1400 mosques have been destroyed or damaged. About 200 villages have been destroyed in Kosovo and about 250,000

refugees have fled for their lives. When the Serb Christians invaded Kosovo, they destroyed all mosques despite the fact that the Christian monasteries were safe for centuries in the predominantly Muslim Kosovo. Double Standards: The mentality of the Crusades still exists today under the guise of fighting terrorists or Muslim fundamentalists, or fighting the spread of weapons of mass destruction (meaning leaving the Muslim countries vulnerable to the threat of mass destruction by Israel or others), or stemming the tide of immigration by North Africans to Europe." The economic sanctions, advocated by Pope Nicolas IV, continue today against Muslim countries labelled by the State Department as "rogue nations" or "nations that sponsor terrorism" or "nations that violate civil rights of minorities" or "nations that oppose peace with Israel" Despite the media's attempts to demonize the Muslims, the facts show that about 80% of the 23 million refugees in the world today are Muslims! The facts contradict all the rhetoric by the media and government officials linking Muslims to terrorism. The State Department's "Patterns of Global Terrorism" 1997 report, there were 123 anti-U.S. attacks in that year; 97 occurred in Latin America, seven took place in Europe and six in Asia. The Middle East ranked fourth as a location of anti-American attacks. The previous State Department report showed a similar pattern. In 1996, there were 73 anti-American attacks world-wide; 58 were in Latin America, eight in Europe and three in the Middle East. When the Afghani Mujahideen ( those who conduct Jihad ), aided by fighters from Saudi Arabia trained and armed by the US, fought the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, they were hailed as freedom fighters. Jihad was good in those days. The US was calling for a worldwide Islamic Jihad against the Soviets. When the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, the Mujahideen were quickly denounced as terrorists because of their opposition to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian, Syrian, and Lebanese territories. Christian fundamentalists are waging a Crusade to end the separation between church and state in the US and put the first nail in the coffin of the American system of government. They have replaced modern science with the Bible in their schools. They advocate a prerenaissance philosophy. This proves the Muslims provided the

knowledge that launched the Renaissance in Europe. It is ironic that the West opposes Muslim fundamentalists who teach evolution in their schools. Some Christian fundamentalists even turned to violence when they could not impose their views legally and killed law enforcement officers in Waco and bombed abortion clinics in several cities. The government and the media never refer to the threat of Christian fundamentalists. Jewish fundamentalists murdered Rabin, their own prime minister, when he finally saw the light. Rabin realized that Israel has to make peace with the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab World to secure its long term prospects in the region. Jewish fundamentalists oppose peace and conduct demonstrations with banners calling for killing the Arabs. Many of these fundamentalists have killed Palestinian civilians and desecrated the Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and were either never arrested or quickly released from police custody because there were judged mentally unstable. These activities are never reported by the media in the US the way they cover suicide bombings by desperate militants who have lost everything to illegal destruction of their homes and killing of their family members by the Israeli government or by Jewish settlers who are illegally taking over Palestinian territories and barring Palestinians from access to their farms and places of worship to pressure them into submission to the illegal status quo. The West ignores the threat of Christian and Jewish fundamentalists while actively opposing Muslim fundamentalists, even when they are democratically elected. The military takeovers of the elected governments in Algeria, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan and Turkey were encouraged by the West. However, the military takeover of the elected government in Haiti was not tolerated. The UN authorized a US invasion to return the elected government to power. The Crusade against Iraq: The US vetoed many UN decisions condemning Israeli actions. The Muslim countries were told peace can be achieved only by direct negotiations with Israel. Military action or sanctions against Israel were never options for attaining peace in the Middle East. This policy did not apply to Iraq - the former US ally during the Iran/Iraq war. The US obtained a UN decision against Iraq the day following the invasion of Kuwait. Kuwait had been a province of Iraq

until the British decided to make it a separate protectorate after World War I. Iraq was not allowed (like Israel) 32 years of procrastination and frivolous negotiations with the Sheik of Kuwait. In short, there was no peace process. Iraq was bombed into the stone age and unprecedented sanctions were imposed which led to the death of more than one million Iraqis to-date. A whole generation of Iraqis was murdered by the sanctions against Iraq since 1991. Swift military action is ready to kill more Iraqis if they protest the frivolous inspections that have been going on all these years. More than 270 teams of inspectors have conducted 9340 inspections. Since 1991, the inspectors verified the destruction of 30 warheads, 18 ballistic missiles, 700,000 tons of chemicals they claimed could produce weapons, and 40,000 tons of chemicals that could be used in weapons. The inspectors claim they still need to do their work. The US maintains the sanctions will continue until the inspectors "finish" their work. Americans who oppose the U.S. government's policy on Iraq ended a Christmas visit Tuesday meant to focus attention on the suffering of Iraqi children (December 28, 1999 9:32 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com). During their weeklong visit, the group spent Christmas among the Iraqi Christian community in Basra, a city some 335 miles south of Baghdad. "We spent Christmas morning in one of the hospitals where we saw for ourselves infants dying because there is never enough medicine," said Chuck Quilty of Rock Island, Ill., one of eight American Catholics in the Voices in the Wilderness delegation. UN officials keep resigning in protest of the sanctions against the Iraqi people. The latest resignations came February 14, 2000 from Hans von Sponeck the top UN official in Iraq and Jutta Burghardt the head of the World Food Program. Current Crusade: Unfortunately, the holy war against Islam will continue to claim more Muslim victims in the foreseeable future. In an effort to keep the military industrial complex going after the end of the cold war, Islam has been targeted as the new enemy and new threats have been invented. This keeps tax payers' subsidies flowing to the cold war industry and protects it from competition from the productive economy.

The US spends more on the military than the rest of the world combined. The government needs terrorists and Islamophobia to justify this level of military expenditures. It is ironic that the current most dangerous enemies, according to the US government, were trained and armed by the US! The US accounts for half of the weapons exports around the world. These exports need wars and conflicts to sustain them. This is a major disappointment to all the people who hoped that the collapse of the Berlin Wall would bring world peace and prosperity for all. The oil producing countries in the Middle East purchase a significant portion of the US arms sales. US taxpayers subsidize massive military aid to Israel. A just peace in the Middle East would eliminate most of the US arms sales. Muslim militants in the Middle East are resisting Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria. This occupation violates international law and numerous UN resolutions. Targeting the militants will not bring peace to the Middle East but will bring the downfall of the moderate leaders. Ending the occupation will bring peace and help the moderates on both sides build a better future for all the people in the Middle East. The racial conflicts in the US in the 1960s offer a useful analogy. The assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and militant black leaders did not end the riots and the strife. The conflicts were not obviously caused by the militants. The militants and the conflicts emerged from the anger and frustration of the black masses who were helpless in the face of persistent discrimination. Respecting and supporting equal rights for Blacks ended all the conflicts and allowed blacks to play a productive role that benefited the whole society. The Muslim militants are the product - not the cause of the anger and frustration in the Muslim countries which are helpless to defend themselves in the face of Israeli arrogance backed by unlimited US support. In the mean time The US provides Israel with military and financial aid so they can continue their occupation of Arab lands by force for more than 32 years and disregard UN resolutions. Respecting the rights of the Muslim countries and implementing the UN resolutions protecting the rights of the Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese would bring just peace to the Middle East. This would also restore the friendly and beneficial relations the US had with all the Muslim countries after World War II.

American national interest would significantly benefit from good relations with Arab and Muslim countries. Unfortunately, that has been totally ignored and replaced with a policy of supporting outrageous Israeli actions and policies at any price. The Jewish influence on American foreign policy which started during the Lyndon Johnson administration and reached an unprecedented level in the Clinton administration is responsible for this shift. The Muslim world occupies about one fourth of the world area. Muslims represent about one sixth of the World population. American Muslims outnumber American Jews in the US. Yet the media consider the Muslims invisible and portray them in the worst possible image. American interests in the vast Muslim world are being sacrificed for the benefit of 5 million Israelis and their US supporters! Comprehensive campaign finance reform is sorely needed to free US policy from lobbies and pressure groups and focus it on real "national" interest. Christians and Jews are better off studying their Bible which anticipated Islam, the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad. Instead of trying to beat the Muslims, Christians and Jews should join them so they can all turn to God and fulfill the promise of His creation. Most Christians in the Middle East were converted to Christianity by Jesus and his disciples. After considering the message of the Qur'an, most of those Christians embraced Islam during the last 14 centuries because Islam delivered what the Bible promised. Muslims are not the enemy terrorizing the West. They are the victims of the nonstop Crusades. Islam is not a threat to the West. It is the only religion that can solve the social and moral problems of the West.

Islam (Turning To God) Islam is popularly known as the religion started by the Prophet Muhammad at the beginning of the revelation of the Qur'an in 610 AD. In fact the Mohammedan message is the final comprehensive phase that completed the primordial religion of God which is within our soul. This universal religion is called Islam in the Qur'an and includes the Jewish, Christian, and Mohammedan traditions. The word Islam means Turning To God. The Arabic verb aslama is used in the Qur'an in sentences meaning turned his face to God or simply turned to God [Qur'an 2:112, 3:20, 4:125]. Muslims turn to God at least 5 times daily during the ritual prayers (Salat). Turning to God implies trusting God with your life and going with the flow. This frees the Muslim from the suffering and limitations of life on earth [Qur'an 90:4]. The Qur'an refers to Adam and the prophets from Noah to Jesus as Muslims [Qur'an 2:132] who practiced the universal monotheistic religion of God. Different phases of the religion emerged to return people, who changed the word of God or worshipped idols or intermediaries, to the original religion. Muslims are advised to practice only with conviction after considering all the evidence [Qur'an 2:171]. They should balance the needs of the Body And Soul, the material versus the spiritual, the here versus the hereafter. Islam is the Golden Mean. God does not change people's condition until they change themselves [Qur'an 13:11]. People will see only what they seek. Life and death were created by God to show who acted more properly [Qur'an 67:2]. Good and evil are challenges to test our faith [Qur'an 21:35]. Our freedom of choice was challenged by trusting us with the earth, putting us at different levels, and giving us different blessings [Qur'an 6:165]. However, we are challenged only according to our ability to handle the challenge [Qur'an 2:286]. With every difficulty comes relief [Qur'an 94:5,6] The Qur'an indicates that humans are created in the spiritual form and then lowered in the material form [Qur'an 95:4] to experience the temptation of the flesh and exercise their freedom of choice. God desires to ease our lives not to make them hard [Qur'an 2:185]. God breathed into us of His spirit. We are not created in jest and we

