Page 8 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 6 Page 9 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 6 Q: 1. What is the name of the angel of death? Q: 2. Name the two uncles of Prophet who embraced Islam. Q: 3. Name the youngest commander of Islam. Q: 4. Through which angel did God reveal the Holy Qur’an? Q: 5. How many Surahs are there in the Holy Qur’an? Q: 6. Which was the Qibla before Ka’ba? A: The name of the angel of death is Angel Izrail. A: The names of the 2 Prophet’s uncles are Hazrat Hamza (R.A.A.) and Hazrat Abbas (R.A.A.). A: The youngest commander of Islam is Usama bin Zaid (R.A.A.). A: The Holy Qur’an was revealed through the Archangel Jibraeel. A: There are 114 Surahs in the Holy Qur’an. Dr. Maurice Bucaille is a surgeon by profession. He is also a renowned scholar. In order to be able to read Quran in its original text and to study its meaning and purport through direct access to its early and modern commentaries, he devoted himself to the learning of Arabic language at the ripe age of fifty. Thereafter, he made a beginning by trying to reconcile proven scientific truths with religious axioms. As a result of these studies, he wrote his famous book “QURAN, BIBLE AND SCIENCE” in 1976, which caused a furor in high academic circles - particularly in the Christian world. After a deeper study of Islam and the Quran, he has authored another book titled, “THE ORIGIN OF MAN”. It comprised Quranic explanations of some of the queries raised much earlier than the period when those queries were logically and satisfactorily resolved by scientific experimentation, to be fully in conformity with the explanations provided by Quran about 1500 years before. The Church acknowledged and accepted these researches of Dr. Bucaille to be a valuable contribution to human knowledge and the author became famous all over the world, like Cambridge, and Oxford Universities in U.K. & Yale and Harvard in USA. He was invited to give Extension Lectures in their academic institutions. By dint of his Quranic thought, and by virtue of his unprejudiced and realistic approach to Quranic thought, and by virtue of his unprejudiced and realistic discussion and research work, Dr. Bucaille has converted a number of high ranking scholars to agree with him and to subscribe to his view that the Quran is a Divine Book, not authored by any human being and actually a Book of Revelations from Almighty God to His Last Prophet, Mohammed, Peace Be Upon Him. M. Bucaille is of the view that his findings in this behalf are a cause of consternation and chagrin to Western scholars because of their earlier exposure to false and fictitious propaganda against Islam and its Prophet (S.A.W.), by the Christian clergy and by biased Western writers and authors. This misguided class of people could not believe that Quran was the only Scripture which had remained sacrosanct and free from all additions, alterations and interpolations and consequently it still retained the purity to guide mankind in all ages, places and in every conceivable crisis. For over 1400 years it has been the only treasure house of ecclesiastical and cosmic knowledge about the universe and life itself. Mankind has not yet to progress and proceed to a stage where it can fully be au fait with all the pearls and gems of wisdom and truth, garnered in its bosom by this miracle of literacy, excellence and academic purity which could not be matched even in one small sentence by the literary giants of yore, in spite of an open challenge to this effect. Q: What urged you so forcefully to undertake a study of the Quran and other scriptures, and why? A: Like all other Frenchmen, I was also initially of the view that Islam was a religion conceived and introduced by a genius and a remarkable man of great intellect, known by the name of Mohammed (S.A.W.). Fifty years ago, by the Grace of God, I became professionally qualified to practice as a surgeon, and used to discuss and compare (views on) Islam and Christianity with my patients who came to consult me (and with my co-professionals). I was told by some of them that my knowledge of Islam and about its discipline was to a great extent misconceived and mistaken. In the beginning I was inclined to doubt them, but now and then some people produced actual and original Quranic Verses in contradiction of my references, and I was compelled to revise my conclusions. And, as a result of this revision and review, I felt that they were right and I was wrong. I found that those who had been my teachers had a wrong approach to the problem and had imparted incorrect information to me. My knowledge of Islam, until then, had been restricted to Radio and T.V. reviews, articles published in various magazines and reproduced in biased treatise books. But I was perplexed; what should I do? How should I amend my position and rectify my understanding? Q: When did this happen? A: After the 8th Vatican Conference but before the birth of a tolerant attitude on the part of European scholars gravitating to unbiased thought, i.e. before 1926, when the cleavage between Muslims and Christian scholars was at its zenith and there was no prospect of a direct dialogue between them. Q: How did you react to this situation? A: There was only one road open to me