Foreword

People who lack sufficient information on a given subject—or who do not think about it much—may arrive at a number of mistaken ideas, or may be deliberately led astray by others.

For example, for those with little interest in how a television works and no idea of what components the mechanism consists, the television set is simply a means of watching films or news programs. Those people will be unable to appreciate the marvelous technology in the apparatus if they remain unaware of how the video and audio signals reach the television, and do not consider how the image appears on the screen. How satellite connections are established, how images originating from another country first head into space and then without encountering any obstruction reach the television in their home with full sound and color, what function its components serve, what materials are used to make it, and the logic behind the remote control device—none of that matters! They view a television as merely an electrical device for watching selected programs.

What, you may wonder, is this analogy doing in the introduction to a book about proteins? To emphasize that lacking information on any particular subject may lead to serious errors or superficiality. When people fail to consider certain issues, they may remain unaware of the most vital matters. True, not understanding how a television set works or not giving the subject much thought may not represent too much of a loss. Yet not considering the question of how life on Earth began and survived—and blindly believing in unrealistic "answers" to that question—may cause people to make the most serious errors and suffer the most serious losses. Therefore, we urgently need to reflect on the origins of life.

How did life begin? By describing various features of proteins—the basic building blocks of life—this book provides the only valid answer: that life began by being created by Allah, the Superior and Mighty Creator.

Allah calls in the Qur'an to those who are unaware of this truth: