Question 51: Is it possible that the whole system of this universe has occurred by coincidence?

Answer 51: This can never be the case at all. In fact, no rational person could ever envisage that this world has come into existence without a wise capable and knowing creator. With the least contemplation, a rational person can recognize the invalidity of coincidence in this case. When a person looks at a beautiful building that is architecturally organized, wonderful and firm, foe example, he intuitively believes that someone must have built, organized and planned its plan and designed its foundations, lounges and balconies. When we look at the watch on our wrists, we cannot believe that its first maker found it by coincidence in that shape. So how could we believe that the creation of man to have come by coincidence? And how could this universe which runs according to an absolute accurate system (in terms of night and day, stars, planets and galaxies) how could it have come by pure coincidence? The idea of coincidence is something obsolete and has become outside the rational circle in the world of science and knowledge, and the world of reason and cause.


Question 50: Is Islam to be imposed on people or do people have to embrace it willingly?

Answer 50: Islam is the religion of God, He knows human self better than human beings themselves. He also knows what is good and what is bad for them. It is to the best interest and righteousness to man of mankind if they follow the right path revealed by God out of conviction, choice, love and desire, so that they could be salvaged. Almighty God made this clear in the holy book: “There is no compulsion in religion. Verily, the right Path has become distinct from the wrong path. Whoever disbelieves in Taghut (false deities) and believes in God, then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold that will never break. And God is All-Hearer, All-Knower” (Holy Qur’an: 2: 256). It has never occurred in history that Muslims compelled anyone to embrace Islam even when they were at the height of their power.

Question 49: Do people inherit the religion of Islam from their parents?

Answer 49: It has already been stated above that people are born to be intrinsically God believing, i.e. Muslims. Islam regards a child before puberty to be subordinate to his father in terms of religion and belief. Coming of age, he/she becomes responsible and will be held accountable for his/her deeds. This requires him/her to embrace the religion of Islam as a result of conviction, thinking and choice. However, if the child dies before puberty age (15 years) he/she will be considered as one of the escapees from Hell even though his parents are non-believers. This is a prerequisite of the justice of God who says: “… and no burdens shall bear the burden of another” (Koran 6:164).

Question 48: Since no one has able to see God, and since no dead person was resurrected to tell us what happened to him after death, how could we believe in any religion?

Answer 48: This question is based on the material world, where sense becomes the reference to determine the facts of the universe. Fundamentally, this basis is a void one. In this life we believe in many things without being able to see them or feel them tangibly. We do not know for example the essence of the soul, its secrets, and where does it inhabit our bodies? So far this field has been immune to scientists and scientific laboratories, fine radiology and microscopes, which biologists and doctors use. We absolutely believe in the presence of the soul although we do not see it. We also believe in the existence of many other things like magnetism, electric current, air and many other things, which we do not touch physically.

All religions are based on miracles, which God performs on the hands of the prophets. Ordinary human beings cannot perform these miracles. Only prophets could carry out these actions in order to confirm the fact that they are true emissaries of God. All prophets were sent to people and performed miracles in front of them, so that they believed them. These are well-known historical facts.

Prophet Moses (pbuh) performed miracles: his stick was transformed into a snake, the sea was split into two parts through a hit with his stick, and the bursting of the water from the rock in the form of twelve springs good for drinking.

Prophet Jesus (pbuh) healed the blind and the leprous, and gave life to the dead through God’s will.

Prophet Muhammad also had many miracles including the splitting apart of the moon, the gushing of water from his hands and the night journey from Makkah to Jerusalem and his ascension though the heaven. But the most enduring and challenging miracle revealed through him is the Qur’an.

Belief in Almighty God and in the unseen is therefore an intuitive matter, without which life cannot be right; without which the human self does not feel fully contented. People’s lives, both today and land in the past, testify this if only they are truthful about their thoughts, feelings, and ideas.

Question 47: When did man know faith for the first time? Did people in ancient times believe in Almighty God, or were they unbelievers, as anthropologists claim?

