24 June 2012
Seerah of Muhammed*
*: May the peace blessings and Mercy of Allah be upon him
TMQ: Translation to the nearest meaning of the Qur’an
*: May the peace blessings and Mercy of Allah be upon him
TMQ: Translation to the nearest meaning of the Qur’an
Cutting the hands of the
thief
A'isha, the wife of Allah's Apostle*, reported that the Quraish were
concerned about the woman who had committed theft during the lifetime of
Allah's Apostle*, in the expedition of Victory (of Mecca). They said:
Who would speak to Allah's Messenger* about her? They (again) said: Who can
dare do this but Usama b Zaid, the loved one of Allah's Messenger*? She was
brought to Allah's Messenger* and Usama b. Zaid spoke about her to him
(interceded on her behalf). The colour of the face of Allah's Messenger*
changed, and he said: Do you intercede in one of the prescribed punishments of
Allah? He (Usama) said: 'Messenger of Allah, seek forgiveness for me. When it
was dusk. Allah's Messenger* stood up and gave an address. He (first) glorified
Allah as He deserves, and then said: Now to our topic. This (injustice)
destroyed those before you that when any one of (high) rank committed theft
among them, they spared him, and when any weak one among them committed theft,
they inflicted the prescribed punishment upon him. By Him in Whose Hand is my
life, even if Fatima daughter of Muhammad were
to commit theft, I would have cut off her hand. He (the Holy Prophet) then
commanded about that woman who had committed theft, and her hand was cut off.
'A'isha (further) said: Hers was a good repentance, and she later on married
and used to come to me after that, and I conveyed her needs (and problems) to
Allah's Messenger*.
End of Hijra
The Prophet* in the Hadith related by Al-Bukhari and Muslim on the
authority Ibn 'Abbas that reads, "There is no Hijrah after the conquest of
Mecca (but there is
jihad and intention of jihad)." Nevertheless, the Prophet (peace be upon
him) left the door wide open for later Muslims generations to work hard. In the
same Hadith, he said, "… and when
you are called for Jihad, you should immediately respond to the call." Accordingly,
practicing jihad and participating in the Islamic activity will never come to
an end.
Story of the young Imam and
his new clothes!
Narrated Amr bin Salama:
We were at a place which was a thoroughfare for the people, and the
caravans used to pass by us and we would ask them, "What is wrong with the
people? What is wrong with the people? Who is that man? They would say, "That
man claims that Allah has sent him (as an Apostle), that he has been divinely
inspired, that Allah has revealed to him such-and-such." I used to
memorize that (Divine) Talk, and feel as if it was inculcated in my chest (i.e.
mind) And the 'Arabs (other than Quraish) delayed their conversion to Islam
till the Conquest (of Mecca).
They used to say." "Leave him (i.e. Muhammad) and his people
Quraish: if he overpowers them then he is a true Prophet. So, when Mecca was conquered,
then every tribe rushed to embrace Islam, and my father hurried to embrace
Islam before (the other members of) my tribe. When my father returned (from the
Prophet) to his tribe, he said, "By Allah, I have come to you from the
Prophet for sure!" The Prophet afterwards said to them, 'Offer
such-and-such prayer at such-and-such time, and when the time for the prayer
becomes due, then one of you should pronounce the Adhan (for the prayer), and
let the one amongst you who knows Qur'an most should, lead the prayer." So they looked for such a person and found none who knew more Qur'an
than I because of the Quranic material which I used to learn from the caravans.
They therefore made me their Imam ((to lead the prayer) and at that time I was
a boy of six or seven years, wearing a Burda
(i.e. a black square garment) proved to be very short for me and had a tear in
the rear (and my body became partly naked). A lady from the tribe said,
"Won't you cover the backside (bottom) of your reciter for us?" So
they bought (a piece of cloth) and made a shirt for me. I had never been so
happy with anything before as I was with that shirt.
