The Quran as God's final, complete message, with the mathematical code based on 19 offered as proof of its authenticity and of the falsehood of verses 9:128 and 129. Quranic verses are set beside modern science on the expanding universe, life from water, other universes and orbits. A nature feature on turtles and their shells, migration and endangered nesting presents them as God's creatures.
The Holy Quran, the
word of God, was sent down to us through prophet Muhammad around 1400
years ago. Prophet Muhammad was instructed to write down the Quran exactly
as it was revealed to him. God tells us in the Quran that this book is
complete and is guidance for us in our everyday life and our devotion
to God alone. There have been many prophets who have come to the people
with the word of God and it has been a habit of the people to set up these
prophets as idols and worship them alongside God. God tells us through
these prophets that we must worship Him alone and include no one else.
All the scriptures, the Old Testament, the New Testament and the Quran,
are the word of God and they all were brought to us by the prophets. We
need to and we must respect all the prophets equally but we must
devote our worship exclusively to God, our
Creator.
Hundreds of years ago, very few people could read and so it was the
responsibility of those few who could to tell the people what was written
in the scripture. Over the centuries the words of God have been passed
on from one person to another and spread throughout the world, but unfortunately
many alterations were made to the original message. Some of the alterations
were accidental but many were deliberately made by religious leaders
and elders who sought to gain fame and fortune for themselves. Today we
don’t have the excuse of not being able to read. Therefore, we need
not and should not depend on other people to interpret the meaning for
us. We must read the Quran for ourselves and most importantly we must
understand what we are reading.
The Authenticity of the Quran
How do we know that the Quran is the true word of God and has not been
altered in any way? The answer to that is in Chapter (Sura) 74 entitled
“The Hidden Secret.” The chapter starts “O you hidden
secret, come out and warn, extol your Lord, purify your garment, forsake
what is wrong.” What is the hidden secret? Verse 30 of the same
chapter tells us exactly what it is. “Over it is nineteen.”
Then in verse 35: “This is one of the great miracles.” The
miracle of the mathematical structure of the Quran is based on the number
19. It took the introduction of the modern computer to reveal just how
complex and complete this mathematical code was throughout the Quran.
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The Quran
The computer is something that could not possibly have been understood
or predicted by man prior to the twentieth century. How amazing
it is to find written in the Quran around 1400 years ago that the
“computer” will be developed. Chapter 27 verse 82: “At
the right time we will produce for them a creature, made of earthly
materials, declaring that the people are not certain about our
revelations.” Does this sound like it is referring to the
computer? A creature made of earthly materials. The heart of the
computer is the silicon chip which is made from a very thin slice
of silicon. Silicon is the most common mineral on earth. The modern
computer cannot work without this silicon, without this “earthly
material.” As a matter of interest, as far as I can tell there
is not a single part of the computer that is not made from the earth.
The copper of the wires, the iron of the chassis and brackets and
screws, the platinum and gold of the contacts, the carbon of the
resistors and even the plastic of the case are made from mineral
oil.
So, the computer has revealed to us that in the past we have doubted
the revelations of our Lord and needed the miracle of the mathematical
code to show us that no human being could possibly write an article
with such a complex code based on the number 19. This mathematical
code guarantees that the Quran, the word of God, cannot be altered
in any way without destroying the miracle of the structure.
Just about 19 years after prophet Muhammad’s death, a group
of scribes were assembled to make copies of the Quran for distribution.
It was suggested by one of the scribes that a couple of verses
should be added to the Quran in honour of the Prophet. These were
added to the end of Chapter 9 and became verses 128 and 129. The
use of the computer to examine the mathematical code of the Quran
now proves that these two verses are false. The number of times
the word “God” appears in the Quran was found to be
2699, and this is not a multiple
of 19. If, however, we remove the false
verses, then the word “God” appears 2698 times and
that is 142 x 19. If we add up all the verse numbers containing
the word “God” we get 118123, which is 6217 x 19. The
mathematical code of 19 persists as long as we do not include the
false verses. There are many more such mathematical examples revealed
by the computer analysis that prove the falsehood of verses 128
and 129.
Science
Let us now consider the Quran and science. Is there scientific
fact included in the Quran? There seems to be a continuing conflict
between science and religion, but there is no reason for this
conflict to exist except through ignorance. The religious people
refuse to accept the findings of science and the scientists refuse
to accept the beliefs of religion, and yet, we find that the Quran,
written 1400 years ago, supports and verifies many scientific findings
of today.
