THE SILENT LANGUAGE

On the Day the sky is like molten brass and the mountains like tufts of colored wool. No good friend will ask about his friend even though they can see each other. (Qur’an, 70:8-11)

The Day when heaven is split apart in clouds, and the angels are sent down rank upon rank. The Kingdom that Day will belong in truth to the All-Merciful. It will be a hard Day for the unbelievers. (Qur’an, 25:25-26)

How many generations We have destroyed before them! Do you see a trace of any one of them or hear even a whisper of them? (Qur’an, 19:98)

[Are you going to be left secure] amid gardens and clear springs, and cultivated fields and palms with supple spathes? Will you continue hewing houses from the mountains with exultant skill? (Qur’an, 26:147-149)

Pharaoh exalted himself arrogantly in the land and divided its people into camps... (Qur’an, 28:4)

Pharaoh called to his people, saying: “My people, doesn’t the kingdom of Egypt belong to me? Don’t all these rivers flow under my control? Don’t you then see?” (Qur’an, 43:51)

Aren’t they guided by the many generations We have destroyed before them, among whose dwelling places they walk about? There are signs in that for people of sound intellect. (Qur’an, 20:128)

Aren’t they guided by the many generations We destroyed before them, among whose ruined homes they walk around?... (Qur’an, 32:26)

Whereas for those who do not believe there will be the fire of Hell. They will not be killed off so that they die and its punishment will not be lightened for them. That is how We repay every thankless man. (Qur’an, 35:36)

Hell, where they will roast. What an evil resting-place! This! So let them taste it – boiling water and scalding pus and other such torments. (Qur’an, 38:56-58)

... Safeguard yourselves and your families from a fire whose fuel is people and stones. Harsh, terrible angels are in charge of it who do not disobey God in respect of any order He gives them and carry out what they are ordered to do. (Qur’an, 66:6)

... when they arrive there and its gates are opened, its custodians will say to them: “Didn’t messengers from yourselves come to you, reciting your Lord’s signs to you and warning you of the meeting on this Day of yours?” They will say: “Indeed they did, but the decree of punishment is justly carried out against the unbelievers.” (Qur’an, 39:71)

SACRED LOCATIONS NOTED IN THE QUR’AN

The locations which are noted in the Qur'an are those where the prophets lived through history (such as Mount Tur and the valley of Tuwa), or the cities where Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and grant him peace) lived and taught about religion to the people.

Sacred places are a reminder of the struggles between prophets and their followers against unbelievers. They also remind us of the extraordinary patience and decisiveness of these blessed people in God's way. For this reason, the sacred sites are a cause of increased excitement and enthusiasm among believers.

Believers feel a special spiritual bond with these lands and sites. They want to get to know these lands, which carry the valuable memories of the prophets. In the following pages, we will focus on some of these sacred sites.

God has made the Kaaba, the Sacred House, a special institution for humanity, and also the sacred months and the sacrificial animals and the ritual garlands. That is so you will know that God knows what is in the heavens and in the Earth and that God has knowledge of all things. (Qur’an, 5:97)

The Hajj (pilgrimage) is a duty commanded to all Muslims by God in the Qur'an. This most important task of the Hajj takes place with the circling of the Kaaba (the House).

Today, the Kaaba is found in the courtyard of the Masjid al-Haram (the Sacred Mosque). It was built according to God's command by Prophet Abraham and his son, Prophet Ishmael (peace be upon them).

And We located the position of the House for Abraham... (Qur'an, 22:26)

Just as it is explained in this verse, Prophet Abraham (pbuh) built the Kaaba in the place and in the way God commanded him to.

The Kaaba is a site where people can come together and worship God. God specified that the Kaaba would be a clean and safe site where the believers would worship.

The careful protection of the Kaaba is one of the most important duties of Muslims. Our Lord, Who commanded Prophet Abraham (pbuh) to keep the Kaaba clean and safe for believers, also made it clear in the Qur'an that only believers are to protect it. In a verse from the Qur'an, God reveals that the true protectors and guardians of the Kaaba are those who believe:

... Only people who guard against evil can be its guardians. But most of them do not know that. (Qur'an, 8:34)

Another important aspect of the Kaaba within the Islamic world is that it is the direction of prayer for Muslims. Muslims all over the world, in prayer five times a day, worship in the direction of the Kaaba.

