Repentance is a blessing that givesrelief to the heart

One of the most important characteristics that distinguishes
unbelievers from believers is that believers repent oftenas an act of
worship. As unbelievers consider themselves faultless and sinless,
they do not feel the need to repent. Believers, on the other hand, do
not want to commit any sins against Allah. However, by their nature,
people can sintemporarily by following their inner selves. They can be
laxin carrying out Allah's commands. But in the end they regret and
turn to Allah and ask for our Lord's forgiveness.
Allah created people as very weak beings. People indulge in negligence
due to ignorance or unawareness; they can be mistaken forgetting even
the subjects they know best, they can think ina wrong or mistaken way,
take the wrong decisions, or act in an unsound manner knowingly or
unknowingly. This is because people have a vicious enemy like satan
who is trying to drag them into rebellion and divert them from the
true path by giving them suggestions. The inner self also commands
evil all the time. People can earn the good pleasure of Allah to the
extent that they can protect themselves from thesetwo negative Powers.
His Highness Master Bediuzzaman says, "Inthese times of distortion and
misery where this world has many captivating attributes, our basic
action point must be to dismiss evil and abandon sins". However no
matter what happens, Allah always guides people to make up for their
mistakes; this guidance is repentance.
It Is a Great Blessing That Our Lord is All-Merciful,
All-Compassionate andKind and Protective toHis Servants
Allah always gives people the opportunity to ask forforgiveness and
repent for their mistakes and sins. A person who sincerely abandons
his mistakes and repents to Allah can hope that Allah will forgive
him. Allah reveals in many verses of the Qur'an that He is
"Forgiving", "Merciful", the "Protector" and "Compassionate". Allah's
names of "At-Tawwab" meaning "The One Who Accepts Repentance" and
"Al-Gaffar" meaning "All-Forgiving" and "Ar-Rahman"
meaning"All-Merciful" manifeston all those who regret and repent. In
one verse Allah heralds His servants by saying, " Tell My servants
that I am the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Merciful." (Surat al-Hijr,
49).
It is impossible to claim that a person has not made any mistakes and
been faultless and perfect throughout his entire life, because people
are created as beings capable of making mistakes. Our Almighty Lord is
the One Who is All-Forgiving and All-Merciful. Therefore, believers
have to take notice of their mistakes, which they made knowingly or
unknowingly by falling into negligence or listening to their inner
selves. They have to regret their mistakes and direct themselves to
the right path and turn toour Lord as soon as possible and strive not
to make that mistake again. Of course a person has tobe careful not to
make mistakes and commit sins and protect the boundaries of our Lord;
but when he makes a mistake in spite of this, it is a great
characteristic ofa believer to ask forgiveness from Allah. Our Lord's
names "The One Who Accepts Repentance" (At-Tawwab), "All-Forgiving"
(Al-Gaffar), "All-Merciful" (Ar-Rahman) manifest on believers who
regret their mistakes, repent and turn to Allah.
Repenting Very Often Is an Important Believer Characteristic
Repenting frequently is a sign of the believer's humility and
awareness of his weakness in the face of Allah. It is a behavior that
pleasesAllah. In return for this act of worship, Allah gives relief
to, lifts the burdens on and opens the minds of those who repent
often.
With Repentance AllahWants People to LearnLessons and Notice Their Mistakes
One of the wisdoms ofrepentance is that thebeliever experiences real
regret and turns to Allah without wasting any time and strives not to
repeat that mistake. Therefore, he repents in a true and sincere
manner. He repents and keeps his word that he will remain onthe right
path until the end of his life. In the Qur'an, the point of view of
someone who sincerely repentsis described in the verse, " Allah only
accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and then
quickly make repentance after doing it. Allah turns towards such
people. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise..." (Surat an-Nisa', 17) In
another verse, Allah reveals how a believer should behave, " Those
who, when they act indecently or wrong themselves, remember Allah and
ask forgiveness for their bad actions (andwho can forgive bad actions
except Allah?) and do not knowinglypersist in what they were doing."
