Hope:

Asalaam alaikum wa rahmatullah! *grins widely*

Thank you so much for your patience! I'd like to now welcome you back to 'Tales of the Heart' with Part II of our lovely interview with Bushra Fathima (crazyme_97) 😁

In Part I, Bushra had shared with us the first three reasons as to why she's a Muslimah. She explained how Islam is the only religion that makes sense to her, how Allah subhanahu wa ta'alah (Glory to Him, the exalted) is the only One truly worthy of worship and how she believes that He is the only One capable of performing miracles.

And now, back to you Bushra!

Bushra:

Assalamu alaikum warahmathullahi wabarakatuh!

I hope you all have been keeping well and I also hope you are excited for the continuation of this conversation just like how I am! This part though my dear sisters and brothers might contain a few facts that might be completely new to you, but if you are willing to make an effort to open your mind to all what I'm saying, your view of a lot of things might change to a whole extent by the Will of Allaah.

Moving on to the fourth reason.

Right from the beginning of time, there have been 1,24,000 prophets and 315 messengers out of which 25 are mentioned in the Qur'aan (including Musa (AS) (Moses), Harun (AS) (Aaron) and Isa (AS) (Jesus)). The huge number is because there had been one prophet sent to every nation so people cannot give reasons of not having received word of Islaamic monotheism on 'D' Day. Not all their names are known but those whose names are known, All Praise is due to Allaah, we see what kind of example they had set by their complete submission to Him.

In Islaam, comparing prophets is considered as a dastardly and lowly act. However, since we belong to the nation of the last and final Messenger, we can be considered Muslims only if:

~We believe there is no God but Allaah

~We believe Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) is His Messenger.

Hope:

So what you're saying is, because in our time the last Prophet and Messenger has been sent, believing in him is a must for us to be considered Muslims and for our faith to be complete.

But for those living before the last Prophet was given the message, it was enough for them to believe in Allah because... well, the Prophet wasn't sent yet. Would that be right?

Bushra:

Yes, exactly! However, please make a note that there are some people who don't adhere to the last part (sects and divisions which have sprung out of nowhere) and automatically nullify their faith. These are those who are willing to give more importance to martyrs and other such people rather than respecting the Messenger of Allaah. Masha'Allaah may Allaah give hidayah (guidance) to them.

Hope:

*murmuring* Aameen...

Bushra:

Keeping these people and their ideologies aside, what if I tell you that the coming of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) as a Mercy to mankind had been prophesied in the texts of Hindus, Jews and Christians?

Have your jaws dropped?

Well...

Muhammad (pbuh) prophesied in Bhavishya Purana :

According to Bhavishya Purana in the Prati Sarag Parv III Khand 3 Adhay 3 Shloka 5 to 8.

"A malecha (belonging to a foreign country and speaking a foreign language) spiritual teacher will appear with his companions. His name will be Mohammad. Raja (Bhoj) after giving this Maha Dev Arab (of angelic disposition) a bath in the Panchgavya and the Ganga water (i.e. purifying him of all sins) offered him the present of his sincere devotion and showing him all reverence said, "I make obeisance to thee. O ye! The pride of mankind, the dweller in Arabia, Ye have collected a great force to kill the Devil and you yourself have been protected from the malecha opponents."

The prophecy clearly states:

~The name of the Prophet as Muhammad and that he will belong from Arabia

~He is referred to as the pride of mankind (Parbatis nath). The Glorious Qur'aan reconfirms this:

"And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character."

[Al-Qur'an 68:4]

"Ye have indeed in the Messenger of Allah, a beautiful pattern (of conduct)."

[Al-Qur'an 33:21]

~He will kill the devil, i.e. abolish idol worship and all sorts of vices

Some people may argue that 'Raja' Bhoj mentioned in the prophecy lived in the 11th century C.E. 500 years after the advent of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh). These people fail to realise that there was not only one Raja of the name Bhoj. Just like how the Egyptian Monarchs were called as Pharaoh and the Roman Kings were known as Caesar, the Indian Rajas were given the title of Bhoj. There were several Raja Bhoj who came before the one in 11th Century C.E.

