228. Siblings of Yusuf.

Verses (12:7, 8, 59, 76, 77) of the Quran mention only one person as Yusuf’s sibling, although there are others.

Prophet Yusuf picks and chooses a single person as his sibling among the rest. In the same way the rest of the other siblings also stay from Prophet Yusuf and the one whom he addressed as his brother. .

The reason to distinguish themselves from each other probably being half brothers. Suggesting Yusuf and his brother being from the same mother and the rest of the others from a different mother.. 

227. Why was the Quran revealed in Arabic language?

These verses (12:2, 13:37, 16:103, 20:113, 26:195, 39:28, 41:3, 41:44, 42:7, 43:3, 46:12) of the Quran say it was revealed in the Arabic language. This should not convey a wrong message that Arabic language is the best, as the reason. In Islam no language is superior to any other, all are in a equal standing and a particular language does not have a special status. 

Prophet Muhammad said:

“A person speaking Arabic does not have any eminence over another speaking other than Arabic”.

Hadith Book: Ahmad 22391

Allah says in the Quran that all communities in the world were sent messengers.

”We have sent you with truth, to give good tidings and to warn There were no communities that were not sent a messenger to warn.

The Quran 35:24.

.We sent messengers to communities to explain in their own language.Allah guides those whom He desires to the straight path others to go astray He is the All -Knower and Surpasser of All. 

The Quran 14:4

The above verses of the Quran convey about messengers being sent to all communities of the world speaking different languages.The scriptures were revealed and delivered to them in the respective languages they spoke. This is what these verses tell us.

Almighty Allah chose Prophet Muhammad to take the Quran to people prophet knew to speak only Arabic, this was reason the Quran was revealed in Arabic.

Quran was revealed in Arabic not because it is the most liked language by God, as wrongly believed by some, rather there was a need for a language to reach the people

In whatever language the Quran was delivered, the enthusiasts from the other language group will definately question, why their language is ignored ?Had it been in the Tamil language then, English would question the same.

There is another reason, for these verses to say why it was revealed in Arabic.

Because the literary caliber of the Quran was high, and at the same time Prophet Muhammad was an illiterate, the people of those days did not have a chance to remark that that Quran is the imagination of Prophet Muhammad.

Hence they said some person who is well conversant with Arabic and meets Prophet Muhammad very often taught the Quran to him. But the one who taught him did not have Arabic as his mother tongue. Verse 16: 103 says Quran says was revealed in clear Arabic.

Please refer to explanation point 489 to know more about how words from other languages found their way into the Quran. 

All are equal by birth, and one gets preeminence only by his actions, a person speaking a certain language is not in any way superior to any other. Please refer to explanation points 11, 32, 49, 59, 141, 168, 182, 290, 368, 508 to know more about equality and brotherhood in Islam.

226. Proof in the Quran for five times a day worship.

Muslims all over are aware of their mandatory duty to perform worship five times a day.

In the Quran we do not find a direct mention of the five times worship. We find proof only in the hadiths of Prophet Muhammad..

Though we do not find a direct mention of this in the Quran, verse 11: 114 is one of those where we find an indirect reference..

the verse says to perform worship at the two edges of daylight and also in parts of the night. Here we find the word “ Parts” of the night in plural.

In the Arabic language to designate something as plural the numerical determiner is a minimum of three.

There is word structure in Arabic to refer to duality to mention two objects ( Though the word plural is used to mention the same in other languages )Hence we need to conclude the word “Parts of the night” refer to a minimum of three times worship.

The three times worship in parts of the night refer to Maghrib, Isha, and Fajr.and the worship at the edges of daylight refers to Zuhr and Asr.

This indirect mention in the Quran about five times worship is what Prophet Muhammad has explained in the hadiths.People saying there are only three times a day worship are contradicting the Quran and Prophet Muhammad’s sayings 

To know more about five time a day worship please refer to explanation point 71.

225. Are the heavens and earth permanent?

In these verses of the (11:107, 108) of the Quran we find it saying “ As long as the heavens and earth are permanent, the good will remain in paradise and the evil in hell fire

This verse conveys the message that the heavens and earth are indestructible, so are the paradise dwellers and those in hell fire.

