Your Questions Answered (volume 3)

Q11: Triple Darkness

"He created you from one being, then from that (being) He made its mate; and He hath provided for you of cattle eight kinds. He created you in the wombs of your mothers creation after creation, in a triple darkness........" (Qur'an, 39:6) What is meant by: (1) a triple darkness? (2) of cattle eight kinds?

(1) "Triple darkness": according to the 'Ahadith of Masumeen it means "the three veils of darkness which cover the unborn child, i.e. the caul or membrane, the womb and the hollow (or stomach) in which the womb is enclosed."

(2) In Surah 6, Ayats 143-4, four kinds of cattle are mentioned in pairs in connection with certain Arab superstitions which are condemned by Allah, the same four pairs are mentioned here as representatives of domesticated cattle given by Allah to man for his benefit. These are sheep, goats, camels and oxen.

Q12: GRADES OF THE PROPHETS

How can we say that our Prophet (s.a.w.) is the highest in rank and greatest of all the prophets, when Allah says in the Qur'an that we should not make any difference between His prophets. See Ayat 285 of Sura Al-Baqarah:-

"....... all believe in Allah and in His angels and in His Messenger; (they say) we make no difference between His messengers...."

A. Compare this Ayat with Ayat 253 of the same Surah and you will find that there WAS grade and RANK among the Prophets and Messengers of Allah. That Ayat says:-

"These messengers, We have exalted some of them above the others......."

Then what is the meaning of the Ayat 285?

Its meaning is that we have to believe in all the Messengers of Allah, We should not be like Jews who do not believe in Hadhrat Isa (a.s.) and Hadhrat Muhammad Mustafa (s.a.w.), nor like Christians who do not believe in Hadhrat Muhammad Mustafa (s.a.w.).

Q13: SINLESSNESS OF THE PROPHETS

We believe in the sinlessness of prophets; but these sentences from a dua (Aamal-e- Arafa) show that they were not sinless:

(1) "WA-BISMIKAL-AZEEMI-LLADHI DA'AK BIHI DAWOODO WA KHARRALAKA SAAJIDA FAGHAFARATA LAHU DHAN-BAH"

(And by Thy Great name by which Dawood prayed to Thee and prostrated before Thee in Sajdah, so that Thou pardoned his Dhanb' i.e. Sin)

(2) "WABISMIKAL-LADHI DA'AKA BIHI ADAMO FAGHAFARATA LAHU DHANBAH." (And by Thy name by which Adam prayed to Thee, so that Thou pardoned his "Dhanb' i.e. sin)

A. The word "DHANB" (Sin) when used for the prophets, means Tark-e-Awla (leaving a better course for a lawful but unpreferred one), and not sin in usual sense. Q14: WAS ISA (AS.) BORN ON 25th DECEMBER?

Was Nabii Isa (a.s.) born on 25th December, according to our history? A.Hazrat Isa (a.s.) was not born in December; he was not born even in winter. It is no question of "our" or "their" history. It is an accepted fact.

25th December was the day when the Romans (worshippers of Mitra) used to celebrate birth of Sun-God. 23rd December, is the shortest day in Northern hemisphere; so, the next day sees the beginning of the elongation of day-time. But the Romans miscalculated and thought that the day starts to become longer from 25th December; hence their festival.

When the Roman emperor Constantine left Mitraism to become a Christian, the Christian priests took a lot of myths from Mitraism and made them a part of Christianity to please him and accommodate the Romans' practices within the Christianity. The belief in sonship of God, the atonement, the Mass, Easter, Christmas, all fall in this category.

Q15: RELIGIOUS GUIDE BEFORE OUR HOLY PROPHET

Who was the Prophet in the world before Hazrat Muhammad (s.a.w.)? If it were Nabi Isa (a.s.) then how many years after his being taken up by Allah came Hazrat Muhammad (s.a.w.)? Was it that the world was without any prophet for a long period, and then came Hazrat Muhammad (s.a.w) I hope you will explain to me with full necessary details.

