371. Branding the snout of men as a means of identification

In this verse (68:16) of the Quran Allah talks of Him branding the snout of each man with a unique identity. Experts in forensic science at present use fingerprints to identify persons because each one has a unique fingerprint, and this is the reason fingerprints are registered in documents. 

A technology known as photo face has now been invented to precisely identify a person with the help of scanned images of his nose, replacing finger prints.

But the Quran through its verses 68:15, 16 talks of branding men on their snouts for identity purposes.

The fingerprints are easily visible to us, but if the identity mark on our snouts is visible to us, the answer is an emphatic no! 

Though the mark of identity is not visible to us, the researchers have now discovered the same. 

Researchers at the University of Bath have now discovered the nose of criminals and extremists helps in identifying them.

They say with the help of the various sizes of their nostrils precise details of them can be derived at, by using the photo face technology, where the nose of the person is scanned at different angles, and these scanned images are subjected to analysis by six different methods known as Roman, Greek, Nubian, Haak, Snub, Turn Off.

Then with the help of a computer software the details of the tip of the nose as well as its width is examined. Dr.Adrian Evans says identifying a person is easier done by scanning the nostrils of men than by using the finger prints, because just as in the case of fingerprints the snouts of people have some unique features in each person.

The phrase ‘We brand the snouts of men’ has been properly handled, proving the Quran is the word of God.

370. Fuel of hell fire.

Verse (21:98) of the Quran says those who worshipped other than Allah will serve as fuel for hell fire.

This verse of the Quran talks of those that are worshiped other than Allah also being thrown into hell fire.

Whereas we can understand the reason for those being thrown into hell fire for having worshipped other than Allah, doubts are raised about those that were worshipped also being thrown into hell fire along with their worshippers.

There are three types of those that are being worshipped. 

1.The pious who lived a virtuous life and passed away being made into gods, and worshipped by people. In this case those who are worshipped are unaware of the fact. Here we get a message conveyed that the worshipped would also be thrown into hell fire. 

Though this verse of the Quran seems to convey this concept, verse 21:101 of the Quran clears the doubt.

Allah clears the doubt by saying whoever is being adjudicated by Him as virtuous are kept away from hell fire.

We come to understand through this verse of the Quran, though the messengers of God were worshipped by some people only those who worshipped them will be consigned to hell, and not the messengers who were worshipped.

It is easily understood here that those who depicted themselves as gods and also were worshipped by people, are the ones that are fit to be thrown into hell fire. 

Other than this there are imaginary characters, and creatures without rational sense, dead and alive, and rocks and idols that cannot feel the torment of hell fire. Hene there is a question raised about the objective of these being thrown into hell fire. The answer lies in the fact, though these objects that were worshipped by some do not feel the torment of hell fire, it would have psychological bearing on the people who worshipped them, where they are subjected to questioning themselves regarding their fate when the gods they worshipped are helpless and burning in hell.

369. Remedy for having missed five times worship.

This verse (19:60) of the Quran talks of remedies a person needs to seek in case he misses on any of the five times of worship. There may be people who wish to reform themselves and carry on the five times a day worship they have missed for months and years together. Are these people required to worship all that has been missed by them or is there a remedy available for them?

 For such people, it is more than enough if they seek forgiveness from the Almighty for having missed their worshippings and start again to continue in a proper manner, and such people will enter Paradise, says this verse. And this verse does not ask them to complete the entire left out worshippings, and neither did Prophet Muhammad order such an alternative.

Hence seeking forgiveness from the Almighty and continuing to maintain regular five times a day worshippings in future is sufficient for remedy for them. 

If a person is required to perform all the worshippings he missed for a period of twenty years he left behind, he would prefer to move away from Islam. Hence not passing verdict that are not part of Islam should be avoided, to give chance for those who want to reform and turn a new leaf in their life. 

Please refer to point no;479 to know that restitution of missed worshipping is not required.

367. A solution to get rid of fear.

In these verses of the Quran (28:31,32) we find Prophet Musa being bestowed with miracles such as a staff being transformed into a snake, light being emitted from his palm and drawing his hands close to is body to ward of fear

And the Quran continues to term only two incidents as miracles whereas three are mentioned. We find a great psychological truth in this.

Though three miracles have been mentioned in this verse, the act of holding one’s hands close to the body is directed as a miracle to everyone in general and not only to Prophet Musa. This is the reason we find the mention of only two incidents as miracles.

The heart beats aggressively when a person experiences fear, to avoid this palpitation, one is required not to put up his chest high in the air during that time, but let loose his ribcage so that the heart gets more space for its activity, and functions in a better and free manner without much palpitation.

