Medicine and Medical Education in Islamic History

MEDICAL EDUCATION
In 636 A.D., the Persian City of Jundi-Shapur, which originally meant beautiful garden, was conquered by the Muslims. Its great university and hospital were left intact. Later other Islamic medical schools were built according to the Jundi-Shapur pattern. Medical education was serious and systematic. Lectures and clinical sessions included in teaching were based on the apprentice system. The advice given by Ali ibnul-Abbas (Haly Abbas: - 994 A.D.) to medical students is as timely today as it was then2. "And of those things which were incumbent on the student of this art (medicine) are that he should constantly attend the hospitals and sick houses: pay unremitting attention to the conditions and circumstances of their inmates, stay in company with the most astute professors of medicine, and inquire frequently as to the state of the patients and symptoms apparent in them, bearing in mind what he has read about these variations, and what they indicate of good or evil."

Razi (Razes: 841-926 A.D.) advised the medical students that while they examine a patient, they should bear in mind the classic symptoms of a disease as given in textbooks and compare them with what they found".

The ablest physicians such as Razi (Al-Razes), Ibn-Sina (Avicenna: $80-1037 A.D.) and Ibn Zuhr (Avenzoar: 116 A.D.) worked both as the directors and the deans of medical schools. They studied patients and prepared them for student presentation. Clinical reports of cases were written and preserved for teaching," and regular registers were maintained.

Training in Basic Science

Only Jundi-Shapur or Baghdad had separate schools for studying basic sciences. Candidates for medical study received basic preparation from private tutors through private lectures and self study. in Baghdad anatomy was taught by dissecting the apes, observing skeletal studies, and studying didactics. Other medical schools taught anatomy through lectures and illustrations. Alchemy was one of the prerequisites for admission to a medical school. The study of medicinal herbs and pharmacognosy rounded off the basic training. A number of hospitals maintained herbal gardens as a source of drugs for the patients and a means of instruction for the students.

Upon completion of the basic training, a candidate was admitted as an apprentice to a hospital where, along with a large group, he was assigned to a young physician for indoctrination, preliminary lectures, and familiarization with library procedures and uses. During this preclinical period, most of the lectures were on pharmacology and toxicology and the use of antidotes.

Clinical training

The next step was to give the student full clinical training. During this period students were assigned in small groups to famous physicians and experienced instructors, for ward rounds, discussions, lectures, and reviews. Early in this period therapeutics and pathology were taught. There was a strong emphasis on clinical instruction and some Muslim physicians contributed brilliant observations that have stood the test of time. As the students progressed in their studies they were exposed more and more to the subjects of diagnosis and judgment. Clinical observation and physical examination were stressed. Students (or clinical clerks) were asked to examine a patient and make a diagnosis of the ailment. Only after all else had failed would the professor make the diagnosis himself. While performing physical examination, the students were asked to examine and report six major factors: the patients' actions, excreta, the nature.and location of pain, and swelling and effluvia of the body. Also noted was color and feel of the skin-whether hot, cool, moist, dry, flabby. Yellowness in the whites of the eye (jaundice) and whether or not the patient could bend his back (lung disease) was also considered important.'

After a period of ward instructions, students were assigned to outpatient areas. After examining the patients, they reported their findings to the Instructors. After discussion, treatment was decided and prescribed. Patients who were too ill were admitted as inpatients. The maintenance of records for every patient was the responsibility of the students.

Curriculum

Different medical schools pursued different clinical curriculum and offered separate courses of studies, but the mainstay was usually internal medicine. Emphasis was placed on clarity and brevity in describing a disease and the separation of each eAtity. Until the time of Ibn Sina the description of meningitis was confused with acute infection accompanied by delirium. Ibn Sina described the symptoms of meningitis with such clarity and brevity that there is very little that can be added to it even after a thousand years(6). Surgery was also a part of the curriculum. After completing the prescribed course of studies, some students specialized under famous specialists, while others specialized during their clinical training. According to Elgood,6 knowledge of many surgical procedures such as amputation, excision of varicose veins, and hemorrhoids was essential. Orthopedics was widely taught, and the use of plaster of paris for casts after reduction of fractures was routinely shown to students. This method of treating fractures was rediscovered in the West in 1852. Although ophthalmology was practiced widely, it was not taught regularly in medical schools. Apprenticeship to an eye doctor was the preferred way of specializing in ophthalmology. Surgical treatment of cataract was very common. Obstetrics was left to midwives. Medical practioners consulted among themselves and with specialists Ibn Sina and Hazi both widely practiced and taught psychotherapy. After completing his medical training, every medical graduate was required to pass a licensing examination before starting his medical practice. It is important to note that there existed a Scientific Association which was formed in the hospital of Mayyafariqin to discuss the conditions and diseases of the patients.'

Licensing of Physicians

In Baghdad in 931 A.D., Caliph Al-Muqtadir learned that a patient had died as the result of a physician's error. Thereupon he ordered his chief physician, Sinan ibn Thabit bin Qurrah to examine all those who practiced the art of healing. In the first year of the decree more than 860 were examined in Baghdad alone. From that time on, licensing examinations required and administered in various places. Licensing Boards were under a government Official called Muhtasib or inspector general. Muhtasib also inspected weights and measures of traders and pharmacists. Pharmacists were employed as inspectors to inspect drugs and maintain quality control for drugs sold in a pharmacy or apothecary. The chief physician gave oral and practical examination, and if the young physician was successful, the Muhtasib administered the Hippocratic oath and Issued a license. After a thousand years, licensing Of physicians has been implemented in the West, particularly in America by the State Licensing Board Specialties such as in Medicine, Surgery, Radiology, etc. European medical schools followed the pattern set by the Islamic medical schools and even in the early nineteenth century, students at the Sorbonne could not graduate without reading Ibn Sina's Qanun (Canon). According to Razi a physician had to satisfy two conditions for selection: firstly, he was to be fully conversant with the new and the old medical literature, and secondly, he must have worked in a hospital as house physician.  HOSPITALS

The development of efficient hospitals was an outstanding contribution of Islamic medicine (7). The hospitals served all citizens free and without any regard to their color, religion, sex, age or social status. The hospitals Were run by government and their directors were physicians.

Hospitals had separate wards for male and female patients and were staffed with nursing and other ancillary staff of the same sex.Diffrent diseases such as fever, wounds, infections, mania, eye conditions, cold diseases, diarrhea, and female disorder were allocated diffeient wards. Convalescence centers were divided into separate sections. Hospitals provided patients with unlimited water supply and bathing facilities. Only qualified and licensed physicians were allowed by law to practice medicine. The hospitals were teaching hospitals to educate and train medical students. They had housing for students and house-staff,g and contained pharmacies dispensing free drugs to patients. All hospitals had their conference rooms and expensive libranes containing the most up-to-date books. According to Haddad"'· the library of the Tulum Hospital which Was founded in Cairo in 872 A.D. (1100 years ago) bad 100,000 books. Universities, cities and hospitals acquired large libraries, physicians had their own extensive personal book collections, at a time when printing was unknown and book editing was done by skilled and specialized scribes putting in long hours of manual labor. Mustansiriyya University in Baghdad contained 80,000 volumes; the library of Cordova 600,000 volumes: that of Cairo 2,000,000 and that of Tripoli 3,000,000 books.

These hospitals kept records of all their patients and their medical care, something done for the first time in medical history.

For considerations of treatment, the hospital was divided into two main departments, out- patient and in-patient departments. The in-patient depart ment differed only slightly from any modern in-patient department. At the Tulum hospital, on admission the patients were given special apparel while their clothes, money, and valuables were stored away, and returned to them at the time of their discharge. On discharge, they also received five gold pieces each to tide them over until they could support themselves.

The hospital and medical school at Damascus had elegant rooms and an extensive library. Healthy people are said to have feigned illness in order to enjoy its cuisine. There was a separate hospital in Damascus for lepers, while, in Europe, even six centuries later, lepers were condemned and burned to death by royal decree.

The Qayrawan Hospital (built in 830 A.D. in Tunisia) was character ized by its spacious wards, waiting rooms for visitors and patients, and female nurses from Sudan, the first account of nursing in Arab history. The hospital also provided facilities for performing prayers.

The Al-Adudi hospital (built in 981 A.D. in Baghdad) was furnished with the latest equipment and supplies available at the time. It had interns, residents, and 24 consultants attending its professional activities. An Abbasid minister, Ali ibn Isa, requested the court physician, Sinan ibn Thabit, to organize regular visiting of prisons by medical officers.''

At a time when Paris and London were mud streets and hovels, Baghdad, Cairo, and Cordova had hospitals which incorporated innovations which sound amazingly modern. It was chiefly in the humaneness of patient care that the Muslim hospitals excelled. Near the wards of those : afflicted with fever, fountains cooled the air; the insane were treated with gentleness; and at night music and storytelling soothed the patients."

