*2:3 Since the Contact Prayers are decreed five times a day, they constitute the prime source of nourishment for our souls. Along with all other practices in Submission, the Contact Prayers were originally revealed through Abraham (21:73, 22:78). Although these five daily prayers were practiced before the revelation of the Quran, each Contact Prayer is specifically mentioned in the Quran (24:58, 11:114, 17:78, & 2:238). Appendices 1 & 15 provide physical evidence supporting ALL the details of the Contact Prayers, including the number of units (Rak'aas) and the numbers of bowings, prostrations, and Tashahhuds in each prayer.
**2:3 When God uses the plural tense, this indicates that other entities, usually the angels, are involved. When God spoke to Moses, the singular form was used (20:12-14). See Appendix 10.
*2:4 Despite severe distortions that afflicted the previous scriptures, God's truth can still be found in them. Both the Old Testament and the New Testatment still advocate absolute devotion to God ALONE (Deuteronomy 6:4-5, Mark 12:29-30). All distortions are easily detectable.
*2:20 ``He'' and ``she'' do not necessarily imply natural gender in Arabic (Appendix 4).
*2:26 See Appendix 5 for further discussion of Heaven and Hell.
*2:28 The righteous do not really die; they go straight to Heaven. When their interim on this earth comes to an end, the angels of death simply invite them to go to the same Paradise where Adam and Eve once lived (2:154, 3:169, 8:24, 22:58, 16:32, 36:20-27, 44:56, 89:27-30). Thus, while the righteous experience only the first death following our original sin, the unrighteous go through two deaths (40:11). At the time of death, the disbelievers know their miserable fate (8:50, 47:27), then they suffer a continuous nightmare that lasts until Hell is created (40:46, 89:23, Appendix 17).
*2:29 Our universe with its billion galaxies, spanning distances of billions of light years, is the smallest and innermost of seven universes (Appendix 6). Please look up 41:10-11.
*2:30-37 These verses answer such crucial questions as: ``Why are we here?'' (See Appendix 7).
*2:37 Similarly, God has given us specific, mathematically coded words, the words of Sura 1, to establish contact with Him (see Footnote 1:1 and Appendix 15).
*2:51 This incident reflects the humans' idolatrous tendency. Despite the profound miracles, Moses' followers worshiped the calf in his absence, and Moses ended up with only two believers (5:23). As pointed out in the Introduction, the humans are rebels whose egos are their gods.
*2:101 God's Messenger of the Covenant is prophesied in the Old Testament (Malachi 3:1-3), the New Testament (Luke 17:22-37), and this Final Testament (3:81).
*2:104 The word "Raa`ena" was abused by some Hebrew-speaking people, and twisted to sound like a dirty word (see also 4:46).
*2:106 The Quran's mathematical miracle is perpetual & greater than previous miracles (34:45, 74:35). Like the Quran itself, it confirms, consummates, and supersedes all previous miracles.
*2:111-112 See 2:62 and 5:69.
*2:111-112 See 2:62 and 5:69.
*2:119 It is my obligation to point out that the identity of this messenger is confirmed to be "Rashad Khalifa," God's Messenger of the Covenant. By adding the gematrical value of "Rashad" (505), plus the gematrical value of "Khalifa" (725), plus the verse number (119), we get 1349, a multiple of 19. See 3:81 and Appendix Two.
*2:135 The Quran repeatedly informs us that Submission is the religion of Abraham (3:95, 4:125, 6:161, 22:78). Abraham received a practical "scripture," namely, all the duties and practices of Submission [the Contact Prayers (Salat), the obligatory charity (Zakat), the fasting of Ramadan, and the Hajj pilgrimage]. Muhammad was a follower of Abraham's religion, as we see in 16:123; he delivered this Final Testament, the Quran. The third messenger of Submission delivered the religion's proof of authenticity (see 3:81 and Appendices 1, 2, 24, & 26).
*2:155 The test is designed to prove that we worship God alone under all circumstances (29:2).
*2:165-166 Jesus, Mary, Muhammad, Ali, and the saints will disown their idolizers on the Day of Resurrection. See also 16:86, 35:14, 46:6, and the Gospel of Matthew 7:21-23.
*2:165-166 Jesus, Mary, Muhammad, Ali, and the saints will disown their idolizers on the Day of Resurrection. See also 16:86, 35:14, 46:6, and the Gospel of Matthew 7:21-23.
*2:172-173 Throughout the Quran, only four meats are prohibited (6:145, 16:115, Appendix 16). Dietary prohibitions beyond these four are tantamount to idol worship (6:121,148,150; 7:32).
2:178 The Quran clearly discourages capital punishment. Every kind of excuse is provided to spare lives, including the life of the murderer. The victim's kin may find it better, under certain circumstances, to spare the life of the murderer in exchange for an equitable compensation. Also capital punishment is not applicable if, for example, a woman kills a man, or vice versa.
*2:183-187 Like all duties in Submission, fasting was decreed through Abraham (22:78, Appendices 9 & 15). Prior to revelation of the Quran, sexual intercourse was prohibited throughout the fasting period. This rule is modified in 2:187 to allow intercourse during the nights of Ramadan.
*2:190 All fighting is regulated by the basic rule in 60:8-9. Fighting is allowed strictly in self-defense, while aggression and oppression are strongly condemned throughout the Quran.
*2:196 See the details of Hajj and `Umrah in Appendix 15.
*2:197 Hajj can be observed any time during the Sacred Months: Zul-Hijjah, Muharram, Safar, and Rabi I. Local governments restrict Hajj to a few days for their own convenience. See 9:37
*2:211 The Quran's mathematical miracle is a great blessing, and brings with it an awesome responsibility (please see 5:115).
*2:213 All worshipers of God ALONE, from all religions, are truly united.
*2:219 The world now recognizes that the economic benefits from manufacturing alcoholic beverages and illicit drugs are not worth the traffic fatalities, brain damage to children of alcoholic mothers, family crises, and other disastrous consequences. Check with "Alcoholics Anonymous" and "Gamblers Anonymous" for more information. See also 5:90-91.
*2:238 All five prayers are found in 2:238, 11:114, 17:78, & 24:58. When the Quran was revealed, the Contact Prayers (Salat) had already been in existence (Appendix 9). The details of all five prayers - what to recite and the number of units (Rak`aas) per prayer, etc. - are mathematically confirmed. For example, writing down the number of units for each of the five prayers, next to each other, we get 24434, 19x1286. Also, if we use [*] to represent Sura 1 (Al-Faatehah), where [*]=the sura number (1), followed by the number of verses (7), followed by the number of each verse, the number of letters in each verse, and the gematrical value of every letter, writing down 2[*][*]4[*][*][*][*]4[*][*][*][*]3[*][*][*]4[*][*][*][*] produces a multiple of 19 (see 1:1).
*2:246 This same history is narrated in the Bible's Book of I Samuel, Ch. 9 and 10.
*2:259 The lesson we learn here is that the period of death - only the unrighteous die; the righteous go straight to Heaven - passes like one day (see 18:19-25 and Appendix 17).
2:285 One of the major commandments is: "You shall not make any distinction among God's messengers" (2:136, 3:84, 4:150). The believers react by saying, "We hear and we obey," while the idol worshipers argue back to justify their insistence upon mentioning Muhammad's name next to God's, to the exclusion of all other messengers. The corrupted Muslims mention Muhammad in their profession of faith (Shahaadah) and during their Contact Prayers (see 72:18).