Speech and language are essential and important components of human communication. Societies have evolved many languages over the course of human evolution. Currently there is a large number of languages and dialects that are spoken on our planet that may be believed to range between being euphonious to cacophonous. The manner in which a person speaks reflects on how genteel and humane he/she is. In civilized communities it is considered a norm to speak in a sweet-sounding manner. It may be thought that the early civilized societies may have had a tradition of learning to speak well too. To be able to speak is a great blessing of Allah Almighty indeed. But it is not difficult to find a widespread abuse of this blessing in everyday life. It is not uncommon to come across conversations that are full of swearing, cursing, profanity and slandering.
The Muslim Way of Speaking addresses this problem in a comprehensive, eloquent and lucid manner. The book is written by renowned Muslim scholar Harun Yahya. The book is available for download on his personal website and can be read online too. The book is also available for purchase on online stores like Barnes and Noble and Amazon.
The book is written from an increasingly Islamic perspective. It takes examples from Quran and Hadith on as to how to speak and address people in normal everyday discourse. First of all it emphasizes on the importance of praising Almighty Allah in speech and to call Him through His beautiful names. It advises to speak with the knowledge that Allah is with the speaker at every moment. It warns not to associate others else with Allah. It is advised to speak in the knowledge of one's helplessness in the face of Allah and that no task can be performed without the will of Allah. Quran should be employed as a guide in speech. One should speak in the certainty of fate and the truth that there is good in everything. Allah should be trusted in all the situations.
One should speak with the awareness that life of this world is transitory. One should have concern in his speech for what is lawful and what is unlawful. One should avoid the style of speech that is influenced by Satan and one should seek refuge of Satan from Allah. One should enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong. One should speak with wisdom, sincerity, truthfulness, sensibly and logically. One should also give good tidings.
One should speak so as to arouse joy and enthusiasm. One should say what is best. One should not speak under the influence of the mean inner self and by being motivated by personal desires. A person's speech should be measured, courteous and respectful. Humility should be a cornerstone of good speech. Similarly, while speaking one should have an attitude of tolerance and forgiveness. Consultation should be a major part of intercommunication. One should make frequent references to one's disposition about submission to the will of Allah and to acknowledge that there is no strength but in Allah. It is very important to adopt good manners while speaking to one's parents. Backbiting and gossiping behind people's backs should also be abandoned. Suspicion and slander should be abandoned. Similarly mocking and ridiculing people should be discouraged and abandoned. One should not speak out of covetousness and envy. One should not speak in vein and make empty and trivial statements. One should not interrupts others speech and on their own turn they should speak calmly. A very important point is to adopt the manner of speech that is appropriate to the level of knowledge of the person that is being addressed. Speaking hypocritically should be avoided at all costs. A way of speech that gives rise to doubts should be avoided. A manner of speech that is probing and prying should be avoided. The statements that lead to evil should be avoided. Obfuscation should be avoided and secret and meetings should not be held. One should speak so as to defend and support our prophet Hazrat Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him).
Finally the books lists the advantages of adopting such meritorious traits in one's speech and the author presents the conclusion. The last chapter of the book is deception of evolution. It is dedicated to addressing Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and natural selection. It tries to show with the help of logic, and in the light of relevant literature review on as to how the materialist theory of evolution presented by Charles Darwin is wrong and flawed.
Overall I have found the book to be a very enjoyable read. It is well written and the quality and amount of material presented in the book is quite balanced and enlightening. I found this book while I was looking for literature regarding neural basis for language, speech and accent production. Although I could not find anything of that sort in the book, I believe that the book is an excellent resource for behavioral rehabilitation.
I thought about this idea a long time ago when I was a university student. The idea was to air-condition beds, sleeping bags, small tents, or any other similar thing which has a small volume good enough for one person to sleep in. The next thing is to attach a duct and a pipe with the facility and to eventually connect it to a small air conditioner. The air conditioner will keep the facility cold for as long as it will run. The person who would sleep in it would have sweet dreams.
Such an apparatus would have an additional advantage. Cooling a small volume of space is easier and cheaper to do than to cool a larger volume, such as that of a whole room. Thus, it can be highly cost effective. Similarly, the same air conditioner that may have cooled a single room that may have been hosting a couple of people can be used to supply cold air to a larger number of people sleeping in things like sleeping bags. This can be done by spreading a small pipeline. And such an air conditioning solution can be useful in countries with hot climate. Countries like Pakistan that are suffering from an acute electricity crisis can benefit a lot from such schemes.
