Islam

1
Islam
Separating Myth from Reality
2
The Event

1. 1426 years ago a window opened in the heavens and
   God (Allah ) spoke to mankind.
2. The message was the same that had come many times
   before in the history of mankind.
3. The difference was that this was the last time
   this message would be sent.

The name of that message was Islam
3
Purpose of this presentation

• To encourage genuine scientific enquiry into the
  reality of the Creator and His Message
• To open minds to the truth of Islam through a
  rational approach
• To ask ourselves the question What will happen
  to me when I die?

4
The three basis of Islam

1. Belief in Allah and his Prophet
2. Divine origin of the Quran and Islam
3. Belief in the Day of Judgment when we will be
   brought to account irrespective of what we
   believed

Because reality does not depend on belief for
its existence
5
Lets examine each of them

• From a standpoint of logic,
• not belief

6
Scientific case for God

• Why only one God?

7
Question for seekers of truth

• Quran 482
• Do they not carefully consider the Quran ? If
  it had been from anyone other than Allah they
  would have found in it many contradictions."

8
Creation is not an accident

• Donald Page of the Princeton Institute of
  Advanced Study has calculated the odds against
  the formation of our universe without God putting
  in the necessary constants. And the figure comes
  out to be one out of 10,000,000 to the power 124.
  To see how impossible it is compare this number
  to the total amount of subatomic particles in the
  whole universe, which has been calculated to be
  10 to the power 80.
• According to physicists, if the neutron mass was
  0.998 of its present mass, the decay of protons
  would make the existence of atoms impossible.
  There would be no life. The designer had life in
  mind when He set the balance.
• Quran 557 "He (Allah) has set the balance."

Detailed article is available on request
9
Why only one God

• If there were more than one God then different
  parts of the universe would not have worked with
  such uniformity as they did and as is always the
  case (when two or more create something), parts
  of the matter in the universe would have
  originated at different times. Yet scientists and
  laws are in agreement that the Big Bang was when
  all energy and matter originated in the universe.
  
• Quran 2391" There has never been any other god
  besides Allah. Otherwise, each god would have
  declared independence with their creations, and
  they would have competed with each other for
  dominance. Allah be glorified far above their
  claims."
• Quran 2122. "If there were in them (the heavens
  and the earth) other gods beside Allah, there
  would have been confusion in both."

10
So He said about Himself

• Quran 112 "Say He is Allah the One. Allah,
  the eternal, absolute. He begets not, nor was He
  begotten and there is nothing like Him.

Logically if Allah were like us, why would we
worship Him?
11
Divine nature of the Quran

• Is also proof of the Prophethood of Muhammad
  
• The Messenger of Allah

12
Invitation to intelligent people

• Quran3190-91 Behold! in the creation of the
  heavens and the earth and the alternation of
  night and day there are indeed Signs for men of
  intelligence/understanding. Men who celebrate the
  praises of Allah standing sitting and lying down
  on their sides and contemplate the (wonders of)
  creation in the heavens and the earth (with the
  thought) "Our Lord! not for nothing have you
  created (all) this! Glory to You! give us
  salvation from the penalty of the fire.

The first sign of intelligence is to recognize
our Creator
13
What is the Quran?

• The Qur'an is an eternal miracle. It was revealed
  to Prophet Muhammad who was unlettered. Yet
  it is acclaimed as the finest example of Arabic
  literary excellence of all time.
• It also contains information about the universe
  that was not discovered by science until several
  centuries after the revelation.
• It is the last Book of Allah sent for the
  guidance of all humanity through His last
  Prophet, Muhammad

14
How was it revealed?

• The Qur'an was revealed in stages through a
  period of about 23 years.
• The Prophet received the first revelation in
  610 CE, in the Cave of Hira in the Mountain of
  Light (Jabal-an-Noor), two and a half miles away
  from the city of Makkah

The Angel Jibraeel (Gabriel) used to come with
the Word of Allah
15
The first verses

• The first revelation was the first 5 verses of
  Surah (chapter) Al-Alaq (961-5)
• "Read in the name of your Lord who created,
  created man from a clot. Read, for your Lord is
  most Generous, Who teaches by means of the pen,
  teaches man what he does not know."

