Five Major Misconceptions about Evolution

Berikut adalah artikel yang menjelaskan tentang beberapa perkara yang kerap kali disalah anggap berkenaan teori evolusi. Boleh dibaca pada link yang berikut.

Five Major Misconceptions about Evolution

Dalam beberapa hari lagi, saya akan tuliskan terjemahan artikel untuk kemudahan para pembaca memahami isi kandungannya. Saya tahu bila ada artikel Inggeris mesti ramai yang scroll terus tanpa membaca.

Apapun, ini cuma dari perspektif saya. Tidak semestinya blogger lain dalam blog ini bersetuju dengan saya. Perkara ini masih dibuka untuk perbincangan.

Bacaan Yang Mesti

1. Evolution and Islam
2. Does Islam Refute Evolution?
3. God Made Evolution
4. Evolution, Creation or Both? (credit to schoolmate)
5. Intelligent Design on Trial
   

KFC: Kentucky Fried Cruelty

Ibnu Zakaria*
Madrasah Said Hawwa Research Foundation,
School of Dentistry,
North Sumatera University

Ayam disiat kulit hidup-hidup, paruhnya dicabut, cacat. Apa anda tidak tahu mengenai Resipi Rahsia Kolonel?

A. Tahukah anda?

Disebalik kelazatan ayam KFC hingga pengguna “menjilat jari”, apa sebenarnya yang berlaku? Hakikatnya, ia begitu mengerikan, sangat kejam! Tahukah anda, ayam yang di ternak untuk KFC dihentak-hentak, disepak dan dihumban ke lantai serta dinding?

Tidak cukup dengan itu, paruhnya di cabut dan kepalanya dipulas. Air tembakau di titik ke dalam mata dan mulut. Muka di cat, sementara tubuhnya di tekan dengan terlalu kuat hingga terkeluar najis.

Islam, Ad-din yang paling mulia disisi Allah Swt. menekankan bahawa spesies yang dianggap kurang penting atau berbahaya sekali pun berhak menerima layanan yang baik dari komuniti masyarakat. Allah SWT berfirman dalam Al-Quran:

“Dan tiadalah binatang yang ada di bumi dan burung yang terbang dengan kedua sayapnya, melainkan umat-umat juga seperti kamu.” (QS Al-An’am [6]:38)

“Wahai sekalian manusia, makanlah yang halal lagi baik dari apa yang terdapat di bumi...” (QS Al-Baqarah [2]:168)

Inilah hasil siasatan di rumah sembelihan KFC di Moorefield, Virginia barat, Amerika Syarikat, yang dikeluarkan oleh People For The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), pertubuhan hak binatang terbesar di dunia, pada 20 Julai 2004 yang lalu. Lokasi itu dipilih kerana merupakan tapak majlis penganugerahan “Supplier of the Year” KFC pada tahun 1997.



PETA melaporkan, “Penyembelihan paling kejam yang dialami oleh ayam di ladang dan rumah penyembelihan pembekal KFC, termasuklah disiat hidup-hidup dan lumpuh sepanjang hayat”

Dr. Ian Duncan, Profesor Ethologi Gunaan dan Pengerusi Universiti bagi Kajian Haiwan, Universiti Guelph berkata,

“Pita berkenaan memaparkan adegan-adegan paling kejam yang pernah saya saksikan ke atas ayam”.

Salah seorang bekas pekerja melaporkan kepada PETA, keserakahan itu berlaku sampai ayam terkeluar biji mata, tulang patah, bahagian tubuh hilang dan cacat, disiat kulit hidup-hidup dan tubuh dihancurkan.

B. Fakta mengenai KFC

KFC merupakan rangkaian makanan segera ayam terbesar didunia dengan pulangan di seluruh dunia sebanyak RM28.6 bilion pada tahun 2002. Di Malaysia, KFC adalah rangkaian restoran perkhidmatan cepat yang utama, dengan lebih daripada 330 restoran dan lebih 50% daripada pasaran saham.

Ia merupakan sebuah syarikat awam tersenarai di papan utama Bursa Saham Kuala Lumpur dan telah menjadi salah satu perintis dalam industri makanan segera Malaysia.

C. Adakah ia berlaku di sini?

Sejauh mana proses penternakan ayam kita berperikemanusiaan dan bersih? Mungkinkah penyiksaan di ladang ternakan ayam luar negara turut berlaku disini? Adakah kita mengalami risiko akibat implikasi kesihatan serupa?

Apabila memperkatakan mengenai layanan yang berperikemanusiaan, tiada siapa yang tahu betapa besarnya masalah itu. Namun, hasil pemeriksaan rambang CAP (Consumers Association of Penang) ke atas ladang ternakan ayam sering mendedahkan keadaan ladang yang kotor dan penyalahgunaan antibiotik secara berleluasa. Memicu kepada timbulnya pelbagai penyakit dalam masyarakat terutama para penggemar fastfood ini. Sebagaimana yang dilaporkan,

“CAP President S.M. Mohamed Idris cited one study (the Cardia study in the United States), which showed that fast-food consumption had strong positive associations with weight gain and insulin resistance, suggesting that fast food increases the risk of obesity and Type 2 diabetes.”

Menyokong usaha kerajaan Negeri Selangor, memperbaiki sistem penternakan khinzir dengan teknologi canggih bertujuan memelihara sumber gizi masyarakat non-muslim, justeru saya menyarankan kepada pihak berwajib agar turut membuat penyelidikan dan tindakan mengenai isu makanan halal lagi baik (halalan thoyyiban) seluruh Negara demi kepentingan semua pihak khususnya, umat islam. Bagi penggemar KFC pula, buatlah pilihan dengan bijak dan tepat. Tepuk dada, tanyalah selera.

B o i k o t p r o d u k Y a h u d i !

Al-fakir ila Rabbihi
Ahmad Aizatnur bin Zakaria

Rujukan:

1. Kentucky Fried Cruelty
2. KFC Holdings (Malaysia) Bhd.
3. Panduan Persatuan Pengguna Pulau Pinang (CAP)
4. BBC News Online

The Quran and Theory of Pairs

Copied from:
The Holy Quran and Dirac's Theory of Pairs
Sultan Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood
Robin Yasin Qusab

One of Newton's successors to the Lucasian Chair of Mathematics at Cambridge - was one of the greatest physicists of the 20th Century. According to Professor Abdus Salam, Dirac's work is one of the monu­ments of modern physical theory [5]. This paper highlights his great Work on the possible existence of all matter in pairs; and the revelation of the same theory in the Holy Quran, thirteen hundred years before Dirac's work.

