The Holy Quran is today a book whose traslations are
easily accessible in all languages. A book that has been
considered, by Muslims, to be the most invaluable treasure
that mankind has ever been endowed with. It has remained a
book that has been unconquered, for fourteen centuries, by
the challenges posed by the antagonists of Islam. It is not for
the first time that the spearhead of Rationalism has been turned
against it. As was the case in the northern parts of the world,
our country, too, stands witness to the fact that it was the
greatest opponents of the Holy Quran who were to eventually
become its greatest supporters. Howsoever that may be, there
yet continues to be a section of the Muslims themselves who
have not subjected the Holy Quran to a study in all the

seriousness that it deserved; even to the present day. Based
on the flimsiest hearsay, an even smaller section continues to
harbour within themselves a completely distorted idea, as
regards the Quran.
How, then, is the Holy Quran to be understood? One
way to do that would be to carry out a comparative analysis
with the other existing scriptures in the world. Another way
would be to subject its linguistic specialities and literary beauty
to a closer scrutiny. The authenticity of its contents as well as
its practicality, too, should be the other factors that must be
evaluated.
Mankind has at its disposal, all the religious texts that
are in the Indian, Chinese, Persian, Egyptian and Hebrew
languages. Beside these, there are numerous other world
classics that include poems and stories as well. But which
among these can claim for itself the ability to lead forward
humanity, as a whole, in the varied fields of its life along the
straight path of the faith and action simultaneously? Although
not in the form of complete books, literary works were extant
in the Arabic language even before the Holy Quran, right
from the code of the emperor Hammurabi to the Muallaqath
which was a collection of poetry. Arabic literature has been
enriched with many valuable works after the advent of the
Holy Quran also. There were also the world famous Arabian
classics to reckon with. The works of poetry of authors from
Jarir to Jibraan, the prose literature of scholars from Jaahidh
to Taha Hussain: these were to be the invaluable gems of

Arabian literature.
Then, as now, there continues to exist a vociferous
opposition to the literary value of the Holy Quran. There has
also been no dearth of people who, in praising the Graeco-
Roman literature and the Egyptian and Persian civilizations,
have taken them to the greatest heights. The fact remains,
however, that there has not been another book to rival the
Holy Quran in having ascertained the destiny of the Arabic
language and the very course of world civilization itself. A
linguistic appreciation can only serve to highlight the point
that the language of the Holy Quran is, in itself, the modern
Arabic language. The formation of a few novel technical
usages aside, we can say that the Arabic language of fourteen
centuries past is seen to have not faced any basic changes
even today. Furthermore, as a dynamic and living language
that has actively met, over the ages, the exigencies of a
changing communication scenario, it is completely free of
any shortcoming whatsoever.
A book is revealed in the dialect of fourteenth century
Hijaaz. It was a time when the Arabic language had regional
variations of its dialect. But, thenceforth, the Arabic language
was to have but one single dialect alone. That book had
obtained for that dialect the very status of immortality itself.
Along with the Holy Quran, its language too attained to its
eternal blossoming of youth. The idea will be made more
clear with a few comparisons - comparisons which show how,
in history, other classics were left behind in the lurch as their
language moved on ahead of them. The linguistic style of the

Greek with which Homer’s Illiad and Odyssey were written,
the style of the Persian in which was written Zend Avesta of
Zoroaster, the style of the Tamil in which Tiru Kural was
written, the style of the Sanskrit with which Mahabharath
was written, the style of the English of Shakespeare: none of
these dialects are the living languages of today. This fact,
when evaluated properly, can only lead to the acceptance of
the incomparable nature of the Holy Quran.
The Holy Quran’s has been a literary style that stands
distinguished in the Arabic language. A style remarkable for
its impeccable balance between prose and poetry. It has not
been a few who have attempted to create literary works using
that most inimitable of linguistic expressions. Nevertheless,
they were never able to achieve any degree of success in
their endeavour.
All, except one, of its chapters begin with the verse
Bismillahi Rahimani Raheem. Look at its preface or The
Fathiha. There is mention, therein, neither of the context in
which it was written nor of the nature of its contents. On the
contrary, however, nothing has been left out to make of the
preface a serious call and exhortation to study a scripture
that is of the utmost importance. Look at the first chapter
that follows after the preface of the Holy Quran! The chapter
which begins in the name of the Most Merciful God starts,
thus: ‘Alif-Lam-Meem. This, indeed, is the Book wherein
there is no doubt.’ Alif, Lam and Meem are three characters
of the Arabic alphabets. These are some of the most repeated
alphabets of the language. Indeed, all texts in Arabic are but
the combination of these alphabets. However, none of the