The Bimaristans (hospitals) were of two types - the fixed and the mobile. The mobile hospitals were transported upon beasts of burden and were erected from time to time as required. The physicians in the mobile were of the same standing as those who served the regular in the hospitals. Similar mobile hospitals accompanied the armies in the field. The field hospitals were well equipped with medicaments, instruments, tents and a staff of doctors, nurses, and orderlies. The travelling clinics served the totally disabled, the disadvantaged and those in remote areas. These hospitals were also used by prisoners, and by the general public, particularly in times of epidemics.
BACTERIOLOGY

Al-Razi was asked to choose a site for a new hospital when he came to Baghdad. In order to choose the most hygienic area, he hung pieces of meat in different parts of the city and observed where they decomposed the least.

Ibn Sina stated explicitly that the bodily secretion is contaminated by foul earthly body before getting infected. Ibn Khatima stated that man Is surrounded by minute bodies whichenter the human system and cause disease.

In the middle of the fourteenth century when the "black plague" ravaged Europe and Christians stood helpless, considering it an act of God, Ibn al Khatib of Granada composed a treatise in the defense of the theory of infection in the following way.

To those who say, "How can we admit the possibility of infection while the religious law denies it?" we reply that the existence of contagion is established by experience, investigation, the evidence of the senses and trustworthy reports. These facts constitute a sound argument. The fact of infection becomes clear to the investigator who notices how he who establishes contact with the aftlicted gets the disease, whereas he who is not in contact remains safe, and how transmission is affected through garments, vessels and earrings.

Al-Razi wrote the first medical description of smallpox and measles two important infectious diseases He described the clinical difference between the two diseases so vividly that nothing since has been added.'" Ibn Sina suggested the communicable nature of tuberculosis. He is said to have been the first to describe the preparation and properties of sulfuric acid and alcohol. His recommendation of wine as the best dressing for wounds was very popular in medieval practice.(8) However Razi was the first to use silk sutures and alcohol for hemostasis.l5 He was also the first to use alcohol as an antiseptic.(2)
ANESTHESIA

Ibn Sina originated the idea of the use of oral anesthetics.(l7) He recognized opium as the most powerful mukhadir (intoxicant or drug). Less powerful anesthetics known at the time were mandragora, poppy, hemlock, hyoscyamus, deadly nightshade (belladonna), lettuce seed, and snow or ice cold water. The Arabs invented the soporific sponge which was the precursor of modern anesthesia. It was a sponge soaked with aromatics and narcotics and held to the patient's nostrils.(l7)

The use of anesthesia in Islam was one of the reasons why surgery rose to the level of an honorable profession, while in Europe, surgery was belittled and practiced by barbers and quacks. The Council of Tours in 1163 A.D. declared "Surgery is to be abandoned by the schools of medicine and by all decent physicians"(l2). Burton'" stated that "anesthetics have been used in surgery throughout the East for centuries before ether and chloroform became the fashion in civilized West."
SURGERY

Al-Razi is the first to use the seton in surgery and animal gut for sutures. Abu alQasim Khalaf Ibn Abbas Al-Zahrawi (930-1013 A.D.), known to the west as Abulcasis, Bucasis or Alzahravius, is considered to be the most famous surgeon in Islamic medicine. In his book Al- Tasrif, he described hemophilia for the first time in medical history. The book contains the description and illustration of about 200 surgical instruments many of which were devised by Zahrawi himself" In it Zahrawi stresses the importance of the study of Anatomy as a fundamental prerequisite to surgery.(l2) He advocates the reimplantation of a fallen tooth and the use of dental prosthesis carved from cow's bone, a better alternative to the wooden dentures worn by the first President of America, George Washington seven centuries later.(l5) Zahrawi appears to be the first surgeon in history to use cotton (Arabic word) in surgical dressings in the control of hemorrhage, as padding in the splinting of fractures, as a vaginal padding in the tearing of the pubis and in dentistry. He introduced the method for the removal of kidney stones by cutting into the urinary bladder. He was the first to teach the lithotomy position for vaginal operations. He described tracheotomy, distinguished between goiter and cancer of the thyroid, and explained his invention of a cauterizing iron which he also used to control bleeding. His description of varicose veins stripping, even after ten centuries, sounds almost like modern surgery." In orthopedic surgery he introduced what is called today Kocher's method of reduction of shoulder dislocation and patellectomy, thousand years before Brooke reintroduced it in 1937.(13)

Ibn Sina's description of the surgical treatment of cancer holds true even today after 1,000 years. He says the excision must be wide and bold; all veins running to the tumor must be included in the amputation. Even if this is not sufficient, then the area affected should be cauterized.(9)

The Muslim surgeons performed three types of surgery: vascular, general, and orthopedic. Ophthalmic surgery was a specialty which was quite distinct both from medicine and surgery. They freely opened the abdomen and drained the peritoneal cavity in the approved modern style. To an unnamed surgeon of Shiraz is attributed the first colostomy operation. Liver abscesses were treated by puncture and exploration. Today surgeons all over the world practice and use several surgical procedures first introduced by Zahrawi a thousand years ago.(25) MEDICINE

One of the most brilliant contribution to medicine was made by AlRazi who differentiated between smallpox and measles, two diseases that were hitherto thought to be one single disease.'" He is credited with many contributions: he was the first to describe true distillation, glass retorts and luting, corrosive sublimate, arsenic, copper sulfate, iron sulfate, saltpeter, and borax in the treatment of diseases." He introduced mercury compounds as purgatives (after testing them on monkeys); mercurial ointments and lead ointment." His interest in urology focused on problems involving urination, venereal disease, renal abscess, and renal and vesical calculi.(28) He described hay-fever or allergic rhinitis.

Among other Arab contributions to medicine are included the discovery of itch mite of scabies (Ibn Zuhr), anthrax, ankylostoma and the guineaworm by Ibn Sina, and sleeping sickness by Qalqashandy.(l3) They described abscess of the mediastinum. They also understood tuberculosis and pericarditis.(7)

Al Ash'ath demonstrated gastric physiology by pouring water into the mouth of an anesthetized lion and showed the distensibility and movements of the stomach, preceding Beaumont by about a thousand years(l3). Abu Sahl al-Masihi explained that the absorption of food takes place more through the intestines than the stomach.(l0) Ibn Zuhr introduced artificial feeding either by gastric tube or by nutrient enema.(l3) Using the stomach tube, the Arab physicians performed gastric lavage in case of poisoning.(l0) Ibn Al-Nafis was the first to discover pulmonary circulation.

Ibn Sina in his masterpiece Al-Qanun (Canon), containing over a million words, described complete studies of physiology, pathology and hygiene. He specifically discoursed upon breast cancer, poisons, diseases of the skin, rabies, insomnia, childbirth and the use of obstetrical forceps, meningitis, amnesia, stomach ulcers, tuberculosis as a contagious dixax, facial ties, phlebotomy, tumors, kidney diseases and geriatric care. He defined love as a mental disease.
OPHTHALMOLOGY

The Arab physicians exhibited a high degree of proficiency and certainly were foremost in the treatment of eye diseases. Words such as retina and cataract are of Arabic origin. In ophthalmology and optics Ibn al Haytham (965-1039 A.D.) known to the West as Alhazen wrote the Optical Thesaurus from which such worthies as Roger Bacon, Leonardo da Vinci and Johannes Kepler drew theories for their own writings. In his Thesaurus he showed that light falls on the retina in the same manner as it falls on a #urface in a darkened room through a small aperture, thus conclusively qroving that vision happens when light rays pass from objects towards the eye and not from the eye towards the object as thought by the Greeks. He experiments for testing the angles of incidence and reflection, and a theoretical proposal for magnifying lens (made in Italy three centuries later). He also taught that the image made on the retina is conveyed along the optic nerve to the brain. Razi was the first to recognize the reaction of the pupil to light, and Ibn Sina was the first to describe the exact number of extrinsic muscles of the eyeball, namely six. The greatest contribution of Islamic medicine in practical ophthalmology was in the matter of cataract. The most significant development in the extraction of cataract was developed by Ammar bin All of Mosul, who introduced a hollow metallic needle through the sclerotic and extracted the lens by suction. Europe rediscovered this in the nineteenth century.
PHARMACOLOGY

Pharmacology took roots in Islam during the 9th century. Yuhanna bin Masawayh (777- 857 A.D.) started scientific and systematic applications of therapeutics in the Abbasid capital. His student Hunayn bin Ishaq al-Ibadi (809-874 A.D.) and his associates established solid foundations of Arabic medicine and therapeutics in the ninth century. In his book al-Masail Hunayn outlined methods for confirming the pharmacological effectiveness of drugs by experimenting \vith them on humans. He also explained the Importance of prognosis and diagnosis of diseases for better and more effective treatment.