It is not the author's purpose to convert his readers to his way of seeing the world. He will be satisfied if he is able to provoke thought in the reader's mind. Any con­structively made response, positive or negative, con­tributes to a debate on issues that concern us all. The Holy Quran Research Foundation would be happy to hear from any reader with questions, a thirst for more information, or even with disagreements. Above all, we do not ask you to suspend your disbelief while reading this brief text. Instead, we ask you to use your critical abilities to honestly consider the questions raised.

Dirac's discovery

Dirac had the honour of being the first scientist in history to demonstrate the principle that all particles in the universe must exist in pairs, that for each particle there must exist a corresponding anti-particle of exactly the same mass but with an opposite electrical charge. For all matter in the universe, in other words, there must exist an equal amount of anti-matter. Thus the existence of a proton must imply the possible existence of an anti-proton; if a hydrogen atom exists, there must equally exist an atom of anti-hydrogen, perhaps in some distant corner of the universe. [5]

Equal amounts of matter and anti-matter were produced in the first moments of the Big Bang. In our present universe, however, a particle will not be found co-existing peacefully side by side with its corresponding anti-particle. To understand this, we could retail the old European myth of the doppelganger, the perfect double of the unlucky hero. The message of the stones is always to avoid the doppelganger: if you meet your double you will be destroyed.

Just so, if matter and anti-matter meet they an­nihilate each other, their energy and momentum dissolv­ing into heat and light. According to Dr Abus Salam,

"in Dirac's language, anti-matter is ‘minus matter’; matter and anti-matter just cannot co-exist in the same part of the universe without the everimpending catastrophe of annihilation; and indeed some astronomers do believe that just this type of annihilation of galaxies and anti-galaxies is taking place at the sites of powerful X-ray sources in the heavens." [5]

Dirac predicted the existence of anti-matter in 1934, and the discoveries of specific anti-particles in the following years confirmed his prediction.

The Fish Problem

According to an apocryphal story popular in Cambridge, the germ of Dirac's breakthrough materialized front a mathematical brain-teaser seeming­ly unrelated to theoretical physics. During a meeting of the Cambridge Undergraduate Mathematical Society, the Archimedians, the following problem was presented. Those who like a challenge can try working it out for themselves. The answer is provided below for those whose brains become tangled by figures.

After a long day, three fishermen have caught a good amount of fish. They are about to set sail for home when a storm suddenly builds up. Under raging skies, they decide to seek shelter on a nearby island. They unload their catch and set a fire before falling asleep. A few hours later, one fisherman wakes up to find that the weather has settled enough for a safe return to he possible. Not wanting to disturb his friends, he divides the haul into three equal parts. There is one fish remain­ing, and this the fisherman throws back into the sea. He then leaves with his share.

A little afterwards the second fisherman awakes, also with the desire to get back home. Unaware that one of his friends has already left, he too divides the catch into three equal parts. Again there is one fish remaining, and again this is thrown back into the sea. The fisherman rows off with his portion. Finally the third fisherman arises and goes through the same process, dividing the remaining fish into three parts, finding one fish remain­ing, which he then throws back into the sea. He leaves the island with his portion.

And now for the problem: What is the minimum number of fish in the original catch? To put it another way, what is the smallest number which can be subdivided thrice, leaving one fish outstanding each time?

The Answer

Dirac thought for a while before arriving at the answer: minus two. If you divide minus two fish thrice, each third will contain minus one fish, with plus one fish outstanding. Each time a fisherman throws the plus one fish into the sea, and rows off with the minus one fish. Expressed in an equation, it looks like this:

-2 = -1-1-1 +1

Minus one fish is obviously no use to anyone, and this is certainly a brain-teaser. It is important only that it gave birth to the notion of anti-particles in Dirac's brain, and can help us to understand the mathematical prin­ciple behind his discovery. It led him to the conclusion that all particles exist in opposing pairs, and allowed him to see the symmetry of matter and anti-matter.

The Holy Quran and Dirac's theory

As we have already noted, Dirac was the first man in the history of science to make this profound discovery. For this he must be congratulated, and so must the modern scientific methods which have brought us so much practical information about ourselves and the universe in which we live.

Many centuries before Dirac, however, a text was revealed to an unlettered man in the Arabian desert. Its primary Message was of the existence of one Creator and of an Afterlife in which human beings would be rewarded or punished for their conduct while on earth. But this was no ordinary religious book, for it continually exhorted its readers to examine the natural world around them for the signs of God to develop logical and objective think­ing, and to place a crucial emphasis on education. This book broke down the artificial boundaries which divide material and spiritual study. In the Holy Quran, science and religion are entirely compatible. Indeed, they cannot be distinguished.

In the Quran, we find the following verses, direct­ly relevant to Dirac's discoveries of the pairings and symmetries of the universe's structure:-

"Glory to Allah. Who created all things in pairs, Those that the earth produces, as well as their own (human) kind, and things of which they have no knowledge." (Sura 36:36)

The line ‘Who created all things in pairs’ clearly shows that the Quran is referring to a law of nature; all things on earth and in the heavens, animal, vegetable or mineral (and even sub-atomic), have been created in pairs. (And modern science has evolved around the study of pairs, from the male/female pair which generates animal and plant life to the pairings of quarks and leptons which arc the most basic building blocks of the universe).

The line 'Things of which they have no knowledge' suggests that the theory of pairs is of univer­sal scope. It applies equally at all points in time and space; even in worlds of which we have no knowledge.

Elsewhere in the Quran we find a statement which modern science has spent its history in confirming:

"We have created, in exact measures and proportions." (Sura 51:49)

The line "In exact measures and proportions," is most revealing from a scientific point of view. The Quran was revealed long before the dawning of the scientific age, but it contains the unambiguous lessons that the universe follows certain rules and that it is structured according to a perfect symmetry. Every force in the universe is a definite, of exact measurement and propor­tion following precise laws:-

"And there is not a thing, but its storehouse is with Us, and We send them down, but in definite ascertainable measures." (Sura 15:21)

God, the Absolute Singularity

The Holy Quran refers to God as The first (Al-­Awwal) and The Last (Al-Akhir). The Outermost (Az­-Zahir) and The Innermost (Al-Batin).

"He is the first, nd the Last, He is the Outermost, and the innermost, and He is the knower of all things..." (Sura 57:3)

This verse the first and the last relate to the time domain and 'the outermost' and 'the innermost' to the space domain. As such time and space are the first pair of nature. By extension all pairs are finally unified in the only Singularity in the universe: God. All pairs are aspects of the same reality, to which they all must return the oneness Of God.