will return to God [Qur'an 23:115]. We are blessed with countless blessings [Qur'an14:34]. We are not the product of Original Sin and do not need an intermediary in the form of a savior, prophet, saint, or clergy to reach God [Qur'an 2:255]. Nobody is responsible for someone else's sin [Qur'an 31:33]. God is fair to everyone[Qur'an 18:49]. We are not sinners or angels by nature and we are capable of redeeming ourselves by making amends for our mistakes. Nobody is punished while atoning for past sins. Punishment is also waived if Muslims are forced to perform acts that are contrary to their beliefs because they have no other choice [Qur'an 2:173]. Some Muslim scholars consider financial dealings that include interest acceptable if no other choice is available to Muslims. God's punishment does not always: follow the offense but comes at a predetermined time; sometimes when the offenders least expect it [Qur'an 29:53]. This frees people to act according to their true beliefs and not out of fear of immediate and certain punishment. The Qur'an affirmed that God is most gracious and most merciful [Qur'an 1:1], is singular [Qur'an 112:1], is alive, never sleeps, always watching over His servants [Qur'an 2:255], and that He is near, answering the prayers of those who pray. There is nothing like God [Qur'an 42:11] who transcends human attempts to describe Him in terms of human or animal qualities. Muslims are required to be kind, polite, and merciful toward their parents especially when they grow old. Muslims are also required to pray for God's mercy on their parents who raised them when they were little [Qur'an 17:23-24]. Muslims are not to go near adultery [Qur'an 19:32], gambling, or alcohol. Both murder and suicide are forbidden [Qur'an 19:33]. Punishment must fit the crime, however, forgiveness is preferred [Qur'an 16:126]. This affirms Islam's balanced approach to law. Orphans' property must be handled with the best intentions and promises must be fulfilled [Qur'an 19:34, 2:177]. Promises are not considered to be by an individual to others but by the individual to God who witnesses all transactions. Pride and conceit are not Muslim traits. Muslims should consider their insignificance compared to the universe [Qur'an 19:37-38]. The great achievements are merely blessings from God requiring gratitude toward God and charity toward the needy. One must return others' greetings with equal or better greetings [Qur'an 4:86] and practice patience and endurance during good and

bad times [Qur'an 2:177]. Seeking ephemeral achievements, such as wealth and children, makes this life glitter. Doing what is right, earns better rewards from God and is a better goal. Islam has more than 1 billion followers including 8 million in the US and is the fastest growing religion in the world today. Sixty percent of all Africans are Muslims and the dominant language in Africa is Arabic. Islam is spreading today for the same reasons it spread rapidly in the past. Islam presents the seeker with a universal, natural, sound, logical, believable, practical, simple, and balanced belief and practice system. Islam does not contradict modern science. The Qur'an anticipated many of the modern scientific discoveries which were beyond human imagination 14 centuries ago. The collapse of the Muslim civilization toward the end of the 15th century, after endless Crusades, ended the Renaissance that lasted from the 8th through the 15th centuries when Muslims ruled the civilized world. The collapse led to the spread of fundamentalism throughout the Muslim countries. Fundamentalists are trying to freeze Islam into 15th century concepts. They believe this will preserve the traditions of Islam. They miss the fact that Islam had changed significantly from the 7th through the 15th centuries due to changes in the Muslim Nation or in the outside world. The collapse of the Muslim civilization should not be construed as a failure of Islam as a spiritual path. The collapse was caused by a failure of the state and its institutions to adapt to a changing world. Muslims can still turn to God and use the Qur'an to advance along the spiritual path based on their best interpretation of the divine clues regardless of what the fundamentalists say or do. This interpretation will change as Muslims advance along the spiritual path. The interpretation will also change as the world the Muslims live in changes. Currently, the spirit of Islam can be found in the teachings and practices of the Sufis. The Prophet Muhammad's

The Life Of The Prophet Muhammad The Prophet Muhammad was born in 570 AD in Mecca in the house of his grandfather Abdul Muttalib. His father, Abdullah, had died during one of his trading missions to Palestine shortly before Muhammad's birth . His grandfather named him Muhammad to be praised in the heavens and the earth. Following the death of his grandfather, Muhammad was raised by his uncle Abu Talib. Muhammad accompanied his uncle on a trading mission to Syria when he was only 12 years old. Muhammad was unlettered, because of his uncle's limited means, but he was known for his good character and was nicknamed "The Honest". His uncle's advancing age made it difficult to undertake long distance trading missions to Syria, Palestine, or Yemen so he confined himself to nearby markets. This led Muhammad to undertake trading missions to Syria for one of the richest women in Mecca - Khadidjah. This business relationship led to mutual respect and admiration which in turn led to marriage between the then 25 years old Muhammad and the 40 years old Khadidjah. This marriage produced two sons, who died in early childhood, and four daughters who survived Muhammad. In 610 AD he received the first revelation of the Qur'an. He continued to receive the revelations until his death. Muhammad's call to Islam met with stiff resistance from most of the people of Mecca. They were afraid to lose Mecca's advantage, as a trading and religious center for Arabia, if Arabs abandon the idols in Mecca and embrace Islam. The Arabs had abandoned the religion of Abraham and Ishmael and used idols as intermediaries between them and God the way many Christians used saints and angels. Muhammad persisted in his call to Islam refusing offers of wealth and power in return for abandoning his mission. Consequently, the Muslims began to experience persecution which ranged from boycott to physical torture. In spite of all the persecution, the number of Muslims grew steadily. Converts to Islam included Jews and Christian as well as idol-worshipping Arabs.

Muslims began to emigrate from Mecca to Ethiopia to escape persecution. The ruler of Ethiopia protected them from their enemies after he and his church patriarchs heard the chapter of the Qur'an about the Virgin Mary. The death of his uncle, followed by the death of his wife, affected Muhammad deeply and exposed him to more aggressive persecution. Following the end of the mourning period, Muhammad married Sawdah the widow of one of the early converts to Islam. She was the first of several wives that he married following the death of his first wife. In 621 AD, Muhammad achieved full spiritual enlightenment. He left Mecca for Medina in 622 AD to join the increasing number of Muslims who immigrated to Medina to escape persecution in Mecca. In Medina, he established a nation of equals based on the brotherhood between the Muslims in Medina and those from Mecca regardless of wealth or social status. Muhammad invited the Jews to join the new society as an independent nation, governed by Rabbinical court, within the Muslim Nation. The Jews accepted and an agreement known as The Covenant of Medina was signed. This gave birth to the world's first written constitution. The spread of Islam in Arabia and the growing strength of the Muslims threatened the leadership position of Mecca and its trading missions. The leaders of Mecca and their allies resorted to force in an attempt to eliminate Islam before the Muslims become too strong. Several battles followed but Mecca's hopes were shattered. The Muslims won or held their own against superior forces in all the battles. This led to the spread of Islam at a more rapid pace. The conflicts with Mecca ended when Muhammad entered the city at the head of 4 armies. The city offered practically no resistance after Muhammad gave his word that everyone who remained at home or in the mosque would be safe. The idols in Mecca were destroyed and Arabia was united under the banner of Islam before the Prophet's death in 632 A

The Full Spiritual Enlightenment Of The Prophet Muhammad In 621 AD, the Prophet Muhammad achieved full spiritual enlightenment. He described the experience to his followers in symbolic detail in the form of an actual trip. Briefly, he was awakened by the archangel Gabriel who accompanied him from Mecca to Jerusalem and then to the first heaven (spiritual station, veil or rank in Sufi terms, chackras in oriental terms) where he met Adam. In the second through the seventh heavens, Muhammad met the prophets from Noah to Jesus. Muhammad then proceeded without Gabriel to God's throne piercing through the veils that separate the human soul from the Creator. The differences between heaven and earth vanished in the presence of God and Muhammad vanished as a separate entity. Only God, the Creator, the One remained. Muhammad was commanded to order all Muslims to pray at least five times daily. He then returned to Mecca with Gabriel. Sufis consider Muhammad's mystical experience as the ultimate human spiritual achievement. This is referred to as the "Fully Human" Station or Rank. The Sufi spiritual path guides the seeker through the heavens to his spiritual potential using meditations from the Qur'an.

The Personality Of The Prophet Muhammad The Prophet Muhammad was known for good character throughout his life. He was known as: "The Honest" long before he received the message of Islam . He was handsome, of medium height, very active, walked rapidly which forced his companions to race to keep up with him. People reported seeing light around his body and in his face, which they compared to the sun or the full moon. His skin was white and turned

rosy from exposure to the sun. He had black eyes and a thick beard. People he touched, reported feeling healed, safe and secure. He was humble and did not allow his companions to stand up when he met them or kiss his hand. He sat with his companions where he happened to be. A stranger walking into the room could not tell who the Prophet was by his position in the group. He joked with his companions, played with their kids and put them in his lap. He loved his grandchildren, played with them, and even carried them on his shoulder while conducting the ritual prayers. He smiled most of the time and disliked to say no. When asked a question he didn't want to answer, he remained silent. When given a choice, he always chose the easiest option. He emphasized that Islam is the Golden Mean and discouraged extremes of behavior. He accepted all invitations, all apologies, all presents. He returned favors with equal or higher value presents. He visited the sick, was the first to greet people he met, was the last to pull away when shaking hands with someone or embracing him. He always listened to others until they finished what they had to say. In the mosque, he cut the group prayer short if he heard a child crying outside to allow the child's mother to leave the mosque and take care of her child. He stopped his personal prayers if he noticed someone approaching to ask him something then resumed the prayers after the person's departure. At home, he cleaned and mended his clothing repaired his shoes, milked his sheep and saddled his camel and horse. His servant reported that the Prophet never insulted, beaten, frowned to, or reprimanded him even when he didn't complete an assignment. He was kind to animals and opened his door to a stray cat seeking shelter. One of his travelling companions once took 2 baby robins from a nest. When the Prophet saw the mother flapping her wings over the nest, he responded, "Who shocked this in her babies? Return her babies to her". He ordered his followers not to use animals for target practice. He also ordered those who slaughtered animals for food to sharpen their blades and not to slaughter an animal in view of another animal. He lived a very simple life and donated anything he earned or received beyond his minimum requirements to the needy on a daily basis. He placed his faith in God to provide for his future needs. He prayed frequently which meant his body and clothing were always

clean since Muslims must complete a cleansing ritual before praying. He ate only when hungry and never reached his fill. He brushed his teeth after every meal. He advised his companions to keep one third of their stomach for food, one third for beverages, and one third for themselves. The Prophet Muhammad once summarized his code to be: "mindfulness of God privately and publicly, fairness in anger or satisfaction, moderation in poverty or wealth, connecting with those who avoided him, giving to those who deprived him, forgiving those who wronged him, speaking out for what is good, and making his silence a meditation, his speech a recital of the name of God, and what he saw a lesson." This statement rhymes nicely in Arabic. The Prophet Muhammad always guarded against becoming a divine intermediary or son of God like Jesus, Ezra, and the Pharaohs of ancient Egypt. He emphasized being the servant of God at all times. Because of his full spiritual enlightenment, which surpassed those achieved by any prophet from Noah to Jesus, Muhammad was capable of performing miracles that defied the physical laws of the universe. He preferred to veil his miracles by preceding them with sincere prayers to God and following them by thanking and praising God. This attributed the miracle to God and left Muhammad as His humble servant. Muslims always considered the Qur'an a miracle. The Qur'an is a living miracle that can be verified today by anyone and does not depend on accepting ancient accounts of miracles without question

Wives Of The Prophet Muhammad When he was 25 years old, the Prophet Muhammad married the 40 years old Khadidjah, who was one of the richest women in Mecca. He had undertaken trading missions on her behalf before the marriage. This marriage produced two sons, who died in early childhood, and

four daughters who survived Muhammad. Following Khadidjah's death, Muhammad married Sawdah the widow of one of the early converts to Islam. He married 'A'ishah, the daughter of his closest companion Abu Bakr, when she was 10 - 11 years old without divorcing his wife Sawdah. This was difficult for nonMuslim authors to accept - particularly those from a religious background that considers sex sinful and contrary to spirituality. Polygamy had been practiced in Arabia for centuries to solve the problem of what to do when tribal wars reduce the number of available men and produce more widows with children who need support. Polygamy saved widows and their children from the need to earn a living as a servant, beggar or prostitute. Islam limited polygamy to 4 wives and required equal treatment in everything. Muhammad set precedents to guide Muslims along this difficult path. He was married to one woman during the prime of his life from age 25 until her death when he was 53 years old. This counters the argument that he was a womanizer. When Islam started spreading throughout Arabia, Marriage to the Prophet became an honor most women would have been delighted to accept. However, Muhammad didn't marry for pleasure as shown by his selections from available women. His marriage to the very young 'A'ishah was not a frivolous act. She was the only wife alive when the need to record the details of the Prophet's personal life and practices for posterity became urgent. Muhammad also married Hafsah, the daughter of his close companion Omar. She was a 40 years old widow who didn't find a suitable husband. He married Zeinab, the widow of a Muslim who died in battle defending the young Muslim Nation. She was kind and charitable which earned her the nickname: "mother of the weak". She was not young and died within 2 years of her marriage to the Prophet. Muhammad married Umm Salamah, the old widow of a Muslim who died in battle leaving many children to support. He also married a Christian, Maria and a Jew, Safiah. He married Ramlah the daughter of Abu Sufian, who led the Arabs against Muhammad and Islam. Ramlah and her husband had converted to Islam and immigrated to Ethiopia to escape persecution in Mecca. Her husband converted to Christianity and left her. He married his cousin Zeinab following her divorce from his adopted son Zaid who used to be his servant. Muhammad had asked for her hand for Zaid and persisted until she accepted. She mistreated Zaid because of her high social status until he divorced her. This made her unfit to marry a status conscious Arab. Her subsequent marriage to

the Prophet shattered the Arabs' concepts of status and marriage. Muhammad's wives played an important role in advising Muslim women on religious issues. Women have special requirements during periods of menstruation, late stages of pregnancy and child birth. This affected how women purified their bodies and clothing before prayer and how they coped with fasting from dawn to sunset during the month of Ramadan.