Answer 47: Belief in God is deeply rooted in the human nature. It is intrinsic in people. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: “Every child is born intrinsically believing in God, but his parents make him a Jew, a Christian or a Magi,” (Cited in al-Siuti, vol. 2, hadith No. 6356) i.e. every newborn is born with spontaneous belief in Almighty God and surrendering to Him. Islam has its own concept about the beginning of creation and human evolution. The gist is that Almighty God created Adam from earth and soul was then blown into him. Next Eve was created from Adam. Then marriage began and people multiplied and populated the earth.
Adam was the first believer. He recognized God’s power and greatness. Therefore, when he sinned, he soon regretted and asked God to pardon him: he prostrated before Him implored for reconciliation and forgiveness. Almighty God said; “They said ‘Our Lord! We have wronged ourselves. If you forgive us not, and bestow not upon us Your Mercy, we shall certainly be of the losers”(Holy Qur’an: 7: 23). Almighty God has already said to them: “And We said; ‘O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in paradise, and eat both of you freely with pleasure and delight, of things therein as wherever you will, but come not near this tree or you both will be of the wrong-doers.’ Then Satan made them slip therefrom (paradise), and got them out from that in which they were. We said: O get you down, all, with enmity between yourselves. On earth will be a dwelling place for you and an enjoyment for a time.” Then Adam received from his Lord Words. And his Lord pardoned him (accepted his repentance). Verily, he is the One Who forgives, the Most Merciful.”
It is clear from the holy verses that Adam was a true believer in God. He lived in Paradise with his spouse, then he sinned because of the insinuations of Satan. But Adam soon repented, and God accepted his repentance. This incident indicates that faith occurred before disobedience, unbelieving and polytheism took place. Prophet Muhammad confirmed this fact by saying: “God created people to be intrinsically believing, but they were deceived by the devils.” (cited in Muslim, hadith No. 2637.) This means that devils ornamented polytheism for people and they deviated from the right path.
 

Question 30: Some Christian missionaries claim that Islam is not a revealed religion. It is a distorted derivative version of Judaism and Christianity. Please comment.

Answer 30: What these missionaries are claiming is simply a misleading conjecture. While the prophet was preaching the new faith, the Jews and the Christians were, at the same time, practising their own religions. The new faith clearly contradicted Judaism and Christianity in very fundamental issues. Islam contradicted such beliefs held by Christians and Jews such as: ascribing human qualities to God (Jews witness that Uzair is the son of God). Their claim that Jesus was an illigitimate child and that they killed him. They also ascribed major sins to the prophets. They also claimed themselves to be the chosen people of God, His children and His beloved. The Christians claimed that Jesus is the son of God; that God is one person in a trinity and their belief in Jesus’s crucifixion and death. They also believe in the original sin an the Jesus’s atonement from the sins of mankind. The prophet’ teachings strongly refuted such beliefs. And in their stead he taught radical monotheism, God’s transcendence, and that He neither had a spouse, nor an offspring.

Islam also taught that all prophets were free from committing major sins. Also, the blessed Virgin Mary was not an adulteress, and her son, Jesus, was God’s servant and messenger. He was neither crucified nor killed. The doctrine of trinity is false. The atonement for sins is also false. Jews are not a chosen people, rather all humans are God’s creation and equal in His sight except for those who manifest faith and God-consciousness.

Islam also brought many new rules which contradict with those of Judaism and Christianity. How then can one hold that Islam is a distorted copy of Judaism and/or Christianity?
 

Question 29: Muslims claim to love Jesus, honour him, and believe in his message. Why then do they prefer Muhammad to him? Jesus is after all not only a messenger, but also the son of God.

Answer 29: There are two parts to this question:
A. We, as Muslims, truly believe that Jesus, son of Mary, is one of the prophets belonging to the elevated category of ulû l’cazm prophets (possessors of steadfastness). Muslims love him, honour him and do believe in his message. However, Muslims consider him to be a servant to God and not a son of Him.

B. It is up to God to establish hierarchy among his messengers based on His divine wisdom. He made prophet Muhammad (PBUH) special in certain repects. He is the seal of the prophets. His message completes and abrogates all that came before him. He was also known as God’s intimate. Also, he was sent to all of the creation.

