 
# Slanders on Muslims in History

## Harun Yahya (Adnan Oktar)

And those who abuse believing men and women, when they have not merited it, bear the weight of slander and clear wrongdoing. (Surat al-Ahzab, 58)

# About the Author

Now writing under the pen-name of HARUN YAHYA, Adnan Oktar was born in Ankara in 1956. Having completed his primary and secondary education in Ankara, he studied fine arts at Istanbul's Mimar Sinan University and philosophy at Istanbul University. Since the 1980s, he has published many books on political, scientific, and faith-related issues. Harun Yahya is well-known as the author of important works disclosing the imposture of evolutionists, their invalid claims, and the dark liaisons between Darwinism and such bloody ideologies as fascism and communism.

Harun Yahya's works, translated into 63 different languages, constitute a collection for a total of more than 55,000 pages with 40,000 illustrations.

His pen-name is a composite of the names Harun (Aaron) and Yahya (John), in memory of the two esteemed Prophets who fought against their peoples' lack of faith. The Prophet's seal on his books' covers is symbolic and is linked to their contents. It represents the Qur'an (the Final Scripture) and the Prophet Muhammad (saas), last of the prophets. Under the guidance of the Qur'an and the Sunnah (teachings of the Prophet [saas]), the author makes it his purpose to disprove each fundamental tenet of irreligious ideologies and to have the "last word," so as to completely silence the objections raised against religion. He uses the seal of the final Prophet (saas), who attained ultimate wisdom and moral perfection, as a sign of his intention to offer the last word.

All of Harun Yahya's works share one single goal: to convey the Qur'an's message, encourage readers to consider basic faith-related issues such as Allah's existence and unity and the Hereafter; and to expose irreligious systems' feeble foundations and perverted ideologies.

Harun Yahya enjoys a wide readership in many countries, from India to America, England to Indonesia, Poland to Bosnia, Spain to Brazil, Malaysia to Italy, France to Bulgaria and Russia. Some of his books are available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Urdu, Arabic, Albanian, Chinese, Swahili, Hausa, Dhivehi (spoken in Maldives), Russian, Serbo-Croat (Bosnian), Polish, Malay, Uygur Turkish, Indonesian, Bengali, Danish and Swedish.

Greatly appreciated all around the world, these works have been instrumental in many people recovering faith in Allah and gaining deeper insights into their faith. His books' wisdom and sincerity, together with a distinct style that's easy to understand, directly affect anyone who reads them. Those who seriously consider these books, can no longer advocate atheism or any other perverted ideology or materialistic philosophy, since these books are characterized by rapid effectiveness, definite results, and irrefutability. Even if they continue to do so, it will be only a sentimental insistence, since these books refute such ideologies from their very foundations. All contemporary movements of denial are now ideologically defeated, thanks to the books written by Harun Yahya.

This is no doubt a result of the Qur'an's wisdom and lucidity. The author modestly intends to serve as a means in humanity's search for Allah's right path. No material gain is sought in the publication of these works.

Those who encourage others to read these books, to open their minds and hearts and guide them to become more devoted servants of Allah, render an invaluable service.

Meanwhile, it would only be a waste of time and energy to propagate other books that create confusion in people's minds, lead them into ideological confusion, and that clearly have no strong and precise effects in removing the doubts in people's hearts, as also verified from previous experience. It is impossible for books devised to emphasize the author's literary power rather than the noble goal of saving people from loss of faith, to have such a great effect. Those who doubt this can readily see that the sole aim of Harun Yahya's books is to overcome disbelief and to disseminate the Qur'an's moral values. The success and impact of this service are manifested in the readers' conviction.

One point should be kept in mind: The main reason for the continuing cruelty, conflict, and other ordeals endured by the vast majority of people is the ideological prevalence of disbelief. This can be ended only with the ideological defeat of disbelief and by conveying the wonders of creation and Qur'anic morality so that people can live by it. Considering the state of the world today, leading into a downward spiral of violence, corruption and conflict, clearly this service must be provided speedily and effectively, or it may be too late.

In this effort, the books of Harun Yahya assume a leading role. By the will of Allah, these books will be a means through which people in the twenty-first century will attain the peace, justice, and happiness promised in the Qur'an.

First edition: September, 2010

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# To the Reader

A special chapter is assigned to the collapse of the theory of evolution because this theory constitutes the basis of all anti-spiritual philosophies. Since Darwinism rejects the fact of creation-and therefore, Allah's existence-over the last 150 years it has caused many people to abandon their faith or fall into doubt. It is therefore an imperative service, a very important duty to show everyone that this theory is a deception. Since some readers may find the opportunity to read only one of our books, we think it appropriate to devote a chapter to summarize this subject.

All the author's books explain faith-related issues in light of Qur'anic verses, and invite readers to learn Allah's words and to live by them. All the subjects concerning Allah's verses are explained so as to leave no doubt or room for questions in the reader's mind. The books' sincere, plain, and fluent style ensures that everyone of every age and from every social group can easily understand them. Thanks to their effective, lucid narrative, they can be read at one sitting. Even those who rigorously reject spirituality are influenced by the facts these books document and cannot refute the truthfulness of their contents.

This and all the other books by the author can be read individually, or discussed in a group. Readers eager to profit from the books will find discussion very useful, letting them relate their reflections and experiences to one another.

In addition, it will be a great service to Islam to contribute to the publication and reading of these books, written solely for the pleasure of Allah. The author's books are all extremely convincing. For this reason, to communicate true religion to others, one of the most effective methods is encouraging them to read these books.

We hope the reader will look through the reviews of his other books at the back of this book. His rich source material on faith-related issues is very useful, and a pleasure to read.

In these books, unlike some other books, you will not find the author's personal views, explanations based on dubious sources, styles that are unobservant of the respect and reverence due to sacred subjects, nor hopeless, pessimistic arguments that create doubts in the mind and deviations in the heart.

# Contents

Introduction

The Unbelievers' Opposition to the Believers

Slanders Against Earlier Believers

Unbelievers Are Still Slandering Believers

How Muslims Behave When Slandered

Conclusion: Allah Is All-Knowing

The Deception of Evolution

# Introduction

Slander is one of the ugly methods used by some dishonest and immoral people whose interests have been damaged, and thus are angry, and full of ill-feeling toward the people with whom they are in competition or whom they desire to hurt. There are many forms of slander, from organized and systematic schemes to a few words squeezed in between the lines. In societies that are far removed from religious morality and so do not live by Allah's will, slander is frequently used to put others in a bad light. Most of the people who will read this book have probably been slandered to one degree or another or have witnessed others being slandered.

However, this book is not concerned with the little slanders that individuals hurl at each other. Rather, it deals with an altogether different type of slander: that used by those who do not believe in religion to harm believers, whether physically or spiritually.

In the Qur'an Allah reveals that all of His messengers and other devout people who called their societies to abide by the Qur'an's morality stood accused of avarice, madness, arrogance, theft, and fornication. The Prophet Joseph's (as) life was full of such examples of slander, as were those of the Prophets Moses (as), Solomon (as), and even the Prophet Muhammad (saas). Likewise Mary (as), the mother of the Prophet Jesus (as); A'isha, the wife of our Prophet (saas); and his Companions were all exposed to slander. These people always displayed exemplary patience and reliance upon Allah when confronted with slander, disregarded the unbelievers' such efforts, and continued to live by the morality ordained by Allah and invite people to the righteous path.

No doubt, such determination is exemplary. Allah reveals: "Or did you suppose that you would enter the Garden without facing the same as those who came before you?" (Surat al-Baqara, 214). In other words, it is one of Allah's laws that all Muslims, regardless of when and where they live, will be slandered and pressured to abandon the Qur'an's morality. In another verse, Allah reveals that all believers will hear hurtful words from the unbelievers and will be tested in their possessions and in themselves:

You will be tested in your wealth and in yourselves, and you will hear many abusive words from those given the Book before you and from those who associate [others with Me]. But if you are steadfast and guard against evil, that is the most resolute course to take. (Surah Al 'Imran, 186)

Every righteous and devout believer who encounters such a situation desires to display the same patience, trust in Allah, sincerity, and determination as those earlier believers. Therefore, they are not shocked or saddened, nor do they give way to despair, when the tests mentioned in the Qur'an are sent to them. Instead, to the surprise of the slanderers, they show even greater zeal and joy.

Likewise, when another believer is slandered, his or her fellow believers receive it with patience and zeal, and they rely upon Allah. They believe that, provided that he or she shows patience, their slandered brother or sister will earn Allah's mercy and bounty in this world, as well as our Lord's good pleasure and Paradise in the Hereafter.

There is a great benefit in revealing another aspect of slander: Unlike other slanders, the logic of "If you throw enough dirt, some of it will stick" does not work on believers. Regardless of its apparent severity, in the end it will be known that these devout people have a pure and good character. Both Mary (as) and the Prophet Joseph (as) are known to history as symbols of chastity. The Prophet Joseph's (as) brothers also accused him of various things, but within his lifetime he was recognized as a very trustworthy person and thus was appointed over the stores of Egypt.

All of this shows us a very important reality: It is Allah's will that every plan aimed against believers is destined to be stillborn, and that every piece of slander will come to nothing. Every hurtful word will return to its speaker. In other words, every speech, deed, and cruelty directed against believers will cause the slanderer to feel deep regret in both this world and in the Hereafter, unless he repents and puts his actions right. Allah reveals the fate awaiting those who slander His messengers and devout servants:

As for those who abuse Allah and His messenger, Allah's curse is on them in this world and in the Hereafter. He has prepared a humiliating punishment for them. And those who abuse believing men and women, when they have not merited it, bear the weight of slander and clear wrongdoing. (Surat al-Ahzab, 57-58)

# The Unbelievers' Opposition to the Believers

Throughout history, Allah's messengers have been made responsible for conveying His message to their people as well as enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong. In times when there are no prophets among the people, believers who have a strong and sincere faith have taken it upon themselves to perform these tasks in order to earn Allah's good pleasure, mercy, and Paradise. However, throughout history, such blessed people have been subjected to verbal and physical abuse and often threatened with death. Since they have no worldly ambition, they do not approach anyone out of self-interest. On the contrary, they are selfless, modest, and humble. However, they still face attacks from some people. Allah reveals the identity of these people in the Qur'an, and explains why they do what they do by providing examples from the past.

These people oppose believers because they oppose Allah and His religion. Due to their vanity, they do not want to acknowledge the existence of Almighty Allah Who created them, gave them life when they were nothing, and then sustained them with endless means of sustenance. They choose denial because of their zeal for life and preference of this world over the Hereafter, and because they seek to escape the responsibility that believing in Allah's religion will bring upon them. They do not wish to feel answerable to anyone and so ignore the fact that one day they will be brought to justice for their evil, immoral, and sinful deeds. For these reasons, they perceive all who remind them of Allah, the moral values of the religion, and the Day of Judgment virtually as a threat.

As a consequence of this mistaken idea, they either try to hinder the believers or try to force them to return to their false religion. As we learn from the Qur'an, people who are far removed from the Qur'an's morality use various dark methods to achieve their ambitions. For example, they plot, scheme, and conspire against believers; torture them; and try to hurt them with mockery or slander. Thus, they try, in their own eyes, to derail them and wear them down. Allah reveals that such attacks have never succeeded:

If they come upon you, they will be your enemies and stretch out their hands and tongues against you with evil intent. They would dearly love [for] you to become unbelievers. (Surat al-Mumtahana, 2)

The source of the slanders examined in this book is those who, in the words of the Qur'an, "stretch out their hands and tongues against believers with evil intent." Over the coming pages, we will see that slander, which has been handed down from generation to generation over thousands of years as if it were an inheritance, is the method used by those who wish to spread immorality and disorder in the world. It is used against religious, sincere, and moral people, as in the cases of the Prophets Noah (as), Solomon (as), Moses (as), Muhammad (saas), and every messenger in between, not to mention all of the devout people who were with them. In recent history, the great scholar Bediuzzaman Said Nursi was subjected to this type of bullying as well.

However, no slanderer in history, including Pharaoh and Nimrod, has ever achieved his or her goal, and neither have the people who sought to hurt the loved ones of our Prophet (saas) by slandering them. Allah has always cleared His righteous servants of the suspicions cast on them, as we learn in the account of the Prophet Moses (as):

O you who believe! Do not be like those who abused Moses. Allah absolved him of what they said, and he was highly honored with Allah. O you who believe! Fear [and respect] Allah, and speak the right word. (Surat al-Ahzab, 69-70)

Just as all past slanderers against Muslims met with no success, they will not succeed either today or in the future.

## Who Were the Slanderers of the Past?

In every era, Allah has sent messengers to warn their people of the Day of Judgment and the existence of Hell and Paradise. Allah reveals this reality:

We have sent you with the truth bringing good news and giving warning. There is no community to which a warner has not come. (Surah Fatir, 24)

Allah reveals that only a few people believed these messengers and followed their path, whereas the great majority chose to deny their message and so opposed them. As we read in the Qur'an:

... **But those who believed with him were only few. (Surah Hud, 40)**

Or is it that they do not recognize their messenger and therefore do not acknowledge him? Or do they say: "He is a man possessed," when he has brought the truth to them? But most of them hate the truth. (Surat al-Mu'minun, 69-70)

Allah also informs us that it is usually the affluent elite who stir up opposition against the messengers. Some of the following verses make this clear:

Similarly, We never sent any warner before you to any city without the affluent among them saying: "We found our fathers following a religion, and we are simply following in their footsteps." (Surat az-Zukhruf, 23)

We never sent a warner into any city without the affluent people in it saying: "We reject what you have been sent with." (Surah Saba', 34)

These verses draw our attention to two main characteristics of the unbelievers: First, these people are among the economic elite of their society, and second, their transgression causes them to deny the messengers. They oppose those who bring them the truth, namely, Allah's religion and the good morality it offers to people, because they fear that if this morality becomes widespread, they will lose their income, which they guard so greedily.