The other day I was thinking about writing a small research proposal around the idea of studying neurological basis for accent and language production. There were a few interrelated reasons for which this came to my mind. First is based on the observation that some people have a natural talent for adapting themselves to various accents. I have personally met some people who can change from a very crude Punjabi accent to a very polite Urdu accent in a fraction of a second. It was also very cool to observe a few people whose native language was Mewaati and they used to change between swinging Mewaati and plain Urdu in a fraction of a second. Same can be said about multilingual people who can speak languages other than Urdu, such as Siraaiki, Potowaari, Punjabi and possibly also English. Indeed, I have seen people who can copy accents very fast and can have a wide variety. There are people who can mimic a plethora of lingual accents and dialects. Many comedians and actors fall under this category.
The other reason was based on the observation that some people are more prone to speaking in a harsh and impolite manner. Indeed, swearing is very common in Pakistan. I am not sure but I think that the tendency to swear is related to the idea that a person appears to be more masculine and virile if he does so. I am not sure if swearing is considered a crucial positive aspect in grooming and upbringing of an adolescent boy. Moreover, most of this profanity loving psychology is inherited from Bollywood movies too. Swearing and the use of obscene expression can be very common in Pakistan. When you have a problem, you swear. When you are happy, swearing can sometimes be the best way to express that joy.
On the other hand, I have also had a chance to come across many very soft-spoken people both in Pakistan and abroad. There are languages and dialects that may be considered very euphonious and sweet sounding. Indeed, the way you speak or the way you are addressed can have a great impact on your personality. However, this may not be claimed that people who are more likely to use rough and obscene language are indecent, less effective or less loved in any way. On the contrary, a sweet sounding person can sometimes be considered weak and worthless as opposed to a person who uses whatever words that come to his mouth and somehow manages to achieves his objectives, such as developing a domineering aura around himself.
But I think that it is worthwhile to study the neurological basis for accent and language production. To this end, it can be a good idea to study how people learn to speak from an early age and how they develop one way of speaking or the other. It would also be a nice idea to see the social and psychological factors that affect the speech related affairs of human personality. Along with that it would also be interesting to study the neurological basis for language. It would be interesting to see what parts of the brain play an important role in language production. Similarly, to see how the human ability to speak evolve over the course of his/her life, and whether it is a adaptable trait. It would also be very interesting to study the benefits multilingual people can have over people who speak only one or two languages. And most importantly, I wonder that what are the benefits and pitfalls of speaking in one way or the other.
Following article in the August, 2013 issue of Ubqari magazine is particularly interesting and eye catching. This was written by Maulana Waheed-ud-deen Khan. I remember having posted another article by him earlier in December, 2012. That was about the importance of tolerance. I find this article important because it illustrates the importance of unity in our life and does so with the example of two European astronomers namely, Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe. The article is written below. It is quite interesting to note that the Ubqari magazine is getting better and better by the day. The writers in the magazines write articles for encouragement and motivation by taking examples from diverse cultural backgrounds. It is also quite interesting that the author may certainly have read about the works of the two characters of the following article. Johannes Kepler's name may be well known to many, as I remember that we come across this name in our high school physics. But I am sure that Danish Tycho Brahe is not a very well known name, although his significance in the history of cosmology cannot be undermined. It is interesting to have read his mention in the magazine. Nonetheless, Ubqari magazine is a treat for everyone. It is an increasingly Islamic magazine that tries to teach all of the humanity as to how to co-exist peacefully. It is being published in a time while a great proportion of humanity is quite confused, and not least of the causes of this confusion is religion. Ubqari invites people to Islam and its magazine is worth reading and the sermons worth listening to. The article is as follows:
No person can do anything tremendous alone. But united struggle has a price. And that price is to overlook the differences and to unite on the common interests.
Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler were contemporaries. But one thing had become an obstacle for both of them in a significant discovery related to astronomy. That was that none of them had complete expertise on every corner of their respective scientific fields. Tycho Brahe had made a plenty of observations in astronomy. He used to keep writing his observations. He had collected a large volume of a written treasure related to the observations about astronomy. But the second aspect about the knowledge of astronomy is related to mathematics. But Tycho Brahe was weak in mathematics.
On the other hand the situation with Johannes Kepler was that he did not have any expertise in astronomical observations. His only specialty was that he was an expert in mathematics. And from a mathematical point of view he had formulated many precious ideas about astronomy.
