SIGNS OF GOD

The verses of this "Perspicuous Book,"the Holy Qur'an are evidently self-explanatory. Students of the Qur'an saw the unmistakable Finger of God in every discovery that man made. These were the "Signs,"the "Miracles"from his Beneficent Lord and Cherisher so as to remove his doubts and strengthen his faith. What an irony! It is the 'people of learning'who are actually rebellious! Their vast material knowledge has inflated them with pride. They lack the genuine humility which goes together with all true knowledge. 26 Here is another verse from YAA-SEEN. Further to footnote No.1 on page 10, a special plea is made to Muslim readers who already know the Sura in Arabic, to now master its English meaning as well. Equip yourself for all good work!. 27 Obtain your volume of Yusuf Ali's translation with over 6000 such explanatory notes at a subsidised price from the IPCI. See the inside front cover for an irresistible offer.


In the words of a modern Frenchman:
"THE ABOVE OBSERVATION (HIS OWN THESIS) MAKES THE HYPOTHESIS 
ADVANCED BY THOSE WHO SEE MUHAMMAD AS THE AUTHOR OF THE 
QUR'AN UNTENABLE. HOW COULD A MAN, FROM BEING ILLITERATE, 
BECOME THE MOST IMPORTANT AUTHOR, IN TERMS OF LITERARY MERITS, 
IN THE WHOLE OF ARABIC LITERATURE? 
"HOW COULD HE THEN PRONOUNCE TRUTHS OF A SCIENTIFIC NATURE 
THAT NO OTHER HUMAN-BEING COULD POSSIBLY HAVE DEVELOPED AT 
THAT TIME, AND ALL THIS WITHOUT ONCE MAKING THE SLIGHTEST 
ERROR IN HIS PRONOUNCEMENT ON THE SUBJECT?" 
See "The Bible, the Qur'an and Science"p. 125 
By Maurice Bucaille 
EARLY INSPIRATION
The seeds of this booklet, "AL-QUR'AN - The Miracle
of Miracles,"was probably sown by the Roving Ambassador of Islam, the silver- 
tongued orator - Maulana Abdul Aleem Siddiqui. I was only a schoolboy when he visited 
South Africa on a lecture tour in 1934. Among his many erudite speeches, I heard him 
talk on "Cultivation of Science by the Muslims."Subsequently, a booklet under the 
same title was published by the World Federation of Islamic Missions, Karachi, Pakistan, 
which brings back the earlier joy and thrill of the discourse I heard in my teens. In 
memory of that great servant of Islam, I reproduce here, for posterity, a few words of 
what the Maulana had to say on the relationship between the Holy Qur'an and the 
branches of scientific knowledge: 
EXHORTATIONS TO THE SCIENCES
"The stress which the Holy Qur'an has laid on the scientific study of the universe is 
a phenomenon unique in the religious literature of the world. Repeatedly it calls our 
attention to the multifarious phenomena of nature occurring around us. Repeatedly 
it exhorts the Muslims that the pursuit of scientific knowledge isone of their 
religious duties. Repeatedly it emphasises the great truth unknown to the pre
Qur'anic world that everything in nature is for the service of man and should be 
harnessed by him for his use. It exhorts us to study the structure and function of the 
human organism, the structure, functions and distribution of animals, the form, 
structure, functions, classification and distribution of plants, andthese are problems 
of BIOLOGY.
"It exhorts us to study the order of nature and the general properties of matter as 
affected by energy, which is the problem of modern PHYSICS.

"It exhorts us to study the properties of substances both elementary andcompound 
and the laws of their combination and action one upon another which is theproblem 
of modern CHEMISTRY.
"It exhorts us to study the structure and mineral constitution of the globe, the 
different strata of which it is composed, the changes that take place in its organic 
and inorganic matter, etc, etc., which are the problem of modern GEOLOGY.
"It exhorts us to study the general description of the earth, its physical divisions into 
seas, rivers, mountains, plains, etc., and the minerals, plants and animals in each, 
and its political divisions which are the problems of modern GEOGRAPHY.
"It exhorts us to study the causes which bring about the alternation of day and 
night, the variation of the seasons, the movements of the planets and other celestial 
phenomena, which are the problems of modern ASTRONOMY." 
"It exhorts us to study the movements of winds, the formation and evolutionof 
clouds and the production of rain, and other similar phenomena, which are the 
problems of modern METEOROLOGY."
For centuries, Muslims were world leaders in the field of scientific learning. Then slowly, 
the leadership began to slip away from their hands. Muslims had failed in their leadership 
role and materialistic Europe moved forward to fill the vacuum in leadership created by 
the Muslims. 
Further, the Maulana records the contribution made by the Muslims as follows: 
"The intellectual upheaval created by Islam was a gigantic one. There is not a single 
department of learning which the Muslim scholars have left untouched and which 
they have not carved out a high position for themselves.
"In truth, Islam intends the Muslim community to be a community of intellectuals, 
and the cultivation of science and all other forms of learning is one of the primary 
aims of Islam. Had it not been for the Muslims, Europe would never have seenits 
way to the Renaissance and the modern scientific era would never have dawned. 
Those nations who have received their knowledge of science from Europeare in fact 
indirectly the disciples of the Islamic community of the past. Humanity owes to 
Islam a debt which it can never repay and gratitude which it can never forget."
The silver-tongued orator (the Maulana) ended his masterful exposition of the topic - 
"CULTIVATION OF SCIENCE BY THE MUSLIMS,"with the words: 
"Before I conclude, let me affirm once more that the Muslim community is out and 
out a creation of Islam which in its turn is rooted in Divine revelation. Nothing but 
belief in and the practice of Islam can make an individual a Muslim. Islam has laid 
it down as a religious duty that a Muslim should enquire into the reality of objects 
around him, so that his scientific enquiry may lead him to the knowledge of his 
Creator. Scientific enquiry in Islam is not an end but a means to the attainment of a 
higher end. And this is really the true end of humanity. 'TO ALLAH WE BELONG

AND TO ALLAH IS OUR RETURN'