Pharmacy became an independent and separate profession from medicine and alchemy.)" With the wild sprouting of apothecary shops, regulations became necessar~ and were imposed to maintain quality control.(ll) The Arabian apothecary shops were regularly inspected by a syndic (Muhtasib) who threatened the merehants with humiliating corporal punishments if they adulterated drugs." As early as the days of al-Mamun and alMutasim pharmacists had to pass examinations to become licensed professionals and were pledged to follow the physician's prescriptions. Also by this decree, restrictive measures were legally placed upon doctors, preventing them from owning or holding stock in a pharmacy.

Methods of extracting and preparing medicines were brought to a high art, and their techniques of distillation, crystallization, solution, sublimation, reduction and calcination became the essential processes of pharmacy and chemistry. With the help of these techniques, the Saydalanis (pharmacists) introduced new drugs such as camphor, senna, sandalwood, rhubarb, musk, myrrh, cassia, tamarind, nutmeg, alum, aloes, cloves, coconut, nux vomlca, cubebs, aconite, ambergris and mercury.(g) The important role of the Muslims in developing modern pharmacy and chemistry is memorialized in the significant number of current pharmaceutical and chemical terms derived from Arabic: drug, alkali, alcohol, aldehydes, alembic, and elixir among others, not to mention syrups and juleps. They invented flavoring extracts made of rose water, orange blossom water, orange and lemon peel, tragacanth and otheraromatic ingredients. Space does not permit me to list the contributions to pharmacology and therapeutics, made by Razi, Zahrawi, Biruni, Ibn Butlan, and Tamimi.
PSYCHOTHERAPY

From freckle lotion to psychotherapy - such was the range of treatment practiced by the physicians ofIslam. Though freckles continue to sprinkle the skin of 20th century man, in the realm of psychosomatic disorders, both Al-Razi and Ibn Sina achieved dramatic results, antedating Freud and Jung by at least a thousand years.(l5) When Razi was appointed physician- inchief to the Baghdad Hospital, he devoted a ward exclusively for the mentally ill making it the first hospital ever to have such a ward."

Al-Razi combined psychological methods and physiological explanations, and he used psychotherapy in a dynamic fashion. Al-Razi was once called in to treat a famous caliph who had severe arthritis. He advised a hot bath, and while the caliph was bathing, Razi threatened him with a knife, saying he was going to kill him. This deliberate provocation increased the natural caloric, enhanced its strength, and consequently dissolved the already softened humors, so that the caliph stood up in the bath and ran after A1-Razi.

The Arabs brought a refreshing spirit of dispassionate clarity into psychiatry. They were free from the demonological theories which swept over the Christian world and were therefore able to make clearcut clinical observations about the mental diseases."

Najab ud din Muhammad," a contemporary of Al-Razi, has left many excellent descriptions of various mental diseases. His carefully compiled observations about the patients made up the most complete classification of mental diseases theretofore known.(39) Najab described agitated depression, obsessional types of neurosis, Nafkhae hrlalikholia (combined priapism and sexual impotence). Kutrib (a form of persecutory psychosis), Dual-Kulb (a form of mania).(40)

Ibn Sina recognized 'physiological psychology' in treating illnesses involving emotions. From the clinical perspective Ibn Sina developed a system for associating changes in the pulse rate with inner feelings which has been viewed as predating the word association test of Jung. He is said to have treated a seriously ill patient by feeling the patient's pulse and reciting aloud to him the names of provinces, districts, towns, streets, and people. By noticing how the patient's pulse quickened when names were mentioned. Ibn Sina deduced that the patient was in love with a girl whose home Ibn Sina was able to locate by the digital examination. The man took Ibn Sina's advice, married the girl, and recovered from his illness.

It is not surprising to know that at Fez, Morocco, an asylum for the mentally ill had been built early in the 8th century, and mental asylums were also built by the Arabs in Baghdad in 705 A.D., in Cairo in 800 A.D., and in Damascus and Aleppo in 1270 A.D.40 I, addition to baths, drugs, kind and benevolent treatment given to the mentally ill, musico-therapy and occupational therapy were also employed. These therapies were highly developed. Special choirs and live music bands played daily to entertain the patients by singing, music, and other light-hearted performances.(l3)

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IS HIJAB COMPULSORY?

One of the verses in the Quran protects a woman's fundamental rights. Verse 59 of Surah A1Ahzaab reads: "O Prophet! T'ell thy wives and daughters and the believing women, that they should cast their outer garments over their persons (when outside) : so that they should be known (as such) and not molested".
According to the Quran, the reason why Muslim women should wear an outer garmcnt when going out of their homes is that they may be recognised as "Believing" women and differentiated from streetwalkers for whom sexual harassment is an occupational hazard. The purpose of this verse was not to confine women to their homes, but to make it safe for them to go about their daily business without attracting unsavoury attention.
Older Muslim women who are past the prospect of marriage are not required to wear "the outer garment". "Such elderly women as are past the prospect of marriage, there is no blame on them if they lay aside their (outer) garments, provided they make not wanton display of their beauty; but it is best for them to be modest; and Allah is One Who sees and knows all things". (24:60).
The Quran does not suggest that women should be veiled or they should be kept apart from the world of men. On the contrary, the Quran is insistent on the full participation of women in society and in the religious practices.
Morality of the self and cleaniness of conscience are far better than the morality of the purdah. No goodness can comc from pretence. Imposing the veil on women is the ultimate proof that men suspect their mothers, daughters, wives and sisters of being potential traitors to them. How can Muslim men meet non-Muslim women who are not veiled and treat them respectfully, but not acccord the same respectful trcatmcnt to Muslim women?
To wear the Hijaab is certainly NOT an Islamic obligatory on women. It is an innovation (Bid'ah) of men suffering from a piety complex who are so weak spiritually that they just cannot trust themselves!
 
Muslim women remained in mixed company with men until the late sixth century (A.H.) or 11 th century (A.C.). They received guests, held meetings and went to wars to help their brothers and husbands, and they defended their castles and bastions.
It is part of the growing feeling on the part of Muslim men and women that they no longer wish to identify with the West, and that reaffirmation of their identity as Muslims requires the kind of visible sign that adoption of conservative clothing implies.
For these women the issue is not that they have to dress conservatively, but that they choose to. In lran, Imam Khomeini first insisted that women must wear the veil and chador, but in response to large demonstrations by women, he modified his position and agreed that while the chador is not obligatory, MODEST dress is.

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Qur'an and Science

INTRODUCTION
Mankind is at the threshold of the 21st century in terms of the common era. This age is rightly called the information age with computers, electronic mail and business and commerce and the Internet with WEB pages.  To many thinkers religion is alien to science.  Science simply means a specialized branch of knowledge. In Arabic it is called 'Ilm.  A scientist in Arabic is called an 'Alim.  The west is wrong in separating Science from Religion. The great universal Muslim scientists about thousand years ago were at the forefront of knowledge particularly in the sciences and technology without ever giving up their religion. In fact Islam in general and the Qur'an in particular inspired the Muslim scientists to seek and advance knowledge. Hence they achieved all these without any conflict with religion.  Today many western educated Muslims follow the western path of separation of religion from science.  On the other hand those Muslims trained in Islamic theology have refrained from modern sciences.
By moving away from the reading and in depth study of the Qur'an Muslims have lost the golden opportunity of many a scientific discovery and advancement of knowledge.  By moving away from their Scriptures the Western people made many scientific discoveries and inventions. This is because of the suppression and obscurantism practiced by the Church against the scientists and intellectuals in the past. Even the scriptures themselves were a hurdle to the cause of seeking the truth through observation and experimentation as lucidly pointed by Dr. Maurice Bucaille in his most popular book " The Bible, Qur'an and Science."
 Science is not a divine revelation but it provides a means for the welfare of man and to better understanding the creation  of Allah(SWT), the natural phenomena and their purpose.  In simplest terms science means knowledge and Islam exhorts its followers to relentlessly pursue knowledge. The Noble Qur'an, Allah (SWT) ordained His servants to pray to Him thus:
  " O Lord! Increase me in knowledge." (20: 114)
 It is reported that the Messenger of Allah (SWT) peace be upon him to have once said," Learning comprises treasure houses whose keys are queries."  Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) encouraged the spirit of investigation and analysis of facts.  One of the most inspiring Ayath (verses) in the Qur'an is the following:
" And He has subjected to you, as from Him, all that is in the heavens and on earth: behold, in that are signs indeed for those who reflect."   (45: 13)
     To reflect is really the scientific spirit, which leads to understanding and discoveries about Allah's (SWT) creation and natural phenomena.  Allah (SWT) guides the efforts of the scientists to meaningful purposes.
The more one investigates the more one knows about Allah (SWT) and His design of the universe.  The emphasis is on thinking which leads the way to the cherishing care of Allah to establish all things in nature to service for the benefit of mankind.  Allah (SWT) has given us the faculties and the intellectual genius for this purpose.  The Muslim should never regard the study of natural sciences as forbidden territory or "haram".   According to the Muslim traditions he who seeks knowledge is blessed, but the seeker who also attains success is twice blessed. The Muslim intellectuals have proved this in the past and they already set the trend.
 This work was undertaken to prove there is no conflict between science and Islam and many chapters in this book have been based on the Qur'anic inspirations the author derived from reading different Ayath (Verses). Even at the dawn of the 21st century of the CE, the Muslims can derive inspiration from the in depth study of the Qur'an and make new scientific discoveries and push forward the frontiers of knowledge.  Many of the Chapters in the book were published as articles in many Muslim magazines and intellectual journals throughout the world. At the urging of many of my friends and Muslim scholars I have collected them in these two volumes titled " The Qur'an and Science."  I humbly believe that the younger generation of Muslims will get inspiration from the revelations in the Qur'an and do investigate and contribute to the bank of knowledge.