Allah invites mankind to read His signs in the
Universe around us
16
For whom is the Quran?

• The teachings of the Qur'an are universal,
  addressed to all people throughout the world
  until the end of time, regardless of their tribe,
  race, gender, nationality, creed or color.
• They enlighten the soul, condemn all wrongs,
  order good deeds and call for the establishment
  of justice and fraternity through obeying Allah
  to whom we will all return and account for
  our actions.

17
How was the Quran preserved?

• Memorization
• From the earliest revelation it was memorized by
  the Prophet himself as well as by many of his
  companions
• Writing
• Scribes (there were 42, under Zaid bin Thabit)
  wrote down the revelation, which they read out to
  the Prophet to verify its correctness.
• As a source of the Shariah (Islamic Law)
• The Quran and the Sunnah are the sources of
  Islamic law and this has helped in preserving
  both through practicing the principles enshrined
  therein.

18
The Quran and Science

• An Inherent Compatibility

19
Divine origin of the Quran

• The Quran is not the words of Prophet Muhammad
  . The author of the Quran is Allah himself
• There are many proofs of this, some of which are
  mentioned in the following slides

20
Our Universe

• Signs of the Creator all around us

21
The Fundamental Constants

• Quran 3120 Do they the disbelievers not see
  that Allah has subjected for them whatsoever is
  in the heavens and on earth
• Quran 5449 " Indeed We have created
  everything with a set measure
• Compare these statements in the Quran to what
  the physicist Paul Davies writes in his book, The
  Accidental Universe (1982) "The numerical
  values that nature has assigned to the
  fundamental constants, such as the charge on the
  electron, the mass of the proton, and the
  Newtonian Gravitational constant, may be
  mysterious, but they are critically relevant to
  the structure of the universe that we perceive.
  As more and more physical systems from nuclei to
  galaxies have become better understood,
  scientists have begun to realize that many
  characteristics of these systems are remarkably
  sensitive to the precise value of the fundamental
  constants. Had nature opted for a slightly
  different set of numbers, the world would have
  been a very different place and we would not be
  here to see it." (Davies 1982)

22
The Big Bang theory

• Quran 2130 "Do not the unbelievers see that
  the Heavens and the earth were joined together,
  then We split them apart."
• Professor Alfred Kroner, chairman of the
  Department of Geology at the Institute of
  Geosciences, Johannes Gutenburg University,
  Mainz, Germany stated about this verse in the
  Quran "Somebody who did not know something
  about nuclear physics 1400 years ago could not, I
  think, be in a position to find out from his own
  mind for instance that the earth and the heavens
  had the same origin, or many others of the
  questions that we have discussed here. (Rehaili
  1995)"

23
The Expanding Universe

• The Expanding Universe
• Quran5147 "And the firmament, We constructed
  with power and skill and verily We are expanding
  it."
• The Protective Atmosphere
• Quran2132 "And We have made the atmosphere a
  protective roof, yet do they turn away from the
  Signs which these things point to."

24
Movement of the Sun

• The sun's movement is not something that is
  evident to our eyes but requires specialized
  equipment to observe.
• Quran 2133 "It is He who created the night
  and the day, and the sun and the moon, all (the
  celestial bodies) swim along, each in its orbit
  with its own motion."
• Quran 3639 And the sun constantly journeys
  towards a homing place for it and for the moon,
  We have determined phases.
• Modern science discovered that the sun rotates
  around its axis every 26 days . The Quran
  mentions the movement of the sun, with its own
  motion, signified by the verb Yasbahoon in
  Arabic. Thus according to the Quran the sun is
  not just flying through space but moving on its
  own, i.e. rotating. The sun is also continually
  on a journey in space towards its homing place,
  the solar apex, as mentioned in the Quran.