But the Quran does not only give us information about the universe. It goes a step further, requiring us to use this information to develop our thinking. As always, the Quran demands the active participation of its reader.

"And of everything, we have created in pairs, that you may reflect." (Sura 51:49)

The Quran here asks us in think, offering both a mental challenge and a proof of God's existence. If we reflect on the paired structure of the universe by using the methods of scientific reductionism, breaking a com­plex system clown into its simplest units, we will finally come back to a single originary point, an absolute sin­gularity, the one source of time and space: ALLAH. (4). As the Quran says:-

"And an that is in the heavens, and all that is in the earth, it is from Allah; and (in the final analysis) Everything will return to Him." (Sura 3:109)

Guidance for the modern age

The Quran comments on many areas of interest to modern science, from medicine to geology. Many verses of the Quran have taken on added significance as new scientific discoveries have been made. In fact, it seems that science has been following the Quran’s lead for centuries.

Furthermore, in an age when progress in such fields as genetic engineering or chemical weaponry has raised complex ethical questions, the Quran teaches the salutary lesson that science should be the servant of mankind, not vice versa. It provides a model for all our endeavours in which symmetry is a prime value. Tech­nological progress must be balanced by a symmetrical spiritual development. The new freedoms that we have won through our expanding knowledge must be balanced by an awareness of our new responsibilities. Otherwise our achievements will turn upon us, polluting our environment, increasing rather than diminishing our suffering. Without the guidance of Islam through the Quran, man with his scientific achievements will be like a child surrounded by dangerous toys.

This book provided the light by which a great scientific culture once thrived. The Muslim world today, cursed as it is by illiteracy, intolerance and superstition, is a poor reflection of that former glory. This is the fault of human beings, not of the message of Islam, whose light continues to shine. Its light is every bit as available to a non-Muslim as it is to someone who has grown up in a Muslim environment. Once we move beyond our habitual beliefs and prejudices, all of us can profit from the message of the Quran. An independent and free­thinking mind is all that is necessary to see its light. If we read, discuss and reflect upon the Quran, we can use that light to guide us now in our explorations of the universe and ourselves.

For this reason, we appeal to you to read the Quran. The example of the Quran's truth presented in this paper is only one starting point. The Quran reveals further riches with each reading. The light of this book, which spoke to 6th Century Arabs of things of which they had no knowledge, can teach modern man too.

References and Recommended Reading

[1] The Holy Quran: with English translation and Commentary by; Mr. Yousaf Al, Mr. Muhammad and Maulana Darya Aback
[2] Maurice Bucaille:"The Bible, the Quran & Science" (The author, a French scientist, became a Muslim after making this study of the relationship between modern science and the scriptures).
[3]Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood: "Doomsday and Life after Death" (234 pages) published by the Holy Quran Research Foundation, Islamabad, 1991.
[4]Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood: "Symmetry of the Universe and the Quran" a paper published in the journal "Science and Technology in the Islamic World, Vol 5, No. 1, Jan 1987. Pub. by the National Science Council of Pakistan.
[5]Abdus Salam: 'Symmetry Concepts in Modern Science". published by the Atomic Energy Centre, Eahore, 1966

The Miraculous Quran Arrangement

Copied from:
The Miraculous Quran Discovery Concerning Its Arrangement Into Chapters and Parts
Sultan Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood
The Holy Quran Research Foundation
60-B, Nazim-ud-Din Road, F-8/4 lslamabad-Pakistan

INTRODUCTION

The Holy Quran is the eternal message of the last Messenger of ALLAH to mankind, revealed in Arabia more than fourteen hundred years ago. The qualities of this book may be judged by the unparalleled impact it has had on culture, science and technology, and by its profound influence on the life of the believers. This fact is acknow­ledged by Islam's friends and foes alike [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 7, 8]. The Quran is not a voluminous book, yet it has something to tell us on all subjects, from the Big Bang to the afterworld. All is described in a brief, clear and comprehensive manner, without any contradiction or ambiguity [4, 5, 6, 9]. History has witnessed the rise of those who have followed its teachings. Western civilization is also indebted to the Quran for its rise [9, 18].

The Holy Quran is unique in that its subject matter, its scope of guidance, and the quality of its message and style have never gone out of date. You can read it again and again without tiring. It is the most read and the most acted-upon book in history, and as time passes, more and more people discover its riches.

Our purpose in this paper is to describe a discovery concerning the special arrangement of the Quran into chapters and parts.

THE CHALLENGE OF THE HOLY QURAN

"If mankind and the jinn were together. To produce the like of the Quran. They could never produce in like thereof, Even if they backed up one another." (Sura 17:88)

This challenge is repeated a number of times in the Holy Quran. For example, in Sura 11:33 the chal­lenge is offered as a proof of the divinity of the book:-

"They accuse that he has forged it: Say! then bring ten Stints like it: And call upon whom you can,besides Allah If you are truthful." (Sura 11:33)

The non-believers are again challenged in Sura Al-Baqara.

“If you are in doubt to that Which we have revealed to our servant (Muhammad) Then produce a Sura like it.”

There is no greater proof of the Holy Quran's divinity than this challenge, which has now stood for more than fourteen centuries. Even some honest Chris­tian scholars on Islam have acknowledged this. For ex­ample, Harry Gaylord Dorman, is his 'Towards Understanding Islam', comments,

“It (the Quran) in the literal revelation of God dictated to Muhammad by Gabriel, perfect in every letter. It is an ever present miracle witnessing itself.” [4]

Laura Veccia Verlier, in her ‘Apologie De I'-Islamisme,’ writes:

“The proof of the divinity of the Quran is that it has been preserved intact through the ages” [2]

Professor A.G. Arberry argues that Western misunderstandings of the Quran are,

"due to translations and the tact that the Western reader has not been sufficiently advised how to read the Quran. He must get rid of the assumption that the Holy Quran is more or less like the Old Testament." [5]

F.F. Arbuthnot remarked,

"Although several at­tempts have been made to produce a work equal to it, none has yet succeeded." [3]

THE ARRANGEMENT OF THE HOLY QURAN

The Quran with us today is exactly the same as it was when revealed to the messenger of Allah (P.B.U.H). Whenever any Ayats were revealed, the Prophet personally directed the Quranic scribes to add them to a specific Sura in a specific position. [11]

His followers immediately committed the new verses and the new arrangement to memory. [15]

Thus the messenger of Allah himself (peace be upon him) compiled the Quran in its current format under divine inspiration. Hazrat Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) ordered that the final compilation of Suras be produced in bound book form immediately after the death of the Prophet (peace be upon him) [6, 8, 9, 10]. On the order of the third caliph, Usman (may Allah be pleased with him), several authenticated copies of the original book were made and placed in each capital as a reference copy for the public. One such copy, used by the caliph himself can still be seen in Istanbul's great mosque. [9, 10, 15]

DISCOVERY OF THE MIRACULOUS ARRANGEMENT OF THE QURAN INTO CHAPTERS AND PARTS

The Holy Quran is arranged into 114 Suras of various lengths. Sum Al-Baqara is the longest, spanning about 8% of the Quran and consisting of 286 verses. The smallest is Sura Al-Kohsar, which consists of just three small verses.