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The Islamic Revolution

The Tawheed, which Muhammad (s) propagated, was distinct from all other ideas because it was based on two principles:
Tawheed Rububiyyah, which means that Allah, is One, without any partners or associates.
Tawheed 'Ulluhiyyah, which means that Allah must be worshipped alone in everything, and total slavery must be to Allah alone in everything ranging from the spiritual to the political.
It was this call for Tawheed, which provoked the anger of the Makkan political authority because they realized that Muhammad (s) posed a threat to their societal setup with this call. The response of Ja'afar ibn Abi Talib (r) also illustrates this understanding which the Makkan authorities feared:

"He summoned us to worship the One True God and to reject the stones and idols we and our fathers had been worshipping in addition to Allah. He ordered us to be trustful in speech, to fulfill all the duties that were entrusted to us, to care for our relatives, to be kind to our neighbors, to refrain from unlawful food and consumption of blood. He forbade us to engage in lewdness and lying, the devouring of the money of the orphan and the defamation of married women. He commanded us to worship the One God and to assign no partners unto Him, to pray, to pay the purifying tax and to fast. We deemed him truthful and we believed him, and we accepted the Message he brought from Allah."

This understanding of the spiritual-political nature of the Message of Islam can also be found in many verses of the Qur'an.
Neil Armstrong walked on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969. Why did it take thousands of years for man to land on the moon?
Non-Muslims ask, "If Islam had never come into existence, would there have been anything seriously lacking in world history?" The answer is yes.
Polytheism and superstition looked upon things and creatures as deities, and encouraged their worship. Before the advent of Islam, polytheism dominated the entire world. Man considered the moon, the sun other planets, wind, river, snake, cow, fire, mountain, etc. as deities. These natural objects inspired man to bow before it rather than try to conquer it. Holding the moon to be sacred was a major obstacle to even thinking of conquering it. The supremacy of polytheism was brought to an end by the Islamic revolution, which replaced it with monotheism, making it the dominant creed of the times. What is revolution?
Revolution is defined as a sudden, radical or complete change; especially the overthrow or renunciation of one ruler or government and substitution of another by the governed. To change fundamentally or completely. To turn over in the mind: reflect upon: ponder.
In the Muslim world this revolution was brought about through the influence of religion. The western world began its revolution by separating the secular sciences from religion culminating in the landing of man on the moon. Modern science is a part of the Islamic revolution. Because of the polytheistic view natural sciences had become forbidden territory and natural phenomena were given sanctity. The Islamic revolution of monotheism opened the doors of research and investigation by displacing nature from its sacred pedestal. Modern science is wholly the gift of the Islamic revolution-directly in its initial stages, and indirectly in its later stages. Modern scientific revolution was set in motion by Islam, which was sent by the Almighty for the guidance of all mankind for all eternity. Henri Pirenne author of "History of Western Europe" says, "Islam changed the face of the globe. The traditional order of history was overthrown." Islam is complete truth. All-pervasiveness of superstition served as a hurdle to all kinds of human development. The kings or rulers exploited the masses through polytheism and superstition. The kings represented God on earth. Some kings like Nimrod, Pharaoh claimed as gods.
Dr. George Sarton, a former Professor of History of Science at Harvard University, stated in his book, "The Life of Science" that the foundations of science were laid for us by the Mesopotamian civilization (present day Iraq) whose scholars and scientists were their priests. The second development of science came through the Greeks. The Third Stage of development, however, is to be credited to the meteoric rise of Islam. For nearly four hundred years Islam led the scientific world as from one end of Islam to the other, from Spain to India, the great body of past knowledge was exchanged between her scholars and the torch carried forward with the new discoveries. Scholars of Christendom from about the eleventh century were mainly occupied for over two hundred years in translating from Arabic into Latin. Thus Islam paved the way for the Renaissance, which in turn led to science's fourth great development in the modern world.
It was God's decree that Prophet Muhammad (s) to be a da'i (missionary) as well as a mahi (eradicator).
The Qur'an says:

"We have revealed to you this book so that, by the will of their Lord, you may lead men from darkness to light.

(Quran, 14: 1)

The Nile Goddess

In Egypt, it was an ancient and pagan custom that sometime in July a virgin decorated with bridal clothes was thrown in the Nile river as an offering to propitiate (or to do something to get favors) the Goddess of the river Nile. After the advent of Christianity, the Egyptians became Christians, however they continued to follow the ancient custom of sacrificing a virgin to the Goddess of river Nile.
During the time Hadrat Omar (r), Egypt came under the Muslim rule and Amar bin Al-Aas was appointed Governor of Egypt. The Egyptian elders waited on the Governor in July, and wanted his permission for continuing the old custom of throwing a virgin in the river to seek the pleasure and favors of the Nile Goddess.
The Governor said that such a practice was offensive and revolting to Islam and hence he disallowed such practice in an Islamic State. He further argued that Islam knew of no Goddess of the Nile and the question of any expiation did not arise. Islam knew of only One God-Allah and Allah did not stand in need of any propitiation.
After listening to this argument the Egyptian elders were not satisfied. They warned the Governor Amr bin Al-Aas that unless the sacrifice was made, the Nile River would not rise in flood and the entire countryside would get dry. Governor Amr was however, unyielding and inflexible that floods or no floods human sacrifice could not be permitted. The Egyptian leaders returned home in a gloomily mood.
The month of July came and passed away. No sacrifice was offered, and there was also no rise in the level of the river Nile. The month of August came and still the river did not rise. The Egyptians were trembling at what would happen if the river did not rise. The month of August passed away and still there was no flood in the river. The Egyptian leaders grieved and said, " That is all due to Islam. The Muslims have brought this fate on us."
The month of August was gone and September came, and still there was no sign of any rise in the level of the river Nile. The Egyptians lost hope and most of them were thinking of migrating elsewhere. That made Amar bin al-Aas worried. He reported the facts of the case to Hadrat Umar (ra) and wanted his instructions. Hadrat Umar approved of the action of Amr in not permitting the human sacrifice. Along with the letter, Hadrat Umar (ra) sent a card on which it was written:

"In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. From the slave of Allah, Umar the Commander of the faithful to the Nile of Egypt.
"Everything in the Universe is subject to the will of Allah. The rise in your level is subject to the will of Allah, and we pray to Allah (SWT) to command you to rise in level."

Hadrat Umar asked Amr that the card should be thrown in the middle of the river. On the eve of the Feast of the Christian Day of the Cross, Amr had the Christians assemble on the river bank and after reciting some verses from the Noble Qur'an and taking the name of Allah, he threw the card of Hadrat Umar in the middle of the river. Then the Muslims assembled on the riverbank lifted their hands in prayers seeking the blessings of Allah, in making the river rise in level. The card of Hadrat Umar floated on the surface of the Nile for some distance and then it disappeared.
The next morning the river rose to its full flood height. Verily Allah had commanded the river to flow, and that was the end of the evil custom of sacrificing a virgin to secure a rise in the level of the river. That was the vindication of Islam. Many Egyptians now came to believe that Islam was a blessing and a true religion. They hastened to the Muslim camp and were converted to Islam.