Also, the Prophet did not physically take a bath in the Panchgavya and the water of Ganges. Since the water of Ganges is considered holy, taking bath in the Ganges is an idiom, which means washing away sins or immunity from all sorts of sins. Here the prophecy implies that Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) was sinless.

Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: It says in the Torah, in the fifth book [Deuteronomy 33:2]:

"The LORD came from Sinai and dawned over them from Seir; he shone forth from Mount Paran. He came with myriads of holy ones from the south, from his mountain slopes [or: from his right hand went a fiery law for them]."

(New International Version; alternative version of last phrase - the meaning of which is unclear in the original Hebrew texts - is from the King James Version)

This refers to the three Prophethoods: the Prophethood of Moosa (Moses), the Prophethood of 'Eesa (Jesus) and the Prophethood of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

"Coming from Sinai" refers to the mountain where Allaah spoke to Musa and called him and told him he was a Prophet. "Dawning over them from Seir" refers to the appearance of the Messiah from Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem). Seir is a village that is still known there to this day. So this was a foretelling of the Prophethood of the Messiah. "Paran" refers to Makkah.

Allaah likens the Prophethood of Musa to the coming of the dawn, and the Prophethood of the Messiah after him to the rising of the sun, and the Prophethood of the Seal of the Prophets to the sun rising high in the sky and its light reaching all over the earth. And it came to pass exactly as foretold, for Allaah dispelled the night of disbelief with the Prophethood of Musa, and the light increased with the Prophethood of the Messiah, and was completed and reached everywhere on earth with the Prophethood of Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him).

These three Prophets who were mentioned in this foretelling were also mentioned in the beginning of Surah At Teen (interpretation of the meaning):

"By the fig, and the olive. By Mount Sinai. By this city of security (Makkah)."

[al-Teen 95:1-3]

It is also said in the Gospel of John 16:6-8, 12-13:

"It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor [Paraclete] will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin...

I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."

(New International Version)

In 'A Ranking of the Most Influential Persons in History', Michael H. Hart says:

"My choice of Muhammad to lead the list of the world's most influential persons may surprise some readers and may be questioned by others, but he was the only man in history who was supremely successful on both the religious and secular levels... It is this unparalleled combination of secular and religious influence which I feel entitles Muhammad to be considered the most influential single figure in human history."

You may refute as much as you like but deep down we all know the truth. Isa (AS), though however pure he might have been, was not God! He was a human being.

Hope:

Ma Shaa Allah. This reminds me of the verse from Surah Al-Saff:

"And [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, 'O children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allah to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Ahmad.'"

[Al- Saff 61:6]

There's also the conversation between Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and Isa 'alayhi asalaam (peace be upon him):

https://youtu.be/j66WdkeCD74

Bushra:

Indeed people blindly believe things that are told to them without even trying to make sense of them. It's a shame.

May Allaah grant knowledge to those who are ignorant. Ameen!

My fifth reason for believing in Islaam is the Qur'aan. It is enough proof for any one who is sincerely searching for the truth or wants to gain knowledge.

In order to prove my point, I'm merely quoting a few verses here. Bear in mind that these verses came in during the 7th century and no way could man have come up with this all on his own.

{وَهُوَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلَّيْلَ وَٱلنَّهَارَ وَٱلشَّمْسَ وَٱلْقَمَرَۖ كُلٌّ فِى فَلَكٍ يَسْبَحُونَ}

"And it is He who created the night and the day and the sun and the moon, each one swimming in a sphere."

[ Al Anbiya 21:33 ]

It was common knowledge that the Moon rotates and revolves. Why? Because we were able to, and still are able to, see it. But what about the Sun? It wasn't even known until recently that it too rotates and revolves around the star named Vega at a speed of 720,000 miles an hour! Subhanallah (Glory be to Allaah)!

{وَٱلسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ ٱلرَّجْعِ}

"By the sky which returns."

