Mind-boggling

Qur'aanic Verse 51:7:

Transliteration:

7. Waalssama-i thati alhubuki

Translation:

7. By the heaven full of perfectly defined pathways²

^{Study Note:}

2. One might well have seen a circus artiste keeping onlookers spellbound with his artistry of playing with 3 or 4 balls with his two hands continuously for a few minutes without the balls crashing against one another or without their being floored. But the artiste is a human being after all. He can sustain the show only for a limited period of time and with imited number of balls. But consider the superhuman Artiste Who has been sustaining such a Show for an infinitely long time now and with innumerable balls [heavenly bodies] billions of times bigger than the poor circus artiste can ever handle. We are witness to this Show day in and day out without being ever spellbound by it or without ever giving recognition to the Great Artiste! The Show is brought about by the interplay of innumerable centripetal and centrifugal forces. The mathematical precision with which this is done is simply mind-boggling.

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The above is an extract from yet-to-be-published Qur'aanic Studies Manzil VII.

Mohammad Shafi

Tooth for a Tooth

Islamic jurisprudence, as delineated in the Qur'aan, allows or permits retaliation by the a victim of any injustice done. But no excess of any kind is allowed. And the retaliation has strictly to be of the like kind and extent, as famously exemplified by the saying: 'a tooth for a tooth and an eye for an eye'.

Now take the case of an American Jew making a derogatory film against Prophet Muhammad (peace on him). Muslims are naturally offended. But the retaliation permitted to them has to be of the like kind and extent. So, the Muslims can at most make a film derogatory to Prophet Moses (peace on him). But can they do this? They can't! Their religion directs them to respect Prophet Moses as much as they respect their own Prophet Muhammad. Now, what can they do in these circumstances? They can of course denounce the Jew making the film and explain to the world at large why the film is based on falsehoods and canards. They can then patiently wait for Allah's decision in the matter. Although their religion allows retaliation, it prefers for them forgiveness and patience.

And what do the Muslims factually do? They indulge in mindless violence against parties not directly connected with the Jew in question and issue death threats to him! They thus go brazenly against the dictates of their own religion to incur divine wrath on themselves.