Islamic Revolution

Before the time of the Prophet of Islam, the ancient civilizations such as Greek, Egyptian, Roman and Persian- all were polytheistic (shirk) in their beliefs. That is they worshipped natural phenomena such as the earth (Goddess Gaiga now in the west), rivers, mountains, sun, moon or stars. Only Islam was able to displace them from the pedestal of worship and created the intellectual frame of mind, which is known as the scientific revolution.
The polytheists believed the river to possess divine attributes. They believed the goddess of river caused the water to move and made it useful or harmful. In Islam the river is a creation of Allah and not a creator and it was a servant of Allah and not the Lord. Thus the Muslims found ways and means to exploit the rivers on a large scale. The history books tell us that there is no precedent in any nation to the large-scale irrigation system developed by the Spanish Muslims. The Spanish Muslims developed agriculture and created Departments of agriculture science and irrigation in the universities. They studied trees and carried out research on the properties of soil. The infertile lands were converted into orchards and lush green fields, in today's terms -a green revolution. Before this people treated rivers, springs and sea as gods. But the Muslims brought the green revolution because of their monotheistic thinking.
Polytheism (shirk) was prevalent until the 7th century. It was replaced with monotheism (Tawhid) by the Islamic Revolution. This in turn opened the doors of research and investigation by abolishing the practice of worshipping the natural phenomena. Modern industrial progress owes its existence to the Arab Muslims due to their creed of monotheism, which instilled them a mental and practical revolution. Islam changed the thinking of the Muslims and contributed to the modern scientific revolution. Historians acknowledge that Islam changed the face of the globe. Polytheism and superstition blocked the progress and advancement of human development. Islam encouraged the investigation of nature and destroyed the sanctity of nature.
Islam also destroyed the concept of intermediaries between God and man, such as the Kings and priests who claimed as God's representatives on earth or even the incarnations of God on earth. Polytheism (shirk) curbed freedom of thought. Polytheism and superstition were the major obstacles to all kinds of progress. Superstitious beliefs were an obstruction in the pat of free enquiry. The search for new truths and discovery of nature's secrets remained forbidden areas for them for centuries. Before the Islamic revolution, the world had been swept by superstitious beliefs and idolatry. The revolution based on monotheism of Islam put an almost complete end to polytheism (shirk) The Greeks excelled in the fields of art and philosophy. Their contribution to the field of science (except Archimedes' hydrostatics) was actually quite negligible. Plato's teacher, Socrates (may be construed as aHaneef) never worshipped the pagan gods which were worshipped by the Athenians in Greece and instilled free enquiry among the youth of Athens and for that he was forced to drink hemlock as a punishment in 399 BC. Archimedes was killed by a Roman soldier in 212 BC failing to recognize him. The atmosphere for scientific progress did not exist in ancient Greece. Similarly, the mighty Roman Empire never produced a single scientist.
In Islam with its foundation of monotheism created an atmosphere and environment which stimulated scientific research that lead to the conquest of natural phenomena. The modern age which is the age of science and industry, of freedom and equality is the direct consequence of the Islamic revolution rooted in the Qur'an.
From the sixth century to the 10th century Europe was in dark ages while the Islamic civilization attained the pinnacles of science and technology. After the crusades the Europeans came in contact with the Islamic civilization. They went to Muslim universities in Spain, Sicily, Cairo, and Baghdad. They translated the Arabic works into Latin for over two hundred years. The European Renaissance started in the 15th century and culminated in the emergence of the modern industrial civilization. Islamic revolution is responsible for the emancipation of the human thought.
During the Abbasid era, paper was being manufactured on a large scale and so books could be produced without the dearth of paper. There were more than 400,000 books in the library of Cordova (Spain) in the tenth century, whereas in Europe at that time, the library of Canterbury- the top of the list of the Christian libraries- contained only 1800 books in the 13 the century.
In many countries scholars were born with creative minds who could think independently of the their fellow citizens. But due to the unfavorable atmosphere and hostile environment of times, their efforts could be brought to fruition. Their knowledge withered away before they could flower. On the other hand Islamic revolution produced favorable atmosphere, it unleashed a mighty flood of knowledge which had been kept pent up for thousands of years by the dam of polytheism (shirk) and superstition. For progress of Science and Technology an atmosphere of free investigation is essential. One may be surprised to know that even today there are some people and societies who believe that the earth is flat. Even today the Hindus with MD and Ph.D. degrees worship the Sun as god and believe that the lunar and solar eclipses are caused when the snakes Rahu and Ketu swallow them. One thousand years ago Abu Rayhan Al-Biruni explained how the solar and lunar eclipses are caused by the shadows of moon and earth falling on the sun and moon respectively. The Hindus believe in 320 million gods and goddesses. Even if one spends one minute in reciting the name of a god, the whole life is not enough to recite the names of 320 million gods and goddesses.

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The Medical Benefits of Taraweeh Prayers

Muslims derive therapeutic and spiritual benefits starting from the Wudu to the physical movements in the Salat -Takbir, Qiyam, Ruku, Sajda, Jalsa, and Tasleems. Muslims perform five daily contact prayers (Salat) and voluntary prayers (Sunnah, Nafl) throughout the year and Taraweeh prayers during the month of Ramadan. This results in moderate physical exercise particularly to every muscle in the body. Some muscles contract isometrically (same length) and some contract in approximation or isotonically (same tension). The energy needed for the muscle during exercise is met by a process known as glycogenolysis. The rate of muscle metabolism increases during the performance of Salat, resulting in a relative deficiency of oxygen and muscle nutrients. In turn this deficiency causes vasodilation - an increase in the calibre of blood vessels - thereby allowing blood to flow easily back to the heart. The temporarily increased load on the heart acts to strengthen the heart muscle and to improve the circulation within the heart muscle.

During the month of Ramadan, additional prayers are performed after salatul Ishaa, called Taraweeh prayers which vary from 8 rakat (unit of prayer) to 20 rakat with a few minutes break after every 4 rakat for chanting and extolling the Majesty of Allah. After Iftar (breaking of fast) the blood glucose level continues to rise from the food ingested. Just before the Iftar meals, the blood glucose and insulin levels are at their lowest level. After an hour or so after theIftar meal, the blood glucose begins to rise and also plasma insulin. Liver and the muscles take up the circulating glucose. The blood sugar reaches high levels in an hour or two and the benefits of Taraweeh prayers come into effect. The circulating glucose is metabolised into carbon dioxide and water during the Taraweeh prayers.

Hence the Taraweeh prayers help in expending the extra calories and improve flexibility, coordination, reduce stress-related autonomic responses in healthy persons, and relieve anxiety and depression.

Physical and Emotional Well-Being

The gentle exercises performed in Taraweeh prayers improve physical fitness, emotional well-being and increase the longevity of the Namazi (one who performs the Salat or Namaz). When a little extra effort is made, as in performing the Taraweeh prayers, there will be a betterment in the endurance, stamina, in flexibility and strength. It was noted that the five daily prayers (Salat) produce the same physiological changes without any undesirable side effects as those produced by jogging or walking at about three miles per hour. Recent research studies performed on 17,000 Harvard alumni who entered college between 1916-1950 give strong evidence that only moderate aerobic exercise, equivalent to jogging about 3 miles a day, promotes good health and may actually add years to life. Men who expended about 2000 kcal of energy on a weekly basis (equal to a daily 30-minute walk, run, cycle, swim, etc.,) had one-quarter to one-third lower death rates than classmates who did little or no exercise. In addition to the health-boosting qualities of the Salat, the Namazi will be trained to be ever ready for any unexpected physical exertion such as sudden lifting of children, chairs, or catching a public transportation vehicle. The elderly will accomplish this more securely and efficiently. Hence this is an advantage for the elderly to maintain their physical fitness for a longer period of time. It has been observed that those who fast and perform the Taraweeh prayers report feeling much convalescing and robust.

The Elderly

As human beings grow older, their physiological activity diminishes, as a result their bones become thinner and if not taken care of will suffer from osteoporosis (which causes the fractures of the bones when they fall in the elderly due to a loss of bone mineral content and consequent sponginess of the bones. The bone then becomes structurally unstable, brittle and susceptible to fractures). Primary osteoporosis is most common among postmenopausal (due to reduction in oestrogen) women or those who have undergone a bilateral oophorectomy (both the ovaries removed). Women are six times more likely than men to develop Type I osteoporosis. The three major prevention strategies of osteoporosis are a high dietary intake of calcium and vitamin D, regular exercise and oestrogen replacement in postmenopausal women. The skin also becomes fragile and crinkled. The repair processes of the body become slower and immune responses are decreased. In the elderly their physical activity is reduced as a result they have lower levels of Insulin Growth Factor 1. Reserve functions of all vital organs decrease and the elderly are more susceptible to mishaps and ailments. Because of repeated and regular movements of the body during Salat the muscle strength, tendon power, joint flexibility and the cardiovascular reserve are improved. Hence Salat and Taraweeh prayers enable the elderly to enrich the quality of life and to meet with unforeseen difficulties such as falls which could injure their bodies. Therefore Taraweeh prayers will improve their endurance, self-respect and self-confidence in being self-reliant.

