Praise is due to Allah. Peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah, upon his family, his companions and those who follow his guidance. Ash­Shihab Lebanese newspaper (issue of Rabi'ul­Awwal 23, 1394 A.H./April 1, 1974 A.D.) published very serious and dangerous passages from a speech of a high official addressed on some occasions discussing self­education and national awareness. These passages imply that the Noble Qur'an has contraries and some superstitions along with describing Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as a very simple man, who used to travel through the desert and listen to the trivial superstitions that were in circulation at that time and that he inserted these superstitions into the Noble Qur'an. Following is the text of what has been published by the above­mentioned newspaper:

The Qur'an contains contraries and superstitions such as the story of the people of the cave and the staff of Musa (Moses).

This statement was said on an occasion held towards the end of the last month. It was said at a conference for teachers and educators on the occasion of the international assembly on self­education and national awareness. On that occasion, this high official delivered a long speech in which he spoke about important intellectual issues and quoted Qur'anic texts to conclude that they are contradictory at times and sometimes superstitious. Another newspaper published the speech of this official in two parts released in two issues on March 20 and 21 of the last month. It is noted that the state media deleted the odd statements from the speech, but we will state the deleted passages

which were heard live from this official and then we will state what has been published by the newspaper word for word:

(1) Indeed, there is contradiction in the Qur'an, which reason can no longer accept. It exists between the following Ayahs (Qur'anic verses): Say: "Nothing shall ever happen to us" And, Verily, Allâh will not change the (good) condition of a people as long as they do not change their state (of goodness) themselves (by committing sins and by being ungrateful and disobedient to Allâh). But when Allâh wills a people's punishment, there can be no turning back of it, and they will find besides Him no protector.

(2) The Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him) was a simple man, who used to travel a lot in the Arabian desert and listen to the trivial superstitions that were in circulation at that time and he transmitted these superstitions to the Qur'an such as the staff of Moses, which cannot be accepted by a sound mind after the discovery of Pasteur and the story of the people of the cave.

(3) Muslims have reached the point of deifying the Messenger Muhammad, since they always repeat their saying: Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) and their saying: Allah sends His prayers upon Muhammad ­ and this raises Muhammad to the status of a god. At the end of his speech, the speaker called upon teachers and those in charge of education to dictate what he said about Islam to their students. This is the end of what has been stated by "Ash­Shihab" newspaper about the speech of the above­mentioned official. Every Muslim who read this article or listened to it was enraged by it, because it included open disbelief and a challenge against Allah (may He be Exalted and Sublime) and His Messenger (peace be upon him) at the hand of a high official of a country claiming to be Muslim country. He was supposed to defend his religion, to defend the Book of his Lord and to defend His Messenger Muhammad (peace be upon him), if he had listened to such an article or even to something less than it from anyone else; however, the case is as what Allah (may He be Exalted and Sublime) says: Verily, it is not the eyes that grow blind, but it is the hearts which are in the breasts that grow blind. And, (They say): "Our Lord! Let not our hearts deviate (from the truth) after You have guided us, and grant us mercy from You. Truly, You are the Bestower."

Upon reading this article in "Ash­Shihab" newspaper, I took the initiative and sent a letter to this official, dated 7/4/1394 A.H., stating:

"Ash­Shihab" newspaper (issue of Rabi'ul­Awwal 23, 1394 A.H.) published a speech which has been attributed to you and it is a very dangerous speech. This speech includes accusations that the Noble Qur'an contains contradictions and includes superstitions. It also contests the high position of the message of Muhammad (peace be upon him).

This speech has annoyed Muslims who denounced it totally. If this speech was in fact delivered by you, you must hasten to make sincere repentance to Allah (Exalted be He) and declare it through the state media or you should issue a clear official statement denying it and confirming your belief in its opposite in order to assure Muslims and to calm down their rage against such serious and dangerous statements.