Question:
Did prophet Muhammad (pbuh) directly see Allah almighty,on the day he saw Heaven,Hell, etc?
if so,please send me evidance of this from the Quran Hadith.

Answer:
Praise be to Allaah.
Most of the Sahaabah were of the view that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) did not see Allaah with his eyes on the night of the Miraaj.

It was narrated that ‘Aa’ishah (may Allaah be pleased with her) said: “Whoever told you that Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) saw his Lord was lying. He said that no vision can grasp him [cf. al-An’aam 6:103]…”

(Narrated by al-Bukhaari, al-Tawheed, 6832).

It was narrated that Abu Dharr said: “I asked the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), ‘Did you see your Lord?’ He said, ‘ He is veiled by Light, how could I see Him.’” (Narrated by Muslim, al-Eeman, 261).

It was narrated that Ibn ‘Abbaas said: “ ‘The (Prophet’s) heart belied not what he saw, and indeed he saw Him at a second descent.’ [al-Najm 53:11-12] (This means that) he saw Him twice with his heart.” (Narrated by Muslim, al-Eemaan, 258).

Ibn al-Qayyim said: “ ‘Uthmaan ibn Sa’eed al-Daarimi said in his book al-Ru’yah that there was consensus among the Sahaabah that he [the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)] did not see his Lord on the night of the Mi’raaj. Some of them excluded Ibn ‘Abbaas and said that he was not one of those who said that. Our Shaykh says that this does not go against the facts, for Ibn ‘Abbaas did not say that he saw Him with the eyes in his head, and Ahmad relied upon this in one of the two reports narrated from him, where he says that he saw Him but he did not say that that was with the eyes in his head. The wording used by Ahmad is the same as that used by Ibn ‘Abbaas (may Allaah be pleased with them both). What indicates that what our Shaykh said about the meaning of the hadeeth of Abu Dharr is correct is the fact that in another hadeeth he said that His veil is Light. And Allaah knows best what the Light is that is mentioned in the hadeeth of Abu Dharr (may Allaah be pleased with him) where it says, ‘I saw Light.’”

Ijtimaa’ al-Juyoosh al-Islamiyyah, vol. 1, p. 12

Shaykh al-Islam (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “Chapter: with regard to seeing Allaah, what was proven in al-Saheeh from Ibn ‘Abbaas is that he said: ‘Muhammad saw his Lord with his heart twice, and ‘Aa’ishah denied that he had seen Him. Some people reconciled these two reports by saying that ‘Aa’ishah denied that he saw Him with his eyes and Ibn ‘Abbaas affirmed that he saw Him with his heart. Some versions of the report narrated from Ibn ‘Abbaas refers to seeing without specifying how, and others indicate that it was with the heart. Sometimes he says that Muhammad saw his Lord, and sometimes he says that Muhammad saw Him. There is no clear statement from Ibn ‘Abbaas which says that he saw Him with his eyes. Similarly Imaam Ahmad sometimes says that he saw Him and sometimes says that he saw Him with his heart. No one whom Ahmad heard said that he saw Him with his eyes. But some of his companions heard some of the words that did not specify how, and understood from that that he had seen Him with his eyes, just as some people heard the words of Ibn ‘Abbaas that did not specify how, and understood from that that he had seen Him with his eyes. But there is nothing in the evidence to prove that he saw Him with his eyes, and that was not narrated from any of the Sahaabah. There is nothing in the Qur’aan or Sunnah to indicate that, rather the saheeh texts which indicate that he did not see Him are more definitive. In Saheeh Muslim it is narrated that Abu Dharr said: ‘I asked the Messenger of Allaah (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), “Did you see your Lord?” He said, “He is veiled with Light, how could I see Him?”’ And Allaah says (interpretation of the meaning):

‘Glorified (and Exalted) be He (Allaah) [above all that (evil) they associate with Him]

Who took His slave (Muhammad) for a journey by night from Al-Masjid Al-Haraam (at Makkah) to Al-Masjid Al-Aqsaa (in Jerusalem), the neighbourhood whereof We have blessed, in order that We might show him (Muhammad) of Our Ayaat (proofs, evidences, lessons, signs, etc.)’

