The Quran's Miraculous Relevance

Written by Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani

Islam comprises all of civilization. Within Islams sources are to be found all that is of value theultimate treasure trove of intellectual knowledge, practical guidance and spiritual wisdom. Islamis the fount for all of civilizations achievements and the diadem of its crown.

Islam carries, like a treasure-laden ship, within its deep hold are every sort of store andprovision. Its sails are the sciences of jurisprudence and spirituality, like two wings of a bird,both of which it needs to carry its precious cargo of humankind across the vast expanse of theocean of this life. At the helm of this vessel is the Leader and Master of mankind, SayyidinaMuhammad , under whose watchful eye and incalculable care it cuts through the depths ofAllahs unsounded and uncharted Kingdom.

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The Quran's Miraculous Relevance

Written by Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani

Its rudder is the inimitable Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah and its compass is Qurn. Farabove as it etches a glowing wake across the deep, the stars above, the companions of AllahsMessenger and His deputies among them shine forth as guiding lights, directing the vessel toher destination in the darkest nights. Within its deep hold are a storehouse of science, profoundwisdom and practical instruction on right ways of living, which when followed carry the ship ofsalvation to its destination with facility to its crew and passengers, and when discarded ordisregarded, cause it to languish in the doldrums of false teachings and error.

What drives the ship of Islam is the wind from the Prophet , for his every breath containedAllahs revelatory fragrance and each puff of the prophetic breeze wafts with the fragrantperfumes of Paradises blooms. From each breath of the Prophet came oceans of knowledgeand from each of word which dropped, like a petal from vast rosebush, sprang a bouquet, agarden or a veritable forest, the branches of whose knowledge begin at his feet and extend intothe heavens.

Every soul, behavior, discovery, invention, or aspect of life past, present, and future ismentioned in the Qurn.

(There is) naught of wet or dry but (it is noted) in a clear record. [1]

Allh is saying that everything living (wet) or non-living (dry) is mentioned in the Holy Qurn.That is, all scientific discoveries, regarding living or non-living things, are mentioned in theQurn, but not everyone can discern them.

A lawyer cannot make scientific discoveries whereas a scientist can. To make discoveries, ascientist works with theories and tests them through experimentation until they are proven to bea fact, or reality. Because the lay person does not make scientific discoveries, it does not followthat these discoveries or realities do not exist. Rather they simply are not known, or accessible,to him.

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The Quran's Miraculous Relevance

Written by Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani

To someone living in previous times it would have seemed impossible to think that water wascomposed of gases, but people now have the knowledge to understand this reality. Noteveryone could see that ordinary water is composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygenatom, but after its composition was discovered it was known and accepted. In chemicalsymbolism: 2 H2 + O2 2 H2O.

When it is said that everything is in the Qurn, this does not mean that everyone reading theQurn will find what is in it. Depending on the readers level of knowledge and understandinghe may be able to identify the appropriate verse on a given subject, just as a scientist canidentify a particular element or compound in a sample. However, everything is in the Qurnregardless of whether one can personally ascertain it or not.

Once a great scholar was asked to define internal knowledge as opposed to external knowledge(ilm al-bin versus ilm a-hir). He said:

Whatever one cannot understand is hidden and seems esoteric but to the one who knowssomething it is external and plain. Internal knowledge cannot be perceived by some people butto us it is a reality. One may think there are two kinds of knowledge, but in actuality there is nodifference between external and internal, it is only a question of perception.

The scientific process is the same. Before something is discovered, people deny its existencebut then believe it when it becomes known. Nothing has changed, only the willingness andability to accept the reality. Therefore, before one says that something does not exist one mustconsider that it may exist, but one does not yet know about it.

The hadith of the Prophet are the second source of knowledge in Islam.

The Prophet said, I have left among you two matters by holding fast to which, you shall neverbe misguided: Allhs Book and the Sunnah of His Prophet. [2]

Thus the Sunnah is taken on a par with Allahs Revealed Book as a source of guidance.