then, that of learning Arabic language so that I could study the Holy Book, Quran, in its original form and try to get at its meaning directly. I devoted the next two years to this task when I had acquired enough knowledge of Arabic (in language and literature) to be able to make a dependable study of the Quran faithfully as well as academically. Q: And how did this benefit you? A: I knew then that the Quran was the “Work of Allah” and had not been authored by any human being. I was also convinced that Mohammed (S.A.W.) was a true Prophet of God. Q: The world is now celebrating the first centenary of Darwin, do you subscribe to Darwinian theory or disagree with it? A: No Sir, I oppose it vehemently. Darwin’s theory is totally based on a misconception and is not at all the outcome of such a scientific research as could prove that there exists the slightest relation between man and the theory of evolution of species as propounded by him. In fact his views are nothing but the misguided and misconceived calculations of a purely materialistic mind. My latest book (Origin of Man) contains a comprehensive “Rebuttal Article” on Darwin and his views. Q: Are you of the opinion that Darwin was aware of his error? A: Yes, I think he knew the error he committed. The scholars, who are fond of materialism, have propounded innumerable theories, mostly incorrect, and the fun of it is that they are aware of their fallacies. However, being materialist, they stick to their wrong attitude. In my book I have criticized some of these scholars, several of whom are Nobel Prize winners. Q: Do you think your writings have had direct repercussion on people outside France? A: Yes, Recently, only a few days ago, I visited Northern andWestern African countries, where I was repeatedly called upon to address innumerable gatherings of educated persons including scholars, on the Origin of Man and about my first book: the Quran, Bible and Science. I was closely cross- examined about my views by some of the most qualified, even hostile, elements. Following this, countless students and scholars contacted and congratulated me. They declared that after listening to me, they had, for the first time, been able to feel convinced of the truth of the Quranic statements about the creation of universe and origin of man. Some of them frankly admitted that my writings and lectures had restored in them a firm certainty of belief and faith and converted them into True Muslims, who actually felt solace and pleasure now in saying their “prayers”. They declared that the element of doubt and dilly-dalliance in faith was entirely due to the misconceived theories of some of these so-called Western scholars whose theories had been adopted as gospel truth. Q: What is the verdict of Science on Man; and why this conflict between Science and Religion on this score? A: In my book, “Origin of Man”, I have endeavored to explain what is dubious and what is proved according to scientific findings. I have also dealt with the theories formerly supported by scholars, but now their very basis is being demolished and proved to be without sound scientific footing. In 1851, Darwin published his first book, “Origin of Species”. In it he has pointed out that “All animals can procreate amongst themselves”, but he did not take the trouble to demonstrate and prove scientifically his view that the “Genealogy of Man” extends up to monkey. Q: Then who is responsible for propounding this frivolous theory? A: The fact is that some other people metamorphosing and without statements digesting his theories, assigned wrong statements to Darwin, which comprised the assumption that “Man has evolved from apes”. Nevertheless, it is also true that Darwin did not care to contradict such false notions assigned to him as it was in this connection and on this topic that confrontation occurred between the supporters of Darwin and the Clergy, where both the parties roundly abused and maligned each other. That is why it is now essential that a line of demarcation should always be drawn between the results of scientific investigations and arbitrary views of scholars like Darwin. Q: By such scientific discourses, debates and discussions even Scriptures, are exposed to scientific test resulting in exposing their errors and pin-pointing their weaknesses. As such, may we inquire if you have some across any such anomalies in the Quran, i.e. where its expositions and explanations are in contrast to scientific findings? A: The Scriptures of non-Muslims have been copied and passed on from generation to generation and through different personalities. The oldest document of this nature is “Jehovah”, which was written some time during 9th Century A.D. This book, although not voluminous, is still the most comprehensive document of its kind. The second book (Sacrodotal), although generally treated as Preface to the Bible, came to light in 600 B.C. It deals with the creation of universe and the appearance of Man on earth and the stories narrating the events following it. The Bible comes thereafter, but the books of the “New Testament” do not throw much light on the problem of Man. They repeat the statements of the Old Testament as adopted by St. Luke. Why I Embraced Islam
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