A. The world cannot remain without a religious guide appointed by Allah. That guide may be a prophet or a successor of the prophet (without himself being a prophet). Between Hazrat Isa (a.s.) and Hazrat Muhammad Mustafa (s.a.w.) there was a gap of about 6 centuries. During this period, there were 3 chains of religious guides:

(a) The successors of Hazrat Isa (a.s.), last of whom was Hazrat Salman Farsi who became a follower of our Holy Prophet.

(b) The Successors of Hazrat Ismail (a.s.), last of whom was Hazrat Abu Talib (a.s). He also became a follower of our Holy Prophet. These guides in these two chains were not prophets themselves.

Q16: THE FIRST AYAT REVEALED

On what date and place was the first ayat revealed to the Prophet (s.a.w.)? And which ayat?

A. The prophet of Islam was in the cave of the mountain "Hira" (3 miles from Mecca) when the following 5 Ayats were revealed:

"Proclaim! (or Read!) in the name of they Lord and Cherisher, Who created; created man, out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful, He who taught (the use of) the pen, taught man that which he knew not."

Q1 7: IS 'BISMILLAH' WORD OF ALLAH?

The whole of the holy Qur'an is true word of Allah. The verse "Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir- Raheem" is at hundreds of places in this holy book. Is this also the word of Allah? A. Yes. Just as a teacher trains the students in writing an application addressed to himself, Allah teaches His creatures the necessary ways to show their submission to Him. And, by the way, it is mentioned 114 times, not "hundreds".

Q18: LIGHT OF ALLAH?

It is said that Allah produced from His own Sublime Light the Light of Muhammad and from the splendour of that Light created the world 14,000 years before the creation of Adam. Now, the question is:

(a) Is Allah constituted of Light? (b) What does it actually mean by the word "Light" here? (c) Does it mean that Adam was created after 14,000 years o the creation of the earth?

A. Allah is not a light; the phrase "Light of Allah" means a "Light" having special honour before Allah, just as the "soul" of Adam (a.s.) was termed by Allah as "My Soul".

'Nur' (Light) is also used in the meaning of "One which is self-evident and illuminates (shows) other things". It is in this sense that Allah is called 'Light', for example, the Ayat, "Allah is the light of the heavens and earth" (Qur'an, 24:35). It means that Allah is self- existent and has created the heavens and earth.

The number, 14,000 years, could have been used in literal sense; but usually such phrases mean a long period.

Q19: THE MOTHER OF THE HOLY PROPHET

Did the Holy Prophet Muhammad's mother have any relationship with Madina? Was she born there?

A.No. She was a Quraishite, and her father was "Wahab s/o Abd Manaf, s/o Zuhra s/o Kilab". Her genealogy meets that of Abdullah in Kilab; Abdullah's genealogy is: Abdullah s/o Abdul-Muttalib s/o Hashim s/o Abd Manaf s/o Qusai s/o Kilab.

But the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.) was related to the clan of Bani Najjar of Madina, because his great-grandmother was from that tribe and city.Hashim had married Salmah d/o Amr of Bani Najjar in Yathrib (Madina) who was the mother of Abdul-Muttalib.

Q20: MOON IS CLEFT ASUNDER

"The hour drew nigh and the moon was rent in twain" (54:1) what does this verse mean? A. The correct translation is, "and the moon is cleft (or rent) asunder". It mentions the miracle of the Holy Prophet, when one night the moon was cleft asunder in the valley of Mecca within sight of the Holy Prophet, his companions and the unbelievers.

The next Ayat says: "And if they see a sign, they turn away and say (that it is) a sorcery continued". It clearly shows that unbelievers had seen that miracle and still refused to accept it, by pretending that it was a sorcery. Surely there had happened some thing which made the unbelievers use the word "sorcery".