The Revelation Of The Qur'an The Prophet Muhammad used to retreat annually to a cave at the top of a mountain near Mecca during the Month of Ramadan where he meditated in seclusion. In 610 AD he was visited in the cave during his sleep by the archangel Gabriel with a paper in his hand. Gabriel demanded, "read". Muhammad responded, "I don't read". Gabriel choked Muhammad for an instant then repeated his demand and Muhammad repeated his response. Gabriel choked Muhammad again for an instant and repeated his demand. Fearing to be choked for a third time, Muhammad asked, "Read what?" Gabriel responded, "Read in the name of your Lord who created... [Qur'an 96 :1]" Muhammad woke up frightened wondering about the nature of his vision. He returned home and told his wife, Khadidjah, about his experience and his fears. She calmed him down and assured him that his good character and devotion to God make this vision a good omen. Khadidjah told her cousin Waraqa about Muhammad's experience. Waraqa had converted to Christianity, translated some of the New Testament to Arabic, and had been actively calling Arabs to Christianity. Waraqa assured Khadidjah that Muhammad was the Prophet that people in the Middle East had been anticipating and asked her to tell Muhammad to persevere. Waraqa died shortly after this prediction and missed the resumption of the revelations and the beginning of

Muhammad's mission. The revelations continued until Muhammad's death in 632 AD. To preserve the Qur'an, Muhammad's successor to lead the Muslim Nation, Abu Bakr, initiated an effort to carefully evaluate all reliable oral and written accounts of the revelations and record them in one book. This effort was repeated by 'Othman, the third successor to Muhammad, who ruled the Muslim Nation from 644 to 656 AD. The two copies were identical. Several copies were made and sent to the various Muslim provinces for use as standards to compare with future editions. The copies in Saudi Arabia and Egypt are still in use as standards today. The Qur'an has 114 chapters. The first chapter is the Opener which has 8 paragraphs called in Arabic Ayat which means signs, guidelines, or clues to guide Muslims along the spiritual path. They are not commandments or sentences to be taken literally although some refer to specific historical events or simple issues. The remaining 113 chapters are not arranged chronologically which emphasizes the fact that they are not about commandments or stories. Generally speaking, the earlier chapters are longer than later chapters. Segments of stories of earlier prophets are found throughout the text but they presume knowledge of the whole story from other sources. The Arabs, who had the most developed language and poetry in the world at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an, were stunned to hear the Qur'an from an unlettered man. One poet declared, after hearing few Ayat, these words are not from this world and embraced Islam on the spot. Studies of the Clues in the Qur'an led Muslim scholars to develop The Scientific Method and carefully study the physical world. This resulted in impressive advances in the sciences and arts which put the Muslims at the top of the civilized world for 8 centuries. Latin translations of their books started the Renaissance several centuries later when the grip of the Catholic Church on Europe weakened. The Qur'an anticipated many of the modern scientific discoveries which were beyond human imagination 14 centuries ago. This separates the Qur'an from other religious texts which were limited to the knowledge of the people at the time the text was completed. The Qur'an is the only book of revelations that exists today in its original language and form. Therefore it is the only text available today that is restricted to the word of God . The knowledge in the Qur'an was beyond Muhammad's knowledge and beyond the knowledge contained in the Bible. Therefore, the

Qur'an could not have been written by Muhammad. The Qur'an criticized Muhammad when he demanded that prisoners of war teach illiterate Muslims how to read and write as a condition of their release. He was reminded that a prophet should not go to extremes and desire this world while God desires the afterlife [8:67]. He was criticized again when he turned away from a blind man to call one of Mecca's distinguished men to Islam. He was also asked not to dislike people who did not believe. Muhammad wept after receiving these verses. This is another proof that Muhammad did not write the Qur'an to impress people and claim Prophecy. He honestly delivered the Word of God. The Qur'an presents the divine principles as signs, clues or guides (Ayat) to help the Muslim succeed in this world and in the hereafter. Islam has no clergy or religious hierarchy charged with the "official" or "exclusive" interpretation of the divine principles. This leaves the detailed interpretation and application of these principles to individual Muslims who are free to choose and, therefore, must accept the responsibility for their choices. The stories and personalities in the Qur'an are not limited to specific events in the past. They refer to events and personalities that are relevant to the reader's life. The only specific personal references in the Qur'an are those of Jesus who was referred to as Jesus, son of Mary; and Mary who was referred to as Mary, daughter of 'Imran. The miracle of the virgin birth was limited to the historic Jesus and Mary. The Prophet Muhammad did not give a complete and detailed interpretation of the Qur'an. When queried about certain passages related to the universe we live in or the unseen world, he often gave a brief interpretation or declined to answer. This discouraged casting the words in stone and limiting the Qur'an to the concepts of the period. The Qur'an has infinite meanings and will continue to dazzle future generations. If all the trees on earth were pens and more than the oceans were ink, that would not be enough to record the Word of God [31:27,18:109]. Readers of the English translation of the Qur'an are at a disadvantage. Available English translations attempt to represent each Arabic word with one English word. This distorts the meaning since the two languages come from different worlds. The distortion is similar to that of exchanging one dollar for one peso. The translations frequently use archaic English and do not convey the meaning derived from the elegant and beautiful Arabic verse.

Instead, the translations frequently convey ridiculous and offensive meanings. Sincere readers of these translations should not despair since the relevant Clues will penetrate the distortions and deliver the promise of the Qur'an. The readers should focus on the general meaning and not on the individual words and sentences. Readers, who expect a certain structure similar to that of books written by people about the word of God such as the Old and New Testaments, will be frustrated by the absence of complete stories, the unexpected changes in topic and voice within the same paragraph, and the apparent repetition or contradiction. These issues have been critically analyzed by Muslim and nonMuslim Arabian linguistic scholars since the revelations began. These scholars had centuries of impressive poetic and literary heritage under their belt. The analysis overwhelmed all of them and they ended up declaring the Qur'an a miraculous new form of Arabic. The non-Muslim scholars often embraced Islam at the end of such analysis. All attempts to duplicate the linguistic style of the Qur'an from 610 AD to the present have failed. However, the Qur'an did not come to the world to intimidate the scholars. The Qur'an came with knowledge, guidance, sermon, vision, healing, good tidings, and mercy for the world [7:203, 7:52, 10:57, 12:111, 16:64, 16:89, 27:77, 28:43, 31:3, 45:20]. The Qur'an came to detail and explain everything and to settle differences of opinions [12:111, 16:64, 16:89] The proper way to approach the Qur'an is to keep the above aspects in mind and read it as a book of divine clues, signs or guidelines to guide the reader along the spiritual path. The reader should not attempt to understand all the divine Clues. Many of the Clues, thought by readers 14 centuries ago to be elegant literary structures, turned out to be references to actual scientific description of aspects of our universe. Some of the Clues puzzling the reader today will have a specific meaning to a Sufi master or a future scientist. By contemplating relevant Clues, the sincere reader will receive knowledge, guidance, healing, and mercy. The Qur'an should be read many times. As sincere readers turn to God and apply the relevant Clues from the Qur'an to their lives, more Clues will open up to them to guide them along the spiritual path. This process continues until the words lose their common meaning and

point only to relevant spiritual issues leading closer and closer to God. Al-Ghazali, the famous Sufi and Sunni scholar, compared this process to handling oysters. Their outside surface is uninteresting but if you open one, you are immediately rewarded by the beautiful mother of pearl and the edible morsel for spiritual and physical gratification. If you continue to open oysters, you are more likely to find a pearl. If you continue collecting pearls, you are more likely to find a black pearl. Muslims always considered the Qur'an a miracle. The Qur'an is a living miracle that can be verified today by anyone and does not depend on accepting ancient accounts of miracles without question. Sufis maintain that those who read the Qur'an without weeping do not understand what they are reading!

The Qur'an And Modern Science The Qur'an, as the final word of God, anticipated many of the modern scientific discoveries which were beyond human imagination 14 centuries ago. The Muslim scientific revolution, which produced the renaissance that put Muslims at the top of the civilized world for 8 centuries, was a result of contemplating the clues in the Qur'an about the physical world. This separates the Qur'an from other religious texts which were limited to the knowledge of the people at the time the text was completed. Muslims always considered the Qur'an a miracle. The Qur'an is a living miracle that can be verified today by anyone and does not depend on accepting ancient accounts of miracles without question. The following examples show modern discoveries that are consistent with the Qur'an: •

The heavens and the earth were one before they were ripped apart. Life started in the water and living things are mostly water [21:30]. Today when scientists look for traces of life on Mars or Jupiter moons, they look for water!