Hudaibiyah Peace Treaty and
Conquest of Mecca
That is the story of the conquest of Mecca and the
decisive battle that exterminated paganism once and for all. The other tribes
in the Arabian Peninsula were waiting and closely watching the final outcome of
the bitter struggle between the Muslims and idolaters, already convinced that
the Holy Sanctuary would not fall but in the hands of the righteous party. It
had been a conviction deeply established in their minds ever since the elephant
army of Abraha Al-Ashram advanced from Yemen intending to
destroy the Sacred House 50 years before.
Al-Hudaibiyah Peace Treaty was the natural prelude to this great victory
in which people believed deeply and over which people talked a lot. The Muslims
in Mecca, who had feared
to declare their Faith in public, began to appear and work ardently for this
new approach of life. People began to convert into Islam in hosts, and the
Muslim army that numbered 3000 only in the previous Ghazwah, now came to reach
10,000 in number. In fact, this decisive change provided people with the keen
insight to perceive things and the world around them as a whole in a different
perceptive. The Muslims were then to steer the whole political and religious
affairs of all Arabia. They had monopolised both
the religious supremacy and temporal power. The whole post-Hudaibiyah phase had
been well-fledged in favour of the new Islamic movement. Streams of the desert
Arabians began to pour in paying full homage to the Messenger of Allah*,
embracing the new faith and then carrying it to different quarters for
propagation.
Fiqh part 6 (Proof and Chain
of Narrators)
How do we know that
the Amazon Jungle exists? Unless you go there will you really know it exists
for sure - 100%? Or could there be a global conspiracy trying to hoodwink you
(and others) into believing in the Amazon Jungle? If you believe it because you
were taught this – where did they get the information from? Who told them? How
do we know what is real and what constitutes evidence or proof for each and
every one of us? Could real life be a dream and could our dreaming be real –
similar to the film ‘The Matrix’? There are some people that do believe this!
Next time you come across people who really believe this ask them if they want
a slap in the face and if that feels real or not!! (Lol)
Oral and Written Tradition
There is a
difference between the Oral and Written tradition. People in the Western
countries put a lot of emphasis on things written down and regard that as
better evidence; whereas Eastern traditions put a lot of emphasis on the
passing down of information orally. This has changed in recent centuries but was
traditionally a stronger form of preserving information. After all, that is how
the Qur’an has been preserved with a backup of written preservation.
We explored this
idea like a spider’s web, or string from a central point radiating out, with no
chance of overlapping. This is similar to the concept of Hadith narrations from
person F, who heard from person E, who heard from person D, who heard from
person C who heard from a Companion (person B) who heard the Prophet (person A)
say so-and-so!
The same so-and-so
was heard from person K, who heard from person J, who heard from person I, who
heard from person H who heard from a Companion (person G) who heard the Prophet
(person A).
The same so-and-so
was also heard from person P, who heard from person O, who heard from person N,
who heard from person M who heard from a Companion (person L) who heard the
Prophet (person A).
At no point in
history did the paths of persons F or P or K ever overlap, nor persons F with
O-J; nor did person E overlap with persons I-J-K or N-O-P, etc. Yet the so-and-so
is the same – is this a proof that it is correct? How many more chains /
strings are needed to convince somebody?
If you have only 1
written historical document how sure can you be that it is authentic??
Main Topic: Aqeeda (part 6) recap believing in
Allah
It is vitally
important that we firmly believe in Allah more than just having ‘faith’ that
Allah exists. We should be different to the Quraish at the time of the
Prophet*, or the people at the time of Ibrahim – who all said that they will
continue with their worships because they are following their forefathers. How
is our belief any different to this? As Muslims, Allah commands us to ‘KNOW’
that there is but one Allah. We must be sure individually for ourselves –
it is not good enough to just hope in Allah without certainty. The five pillars
of Islam are built upon the firm foundations of the Aqeeda – a rock
solid belief. How do we get at this belief? Are there any questions that we
shouldn’t ask in Islam and how inquisitive should we be in search for the
Truth? What is our reason for believing in Allah – is this an active firm
belief or a sense of hope, faith and trust? How we can know that Allah truly exists,
or is our belief in Him like a superstition – a level of belief or ‘faith’
similar to believing in ghosts or aliens.