Maqam Ibrahim (Station of Abraham)

On the east side of the Kaaba, about two meters high, one meter wide, there is a rectangular structure covered in glass on its top part and marble on the bottom. This structure protects a stone that Prophet Abraham (pbuh) stepped on while building the Kaaba. Islamic and historical sources accept this as the point mentioned in the Qur'an as "the Maqam of Abraham."

The stone, which is called "Hajar al-Aswad" is traditionally accepted as the starting point for the circling of the Kaaba. According to stories, this stone was put in its place by Prophet Abraham (pbuh). "Hajar al-Aswad" means "The Black Stone."

This stone, which is found on the east side of the Kaaba, is about one and a half meters high. It is yellowish black, and oval shaped. There are red spots on it. The sides are covered in silver. People making the Hajj begin their circulation of the Kaaba at the Hajar al-Aswad. While circling the Kaaba, pilgrims face this stone, lifting their hands in praise.

Safa and Marwa are two hills to the east of the Kaaba. Mount Safa is about 15 meters higher than the Haram area, while Mount Marwa is about 8 meters in height. There are about 420 meters in between the two hills. The area in between them is called "Masa," which is adjacent to the Masjid al-Haram. In pictures, you can see pilgrims performing Sa'y (walking between Safa and Marwa).

Arafat is a large and flat plain of twenty-four square kilometers which lies to the north of Mecca. It is outside of Haram. The name "Arafat" is the plural of "arafa," and comes from the root of the words "irfan" (insight) and "marifa" (knowledge). It also means mountain. This is how Arafat is mentioned in the Qur'an:

There is nothing wrong in seeking bounty from your Lord. When you pour down from Arafat, remember God at the Sacred Landmark. Remember Him because He has guided you, even though before this you were astray. Then press on from where the people press on and ask God's forgiveness. God is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Qur'an, 2:198-199)

Mina is the name of the place between Mecca and Mash'ar al-Haram. During Hajj, pilgrims also visit Mina. Some of the important rituals of the Hajj take place here:

Remember God on the designated days. Those who hurry on [to leave Mina] in two days have done no wrong, and those who stay another day have done no wrong – those of them who guard against evil. So fear [and respect] God. And know that you will be gathered back to Him. (Qur'an, 2:203)

The first house established for humanity was that at Bakka, a place of blessing and a guidance for all beings. (Qur’an, 3:96)

And when Abraham built the foundations of the House with Ishmael: “Our Lord, accept this from us! You are the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.” (Qur’an, 2:127)

And We located the position of the House for Abraham: “Do not associate anything with Me and purify My House for those who circle it, and those who stand and bow and prostrate.” (Qur’an, 22:26)

Announce the pilgrimage to humanity. They will come to you on foot and on every sort of lean animal, coming by every distant road. (Qur’an, 22:27)

... A mosque founded on performing one’s duty from the first day has a greater right for you to stand in it. In it there are men who love to purify themselves. God loves those who purify themselves. (Qur’an, 9:108)

Interior view of the Masjid al-Nabawi

(Mosque of the Prophet) in Medina

Maqam Ibrahim (Station of Abraham)

Mina is the name of the place between Mecca and Mash'ar al-Haram. During Hajj, pilgrims also visit Mina. Some of the important rituals of the Hajj take place here:

Safa and Marwa are among the landmarks of God, so anyone who goes on pilgrimage to the House or does the pious visit incurs no wrong in going back and forth between them... (Qur’an, 2:158)

The Masa, in between Safa and Marwa

The top of Mount Safa

Pictures of Arafat and Mount Rahmat during the Hajj.

Above: The top of Mina

Left: Masjid al-Khaif in Mina.

Mina is the name of the place between Mecca and Mash'ar al-Haram. During Hajj, pilgrims also visit Mina. Some of the important rituals of the Hajj take place here:

In these pictures, you can see the places of worship called the Sab'ah Masajid (Seven Masjids), built on the spot where the Battle of Khandaq (Battle of the Trench) took place. According to historical sources, the masjid on the right was used by our Prophet (may God bless him and grant him peace). Below is the Uhud cemetery.