• •

• • •

•

• • • •

•

•

• • •

•

•

Reptiles came out of the water and were followed by two legged then 4 legged creatures [24:45]. The heavens are expanding [51:47]. Modern science tells us that the universe was started from a singularity. The pictures taken by Edwin Hubbell in Mount Wilson observatory in 1929 showed that the universe was expanding which led to the Big Bang theory. The Qur'an anticipated this "discovery" by 14 centuries. The heaven used to be smoke [41:11]. We know that smoke is a mixture of hot gases and suspended particles. The atom is not the smallest unit of matter in the universe which indicates the presence of subatomic particles! [34:3] The Universe was created over a very long period. For God, some days last 1000 lunar years [22:47, 32:5]. This was used by Professor Mansour Hassab-Elnaby, an Egyptian physicist, to calculate the speed of light C=299792.5 km/s !!! The Qur'an predicts that the speed of light is not the fastest speed in the universe. Spirits and angels proceed to God at 50 times the speed of light [70:4] The earth rotates around its axis [27:88], rotates around the sun [7:54], is not flat but is like a ball [39:5] or an egg [79:30]. The lowest point on earth is near the dead sea [30:3]. Iron was sent to earth by God [57:25]. Scientists now believe that iron was introduced to earth by meteors. The oceans have layers of waves and layers of darkness in which some creatures have light [24:40]. Scientists discovered recently different currents at different depths. When different seas ( i.e. different in salinity, temperature, oxygen content, etc. ) meet, there is a barrier between them that they do not violate [55:19-20]. This is not apparent by visual observation but temperature sensitive satellite pictures confirm this. Mountains are pegs that have roots extending below the surface of the earth [78:7], mountains stabilize the earth's crust by minimizing earthquakes [16:15]. Earthquakes precede volcanic eruptions [99:1]. The earth's core is heavier than its crust [99:2]. Our sun is not the only sun in the universe [25:61]. Modern astronomy tells us that the sun is actually a star and therefore the universe is full of suns. Astronomers are looking for other planets like ours. The Qur'an predicts they will find other planets [65:12] The Bible differentiates the sun and the moon by size only: "God made two great lights--the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars" [Genesis 1:16]. The Qur'an tells us that: the sun is a shining glory while the moon is a light [10:5]; the sun is a lamp and the moon is a light [25:61,71:16]; the sun is a blazing lamp [78:13] . The solar system is travelling through the universe to a final

• •

•

•

• •

destination [36:38]. At the end of time, the sun will stop radiating energy and will be folded into a ball [ 81:1] (quasar? Black hole?) Morning is associated with breathing [81:18]. Now we know that plants produce oxygen in presence of light and consume carbon dioxide. Sperm attaches itself to the egg to form an attachment or a leach then a chewed-like lump which develops bones which are covered with flesh and then changed into a different form [ 23:14]. This refers to facts discovered only recently when scientists, using special scopes, followed the development of the fetus from a fertilized egg to a form resembling lower vertebrae before turning into the human form. After contemplating the descriptions of embryonic stages as a leach then a chewed-like lump [23:14], Professor Keith Moore, a Canadian embryologist, compared pictures of different embryonic stages to pictures of leaches and chewed clay and confirmed the amazing accuracy of the Qur'anic verses. Human pregnancy passes through 3 trimesters [39:6] Different clouds (positively and negatively charged?) are harmonized to produce droplets of water and lightning [24:43].

This is not surprising since The Qur'an came to detail and explain everything and to settle differences of opinions [12:111, 16:64, 16:89].

Islam, The Qur'an, and The Prophet Muhammad In The Bible Many Jewish and Christian authors in the US emphasize the term "Judeo-Christian religion" and ignore The Prophet Muhammad 's mission, the final phase which completed the universal and original religion of God that spanned the period from the creation of Adam and Eve to the present. This religion is referred to in the Qur'an as Islam (Turning To God). These authors missed the fact that the Bible anticipated the mission

of the Prophet Muhammad and the Qur'an: In Deuteronomy 18, Moses addressed the Jewish tribes in Sinai: "The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him [15]". "I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him [18]. If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account [19]. But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death [20]." Since all the Jews were present in Sinai, the reference to their brothers means the Arabs, descendants of Ishmael who was Abraham's first born son and heir according to ancient customs. This is a reference to Muhammad and the Qur'an, the eternal Word of God. Muhammad meticulously separated the Word of God from his own thoughts and prohibited his companions from writing his sayings during his life time to keep them separate from the Qur'an. Like Moses, Muhammad saw and spoke to God. Moses was the only Jewish Prophet to face God: "Since then, (the death of Moses) no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face", Deuteronomy [34:10]. We also know that Muhammad was not put to death for claiming what God did not reveal to him. Like Moses, Muhammad married, fathered children and led his nation. Moses took shelter at Midian, which was later named Yathrib after his father-in-law, Jethro. Muhammad went to Yathrib, which was renamed Medina. When the companions of Moses saw Pharaoh's army, they cried out: Surely we are being overtaken!" - but Moses replied: By no means, my Lord is with me. He will show me a way out." While hiding from pursuing enemies in the cave of Hira, Muhammad's reply to his companion Abu Bakr was "Do not worry, God is with us." Unfortunately, most of the Jews in Arabia aligned themselves with the Arabs who fought against the early Muslims to stop the spread of Islam. Few Jews responded to Moses' urging to listen to the Prophet ( Muhammad ). John [16] indicates Jesus predicted a counselor to follow him and bring the massage of God to Christians: "But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you

[7]. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment [8] in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me [9]; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer [10]; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned [11]. I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear[12]. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come[13]. He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you [14]. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you [15]." Muhammad revealed all the divine truth to all people including Christians. He meticulously separated the Word of God, the Qur'an, from the Word of Muhammad. The Bible referred to a third major phase of God's religion superceding the earlier phases and coming from the mountains near Mecca: He said: "The Lord came from Sinai and dawned over them from Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran. He came with myriads of holy ones from the south, from his mountain slopes", Deuteronomy [33:2] Coming from Sinai refers to the mission of Moses, which was superceded by the dawning of the mission of Jesus which was superceded by the shining of the mission of Muhammad. Paran refers to a mountain near Mecca. The Bible refers to the Arabs, the children of Ishmael, as a great nation and tells us that God was with Ishmael as he grew up in the desert of Paran. In Genesis [ 21] God comforted Hagar, Abraham's Egyptian wife, in a dream and told her that her son, Ishmael, will not die of thirst: "Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation." [18] Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink [19]. God was with the boy as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer [20]. While he was living in the Desert of Paran, his mother got a wife for him from Egypt [21]". Isaiah [42] predicted a new religion starting in Arabia by descendants of Kedar the son of Ishmael. One of the rituals of that religion would be singing the praise of God from the mountaintops. "Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the ends of the earth, you who

go down to the sea, and all that is in it, you islands, and all who live in them [10]. Let the desert and its towns raise their voices; let the settlements where Kedar lives rejoice. Let the people of Sela sing for joy; let them shout from the mountaintops.[11]" During the Muslim pilgrimage, myriads of Muslims gather on a mountain south of Sinai to atone for their sins and celebrate the glory of God. Revelation [19] describes a final leader of religion and state who will defeat the forces of evil and make the Word of God supreme: "I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and makes war [11]. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but he himself [12]. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God [13]. The armies of heaven were following him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean [14]. Out of his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty." [15] The Prophet Muhammad was the last Prophet. He rode horses and waged war on the enemies of Islam. He was known as "the Honest" long before he started receiving the Qur'an. His face was compared to the sun. His tent and favorite coat were red. The red coat was passed on to those who followed him in leading the Muslim Nation and became an article of succession, His main message was the Word of God, the Qur'an. The Qur'an is also referred to as the Furqan, the separator, which separates right from wrong. Muhammad's followers rode horses, dressed in white and were clean since Muslims are required to clean themselves and their clothing before each of the 5 daily ritual prayers. The Holy Roman and the Persian empires were struck down by the early Muslims. Islam prohibited drinking wine. Muslims brought the wrath of God on the infidels. The Muslim battle cry was: " Allahu Akbar " which could be translated as: "God is most great" or " Only God is great". Most Christians in the Middle East were converted to Christianity by Jesus and his disciples. After considering the massage of the Qur'an, most of those Christians embraced Islam during the last 14 centuries because Islam delivered what the Bible promised.

Body And Soul (The Material Versus The Spiritual) Islam balances the needs of the body and soul or those of the material and spiritual worlds [Qur'an 28:77, 2:143]. Islam does not promote monasticism or escapism from the world. This acknowledges that our world would collapse if the path to God required meditation in seclusion in monasteries, caves, forests, or on mountain tops. Muslim retreats, which follow the example set by the Prophet Muhammad after the revelation of the Qur'an, are usually conducted in the mosque during the last 10 days of the month of Ramadan when Muslims are required to fast from dawn to sunset. Muslims are expected to earn a living, marry, raise children, support their extended family, their neighbors and fellow Muslims. Making an honest living is a form of worship that fulfills God's plan for life on earth. The Prophet Muhammad once noticed a man in the mosque praying day and night. He enquired: "Who supports this man?"His companions told him that the man's brothers support him. The Prophet said: "His brothers are praying more than he is". The Muslim approach of turning to God, while fully engaging life, is more challenging than meditating in seclusion away from the challenges of life and human relationships. Muslims are encouraged to enjoy God's blessings[Qur'an 2:57]. While seeking the hereafter, they should not forget their share of this life [Qur'an 28:77]. The Prophet Muhammad advised Muslims to work for this life as if they would live forever and work for the hereafter as if they would die tomorrow. Muslims should not be too hard on themselves; and should not despair of God's mercy. God forgives all sins; and God is the most Forgiving, the most Merciful [Qur'an 39:53]. Islam encourages moderate spending. Muslims are told not to be cheap or wasteful [Qur'an 17:26, 27 & 29].

Those who prefer to work for the hereafter will be greatly rewarded by God. Those who prefer to work for this life will get worldly rewards but will lose their share in the hereafter [Qur'an 42:20]. The hereafter is the "real" life [Qur'an 29:64]. Islam offers the seeker the Golden Mean.

Sufism (Changing Lead Into Gold) Sufism defines a spiritual path derived from the Prophet Muhammad's spiritual practices leading to his full spiritual enlightenment and beyond. The practices were outlined by Muhammad's companions, particularly his cousin, and fourth successor, Aly who wrote the first manual on the subject. Aly reported how the Prophet dispatched him to be Chief Justice in Yemen. When Aly complained he didn't know how to judge cases, the Prophet touched Aly's chest and opened his heart center. Subsequently Aly had no difficulty judging any case. Opening the heart is an important Sufi goal. The heart helps the seeker sense the spiritual world. al-Ghazali once said: "If God took over the heart, it is flooded with Grace, enlightened, opened, and the secret of the Kingdom is revealed." The famous Sufi woman, Rabi'a al-Adawiyyah said: "My God, If I worshipped you out of fear of the fire, then burn me with the fire of hell; and if I worshipped you out of desire for paradise, then deprive me of it; but if I worshipped you for your love; then don't deprive me, my God, of your eternal beauty". She also said: "I did not worship Him fearing His fire and desiring His paradise, then I would be like a bad hired hand; but I worshipped Him out of love and yearning for Him". The Sufi transcends: obedience for nearness, blessings for the Source, creatures for the Creator; himself for his Lord. The Qur'an outlines the path in many places: The Heart is a faculty like hearing and sight. Those who struggle for God's sake will be

guided to his paths. Believers who are mindful of God will be given a light to differentiate the Truth from the rest. The path leads ultimately to God. The most honored by God are the most mindful. God draws to Him whoever He wants; and guides to Him whoever he delegates to others. God devotes His Grace to whoever He wants. Be mindful of God and seek the means to Him. Every seeker knows what quenches his thirst. Ibn Khaldun summarized the path: "Perseverance, retreat, and meditation usually lead to the lifting of the veil of the senses and the revelation of the divine domains that ordinary senses cannot perceive. The soul is one of those domains." Sufis weep when they listen to the Qur'an or to Sufi poetry. They long for being in the presence of the Beloved and achieve ecstasy whenever they are rewarded by a glimpse. Ibn Sina (Avicenna) concluded that the Sufi path can be traveled by determination and practice and not by reading and research. He declared that the Sufi is brave because he is shielded from the fear of death; is very good because he is shielded from the love of what is not right; is forgiving because his ego is above being hurt by a human mistake; is forgetting hatred because his memory is busy with the Truth. Abu Muhammad al-Gargiri defined the Sufi path as entering every high character trait and exiting every low. Abu Bakr al-Kattani defined the path as character: Improving character, improves spiritual purity. Abul Hasan al-Nuri declared that the path is not a plan or science; otherwise it would be traveled with effort and study. The path can be traveled by acquiring divine character traits. Many of the early Sufi masters were also chemists who used chemical terms; such as filtration, distillation, crystallization, and dissolution; to describe the nature of each spiritual step. One prominent example of those masters is Jabir Ibn Hayyan the father of modern chemistry. The process of converting an average person to an enlightened one was compared to making gold from a base metal like lead. The spiritual aspect was beyond westerners who erroneously define alchemy as the art of making gold from lead. Alchemy is derived from the Arabic word for chemistry, al-Chimya. Sufis vary in their treatment of material wealth. Some follow the example of the Prophet Muhammad who gave up his wealth and lived an austere life after his Muslim mission began. Others live affluent lives, pursue their business interests and require their followers to pursue a business or trade to support themselves and their