Language of Maths
We also talked
about assumptions we make about what we see around us and the language we use.
Using the example of apples we explored whether 1 + 1 = 2. According to
Mathematics is does but are there real life situations where this is true?
Attributes of Allah
Many people
consider their concept of ‘God’ or Allah as a being that can do anything. There
are many terms to address the attributes of Allah including Omnipotent
(All-Powerful), Omniscient (All-Knowing), Omnipresence (being present
everywhere). We posed the question that is often used by atheists and
non-believers in a Divine Creator that, if God can do anything, can He:
- build a wall over which he cannot jump
- make a stone that he cannot lift
- make a square-circle
Superheroes
We started off the
study circle by talking about Superheroes, like Captain America, Batman,
Superman, Spiderman; or the recent TV series Heroes; even touching upon
mythical gods of previous cultures (Hindus and Greeks). There is often a need
for limited humans like us to project power onto other beings – and
super-powers to other super-beings. This reflects our own limitations – something
we will come back to later. We recapped how Muslims should have a belief in
Allah that is beyond superstition and ‘leap of faith’. Allah talks about this
type of belief in the Qur’an: "Were they created by nothing? Or were
they themselves the creators? Or did they create the heavens and the earth? Nay
they have no firm belief." Quran [TMQ 52:35-36]
Logical, Scientific and Rational thought
Scientific
(empirical) evidence is one type of evidence – and is based on theory tested by
experiment and observation. That is things that can be tested (experimented
upon).
Logical
approaches are based on sound premises and a valid structure to argument (like
mathematics). For example, the statements that all men are mortal combined with
the observation that Abdul is a man rationally means that necessarily Abdul is
mortal. Our acceptance of the concept that human beings are the product of a
mother and father, allows us to establish, on analysis of this concept and its
rational extension, that Aisha had a great great grandfather. None of these
conclusions are scientific, for they do not involve the application of the
scientific method. Yet all of them are rational.
We
discussed evidence and Proof and why rational thinking is superior to
scientific thinking – as we can not always measure things so it does not mean
things do not exist. Humans made inferences and deduce things from what we see
and weigh things up. Not everything is testable! In summary, Logical
thought is based on assumptions,
Scientific thought is observation and experimentation and Rational thought is
based on what is sensed and the reality around.
Arguments about the
nature of matter, universe and Allah: The limited nature of existence
When we look around
us at everything we can sense one factor is shared by these things, and that is
that they are all limited. By limited we mean that they have restrictions, a
starting point and an ending point, and they have definable attributes i.e.
they are all finite. Man is born and he dies. There is no-one alive who will
not die. During his life span, he will grow to a certain height, weight and
volume. The universe is defined as all the celestial planets. All these objects
have certain mass, shape, volume and so on. The life span of a star may be very
long, but a point in time will come when it will cease to exist. The universe
is large, but still a finite space. No scientist could ever prove using hard
facts that the universe has no bounds. In fact when we say that the universe
arose from the Big Bang and expanding they inherently admit it is finite in
size, otherwise it could not expand! There is nothing in reality which is
unlimited. No matter how hard we try, man is unable to find anything unlimited
around him. All he can perceive is the finite and limited.
A further attribute
of everything around us is that they are all needy and dependent in order to
continue existing. They are not self-sustaining or independent. Man has needs
he has to satisfy in order to survive. He has organic needs - must eat and
drink if he is to survive, and if he does not he will die. We see the need and
dependency in plants and animals. They depend on other parts of the food chain
for their existence. The water cycle is dependent on the sun, which is
dependent on the laws of the galaxies and of burning mass, and so on... Nothing
man can perceive is self-subsistent. So things exist, but do not have the power
of existence. They cannot control when they die or when other bodies die.
