IB_18

20 / 22

Page 20 The Islamic Bulletin Issue 18
Little Quiz
88% of kindergarten students got this one within 5 minutes,
while only 17% of Stanford seniors did. See how you do!
What is greater than God? More evil than Satan? Poor people
have it? Rich people need it? If you eat it you will die!
Look at the bottom for the answer if you must!
Crossword
Clues
Taken from “The Origin of Man”
by Dr. Maurice Bucaille
Dr. Maurice Bucaille is an eminent French surgeon, scientist,
scholar, and author of “THE BIBLE, THE QUR’AN AND SCI-
ENCE” which contains the result of his research into the Ju-
deo-Christian Revelation and the Qur’an. It is a unique contribu-
tion in the field of religion and science.
Being an outstanding Scientist, he was selected to treat the mum-
my of Merneptah (Pharaoh) which he did. During his visit to Sau-
di Arabia he was shown the verses of the Holy Qur’an in which
Allah says that the dead body of the Pharaoh will be preserved as
a “Sign” for posterity. An impartial scientist like Dr. Bucaille, who
(being also a Christian) was conversant with the Biblical version
of Pharaoh’s story as being drowned in pursuit of Prophet Moses.
He was pleasantly surprised to learn that unknown to the world
till only of late, the Holy Qur’an made definite prediction about
the preservation of the body of that same Pharaoh of Moses’
time. This led Dr. Bucaille to study the Holy Qur’an thoroughly
after learning the Arabic language. The final conclusion of his
comparative study of Qur’an and the Bible is that the statements
about scientific phenomena in the Holy Qur’an are perfectly
in conformity with the modern sciences whereas the Biblical
narration’s on the same subjects are scientifically entirely unac-
ceptable.
Also watch the video The Book of Signs, which is based on Dr.
Maurice Bucaille: “The Bible, The Quran and Science” and
“What is the Origin of Man.”
FROM THE ORIGIN OF MAN
As most people in the West have been brought up on miscon-
ceptions concerning Islam and the Qur’an; for a large part of my
life, I myself was one such person. Let me cite one or two specific
examples to indicate the kind of inaccurate ideas generally current.
MISCONCEPTIONS
As I grew up, I was always taught that ‘Mahomet’ was the author
of the Qur’an; I remember seeing French translations bearing this
information. I was invariably told that the ‘author’ of the Qur’an
simply compiled, in a slightly different form, stories of sacred his-
tory taken from the Bible; the ‘author’ was said to have added or
removed certain passages, while setting forth the principles and
rules of the religion he himself had founded. There are moreover
Islamic scholars today in France whose duties include teaching
and who express exactly these views, although perhaps in a more
subtle form. This description of the origins of the Qur’anic text,
which is so out of touch with reality, might lead one immediate-
ly to assume that if there are scientific errors in the Bible, there
must also be errors of this kind in the Qur’an! This is the natural
conclusion to be drawn in such circumstances, but it is based on
a misconception. We are well aware that at the time of Muham-
mad - the Qur’anic Revelation took place between 610 and 632
A.D - scientific obscurantism prevailed, both in the Orient as well
as in the West. In France, for example, this period corresponded
roughly to the reign of King Dagobert, the last of the Mrovingians.
This approach to what was supposedly the Qur’anic text may on
first sight seem logical, but when one examines the text with an
informed and impartial eye, it becomes clear that this approach
is not at all in keeping with reality. We shall see in a moment the
truth of this statement, which is obvious from the texts.
Whenever there is textual proof of the existence in the Qur’an
of statements that are in agreement with modern knowledge,
but which in the Bible are related in a manner that is scientifi-
cally unacceptable, the stock response is that, during the period
separating the two Scriptures, Arab scientists made discoveries in
various disciplines which enabled them to arrive at these sup-
posed adaptations. This approach takes no account whatsoever
of the history of the sciences. The latter indicates that the great
period of Islamic civilizations, during which, as we know, sci-
ence made considerable progress, came several centuries after
the communication of the Qur’an to the communication of the
Qur’an to man. Furthermore, scientific history informs us that, as
far as the subjects dealt with in this present book are concerned;
no discoveries were made during, the period separating the Bible
from the Qur’an.
Across
1. If Allah wishes
6. Learned Muslim
8. It’s on the camel’s back
10. Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh)
mother
12. Sura 36 (XXXVI)
14. Surrounds a castle
15. No (Arabic)
17. In the name of Allah
19. The Islamic way of life
20. Islam’s first Qibla
23. Not on
24. Soul (Arabic)
Down
1. Late evening prayer
2. European country, once ruled by
Muslims
3. All praise is due to Allah
4. Covers your teeh
5. Permissible (Arabic)
7. Muezzin’s tower
9. Pilgrim’s host
11. Lives in Kuala Lumpur
13. Great North African Desert
16. Eleventh Islamic month
19. Memorises Qur’an, Persian poet
22. Say (Arabic)
Answer: Nothing