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PREDICTIONS CONCERNING SCIENTIFIC
DEVELOPMENTS
God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, also made many
predictions concerning developments in various branches of
science. Some of these predictions have already come true, and
the others will also happen exactly as foretold by the holy
Prophet, whose Prophethood will thus be confirmed once
more.
Out of the
many examples, I will cite only a few to illustrate that the
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was also
accurate in his predictions concerning scientific
developments.
As related
by Bukhari, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings,
declared:
God
did not send down an illness for which He did not send a
cure.1
This hadith,
in addition to declaring that every illness is curable, is the
most comprehensive statement encouraging research in the field
of medicine. In another Tradition, the Messenger, upon him be
peace and blessings, pronounces that there is a cure for every
illness.2 Another version tells us:
Do not
neglect having your diseases treated, for God does not
send a disease for which He will not send a cure except
for old
age.3
Mankind may
discover a cure for every illness, but they will never be able
to stop man’s journeying from the world of spirits to the
material world and then on to either Paradise or Hell through
the stations of embryo, babyhood, childhood, youth, old age,
the grave, and the Resurrection. The ‘Prince of the two
worlds’, upon him be peace and blessings, thus, on the one
hand, encourages mankind to undertake every kind of research
possible to find cures for illnesses, he also warns them, on
the other hand, not to neglect preparing for the next
world.
God Almighty
encourages mankind to strive in the development of sciences by
presenting in the Quran the miracles of the earlier Prophets
to their attention and thereby showing the limits to which
they should aspire. By allowing the Prophet Jesus, upon him be
peace, as an inimitable miracle, to bring the dead back to
life, He points out that mankind will be able to find a cure
for every illness but that death will inevitably catch hold of
them. In the story of Prophet Moses’ staff, the Quran tells
mankind that they can, and will be able to, employ inanimate
things in different ways like obtaining water from the depths
of the earth by using devices as simple as a staff, like a
centrifuge, but they will never be able to cause a rock to
flow abundant water by striking it with a staff, or to change
a staff into a snake, both of which the Prophet Moses
did.
The Quran,
being the greatest miracle of the Prophet Muhammad, upon him
be peace and blessings, marks the farthest limit in literary
style and eloquence and implies that writing and eloquence
will have the greatest importance towards the end of time.
However, mankind will never be able to match the eloquence of
the Quran.
The Prophets
set examples and showed us the limits to which we may go in
material as well as spiritual progress.
We can trace
the principle of quarantine to God’s Messenger, who
said:
If you
hear that there is pestilence in a place, do not enter
it; if the pestilence breaks out where you are, do not
leave it to escape the
pestilence.4
According to
Ahmad ibn Hanbal, he also declared:
Keep
away from the leper as you do from a
lion.5
In this
hadith, God’s Messenger advises us to fight with leprosy and
to search for the ways to be protected against it. Quarantine
is again suggested here as a way to prevent the spread of
leprosy.
Imam Muslim
narrates in his Sahih that God’s Messenger
declared:
When a
dog has licked a bowl of yours, clean it seven times,
first time with earth, the other six with
water.6
This hadith
contains the following medical principles:
Dogs may be
carrying the microbes of certain diseases possibly
communicable to human beings, a fact which has only recently
been discovered.
The saliva
of dogs, like their excrement, may contain substances greatly
injurious to man’s health.
At the time
of the Prophet, upon him be peace and blessings, neither
disinfection nor sterilization was known. Nevertheless, God’s
Messenger, being a Prophet taught by the All-Knowing,
recommends earth to clean a bowl licked by a dog. We know
today that earth is a good antiseptic containing substances
like tetracycline.
In another
hadith concerning dogs, God’s Messenger expresses a
fundamental principle of ecology, saying,
If
dogs were not a separate community, I would order their
killing.7
This implies
that every species in the creation is an indispensable element
of ecological balance. Except that dogs, as a community, have
a part in this balance, it would be better that they be
removed from the surface of the earth, for they carry germs
harmful to man’s health.
All of the
facts expressed in the hadith are of the kind recently
discovered by science.
As recorded
by Sahih al-Tirmidhi and Sunan Abu Dawud, God’s Messenger,
upon him be peace and blessings, declares:
The
blessings of food lie in washing hands before and after
eating.8
In this
hadith, God’s Messenger emphasizes the importance of
cleanliness. As we use our hands, germs accumulate. Only by
washing hands can they be removed.
In another
hadith, God’s Messenger advises us to wash our hands after we
wake up since You do not know, he says, where your hands have
moved in sleep.9
No one in
the time of God’s Messenger knew about microbes, the existence
of which would be discovered centuries later. Besides, God’s
Messenger was unlettered. If he taught, as he did, in spite of
that, about cleaning hands before and after eating, and after
waking up, he must certainly be a Prophet instructed by the
Greatest Teacher.
As recorded
in all of the six of the most authentic books of Tradition
from as many as forty Companions, God’s Messenger, upon him be
peace and blessings, established the principle of dental care,
saying,
If it
did not place an excessive burden upon my community, I
would command them to clean their teeth with miswak [a
tooth stick] before each of the five daily
prayers.10
Cleaning of
teeth is of great significance for both dental care and the
health of the whole body. Despite this, even dentists do not
brush their teeth five times a day, but God’s Messenger, upon
him be peace and blessings, urged his community to clean their
teeth before every prayer. This was a practice of God’s
Messenger himself and is thereby a sunna, a strong Prophetic
recommendation, for all Muslims.
In relation
to health and digestion, God’s Messenger
recommended:
In
eating, apportion a third of your stomach to food,
another third to water, and leave the last third empty.
The bowl most distasteful to God is a full
stomach.11
In another
similar hadith, God’s Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings, also says:
What I
fear concerning my community is a large paunch,
oversleep, idleness and the lack of
certainty.12
All of the
points mentioned in the hadith are each an antecedent to or
result of the other. A man who spends an idle life of
heedlessness with no self-control and self-criticism is apt to
get a paunch, which, in turn, causes him to eat more and more.
A full belly naturally causes excessive sleeping. Lastly, the
one who is addicted to overeating and excessive sleeping will
never be able to acquire certainty and deep conviction about
the principles of faith. This is the case with most people in
today’s world, a fact that provides another decisive proof of
the Prophethod of Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings.
Another
Tradition concerning health is as follows:
Treat
your eyes with kohl, for it nourishes eyes and
eyelashes.13
Many medical
authorities state that kohl is useful for the nourishment of
eyes and eyelashes.
Another
substance, recommended by the Prophet, upon him be peace and
blessings, and useful for health as an antibiotic and for its
dermatological effect, is henna.14 Henna is better
and more effective as an antiseptic and as a sterilizing agent
than substances like tincture of iodine.
Bukhari
relates from Abu Hurayra that once God’s Messenger
said:
There
is in this black seed [black cumin] a cure for every
illness except
death.15
This hadith
contains many truths concerning therapy. A patient needs,
particularly during the time of convalescence, foods rich in
proteins, calories, and vitamins, and which are easily
digestible. Scientific investigations have recently shown that
all these properties are found in black cumin, a fact which
shows that Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, was a
Prophet taught by the All-Knowing.
Bukhari
relates from God’s Messenger:
When a
fly falls into the bowl of somebody among you, he should
dip it completely in the food before taking it out. For
there is disease in one of the fly’s wings and cure in
the
other.16
This hadith
contains proof for the Prophethood of Muhammad, upon him be
peace and blessings. For, first of all, no one at the time of
the Prophet knew that flies carry microbes. Second, when a fly
drops in a bowl, it tries to hold one of its wings off the
food, so that it can take off again. In which case, it leaves
in the food the bacteria it carries in its wing. But, when it
is submerged in the food with a slight touch, the tiny bag on
the other wing bursts open to scatter the anti-bacteria to
kill the germs it has already left. This is one of the latest
discoveries in medicine.