dependents. They emphasize non-attachment to the material and use their wealth to help the needy. When the Prophet started his mission, the Arabs lived somewhere between the extremes of the very wealthy Meccans who lived in luxury and the ascetic Bedouins who believed the hardships of life as desert migrants were character building and good for the soul. Even the wealthy Meccans gave their children to Bedouin wet nurses who nursed the children for two years and kept them for several years in a desert setting to teach them pure Arabic, character and strength away from the luxuries of Mecca. The Prophet had such a nurse, Halima, for 5 years. He showed his respect for her in public by offering her his coat to sit on. This gave all Arabs respect for asceticism and for those who survive hardships. Unfortunately, this also gave many Arabs an ascetic, inflexible and harsh point of view. Abu al-Abbas al-Murcie differentiated between the ascetic and the Sufi: "The ascetic came from the world to the hereafter; and the Sufi came from the hereafter to the world." This follows the example of the Prophet Muhammad who returned to Mecca to continue his mission after his full spiritual enlightenment. Sufi masters have performed miracles defying the physical laws of the universe. In a meditation manual, al-Shadhily (1185 -1278), who founded the Shadhily order, cautioned beginners against the trap of performing miracles, such as walking on water, flying, healing, being in different places at the same time, etc..., to impress people. He emphasized that such a trap would prevent the seeker from advancing to higher spiritual levels. This follows the example of the Prophet Muhammad who veiled his miracles by preceding them with sincere prayers to God and following them by thanking and praising God. Sufism is usually practiced within fraternal Orders Since the seventh century AD, Sufis traveled to non-Muslim towns and villages singing love songs, telling stories, and informing people about Islam. They were the original minstrels or troubadours. Many converted to Islam after contacting Sufis. European minstrels or troubadours in the middle ages copied their practice from the Sufis after changing the Beloved from God to women. Sufis consider romantic love to be a weak facsimile of spiritual love. Sufi music and dancing disturb many fundamentalist or ascetic Muslims. Sufi music is usually accompanied by Sufi chanting or Zikr Allah which is not frivolous. The Mawlawis are the only Sufis who

whirl during their religious ceremonies or Sam'a. Whirling is not dancing; it produces a transcendental state. Dancing and music are not prohibited by Islam. According to al-Ghazali, the Prophet accompanied 'Aisha, his wife, to be entertained by dancing and music performed by Ethiopians in the mosque in Medina. Many Sufis excelled in philosophy, mathematics, medicine, chemistry, geography, physics, and astronomy during the 8 centuries when Muslims ruled the civilized world. Latin translations of their books started Europe on the path leading to the Renaissance. The Sufi motto is "My Lord, increase my Knowledge."

Sufi Orders Sufism is mostly practiced within fraternal orders. Each order is headed by a Sufi master who teaches his version or "method" to his followers. To join an order, beginners must show serious interest in pursuing the spiritual path, and take a vow to straighten their lives and to obey their teachers. The initiation ceremony follows the example of the Prophet Muhammad when he asked each of his followers to take a vow of loyalty before he embarked on controversial negotiations with his enemies at Hudaybiah. The seekers advance toward their spiritual potential using meditations from the Qur'an and exercises designed by the teachers to meet the seekers' needs. The advance takes place in a stepwise fashion to raise the seekers spiritual presence from one condition or rank to the next. The early steps in a Sufi retreat provided the inspiration for all 12-step programs. Seekers who reach enlightenment, are given a future life prediction by their master and are ordered to leave and start a new branch at a distant location. This follows the practice of the Prophet Muhammad who used to send his top companions to distant locations to call people to Islam and to advise new converts and administer Muslim

Law. The Prophet used to give those companions a future life prediction before their departure. Sufis hold a ceremony, which is usually open to the public, every Thursday evening to recite poetry, listen to music or dance. The best known Sufi poets are Rabi'a Al-'Adawiyyah ( the best known Sufi woman), Ibn Al-Farid (the best Sufi poetry), Sa'di, Hafiz, and Rumi.

Original Sin And Salvation Islam does not recognize the concepts of: original sin, women's responsibility for the fall from Grace, or the need for a savior to redeem humans who are sinners by nature. The Qur'an indicates that humans are created in the spiritual form and then lowered in the material form [Qur'an 95:4] We are not the product of Original Sin and do not need an intermediary in the form of a savior, prophet, saint, or clergy to reach God [Qur'an 2:255]. Nobody is responsible for someone else's sin [Qur'an 31:33]. We are not sinners or angels by nature and we are capable of redeeming ourselves by making amends for our mistakes. We were honored when God ordered the angels, who are created from light, to bow to Adam, who was created from clay. Satan refused and vowed to stand in the straight path to God [Qur'an 7:16] and offer us temptation or choice. Satan vowed to approach us from our front, our back, our right, and our left [Qur'an 7:17]. He would not place himself below us and he knew that only God is above us. This indicates that all movements identified as the right, the left, the progressive or forward, the regressive or backward are influenced by temptation from Satan. Muslims are safe from Satan when they aim upward and receive their guidelines from the heaven above. Both Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan in Paradise to try the forbidden tree and achieve eternal life [Qur'an 7:20]. They both shared the blame, felt shame and disgrace. God lowered them to earth to earn their living and experience conflict , life, and death

[Qur'an 7:24,25] They were not returned to heaven because they were originally created to be God's trustees on earth [Qur'an 2:30]. Their experience in the Garden of Eden shows how we can return to the Garden by balancing the needs of the Body And Soul . It is ironic that the desire for a long life and material possessions we do not have, which terminated Adam and Eve's life in paradise, is still very strong today. We knew God in the spiritual form before our birth. We were veiled from God after birth. This is probably why babies cry when they are born. Babies are innocent and angelic. Small children run instinctively from adults to other children regardless of their shape or color. As the material world tightens its grip on individuals, they turn away from God and stop trusting their instincts. The divine purpose of life on earth is to turn to God and to serve and worship Him. Those who transcend the veils and ultimately know Him will be His trustees on earth. To return to God, we have to be mindful of Him, avoid pride and the devil's temptation, be moderate and faithful in our prayers [Qur'an 7:26,27,29]

THE COVENANT OF MEDINA (The World's First Written Constitution) After immigrating from Mecca to Medina, the Prophet Muhammad established a nation of equals based on the brotherhood between the Muslims in Medina and those from Mecca regardless of wealth or social status. The Muslims of Medina shared their wealth and homes with the immigrants from Mecca, who left their homes and possessions behind to escape from religious persecution. Muhammad invited the Jews to join the new society as an independent nation, governed by rabbinical court, within the Muslim Nation. The Jews accepted and an agreement known as The

Covenant of Medina was signed in 622 AD. The covenant guaranteed all the parties equality and freedom of religion; emphasized the sanctity of Medina, life, and individual possessions; and prohibited crime. The Covenant of Medina was a giant leap for mankind and established the basis for treating non-Muslim minorities within the Muslim Nation which ruled the civilized world for more than 8 centuries. Minorities were not merely tolerated but treated as independent nations free to practice their religion, wear their traditional clothing, maintain their own language and customs, and follow their religious law. The treatment of minorities within the Muslim Nation was superior to that within any country in the world today. This treatment was also one of the reasons Islam spread very rapidly throughout the civilized world in the 7th century.

Muslim Law (Shari'ah) Islam has a balanced approach to law. The Qur'an indicates that Punishment must fit the crime, however, forgiveness is preferred [Qur'an 16:126]. Islam is not a vengeful tribal religion trapped in commandments and punishment which lead humans to despair. Islam does not waive punishment for all crimes and all criminals which could easily wreck the society. Punishment or forgiveness must be decided on a case by case basis. Muslim Law is based on several principles derived from the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad's tradition. One of the basic principles is God's desire to ease our lives [Qur'an 2:185]. The details of Muslim legal principles are beyond the scope of this

effort. Some of the basic principles are discussed here. The Covenant of Medina (The World's First Written Constitution) sanctified life and individual property and prohibited crime. According to Muslim Law the right to privacy is protected. Spying and entering someone's home without permission are prohibited. The state covered court cost which allowed poor people to seek justice from the rich without fear of financial ruin. Nobody, including the Sultan, was above the law. False accusations and false witness were punished. Character witnesses had to be of good character themselves and had to establish intimate knowledge of the person in question. This intimate knowledge was based on business dealings, or joint long distance travel, or being a neighbor with familiarity of the comings and goings of the person in question. The Prophet Muhammad considered Islam the Golden Mean. Whatever benefited the majority of Muslims was considered legal. Long term imprisonment was considered inhumane punishment by the freedom loving Arabs. Short term imprisonment was sparingly used for repeat offenders. The most common punishment was lashing the offender in public. One of the basic legal principles Even animal rights were not left out. Inhumane treatment of animals or branding them in the face were prohibited. Animals cannot be used for target practice. Those who slaughtered animals for food were required to sharpen their blades and not to slaughter an animal in view of another animal. Napoleonic Law was influenced by Muslim Law. Napoleon returned to France from his Egyptian campaign with the books of Malik, who founded the traditional school of Muslim Law, and the books of his successors. Three additional principal schools of Muslim Law were founded by Abu Hanifah, Al Shaf'i, and Ibn Hanbal. All four schools thrived during the Renaissance of Arabic civilization when Muslims ruled the civilized world from the 8th through the 15th centuries. Many Muslim legal scholars were also Sufis, scientists and philosophers. This resulted in the world's most sophisticated legal system through the 15th century. The collapse of the Muslim civilization toward the end of the 15th

century ended 8 centuries of legal scholarship. This trapped Muslim Law in an alien 15th century world when Muslims ruled the civilized world. Today Muslim countries are using a mixture of 15th century Muslim Law and contemporary Western Laws with mixed results. The need to bring Muslim Law to the 21st century is urgent. It is true that the foundations of Muslim Law, namely the Qur'an and the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad, have not changed since the 15th century. It is the legal structure built on the foundations that needs updating following centuries of neglect. The Qur'an is not a book of words, stories or commandments. The Qur'an is the eternal word of God in the form of Arabic clues, signs, and guidelines to help the Muslim succeed in this world and in the hereafter. The massage of Islam cannot be frozen in time and has no single or official interpretation.

The Collapse Of The Muslim Civilization And The Rise Of Fundamentalism The collapse of the Muslim civilization toward the end of the 15th century, after centuries of Crusades, ended the Renaissance that lasted from the 8th through the 15th centuries when Muslims ruled the civilized world. This put the Muslims under colonial imperialism determined to keep them divided, poor, and uneducated to supply the colonial powers with cheap raw materials, labor, and open unregulated markets. Colonialists encouraged the rise of Muslim fundamentalism which is bent on freezing Islam into 15th century words and concepts using labels such as sunnah, Shari'ah, and the preservation of the traditions of Islam. This prevents Muslims from continuously developing to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world and to adapt useful non Muslim concepts and institutions to the needs of the Muslims.