Scientists tell us that the universe was created by the explosion
of one solid mass. The resulting fragments have formed the planets
that continue to spread out to form an ever expanding universe.
The Quran tells us that God caused one solid mass to explode and
so create an ever expanding universe. Chapter 21 verse 30, “Do
the unbelievers not realize that the heaven and the earth used to
be one solid mass that we exploded into existence?”
Where is the conflict? Scientists tell us that all life forms on
this planet evolved from the oceans. Chapter 21 verse 30 continues,
“And from water we made all living things.”
There should be no conflict.
Scientists and science fiction writers believe that there must
be many other planets in our universe capable of supporting life
in one form or another, and most scientists believe that life does
exist beyond this planet Earth. Since our planet Earth is one of
many planets making up this solar system and our solar system is
one of many solar systems making up this galaxy and our galaxy is
one of many galaxies making up this universe, then it is
speculated that beyond our universe
there is probably another universe.
Not only does God tell us in the Quran that there are other universes
but that there is definitely life out there beyond our planet Earth.
Chapter 23 verse 17: “We created above
you seven universes in layers, and we are never unaware of a single
creature in them.” Also chapter 17 verse 44: “Glorifying
Him are the seven universes, the earth and everyone in them. There
is nothing that does not glorify Him, but you do not understand
their glorification. He is Clement, Forgiver.”
In 1543, Copernicus put forward the theory that the earth and
the other visible planets revolved around the sun. A wild theory
at the time that was not generally accepted for many years. Today
we have scientific proof that the earth and the moon and the other
planets in our solar system orbit around the sun. We also know
that the sun, the centre of our solar system, revolves around the
centre of this galaxy and this galaxy itself is moving or revolving
around a central point of the universe.
In the Quran we read in verse 21 of chapter 33: “And
He is the One who created the night and the day, and the sun and
the moon; each floating in its own orbit.” Also in
Chapter 81 verses15 and 16: “I solemnly
swear by the galaxies. Precisely running in their orbits.”
We must read and understand the Quran.
Desmond N. Stumer / Australia
We have revealed to you this Quran; a special revelation
from us. 76:23
A.L.R. A scripture that we revealed to you, in order
to lead the people out of darkness into the light – in accordance
with the will of their Lord – to the path of the Almighty,
the Praiseworthy. 14:1
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REPTILES
II
TURTLES
G enerally in
nature, an animal must seek shelter from bad weather or from a threatening
situation. Imagine a creature carrying its shelter or its house
with it wherever it goes. When threatened, it simply retreats into
its house and locks the door. That’s essentially how turtles
live their lives. The turtle’s shell is a remarkable feat
of natural engineering, a protective gift from God. The shell has
two parts?the carapace, the upper section and the flat belly section
called plastron. They are connected by bony bridges leaving gaps
for the head, tail and four legs. The turtle’s vertebrae and
ribs have actually become an integral part of the carapace and do
not move separate from the shell. When the turtle withdraws into
this shell, it’s almost impossible for a predator to get
at it.
The shell accounts for about one third of the weight of a turtle,
yet most turtles are agile, strong walkers or swimmers and many
climb with great ease. They have developed strong legs, especially
in giant species, like the Galapagos tortoise which travels great
distances, although slowly. They could carry the weight of a man
on their back and keep right on going. The tortoise travels about
4 miles a day. On the other hand, sea turtles have developed flipperlike
legs and sleek shells. They swim at about 20 miles an hour. The
distance a sea turtle might travel in one hour would take a week
for a tortoise to cover.
Turtles are ancient life forms. The earliest fossils recognized
as turtles date from the Triassic period, about 200 million years
ago. Turtles were in existence prior to the emergence of the great
dinosaur groups and survived the demise of the dinosaurs, continuing
to adapt and flourish. Turtles occupy almost every imaginable habitat—woods,
ponds, rivers, lakes, marsh-lands, prairies, deserts and the open
ocean, and they eat food as varied as insects, tender seagrasses,
carrion, fruit and fish.
Turtles have great similarity yet great
variation as well. The Galapagos tortoise evolved on islands with
no predators and little competition. They grow very large—500-600
pounds—and live 100-150 years. Desert tortoises are much
smaller. They eat cactus fruit and desert grasses and because
of their environment, God has given them adaptations to be able
to survive without water. They get the moisture they need from the
food they eat.