And moreover, holding hands tightly against the body when fear overwhelms gives a feeling of someone holding the person in comfort.

This verse conveys the great truth undergone practically by men.

366. Infertile/Barren wind.

In these verses (51:41,42) of the Quran we find a community having been destroyed by infertile/barren wind. We may wonder how a wind can be termed as infertile/barren. 

For air to be beneficial to man, it has to contain oxygen and other components, when oxygen as a component of the air is removed, man cannot survive. The air that does not contain oxygen can be termed as infertile or barren. Now, there are bombs that if thrown at a particular place sucks in all the oxygen contained in that particular area, resulting in all the living thing being destroyed. It needs to be understood that God would have sent the same kind of air on that particular community. 

365. The fertilized egg.

In these verses (22:5, 23:14, 40:67, 75:38, 96:2) of the Quran, we find it talking about the initial stages of the development in the human embryo. The words Alaq, and Alaqatth are used in the Quran. These words have many meanings for them.

A blood clot, in a hanging position, intertwining with each other are the meanings for this word.

We cannot take the meaning ‘A blood clot’ because there is no such thing as a blood clot in a human embryo, and neither can we take the meaning as ‘hanging’, because the initial stages of a human can only be a thing and not a description of position. When describing the initial stages of man the Almighty terms it as ‘Nuthfa,’ and the later mentions it as Alaqath on further development. The word ‘Nuthfa’ refers to the sperm in the seminal fluid, and the sperm alone is not enough to develop into an embryo, there is a need for an human egg that has to be fertilized to be developed into an embryo.

The second stage is the product resulting from the egg being fertilized by the sperm.

It can be clearly understood that this fertilized product is what is termed as Alaq. Though the term Alaq has several meanings, it is used to mean ‘intertwining’ in most places.

We cannot find a more appropriate word to describe the fusing of the sperm and the egg than ‘intertwining.’

This is the reason we have made use of the word Alaq, wherever we come across the word fertilized egg, the meaning of which is the resultant product of fusion (i.e) fertilized egg.

364. Forgiving those who slandered against him.

The incident that affected Prophet Muhammad most in his life is the stigma on his wife Ayesha (RA). 

A person by the name of Misdah played a prominent role in the despicable act. He was under the care of Ayesha’s (RA) father Abu Bakr (RA). 

After discovering the slander against Ayesha (RA) was false, he (Abu Bakr) swore in the name of the Creator that he would never ever entertain Misdah. His conscience did not allow him to help those who slandered against his daughter. 

Book Bukhari: 2661, 4141, 4750, 6679. 

But in verse 24:22 of the Quran we find, the help rendered to those who slandered against Prophet Muhammad’s wife Ayesha (RA) not be stopped, though sworn under the name God, not be implemented. If the Quran happened to be the making of Prophet Muhammad, one can never imagine to find a verse asking to forgive persons who slandered against his wife, thereby making him lose peace of mind and subjecting him to psychological torture for days together. At the least the prophet would have kept quiet on Abu Bakr’s vow not to help Misdah.

This verse is another evidence to prove the Quran is the word of God. 

363. Does touching woman renders a man out of Wudu (Ablution).

In this verse (5:6) of the Quran we find the phrase ‘Or, you have contacted women and do not find water, then seek clean earth and wipe over your faces and hands with it’, (Tayammum). 

Contact with women implies touching as well as having sexual intercourse with them.Hence there are differences of opinion among the scholars to identify the correct meaning.

The scholars who attribute the meaning ‘touch’ have made a law stating that either the man touches a woman, or a woman touches a man they are out of Wudu and both need to perform it again. This is a misconception.

In this verse of the Quran the word ‘touch’ is used to denote sex, as can be seen Prophet Muhammad touched his wife when in Wudu and there was no requirement for him to do Wudu again.

When Prophet Muhammad use to worship while I am asleep, he would nudge me in my legs with his fingers indicating insufficient space to prostrate, and I would fold my legs, and I will again stretch my leg after he finishes prostration. There were no lamps glowing those days. This was conveyed by Ayesha (RA)  

Book:Bukhari 513, 519, 1209 

If it was believed Wudu is annulled by mere touching of woman, Prophet Muhammad would not have touched his wife’s legs while worship.

On a particular night I could not find Prophet Muhammad by the bedside and when I fumbled I the darkness I felt his legs.

Book: Muslim 839 

Had the word in the verse been set to denote ‘touch’ Prophet Muhmmad would have discontinued his worship and performed Wudu again.

Hence the meaning of the word touch in this verse, needs to be concluded as meaning sexual intercourse on the basis of the above quoted hadiths.