[al-Isra’ 17:1]

If he had seen Him with his own eyes, that He would have mentioned that. The same applies to the words “Will you then dispute with him (Muhammad) about what he saw [during the Mi’raaj]?” [al-Najm 53:12 – interpretation of the meaning]. If he had seen Him with his own eyes, that would have been mentioned.

It is proven from the saheeh texts and from the consensus of the salaf (first generations) of this ummah that no one can see Allaah with his eyes in this world, with the exception of the claim made by some that our Prophet Muhammad alone saw Him. But they are agreed that the believers will see Allaah on the Day of Resurrection with their own eyes just as they see the sun and the moon (in this world).”

And Allaah knows best.

Reference - Majmoo’ al-Fataawa, vol. 6, p. 509-510.
http://islamqa.com/index.php?pg=print&ref=12423&ln=eng

Question 25: If only those who follow Muhammad (pbuh) will be
admitted into paradise, what about the generations who lived before his advent?
Answer 25: Those who lived before the Prophet’s mission fall into two
groups:
A. Those who worshipped God, the One, and kept his laws as
revealed through a succession of prophets. They will be rewarded or
punished according to their own deeds. Ultimately, they will enter
paradise.
B. Those to whom a divine scripture was not revealed. They will be tested by God on the day of reckoning. Those who, then, manifest obedience to God will enter paradise, and those who manifest disobedience will enter hell.


Question 24: Why did God reveal the Qur’an in Arabic, rather than in another language? What is the wisdom behind this choice?

Answer 24: It was God’s choice to reveal Qur’an in Arabic, just as it was his choice to reveal previous scriptures in other languages. God does as He pleases. No one has the right to question His will; He can question the actions of His creatures. The wisdom behind the choice of Arabic to be the vehicle in which the Qur’an was revealed can be summed up in the following points:
1. The prophet through whom the Qur’an was revealed was an Arab, and Arabic was his language. How could God have revealed to him a scripture in a foreign tongue?
2. The past people to whom the prophet was sent were Arabs. Had the book been revealed in other than their language, that would have given them a pretext to reject it. They would have accused him of absurd innovations and would have refused to heed his call.
3. Arabic is best equipped to articulate the nuance of the revelation.

Question 23: Where in the Bible was the Prophet’s name mentioned?

Answer 23: In John 14:16 "And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” (John: 14: 16)
Parclete means “Muhammad” or “Ahmad.” The statement that the “Parclete will remain with us forever points to the eternal validity of Muhammad’s religion, book and way of life. God vowed to protect and preserve them. This is what is meant by “He will remain with you forever.”
 

Question 22: Can Muslims read scriptures, other than the Qur’an?  Explain with regards to the Prophet’s position on this question?

Answer 22: The Prophet (pbuh) once showed displeasure when he saw Umar ibn al-Khattab reading the Bible.  Umar asked the Prophet: “Sometimes we hear fine words from the Jews, can we write some of these words?”  The Prophet replied: “Are you confused about your religion, just as the Jews and the Christians are about theirs?  I have brought you a crystal clear teaching.  Had Moses been alive, no doubt he would have been my follower.” (cited in Ahmad , vol.3 Hadith No. 338). In the beginning of the Prophet’s mission he disallowed his disciples from meddling with Torah for fear of confusing it with the Qur’an, which was being revealed.  The Qur’an having, been completely revealed, the Prophet told his disciples to teach about the Jews.  The Prophet says: “Do not believe the people of the Book or disbelieve them, but say ‘We believe in God and that which has been sent down to us (Qur’an: 2:136)’.” (cited in Bukhari, Hadith No. 1719). The study of different sacred texts can only strengthen a Muslim’s faith.  What is true in these faiths has been confirmed by the Qur’an, and falsehood in them had likewise been made manifest in the Qur’an.