The book is divided into thirty equal parts. Each part is known as a 'Juz', and each Juz has a name.

The revelations are not arranged in chronological order. Some of the revelations received in Madina, for instance, are placed with the earlier Meccan Suras, and a very early Meccan Sura is placed at the end. In general, the longer Suras are placed first and the smaller ones come afterwards. However, there are some exceptions to this rule. For example, the first Sura consists of only seven verses, but the following Sura contains 286 ver­ses. [8]

This automatically invites us to question whether there is any logic in the Quran's arrangement, or whether it is simply haphazard. Some possible answers to this question are;

1. The Quran is arranged as it is for aesthetic reasons, and to facilitate reading and memorizing.
2. The longer Suras have been placed first because they deal with social issues of immediate and practical importance, and the shorter Suras have been placed at the end because they lay more stress on spiritual development and the afterlife.
3. The arrangement is haphazard, without any special logic or reason.
4. The arrangement has spiritual significances which we do not yet understand.

This entire means that there is no satisfactory answer to our original question. But this question has been haunting me for some time. If the Quran is a revelation from the Creator of the universe, then it can contain nothing illogical or without significance. Thus the arran­gement of the Quran into chapters and parts must have some deep inner meaning. But what?

One night, as I was offering my prayers, this question began to tickle my mind once again. While praying. I had the idea of listing the Suras in cumulative order with respect to the parts of the Quran; and then to draw a graph between these two quantities to see if there was any logical relationship between them.

This tabulation is shown in Table 1. Column one is the part number and column two is the number of Suras completed at the end of that part. For example, in part one there are only two Suras. At the end of part two there are still only two Suras, because no new Suras have begun. At the end of part three, the total number of Suras is four. As we move forward through the Quran, since the Suras get shorter, their sum outstrips the corresponding part numbers, till at the end of part 30 there are 114 Suras.

TABLE-I: ARRANGEMENT OF THE QURAN INFO SURAS AND PARTS

Figure-I shows the graph drawn between the Suras and the corresponding part numbers. The Suras run along the Y-axis and the parts run along the X-axis.


This is indeed a most unexpected result, and a beautiful one! The points form a perfect curve. This is rare, to say the least. Even in the case of accurately recorded results, quantities are generally scattered around a mean curve.

But in this case we find a perfect harmony, beauti­ful to a scientist's eye. It clearly has a special mathemati­cal message. In any case the arrangement of the Quran into chapters and parts is not ordinary, but very special. There is absolutely no question of any haphazardness in this arrangement.

Is it possible that such an arrangement was made by an unlettered man living fourteen hundred years ago in the desert of Arabia? Mathematics was then in its infancy, to say nothing of the concepts of graphs or complex functions. How could any human author at that time arrange a text according to a complex code?

Thus one cannot help but acknowledge that the Quran is authored not by a man, but by the Creator of the Universe. Not only its contents, but also it’s arrange meant into chapters and parts, is of divine origin (God is Great!)

SIGNIFICANCE

What is the significance of the Holy Quran's special arrangement? This question increases in impor­tance after this discovery. But there is no simple and sure answer. I can only offer my own interpretations.

When it starts, the curve runs parallel to the X-axis, but it never touches zero. It then picks up gradual­ly, finally shooting up explosively near the end.

This curve may signify the spiritual development of the believer as he progresses in the recitation and understanding of the Quran. The fact that this curve does not start from zero may signify a degree of inherent spiritual development. So even non-believers have a basic goodness and awareness of Allah to start with.

As a reader progresses further into the Quran. his spirit begins to develop. In the beginning the rate of development is slow. He attains about 50% development on reaching the 26th part of the Quran. After that his development speeds up, reaching 100% by the end of the Quran.

This may be due to the fact that the initial Suras of the Quran concentrate on the outward reformation of the individual. They contain Dos and Don'ts, guidance on Islamic law and subjects relating to the social and moral aspects of life. Once an individual has ordered his outward life according to the Quran he is then capable of receiving its inner light. Thus the spiritual development of the believer is greatly accelerated in the final stages of his study of the Holy Quran.

CONCLUSION

The arrangement of the Quran into suras and parts is highly meaningful. Possibly it corresponds to the attainment of spiritual heights as one goes through the book with full faith. Or it may relate to the rise of Islam in the world. Whatever it means, we can say beyond doubt that the Holy Quran is not the work of any human author, but a revelation from the Creator of the worlds. To get to its underlying meaning, a research worker should now determine the mathematical function which corresponds to this curve.

But even more important than this is to accept the Quran as the absolute source of truth, and to follow its teachings for our own good in this life and for ultimate success in the life hereafter.

____________

Footnotes:

[1] Laura Veccia Verlier. Apologie de L'Islamism. France (P57-59)
[2] Dr. Hart Wig Hiraschfeld. New researchers in the com­position and Exegesis of the Quran. London 1902 (P2).
[3] F. F. Arbuthnot. The construction of the Bible and the Quran. London 1885 (P5).
[4] Henry Gaylord Dorman. Towards Understanding Islam. New York. 1948 (P3).
[5] Prof. A. G. Arberry. The Holy Quran. An Introduction with Selections. London 1953 (P17). [6] Prof. Ziauddin Ahmed. Al-Quran: Divine Book of Eternal Value. Royal Rook Company Karachi. 1989.
[7] Maurice Rucaille. The Bible, the Quran and Science. Pakistani edition, Karachi,1979.
[8] Muhammad Marmaduke Pickthall. The Glorious Quran: Text and Translation. Islamic Research Institute Press. Is­lamabad. 1936.
[9] Afzalur Rehman. Muhammad. Encyclopaedie of Seerah. Vol 1. Muslim Schools Trust. London 1981.
[10] Dr. La'l Muhammad Chowala. A Study of Al-Quran Karim. Islamic Publications Ltd.Lahore.1991.
[11] Abu Doud. Abu Doud's Book of the Traditions of the Messenger of Allah.
[12] Kenneth Cram. The Call of the Minaret. Oxford University Prs.1956.
[13] S.Bashiruddin Mahmood. Doomsday and life after Death. Holy Quran Research Foundation, ls­lamabad. 1991
[14] Abdul Wadood. Phenomena of Nature and the Quran. Syed Abdul Wodood. Lahore.1971.
[15] Allama Syed Soloman Nadvi. Seere-tun-Nabi. Services Book Club, Rawalpindi.
[16] lftikhar Bin Hasan. The Astonishing Truths o the Holy Quran. Taaha Publishers, London. 1988.
[17] Rashid Khalifa. The Quran: The Visual Presentation of a Miracle. Islamie Productions. Arizona, USA, 1989.
[18] Michael Hart. The 100 Greats: History of the 108 Human Beigns who have influenced Humanity Most. New York.