authors of such texts have ever dared, with any degree of
certitude, to lay claim to the complete veracity of their own
work. But the Holy Quran has declared, at the very outset,
that it, in itself, is Al Kitab or ‘the Book’ in which there is no
doubt. The mighty changes in the world, wrought by the Holy
Quran, and its ability to overcome all the contemporary
civilizations of the day will serve to prove the genuineness of
its claim. Which other classic work in the Arabic language
has so survived the vicissitudes of the ages and managed, at
the same time, to continue to ever remain as the foundation
of true guidance for millions of the human race, in the domain
of word, thought and deed, and that too, despite the changes
that sweep over the centuries?
The Holy Quran then dwells upon the nature of its
contents. “It is a guidance for those who are ever conscious
of God.” Even the rationalists, who tend to let fly their arrows
of criticism against the Holy Quran, do not deny the fact that
the well-regulated life of a believer in the Holy Quran, who
follows the commandments mentioned therein, never goes
astray or is spoiled. Those who claim that the Holy Quran is
medieval, backward, an obstacle to progress and the like have
never - not even once - ventured to study the matter in some
depth. Take a look at the legal decrees in the Holy Quran! All
mankind is to be shown kindness and mercy, the surplus of
one’s earned wealth, that comes beyond one’s needs, must
be spent on those who are poor and destitute in a fashion that
has been exactly prescribed, the orphans and the downtrodden
are to be helped, parents are to be treated with the
utmost respect and care; indeed, they are to be supported

and aided in their old age, children are to be shown kindness
and love, one’s speech and gait must bespeak of humility,
others must be thought of, and talked of, in favourable terms,
the purity of the marriage must be well guarded, men and
women are to observe modesty in their talk, behaviour and
apparel. Nobody has yet claimed that any of these observances
are irrational, an obstacle to progress, or is unfit for the high
status of humanity. It is, indeed, strange to note that it is the
very same people, who had cried out that religion was the
enemy of science, who have now acknowledged most of these
values in their own concept of morality i.e., the Socialist
Morality as they name it.
The very same observance, if proclaimed in the name
of God is found to be backward! If in the name of the socialist
ideologue, progressive! Strange, indeed, are their ways!
Now look at the prohibitions of the Holy Quran! Kill
no man unjustly, spill not even a drop of blood without justice,
do not commit adultery, do not slander chaste women, do
not commit theft, do not drink intoxicants, do not gamble,
do not be a spendthrift, do not misappropriate the wealth of
the orphan, do not tamper with the rights of the destitute, do
not lie, do not abuse, do not cheat, do not adulterate, do not
backbite and slander, do not entertain jealousy and malice,
do not commit injustice in the matter of weights and measures,
do not take or give in interest. Such, then, is the nature of the
prohibitions of the Holy Quran. It is felt that none, not even
the rationalist, would come out with the declaration that these
prohibitions are but taboos which only serve to curtail the

freedom and progress of man and that these are but the most
outdated of injunctions. This is so because even the
materialists of our day realize that no society, which accepts
the insinuation of the Satan as its guide, can ever hope to
survive. It is also for the same reason that they have now
ventured to concoct a separate religion of humanism by
borrowing wholesale from the Divine Guidance while at the
same time, openly rejecting God.
Now, if it is the expositions of the Holy Quran
pertaining to nature, life and man, and not its commandments
or prohibitions, that are against rational thought, then we
can proceed, henceforth, to a factual discussion of the same.
What is the essence of the Quranic vision? One of the
most important concepts of the Islamic vision has been the
fact that the entire universe has not come into being by itself
and that all in it follow the most meticulously planned system
of laws created by an Almighty Creator. Another crucial facet
continues to be the vision of singular devotion to the Creator
and the free will as well as the duties of man. The other
fundamental issues revolve around the belief in Divine
Revelation, the Soul, the Angels, the Devil and the concepts
of Hell and Paradise. It is the contention of the rationalists
that all these are superstitions contrary to science and rational
thought and that this ‘irrational’ Quran was but the fabrication
of the prophet Muhammad ( ) who had sought to use it for
the fulfilment of his own vested interests. However, the
rationalists have not pointed out any law in the fields of
science, or philosophy, which has been contradicted by Divine