(Surah Al 'Imran Suresi, 135).
Submitting to Allah right after making mistakes and not delaying
repentance is an important point. This is because as Master
Bediuzzaman describes, "(If mistakes) are not erased with repentance,
they turn into a poisonous snake that bites the heart. Once the heart
is stained it becomes open to further stains.So man falls into a
(corrupt) circle. Every sin brings a new one; not only this but also
it destroys the feelings of repentance and regret (jealousy). In the
end the secret behind the verse "Their hearts have rusted" (Surat
al-Mutaffifin, 14) becomes visible."
Of course, even if a person who experiences true regret carefully
strivesnot to repeat that mistake or sin, he can still fall into the
same mistake. This situationshould not lead to thisperson losing his
self-confidence. For every person there is an opportunity to repent
and sincerely submit to Allah until death.
However a person should not be mistaken for the time he has been
given. He should not behave in a ways to abuse Allah's mercy,
forgivingness, grace. He should use the time Allah grants him and find
guidance by repentance and asking for forgivenesswhile there is still
time. This is because faith and repentance at the moment of death may
not be accepted in the sight of Allah. Therefore he needs to behave
like he will die any moment and strive to edify.
It should not be forgotten that a person can make small or big
mistakes throughout his life, but as long as he repents and submits to
Allah Who forgives and accepts repentance and turns evil into good
with a sincere heart, he can hope that his mistakeswill be forgiven.
Allah always answers for repentance. Allah forgives his mistakes and
turns them into good and rewards his good deeds with the best.
Every Mistake Is Created for a Reason
Allah's merciful name is one of the greatest blessings and
conveniences our Lord bestowed on people. It is an ill conjecture that
people fall into hopelessness and think that they will never recover
from their mistakes. A person who ignores Allah's mercy, compassion,
forgivingness torments himself and acts in a way not in line with the
morality of the Qur'an. Mistakes increase the degrees of believers,
who immediately abandons their mistakes and compensates for theseby
displaying the right attitude in line with the Qur'an, in the
hereafter; make them more mature and help His servants better
understand their weaknesses and helplessness. The important thing is
to regret and repent without insisting on one's sins. In the verses,
our Lord reveals that He will forgive those who do good deeds, pay
alms and live the moral values of the Qur'an and take them under His
grace:
"But I am Ever-Forgiving to anyone who makes tawba and has faith and
acts rightly and then is guided." (Surah Ta Ha, 82)
One of the reasons that distract people from the morality of religion
is to see themselves as people "who are compulsive and will never get
better" as a result of guilt due to their sins. Satan constantly
provokes these people who forget the Ar-rahman and Ar-Rahim names of
Allah and that Allah is the One Who accepts repentance and has
infinite mercy and suggests them the idea "you are already a sinner,
it is impossible for you to recover, accept it as it is." Then satan
pulls them into a greater mire with deceptions like "you have sinned
once, it is okay to do it again". He uses the feeling of embarrassment
a person feels in the face of Allah because of his sin and abuses this
feeling to draw that person away from Allah completely.But this
practice is weak like satan's every trick, because when a person sins
it does not mean that this person will not find the right path from
now on. Allah reveals in the Qur'an that He will forgive allwho
sincerely repentsfor their sins, ask for forgiveness and strivenot to
commit that sinagain as such: "But if anyone makes tawba after his
wrongdoing and puts things right, Allah will turn towards him. Allah
is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (Surat al-Ma'ida, 39)

The collection and compilation of the Quran

Part 1: During the Lifetime of the Prophet .
A study of the compilation of textmust begin with the character of the
book itself as it was handed down by Muhammad to his Companions during
his lifetime. It was not delivered or revealed all at once.