Scientific Tafsir of Surah Al-Ikhlas

Credit to:
Atomic Scientist, Engineer
Sultan Bashir-ud-Din Mahmood
(http://darulhikmat.com/)

INTRODUCTION

Sura Al-Ikhlas forcefully and eloquently proclaims “The absolute Singularity of Allah”, the very Primordial characteristics of the Creator of the Universes. This is the fundamental teaching of Islam and has been the focal point of teachings of all the earlier Prophets of Allah. The absolute reality of everything rests upon the principle of the Unity of the Creator. In view of its importance, the Messenger of Allah (Sallallaho Alaihay Wa-Aalayhe Wasallam) said,“By Him, in whose hand is my soul, Sura Al-Ikhlas is equal to one third of the Quran”. He who recites this sura with love and faith in the unity of Allah, the Messenger of Allah (Sallallaho Alaihay Wa-Aalayhe Wasallam) said, “Tell him Allah loves him [1].
Beliefs in duality, trinity or multiplicity of gods and making His images or idols or assigning God-likes reverence to any one besides Him are the priestly innovations and have no truth at all. The pinnacle point of the teachings of Moses and Jesus was also pure and simple monotheism. They all preached the absolute Oneness of the Creator of Universe, denying any types of partners to Him. Thus said Jesus,
“Cursed is every one who shall insert into my saying that I am the Son of God”.[2] Further he said,
“Ye may perceive your sin: for I am a visible man and a morsel of clay that walked upon the earth, mortal as are other men. And I have a beginning and shall have an end, and (am) such that cannot create a fly ever again”.[3]It is heartening to note that there are many Christians now who no longer take the concept of trinity seriously and believe in One God only. Insistence on the rigid secularism in the West is also because rationality does not justify the concept of a material son of a pure Spiritual Being. Thus instead of believing in this philosophy they find it easier to reject religion altogether.

EXPLANATION GRAND SINGULARITY

Sura begins with the forceful call of “QUL”. This is the order from Creator of the universes to pronounce and proclaim with full faith before whole of the world, with all available means, without any doubt:
قل هو الله احد
“There is only One and the Only One God. He is Allah.”
This is the greatest truth of all. Basis of all scientific laws, the Alfa and Omega of every creation. Whole universe proclaims it and everything in it is witness to the Creator’s absolute Singularity. Concept of the polytheism is the product of the weakness of feeble men, that in fear or in love, they made gods for them out of every thing. That challenged their imagination. When they see that even the most autocratic monarchs depend for their power on family ties and confederates, they fall in doubt about the unity of the Lord of the universe also. Thus under their psychics misgivings, they assign partners and family to the Creator of the Universe also. Whereas the absoluteness of scientific laws in the universe call upon every true seeker of truth that their cannot be but the only one Creator. You may call Him Grand Singularity, or give Him any other name, He is the same God who over rides the Time-Space Continuum. He is Allah!

ABSOLUTE CAUSE VERSUS CHAIN OF CAUSES AND EFFECTS

To understand this great truth let us reflect into the working of the chain of Cause and Effect. Every cause creates some effects which become cause for the subsequence events. So there is a chain of causes and effects; Events have thus continued multiplying since the beginning. If one Cause on the average gives birth to two effects then chain reaction of events may look as seen in the figure given herein.[4]

Today, Universe as seen by the science is composed of trillium of trillions of galaxies with each galaxy having incomprehensible number of stars and planets. But down in the time, fifteen to twenty billion years ago all this was one unit mass of zero volume, believed to have begun with a Big Bang out of “Nothingness”. According to the scientists even Time and Space did not exist before Big Bang. Then who could be the first cause? Answer is only One – He is ALLAH The Absolute – Reality. He is the Primordial source Head of Time and Space, which are the two essential inputs for any happening. Thus He is every where, in bed out of everything. He knows everything, controls everything, creates everything. He is up and down, Past, Present and Future at the same instant. He is at every point of space – time continuum. He has introduced Himself in the Quran:
هوالاول والاخر والظاهروالباطن وهوعلى كل شي عليم
He is the First, He is the Last, He is the outermost, He is the Inner Most. He has the absolute knowledge of every thing.Since the First and the Last relate to Time domain; where outermost and liner most relate to the space domain, Space – Time continuum is the characteristics of His own persmality. Nothing can happen without His leave.[5]

As for the universe, where was it before the Big Bang? Who caused it to appear? Who regulate it? Who gave it design and shape? Who holds it? Why are there laws of science? Answer to all these question exist in the Infinity of the Creator. You know mathematics fail there in. For example, if you go on adding billion of infinities answer will still be infinity or you divide the infinity by any number answer will remain the same. The great scientist Einstein proved that scientific laws are the same in every nook and corner of Time - Space continuum. Thus universe is the primary witness of the Absolute Singularity of the Creator. It is there because it has only one creator everywhere.

PRIMAL FORCE

Modern developments in Mathematics and Physics and (life sciences) are also coming as witness to the Unity of the Creator in their own way. They see that multiplicity in the scientific laws is actually different ways of the working of a Singular Primal Force. Presently science has known that universe is held together by a combination of four fundamental forces of Nature. These are:-
1) Electromagnetism (on which depend the entire communication system, electrical gadgets and light emitted from the sun and stars); etc
2) Nuclear Strong forces
3) Nuclear weak forces (which give stability to the atom and therefore things exist).
4) Gravitational Force through which all the atoms in the universe are interconnected and which keeps balance between heavenly bodies.Going deeper scientists visualize that even these four forces may actually be the manifestation of a Single Absolute Force. Scientist Abdus-Salam and Weinbergh proved in their Noble Prize winning work that Strong Nuclear and Weak Nuclear Forces are actually two shades of the Single Nuclear Force. Similar to this reasoning all scientific laws are also thought to converge into a Grand singularity i.e. Grand Theory of every Thing. Thus science over its long history is seen converging from multiplicity to singularity and emerging as the principle witness of the absolute Oneness of the Creator, the Alpha and Omega the Primal Cause, The Time – Space Continuum, The Ever Living …ALLAH.