Adrenaline is secreted even by minor activity. The secretion outlasts the incitement. Even after the Taraweeh prayers are over the effects of adrenaline and noradrenaline are manifest. (Adrenaline also called epinephrine is produced by the adrenal glands. The middle part of these glands, the adrenal medulla, secretes the hormone, which is chemically almost identical to the transmitter substance noradrenaline produced at the ends of sympathetic nerves. Adrenaline secretion into the bloodstream in stress causes acceleration of the heart, constriction of arterioles, and dilation of the pupils. In addition, adrenaline produces a marked increase in metabolic rate thus preparing the body for emergency.) Even the thought or the intention of performing the Taraweeh prayers is sufficient to activate the sympathetic nervous system. Sympathetic nervous system (thoraco-lumbar nervous system) is one of the two division of the autonomic nervous system, which supplies motor nerves to the smooth muscles of internal organs and to the heart muscle. Sympathetic nerve fibres arise via spinal nerves in the thoracic and lumbar regions. Their endings release mainly adrenaline, which increases heart rate and breathing rate, raises blood pressure, and slows digestive processes, thereby preparing the body for "fight or flight" and antagonising the effects of the sympathetic nervous system. The adrenaline would redistribute the blood in the body to the active muscles, would mobilise liver glycogen if necessary in order to provide glucose for the active tissues, would diminish fatigue in skeletal muscles and would facilitate alveolar ventilation relaxing bronchiolar muscle, and would initiate cardiovascular changes. Exercise induces a more effective functioning of beta-adrenoreceptors located on cell membranes.

Beneficial effects of Gentle Exercise

The Taraweeh prayer is considered to be gentle exercise. The beneficial effects of gentle exercise on the body are many which are elaborated here.

Effects on Skeletal Muscle

Once muscles atrophy inspite of the availability of ample proteins. During the Salat and Taraweeh, every muscle in the body contracts isotnically and others isometrically. This gentle exercise also enhances endurance and diminishes tiredness. It helps the incapacitated to make the most of their remnant capabilities. The blood flow in strung muscle is low. During the prayers the blood flow is greatly increased to the muscles. Blood flow sometimes increases even before the start of Taraweeh prayers, with just the thought of performing the Taraweeh prayers. In addition to needing fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, the human body requires minerals such as Potassium for nerve and muscle activity. It is found in fruits, meats, seafood and milk. Potassium deficiency leads to muscular and neurologic disorders. Potassium is also important in the transmission of nerve impulses and is a major positive ion in intracellular fluids. Potassium is involved in cellular enzyme activities, and it helps regulate the chemical reactions by which carbohydrates is converted to energy and amino acids are converted to protein. Also Potassium ions cause vasodilation of arterioles. During the Taraweeh prayers, systolic Blood pressure may rise (the larger number in B.P.) a little and the diastolic Blood Pressure(the lower number in B.P.) may remain unchanged or even fall. However after the Taraweeh prayers are over, the B.P. may drop to just below normal levels which is a welcome sign. Taraweeh prayers improve respiratory efficiency; circulation in the capillaries surrounding the alveoli, or air sacs, is increased, and this brings about enhanced gas exchange and deeper breathing. The increase in the maximal consumption of oxygen is what makes the Namazi feel better. Those who perform the Taraweeh prayers, apart from the prescribed Salat, are more alert and active than those who do not perform the Taraweeh prayers, even after the age of retirement. Taraweeh prayers improve physical strength and joint stability and reduce the risk of injury to the tendons and connective tissues. After age 40, the bone mineral density falls with age. Taraweeh prayers increase bone mineral density in both menopausal and in elderly women and prevents osteoporosis and maintains normalcy in bone structures. Osteoporosis results in hip fractures in women after menopause and in elderly men. The risk of osteoporosis is substantially reduced by regular Salat and Taraweeh prayers. The prayers improve lubrication of joints, movement, and maintain flexibility. Deep vein thrombosis (the most common cause of ulceration of the legs in the elderly) is prevented by performing Salat and Taraweeh prayers.

Metabolic Effects

Salat improves body weight control and expend calories without proportionate increase in appetite. A combination of moderate dietary restriction, both at the Iftar and Sahur (early morning breakfast before the start of fast) meals, accompanied by the Taraweeh prayers, should achieve weight reduction. This will also reduce both fat and body weight, but fat-free weight will remain constant or may even increase slightly. Hence during Ramadan one should not overeat at the Sahur and Iftar meals and continue to perform Salat and Taraweeh prayers in order to lose some of the excess weight.

It is well known that exercise prevents coronary heart disease (CHD), increases high density lipo-proteins (HDL or healthy Cholesterol), increases maximum oxygen uptake, slows the heart, lowers the B.P. slightly, decreases ventricular ectopic activity, enlarges the lumen of the coronary arteries and increases cardiac output. Exercise also improves carbohydrate tolerance and improves late-onset diabetes, and helps cases of chronic respiratory diseases. Beneficial changes have been recorded in the lipid profile, B.P., clotting factors, weight reduction and insulin sensitivity of muscles and other tissues in persons who exercise regularly. Growth Hormone secretion is elevated by fasting and it is further elevated by Taraweeh prayers. As Growth Hormone is necessary for collagen formation, this may be an important factor as to why the skin of those who fast regularly during Ramadan and perform the Taraweeh prayers do not get wrinkled, even when they grow old.

Mental Health

It is a known fact that exercise improves mood, thought and behaviour. Exercise improves the quality of life, induces greater sense of well-being and energy, reduces anxiety and depression, influences mood favourably and contributes to self-esteem and an aura of confidence; improves memory in the elderly especially with constant repetition of the Ayaat (verses) from the Glorious Quran and other Ayaat which exalt His Glory. This constant repetition of the Quranic Ayaat would help to screen the mind from the incoming thoughts. It has been found by a Harvard University researcher, Dr. Herbert Benson that repetition of a prayer, Ayaat of the Quran or remembrance (Dhikr) of Allah or muscular activity coupled with passive disregard of intensive thoughts causes a "relaxation response" that leads to the lowering of Blood Pressure and decreases in oxygen consumption and a reduction in heart and respiratory rates. All these are combined in the Taraweeh prayer which is an ideal condition for "relaxation response." It combines repeated muscular activity with repetition of Salat, chanting of words of glorification of Allah and of supplications. The Taraweeh prayer puts the mind in a relaxed state. This calm state of the mind may be partly due to the release of encephalins, beta-endorphins (endogenous morphines) and others into the blood circulation. Endorphins are any one of the neuropeptides composed of many amino acids, elaborated by the pituitary gland and acting on the central and peripheral nervous systems to reduce pain. Endorphins are categorised as alpha-endorphin, beta-endorphin, and gamma-endorphin which produce pharmacologic effects similar to morphine. Beta-endorphin found in the brain and GI(gastro-intestinal) tract is the most potent of the endorphins and is a powerful analgesic(pain killer) in humans and animals. For example during childbirth many women release endorphins reducing a woman's sensation of pain. The release of endorphins is associated with an euphoria. During childbirth, women who give birth with little or no medication sometimes label this euphoria a "birth climax."

Conclusion

Islam is the only religion where physical movements of Salat and Taraweeh prayers are combined with spiritual exercise. When Salat and Taraweeh prayers are practised throughout a person's life, recurring every few hours or so, trains a person to undertake the difficult task of meditation during physical manoeuvres of Salat and Taraweeh prayers, so that the Namazi(one who performs the Salat) benefits both from spiritual as well as physical exercise.Salat and Taraweeh prayers are unique in that tension builds up in the muscles during physical manoeuvres on the one hand, while tension is relieved in the mind due to the spiritual ingredient, on the other hand. The following benefits have been noted among those who perform the Taraweeh prayers: burning off calories and losing weight, maintaining muscle tone and body composition, joint flexibility (stiff joints are often the result of disuse, not arthritis), increasing metabolic rate, improving circulation, improving heart and lung function and aerobic capacity, decreasing heart disease risk profile, increasing your sense of self-control, reducing your level of stress, increasing your ability to concentrate, improving your appearance, reducing depression and resistance to depression, helping you sleep better and suppressing your appetite. Evidence is also accumulating that those who perform regular Salatalong with voluntary prayers can conserve and actually retard the loss of bone mass in the elderly, thus staving off the ravages of osteoporosis that afflicts both men and women. It is also possible to retard the aging process and confer some protection to health in later life. Those who have performed Salat (Fard and Wajib), Sunnah and Nafland Taraweeh prayers throughout life get protection and a positive effect in terms of health and longevity. They reverse the life-shortening effects of cigarette smoking and excess body weight. Even people with high blood pressure (a primary heart disease risk) reduced their death rate by one-half and their risk of dying from any of the major diseases is reduced. They also counter genetic tendencies toward an early death.

Hence Salat (Fard, Wajib), Sunnah, Nafl and Taraweeh prayers are necessary for Muslims to preserve life and their desirable qualities into old age.