Although Johannes Kepler and Tycho Brahe had personal differences. So much so that in one of his letters, Johannes Kepler had accused Tycho Brahe of hypocrisy and had bad-mouthed him. But Tycho Brahe did not become angry with Kepler despite being short tempered. At the last moment of his life he thought that only Johannes Kepler can be a better inheritor of his knowledge treasure. Thus, he invited Kepler to himself while forgetting all of his rudeness. And in 1601 he gave all of his educational treasure to Johannes Kepler without seeking any reward in return. When all the stock of Tycho Brahe's observations reached Kepler, the deficiency of Kepler was addressed. Now he applied all the mathematical powers of his mind to associate them with these observations. The result of this came out in these three principles which are known as Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion.
This is the secret to a great success in the present world. Every man has a limited knowledge. And based on this any single person cannot do something tremendous alone. But united effort has a price. And that price is to overlook the differences and to unite on common interest. To unite with people despite the differences. This, indeed, is dignity and generosity.
After having read Simon Singh's Fermat's Last Theorem and Big Bang it is inevitable that one would go on to read The Code Book too. As the name suggests the book is about the history and evolution of the science of encryption. Apart from being a difficult subject, cryptography can come across as boring and lackluster. But Simon Singh knows how to treat his audience well. The Code Book takes its reader on to a roller coaster ride in to the wonderland of cryptography. In the book Mr. Singh chronicles the development of the science of cryptography and crypt-analysis from the times of ancient Romans and Egyptians all the way to our current times and quantum cryptography. During the course he records all the important events and hallmarks in the history of cryptography. The effect cryptography has had on the lives, wars, liberty and the geopolitical landscape of our times is described in a revealing way.
The Code Book begins with the Romans involvement with early forms of cryptography. Julius Caesar's secret military writings are discussed. It distinguishes between cryptography and crypt-analysis. It also elucidates the role of Arabs in the development of crypt-analysis and a few old methods of cipher analysis. It then goes on to discuss the clandestine plot of Mary queen of Scots to assassinate the British Queen Elizabeth. The assassination plot was deciphered by Queen Elizabeth and she had the former beheaded. At its climax, it moves on to the stage of world war 2 and a significant portion of the book is devoted to the developments concerning the deciphering of Germans' enigma codes. The efforts of Allen Turing and his contemporaries, on both sides, are worth reading.
The author then brings right in to our very own era of so-called modern cryptography. Here the author discusses the evolution of various techniques such as RSA, PGP and public-key cryptography. The author also discusses various philosophical, ethical and moral issues concerning personal privacy in our times. In particular, the discussion on the trade-of between the level of personal privacy and the level of information gathering by the law enforcement agencies is discussed from the point of view of security.
The final chapter concludes by speculating about the future of cryptography and discusses and analyses the potential of quantum cryptography. Here again the author has done a commendable effort to elucidate some of the intricate concepts in quantum physics, specially superposition, and to analyse their relevance with quantum computing and cryptography. Simon Singh has a very inspiring style of writing about popular science. All of his books are written with much lucidity and eloquence. The pace of the plot is fast while not compromising the fine details. A person who opens the book once and set's off to reading looses track of his/her diurnal chores, looses track of time and would find it hard to close the book before the last page is reached. Anyone who would read The Code Book would fall in love with cryptography.
I developed an addiction for popular science after reading Simon Singh's Fermat's Last Theorem. Afterwards I got hold of his Big Bang. This time I didn't borrow it from the library, rather I bought it for my personal collection of nice books.
The book takes a modest start by describing the earlier notions held by the ancient people of Greece, Perisa and Egypt about the nature and origin of the universe. After setting the stage for a keen discussion on the subjects of cosmology and astronomy, the author lands his readers right in to the lives and works of middle and post-middle age scientists.
Simon Singh has a remarkable storytelling talent. The manner in which he narrates the history and development of any scientific enterprise keeps the reader spellbound till the last page, and for several subsequent days. The story is never less attractive than any bestselling thriller. Actually, the plot moves so swiftly while hopping over people and evolution of ideas that before the reader gets a chance to contemplate over any particular idea, he/she is ridden to a next more exciting one. Yet at the same time the fine details about the crucial concepts are not compromised. Everything is explained in an extremely lucid manner. And the biographies of the people involved make the whole narrative all the more interesting.
Big bang describes the works of notable scientists like Albert Einstein, Johannes Kepler, Copernicus, Galileo, Tycho Brahe and Ptolemy etc. The list goes on. It discusses the times and circumstances in which these people lived. The hardships they had to suffer. The theories which they challenged or developed. Their confrontation with the bureaucracy and the popularly held beliefs. And consequently how the various theories about the existence of universe evolved. The book is also interesting as it educates its reader not only about the nature of cosmology, but also about the intricate interplay between science with other realms of human existence, such as religion.