But verses (55:26, 27) of the Quran say when the world is destroyed, everything including the heavens and earth would follow the same fate.

This is not to be misconstrued as two sets of verses (55:26, 27) and (11:107, 108) contradicting each other. 

Let’s learn from the following verses the way to understand these verses without contradiction.

Verses (14:48, 21:104, 39:67) say this earth and the heavens will be changed to different ones.

These verses, talking about the destruction of the earth and heavens, mention the present earth and heavens that are to be destroyed.

Hence this verse talking about the permanent nature of the earth and heavens, mention the earth and heavens that are to be made later cannot be treated as a contradiction. 

To know more please refer to explanation point 453.

224.The blessed family of Prophet Ibrahim.

From verse (11:73) of the Quran we come to understand Prophet was the most blessed among all the prophets.

Prophet Muhammad said Muslims should, at all times of their worship should also pray for Allah’s blessings on him. 

He had taught us a prayer.during salah (Muslim worship) in the seated posture that goes on as following:- ” Allah, bless Prophet Muhammad and his family as you did to Prophet Ibrahim” It could be understood from this prayer during worship, the great importance and blessings Allah has bestowed on Prophet Ibrahim.

223. Who was led to the altar to be sacrificed?

At the time when Prophet Ibrahim attempted to sacrifice one of his sons, he was prevented by God with a goat replacing him. This is a belief held by both the Muslims and Christians. 

Christians and some Muslims believe it was Isaac who was led to the altar while Muslims on the whole believe it was Ismail. This verse (11:71) of the Quran refutes it was Isaac.

In this verse we find the message where God conveys Prophet Ibrahim about the birth of a son Isaac and also about a grandson to him by the name of Yakub.

Since the good tidings about a yet to be born grandson Yakub to Isaac after his marriage was revealed to Prophet Ibrahim in the early days, the notion that Isaac will not die young is strengthened.

After the kind of revelation already delivered, to command Prophet Ibrahim sacrifice Isaac does not stand in good stead.Commanding Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice his son Isaac after revealing he would not die at an early stage, does not exhibit any show of sacrifice on his (Prophet Ibrahim) part.

Anybody will come forward to sacrifice his son after knowing for sure the person to be sacrificed will not die. Hence commanding Prophet Ibrahim to sacrifice Ismail would stand good stead to test both.

 To know more about the Bible saying it was Ismail who was led to the altar to be sacrificed with evidence, please refer to explanation point 455.

222. The ark that rested on top of Mount Judi. 

These verses (7:64, 10:73, 11:44, 23:30, 26:121, 29:15, 54:15, 69:12) of the Quran talk of Prophet Nuh’s ark being left on top of Mount Judhi as testimony.

Since the flood waters reached the height of the peak of Mount Judhi, the boat which was carried up to its peak remained at the spot after the flood waters receded. Mount Judi is located with its parent range Zagros at the Armenian Highlands close to the Syrian and Iraqi borders.Researchers have discovered Mount Ararat in the Pothan district of Turkey is Mount Judi. 

An American mountaineering team found the remains of the boat when they undertook research on those mountains.

On the 2nd of August 1969, this team discovered parts of a boat in the ranges of Mount Ararat, on the Turkish -Russian border. 

On the western part of its ranges at 14000 feet,the parts of the boat were found buried 20 meters below the snow covered surface. 

If a boat is found stationed at 14000 feet on a mountain range, the intensity of flood waters can be imagined, with the boat floating in those waters, came to be stationed there as the waters receded.The speculation by researchers of today regarding the resting of place of the boat was conveyed by the Quran 1444 years before. 

Who took the boat to that height, only the Quran gives the correct answer.

'The Quran says “we have left the boat as evidence, is there anybody to ponder.” This discovery 42 years ago brings to light a fact revealed 1442 years ago by the Quran

221. When the water overflowed.

In these verses (11.40, 23:27) of the Quran the Arabic word “Tannur” is translated by us as water.

This is a non Arabic word and most of the scholars give its meaning as an oven, and in Farsi and Urdu it is used to mean the same.

Some comrades of Prophet Muhammad have explained the meaning of this word as water. This meaning best suits the word. Water swelling is the sign of destruction that suits the best, and we have translated it accordingly.