[ At Tariq 86:11 ]

We are still learning about the Troposphere's ability to maintain the water cycle, the Stratosphere's ability to reflect back harmful UV rays coming from space, the Lonosphere's ability to reflect radio waves broadcasted from earth and the Magnetosphere's ability to return harmful radioactive particles emitted by the Sun and other stars back to space!

{أَلَمْ تَرَوْا كَيْفَ خَلَقَ ٱللَّهُ سَبْعَ سَمَٰوَٰتٍ طِبَاقًا}

"Do you not consider how Allah has created seven heavens in layers?"

[ Nuh 71:15 ]

Only now do we know about the seven layers in the atmosphere, four of which I have mentioned above.

{وَجَعَلْنَا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ رَوَٰسِىَ أَن تَمِيدَ بِهِمْ وَجَعَلْنَا فِيهَا فِجَاجًا سُبُلًا لَّعَلَّهُمْ يَهْتَدُونَ}

"And We placed within the earth firmly set mountains, lest it should shift with them..."

[ Al-Anbiya 21:31 ]

أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ ٱلْأَرْضَ مِهَٰدًا}

{وَٱلْجِبَالَ أَوْتَادًا

"Have we not made the earth as a bed and the mountains as pegs?"

[ An-Naba' 78:6-7 ]

Mountains were always thought of as mere protrusions from the surface of the Earth but Subhanallah (glory be to Allaah)! They extend 10-15 times their height into the ground and have a function of preventing shock waves on earth! Allahu Akbar!

{أَيَحْسَبُ ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ أَلَّن نَّجْمَعَ عِظَامَهُ‌}

{بَلَىٰ قَٰدِرِينَ عَلَىٰٓ أَن نُّسَوِّىَ بَنَانَهُ‌}

"Does man think that We will not assemble his bones? Yes. [We are] Able [even] to proportion his fingertips."

[ Al Qiyamah : 3-4 ]

Right from the time man has come into existence, each one has had a unique set of fingerprints and this was discovered only in the late 19th century. Until then they were considered as ordinary curves, curves that held no importance but imagine how many would have lived from the beginning of time and how many patterns would have been in existence! Allaah would still be able bring them back without even the slightest change when He wants. Subhanallah again and again!

لَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلَنَا بِٱلْبَيِّنَٰتِ وَأَنزَلْنَا مَعَهُمُ ٱلْكِتَٰبَ وَٱلْمِيزَانَ لِيَقُومَ ٱلنَّاسُ بِٱلْقِسْطِۖ وَأَنزَلْنَا ٱلْحَدِيدَ فِيهِ بَأْسٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَنَٰفِعُ لِلنَّاسِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ ٱللَّهُ مَن يَنصُرُهُ‌ وَرُسُلَهُ‌ بِٱلْغَيْبِۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ قَوِىٌّ عَزِيزٌ

"...And We sent down iron, wherein is great military might and benefits for the people..."

[ Al Hadid 57:25 ]

I'm sure all of us have seen iron and believe it to be one of the metals found on Earth, but how many of us know that to form such a metal, we would need to have a temperature of at least a few hundred million degree Celsius?

It is impossible for it to form on Earth or even in our Solar System, for even the Sun's core only has a temperature of 20 million degree Celsius. This again was told in the verse of the Qur'aan in the 7th century.

Hope:

Subhanallah. I only briefly listed three scientific proofs in my list of reasons back in Chapter One, but this is exactly what I wanted to expand on. It's great that we're able to mention some more of those verses and examples here in detail. *nods to continue*

Bushra:

{وَأَنَّهُ‌ خَلَقَ ٱلزَّوْجَيْنِ ٱلذَّكَرَ وَٱلْأُنثَىٰ }

{مِن نُّطْفَةٍ إِذَا تُمْنَىٰ }

"And that He creates the two mates - the male and female - From a sperm-drop when it has been ejected."

[ An Najm 53: 45-46 ]

Now there had been a lot of hypothesis claiming how the human fetus is formed; I remember learning a whole chapter on it in Biology back at school, but none of them have been so accurate, telling us that the sex of the baby is in fact determined by the chromosomes carried by the sperm.

{ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا ٱلنُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا ٱلْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً فَخَلَقْنَا ٱلْمُضْغَةَ عِظَٰمًا فَكَسَوْنَا ٱلْعِظَٰمَ لَحْمًا ثُمَّ أَنشَأْنَٰهُ خَلْقًا ءَاخَرَۚ فَتَبَارَكَ ٱللَّهُ أَحْسَنُ ٱلْخَٰلِقِينَ }

"Then We made the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We made the clot into a lump [of flesh], and We made [from] the lump, bones, and We covered the bones with flesh; then We developed him into another creation. So blessed is Allah, the best of Creators."

[ Al Mu'minun 23:14 ]

خَلَقَكُم مِّن نَّفْسٍ وَٰحِدَةٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِنْهَا زَوْجَهَا وَأَنزَلَ لَكُم مِّنَ ٱلْأَنْعَٰمِ ثَمَٰنِيَةَ أَزْوَٰجٍۚ يَخْلُقُكُمْ فِى بُطُونِ أُمَّهَٰتِكُمْ خَلْقًا مِّنۢ بَعْدِ خَلْقٍ فِى ظُلُمَٰتٍ ثَلَٰثٍۚ ذَٰلِكُمُ ٱللَّهُ رَبُّكُمْ لَهُ ٱلْمُلْكُۖ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَۖ فَأَنَّىٰ تُصْرَفُون

"...He created you in the wombs of your mothers, creation after creation, within three darknesses. That is Allah, your Lord; to Him belongs dominion..."

[ Az Zumar 39:6 ]

Until the branch of Science 'Embryology' started to have extensive research done in it, it was commonly believed that bones and muscles of embryos formed at the same time in the mother's womb. Only now have they discovered what the Qur'aan told us centuries ago - that development takes place in three stages - pre embryonic stage, embryonic stage and fetal stage; and that first the cartilage tissues are formed before the muscle cells which come together to wrap around the bones. Only now have they discovered that the three darkness refers to:

~the darkness of the abdomen

~the darkness of the womb

~and the darkness of the amniotic sac 

Extensive research have also proved that the lateral abdominal wall has three layers, the wall of the womb has three layers and the amniotic has three layers. Subhanallah!

These are just a few things. There's so much more to learn from the Qur'aan. For sure, it has to be from a Divine Source (who created everything) and not a human being who has his own problems.

Also, there's this constant debate that if the Qur'aan confirms the scriptures that came before it, the Torah and the Injeel (Gospel), then isn't Christianity right and Islaam wrong?

Hope:

Ah yes. That's a good question to cover here, especially considering the backgrounds of some of our audiences. And so what would the reply to that be?

Bushra:

I would like to remind people who claim such, that the Qur'aan confirms the Books that came before it, not their distorted version that we have today. Have they (the books you have now) not been written and re-written by man time and again? You cannot deny that they're not the original Word of God. This testament, that testament, this version, that version - so many variations exist today. Take for example, Arabic Bibles - they alone are of 11 types today on earth and clearly they are all the word of man; man who is fallible. They've been falsified.

True ahle-kitab (people of the Book) who had proper faith (monotheistic) existed even after Isa (AS) had been lifted up to heaven. (Note that I'm saying 'lifted up'. He didn't die! It was Judas who was killed because Allaah had transformed his face to resemble that of Isa's (AS) as a punishment!) However, this guy, the so called 'St. Paul' whose original name was Saul (420 Saul as I like to call him) was an orthodox Jew. He had been trying to infiltrate and confuse people for a long time and when Isa (AS) was lifted up, he disappeared from the face of earth for about three years. He later re-appeared claiming that he had accepted the then Islaam (what Isa (AS) preached) and had been travelling trying to learn more about it when Isa (AS) appeared in front of him and gave him the responsibility of looking after the religion after him. This 420 Saul then sat and wrote down the Bible which till then had only been sent down as words (just like the Qur'aan. Difference is that the Qur'aan was neatly compiled by trustworthy people while 'the InjeeI' went on to become 'the Bible' because of the 420 Saul). He edited the religion to a whole extent and put in such a lot of trash, may Allaah safeguard us and make us of those who remain steadfast in deen (religion). Ameen!