revelation. Has science conclusively proved that the
conglomeration of matter in the effulgent, burning stars, has,
through a process of consistent and continuous evolution,
finally developed into the human brain - the highest form of
living matter - without the aid of any external agency
whatsoever? Has there been any law in philosophy that has
sought to establish the idea that the vast system of the physical
universe, which spans the space occupied by the entities from
the Nebulae to the plant-animal kingdoms, has come into
being by coincidence without the planning and control of any?
It is on the basis of the law of conservation of mass
and energy that the rationalists, today, seek to establish the
spontaneity and self-sustaining capability of the Universe. It
has been the contention of this law that energy is but the
differentiated form of matter and that matter can be converted
into energy even as energy can be transformed into matter.
This theory, however, points to the inevitability of the belief
in God. Indeed, it was for this very reason that Albert Einstein,
the formulator of the concept of Energy-Mass
interconvertability, himself had expressed the necessity of an
unknown, but calculating, Power behind the delicate, yet
complex; systematic, yet magnificently ordered, functioning
of all the entities in the universe. The reason for such a
necessity? Atoms of any element matter can, in no wise, be
transformed into energy in the absence of an external agency.
Moreover, no atom can assist another in converting it into
pure energy without the aid of an external source. In other
words, if mass is to be converted into energy, the process of
fission, or fusion, must occur. These processes, in turn, would

require the intervention of an external agency. The
fundamental point, however, is not about the possibility of
the conversion of energy into mass by any means. The basic
question, in fact, revolves around whether bands of pure
energy can be changed into mass without any influence of an
external force. If it is conceded that any transformation of a
physical nature necessitates the process of fusion, or of fission
or of acceleration, the requirement of an outside force, for
the removal of the inertia of the basic matter and initiating
the movement of the wheel of evolution, becomes inevitable.
Merely exposing the movement within the basic atom will
not be sufficient. For even a rock or piece of iron, which is
made up of the conglomeration of billions of such basic atoms,
is, after all, inanimate in their existence. Even if they were to
possess an intricate order, it certainly cannot come about in a
haphazard, or unplanned manner. For instance, to state that
the dense matter which exploded in the Big Bang event
gave rise to the formation of stars, planets and satellites, all
of which soon developed their very own identities and
peculiarities that were truly unique in themselves, while yet
evolving of their own, the regulatory motion and orbits with
which they were to be associated, through the ‘glorious’
uncertainty begotten of the randomness of a chance happening
is but to state what is, by the standards of probability theory
and the Law of Causality, in its entirety, untenable.
This discussion may proceed with a greater degree of
clarity if carried out in the light of the facts about the solar
system that mankind has so far ascertained. Right from its
birth, the sun has ever kept on burning. Planets and satellites,

on the other hand, do not burn. In fact, the major part of
these bodies have been cooled and their temperature subdued.
With the exception of the earth all other planets are subject
to the cosmic rays and ultraviolet radiations emitted by the
sun. As for the earth, it has been, to a great extent, wellprotected
from the hazards of ultraviolet radiation by the
atmosphere which blankets its surface in a number of layers.
Indeed, in the absence of the atmosphere which exists as the
earth’s protecting blanket - as its very own, invisible roof -
no life, whether of the plant or the animal kingdom, would
have originated or progressed on its surface. Had it not been
for this atmospheric roof no cloud, rain or wind would ever
have been possible here.
Now, look carefully upon even the smallest segment
of this earth. One among the plants - all of which grow upon
the same soil, use the very same water, draw the nutrients for
their growth from the same fertilizer - is found to taste bitter
in its fruit. The fruit of yet another plant is found to be sweet
and another has sour fruit. The flower of one plant is red
while its fruit is yellow in colour. Yet another has its flower
white while its fruit is green; a third one has blue flowers and
red fruits. Different colours, distinct tastes. Some plants yield
their fruit several times a year, some only once, others once
in twelve years. Yet another plant blossoms only once in thirty
six years after which it dies out. The sweetness of the orange
is not to be found in the soil or in the water or in the fertilizer.
The acidity of lime, too, is absent there. The red colour of
the tomato or the yellowish hue of the banana is also nonexistent
therein. The typical characteristics of shape, scent