What being limited and Dependent means
Thus what we see is
that everything around us is limited and finite. Everything that is limited and
finite is dependant and everything that is dependant is dependent upon
something greater than itself. Applying this to everything we see will bring us
to a conclusion. If everything in the universe is dependant because it has not
the power of being in existence on its own accord, and is also finite and
limited, then what is everything dependant upon for its existence? Hence, two
possibilities exist:
·
That
is either all finite and limited objects depend upon each other in an infinite
chain of inter dependencies (infinite regression). Or,
·
There
is a first cause a sole Creator upon which everything depends.
To explain this
further we can understand this by way of analogy. Consider a set of dominoes
for example, for the final domino to fall it is dependant upon the domino
before it, and for that domino to fall over it is dependant upon the domino
before it. Now imagine if there was an infinite number of dominoes…… would any
of the dominoes fall over? The answer is no, none of the dominoes would fall
over. Now to view any aspect of the universe we would see that something is
already in existence in essence the last domino has fallen over. Thus meaning
that finite things are not dependant upon each other in an infinite chain.
Therefore, there needs to be a first cause or a sole Creator upon which
everything depends and itself being independent. Now, we have noted that
everything that is finite and limited is also dependant, hence, for something
to be independent it would need to be infinite and unlimited. This is whom we
Muslims call Allah the sole Creator, self subsistent, and completely unique and
different from creation. Allah says "Declare, Allah is one and only,
Allah is self sufficient (needy of nothing but upon which everything depends),
Neither Allah begets nor was he begotten, And there is nothing equal to or
comparable unto Allah" [TMQ 112]
Limits of Science
Science
cannot prove the existence of God. Not because it requires ‘faith’ but because
of the limitations of the scientific method itself. As for rational evidence
for the existence of God, that has been furnished, debated, refined and
presented centuries ago. The Kalam Cosmological argument for example –
was developed by Muslim scholars as early as the 11th century CE.
We cannot try to limit Allah with our limited
understanding of the Universe
The only rational
and intellectual solution to the question of creation is that there is a
Creator that has accounted for all that we see and perceive. Ration tells us
that nothing can be created without a creator. Ultimately, there must be a
Creator who is unlimited in every aspect. Hence, we cannot ask if Allah can
build a wall over which he cannot jump, or make a stone that he cannot lift or
make a square-circle – as these would be putting limits onto Allah and
confining Him to our limited understanding of the universe and its laws. Allah
is beyond this and not subject to these laws as He created them. So the
questions do not make sense.
Belief in Allah is
not a superstition nor a mythology, but is a definite fact that is established
upon the use of the mind and is felt within every person. Hence, looking at any
planet in the universe, contemplating on any phase of life, or comprehending any
aspect of man provides a conclusive evidence for the existence of a Creator.
"Verily in the Creation of the heavens and the Earth and the
alternation of the night and the day the are indeed signs for a people who
depth and thinking" Quran [TMQ 3:190]
Who Created Allah?
When we ponder on
the limited things all around us, we see that it is not azali
(eternal - limitless), otherwise it would not have been limited! Therefore, it
must be created by something else, which is the Creator of all things (that include
man, life and the whole universe/cosmos). This “Creator”, is either:
i.
created
by someone else,
ii.
creator
of himself, or
iii.
azali (eternal - limitless) whose existence is
indispensable (wajib ul-wujood).
It is absolutely
false that he is created by someone else (as in option i), because he would
then be limited. Also, he would not be the creator and would have been created.
Who created him would be like the question of the dominoes we already talked
about. This who-created-who (like chicken and egg) could not go on for infinity
and must have a start point. Hence, we can exclude this option that Allah was
created by someone else. It is also false that he is the creator of himself (as
option ii) and could not be rationally considered as the Creator. As for being
self-created, the ramification of which would be he is created by himself and
creating himself at the same time (simultaneously). This is simply absurd. He
cannot be both existing and not-existing at the same time (simultaneously) in
order to create himself! Hence, we can exclude this option that Allah created
himself. Hence, the creator must be azali (eternal - limitless) whose existence
is indispensable (option iii – nothing else fits rationally). He is Allah.