Johannes Kepler
I can never forget having read this book for another reason too. I read this book while in various European cities. These include, Limerick, Vienna, Salzburg and Graz. I particularly remember that while I was reading about Johannes Kepler and his work, I was sitting in a garden in Graz. And when I finished reading the chapter concerning him, I noticed that there stood a statue of him in front of me. Similarly, I remember that read about the steady state model and its comparison with the big bang model on a hilltop in Graz on which I had gotten to through a lift. There were many people around me but I was practically oblivious about their existence. I read about the CMB (cosmic microwave background) on my way back to Limerick in a bus. These vivid memories are unforgettable and romantic.
Big bang is a must read for every student of science. Once you will read it, you will fall in love with cosmology. And you would also want to live the rest of your life as a cosmologist or an astronomer.
I read Simon Singh's Fermat's Last Theorem in 2007. It was recommended to me by a dear friend as a cure to boredom. I was reluctant about reading it in the beginning. My shyness with mathematics was the main reason. I nonetheless got it from the library and once I started reading it, I couldn't put it down till the time I reached the last page. And when I finished it, I was expecting more. I was sad to see it end.
Fermat's Last Theorem is a story about many stories. First and foremost, it is a story about a mathematical problem that ensued from the ancient Pythagorean theorem. Fermat's Last theorem is basically a generalized version of the Pythagoras theorem. It suggests that whole numbered solutions for the higher order Pythagorean equation do not exist. The theorem was proposed by a French mathematician Pierre De Fermat who lived between 1601 and 1665.
It has stories about many mathematicians starting from Pythagoras himself and finishing at Andrew Wiles. The latter spent a significant portion of his life is trying to come up with a proof for the enigmatic theorem. He eventually succeeded. The way in which Andrew and a myriad of his predecessors approached to solve the mystery is absolutely epic and is the subject of this book.
Stories of many mathematicians are told not only from the point of view of their works' relevance to the Fermat's theorem, but also about their personal lives. It is very interesting and motivating to read the stories of some of the mathematicians who grew out of humble circumstances and became some of the most renowned people of all times. Some of the notable people among these are Laplace, Fourier, Galois, Yutaka Taniyama and Goro Shimua, to name but a few.
The book also has lucid and eloquent explanations of various mathematical concepts and how they evolved over time. For instance, the book explains the generalization ability and importance of a mathematical theorem and its proof. Other topics such as group theory and elliptic curves are also introduced in a layperson friendly way.
Reading this book was one of the best experiences of my life. It kindled an interest about reading and knowing more about various disciplines of science and mathematics. After reading this I went on to read other works of Simon Singh, whose thrilling storytelling style vitalizes any narrative he wishes to tell. Any person who would read Fermat's Last Theorem would fall in love with number theory, at least for a while.
The idea of having a garden on the roof of one's house is a cool one. It struck me for the first time when I read an account of India's Narendra Modi's endeavors to install solar grids over the canals of Gujarat, the province of which he is the CM. Installing solar grids over the canals has two additional benefits along with electricity generation. It saves land space, which can be used for other purposes such as agriculture. Secondly, it saves substantial amount of canal water from being evaporated. Projects involving solar energy have great potential in Asian countries like India, Pakistan and other middle eastern countries, which can have very hot climate specially in the summer months. Indeed, when installed on rooftops they could also be beneficial in reducing the indoor ambient temperature of a house or a similar facility. But solar panels are not viably cheap so that everyone can afford them. However, the idea of installing them over canals or on rooftops has additional benefits as discussed above.
A cheap alternative to having solar panels over one's house is to plant a rooftop garden. Obviously they would not generate electricity. However, they will offer at least three other benefits. First of them is, of course, that the gardener would reap his/her own homegrown vegetables. The second is that it will lower the indoor temperature of the house as rooftop plantation would absorb much of the solar heat from allowing it to penetrate in the house. There is a third very crucial benefit too specially for a country like Pakistan. Pakistan is basically an agricultural country. However, much of its agricultural traditions are being ruined for one reason or the other. One of the reasons is population growth itself. A consequence of that is that a substantial amount of arable land that was once used for agriculture is gradually being converted to habitations. Thus, reducing the land that was available for agriculture. Adopting rooftop gardens would revive significant portion of that land for household horticulture. Growing organic vegetables on one's own roof would also be cheap and healthy. There is a fourth benefit too of having an orchard on one's own roof. Developing a rooftop garden can also be a way of testing and honing one's aesthetic sense about gardening.