and flavour of these fruits are manifested as per the unwritten
law prescribed in their very own genetic code which preserves
the hereditary traits of each generation.
Observe the various life forms that range from the
microscopic to the human being. We witness diverse systems
of reproduction, differing tastes and preferences, varying
systems of habitation, the bond of the ecological cycle that
holds together the life-forms in the preservation of the
equilibrium of nature and of the immunity from environmental
degradation. Indeed, the animal kingdom is the very melting
pot of innumerable wonders!
Look at man himself : the possessor of an
incomparable freedom of existence worthy of his status of
vicegerency on earth; of an intelligence that enables him to
perceive and utilize effectively all that comes within the range
of his eyes, hands and ears; of an ability of conveying to his
own species, through languages, the ideas of the mind and,
that too, with an originality, a clarity and a comprehensiveness
all of its own; of a lasting script that helps convert the sayings
and speeches into permanently inscribed lines; of clothes that
provide for the personality of the wearer; of means of
transportation and of other innumerable specialities.
Specialities, all of which, serve only to further distinguish,
and maintain aloof, their position from amongst the tens of
thousands of other existing life-forms. Can any one say with
certainty that these phenomena of nature, which function in
the most wonderfully systematic fashion, evolved from the
coincidental breaking-up, or conjoining, of different bodies?

The Holy Quran has repeatedly asserted that the coincidence
- whatever the extent to which it can be stretched - will never
be able to exist as the convincing reason for the systematic
functioning of the universe. Indeed, this fact, and this fact
alone, has been the very cause of the hostility of the rationalists
towards the Holy Quran.
The Holy Quran says:
“Behold! In the creation of the heavens and the
earth; in the alternation of the night and the day; in the
sailing of the ships through the ocean for the profit of
mankind; in the rain which Allah sends down from the
skies, and the life which He gives therewith to an earth
that is dead; in the beasts of all kinds that He scatters
through the earth; in the change of the winds, and the
clouds which they trail like their slaves between the sky
and the earth; (here) indeed are Signs for a people that
are wise.” (2:164).
All the facts mentioned in this verse constitute the
clearest of the pageants of nature that must compel the mind
of any intelligent person in any age. Can any among the
intelligent claim that all these phenomena occur as the result
of mere coincidence? Look at a section in which the Holy
Quran points out the reason, and the primary purpose, for
the worship of God:
“O ye people! Worship your Guardian Lord, Who
created you and those who came before you that ye may
become righteous, Who has made the earth your couch,

And the heavens your canopy; and sent down rain from
the skies; and brought forth therewith fruits for your
sustenance; then set not up rivals unto Allah when ye
know (the truth).” (2:21,22).
Here, the Holy Quran talks not of the God of a
particular sect, but of the God of all mankind in all ages and
of the Lord of the entire universe itself. If man were to submit
to that God and order his life in accordance with His guidance,
it would serve to profit him and him alone; never God Himself.
It becomes obvious that those who claim that man
need not work for the benefit of God have, in fact,
misunderstood the concept themselves. Man is enabled to
avoid sins by submitting the whole of his life to the decrees
of God. What if the case was different? If it were otherwise,
man would find himself devastated in the pit-falls of his own
making.
“ ...Thus doth Allah make clear to you (His Law),
lest ye err. And Allah hath knowledge of all things.” (Holy
Quran 4:176)
What then should be the reason for man’s indebtedness
to God? Firstly, it is that he has been endowed with a special
existence. Then comes the fact that he has been provided
with the requirements for his all-round growth.
In this context, special mention must be made of the
earth which has been spread out even as a carpet, the sky
which has been made as a roof and fruits which have been

provided abundantly. Upto this day, there has been no
indication of a place, wheresoever, within the piercing
surveillance of science, wherein man could stretch out and
rest on what would be the seeming comfort of a bed: a bed
on which he may rest free of the hazards of deadly cosmic
rays, without having his head broken by falling materials,