The Noble Quran was revealed to Prophet Muhammad piecemeal over a
period of twenty-three years from the timewhen he began to preach the
Message of Islam in Makkah in 610 CE until his death at Madeenah in
632 CE. The Quran itself declares that Allaah addressed Prophet
Muhammad with what means: "…And We have spaced it distinctly." [Quran
25:32]
Furthermore, no chronological record of the sequence of passages was
kept by Muhammad himself or his Companions so that, as each of these
began to be collected into an actual Soorah (chapter), no thought was
given as to theme, order of deliverance or chronological sequence. It
is acknowledged by all Muslim writers that most of the chapters,
especially the longer ones, are composite texts containing various
passages not necessarily linked to each other in the sequence in which
they were given. As time went on Muhammad would say words to the
effect of: "Put this passagein the chapter in which so-and-sois
mentioned", or: "Put it in such and such a place." [As-Suyooti,
Al-Itqaan fee 'Uloom Al-Quran, p.141] Thus, passages were added to
compilations of other passages already collected together until each
of these became a distinct chapter. The evidence that a number of
these chapters already had their recognised titles during the lifetime
of Muhammad . is thefollowing two Prophetic narrations: "Anyone who
recites the last two verses of Soorah Al-Baqarah (The Cow, chapter 2)
at night, they will suffice him." [Al-Bukhaari] And: "If anyone learns
by heart the first ten verses of the Soorah Al-Kahf (the Cave, No.
18), he will be protectedfrom the Dajjaal (Antichrist)." [Muslim]
At the same time, there is also reason to believe that there wereother
chapters to which titles were not necessarily given by Prophet
Muhammad . An example of this is Soorah Al-Ikhlaas [Chapter 112], for
although the Prophet spoke at some length about it and said it was
equal to one-third of the whole Quran, he did not mention it by name.
[Muslim]
As the Quran developed, the Prophet's Companions took portions of it
down in writing and also committed its passages to memory. It appears
that the memorisation of the text was theforemost method of recording
itscontents as the very word Quran means 'recitation'. From the very
first word delivered to Muhammad by the angel Jibreel (Gabriel) on
Mount Hiraa', namely Iqra' – 'Recite!' [Chapter 96:1], we can see that
the verbal recitation of its passages was very highly esteemed and
consistently practiced. Nevertheless, it is to actual written records
of its text that the Quran itself bears witness in the following verse
(which means): "[It is recorded] in honoured sheets. Exalted and
purified. [Carried] by the hands ofmessenger-angels. Noble and
dutiful." [Quran: 80:13-16]
Furthermore, there is evidence that even during the early days
ofProphet Muhammad in Makkah, portions of the Quran as then delivered
were being written down. When 'Umar was still a pagan, he one day
struck his sister when he heard her reading a portion of the Quran.
Upon seeing blood on her cheek, however, he relented and said: "Give
me this sheet which I heard you reading just now so that I may see
what Muhammad has brought." [Ibn Is-Haaq, SeeratRasoolullaah, p.156].
On reading the portion of the twentieth chapter (of the Quran) which
she had been reading, he became a Muslim.
Nonetheless, it appears that rightup to the end of the life of
Muhammad the practice of memorisation predominated over the writing
down of the Quran and was regarded as more important.
In the Hadeeth (narrations) records, we read that the angel Jibreel is
said to have checked therecitation of the Quran every Ramadhaan with
Prophet Muhammad and, in his (the Prophet ) final year, he (Jibreel)
checked it with him twice. Faatimah said: "The Prophet, sallallaahu
alayhi wa sallam, told me, 'Jibreel used to recite the Quran to me and
I to him once a year, but this year he recited the whole Quran with me
twice. I think that my death is approaching.'" [Al-Bukhaari]
Some of the closest Companions of the Prophet devoted themselves to
learning the text of the Quran by heart. These included Ubayy Ibn
Ka'b, Mu'aath Ibn Jabal, Zayd Ibn Thaabit, Abu Zayd and Abu Ad-Dardaa'
. Abdullaah Ibn Mas'ood collected more than ninety of theone hundred
and fourteen chapters by himself, learning the remaining chapters from
other Companions.
Regarding the written materials, there are no records as to exactlyhow
much of the Quran was written down during the lifetime of Prophet
Muhammad . There is no evidence to suggest that anyone actually
compiled the whole text of the Quran into a single manuscript, whether
directly under the authority of Prophet Muhammad or otherwise.