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The Quran's Miraculous Relevance

Written by Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani

The Lord of Creation affirmed in the Qurn that each word spoken by the Prophet was neitherby chance nor by mistake. The The Messenger of God was inspired and divinely guided inevery word and every action.:

Nor does he say (aught) of (his own) desire. It is naught but revelation that is revealed (to him).[3]

Every utterance, every movement, every breath of the Prophet was, in fact, revelation fromAllh and consequently of utmost value in the quest to understand and follow the Qurn andthe religion of Islam.

The hadiths of the Prophet are in fact essential to understand the Qurn. For every singleevent in his lifetime, Allh revealed to the Prophets heart what to say and what to do. TheQurn and the hadiths both derive from revelation and are inseparable sources forunderstanding and implementing the divine message of Islam. [4]

For the first millennium of Islamic civilization, the Muslims were favored by Allh with anadvancement unparalleled before or since. Muslims were at the forefront of not only religiousdevelopment, but were also the worlds leading researchers, physicians, chemists, astronomers,botanists, philosophers, and architects. Muslims were the shining lights that illuminated Europeand touched off the Renaissance.

They demonstrated a remarkable awareness of scientific discoveries unknown until thecontemporary scientific era.

...

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The Quran's Miraculous Relevance

Written by Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani

The Prophet said, I was sent with the pithiest expressions with the vastest meanings [5]

Examining the hadiths of the Prophet today, many of these vast meanings are now beinggrasped by both Muslims and non-Muslims. It is not desirable for science to determine onesfaith because Muslims believe in whatever is in the Qurn and hadiths regardless of whatscientists say. However, todays researchers are discovering many realities previously unknownto them, but which were alluded to by Prophet Muhammad and mentioned in the Holy Qurnand the hadiths fourteen hundred years ago.

These things were not elucidated by the Prophet to the people of his time for two reasons.Firstly, they were not able to understand these discoveries. Secondly, the Prophet did notexplain the meaning of these verses of the Qurn or these hadiths so they would exist asindependent proofs for later days when scientists would discover them for themselves and verifytheir reality. They were left for future generations to appreciate the greatness of ProphetMuhammad and the miraculous knowledge Allh gave him in the Qurn and hadith. Whennon-Muslim researchers make a discovery using todays advanced scientific knowledge andtechnology, it is a compelling testimonial to the Qurn and hadith, which mentioned themcenturies before it was possible to know of such things.

If Muslims discovered these things, one might speculate they were merely trying to bolster theirown faith. Yet it is non-Muslims who are independently corroborating these facts, verifyingrealities which were mentioned by the Prophet fourteen hundred years ago. In this way Allh is guiding non-Muslims, through their own research, to realize that the Prophet spoke the truthwhen he mentioned these things, and hopefully to infer that he also spoke the truth in conveyingthe message of Islam, Allhs religion. Many things have been discovered and some things arestill in process of unfolding. The Prophet knew of discoveries on earth and beyond the earth,in space.

We will soon show them Our signs in the Universe and in themselves, until it will becomemanifest to them that it is the truth. [6]

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The Quran's Miraculous Relevance

Written by Shaykh Muhammad Hisham Kabbani

The verse does not say, We are showing them, but We will show them Our signs in thehorizons, i.e. the skies and space. Signsare not juristic rulings or legal verdicts based on historical precedents. Signs are the uncoveringof realities. Allh said, I will show them in the atmosphere. A discovery on earth may havesomehow been discovered before. However, it is impossible for someone fourteen hundredyears ago to have known the discoveries made possible by space exploration. Islamic scholarswho read this verse in the past were wondering what kind of signs Allh was going to show inthe horizons. The Prophet did not explain some aspects of the Qurn and hadith, but leftthem to be discovered later. That is why, up to today, there are many things that scientists arediscovering in Qurn which were not understood, even recently.

Many things that are in the Qurn are not understood even today. Even today's scholars saythat there are many secrets in t