what al-Islam

by Harun Yahya Islam is a religion of peace, love and tolerance. Today, however, some circles have been presenting a false image of Islam, as if there were conflict between Islam and the adherents of the two other monotheistic religions. Yet Islam's view of Jews and Christians, who are named "the People of the Book" in the Koran, is very friendly and tolerant. This attitude towards the People of the Book developed during the years of the birth of Islam. At that time, Muslims were a minority, struggling to protect their faith and suffering oppression and torture from the pagans of the city of Mecca. Due to this persecution, some Muslims decided to flee Mecca and shelter in a safe country with a just ruler. The Prophet Muhammad told them to take refuge with King Negus, the Christian king of Ethiopia. The Muslims who followed this advice found a very fair administration that embraced them with love and respect when they went to Ethiopia. King Negus refused the demands of the...

by Harun Yahya he Fruit of 'The Law of the Jungle': Fascism As Darwinism fed racism in the 19th century, it formed the basis of an ideology that would develop and drown the world in blood in the 20thcentury: Nazism. Both the race theory and the war hysteria of the Nazis were inspired from Darwinism. A strong Darwinist influence can be seen in Nazi ideologues. When one examines this theory, which was given shape by Adolf Hitler and Alfred Rosenberg, one comes across such concepts as 'natural selection', 'selected mating', and 'the struggle for survival between the races', which are repeated dozens of time in The Origin of Species. When calling his book Mein Kampf (My Struggle), Hitler was inspired by the Darwinist struggle for survival and the principle that victory went to the fittest. He particularly talks about the struggle between the races: 'History would culminate in a new millennial empire of unparalleled splendor, based on a new racial hierarc...

by Harun Yahya S'hirk',the word used for idolatry in Arabic means "partnership/association". In the Qur'an, to practise idolatry is to associate any other being, any other person, or concept with God, considering them to be equal to God, and to act upon this unsound belief. In translations of the Qur'an, idolatry is explained as "associating a partner with God". It is expressed thus: "having another god besides God", or "worshipping another god besides God". In its broadest sense, idolatry is to adhere to principles and values, or pursue a life style other than is consistent with the teachings and moral values of the Qur'an. Someone adopting such principles simply sets up the person laying down these principles as a partner to God. This person may be anyone; his father, grandfather, an ancestor he may so exalt the society he is a member of, the founders of an ideology, a philosophy or its followers. In this broad sense of idol...

by Harun Yahya The basis of idolatry is the preference for a person, or a thing over God, for instance, to prefer somebody's approval to God's, to fear somebody as one fears God or to love him as one loves God…Or to do for an idol what he doesn't do for God, or to make a sacrifice which he does not do for God's approval. Given the foregoing arguments, it would be a shallow interpretation indeed to define idolatry as the worship of statues. This is surely an argument used by unbelievers to justify their stance. According to their explanation, idolatry ceased when the idols in the Ka'ba were broken at the time the message of Islam was communicated. If this argument were true, then the hundreds of verses warning believers against idolatry, and providing a detailed explanation about it, would have relevance only to a few primitive tribes in our day-a piece of a reasoning quite contradictory to the essence of the Qur'an. Furthermore from the Qur'an which will p...

by Harun Yahya What we refer to as "moral values" are the concepts introduced by religion that make life beautiful and rewarding. Whenever these values are distorted, we face a really disturbing picture in society. First of all, in an environment where no rules and limits are observed, "lawlessness" prevails. In this system, everyone lays down his own rules and principles, based on highly variable criteria. In the ignorant society the basic principle that is applied is not to go to extremes in social conduct and hence not to incur any reaction from the society. It is wholly acceptable to do anything wrong, as long as it is not publicly disclosed. Ignorant people deliver speeches about virtuous conduct and morals, or severely condemn those who hold a contrary view. However, they themselves violate these values when they are convinced that nobody sees them. This is actually the main basis upon which their philosophy rests. They never think that God surrounds them all ...

by Harun Yahya From the time man was created, there have always been two distinct societies: the ignorant society and the community of believers. All those who fail to observe the limits set by the religion, constitute the ignorant society. Despite discrepancies in beliefs, thoughts and ways of living, one fundamental rationale lays the groundwork for the life of all ignorant societies: not to adhere to true religion. The members of the ignorant society, merely limited strictly in their outlook to the worldly life, are defined in the following verse: Those who entertain no hope of meeting Us, but desire the life of the world and feel secure therein, and those who are neglectful of Our revelations. (Surah Yunus: 7) Those who love too well this fleeting life, and put behind them (the remembrance of) a grievous day. (Surah Al-Insan: 27) It is not in any way wrong to enjoy the favors of this world. God created these favors and gave them to the service of mankind. However, members of the ig...

by Harun Yahya Darwin's portraying human beings as a developed species of animal and his presentation of some races as not yet having completed their development, and as species closer to animals was intensely dangerous and destructive in human history. Those who took this claim of Darwin's as their guide mercilessly oppressed other races, forced them to live under the harshest conditions, and even exterminated them. Bryan Appleyard, author of the book Brave New Worlds, explains the tyrannical mentality underlying racism, and the results of it, in this way: The point is that once people decide you are a lesser creature for whatever reason, either superstitious or scientific, there appears to be no limit to what cruelty they may inflict on you. And they are likely to inflict that cruelty feeling fully justified, because it is but a small step from believing another human being is inferior to believing that he is bad, dangerous, or threatening to 'superior' beings. Indeed...