With the death of Prophet Muhammad in 632 CE, the revelation stopped,
as the Quran had become complete. There could be no further revelation
once its chosen recipient had passed away. While he lived, however,
there was always the possibility that new passages could be added and
it hardly seemed appropriate, therefore, to contemplate codifying the
textinto one harmonious whole. Thus, it is not surprising to find that
the book was widely scattered in the memories of men and in writing on
various different materials at the time of the death of the Prophet .
There were only a few disputes among the Companions about the text of
the Quran while the Prophet was alive, unlike those which arose soon
after his death. All these factors explain the absence of an official
codifiedtext at the time of his death. Imaam As-Suyooti stated that
the Quran, as sent down from Allaah in separate stages, had been
completely written down and carefully preserved, but that it had not
been assembled into one single location during the lifetime of Prophet
Muhammad, sallallaahu alayhi wa sallam, [Ibn Is-haaq, Seerat
Rasoolullaah, p.96]
All of it was said to have been available in principle, for the
Companions had absorbed it in their memories and it had been written
down on separate materials. The final order of the various verses and
chapters is also presumed to have been defined by the Prophet while he
was still alive.

The history of the Noble Quran

The Quran is the backbone of Islam. On this Sacred Book of Allaah
depends the Islamic call, state, society and the civilisation of
theMuslim world. It is the last Divine revelation, which was sent down
to Prophet Muhammad , the last and final of all Prophets, may Allaah
exalt their mention. His task was to convey the message of worshipping
the One God, Allaah, without ascribing any partners to Him. The Noble
Quran, which is thesource of guidance and mercy to mankind, is divided
into one hundred and fourteen (114) Soorahs (chapters) of varying
lengths. Ninety-three chapters were revealed in Makkah, while the
remaining twenty-one were revealed in Madeenah.
The first revelation that the Prophet received was Soorat Al-'Alaq,
which was in Makkah where Soorat An-Najm was to later became the first
to be recited openly to the people. In Madeenah, Soorat Al-Mutaffifeen
was the first one revealed after the Hijrah (migration). The Prophet
had to flee to Madeenah to save his own life and the lives of his
followers, upon thecommand of Allaah.
The last verse sent down to the Prophet was thesaying of Allaah which
means: "…This day I have perfected for you your religion and completed
My favour upon you and have approved for you Islam as religion..."
[Quran: 5:3]
Some chapters in the Quran focus on the call toIslam as guidance for
humanity. They focus upon monotheism and the fight against polytheism
and idolatry. Thus, stress is laid on all that is related to faith. In
other chapters, attention is given to legislation, acts of worship,
relationships among people and the laws that regulate matters within
the Muslim community, government, and family.
A number of chapters inform about Resurrection, the Hereafter and the
unseen; others relate the stories of various prophets and their calls
to their people to return to Allaah. We see how theprevious nations
were severely punished when they disobeyed Allaah and denied the
messagesof previous prophets, may Allaah exalt their mention.
In addition, several chapters focus on the story of creation and the
development of human life. In fact, Makkan revelations made the
Muslims' faith in Allaah firmly established. On theother hand,
Madeenan revelations were meant to translate the faith into action and
give details ofthe Divine Law.
Allaah will forever preserve the Quran against all attempts to destroy
or corrupt it. Being guarded by Allaah, it will always remain pure.
There does not exist a single copy with any variation from the
recognised text.
Any attempt of alteration has resulted in failure.
Upon the command of the Prophet his Companions would write down what
was revealedof the Noble Quran. They used, for this purpose, palm
branches stripped of leaves, parchments, shoulder bones, stone
tablets, etc. About forty people were involved in this task. Among
them was Zayd Ibn Thaabit who showed his work to the Prophet . Thus,
theQuran was correctly arranged during the Prophet's life, but it was
not yet compiled into one book. In the meantime, most of the Prophet's
Companions memorised the Quran.