Rooftop gardening is quite common in western and other Asian countries. It has, however, not been adopted in Pakistan so far. Of the many reasons a common one is that we as Pakistanis are shy of adopting new ideas quickly. Fear of taking initiative is another common cause. Developing rooftop gardens can have many benefits both personally for the owner and the community as a whole. It can also be anticipated that developing rooftop gardens can be much cheaper and would not require much paraphernalia. Here is a good link to useful advice on developing rooftop gardens.
The following sermon posted on Ubqari is worth listening to. The sermon was delivered by hakeem Tariq Mehmood Chughtai. He has permission in all the spiritual orders.
Dress has a very profound effect on the thoughts and emotions of humans. Dress is related to modesty. And listen, when modesty is there, the dress expands. And when modesty goes, dress diminishes. But the reality is that it is becoming a source of loss in the society and homes. And all the things that I have said to you are because I want to help in reverting the peace and serenity of your houses and families. Rather I want it to be reverted in to every family. Not only in our country but also in other countries and societies, among Hindus, Sikhs, and everyone. They are all the ummah of Hazrat Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). We are obliged to have sympathy for them. And we are not obliged to hate them. Remember this! Who ever holds hatred of non-Muslims in their hearts, should scratch it off. Develop an emotion of their well being in your hearts. I often say one thing, that Hazrat Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) has even prayed for the well being of a denier of religion, a denier of faith, a denier of Islam, who holds enmity of Muslims in his heart, and a personal enemy. Dress has a great deal to do with the personal well being of people. You will be astonished to see the nuns of the church near us, the women who work in the church. Observe their dress. They wear scarfs. They wear big gowns. Their dress indeed has modesty in it. This astonishes me. The dress of every religion is wonderful and best, remember this. Irrespective of whether if it is the religion of Jews, or the religion of a Christian, or the religion of a Hindu, or the religion of a Sikh, or if it is the religion of Islam. Every religion has a dress code and it is exemplary. Why? It has a sense of security in it.
Check this out on Chirbit
15th Ramadhan 2013
We have to take everyone together. One thing should become deeply ingrained in to a person's personality. That I will not move alone. I will take every person of the Ummah along with me. Jew is mine, Christian is mine, Hindu is mine, Sikh is mine. Attract everyone with love. There should be an attitude of sympathy and wellwishing about non-Muslims. Hatred should be abandoned.
O Allah! Give faith to the Jews. Allah! Give faith to the Christians. Allah! Give faith to the Sikhs. Allah! Five faith to the Hindus. O Allah! Give us faith too. O Allah! Do not let us die without faith. Allah! Give us a faithful death.
O Allah! Give faith to the whole ummah. O Allah! Bestow your blessings on the whole humanity. O Allah! Bestow your blessings on all the human beings. Allah! Shower your blessings on all the non-Muslims. Allah! Enlighten their hearts with faith. Allah! Enlighten our hearts with sincerity. Allah! Give pure faith to the non-Muslims. Allah! Give us with with practice. Allah! Make everyone a practical Muslim. Allah! Our biggest need is you. Allah! Give us the love of hazrat Muhammad (may Allah's peace be upon him).
This prayer is very interesting because in this prayer Hakeem Tariq Mehmood Chughtai and the whole congregation is literally crying while praying for the non-Muslims.
Allah! Give faith to the Christians. Allah! Give faith to the jews. Allah! Give faith to the Sikhs. Allah! Give faith to the Hindus. O Allah! Save them from the fire of hell. O Allah! Remove hatred from our hearts regarding non-Muslims. O Allah! Bestow upon us emotions of their goodwill.