25
Death of Stars, Phases of Moon

• The Death of Stars
• Quran 777-8 Assuredly what ye are promised
  must come to pass. Then when the stars become
  dim
• Phases of the Moon
• Quran3638-39 And the Sun runs his course for
  a period determined for him that is the decree
  of (Him) the exalted in Might the All-Knowing.
  And the Moon We have measured for her phases (to
  traverse) till she returns like the old (and
  withered) lower part of date-stalk.

26
Origin of all life from water

• Quran2130 Do not the Unbelievers see that the
  heavens and the earth were joined together (as
  one unit of Creation) before We clove them
  asunder? We made from water every living thing.
  Will they not then believe?
• Quran2554 It is He Who has created man from
  water then has He established relationships of
  lineage and marriage for thy Lord has power
  (over all things).
• Quran2445 And Allah has created every animal
  from water of them there are some that creep on
  their bellies some that walk on two legs and
  some that walk on four. Allah creates what He
  wills for verily Allah has power over all
  things.

27
Queen ant Queen bee

• Quran68-69 And thy Lord taught the Bee to
  build its cells in hills on trees and in (men's)
  habitations Then to eat of all the produce (of
  the earth) and find with skill the spacious paths
  of its Lord there issues from within their
  bodies a drink of varying colors wherein is
  healing for men verily in this is a Sign for
  those who give thought. (The Quran uses the
  female verb in describing the bee, in Arabic
  faslukee.)
• Quran2718-19 At length when they came to a
  (lowly) valley of ants one of the ants said "O
  ye ants get into your habitations lest Solomon
  and his hosts crush you (under foot) without
  knowing it." So he smiled amused at her speech
  and he said "O my Lord! so order me that I may
  be grateful for Thy favors which Thou hast
  bestowed on me and on my parents and that I may
  work the righteousness that will please Thee and
  admit me by Thy Grace to the ranks of Thy
  righteous Servants. (The Quran uses the female
  verb Qalat to refer to the speech of the ant)
• It is known only in modern times that in bee and
  ant colonies, it is the female queen that is the
  only one who gives directions to the entire
  colony.

28
Invisible barrier between seas

• Quran5519-20 He has let free the two bodies
  of flowing water meeting together. Between them
  is a Barrier which they do not transgress
• The French scientist Jacques Yves Cousteau
  conducted various undersea investigations at the
  Strait of Gibraltar and explaining these
  phenomena concluded "Unexpected fresh water
  springs issue from the southern and northern
  coasts of Gibraltar. These mammoth springs gush
  towards each other at angles of 45 degrees
  forming a reciprocal dam. Due to this fact the
  Mediterranean and the Atlantic Oceans cannot
  intermingle (as quoted by Nurbaki)."

29
Isostacy Mountain roots

• Quran786-7 "Have we not expanded the earth
  and made the mountains as tent pegs"
• Quran31-10 " We have cast into the earth
  anchors lest it shake with you"
• This fact was discovered less than 150 years ago
  by scientists and now accepted as a fundamental
  law in geology, the concept of Isostacy. M. J
  Selby in a standard-text on the subject entitled
  "Earth's Changing Surface (Clarendon Press,
  Oxford 1985) states "G.B Airy in 1855 suggested
  that the crust of the earth could be likened to
  rafts of timber floating on water. Thick pieces
  of timber float higher above the water surface
  than thin pieces and similarly thick sections of
  the earth's crust will float on a liquid or
  plastic substratum of greater density. Airy was
  suggesting that mountains have a deep root of
  lower density rock, which the plains lack. Four
  years after Airy published his work, J.H Pratt
  offered an alternative hypothesis...By this
  hypothesis, rock columns below mountains must
  have a lower density, because of their greater
  length, than shorter rock columns beneath plains.
  Both Airy and Pratt's hypothesis imply that
  surface irregularities are balanced by
  differences in density of rocks below the major
  features (mountains and plains) of the crust.
  This state of BALANCE is described as the concept
  of ISOSTACY (Selby198532) ."

30
Within Ourselves

• Quran5518
• Then which of the favors of your Lord will you
  deny?

