415. Cloning is a possibility.

The verses (3:46, 19:21, 19:29,30, 21:91, 23:50) of the Quran guide us regarding our comprehension of what is known today as cloning. Prophet Isa was born of a virgin mother without the participation of a male sperm. The Quran mentions this not just a historical event, but encourages to ponder about it and says, ‘this is a testimony’. When there is a doubt about the possibility of a certain happening, the question to ponder about it does not arise. This verse talks of pondering over this happening because the chances of it becoming a reality exists when put on trial. In today’s world it has been discovered organisms can be created from stem cells.

For example when a goat gives birth to a kid, the offspring does not necessarily resemble the mother or the male in all aspects, characteristics etc. It resembles the mother in some aspects and the male parent in others, or in some cases, the offspring is entirely different from the parents altogether.

But the goat created from the genetic material of one would resemble it in all aspects. This kind of creation from the genetic material is known as cloning.

We need to understand the reason as to why the resultant kid is entirely similar to the one from which the genetic material was sourced. The genetic material for the fetus is formed, when the sperm of a male and the egg of a female fuse giving rise to a fertilized egg. 

Since the genetic material becomes a mixture from both the parents, the resultant offspring need not necessarily represent the parents in all aspects.

At the same time the genetic material is present in all the cells of the body of a person, which are separated for all kinds of studies and analyses. The age of a person is the same as the age of the genetic material.

Hence the baby created from the genetic material of a person by cloning appears exactly a copy of the person.

The egg of a female and the sperm of a male are placed in a test tube, and developed into a fertilized egg containing genetic material from both the parents, and allowed to grow and develop for a period of time.          Later the genetic material from this developed egg is removed and replaced with the genetic material of the person who needs to be cloned, and placed in a test tube for a certain period to develop sufficiently and is later placed in the uterus of a female to develop into a normal baby.

Though this trial has not been carried out on humans, the scientists have succeeded in animals like buffaloes, goats and pigs. 

And the scientists have computed the consequences of cloning humans.

According to them if the genetic material of a twenty-five year old is cloned the resultant baby would possess the characteristics, intelligence, and thinking capacity of a twenty-five-year old.

Taking these details into consideration let’s delve into the Quran’s claim on Prophet Isa’s birth.

If the Almighty decided to create a being without a male participation, He would have done it by a command ‘Be’ and it comes into being, but we find in the Quran mentioned as, the Almighty sends an angel in human form to blow into Prophet Isa’s mother Maryam. From this incident mentioned in the Quran it needs to be concluded that a genetic material created with the power of the Almighty has been blown into Maryam (AS), and also to establish the fact that whatever the way a baby is created, a womb is a necessity. Another aspect that needs to be considered is, the mention in the Quran, about Prophet Isa talking at his birth.

It did happen, to prove his miraculous birth he spoke a few words and continued as an infant, but he was also declared a messenger of God at the time when he was an infant.

We are aware that a messenger of God needs to comprehend the messages himself first, and deliver the same to the people

The fact that Prophet Isa started talking at his birth, and his ability to comprehend the messages from God, and deliver it to people confirm the view of scientists about cloning.

414. Earlier scriptures were named as Quran. 

The term ‘Quran’ refers to the scripture Quran revealed to Prophet Muhammad, but sometimes it is found being used to mention earlier scriptures before Prophet Muhammad.

The word ‘Quran’ is referred to the scripture that was bestowed upon Prophet Muhammad. In verses (15:89, 90, 91) of the Quran we find the phrase ‘We will decimate the same way as we did the people of the earlier times who divided the Quran into parts by rejecting some parts and accepting others. Since this verse talks about an earlier scripture it cannot be taken as referring to the Quran, but as a reference to the scripture of the time.

In the same way we also find Prophet Muhammad making use of the word Quran to refer to earlier scriptures.

It was made easier for Prophet Dawood to recite the Quran, (Bukhari:3417) 

The scripture called as the Quran was not revealed at the time of Prophet Dawood, he was bestowed with the scripture Zabur. He should have recited from Zabur and hence should have understood the mention of the Quran as Zabur.

413. The Arabic letter with a bigger font in the originals of the Quran.

In copies of the Quran that are printed in Pakistan and India we find in verse (18:19) an Arabic letter printed exclusively in a bigger font.

There is absolutely no connection with this custom and Islam.

This is explained by them as done to mark the midpoint of the Quran, on the basis of the number of words it contains.

We have explained about this in the preface under the heading ‘Unwanted Research’.

412. Heat treated pebbles. 

In verses (11:82, 15:74, 26:173, 27:58, 51:34) of the Quran, it is been said that Allah decimated people who perpetrated evil by sending down a rain of heat-treated pebbles on them

The term heated pebbles should not be understood with a superficial meaning, because heated pebbles tend to cool down on reaching the surface of the earth.

But these verses declare a colossal loss on targets hit by these pebbles, signifying great heat in them on reaching the targets.

This points to great heat produced on explosion, implying compression of immense heat packed into the pebbles before them reaching their targets. Hence it is presumed these pebbles were packed with high energy, only to explode on contacting the targets. After detailing the evil being decimated in these verses of the Quran, it further asks people to contemplate on the kind of forerunner this offers for making weapons of mass destruction like atom bombs. 

Please refer to point No;355 for more details.

411. Why was an innocent jailed? 

In this verse (12:35) of the Quran it is being said, after analyzing the evidence they felt the need to imprison him.