To 'Know' as a command on every soul
The Islamic Belief
(Aqeeda) and subsequently the Islamic way of life has an intellectual basis –
based on thinking and the mind. Therefore, Islam is neither a religion nor a
set of values and rituals that arise from Blind Faith. Rather, Islam is an
intellectual belief from which emanates a comprehensive system of life, be it
for individuals or society.
Firm Conviction in belief in Allah against
hope or leap of faith in Allah
Muslims should have
a belief in Allah that is beyond superstition and ‘leap of faith’. Allah talks
about this type of belief in the Qur’an: "Were they created by nothing?
Or were they themselves the creators? Or did they create the heavens and the
earth? Nay they have no firm belief." [TMQ 52:35-36]
Design Theory
We then explored
the second strand of evidence (proof) of the existence of Allah (Creator). This
is based on the theory of Divine Knowledge or Divine Design behind existence.
The story of Abu Hanifah and the boat
Imam Abu Hanifa (a
great scholar of Islam) was known for his intelligence and so there came to him
a group of atheists asking him to prove the Existence of Allah. Imam Abu Hanifa
said, "Let me think," then he remarked, "I am thinking about a
loaded ship that was tied to a port. The cargo unloaded itself without porters
and the ship sailed away without a captain from port to port.” (Upon hearing
this,) the atheists declared, "How can you say something like this! This
is impossible. We cannot believe in it.” Imam Abu Hanifa replied, "If you
do not believe in this then how do you believe in the sun, the moon, the stars,
the sky and the earth – how can you believe that all these came into existence
without an Originator?" Allah points out this intellectual proof in His
Saying, "Were they created by nothing or were they themselves the
creators?" [TMQ 52: 35]
The knock on the door
When we hear a
knock on a door there are so many things we can learn from that, but the
essence for this discussion is that the knocking gives us an indication that
someone is making the sound. By contemplating on the Universe, our existence
and mortality we can reasonably assume that we have been created by Allah. Not
such a huge jump.
The pile of stones on the beach
Likewise, we talked
about walking along the beach and finding a neat pile of stones stacked upon
each other. Reason would tell us that this is unlikely to occur purely by
chance but that someone constructed it in that fashion. Who is this Constructor
or Designer – Muslims would call Him Allah. This is a rational conclusion not a
far-fetched obscure unlikely theory…like what the atheists have.
Footprints and the sky and mountains
A further simple
example was a story of a Bedouin who was asked, "How do you know your
Lord?" The Bedouin could only reply with (the example of) that which was
before him, so he said, "Droppings tell of a camel. Foot-prints tell of a
traveller. The sky, the earth with mountain passes, seas with waves -do they not
tell of the All-Hearer, the All-Seer?"
! THINK !
Anyone who has a
mind (the mental faculty) can comprehend from things that can be sensed that
they have a creator. This is because what is noticed in all of them is that
they are imperfect, weak and dependent, so they are definitely created.
Therefore, it is sufficient to draw one's attention to anything in the
universe, life and humankind to conclude from that the existence of the Creator
and Organiser. Hence, looking at any celestial body of the universe,
contemplating upon any facet of life, or comprehending any aspect of man,
indicates definitely of the existence of Allah. Therefore, we see that the
Qur’an draws attention to these things and orders humans to ponder upon them,
their surroundings, and what is related to them, and to conclude from his
pondering the existence of Allah. Thus man looks at things how they are in need
of other things, so he definitely concludes from this the existence of Allah,
the Creator. There are hundreds of Qur’anic ayah expressing this meaning:
"Behold! In
the creation of the heavens and the earth and the alteration of night and day,
these are indeed signs for men of understanding." [Aali-Imran: 190]
"And of His
signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the difference of your
languages and colours. Behold! herein indeed are signs for men of knowledge."
[Ar-Rum: 22]
"Will they
not look at the camels, how they are created! And the heaven, how it is raised!
And the mountains, how they are set up! And the earth, how it is spread!"