31
The challenge of the Quran

• Quran 41 53 We will show them Our Signs in
  the universe and in their own selves, until it
  becomes manifest to them that this (Quran) is
  the truth. Is it not sufficient in regard to your
  Lord that He is a Witness over all things?

32
Embryology

• Quran164 Allah fashioned man from a small
  quantity (of sperm
• Quran2313-14 Then We placed him as a drop in
  a place of rest. Then We made the drop into a
  leech like structure..."
• Quran329 And He (Allah) gave you hearing and
  sight and feeling and understanding."
• Dr. E. Marshall Johnson Professor of Anatomy,
  concluded after studying verses from Qur'an
• "The Qur'an describes not only the development of
  external form but emphasizes also the internal
  stages - the stages inside the embryo of its
  creation and development, emphasizing major
  events recognized by contemporary science... so I
  see nothing in conflict with the concept that
  divine intervention was involved..."

33
Testimony of scientists

• Keith Moore, head of the department of anatomy,
  at the University of Toronto, was shown verses of
  the Quran dealing with the microscopic stages of
  the human embryo. He was so surprised at what he
  found that he went back and revised the history
  of embryology in his standard texts on the
  subject. The books that Keith Moore authored are
  used at prestigious institutions like Yale and at
  universities all around the world. He stated,
  after being unable to provide an explanation on
  how microscopic details of the embryo could be
  accurately described in a book written before the
  discovery of the microscope "It is clear to me
  that these statements (in the Quran on
  embryology) must have come to Muhammad from God.
  This proves to me that Muhammed must have been
  the Messenger of God or Allah." (Rehaili 1995)

34
Circulation of blood food

• Quran16-6 "And surely in the cattle, there is
  a lesson for you. We give you to drink of what is
  inside their bodies, from between digested food
  and blood, pure milk, pleasant to those who drink
  it." The above verse of the Quran calls our
  attention to the food distribution function of
  blood. It should be kept in mind however that
  this information was made known to the west by
  William Harvey, 1000 years after the Prophets
  death. If he was the author of the Quran (as his
  enemies claim) how would he have known, at the
  time that he lived that digested food is
  transported via blood and then becomes the
  constituent of milk secreted by the mammary
  glands?

35
Maurice Bucaille

• Maurice Bucaille, one of the first to popularize
  the linking of the Quran and Science, in his
  best selling books, The Bible, the Quran and
  Science, and What is the Origin of Man, concluded
  that given the history of the origin of the
  Quran, it could not have been the work of a man
  or group of men living in Arabia or anywhere else
  at that time, considering the nature of the
  scientific information in the Quran. Lecturing
  at the French Academy of Medicine, he concluded
  on the subject "It makes us deem it quite
  unthinkable for a man of Muhammad's time to have
  been the author of such statements on account of
  the state of knowledge in his day. Such
  considerations are what give the Quranic
  revelation its unique place and forces the
  impartial scientist to admit his inability to
  provide an explanation which calls solely on
  materialistic reasoning. (Bucaille 1985)

36
Resurrection of the dead

• Quran 751-6 I do call to witness the
  Resurrection Day And I do call to witness the
  self-reproaching spirit (eschew Evil). Does man
  think that We cannot assemble his bones? Nay We
  are able to put together in perfect order the
  very tips of his fingers. But man wishes to do
  wrong (even) in the time in front of him. He
  questions "When is the Day of Resurrection?
• Quran 7536-40 Does Man think that he will be
  left uncontrolled (without purpose)? Was he not a
  drop of sperm emitted (in lowly form)? Then did
  he become a leech-like clot then did (Allah)
  make and fashion (him) in due proportion. And of
  him He made two sexes male and female. Has not
  He (the same) the power to give life to the dead

So why then will we still not believe?
37
And on the Day of Judgment?

• Quran32-10-12 And they say "What! when we
  lie hidden and lost in the earth shall we indeed
  be in a creation renewed?" Nay they deny the
  meeting with their Lord! Say "The Angel of
  Death put in charge of you will (duly) take your
  souls then shall ye be brought back to your
  Lord. If only thou couldst see when the guilty
  ones will bend low their heads before their Lord
  (saying) "Our Lord! We have seen and we have
  heard now send us back (to the world) we will
  work righteousness for we do indeed (now)
  believe.

But on that day nothing can be changed
38
All that we need to do today

• Accept in our heart that there is nobody worthy
  of worship except Allah who created us and
  sustains us and who will kill us and resurrect us
  and who we will stand before to be judged.
• And accept that Muhammad is His slave and
  Messenger

Its as simple as that to become a Muslim!!
39
And what will happen then??

• Quran2570-1 But if he repents, believes and
  works righteous deeds, Allah will change the evil
  of such persons into good and Allah is
  Oft-Forgiving Most Merciful. And whoever repents
  and does good has truly turned to Allah with an
  (acceptable) conversion
• The Mercy of Allah is such that not only will he
  forgive our sins but will change them into good
  deeds. If only we are ready to accept and obey
  Him.

40
Popular Notions and Prejudices about Islam

• Frequently Asked Questions
• and their Answers

41
The Prophet of Islam

• What others say about him

42
John William DraperA history of the Intellectual
Development of Europe, Vol. 1

• Four years after the death of Justinian, A.D.
  569, was born at Mecca in Arabia, the man who of
  all men, has exercised the greatest influence
  upon the human raceMohammad.

43
Major Arthur Glyn LeonardIslam Her Moral and
Spiritual Value, London 1927, p.20-1

• Mohammad was no mere spiritual peddler, no
  vulgar time-serving vagrant, but one of the most
  profoundly sincere and earnest spirits of any age
  or epoch. A man not only great, but one of the
  greatest (i.e. truest), men that humanity has
  ever produced. Great, not simply as a prophet but
  as a patriot and a statesman a material as well
  as a spiritual builder who constructed a great
  nation, a greater empire and more even than all
  three, a still greater Faith, true moreover,
  because he was true to himself, his people and
  above all, to his God.

44
Prof. K. S. Ramakrishna Rao,Head of the
Department of Philosophy,Government College for
Women University of Mysore, Mandya-571401
(Karnataka). Mohammed The Prophet -Re-printed
from "Islam and Modern age", Hyderabad, March
1978.

• The theory of Islam and Sword for instance is
  not heard now frequently in any quarter worth the
  name. The principle of Islam that there is no
  compulsion in religion is well known. Gibbon, a
  historian of world repute says, "A pernicious
  tenet has been imputed to Mohammadans, the duty
  of extirpating all the religions by sword.This
  charge based on ignorance and bigotry, is refuted
  by Qur'an, by history of Musalman conquerors and
  by their public and legal toleration of Christian
  worship. The great success of Mohammad's life had
  been effected by sheer moral force, without a
  stroke of sword.

45
Prof. K. S. Ramakrishna Rao,Head of the
Department of Philosophy,Government College for
Women University of Mysore, Mandya-571401
(Karnataka). Mohammed The Prophet -Re-printed
from "Islam and Modern age", Hyderabad, March
1978.

• The personality of Muhammed, it is most
  difficult to get into the whole truth of
  it.There is Muhammed, the Prophet. There is
  Muhammed, the General Muhammed, the King
  Muhammed the Preacher Muhammed the Philosopher
  Muhammed the Statesman Muhammed the Orator
  Muhammed the Reformer Muhammed the Protector of
  Slaves Muhammed the Emancipator of Women
  Muhammed the Judge Muhammed the Saint. And in
  all these magnificent roles, in all these
  departments of human activities, he is alike, a
  hero.

46
Jules MassermanU.S. psychoanalyst, Time
Magazine, July 15, 1974

• Leaders must fulfill three functions provide
  for the well-being of the led provide a social
  organization in which people feel secure and
  provide them with a set of beliefs.
• People like Pasteur and Salk are leaders in the
  first sense. People like Gandhi and Confucius on
  one hand and Alexander, Caesar and Hitler on the
  other are leaders in the second and perhaps the
  third. Jesus and Buddha belong in the third
  category alone.
• Perhaps the greatest leader of all times was
  Mohammad who combined all three functions.

