Does Allah command evil and indecency?

This is in response to an article published on a notorious anti-Islamic site. (Read it in full Here)

In that article the heathen writer has written that Allah in Qur'an 17:16 commands people to commit indecency and then punish them for doing so. The translation he has given to the verse goes as;

“And when We desire to destroy a city, WE COMMAND its men who live at ease, AND THEY COMMIT UNGODLINESS therein, then the Word is realized against it, and We destroy it utterly.” S. 17:16

Is there any contradiction in Ahadith about the Muslims being in Hell?

Q: There are certain Ahadith which say that anyone who says "There is no god but Allah" will not go to hell. On the other hand we find Ahadith where we are told that one who will have even a little faith will be TAKEN OUT OF HELL eventually. Is this not a contraditon?

ANS:- Sham Shamoun, the notorious anti-Islamic writer has written such things. (To read his article Click Here)

Let’s see what the truth is.

Did Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) recieve revelations only in Sayyidah Aisha's bed?

Q: Is it true that Holy Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) recieved revelations only in Sayyidah Aidha's bed? Some websites say this.


ANS:- Yes, Some sites do say this but these are only anti-Islamic sites run by some devil incarnates.

Lets see as to whats the truth.

These people infact mistranslate and mis interpret the Ahadith and thus present twisted meanings.

The words in green below are the translation of the words of the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him).

* “Divine Inspirations do not come to me on any of the beds except that of Aisha.”
{Sahih Bukhari Volume 3, Book 47, Number 755}

*“the Divine inspiration never came to me while I was under the blanket of any woman amongst you except her."
{Sahih Bukhari Volume 5, Book 57, Hadith 119}

Please see how these people, with evil intentions, try to give wrong meanings to the narrations. It by no means that he received Divine Revelation only when he was in Sayyida Aisha’a bed. Infact it only means that he didn’t receive the Divine Revelation in the bed of any of his wives except Sayyida Aisha (May ALLAH be pleased with her).

Now we come to the point that why she received this honor.

Some evil hearted people, infact hypocrites spoke wrong things about the Sayyida Aisha but ALLAH cleared her of all the wrong charges through revelation in chapter # 24 of the Holy Quran.

And she was also blessed with these unique honor only to testify her purity and noble character.

INDEED ALLAH KNOWS THE BEST !!!

....By Waqar Akbar Cheema

Does anyone other than Allah know of the time of rain and as to what is in the womb?

Q:- Quran 31:34 says that none but ALLAH Alone knows certain things including 'time of rain' and 'what is in the wombs?' while today with the help of modern science we can predict rain and also the gender of the child in the womb. So, isn't this a scientific error of Quran?

ANS:- This question is often raised by non-Muslims and many Muslims also do have this query about the last verse of Surah (i.e. chapter) 31 of the Holy Quran.

The verse is;

إِنَّ اللَّهَ عِندَهُ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ وَيُنَزِّلُ الغَيْثَ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا فِي الأَرْحَامِ وَمَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ مَّاذَا تَكْسِبُ غَداً وَمَا تَدْرِي نَفْسٌ بِأَيِّ أَرْضٍ تَمُوتُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ

"Surely Allah is He with Whom is the knowledge of the hour, and He sends down the rain and He knows what is in the wombs; and no one knows what he shall earn on the morrow; and no one knows in what land he shall die; surely Allah is Knowing, Aware". (Quran 31:34)

The point that is raised is that verse says that its only ALLAH who knows all these things i.e.1) about the Hour, 2) rain, 3) what is in the wombs, 4) what shall one earn the next day and 5) about the land of his death.

But today we know that it can be known about the rain as to when it will fall and about the gender of the child in the womb. Is this not an error of the Quran?

MY RESPONSE

Let's have a deep look into the wording of the verse and the point that is raised.

إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عِندَهُ ۥ عِلۡمُ ٱلسَّاعَةِ وَيُنَزِّلُ ٱلۡغَيۡثَ وَيَعۡلَمُ مَا فِى ٱلۡأَرۡحَامِ‌ۖ وَمَا تَدۡرِى نَفۡسٌ۬ مَّاذَا تَڪۡسِبُ غَدً۬ا‌ۖ وَمَا تَدۡرِى نَفۡسُۢ بِأَىِّ أَرۡضٍ۬ تَمُوتُ‌ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرُۢ

"Surely Allah is He with Whom is the knowledge of the hour, and He sends down the rain and He knows what is in the wombs; and no one knows what he shall earn on the morrow; and no one knows in what land he shall die; surely Allah is Knowing, Aware". (Quran Surah 31 ayah 34)

A deep look into the wording:

If one carefully analyzes and reflects on the wording of the verse than one can surely find out the truth.