When Abu Bakr became Caliph after the Prophet died, a large number of
the Companions were killed during the War of Apostasy. 'Umar Ibn
Al-Khattaab went to the Caliph and discussed the idea of compiling
theQuran into one volume. He was disturbed, as most of those who
memorised it had died. Then, Abu Bakr called for Zayd and commissioned
him to collect the Quran into one book, which became known as the
'Mus-haf.'
After Zayd accomplished this great task and organized the Quran into
one book, he submitted the precious collection to Abu Bakr who kept it
in his possession until the end of his life. During the caliphate of
'Umar it was kept with his daughter Hafsah who was also a wife of the
Prophet .
During the Caliphate of 'Uthmaan Islam reached many countries, and
readers began to recite the Quran in different ways (dialects).
'Uthmaan then had various copies made and sent them out to the
different Muslim lands, lest these dialects would cause alterations to
the Quran, and kept the original copy with Hafsah . Thus, the Quran
remained preserved and the Caliph was very muchpleased with his
achievement.
Today, every copy of the Quran conforms with the standard copy of
'Uthmaan . In fact, Muslims over the ages excelled in producing
thebest manuscripts of the Noble Quran in the most wonderful
handwriting. With the introduction of printing, more and more editions
of the Noble Quran became available all over the world.

Consistency between the Quran and modern science –I

Cosmology
These theories involve a lot of very sophisticated mathematics for a
full understanding. Basically,they concern the laws of motion under
high speeds approaching the speed of light (special relativity) and
the impact of strong gravitational fields (general relativity) applied
to the explanation of cosmological phenomena. What is a wonder and an
indication of the universality of Islam is that several of the key
scientific findings in modern cosmology, according to some scientists,
seem to be reflected in the Noble Quran, revealed by Allaah to the
Prophet Muhammad , more than 1400 years ago.
These findings are: (a) the 'big bang theory' of how the universe
began; (b) the expansion of the universe and (c) relativityof time.
The Big Bang Theory and the Unity of Creation
Most cosmologists today have accepted the Big Bang Theory in
describing the origin of the universe. This theory states that the
universe began at a single hot, dense point, or 'singularity'. Out of
this point developed what is often referred to as 'cosmic soup', a
constant interchange between matter and energy with no separation
between stars and planets or the heavens and the Earth as we recognise
them.
The Noble Quran appears to be consistent with this theory; Allaah Says
(what means): "Have those who disbelieved not considered that the
heavens and the earth were ajoined entity, and We separated them..."
[Quran 21:30] This verse clearly describes the initial unity of all
creation and subsequent division of the universe into the phenomena we
observe. Abdullaah Yusuf Ali, in the notes to his English translation
of the twenty first Quranic chapter, points out, that as man acquires
more knowledge about the physical world, he is also bound to expand
his awareness of the overriding unity in the cosmos. As an example, he
cites the discovery of the direct correlation between measurements of
sunspot activity and changes in the Earth's magnetic field. There are
many other examples in our daily life, including the influence of the
moon on the tides and women's monthly cycle, the influence of the
Earth's magnetic field on the migration of birds, gravitational and
centrifugal forces that keep the solar system bound together in
harmony, preventing planets from flying away and crashing into each
other.
In essence, the initial unity of creation continues to exist, not in
the form of a singularity, but through various bonding relationships
that allow multiple forms of creation to maintain their linkage to the
initial'oneness' of the universe.
The Expansion and Structure of the Universe
The Quran points to the continued expansion of the universe in the
verse (which means): "And the heaven We constructed with strength, and
indeed, We are [its]expander." [Quran 51:47] In 1929, American
astronomer Edwin Hubble discovered that the farther a galaxy was from
the Earth, the greater the speed of its outward movement. In fact, he
found the movement of a galaxy to be directly proportional to its
distance. This means that if a galaxy is ten times as far away as
another galaxy, it is moving at ten times the speed.