47
Mahatma Gandhiin Young India

• Some one has said that Europeans in South Africa
  dread the advent of Islam -- Islam that civilized
  Spain, Islam that took the torch light to Morocco
  and preached to the world the gospel of
  brotherhood.The Europeans of South Africa dread
  the Advent of Islam. They may claim equality with
  the white races. They may well dread it, if
  brotherhood is a sin. If it is equality of
  colored races then their dread is well founded.

48
Mahatma Gandhi again..in Young India

• I become more than ever convinced that it was
  not the sword that won a place for Islam in those
  days.
• It was the rigid simplicity, the utter
  self-effacement of the Prophet, the scrupulous
  regard fro pledges, his intense devotion to his
  friends and followers and his intrepidity, his
  fearlessness, his absolute trust in God and in
  his own mission.
• These and not the sword carried everything before
  them and surmounted every obstacle.

49
Dr. Annie BesantThe Life and Teachings of
Muhammad

• It is impossible for anyone who studies the life
  character of the great Prophet of Arabia, .,
  to feel anything but reverence for that mighty
  Prophet, one of the great messengers of the
  Supreme.  I myself feel whenever I re-read them,
  a new way of admiration, a new sense of reverence
  for that mighty Arabian teacher.

50
Sir George Bernard ShawThe Genuine Islam, Vol.
1, No. 8, 1936

• I have studied him the wonderful man in in
  my opinion far from being an anti-Christ he must
  be called the Savior of Humanity. I believe that
  if a man like him were to assume the dictatorship
  of the modern world, he would succeed in solving
  the problems in a way that would bring much
  needed peace and happiness.
• I have prophesied about the faith of Muhammad
  that it would be acceptable to the Europe of
  tomorrow as it is beginning to be acceptable to
  the Europe of today.

51
Rev. Bosworth Smith Mohammed and
Mohammedanism, 1874

• By a fortune absolutely unique in history,
  Mohammed is a threefold founder, of a nation, of
  an empire and of a religion.
• He was Caesar and Pope in one, but he was Pope
  without the Popes pretensions and Caesar without
  the legions of Caesar without a standing army,
  without a bodyguard, without a palace, without a
  fixed revenue, if ever any man had the right to
  say that he ruled by right Divine, it was
  Mohammed, for he had all the powers without its
  instruments and without its supports.

52
Alphonse de Lamar tine Historie de le Turquie,
Paris 1854, Vol.11.Pages 276-77

• If greatness of purpose, smallness of means and
  astounding results are the three criteria of
  human genius, who would dare to compare any great
  man in history with Muhammad?
• Philosopher, apostle, legislator, warrior,
  conqueror of ideas, restorer of rational beliefs,
  of a cult without images, the founder of twenty
  terrestrial empires and one spiritual empires,
  that is Muhammad. As regards all standards by
  which human greatness may be measured, we may
  well ask, is there any man greater than he?

53
Dr. Sarojini NaiduIDEALS OF ISLAM, vide Speeches
Writings, Madras, 1918

• It was the first religion that preached and
  practiced democracy for, in the mosque, when the
  call for prayer is sounded and worshippers are
  gathered together, the democracy of Islam is
  embodied five times a day when the peasant and
  king kneel side by side and proclaim 'God Alone
  is Great'... I have been struck over and over
  again by this indivisible unity of Islam that
  makes man instinctively a brother.

54
Sharma Guillaume

• Diwan Chand Sharma
• The Prophets of the East, Calcutta 1935, p.122
• Muhammad was the soul of kindness and his
  influence was felt and never forgotten by those
  around him.
• Alfred Guillaume,
• Islam, Harmondsworth, London, 1954, p.2
• At the outset let it be said that Muhammad was
  one of the great figures of history.His ability
  as a statesman faced with problems of
  extraordinary complexity is truly amazing.