[Al-Ghashiya: 17-20]
"So let man
reflect, from what he is created. He is created from a gushing fluid, that is
issued from between the loins and ribs." [At-Tariq: 5-7]
"Behold! in
the creation of the heavens and the earth and the difference of night and day,
and the ships which run upon the sea with that which is of use to men, and the
water which Allah sends down from the sky, thereby reviving the earth after its
death, and dispersing all kinds of beasts therein, and in the ordinance of the
winds, and the clouds obedient between heaven and earth are signs (of Allah's
sovereignty) for people who have sense." [Al-Baqarah: 164]
In addition, there
are so many ayah that call upon man to ponder deeply upon things and their
surroundings and that which is related to them, thereby concluding from that
the existence of the Creator, the Organiser. Thus belief in Allah is firmly
established through reason and clear evidence.
Hence, there should
be no element of ‘leap of faith’ or ‘blind faith’ like the people at the time
of Ibrahim or the Quraish at the time of the Prophet. As Muslims, we should
think and come to a rational conclusion in the existence of Allah and this
should be done by everyone who can think!
Value of Actions
We very briefly
talked about what is considered ‘good’ and ‘bad’ and where these concepts come
from. But we mainly chatted about praying (or doing any good action or deed)
with or without belief. Hence, a Muslim who believes in Allah and does good
deeds requested by Him will get huge reward (i/A) but another person without
belief in Allah may do the exact same action / deed but get no reward as they
lack belief. So, all actions should be related to and stem from the belief.
This is what Allah will be looking for first after we die – WHAT DID WE BELIEVE
IN!!
Therefore, we are
spending so much time talking about our belief and why this should be firm and
unshakeable. When we do get tested by Allah, some people who do not have firm
belief may have greater doubts about life and Allah if their belief is based
upon a hereditary system (from their parents). It doesn’t necessarily mean
their actions will be less rewarded by Allah but having a firm foundation for
belief (upon which the five pillars of actions are built) could mean the actions
are done with greater conviction.
Time Travel, TARDIS and Dr Who
Most people are
familiar with the popular children's television show called Doctor Who. This is
about an alien (Time Lord) who looks like a human being and travels throughout
the universe in a special time travelling machine which also distorts the
dimensions of space. This machine is
known as the T.A.R.D.I.S. (TARDIS = Time and Relative Dimension in Space). This program introduces children (and adults
- who is your favourite Doctor Who?!) to many ideas and concepts which include,
for the purposes of our discussion, the ability to travel through time and
outside of space. For example, we are
informed in authentic narrations (hadith) and the Prophet* travelled from Mecca to Al-Quds (Jerusalem) and then through and outside the universe to
the seven heavens, and back all in the same night. We're also told that the Prophet actually saw
the punishment of people in Hellfire as well as hearing the footsteps of people
in Paradise. The
question is how could he have witnessed these if the Day of Judgment has not
happened -- and this is not to do with the Knowledge of Allah because these
were witnessed events? By thinking about
the limited nature of the universe, and the limited nature of the things which
make up the universe including the physical objects (stars and planets) and the
dimensions of the universe (time and space) we can answer questions like 'What
was there before Allah' and 'Where is Allah'?
'What was there before Allah’; 'Where is Allah'?
As we discussed
previously and demonstrated through a rational approach, we live in a universe
that is limited. Necessarily, this
universe was created and that Creator must be unlimited and not bound by the
limits of this universe. Therefore,
Allah is not confined by the dimensions of time and space. Hence, it would be wrong to suggest that
'Allah is everywhere' - which is a belief called pantheism - a common
misconception amongst people who don't think about this deeply. This gives rise
to concepts that Allah is everywhere and in everything (including trees and
rocks and dirty places), and so some people would use this to justify
worshipping these objects claiming that they are part of God or contain
God. By claiming that 'Allah is
everywhere' we are in fact limiting His existence and defining it within the
realms of our dimensions of space.