Some people wear the apparent dress of the angrez, but do not become and show to be angrez (i.e. do not exhibit the qualities they have). Where there are bad things in them (white people, angrez, gora etc.), they also have many qualities. You have adopted their bad qualities, but you never tried to acquire their qualities. A person said that he visited Europe. He went to a shop to buy something. He asked if this thing is genuine or not. The shopkeeper said that we do not have the concept of dubious or counterfeit goods here. Everything is authentic. He said that those people say that if we cheated in our trade then in the whole world our trade will suffer. Then he said that in case they have to sacrifice their personal benefit, they keep the national interest at a higher priority. They do not let the national interest suffer at the cost of their personal benefit. We can try to mimic them by wearing dresses like them, but the real thing is to have our inner selves like them. In that society there are so many such things that are forbidden according to Islam, but they have adopted so many such good things that we have abandoned. And so many such elegant trades of faith and Islam, whether they are about trade, business, about mutual exchange principles, and many spheres of life. Look, if we start looking at the flaws of a person, then we will not have time. I often say one thing to you. We should become like a honey bee. If some filth is lying close to a honey bee, she will not look at it. She will fly away to a far flung place where it will find fragrance and flowers. Similarly, a dirty fly will never sit on the flowers no matter how many or how close they are to her. She will fly far away to find filth and degradation and feed on it. A faithful believer is synonymous with a honey bee. It will go far away and look at the qualities of someone, irrespective of whether he/she is a Muslim or a non-Muslim. You have to gather qualities from everywhere. Ignore their faults. So much so if someone has a fault, do not raise any objection towards him/her. Do not say anything bad. Take their qualities. Adopt the qualities of the angrez. Is he a malingerer? Look the job for which you got paid, one is that you do not devote your time honestly to it. Leave today's work to be done tomorrow. And what was prescribed for me to do, if I am not doing that, then I am being dishonest. Is the gora a malingerer? Does the gora do all the work that he is paid for? List the qualities that are present in that society. The other day a person came to me. He has been living in the UK for 22-23 years. He had some time, I asked, "Tell me a few qualities of the gora." He started looking at me astonishingly. He said that I am the first person who is asking their qualities. I said that I am asking because I have seen huge queues of people in front of their embassies. And the ones who acquire visas I have also heard them badmouthing the white people. Everyone wishes to get a visa for UK, America or states, or of Unaan (Greece) or Europe. Either through Iran or someone other way, they somehow wish to reach there. And then the badmouth them. I asked tell me some qualities. He started telling me their qualities. Then I asked that now tell me the truth that all of these qualities that they have are of Islam or of the gora? He said they are Islamic. If that is truthfulness, that is of Islam. If that is honesty that is of Islam. If that is trustworthiness, that is of Islam. All of the things are those of Islam. We have not taken from them those things of Islam. We have acquired a couple of things about dress and a couple of things about looks and we have abandoned the rest. We did not take them. That is our heritage. Wisdom is the lost heritage of the believer. This is wisdom. This is our lost heritage. The one our forefathers had left behind for us. We have to reclaim it.
Science doubts itself all the time, it even doubts its proofs. That is why we have water tight models and theories. Doubt is an integral part of scientific development. That is what the contemporary philosophers and thinkers like who prefer science over religion. That people believe in religion without an iota of a doubt, which to them is a bad idea.
While curiosity is a major prerequisite for someone to develop scientific acumen, doubt is a major tool used to verify scientific hypotheses. Consider the case of the proof of Fermat's last theorem, as is normally the case with any scholarly endeavor and a subsequent peer-review. The theorem has a history of at least three centuries of evolution. The last of the adventurers, Andrew Wiles spent more than six years in near isolation to come up with a water tight proof of the problem. I suppose, that in doing so, he must not only have doubted the existing literature but also his own knowledge and procedures. I would not be surprised to know if someone told me that he doubted his own mental health at times. And that is healthy. And when he finally came up with a proof it was inspected by a select few of mathematicians who only had a clue about the problem. Someone had to doubt the infallibility of the proof to find a loop hole in it. Someone actually did it and that is why Wiles was sent in to isolation for another six months to come up with a cure to his proof. It finally got accepted and that is why it is considered water tight. I think that while curiosity drives scientific endeavor, inclusion of systematic doubt makes it more reliable.
Consider the importance of doubt in embracing doctrines. For instance, consider that there is a doctrine X proposed by an entity A, that considers itself to be superior and infallible compared with all other doctrines, say, Y and Z. Suppose that we humans are led in to believing it. One of the ingredients this doctrine X should have, if it should appeal so much to the humanity, is that it should be open to free inquiry. This is to say that the doctrine should allow its potential adherents not only to be able to inquire about the claims it makes about phenomena outside itself, but it should also allow free inquiry about itself. Otherwise, doctrine X stands a chance of being branded as mafia; you have to have faith in what I proclaim, or otherwise!
Similarly, if doctrine X claims to be superior than other doctrines, and is also seemingly so, it would compel the adherents of other doctrines to doubt the respective doctrines they adhere to. Suppose what would happen if adherents of other doctrines choose not to doubt their respective doctrines. They stand a chance to miss an opportunity to convert to doctrine X, which is possibly a better, or the best possible, doctrine. This is the benefit of doubt. And if one should choose to apply doubt to religion, the importance of studying comparative religion becomes clear.