Despite their greed, however, Allah's messengers did not refrain from telling them and all other people that this world is a temporary and delusive abode; that what really matters is the life after death; and that earning the Hereafter does not depend on money, property or other worldly goods, but on one's morality and fear of Allah. Proclaiming this truth angers these people, as they are told that everything that they value and desire is, in reality, worth nothing. Allah reveals these people's lust for the world:

These people love this fleeting world, and have put the thought of a Momentous Day behind their backs. (Surat al-Insan, 27)

Since some of these people who believe that they have power, status, wealth, or fame in their own right, and do not believe in Allah's prescribed limits, they think that they can do whatever they want to and will not suffer any consequences. The Qur'an's morality, on the other hand, reveals the flaws inherent in their false way of life, beliefs, values of right and wrong that they themselves formulated according to their own system, and selfish desires. Consequently, they do whatever they can to prevent the practice of this morality.

The unbelievers' false belief system and their great anger toward those who point out their errors are described in the Qur'an as follows:

... They love what causes you distress. Hatred has appeared out of their mouths, but what their breasts hide is far worse. We have made the signs clear to you, if you use your intellect. There you are, loving them when they do not love you, even though you believe in all the Books. When they meet you, they say: "We believe." But when they leave, they bite their fingers out of rage against you. Say: "Die in your rage." Allah knows what your hearts contain. (Surah Al 'Imran, 118-119)

As revealed in the above verses, unbelievers try every possible way to harm believers, to destroy or incapacitate them. As we stated earlier, slander and plotting against them are the most frequently applied methods used to achieve such aims.

Unbelievers want everyone to stray from the righteous path, just as they have. For this reason, and to prevent people from being influenced by and complying with the righteous believers' message, they try to belittle believers. However, believers remain steadfast in Allah's religion and thus do, say, or believe nothing that will disgrace them. They do not transgress the limits that Allah has established for them, and always maintain their good character and decent conduct. Aware of this, unbelievers can only try to achieve their goals through slander, lies, and deceit. They come together, conspire against believers, decide how to slander them, and, in order to disseminate their lies, delegate specific tasks to each member in the conviction that they can discredit believers in the eyes of the people. But they will never succeed. Allah informs believers of these people:

And likewise, in every city We set up its greatest wrongdoers to plot in it. They plot against themselves alone, but they are not aware of it. (Surat al-An'am, 123)

Some of the slanders that the messengers and Muslims have had to endure are revealed in the Qur'an. It is important to remember these events and their consequences, if one truly wants to understand that the unbelievers have never – and never will – achieve their goal. It will also help to motivate sincere and honest people who are slandered to see that other Muslims have had similar experiences.

# Slanders Against Earlier Believers

There is great wisdom in the fact that Allah relates in the Qur'an details of the lives of past messengers and Muslims. This fact is revealed as follows: **"There is instruction in their stories for people of intelligence" (Surah Yusuf, 111)**. Past experiences are revealed so that people coming later may ponder and learn from them.

For instance, Allah has given many examples of how messengers and Muslims have dealt with slander. Therefore, Muslims who read these accounts should not be surprised when they are confronted with similar accusations from some people who distanced themselves from religious moral values. They will not suspect their fellow Muslims; rather, they will evaluate the unfolding events and the verbal and physical attacks according to the Qur'an's criteria. Just as the messengers of Allah and earlier Muslims responded to them with patience and restraint, they also will understand that they must show the same degree of patience, and reliance upon Allah.

In addition, it is a source of zeal and excitement to see that Muslims have always been accused by those remote from religious moral values with the same mentality and words, because Allah promises: **"You will not find any alteration in Allah's pattern" (Surat al-Ahzab, 62)**. That past events recur in the particular believer's own time confirms Allah's word and signals the sincerity of those Muslims who are thus confronted. However, the important point here is that Muslims show the same superior character as did the messengers and other devout believers.

For these reasons, the coming pages will deal with the slanders that earlier Muslims faced and their measured, patient, trusting, and rational manner of dealing with these personal attacks.

## The Slanders Against the Prophet Moses (as)

The Prophet Moses (as) was sent as a messenger to the Israelites. Like all other prophets and sincere believers, he too suffered many verbal and physical attacks from the unbelievers.

At the time of his birth, Pharaoh was oppressing the majority of the population. In fact, his cruelty brought an entire generation close to extinction. This tyranny is related in the Qur'an in the following way:

Pharaoh exalted himself arrogantly in the land and divided its people into camps, oppressing one group of them by slaughtering their sons and letting their women live. He was one of the corrupters. (Surat al-Qasas, 4)

The Prophet Moses' (as) mother was afraid that Pharaoh's soldiers would kill her baby too, and, inspired by Allah, she entrusted her son to the Nile. According to the destiny that Allah had appointed for him, the Prophet Moses (as) was found and taken in by Pharaoh's family. Consequently, he grew up in Pharaoh's palace. But following his selection as a prophet by Allah, he was exposed to Pharaoh's hostile and aggressive attitude.

### Pharaoh's Hostility towards the Prophet Moses (as)

The Prophet Moses (as), commanded by Allah, entered Pharaoh's presence and told him about Allah's existence and the true religion. However, he was met with aggression and denial. In fact, Pharaoh threatened him and his companions with death by torture. In the face of this threat, the majority of the Egyptians were too scared to believe in the truth the Prophet Moses (as) brought them, and so they did not side with him. It is revealed in the Qur'an that only a few young people believed in him:

No one believed in Moses, except for some children of his people, out of fear that Pharaoh and the elders would persecute them. Pharaoh was high and mighty in the land. He was one of the profligate. (Surah Yunus, 83)

As Allah reveals, it is certain from the beginning that Allah's devout servants will prevail: **"... Allah will not give the unbelievers any way against the believers" (Surat an-Nisa', 141).** However, Allah's law decrees that believers' faith, reliance upon Him, and patience be tried by means of demanding trials, denial, and slander. All of this happened to the Prophet Moses (as) and his followers.

Pharaoh considered himself to be a deity, the sole and only owner, and the lord of the people. He was well aware that if the people realized that Allah is the only Lord of the people, he would no longer be able to claim lordship over them and thus would be unable to force them into submission. Thus, he tried to prevent the people from believing in the Prophet Moses (as). Threatening death and torture was one of his commonly used methods, as was his slander to discredit the Prophet Moses (as) and his brother Aaron (as). We list these irrational and illogical slanders below, as follows:

### The Allegation that the Prophet Moses (as) Seeks Personal Gain and Power

The starting point for unbelievers when they plot their slanderous plans against the believers has always been their own evil character and worldview. For instance, people who do not live by the Qur'an's morality have an enormous ego and an uncontrollable selfish desire to enjoy the worldly pleasures of this life. Pharaoh was a typical example of such people. Obsessed with his desire to be the sole lord of Egypt and its people, he did not refrain from torturing and martyring innocent people in the pursuit of this goal. Due to his own mistaken beliefs and lust for power, he considered everyone else in the same terms. For this reason, he was unable to judge the status of the Prophets Moses (as) and Aaron (as) in Allah's Presence and why they had come to his court.

The Prophet Moses (as) called the people to believe his words, but he did so only to introduce them to Allah's existence and infinite power, teach them the Qur'an's morality, and help them find enlightenment and right guidance. Pharaoh and his inner circle, on the other hand, believed, in a most unwise manner, that he sought power and therefore regarded him, in their own eyes, as a political rival. Almighty Allah reveals in a verse how Pharaoh and his inner circle wrongfully accused the Prophets Moses (as) and Aaron (as):

They said: "Have you come to us to turn us from what we found our fathers doing, and to gain greatness in the land? We do not believe you." (Surah Yunus, 78)

In reality, the Prophets Moses (as) and Aaron (as), like all other prophets and sincere Muslims, never sought worldly gain or status and never demanded any payment or reward. All that they sought was Allah's good pleasure, compassion, and Paradise by calling people to His path and reminding them of the Hereafter. Allah revealed that the Prophet Moses (as) was His servant who only sought His good pleasure: **"Mention Moses in the Book. He was truly sincere and was a messenger and a Prophet" (Surah Maryam, 51).** It is revealed in other verses that the Prophets Moses (as) and Aaron (as) were Allah's believing servants:

We showed great kindness to Moses and Aaron. We rescued them and their people from their terrible plight. We supported them, and so they were the victors. We gave them the clarifying Book, guided them on the Straight Path, and left the later people saying of them: "Peace be upon Moses and Aaron!" That is how We recompense good-doers. They truly were among Our believing servants. (Surat as-Saffat, 114-122)

### The Allegation that the Prophet Moses (as) Endangers the People's Safety and Peace

One of Pharaoh's tactics was to depict, with his own base mentality, the Prophets Moses (as) and Aaron (as) as a serious danger to Egypt and its people at every opportunity. With these unfounded slanders, he sought to provoke the people against the Prophet Moses (as). He even accused him of trying to "drive the people out of their land." Allah informs us of the Pharaoh's speech:

He said to the High Council round about him: "This certainly is a skilled magician who desires by his magic to expel you from your land. So, what do you recommend?" (Surat ash- Shu'ara', 34-35)

Allah reveals in another verse that Pharaoh accused the Prophet Moses (as) and his followers of conspiring to expel the people from their country:

Pharaoh said: "Have you believed in him before I authorized you to do so? This is just some plot you have concocted in the city to drive its people from it." (Surat al-A'raf, 123)

It is evident that Pharaoh tried to depict the Prophet Moses (as) and his followers as traitors whom the Egyptians must oppose. As Almighty Allah promised, Pharaoh's plot came to nothing, just like all plots directed against believers come to naught:

So Allah protected him from the evil things they plotted, and a most evil torment engulfed Pharaoh's people. (Surah Ghafir, 45)

### The Prophet Moses (as) Is Accused of Magic

Pharaoh rejected the true religion because of his arrogance. By the will of Allah, the Prophet Moses (as) had shown him many miracles proving Allah's existence and that he was His messenger. Despite this, Pharaoh did not believe and tried to defeat his mission among the people by accusing him of sorcery and magic. This, he hoped, would convince the people that the Prophet Moses (as) was not speaking the truth and that what he did was sorcery designed to manipulate others. As revealed in the verses:

We sent Moses with Our signs and clear authority to Pharaoh, Haman, and Qarun. But they said: "A lying magician." (Surah Ghafir, 23-24)

The Prophet Moses (as) replied in the following way:

Moses said: "Do you say to the truth, when it comes to you: 'This is magic?' Magicians are not successful." (Surah Yunus, 77)

Sorcery is one of the accusations from which many believers have suffered both before and after the Prophet Moses (as). In the following chapters, we will mention other Muslims who were accused of the same thing.

### The Prophet Moses (as) Is Accused of Lying

But when Moses brought them Our clear signs, they said: "This is nothing but trumped-up magic. We never heard anything like this among our earlier forefathers." Moses said: "My Lord knows best who has come with guidance from Him and who will have the best Home in the end. The wrongdoers will certainly not be successful." Pharaoh said: "Council, I do not know of any other deity for you apart from me. Haman, kindle a fire for me over the clay and build me a lofty tower so that perhaps I may be able to climb up to Moses' deity! I consider him a blatant liar." (Surat al-Qasas, 36-38)

Pharaoh's attitude toward the Prophet Moses (as) and the morality of the religion he preached is surely very heedless and unjust. As someone who had gone so far in disbelief, it is not surprising that he made all kinds of allegations against the messenger and even mocked him with his own base mentality. In order to weaken, in his own eyes, the Prophet Moses' (as) effect on the people and to prevent them from believing in him, Pharaoh ruthlessly proclaimed that all his words were lies. The Qur'an however, reveals clearly what happens to those who deny and try to cause difficulty for Allah's messengers:

We sent a messenger among every people saying: "Worship Allah and keep clear of all false deities." Among them were some whom Allah guided, but others received the misguidance they deserved. Travel about the land and see the final fate of the deniers. (Surat an-Nahl, 36)

As revealed in the above verse, any injustice committed against the sincere and honest servants of Allah who fear and love Him very much will be punished, both on Earth and in the Hereafter. Indeed, what befell to Pharaoh and his inner circle in this world and the end they met is a clear example of this. Allah advises people to learn from the fate meted out to Pharaoh and his inner circle, as well as from the events related in the Qur'an:

He and his troops were arrogant in the land, without any right. They thought that they would not return to Us. So, We seized him and his troops and flung them into the sea. See the final fate of the wrongdoers! (Surat al-Qasas, 39-40)

One of the most important things for people to remember is that the punishment that Pharaoh and his followers received in this life is nothing compared to what they will experience in the Hereafter. People who are arrogant regarding Allah's verses, messengers, and sincere servants; who slander and plot against them; who deny the true religion and disregard Allah's ordained morality so that they can spread their own totally misguided convictions will be punished severely in the Hereafter:

We made them leaders, summoning to the Fire, and on the Day of Resurrection they will not be helped. We pursued them with a curse in this world, and on the Day of Resurrection they will be hideous and spurned. (Surat al-Qasas, 41-42)

## The Slanders That The Prophet Joseph (as) Faced

The Prophet Joseph (as) faced slander and plots from his early childhood onwards. Even though he had a pure and impeccable character, he was ill-treated even by his own family. His brothers turned on him in envy and tried to martyr him. This pure person, who had a deep-seated fear of Allah and always sought to please Him, was wrongfully accused of such shameful deeds as theft and adultery. And even though his innocence was clearly known, he remained in prison for many years because of the slanders directed against him by unbelievers.