without the need for carrying around an oxygen cylinder
wherever he may go. This, indeed, has been the speciality of
the earth. If only the rationalists who attack Islam with the
flimsiest of allegations that Muhammad’s earth is like a mat
spread out or is as round as the circle, had ever so much as
understood just the meaning of the Arabic term Firaash used
in the verse 2:22 !
What has been the reason for the opposition of
environmental scientists towards supersonic jets? It has ever
been due to the fear that the fissures which these planes create
within the atmospheric layers cause the infiltration of lethal
cosmic rays on to the earth and thereby exposes it to piercing
materials which would ultimately lead to the annihilation of
all life on earth. For it is these layers of the atmospheric
roofing which burns out and destroys the incoming meteorites.
It is also the atmosphere which is responsible for filtering out
the harmful cosmic radiations. The fluctuations in the

atmospheric condition further results in the change of the
seasons and in the rains themselves. The life-sustaining
Oxygen and the life-giving water of the earth are two of the
most incomparable and indispensable constituents of nature.
Both of these we receive, unstintingly, from the atmospheric
roofing overhead. Of that roofing the Holy Quran states
elsewhere that,
“And We have made the skies as a canopy well
guarded: yet do they turn away from the Signs which
these things (point to)!” (H.Q. 21:32).
MATERIALISM AND THE CONCEPT OF
CREATION
t was for facing the unanswerable questions which
were encountered by mere materialism that the theory of
dialectical materialism was formulated. Karl Marx was the
founder of this concept. The crux of this theory is that new
things and species emerge from the contradictions within the
varying forms of matter. Those unaffected by lapses of the
intellect can only find themselves lost in the jargon of the
philosophers of dialectical materialism who try in vain to
reconcile themselves to the idea that there exists a dualism
between the tree and its seed, the mother and her child, and
the hen and her eggs; that the mango is, in fact, the very
negation of the mango-tree and that the egg is similarly the
negation of the hen herself.

The Holy Quran has, however, explicitly stated that
all material things, including the plant-animal species were
created by God in pairs. Indeed, the world of matter owes its
sustenance and progress to the co-operative and symbiotic
nature of the creatures that have been created in pairs with
all the rich diversity that they represent in themselves. The
Divinely ordained sense of mutuality and co-operation is, in
fact, the projection of the grandest norm in nature; never the
contradictory insinuation begotten of perverted minds. To a
keen observer of the pairs that exists in nature, the hard fact
of experience is that it is, indeed, the sense of co-operation
which permeates the vivid variety and not the conflicting
contradictions, that form the summum bonum of nature. If
the evolution of the plants and the animals had all occurred
merely as a product of chance happenings and not through
the agency of a purposeful planning, it stands contrary to all
the laws of causality that the entire range of Genus and Species
should have evolved in pairs. The rationalists have mocked
at the religious view using the old story of a pope who had
grossly miscalculated the age of the earth. However, the Holy

Quran has not spoken of anything that may seem irrational
when it comes to the same subject. There is nothing
unbelievable, whatsoever, in the Quranic statement that the
universe was created in six stages. Another declaration of
the Holy Quran has been that of the earth and the heavens
being one unit of creation before God rent them asunder.
Indeed, this assertion, in an age where there was not the
slightest notion of the intricate relationship between the origins
of the heavenly bodies and the earth, stands as one of the
most lasting and powerful testimonies to the super-human
quality of the Holy Quran.
The reference to the two easts and two wests as well
as to the rotation of the day around the night and the rotation
of the night around the day are, indeed, proofs of the superhuman
nature of the Holy Quran. These statements do not,
in any way, refer to the flat or stationary nature of the earth.

Indeed, the Holy Quran points to an earth that is round and
rotating.
Although some amongst the rationalists regard with
contempt the statement of the Holy Quran to the effect that
the mountains are the pegs that maintain the equilibrium of
the earth, the seismographic studies carried out by soviet
experts on the formation of lunar craters created by the impact
of falling debris have led to the clear fact of the solid
foundation which the mountains provide the earth with. The
structure of the mountains which run deep into the earth as
well as the role of the mountains in preserving the balance of
the earth - both are, today, the subjects of deep study. The
Holy Quran which refers to the sun as a lamp and the moon
as a light indicates the profound idea of astronomy which
would never have been known to any Arab of the seventh
century. The sun does, indeed, burn like a lamp. The moon
but reflects the light that falls upon it.
MAN - IN THE QURAN AND
RATIONALISM
an, in the view of the rationalists, is but a species that
emanated from a succeeding generation of the primates which
coincidentally lost the tail, had the spinal cord erect and the
structure of the jaw bone altered. The Holy Quran, however,
helps man in discovering himself by pointing out the wonderful
aspects of the human creation while highlighting the peaks of