Fundamentalists oppose any effort to keep the eternal and universal message of the Qur'an effective in today's environment. They miss the fact that Muslim law (Shari'ah) and the interpretation of the Qur'an at the end of the 15th century reflected the best efforts of Muslim scholars over a period of 8 centuries. The Qur'an is not a book of words, stories or commandments. The Qur'an is the eternal and universal word of God in the form of Arabic clues, signs, and guidelines (Ayat) to help the Muslim succeed in this world and in the hereafter. The message of Islam cannot be frozen in time and has no single or official interpretation. Islam has no religious hierarchy which means that the efforts of all Muslim scholars are no more than their personal interpretation of the message of the Qur'an. Muslims can accept or reject such an interpretation because individuals are responsible for their own actions and spirituality. Individuals cannot transfer that responsibility to others regardless of how many books or official titles others may have. The 15th century scholars, who formulated what is called today: Islamic Shari'ah, are not prophets and their best efforts must be subject to radical revisions to help the Muslims close the gap between their societies and the West. The collapse of the Muslim civilization should not be construed as a failure of Islam as a spiritual path. The collapse was caused by a failure of the state and its institutions to adapt to a changing world. Muslims can still turn to God and use the Qur'an to advance along the spiritual path based on their best interpretation of the divine clues regardless of what the fundamentalists say or do. This interpretation will change as they advance along the spiritual path. The interpretation will also change as the world the Muslims live in changes. The true spirit of Islam can be found today in the teachings and practices of the Sufis.

Holy War (Jihad) Non - Muslim authors accuse Muslims of spreading Islam by the sword, by waging holy wars. They ignore the fact that Islam is the fastest growing religion in the world today. They cannot find a trace of evidence showing that swords or force of any kind are responsible for the current high rate of conversion to Islam. The concepts of "holy war" and "just war" were developed by the Holy (Christian) Roman Empire to force the pacifist Middle Eastern Christians into the Roman army. These Christians believed in turning the other cheek and renounced violence for 3 centuries before the Romans converted to Christianity under the rule of Constantine. It is not surprising that the Christian Roman Empire was militant, It's first emperor believed he conquered Rome after a vision in which he saw a cross over the sun and heard a voice telling him that he would win under the religion of the cross. Those who claim that Jesus preached only love and peace ignore Jesus' words: "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." [Matthew 10:34]. " Early in the morning, as he was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, "May you never bear fruit again!" Immediately the tree withered. [Matthew 21:18,19]. Jesus died in his thirties leaving behind few followers. He was not responsible for a new nation under siege by the hostile Persian and Holy Roman Empires as Muhammad was. Western authors erroneously translate the Arabic term jihad to mean holy war. Jihad means struggle or resistance. Muhammad defined the struggle with the self to be a better person or to resist temptation as the major jihad. He also defined the struggle with others to defend the Muslim Nation and to resist their threat as the minor jihad. Islam is spreading today for the same reasons it spread rapidly in the past. Islam presents the seeker with a natural, sound, logical, believable, practical, simple, balanced and achievable belief and practice system. Islam does not contradict human nature or modern science. The Qur'an anticipated many of the modern scientific discoveries which were beyond human imagination 14 centuries

ago. This separates the Qur'an from other religious texts. The Qur'an advises against using force to change people's religion [Qur'an 2:256] or being the aggressor [Qur'an 2:190]. Muslims are asked to refrain from vengeance against prisoners of war or civilians in defeated regions [Qur'an 16:126,127; 8:67]. Muslims were bound by the guidelines of the Qur'an since they fought and did everything, in the name of God. Muslims fought against the rulers who opposed them and their armies not against the people or their institutions. Non - Muslims were admitted to Muslim Universities. Those who excelled became top advisers to Muslim leaders regardless of race, religion, color, or ethnic background. This was another factor which accelerated the spread of Islam. A search for the word "kill" found it 442 times in the Revised Standard Version, and 271 times in the King James Version of the Bible compared to 40 times in the Pickthall Version and 22 times in the Yusuf-Ali Version of the Qur'an! The facts show that Islam tolerates non - Muslim minorities within the Muslim Nation and treats them as independent nations free to worship and live according to their own religious laws. This was outlined in the Covenant of Medina which became the world's first written constitution in 622 AD. In contrast, the Christian Romans used force to convert all the countries under their dominion to Christianity. When Roman Catholicism became the state religion, the Romans persecuted the Orthodox Christians who did not convert. The number of Orthodox Christians killed by Rome reached 200,000 which is huge considering the small population of Egypt at the time (elshaab.com, 1/4/99, page2). The spread of Islam in the 7th century threatened the Romans and Persians who shared dominion over Arabia and collected heavy taxes from the Arabs. This led to a series of wars between the Romans and Persians on one side and the Muslims on the other. The Muslims won the war with Persia and restricted the Romans to Asia minor until the Ottoman Turks conquered Constantinople in the 16th century. This spread the Muslim influence over the civilized world from the seventh to the fourteenth centuries. The way Muslims conducted the affairs of state and their personal lives led many Christians, Jews and others to embrace Islam. Muslims in Europe: When the Muslims ruled European countries including Spain,

Portugal, southern France, southern Italy, and Sicily; Christians and Jews thrived and were allowed in Muslim Universities. This gave Europeans the scientific and artistic tools which helped them start the Renaissance several centuries later when the hold of the Catholic Church over Europe was weakened. Muslim taxes were a fraction of the Roman taxes. Muslims considered their sphere of influence as one nation. They did not transfer wealth from the countries they occupied to Arabia or practice genocide against the native population. When the tables were turned and the Catholic Spaniards defeated the Muslims in Spain and Portugal, they instituted the Spanish Inquisition which killed or expelled millions of Muslims who refused to convert to Christianity. The Jews suffered a similar fate at the hands of the Spaniards. While millions of Christians and Jews continue to thrive in the Muslim countries after 14 centuries of Muslim domination, there is no trace of the millions of Muslims who lived for centuries in Spain and Portugal. Evidence of their past existence can only be found in beautiful palaces like Alhambra in Granada, flamenco music and dancing, Portuguese fado singing, and the abundance of Arabic words in the Spanish and Portuguese languages. The Crusades: The "real" holy wars were waged by the Crusaders against the Muslims in the Middle East. The Crusaders were brutal in their treatment of Muslim prisoners of war and civilians. When the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem, they killed 70,000 Muslims. When the Muslims re-conquered the city they did not kill anybody. Orthodox Christians were considered heretics and therefore did not escape the Crusaders' brutality. The Orthodox Churches, which were safe during centuries of Muslim rule, were looted by the Crusaders. The Holy Grail was not the only thing the Crusaders took from the Orthodox churches. When Muslims ended the Crusades by re-conquering Acre from the Crusaders, Pope Nicolas IV barred Christians from selling timber to Muslims. This embargo did not result in persecution of the Christians in the Muslim countries. Napoleonic Crusade: The Crusades were not an unfortunate episode during the dark age in Europe that ended a long time ago. When Napoleon invaded Egypt, he ordered his troops to destroy the face of the sphinx and the tip of

the great pyramid to leave his mark on them. His cavalry desecrated al-Azhar mosque, the Muslim World's equivalent of the Vatican and the first university in the world, with their horses. The French soldiers burned the rare manuscripts in its library to keep warm. Napoleon was proud that he had ordered beheading 5-6 people daily and parading their heads in the streets to scare the population! After defeating the Turks in Jaffa, Napoleon ordered his troops to kill about 2500 Turkish soldiers from the city garrison who surrendered. The soldiers were led to the shore and the French kept firing at them until they ran out of ammunition then finished them off with bayonets. The water turned red from the blood of the slain Turks. In the city, the killing, raping, looting and burning lasted for 2 days and did not stop until the French troops were too exhausted to continue. When a survivor of the Jaffa massacre killed a French general, his hands were cut, his wrists were burned then he was impaled. After his slow death, his head was severed and was given to a French surgeon who showed the skull to his students in Paris as an example of a terrorist and a criminal. It seems that the principles of the French revolution: Freedom, equality and brotherhood did not apply to Muslims! This was later confirmed when the French occupied Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia and declared them French territories. The French citizenship was given to Jews and Christians but not to Muslims! Modern Crusades: When general Allenby, the commander of the British forces in the Middle East during World War I, entered Jerusalem and Damascus he proclaimed the end of the Crusades. Nazi Crusade: Abdel Wahab El-Messeri (Al-Ahram Weekly, 23 - 29 December 1999, reported:

Issue No. 461)

"In the course of my research for the Encyclopedia of Jews, Judaism and Zionism, I was surprised to find how frequently the word "Muselmann" (Muslim) appeared in the Auschwitz concentration camp lists. According to one source, the victims who were led off to the gas chambers were called "aliens" ((??)) and according to other sources, "Muselmanner". In the Encyclopedia Judaica, I came across the following entry: "Muselmann (Muslim in German) was a commonly used terms in the

concentration camps, used to refer to the prisoners who were on the brink of death, that is to say those who began to show the final symptoms of starvation, disease, mental apathy and physical weakness. The term was primarily used in Auschwitz, but was also used in other camps." We see here an epitome of one central dimension of the Western mentality. Whenever it destroys its victims it perceives them as "other," and the other, since the time of the Crusades, has always been the Muslim. In the Middle Ages, moreover, Muslims and Jews were closely linked in the Western mind. One can find, for instance, many paintings which portray the Prophet Muhammad (born 570 AD) flogging Christ. The Nazi experience is an authentic product of this Western mindset. The Nazis were the standard bearers of this vision. They epitomised the Western confrontation with the oriental civilisation closest to Europe: the Islamic civilisation. They never forgot this burden, even when annihilating millions of inhabitants of Europe. The connotation of the term "Muselmann" was simply extended to include the "other" in general, whether Slavs, Jews or Gypsies (as has occurred in a similar manner with the word "Arab" in Zionist discourse). The writer of the preceding entry in the Encyclopedia Judaica attempted to explain how this term came into currency in the camps. The Nazis' victims, he said, would crouch cross-legged in the "oriental" manner and the expression on their faces would be wooden, as lifeless as a mask. One notes that the writer, in his definition, made no attempt to avoid the customary Western stereotype of Muslims. He simply substituted the word "oriental" for "Muselmann"." Terrorist and fundamentalist have frequently replaced the word "oriental". Muslims revere Moses, Jesus and all the prophets and consider Judaism and Christianity earlier phases of the primordial religion of God: Islam. The Muslims in Bulgaria, for example, were very active in protecting Jewish groups from persecution, and King Hussein V of Morocco refused to hand over his Jewish subjects to the Vichy government in France. Unfortunately, Jews and Christians do not recognize Islam or the Prophet Muhammad's mission. Most Christians and Jews consider Muslims sinners who are not chosen by God or saved and are, therefore, not entitled to equal or humane treatment. Jewish Crusade: The United Nations records document countless atrocities against Muslim civilians by the Jews in Palestine. Infamous examples are the massacres in Kafr Qasim, Dir Yasin by the Jewish terrorist gangs

