is the creation plan of God. All other subjects touched on by the Quran are related to this basic theme, directly or indirectly. God Almighty created the universe, and, it is God Almighty who revealed this

and the word “death” represents the second period of life, which may be called the postdeath period. God Almighty created man as an eternal being but he divided his life into two periods—the before-death

the post-death period has no such limit. It will continue for all eternity. According to the Quran, God Almighty created an ideal world that is called Paradise. The present world—the planet earth—has all

The Quran says: The believers, the Jews, the Christians, and the Sabaeans —all those who believe in God and the Last Day and do good deeds—will be rewarded by their Lord they shall have no fear, nor shall

communities associated with prophets. This means that all ethnic groups are equal in the sight of God; no community is inherently superior to any other. Only true belief and righteous actions are rewarded

exempt from this rule. Belonging to a particular community gives no special status in the eyes of God. God elevates to a high rank only those who have sought to mould their own lives according to His divine

patience. The Quran states that fasting during this month has been prescribed so that man may become God-fearing. These two qualities are required of us every month of the year. Why is it that they have been

action displeasing to God. If they wish to eat or drink something, no matter how strong their desires, they will not do so if Divine law prohibits it. They will follow the will of God irrespective of the

not abandon the way of God. Ramadan is a kind of “crash course” aimed at inculcating in people a truly religious spirit and making them conscious of their responsibilities to God. Ramadan is a kind

was that religious realities, such as the existence of God, could be proved only by inference or indirect argument. For instance, the existence of God, as a designer (cause) was presumed to exist because

possible. It has simply to be accepted that there is a meaningful Cause, that is God. The truth is that, without belief in God, the universe remains as unexplainable as the entire mechanism of light and motion

electric waves. Thus, the option one has to take is not between the universe without God and the universe with God. Rather, the option actually is between the universe

perspective, a tree is an embodiment of a spiritual personality. —Maulana Wahiduddin Khan TURNING TO GOD AT TIMES OF CRISES EVERY individual faces crises in life, sometimes big and at other times small. It

way of dealing with such situations is that whenever one has these experiences one should turn to God and entreat Him to resolve it. This teaching has been stated by Ali ibn Abi Talib in these words: “Goodness

in whatever happened.” That is, one should consider every situation that befalls one as coming from God and thus one must develop acceptance for it. The same lesson has been expressed in a Persian saying:

NATURES LABORATORYEmulate Nature to Realize God NATURE may be likened to a laboratory as it shows abundant examples of conversion. The sun is one such laboratory of nature, where atomic reactions between

convert them into oxygen, blossoms and fruits. These instances of conversion are flawless and perfect. God requires man to undergo the same process of conversion as the sun, the trees and the cows. But there

we should convert this information into realization of God. When we are successful in this world, we should attribute our success exclusively to God. When we fail, we should, through our failure, see how

its truth. They say: ‘Lord, we believe. Count us among Your witnesses. Why should we not believe in God and in the truth that has come down to us? Why should we not hope for admission among the righteous

Similarly, the Quran speaks of true believers “as those whose hearts tremble with awe at the mention of God, and whose faith grows stronger as they listen to His revelations. They are those who put their trust

rains come, the fertile earth blooms, becoming green with vegetation. “Good soil yields fruit by God’s leave. But poor and scant are the fruits, which spring from barren soil. Thus we show our signs to

the benefit of humanity. Islam, put an end, all over the world to the worship of everything save one God. Something, which is an object of worship cannot be at the same time an object of investigation. That

When Islam displaced nature from the pedestal of worship and declared that, “Have you not seen that God has subjected to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth and has completed His

empires. This encounter was apparently one like of an ant and an elephant. But with the succour of God, the followers of Islam were successful in dealing a death blow to the system of absolutism which brought

FROM JESUS CHRISTTo Forgive And Forbear WE find from the Quran and Hadith that a large number of God’s messengers were sent to different nations and regions. Nearly all of these prophets are unknown from

reason for making frequent mention of other prophets and also testifying to their having received God’s guidance, a blessing that exalted them above all other creatures. It was so that the Prophet of Islam

thus addressed: These are whom God guided aright, so follow their guidance. THE QURAN 6:90 Every one of the prophets mentioned in the Quran was an upright man, guided by God along a straight path. The Quran

time has come very close. Now it is the last hour when man may seek forgiveness from God and rush to seek refuge in God’s mercy. Global Warming accompanied by earthquakes, volcanic activity has shown us that

time has ultimately come when man has to change himself: he has to abandon the way of disobedience to God and opt for the path of obedience to Him. IGNORING THE SIGNS A verse of the Quran reads: “And there

pass by and give no heed to.” (12:105) This verse shows that such signs have continued to be shown by God throughout human history as may remind man of his limitations and draw his attention to the fact that