And we also find in the verses 12:28,29 of the Quran that the wife of Aziz was caught red handed, on seeing the shirt of Yusuf been flipped from behind, Aziz was convinced his wife was the culprit

In this incident it was proved beyond doubt that Yusuf was innocent, and there is absolutely no justification for imprisoning him.

Then how did they come to the decision they should imprison him on viewing the evidence? Is the question raised by some? Because they seem to be contradictory statements.

When going through the subsequent verses we find Prophet Yusuf being slammed with accusations accompanied with false witnesses.

When the whole town was aware about the incident involving the inappropriate behaviour of Aziz’s wife, he paraded Yusuf in front of the women from the town, who were astonished at the handsomeness of Yusuf, and cut their hands with knives, by saying ‘Perfect is Allah! This is not a man; this is not but a noble angel’.

In verse 12:32 of the Quran we find the details of Aziz’s wife (justifying her inappropriate behaviour) asking the women who were paraded in front of Prophet Yusuf ‘how can you find fault with me in my behaviour when you slash yourself by admiring him. And the details of the warning by her if he does not fulfill her desires is also seen in verse (12:32) of the Quran.

From this it can be seen she schemed to frame him in a new accusation and imprison him.

And we also find Prophet Yusuf’s plea to God to protect him from the evil deeds of those women in this verse of the Quran.

By the usage of the plural word for woman, it can be assumed not only did Aziz’s wife but also some other women schemed or either helped her in the planning to have him framed in an accusation.

Since Prophet Yusuf did not consent for the desires of these women, they collectively planned to discredit him with false accusations. Verse 12:35 of the Quran talks about the resultant decision taken by them after going through these false evidences by the evil women.

Verses 12:50 to 12:52 of the Quran further confirm the same. 

Since Prophet Yusuf interpreted the dreams by the king, he sent the courtiers to fetch him. When the courtiers met him, at that instance Prophet Yusuf told them to inquire about the status of the women who slashed their own hands.

From Prophet Yousuf asking the king’s courtiers to inquire about the status of the women who slashed their own hands, it could be understood that Prophet Yousuf did not undergo imprisonment because of the earlier incident with Aziz’s wife but on another false complaint filed by her and her other women accomplices.

The reason Prophet Yusuf asked the courtiers to inquire about her accomplices. 

And the king on enquiring with the women accomplices found out that Prophet Yusuf was not in any way to be blamed.

And later Aziz’s wife owns up to her wrong doing, these facts can be seen from the three verses of the Quran.

Had Prophet Yusuf been imprisoned for the incident involving Aziz's wife there would be no need to inquire about her women accomplices because they were not witness to the incident at all.

Hence Prophet Yusuf was imprisoned on the basis of the false complaint filed for the second time with the women accomplices as witnesses. And based on this it was decided by them on evidence to imprison him. . Hence the

410. The assurance given to Makkans on alleviation of poverty.

The city of Makkah being a desert those days was a center of pilgrimage and the people there eked out a living from the pilgrims who visited, and allowed all kinds of evils to take place to encourage more and more people to visit believing it might increase their income.

It was at this juncture Allah prohibited disbelieving people or people who created an equal to Him from visiting the place of worship in Makkah through this verse (9:28) of the Quran.

Due to the ban imposed, fewer people visited Makkah, triggering a fear about their livelihood and future in the hearts of Makkans. To remove this fear about their livelihood Allah in this verse assured their prosperity through this verse of the Quran. After the commandment of prohibition of entry to Kabbah for infidels, people started to accept Islam in droves, and more and more people started to visit Kaaba on pilgrimage. As a result, the standard of the lives of people went up and it still continues up till now, thus fulfilling the assurance by the Almighty.

This verse sends a necessary message not only to the people of Makkah but also to all the believers in Monotheism. 

We come across people who compromise themselves fully well knowing the the income they eke out is against the principles of Islam and also the people who refuse to give evil, in spite coming to know it is against the concept of Monotheism.

There is a lesson in this verse of the Quran for those to stay away from evil in the belief the Almighty will provide for them in alternative ways.

And the verse (65:2) of the Quran ‘Allah will provide for those who fear Him’ confirms this. 

409. Do people who have not perpetuated injustice face punishment? 

This verse (8:25) of the Quran, says the punishment from Allah will also target those who have not perpetrated any crime. 

Many may wonder the logic behind the act in punishing those who have not committed any crime. Verses 7:163-167 of the Quran clears the doubts raised. The following are the verses: The community that was commanded not to go fishing on Saturdays broke up into three groups.

One group violated the ban on fishing on Saturdays and carried on.

The second group persuaded them from fishing on Saturdays and not to violate the ban by God.

The third group, though did not violate the ban and go fishing, failed to stop the ones who ventured to go fishing, and hindered those who tried to stop them from fishing.

When the Almighty punished those who violated the prohibition imposed by Him on fishing on Saturdays, He also punished the group that did not stop those who ventured to go fishing on the banned day.

This verse conveys the message, not only those who commit crimes would be punished, but also those abetting the same.  

408. When were the mountains created? 

The Quran in many verses while talking about the earth also mentions the mountains being created on it. This does not mean that mountains were created simultaneously along with the earth. The verses (41:9,10) of the Quran clearly convey this. After mentioning in verse 41:9 about the creation of the earth, the Quran in verse 41:10 talks about the creation of mountains and formation of food grains etc. in the subsequent four days. Scientists have now discovered; the earth was created first and the mountains subsequently confirming what was declared by the Quran 14 centuries ago. 

Please refer to point No; 248, for more details regarding this subject.