### The Governor's Wife Slanders the Prophet Joseph (as)

The Prophet Joseph (as) was one of the prophets given knowledge early in life. His brothers, who came to envy him, threw him down a well when he was still a child and left him there. However, he was found by some travelers who took him to Egypt and sold him to the governor. When he reached adulthood, the governor's wife made the Prophet Joseph (as) an improper suggestion. However, the Prophet Joseph (as) refused her advances because he would not disobey Allah. The rejected woman caught him as he raced to the door to get away from her, and then tore his shirt from the back. Just then, the governor arrived and his wife slandered the Prophet Joseph (as) in order to cover up her own guilt. The entire incident is revealed in the Qur'an:

And then when he became a full-grown man, We gave him knowledge and right judgment too. That is how We reward all doers of good. The woman, whose house it was, solicited him. She barred the doors and said: "Come over here!" He said: "Allah is my refuge! He is my lord and has been good to me with where I live. Those who do wrong will surely not succeed." She wanted him, and he would have wanted her had he not seen the clear proof of his Lord. That happened so that We might avert from him all evil and lust. He was Our chosen servant. They raced to the door. She tore his shirt at the back. They met her husband by the door. She asked: "How should a man whose intention was to harm your family be punished for what he did, except with prison or painful punishment?" (Surah Yusuf, 22-25)

The Prophet Joseph (as) told the truth saying, as revealed in the verse: **"It was she who tried to seduce me" (Surah Yusuf, 26).** One of the wife's friends suggested the following solution:

. . . "If his shirt is torn in front, she speaks the truth and he has clearly told a shameless lie. If his shirt is torn at the back, then she has lied and he has clearly told the simple truth." (Surah Yusuf, 26-27)

The Prophet Joseph's (as) shirt was torn at the back, proving clearly that he had told the truth and had been chaste toward the governor's wife. And yet he was cast into the dungeon.

The Prophet Joseph (as) became the subject of a plot by people who did not fear Allah and who sought only high office and status. He was forced to choose between the woman's demands and the dungeon, and was charged with a crime that he did not commit-a crime despised by people, and much gossiped about. He was accused of this crime because he was a chaste Muslim of superior character. Such a tactic, which is rather common, is often used to force Muslims off the righteous path and away from the true religion in the hope that they will embrace the ways of unbelief.

Another interesting aspect is that the woman tried to force the Prophet Joseph (as) to commit adultery and thereby follow her irreligious and immoral ways. But because he refused and remained steadfast in preserving the limits set by Allah, she had him cast into the dungeon as an accused adulterer. As this account shows, unbelievers often accuse believers of those crimes and immoralities of which they themselves are guilty.

The Prophet Joseph (as) knew the plot against him, but as a Muslim who regarded Allah's good pleasure above anything else, he preferred to be imprisoned rather than commit the immorality unbelievers requested of him. Consequently, he remained there for many years. In the Qur'an, we find his prayer to Allah:

He said: "My Lord, this prison is preferable to me than what they call on me to do. Unless You turn their guile away from me, it may well be that I will fall for them and so become a man of ignorance." His Lord replied to him and turned away from him their female guile and deviousness. He is the One Who Hears, the One Who Knows. (Surah Yusuf, 33-34)

It is a very significant indication of a person's strong faith to rebuff the mighty and powerful members of society without having anything to rely on, other than seeking Allah's good pleasure at the cost of prison.

It will be beneficial to analyze this incident. The Prophet Joseph (as) was slandered and convicted of a crime that he did not commit. He remained in prison for a long time, and was subjected to unfair and hostile treatment by the people around him. It seemed that nothing or nobody could help him clear his name. Despite his obvious innocence, that those in power imprisoned him indicated the injustice prevalent at that time as well as how a society that does not follow the Qur'an's morality "rewards" people who protect their chastity. Despite clear evidence, the people allowed this injustice to happen. Concerned only with their own selfish interests, those who knew the truth about this act of injustice did not side with the innocent Prophet Joseph (as). Allah reveals:

Then, after they had seen the signs, they thought that they should still imprison him for a time. (Surah Yusuf, 35)

And so the Prophet Joseph (as) was imprisoned for many years (Surah Yusuf, 42). Irrespective of how irresolvable an incident appears to be from the outside, the situation is altogether different for believers who know the inner aspects. Regardless of hardship and trouble they encounter, believers always rely upon and praise Allah, never give way to despair, and know that there is wisdom and goodness in everything that He creates. To unbelievers, however, the Prophet Joseph (as) may appear to be in very negative situation. But in the end, it turned out very well for him in his earthly life as well as for his life in the Hereafter.

During his prison term, the king had a dream that he wanted interpreted. One of his servants who had been held in the same prison with the Prophet Joseph (as) some years ago said that the Prophet Joseph (as) could interpret his dream. Allah's decreed destiny determined that he would be remembered in prison years later. The Prophet Joseph's (as) wise interpretation of this dream brought him to the king's notice, who then summoned him to his presence. However, the Prophet Joseph (as) demands that his case be investigated and his name be cleared before he agrees. This is related in the verse as follows:

The king said: "Bring him to me straight away!" But when the envoy came to him, he said: "Go back to your master and ask him what happened about the women who cut their hands. My Lord has knowledge of their cunning guile." (Surah Yusuf, 50)

The king called the women witness to this affair to his presence, including the governor's wife, and all of them concede the Prophet Joseph's (as) innocence. Finally, his name has been cleared. As related in the verse:

He [the King] asked: "What was this past affair of yours when you solicited Joseph?" Then they said: "Allah forbid! We know no bad of him." The governor's wife then said: "The truth has now emerged. Indeed, I tried to seduce him then and he has simply told the honest truth." (Surah Yusuf, 51)

His innocence now proven beyond any doubt, the Prophet Joseph (as) replied, as related in the Qur'an:

" **In this way he [the governor] may know, at last, that I did not dishonor him behind his back and that Allah most surely does not guide the deviousness of the dishonorable." (Surah Yusuf, 52)**

The fact that the Prophet Joseph (as) preferred to remain in a dungeon for years rather than commit a forbidden act, and that he remained steadfast and patient in the face of slander and accusations of adultery, is a model of exemplary and noble behavior for all believers to follow. Allah gave the Prophet Joseph (as) power and authority in Egypt after his release, because he had proven his superior character, reliance upon Allah, and submission to Him. This is only the reward given to him on Earth:

And thus We established Joseph in the land so he could live wherever he pleased. We grant Our grace to anyone We will, and We do not allow to go to waste the wage of any people who do good. But the wages of the Hereafter are the best for people who believe and fear their Lord. (Surah Yusuf, 56-57)

The Prophet Joseph's (as) life shows that irrespective of any slander or plot against believers, Allah's sincere servants are always cleared of wrongdoing in the end. This fact is revealed in many verses of the Qur'an, as in the Prophet Joseph's (as) life story.

### The Prophet Joseph's (as) Brothers Accuse Him of Theft

It is revealed in the Qur'an that the Prophet Joseph's (as) brothers, who envied him fiercely, cast him into a well when he was still a child and so separated him from his family and loved ones.

Many years passed. The Prophet Joseph (as) was freed from prison and appointed to oversee Egypt's stores. One day, his brothers came to him and, without recognizing him, asked for food and supplies. The Prophet Joseph (as) revealed his identity to his younger brother and told him not to despair over what his brothers had done to him. He wanted this particular brother to remain with him, but had to devise a clever plan, as the king's law would not permit him to do so. Allah reveals in the Qur'an:

Then when they were ushered into Joseph's presence, he drew his [younger] brother close to him and said: "I am your brother. Do not be distressed concerning all the things they used to do." Then when he had supplied them with their needs, he put the goblet in his brother's bag. A herald called out: "Caravan! You are thieves!" They turned to them and asked: "What are you missing?" They replied: "We're missing the king's goblet. The man who brings it will get a camel's load. Regarding that, I stand as guarantor." They said: "By Allah, you know we did not come to corrupt the land and that we are not thieves." They said: "What is the reparation for it if it, in fact, transpires that you are liars?" They said: "Its reparation shall be him in the saddlebags of whom it is discovered. With us that is how wrongdoers are repaid." He started with their bags before his brother's. And then produced it from his brother's bag. In that way, We devised a cunning scheme for Joseph. He could not have held his brother according to the statutes of the king—only because Allah had willed it so. We raise the rank of anyone We will. Over everyone with knowledge is a Knower. (Surah Yusuf, 69-76)

As a result, the Prophet Joseph (as) was able to keep his brother, whom he had not seen in so many years, with him. However, his jealous and cruel brothers slandered and wrongfully and most irrationally accused him in his "absence" of theft:

They said: "If he steals now, his brother stole before." But Joseph kept it to himself and still did not disclose it to them, saying: "The plight that you are in is worse than that. Allah knows best the matter you describe." (Surah Yusuf, 77)

Unbelievers and hypocrites hate and envy believers so much that they try at every opportunity to hurt and discredit them, either publicly or privately, just as these verses show. However, believers who are aware of the inner truth of matters can see reality and always think in terms of Allah's will. And so they respond with a good spirit and patience. They believe from the bottom of their hearts that Allah is with them at all times, and so live in submission and confidence. The life of the Prophet Joseph (as) is a good example of this submission, faith, and superior morality.

## The Slander Hurled Against Mary (as)

When we look at the Qur'an, we see that Muslims are usually confronted by accusations directed in the matters they are most sensitive about. One of the most serious allegations believers encounter has to do with their chastity. As we saw earlier, the Prophet Joseph (as) was accused, as a result of the vile immorality of the unbelievers, of being unchaste even though he did everything possible to protect his chastity. The subject of this slander, so contrary to his superior character, was intended to discredit him in the eyes of others. But Allah cleared his name and made his innocence public.

A similar accusation has been hurled at Muslim women in the past. Mary (as) was a devout woman chosen by Allah to serve as an example for all women because of her faith, sincerity, purity, chastity, and superior morality. Allah reveals how the angels informed her of her son's birth:

And when the angels said: "Mary, Allah has chosen you and purified you. He has chosen you over all other women." (Surah Al 'Imran, 42)

Mary (as) left her family and went toward the east, where she met Jibril (as) (whom Allah had sent to deliver His word to her) in the form of a handsome man. Allah reveals:

Mention Mary in the Book, how she withdrew from her people to an eastern place and concealed herself from them. Then We sent Our Spirit to her in the form of a handsome, well-built man. She said: "I seek refuge from you with the All-Merciful, if you guard against evil." He replied: "I am only your Lord's messenger so that He can give you a pure boy." She asked: "How can I have a boy, when no man has touched me and I am not an unchaste woman?" He said: "It will be so! Your Lord says: 'That is easy for Me. It is so that We can make him a sign for humanity and a mercy from Us.' It is a matter already decreed." (Surah Maryam, 16-21)

By the will of Allah, Mary (as) gave birth to a child without a father. When she returned to her people, she was received with great resentment. The unbelievers of the time behaved vilely and irrationally in slandering this most immaculate of people. This is revealed as follows in the Qur'an:

She brought him to her people, carrying him. They exclaimed: "Mary! You have done an unthinkable thing! O sister of Aaron, your father was not an evil man, nor was your mother an unchaste woman!" (Surah Maryam, 27-28)

However, despite her people's slanders, accusations, and resentful behavior, she never compromised her reliance upon Allah and so remained patient and acted in the knowledge that Allah was with her at all times. As commanded by Allah, she did not talk with them. Instead, her son the Prophet Jesus (as) miraculously spoke from the cradle with Allah's permission.

In reality, Mary's (as) people knew that she was a chaste woman, but they disliked her for not being a follower of their false beliefs. The Prophet Jesus (as) revealed that he was a prophet while still in the cradle, and, as his mother, she was exposed to the people's unwise mockery, gossip, and slander. All of those who had wronged her with their tongues have received the just return that their actions merited, both on Earth as well as in the Hereafter. Their slanderous accusations came to nothing, and they could not harm either her or her son. Allah cleared their names before the people and honored her in the Qur'an. Today, people of all religious denominations regard Mary (as) highly. For example:

And Mary, the daughter of 'Imran, who guarded her chastity—We breathed Our Spirit into her and she confirmed the Words of her Lord and His Book and was one of the obedient. (Surat at-Tahrim, 12)

However, it is important to know the fate waiting for those who have slandered Mary (as). Many irreligious people since her time have spoken wrongly, on the basis of their own base mentalities, of her and her chastity. As a result:

Since they broke their covenant, rejected Allah's signs, killed the Prophets without any right to do so, and said: "Our hearts are covered," Allah has stamped them for their unbelief so that only a very few of them will believe. And on account of their unbelief, their utterance of a monstrous slander against Mary, and their saying: "We killed the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, messenger of Allah." (Surat an-Nisa', 155-157)

## Believers Accused Of Adultery

Slanderous attacks against Muslims regarding their chastity continued during the time of the Prophet Muhammad (saas) and were not so different from the accusations faced by Mary (as) and the Prophet Joseph (as).