INFINITY AND THE UNDERSTANDING THE WORKING OF ALLAH

We have already referred to the fact that in Mathematics there is a quantity called infinity. This is the limit of Mathematics, logic and science. It is indivisible, unimaginable, limitless value where all the laws of science break. For example, you add a billion million infinities, but the total will remain the same one infinity, or you multiply millions of infinities answer will be again one infinity. It is not subject to physical laws either. For example, circle of an infinite radius can be assigned infinite centers in it. It has no boundary but infinite boundaries exist in it. Concept of Allah in Islam is also of an Infinite being, like whom there is none.

He surrounds the universe as a whole and at the same time, every single atomic particle also. ( للهاو ٌيش لكب طيحم ) If mathematics cannot comprehend infinity, how can any one comprehend the Infiniteness of the Absolute Reality of the Creator of everything? If you cannot divide infinity into two or three, how can you believe in the duality or Trinity in the Infinity of Allah? Where is the room for Father, Mother and Son in His Oneness? He is the First before whom there is no first, He is the Last after whom there is no last, He is the Outermost, out of which exists nothing, He is the Inner Most beyond which nothing exists, ( هولاول والاخر والظاهرواللباطن ) and He is fully aware of everything.

THE ABSOLUTE REALITY AND ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY

The next verse of Sura Ikhlas smashes all false motions about Allah Subhanahu by declaring,
الله الصمدThe word Samad ( صمد ) means the one on who is totally Self Sufficient, who is indeperdent of all, all are dependent on Him; and He depends on no one for His existence, The Indivisible, The Everlasting refuge, The actual Arabic word “Assamad” has the root word ‘Sammad’ meaning an unbreakable insurmountable rock behind which people take refuge in war. Addition of the word Al gives it the meaning of absoluteness. Thus the word Assamad represent the special Name of Allah, meaning the one who is Absolute, Undefeatable. Imperishable, Indivisible, Strongest, The Everlasting Refuge for every one. He must stand alone within and outside His creations with the Absolute, Imperishable, Indivisible Authority He is Assamad (الصمد).

SOLE AUTHORITY – NEITHER BEGOTTEN, NOR BEGETS
Infiniteness and Absoluteness of Allah automatically means that He shares His authority with none, neither He depends for it on any one. This is calarified by the verse 3 of the sura Akhlas, which says;
لم يلد ولم يولد
He begets not and, nor is He begotten. He has no child nor is He child of any one.This makes it clear that there is no linage of gods. In fact there is no place for any thing like this in the Infinity of His Singularity. To assign partners or linage to Infinity is simply, absurd and an abhorable idea for science and mathematics; and unforgivable sin in religion, the greatest lie in ethics, and total denial of wisdom and rationality. Thus even metaphorically words like “Father, Son and Holy Ghost” are wrong to utter in respect of Allah. The crux of Theory of Relativity and the greatest discovery of Einstein was that laws of science are universally true which speak out that there must be the same Creator everywhere? If He had father or son or other relatives or partners, it implies that universe would have been changing hands resulting into, disorder and chaos. But farts speak contrary to that.

INCOMPREHENSIBLE

The last Aya of this great Sura talks about the very Nature of our Creator. It says,
ولم يكن له كفوا احد
And there is absolutely none like unto Him.He is unique in all respects. As there is nothing like unto Him in the Universe, we have no reference to describe Him. Universe is fundamentally made of energy, matter and vacuum. He is composed of neither of them. The universe to which we belong is four dimensional i.e., Length, Width, Height and Time. If there is any more dimensions we cannot describe them in terms of these four. Since knowledge of human beings is only relative to the known things, therefore, nature of Allah cannot be described in terms of any known things, available words, symbols or expressions. Thus He will always remain beyond the comprehension of human beings. We have no words to describe Him, no ears to hear Him, no eyes to see Him, and no brains to understand Him. The only means with which we may feel Him is our Qulab, (Mind Force), Thus painting His pictures, or making His idols is unforgivable insult against His Holliness. We can feel the presence of the Creator through His creations only but cannot comprehend Him by our wisdom. It is just like a fish floating in the middle of a vast ocean. Water surrounds it from its inside outside, but ocean will remain incomprehensible to it always. Similarly, we may imagine Allah surrounding us, every cell of us, from inside to outside but we have no brains to describe His Infinite Being. “A subset cannot comprehend the superset, say mathematics”.

It is narrated by Abu Hurairah (Razi Allah Anho) Allah’s Messenger (Sallallaho Alaihay Wa-Aalayhe Wasallam) told;
“Allah says,“The son of Adam tells a lie against Me, he has not the right to do so; and he abuses Me, and he has not the right to do so. He is telling a lie against Me in his saying that I will not recreate him as I created him for the first time; and his absusing Me in his saying that Allah has begotten a son (or children), while I am As-Samad. Who begets not, nor was He begotten, and there is none like or co-equal or comparable unto Me”.[6]

________________
Footnotes:

[1] Al-Bukhari
[2] Ref. Para 53, Page 70, The Gospel of Barnabas”. Pub. Aisha Bawani Waqaf-Karachi
[3] Ref. Para 95, Page 121, The Gospel of Barnabas”.
[4] Our assumption of two events out of one Cause is based upon the scientific reason that action and reaction are equal but appropriate, which is also supported by Quranic revelations about Creation in Pairs. For details please see author’s article “DIRAC and Quran’s Theory of Creation in Pairs, published 1987, Holy Quran Research Foundation Islamabad”.
[5] For details please see “Talash-e-Haqeeqat”. “In search of Reality” by the same author.
[6] Sahih Al-Bukhari 6/4975 O.D.499 translated by Taqi-ud-Din and Muhammad Muhsin Khan, The Noble Quran, Darussalam – Riyadh).

LIWA' DAN RAYAH...

AYUH KIBARKAN KEMBALI LIWA' DAN RAYAH! USAH GENTAR PADA MUSUH AGAMA INI!!!PANJI-PANJI INI ADALAH PANJI2 KALIAN WAHAI KAUM MUSLIMIN!BERSATULAH DIBAWAHNYA!