The Masjid al-Nabawi

(Mosque of the Prophet)

It is not for the idolaters to maintain the mosques of God, bearing witness against themselves of their disbelief. They are the ones whose actions will come to nothing. They will be in the fire timelessly, for ever. (Qur’an, 9:17)

The mosques of God should only be maintained by those who believe in God and the Last Day and perform prayer and give the alms, and fear no one but God. They are the ones most likely to be guided. (Qur’an, 9:18)

A different view of the Masjid al-Haram

Day and night views of the Masjid al-Nabawi

Glory be to Him Who took His servant on a journey by night from the Sacred Mosque [Masjid al-Haram] to the Further Mosque [Masjid al-Aqsa], whose surroundings We have blessed, in order to show him some of Our signs. He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing. (Qur’an, 17:1)

Due to the fact that Masjid al-Aqsa was the first direction of prayer for Muslims, it carries an important distinction. It is accepted that Masjid al-Aqsa is the second mosque ever built, the first being the Kaaba.

In 638 AD, after Jerusalem was conquered during the period of the Caliph Omar, Masjid al-Aqsa was built at the site of Bayt al-Maqdis. The fact that Caliph Omar accepted this as a place of worship is also another reason it is important for Muslims. Masjid al-Aqsa was later constructed in its new structure during the rule of a later caliph, Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan.

Qubbat al-Sakhra (Dome of the Rock) is also known as the Mosque of Omar, but it was not built as a mosque. Inside the structure, there is a stone believed to have been stepped on by Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and grant him peace) during his ascension to heaven; the stone is considered sacred. The word "sakhra" means a "piece of rock," and so Qubbat al-Sakhra means a dome built on rock. To the east of the rock in the structure, there is a long cupboard which contains what is believed to be hairs from Prophet Muhammad's (may God bless him and grant him peace) sacred beard.

An 1890 view of Qubbat al-Sakhra and Masjid al-Aqsa

The Mosque of Omar

Say: “My Lord has commanded justice. Stand and face Him in every mosque and call on Him, making your religion sincerely His. As He originated you, so you will return.” (Qur’an, 7:29)

And [I swear by] Mount Sinai and this safe land. (Qur’an, 95:2-3)

A view of Mount Sinai

He picks out for His mercy whoever He wills. God’s favor is indeed immense. (Qur’an, 3:74)

THE DECEPTION OF EVOLUTION

Darwinism, in other words the theory of evolution, was put forward with the aim of denying the fact of creation, but is in truth nothing but failed, unscientific nonsense. This theory, which claims that life emerged by chance from inanimate matter, was invalidated by the scientific evidence of miraculous order in the universe and in living things. In this way, science confirmed the fact that God created the universe and the living things in it. The propaganda carried out today in order to keep the theory of evolution alive is based solely on the distortion of the scientific facts, biased interpretation, and lies and falsehoods disguised as science.

Yet this propaganda cannot conceal the truth. The fact that the theory of evolution is the greatest deception in the history of science has been expressed more and more in the scientific world over the last 20-30 years. Research carried out after the 1980s in particular has revealed that the claims of Darwinism are totally unfounded, something that has been stated by a large number of scientists. In the United States in particular, many scientists from such different fields as biology, biochemistry and paleontology recognize the invalidity of Darwinism and employ the fact of creation to account for the origin of life.

We have examined the collapse of the theory of evolution and the proofs of creation in great scientific detail in many of our works, and are still continuing to do so. Given the enormous importance of this subject, it will be of great benefit to summarize it here.

The Scientific Collapse of Darwinism

Although this doctrine goes back as far as ancient Greece, the theory of evolution was advanced extensively in the nineteenth century. The most important development that made it the top topic of the world of science was Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species, published in 1859. In this book, he denied that God created different living species on Earth separately, for he claimed that all living beings had a common ancestor and had diversified over time through small changes. Darwin's theory was not based on any concrete scientific finding; as he also accepted, it was just an "assumption." Moreover, as Darwin confessed in the long chapter of his book titled "Difficulties on Theory," the theory failed in the face of many critical questions.