55
Thomas CarlyleOn Heroes, Hero-Worship and the
Heroic in History, London 1888,p.61

• His household was the frugalest his common diet
  barley-bread and water sometimes for months
  there was not a fire once lighted on his hearth.
  They record with just pride that he would mend
  his own shoes, patch his own cloak. A poor,
  hard-toiling, ill provided man careless of what
  vulgar men toil for.
• No emperor with his tiaras was obeyed as this man
  in a cloak of his own clouting. During his three
  and twenty years of rough trial, I find something
  of a veritable hero necessary for that of itself.

56
Islamic Fundamentalism

• Myth or Reality?

57
De Lacy OLeary Historian in Islam at the cross
road

• History makes it clear however, that the legend
  of fanatical Muslims sweeping through the world
  and forcing Islam at the point of the sword upon
  conquered races is one of the most fantastically
  absurd myth that historians have ever repeated.

58
John Esposito, Professor, Georgetown University
Advisor to the US Government on Islamic
affairs, in 'The Islamic Threat' Myth or Reality?

• I regard 'fundamentalism as too laden with
  Christian presuppositions and Western
  stereotypes, as well as implying a monolithic
  threat that does not exist more fitting general
  terms are "Islamic Revivalism" or "Islamic
  Activism", which are less value-laden and have
  roots within the Islamic tradition.
• Islam possess a long tradition of revival
  (tajdid) and reform (islah) which includes
  notions of political and social activism dating
  from early Islamic centuries to the present day.

59
About double standards John Esposito

• "Focus on "Islamic fundamentalism" as a global
  threat has reinforced a tendency to equate
  violence with Islam, to fail to distinguish
  between illegitimate use of religion by
  individuals and the faith and practice of the
  majority of the world's Muslims who, like
  believers in other religious traditions, wish to
  live in peace.

60
About double standards John Esposito

• To uncritically equate Islam and Islamic
  fundamentalism with extremism is to judge Islam
  only by those who wreak havoc, a standard not
  applied to Judaism and Christianity. Fear of
  fundamentalism creates a climate in which Muslims
  and Islamic organizations are guilty until proven
  innocent. Actions, however heinous, are
  attributed to Islam rather than to a twisted or
  distorted interpretation of Islam.

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And the effect of this John Esposito

• Thus, for example, despite the historic track
  record of Christianity and Western countries in
  conducting warfare, developing weapons of mass
  destruction, and imposing their imperialist
  designs, Islam and Muslim culture are portrayed
  as somehow peculiarly and inherently expansionist
  and prone to violence and warfare (jihad).

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Women in Islam

• The Myth The Reality

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Equality of Men and Women

• In Islam there is complete equality between men
  and women in all respects of duties and rewards
  and a difference in responsibilities in relation
  to their nature of creation.
• One is not superior to the other only different
  in terms of some responsibilities, like the
  upbringing of children.

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Equality of Men and Women

• Qur'an 4913 O mankind! We created you from a
  single (pair) of a male and a female.
• Qur'an 41 O Mankind! Reverence your
  Guardian-Lord, Who created you from a single
  person, created of like nature his mate, from
  them scattered countless men and women. Fear
  Allah, through whom you demand your mutual rights
  and reverence the wombs (that bore you), for
  Allah ever watches over you.
• Qur'an 3195 Never will I waste the work of a
  worker among you, whether male or female, the one
  of you being from the other.