I would like you to watch a little video clipping here.

https://youtu.be/tcydNyg6GHI

Anybody with an open mind would be able to see and sense what 'a man' has done to the Word of God.

People - the true 'ahle kitab' who believed God to be free of blemishes and weaknesses existed until the time of Crusaders. They were all then put to death because of their beliefs that Christ indeed was not the son of God.

As for the Qur'aan being distorted, Allaah claims that He would never let it become like the Books that came before. It is exactly the same as it came down in the 7th century, till now. Not a word has changed, not a word lost.

{إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنَا ٱلذِّكْرَ وَإِنَّا لَهُ‌ لَحَٰفِظُونَ}

"Indeed, it is We who sent down the Qur'an and indeed, We will be its guardians."

[ Al-Hijr 15:9 ]

{لَّا يَأْتِيهِ ٱلْبَٰطِلُ مِنۢ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَلَا مِنْ خَلْفِهِۧۖ تَنزِيلٌ مِّنْ حَكِيمٍ حَمِيدٍ}

"Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it; [it is] a revelation from a [Lord who is] Wise and Praiseworthy."

[ Al Fussilat 41:42 ]

Even if you were to burn all the books that exist now on planet Earth, the only Book that can be written down again without even the slightest change is the Qur'aan, and that too in just a matter of 6 hours. By Allaah's Will, so many hundreds of thousands of Muslims have memorized it Alhamdulillah.

As for the questions some people pose saying that when the Bible can be translated into many languages, why can't the Qur'aan be translated word for word into other languages too...

Hope:

Yup, another one that I've come across....

Bushra:

I once had a sister from Turkey asking me permission to translate SL into her language. I have no doubt she would have done a wonderful job in translating it. Why? Because I'm a human and for all I know, she could do a better job than me in her own language. But when it comes to the Word of Allaah, any human who makes an attempt at translating it would never be able to do a perfect job. Why? Because it's the Creator's Word and no creation can do justice to it. If he could, then again that cannot be called the Word of God.

Please let it settle in your mind that human beings are fallible, Allaah is not.

Hope:

Since we're on this topic anyways, I want to add another point to that.

I just want anyone with that question to ask any bilingual person if the translations between languages could ever be completely accurate and delivered to be in the exact same meaning, exact same effect and message, the literary devices that may have been used etc.

Take a joke for example. Any bilingual persona can tell you that a joke translated from one language to another...just isn't funny anymore. It loses its punch. In some cases, it doesn't even make sense to begin with.

Now, Arabic is a very rich and beautifully complex language. Something like my own name, 'Rajaa', can have very different meanings in English, depending on the context of the Arabic sentence it was used in.

'Rajaa' could mean hope. On its own like that, in it base form, it means 'hope'. But if I put in as a verb for instance, 'arjoo', its translation is 'plea'. If I put it as a noun that refers to a person, 'rajaa'i', it translates to 'someone whom I put my trust in'. If it's a noun that refers to setting or a place, 'marjaa'i', it translates to 'the place I seek refuge in'.

This is just one word, in sentences put together by a human. Then how in the world can one think that a whole book in Arabic, by Allah, could be perfectly translated into another language whistle keeping its syntax, its poetic style, its many literary devices, its meanings, its....well, everything....in tact?

Such a text could only be properly read to its full extent in its true original form, the language it was revealed in.

All we can do is try our best to roughly translate and explain the basic meaning of the verses mentioned in the Quran to make it easier for non Arabic speakers to understand. That itself is not a simple task. Even for an explanation of the Quran in Arabic, there are volumes and volumes by many scholars.

*glances at time and claps hands*

Ok everyone, this is the end of Part II!

In Shaa Allah we'll see you again for the final part of our interview with Bushra.

Stay tuned, and asalaamu alaikum!