Kayu Sugi (Siwak): Satu Pembuktian Saintifik

[A Natural Toothbrush-cum-Toothpaste]

Aizatnur Zakaria
School of Dentistry
University of North Sumatera, Indonesia

Tahukah anda bahawa bersugi itu penting dalam Islam?

Daripada Ibn Umar r.a. berkata: Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda, “Jadikan bersugi itu satu amalan, kerana ianya (bersugi) menyihatkan mulut dan merupakan kesukaan kepada Maha Pencipta” ( Hadis Riwayat Al-Bukhari ).

Daripada Abu Hurairah r.a. berkata, Rasulullah s.a.w. bersabda: “Kalau tidak menyusahkan umatku nescaya aku menyuruh mereka bersugi setiap kali hendak menunaikan solat” (Hadis Riwayat Al-Bukhari).

Kata kunci: Hadith Bukhari, dental caries, siwak (Salvadora persica) extract, anticariogenic.

Penyakit Gigi Karies (Caries)

Penyakit karies atau gigi berlubang masih merupakan topic yang hangat untuk dibicarakan sampai saat ini. Karies merupakan suatu penyakit jaringan keras gigi iaitu enamel, dentin dan sementum yang disebabkan oleh aktiviti bakteria dalam suatu kardohidrat yang dapat diragikan.

Pada tahun ke lima puluhan, Orland dan Keyes dalam penelitiannya memperlihatkan besarnya peranan bakteria dalam pembentukkan karies. Tikus percubaan diberi diet yang sangat kariogenik. Ternyata jika kondisinya dijaga bebas kuman maka karies tidak terbentuk. Ketika bakteria ditambahkan, karies pun muncul.

Plak gigi terbentuk dari saliva, sisa epitel jaringan mulut, sisa makanan dan bakteria. Peniadaan plak sebanyak mungkin setelah makan harus dilakukan kerana plak gigi memegang kunci dalam keberhasilan pembentukan karies. Sesuai yang dikatakan Kantorowicf: “clean teeth never decay” (gigi yang bersih akan sulit rusak). Antara bakteria yang terdapat pada plak gigi adalah jenis Streptococcus mutans, memiliki korelasi positif terhadap asal mula pembentukan karies.

Karies (caries) adalah penyakit multifaktorial yang meliputi (Keyes 1960):
1. Host : Gigi & saliva
2. Agent : Bakteria kariogenik
3. Environment : Substrat (Sukrosa)
4. Waktu

Seiring berkembangnya pengetahuan yang lebih mendalam tentang karies, para peneliti berlumba-lumba untuk menghentikan proses karies. Cara mekanik, kimia dan immunologi merupakan pendekatan yang paling rasional.

WHO telah mentargetkan pada tahun 2010 penduduk usia 20 tahun, 75% nya harus merupakan karies inaktif dan pada tahun 2025 targetnya meningkat menjadi 90%.

Kerisauan Yang Berasas

Di pasaran dunia dan Malaysia khususnya terjadi lambakan barangan keperluan yang diperbuat daripada sumber yang haram dan beracun. Berdasarkan kepada Panduan Halal Haram yang di keluarkan oleh Consumer Association of Penang (2006),

“Lazimnya berus yang diperbuat daripada bulu babi dilabelkan sebagai ‘Pure Bristle’. Selain berus lukisan, berus cat, berus menggosok kasut dan songkok, berus gigi dan berus cukuran dikhuwatiri mengandungi bahan haram ini.”

Disaat umat islam dilanda kebimbangan mengenai status barangan halal khususnya keperluan dalam menjaga kesihatan mulut, Nabi SAW telah memberikan satu solusi yang terbaik sejak 600M yang lalu. Pada zaman nabi telah terdapat pelbagai jenis alat pembersih mulut seperti powder tetapi siwak tetap menjadi pilihan Baginda Saw.

Sejarah Siwak

Beraneka ragam peralatan sederhana digunakan untuk membersihkan mulut dari sisa-sisa makanan, mulai dari batang kayu, ranting pohon, kain, bulu burung, tulang haiwan hingga dari landak. Antara peralatan tradisional yang perlu diketahui sebagai pembersih gigi dan mulut adalah kayu siwak (Salvadora persica). Siwak (Chewing Stick) telah digunakan oleh masyarakat Babilonia semenjak 7000 tahun yang lalu, yang kemudian digunakan pula di zaman Kerajaan Yunani dan Romawi, Yahudi, Mesir dan Kerajaan Islam. Penggunaan chewing stick (kayu kunyah) berasal dari tanam-tanaman yang berbeza-beza pada setiap negera. Di Timur Tengah, sumber utama yang sering digunakan adalah pohon arak (Salvadora persica), di Afrika Barat yang digunakan adalah pohon lemon (Citrus aurantifolia) dan pohon limau (Citrus sinesis). Akar tanaman Senna (Cassiva vinea) digunakan oleh orang Amerika berkulit hitam, Laburnum Afrika (Cassica sieberianba) digunakan di Sierre Leone serta Neem (Azadirachta indica) digunakan secara meluas di benua India.

Emslie (1996) cit Babay (1999) melaporkan untuk pertama kalinya adanya prevelensi karies lebih rendah pada pengguna siwak dibandingkan dengan pengguna berus gigi biasa di Negara Sudan. Baghdady dan Ghose (1979) cit Babay (1999) juga melaporkan prevelensi karies yang rendah pada anak-anak sekolah di Negara Sudan akibat dari penggunaan siwak.

Pada penelitian Almas, Skaug dan Ahmad (2004) ekstrak siwak memiliki daya antibakteria terhadap Streptococcus mutans dan Streptococcus faekalis. Kelebihan siwak dalam membersihkan gigi dan mulut menurut Hardie dan Ahmed (1995) cit Darout, Skaug (1995) disebabkan oleh kesan mekanik dari serat-serat batang dan siwak mampu melepaskan zat aktif yang sangat bermanfaat. Hal ini mungkin merupakan jawapan terhadap prevelensi karies yang rendah di Sudan. Secara in-vitro menurut laporan Al-lafi dan Ababneh (1999) cit Darout et al (2001) siwak dapat menginhibisi (menghambat) pembentukan plak gigi, pertumbuhan dan produksi asid oleh beberapa bakteria kariogenik. Berikut laporan WHO mengenai khasiat kayu sugi (chewing stick):

WHO pada tahun 1984 dan Consensus Statement on Oral Hygiene (2000) menganjurkan penggunaan chewing stick (kayu sugi) kerana efektivitinya dalam menghilangkan plak dan mencegah karies gigi.

