Chapter 3 Scientists Confirm The Signs Of Allah
Chapter 3
Scientists Confirm The Signs Of Allah
What we have covered so far shows us that the attributes of the universe discovered by science point to the existence of Allah. Science leads us to the conclusion that the universe has a Creator and this Creator is perfect in might, wisdom and knowledge. It is religion that shows us the way in knowing Allah. It is therefore possible to say that science is a method we use to better see and investigate the realities addressed by religion. Nevertheless, today, some of the scientists who step forth in the name of science take an entirely different stand. In their view, scientific discoveries do not imply the creation of Allah. They have, on the contrary, projected an atheistic understanding of science by saying that it is not possible to reach Allah through scientific data: they claim that science and religion are two clashing notions.
As a matter of fact, this atheistic understanding of science is quite recent. Until a few centuries ago, science and religion were never thought to clash with each other, and science was accepted as a method of proving the existence of Allah. The so-called atheistic understanding of science flourished only after the materialist and positivist philosophies swept through the world of science in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Particularly after Charles Darwin postulated the theory of evolution in 1859, circles holding a materialistic world view started to ideologically defend this theory, which they looked upon as an alternative to religion. The theory of evolution argued that the universe was not created by a creator but came into being by chance. As a result, it was asserted that religion was in conflict with science. The British researchers Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln said on this issue:
For Isaac Newton, a century and a half before Darwin, science was not separate from religion but, on the contrary, an aspect of religion, and ultimately subservient to it. ...But the science of Darwin's time became precisely that, divorcing itself from the context in which it had previously existed and establishing itself as a rival absolute, an alternative repository of meaning. As a result, religion and science were no longer working in concert, but rather stood opposed to each other, and humanity was increasingly forced to choose between them...23
As we stated before, the so-called split between science and religion was totally ideological. Some scientists, who earnestly believed in materialism, conditioned themselves to prove that the universe had no creator and they devised various theories in this context. The theory of evolution was the most famous and the most important of them. In the field of astronomy as well certain theories were developed such as the "steady-state theory" or the "chaos theory". However, all of these theories that denied creation were demolished by science itself, as we have clearly shown in the previous chapters.
Today, scientists who still keep to these theories and insist on denying all things religious, are dogmatic and bigoted people, who have conditioned themselves not to believe in Allah. The famous English zoologist and evolutionist D.M.S. Watson confesses to this dogmatism as he explains why he and his colleagues accept the theory of evolution:
Evolutionists rely not on science but on materialist philosophy and they distort science to make it agree with this philosophy. A geneticist and an outspoken evolutionist from Harvard University, Richard Lewontin, confesses to this truth:
This shows us that science and religion are not conflicting sources of information, but that, on the contrary, science is a method that verifies the absolute truths provided by religion. The clash between religion and science can only hold true for certain religions that incorporate some superstitious elements as well as divine sources. However, this is certainly out of the question for Islam, which relies only on the pure revelation of Allah. Moreover, Islam particularly advocates scientific enquiry, and announces that probing the universe is a method to explore the creation of Allah. The following verse of the Qur'an addresses this issue;
Do they not look at the sky above them? How We have built it and adorned it, and there are no rifts therein? And the earth - We have spread it out, and set thereon mountains standing firm, and caused it to bring forth plants of beauteous kinds (in pairs). And We send down from the sky blessed water whereby We give growth unto gardens and the grain of crops. And tall palm-trees, with shoots of fruit-stalks, piled one over another. (Surah Qaf, 6-7, 9-10)
As the above verses imply, the Qur'an always urges people to think, to reason and to explore everything in the world in which they live. This is because science supports religion, saves the individual from ignorance, and causes him to think more consciously; it opens wide one's world of thought and helps one grasp the signs of Allah self-evident in the universe. Prominent German physicist Max Planck said that "everyone who, regardless of his field, studies science seriously is to read the following phrase on the door of the temple of science: 'Have faith'". According to him, faith is an essential attribute of a scientist.26
All the issues we have treated so far simply put it that the existence of the universe and all living things cannot be explained by coincidences. Many scientists who have left their mark on the world of science have confirmed, and still confirm this great reality. The more people learn about the universe, the higher does their admiration for its flawless order becomes. Every newly-discovered detail supports creation in an unquestionable way.
The great majority of modern physicists accept the fact of creation as we set foot in the 21st century. David Darling also maintains that neither time, nor space, nor matter, nor energy, nor even a tiny spot or a cavity existed at the beginning. A slight quick movement and a modest quiver and fluctuation occurred. Darling ends by saying that when the cover of this cosmic box was opened, the tendrils of the miracle of creation appeared from beneath it.27
Besides, it is already known that almost all the founders of diverse scientific branches believed in Allah and His divine books. The greatest physicists in history, Newton, Faraday, Kelvin and Maxwell are a few examples of such scientists.
Max Planck |
Sir Isaac Newton |
In the time of Isaac Newton, the great physicist, scientists believed that the movements of the heavenly bodies and planets could be explained by different laws. Nevertheless, Newton believed that the creator of earth and space was the same, and therefore they had to be explained by the same laws.He expanded this view in his book stating that the perfect system of the sun and planets could only survive under the control and dominance of a mighty and wise being.28
As is evident, thousands of scientists who have been doing research in the fields of physics, mathematics, and astronomy since the Middle Ages all agree on the idea that the universe is created by a single Creator and always focus on the same point. The founder of physical astronomy, Johannes Kepler, stated his strong belief in God in one of his books in which he declared that we, as poor, inadequate servants of God, have to see the greatness of God’s wisdom and might and sumbit ourselves to Him. 29
The great physicist, William Thompson (Lord Kelvin), who established thermodynamics on a formal scientific basis, was also a Christian who believed in God. He had strongly opposed Darwin's theory of evolution and totally rejected it. He explained shortly before his death that when it looks at the origins of life, science certainly confirms the existance of that Great Power.30
One of the professors of physics at Oxford University, Robert Mattheus states the same fact in his book published in 1992 where he explains that DNA molecules were created by God. Mattheus says that all these stages proceed in a perfect harmony from a single cell to a living baby, then to a little child, and finally to an adolescent. All these events can be explained only by a miracle, just as in all the other stages of biology. Mattheus asks how such a perfect and complex organism can emerge from such a simple and tiny cell and how a glorious HUMAN is created from a cell even smaller than the dot on the letter. He finally concludes that this is nothing short of a miracle.31
Some other scientists who admit that the universe is created by a Creator and who are known by their cited attributes are:
Iona William Petty (known for his studies on statistics and modern economy)
Michael Faraday (one of the greatest physicists of all times)
Gregory Mendel (the father of genetics; he invalidated Darwinism with his discoveries in the science of genetics)
Louis Pasteur (the greatest name in bacteriology; he declared war on Darwinism)
John Dalton (the father of atomic theory)
Blaise Pascal (one of the most important mathematicians)
John Ray (the most important name in British natural history)
Nicolaus Steno (a famous stratiographer who investigated earth layers)
Carolus Linnaeus (the father of biological classification)
Georges Cuvier (the founder of comparative anatomy)
Matthew Maury (the founder of oceanography)
Thomas Anderson (one the pioneers in the field of organic chemistry)
24. D.M.S. Watson, "Adaptation", Nature, no. 124, p. 233
25. Richard Levontin, The Demon-Haunted World, The New York Review of Books, January, 9, 1997, p. 28
26. J. De Vries, Essential of Physical Science, Wm.B.Eerdmans Pub.Co., Grand Rapids, SD 1958, p. 15.
27. David Darling, Deep Time, Delacorte Press, 1989, New York.
28. Timothy R. Stout, Tim Stout's Creation-Science Page.
29. Ibid.
30. Ibid..
31. Robert Matthews, Unravelling the Minde of God, London Bridege, July, 1995, p.8
Chapter 2 The Signs In The Heavens And On The Earth
Chapter 2
The Signs In The Heavens And On The Earth
Assume that you set up a big city by bringing millions of Legos together. Let there be in this city skyscrapers, twisting roads, railway stations, airports, shopping malls, subways and also rivers, lakes, forests and a beach. Let there also be living in it thousands of people wandering in its streets, sitting in their homes and working in their offices. Take every detail into account. Even the traffic lights, box offices, and the signboards at the bus stations.If someone came up to you and said that all the Legos of this city, which you had founded by planning it right down to the smallest detail, and each piece of which you had picked up with great pains, had been brought together by coincidence to produce this city, what would you think of the mental state of that person?
Now, go back to the city you have built and consider that the whole city would be levelled to the ground if you had forgotten to put into place even a single Lego, or changed its place. Can you imagine what great balance and order you have had to establish?
Life in the world where we live is also made possible by the accumulation of such a great number of details incomprehensible to the human mind. The absence of even one of these details might mean the end of life on the earth.
Everything, every detail from the atom, the smallest unit of matter, to the galaxies harbouring billions of stars, from the moon, an inseparable adjunct of the world, to the solar system, all work in a perfect harmony. This well-organised system runs flawlessly, just like a watch. People are so confident that this billions-of-years-old system will go on functioning without leaving out even the smallest detail that they can freely make plans about something they think will be realised in the next 10 years. No one is worried about whether the sun will rise the next day. A great majority of people do not think about ‘whether the world may ever chance to break free from the gravitation of the sun and start to move towards the unknown in the pitch-dark space’; or ask ‘What keeps this from happening?’
In the same manner, when people are about to sleep, they are very confident that their hearts or respiratory systems will not relax as their brains do. However, even a few seconds’ halt in any one of these two vital systems may well cause results that will cost one's life.
When the ‘glasses of familiarity’ which surround the whole of life and cause every event to be assessed as if ‘it is taking place in its natural course’ are taken off, one is free to see that everything is made up of such closely interdependent, meticulously planned systems that it is as if we were hanging on to life by the skin of our teeth. You notice an excellent order prevailing in every spot you turn your eyes on. Certainly, there is a great power that creates such an order and harmony. The possessor of this great power is Allah, Who created everything out of nothing. In a verse of the Qur'an, it is said:
He Who has created seven heavens in full harmony with one another: no incongruity will you see in the creation of the Most Gracious. And turn your vision (upon it) once more: can you see any flaw? Yea, turn your vision (upon it) again and yet again: (and every time) your vision will fall back upon you, dazzled and truly defeated. (Surat al-Mulk, 3-4)
However, even these brief mentions will help the conscientious ‘men of understanding’ to notice the most important fact of their lives or at least will help them remember it once again.
For Allah Exists.
To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth and He is known through reason.
THE MIRACLES IN OUR BODY
‘A Half-Developed Eye Cannot See’
What comes to your mind first when you hear the word ‘eye’? Are you aware that one of the most crucial things in life for you is your ability to see? Even if you are, have you ever thought what other signs your eye bears?
The eye is one of the most manifest pieces of evidence that living creatures are created. All sight organs, including animal eyes and the human eye, are extremely striking examples of a perfect design. This exceptional organ is so overwhelmingly complex that it surpasses even the most sophisticated devices in the world.
In order for an eye to see, all of its parts have to co-exist and work in harmony. For instance, if an eye happened to have lost its eyelid, but still had all the other parts such as the cornea, conjunctiva, iris, pupil, eye lenses, retina, choroid, eye muscles, and tear glands, it would still be greatly damaged and soon lose its seeing function. In the same manner, even if all its organelles were present, if the tear production were stopped, the eye would soon dry out and become blind.
‘The chain of coincidences’ posited by evolutionists loses all its meaning against the complex structure of the eye. It is not possible to explain the existence of the eye other than as a matter of special creation. The eye has a multi-sectioned complex system and, as discussed above, all of these individual sections had to come into existence at the same time. It is impossible for a half-developed eye to function at ‘half capacity’. In such a circumstance, the act of seeing can by no means take place. An evolutionist scientist admits to this truth:
The owner of the eyes is obviously not the one who makes the decision about their formation. For it is impossible for a being devoid of the knowledge of what seeing is like, to desire to have a seeing organ and have it attached to his body. So we have to accept the existence of a Possessor of superior Wisdom Who has created living beings with senses such as seeing, hearing, and so on. Another claim is that unconscious cells gained consciousness-requiring functions such as seeing and hearing by their own desire and effort. It is very clear that this is impossible. In the Qur'an, it is stated that seeing has been bestowed upon living beings by Allah:
Say: He it is Who brought you into being and made for you the ears and the eyes and the hearts: little is it that you give thanks. (Surat al-Mulk, 23)
Every day, a war is fought in the innermost parts of your body unperceived by you. On the one side are viruses and bacteria that aim to intrude into your body and take it under control and on the other are the immunity cells that protect the body against these enemies.
The enemies wait in an offensive state to make their way into the area they aim at and they head towards the target area at the first opportunity. However, the strong, organised and disciplined soldiers of the target area do not easily give in to the enemies. First, the soldiers who swallow and neutralise the enemy soldiers (phagocytes) arrive at the battleground. However, sometimes the fight is tougher than these soldiers can handle. On such occasions, other soldiers (macrophages) are summoned up. Their involvement causes alarm in the target area and other soldiers (auxiliary T cells) are also called to battle.
These soldiers are very familiar with the local populace. They quickly distinguish their own army from that of the enemy. They immediately activate the soldiers assigned to weapon production (B cells). These soldiers have extraordinary abilities. Although they never see the enemy, they can produce weapons which will render the enemy ineffectual. In addition, they carry the weapons they produce as far as they should be taken. During this journey, they succeed in the difficult task of not causing any harm either to themselves or to their allies. Later, the striker teams cut in (killer T cells). These discharge the poisonous material they carry on themselves at the most vital spot of the enemy. In case of victory, another group of soldiers arrives at the battleground (oppressive T cells) and sends all the warriors back to their camp. The soldiers who arrive at the battleground last (memory cells) record all relevant information about the enemy, so that it can be used in the event of a similar invasion in the future.
A B cell is seen as it is
disjoined. |
A B cell covered with bacteria. |
The excellent army discussed above is the immunity system in the human body. Everything explained above is done by microscopic cells unobservable to the naked eye. (For more information please see For Men of Understanding: The Signs in the Heavens and the Earth by Harun Yahya)
How many people are aware that they have such an organised, disciplined and perfect army inside their bodies? How many of them are aware that they are surrounded on all sides by microbes that, if unimpeded, would cause them to catch serious illnesses or even die? Indeed, there are many dangerous microbes in the air we breathe, the water we drink, the food we eat, and the surfaces we touch. While one is unaware of all that is going on, the cells in one’s body make strenuous efforts to save one from an illness that may even bring about one’s death.
The ability of all immunity cells to distinguish enemy cells from body cells, the ability of B cells to prepare a weapon to neutralise the enemy that they have never seen, their ability to carry these weapons as far as they have to be taken without adversely affecting any body cells, the signal-receiving cells' fulfilling their duty completely without making any objections, each of them knowing what to do, their returning to their places without any problem as soon as they are finished with their work, and the abilities of the memory cells are only some of the distinctive characteristics of this system.
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Immunity cells
(yellow)
are seen in a fight with cancer cells.
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It is extremely difficult for a person without an immunity system or with an ill-functioning one to survive, since he would be exposed to all the microbes and viruses in the outside world. Today, such people can exist only in special enclosures with no direct contact with anyone or anything outside. Therefore, it is impossible for a person without an immunity system to survive in a primitive environment. This leads us to the fact that an extremely complex system such as the immunity system could only have been created all at once and with all of its elements.
A System Planned in its Every Detail
Breathing, eating, walking, etc, are very natural human functions. But most people do not think how these basic actions take place. For example, when you eat a fruit, you do not think how it will be made useful to your body. The only thing on your mind is eating a healthy meal; at the same time, your body is involved in extremely detailed processes unimaginable to you in order to make this meal a health-giving thing.
The digestive system where these detailed processes take place starts to function as soon as a piece of food is taken into the mouth. Being involved in the system right at the outset, the saliva wets the food and helps it to be ground by the teeth and slide down the oesophagus.
The oesophagus helps the food be transported to the stomach where a perfect balance is at work. Here, the food is digested by the hydrochloric acid present in the stomach. This acid is so strong that it has the capacity to dissolve not only the food but also the stomach walls. Of course, such a flaw is not permitted in this perfect system. A secretion called mucus which is secreted during digestion covers all the walls of the stomach and provides a perfect protection against the destructive effect of the hydrochloric acid. Thus the stomach is prevented from destroying itself.
The rest of the digestive system is likewise planned. The useful food pieces broken down by the digestive system are absorbed by the small intestine walls and enter the blood stream. The inner surface of the small intestine is covered with tiny tendrils called ‘villus’. On top of the cells over the villus are microscopic extensions called the microvillus. These extensions function as pumps to absorb the nutrition. This way the nutrition absorbed by these pumps is delivered all around the body by the circulatory system.
The point that deserves attention here is that evolution can by no means explain the system briefly summarised earlier. Evolution maintains that today's complex organisms have evolved from primitive beings by the gradual accumulation of small structural changes. However, as stated clearly, the system in the stomach could in no way have been formed step by step. The absence of even one factor would bring about the death of the organism.
When food is received into the stomach, the gastric juices acquire the ability to break down food as a result of a series of chemical changes. Now, imagine a living being in the so-called evolutionary process in whose body such a planned chemical transformation is not possible. This living being, unable to acquire this ability, would not be able to digest the food it ate and would starve to death with an undigested mass of food in its stomach.
In addition, during the secretion of this dissolving acid, the stomach walls simultaneously have to produce the secretion called mucus. Otherwise, the acid in the stomach would destroy the stomach. Therefore, in order for life to continue, the stomach must secrete both fluids (acid and mucus) at the same time. This shows that not a step-by-step coincidental evolution but a conscious creation with all its systems must, in effect, have been at work.
What all this shows is that the human body resembles a huge factory made up of many small machines that work together in perfect harmony. Just as all factories have a designer, an engineer and a planner, the human body has an Exalted Creator.
ANIMALS AND PLANTS
Millions of plant and animal types present in the world stand out as evidence that prove the existence and might of our Creator.
All of these living beings, a limited number of which will be described as examples here, deserve to be examined individually. They all have different body systems, diverse defence tactics, unique ways of feeding, and interesting reproduction methods. Unfortunately, it is not possible to describe all living beings with all their features in a single book. Encyclopaedias of many volumes would not be enough for this task.
However, even the few examples we will discuss here will be sufficient to prove that life on earth can in no way be explained by coincidences or accidental happenings.
From Caterpillar to Butterfly
If you had 450-500 eggs and if you had to preserve them outside, what would you do? The wisest course for you would be to take precautions to prevent them from being scattered around, say, by the wind, or other environmental factors. Being one of the animals that lay the most eggs at one time (450-500), the silkworms use a very intelligent way to protect their eggs: they unite the eggs with a viscous substance (thread) they secrete to prevent them from being scattered around.
The caterpillars that pop out of their eggs firstly find a safe branch for themselves and then get tied to this branch with the same thread. Later, to promote their own development, they start to spin a cocoon for themselves with the thread they secrete. It takes 3-4 days for a caterpillar that has opened its eyes very recently to life to complete this process. During this period, the caterpillar makes thousands of turns and produces a thread an average of 900-1,500 metres long.14 At the end of this process, it starts a new task through which it undergoes a metamorphosis to become an elegant butterfly.
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Neither the action taken by the mother silkworm to protect its eggs, nor the behaviour of a tiny caterpillar devoid of any awareness, education or knowledge can be explained by evolution. First of all, the ability of the mother to produce the thread it uses to secure its eggs is miraculous. The newly-born caterpillar's knowing the most suitable environment for itself, its spinning a cocoon in accordance with it, its undergoing a metamorphosis, and its coming through this metamorphosis without any problem are beyond human comprehension. Hence, we can simply say that each caterpillar is born into the world with a foreknowledge of what to do, which means that it was 'taught' all of these things before it was born.
Let us explain this with an example. What would you think if you saw a new-born baby standing up a few hours after his birth, getting together the things he needs to make his bed (like quilt, pillow, mattress), and later putting all these together neatly, making his bed and lying down on it? After you recover from the shock of the event, you would probably think that the baby must have been taught in an extraordinary way in his mother's womb to perform such a process. The case of the caterpillars is no different from the baby in this example.
This again leads us to the same conclusions: these living creatures come into life, behave and live in the way determined by Allah Who has created them. The Qur'anic verse stating that Allah has inspired the honeybee and commanded it to make honey (Surat an-Nahl, 68-69) provides an example of the great secret of the world of living beings. This secret is that all living beings have bowed to Allah's will and follow the fate determined by Him. This is why the honeybee makes honey and the silkworm produces silk.
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The caterpillar’s spinning itself into a cocoon, and then its tearing it apart and getting out of it as a butterfly with a fabulous pattern and colour. Is then He Who creates like one that creates not? Will you not receive admonition? (Surat an-Nahl, 17) |
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The Symmetry in Wings
When we look at the butterfly wings in the pictures, we see a perfect symmetry prevailing over them. These lace-like wings are so adorned with patterns, spots and colours that each of them is like a work of art.
When you look at the wings of these butterflies, you notice that the patterns and colours on both sides are fully identical, no matter how intricate they may seem. Even the smallest dot is present on both wings, thereby introducing a flawless order and symmetry.
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He is Allah, the Creator, the Shaper out of naught, the Bestower of forms (or colours). To Him belong the Most Beautiful Names: whatever is in the heavens and on earth, declares His Praises and Glory: and He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise. (Surat al-Hashr, 24) |
In addition, none of the colours on these thin wings mixes with the other, each being sharply set apart from the other. Actually, these colours are formed by the amassing of tiny scales clustered one on top of another. Isn't it a wonder how these small scales that are easily dispersed with your hand's slightest touch can be arranged in both wings without any mistake in their disposal so as to produce exactly the same pattern. Even the replacement of a single scale would destroy the symmetry in the wings and impair their aesthetics. However, you never see any muddle in the wings of any butterfly on the earth. They are as neat and elegant as if made by an artist. And they are indeed made by an Exalted Creator.
The Animal with the Longest Neck: The Giraffe
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Giraffes have many amazing characteristics. One of these is that their neck stands on 7 vertebrae, just like that of all other mammals, even though it is so long. Another amazing fact about giraffes is that they do not have any problem pumping blood up to their brain on top of their long neck. A little thinking would make one notice how difficult it must be to have the blood pumped so high. But giraffes do not have any problem about this, because their hearts are equipped with features to pump blood as high as necessary. This enables them to carry on with their lives effortlessly.
Yet they still face another problem while they drink water. Essentially, giraffes should have died of high blood pressure every time they bent down to drink water. However, the perfect system in their necks completely eliminates this risk. When they bend down, the valves in their neck vessels are shut down and they prevent excess blood from flowing to the brain.
There is no doubt that the giraffes did not acquire these traits by planning them in accordance with their needs. It is even more implausible to say that all these vital features were shaped over time through a gradual evolutionary process. In order for a giraffe to stay alive, it is vital for it to have a pumping system to transmit blood to the brain and a valve system to prevent high blood pressure the minute it bends down. If any one of these characteristics did not exist or did not function properly, then it would be impossible for the giraffe to go on living.
The conclusion to be derived from all this is that the giraffe species was born into the world with all the characteristics vital for its living. It is impossible for a non-existent being to master its body and acquire essential traits consciously. So, giraffes unquestionably prove that they are created by a conscious creation, that is by Allah.
Sea Turtles
Sea turtles living in the oceans surge in crowds towards the beach when it is time for them to reproduce. This is no ordinary beach though. The beach they arrive at to reproduce has to be the one where they were born.15 Sometimes sea turtles have to travel as far as 800 kilometres to arrive there. But a long and tough journey does not change the situation. They arrive at the beach where they were born to give birth to their offspring, no matter what.
It is quite unaccountable how a living being can find its way back to the very same beach 20-25 years after its departure from there.16 It is all the more extraordinary that it can find the direction of its birthplace in the depths of the ocean where so little light penetrates, and then spot it from among numerous similar beaches.
Finally,
thousands of travellers with no compass meet on the same beach
at the
same time. Initially a mystery, the reasons underlying this
insistent
meeting came as a great surprise when finally revealed. Since
turtles
know that their offspring cannot survive in sea conditions, they
bury
their eggs under the sand on the beach. But why do all of them
meet on
the same beach, at the same time? Would not the hatchlings
survive if
they did the same thing at different times and on different
beaches?
Those who did research on this topic were faced with a very
interesting
situation. Thousands of offspring under the sand have to
overcome a number
of formidable obstacles after breaking their eggs with the hard
lump on
their head. The hatchlings of an average of 31 grams cannot dig
the earth layer above them on their own and they all help each
other.
When thousands of hatchlings on the beach start to dig the
earth, they
make it to the sand surface in a few days. Yet before they
appear on the
surface, they wait for a while for nightfall. For in the day
time, there
is the danger of falling a prey to predators. In addition, it
would be
quite difficult for them to proceed by crawling on sands
scorched by the
sunlight. When night falls, they go up to the surface after
completing
the digging process. Although it is dark, they rush to the sea
and depart
from the beach to return there as much as 20-25 years later.
It is impossible for these hatchlings to know that they have to dig their way up after they pop out of their eggs and wait for a while at a certain distance from the sea. It is by no means possible for them to know, when they are still buried in the earth, whether it is day or night, that predators exist outside and that they could fall a prey to them, that the sand is scorching because of the sun, that this could harm them, and that they must rush to the sea. So, how does this conscious conduct come about?
The only answer to this question is that these hatchlings have been somehow 'programmed' to behave in this way, which means that their Creator has inspired in them the instinct that helps them protect their lives.
Bombardier Beetle
The bombardier beetle is an insect on which an enormous amount of research has been done. The trait that renders this insect so popular is that it uses chemical methods to protect itself from its enemies.
In
moments of danger, the insect squirts hydrogen peroxide and
hydroquinone
stored in its body towards the enemy to protect itself. Prior to
battle,
specialised structures called secretory lobes make a very
concentrated
mixture of these two chemicals. The mixture is stored in a
separate compartment
called the storage chamber. This compartment is connected to a
second
one called the explosion chamber. The two compartments are kept
separate
from one another by a sphincter muscle. The moment the insect
senses danger,
it squeezes the muscles surrounding the storage chamber while
simultaneously
relaxing the sphincter muscle, and the chemical in the storage
chamber
is transferred to the explosion chamber. A large quantity of
heat is released
and a vaporisation occurs. The released vapour and the oxygen
gas exert
pressure on the walls of the explosion chamber and this chemical
is squirted
at the enemy through a channel leading outward from the beetle's
body.17
It is still a great mystery to researchers how an insect can harbour inside itself a powerful system potent enough to trigger a chemical reaction that could easily cause it harm while also isolating itself from the effects of that system. No doubt, the existence and working of this system is too complicated to be attributed to the insect itself. It is still a matter of discussion how the bombardier beetle makes such a system work within its tiny body measuring about 2 cm in length, when human experts can perform it only in laboratories.
The only apparent truth here is that this insect is a concrete example completely refuting the theory of evolution, because it is impossible for this complex chemical system to have been shaped by a series of coincidental variations and passed on to future generations. Even a minor deficiency or 'defect' in a single piece of the system would leave the animal defenceless, so that it would soon be killed or it would cause it to blow itself up. Therefore, the only explanation is that the chemical weapon in the insect's body had come into being with all its parts all at once and without any defect.
Termite Nests
No one can help feeling surprised at the sight of a termite nest erected on the ground by termites. These nests are architectural wonders, rising as high as 5 or 6 metres.
When
you compare the size of a termite and its nest, you will see
that the
termite has successfully completed an architectural project
about 300
times bigger than itself. But what is even more astonishing is
that the
termites are blind.
A person who has never seen the huge nests built by blind termites would probably think that they are made up of sand piles heaped upon each other. However, a termite nest proves to be of a marvellous design incomprehensible to the human mind: inside there are intersecting tunnels, corridors, ventilation systems, special fungus production yards and safety exits.
If you assemble thousands of blind people and give them all kinds of technical tools, you can never make them set up a nest similar to the one made by the termite colony. So, just think:
- How could a termite measuring 1-2 cm. in length have learnt the architectural and engineering information needed to make such a subtle design?
- How could thousands of blind termites manage to work in harmony to build this construction which is an artistic wonder?
-If you divide a termite nest into two during the first stages of its construction, and then reunite it, you will see that all passage-ways, canals and roads fit each other. How can this miraculous event be explained?
The conclusion to be derived from this example is that Allah has created all living beings uniquely and without any prior example. Even one termite nest is enough for a person to comprehend Allah and believe that He is the One Who created all.
The Woodpecker
As
we all know, woodpeckers build their nests by boring holes in
tree trunks
with their beaks. This may sound familiar to most people. But
the point
many people fail to examine is why woodpeckers suffer no brain
haemorrhage
when they beat a tattoo so vigorously with their heads. What the
woodpecker
does is in a way similar to a human being driving a nail into
the wall
with his head. If a man ventured to do something like that, he
would probably
undergo a brain shock followed by a brain haemorrhage. However, a
woodpecker
can peck a hard tree trunk 38-43 times in just two or three
seconds and
nothing happens to it.18
Nothing happens because the head structure of woodpeckers is ideally created for such a task. The skull of the woodpecker has a remarkable suspension system that absorbs the force of the blows. Its forehead and some skull muscles adjoined to its beak and the jaw joint are so robust that they help lessen the effect of the forceful strokes during pecking.19
Design and planning do not end here. Preferring primarily pine trees, woodpeckers check the age of the trees before boring a hole in them and pick those older than 100 years, because pine trees older than 100 years suffer an illness that causes the hard and thick bark to soften. This was only recently discovered by science and perhaps you may be reading of it here for the first time in your life; woodpeckers have known it for centuries.
This is not the only reason why woodpeckers prefer pine trees. Woodpeckers dig cavities around their nests, the function of which was not originally understood. These cavities were later understood to protect them from a great danger. Over time, the sticky resin that leaks from the pine trees fills up the cavities and the outpost of the woodpecker's nest is thus filled with a pool whereby woodpeckers can be protected from snakes, their greatest enemies.
Another interesting feature of woodpeckers is that their tongues are thin enough to penetrate even ants' nests in the trees. Their tongues are also sticky, which allows them to collect the ants that live there. The perfection in their creation is further revealed by the fact that their tongues have a structure which prevents them from being harmed by the acid in the bodies of the ants.20
Woodpeckers, each of whose characteristics is discussed in a different paragraph above, prove with all their detailed features that they are 'created'. If woodpeckers had evolved coincidentally as the theory of evolution claims, they would have died before they acquired such extraordinarily consistent traits and they would be extinct. However, as they were created by Allah with a special 'design' adapted to their life, they started their lives by bearing all the vital characteristics.
Camouflage
One of the defence strategies of animals is camouflage. Some animals have the special protection of a body structure and coloration which are totally adapted to their habitat. The bodies of these living beings are so harmonious with their environment that when you look at their pictures, you cannot tell if they are plants or animals, or distinguish them from their surroundings.
As will be seen in the following pages, the incredible similarity of an insect to a leaf helps it escape the notice of its enemies. It is obvious that this tiny animal has not made its body look like a leaf. Maybe it is not even aware that it is being protected because it looks like a leaf. However, the camouflage is so deft that it readily impinges as a defence tactic planned specially and 'created'.
 Some insects disguise themselves as dead leaves. It is quite difficult to distinguish the Panama moth from withered leaves. |
In the picture is a snake hiding among the bushes. |
 When you look carefully, you will see that what you take to be a tree branch is in fact an insect. |
This chameleon, known as gecko can assume the colour of its surroundings in 20 minutes. |
False Eyes
There are some incredible and unimaginably interesting defence methods in the animal world. One of these is false eyes. With such false eyes, various butterfly, caterpillar and fish species convince their enemies that they are 'dangerous'.
The butterflies seen below open their wings as soon as they sense a danger and display a pair of eyes on each of their wings which appear quite threatening to their enemies.
 |
FALSE EYES BEWILDER! When some butterflies open their wings, we encounter a pair of eyes. These eyes convince their enemies that they are not butterflies. Particularly, the false faces of some butterfly species such as the Shonling butterfly seen above are so perfect with their shiny eyes, facial features, frowning eyebrows, mouth and nose that the overall picture is quite discouraging for many of its enemies. A tenacious person on denying Allah may try to bolster his extraordinary view with the evolutionist explanation of 'an interesting coincidence'. Or he can claim that 'the butterfly brought about this pattern on its body by thinking that it would be useful to it'. If someone makes such a claim and asserts that these patterns that surpass in beauty even the paintings of artists have come about by coincidence, then there is nothing left to say on the part of "the men of understanding". For such a claim is completely incompatible with reason and common sense. |
 |
Let us take our time and think: can these extremely convincing eyes be the result of a coincidence? How does the butterfly know that a pair of scary eyes appear when it opens its wings and that this view would frighten its enemy? Has the butterfly happened to see the pattern on its wings and decided that this pattern was frightening and that it could use it in a moment of danger?
Such a convincing pattern can be the result only of a conscious
design,
not of coincidences. Moreover, it is by no means possible to
think that
the butterfly is aware of the patterns on its wings and
discovered this
as a defence tactic by itself. It is obvious that Allah, Who
created the
butterfly, bestowed on its body such a pattern and inspired in
the animal
the instinct to use it in moments of danger.
 |
 |
| On the left are the real head and eyes of the thornback ray fish. On the right, the fish swims into its nest and leaves out its tail on which there is a pair of 'eyes'. Other fish around it dare not to come close to it as the false eyes in the tail make them think that it is awake. | |
Water Lilies
Little flowers on the earth are mostly considered commonplace by people, notwithstanding their overall perfection. What prevents people from grasping the creation miracles in these flowers is the familiarity brought about by seeing them everywhere and every day. Therefore, flowers that grow in a totally different place, under totally different conditions and in totally different sizes will be assessed without the 'glasses of familiarity' and thus help us grasp the existence of Allah.
Amazon water lilies that grow in the sticky mud covering the bottom of the Amazon River are interesting enough to remove the 'glasses of familiarity' from people, because they continue their lives not in the way people are accustomed to and witness everyday, but with a very different struggle.
These plants start to grow in the mud at the bottom of the Amazon River, and then reach out towards the river surface. Their goal is to reach the sunlight which is vital to their existence. When they finally reach the water's surface, they stop growing and develop thorny, round buds. The buds develop into gigantic leaves with a reach of 2 metres in as short a time as a couple of hours. 'Knowing' that the more they cover the river surface with abundant leaves, the more will they be able to make use of sunlight, these water lilies make ample use of daylight to perform photosynthesis. They 'know' that otherwise they will not be able to survive at the bottom of the river due to the scarcity of light. It is certainly quite inspiring for a plant to employ such an 'intelligent' tactic.
However, sunlight alone does not suffice for the Amazon water lilies. They also need oxygen equally, yet it is obvious that this oxygen does not exist in the muddy ground in which their roots are located. This is why water lilies stretch out stems developing from their roots upwards towards the water surface where their leaves float. Sometimes these stems grow as tall as 11 metres; they are tied to the leaves and function as oxygen-carriers between the leaves and the root.21
How can a bud in its initial stages in life in the depths of a river know that it needs oxygen and sunlight to survive, that it would not be able to live in their absence, and that everything it needs is present on the water surface? A being recently introduced to life is aware neither of the fact that this water has an ending point, nor of the existence of the sun or oxygen.
Therefore, if the whole event is assessed from the standpoint of evolutionists, these plants should long before have been defeated by environmental conditions and become extinct. Nevertheless, water lilies are still present today in all their perfection.
The unbelievable life struggle of water lilies continues well after they reach light and oxygen on the water surface, where they curl the brims of their huge leaves upward to prevent them from sinking.
 |
 |
|
|
| Water lilies can only make use of daylight once they have made their way from the depths of swamps to the water surface by extending upwards as high as 2 metres. However, the roots of these flowers also need oxygen. In the left picture are the stems that stretch out from the roots of the plant to the water surface and carry the oxygen it obtains to the roots. | |
They can continue their lives with all these precautions, yet they also know that these are not enough for their reproduction. They need a living being that will carry their pollen to another water lily, and this living being is a beetle (coleopterans) which has been created with a special weakness for white colour. They prefer these white water lilies out of all the attractive flowers of the Amazon River. When Amazon water lilies are visited by creatures which will continue their species, they close all their leaves, imprison them, and offer them ample pollen. They let them free after keeping them for one night, and then change their colour so that they do not bring the same pollen back to them. The once pure white, glorious water lilies will now go on adorning the Amazon river in pink.
Could such flawless and finely calculated plans be the work of a bud unaware of everything? Of course not. They are the work of the wisdom of Allah, Who created all things. All the details summarised here show that plants, like all other living beings in the universe, came into existence already furnished with the most convenient systems, and this was thanks to their Creator.
CONCLUSION
Can the wind form an airplane by coincidence?
The famous physicist Sir Fred Hoyle makes a very striking observation about the origin of life. In his book The Intelligent Universe he writes:
Everything we have said in this chapter confronts us with the evidence of the flawless planning not only in our immediate surroundings but also in the depths of space. One who assesses these signs which are so evident as to be undeniable by both reason and conscience can come to only one conclusion: there is no room for coincidence in the universe; the universe was CREATED with all the minutiae contained in it.
And Allah, the Creator of this flawless system, is He Who has infinite might and knowledge.
13. Bilim ve Teknik magazine, vol. 203, p. 25
14. Larousse Dictionary and Encyclopaedia, Vol. II, p. 5734
15. Maurice Burton, C.B.P.C. Publishing Limited, Encyclopaedia of Animals, Reptiles, p. 120
16. Ibid, p. 120
17. Michael J. Behe, Darwin’s Black Box, New York: Free Press, 1996, p. 232-233
18. Grzimeks Tierleben Vögel 3, Deutscher Taschen Buch Verlag, Oktober 1993, p. 92
19. Ibid, p. 89
20. Ibid, p. 87-88
21. David Attenborough, The Private Life of Plants, Princeton University Press, 1995, p. 29
22. Nature, 12 November, 1981.
Chapter 1 From Non-Being To Being
Chapter 1
From Non-Being To Being
The questions of how the universe originated, where it leads to, and how the laws maintaining its order and balance work have always been topics of interest. Scientists and thinkers have thought about this subject endlessly and have produced quite a few theories.
The prevailing thought until the early 20th century was that the universe had infinite dimensions, that it had existed since eternity, and that it would continue to exist forever. According to this view, called the ‘static universe model’, the universe had neither a beginning nor an end.
Laying the groundwork for the materialist philosophy, this view denied the existence of a Creator while it maintained that the universe is a constant, stable, and unchanging collection of matter.
Materialism is a system of thought that holds matter to be an absolute being and denies the existence of anything but matter. Having its roots in ancient Greece and gaining ever-increasing acceptance in the 19th century, this system of thought became famous in the shape of the dialectical materialism of Karl Marx.
As we have stated earlier, the static universe model of the 19th century prepared the grounds for the materialist philosophy. In his book Principes Fondamentaux de Philosophie, George Politzer stated concerning the basis of this universe model that "the universe was not a created object", and added:
If it were, then it would have to be created instantaneously by God and brought into existence from nothing. To admit creation, one has to admit, in the first place, the existence of a moment when the universe did not exist, and that something came out of nothingness. This is something to which science cannot accede.1
When Politzer asserted that the universe was not created out of nothingness, he was relying on the static universe model of the 19th century, and thinking that he was posing a scientific claim. However, the 20th century’s developing science and technology demolished primitive concepts such as the static universe model that laid the grounds for the materialists. Today, on the brink of the 21st century, modern physics has proved with many experiments, observations and calculations that the universe had a beginning and that it was created out of nothing with a big explosion.
That the universe had a beginning means that the cosmos was brought into being out of nothing, that is, that it was created. If a created thing exists (which did not exist beforehand), then it certainly should have a Creator. Being from non-being is something inconceivable by the human mind. (Man cannot practically conceive it since he has no chance of experiencing it.) Therefore, being from non-being is very different from bringing objects together to form a new object (such as works of art or technological inventions). It is a sign of Allah’s creation alone that everything formed perfectly all at once and in a single moment, when the created things had no previous examples and not even time and space existed in which to create them.
The coming of the universe into being from non-being is the greatest proof possible that it has been created. Consideration of this fact will change a lot of things. It helps people understand the meaning of life and review their attitudes and purposes. This is why many scientific communities have tried to disregard the fact of creation which they could not fully comprehend, even though its evidence was clear to them. The fact that all scientific evidence points to the existence of a Creator has compelled them to invent alternatives to create confusion in the minds of people. Nevertheless, the evidence of science itself puts a definite end to these theories.
Now, let us take a brief look at the scientific developmental process through which the universe came about.
THE EXPANSION OF THE UNIVERSE
In 1929, in the California Mount Wilson observatory, an American astronomer by the name of Edwin Hubble made one of the greatest discoveries in the history of astronomy. While he observed the stars with a giant telescope, he found out that the light from them was shifted to the red end of the spectrum and that this shift was more pronounced the further a star was from the earth. This discovery had an electrifying effect in the world of science, because according to the recognised rules of physics, the spectra of light beams travelling towards the point of observation tend towards violet while the spectra of the light beams moving away from the point of observation tend towards red. During Hubble’s observations, the light from stars was discovered to tend towards red. This meant that they were constantly moving away from us.
Before long, Hubble made another very important discovery: Stars and galaxies moved away not only from us, but also from one another. The only conclusion that could be derived from a universe where everything moves away from everything else is that the universe constantly ‘expands’.
To better understand, the universe can be thought of as the surface of a balloon being blown up. Just as the points on the surface of a balloon move apart from each other as the balloon is inflated, so do the objects in space move apart from each other as the universe keeps expanding.
In fact, this had been theoretically discovered even earlier. Albert Einstein, who is considered the greatest scientist of the century, had concluded after the calculations he made in theoretical physics that the universe could not be static. However, he had laid his discovery to rest simply not to conflict with the widely recognised static universe model of his time. Later on, Einstein was to identify his act as ‘the greatest mistake of his career’. Subsequently, it became definite by Hubble’s observations that the universe expands.
What importance, then, did the fact that the universe expands have on the existence of the universe?
|
|
The expansion of the universe implied that if it could travel backwards in time, the universe would prove to have originated from a single point. The calculations showed that this ‘single point’ that harboured all the matter of the universe should have ‘zero volume’ and ‘infinite density’. The universe had come about by the explosion of this single point with zero volume. This great explosion that marked the beginning of the universe was named the ‘Big Bang’ and the theory started to be so called.
It has to be stated that ‘zero volume’ is a theoretical expression used for descriptive purposes. Science can define the concept of ‘nothingness’, which is beyond the limits of human comprehension, only by expressing it as ‘a point with zero volume’. In truth, ‘a point with no volume’ means ‘nothingness’. The universe has come into being from nothingness. In other words, it was created.
The Big Bang theory showed that in the beginning all the objects in the universe were of one piece and then were parted. This fact, which was revealed by the Big Bang theory was stated in the Qur’an 14 centuries ago, when people had a very limited knowledge about the universe:
Do not the Unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together (as one unit of creation), before We clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe? (Surat al-Anbiya, 30)
As stated in the verse, everything, even the ‘heavens and the earth’ that were not yet created, were created with a Big Bang out of a single point, and shaped the present universe by being parted from each other.
When we compare the statements in the verse with the Big Bang theory, we see that they fully agree with each other. However, the Big Bang was introduced as a scientific theory only in the 20th century.
The expansion of the universe is one of the most important pieces of evidence that the universe was created out of nothing. Although this fact was not discovered by science until the 20th century, Allah has informed us of this reality in the Qur’an revealed 1,400 years ago:
It is We who have built the universe with (Our creative) power, and, verily, it is We who are steadily expanding it. (Surat adh-Dhariyat, 47)
THE SEARCH FOR ALTERNATIVES TO THE BIG BANG THEORY
As clearly seen, the Big Bang theory proved that the universe was ‘created from nothing’, in other words, that it was created by Allah. For this reason, astronomers committed to the materialist philosophy continued to resist the Big Bang and uphold the steady-state theory. The reason for this effort was revealed in the following words of A. S. Eddington, one of the foremost materialist physicists: ‘Philosophically, the notion of an abrupt beginning to the present order of Nature is repugnant to me.’ 2
Sir Fred Hoyle was one of those who were disturbed by the Big Bang theory. In the middle of the century, Hoyle championed a theory called the steady-state which was similar to the ‘constant universe’ approach of the 19th century. The steady-state theory argued that the universe was both infinite in size and eternal in duration. With the sole visible aim of supporting the materialist philosophy, this theory was totally at variance with the ‘Big Bang’ theory, which held that the universe had a beginning.
Those who defended the steady-state theory opposed the Big Bang for a long time. Science, however, was working against them.
Some scientists, on the other hand, looked for ways to develop alternatives.
In 1948, George Gamov came up with another idea concerning the Big Bang. He stated that after the formation of the universe by a big explosion, a radiation surplus should have existed in the universe left over from this explosion. Moreover, this radiation ought to be uniformly diffused across the universe.
This evidence which ‘ought to have existed’ was soon to be found.
MORE EVIDENCE: COSMIC BACKGROUND RADIATION
In 1965, two researchers by the name of Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discovered these waves by chance. This radiation, called the ‘cosmic background radiation’, did not seem to radiate from a particular source but rather pervaded the whole of space. Thus, it was understood that the heat waves that were radiated uniformly from all around space were left over from the initial stages of the Big Bang. Penzias and Wilson were awarded a Nobel Prize for their discovery.
In 1989, NASA sent the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite into space to do research on cosmic background radiation. It took only eight minutes for the sensitive scanners on this satellite to confirm the measurements of Penzias and Wilson. The COBE had found the remains of the big explosion that had taken place at the outset of the universe.
Defined as the greatest astronomic discovery of all times, this finding explicitly proved the Big Bang theory. The findings of the COBE 2 satellite which was sent into space after the COBE satellite also confirmed the calculations based on the Big Bang.
Another important piece of evidence for the Big Bang was the amount of hydrogen and helium in space. In the latest calculations, it was understood that the hydrogen-helium concentration in the universe complied with the theoretical calculations of the hydrogen-helium concentration remaining from the Big Bang. If the universe had no beginning and if it had existed since eternity, its hydrogen constituent should have been completely consumed and converted to helium.
All of this compelling evidence caused the Big Bang theory to be embraced by the scientific community. The Big Bang model was the latest point reached by science concerning the formation and beginning of the universe.
Defending the steady-state theory alongside Fred Hoyle for years, Dennis Sciama described the final position they had reached after all the evidence for the Big Bang theory was revealed. Sciama stated that he had taken part in the heated debate between the defenders of the steady-state theory and those who tested that theory with the hope of refuting it. He added that he had defended the steady-state theory, not because he deemed it valid, but because he wished that it were valid. Fred Hoyle stood out against all objections as evidence against this theory began to unfold. Sciama goes on to say that he had first taken a stand along with Hoyle but, as evidence began to pile up, he had to admit that the game was over and that the steady-state theory had to be dismissed.3
Prof. George Abel from the University of California also states that currently available evidence shows that the universe originated billions of years ago with the Big Bang. He concedes that he has no choice but to accept the Big Bang theory.
With the Big Bang’s victory, the concept of ‘eternal matter’ that constituted the basis of the materialist philosophy is thrown into the trash-heap of history. What, then, was before the Big Bang and what was the power that brought the universe into ‘being’ with this big explosion when it was ‘non-existent’? This question certainly implies, in Arthur Eddington’s words, the ‘philosophically unfavourable’ fact for the materialists, that is, the existence of a Creator. The renowned atheist philosopher Antony Flew comments on the issue:
Matter and time are created by the almighty Creator Who is independent of all these notions. This Creator is Allah, Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth.
DELICATE BALANCES IN SPACE
In truth, the Big Bang caused much greater trouble for the materialists than the above confessions of the atheist philosopher, Antony Flew. For the Big Bang not only proves that the universe was created out of nothing, but also that it was brought into being in a very planned, systematic and controlled manner.
The Big Bang took place with the explosion of the point which contained all the matter and energy of the universe and its dispersion into space in all directions with a terrifying speed. Out of this matter and energy, there came about a great balance containing galaxies, stars, the sun, the earth and all other heavenly bodies. Moreover, laws were formed called the ‘laws of physics’, which are uniform throughout the whole universe and do not change. All these indicate that a perfect order arose after the Big Bang.
Explosions, however, do not bring about order. All of the observable explosions tend to harm, disintegrate, and destroy what is present. For example, the atom and hydrogen bomb explosions, fire-damp explosions, volcanic explosions, natural gas explosions, solar explosions: they all have destructive effects.
If we were to be introduced to a very detailed order after an explosion - for instance, if an explosion under the ground gave rise to perfect works of art, huge palaces, or imposing houses - we might conclude that there was a ‘supernatural’ intervention behind this explosion and that all the pieces dispersed by the explosion had been made to move in a very controlled way.
The quote from Sir Fred Hoyle, who accepted his mistake after many years of opposition to the Big Bang Theory, expresses this situation very well:
Another aspect of this extraordinary order formed in the universe following the Big Bang is the creation of a ‘habitable universe’. The conditions for the formation of a habitable planet are so many and so complex that it is almost impossible to think that this formation is coincidental.
Paul Davies, a renowned professor of theoretical physics, calculated how ‘fine tuned’ the pace of expansion after the Big Bang was, and he reached an incredible conclusion. According to Davies, if the rate of expansion after the Big Bang had been different even by the ratio of one over a billion times a billion, no habitable star type would have been formed:
The famous physicist Prof. Stephen Hawking states in his book A Brief History of Time, that the universe is set on calculations and balances more finely tuned than we can conceive. Hawking states with reference to the rate of expansion of the universe:
Why did the universe start out with so nearly the critical rate of expansion that separates models that recollapse from those that go on expanding forever, so that even now, ten thousand million years later, it is still expanding at nearly the critical rate? If the rate of expansion one second after the big bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million, the universe would have recollapsed before it ever reached its present size.8
Paul Davies also explains the unavoidable consequence to be derived from these incredibly precise balances and calculations:
It is hard to resist the impression that the present structure of the universe, apparently so sensitive to minor alterations in the numbers, has been rather carefully thought out… The seemingly miraculous concurrence of numerical values that nature has assigned to her fundamental constants must remain the most compelling evidence for an element of cosmic design.9
In relation to the same fact, an American professor of Astronomy, George Greenstein, writes in his book The Symbiotic Universe:
As we survey all the evidence, the thought insistently arises that some supernatural agency – or, rather Agency – must be involved.10
THE CREATION OF MATTER
The atom, the building-block of matter, came into being after the Big Bang. These atoms then came together to make up the universe with its stars, earth and sun. Afterwards, the same atoms established life on the earth. Everything you see around you: your body, the chair you sit on, the book you hold in your hand, the sky seen through the window, the soil, the concrete, the fruits, the plants, all living things and everything that you can imagine have come to life with the gathering of atoms.
What then is the atom, the building block of everything, made of and what kind of a structure does it have?
When we examine the structure of atoms, we see that all of them have an outstanding design and order. Every atom has a nucleus in which there are certain numbers of protons and neutrons. In addition to these, there are electrons which move around the nucleus in a constant orbit with a speed of 1,000 kms per second.11 Electrons and protons of an atom are equal in number, because positively charged protons and negatively charged electrons always balance each other. If one of these numbers were different, there would be no atom, since its electromagnetic balance would be disturbed. An atom’s nucleus, the protons and the neutrons in it, and the electrons around it are always in motion. These revolve both around themselves and each other unerringly at certain speeds. Those speeds are always proportionate to each other and provide the subsistence of the atom. No disorder, disparity, or change ever occurs.
It is very remarkable that such highly ordered and determined entities could come into being after a great explosion that took place in non-being. If the Big Bang were an uncontrolled, coincidental explosion, then it ought to have been followed by random events and everything that formed subsequently ought to have been dispersed in a great chaos.
In fact, a flawless order has prevailed at every point since the beginning of existence. For example, although atoms are formed at different places and times, they are so organised that they seem as though they were produced from a single factory with an awareness of each kind. First, electrons find themselves a nucleus and start to turn around it. Later, atoms come together to form matter and all these bring about meaningful, purposeful and reasonable objects. Ambiguous, useless, abnormal and purposeless things never occur. Everything from the smallest unit to the biggest component is organised and has manifold purposes.
| The order in the structure of the atom rules the whole universe. With the atom and its particles moving in a certain order, the mountains are not scattered, lands do not break apart, the sky is not split asunder and, in short, matter is held together and is constant. |  |
All of this is solid evidence of the existence of the Creator, Who is exalted in power, and indicate the fact that everything comes into existence however He wants and whenever He wills. In the Qur’an, Allah refers to His creation thus:
He it is Who has created the heavens and the earth with truth, and on the day He says: Be, it is. His word is the truth. (Surat al-An’am, 73)
AFTER THE BIG BANG
As Roger Penrose, a physicist who has done extensive research on the origin of the universe, has stated the fact that the universe rests where it is not by mere coincidence shows that it definitely has a purpose. For some people, ‘the universe is just there’ and it just goes on being there. We just happened to find ourselves right in the middle of this whole thing. This viewpoint would probably not help us in understanding the universe. According to Penrose’s view, there are many deep affairs going on within the universe whose existence we cannot today perceive.12
The ideas of Roger Penrose are indeed good food for thought. As these words imply, many people wrongly entertain thoughts that the universe with all its perfect harmony exists for nothing and that they live in this universe again for idle play.
However, it can by no means be considered as ordinary that a quite perfect and wondrous order came about after the Big Bang, which is considered by the scientific community to be the means of the formation of the universe.
Briefly, when we examine the glorious system in the universe, we see that the existence of the universe and its workings rest on extremely delicate balances and an order too complex to be explained away by coincidental causes. As is evident, it is by no means possible for this delicate balance and order to have been formed on its own and by coincidence after a great explosion. The formation of such an order following an explosion such as the Big Bang could only have been possible as a result of a supernatural creation.
This matchless plan and order in the universe certainly proves the existence of a Creator with infinite knowledge, might and wisdom, Who has created matter from nothing and Who controls and manages it incessantly. This Creator is Allah, the Lord of the heavens, the earth and all that is in between.
All these facts also show us how the claims of the materialist philosophy, which is simply a 19th century dogma, are invalidated by 20th century science.
By exposing the great plan, design and order prevalent in the universe, modern science has proved the existence of a Creator Who has created and rules all beings: that is, Allah.
Holding sway over a great number of people for centuries and having even disguised itself with the mask of ‘science’, materialism, by deeming everything to consist of nothing but matter, has made a great mistake and denied the existence of Allah, Who created and ordered matter from nothing. One day, materialism will be remembered in history as a primitive and superstitious belief opposing both reason and science.
2. Recounted in Jaki, S. (1980) Cosmos and Creator Regnery Gateway, Chicago
3. Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time A Reader's Companion (Edited by Stephen Hawking; prepared by Gene Stone), New York, Bantam Books, 1982, p. 62-63
4. Henry Margenau and Roy Abraham Varghese, eds., Cosmos, Bios, Theos, La Salle, IL: Open Court Publishing, 1992, p. 241
5. Hugh Ross, Ph.D., The Creator and the Cosmos, Navpress, 1995, p. 76
6. W.R. Bird, The Origin of Species Revisited, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991; originally published by Philosophical Library in 1987, p. 462
7. W.R. Bird, The Origin of Species Revisited, Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1991; originally published by Philosophical Library in 1987, pp. 405-406
8. Stephen W. Hawking, A Brief History of Time, Bantam Books, April, 1988, p. 121
9. Paul Davies, God and the New Physics, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1983, p. 189
10. Hugh Ross, The Fingerpring of God, 2nd. Ed., Orange, CA: Promise Publishing Co., 1991, pp. 114-115
11. A Dorling Kindersley Book – The Science, published in the United States by Dorling Kindersley Inc., p. 24
12. Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time A Reader's Companion (Edited by Stephen Hawking; prepared by Gene Stone), New York, Bantam Books, 1982, p. 143
Introduction
Introduction
Take a look around you from where you sit. You will notice that everything in the room is ‘made’: the walls, the upholstery, the ceiling, the chair where you sit, the book you hold in your hand, the glass on the table and countless other details. None of them happen to exist in your room of their own accord. Even the simple loops of the carpet were made by someone: they did not appear spontaneously or by chance.
A person who is about to read a book knows that it has been written by an author for a specific reason. It would not even occur to him that this book might have come into being by chance. In the same manner, a person who sees a sculpture has no doubt whatsoever that it was made by a sculptor. And not just works of art: even a few bricks resting on top of one another make one think that they must have been brought to rest just so by someone within a certain plan. Therefore, everywhere where there is an order – either small or big – a founder and protector of this order must also exist. If, one day, somebody came forward and said that raw iron and coal came together to form steel by chance, which in turn constructed the Eiffel Tower again by chance, would not he and those who believed him be regarded as insane?
The claim of the theory of evolution, the unique method of denying the existence of Allah, is no different than this. According to the theory, lifeless atoms formed amino acids by chance, amino acids formed proteins by chance, and finally proteins formed living creatures again by chance. However, the probability of a living creature being formed by coincidence is less than the probability of the Eiffel Tower being formed in the same manner, because even the simplest human cell is more sophisticated than any man-made structure in the world.
How is it possible to think that the balance in the world came about by coincidence when the extraordinary harmony of nature is observable even with the naked eye? It is the most unreasonable claim to say that the universe, each point of which suggests the existence of its Creator, has come into being on its own.
Therefore, there should be an owner of the balance visible everywhere from our body to the farthest corners of the inconceivably vast universe. So, who is this Creator that ordained everything so subtly and created all?
He cannot be any material being present within the universe, because His must be a will that existed before the universe and created the universe thereupon. The Almighty Creator is One Whom everything finds existence, yet Whose existence is without any beginning or end.
Religion teaches us the identity of our Creator Whose existence we discover with our reason. Through what He has revealed to us as religion, we know that He is Allah, the Compassionate and the Merciful, Who created the heavens and the earth from nothing.
Although most people have the capability to grasp this fact, they spend their lives unaware of it. When they look at a landscape painting, they wonder who its painter is. Later, they praise the artist at length for his beautiful work of art. Despite the fact that they face numerous originals of that painting the moment they turn around, they still disregard the existence of Allah, Who is the only owner of all these beauties. In truth, not even a lengthy research is needed to understand the existence of Allah. Even if one had to live in a room from the time he was born, countless pieces of evidence in this room alone would be enough for him to grasp the existence of Allah.
The human body so overflows with evidence that it could not be contained in many multi-volumed encyclopaedias. Even giving a few minutes of conscientious thought to it all is enough to understand the existence of Allah. The present order is protected by Allah and maintained by Him.
The human body is not the only food for thought. Life abides in every square millimetre of the earth, be it observable by men or not. The world overflows with many living beings, from unicellular organisms to plants, from insects to sea animals, and from birds to human beings. If you take a handful of soil and look at it, even therein you can discover manifold living creatures with diverse characteristics. The same is true also for the air you breathe. Even on your skin, there are many living creatures whose names are unknown to you. In the intestines of all living beings are millions of bacteria or unicellular organisms that help digestion. The animal population in the world is many times greater than the human population. When we also consider the plant world, we see that there is not a single spot on the earth where there is no life. All of these creatures that are spread over an area of millions of square kilometres have different body systems, different lives and different contributions to the ecological balance. It is preposterous to claim that all these have come into existence by chance with no aim or purpose. No living being has come to exist through its own accord or effort. No coincidental happening can ever result in such complicated systems.
All of this evidence leads us to the conclusion that the universe works with a certain ‘consciousness’. What, then, is the source of this consciousness? Surely it is neither the living nor the non-living beings in it. Nor can they be the ones that maintain the harmony and preserve the order. The existence and glory of Allah reveals itself in countless proofs in the universe. In fact, there is not even a single man on the earth who will not accept this evident reality from the heart. Yet they still deny it ‘in iniquity and arrogance though their souls are convinced thereof’ as stated in the Qur'an. (Surat an-Naml, 14)
This book is written to point out this reality from which some people turn away because of its being at odds with their interests, and also to disclose the frauds and senseless deductions on which some untrue allegations stand. This is why many diverse subjects are tackled in the book.
Those who read this book will once more see the indisputable evidence of Allah's existence and witness that Allah's existence encompasses all things: the ‘reason’ knows this. Just as He has created this all-pervading order, He is the One Who also maintains it incessantly.
Preface
Preface
There is an important reason why this book is entitled "Allah is Known Through Reason". The majority of people say that they know Allah and believe in Him. In truth, however, they do not know and measure Allah with His true measure. For this, one needs to have "reason and wisdom."
The point that needs to be recalled here is that when it is said that one needs "wisdom" in order to grasp Allah and know Him with His true measure, this does not mean "intelligence". Wisdom and intelligence are two entirely different concepts. Intelligence is the brain capacity one possesses biologically. Intelligence neither increases, nor decreases. Wisdom, however, is a trait peculiar to believers alone. It is given as a great favour by Allah to believers who have taqwa (fear of Allah). Wisdom is a standard to judge between right and wrong, which Allah gives to His true servants. One's ability to judge, that is, his wisdom, increases in direct proportion to his taqwa.
The most distinct characteristics of a wise person are his fear of Allah, his listening to his conscience, his assessment of every event he experiences in line with the Qur'an and his seeking Allah's good pleasure at all times.
Even if someone is the most intelligent, wise and knowledgeable person in the world, he will still be "unwise" if he lacks these characteristics, and lacking the faculty of comprehension, he will be unable to grasp many facts.
We can clarify the difference between intelligence and wisdom with an example: A scientist may have made lengthy and very detailed research on the body's nervous system. He may be the most knowledgeable person in the world on the extraordinary nerve transmissions taking place in the body. If he lacks wisdom, however, he will go no further than being someone who possesses a lot of information on the processes taking place between nerve cells. In other words, he will not be able to grasp the important reality lying behind this information. Someone with wisdom, however, seeing the miraculous events taking place in the nervous system and the perfect mechanisms in its details, understands that such a flawless structure must have a Creator, a designer with supreme wisdom. He says: "The power who has created the nervous system in such a flawless way must certainly be the creator of all other living things. And He has power to create the abode of the hereafter after death."
The main thrust of this book is to allow the reader to witness the existence of Allah with his wisdom. Some people do not believe in the existence of Allah, and others say that they do believe in His existence, yet not with their wisdom and conscience, but because they were taught to do so. Yet because they do not think and use their wisdom, they do not fulfill the requirements that believing in Allah with certainty demands. Believers with wisdom, however, see the details of Allah's existence and creation with their mind and reason, and fear Allah, Who has eternal might.
After referring to the signs of creation in the Qur'an, Allah states that these signs are only for those who are wise:
And among His Signs, He shows you the lightning, by way both of fear and of hope, and He sends down rain from the sky and with it gives life to the earth after it is dead: verily in that are Signs for those who are wise. (Surat ar-Rum: 24)
CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
The Reality of Timelessness Should Not Be Ignored
The historical and archaeological finds we have examined in this book show that Darwinian claims about the evolution of history and societies are nonsense, with no scientific validity. The only reason why they are upheld is concern about the demise of materialism. As we know, materialists make the mistake of rejecting the truth of creation; believing that matter is the one absolute entity that has existed forever and will continue to exist eternally. In other words, they have divinized matter. (God is surely beyond that) Today, however, science has reached the point of confirming that the universe came into being from nothing (that is, it was created), which has invalidated all theories and philosophies supporting materialism and materialist views.
However, even if materialists' views conflict with scientific evidence, they cannot at any cost accept that matter is not absolute but created. If they could just step back from their dogmatic prejudice for a moment, they would be able to see the plain truth and free themselves from the spell that materialism has cast on them. To do this, it will be sufficient to put their accustomed view to one side, rid themselves of their ideological bigotry and keep an open mind.
One of the first things they must consider is the real nature of the concept of time, because materialists think that time, along with matter, is absolute. This deception has prevented many of them from seeing the truth. Modern science has proven that time is a derivative of matter and that like matter itself, time was created from nothing. That is, time had a beginning. Also, it became known in last century that time is a relative concept; that it is a kind of changing perception and not something stable and unchanging, as materialists had believed for centuries.
The Real Nature of the Concept of Time
What we call "time" is in fact a method by which we compare one moment to another. For example, when a person taps an object, he hears a particular sound. If he taps the same object again, he hears another sound. Believing that there is an interval between the two sounds, he calls this interval "time." Yet when he hears the second noise, the first one he heard is no more than an imagination in his mind, merely a bit of information in his memory. A person formulates his perception of time by comparing the "present" moment with what he holds in memory. If he doesn't make this comparison, he can have no perception of time either.
Renowned physicist Julian Barbour defines time in this way:
Time is nothing but a measure of the changing positions of objects. A pendulum swings, the hands on a clock advance. 82
Briefly, time comes about as a result of comparisons of data stored in the brain. If man had no memory, his brain could not make such interpretations and therefore, he would never form any perceptions of time. One determines himself to be thirty years old, only because he has accumulated information pertaining to those thirty years. If his memory did not exist, then he could not think of any such preceding period and would experience only the single "moment" in which he was living.
Our Concept of the "Past" Is Merely Information in Our Memories
 Time exists as a comparison of various illusions inside the brain. If a person had no memory, his brain could not make such analyses and therefore there could be no conception of time. If people had no memories, they would not think of a period of past time, but experience only the single "moment" they live in. |
Because of suggestions we receive, we think we live in separate divisions of time called past, present and future. However, the only reason we have a concept of "past" (as explained earlier) is that various events have been placed in our memories. For example, we recall the moment we enrolled in primary school and therefore perceive it as an event in the past. However, future events are not in our memories. Therefore, we regard these things we don't yet know about as events that we'll experience in the future. But just as the past has been experienced from our point of view, so has the future. But because these events have not been supplied to our memories, we cannot know them.
Were God to put future events into our memories, then the future would be the past for us. For example, a thirty-year-old person recalls thirty years of memories and events and for this reason, thinks he has a thirty-year past. If future events between the ages of thirty and seventy were to be inserted into this person's memory, then for this thirty- year-old individual, both his thirty years and his "future" between the ages of thirty and seventy would become the past for him. In this situation, both past and future would be present in his memory, and each one would be vivid experiences for him.
Because God has made us perceive events in a definite series, as if time were moving from past to future, He does not inform us of our future or give this information to our memories. The future is not in our memories, but all human pasts and futures are in His eternal memory. This is like observing a human life as if it were already wholly depicted and completed in a movie. Someone who cannot advance the film sees his life as the frames pass, one by one. He is mistaken in thinking that the frames he has not yet seen constitute the future.
World History Is Also a Relative Concept
 The beginning and the end of World War II, the firing of the first rocket into space, the laying of the first stone in the construction of the Ancient Egyptian pyramids, and the erection of stones weighing tons at Stonehenge all exist in a single moment in the sight of God. |
All these facts apply to history and social life as well. We think of societies and world history as limited within the concepts of time and space. We divide history into periods and look at it in terms of this relative concept of ours.
We rely on our five senses to survive. We perceive only what our senses allow, and we can never succeed in stepping out of the boundaries of our senses. The time and space we live in are similarly perceived. If our brain cannot detect a being through our five senses, we simply say that that being has "disappeared." Accordingly, events, images or sensations stored in our memories still exist for us—that is, they are alive, while those that are forgotten no longer exist. To put it another way, beings and events that are not in our memory become past events for us. They are simply "dead" and non-existent.
Yet, this holds true only for human beings, because only human beings have a limited memory. The memory of God, on the other hand, is superior to everything. It is boundless and eternal, yet one point deserves mention here: The term "the memory of God" is used only for clarification purposes. It is definitely not possible that any comparison or similarity could be drawn between the memory of God and the memory of a human. God is surely the One Who creates everything from nothingness and Who knows everything, down to the last detail.
Because the memory of God is infinite, nothing existing in it ever becomes lost. In other words, no living being created by God ever vanishes. No flower fades, no drink of water finishes, no period comes to an end, and no food is wholly consumed. In its first form as a cloud of dust, the universe is in God's sight; every moment in history exists in His sight as they once were. The stones of Stonehenge are being set in place, the Egyptian pyramids are being constructed, the Sumerians are surveying the stars, Neanderthals eke out their living, the Lascaux cave images are being painted, people live in Catal Huyuk, and World War IIis raging. In the same way, societies that will live thousands of years from now exist in God's sight, even as they are building their civilizations and arranging their lives.
Eternity has begun for a being or an event by the time it is created. For instance, when a flower is created, it is, in reality, destined not to disappear. That it ceases to become a part of one's sensations and is erased from one's memory does not actually mean that it has vanished or died. Its state in the sight of God is what actually matters. Furthermore, all states of this being, from its creation, throughout all moments of its life or death, do exist in the memory of God.
We have variegated it for them so
they might pay heed but most people spurn anything else but disbelief.
(Qur'an, 25:50) |
Honest Reflection
All this knowledge is of utmost importance in human life. And this is definitely not any sort of philosophy or school of thought, but the result of scientific conclusions that are impossible to deny. Most probably, many readers are reflecting on these facts about timelessness and the real nature of time for the first time in their lives.
However, one important thing must be kept in mind: God, in the Qur'an, reveals that "only those who sincerely turn to God" (Qur'an, 50: 8) take heed. In other words, only those who truly seek the guidance of God and strive to appreciate His infinite might and His greatness will heed these explanations and have a full grasp of these facts.
An individual may be influenced by materialism all his life. Because of this influence, he may not have the opportunity to think about these facts with an open mind. But this does not mean he must continue to lead his life in error. Anyone who sees the truth must no longer insist on error, but listen to and obey the moral voice of his conscience. The Qur'an says that every individual must avoid being the kind of person who sees the truth in his conscience but flees from it:
And they repudiated them wrongly and haughtily, in spite of their own certainty about them. See the final fate of the corrupters. (Qur'an, 27:14)
Those who see the truth and acknowledge it, if God wills, will attain salvation in this world and in the Hereafter:
He who brings the truth and he who confirms it—those are the people who guard against evil. (Qur'an, 39:33)
82. Tim Folger, "From Here to Eternity," Discover, Vol. 21 No.12, December 2000.
THE TRUE RELIGION HAS EXISTED SINCE THE BEGINNING OF HISTORY
THE TRUE RELIGION HAS EXISTED SINCE THE BEGINNING OF HISTORY
Another error of those who promote the deception that history and society evolved is the claim that religion—society's highest value—evolved as well. This claim was put forth in the 19th century and was avidly defended by materialists and atheists. But there are no archaeological findings to justify it and it remains in the realm of speculation.
Nor is there any support to claim that humans of earlier ages practiced so-called "primitive" tribal and polytheist religions, and that true religion—the religion revealed to the whole of humanity since the time of Adam (pbuh)and based on the belief in one God—came into being only later. Some evolutionists try to portray this claim as a historical fact, but they are greatly mistaken. Just as Darwin's theory of biological evolution is a deception, so is the theory of religious evolution that takes its inspiration from him.
How Did the "Evolution of Religions" Error Come About?
 Charles Darwin |
About one and a half centuries ago, when Darwin's Origin of Species was still in its first edition, the idea of evolution gained support among materialists and atheists. Some thinkers of that period assumed that every event in the human history could be explained by evolution, stating that everything began from a so-called basic, primitive stage and advanced toward greater perfection.
This error was applied in many areas. In the realm of economics, for example, Marxism claimed that such advancement was inevitable and that everyone would eventually adopt communism. Experience has shown that this was only a dream and Marxism's claims did not reflect reality.
In the field of psychology, Sigmund Freud said that human beings were a highly evolved species but that psychologically, their actions were still motivated by the same drives as their so-called primitive ancestors' had been. This major error has been scientifically refuted by psychological research, showing that Freudianism's basic suppositions had no scientific foundation.
In the same way, the fields of sociology, anthropology and history have also been affected by the theory of evolution, but knowledge gained from discoveries in the last century have shown this influence has been counterproductive.
The common feature of all these evolutionary theories is their opposition to any belief in God. This is the philosophical basis behind the mistaken idea of the evolution of religion. According to the false claims of Herbert Spencer, a leading proponent of this error, early human beings had no religion. The first religions supposedly began with the worship of the dead. Other anthropologists who support the deception of religion's "evolution" propose different accounts. Some say that religion has its source in animism (the attribution of divine spirit to nature); others think that it arose from totemism (the worship of a symbolic person, group or object). Another anthropologist, E.B. Taylor, believes that religion developed from animism to manism (ancestor-worship), polytheism (the belief in many gods) and finally ending in monotheism (the belief in one God).
This theory was put forward in the 19th century by atheist anthropologists and has been kept alive ever since, presented in various scenarios. But it is nothing more than a deception. As archaeological and historical evidence shows, contrary to what these scientists have proposed, from earliest times there was a monotheist religion that God revealed to humanity through His prophets. But at the same time, deviant, superstitious beliefs have always coexisted with the true religion. Just as today there are people who believe that God is the One and Only deity and lead their lives according to the religion He has revealed, so also are those who erroneously worship idols of wood and stone, or satan, or their ancestors as well as various spirits, animals, the Sun, the Moon or the stars. And many of these people are not backward, but on the contrary live in very advanced circumstances.
Throughout history, there have also been those who have not obeyed the precepts of the true religions revealed by God and tried to eliminate their moral values. The Qur'an tells us of some people who wanted to include superstitious beliefs and practices in the true religion revealed to them and ended up altering and destroying it:
Woe to those who write the Book with their own hands and then say "This is from God" to sell it for a paltry price. Woe to them for what their hands have written! Woe to them for what they earn! (Qur'an, 2:79)
This is why, over the course of time, some who believed in the existence and unity of God and obeyed His commands abandoned true religion. In this way, deviant beliefs and practices came into being. In other words, contrary to what some have proposed, there has never been a process of religious evolution; but true religion was at certain times distorted, as a result of which deviant ones arose.
Distortion of the True Religion
In the 20th century important research has been done on the origin of religions, thanks to which it has become known that there is no scientific value in claims about religions' evolution, and that such claims are only imaginary scenarios. Research into world religions by such leading anthropologists as Andrew Lang and Wilhelm Schmidt has shown that religions did not evolve; on the contrary, sometimes underwent distortion over the course of time. The results of Schmidt's research were published in detail in the periodical, Anthropos.
Research done especially between 1900-1935 shows that claims about the evolution of religions are totally false, which led many anthropologists to abandon their evolutionary ideas. But despite all these scientific and historical facts, some radical atheists continued to defend this untenable scenario.
Archaeological Finds from Egypt and Mesopotamia
 The picture to the side shows a "god of lightning," one of the Sumerians' false deities that emerged when the one true Divine belief became corrupted. |
The Mesopotamian plain, not far from the civilization of ancient Egypt, is known as the "cradle of civilizations."
Among the most important information to emerge from archaeological research in these areas came from discoveries regarding these societies' religious beliefs. Inscriptions tell of the activities of countless false deities. As more information was discovered and researchers discovered better methods to interpret the data, some details about these civilizations' religious beliefs began to emerge. One of the most interesting things is that above all the false deities these people believed in, they also believed in one God. Historical evidence shows that true religion always existed. The following pages will examine the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Indian and European civilizations together with the Aztecs, Incas and Mayans to prove that they all believed in one God and were visited by messengers who communicated true religion to them. The first researcher to discover that polytheism had originally contained monotheism was Stephen Langdon of Oxford University. In 1931, he announced his findings to the scientific world, saying that they were quite unexpected and totally at odds with previous evolutionist interpretations. Langdon explained his findings as follows:
. . . the history of the oldest civilization of man is a rapid decline from monotheism to extreme polytheism and widespread belief in evil spirits. 73
Five years later, Langdon would state in The Scotsman as follows:
The evidence points unmistakably to an original monotheism, the inscriptions and literary remains of the oldest Semitic peoples also indicate . . . monotheism, and the totemistic origin of Hebrew and other Semitic religions is now entirely discredited. 74
Excavations at modern Tell Asmar, the site of a Sumerian city dating from 3,000 BCE, unearthed findings that completely corroborated Langdon's ideas. The excavation director, Henry Frankfort, gave this official report:
In addition to their more tangible results, our excavations have established a novel fact, which the student of Babylonian religions will have henceforth to take into account. We have obtained, to the best of our knowledge for the first time, religious material complete in its social setting.
We possess a coherent mass of evidence, derived in almost equal quantity from a temple and from the houses inhabited by those who worshiped in that temple. We are thus able to draw conclusions, which the finds studied by themselves would not have made possible.
For instance, we discover that the representations on cylinder seals, which are usually connected with various gods, can all be fitted into a consistent picture in which a single god worshiped in this temple forms the central figure. It seems, therefore, that at this early period his various aspects were not considered separate deities in the Sumero-Accadian pantheon. 75
 When Sumerian tablets were translated, it emerged that the large number of false deities in the Babylonian pantheon emerged as a result of the gradual misinterpretation of the various names and titles of a single Deity. |
Frankfort's discoveries reveal very important facts about how a superstitious, polytheist system comes into being. The theory of the evolution of religions claims that polytheism arose when people started to worship evil spirits representing the powers of nature. But it was not so. In the course of time, people developed different understandings of the various attributes of the one God, which eventually led to distortions in belief in one God. The various attributes of the one God turned into the belief in several.
Long before Langdon had made his translations of the Sumerian tablets, a researcher by the name of Friedrich Delitzsch made similar discoveries. He found that the numerous deities in the Babylonian pantheon all devolved from the various characteristics of Marduk, as they called the one Deity that time. Research has shown that belief in Marduk resulted from the deterioration, over time, of the belief in one true God.
This one Deity, Marduk, had many names. He was called Ninib, or "the Possessor of Power," Nergal or "Lord of Battle," Bel or "Possessor of Lordship," Nebo or "the Lord of the Prophet," Sin or "Illuminator of the Night," Shamash or "Lord of all that is Just," and Addu or "God of Rain." Over the course of time, it seems that the attributes of Marduk became detached from him and assigned to different deities. In the same way, false deities such as the Sun-god and the Moon-god came into being as the products of peoples' imagination. Belief in Marduk, along with the other names of this false deity, shows that this belief system actually developed over time through distortion of belief in the One God.
 The false deity Marduk, from the Babylonian pantheon |
We can also see traces of such perversion in ancient Egypt. Researchers have discovered that the ancient Egyptians were first of all monotheists, but that they later dismantled this system and turned it into Sabeism, or sun-worship. M. de Rouge writes:
It is incontestably true that the sublimer portions of the Egyptian religion are not the comparatively late result of a process of development or elimination from the grosser. The sublimer portions are demonstrably ancient; and the last stage of the Egyptian religion, that known to the Greek and Latin writers, heathen or Christian, was by far the grossest and the most corrupt. 76
The anthropologist Sir
Flinders Petrie says that superstitious, polytheistic beliefs emerged
through the gradual corruption of belief in a single deity. In
addition, he says that this process of corruption can be seen in
present-day society as well as in societies in the past:
There are in ancient religions and theologies very different classes of gods. Some races, as the modern Hindu, revel in a profusion of gods and godlings which continually increase. Others . . . do not attempt to worship great gods, but deal with a host of animistic spirits, devils. . . .
Were the conception of a god only an evolution from such spirit worship we should find the worship of many gods preceding the worship of one God . . . What we actually find is the contrary of this, monotheism is the first stage traceable in theology...
Wherever we can trace back polytheism to its earliest stages, we find that it results from combinations of monotheism. . . . 77
Anthropological research has shown that polytheistic beliefs emerged along with the distortion of monotheistic faith. This is one proof that no such process as religious "evolution" ever took place, as some would have us believe. |
The Origins of Superstitious Polytheism in India
 The superstitious Hindu religion has many false deities. However, research has shown that in the early days of Indian culture people believed in a single God. |
Even if Indian culture is not as old as Middle Eastern cultures, still it is one of the oldest surviving cultures in the world.
In Indian paganism, the number of so-called deities is virtually endless. After long study, Andrew Lang has determined that polytheistic religions appeared in India as a result of a process similar to that in the Middle East.
Edward McCrady, writing about Indian religious beliefs, observed that the Rig Veda shows that in the early days, the deities were regarded simply as diverse manifestations of a single Divine Being. 78 In the hymns in the Rig Veda, we can see traces of the destruction of the monotheistic idea of a single God. Another researcher in this area, Max Müller, agrees that at first, there was a belief in one God:
There is a monotheism that precedes the polytheism of the Veda; and even in the invocation of the innumerable gods the remembrance of a God one and infinite, breaks through the mist of idolatrous phraseology like the blue sky that is hidden by passing clouds. 79
From this, it is again obvious that there has been no evolution of religions, but that people added false elements to true religion, or neglected certain commands and prohibitions—which finally resulted in the perversion of religious belief.
Contamination of Religions in European History
 In his book The Religion of Greece in Prehistoric Times, Axel W. Persson, a researcher into ancient Greek religious beliefs, says: ". . . there later developed a larger number of more or less significant figures which we meet with in Greek religious myths." |
We can see traces of a similar contamination in the beliefs of historical European societies. In his book The Religion of Greece in Prehistoric Times, Axel W. Persson, a researcher in Ancient Greek paganism, writes:
. . . there later developed a larger number of more or less significant figures which we meet with in Greek religious myths. In my opinion, their multiplying variety depends to a very considerable degree on the different invocating names of originally one and the same deity. 80
The same traces of alteration can be seen in Italy. An archaeologist by the name of Irene Rosenzweig, after researching the Iguvine tables, which date from Etruscan times, concludes that "deities are distinguished by adjectives, which in their turn emerge as independent divine powers." 81
In short, all of the last century's anthropological and archaeological evidence indicates that throughout history, societies first believed in one God but altered this belief with the passage of time. At first, peoples believed in God Who created everything from nothing, Who sees and knows all things and Who is Lord of all the worlds. But in time, the titles of our Lord were wrongly considered as separate deities, and people began to worship these false deities. True religion is the worship of the one and only God. Polytheistic religions developed from the contamination of the true religion, which our Lord has revealed to humanity since the time of Adam (pbuh).
The True Religion Revealed by God
When we look at the culture and religious values of societies in the various areas of the world, we see that they have much in common. These societies could not have shared any cultural exchange, but they believe in beings such as angels, satan and jinni that do not live in the same dimension as human beings. They believe in life after death, in human beings created from the earth; and their worship contains many common elements. For example, Noah's ark is mentioned in Sumerian records, Welsh religion, and in Chinese inscriptions and in ancient Lithuanian religion.
This is just one proof that a single, all-powerful deity—that is God, Lord of the worlds—revealed the religious morality. Throughout the world, cultures have been taught religions that came from the same supreme place, revealing the existence of one incomparable deity. Our Lord has revealed Himself in every period of history through those servants He has chosen and exalted; and through them He has revealed the religion He has chosen for human beings. In the Qur'an, Almighty God's last revelation, He announces that "every people has a guide" (Qur'an, 13:7). It is revealed in other verses that He sends a messenger to all peoples to warn them:
We have never destroyed a city without giving it prior warning as a reminder. We were never unjust. (Qur'an, 26:208-209)
These blessed messengers always taught societies that they should believe in God as the only deity, serve only Him, and that they should practice good and avoid evil. Human beings will attain salvation through obedience to these messengers, chosen and blessed in God's sight, and to the holy books they have left behind as an inheritance. The last prophet sent by our Lord as a mercy to the worlds was Prophet Muhammad (may God bless him and grant him peace); and the Qur'an, the last Divine book which is under Almighty God's eternal protection, is the truest guide for humanity.
73. Stephen H. Langdon, Semitic Mythology, Mythology of All Races, Vol.
V, Archaeol. Instit. Amer., 1931, p. xviii.
74. Stephen H. Langdon, The Scotsman, 18 November 1936.
75. H. Frankfort, Third Preliminary Report on Excavations at Tell
Asmar (Eshnunna): quoted by P. J. Wiseman in New Discoveries in
Babylonia about Genesis, London: Marshall, Morgan and Scott, 1936, p.
24.
76. P. Le Page Renouf, Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion
as Illustrated by the Religion of Ancient Egypt, London: Williams and
Norgate, 1897, p. 90.
77. Sir Flinders Petrie, The Religion of Ancient Egypt, London:
Constable, 1908, pp. 3, 4.
78. Edward McCrady, "Genesis and Pagan
Cosmogonies," Transactions of the Victoria Institute, Vol. 72, 1940, p.
55.
79. Max Müller, History of Sanskrit Literature: quoted by Samuel
Zwemer, p. 87.
80. Axel W. Persson, The Religion of Greece in Prehistoric Times,
University of California Press, 1942, p. 124.
81. Review of Irene Rosenzweig's Ritual and Cults of Pre-Roman Iguvium
by George M. A. Hanfmann, American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 43, No.
1, Jan.-Mar. 1939, pp. 170, 171.
THE MAYANS: ANOTHER CIVILIZATION THAT REFUTES THE IDEA OF THE EV
THE MAYANS: ANOTHER CIVILIZATION THAT REFUTES THE IDEA OF THE EVOLUTION OF HISTORY
Almost all evolutionist publications have one thing in common: All of them devote considerable space to imaginary scenarios regarding why some biological structure or characteristic of a living thing might have evolved. The striking factor is that all the stories evolutionists dream up are depicted as scientific fact. The fact is, however, that these accounts are nothing more than Darwinist fairy tales. Evolutionists seek to present the scenarios they come up with as scientific evidence. Yet these accounts are all entirely misleading, of no scientific worth, and can never constitute evidence for evolutionist claims.
Some evolutionist scientists claim that the Mayans did not use metal tools. Yet if not, how can we account for the detailed stonework in Mayan ruins? Metal tools would swiftly oxidize and decay in the Yucatán rain forest, with its humid climate. It may well be, therefore, that Mayan metal objects have not survived down to the present. But their surviving stone structures show that it is impossible for such delicate and detailed work to have been produced using only stone tools. Remains of a building in the Ancient Mayan city of Uxmal |
One tale so frequently encountered in the evolutionist literature is that of allegedly ape-like creatures turning into human beings, and of primitive man gradually becoming a social entity. Despite there being no scientific evidence to support them, reconstructions of these supposed primitive human beings—in which they are depicted as walking only semi-upright, grunting, walking together with their "cave-families" or hunting with crude stone tools—are the best known parts of this scenario.
These reconstructions amount to an invitation to imagine and believe. With them, evolutionists seek to convince people not on the basis of concrete facts, but of fantastic speculation, because these are based on their authors' prejudices and preconceptions, rather than on scientific facts.
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Evolutionists have no qualms about keeping these stories in the professional literature, nor about presenting them as if they were scientific truth, even though they are well aware of the erroneous nature of their accounts. However, these scenarios so frequently voiced by evolutionists constitute conjectures, not scientific evidence, for the theory of evolution, because there is no evidence that Man is descended from an ape-like ancestor. In the same way, no archaeological or historical evidence suggests that societies evolve from the primitive to the more advanced. Man has been Man ever since he first came into existence, and has created different civilizations and cultures in all periods of history. One of these civilizations is the Mayan, whose remains still inspire amazement today.
Historical sources refer to a tall figure in white robes who came to the communities living in this region. According to the information contained on monuments, the belief in a single God spread for a short time, while advances were made in science and art.
The Mayans: Expert Mathematicians
The Mayans lived in Central America in around 1,000 BCE, at a considerable distance from other advanced civilizations like those in Egypt, Greece and Mesopotamia. The most important features of the Mayans are the scientific advances they made in the fields of astronomy and mathematics, and their complex written language.
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The Mayans' knowledge of time, astronomy and mathematics was a thousand years ahead of that of the Western world at the time. For example, their calculation of the Earth's annual cycle was a great deal more accurate than any other such calculations before the invention of the computer. The Mayans used the mathematical concept of zero a thousand years before its discovery by Western mathematicians, and used far more advanced figures and signs than their contemporaries.
The Mayan Calendar
The Haab, the civil calendar used by the Mayans, consisting of 365 days, is one of the products of their advanced civilization. Actually, they were aware that a year is slightly longer than 365 days; their estimate was 365.242036 days. In the Gregorian calendar in use today, a year consists of 365.2425 days. 67 As you can see, there's only a very small difference between the two figures—further evidence of the Mayans' expertise in the fields of mathematics and astronomy.
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The Mayan calendar is almost identical to the 365-day Gregorian calendar used today. The Mayans calculated that a year was slightly longer than 365 days (above). An Aztec calendar stone (left). |
The Mayans' Knowledge of Astronomy
 Astronomical knowledge that can calculate the one day that needs to be subtracted from the orbit of Venus every 6,000 years is an important example of the advanced civilization of the past peoples. |
Three books which have come down to us from the Mayans, known as the Maya Codices, contain important information concerning their lives and astronomical knowledge. Of the three—the Madrid Codex, the Paris Codex and the Dresden Codex—the latter is the most important in terms of showing the depth of the Mayan knowledge of astronomy. They possessed a very complex system of writing, of which only less than 30% has been deciphered. Yet even this is enough to show the advanced level of science they attained.
For example, page 11 of the Dresden Codex contains information about the planet Venus. The Mayans had calculated that the Venusian year lasted 583.92 days, and rounded it up to 584 days. In addition, they produced drawings of the planet's cycle for thousands of years. Two other pages in the codex contain information about Mars, four are about Jupiter and its satellites, and eight pages are devoted to the Moon, Mercury and Saturn, setting out such complicated calculations as the orbits of these planets around the Sun, their relationships with one another, and their relationships with the Earth.
So accurate was the Mayans' knowledge of astronomy that they were able to determine that one day needed to be subtracted from the Venusian orbit every 6,000 years. How did they acquire such information? That is still a matter of debate for astronomers, astro-physicists and archaeologists. Today, such complex calculations are made with the help of computer technology. Scientists learn about outer space in observatories equipped with all kinds of technical and electrical apparatus. Yet the Mayans acquired their knowledge 2,000 years before the invention of present-day technology. This yet again invalidates the thesis that societies always progress from a primitive to a more advanced state. Many bygone societies had just as advanced a level of civilization as current ones, and sometimes even more so. Many communities today have not yet achieved the levels attained by societies in the past. In short, civilizations sometimes move forwards and at other times backwards, and both advanced and primitive civilizations sometimes exist at the very same time.
  The picture from the Mayan civilization above stands on the door to the tomb of Pakal, a Mayan official. The vehicle Pakal is sitting on resembles a kind of motorbike. This may be a powered vehicle used in the Mayan age. |
Network of Roads in the Ancient Mayan City of Tikal
 Darwinists maintain, despite possessing no scientific evidence, that ancient men were primitive beings living in a primitive manner, and that their intelligence developed over time. Archaeological findings refute this, however. Excavations carried out in the Ancient Mayan city of Tikal, for instance, reveal a marvel of engineering and planning. Aerial photographs show that Mayan cities connected to one another by a wide network of roads. This all shows that advanced civilizations have existed in all periods of history. |
Tikal, one of the oldest Mayan cities, was founded in the 8th century BCE. Archaeological excavations in the city, which stands in wild jungle, have unearthed houses, palaces, pyramids, temples and assembly areas. All these areas are connected to one another by roads. Radar images have shown that in addition to complete drainage system, the city also enjoyed a comprehensive irrigation system. Tikal stands neither by a river nor by a lake, and it was found that the city made use of some ten water reservoirs.
Five main roads lead from Tikal into the jungle. Archaeologists describe them as ceremonial roads. Aerial photographs show that Mayan cities were linked to one another by a large network of roads totaling some 300 kilometers (190 miles)in length and demonstrating detailed engineering. All the roads were made from broken rocks and were covered over with a light-color hard-wearing layer. These roads are perfectly straight, as if laid out with a ruler, and the important questions remain of how the Mayans were able to determine direction during the construction of these roads and what equipment and tools they used. The evolutionist mentality cannot provide rational and logical answers. Because we are dealing with a marvel of engineering, hundreds of kilometers long, it is crystal-clear that these roads are the product of detailed calculations and measurements and the use of the necessary materials and tools.
Cogs Used by the Mayans
 Mayan cogwheels, in Copan |
Research in regions inhabited by the Mayans shows that they used devices containing cogwheels.
The photograph overleaf, taken in the major Mayan city of Copan, is one of the proofs of this. A society using cogwheel technology must also possess a knowledge of mechanical engineering.
It is impossible for anyone lacking this knowledge to produce a cogwheel mechanism. For example, if you were asked to produce a similar mechanism to that in the photograph, then without the appropriate training you could not do so, nor ensure that the mechanism would function properly.
Yet that the Mayans managed to do this is an important indicator of their level of knowledge, and proves that those who lived in the past were not "backward," as evolutionists claim.
The examples up to now are only a few that demonstrate the advanced levels of civilization achieved by communities in the past. These point to one very significant truth: The evolutionist thesis imposed for so many years, that societies in the past lived simple, backward, primitive lives, is simply wrong. Societies with different levels of civilization and different cultures have existed in all ages; yet none evolved from any other. The fact that some backward civilizations existed 1,000 years ago does not mean that history itself evolved, or that societies progress from the primitive to the more advanced. Because alongside these backward communities, there were also highly advanced ones that made huge strides in science and technology and founded deep-rooted civilizations. Yes, cultural interaction and the accumulated knowledge handed down through generations may well play a role in societies' development. But this is not evolution.
In citing examples of the communities that lived in the past, the Qur'an tells us that some of these did indeed build advanced cultures:
Have they not traveled in the Earth and seen the final fate of those before them? They were greater than them in strength and left far deeper traces on the Earth . . . (Qur'an, 40:21)
Have they not traveled in the land and seen the final fate of those before them? They were more numerous than them and greater in strength and left more and deeper traces on Earth, but what they earned was of no use to them. (Qur'an, 40:82)
How many wrongdoing cities We destroyed, and now all their roofs and walls are fallen in; how many abandoned wells and stuccoed palaces! (Qur'an, 22:45)
These statements imparted in the Qur'an are supported by archaeological findings. When archaeological discoveries and the sites where past communities lived are examined, it can indeed be seen that most of these societies enjoyed a higher level than some present-day communities, and that they made enormous advances in the fields of construction technology, astronomy, mathematics and medicine. This yet again invalidates the Darwinist myth of the evolution of history and societies.
Haven't
they traveled in the land and seen the final fate of those before them?
They were far greater than them in strength. God cannot be withstood in
any way, either in the heavens or on Earth. He is All-Knowing,
All-Powerful.  |
The Still-Unsolved Nazca Lines
The Nazca lines, outside of the Peruvian city of Lima, are one of the discoveries that scientists are unable to explain. These most astonishing lines were first revealed by studies from the air performed by Dr. Paul Kosok, from New York's Long Island University, in 1939. Kilometers long, these lines sometimes resemble an airport's runways, and also depict various birds, monkeys, and spiders. Who constructed these lines in an arid Peruvian desert, why, and how is still a mystery. On the other hand, whoever produced them obviously did not live primitive lives, as some scientists maintain. These lines, which are properly visible only from the air, were produced flawlessly, which is something quite extraordinary that calls for considerable reflection.
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 During the course of history, great advances have been made in all areas, along with enormous scientific and technological progress. But it is irrational and unscientific to describe these changes as "evolution," in the way that materialists do. Thanks to the accumulation of culture and knowledge, there is constant progress in such fields as science and technology. However, just as there is no physical difference between present-day humans and those who lived thousands of years ago, neither do they differ in terms of their intelligence and ability. The idea that 20th-century people possess more advanced civilizations because their brain capacity has grown is an erroneous perspective, a result of evolutionist propaganda. |
The Impasse of Language Evolution
 There are many races in the world speaking many languages, and every language is highly complex. Evolutionists cannot even imagine how such complexity might have come about gradually. |
In recounting the myth of the evolution of mankind's history, evolutionists encounter a number of serious problems. One is how human consciousness emerged in the first place. Another concerns the origin of speech—one characteristic that distinguishes human beings from all other living creatures.
When we speak, we are able to shape our thoughts thanks to language, and to express them in such a way that another party can understand them. Although this requires highly specialized muscular movements of the lips, throat and tongue, we are hardly aware of this. We merely "want" to speak. Sounds, syllables and words emerge through the harmonious contraction and relaxation of some 100 different muscles, and sentences comprehensible to others are formed by the appropriate sequences of such grammatical elements as subject, object and pronoun. The fact that we do nothing more than "wish" to use such an ability, based on such complex stages, clearly shows that speech is not merely an ability that arises from essential biological structures.
The human capacity for speech is an exceedingly complex phenomenon that cannot be explained in terms of the imaginary requirements or mechanisms of an evolutionary process. Despite lengthy research, evolutionists have been unable to produce any evidence that an exceedingly complex ability like speech evolved from simple animal-like sounds. David Premack from Pennsylvania University made this failure abundantly clear when he said, "Human language is an embarrassment for evolutionary theory . . ." 68
The well-known linguist Derek Bickerton summarizes the reasons for this "embarrassment:"
Could language have come directly out of some prehuman trait? No. Does it resemble forms of animal communication? No . . . no ape, despite intensive training, has yet acquired even the rudiments of syntax . . . how words emerged, how syntax emerged. But these problems lie at the heart of language evolution. 69
All languages on Earth are complex, and not even evolutionists are able to imagine how such complexity could have been acquired gradually. According to the evolutionist biologist Richard Dawkins, all languages—even the tribal ones regarded as most primitive—are highly complex:
My clear example is language. Nobody knows how it began . . . Equally obscure is the origin of semantics; of words and their meaning . . . all the thousands of languages in the world are very complex. I am biased towards thinking it was gradual, but it is not quite obvious that it had to be. Some people think it began suddenly, more or less invented by a single genius in a particular place at a particular time. 70
Two evolutionist brain researchers, W.K. Williams and J. Wakefield of Arizona State University, say this on the subject:
Despite the lack of evidence for intermediate stages in linguistic evolution, the alternatives are hard to accept. If some species-specific characteristic did not evolve in piecemeal fashion, then there would seem to be only two ways to explain its appearance. Either it was put in place by some still-undiscovered force, perhaps through divine intervention, or it was the result of some relatively abrupt change in the development of the species, perhaps some sort of spontaneous and widespread mutation . . . but the fortuitous nature of such a happenstance mutation makes that explanation seem suspect. As has been pointed out (Pinker and Bloom, 1990), the chances against a mutation resulting in a system as complex and apparently so ideally suited to its task as is language are staggeringly high. 71
Professor of linguistics Noam Chomsky comments on the complexity of the ability to speak:
I've said nothing so far about the production of language. The reason is that there is little to say of any interest. Apart from peripheral aspects, it remains largely a mystery. 72
To anyone not trapped inside evolutionist preconceptions, the origin of the capacity for speech is perfectly clear. It is Almighty God Who bestows this ability on Man. God inspires speech in human beings and causes them to speak, as is revealed in a verse from the Qur'an:
. . . They will reply, "God gave us speech as He has given speech to everything. He created you in the first place and you will be returned to Him." (Qur'an, 41:21)
In the same way that evolutionists are unable to account for the complexity of the biological structures that enable speech, they are also unable to explain the origin of the consciousness that makes language possible. Human consciousness and the complexities of language show that language was created by a superior Intelligence that belongs to Almighty God, our Lord.
67. The Mayan Calendar,
http://webexhibits.org/calendars/calendar-mayan.html
68. David Premack, "‘Gavagai!' or the Future History of the Animal
Language Controversy," Cognition, 19, 1985, pp. 281-282.
69. Derek Bickerton, "Babel's Cornerstone," New Scientist, Issue
2102, 4 October 1997, p. 42.
70. Richard Dawkins, Unweaving the Rainbow, Boston: Houghton-Miflin
Co., 1998, p. 294.
71. Wendy K. Wilkins and Jennie Wakefield, "Brain
Evolution and Neurolinguistic Preconditions," Behavioral and Brain
Sciences 18 (1): 161-226.
72. Noam Chomsky, Powers and Prospects: Reflections on Human Nature and
the Social Order, London: Pluto Press, 1996, p. 16.
THE SUMERIAN CIVILIZATION
THE SUMERIAN CIVILIZATION
In describing the supposed "evolutionary march" of the history of mankind, Darwinist scientists are quite helpless on another subject: Man's mind, by which mankind has built universities, hospitals, factories and states, composed music, held the Olympic Games and traveled into space—in short, one of the most important characteristics that makes Man what he is.
Evolutionists maintain that human mind assumed its present capacities by evolving after Man diverged from chimpanzees, our so-called closest living relative. They ascribe the alleged leaps that took place in the mind's evolution to random changes occurring in the brain, and to the improving effect of tool-making skills. You'll frequently encounter such claims in television documentaries and in articles in magazines and newspapers, telling tall tales concerning ape-men who first learned how to make knives out of stone, and then spears. But this propaganda is not valid. Although they attempt to portray the scenarios they set out as scientific, they are actually based solely upon Darwinist preconceptions, and completely unscientific. The most important point of all is that human mind cannot be reduced to matter. By documenting the invalidity of materialism, this fact alone totally undermines any claims regarding the evolution of mind.
 Phillip Johnson |
Evolutionists maintain that mind emerged through evolution, but they have no means of experiencing what a primitive level of intelligence is like, nor of replicating the conditions in the supposed evolutionary process. Despite his being an evolutionist, Henry Gee, editor of Nature magazine, well known for its evolutionist content, openly admits the unscientific nature of such claims:
For example, the evolution of Man is said to have been driven by improvements in posture, brain size, and the coordination between hand and eye, which led to technological achievements such as fire, the manufacture of tools, and the use of language. But such scenarios are subjective. They can never be tested by experiment, and so they are unscientific. They rely for their currency not on scientific test, but on assertion and the authority of their presentation. 61
Besides being unscientific, such scenarios are also logically invalid. Evolutionists maintain that thanks to the intellect that supposedly emerged through evolution, the ability to use tools emerged and developed, thanks to which, in turn, intelligence developed. Yet such a development is possible only when human intelligence is already present. According to this account, the question of whether technology or mind first emerged through evolution goes unanswered.
Phillip Johnson, one of the most effective critics of Darwinism, writes this on the subject:
A theory that is the product of a mind can never adequately explain the mind that produced the theory. The story of the great scientific mind that discovers absolute truth is satisfying only so long as we accept the mind itself as a given. Once we try to explain the mind as a product of its own discoveries, we are in a hall of mirrors with no exit. 62
The fact that Darwinists are quite unable to account for their own human minds reveals that the claims they make about Man's cultural and social history are also invalid. Indeed, all the facts and findings we have reviewed so far makes Darwinists' claims regarding the "evolution of history" totally meaningless.
Contrary to what evolutionists claim, the history of mankind is full of proofs that ancient peoples possessed far superior technologies and civilizations than had been believed. One of these civilizations is that of the Sumerians. The artifacts they left behind are some of the proofs of the accumulated knowledge possessed by mankind thousands of years ago.
The Sumerians: An Advanced Civilization
Mesopotamia means "between rivers" in Greek. This region is one of the most fertile in the world, which has made it the cradle of great civilizations.
One group of people who emerged from south of these lands—from the region now known as Kuwait and northern Saudi Arabia—spoke a different language from other communities, lived in cities, were ruled by a monarchy based on a legal structure, and used writing. These were the Sumerians, who developed rapidly by founding great city-states from 3,000 BCE on, and brought great numbers of people under their sway. 63
 From 3,000 BCE onward, the Sumerians brought large areas under their control by constantly founding large city-states. |
At a later date, the Sumerians were defeated by the Akkadians and passed under their yoke. However, by adopting the Sumerians' culture, religion, art, law, state structure and literature, the Akkadians enabled civilization to preserve in Mesopotamia.
In their time, the Sumerians made significant developments in all fields, from technology to art and from law to literature. They had well-developed trade and a powerful economy. Bronze work, wheeled vehicles, sailing boats, statues and monumental structures are some of the evidence of their rapid progress that has survived to the present day. In addition, the Sumerians are known to have possessed many handcrafts that have not survived. The weaving and dyeing of wool—an important export commodity for Mesopotamian cities—can be cited as one of their developed lesser arts. 64
The Sumerians also had a developed social structure. Their state was a monarchical one, with the priest-king ruling with the help of a series of officials. After the harvest, these would share the produce among the people, and visit and inspect the fields. Bureaucracy formed the basis of the Sumerian administrative system. The priest in every region would assume responsibility for the people living there and thus ensure that food was equitably distributed, in big cities especially. Work carried out by the priests was recorded and archived.
The deep-rooted civilizations founded by ancient societies show that Darwin's thesis of "progress from the primitive to the civilized" does not reflect the facts. Sumerian civilization is one example of this.
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In the social, artistic, scientific and economic spheres, the Sumerians, who lived some 5,000 years before our own time, are at total variance with the evolutionist model of Man supposedly advancing from the primitive to the developed. The great civilization built by the Sumerians was not only exceedingly advanced for its own time, but also considerably advanced in comparison to a great many societies of our day. This level of cultural development cannot be explained by evolutionist claims of human beings first ridding themselves of ape-like features, including communication in grunts, then beginning to socialize and raise animals, and only just learning about agriculture. It is clear that human beings have always been human, with all their intelligence, abilities and tastes, in all periods of history. The images of ape-men sitting by the fire in caves and spending their days making crude stone implements, as so frequently depicted by evolutionists, are entirely fictitious, and conflict with all historical, archaeological and scientific evidence.
Sumerian Science
The Sumerians had their own number system. Instead of the
present-day base-10 system (decimal), they constructed a mathematical
system based on the number 60 (sexagesimal). Their system still occupies
an important place in our own day, in the way that we have 60 minutes
in an hour, and 60 seconds in a minute, and 360 degrees in a circle.
For these reasons, the Sumerians, whose mathematical knowledge produced
the first geometrical and algebraic formulae, are regarded as the
founders of modern mathematics.
In addition, the Sumerians attained a rather advanced level in
astronomy, and their calculations of the years, months and days were
almost exactly the same as ours. The Sumerian calendar, with its year
consisting of 12 months, was also used by the Ancient Egyptians, the
Greeks and a number of Semitic societies. According to this calendar, a
year consisted of two seasons—summer and winter. Summer began on the
vernal equinox, and winter on the autumnal equinox.
The Sumerians used a 12-month
calendar, drew maps of many constellations, and followed the movements
of planets such as Mercury, Venus and Jupiter. The accuracy of their
calculations has been confirmed by discoveries and computer calculations
made in our time. Based on their observations, the Sumerians thought that our Solar System was made up of twelve planets, counting the Sun and Moon. Their 12th planet, referred to as Nibiru in some sources, is actually the tenth planet, also known as Planet X whose existence many scientists have recently accepted. The picture below shows Sumerian drawings of the Solar System. The Sun appears in the middle, with the planets orbiting around it. |
The
Sumerians also studied the heavens from towers they referred to as
"ziggurats." 65
They were able to predict solar and lunar eclipses, as can be seen
clearly in a number of records. To record their astronomical
discoveries, the Sumerians made charts of a great many constellations
of stars. In addition to the Sun and Moon, they also studied and noted
the movements of Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. The
calculations that the Sumerians produced 5,000 years ago have now been
confirmed by the images sent back to Earth by spacecraft.
No doubt this is in complete conflict with claims of the evolution of history. We are looking at information originally discovered 5,000 years ago, which we have reacquired only recently thanks to giant telescopes, advanced computers and technology of various kinds. That being the case, evolutionist scientists should set aside their preconceptions and act in the light of the scientific and historical facts. That truth shows the invalidity of the idea, advocated by Darwinists, that civilizations always progress from the primitive to the more advanced. A number of ideological concerns underlie the attempt to account for the history of Man—who founds civilizations, composes music, produces works of art, constructs impressive buildings, explores space and makes scientific and technological discoveries—in terms of a supposed process of evolution. The correct approach for scientists is to behave in the light of the facts determined by experiment, discovery and observation, not ideological concerns.
 A ziggurat |
The
kingdom of the heavens and Earth belongs to God. God has power over all
things.
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The Nimrud Lens
A lens-like fragment dating back some 3,000 years has been described as an important discovery that "could rewrite the history of science." That history shows that humankind has possessed the same mind, abilities and tastes from the moment he came into being. |
A discovery made by the archaeologist Sir John Layard in 1850 raised the question of who actually used the first lens? During a series of excavations in what is now Iraq, Layard discovered a piece of a lens dating back 3,000 years. Currently on display in the British Museum, this fragment shows that the first known lens was used in the days of the Assyrians. Professor Giovanni Pettinato of the University of Rome believes that this rock-crystal lens—which, according to him, is a major discovery shedding considerable light on the history of science—could also explain why the ancient Assyrians knew so much about astronomy, having discovered the planet Saturn and the rings around it. 66
To what use was this lens put? That answer may be debatable, but it's still obvious that not all bygone societies lived simple lives, as evolutionist scientists maintain. Past societies made use of science and technology, built deeply-rooted civilizations and enjoyed advanced life styles. Only limited information regarding their daily lives has come down to us today, but practically all we know shows that none of these societies ever underwent evolution.
 |
God
created the heavens and the Earth with truth. There is certainly a sign
in that for the believers.
|
The Baghdad Battery
 Research into this object, known as the "Baghdad battery" and dating back 2,000 years, suggests that it was used as a battery to generate electricity. |
In 1938, the German archaeologist Wilhelm König discovered a vase-like object now known as the "Baghdad Battery." But how was it concluded that this object, some 2,000 years old, was used as a battery? If it actually was used as a battery—which the research carried out certainly indicates—then all theories to the effect that civilization always progresses and that societies in the past lived under primitive conditions, will be totally demolished. This earthenware pot, sealed with asphalt or bitumen, contains a cylinder of copper. The bottom of this cylinder is covered with a copper disk. The asphalt stopper holds in place an iron rod, suspended down into the cylinder, without making any contact with it.
If the pot is filled with an electrolyte, a current-producing battery is the result. This phenomenon is known as an electrochemical reaction, and is not far different from the way that present-day batteries work. During experiments, between 1.5 and 2 volts of electricity was generated by some reconstructions based on the Baghdad Battery.
This raises a very important question: What was a battery used for 2,000 years ago? Since such a battery existed, obviously there must have been tools and devices that it powered. This once again shows that people living 2,000 years ago possessed far more advanced technology—and by extension, living standards—than was previously thought.
61. Henry Gee, In Search of Deep Time: Beyond The Fossil Record to A
New History of Life, The Free Press, A Division of Simon & Schuster,
Inc., 1999, p. 5
62. Phillip E. Johnson, Reason in the Balance: The Case Against
Naturalism in Science, Law & Education, Downers Grove, Illinois:
InterVarsity Press, 1995, p. 62.
63. Temel Britannica, Vol. 16, Ana Yayıncılık, Istanbul: June 1993,
p. 203.
64. Georges Contenau, Everday Life in Babylon and Assyria, London:
Edward Arnold Publishers, 1964.
65. Samuel Noah Kramer, History Begins at Sumer:
Thirty-Nine Firsts in Recorded History, Philadelphia: University of
Pennsylvania Press, 1981.
66. Dr. David Whitehouse, "World's Oldest Telescope?", BBC News, 1
July 1999,
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/sci/tech/380186.stm
ANCIENT EGYPT: A MAGNIFICENT CIVILIZATION IN TERMS OF ART AND SC
ANCIENT EGYPT: A MAGNIFICENT CIVILIZATION IN TERMS OF ART AND SCIENCE
In one of the most magnificent civilizations in terms of art and science founded by humankind, the Ancient Egyptians possessed more knowledge and experience than could have been possible, had they been the "heirs" or continuation of some primitive society. Among the Egyptians, members of a deviant, pagan religion, there were Jewish workmen with a knowledge of art, which had its origins in the times of Prophets Noah and Abraham (peace be upon them). These skilled people used the knowledge they had learned from the days of the past prophets.
 The Egyptians' mummification techniques demonstrate that they possessed advanced medical knowledge. |
The achievements of the Egyptians have still not been duplicated in many parts of the world today. In various parts of Asia, South America, or Africa, including Egypt itself, a life way beyond the level of the past civilization is still led. The civilization of Ancient Egypt, which registered such great successes especially in medicine, anatomy, urban planning, architecture, fine arts and textiles, is today studied by scientists with great awe and amazement.
The Origins of Ancient Egyptian Medicine
The sophistication achieved by physicians in Ancient Egypt is quite amazing. Findings obtained from excavations have amazed archaeologists, because no historian expected such a highly developed technology in a civilization that existed in the 3,000s BCE.
X-ray analysis of mummies has revealed that brain surgery was performed in Ancient Egypt. 43 What is more, these operations were carried out using highly professional techniques. When mummy skulls that underwent surgery are examined, it can be seen that the incisions of the surgery have been cut very neatly. Skull bones that have fused back together prove that the patients survived long after such operations. 44
Another example concerns various medicines. Giant strides were made in medicine in the 19th century due to the rapid progress made in experimental science, including the discovery of antibiotics. Yet the word "discovery" is not strictly accurate, because many of these techniques had already been known to the Ancient Egyptians.45
 The body of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamen was preserved inside two coffins, one inside the other. |
Some of the most important evidence of just how advanced the Egyptians were in science and anatomy lies in the mummies they left behind them. They used hundreds of different techniques in the process of mummification, which permits the bodies of living things to be preserved for thousands of years.
The mummification process is highly complex. First, the brain and some of the internal organs of the deceased were removed using special instruments. The next stage in the procedure involved dehydrating the body for 40 days with natron. (Natron is a mineral salt, primarily a mixture of sodium bicarbonate and sodium carbonate with small amounts of sodium chloride and sodium sulfate.) After the excessive body fluids were reduced, the body cavity was then stuffed with linen, sand or sawdust. The skin was anointed with special herbal preparations and then coated with liquid resin to further preserve it. Finally the body was carefully wrapped in linen bandages. 46
Mummification, carried out without damaging the shape of the body and by extracting all the deceased's internal organs, shows that those who performed it possessed a sufficient knowledge of anatomy to know the position of all the various organs.
Quite apart from the techniques of mummification, the Egyptians of 5,000 years ago enjoyed a wide range of other medical sophistication. For example:
 The Smith Papyrus, which describes how the ancient Egyptians used bandages made out of linen. |
-The priests involved in medicine in Egypt treated many diseases in their temples. Just as today, Egyptian doctors specialized in various fields of medicine. Every doctor, provided services in his own specialty.
-Doctors in Egypt were supervised by the state. If the patient failed to recover or died, the state would investigate the reasons why and determine whether the method of treatment employed by the doctor conformed to the rules. If any oversight was found to have taken place during treatment, the doctor was penalized within the framework of the law.
-Every temple possessed a well-equipped laboratory in which medicines were prepared and stored.
-The first steps in pharmacology, and the use of bandages and compresses, go back to Ancient Egyptian times. The Smith Papyrus (which is wholly concerned with medicine) describes how adhesive strips of linen—an ideal material for making bandages—were used to cover wounds.
-Archaeological findings have revealed a detailed picture of medical practices in Egypt. In addition, the names and titles of more than 100 doctors specializing in their own fields have been discovered.
-In reliefs on a wall of the temple at Kom Ombo, a box of surgical instruments is carved. This box contained metal shears, surgical knives, saws, probes, spatulas, small hooks and forceps.
-The techniques employed were numerous and varied. Breaks and fractures were set, splints employed and wounds closed with stitches. Fractures that healed after treatment with great success have been found in many mummies.
-Although no trace of surgical scars has been found in mummies, there are 13 references to wound suturing in the Smith Papyrus. This indicates that the Egyptians managed proper wound suturing, employing linen thread. The needles were in all probability made out of copper.
-Egyptian doctors were able to distinguish between sterile wounds and infected ones. They used a mixture of ibex fat, fir oil and crushed peas to clean infected wounds.
-Penicillin and antibiotics were discovered relatively recently. However, the Ancient Egyptians used the first organic versions of these and other different types of antibiotic, and wrote prescriptions suited to various types of disease. 47
Along with these major strides in medicine, excavations have also revealed that the Egyptians were very interested in such subjects as urban planning and architecture.
Advanced Metallurgy in Ancient Egypt
In the general sense, metallurgy is the branch of science and technology involving the refining from raw materials, shaping and preservation of metals and their compounds. An examination of Ancient Egyptian civilization shows that between 3,000 and 3,500 years ago, the Egyptians had become expert at extracting and working various minerals and metals, especially gold, copper and iron. Their highly developed metallurgy shows that the Egyptians were advanced in finding, extracting and working ores, and had a highly developed knowledge of chemistry.
 (1, 2) Finely worked pectorals of the king, crafted of gold, silver and semi-precious stones (3) A pair of finely crafted sandals (4) A small, long-spouted pitcher made of hard gold still maintains its strength and brightness. |
Archaeological research has revealed that the Egyptians were producing detailed work on copper ore and producing metallic compounds in around 3,400 BCE. In the Fourth Dynasty (around 2,900 BCE), mining research and operations were monitored by very high-ranking officials and are known to have been supervised by Pharaoh's sons.
In addition to copper, the Ancient Egyptians often used iron. Tin was used to create bronze, and cobalt to color glass. Metals not naturally occurring in Egypt were imported from other regions, particularly from Persia.
(5) This golden ornament found at the neck of Tutankhamen's mummy contains very fine gold workmanship; around 150 other jewels were found on the same mummy. (6) A gold-plated wooden chest set on a silver-plated sledge (7) A pectoral made of gold, lapis lazuli and turquoise, discovered at Tanis The fine workmanship in the jewels shows that sophisticated goldsmith's tools were employed. In the absence of such equipment, such fine workmanship is impossible. The quality and delicacy of Egyptian gold workmanship is equal to that of the present day. |
Their most frequently used and highly prized metal was gold. Hundreds of gold mines have been discovered in Egypt and parts of modern-day Sudan. One papyrus dating back to the 14th century BCE contains the plans of a gold mine near Apollinopolis, revealing the Ancient Egyptians' professionalism on the subject. The papyrus describes the construction of more than 1,300 dwellings around the mine just to accommodate those working in it. From this, the importance of goldsmithing and the art of jewelry in Ancient Egypt is apparent. Indeed, the hundreds of decorative golden objects discovered in archaeological excavations are indications that the Ancient Egyptians were expert miners and metalworkers.
This also goes to show that the Egyptians possessed the scientific knowledge and technology needed to identify seams of metal, extract ore from them, refine the metals thus extracted, and combine them to produce alloys.
Ancient Egyptian Urban Planning and Infrastructure
Egypt's arid climate has left behind many clues to their civilization, evidencing that ancient Egyptian cities had a highly developed infrastructure.
 One indication of the Egyptians' advanced civilization is doubtless their knowledge of architecture and engineering. |
Certainly a highly developed infrastructure shows that those who built these cities had an advanced knowledge of architecture and engineering.How far down underground foundations need to be dug, where the supporting beams need to be placed, how an effective ventilation system needs to be planned, the arrangement of pathways for clean and dirty water so they do not mix, and a great many other details must be considered. And, most important of all, no errors can be made in any of them. The Egyptians knew all these techniques, and the buildings they left behind prove this.
The architectural techniques they used in the 3,000s BCE were exceedingly professional and intended to resolve difficulties and problems of infrastructure. Water is of great importance to an arid country like Egypt. In fact, they found permanent solutions to the problem, including the tanks they built in which to store water.
A large reserve of water discovered in the Fayum oasis depression is one of these. The Egyptians also built some artificial lakes to ensure that life could continue in specific regions. These small lakes collected water from the Nile, making possible an advanced civilization in the Egyptian desert. They constructed Lake Moeris, 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of present-day Cairo, for the purpose of storing water from the River Nile by means of a canal. Settlements and temples were constructed near this reservoir. 48
The Egyptians' knowledge of medicine, urban planning, and engineering and how it should be put into practice are just some of the evidence of the exceptionally advanced civilization that they possessed. Their knowledge and the measures they implemented once again refute the thesis that societies progress from a primitive state to a civilized one. A society that existed 5,000 years ago possessed a more advanced level of civilization than some communities living in the same country today, something that cannot be explained in terms of "evolutionary progress." There's also no doubt that during the time when the Egyptians were enjoying their advanced civilization, there were more backward communities with people living under more primitive conditions in Africa and other parts of the world. Yet none of these individuals had any features that were less than human, nor any supposedly ape-like traits. The Egyptians, other people living in primitive conditions at the same period, as well as them and human communities that existed hundreds of thousands of years ago, have all been as entirely human as present-day Man, in all respects. Some communities may have lived in more advanced conditions and others in more backward ones, but this does not show, as Darwinists maintain, that they are descended from apes or that one race evolved from another. Such an interpretation is a violation of science, reason and logic.
Ancient Egyptians' Achievements in Textiles
 Examples of linen, dating back to Ancient Egypt |
It can be seen from fragments of linen cloth that have survived from 2,500 BCE that the Egyptians produced very high-quality fabrics, in terms of both materials and weaving. Most important of all, however, are the details in the weaving of the cloth. In 2,500 BCE, the Ancient Egyptians were producing delicate fibers of the kind that are made today in machinery equipped with advanced technology, which linen was used for wrapping around mummies. The delicate weaving of these fabrics has amazed Egyptologists. 49 These specimens are so fine that one needs a magnifying glass to distinguish them from silk, and this fabric is comparable with the best work of the present-day machine loom. 50 Even today these fabrics are renowned for their quality, and the Egyptian linen made today owes its fame to the weavers who lived in the 2,000s BCE.
An Advanced Level of Mathematics
 The Rhind Papyrus |
Numbers were used in Ancient Egypt from very early times. Papyruses from 2,000 BCE describing mathematical problems have been found. The four most referred to documents are known as the Kahun fragments, and Berlin, Moscow and Rhind papyruses. These documents state, with examples, the bases on which measurements are made. The Egyptians knew that a triangle whose sides measure 3:4:5 is a right triangle, and made use of this knowledge (which is now called the Pythagoras Theorem) in their construction calculations. 51
In addition, the Egyptians knew the difference between planets and stars. They added the stars, some of which are very hard to see with the naked eye, to their studies of astronomy.
And since the Egyptians' lives were dependent on the Nile, they had to check its level during its annual floods. The ruler had a "Nilometer" made to measure the height of the river waters, and appointed officials for that purpose. 52
A Construction Technology Full of Secrets
The most important structures built in Ancient Egypt, at which visitors still gaze in wonder today, are the mysterious pyramids. The most magnificent of them is the Great Pyramid, regarded as the largest stone edifice constructed in the world to date. Historians and archaeologists since the time of Herodotus have put forward various theories as to how this pyramid was built. Some have maintained that slaves were used in its construction and have suggested several different possible techniques, from the ramp technique to a terraced pyramid. The complete picture that emerges from these hypothetical methods is this:
-Had this pyramid been built by slaves, then their number would be extraordinarily high, in the range of 240,000.
-Had a ramp been built to construct the pyramid, then it would have taken some eight years to dismantle this ramp after the pyramid was completed. This theory, according to the Danish civil engineer Garde-Hanson, is ridiculous, because once the ramp had been torn down, giant rough blocks would have been left over. Yet no such evidence is to be seen anywhere. 53
Stating that Garde-Hanson has considered aspects underestimated by other theoreticians, Moustafa Gadalla, in his book Historical Deception: The Untold Story of Ancient Egypt, goes on to say:
Try to visualize the staggering figures as you visit the pyramid: 4,000 year-round quarrymen producing 330 blocks per day. During inundation season, 4,000 blocks per day are transported to the Nile, ferried across, hauled up the ramp to the Giza plateau, and set into place in the core—a rate of 6.67 blocks per minute! Imagine 6.67 blocks every 60 seconds! 54
-In addition, bear in mind the fact that the surface area of each pyramid face is some 5.5 acres. Then some 115,000 casing stones were needed for each surface. These stones have been so scrupulously laid in place that the gaps between them are too small to permit even a piece of paper to fit between them. 55
These are just some of the objections that show that the secrets regarding the construction of the pyramids have still not been resolved by the twenty-first-century science and technology.
STRIKING FACTS ABOUT THE GIZA PYRAMIDS
|
Some of the research
onto the pyramids at Giza has shown that the Ancient Egyptians
possessed a highly developed knowledge of mathematics and geometry. In
addition to their knowledge of mathematics and geometry, the people who
planned the pyramids must also have known the measurements of the
Earth, its circumference, and the angle of tilt of its axis. This
information about the pyramids, whose construction began around 2,500
BCE, is even more striking when one considers that they were built some
2,000 years before the great Greek mathematicians Pythagoras,
Archimedes and Euclid:If One Wished to Rebuild the Pyramids ...
 The Great Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu)consists of some 2.5 million stone blocks. Assume that ten blocks were laid every day—which would require an enormous effort on the part of the workers—then it would take 684 years to lay all 2.5 million blocks. Yet it is thought that such pyramids in question took an average of only 20 to 30 years to build. Just this simple calculation reveals that when constructing the pyramids, the Egyptians used a very different and superior technology. |
In 1978, the Indiana Limestone Institute of America, Inc.—one of the world's leading authorities on limestone—carried out a thought-provoking feasibility study to learn what size workforce and what kind of materials would be needed to build a pyramid similar to the Great Pyramid of Giza. The company officials described the difficulty involved, noting that if they tripled present-day average production, quarrying, fabricating and shipping such a quantity of limestone would take approximately 27 years. In addition, all this work would be done using modern American technology—in other words, hydraulic hammers and electrical crystal-headed saws. Enormous effort would be needed just to quarry and transport the limestone, not including the laboratory tests necessary for the building of the Pyramid, nor any other such preparatory work. 57
So how did the Ancient Egyptians build these giant pyramids? By what power, with what machinery, by what techniques were the rock terraces set out? By what means were the rock tombs carved out? How was lighting provided during construction? (No staining or soot has been found on the walls or ceilings inside the pyramids and tombs.) How were blocks of stone removed from the quarries, and how were the differently shaped faces of the blocks smoothed? How were these blocks, weighing several tons, transported, and how were they fit together to an accuracy of 1/1000 of a centimeter? The list of questions could be a lot longer. Can they be answered in a logical and rational way through the evolutionist misconception of mankind's history? Of course not!
With their art, medicine and culture, the Ancient Egyptians produced a giant civilization. The works they left behind, the medical therapies they used and the accumulated knowledge and experience they possessed are some of the most important proofs of this. Some scientists today even claim that the works produced by the Egyptians—for whom, according to the evolution of history thesis, the building of pyramids must have been exceedingly difficult—were actually made by extraterrestrial visitors.
 Buildings constructed by past societies using giant stones indicate that machinery similar to that used in modern construction must have been employed in the past. The resemblance of this decorative object of gold to construction machinery is striking. Discovered in Panama in the 1920s, this item is believed to have been hung as a pendant. This and similar discoveries refute evolutionist claims that past societies were completely primitive. There have been obvious advances in technology and knowledge accumulated throughout the course of history, but this does not mean that people in the past lived like animals. Past societies developed various devices and used machinery in light of their own requirements. Top right: Probable model of a backhoe
of the period |
 Detail of the back-panel of Tutankhamen's royal throne, Cairo, Egyptian Museum |
Of course, any such claim is exceptionally irrational and illogical. Yet evolutionists hide behind it since all their demagoguery is unable to provide a better explanation. First and foremost, there is not the slightest evidence to support their claim. When evolutionists realize that they cannot produce any explanation based on chance or imaginary evolutionary process, they immediately hide behind the idea of "visitors from space." Indeed, they came up with this ridiculous idea when they realized that the DNA in the cell nucleus and the first protein, representing the fundamental building block of life, had far too complex and extraordinary structures to have arisen by chance from inanimate substances. And so, visitors from space must have brought the first living organism to the Earth and left it behind. This ridiculous claim is one of the telltale signs of the despairing position evolutionists find themselves in.
The civilization in ancient Egypt—and all the other civilizations down through history—were all founded by people possessed of reason and will. Today, we are amazed by artifacts dating back to 3,000 BCE, and scientists and experts in the field debate how these could have been created. But what really matters is that the civilization of 5,000 years ago, whose traces can be seen today, was obviously built with an experience and sophisticated knowledge accumulated over thousands of years. In other words, the roots of this ancient civilization go back even further. That means that in the very earliest times there were no primitive, half-animal humans lacking the power of speech, and living solely by hunting, as is claimed by proponents of the evolution of history. Ever since the first human was created, Man has enjoyed the same human characteristics such as intelligence, conception of beauty, understanding, consciousness and moral values, as does Man today.
A MODEL GLIDER IN ANCIENT EGYPTIAN TOMBS
Remains left behind by many civilizations indicate that air transport was used in very ancient times. This can clearly be seen in Mayan ruins, pictures in the Egyptian pyramids, and Sumerian inscriptions. As far as we can tell, people were building and using vehicles similar to gliders, airplanes, and helicopters thousands of years ago.
In fact, the Qur'an indicates that air transport may have been used long ago:
And We gave Solomon power over the wind—a month's journey in the morning and a month in the afternoon. (Qur'an, 34:12)
It is very likely that the long distances referred to in this verse could have been traveled quickly in Prophet Solomon's (pbuh) day. This transportation may have taken place by means of wind-powered vehicles using a technology similar to that found in planes today. (God knows the truth.)
 A model glider estimated to date back to 200 BCE |
One piece of evidence that past civilizations employed air transportation is a model glider found in Egypt. This model, discovered in 1898, has been dated at about 200 BCE. Of course, finding a model glider some 2,200 years old is a rather remarkable event. This archaeological finding completely undermines the evolutionist conception of history. An even more interesting picture emerges when the model's technical features are examined. The shape and proportions of this wooden model's wings were designed in such a way as to give the aircraft a maximum lift with a minimum loss of speed, as in the Concorde, the product of today's most advanced technology. This also shows that the ancient Egyptians had a very good knowledge of aerodynamics.
 |
How
many wrongdoing cities We destroyed, and now all their roofs and walls
are fallen in; how many abandoned wells and stuccoed palaces! |
DID ELECTRICITY EXIST IN ANCIENT EGYPT?
Reliefs in the temple of Hathor at Dendera have revealed the possibility that the Ancient Egyptians knew about and used electricity. When the figures in this relief are carefully examined, you can see that, just like today, high-voltage insulation must have been used at that time: A bulb-like shape is supported by a rectangular pillar (called the Djed pillar and assumed to be an insulator). This resemblance between the shape in the picture and electric lamps is astonishing. 58 While analyzing ancient Egyptian metal objects in 1933, Dr. Colin G. Fink—who invented the tungsten filament electric light bulb—found that the Egyptians knew a method of plating antimony on copper over 4,300 years ago. This was a method by which the same results accomplished today by electroplating were achieved. 59
 The resemblance to today's light bulbs of the figures in these reliefs from the Temple of Hathor at Dendera has amazed scientists. |
Scientists have experimented with the system depicted in the reliefs to determine whether it could have emitted light. The Austrian electrical engineer Walter Garn studied the reliefs in great detail, and reproduced the Djed pillar insulator, bulb and twisting wire. The model he built did indeed work and emit light. 60
 The Djed pillar, frequently shown in Egyptian drawings, may symbolize a kind of electrical apparatus. The column may have served as a generator, thus providing lighting. |
One piece of evidence that Ancient Egyptians may have used electricity is the absence of any traces of soot on the interior walls of their tombs and pyramids. If—as evolutionist archaeologists maintain—they used burning torches and oil lamps for lighting, then traces of soot would inevitably have been left behind. Yet there are no such traces anywhere, not even in the very deepest chambers. It would have been impossible for construction to continue without the necessary lighting being provided nor, even more importantly, for the magnificent murals to have been painted on the walls. This strengthens the possibility that electricity was, indeed, used in Ancient Egypt.
43. Moustafa Gadalla, Historical Deception: The Untold Story of Ancient
Egypt, Bastet Publishing, Erie, Pa., USA, 1996, pp. 295, 296.
44. Interview with Dr. Zahi Hawass, Director of the Pyramids,
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/pyramid/excavation/hawass.html
45. Gadalla, Historical Deception, p. 296
46. http://www.amonline.net.au/teachers_resources/
background/ancient_egypt04.htm
47. Afet İnan, Eski Mısır Tarihi ve Medeniyet (Ancient Egyptian
History and Civilization), Ankara: Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi, 1956, p.
318.
48. Ibid., p. 87.
49. Ibid., p. 201.
50. James Henry Breasted, Ancient Times or A History of the Early
World, 1916, p. 64.
51. Moustafa Gadalla, Egyptian Harmony: The Visual Music, NC: Tehuti
Research Foundation, 2000, p. 64.
52. http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/cairo/
53. Gadalla, Historical Deception, p. 115
54. Ibid., p. 116.
55. Ibid.
56. The Eyes of the Sphinx, NY: Berkley Publishing Group, 1996, pp.
118-119.
57. 2 Nova Productions, Who Built the Pyramids, www.pbs.org
58. Frank Dörnenburg, "Electric Lights in Egypt?",
http://www.world-mysteries.com/sar_lights_fd1.htm
59. William R. Corliss, Ancient Man: A Handbook of Puzzling
Artifacts, Maryland: The Sourcebook Project, 1978, p. 443.
60.http://www.unsolved-mysteries.net/english/
earchiv/e8archivobj005.htm