greatness that man can achieve as the most special, most
beautiful and incomparable creation of God even as he can
equally plunge to the depths and degradations of the darkness
that is also before him.
“Behold! thy Lord said to the angels: ‘I will create
a vicegerent on earth.”(H.Q. 2:30)
The Holy Quran recounts the declaration of God in
connection with the creation of the first man: “And He taught
Adam the name of all things..”(H.Q. 2:31)
God enabled him in understanding the name and nature
of all things and to master all in a fashion that aided him in
the free fulfillment of his mission on earth.
The Quran presents a very believable study of the
nature in which man, of all the tens of thousands of animals,
came into possession of the independent faculties and
tremendous knowledge which are to be found in none of the
others. Perhaps it is for traditional science to say that the
stump of the lost tail of the ancestor further evolved into the
ability and knowledge of man!
“The Most Gracious! It is He Who has taught the
Quran. He has created man : He has taught him an
intelligent speech.” (H.Q. 55:1-4)
“Proclaim! And thy Lord is most Bountiful, He
Who taught (the use of) the Pen” (H.Q. 96:3,4)

In making man really a man, in making man a civilized
being, in making man a man of the letters, in making man a
scientist, in all such cases words and writings play a crucial
role all of their own. Not since time immemorial has a single
one of the animals that inhabit the face of the earth in their
tens of thousands ever uttered a word of a speech. Never
have they made pictures or letters. It is only man, and man
alone, who actually did both. And both combined to provide
his life with an incomparable richness and vista of breathtaking
vision. He was thus made the leader - the Khalifa - of
the earth. Amongst the animals, it is only man who has
employed the means of his transportation. It was he, and he
alone, who wore clothes. In this context, too, it is but a very
believable account which the Holy Quran presents.
“We have indeed created man in the best of

moulds, Then do We abase him (to be) the lowest of the
low” (H.Q. 95:4-5)
It is only when man submits his great abilities to a life
of service that his existence finds its highest fulfillment and
joy. When those same abilities are used in hurting and
exploiting, man degrades himself to levels below that of the
animals. In which other book can we find such an authoritative
and factual exposition of the intricacies of human nature?
Indeed, the Quranic vision of the objective of human life is
rational; is ennobling and of the highest standard. The man
who submit his whole life to God while on the sound soil of
goodness, has already vouchsafed, as it were, the eternal
nobility of existence both during his sojourn in this world as
well as in the life hereafter. It is peace of mind and true
satisfaction of the self which ennobles the life of a believer in.

God. The blessing of God forms his shelter and retreat in this
world as well as in Paradise. All the seeming losses incurred
by a believer is then turned into the highest gains. All sacrifices
made are transformed into the greatest achievements. As for
the rationalist, he ends up being a fool who wasted an entire
lifetime for yet other fools like himself. The rationalist shows
no hesitation, whatsoever, in attaining martyrdom as a member
of a cohesive group that would strive for a better tomorrow
even at the cost of their own lives. He has nothing to gain no
matter whose head it is above which will rise this dawn of a
good, or a bad, tomorrow. According to the rationalists, with
his death any leader of a non-zero stature ends up as a zero
after all. All the wreaths, memorials and reminders that follow
are but myths, deception and the masks of hypocritical
pretension. There is, however, one consolation: that he has
not died; that he yet lives on in the hearts of millions of the
masses. Indeed, Rationalism is nothing but the vain attempt
to redress the rags of rebirth in a coloured and misleading
hue. The rationality of the idea that the soul of the leader
lives on after his death within the hearts of the people has not
been established in the scriptures of rationalist philosophy. In
any event, it is the picture of the greater leader of equality
standing out, like a set of protruding teeth, in a virtual
graveyard of equality itself. A much bigger zero amongst a
gathering of zeroes.

