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YOU MAY NOT: Distribute the text or graphics to others without the express written permission of HizmetBooks. "Mirror" this information on your own server without the express written permission of HizmetBooks. Modify or reuse the text or graphics on this system. You may: Print copies of the information for your personal use. Store the files on your own computer for your personal use; Reference this server from your own documents. HizmetBooks reserves all other rights. If you are in the North or South America: Hizmet Books P O Box: 916 SADDLE BROOK, N.J. 07663 [email protected] If you are outside the North or South America: HAKIKAT KITABEVI Darussefaka Cad. No: 57/A P.K.35 34262-Fatih ISTANBUL, TURKEY [email protected] Waqf Ikhlas publications Islam and Christianity http://www.hizmetbooks.org Bismi'llahi'r-rahmani'r-rahim ISLAM AND CHRISTIANITY P R E F A C E We begin to write the book Islam and Christianity with the Basmala. All praise be to Allahu ta'ala, and may the best of prayers be upon His beloved Prophet, Muhammad ('alaihi's- salam), upon his Ahl al-Bait, and all his Companions! Allahu ta'ala has created everything, the living and the non-living, out of nothing. He alone is the Creator. Because He pities mankind very much, He creates and sends everything that is necessary for a comfortable, sweet and cheerful existence in this and the next world. As the most superior and valuable of His endless blessings, He has made distinctions for us between the way of truth leading to felicity and the way of falsehood, which brings about trouble and sorrow. He has always commanded goodness, diligence, and the helping of others. He has declared that He will call all people to account following the Resurrection after death, that those who do good deeds will live in endless happiness in Paradise, and that those who do not believe in the teachings of His prophets ('alaihimu's- salam) will remain in endless torture and pain in Hell. Therefore, we begin writing this work with the recollection of His name and by trusting in His help. We also see it as an honorable duty upon us to express our thanks and love for those superior men called "prophets", especially for the most superior of them, the Last Prophet, Muhammad ('alaihi' s-salam), whom He has selected as an intermediary and messenger to reveal the way of felicity and comfort to human beings. This book is written in the nature of a "key" for those Muslim brothers of ours who have just a smattering of knowledge on how the Islamic religion has developed, and it has been written for those non-Muslims willing to know the fundamentals of Islam. Islam, the most up-to-date and the most immaculate of the world's existing religions, is based upon very humane and very logical principles. Without going into details, this book gives a discourse on the basic principles of Islam and compares Islam with other religions. It answers criticisms raised against Islam by its adversaries and explains as compendiously as possible the qualities essential for being a good Muslim. For those who would like to read valuable books on Islam written by Islamic scholars (rahimahum Allahu ta'ala) after learning the facts contained in this book, we advise them to read books published in different languages by the Hakikat Kitabevi (Bookstore) in Istanbul. The names of these books are appended to our books. Read this book slowly and with reflection! Encourage others to read it, too! An ignorant person cannot be a good Muslim. Indeed, it is impossible for a person not to attach all his heart to Islam after learning its fundamentals. After reading this book, you will also realize what a lofty, sacred, logical, and perfect religion Islam is, and you will cling to it with all your heart and soul in order to attain salvation and repose in this world and in the hereafter. WAQF IKHLAS Miladi (1993) Hijri Shamsi (1372) Hijri Kamari (1414) Page 1 of 187 Waqf Ikhlas publications Islam and Christianity http://www.hizmetbooks.org BELIEF IN ALLAH'S EXISTENCE The young human being, a mere child as he is, begins to wonder from whence and how the things he sees around him came into existence. As he grows older, he better realizes and thus marvels at what a tremendous masterpiece the earth is, on which he lives. When he becomes a highly educated adolescent, his wonder turns into admiration as he begins to learn of the elaboration involved in the things and beings seen around us every day. What a great phenomenon it is that men can remain and live solely by the gravitational force on a spherical planet -or, to be more precise, an oblate- which internally is full of molten metal and which revolves by itself in space. And what a great power it is, out of which mountains, rocks, seas, innumerable kinds of living beings and plants come into being, grow, and exhibit so many different properties. Some animals walk on the earth, while others fly in the sky or live in water. The sun, which sends its light on us, produces the highest grade of heat we can think of, effects the growth of plants and makes chemical changes in some of them to bring about the existence of flour, sugar, and other substances. But we know that our globe is just a tiny speck in the universe. The solar system, which consists of planets revolving around the sun, and to which our earth belongs, is one of the countless systems within the universe. A small example will contribute a little to our understanding the energy and power in the universe. The latest great source of energy obtained by man is atomic energy released during fission or fusion types of atomic reactions. Yet a comparison will show that the energy released in great earthquakes is still greater than the energy of tens of thousands of atomic bombs, which mankind proudly assumes to be "the greatest source of energy." When you look at your body you probably do not notice what a stupendous factory and laboratory it is. In fact, breathing is an astounding chemical event by itself. Oxygen, which is taken from the air, is used in the burning process of the body, and exhaled out of the body as carbon dioxide. As for digestion, it functions like a factory. After the food and drink taken through the mouth are decomposed and digested in the stomach and bowels, the parts useful to the body are percolated in the small intestines and transfused into the blood, while the dregs are excreted through the bowels. This extraordinary process is done automatically with the utmost precision, resulting in the body working like a factory. The human body does not only contain apparatuses producing various kinds of substances with intricate formulas affecting various chemical reactions, doing analysis, treating illnesses, purifying, annihilating poisons, curing boils, filtering various kinds of substances, and giving energy, but it also embodies an immaculate network of electricity, leverage, an electronic computer, an alarm system, an optical set, an apparatus for receiving sounds, an apparatus for making and controlling pressure, and a system for fighting against microbes to annihilate them. And the heart is a stupendous, ever-working pump. Of old, Europeans used to say, "The human body consists of plenty of water, a little calcium, a little phosphorus, and a few inorganic and organic substances. Therefore, the human body is worth a couple of pounds." But today the calculations done in American universities have clearly indicated that the value of various rare hormones, enzymes, and organic preparations, which the human body produces incessantly, is at least worth millions of dollars. As a matter of fact, an American professor said, "If we were to attempt to make an apparatus that would produce such valuable substances automatically and in precise order, all the money existing in the world would not finance its accomplishment." There remains the fact that, alongside this material perfection, man has very great immaterial powers, Page 2 of 187 Waqf Ikhlas publications Islam and Christianity http://www.hizmetbooks.org such as comprehension, thinking, memorizing, remembering, reasoning, and deciding. It is impossible for men to assess the value of these powers. Moreover, man has a soul as well as a body. The body dies, but the soul does not. A careful look at the world of animals reveals to man how amazing the Creator's omnipotence is. Some living creatures are so small that they can be seen only under a microscope. For some others to be visible (for example to observe viruses), an electronic microscope, which magnifies a million times, is needed. The efficiency of silk production in the greatest artificial thread factory comprised of automatic machines is far below that of a small silkworm. If a small cicada were enlarged to the size of a sound- producing machine used today, the noise it would produce would break windowpanes and destroy walls! Likewise if a firefly became as large as a street lamp, it would illuminate an entire quarter of a town to the extent that it is illuminated during the day.