A group of hypocrites wronged themselves by slandering a female believer. Although it is very easy for unbelievers to slander or lie about another person, the punishment for doing so is very harsh. Usually, unbelievers are unaware of this punishment. Even if they are aware of it, they consider it to be only a remote possibility. However, Allah does not forget even one word. Unless they stop doing what they do, those who casually try to discredit pure, chaste, and honorable people will experience irreversible regret and unspeakable pain when they are reminded of their crimes and shown the suffering waiting for them in the Hereafter. Allah reveals what will happen to those who slander pure female believers:

Those who accuse chaste believing women, unaware [of the evil], are cursed both in this world and the Hereafter. They will have a terrible punishment on the Day when their tongues and hands and feet will testify against them about what they were doing. On that Day, Allah will pay them in full what is due to them, and they will know that He is the Clear Truth. (Surat an-Nur, 23-25)

## Slanders Against The Prophet Solomon (as)

It is revealed in the Qur'an that the Prophet Solomon (as) possessed great wealth and power. He sought all of his wealth and power so as to remember Allah, and was grateful to Him at all times due to his full awareness that these were a gift and a grace from Him.

Surat al-Baqara states that those who denied Allah's book believed in what the satans said to them about the Prophet Solomon's (as) reign:

When a messenger comes to them from Allah confirming what is with them, a group of those who have been given the Book disdainfully toss the Book of Allah behind their backs, just as if they did not know. They follow what the satans recited in the reign of Solomon. Solomon did not become an unbeliever, but the satans did... (Surat al-Baqara, 101-102)

Unbelievers, slanderers, and those who seek to compromise believers have invented lies about the Prophet Solomon's (as) reign. However, the Prophet Solomon (as) lived in full awareness that wealth is a gift of Allah and, as His prophet, he was always grateful for what our Almighty Lord had bestowed upon him. He always used his wealth and power to do as Allah willed.

The true reason for spreading such malicious gossip is people's opposition to religious morality. Trying to blacken, on the basis of their own base mentalities, the name of believers and, in particular, prophets is just one method that unbelievers use, imagining that this will prevent people from trusting and hearing the truth. However, Allah has always brought such conspiracies to naught and cleared the names of believers from all accusations of misconduct.

Muslims improve their standing in the Hereafter by being patient in the face of such accusations, and by relying upon and submitting to Allah. Every effort to hurt them is destined to be futile; however, it helps them earn eternal bliss and reward.

# Mocking And Slanderous Accusations

As stated earlier, unbelievers do their best to prevent, in their own eyes, believers from conveying Allah's message. Throughout this book, we have listed examples from the Qur'an that reveal the various accusations made against Allah's messengers and devout Muslims. Over the coming pages, we will examine the lies designed to belittle believers, as stated in the following verse: **"... you will hear many abusive words from those given the Book before you and from those who associate [others with Me]" (Surah Al 'Imran, 186).** We will see that people opposed to Allah and His religion will not succeed by being, in their own eyes, spiteful, hurtful, and contemptuous toward Muslims.

### Accused of Insolence

One of the most common wrongful slanders throughout the history against righteous Muslims has been insolence. Every society dislikes this quality, and so the reason for making such a false accusation is always the same: to prevent people from adopting the Qur'an's morality. People naturally despise such individuals and do not want to be associated with or compared to them. Unbelievers, who are well aware of this psychology, want to take advantage of it by, on the basis of their own base mentalities, accusing Muslims of having such qualities. The fact is, however, that every believer knows that Allah is the Lord of all, and is modest and pleasant-natured in the awareness of that fact.

The Prophet Saleh (as) was a messenger who had to face such a wrong and groundless accusation:

[The people of] Thamud denied the warnings. They said: "Are we to follow a human being, one of us? Then we would truly be misguided, quite insane! Has the Reminder been given to him of all of us? No indeed! He is an impudent liar." [Allah said:] "They will know tomorrow who the impudent liar is." (Surat al-Qamar, 23-26)

As revealed in these verses, the Prophet Saleh's (as) people could not stand the idea that one of them should be graced by Allah and chosen to be His messenger. For this reason, they met His blessed, faithful, modest, devout, and moral prophet with hatred. When he began to call his people to the righteous path, the Qur'anic morality, and true religion, they slandered him. Such verbal attacks might seem to be a relatively insignificant matter, but believers should remember that those who do it and do not repent of their actions will be given their just return in this world as well as the Hereafter. This is one of Allah's laws, from which no one is exempt. Allah reveals the end of the people of the Prophet Saleh (as):

How terrible were My punishment and warning! We sent a single Blast against them, and they were just like a thatcher's reeds. (Surat al-Qamar, 30-31)

### Accused of Madness

Throughout history, unbelievers have used similar methods to express their opposition and hate toward the messengers of Almighty Allah. The accusations made against the Prophet Joseph (as), Mary (as), and the Companions of our Prophet (saas) regarding their chastity prove that these are classic methods. Another frequent method is to accuse the messengers of madness. Many prophets, including the Prophet Muhammad (saas), were thus accused because of their devotion to Allah and His religion, as stated in the following verses:

Or is it that they do not recognize their messenger and therefore do not acknowledge him? Or do they say: "He is a man possessed," when he has brought the truth to them? But most of them hate the truth. If the truth were to follow their whims and desires, the heavens and Earth and everyone in them would have been brought to ruin. No indeed! We have given them their Reminder, but they have turned away from it. (Surat al-Mu'minun, 69-71)

This attitude is caused by the conflict of interest that exists between the unbelievers' worldly desires and interests and the truth brought by the messengers. Although the messengers never expected anything in return for what they brought to their people, many of their people nevertheless tried, in their own eyes, to silence or even totally eliminate them, as if they were putting the unbelievers under a great debt. In reality, such undertakings will not alter the unbelievers' fate in the Hereafter. Allah reveals:

Are you asking them for payment? Your Lord's payment is better. He is the Best of Providers. You are calling them to a straight path. But those who do not believe in the Hereafter recoil from the path. (Surat al-Mu'minun, 72-74)

History records that unbelievers traditionally accuse Allah's messengers of madness. All prophets, and after them those believers who conveyed His true message, faced similar accusations. However, in spite of every effort by the unbelievers, Allah reveals in the Qur'an that devout believers have remained on His righteous path. Some of the verses dealing with this accusation are listed below:

#### Our Prophet Muhammad (saas)

They say: "You, to whom the Reminder has been sent down, are clearly mad." (Surat al-Hijr, 6)

Those who are unbelievers all but strike you down with their evil looks when they hear the Reminder and say: "He is quite mad." (Surat al-Qalam, 51)

But then they turned away from him and said: "He is an instructed madman!" (Surat ad-Dukhan, 14)

#### The Prophet Hud (as)

The ruling circle of those of his people who were unbelievers said: "We consider you a fool and think you are a liar." He replied: "My people, I am by no means a fool, but rather am a messenger from the Lord of all the worlds." (Surat al-A'raf, 66-67)

#### The Prophet Noah (as)

" **He is nothing but a man possessed, so wait a while and see what happens to him." He said: "My Lord, help me because they are calling me a liar!" (Surat al-Mu'minun, 25-26)**

Before them the people of Noah denied the truth. They denied Our servant, saying: "He is madman," and driving him away with jeers. (Surat al-Qamar, 9)

#### The Prophet Moses (as)

He [Pharaoh] said: "This messenger, who has been sent to you, is mad." (Surat ash-Shu'ara', 27)

As revealed in the verses above, unbelievers have accused the messengers sent by Allah of madness and/or intellectual deficiency, or of being possessed in order, on the basis of their own base mentalities, to discredit and belittle them. As always, their intention was to reject the true religion so that they could continue to live by their selfish desires and consider themselves to be free and unaccountable to Him.

However, people who accuse the messengers with madness and try to hurt and harm them with their tongues always meet the same fate. Allah reveals what happened to Pharaoh when he accused the Prophet Moses (as) of sorcery and madness:

But he turned away with his forces, exclaiming: "A magician or a madman!" So, We seized him and his armies and hurled them into the sea. He was to blame. (Surat adh-Dhariyat, 39-40)

### Accused of Perverting Religion

The Qur'an also reveals that many messengers were accused of perverting religion, which is a terrible slander by unbelievers. Despite the fact that the unbelievers did not actually believe in Allah and the Hereafter, they tried to appear as if they did, in order to deceive people in their own eyes, while asserting that the messengers were, on the basis of their own base mentalities, trying to damage people's beliefs by introducing false practices. The fact is, however, that messengers are immaculate people who preach the moral values of the true faith in the Sight of Allah and eliminate superstition and other such false beliefs. The unbelievers did this with the intent, in their own eyes, of depicting the messengers as untrustworthy people seeking personal gain under the guise of religiosity. But it is clear that none of these slanders, each of which is a blatant lie, could never achieve any success. Pharaoh and his inner circle applied this method to the Prophets Moses (as) and Aaron (as):

They said: "These two magicians desire, by their magic, to expel you from your land and abolish your most excellent way of life, so decide on your scheme and then arrive together in force. He who gains the upper hand today will definitely prosper." (Surah Ta Ha, 63-64)

Allah reveals in another verse that Pharaoh said the following, despite his irreligious and tyrannical nature:

Pharaoh said: "Let me kill Moses, and let him call upon his Lord! I am afraid that he may change your religion and bring about corruption in the land." (Surah Ghafir, 26)

It is obvious that Pharaoh was not sincere, but only sought to manipulate the people, because he was the one who had tried to do away with religious moral values, who conspired and schemed, and was tyrannical.

Many messengers besides the Prophet Moses (as) have been subjected to similar lies and slanders. One of these blessed messengers is the Prophet Noah (as). This is revealed as follows in verses:

The ruling circle of his people said: "We see you in flagrant error." He replied: "My people, I am not in error at all; rather, I am a messenger from the Lord of all the worlds." (Surat al-A'raf, 60-61)

Allah reveals in the Qur'an that messengers and devout Muslims were accused by their people with the same lies:

They said: "Saleh, we had great hopes in you before this happened. Do you forbid us to worship what our fathers worshipped? We have grave doubts about what you are calling us to." (Surah Hud, 62)

Those who did evil used to laugh at those who believed. When they passed by them, they would wink at one another. When they returned to their families, they would make a joke of them. When they saw them, they would say: "Those people are misguided." (Surat al-Mutaffifin, 29-32)

Surely, only those who turn on Allah's messengers, deny His existence and the Hereafter, and wrong pure, faithful, honest, and sincere people by slandering them are perverting religion. Allah reveals that they do so because they immerse themselves completely in the worldly life, forget about the Hereafter, and refuse to hear what they are told:

Those who are blind in the world will be blind in the Hereafter and even further off the Path. (Surat al-Isra', 72)

### Accused of Sorcery

One of the most frequent false allegations made against the messengers, regardless of when or where they lived, was sorcery. Allah reveals in one verse that unbelievers made a habit of slandering believers with this lie:

Equally, no messenger came to those before them without their saying: "A magician or a madman!" Did they bequeath this to each other? Indeed, they are an unbridled people. (Surat adh-Dhariyat, 52-53)

Unbelievers just cannot come to terms with the fact that one of their own people should be entrusted with conveying Allah's message to them. Therefore, they resort to lying imagining that people will be afraid of the messengers and thus avoid them. All conscientious and intelligent people who hear the messengers' sincere and wise teachings, as well as witness their impeccable character and sincere devotion to religion, become their followers. Unbelievers aimed, on the basis of their own base mentalities, to portray the believers' strong devotion as something worthless and insignificant. The Qur'an provides examples of such events:

Do people find it so surprising that We should reveal to a man among them: "Warn humanity and give the good news to those who believe, that they are on a sure footing with their Lord." The unbelievers say: "This is downright magic!" (Surah Yunus, 2)

They are surprised that a warner should come to them from among themselves. The unbelievers say: "This is a lying magician. Has he turned all the deities into One God? That is truly astonishing!" (Surah Sad, 4-5)

Unbelievers accused messengers of being magicians, and went even further to lie that they were possessed. Some of the verses in this regard are the following:

We know how they listen when they listen to you, and when they confer together secretly, and when the wrongdoers say: "You are only following a man who is bewitched!" (Surat al-Isra', 47)

They said: "You are merely someone bewitched. You sssare nothing but a human being like ourselves. So, produce a sign if you are telling the truth." (Surat ash-Shu'ara', 153-154)

The wrongdoers say: "You are merely following a man who is bewitched." (Surat al-Furqan, 8)

Allah's response to such people is related as follows:

Look how they make likenesses of you and go astray. They are unable to find their way. (Surat al-Isra', 48)

See how they make comparative judgments about you. They are misguided and cannot find the way. (Surat al-Furqan, 9)

### Words Full of Rage and Mockery

As many instances have shown throughout the course of history, the majority of unbelievers, who bitterly resented Allah's messengers and their followers and envied the material and spiritual wealth and beauty given to them by Allah, uttered the most hurtful and insulting words to believers. Some of these are revealed in the Qur'an:

The ruling circle of those of his people who were unbelievers said: "We do not see you as anything but a human being like ourselves. We do not see anyone following you but the lowest of us, unthinkingly. We do not see you as superior to us. On the contrary, we consider you to be liars." (Surah Hud, 27)

The aggressive style of Pharaoh's speech to the Prophet Moses (as), a sign of his own base mentality, expresses the unbelievers' rage toward Muslims. It is revealed as follows in verses:

Pharaoh called to his people, saying: "My people, does the kingdom of Egypt not belong to me? Do not all these rivers flow under my control? Do you not then see? Am I not better than this man, who is contemptible and can scarcely make anything clear?" (Surat az-Zukhruf, 51-52)

As revealed in the above verses, Pharaoh uttered hopelessly base words to Allah's messenger. Pharaoh, whose only criteria were material and worldly values, was not intelligent or conscientious enough to realize that human superiority does not depend on material wealth, status, or office. From his words, it can easily be deduced that he classified people according to their respective wealth and social class, and that he was an irreligious man who would even mock people for their physical deficiencies.