The pancake tortoise of Africa has a flat, soft shell, instead
of the hard dome common to most turtles. It looks sort of like someone
dropped a frying pan on him. This allows him to easily climb rocks
and lie under them. When threatened, he will wedge himself into
a rocky crevice and then inflate his body so he’s almost impossible
to pull out.
The red toad-headed turtle with its brilliant red head is an example
of the variation in bright and beautiful colors. Various beautiful
design patterns on the shell show God’s wondrous creation.
These include map turtles, so named because of the intricate patterns
of yellow lines that actually look like lines on a topo map; the
radiated tortoise of Madagascar has yellow circles with lines radiated
out from them; and the leopard tortoise of Africa whose shell is
covered with distinctive and beautiful yellow spots.
One fascinating turtle species is the alligator snapping turtle,
which may grow to 200 pounds. He lives on muddy river bottoms, sitting
quietly with his brown shell blending with the mud. He keeps his
mouth open and wiggles his tongue which is a bright pink. Like a
lure, this attracts fish which swim right in and the turtle simply
snaps its mouth shut. They may move no more than a few feet their
whole lives.
Tortoises live almost exclusively on land. Many turtles move between
land and water. Sea turtles spend virtually
their whole life in water. The female
comes out to lay eggs and she will return to the very beach where
she was hatched. The whole process is truly amazing. She comes on
shore, usually at night, and digs a nest into which she lays up
to 100 eggs. She buries the eggs and leaves. As the embryo grows
into a fully developed hatchling, the shell that has offered nourishment
and protection becomes a kind of prison from which the baby turtle
must escape. God has provided an “egg tooth,” actually
a horny projection located on the tip of the snout (which disappears
as the turtle grows). The tiny hatchling uses it to pierce its shell,
then pulls it apart with his forelimbs. All eggs in a nest hatch
at virtually the same time and they use that community spirit in
order to escape from the nest. Experiments with single eggs show
that few break free on their own. Together the baby turtles scrape
down the walls and ceiling of the nest and instinctively climb upward
till they break free.
Then these hatchlings, only a couple of inches long, know that
they must scramble for safety, perhaps a hundred yards or more across
the open beach to the sea. And it’s not just the hundred-yard
dash that’s difficult; predators of all kinds are waiting—birds,
dogs, skunks and others seem adept at knowing where nests are and
when they will hatch. Only a fraction make it to the sea and even
then they are easy pickings for large fish and sea gulls.
Little is known of the first year of wild hatchlings. They simply
disappear from sight, going weeks without food if necessary and
struggling to escape predators of all kinds. Those that survive
to adulthood will spend their lives, perhaps 50 years, swimming
around in the open ocean.
The male turtles may never leave the ocean their whole life; the
female only to lay eggs. We do not understand how turtles, migrating
over great
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TURTLES
stretches of open ocean, find their way around. How does the female green
turtle find her way back to the beach where she was hatched decades before?
“The feat of locating Ascension Island, barely seven miles across,
after negotiating 1400 miles of open ocean, by an animal that is hopelessly
myopic when it raises its eyes above the level of the water, seems little
short of miraculous.” And it is miraculous,
God’s miracle.
One marine turtle, the Kemp’s ridley, the smallest, rarest and
most endangered of all sea turtles, has unusual nesting behavior. Unlike
most sea turtles which nest individually, the Kemp’s ridley all
come to the same location, a remote beach in Mexico, gather offshore and
then swarm onto the beach together—perhaps 40,000 strong. Until
the 1940’s this event, known locally as “arribada”,
was a well-kept secret. Natives used it as a way to obtain meat and eggs.
Once it became common knowledge the turtles were exploited nearly to extinction.
Today the Mexican government patrols the beaches
with armed guards during arribada, but in recent years only about 400
females come ashore to nest each season, one percent of the number just
50 years ago.
Turtles through myth and legend were generally regarded as symbols of
strength, stability, benevolence and wisdom. We generally like turtles,
unlike most reptiles. Yet, we kill them for their shells and take away
their habitats, leave many species on the brink of extinction. We need
to appreciate these creatures of God, remembering Verse 11:6 There
is not a creature on earth whose provision is not guaranteed by God. And
He knows its course and its final destiny. All are recorded in a profound
record.
Among His proofs is the creation
of the heavens and the earth, and the creatures He spreads in them. He
is able to summon them, when He wills. (42:29)
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About this work
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Author
International Community of Submitters
Publisher
International Community of Submitters / Masjid Tucson