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Comparison of some of the Rights ofWomen Men

• Right to own property and income. She need not
  share it with the husband at all.
• Right to be paid to bring up children including
  nursing them
• Right to marry anyone of their choice
• Right to divorce the husband even without his
  consent and to have this written in the marriage
  contract
• Right to receive the Mehr (bridal present) and
  not to pay any dowry at all

• Wife has a right in the husbands property and
  income. It is the duty of the husband to support
  the wife unconditionally.
• Right to have the wife obey him in all matters
  that are not against Islam.
• Right to divorce the wife for specific reasons in
  the presence of 2 witnesses after first
  exhausting all avenues of resolving differences
• The wife need not serve her husbands parents or
  family

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Women as an example for all time

• Quran 66 10-12 Allah sets forth, for an
  example to the unbelievers, the wife of Noah and
  the wife of Lot. They were both under two of our
  righteous servants, but they were false to their
  husbands and they profited nothing before Allah
  on their account, but were told 'Enter you the
  Fire along with others that enter! And Allah sets
  forth, as an example to those who believe, the
  wife of Pharaoh. Behold she said 'O my Lord!
  Build for me, in nearness to You, a mansion in
  Paradise, and save me from Pharaoh and his
  doings, and save me from those who do wrong.' And
  Mary, the daughter of Imran, who guarded her
  chastity. We breathed into her body of Our Spirit
  and she testified to the truth of the words of
  her Lord and of His revelations and was one of
  the devout.

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The Veil

• In Islam men and women are equally directed to be
  modest and to dress and conduct themselves in a
  way that sets them apart from others and makes
  them recognizable as Muslims.
• Quran 3359 O Prophet! Tell your wives and
  your daughters and the women of the believers to
  draw their cloaks (veils) all over their bodies
  (i.e.screen themselves completely except the
  eyes). That will be better, that they should be
  known (as free respectable women) so as not to be
  annoyed and Allah is Ever Oft-Forgiving, Most
  Merciful.
• Quran 2430 Tell the believing men to lower
  their gaze and protect their private parts (from
  illegal sexual acts, etc.). That is purer for
  them. Verily, Allah is All-Aware of what they do.

Symbol of Freedom or Oppression?
68
Is this Freedom or Oppression?

• 33 of women in America are unwed mothers
  bringing up children born out of wedlock on their
  own.
• Beauty Contests which treat women as a sex
  object and reinforce the myth that unless a woman
  is attractive to men she is worthless.
• Proms in Western schools where girls who cant
  get a partner (because they are not attractive)
  commit suicide every year.
• Peer pressure on girls to have boy friends and be
  attractive to boys by dressing provocatively
  (case in point TV serials about schools)
• Using the female body as an object to attract
  attention in liquor, car, motorcycle, advertising
• Teen pregnancy, abortion, free sex, teen
  magazines are these signs of freedom or of
  female enslavement by a male dominated society

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Did you ever wonder?

• Why despite all the hype about womens rights,
  America feels it cant even think of a woman
  President in the next 20 years? (Gallup Poll,
  1998)
• Why women executives and workers in the US are
  paid less than their male counterparts to this
  day?
• Why is it that despite all the noise, the number
  of female top executives in American European
  industry or government is still a miniscule
  number?

70
Did you ever wonder?

• When a western woman stays at home to look after
  the house and kids she's sacrificing herself and
  doing good for the household, but when a Muslim
  woman does so, she "needs to be liberated"?
• When anyone chooses to express their identity in
  the form of their dress or way of life this is
  acceptable but when a Muslim does it, it is seen
  as adversarial?
• When a person of another faith (Zionist, IRA,
  VHP, Bajrang Dal, Khalistan, LTTE) kills someone,
  religion is not mentioned, but when a Muslim is
  charged with a crime, it's Islam that goes to
  trial?

71
Did you ever wonder?

• Why a nun can be covered from head to toe and
  shes respected for devoting herself to God, but
  when a Muslim woman does that, shes oppressed?
  
• Why a Jew, Sikh or Hindu can grow a beard and
  hes just practicing his faith, and when a Muslim
  does that, he's an extremist?
• Why a Hindu can go to the temple every day and
  wear viboodhi (ash) on his forehead, or a Sikh
  can wear a turban to work but when a Muslim prays
  regularly and wears Islamic dress he is a
  fundamentalist?

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But then again, why is it after all that, that
Islam is still the fastest growing religion in
the world?
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Thank You Very Much

• For further information please feel free to
  contact me by email
• yawarbaig_at_gmail.com