One can clearly see that about three things 1) knowledge of the Last Hour 2) what one shall earn the next day and 3) about the land of one's death, the wording gives the connotation of exclusiveness that none but ALLAH alone knows these things. In Arabic this nuance is called حصر 'Hasr' while this is not found in the case of 1) rain and 2) what is in the wombs. That is to say that knowledge of 1) Last Hour 2) next day's earning and 3) land of one's demise, being with anyone other than ALLAH has been exclusively ruled out.

In case of the knowledge of the Hour the Arabic words إِنَّ (inna) and عِندَهُ(indahu) in combination give the exclusive sense. And knowledge of next day's earning and what is in the wombs, is plainly and exclusively ruled out saying "no one knows..."

But this is not the case with other two things. As to rain the verse only says; "He sends down the rain" i.e. only a piece of information is given. And no-one can say as to when it will rain with absolute certainty, this is the reason many times the forecasts have errors.

About 'what is in the womb' the verse says "He knows what is in the wombs." Here we don’t find the connotation of 'exclusiveness' and further the verse says "what is in the wombs" which does not necessarily mean the gender. Who knows, what is the character of the child in the womb? Of course no-one !!!

Further clarification:

Now one may point to the Ahadith like the one below;

Narrated Ibn Umar: The Prophet said, "The keys of the unseen are five and none knows them but Allah: (1) None knows what is in the womb, but Allah: (2) None knows what will happen tomorrow, but Allah; (3) None knows when it will rain, but Allah; (4) None knows where he will die, but Allah (knows that); (5) and none knows when the Hour will be established, but Allah."
(Bukhari, Hadith 8647)

Here it is said "None knows what is in the womb, but Allah:" & "None knows when it will rain, but Allah;"

We see that there are many Ahadith that say the same. And from other narrations we come to know that when Holy Prophet (PBUH) pointed to the "five keys of the unseen" he referred to al-Quran 31:34 e.g.

Narrated Abdullah bin Umar: The Prophet said, "The keys of the Unseen are five." And then he recited: Verily, the knowledge of the Hour is with Allah (alone)...' (31.34)
(Bukhari, Hadith 4835)

Knowledge of rain timing and weather forecasting:

Yes, its Allah Alone who knows with utmost surety as to when will it rain. Today we can make forecasts but they are subject to all sorts of errors and infact prone to.

There are many errors in the forecasts. We can even observe in daily life. It happens, none can deny. Even in future the possibility of error will increase further. Below is derived from Klaus Weickmann, Jeff Whitaker, Andres Roubicek and Catherine Smith paper, 'The Use of Ensemble Forecasts to Produce Improved Medium Range (3-15 days) Weather Forecasts.' ;

--> Although a forecast model will predict weather features evolving realistically into the distant future, the errors in a forecast will inevitably grow with time due to the chaotic nature of the atmosphere and the inexactness of the initial observations. The detail that can be given in a forecast therefore decreases with time as these errors increase. There becomes a point when the errors are so large that the forecast has no correlation with the actual state of the atmosphere.||

Modern Science and knowledge of 'what' is in the womb?"

As I said earlier the verse says مَا فِى ٱلۡأَرۡحَامِ‌ۖ 'What is in the wombs?' which includes even the character and other details of ones personality and not merely the gender of the child.

And even the Hadith uses the words مَا تَغِيضُ الْأَرْحَامُ 'What is in the wombs?'

Thus there is no contradiction of either Quran or the Hadith with the modern science.

Recall the exclusive or not connotation part:

Here please recall the two connotations we discussed earlier that in case of Rain and 'What' is in the wombs?' there is no connotation of exclusiveness while it is there in case of other three things.

And what all I mentioned under the heading 'Further Clarification' shows the wisdom behind the difference. In case of 'rain' and 'what is in the wombs?' to a only a certain level man can know things that's why it has not been mentioned exclusively in that verse. But its absolutely impossible for man to know other three things so it has been exclusively declared that none but ALLAH Alone knows those.

INDEED ALLAH KNOWS THE BEST !!!

....By Waqar Akbar Cheema