18, p 14, hadith # 20 and, as such, was it not a religion of truth?

18, p 14, hadith # 20 and, as such, was it not a religion of truth? Had Islam been a false religion, it would have avoided knowledge and intellect because every falsehood avoids the truth so that the secrets of its deception would not come to light.” Then I told him that the chapter of the Holy Qur’an that was first revealed to the Holy Prophet, according to some Islamic scholars, was the chapter of the “Clot”.

This chapter begins with the command of the Almighty, {Read in the Name of your Lord, Who created man from a clot . . . (and) Who taught (to write) with pen . . .}21 Allah the Almighty has mentioned “reading and writing” in this chapter as these two skills make the bases for learning and the key to knowledge.

There is another more important hadith from the Holy Prophet, which says that, “If knowledge were to be in the Pleiades22, the inhabitants of Farris (Persia) would fetch it from there.”23 If we take Farris to mean lands other than Arabia, just as they call the non-Arab world as Ajam, we can say that the hadith refers to the recent expedition to the moon.

Here is some good news for man to reach any planet in the Pleiades cluster of stars, which is at a far greater distance than the planets (of the solar system). In other words, we can say that this hadith of the Holy Prophet is an order in disguise, meaning, “O people of the world, fly into the depths of space until you reach distant stars such as those of the Pleiades.” Consequently, we are waiting for that day when mankind will reach the Pleiades.

“As you know” I said to the Professor, “when Russian space scientists launched the first artificial satellite, some of the Christian scholars/clergymen protested that the Russian act was in defiance of Heavenly powers, while the scholars of Islam congratulated humanity on that remarkable success of science in that direction.

They took that success as a manifestation and a proof of the correctness of the predictions and saying of the Holy .” Thereafter, I told him that Imam Ali who was the pupil and successor of the Holy Prophet, and all Muslims accepted him as a great leader and all held him in high esteem, had proclaimed saying, 21 The holy Qur’an: The Clot (94): 1 – 4. 22 Pleiades is an open cluster of stars in the constellation Taurus, some of which are bluewhite giants clearly visible to the naked eye.

23 Bihar al-Anwar, vol. 1, p 195, hadith # 16.