Based on this discovery, and other observations, scientists have
concludedthat the universe is expanding. Furthermore, Dr. Haruk
Nurbaki, in his book 'Verses of the Koranand Facts of Science', states
that the Quran alsosuggests a structure of the universe which
corresponds to modern scientific findings. The Quran states (what
means): "[It is Allaah] who created the seven heavens in layers. "
[Quran 67: 3]
Dr. Nurbaki correlates thereference to the seven heavens with the
descriptions of cosmic regions by modern scientists. He states that
when one looks at space from Earth, he is surrounded by seven magnetic
fields extending into the infinity of space. These fields consist of
(i) the spatial field occupied by Earth and the rest of the solar
system; (ii) the spatial field of the Earth'sgalaxy, the Milky Way;
(iii) the spatial field occupied by a 'local cluster' of galaxies to
which the Milky Way belongs; (iv) the central magnetic field of the
universe represented by a collectivity of clustered galaxies; (v) the
band represented by quasars, which serve as 'star hatcheries'; (vi)
the field of the expanding universe, represented by the receding
galaxies; and (vii) the outermost field of space representing
infinity.
The Relativity of Time
Dr. Mansour Hassab-Elnaby, in a paper entitled: 'A New Astronomical
Quranic Method for the Determination of the Greatest Speed C', asserts
that the Quran establishes a time/space reference system, which is
indicative of the relativity of time and the constancy of the speed
oflight (represented by 'C' in scientific notation). Albert Einstein
used theseconcepts to establish his well-known 'field equations' which
providethe mathematical explanation for the interaction of matter,
energy, space and time inthe universe. The basis ofDr. Hassab-Elnaby's
paperis the Quranic verse (which means): "He arranges[each] matter
from the heaven tothe earth; then it will ascend to Him in a Day, the
extent of which is a thousand years of those which you count." [Quran
32:5]
Thus, the Quran suggests that time is not absolute in the universe, a
discovery made only in the early part of the twentieth century. The
abovementioned Quranicverse, according to Dr. Hassab-Elnaby, implies a
'cosmic affair' of extremely high speed, making it possible to travel,
in one day, the distance the moon travelsaround the Earth over a
period of 1,000 years. The use of the lunar calendar in reckoning
Earth time is explicitly stated in the following verse (which means):
"…[It is Allaah who made] the moon a derived light and determined for
it phases – that you may know the number of years and account [of
time]…" [Quran 10:5]
Furthermore, Dr. Hassab-Elnaby uses the mathematical relationship
given in this verse – one day of 'cosmic reckoning' equal to a
thousand years of 'Earth reckoning' – along with established
scientific data on the movements of the Earth and the moon to
calculate the speed which provides a linkage between the two systemsof
reckoning time. The resulting speed, he points out, is
299,792.458kilometres per second, which is exactly, to the decimal
point, the speed of light recorded by the United States National
Bureau of Standards.
The Quran as Part of Universal Order
The correlation between the findings of science in the past century
and the Quran highlights the importance of preservingthe written word,
emphasised in Islam because it bridges space and time, providing
inspiration and verification for those separated from direct contact
with the Prophet Muhammad and his companions . It has also led some
scientists totake a closer look at the Quran.
Dr. Maurice Bucaille of the French Academy of Science, author of 'The
Bible, the Koran and Science' , states that "…It comes as no surprise
to learn that religion and science have always beenconsidered to be
twin sisters by Islam and that today, at a time when science has taken
such great strides, they continue to be associated. Furthermore,
certain scientific data areused for a better understanding of the
Quranic text. What is more, in a century wherefor many scientific
truth has dealt a deathblow to religious belief, it is precisely the
discoveries of science that, in an objective examination of the
Islamic Revelation, have highlighted the supernatural character
ofcertain aspects of the revelation." Islam encourages man's search
for knowledge to both enhance appreciation of the cosmic order and
augment his capability toserve as a representative of Allaah in
governing the affairs of the Earth. The Quran seems to call attention
to the importance of observing the heavens in this search. It states
(what means): " And We made the skya protected ceiling, but they, from
its signs, turned away." [Quran 21:32]
Thus, important evidenceseems to be emerging in the modern world that
the Quran contains revelation which transcends space and time, forming
a part of the cosmic order to guidethe path of mankind and strengthen
the bond between religion and science.