It would be better
to consider that Allah is 'outside' our dimensions of space -- if we can try to
get our heads around that. The problem
is with our language and as we do not have any words in the language to express
how somebody could be outside/not bound by the concept or constraints of
space. Words like inside, outside,
beyond, where, up, down are all relative and
related to space - so how can we describe something which is beyond
this!? But that is indeed what/where Allah is!
The same idea is
related to the question about ' what was there before Allah?' - as the words before,
during, after are all specifically related to time. Whereas, Allah is beyond time as He created
time and made it unidirectional in our universe. Hence we cannot ask what was there before
time as the question doesn't make sense as there is no 'before' when time was
created. Therefore, there is no time
before the Big Bang or creation of the universe. Hence, it is perfectly possible for Allah to
be separate from time and space (acknowledging that separate is still related
to space!).
'There is none like unto Him’
Therefore, by
thinking of all of these things Muslims have a unique and pure perspective and
understanding of Allah and Tawhid. This looks at the true Glory and Majesty of
our Creator. Hence, the only appropriate
ways in which we can try to describe Him are by the descriptions He gives if
Himself and the comparisons He makes. We
don't have the words in our language to properly address this but Allah does
mention in the Quran that 'there is none like unto Him'! Simply put, that is the best description.
The Absurdity of the Atheist
We then revisited
some elements of the design theory, but focusing on the concept of chance and
probability. There is an old saying
which states that "an atheist must have stronger belief than a person who
believes in God, because the atheist must have looked under every stone and
every leaf for him to not believe in God!" but we find that the modern
disbelievers put their entire trust in science all this idea of chance as being
the source and creator of the universe, and life and human beings. This is obviously a false situation if we are
to analyse it rationally. The creation
of the universe by chance (although we have already said it cannot occur by
itself) would be similar to believing that a whirlwind swept through the
streets and through a garage that had lots of car parts on the floor. After the whirlwind had left there would be a
fully functioning perfectly formed car (Bugatti if you like) with its engine
running ready to hit the road with no mess on the floor! Patently, nobody would
believe this yet why do atheists think this is what happened with the universe
-- even though we have said it cannot happen?
One of the reasons
why it is quite possible that these people refuse to believe in an Almighty
Creator is because if they did believe in one they would have to have some sort
of relationship with the Creator. This
would involve finding out what He wants from us and what we have to do in
return. People would have to take
responsibility for their beliefs and base any actions on these beliefs. People are afraid of this and these responsibilities
and so would prefer to avoid the obvious answer -- which is belief in an
Almighty Creator. Because, if you
acknowledge an Almighty Creator that you will still need to answer the 3
Fundamental Questions about Life:
·
Why
am I here (alive)?
·
Where
did I come from?
·
What
happens when I die (as we all will die)?
Implications of Believing in Allah
The idea and
question of ‘God’ has serious implications because the answer obtained becomes
the very basis by which we understand the creation and purpose of man, life
round us and the whole existence of the universe. Therefore, the method used
should not only be the rational thought but the comprehensive and agree with
reality. Anything hypothetical or emotional should be rejected since their
basis disagrees with ration and reality.
The Islamic Belief
and subsequently the Islamic way of life has an intellectual basis. Therefore,
Islam is neither a religion nor a set of values and rituals that arise from
Blind Faith. Rather, Islam is an intellectual belief from which emanates a
comprehensive system of life, be it for individuals or society. To understand
the unique system that Islam offers necessitates the explanation of the Islamic
belief i.e. the belief in God, Allah in Arabic, and the Word of God, the
Qur’an.
Some people will
never accept the Truth or any level of Proof
Children’s Feedback: None this week : (
But we did talk about the Shahnam Charity Event (Saturday 25 August)
http://www.shahnam.org/
But we did talk about the Shahnam Charity Event (Saturday 25 August)
http://www.shahnam.org/
Homework:
Seerah: How many were in the Prophet's army for the Battle of Hunain (Huwazim)?
Belief - Do humans need Prophets or Messengers?
Seerah: How many were in the Prophet's army for the Battle of Hunain (Huwazim)?
Belief - Do humans need Prophets or Messengers?