Throughout history, unbelievers have lived under the mistaken belief that they could cause Muslims to give themselves over to depression, despair, and sadness by slandering them, as Pharaoh slandered the Prophet Moses (as), and by either insulting them or lying about them. In reality, Muslims respond to even the harshest of such words with patience, knowing that they will be rewarded in the Hereafter. In their ignorance, the unbelievers are actually contributing to the believers' reward in the Hereafter.

Through this patience, believers continue their education and reach a spiritual maturity worthy of Paradise by persevering in good conduct and nice speech. Their subjection to such unwarranted attacks also indicates their sincerity and strong faith. Just as sincere Muslims before them faced such accusations, they too are tried by Allah as a general rule. Looking at it from this perspective, it is an honor for them to prove their patience in the face of insults, slanderous accusations, and lies.

People like Pharaoh, who trust in their wealth and forget about the Hereafter, cannot see this reality. Like him, most of them only drop their conceit and feel remorse when they realize that death has come. However, remorse at the point of death will not benefit them in the Hereafter. This is why the end of such people should be a lesson for everyone. Every material thing that people have in this world is impermanent and of no use in the Hereafter. The only thing that will last and benefit them is their fear of Allah and their good deeds. Allah reveals the thought-provoking fate of Pharaoh and his inner circle, who were blinded and made conceited by their worldly possessions, and thus insulted and rejected Allah's messenger:

In that way he swayed his people, and they succumbed to him. They were a people of deviators. Then when they had provoked Our wrath, We took revenge on them and drowned every one of them. We made them a thing of the past, an example for later peoples. (Surat az-Zukhruf, 54-56)

As Allah states in the verse, every deed and word against Allah's beloved and befriended servants is a cause of punishment in His Presence. Those who commit such deeds may think that they will get away with it, but Allah is infinitely just. Slanderers and tyrants will be held accountable in the Hereafter for every word they uttered, and will be punished accordingly unless they repent of what they said.

Allah reveals the surprise of cruel people, who uttered despicable words against Muslims in the world, when they face the Hellfire:

They will ask: "How is it that we do not see some men whom we used to count among the worst of people? Did we turn them into figures of fun? Did our eyes disdain to look at them?" All this is certainly true—the bickering of the people of the Fire. (Surah Sad, 62-64)

# Unbelievers Are Still Slandering Believers

As we have seen, whenever Allah's messengers were sent to their people, they were received with animosity and hate by the unbelievers. Apart from Allah's messengers, these unbelievers also verbally and physically abused all Muslims known for their dedication to Allah's religion, devotion to the righteous path, sincerity, and faithfulness. Allah reveals this animosity in the following verse:

We have placed covers on their hearts, preventing them from understanding it, and heaviness in their ears. When you mention your Lord alone in the Qur'an, they turn their backs and run away. (Surat al-Isra', 46)

Allah reveals in the verse that the unbelievers' true source of hate and rage is not the believers themselves, but rather the good manners and superior morality that they represent. They do not want to acknowledge their accountability to our Lord, Who has created them and whatever they possess. They cannot even bear to be reminded of His name. To prevent this, they adopt an aggressive stance against those who invite them to acknowledge Allah as the sole Divinity and to accept the true religion. Therefore, for as long as the true religion and truly religious people continue to exist, their slanders and hurtful words will continue to exist too.

Muslims, who are aware of this fact, do not suffer or despair when they encounter similar situations, because they are also aware of Allah's promise of goodness to them:

Those who were expelled from their homes without any right, merely for saying: "Our Lord is Allah." If Allah had not driven some people back by means of others, monasteries, churches, synagogues and mosques, where Allah's name is mentioned much, would have been pulled down and destroyed. Allah will certainly help those who help Him—Allah is All-Strong, Almighty. (Surat al-Hajj, 40)

No doubt, it would be a grave error to think that such incidents, as well as unbelievers or slandered Muslims, no longer exist, for Allah has revealed that such groups of people will always exist.

In the recent past, one excellent example is the life of Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, who was subjected to the opposition of certain people and resisted their attacks with patience and reliance upon Allah until he died. Bediuzzaman invited people to live by the Qur'an's morality, see the signs of faith, and appreciate Allah's existence and infinite power. But after he became the target of a campaign of slander, he was forced to endure prison and exile. The following few pages are dedicated to his experiences and impeccable reaction to them. He is a model that all Muslims facing the same campaign should emulate.

## Bediuzzaman's Life Story

Bediuzzaman was one of the foremost Islamic scholars of the twentieth century. In all of his 87 years, he defended Islam and waged an intellectual struggle against the purveyors of materialism and those who opposed religion and the sacred. His 6,000-page master work, the Risale-i Nur Collection, is a Qur'anic commentary of deep insight as well as a work that refutes materialistic philosophies by explaining the principles of faith in the best possible way. He explored the subjects of the Hereafter, destiny, faith, and much more in a style that was unknown before him.

In his ideological struggle, he called people to the Qur'an's morality and the true religion. His greatest adversaries were people who had adopted materialistic philosophy and being against religious morality as their guiding principles.

Bediuzzaman, too, refuted false philosophies, explained that religion and science do not conflict but rather meet at the same point, and inaugurated a great spiritual awakening in the society. At that time, the classic smear campaigns kicked in once more in order to stop him.

As we emphasized earlier, the experiences of past prophets and devout Muslims are a guiding light for all Muslims. From this perspective, knowing about Bediuzzaman's experiences and the hardship he endured will benefit the Muslims of today.

It must not be forgotten that Allah asks: **"Or did you suppose that you would enter the Garden without facing the same as those who came before you?" (Surat al-Baqara, 214)** , reminding Muslims to prepare themselves to face similar events. The slanders that Bediuzzaman encountered, when compared to those revealed in the Qur'an, demonstrate that there is no change in Allah's law.

### Accused of Chasing Personal Gain

Some people were disturbed by Bediuzzaman's communicating the news of Allah's existence and the importance of spiritual values, and so slandered him in the media. One of the daily newspapers of that time read:

Said-i Kurdi abused religion for his political aims, engaged in propaganda for backwardness and tried to lead certain people astray by misleading them. . . He is a backward thinker of 30 years who is on the lookout for naïve citizens to mislead. . . It has been discovered that the sheikh's [Bediuzzaman] role was to mislead certain naïve people in order to con them out of money. . . (Cumhuriyet [Republic, - a Turkish daily], May 10, 1935)

The same newspaper, in various issues, also proclaimed unreal stories: "An investigation has been launched against Said Nursi, who abused religion for his ends" and "Said Nursi is not to be taken seriously, as he is someone who seeks material as well as spiritual gain."

Bediuzzaman had no expectations of the world, no property or wealth, lived an extremely modest life, and, as he put it, had made it his profession not to be content with himself. Yet he was accused of fleecing his students and followers and of satisfying his leadership complex. The sole reason for such unfounded and irrational claims was to discredit him imagining that he would be rendered ineffective and untrustworthy.

This allegation is not unlike the slanders faced by Allah's messengers, for they were also subjected by their people to the unbelievable accusation of using religion to achieve material gains. For instance, as we are told in the verse, the Prophet Noah (as) was slandered in the following way:

. . . "This is nothing but a human being like yourselves who simply wants to gain ascendancy over you." (Surat al-Mu'minun, 24)

The Egyptians' accusations against the Prophets Moses (as) and Aaron (as) are related in the verse as follows:

They said: "Have you come to us to turn us from what we found our fathers doing, and to gain greatness in the land? We do not believe you." (Surah Yunus, 78)

These accusations caused Bediuzzaman to be imprisoned in Eskisehir prison. After his release, he was sentenced to house arrest in a room opposite the Kastamonu police station. After 8 years, the Denizli court sentenced him to a further 20 months in prison, after which he was exiled to Emirdag.

During this time, Bediuzzaman was subjected to frequent torture and cruelty; he was even poisoned on a number of occasions. Now elderly and fragile, he was kept in cold, moist, and airless cells. As will be shown in the coming pages, he received this cruelty with patience and reliance upon Allah, and all Muslims have witnessed his power of faith and submission to Allah. Bediuzzaman was an outstanding leader from whom everyone must learn.

### Accused of Madness

One of the most common accusations faced by Muslims is that of madness. In 1908, Bediuzzaman was taken to court under an artificially created pretext. There, the report by the court-commissioned doctors concluded that he was mentally disturbed. The doctor at the mental institution to which he was sent, however, spoke to Bediuzzaman and then proclaimed: "If this man is mad, there is no sane person on Earth," thereby thoroughly discrediting the earlier report.

From then on, Bediuzzaman was frequently accused of madness by the media outlets owned by his opponents. These publications against religious morality tried, in their own eyes, to discredit this great Islamic leader in people's eyes by making such misleading comments as: "Said Nursi has been an inmate in a lunatic asylum." But, like all the traps set by unbelievers for believers, it never achieved any measure of success.

### Accused of Misleading People

One of the accusations made against Bediuzzaman and his students was published in a newspaper as a serial entitled "Religious Exploiters." In these articles, his students were alleged to be "affected by magic," just like in the stories related in the Qur'an. It was further suggested that their loyalty to him was based on religious bigotry, that their ears and minds could perceive nothing else, and that they no longer understood anything else. As we can see, these accusations are exactly the same as those suffered by earlier believers. It is revealed in the Qur'an that the believers who followed the messengers were groundlessly accused of "low levels of intellect" and "foolishness":

When they are told: "Believe in the way that the people believe," they exclaim: "What! Are we to believe in the way that fools believe?" No indeed! They are the fools, but they do not know it. (Surat al-Baqara, 13)

The ruling circle of those of his people who were unbelievers said: "We do not see you as anything but a human being like ourselves. We do not see anyone following you but the lowest of us, unthinkingly. We do not see you as superior to us. On the contrary, we consider you to be liars." (Surah Hud, 27)

Through such slanderous claims, Bediuzzaman's opponents tried to give the impression that he had brainwashed his young students, and that they were just foolish and irrational enough to be brainwashed. In other words, Bediuzzaman was accused of some form of "magic," as were earlier believers.

In reality, Bediuzzaman and the Muslims with him were intelligent people who acted in the light of reason, conscience, and the Qur'an's guidance. Those who made these unfounded allegations knew very well that this was so. In fact, none of these allegations hurt Bediuzzaman and his followers; rather, the patience and submission to Allah with which they bore these insults only increased their mental maturity and reward in the Hereafter.

### Accused of Religious Distortion

Another allegation was the lie that Bediuzzaman perverted Islam, promoted his personal religious beliefs, and imposed this distorted religion on his followers. His opponents also claimed that he did not abide by the Sunnah of the Prophet (saas) and that he had invented his own religion. The purpose of these lies was, in their own eyes, to incite religious people who were not fully aware of what was going on, and to portray him as something he was not.

However, these slanderous claims came to nothing in the end, because they were recognized by intelligent and conscientious Muslims as being similar to those made against the Prophet Noah (as): "We see you in flagrant error." (Surat al-A'raf, 60)

### The Smear Campaign against Bediuzzaman

Allah reveals in many verses that unbelievers always scheme and plot:

Those before them plotted, but all plotting belongs to Allah. He knows what each self earns, and the unbelievers will soon know who has the Ultimate Abode. (Surat ar-Ra'd, 42)

Irreligious people conspired against Bediuzzaman. One such scheme is related in Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, His Unknown Side. According to this, signatures were collected from drunkards on a sheet of paper stating that "Bediuzzaman's assistant bought alcoholic drinks for him," in a shop selling such drinks. This is just one of the methods used, in their own eyes, to discredit him and to portray him as insincere in his faith.

Another example is mentioned in a letter written by Bediuzzaman. According to illogical and unwise false rumors disseminated among the people, at his house he held all-night parties that were attended by prostitutes and other people of low morals. Bediuzzaman's reply to this unfounded allegation is clear:

" _In reality my door was locked from the inside as well the outside in the night, and a guard was stationed for the night at my door by the order of that man [who slanders me]."_

Such ugly slanderous accusations of illicit relations and drunkenness came to nothing, and Bediuzzaman continued to serve his faith. As revealed in the Qur'an, such conspiracies and schemes cannot harm Muslims, and, in the end, Muslims will win:

. . . But then, when a warner did come to them, it only increased their aversion, shown by their arrogance in the land and evil plotting. But evil plotting envelops only those who do it. Do they expect anything but the pattern of previous peoples? You will not find any changing in the pattern of Allah. You will not find any alteration in the pattern of Allah. (Surah Fatir, 42-43)

### Bediuzzaman's Attitude toward Slander

Bediuzzaman faced the slanders and conspiracies directed against him in the same way as the messengers and their followers did: He remained patient and faithful, and his motivation, cheerfulness, and determination were exemplary.

He relates in the Risale-i Nur Collection the positive and beneficial aspects of the above-mentioned prison term and cruelties inflicted upon him:

A number of officials made false accusations, which no one at all could believe. They tried to spread around the most extraordinary slander, but they could not make anyone believe it.