Apparently nobody is born to know which doctrine is superior than the other. One only gets to know after careful inquiry of various doctrines the superiority of one over the other.
Analogously, this can be applied to religion. For instance, if Islam is the true, the most flexible, and the best religion of God, it should allow the element of free inquiry to the humanity. Incidentally, it does so. It allows people to verify its claims about anything. Islam is not a secret religion. Everything about Islam can be read and learned anywhere in the world. Moreover, it allows people the choice to adhere to it or not as per their own will. This flexibility is granted even in the case of apostasy, a topic that attracts much controversy about Islam in the West.
Islam, nonetheless, advises mankind to strive to develop certainty in belief, which is dependent upon seeing.
Every now and then these days we are asked and hinted by skeptics to contemplate on the idea on as to whether God even exists or not. I have seen many comments of skeptics who have asked this question. As a matter of fact I have seen a question lurching on the websites of many skeptics that pokes the Muslims in to thinking whether Allah is real or not. In a recent article renowned atheist Sam Harris quoted that the God Muslims believe in is almost surely fictional. We live in times in which it is very important for any person to ponder over their beliefs. Indeed, it is very important for people to know why do they believe in what they believe. More specifically, it is very important for Muslims to know that why do they believe in Allah as the sole deity, and consequently Muhammad (may Allah's peace be upon him) as the last messenger. It is equally important for non-Muslims to know as to why Muslims believe in Allah as their God. This is important not even from the point of view of faith literacy, but also to satiate one's own thirst of intellectual curiosity and skepticism.
This article is an attempt to contemplate on the word Allah, as a name or a concept. After all people have believed in various gods since millenniums and no one has ever seen a sight of a convincingly real god. To this end, no one has ever seen Allah as well. It is also important to investigate whether Allah really exists or whether it is a mere invention of the Muslims.
A casual literature survey reveals that the word Allah means 'the God' in Arabic. And even though it is widely believed that Muslims believe in Allah as their God, people from many faiths in the pre-Islamic Arabia believed in Allah as the supreme deity. Pre-Islamic Arabia had polytheism, Christianity, and Judaism as the major religions. The polytheists worshiped other sub-deities along with Allah. These included, Laat, Uzza and Manaat. Christians worshipped Allah along with Jesus Christ (may peace be upon him) as the son of Allah. And jews also worshipped Allah. And more importantly all of these three major religions had the word "Allah" solely reserved for referring to God. Polytheism gradually vanished by the advent of Islam. Christianity and Judaism remain to date as the major world religions along with Islam. And the word Allah is still used to refer to the God by the followers of these two major religions. For instance Arab Christians today still use the word Allah Al-ab (God, the father) to refer to the God and also to distinguish their usage of the word from the Muslim usage. Similarly, Jews use the words such as Allah and Elohim to refer to God, and agree that words Allah and Elohim are derivations of the same origin in a linguistic sense. The word Allah, or its close derivatives, also occur in many other languages as a reference to God.
To this end, it turns out that Muslims have not invented the name or concept of Allah. The only major thing Islam tries to do is to dissociate subordinate deities from Allah. This means, that on one hand Islam dissociates sub-deities such as Laat, Manaat and Uzza from Allah. On the other hand Islam suggests that Jesus Christ (may Allah's peace be upon him) was not a son of Allah, rather he was a prophet of Allah just like Muhammad (may Allah's peace be upon him). This notion of Islam is summarized in the following chapter of Quran-e-Hakeem titled sincerity:
AL-IKHLAS (SINCERITY)
Total Verses: 4 Revealed At: MAKKA
112.001 YUSUFALI: Say: He is Allah, the One and Only; PICKTHAL: Say: He is Allah, the One! SHAKIR: Say: He, Allah, is One.
112.002 YUSUFALI: Allah, the Eternal, Absolute; PICKTHAL: Allah, the eternally Besought of all! SHAKIR: Allah is He on Whom all depend.
112.003 YUSUFALI: He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; PICKTHAL: He begetteth not nor was begotten. SHAKIR: He begets not, nor is He begotten.
112.004 YUSUFALI: And there is none like unto Him. PICKTHAL: And there is none comparable unto Him. SHAKIR: And none is like Him.
P.S. In writing this article I took help from a Wikipedia article. And also the idea that Christians of Arabia refer to God as Allah was brought to my attention for the first time by a close friend who is a devout Roman Catholic Christian.