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Resurrection: Islamic & Scientific Perspectives

Islamic Perspective

Every living creature is destined to die. This is the natural law. Or everything that is born will die. To the Muslims this is the law of Allah(swt). Hence human beings are no exception. Death is the cessation of ordinary human existence. Questions concerning the origin of death and the destiny of the dead, as well as rituals regarding the dead, are elements in all religions.
In Islam, death is the common destiny willed by Allah(swt) for all living things. Death is a passing state for human beings between earthly existence and immortal life in the hereafter(Aakhirah). The onset of death is traditionally conceived in terms of a personal encounter with an angel of death dispatched by Allah(swt). Prevailing Islamic doctrine conceives death as a disengagement of the soul from the body, the outward sign of which is the cessation of breathing. This event marks the end of the predetermined period of mundane life that is to be accounted for at the last judgment, the Day of Judgment(Qiyamah), when the body and soul are again reunited and resurrected for consignment to the splendid gardens of paradise or torturous fires of hell. Between death and resurrection, individuals are subjected to a preliminary trial in the grave by the angels Munkar and Nakir and given a preview of their destiny in the Hereafter (Aakhirah).

Aqeeda (Muslim Creed)

The principal points of the Muslim Creed are: Belief in Allah (the God), God's Angels, God's Messengers, God's Books, Belief in life after death (Aakhirah); the Day of Resurrection (Qiyamah) and Qadr.
The fifth point in Muslim creed is to believe in life after death; to believe in the Day of Resurrection. This is the most important article of faith in Islam. It is in fact, the basis upon which Islam builds its whole philosophy of Life. A person cannot be a Muslim until after he/she accepts this principle. The advent of resurrection or Qiyamah is more frequently mentioned in the Noble Quran than any other happening. On the day of Qiyamah, all human beings will be resurrected and will have to pass through God's judgment on their actions during this ephemeral life on earth. All this is vividly described in the Noble Quran. The word, Qiyamah, occurs 68 times in the Quran, and the word Hereafter occurs 118 times in Yusuf Ali's translation of the Quran. The Quran argues that resurrection is rationally possible.

"O mankind! if you have a doubt about the Resurrection(consider) that We created you out of dust then out of sperm then out of a leech-like clot then out of a morsel of flesh partly formed and partly unformed in order that We may manifest (Our Power) to you; And We cause whom We will to rest in the wombs for an appointed term then do We bring you out as babes then(foster you) that you may reach your age of full strength; and some of you are called to die and some are sent back to the feeblest old age so that they know nothing after having known(much). And (further) you see the earth barren and lifeless but when We pour down rain on it, it is stirred(to life) it swells and it puts forth every kind of beautiful growth(in pairs)."

(Quran, 22.:5)

Commenting on this verse, Allama Yusuf Ali says "If they really have doubts in their minds about the life after death, they have only to turn their attention either to their own nature, or to the nature around. How wonderful is their own physical growth, from lifeless matter, to seed, fertilised ovum, foetus, child, youth, aged, and death! How can they doubt that the Author of all these wonderful stages in their life here can also give them another kind of life after the end of this life?
Or, if they look at external nature, they see the earth dead and barren and Allah's fertilising showers bring it in to life, growth and beauty in various forms. The Creator of this great pageant of Beauty can surely create yet another and a newer world. The stages of man's physical growth from nothing till he completes the cycle of this life are described in words whose accuracy, beauty, and comprehensiveness can only be fully understood by biologists. Parallel to the physical growth, may be understood man's inner growth, also by stages and by Allah's creative artistry."
Temptations of this world and its transitory pleasures often make man forget that the life hereafter is an impending actuality. Many of those who claim to believe in the life to come, act and behave as if it belonged to a distant future, and had no bearing to their present activities and manner of living. The Quran repeatedly reminds men that the Hour of Reckoning is not a distant possibility, but very close to man, and could come to pass any moment. Some possibilities are: Nuclear warfare, huge meteors/ asteroids striking the earth, deadly epidemics, natural disasters: tornadoes, earth quakes, volcanoes, etc., Ozone hole, pollution, depletion of fuel in the sun, etc.
The wisest course for man, therefore, is to be always alert and guard and navigate clear of all forms of sin and impiety, for when the Promised Hour comes it will come and without any prior notice. Hence in the Quran almost every Surah mentions who moves and acts of his own free will; protects himself and ensures the preservation of the species. Most importantly, there is the moral aspect of man's being, which is endowed with the consciousness of good and evil, the faculty to discriminate between the two, and the power to do good as well as malevolence. Man's nature demands that good deeds should have good results and evil deeds should lead to evil consequences. Man is endowed with the faculty to discriminate justice from tyranny; truth from falsehood; right from wrong; mercy from cruelty; kindness from malevolence; generosity from meanness; trustworthiness from breach of trust, etc. These qualities are not abstract ideas but are actually experienced in human life and have a deep and far-reaching effect on human civilisation. Hence man's nature demands that his acts should lead relentlessly to their moral consequences; in the same way as they lead to their physical effects.
If a man kills another human being, the moral consequence of the act should be the punishment of the criminal commensurate with the damage that he has caused to the family whose member was killed. It is possible that the offender may go scot free and even remain happy and become prosperous after having killed another human being. Justice demands that the offender must be punished. Since this has not happened in this world, it has to take place in the life Hereafter(Aakhirah). Genghis Khan, Hitler and others caused grave harm to millions of people for countless generations. Under the natural laws that govern the system of the Universe they could not possibly be awarded punishment commensurate with their crimes and acts of senselessness. Even if Genghis Khan or Hitler were to be torn to pieces, this punishment would not be commensurate with the wrongs they perpetrated on humanity. Between 1974 and 1979 Pol Pot killed millions of Cambodians. Thus we see killing, adversity and suffering at the hands of the vested interests. Is it possible to make restitutionm to such men and women adequately in this short span of life, within the limits of the physical laws that govern the world? The laws that govern the present system of the Universe do not allow an opportunity for complete retribution for the killings of millions of Cambodians.
On the other hand, great prophets, the sages and the pious and virtuous men and women called mankind to the truth and the right path, and guided them out of darkness into light. Their ideas and teachings and practical examples have benefited millions of men and women for centuries; doing good for mankind, bracing against the tempest of consequences of human actions.
Also the actions of humans during their short span of life on earth often have effects so widespread and lasting that their full consequences take thousands of years to unfold and manifest themselves fully. And it is impossible for any person, under the present laws of nature to attain such a long longevity on earth. It is logical to argue that while the present physical world and its natural laws are enough for the material and animal constituents of man, they are quite inadequate for the moral elements of his being. Hence there is a need for another world where the law of ethics is the governing law and the laws of nature are subservient to it; where life is eternal; where the moral consequences of human actions in the material world that could not manifest themselves there, should manifest themselves fully and in proper form. It demands a world where truth and righteousness, and not materialistic things, carry weight; where fire burns only such things as deserve to be burned according to the moral law; where happiness and comfort are the lot of the virtuous, and pain and misery the plight of the wicked. Both nature and reason demand such an order. The Quran assures us that the world that our natures as well as our reason demand, shall be a reality one day.
There is no instrument to determine with certainty whether there is any life beyond death. Science can neither affirm nor deny Aakhirah. The question of whether there is any life after death lies completely outside the realm of scientific knowledge. Anyone who declares, in the name of science, that there is no life after death, therefore, makes a very unscientific statement. If a person is of the view that the life of this world is the only life and that there is no life of any kind after this, that person will develop a moral attitude without any accountability for his/her actions in this world. A radically different kind of attitude and approach is bound to result if he/she believes that this life is to be followed by another life where one will have to render account for all of one's acts in this world and that one's ultimate fate in the Hereafter will depend upon one's conduct in this life.
The Quran reveals that this Universe, which was created in accordance with the physical laws, will be demolished at one stroke; and it will be replaced by another world. God Almighty will then resurrect all the human beings who were born from the beginning of creation down to its end, and will make them appear (resurrect) before Himself on the day of Qiyamah. The records of all the deeds of individuals, communities, and mankind at large, will be there without the slightest error or omission. Also there will be complete reports of the effects and consequences of all human actions in the material world. All of the generations of men affected by them, will be present in the witness box. Every particle affected, in any way, by the deeds or words of men will tell its own story. And the limbs, the ears, eyes and all other parts of the human body will stand witness as to how they were used or abused in life. On the basis of this unimpeachable evidence and those complete records, Allah(swt), the Supreme Sovereign of the Universe, will decide each case with perfect justice and pronounce the reward or penalty as the case may be. The reward, as well as the punishment, will be of a magnitude that cannot even be estimated by the limited standards of the material world. The virtues whose beneficent effects extend over several centuries in this world will be fully rewarded there, and neither death nor illness, nor old age, will be to cut short the enjoyment of the reward. On the other hand, the evil deeds whose effects and consequences blight the lives of millions in this world for hundreds of years will be punished fully, and neither death nor coma will be able to relieve the pain and suffering of the guilty.
The Noble Prophet(s) has said the following in one of his moving sermons thus:

I swear by Allah that all of you will certainly die, just as you go to sleep at night. Then surely you will all be raised again as you wake up in the morning. Then you will definitely be judged for the deeds you had been doing. You will get rewards for good deeds and punishment for the evil ones; it will either be the everlasting life of Paradise or the endless torment of Hell-fire.

(Cf.Sermons of the Holy Prophet, reproduced in Nahajul Balagha)

To the Quraish, the concept of Aakhirah and Qiyamah were way above their heads.
One may ask why Allah should not be able to recreate the form of man which came into being out of scattered particles of clay and was then again turned into earth.
The Quran makes repeated references to this matter, saying for example:

"We created you from earth and return you to earth and then bring you forth once more."

(Quran, 20:55)

In this verse, our attention is drawn to the creative power of the Creator. Through the presentation of the past and future of man in this world and the Hereafter, in a single panorama, solace and assurance are given to man's unquiet and sceptical soul.
The dismayed people who imagine that the body of man disintegrates as a result of chemical and microbial actions within the soil, and that it cannot be restored to life, to them the Quran says:

"The unbelievers say: Is this not strange that we should be brought back after dying and turning to dust? Such a return is impossible. But We are fully aware of what the earth takes from them and it is We Who possess the Preserved Tablet."

(Quran, 50:2-4)

This verse refers, then, to a group of unbelievers who deny the resurrection of the dead. It reminds them that Allah knows full well where the elements are that once made up their bodies before being dispersed and returned to the storehouse of nature. He will reassemble those elements on the plain of resurrection, thus reconstructing the body in a way the unbelievers thought impossible. This reconstruction will follow entirely the structure and contents of the body as it previously existed, and be based entirely upon it

The convincing logic of the Quran

When the Prophet of Islam(s) expounded the topic of Qiyamah (resurrection) to the pagan Arabs, a Bedouin named Ubayy bin Khalaf picked up a decayed bone and set out for Madinah to visit the Prophet(s). In the hope of refuting the arguments of the Prophet and the logic of the Quran on which they were based, he raised up the bone, as if it were a valuable and convincing piece of evidence, and crumbled it to dust, scattering the pieces in the air. Then he addressed the Prophet Muhammad(s) these crude, unadorned words inspired by his rebelliousness and ignorance: "Who will restore to life the scattered particles of this rotten bone?"

He believed that he would thus be able to refute the arguments of the Prophet(s) and to destroy the belief of others in resurrection of the dead. His ignorant mode of thought prevented him from having any correct notion of the creation of being, so that he imagined that the scattered particles of a decayed bone could not possibly be brought back to life. He adamantly maintained that the reassembling of the countless particles of the body was unacceptable to man's reason.
We know that Ubayy bin Khalaf was cursed by the Prophet(s) for putting the intestines of a camel on the back of the Prophet(s). He was killed in the battle of Badr and his body parts were mutilated but he was not thrown in the well. (Sahih Bukhari Hadith 5.193)
The Noble Quran replied with this persuading argument based on convincing logic:

"(O Messenger) say: "Who first brought them to life will restore them to life. He has knowledge of all His creation. .. Is the Creator Who brought into being the heavens and the earth, incapable of creating the like thereof? Certainly He is the Creator and All-Knowing."

(Quran, 36:79-81)

The Quran invites man to contemplate the whole vast structure of creation together with the innumerable phenomena and minutiae it contains, using his wisdom and the intelligence which are his means for recognising the principles underlying the universe. Thus cloning enables man to realise that the restoration of life to man through resurrection is not more difficult than the initial creation out of a mass of different materials that were compounded together.
Man may well ask himself how the breath of life may be infused anew into the particles of his body once they have been scattered in the recesses of the earth, and how lifeless matter may be brought back to life although its constituent elements have been dispersed. But the dispersal does not result in their permanent alienation from each other, and the human intellect can well understand that the infinite and eternal creative power of God has no difficulty whatsoever in compounding afresh those scattered elements so that they begin pulsating with life anew.
The Noble Quran reminds man of Allah's unlimited power to restore all the minute qualities and precise details of man's limbs with the following words:

"Does man imagine that We are not capable of reassembling his decayed bones? We are able even to restore his fingers to their previous state."

(Quran, 75:3-4)

In this verse Allah selects to mention out of all the marvel's of man's composition the lines in his fingers as an example of His power. In the whole world, two people cannot be found with exactly identical fingerprints. This unique quality of fingerprints, first indicated in the Quran remained unknown until their discovery by British scientists in 1884.
In February 1997 it was publicised that a Scottish scientist cloned a lamb. The western scientists speculated the possibility of cloning a human being. Some Muslim scholars think that it is impossible to clone a human being. Because the human being is different from all of God's creations in that the human being has a soul. The argument is since science cannot clone a soul, a human being cannot be cloned. Looking at the past history of science, it is possible to clone a human being in our life-time. A clone is like a photocopy of the original or an identical twin who is much younger in age. If an identical twin has a soul, then a human clone will also have a soul. A clone cannot be grown in a laboratory but in a surrogate mother's womb. The surrogate mother provides all the nutrients for the cloned cell to grow to become an embryo, a foetus and then after delivery a human child, just like the lamb Dolly. The only difference between a normal child and a cloned child is in the genes. The normal child has 23 chromosomes from the mother and 23 chromosomes from the father or 23 pairs in every cell of the body except the germ cells or gametes (sperm or ova). The clone child will have 23 pairs of chromosomes of one parent.
Muslims should welcome the technology of cloning of humans. Because this scientific accomplishment is in itself an indication of the reality of resurrection; it provides a method which joined together with reflection, may permit us to understand Qiyamah (resurrection) and prove it scientifically.

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Medieval Imams and their man made prohibitions

For a start, so let us take a look at this verse:

[11:116] If only some of those among the previous generations possessed enough intelligence to forbid evil! Only a few of them deserved to be saved by us. As for the transgressors, they were preoccupied with their material luxuries; they were guilty.

It is clear that 11:116 does not forbid us from having lawful possessions, hobbies, pleasures or natural God given blessings! All what 11:116 is warning against is to be excessively pre-occupied with the material things in life to the extent of forgetting our prime duty of worshipping God, but as long as we worship God sincerely and observe our religious obligations (Salat, Zakat, etc), then we are entitled to enjoy all the blessings God made available to us. We are also entitled to have all the lawful riches if we remember our duties towards God. The story of Solomon in the Quran tells us that God gave him immense material riches. God places this story in the Quran about Solomon to confirm that it is not unrighteous in any way to have great wealth, as long as it does not distract us from our duty towards God. This is the message of the following verse:

[24:37] People who are not distracted by business or trade from commemorating God; they observe the Contact Prayers (Salat), and give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and they are conscious of the day when the minds and the eyes will be horrified.

All the various blessings which come our way are God given, and God wants us to enjoy all the good things He gave us. The following Quranic verses confirm this truth:

[7:32] Say, “Who prohibited the nice things God has created for His creatures, and the good provisions?” Say, “Such provisions are to be enjoyed in this life by those who believe. Moreover, the good provisions will be exclusively theirs on the Day of Resurrection.” We thus explain the revelations for people who know.

also:

[28:77] “Use the provisions bestowed upon you by God to seek the abode of the Hereafter, without neglecting your share in this world.”

The words “without neglecting your share in this world” confirm that God wants us to enjoy all the provisions, luxuries and blessings of life.

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Now that we have verified what the Quran says about the luxuries of life, it is also necessary to analyse where do these medieval Imams get their fabricated prohibitions from.

Needless to say, the books of hadith will supply a generous richness of prohibitions none of which are found in the Quran, and since the Quran makes it very clear that God is the only Law Giver (6:114) and that the prophet Muhammad (to whom the hadith is attributed) does not have the authority to prohibit anything which is made lawful by God (66:1), then it is our duty to discard all these hadith which are falsely attributed to the Prophet.

There are various hadith which prohibit keeping any dogs for pets, as a matter of fact there are some hadith which advocates the killing of all black dogs!

Other hadith prohibit men from wearing gold and silk!

Other hadith prohibit music, pictures on the walls, perfume for women. The list is endless!

Moreover, and as if the reliance on fabricated hadith is not bad enough, we often find many high profile Imams coming up periodically with personal “fatwa’s” (religious decrees) through which they will prohibit something or another according to their own whims when there does not exist such a prohibition in the Quran. What they are doing is in fact playing the role of Religious Law Makers!

We know from 66:1 that the prophet of God did not have such authority since such role is reserved for God alone, so who exactly do these Imams think they are by claiming such self appointed authority? They will indeed be accountable for their sinful acts, and all those who followed them and upheld their man made laws will also incur great retribution:

“They follow idols who decree for them religious laws never authorised by God. If it were not for the predetermined decision, they would have been judged immediately. Indeed, the transgressors have incurred a painful retribution.” 42:21

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