by Harun Yahya In an environment without religion, the first concept to be eliminated is that of the family. Values such as loyalty, fidelity, allegiance, love, and respect, which sustain the family, are totally abandoned. It must be remembered that the family is the foundation of society and if the family collapses, so does society. Even the state and the nation have no reason to exist, since all moral values that underpin the state and the nation have been obliterated. Furthermore, in irreligious societies, there is no reason left for anyone to feel respect, love or compassion for anyone else. This leads to social anarchy. The rich hate the poor, the poor hate the rich. Anger develops against those who are handicapped or needy. Or aggression towards different nations rises. The workers become aggressive towards their employers and the employers towards their workers, fathers turn against their sons and the sons against their fathers. The reason for continuous bloodshed and the "...

by Harun Yahya In the 20th century, antisemitism has signed its name to great disasters, one of the most horrible being the cruelty and murder inflicted by the Nazis on the Jews. Besides this, in many countries authoritarian regimes have targeted Jews and subjected them to cruel treatment. Fascist organizations have harassed Jews and arranged bloody attacks against them. In our times antisemitism is still an ideology which threatens world peace and targets the well-being and security of innocent people. So, how should a Muslim regard antisemitism? The answer is obvious. Every Muslim must oppose antisemitism as he would oppose every other racist ideology; he must resist this ideology of hatred and defend the rights of Jews as he would defend the rights of all other people. Every Muslim must recognize and defend the rights of Jews whether in Israel or in the diaspora to live in peace, to worship, to protect their identity and to express themselves. Today, Muslims justly condemn the cruel...

by Harun Yahya According to the Qur'an, Muslims, Jews and Christians Must Live in Friendship Jews and Christians (called in the Qur'an the "people of the book") are much closer to Muslims than idolaters (pagans or the atheists). The people of the book, like Muslims, believe in one God and are subject to His commands. In the Qur'an, there is a significant difference between the people of the book and the idolaters. This is especially emphasized in the area of social life. For example, it is said concerning the idolaters: "(they) are unclean, so after this year they should not come near the Masjid al-Haram." (Surat at-Tawba: 28) Idolaters are people who know no divine law, have no moral precepts and who can commit every kind of degrading and perverse deed without hesitation. But the people of the book, while they rely basically on God's revelation, have moral precepts and know what is lawful and what is not. For this reason, if one of the people of the...

by Abdul Radhi Muhammad Abdul Mohsen The evidence of prophethood in Islam stands alone in this theme. Never before the advent of Muhammad, sallallahu `alaihi wa sallam, was the moral perfection an evidence of prophethood. Here are some reasons for that: 1. The Holy Qur’an praises the Prophet’s morals. The Almighty Allah says: "And verily, you [O Muhammad] are on an exalted [standard of] character." (Qur’an, 68:4) He mentions that the Prophet’s good morals and conduct made his companions gather around him. The Almighty Allah says: "…And had you been severe and harsh-hearted, they would have broken away from about you…" (Qur’an 3:159) 2. The perfect character is a miracle, as many people try hard to achieve that but cannot. 3. The perfect morals necessitates truthfulness which in turn necessitates acceptance of speech, and since the most important element in prophethood is telling and accepting of the news, the perfect character is an eviden...

by Imam Ali Ibn Abi al `Izz al-Hanafi And (we believe) that Muhammad is His chosen slave, the selected Prophet and an approved Messenger. The three terms: 'chosen', 'elected' and 'approved,' are more or less synonyms. The point of note here is that a man's perfection lies in how true a slave he is to Allah the Most High. The more true slave a man is, the more perfect and the higher in rank he is. Anyone who believes that the creation can get out of the bond of slavery to Allah, howsoever he may achieve that, and attains higher status with Him, is the most ignorant of His creations. Allah said: "And they say, 'The Merciful has taken a son.' Glory is to Him. Rather, they are slaves, honored." (Al-Anbiya', 26) Further, Allah spoke of the Prophet, Muhammad, as a slave in all those places He wished to honor him. He said: "Glorified is He who took His slave in a journey by night." (A l-Isra', 1) (As against the above) most theol...

by Muhammad Hamidullah IN the annals of men, individuals have not been lacking who conspicuously devoted their lives to the socio-religious reform of their connected peoples. We find them in every epoch and in all lands. In India, there lived those who transmitted to the world the Vedas, and there was also the great Gautama Buddha; China had its Confucius; the Avesta was produced in Iran. Babylonia gave to the world one of the greatest reformers, the Prophet Abraham (not to speak of such of his ancestors as Enoch and Noah about whom we have very scanty information). The Jewish people may rightly be proud of a long series of reformers: Moses, Samuel, David, Solomon, and Jesus among others. 2. Two points are to note: Firstly these reformers claimed in general to be the bearers each of a Divine mission, and they left behind them sacred books incorporating codes of life for the guidance of their peoples. Secondly there followed fratricidal wars, and massacres and genocides became the order...