before the UN divided Palestine into a Palestinian and Jewish states. An Israeli historian uncovered credible evidence that troops massacred 200 Palestinians in a single village on the day Israel came into being in 1948. Teddy Katz, who researched events in the village of Tantura for a masters degree, said he had spoken to witnesses including soldiers who were present to support his findings. ``It started at night and was over in a few hours,'' Katz said 14 Israeli soldiers were killed in the ambush on the village. Tantura, near Haifa in northern Israel, had 1,500 residents at the time. It was later demolished to make way for a parking lot for a nearby beach and the Nahsholim kibbutz, or cooperative farm. Katz said the killing spree in Tantura was more tragic and bigger than in the village of Deir Yassin just west of Jerusalem, where scores of Palestinians were killed on April 9, 1948, in an assault by Jewish armed groups. Reports just after the Deir Yassin killings spoke of some 240 deaths. Up to 700,000 Palestinians fled from their towns and villages or were driven out by Jewish troops in the conflict between Arab and Jew that surrounded Israel's creation. Fawzi Tanji, now 73 and a refugee at a camp in the West Bank, is from Tantura and worked until May 1948 as a guard for the army in British Mandate Palestine. He told Reuters he had watched as Israeli troops took over the village, lined men up against a cemetery wall and shot them. Katz said 95 men were killed at the cemetery. ``I was 21 years old then. They took a group of 10 men, lined them up against the cemetery wall and killed them. Then they brought another group, killed them, threw away the bodies and so on,'' Tanji said. The Israeli newspaper Maariv, which reported Katz's findings Wednesday, quoted the commander of the Tantura attack as saying his troops had no grounds to ask questions or spare lives. ``It was war...When you see the enemy opposite you, he doesn't have a note saying he doesn't mean to shoot you. When you see him, you shoot him,'' retired colonel Bentz Pridan said. (New York Times, January 19, 2000) Other infamous massacres include the massacres in Palestinian refugee camps in Sabra and Shatila, and the recent massacre in Qana (where Jesus once attended a wedding and changed water into

wine!) More than 200 women, children and old men who were seeking shelter near a UN camp were killed by deliberate Israeli bombing. Israel occupied southern Lebanon for 20 years. In 1978, UN Security Council Resolution 425 called " upon Israel immediately to cease its military action against Lebanese territorial integrity and withdraw forthwith its forces from all Lebanese territory. Instead of complying with the UN Security Council Resolution, Israel invaded additional Lebanese territory in 1982, 1993, and 1996 killing tens of thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians. Israel has been holding scores of innocent Lebanese hostages, some for more than a decade, in prisons in Israel and Israeli-occupied south Lebanon. Recent news reports also suggest that Israel has been systematically stealing fertile topsoil from Israeli-occupied southern Lebanon and trucking it to Israel. The value of property, seized by Israel from 700,000 Palestinians who fled Palestine when the Jewish terrorists announced the formation of Israel in 1948, is estimated at more than 6 billion dollars excluding interest. Violation of the civil, religious and human rights of the Muslim and Christian minorities in Israel, which are 18% of the population, had no effect on the flow of unlimited aid to Israel. Israel has destroyed about 400 mosques and 400 churches since the UN divided Palestine into Palestinian and Jewish States in 1948. It seems that the US policy of linking foreign aid to human rights and religious persecution records of foreign countries does not apply to Israel. Serbian Crusade: The Serb Christians waged war on the Muslim civilians in Bosnia and Kosovo. In Bosnia, more than 200,000 Muslims have been killed and more than 1400 mosques have been destroyed or damaged. About 200 villages have been destroyed in Kosovo and about 250,000 refugees have fled for their lives. When the Serb Christians invaded Kosovo, they destroyed all mosques despite the fact that the Christian monasteries were safe for centuries in the predominantly Muslim Kosovo. Double Standards: The mentality of the Crusades still exists today under the guise of

fighting terrorists or Muslim fundamentalists, or fighting the spread of weapons of mass destruction (meaning leaving the Muslim countries vulnerable to the threat of mass destruction by Israel or others), or stemming the tide of immigration by North Africans to Europe." The economic sanctions, advocated by Pope Nicolas IV, continue today against Muslim countries labelled by the State Department as "rogue nations" or "nations that sponsor terrorism" or "nations that violate civil rights of minorities" or "nations that oppose peace with Israel" Despite the media's attempts to demonize the Muslims, the facts show that about 80% of the 23 million refugees in the world today are Muslims! The facts contradict all the rhetoric by the media and government officials linking Muslims to terrorism. The State Department's "Patterns of Global Terrorism" 1997 report, there were 123 anti-U.S. attacks in that year; 97 occurred in Latin America, seven took place in Europe and six in Asia. The Middle East ranked fourth as a location of anti-American attacks. The previous State Department report showed a similar pattern. In 1996, there were 73 anti-American attacks world-wide; 58 were in Latin America, eight in Europe and three in the Middle East. When the Afghani Mujahideen ( those who conduct Jihad ), aided by fighters from Saudi Arabia trained and armed by the US, fought the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, they were hailed as freedom fighters. Jihad was good in those days. The US was calling for a worldwide Islamic Jihad against the Soviets. When the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan, the Mujahideen were quickly denounced as terrorists because of their opposition to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian, Syrian, and Lebanese territories. Christian fundamentalists are waging a Crusade to end the separation between church and state in the US and put the first nail in the coffin of the American system of government. They have replaced modern science with the Bible in their schools. They advocate a prerenaissance philosophy. This proves the Muslims provided the knowledge that launched the Renaissance in Europe. It is ironic that the West opposes Muslim fundamentalists who teach evolution in their schools. Some Christian fundamentalists even turned to violence when they could not impose their views legally and killed law enforcement officers in Waco and bombed abortion clinics in several cities. The government and the media never refer to the threat of Christian

fundamentalists. Jewish fundamentalists murdered Rabin, their own prime minister, when he finally saw the light. Rabin realized that Israel has to make peace with the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab World to secure its long term prospects in the region. Jewish fundamentalists oppose peace and conduct demonstrations with banners calling for killing the Arabs. Many of these fundamentalists have killed Palestinian civilians and desecrated the Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem and were either never arrested or quickly released from police custody because there were judged mentally unstable. These activities are never reported by the media in the US the way they cover suicide bombings by desperate militants who have lost everything to illegal destruction of their homes and killing of their family members by the Israeli government or by Jewish settlers who are illegally taking over Palestinian territories and barring Palestinians from access to their farms and places of worship to pressure them into submission to the illegal status quo. The West ignores the threat of Christian and Jewish fundamentalists while actively opposing Muslim fundamentalists, even when they are democratically elected. The military takeovers of the elected governments in Algeria, Sierra Leone, Tajikistan and Turkey were encouraged by the West. However, the military takeover of the elected government in Haiti was not tolerated. The UN authorized a US invasion to return the elected government to power. The Crusade against Iraq: The US vetoed many UN decisions condemning Israeli actions. The Muslim countries were told peace can be achieved only by direct negotiations with Israel. Military action or sanctions against Israel were never options for attaining peace in the Middle East. This policy did not apply to Iraq - the former US ally during the Iran/Iraq war. The US obtained a UN decision against Iraq the day following the invasion of Kuwait. Kuwait had been a province of Iraq until the British decided to make it a separate protectorate after World War I. Iraq was not allowed (like Israel) 32 years of procrastination and frivolous negotiations with the Sheik of Kuwait. In short, there was no peace process. Iraq was bombed into the stone age and unprecedented sanctions were imposed which led to the death of more than one million Iraqis to-date. A whole generation of Iraqis was murdered by the sanctions

against Iraq since 1991. Swift military action is ready to kill more Iraqis if they protest the frivolous inspections that have been going on all these years. More than 270 teams of inspectors have conducted 9340 inspections. Since 1991, the inspectors verified the destruction of 30 warheads, 18 ballistic missiles, 700,000 tons of chemicals they claimed could produce weapons, and 40,000 tons of chemicals that could be used in weapons. The inspectors claim they still need to do their work. The US maintains the sanctions will continue until the inspectors "finish" their work. Americans who oppose the U.S. government's policy on Iraq ended a Christmas visit Tuesday meant to focus attention on the suffering of Iraqi children (December 28, 1999 9:32 a.m. EST http://www.nandotimes.com). During their weeklong visit, the group spent Christmas among the Iraqi Christian community in Basra, a city some 335 miles south of Baghdad. "We spent Christmas morning in one of the hospitals where we saw for ourselves infants dying because there is never enough medicine," said Chuck Quilty of Rock Island, Ill., one of eight American Catholics in the Voices in the Wilderness delegation. UN officials keep resigning in protest of the sanctions against the Iraqi people. The latest resignations came February 14, 2000 from Hans von Sponeck the top UN official in Iraq and Jutta Burghardt the head of the World Food Program. Current Crusade: Unfortunately, the holy war against Islam will continue to claim more Muslim victims in the foreseeable future. In an effort to keep the military industrial complex going after the end of the cold war, Islam has been targeted as the new enemy and new threats have been invented. This keeps tax payers' subsidies flowing to the cold war industry and protects it from competition from the productive economy. The US spends more on the military than the rest of the world combined. The government needs terrorists and Islamophobia to justify this level of military expenditures. It is ironic that the current most dangerous enemies, according to the US government, were trained and armed by the US! The US accounts for half of the weapons exports around the world. These exports need wars and conflicts to sustain them. This is a

major disappointment to all the people who hoped that the collapse of the Berlin Wall would bring world peace and prosperity for all. The oil producing countries in the Middle East purchase a significant portion of the US arms sales. US taxpayers subsidize massive military aid to Israel. A just peace in the Middle East would eliminate most of the US arms sales. Muslim militants in the Middle East are resisting Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Lebanon, and Syria. This occupation violates international law and numerous UN resolutions. Targeting the militants will not bring peace to the Middle East but will bring the downfall of the moderate leaders. Ending the occupation will bring peace and help the moderates on both sides build a better future for all the people in the Middle East. The racial conflicts in the US in the 1960s offer a useful analogy. The assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and militant black leaders did not end the riots and the strife. The conflicts were not obviously caused by the militants. The militants and the conflicts emerged from the anger and frustration of the black masses who were helpless in the face of persistent discrimination. Respecting and supporting equal rights for Blacks ended all the conflicts and allowed blacks to play a productive role that benefited the whole society. The Muslim militants are the product - not the cause of the anger and frustration in the Muslim countries which are helpless to defend themselves in the face of Israeli arrogance backed by unlimited US support. In the mean time The US provides Israel with military and financial aid so they can continue their occupation of Arab lands by force for more than 32 years and disregard UN resolutions. Respecting the rights of the Muslim countries and implementing the UN resolutions protecting the rights of the Palestinians, Syrians, and Lebanese would bring just peace to the Middle East. This would also restore the friendly and beneficial relations the US had with all the Muslim countries after World War II. American national interest would significantly benefit from good relations with Arab and Muslim countries. Unfortunately, that has been totally ignored and replaced with a policy of supporting outrageous Israeli actions and policies at any price. The Jewish influence on American foreign policy which started during the Lyndon Johnson administration and reached an unprecedented

level in the Clinton administration is responsible for this shift. The Muslim world occupies about one fourth of the world area. Muslims represent about one sixth of the World population. American Muslims outnumber American Jews in the US. Yet the media consider the Muslims invisible and portray them in the worst possible image. American interests in the vast Muslim world are being sacrificed for the benefit of 5 million Israelis and their US supporters! Comprehensive campaign finance reform is sorely needed to free US policy from lobbies and pressure groups and focus it on real "national" interest. Christians and Jews are better off studying their Bible which anticipated Islam, the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad. Instead of trying to beat the Muslims, Christians and Jews should join them so they can all turn to God and fulfill the promise of His creation. Most Christians in the Middle East were converted to Christianity by Jesus and his disciples. After considering the message of the Qur'an, most of those Christians embraced Islam during the last 14 centuries because Islam delivered what the Bible promised. Muslims are not the enemy terrorizing the West. They are the victims of the nonstop Crusades. Islam is not a threat to the West. It is the only religion that can solve the social and moral problems of the West.