Darwin invested all of his hopes in new scientific discoveries, which he expected to solve these difficulties. However, contrary to his expectations, scientific findings expanded the dimensions of these difficulties. The defeat of Darwinism in the face of science can be reviewed under three basic topics:

1) The theory cannot explain how life originated on Earth.

2) No scientific finding shows that the "evolutionary mechanisms" proposed by the theory have any evolutionary power at all.

3) The fossil record proves the exact opposite of what the theory suggests.

In this section, we will examine these three basic points in general outlines:

The First Insurmountable Step:

The Origin of Life

The theory of evolution posits that all living species evolved from a single living cell that emerged on the primitive Earth 3.8 billion years ago. How a single cell could generate millions of complex living species and, if such an evolution really occurred, why traces of it cannot be observed in the fossil record are some of the questions that the theory cannot answer. However, first and foremost, we need to ask: How did this "first cell" originate?

Since the theory of evolution denies creation and any kind of supernatural intervention, it maintains that the "first cell" originated coincidentally within the laws of nature, without any design, plan or arrangement. According to the theory, inanimate matter must have produced a living cell as a result of coincidences. Such a claim, however, is inconsistent with the most unassailable rules of biology.

"Life Comes From Life"

In his book, Darwin never referred to the origin of life. The primitive understanding of science in his time rested on the assumption that living beings had a very simple structure. Since medieval times, spontaneous generation, which asserts that non-living materials came together to form living organisms, had been widely accepted. It was commonly believed that insects came into being from food leftovers, and mice from wheat. Interesting experiments were conducted to prove this theory. Some wheat was placed on a dirty piece of cloth, and it was believed that mice would originate from it after a while.

Similarly, maggots developing in rotting meat was assumed to be evidence of spontaneous generation. However, it was later understood that worms did not appear on meat spontaneously, but were carried there by flies in the form of larvae, invisible to the naked eye.

Even when Darwin wrote The Origin of Species, the belief that bacteria could come into existence from non-living matter was widely accepted in the world of science.

However, five years after the publication of Darwin's book, Louis Pasteur announced his results after long studies and experiments, that disproved spontaneous generation, a cornerstone of Darwin's theory. In his triumphal lecture at the Sorbonne in 1864, Pasteur said: "Never will the doctrine of spontaneous generation recover from the mortal blow struck by this simple experiment."1

For a long time, advocates of the theory of evolution resisted these findings. However, as the development of science unraveled the complex structure of the cell of a living being, the idea that life could come into being coincidentally faced an even greater impasse.

Inconclusive Efforts of the Twentieth Century

The first evolutionist who took up the subject of the origin of life in the twentieth century was the renowned Russian biologist Alexander Oparin. With various theses he advanced in the 1930s, he tried to prove that a living cell could originate by coincidence. These studies, however, were doomed to failure, and Oparin had to make the following confession:

Unfortunately, however, the problem of the origin of the cell is perhaps the most obscure point in the whole study of the evolution of organisms.2

Evolutionist followers of Oparin tried to carry out experiments to solve this problem. The best known experiment was carried out by the American chemist Stanley Miller in 1953. Combining the gases he alleged to have existed in the primordial Earth's atmosphere in an experiment set-up, and adding energy to the mixture, Miller synthesized several organic molecules (amino acids) present in the structure of proteins.

Barely a few years had passed before it was revealed that this experiment, which was then presented as an important step in the name of evolution, was invalid, for the atmosphere used in the experiment was very different from the real Earth conditions.3

After a long silence, Miller confessed that the atmosphere medium he used was unrealistic.4

All the evolutionists' efforts throughout the twentieth century to explain the origin of life ended in failure. The geochemist Jeffrey Bada, from the San Diego Scripps Institute accepts this fact in an article published in Earth magazine in 1998:

Today as we leave the twentieth century, we still face the biggest unsolved problem that we had when we entered the twentieth century: How did life originate on Earth?5

The Complex Structure of Life

The primary reason why the theory of evolution ended up in such a great impasse regarding the origin of life is that even those living organisms deemed to be the simplest have incredibly complex structures. The cell of a living thing is more complex than all of our man-made technological products. Today, even in the most developed laboratories of the world, a living cell cannot be produced by bringing organic chemicals together.