Then they arrested me during the most intensely cold days of winter on some trite pretext, and put me into solitary confinement in prison in a large and extremely cold ward, leaving me for two days without a stove. Having been accustomed to light my stove several times a day in my small room, and always having live coals in the brazier, with my illness and weakness I was only able to endure it with difficulty. While struggling in this situation, suffering from both a fever from the cold and a dreadful distress and anger, through Divine grace a truth unfolded in my heart. It uttered the following warning to my spirit:

" _You called prison the 'Medrese-i Yusufiya'—the School of the Prophet Joseph. And while in Denizli, things like relief a thousand times greater than your distress, and spiritual profit, and the other prisoners there benefiting from the Risale-i Nur, and its conquests on a larger scale, all made you offer endless thanks instead of complaining. They made each hour of your imprisonment and hardship like ten hours' worship, and made those passing hours eternal. (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Risale-i Nur Collection, The Twenty-sixth Flash, Fifteenth Hope)_

Bediuzzaman relates that the Muslims around him who were subjected to the same slanders and cruelties never lost their cheerfulness and never despaired:

With all their stratagems, the dissemblers' attacks these last ten months and their getting hold of an official has not shaken even the youngest student. Their slanders are insignificant. . . Such slanders from such people have virtually no effect on us, and, Allah willing, they will cause no harm to the Risale-i Nur circle. (Bediuzzaman Said Nursi, Risale-i Nur Collection, Letters, Fourteenth Ray)

All Muslims should learn from how Bediuzzaman and his followers responded to the conspiracies against them. Allah reminds Muslims, in the person of the Prophet (saas), how Muslims should respond in such circumstances:

Be patient. But your patience is only by Allah. Do not be grieved by them, and do not be constricted by the plots they hatch. Allah is with those who fear Him, and with those who are good-doers. (Surat an-Nahl, 127-128)

# How Muslims Behave When Slandered

The messengers are Allah's beloved servants who have won His good pleasure and have been promised His Paradise. Therefore, it is necessary for every Muslim who wants to earn Almighty Allah's good pleasure and love to behave like them. Allah reveals: **"You have an excellent model in the Messenger of Allah, for all who put their hope in Allah and the Last Day and remember Allah much" (Surat al-Ahzab, 21).** The purpose of this book is to encourage contemporary Muslims to learn from the patience and submission to Allah shown by the messengers, as well as the earlier devout Muslims and Islamic scholars.

For irreligious people or those of weak faith, slander means practically destruction. If unbelievers or people of weak faith were exposed to the slanders experienced by Allah's messengers, their entire life would come apart. For instance if they were accused of adultery or theft, they would be devastated. With a pure ignorant outlook on life, they would lose their interest in life, become depressed, give way to despair, and suffer. Even a small accusation can cause them to despair, and multiple slanders would devastate them. They would think: "How can I possibly clear my name from these accusations?" or "Millions of people have come to know me in this light. How on Earth am I to put the record straight?" They could be worrying about their financial future. They could panic, thinking that "Even if I clear my name, throw enough mud and some of it will stick." Thus, they would believe that they will always be remembered in the light of these accusations.

Believers, on the other hand, feel secure in their belief and trust in Allah. Irrespective of what they encounter, sincere Muslims will not behave irrationally or give themselves over to worry, like the people mentioned above. Having firm faith and the ability to submit to the destiny that Allah has determined for them, their attitude and behavior in such situations will differ markedly from that of people who do not live by the Qur'an.

Muslims know that being slandered is a test from Allah, that He will be pleased with them if they pass it, and that He will clear their names if they prove their patience and trust in Him. Allah reveals in one verse that, in reality, the accusations Muslims encounter are actually good for them:

There is a group of you who propagated the lie. Do not suppose it to be bad for you; rather, it is good for you. Every one of them will incur the evil he has earned, and the one who took it on himself to amplify it will receive a terrible punishment. (Surat an-Nur, 11)

People who live by the Qur'an believe with certainty that everything happens according to Allah's knowledge and control, and that everything is created in the best way possible and in their best interest. Therefore, even if they encounter the worst slander, they know that something good will come out of it. Sure, Muslims will do everything that is legitimately possible to clear their names and distance themselves from the slanderous accusations, but they do so knowing that Allah ultimately wills goodness and benefit for them.

It is possible that Muslims will be tested by great hardship as a consequence of slander. They could simultaneously become seriously ill, or their family or relatives could be reduced to dependency or suffer financial problems. True Muslims will know that all of these are just trials sent by Allah, that a solution comes with every problem, and that patience is rewarded with Paradise. Therefore, they respond in a determined, measured, courageous, and energetic manner. They will not surrender to depression or despair and will receive all of the hardship that comes their way with the rational and disciplined manner required by the Qur'an.

## Accusations Actually Benefit Muslims Even on Earth

The story of the Prophet Joseph (as) is a good example of how slanderous allegations might actually benefit believers. The Prophet Joseph (as), who had been falsely accused by the Egyptian governor's wife, was imprisoned for many years. While there, he found the opportunity to teach Allah's existence and Islam to his fellow prisoners. His full submission to his destiny eventually caused the news of his trustworthiness and ability to interpret dreams reach the ear of the king by means of a freed fellow prisoner. The king had him brought to the court to interpret his dream. The Prophet Joseph (as), however, requested that his name be cleared first and that the woman who had slandered him and her friends be asked to tell the truth. Now that he had established his innocence and been cleared of any suspicion, the king knew him to be a trustworthy, religious, and chaste person. Allah reveals in the Qur'an:

The King commanded: "Bring him to me straight away!" But when the envoy came to him, he [Joseph] said: "Go back to your master and ask him what happened to the women who cut their hands. My Lord has knowledge of their cunning guile." He [the king] asked [the women]: "What was this past affair of yours when you solicited Joseph?" Then they said: "Allah forbid! We know no bad of him." The governor's wife then said: "The truth has now emerged. Indeed, I tried to seduce him then, and he has simply told the honest truth." [Joseph said:] "In this way he [the governor] may know at last that I did not dishonor him behind his back, and that Allah most surely does not guide the deviousness of the dishonorable." (Surah Yusuf, 50-52)

As we can see, this slander against the Prophet Joseph (as) was exposed as a lie, and his innocence and trustworthiness came to be known to the people. After he proved his faith during this trial, Allah rewarded him for his patience and good conduct on Earth as well as in the Hereafter. The verses continue:

The king said: "Bring him to me straight away, so I may draw him very close to me." When he had spoken with him, he declared: "Today you are trusted, established in our sight." He [Joseph] replied: "Entrust the country's stores to me. In truth I am a knowing guardian." And thus We established Joseph in the land so he could live wherever he pleased. We grant Our grace to anyone We will, and We do not allow to go to waste the wage of any people who do good. But the wages of the Hereafter are the best for people who believe and fear [and respect] their Lord. (Surah Yusuf, 54-57)

## Thinking Favorably for Slandered Believers

If we reflect on these past events, another important matter emerges: While the patience and faith of the slandered Muslim is tested, the stance and good opinion of his or her fellow Muslims is also tested.

Muslims must think positively of one another, because, as in the examples of the past, those who are opposed to religious morality try, in their own eyes, to support their accusations with various conspiracies and lies, and make their slanders seem supposedly reasonable and credible through forged evidence and false witnesses. They do this in order to discredit the accused in the eyes of the people, particularly in the eyes of other Muslims, in an attempt to create intra-Muslim rifts and frictions. As we saw in the previous chapter, this is what was done to Bediuzzaman. Despite the fact that he was devoted to Islam and spiritual values, he was subjected to a smear campaign designed to portray him as a religious hypocrite. A cunning plan is at work here: The unbelievers want to turn Muslims against each other so that they will not support each other. However, Allah commands all Muslims to support each other at all times:

Those who are unbelievers are the friends and protectors of one another. If you do not act in this way, there will be turmoil in the land and great corruption. (Surat an-Anfal, 73)

Therefore, it is crucial that Muslims first know the inside story when they hear something negative about a fellow Muslim. If the accused person is known to be a believer who fears Allah and abides by the Qur'an, maintaining good opinion of him or her becomes compulsory.

The unbelievers' anger toward Muslims is so fierce that they want to render the believers ineffective, in their own eyes, and force them to accept unbelievers' own false beliefs. People who are far removed from the Qur'an's morality will always slander Allah's devout servants. Muslims must be very well aware of this.

Allah reveals yet another important fact in the following verses:

They concocted their plots, but their plots were with Allah, even if they were such as to make the mountains vanish. Do not imagine that Allah will break His promise to His messengers. Allah is Almighty, the Lord of Retribution. (Surah Ibrahim, 46-47)

As revealed in the verses, Allah will foil all such cunning plots and lead the Muslims, as he did with the Prophet Joseph (as) and other Muslims, to a happy ending. However, until the unbelievers' conspiracies have been frustrated, Muslims are obliged to consider their slandered fellow Muslim with goodwill, good intentions, and trust. Allah reveals how Muslims must act toward fellow Muslims who are being slandered, and warns those who respond wrongly:

A group of you propagated the lie. Do not suppose it to be bad for you; rather, it is good for you. Every one of them will incur the evil he has earned, and the one who took it on himself to amplify it will receive a terrible punishment. Why, when you heard it, did you not, as male and female believers, instinctively think good thoughts and say: "This is obviously a lie." Why did they not produce four witnesses to it? Since they did not bring four witnesses, in Allah's Sight they are liars. Were it not for Allah's favor to you and His mercy, both in the world and the Hereafter, a terrible punishment would have afflicted you for your plunging headlong into it. You were bandying it about on your tongues, your mouths uttering something about which you had no knowledge. You considered it to be a trivial matter, but in Allah's Sight it is immense. Why, when you heard it, did you not exclaim: "We have no business speaking about this. Glory be to You! This is a terrible slander!"? Allah warns you never to repeat the like of it again, if you are believers. (Surat an-Nur, 11-17)

## Slanders Must Not Be Considered from an Ignorant Point of View

Muslims must never forget that unbelievers will always hurl hurtful words and slander toward Muslims, as this is one of Allah's eternal laws. Therefore, Muslims need to be aware of this truth so that they will not be misled into thinking badly of, or doing some injustice to, a fellow Muslim. In fact, Muslims can even consider it to be a sign of a fellow Muslim's sincerity that he or she be subjected to slander.

Some people can fall for whispers that are incompatible with the truth revealed in the Qur'an, such as: "Where there's fire there's smoke" or "Why did someone tell this about him and not me?" Such people make a serious mistake by interpreting events outside the Qur'an, just as irreligious and unbelieving people do, with their own personal (and therefore deficient) way of reasoning and behavior. In other words, they forget the realities revealed in the Qur'an. People who believe in Allah must be very careful not to make such a mistake.

Muslims must not pay attention to such slanderous accusations. Even more, they must tell the perpetrators that they do not believe their lies, as this will bring their conspiracies to naught.

In addition, even if most people play their respective roles in an anti-Muslim conspiracy, their sheer numbers cannot be taken as evidence for the truth of their allegations. Allah reveals that the majority may often be wrong:

If you obeyed most of those on Earth, they would misguide you from Allah's way. They follow nothing but conjecture. They are only guessing. (Surat al-An'am, 116)

If the allegations against a Muslim come from someone who does not obey Allah, they must be carefully investigated and taken seriously only if strong evidence of their validity emerges. Those who choose to believe the allegations must first act according to the Qur'an's directives while before reaching a decision, and must either see or produce the evidence. This is an order by Allah:

O you who believe! If a deviator brings you a report, scrutinize it carefully in case you attack people in ignorance and so come to greatly regret what you have done. (Surat al-Hujurat, 6)

In order to avoid suffering from any possible remorse and regret in this life as well as the Hereafter, Muslims must always follow the Qur'an's guiding principles and keep truth and justice alive.

# Conclusion: Allah Is All-Knowing

Unbelievers have always—and will always—slander believers. Likewise, their slanderous and hurtful words have never—and will never—harm believers, because Muslims know an important fact and so live their lives accordingly: Allah sees, knows, and hears everything. No one can bring the slightest harm to anyone else unless it is His will.

Every slanderous word is uttered within Allah's knowledge and permission. When the slanderers hatch their plots, plan their conspiracies, and formulate their sentences, Allah is listening to and seeing them. Even when they utter the most slanderous words, thinking that they will force the Muslims to betray their religion, Allah knows what they are thinking, for as He reveals in the Qur'an:

Don't you see that Allah knows what is in the heavens and on Earth? Three men cannot confer together secretly without Him being the fourth, or five without Him being the sixth, or fewer or more than that without Him being with them wherever they are. Then He will inform them on the Day of Resurrection of what they did. Allah has knowledge of all things. (Surat al-Mujadala, 7)

Or do they imagine that We do not hear their secrets and their private talk? On the contrary, Our messengers are right there with them writing it down! (Surat az-Zukhruf, 80)

As stated in these verses, no slanderer is ignored and no slanderous word, even if it was said only between two people, goes unheard. The slanderer may forget, but Allah, Who sees, hears, and creates it, never forgets. All the rebellious words and unfounded accusations spoken by the unbelievers, as well as all their evil thoughts and evil deeds, will meet them on the Day of Judgment, unless they repent of them.

Allah, the sole Ruler and Owner of all that exists, is the Muslims' friend and guardian. Believers know that our Lord is infinitely compassionate and merciful, and that He creates everything in His wisdom in the best, most beneficial, and most just way possible. They trust and depend only on Him, and fear only Him. No slander, attack, threat, mockery, or attempt on their life or property will ever cause the believers to forsake the beauty of faith or to live by the Qur'an's morality. Allah reveals the Muslim's devotion and the rewards they will receive in return:

Among the believers are men who have been true to the contract they made with Allah. Some of them have fulfilled their pact by death, and some are still waiting to do so, not having changed in any way at all. So that Allah might recompense the faithful for their sincerity and punish the hypocrites, if He wills, or turn toward them. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Allah sent back those who disbelieved in their rage without their achieving any good at all. . . (Surat al-Ahzab, 23-25)

# The Deception of Evolution

Darwinism, in other words the theory of evolution, was put forward with the aim of denying the fact of Creation, but is in truth nothing but failed, unscientific nonsense. This theory, which claims that life emerged by chance from inanimate matter, was invalidated by the scientific evidence of miraculous order in the universe and in living things, as well as by the discovery of about 300 million fossils revealing that evolution never happened. In this way, science confirmed the fact that Allah created the universe and the living things in it. The propaganda carried out today in order to keep the theory of evolution alive is based solely on the distortion of the scientific facts, biased interpretation, and lies and falsehoods disguised as science.