We ask Allah (Exalted be He) to guide all of us to that in which there is goodness and prosperity in the worldly life and the Hereafter, to repent to Him from all sins, secret or public, and to raise Islam, its followers and its states to the highest position. Indeed, He is Hearing and Responsive.

President of the Islamic University in Al­Madinah Al­Munawwarah 'Abdul 'Aziz Bin 'Abdullah Ibn Baz

Another letter was also sent by me and by the Shaykhs: Hasanayn Muhammad Makhluf, Abul­Hasan 'Aly Al­Hasany An­Nadawy, Abu Bakr Mahmud Jumy and Dr. Muhammad Amin Al­Misry in 16/4/1394 A.H., stating the following:

"Ash­Shihab" newspaper (issue of Rabi'ul­Awwal 23) attributed statements to you that cause the one who says them to be a disbeliever, because they have contested the Noble Qur'an and Al­Mustafa (the Chosen Prophet, peace be upon him) and your call for those in charge of education to convey such statements to their students. If you have already made these statements, then you need to hasten and repent from them and return to Islam; otherwise, you have to declare an open denouncement of these statements and announce that to the entire world through the various means of publishing and declare your sound Islamic belief in Allah (Exalted be He), in His Book, and in His Messenger, as a declaration of your innocence from disbelief, quieting the outrage and assuring Muslims all over the world. Your failure to do this will be evidence of your apostasy from Islam and a spark that ignites sedition whose evil consequences are only known to the Lord of the worlds, and you will carry the burdens of these consequences and of those who will be tempted by them until the Day of Judgment. Allah (Exalted be He) says: and as for him among them who had the greater share therein, his will be a great torment.

Abu Al­Hasan 'Aly Al­Hasany An­Nadawy, Secretary of the council of Muslim Scholars, Lucknow, India and the member of the Muslim World League in Makkah Al­Mukarramah

`Abdul­`Aziz ibn `Abdullah ibn Baz The President of the Islamic University in Al­Madinah Al­Munawwarah

Abu Bakr Muhammad Jumy, the Chief Judge of the northern states, Nigeria

Dr. Muhammad Amin Al­Misry, The University of King 'Abdul­'Aziz in Makkah Al­Mukarramah

Hasanayn Muhammad Makhluf, The former Mufti of Arab Republic of Egypt.

Then, I reviewed the above­mentioned newspaper and found it mentioning in its issue released on March 21, 1974 A.D., exactly what has been transmitted from it by "Ash­Shihab" newspaper regarding what was stated about the staff of Moses and the story of the people of cave. I also found it stating very heinous evil in its issue of March 20, 1974 A.D. said by the mentioned person and it was not reported in "Ash­Shihab" newspaper. Following is the text of what has been published by this newspaper:

( I want to attract your attention to a deficiency that I will exert all my efforts to fix it, before ending my task. It is the subject of equality between man and woman, the equality which exists at school, at work, at agricultural activity and even at the police level, but unfortunately, it does not exist in inheritance, since the male still takes what is equal to the share of two females. Such principle of inheritance found what had justified it when man was responsible for woman, who was in a social level that did not allow the equality between her and man, as the girl was buried alive and despised, but nowadays, she is working and she might be in charge of the affairs of her little brothers and sisters. For example, my wife was the one in charge of the affairs of her brother and she stayed up late to take care of him and faced all types of agricultural hardships to provide him with necessary means of education. She was very careful to achieve the hope of her father who wanted his son to be a lawyer. Is it, then, reasonable that such sister inherits half of what the brother inherits in such case? Therefore, we need to work out our discretion to analyze this situation and hasten the development of the Islamic Law to be in accordance with the developments of the society. Previously, we have restricted polygyny by means of the personal discretion with regard to the concept of the noble Qur'anic verse. Furthermore, it is the right of the rulers, being the Commander of the Believer, to develop the Islamic Law in order to be in accordance with the development of the people and the development of the concept of justice and the norm of life ).

This is what was stated in the above­mentioned newspaper. If it is proved that such statement was issued by that official