HARUN YAHYA

Throughout history, many societies have suffered from great catastrophes because of their blasphemy and perversion against God. Some were destroyed some by a volcanic eruption, some by a disastrous flood, and some by a sand storm...
Perished Nations examines these penalties as revealed in the verses of the Qur'an and in light of archaeological discoveries. You may also read Qur'anic description of Noah`s flood and the Ark and the correspondence of this account with the scientific evidence.

People who are oppressed, who are tortured to death, innocent babies, those who cannot afford even a loaf of bread, who must sleep in tents or even in streets in cold weather, those who are massacred just because they belong to a certain tribe, women, children, and old people who are expelled from their homes because of their religion... Eventually, there is only one solution to the injustice, chaos, terror, massacres, hunger, poverty, and oppression: the morals of the Qur'an.
INTRODUCTION

What reason could you have for not fighting in the Way of Allah-for those men, women and children who are oppressed and say, 'Our Lord, take us out of this city whose inhabitants are wrongdoers! Give us a protector from You! Give us a helper from You!'?
(Surat an-Nisa': 75)
Around the globe, the majority of people are among the oppressed. They are tortured, butchered, and live in abject poverty, are homeless, are forced to live their lives unprotected from the elements and they face disease without adequate medical care. There are those who cannot even afford a loaf of bread. There are the elderly, facing neglect, abandonment and denied medical care. Then there are those who face discrimination, expulsion from their homes and lands simply because of their ethnicity, language, race or tribe and even massacres. Helpless, malnourished, defenceless innocent children are forced to work for money or beg.

Countless people live in fear for their lives anxious about their survival, in a world in the midst of whose poverty and oppression, there is also immense extravagance, privilege and wealth. Those blessed with the "good life" pass by the homeless, see pictures, and watch scenes on television of those less fortunate than they. Sometimes they feel a brief moment of pity, but then change the channel, turn away from the image, and in a short time completely erase that fleeting prick of the conscience.

So many who enjoy the bounties and comforts with which they have been blessed, never think of
expending effort to save those less fortunate from the conditions in which they live. They believe it is not up to them to save those people, when so many are richer and more powerful and in a better position to come to the aid of the less fortunate.

However, prosperity and power alone are not enough to save those people and to make this world a place of welfare in which justice, peace, confidence and well-being prevail. Despite the existence of developed countries around the world, there are still too many countries, such as Ethiopia, where people still die daily of starvation. It is apparent that the wealth and power of some nations are not enough in
themselves to solve the afflictions of drought, poverty and civil warfare.

Only being conscientious will channel resources and power towards the welfare of the poor and desperate. The sole way of being conscientious is having faith. It is only the believers who constantly live by their consciences.

Eventually, there is only one solution to the injustice, chaos, terror, massacres, hunger, poverty, and oppression in the world: the values of the Qur'an.

Those adverse conditions were created in the first place by hatred, malice, self-interest, indifference and cruelty and therefore must be undone by love, compassion, mercy, generosity, unselfishness, sensitivity, tolerance, commonsense and wisdom. These traits of compassion are found only in those who fully live by the values taught in the Noble Qur'an, which is our guidance directly from our Creator. In one verse, Allah (swt) refers to the Qur'an's feature of leading mankind out of darkness into light.


... A light has come to you from Allah and a Clear Book. By it, Allah guides those who follow what pleases Him to the ways of peace. He will bring them from the darkness to the light by His permission, and guide them to a straight path. (Surat al Ma'ida: 15-16)


In another verse, Allah states that everything would be in corruption and confusion if the truth were to be according to human desires:


If the truth were to follow their whims and desires, the heavens and the earth and everything in them would have been brought to ruin. No indeed! We have given their Reminder, but they have turned away from it. (Surat al-Muminun: 71)


As you read this passage, millions of people are suffering, are cold and hungry, or facing expulsion from their homelands. For this reason, people who have consciences need to think about this, and act to solve those troubles as if they themselves or their loved ones were facing them. We need to act both spiritually and materially to alleviate the suffering and oppression. In one verse, Allah orders conscientious and faithful people to assume this responsibility:


What reason could you have for not fighting in the Way of Allah - for those men, women and children who are oppressed and say, 'Our Lord, take us out of this city whose inhabitants are wrongdoers! Give us a protector from You! Give us a helper from You!'? (Surat an-Nisa': 75)


When we consider the Qur'anic commands, it becomes obvious what are our obligations. The most important thing for Muslims is first, to struggle in the intellectual domain so that the values of the Qur'an and the Sunnah prevail over disbelief. The only salvation for the weak, helpless, homeless and destitute is the practice of the guidance of the Qur'an, which is directed to all humankind. Therefore, it is our duty to spread the word and communicate the message, and that is a vital component of worship for all Muslims.

Those who do not follow their consciences, who are indifferent to the suffering of others, who spend their wealth on frivolous and vain things, who fail to show concern for orphans, who look coldly at oppressed woman, children and the elderly, and who are happy only when there is immorality and ugliness in the world, will certainly have to give an account in the hereafter.


Have you seen him who denies the deen (religion)? He is the one who harshly rebuffs the orphan and does not urge the feeding of the poor. So woe to those who do salat (regular prayers), whose hearts from their salat are remote, those who show off and deny help to others. (Surat al-Ma'un: 1-7)

In this book we are going to tell you about a creature that you know quite well, that you meet everywhere without actually giving it much attention, that is highly skillful, highly social and highly intelligent - "The Ant". Our aim is to review the lives full of miracles of these minute creatures that are never of any significance in our daily lives.

Technology, collective work, military strategy, advanced communications network, an astute and rational hierarchy, discipline, perfect city planning… These are fields where human beings may not always be successful enough, but where the ants always are. When you look at these creatures, which are fully armed to defeat tough rivals and to endure the difficult conditions of nature, you may think that all of them are identical. However, each species of the ant genus – and there are thousands of them – has, in fact, different characteristics. We believe that these creatures that have the highest population in the world may open up new horizons for us within the framework of the characteristics referred to above. This book will reveal to us the special and marvelous world of ants. We shall witness the things these ant communities succeed with their tiny bodies and witness that there is absolutely no difference between their fossils, the oldest of which is about 80 million years old, and their counterparts living today, that run to approximately 8800 species.

Eyesight cannot perceive God, but He has spread boundless evidence of His existence before the eyes of man. He has made manifest His infinite intelligence and knowledge in His chosen beings. With His endless grace, He gives unimaginable tasks to the most unexpected, humble, even brainless creatures.

As a result, many creatures, whether large or small, from birds to reptiles, from whales to insects, exhibit unexpected behaviour and actions that fill people with admiration. These behaviours are surprising to most people. Even man, who sees himself as an intelligent, knowledgeable and conscious being, is humbled in the face of many of these skills-for example, the spider's ability to produce strands stronger than steel-and does not even have the power to imitate them.

The subject of this book, the mosquito, is just one such creature, aspects of whose behaviour fill us with admiration.

However, it is the creature we are most used to and encounter most commonly of these, and possibly the one we give the least thought to and consider as worthless. So, why the mosquito? The answer to this question is given in the Qur'an:

God is not ashamed to make an example of a mosquito or of an even smaller thing. As for those who believe, they know it is the truth from their Lord. But as for those who disbelieve, they say, "What does God mean by this example?" He misguides many by it and guides many by it. But He only misguides the deviators. (Qur'an, 2:26)