As related
by ‘A’isha, Mother of the Believers, once a woman named
Fatima, the daughter of Abu Khubash, came to God’s Messenger
and said:
‘O
God’s Messenger, my blood does not stop; shall I abandon
the prescribed prayers?’ No, you must not, for it is not
the menstrual blood, it is a hemorrhage, God’s Messenger
replied.17
Except by
Prophethood, how could Muhammad, upon him be peace and
blessings, have distinguished between a normal hemorrhage and
menstrual blood, and how could he have known that menstrual
bleeding is a kind of hemorrhage?
Tariq ibn
Suwayd narrates:
I used
to suffer from an illness, and I took alcohol for a
remedy. When alcohol was banned, I went to God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, and asked
him whether I would be allowed to continue taking
alcohol. No, for it is not a remedy, rather it is the
disease itself, God’s Messenger
declared.18
Scientists
all agree that even a single drop of alcohol is harmful to
man’s physical and spiritual health.
God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and blessings, once
proclaimed that ten things are intrinsically necessary
for men and therefore ordered by the Prophets.
Circumcision is one of
them.19
Today,
scientists admit that the loose fold of the skin at the end of
the male sex organ is exposed and susceptible to infections
and even to cancer. Therefore, millions of people are
circumcised in Europe and America.
We are
convinced that the West will one day embrace Islam, and the
prediction made at the beginning of this century by Said Nursi
will also come true:
The
Ottoman State is pregnant with a Western one, as the
West with an Islamic. Both will give birth to what they
are pregnant
with.20
We have so
far tried to explain the truthfulness of the Prophets,
emphasizing the truthfulness of God’s Last Messenger, upon him
be peace and blessings. As reiterated several times, they
never lied, to the extent that all their predictions either
have come true or will do so in due course. They came to guide
men to the Straight Path and lead them to Paradise. Had they
displayed a single trace of dishonesty, they would have guided
no one to the truth. However, their truthfulness, especially
the truthfulness of the Last Messenger of God, upon him be
peace and blessings, will be manifested as brightly as the sun
in the Hereafter, where people will see everything clearly,
and all the tidings they gave concerning the next life, the
Resurrection, the Place of Gathering, the Final Reckoning, the
Bridge, Paradise and Hell will be realized.
1.
Bukhari, Tib, 1.
2. Abu Dawud, Tib, 10; Muslim,
Salam, 69.
3. Tirmidhi, Tib, 2; Ibn Ma’ja, Tib, 1; I.
Hanbal, 4.278.
4. Bukhari, Tib, 30; Muslim, Salam,
98.
5. Bukhari, Tib, 19; I. Hanbal, 2.443.
6.
Muslim, Tahara, 91.
7. Abu Dawud, Adahi, 21; Ibn
Ma’ja, Sayd, 2; I. Hanbal, 4.85.
8. Abu Dawud,
At‘ıma, 11; Tirmidhi, At‘ıma, 39; I. Hanbal,
5.441.
9. Muslim, Tahara, 87; Abu Dawud, Tahara, 49;
Tirmidhi, Tahara, 19.
10. Bukhari, Jumu‘a, 8; Muslim,
Tahara, 42; Abu Dawud, Tahara, 25; Tirmidhi, Tahara, 18;
Nasa’i, Tahara, 6; I. Ma’ja, Tahara, 7; I. Hanbal,
1.80.
11. Tirmidhi, Zuhd, 47; I. Hanbal,
4.132.
12. Kanz al-‘Ummal, 3.460.
13. Abu Dawud,
Tib, 14; Tirmidhi, Tib, 9.
14. I. Ma’ja, Tib, 29;
Tirmidhi, Tib, 13.
15. Bukhari, Tib, 7; Muslim,
Salam, 88.
16. Bukhari, Bad‘u l-khalq, 17; Tib, 58;
Abu Dawud, At‘ima, 48.
17. Bukhari, Wudu, 63; Muslim,
Hayd, 62; Abu Dawud, Tahara, 109.
18. Muslim,
Ashriba, 12; Ibn Ma’ja, Tib, 27.
19. Muslim, Tahara,
49; Abu Dawud, Tahara, 27.
20. Said Nursi, Tarikhca
Hayat (Biography),
56. |
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