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

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

## The Scientific Collapse of Darwinism

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

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

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

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

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

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

## The First Insurmountable Step: The Origin of Life

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

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

## "Life Comes From Life"

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

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

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

However, five years after the publication of Darwin's book, Louis Pasteur announced his results after long studies and experiments, that disproved spontaneous generation, a cornerstone of Darwin's theory. In his triumphal lecture at the Sorbonne in 1864, Pasteur said: _"_ _Never will the doctrine of spontaneous generation recover from the mortal blow struck by this simple experiment._ "1

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

## Inconclusive Efforts of the Twentieth Century

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

## The Complex Structure of Life

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

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

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

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

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

No doubt, if it is impossible for life to have originated spontaneously as a result of blind coincidences, then it has to be accepted that life was **"** created **."** This fact explicitly invalidates the theory of evolution, whose main purpose is to deny Creation.

## Imaginary Mechanism of Evolution

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

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

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

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

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

## Lamarck's Impact

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

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

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

## Neo-Darwinism and Mutations

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

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

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

First, genuine mutations are very rare in nature. Secondly, most mutations are harmful since they are random, rather than orderly changes in the structure of genes; any random change in a highly ordered system will be for the worse, not for the better. For example, if an earthquake were to shake a highly ordered structure such as a building, there would be a random change in the framework of the building which, in all probability, would not be an improvement.9

Not surprisingly, no mutation example, which is useful, that is, which is observed to develop the genetic code, has been observed so far. All mutations have proved to be harmful. It was understood that mutation, which is presented as an "evolutionary mechanism," is actually a genetic occurrence that harms living things, and leaves them disabled. (The most common effect of mutation on human beings is cancer.) Of course, a destructive mechanism cannot be an "evolutionary mechanism." Natural selection, on the other hand, "can do nothing by itself," as Darwin also accepted. This fact shows us that **there is no "evolutionary mechanism" in nature.** Since no evolutionary mechanism exists, no such any imaginary process called "evolution" could have taken place.

## The Fossil Record: No Sign of Intermediate Forms

The clearest evidence that the scenario suggested by the theory of evolution did not take place is the fossil record.

According to the unscientific supposition of this theory, every living species has sprung from a predecessor. A previously existing species turned into something else over time and all species have come into being in this way. In other words, this transformation proceeds gradually over millions of years.

Had this been the case, numerous intermediary species should have existed and lived within this long transformation period.

For instance, some half-fish/half-reptiles should have lived in the past which had acquired some reptilian traits in addition to the fish traits they already had. Or there should have existed some reptile-birds, which acquired some bird traits in addition to the reptilian traits they already had. Since these would be in a transitional phase, they should be disabled, defective, crippled living beings. Evolutionists refer to these imaginary creatures, which they believe to have lived in the past, as "transitional forms."

If such animals ever really existed, there should be millions and even billions of them in number and variety. More importantly, the remains of these strange creatures should be present in the fossil record. In The Origin of Species, Darwin explained:

If my theory be true, numberless intermediate varieties, linking most closely all of the species of the same group together must assuredly have existed... Consequently, evidence of their former existence could be found only amongst fossil remains.10

However, **Darwin was well aware that no fossils of these intermediate forms had yet been found.** He regarded this as a major difficulty for his theory. In one chapter of his book titled **"Difficulties on Theory,"** he wrote:

Why, if species have descended from other species by insensibly fine gradations, do we not everywhere see innumerable transitional forms? Why is not all nature in confusion instead of the species being, as we see them, well defined?... But, as by this theory innumerable transitional forms must have existed, why do we not find them embedded in countless numbers in the crust of the earth?... Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory.11

## Darwin's Hopes Shattered

However, although evolutionists have been making strenuous efforts to find fossils since the middle of the nineteenth century all over the world, **no transitional forms have yet been uncovered.** All of the fossils, contrary to the evolutionists' expectations, show that **life appeared on Earth all of a sudden and fully-formed.**

One famous British paleontologist, Derek V. Ager, admits this fact, even though he is an evolutionist:

_The point emerges that if we examine the fossil record in detail, whether at the level of orders or of species, we find - over and over again - not gradual evolution, but the sudden explosion of one group at the expense of another._ 12

This means that in the fossil record, all living species suddenly emerge as fully formed, without any intermediate forms in between. This is just the opposite of Darwin's assumptions. Also, this is very strong evidence that all living things are created. The only explanation of a living species emerging suddenly and complete in every detail without any evolutionary ancestor is that it was created. This fact is admitted also by the widely known evolutionist biologist Douglas Futuyma:

Creation and evolution, between them, exhaust the possible explanations for the origin of living things. Organisms either appeared on the earth fully developed or they did not. If they did not, they must have developed from pre-existing species by some process of modification. If they did appear in a fully developed state, they must indeed have been created by some omnipotent intelligence.13

**Fossils show that living beings emerged fully developed and in a perfect state on the Earth.** That means that "the origin of species," contrary to Darwin's supposition, is not evolution, but **Creation**.

## The Tale of Human Evolution

The subject most often brought up by advocates of the theory of evolution is the subject of the origin of man. The Darwinist claim holds that man evolved from so-called ape-like creatures. During this alleged evolutionary process, which is supposed to have started 4-5 million years ago, some "transitional forms" between present-day man and his imaginary ancestors are supposed to have existed. According to this completely imaginary scenario, four basic "categories" are listed:

1. Australopithecus

2. Homo habilis

3. Homo erectus

4. Homo sapiens

Evolutionists call man's so-called first ape-like ancestors Australopithecus, which means "South African ape." These living beings are actually nothing but an old ape species that has become extinct. Extensive research done on various Australopithecus specimens by two world famous anatomists from England and the USA, namely, Lord Solly Zuckerman and Prof. Charles Oxnard, shows that these apes belonged to an ordinary ape species that became extinct and bore no resemblance to humans.14

Evolutionists classify the next stage of human evolution as "homo," that is "man." According to their claim, the living beings in the Homo series are more developed than Australopithecus. Evolutionists devise a fanciful evolution scheme by arranging different fossils of these creatures in a particular order. This scheme is imaginary because it has never been proved that there is an evolutionary relation between these different classes. Ernst Mayr, one of the twentieth century's most important evolutionists, contends in his book One Long Argument that "particularly historical [puzzles] such as the origin of life or of Homo sapiens, are extremely difficult and may even resist a final, satisfying explanation."15

By outlining the link chain as _Australopithecus > Homo habilis > Homo erectus > Homo sapiens_ _,_ evolutionists imply that each of these species is one another's ancestor. However, recent findings of paleoanthropologists have revealed that Australopithecus, Homo habilis, and Homo erectus lived at different parts of the world at the same time.16

Moreover, a certain segment of humans classified as Homo erectus have lived up until very modern times. H **omo sapiens neandarthalensis and** _Homo sapiens sapiens_ **(present-day man) co-existed in the same region**.17

This situation apparently indicates the invalidity of the claim that they are ancestors of one another. The late Stephen Jay Gould explained this deadlock of the theory of evolution although he was himself one of the leading advocates of evolution in the twentieth century:

What has become of our ladder if there are three coexisting lineages of hominids (A. africanus, the robust australopithecines, and H. habilis), none clearly derived from another? Moreover, none of the three display any evolutionary trends during their tenure on earth.18

Put briefly, the scenario of human evolution, which is "upheld" with the help of various drawings of some "half ape, half human" creatures appearing in the media and course books, that is, frankly, by means of propaganda, is nothing but **a tale with no scientific foundation**.

Lord Solly Zuckerman, one of the most famous and respected scientists in the U.K., who carried out research on this subject for years and studied Australopithecus fossils for 15 years, finally concluded, despite being an evolutionist himself, that **there is, in fact, no such family tree branching out from ape-like creatures to man.**

Zuckerman also made an interesting "spectrum of science" ranging from those he considered scientific to those he considered unscientific. According to Zuckerman's spectrum, the most "scientific"-that is, depending on concrete data-fields of science are chemistry and physics. After them come the biological sciences and then the social sciences. At the far end of the spectrum, which is the part considered to be most "unscientific," are "extra-sensory perception"-concepts such as telepathy and sixth sense-and finally "human evolution." Zuckerman explains his reasoning:

We then move right off the register of objective truth into those fields of presumed biological science, like extrasensory perception or the interpretation of man's fossil history, where to the faithful [evolutionist] anything is possible \- and where the ardent believer [in evolution] is sometimes able to believe several contradictory things at the same time.19

**The tale of human evolution** boils down to nothing but the prejudiced interpretations of some fossils unearthed by certain people, who blindly adhere to their theory.

## Darwinian Formula!

Besides all the technical evidence we have dealt with so far, let us now for once, examine what kind of a superstition the evolutionists have with an example so simple as to be understood even by children:

The theory of evolution asserts that life is formed by chance. According to this irrational claim, lifeless and unconscious atoms came together to form the cell and then they somehow formed other living things, including man. Let us think about that. When we bring together the elements that are the building-blocks of life such as carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen and potassium, only a heap is formed. No matter what treatments it undergoes, this atomic heap cannot form even a single living being. If you like, let us formulate an "experiment" on this subject and let us examine on the behalf of evolutionists what they really claim without pronouncing loudly under the name **"Darwinian formula"** :

Let evolutionists put plenty of materials present in the composition of living things such as phosphorus, nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, iron, and magnesium into big barrels. Moreover, let them add in these barrels any material that does not exist under normal conditions, but they think as necessary. Let them add in this mixture as many amino acids and as many proteins-a single one of which has a formation probability of 1 in 10-950-as they like. Let them expose these mixtures to as much heat and moisture as they like. Let them stir these with whatever technologically developed device they like. Let them put the foremost scientists beside these barrels. Let these experts wait in turn beside these barrels for billions, and even trillions of years. Let them be free to use all kinds of conditions they believe to be necessary for a human's formation. **No matter what they do, they cannot produce from these barrels a human, say a professor that examines his cell structure under the electron microscope.** They cannot produce giraffes, lions, bees, canaries, horses, dolphins, roses, orchids, lilies, carnations, bananas, oranges, apples, dates, tomatoes, melons, watermelons, figs, olives, grapes, peaches, peafowls, pheasants, multicoloured butterflies, or millions of other living beings such as these. Indeed, they could not obtain even a single cell of any one of them.

Briefly, **unconscious atoms cannot form the cell** by coming together. They cannot take a new decision and divide this cell into two, then take other decisions and create the professors who first invent the electron microscope and then examine their own cell structure under that microscope. **Matter is an unconscious, lifeless heap, and it comes to life with Allah's superior creation.**

The theory of evolution, which claims the opposite, is a total fallacy completely contrary to reason. Thinking even a little bit on the claims of evolutionists discloses this reality, just as in the above example.

## Technology in the Eye and the Ear

Another subject that remains unanswered by evolutionary theory is the excellent quality of perception in the eye and the ear.

Before passing on to the subject of the eye, let us briefly answer the question of how we see. Light rays coming from an object fall oppositely on the eye's retina. Here, these light rays are transmitted into electric signals by cells and reach a tiny spot at the back of the brain, the "center of vision." These electric signals are perceived in this center as an image after a series of processes. With this technical background, let us do some thinking.

**The brain is insulated from light.** That means that its inside is completely dark, and that no light reaches the place where it is located. Thus, the "center of vision" is never touched by light and may even be the darkest place you have ever known. However, you observe a luminous, bright world in this pitch darkness.

**The image formed in the eye is so sharp and distinct that even the technology of the twentieth century has not been able to attain it.** For instance, look at the book you are reading, your hands with which you are holding it, and then lift your head and look around you. Have you ever seen such a sharp and distinct image as this one at any other place? Even the most developed television screen produced by the greatest television producer in the world cannot provide such a sharp image for you. This is a three-dimensional, colored, and extremely sharp image. For more than 100 years, thousands of engineers have been trying to achieve this sharpness. Factories, huge premises were established, much research has been done, plans and designs have been made for this purpose. Again, look at a TV screen and the book you hold in your hands. You will see that there is a big difference in sharpness and distinction. Moreover, the TV screen shows you a two-dimensional image, whereas with your eyes, you watch a three-dimensional perspective with depth.

For many years, tens of thousands of engineers have tried to make a three-dimensional TV and achieve the vision quality of the eye. Yes, they have made a three-dimensional television system, but it is not possible to watch it without putting on special 3-D glasses; moreover, it is only an artificial three-dimension. The background is more blurred, the foreground appears like a paper setting. Never has it been possible to produce a sharp and distinct vision like that of the eye. In both the camera and the television, there is a loss of image quality.

Evolutionists claim that the mechanism producing this sharp and distinct image has been formed by chance. Now, if somebody told you that the television in your room was formed as a result of chance, that all of its atoms just happened to come together and make up this device that produces an image, what would you think? How can atoms do what thousands of people cannot?

