Hajj is a form of worship and is an Islamic institution to establish Universal Brotherhood under one God. The book Islam: Its Meaning for Modern Man (1962) by Sir Zafrulla Khan has a chapter devoted to Hajj. He writes, “The pilgrimage draws Muslims together at Mecca from the ends of the earth. It should be a truly representative gathering of the whole Islamic world. In effect, it should be the World Assembly of Islam gathered together in spiritual association for the glorification of God and the promotion of human welfare.”

One can download the whole book by Zafrulla Khan free, from the library section of Alislam.org.

Journey of Man: A Genetic Odessy
by Spencer Wells

DNA is more than 99% similar among all humans, so all claims for discrimination, like caste system, polygenetic theory of human origin or some people being the ‘chosen people’ are only self indulgence. There is very little difference in the intellectual abilities of different races or families. The Journey of Man is a documentary by Spencer Wells, talks about our evolution, our recent history, and how we came to be to the way we are today. The story starts when ancestors of San bushman in Kalahari Desert in Namibia started migrating out of Africa some 50,000 years ago. The findings and data discussed in this documentary are in line with the Universal Brotherhood as expressed in the Quranic verse, “O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female; and We have made you into tribes and sub-tribes that you may know one another.” (Al Surah Al-Hujuraat 49:14) The documentary can be watched on YouTube.com.

Origin of Human Race
by Alhaj Dhul-Waqar Yaqub

Cheikh Anta Diop (1923–1986) was a Senegalese historian, anthropologist, physicist and politician who studied the human race’s origins and pre-colonial African culture. He has been considered one of the greatest African historians of the 20th century. Dr. Diop reinforces his belief in the monogenetic theory by noting that the polygenetic theory seeks to establish a hierarchy of race suggesting that some races are superior to others. Dhul-Waqar Yaqub examines how Diop’s thoughts are in keeping with many of the verses of the Holy Quran; including, “O mankind, We have created you from a male and a female; and We have made you into tribes and sub-tribes that you may know one another.” (Al Surah Al-Hujuraat 49:14) The article can be read in the spring 2009 volume of Muslim Sunrise.

Fourteen hundred years after the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) declared that the white have no superiority over the black or an Arab over a non-Arab; Western science was struggling with polygenetic theory of human origin to prove the superiority of the Caucasian race over the other races.

An hour long interview of Cheikh Anta Diop from 1985 can be heard on YouTube.

Ways to One World
by Sir Zafrulla Khan

Encyclopedia Britannica has the following to say about Sir Zafrulla Khan:

“Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan was a Pakistani politician, diplomat, and international jurist, known particularly for his representation of Pakistan at the United Nations (UN).

… He led the Indian delegation to the League of Nations in 1939, and from 1941 to 1947 he served as a judge of the Federal Court of India.
Prior to the partition of India in 1947, Zafrulla Khan presented the Muslim League’s view of the future boundaries of Pakistan to Sir Cyril Radcliffe, the man designated to decide the boundaries between India and Pakistan. Upon the independence of Pakistan, Zafrulla Khan became the new country’s minister of foreign affairs and served concurrently as leader of Pakistan’s delegation to the UN (1947–54). From 1954 to 1961 he served as a member of the International Court of Justice at The Hague. He again represented Pakistan at the UN in 1961–64 and served as president of the UN General Assembly in 1962–63. Returning to the International Court of Justice in 1964, he served as the court’s president from 1970 to 1973.

He was knighted in 1935. He is the author of Islam: Its Meaning for Modern Man (1962) and wrote a translation of the Qurān (1970).”

Here we reproduce the full text of a speech that he gave in Cornell University on May 2, 1974, about his vision of Universal Brotherhood. It can be
read online at alislam.org.

Videos about Hajj

The famous British historian Arnold J Toynbee, wrote in Civilization on Trial, “The extinction of race consciousness as between Muslims is one of the outstanding moral achievements of Islam, and in the contemporary world there is, as it happens, a crying need for the propagation of this Islamic virtue.” Look at the following videos in this light.

• A National Geographic movie
• Universal Brotherhood in Islam as described in the Malcolm X movie
• Actual footage of Malcolm X interview after Hajj

Islam, The West, and The Future
by Arnold J Toynbee

The essence of Toynbee meta-history is that civilizations thrive and survive on the basis of their ideas.

In this chapter of his book Civilization on Trial he counts two major strengths of Islam over the Western civilization, namely prohibition of alcohol and human equality in Islam. About racial equality he writes, “The extinction of race consciousness as between Muslims is one of the outstanding moral achievements of Islam, and in the contemporary world there is, as it happens, a crying need for the propagation of this Islamic virtue.” He concludes his chapter with the following words, “On two historic occasions in the past, Islam has been the sign in which an Oriental society has risen up victoriously against an Occidental intruder. Under the first successors of the Prophet, Islam liberated Syria and Egypt from a Hellenic domination which had weighed on them for nearly a thousand years. Under Zangi and Nur-ad-Din and Saladin and the Mamliiks, Islam held the fort against the assaults of Crusaders and Mongols. If the present situation of mankind were to precipitate a ‘race war,’ Islam might be moved to play her historic role once again.”

The whole of the article can be read online at alislam.org.

MTA International Live Questions in Arabic, Bangla, English and Urdu

Al Hiwar Al Mubashar (Arabic), Shotter Shondhane (Bangla), Faith Matters (English) and Rah-e-Huda (Urdu). Please see MTA Schedule for timings and benefit from these programs and invite your friends to watch them.

Persecution News

For latest updates of the persecution of the peaceful Ahmadiyya Muslim Community please visit www.ThePersecution.org or at the The Persecution Blog

The Human Family Tree
(by Spencer Wells)

Charting human history from its ancient roots in Africa to its startling evolution over time, geneticist Spencer Wells and his fellow scientists with National Geographic’s Project uncover fascinating truths about the commonalities of man. The program focuses on a diverse group of New Yorkers, using samples swabbed from the inside of their cheeks, as a starting point for analyzing their origins. Watch on YouTube

Science and Religion Corner

“He is Allah, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner. His are the most beautiful names. All that is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him, and He is the Mighty, the Wise.” (Al Surah Al-Hashr 59:25)

Einstein once remarked, “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” Human wisdom cannot flourish without proper understanding of both and their interaction.

When humans produce electricity from natural gas it is only 45% efficient and 55% of energy is wasted in heat. An electric bulb converts only 10% of energy into light and 90% goes to waste. But the so called accidental creations of nature do far better than the cumulative human efforts of several centuries. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, “Firefly light is produced under nervous control within special cells. … Firefly light is a cold light with approximately 100 percent of the energy given off as light and only a minute amount of heat. Only light in the visible spectrum is emitted.” The contrast between what nature has to demonstrate and what mankind has achieved after centuries of research is amazing! Is it fair to attribute the glory of the nature to blind chance alone?

Read more facts about fireflies.