The conditions required for the formation of a cell are too great in quantity to be explained away by coincidences. The probability of proteins, the building blocks of a cell, being synthesized coincidentally, is 1 in 10950 for an average protein made up of 500 amino acids. In mathematics, a probability smaller than 1 over 1050 is considered to be impossible in practical terms.

The DNA molecule, which is located in the nucleus of a cell and which stores genetic information, is an incredible databank. If the information coded in DNA were written down, it would make a giant library consisting of an estimated 900 volumes of encyclopedias consisting of 500 pages each.

A very interesting dilemma emerges at this point: DNA can replicate itself only with the help of some specialized proteins (enzymes). However, the synthesis of these enzymes can be realized only by the information coded in DNA. As they both depend on each other, they have to exist at the same time for replication. This brings the scenario that life originated by itself to a deadlock. Prof. Leslie Orgel, an evolutionist of repute from the University of San Diego, California, confesses this fact in the September 1994 issue of the Scientific American magazine:

It is extremely improbable that proteins and nucleic acids, both of which are structurally complex, arose spontaneously in the same place at the same time. Yet it also seems impossible to have one without the other. And so, at first glance, one might have to conclude that life could never, in fact, have originated by chemical means.6

No doubt, if it is impossible for life to have originated from natural causes, then it has to be accepted that life was "created" in a supernatural way. This fact explicitly invalidates the theory of evolution, whose main purpose is to deny creation.

Imaginary Mechanism of Evolution

The second important point that negates Darwin's theory is that both concepts put forward by the theory as "evolutionary mechanisms" were understood to have, in reality, no evolutionary power.

Darwin based his evolution allegation entirely on the mechanism of "natural selection." The importance he placed on this mechanism was evident in the name of his book: The Origin of Species, By Means of Natural Selection…

Natural selection holds that those living things that are stronger and more suited to the natural conditions of their habitats will survive in the struggle for life. For example, in a deer herd under the threat of attack by wild animals, those that can run faster will survive. Therefore, the deer herd will be comprised of faster and stronger individuals. However, unquestionably, this mechanism will not cause deer to evolve and transform themselves into another living species, for instance, horses.

Therefore, the mechanism of natural selection has no evolutionary power. Darwin was also aware of this fact and had to state this in his book The Origin of Species:

Natural selection can do nothing until favourable individual differences or variations occur.7

Lamarck's Impact

So, how could these "favorable variations" occur? Darwin tried to answer this question from the standpoint of the primitive understanding of science at that time. According to the French biologist Chevalier de Lamarck (1744-1829), who lived before Darwin, living creatures passed on the traits they acquired during their lifetime to the next generation. He asserted that these traits, which accumulated from one generation to another, caused new species to be formed. For instance, he claimed that giraffes evolved from antelopes; as they struggled to eat the leaves of high trees, their necks were extended from generation to generation.

Darwin also gave similar examples. In his book The Origin of Species, for instance, he said that some bears going into water to find food transformed themselves into whales over time.8

However, the laws of inheritance discovered by Gregor Mendel (1822-84) and verified by the science of genetics, which flourished in the twentieth century, utterly demolished the legend that acquired traits were passed on to subsequent generations. Thus, natural selection fell out of favor as an evolutionary mechanism.

Neo-Darwinism and Mutations

In order to find a solution, Darwinists advanced the "Modern Synthetic Theory," or as it is more commonly known, Neo-Darwinism, at the end of the 1930s. Neo-Darwinism added mutations, which are distortions formed in the genes of living beings due to such external factors as radiation or replication errors, as the "cause of favorable variations" in addition to natural mutation.

Today, the model that stands for evolution in the world is Neo-Darwinism. The theory maintains that millions of living beings formed as a result of a process whereby numerous complex organs of these organisms (e.g., ears, eyes, lungs, and wings) underwent "mutations," that is, genetic disorders. Yet, there is an outright scientific fact that totally undermines this theory: Mutations do not cause living beings to develop; on the contrary, they are always harmful.

The reason for this is very simple: DNA has a very complex structure, and random effects can only harm it. The American geneticist B. G. Ranganathan explains this as follows: