Ayat of the Day
|Hadith of the Day:|
|Miracles of the Qur’an:|
The Importance of Fish for a Healthy Heart and Arteries:
In one study by the American Medical Association, it was observed that heart attack levels in women eating five portions of fish a week fell by one-third. This is thought to stem from the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil causing less blood clotting. The normal speed of blood in our veins is 60 kmph (37.3 mph) and it is of vital importance for the blood to be of the right viscosity and for the density, quantity and speed to be at normal levels. The worst danger for our blood-apart from normal conditions of bleeding-is for it to clot and lose the ability to flow properly. Fish oils are also effective in reducing blood clotting by preventing the thrombocytes in the blood (blood platelets that concentrate the blood in the event of bleeding) from adhering to one another. Otherwise, blood thickening can lead to narrowing of the arteries. In turn, this can lead to many organs in the body-especially the heart, brain, eyes and kidneys - receiving an inadequate blood supply, function deceleration and eventually, loss of function. For example, when an artery is totally blocked on account of clotting this can lead to heart attack, paralysis or other disorders, depending on the location of the artery.
Omega-3 fatty acids also play an important role in the production of the molecule hemoglobin, that carries oxygen in the red blood cells, and in controlling the nutrients passing through the cell membrane. They also prevent the damaging effects of fats harmful to the body. Research reveals that omega-3 fatty acids found in fish reduce the risk of heart attack.
Importance for the Development of New Born Babies:
Benefits for Joint Health:
Benefits Regarding the Healthy Functioning of the Brain and Nervous System:
Benefits against Inflammatory Disorders and Strengthening of the Immune System:
There is also wide-ranging evidence that societies such as the Greenland Eskimos and Japanese, who eat a lot of fish, rich in omega-3 fatty acid, have a much lower incidence of heart and artery disease, asthma and psoriasis. Fish is therefore recommended as a form of treatment and is particularly recommended by nutritionists on account of its proven benefits for coronary health.
Additional benefits to those outlined above are emerging every day. Moreover, it has only been possible to reveal the health benefits of fish by a great many scientists working in well-equipped research laboratories. The fact that such a valuable source of nutrition is indicated in the Qur'an, and especially that it is described as a fatigue eliminator in Surat al-Kahf, is nothing short of awe-inspiring. All the benefits provided by fish are a great blessing given us by our Lord. As with all foods, it is Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, Who has created the superior structure in fish for our benefit.
|Wonders of Creation:|
The skeleton is an engineering marvel on its own. It is the structural support system of the body. It protects vital organs like brain, heart and lungs, and upholds the internal organs. It furnishes the human body with a superior capacity for movement that cannot be imitated by any artificial mechanism. Bone tissue is not inorganic as many people think. Bone tissue is the mineral bank of the body that includes many important minerals like calcium and phosphate. In accordance with the needs of the body, it either stores these minerals or delivers them to the body. Besides all these, bones also produce red blood cells.
In addition to the uniformly perfect functioning of the skeleton, the bones constituting it also have an exceptional structure. Having the tasks of bearing and protecting the body, bones are created with the capacity and strength to fulfill this function. The worst conditions possible are taken into consideration as well. For instance, the thighbone can carry a weight weighing a ton when perpendicular. Surprisingly, at each step we take, the bone carries a weight equivalent to three times our body weight. When an athlete pole-vaults and he lands on the ground, every square centimeter of his pelvis is exposed to a pressure of 1,400 kilograms. What makes this structure, which is formed by the division and replication of the single original cell, so strong? The answer to the question is hidden in the unequalled creation of bones.
An example from today's technology would be helpful to further clarify the subject. The scaffolding system is used in the construction of spacious and tall buildings. The support elements of the constructions made with this technique do not have a monolithic structure, but consist of many intersecting rods forming a scaffold. By the help of complex calculations that can only be made by computers, it could be possible to build stronger and more cost-effective bridges and industrial constructions.
The internal structure of bones is similar to that of the scaffold system used in the construction of those bridges and towers. The only important difference is that the system in bones is more complicated and superior to those designed by men. By means of this system, the bones are extremely strong and yet light enough for comfortable use by humans. If the opposite were the case, i.e., if the interior of the bones was hard and full like its exterior, it would be too heavy to be carried by a human and would easily break or crack at the slightest blow due to its rigid and hard structure.
The perfect creation of our bones helps us lead our lives very simply, manage to perform even very difficult tasks easily without pain. Another feature of bone structure is its flexibility in certain parts of the body. Just as the rib-cage protects the vital organs of the body such as the heart and lungs, it also expands and contracts to let air move in and out of lungs.
The miraculous aspects of the bones are not limited to these. Besides their flexibility, durability and lightness, the bones also have an ability to repair themselves. When a bone is broken, one only has to keep this bone firm to allow it to repair itself. As is obvious, this, like all other processes in the body, is an extremely complex process in which millions of cells collaborate.
The traces of creation are also visible at the joint surfaces of the bones. The joints do not need to be lubricated although they move continuously for a lifetime. Biologists conducted research to find the reason: how is the friction in joints being eliminated?
Scientists saw that the event was solved by a system that can be regarded as an "absolute miracle of creation". Joint surfaces exposed to friction are covered with a thin, porous cartilage layer. Under this layer is a lubricant. Whenever the bone compresses the joint, this lubricant gushes out of the pores and makes the joint surface slide "as if on oil".
These all show that the human body is the outcome of a perfect and a superior creation. This perfect creation helps a human being to make very dissimilar movements with great swiftness and facility.
Just imagine if everything were not so perfect and the entire leg were formed of a single long bone. Then, walking would be a serious problem and we would have very clumsy and idle bodies. Even taking a seat would be difficult, and the leg bone would easily break because of being forced during such acts. However, the human skeleton has a structure that permits all kinds of body motions.
Allah created, and still creates, all the features of the skeleton. Allah invites man, whom He has created, to ponder this:
|Lives of the Prophets:|
The way that his guests declined to eat, even though he had treated them very warmly and offered them food, showed Prophet Abraham (as) that something extraordinary was happening. These angels, who came to him in human guise, displayed a most noble and blameless morality. Indeed, he treated them with such enormous hospitality because he realized that they were most worthy guests. The angels then revealed their true identities and gave him the glad tidings of a righteous son:
Prophet Abraham (as) and his wife were astonished, for both of them were quite old. In addition, his wife was barren. Prophet Abraham (as) replied with the following words:
This was news of a great miracle. In response to his wife’s question, “They said: ‘That is what your Lord says. He is the All-Wise, the All-Knowing’” (Surat adh-Dhariyat: 30). As revealed in another verse, Prophet Abraham (as) and his wife were told not to be astonished:
The angels also reminded Prophet Abraham (as) of something else:
Losing faith in Allah is a spiritual state prevalent among people who live far removed from Allah. When their expectations fail to materialize, they despair and believe that their wishes will never come true. Thus, they cannot show the requisite appreciation of Allah. On the other hand, Prophet Abraham (as) always exhibited proper moral values by placing his hope in Allah.
Believers, who are aware of Allah’s power, seek everything from Him and place their hope in Him. They do this because they know that only Allah creates causes and the ensuing effects, and only He controls the world through His laws. If He wills something to be, He merely says, Be! and it will immediately come about. Since everything is possible in Allah’s sight, believers make their requests full of hope. The Qur’an reveals His infinite might in following terms:
People who grasp this great truth know that even apparently insurmountable obstacles exist because of His wisdom. Allah creates sterility and so can turn it into fertility in a moment. That is what happened to Prophet Abraham (as) and his barren wife, despite their great age. Only Allah, Who gave them a righteous son, can give and take life, and then bring anything to life once again.
Today we will examine in detail why the evolutionist scenario regarding the formation of proteins is impossible.
As we explained yesterday, proteins are molecules consisting of amino acids that are arranged in a particular sequence in certain quantities and structures. Even the correct sequence of the right amino acids, however, is still not enough for the formation of a functional protein molecule. In addition to these requirements, each of the 20 different types of amino acids present in the composition of proteins must be left-handed. There are two different types of amino acids—as of all organic molecules—called "left-handed" and "right-handed." The difference between them is the mirror-symmetry between their three dimensional structures, which is similar to that of a person's right and left hands.
Amino acids of either of these two types can easily bond with one another. But one astonishing fact that has been revealed by research is that all the proteins in plants and animals on this planet, from the simplest organism to the most complex, are made up of left-handed amino acids. If even a single right-handed amino acid gets attached to the structure of a protein, the protein is rendered useless. In a series of experiments, surprisingly, bacteria that were exposed to right-handed amino acids immediately destroyed them. In some cases, they produced usable left-handed amino acids from the fractured components.
Let us for an instant suppose that life came about by chance as evolutionists claim it did. In this case, the right- and left-handed amino acids that were generated by chance should be present in roughly equal proportions in nature. Therefore, all living things should have both right- and left-handed amino acids in their constitution, because chemically it is possible for amino acids of both types to combine with each other. However, as we know, in the real world the proteins existing in all living organisms are made up only of left-handed amino acids.
The question of how proteins can pick out only the left-handed ones from among all amino acids, and how not even a single right-handed amino acid gets involved in the life process, is a problem that still baffles evolutionists. Such a specific and conscious selection constitutes one of the greatest impasses facing the theory of evolution.
Moreover, this characteristic of proteins makes the problem facing evolutionists with respect to "chance" even worse. In order for a "meaningful" protein to be generated, it is not enough for the amino acids to be present in a particular number and sequence, and to be combined together in the right three-dimensional design. Additionally, all these amino acids have to be left-handed: not even one of them can be right-handed. Yet there is no natural selection mechanism which can identify that a right-handed amino acid has been added to the sequence and recognize that it must therefore be removed from the chain. This situation once more eliminates for good the possibility of coincidence and chance.
The Britannica Science Encyclopedia, which is an outspoken defender of evolution, states that the amino acids of all living organisms on earth, and the building blocks of complex polymers such as proteins, have the same left-handed asymmetry. It adds that this is tantamount to tossing a coin a million times and always getting heads. The same encyclopedia states that it is impossible to understand why molecules become left-handed or right-handed, and that this choice is fascinatingly related to the origin of life on earth.1
If a coin always turns up heads when tossed a million times, is it more logical to attribute that to chance, or else to accept that there is conscious intervention going on? The answer should be obvious. However, obvious though it may be, evolutionists still take refuge in coincidence, simply because they do not want to accept the existence of a Creator.
A situation similar to the left-handedness of amino acids also exists with respect to nucleotides, the smallest units of the nucleic acids, DNA and RNA. In contrast to proteins, in which only left-handed amino acids are chosen, in the case of the nucleic acids, the preferred forms of their nucleotide components are always right-handed. This is another fact that can never be explained by chance.
In conclusion, it is proven beyond a shadow of a doubt by the probabilities we have examined that the origin of life cannot be explained by chance. If we attempt to calculate the probability of an average-sized protein consisting of 400 amino acids being selected only from left-handed amino acids, we come up with a probability of 1 in 2400, or 10120. Just for a comparison, let us remember that the number of electrons in the universe is estimated at 1079, which although vast, is a much smaller number. The probability of these amino acids forming the required sequence and functional form would generate much larger numbers. If we add these probabilities to each other, and if we go on to work out the probabilities of even higher numbers and types of proteins, the calculations become inconceivable.
1. Fabbri Britannica Bilim Ansiklopedisi (Fabbri Britannica Science Encyclopaedia), vol. 2, no. 22, p. 519.
|Quick Grasp of Faith:|
This world is a particular place created by Allah where man is being tested and is being prepared for the abode of the Hereafter. Part of this test is that it is made to seem fair and attractive to man. Some features of this world that are alluring to people are stated in a Qur'anic verse as follows:
As stated in the verse, invaluable ornaments, wealth, profitable commerce, charming and wealthy mates, healthy children, pleasing houses, cars in any color or model, assorted food are the values that attach man to this world. Yet man should remember that these are bestowed by Allah as a temporary benefit, all of them are merely the perishable goods of this world and, as announced in the verse above, "the best homecoming" is in the Hereafter. As for these benefits he is given, he should not squander them during his worldly life, but use them in making preparation for the Hereafter. Those who behave in accordance with this absolute truth are not swept away by the life of the world.
The Signs of Jesus' (as) Second Coming
The great event that will be a means of humanity's salvation is the second coming of Prophet Jesus (as). His return to Earth, a belief held by both Christians and Muslims, will end this world's all-pervasive cruelty and injustice and transform it into a place of peace, abundance, and justice.
According to the Qur'an, approximately 2,000 years ago Allah thwarted the unbelievers' plots to murder Prophet Jesus (as) by raising him up to Himself. The Qur'an and the related hadiths (sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (saas) tell us that he will come back to Earth again in the End Times, the times preceding the Day of Judgment.
In this book, we will examine the signs of Prophet Jesus' (as) second coming from the Islamic sources and how the signs that they provide have come true one by one. People witnessing these signs may, by Allah's will, hope that his return is close...>>
|Site of the Day:|
This site tells people about Paradise, which Allah offers to them, describes its great blessings, and proclaims its beauties to everyone. It informs people that Paradise is one of two ways of life prepared for them in the Afterlife, and that every good thing will be theirs in Paradise to a degree that surpasses our present ability to imagine. It also shows that Paradise, is a place where all blessings have been created perfectly and where people will be offered everything their souls and hearts will desire; that people will be far removed from want and need, anxiety or sadness, sorrow and regret. Every kind of beauty and blessing exists in Paradise and will be revealed with a perfection never seen or known before. Allah has prepared such blessings there as a gift, and these will be offered only to people with whom He is pleased.
This site describes everything about Paradise in the light of the Qur'an's verses. So, as you read this information and try to envision that blessed place, remember that the Qur'an is the truth. Based on this information, consider the perfection of the real land that is waiting for you, and make every effort to be worthy of it. Be aware that Allah will give you all of these things by His grace, and that they can be yours forever. Given all of this, if you still cannot decide in favor of eternal beauty, remember that the only choice left is Hell, a place full of anguish from where you will observe the comfort of those in Paradise and experience eternal anxiety, sadness, misery, and sorrow.