Nilai pharmacology Siwak

Penelitian El-Mostehy et al (1995) cit Darout (2000) tentang analisis kandungan batang kayu siwak kering (Salvadora persica) dengan ekstrak menggunakan etanol 80% kemudian dilanjutkan dengan ether lalu diteliti kandungannya melalui prosedur kimia seperti: trimetilamin, alkaloid (di duga sebagai salvadorin), klorida, sejumlah besar tannin, saponin, flavanoid, dan sterol. Darout et al (2000) melaporkan bahawa daya antimikrobial dan effect pembersih pada siwak telah terdeteksi pada ekstraknya. Kesan ini dipercaya berhubungan dengan tingginya kandungan Sodium Klorida dan Pottasium Klorida seperti salvadourea dan salvadorine, saponin, tannin, vitamin C, silika dan resin, juga cyanogenic glycoside dan benzylsothio-cyanate.

Komposisi Siwak mempunyai kesan sebagai berikut: (Tubaishat et al 2005):

1. Trimethylamine berguna untuk menghilangkan karang gigi dan stain (kotoran), juga sebagai anti-bakteria, anti-inflamasi dan mampu menstimulasi gingiva.
2. Chloride sebagai penghalang pembentukkan calculus dan membantu menghilangkan stain ekstrinsik dari gigi.
3. Flouride berfungsi untuk memperkuat enamel gigi, mendukung remineralisasi sehingga mencegah terjadinya karies gigi.
4. Ion flour juga membentuk kesan penghalang terhadap pertumbuhan bakteria pada plak gigi.
5. Silika suatu bahan abrasif yang berfungsi membantu membersihkan gigi kerana silika bekerja sebagai bahan pembersih yang dapat menghilangkan kotoran.
6. Vitamin C membantu penyembuhan dan perbaikan jaringan gusi.
7. Tannin atau molekul phenolic yang mengandung zat astrigen yang dapat melindungi gingiva.
8. Saponin mempunyai sifat seperti sabun yang dapat melarutkan kotoran, dan dapat digunakan sebagai anti-inflamasi (peradangan) dan anti-mikrob.
9. Flavonoids berfungsi menguatkan gingiva dan dapat mengurangi inflamasi (radang) 10. Sterol dapat mengurangi penumpukan plak.
11. Salvadorine berfungsi sebagai anti-bakteria, anti-inflamasi dan gingiva stimulating.Resins adalah produk amorphous yang membentuk lapisan pelindung untuk mencegah gigi dari karies.
12. Sulfur bau dan rasanya yang pedas digunakan untuk melindungi gigi dari karies.
13. Komponen anionik antibakteria adalah sulphate (SO42-), chloride (Cl-) dan thiocyanate (SCN-).

Peranan Siwak Sebagai Anti-karies

Almas dan Al-Zeid (2004) meneliti in-vivo kesan antibacterial yang cepat terhadap Streptococcus mutans dengan menghitung koloni bacteria dalam saliva pada subjek pengguna siwak, ekstrak siwak 50%, berus gigi, dan normal sanlin. Pengukuran menggunakan Vivacare (Caries Risk Test). Hasil penelitian menyimpulkan bahawa ekstrak siwak 50% mampu menurunkan kadar hitungan bacteria Streptococcus mutans dalam saliva dan menunjukkan penurunan bermakna Streptococcus mutans yang lebih besar pada penguna siwak dibandingkan penguna berus gigi biasa.

Cara Penggunaan Siwak

Orang menggunakan siwak dalam bentuk batang atau stick kayu dengan cara:
1. Batang atau cabang siwak dipotong berukuran pensil dengan panjang 15-20 cm. Stick kayu siwak ini dapat dipersiapkan dari akar, tangkai, ranting, atau batang tanamannya. Stick dengan ukuran diameter 1 cm dapat di gigit dengan mudah dan dapat memberikan tekanan yang tidak merusak gusi apabila digunakan.
2. Kulit dari stick siwak ini dihilangkan atau di buang hanya pada bahagian hujung stick yang akan di pakai sahaja.
3. Siwak yang kering dapat merusak gusi, sebaiknya direndam dalam air segar selama 1 hari sebelum digunakan. Selain itu, air tersebut juga dapat digunakan untuk kumur-kumur.
4. Bahagian ujung stick siwak yang sudah dihilangkan kulit luarnya digigit-gigit atau dikunyah-kunyah sampai berjumbai seperti berus.
5. Bahagian siwak yang sudah seperti berus digosokkan pada gigi, dan boleh digunakan untuk membersihkan lidah.

Dengan pesatnya perkembangan teknologi dan ilmu pengetahuan moden maka siwak digunakan dengan cara diolah dahulu kemudian ekstraknya dimasukkan dalam ubat gigi. Suryadi et al (2006) menunjukkan bahwa ubat gigi siwak mampu menginhibisi (menghambat) strain lokal Streptococcus mutans yang diisolasi dari gigi manusia.

Siwak Menerajui Era Sains dan Teknologi

Bagi menyimpulkan kelebihan siwak berbanding ubat gigi biasa, M. Ragaii El-Mostehy et al melaporkan dalam Siwak as an Oral Health Device (Preliminary Chemical and Clinical Evaluation):

“It could be concluded that Siwak and powdered Siwak are excellent tools for oral cleanliness. Because of its availability in this part of the world, being inexpensive and readily adopted by Moslems as part of their religious regimen, it is highly recommended in implementing a preventive dental health program for Islamic countries. Also recommendations should be directed to manufacturers of toothpastes to include the powdered form of Siwak in a highly debriding sophisticated toothpaste.”

Sayyid Quthb menegaskan bahawa ilmu memberi kita pengetahuan relatif dan tidak final serta boleh sahaja ia direvisi atau dibatalkan, sedangkan Al-Quran & Hadith memberikan kita hakikat yang final dan mutlak. Fakta hadith hanya menyebutkan bahawa bersugi menyihatkan mulut dan kesukaan Maha Pencipta. Itu sahaja. Kita tidak mengomentari ini (hadith) dengan itu (kesimpulan ilmu pengetahuan) untuk selama-lamanya!

Wallahua’lam.
Al-Fakir ila Rabbihi

Rujukan:

1. Poisonous Toothpaste Discovered In Chicago Stores
2. M.Ragaii El-Mostehy et al Siwak as an oral health device (preliminary chemical and clinical evaluation)