If a device producing a more primitive image than the eye could not have been formed by chance, then it is very evident that the eye and the image seen by **the eye could not have been formed by chance.** The same situation applies to the ear. The outer ear picks up the available sounds by the auricle and directs them to the middle ear, the middle ear transmits the sound vibrations by intensifying them, and the inner ear sends these vibrations to the brain by translating them into electric signals. Just as with the eye, the act of hearing finalizes in the center of hearing in the brain.

The situation in the eye is also true for the ear. That is, **the brain is insulated from sound** just as it is from light. It does not let any sound in. Therefore, no matter how noisy is the outside, the inside of the brain is completely silent. Nevertheless, the sharpest sounds are perceived in the brain. **In your completely silent brain, you listen to symphonies, and hear all of the noises in a crowded place.** However, were the sound level in your brain measured by a precise device at that moment, complete silence would be found to be prevailing there.

As is the case with imagery, decades of effort have been spent in trying to generate and reproduce sound that is faithful to the original. The results of these efforts are sound recorders, high-fidelity systems, and systems for sensing sound. Despite all of this technology and the thousands of engineers and experts who have been working on this endeavor, no sound has yet been obtained that has the same sharpness and clarity as the sound perceived by the ear. Think of the highest-quality hi-fi systems produced by the largest company in the music industry. Even in these devices, when sound is recorded some of it is lost; or when you turn on a hi-fi you always hear a hissing sound before the music starts. However, the sounds that are the products of the human body's technology are extremely sharp and clear. A human ear never perceives a sound accompanied by a hissing sound or with atmospherics as does a hi-fi; rather, it perceives sound exactly as it is, sharp and clear. This is the way it has been since the creation of man.

So far, no man-made visual or recording apparatus has been as sensitive and successful in perceiving sensory data as are the eye and the ear. However, as far as seeing and hearing are concerned, a far greater truth lies beyond all this.

## To Whom Does the Consciousness that Sees and Hears within the Brain Belong?

Who watches an alluring world in the brain, listens to symphonies and the twittering of birds, and smells the rose?

The stimulations coming from a person's eyes, ears, and nose travel to the brain as electro-chemical nerve impulses. In biology, physiology, and biochemistry books, you can find many details about how this image forms in the brain. However, you will never come across the most important fact: Who perceives these electro-chemical nerve impulses as images, sounds, odors, and sensory events in the brain? **There is a consciousness in the brain that perceives all this without feeling any need for an eye, an ear, and a nose.** To whom does this consciousness belong? Of course it does not belong to the nerves, the fat layer, and neurons comprising the brain. This is why Darwinist-materialists, who believe that everything is comprised of matter, cannot answer these questions.

For **this consciousness is the spirit created by Allah,** which needs neither the eye to watch the images nor the ear to hear the sounds. Furthermore, it does not need the brain to think.

Everyone who reads this explicit and scientific fact should ponder on Almighty Allah, and fear and seek refuge in Him, for He squeezes the entire universe in a pitch-dark place of a few cubic centimeters in a three-dimensional, colored, shadowy, and luminous form.

## A Materialist Faith

The information we have presented so far shows us that **the theory of evolution is incompatible with scientific findings.** The theory's claim regarding the origin of life is inconsistent with science, the evolutionary mechanisms it proposes have no evolutionary power, and fossils demonstrate that **the required intermediate forms have never existed.** So, it certainly follows that the theory of evolution should be pushed aside as an unscientific idea. This is how many ideas, such as the Earth-centered universe model, have been taken out of the agenda of science throughout history.

However, the theory of evolution is kept on the agenda of science. Some people even try to represent criticisms directed against it as an "attack on science." Why?

The reason is that this theory is an indispensable dogmatic belief for some circles. These circles are **blindly devoted** to materialist philosophy and adopt Darwinism because it is the only materialist explanation that can be put forward to explain the workings of nature.

Interestingly enough, they also confess this fact from time to time. A well-known geneticist and an outspoken evolutionist, Richard C. Lewontin from Harvard University, confesses that he is "first and foremost a materialist and then a scientist":

_It is not that the methods and institutions of science somehow compel us accept a material explanation of the phenomenal world, but, on the contrary, that we are forced by our a priori adherence to material causes to create an apparatus of investigation and a set of concepts that produce material explanations, no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is absolute, so we cannot allow a Divine [intervention]..._ 20

These are explicit statements that **Darwinism is a dogma** kept alive just for the sake of adherence to materialism. This dogma maintains that there is no being save matter. Therefore, it argues that inanimate, unconscious matter brought life into being. It insists that millions of different living species (e.g., birds, fish, giraffes, tigers, insects, trees, flowers, whales, and human beings) originated as a result of the interactions between matter such as pouring rain, lightning flashes, and so on, out of inanimate matter. This is a precept contrary both to reason and science. Yet Darwinists continue to ignorantly defend it just so as not to acknowledge, in their own eyes, the evident existence of Allah.

Anyone who does not look at the origin of living beings with a materialist prejudice sees this evident truth: **All living beings are works of a Creator,** Who is All-Powerful, All-Wise, and All-Knowing. **This Creator is Allah** , Who created the whole universe from non-existence, in the most perfect form, and fashioned all living beings

## The Theory of Evolution: The Most Potent Spell in the World

Anyone free of prejudice and the influence of any particular ideology, who uses only his or her reason and logic, will clearly understand that belief in the theory of evolution, which brings to mind the superstitions of societies with no knowledge of science or civilization, is quite impossible.

As explained above, those who believe in the theory of evolution think that a few atoms and molecules thrown into a huge vat could produce thinking, reasoning professors and university students; such scientists as Einstein and Galileo; such artists as Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra and Luciano Pavarotti; as well as antelopes, lemon trees, and carnations. Moreover, as the scientists and professors who believe in this nonsense are educated people, it is quite justifiable to speak of this theory as "the most potent spell in history." Never before has any other belief or idea so taken away peoples' powers of reason, refused to allow them to think intelligently and logically, and hidden the truth from them as if they had been blindfolded. This is an even worse and unbelievable blindness than the totem worship in some parts of Africa, the people of Saba worshipping the Sun, the tribe of the Prophet Abraham (as) worshipping idols they had made with their own hands, or some among the people of the Prophet Moses (as) worshipping the Golden Calf.

In fact, Allah has pointed to this lack of reason in the Qur'an. In many verses, He reveals that some peoples' minds will be closed and that they will be powerless to see the truth. Some of these verses are as follows:

As for those who do not believe, it makes no difference to them whether you warn them or do not warn them, they will not believe. Allah has sealed up their hearts and hearing and over their eyes is a blindfold. They will have a terrible punishment. (Surat al-Baqara, 6-7)

... **They have hearts with which they do not understand. They have eyes with which they do not see. They have ears with which they do not hear. Such people are like cattle. No, they are even further astray! They are the unaware. (Surat al-A'raf, 179)**

Even if We opened up to them a door into heaven, and they spent the day ascending through it, they would only say: "Our eyesight is befuddled! Or rather we have been put under a spell!" (Surat al-Hijr, 14-15)

Words cannot express just how astonishing it is that this spell should hold such a wide community in thrall, keep people from the truth, and not be broken for 150 years. It is understandable that one or a few people might believe in impossible scenarios and claims full of stupidity and illogicality. However, "magic" is the only possible explanation for people from all over the world believing that unconscious and lifeless atoms suddenly decided to come together and form a universe that functions with a flawless system of organization, discipline, reason, and consciousness; a planet named Earth with all of its features so perfectly suited to life; and living things full of countless complex systems.

In fact, the incident of the Prophet Moses (as) and Pharaoh is related in the Qur'an to show that some people who support atheistic philosophies actually influence others by magic. When Pharaoh was told about the true religion, he told the Prophet Moses (as) to meet with his own magicians. When the Prophet Moses (as) did so, he told them to demonstrate their abilities first. The verses continue:

He said: "You throw." And when they threw, they cast a spell on the people's eyes and caused them to feel great fear of them. They produced an extremely powerful magic. (Surat al-A'raf, 116)

As we have seen, Pharaoh's magicians were able to deceive everyone, apart from the Prophet Moses (as) and those who believed in him. However, his evidence broke the spell, or "swallowed up what they had forged," as revealed in the verse:

We revealed to Moses: "Throw down your staff." And it immediately swallowed up what they had forged. So the Truth took place and what they did was shown to be false. (Surat al-A'raf, 117-118)

As we can see, when people realized that a spell had been cast upon them and that what they saw was just an illusion, Pharaoh's magicians lost all credibility. In the present day too, unless those who, under the influence of a similar spell, believe in these ridiculous claims under their scientific disguise and spend their lives defending them, abandon their superstitious beliefs, they also will be humiliated when the full truth emerges and the spell is broken. In fact, world-renowned British writer and philosopher Malcolm Muggeridge, who was an atheist defending evolution for some 60 years, but who subsequently realized the truth, reveals the position in which the theory of evolution would find itself in the near future in these terms:

_I myself am convinced that the theory of evolution, especially the extent to which it's been applied, will be one of the great jokes in the history books in the future. Posterity will marvel that so very flimsy and dubious an hypothesis could be accepted with the incredible credulity that it has._ 21

That future is not far off: On the contrary, people will soon see that "chance" is not a deity, and will look back on **the theory of evolution as the worst deceit and the most terrible spell in the world.** That spell is already rapidly beginning to be lifted from the shoulders of people all over the world. Many people who see its true face are wondering with amazement how they could ever have been taken in by it.

They said, "Glory be to You! We have no knowledge  
except what You have taught us. You are the  
All-Knowing, the All-Wise."  
(Surat al-Baqara, 32)

# Notes

1. Sidney Fox, Klaus Dose, Molecular Evolution and The Origin of Life, W. H. Freeman and Company, San Francisco, 1972, p. 4.

2. Alexander I. Oparin, Origin of Life, Dover Publications, NewYork, 1936, 1953 (reprint), p. 196.

3. "New Evidence on Evolution of Early Atmosphere and Life," Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, vol 63, November 1982, 1328-1330.

4. Stanley Miller, Molecular Evolution of Life: Current Status of the Prebiotic Synthesis of Small Molecules, 1986,

p. 7.

5. Jeffrey Bada, Earth, February 1998, p. 40.

6. Leslie E. Orgel, "The Origin of Life on Earth," Scientific American, vol. 271, October 1994, p. 78.

7. Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, The Modern Library, New York, p. 127.

8. Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species: A Facsimile of the First Edition, Harvard University Press, 1964, p. 184.

9. B. G. Ranganathan, Origins?, Pennsylvania: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1988, p. 7.

10. Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species: A Facsimile of the First Edition, p. 179.

11. Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species, p. 172.

12. Derek A. Ager, "The Nature of the Fossil Record," Proceedings of the British Geological Association, vol 87, 1976, p. 133.

13. Douglas J. Futuyma, Science on Trial, Pantheon Books, New York, 1983, p. 197.

14. Solly Zuckerman, Beyond The Ivory Tower, Toplinger Publications, New York, 1970, 75-14; Charles E. Oxnard, "The Place of Australopithecines in Human Evolution: Grounds for Doubt", Nature, vol 258, 389.

15. "Could science be brought to an end by scientists' belief that they have final answers or by society's reluctance to pay the bills?" Scientific American, December 1992, p. 20.

16. Alan Walker, Science, vol. 207, 7 March 1980, p. 1103; A. J. Kelso, Physical Antropology, 1st ed., J. B. Lipincott Co., New York, 1970, p. 221; M. D. Leakey, Olduvai Gorge, vol. 3, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1971, p. 272.

17. Jeffrey Kluger, "Not So Extinct After All: The Primitive Homo Erectus May Have Survived Long Enough To Coexist With Modern Humans," Time, 23 December 1996.

18. S. J. Gould, Natural History, vol. 85, 1976, p. 30.

19. Solly Zuckerman, Beyond The Ivory Tower, p. 19.

20. Richard Lewontin, "The Demon-Haunted World," The New York Review of Books, January 9, 1997, p. 28.

21. Malcolm Muggeridge, The End of Christendom, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1980, p. 43.

# Back Cover

Slander is one of the ugly methods used by some dishonest and immoral people whose interests have been damaged, and thus are angry, and full of ill-feeling toward the people with whom they are in competition or whom they desire to hurt. In societies that are far removed from religious morality and so do not live by Allah's will, it is frequently used to put others in a bad light.

This book deals with a certain type of slander, which has been handed down from generation to generation over thousands of years as if it were an inheritance: that used by those who do not believe in religion to harm believers, whether physically or spiritually.

The Qur'an reveals that all of Allah's messengers and other devout people who called their societies to abide by the Qur'an's morality stood accused of avarice, madness, arrogance, theft, and fornication. By Allah's leave, however, every piece of slander has come to nothing. These people always displayed exemplary patience and reliance upon Allah when confronted with slander, disregarded such efforts, and continued to live by the morality ordained by Allah and invite people to the righteous path.

## About the Author

Adnan Oktar, who writes under the pen-name Harun Yahya, was born in Ankara in 1956. Since the 1980s, the author has published many books on faith-related, scientific and political issues. He is well-known as the author of important works disclosing the imposture of evolutionists, their invalid claims, and the dark liaisons between Darwinism and such bloody ideologies as fascism and communism.

All of the author's works share one single goal: to convey the Qur'an's message, encourage readers to consider basic faith-related issues such as Allah's existence and unity and the Hereafter; and to expose irreligious systems' feeble foundations and perverted ideologies. His more than 300 works, translated into 63 different languages, enjoy a wide readership across the world.

By the will of Allah, the books of Harun Yahya will be a means through which people in the twenty-first century will attain the peace, justice, and happiness promised in the Qur'an.

