Few Muslims have thought about using science fiction as a Da’wah tool. However, Jamshed Akhtar, an electrical engineer with varied interests, has broken this trend. In what can be termed as “religious science fiction,” the author has creatively used his God-given abilities to present Islam through the means of science fiction in his first novel.
The book, ” Ultimate Revelations,” begins with a looming danger on earth, “An expanding shell of less energy from the sun’s core was moving towards its surface for the last million years. As the shell breaks through the outer envelope sometime in the 21st century, the sun’s output dips slightly. The shell is thin and the peculiar irregularity in the solar machinery is not going to last long. Still, the event has tremendous potential of menace, as even this thin solar hiccup has the capability to push the planet towards the cold grave from which it had emerged only twelve thousand years ago…”
In this scenario, a young scientist named Hamzah is experiencing extraordinary dreams. He sees the momentous events like the birth of the solar system and other historical occurrences from human history. Guided by these visions, the intrigued and perturbed young man goes on to study and collect data on the metaphysical aspects of life.
In his research, he stumbles over the works of the late Rashad Khalifa, notorious for his heretical claims of prophethood and attempts to tamper with the Quran by taking out the last two verses of Surah Taubah.
Khalifa has been working on the mathematical structure of the Quran based on the number 19. However, in 1973 he claimed that the miraculous structure worked only if the two verses were deleted.
The India-based author mathematically proves that the structure works both ways – with and without the two verses, plus he discovers a key to the hidden meanings of the message of the two verses. The young scientist saves the world from the ravages of the impending Ice Age in the novel by using this key.
In short, “Ultimate Revelations,” which has been out for over three years but is little-known, is a good read for anyone and contains tons of information on subjects as varied as the formation of the solar system, atmospheric impacts, cosmology, comparative religion, mathematical structure of Quranic stories, the lives of the prophets, evolution of Islamic Sciences and the uniqueness of the Arabic language. Best of all, it is all written in a very readable way.
By Mohammed Ayub Ali Khan — Freelance Writer- USA
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