THE MUSLIM CONCEPT OF CHARITY (Zakat) Charity sometimes precedes prayer in the Qur'an as an article of faith. The recipients are specified as the needy relatives, orphans, the poor, the weak, the homeless, and those who ask [Qur'an 2:177, 9:60]. Charity usually closely follows prayer as an article of faith [Qur'an 2:43& 23:4].

Muslims are required to give of what God blessed them with. This expands the concept of charity beyond money [Qur'an 22:35] to include knowledge, talent, time, and labor. This also expands the eligibility to give beyond the rich to include most people. Giving is encouraged whether openly or confidentially [Qur'an 2:271, 2:274]. Giving openly encourages others to give while giving confidentially helps the recipient save face. This is why confidential giving is preferred [Qur'an 2.271]. Those who give shall be rewarded by God and shall not be afraid or sad [Qur'an 2:274]. The benefits of giving can be lost if the donor hurts the feelings of the recipient [Qur'an 2:263-264] or if the donor is giving to impress others. Giving is sharing the blessings of God with the needy [Qur'an 28:77] and should not be considered a nuisance tax on one's possessions. The Arabic term for charity is Zakat which means sweetening. Giving sweetens the donor's remaining funds. The amount to give should be at least 2.5% of the funds accumulated at the end of the year. These are funds that exceed the donor's need regardless of income and expenditure. The charitable rate rises to 20 % of secondary income such as a bonus, an inheritance, an award etc. [Qur'an 8:41] Giving in this fashion narrows the gap between the rich and the poor, reduces social conflicts, and promotes a productive economy. Diverting 2.5% of the donor's accumulated funds to basic consumption by the needy and away from bidding up the price of paper assets or luxury goods, benefits the whole economy including the wealthy donors. Giving to the needy is not a generous gesture by the donors it is their duty and responsibility as recipients of a favorable share of God's blessings. The Prophet Muhammad used to give to the needy all the money and gifts that exceeded his needs on a daily basis. He placed his faith in God to provide for his future needs. The Prophet Muhammad defined personal wealth as what a person consumes and gives to the needy. Charity is considered the everlasting personal wealth. Our estate is the wealth we accumulated for others.

Pride And Conceit Pride and conceit turn people away from God toward their ego which cares only about possessions, individual accomplishments etc. without giving credit to others' contributions or help from God in the form of opportunity or luck. The Qur'an advises against saying: "I'll do that tomorrow [18:23]". We should always say: "God willing, I'll do that tomorrow"[18:24]. Pride and conceit are not Muslim traits. Muslims should consider their insignificance compared to the universe [Qur'an 19:37-38]. Pride and conceit make people feel superior to others and give them a false sense of entitlement to God's bounty without responsibility to share the bounty with others. God gives individuals different abilities to enable them as a group to handle all the challenges presented by life on earth. Those with more ability in one area are entitled to enjoy the rewards of that ability but are required to use it to benefit others. Using one's ability to do God's work by helping other people, other creatures, and the environment; is serving God, is worship. We were created to serve and worship God. Muslims start everything in the name of God ( Bismillah) and end everything by thanking God (Alhamdu lillah). By identifying accomplishments as God's bounty or gifts, the tendency of the ego toward pride and conceit is controlled. The challenge to the haves, the more gifted, is to be grateful to God and to share the gifts with all creation. The challenge to the have nots, the less gifted, is to be grateful to God while enduring the challenges of life. The concept of more or less gifted protects the individual from pride and conceit which are more closely associated with accomplishment. We are more gifted in some areas and less gifted in others. Gifts should be extended beyond wealth, power, status, intelligence, health, and physical appearance to include love, friendship, compassion, kindness, etc. The Qur'an advises the less gifted not to be sorry for what they

missed; and the more gifted not to be glad for what they got [57:23]. When all the gifts are considered, we are created equally. The most honored by God are the most mindful of Him. The mindful of God are defined as: those who believe in the unseen, do their prayers, give from God's bounty, believe in what was brought down to Muhammad and what was brought down before his time, are certain of the hereafter. Those are guided by their Lord and those are the prosperous [Qur'an 2:5]. The Prophet Muhammad once told his companions that he saw crowds at every gate of paradise, trying to get in, except at the gate of humility.

Real Men Of The Renaissance

Jabir Ibn Hayyan ( Geber) (The Father Of Modern Chemistry)

Jabir Ibn Hayyan, who died in 808 AD, was a renaissance man, a Sufi , a pharmacist and a great chemist who spent most of his life at home in his laboratory in Damascus. He is known in the west as: Geber. He wrote more than 200 books including 80 books on chemistry. He was the father of molecular chemistry who correctly identified the union of elements at a molecular level to form new compounds without losing their own structure. This was more than 10 centuries before John Dalton "discovered" the same thing. Jabir was respected as a great scientist during his life while Dalton was considered a sorcerer by his neighbors. When Dalton died, his neighbors sealed his house then asked the parson to burn his books to rid the town of evil! Jabir constructed a scale capable of weighing objects as low as

1/6,480th of a pound in weight. He identified combustion as the release of the latent energy of the combustible material when combined with oxygen at the proper temperature. He developed noncombustible paper, florescent ink, anti rust coatings, and water repellant coatings for fabrics. He recommended building chemical laboratories away from population centers to protect people from chemical pollution.

Abu Bakr Al-Razi (Rhazes) (The Father of Pediatrics, Author of the First Medical Book Printed in Europe)

Al-Razi who died in 932 AD, was a renaissance man, a musician who studied philosophy, mathematics, and chemistry. He started studying medicine in Baghdad when he was 40. He wrote 237 books on chemistry, medicine and psychiatry. He also invented sulfuric acid. He was the first to require medical students to undertake graduate studies. His medical encyclopedia in 25 volumes, Al Hawi Fi Al-Tibb was translated into Latin by Faraj Ibn Salem and was printed in 1486 AD. It was the first medical book ever printed in Europe. He was the first to use music as a healing aid. He arranged his students in concentric circles with the most advanced in the "inner circle". He was the first to distinguish between smallpox and measles. He was the first to treat pediatrics as a separate discipline and wrote the first book on the subject. He was the first to identify hay fever. His work on kidney stones is still impressive. He was the world's greatest physician in the middle ages. His portraits can be found in the great hall of the school of medicine, University of Paris and in a stained glass window at Princeton University. When asked to pick the place for a new hospital in Baghdad, he ordered pieces of meat hung in potential sites and ordered the

hospital built on the one where the meat showed minimum decay!

Al-Khawarizmi Al Khawarizmi, who died in 850 AD, was a renaissance man, a great mathematician, geographer and astronomer. He introduced the zero, negative numbers, algebra, and the decimal system to the West. This opened the door to higher mathematics. He also invented mathematical programming using a set of instructions to perform complex calculations. The term algorithm (computer program, software) is named after a variation of his name, Algorithmi. He also produced the first global geography and an extensive index of the positions of heavenly bodies.

Abu Al-Qasim Al-Zahrawi ( Albucasis ) ( The World's First Book On Surgery )

Al-Zahrawi, who died in 1013 AD, was born, raised, educated, and practiced in Muslim Spain. He was the world's greatest surgeon of the 10th-11th centuries AD. He invented procedures to break up and extract kidney and bladder stones. Only one of his books survived the Spanish Inquisition. It contained more than 200 drawings of surgical instruments and procedures and was the

world's first book on surgery.

IBN SINA (Avicenna) Ibn Sina, who died in 1037 AD, is known in the West as Avicenna. He was a renaissance man, a Sufi who excelled in mathematics, which he studied under Al Khawarizmi. He also excelled in medicine, science, astronomy, law, music, poetry and philosophy. His medical reference al-Qanun fi al-Tibb (the canon in Medicine) was the largest ever written with more than one million words and remained the world's authority on the subject until the nineteenth century. His portrait can be found in the great hall of the school of medicine, University of Paris. His books include: A'hwal al-Nafs ( Conditions of the Psyche ) in psychology and the novel Hayy Ibn Yaqzan. This novel was the story of a child stranded on a deserted island who grew up and recognized God by contemplating nature. This novel became the inspiration for Robinson Crusoe after discarding the spiritual aspects in Hayy. Ibn Sina diagnosed cancer and used surgical operations to remove it. He also attributed stomach ulcers to psychological factors, such as tension and depression, and physical factors affecting the stomach. He attributed infections to traces left in the air by the sick. This led to the use of quarantines to control the spread of infectious diseases.

Ibn al-Haitham (The Father Of Modern Optics) Ibn al-Haitham, who died in 1039 AD, was a renaissance man, a great scientist and engineer. On a trip to Egypt to study the Nile river, he recommended building a dam at Aswan to store the summer flood water upstream and use it throughout the year. This project was finally executed in the 20th century! He studied the process of vision and formulated the laws of reflection and refraction which explained the rainbow phenomenon. He was the father of modern optics.

Al-Idrisi ( The World's First Globe) Al Idrisi, who died in 932 AD, was a renaissance man, a world class geographer. He prepared the world's first globe out of 400 pounds of silver for the king of Sicily Roger II. The globe showed the trade routes and detailed measurements. He also prepared a detailed companion book. Centuries later, Europeans continued to believe that the earth was flat.

Ibn Rushd

(Averroes) Ibn Rushd, who died in 1198 AD, is known in the west as Averroes. He was a real renaissance man. He was born in Muslim Spain and studied medicine, philosophy and law. He was Chief Justice in Cordoba, Spain and a minister in Morocco. In his spare time, he discovered sunspots. He wrote a medical encyclopedia and several books on law, religion and philosophy. He wrote 3 books on Aristotle and his philosophy. He was the first to discover the impact of physical exercise on health.

Al-Jaldaki (Pure Gold) Al Jaldaki, who died in 1360 AD, was a renaissance man, a great chemist who wrote many books on the subject. He was the first to use masks to protect against chemical fumes. He developed improved soap formulations. He purified gold by dissolving silver impurities in nitric acid. He purified contaminated water by distillation.

Ibn Khaldun (The Real Father Of Sociology) Ibn Khaldun, a Sufi who died in 1406 AD, was a renaissance man, the

real father of sociology. He defined the foundations of sociology more than 4 centuries before Auguste Comte "discovered" them. Ibn Khaldun lived in an era when the Muslim Nation in North Africa And the Iberian peninsula disintegrated into a multitude of city states fighting against each other. At the same time the Spaniards were uniting their kingdoms and steadily taking over the Muslim city states in Iberia. He was directly involved in the political intrigue and served several Muslim rulers in different capacities ranging from diplomatic envoy to minister. His first hand observations led him to believe that societies are not controlled by resources or policies. He concluded that societies are living organisms that experience cyclic birth, growth, maturity, decline, and ultimately death due to universal causes. Each phase of the cycle lasts for several generations. He also described the process through which peaceful or violent migrants blend with the native population to form a homogeneous society subject to the universal cycles. He correctly associated the the maturity stage of any social system with affluence, luxury and reluctance to perform menial tasks or defend the society against external threats. This leads to the employment of foreigners and mercenaries which initiates the conflicts that lead to the decline phase. He identified the impact of climate and available resources on migrations and social changes. He also identified the impact of governmental policy and taxation on social change.

Return To Index Page

If you have comments or suggestions, e-mail me at [email protected] Revised on 10/3/99

Copyright © 1997-1999, A. Aly. All Rights Reserved.