MISUNDERSTANDINGS, ACCUSATIONS


Islam promotes human sacrifices and other
superstitions.’ ‘Islam opposes the equality of women.’ ‘Islam
has maintained slavery.’ The rationalists have attacked Islam
with such and similar accusations. Where has the Holy Quran
encouraged human scarifices? In fact, the Quran contains the
reference to the test of Ibrahim’s willingness to sacrifice all
before God, to the fact that he did not have to sacrifice his
son and, instead, was only commanded by Allah to sacrifice
an animal as a symbolic gesture. It is difficult to understand
the exact portion here which is found to be unacceptable by
the rationalists. If it is the opposition to the idea of sacrifice
itself, it is indeed a most irrational stand. All of past history
as well as contemporary events testify to the fact that it is
only those who are prepared to sacrifice all their things of
value, including their lives, who will ultimately attain an
eventual and lasting victory. A warrior is always faced with
the very real possibility of sacrificing his own life. Sometimes
it will be his limbs that will have to be sacrificed. Whether in
play or in seriousness many sacrifices will be required to
attain victory.
While a believer in religion is always alive to, and
conscious of, the value of sacrifice, a rationalist but tends to
fall in a swoon in the event of having to make one himself.
There is the least consternation on the side of the
rationalist if a man were to have illicit sexual relationship
with more than one woman, if he were to enjoy the sight of
the naked female body and if he were to make a merchandise

of feminine charms. No such concern has, to date, been voiced
or witnessed. The wife at home, the stenographer in the office,
the guide in the journey, the call-girl at the hotel.... this list of
plural female relationships has never been seen to have come
in for the criticism of the rationalists. There have even been
the rational giants who wrote about the idea that it is
scientifically and physiologically a necessity to give vent to
the impulses of the husband, who has been forced to starve
sexually owing to the pregnancy, delivery, or monthly periods
of his wife, at the caberrets. However, if a man were to accept
more than one wife lawfully, responsibly and in keeping with
justice, the rationalists come out with the view that this is a
perversion and a gross immorality. The Quran has,
conditionally, given the permission to marry upto four women.
However, Islam permits polygamy only to the person who is
certain that he will be able to show fairness to his wives.
Some rationalists immediately ask the question as to why it
was, then, that Islam disallowed polyandry? Polygamy is a
system which invariably guarantees the knowledge of the
identity of the father as well as the mother in the wedlock.
But, what of Polyandry? Here, the father figure is but a vague
representation. Clearly then, Islam allowed for a system that
identifies the father and the mother. To the dubious credit of
the rationalists, then, went the system which identifies not
the father.
When Islam made its re-entry onto the scene, slavery
was a system that was rampant not only within the precincts
of Arabia but also over all the other places on earth. Indeed,
It had become ingrained within the very civilizational and

economic ethos of that region. Thus it was that the messenger,
pledged as he was to the intellectual transformation of the
masses, sought first and foremost to remove the miseries that
had become the lot of the slaves. To this end, the services
rendered by the prophet and his followers stand beyond
enumeration. Indeed, the Quran declared that the first hurdle
in attaining to the Islamic solution for the problems facing
humanity was the abolition of slavery.
The Quran recommended the freeing of slaves as an
act of expiation for many a sin. Under no circumstances was
a Muslim to have the right to enslave a free man. Important
too, is the fact that the Quran has not prescribed the making
of slaves out of prisoners-of-war. In fact, the Quran has
instructed that they were either to be let off or to be held
solely for the ransom value they were worth.
Women’s right to inheritance has been yet another of
the points raised by the critics. But what of the economic
duty of the woman? It has become the habit of the critics,
now, to remain silent over that question. No matter what the
role of the woman-whether it be as a daughter, or a sister, a
wife or a mother or even a grand mother - Islam has never
imposed upon her the duty of meeting the family’s living
expenditure. The male who has come of age, however, is to
bear the burden of his own as well as his family’s cost of
living. It is only when this fact, too, is taken into account that
the real justice shown to women by Islam becomes easily
comprehensible. It is pertinent here to note the fact that C.P.
Shreedharan had greatly praised the all-encompassing and
just family laws of Islam in his exhaustive preface to the
comparative study of sexuality in different cultures in the
encyclopaedic work on sex education published by Moral