Sam Harris recently posted an article titled Islam and the Misuses of Ecstasy . In this there is a youtube video in which the imam is crying while leading prayers along with the whole congregation. The reason why Sam Harris has posted this is because he wants to warn the world about the nature of the Muslim piety. In his own words:
Watch the entire video with your full attention. If you cannot feel the haunting beauty of this recitation, if it is inexplicable to you that people can be moved to tears by the mere sound of these verses, then you are not in contact with the data. Indeed, if you don’t understand how someone could be willing to die to defend the legitimacy of such an experience, you are very poorly placed to understand the problem of Islam.
This video has everything: the power of ritual and the power of the crowd; tears of devotion and a lust for vengeance. How many of the people in that mosque are jihadists? I have no idea—perhaps none. But their spiritual aspirations and deepest positive emotions—love, devotion, compassion, bliss, awe—are being focused through the lens of sectarian hatred and humiliation. Read every word of the translation so that you understand what these devout people are weeping over. Their ecstasy is inseparable from the desire to see nonbelievers punished in hellfire. Is this some weird distortion of the true teachings of Islam? No. This is a recitation from the Koran articulating its central message. The video has over 2 million views on YouTube. It was posted by someone who promised his fellow Muslims that they, too, would weep tears of devotion upon seeing it. The reciter is Sheikh Mishary bin Rashid Alafasy of Kuwait. He has as many Twitter followers as Jerry Seinfeld and J.K. Rowling (2 million). In doctrinal terms, this is not the fringe of Islam. It is the center.
Here is the video again:
The verses that have been recited are from surah Fussilaat (Explained in Detail) 19--36. Three translations have been posted below for the perusal of the keen reader.
YUSUFALI: They will say to their skins: "Why bear ye witness against us?" They will say: "Allah hath given us speech,- (He) Who giveth speech to everything: He created you for the first time, and unto Him were ye to return.
PICKTHAL: And they say unto their skins: Why testify ye against us? They say: Allah hath given us speech Who giveth speech to all things, and Who created you at the first, and unto Whom ye are returned.
SHAKIR: And they shall say to their skins: Why have you borne witness against us? They shall say: Allah Who makes everything speak has made us speak, and He created you at first, and to Him you shall be brought back.
YUSUFALI: "Ye did not seek to hide yourselves, lest your hearing, your sight, and your skins should bear witness against you! But ye did think that Allah knew not many of the things that ye used to do!
PICKTHAL: Ye did not hide yourselves lest your ears and your eyes and your skins should testify against you, but ye deemed that Allah knew not much of what ye did.
SHAKIR: And you did not veil yourselves lest your ears and your eyes and your skins should bear witness against you, but you thought that Allah did not know most of what you did.
YUSUFALI: "But this thought of yours which ye did entertain concerning your Lord, hath brought you to destruction, and (now) have ye become of those utterly lost!"
PICKTHAL: That, your thought which ye did think about your Lord, hath ruined you; and ye find yourselves (this day) among the lost.
SHAKIR: And that was your (evil) thought which you entertained about your Lord that has tumbled you down into perdition, so are you become of the lost ones.
YUSUFALI: If, then, they have patience, the Fire will be a home for them! and if they beg to be received into favour, into favour will they not (then) be received.
PICKTHAL: And though they are resigned, yet the Fire is still their home; and if they ask for favour, yet they are not of those unto whom favour can be shown.
SHAKIR: Then if they will endure, still the fire is their abode, and if they ask for goodwill, then are they not of those who shall be granted goodwill.
YUSUFALI: And We have destined for them intimate companions (of like nature), who made alluring to them what was before them and behind them; and the sentence among the previous generations of Jinns and men, who have passed away, is proved against them; for they are utterly lost.
PICKTHAL: And We assigned them comrades (in the world), who made their present and their past fairseeming unto them. And the Word concerning nations of the jinn and humankind who passed away before them hath effect for them. Lo! they were ever losers.
SHAKIR: And We have appointed for them comrades so they have made fair-seeming to them what is before them and what is behind them, and the word proved true against them-- among the nations of the jinn and the men that have passed away before them-- that they shall surely be losers.
YUSUFALI: But We will certainly give the Unbelievers a taste of a severe Penalty, and We will requite them for the worst of their deeds.
PICKTHAL: But verily We shall cause those who disbelieve to taste an awful doom, and verily We shall requite them the worst of what they used to do.
SHAKIR: Therefore We will most certainly make those who disbelieve taste a severe punishment, and We will most certainly reward them for the evil deeds they used to do.
YUSUFALI: Such is the requital of the enemies of Allah,- the Fire: therein will be for them the Eternal Home: a (fit) requital, for that they were wont to reject Our Signs.
PICKTHAL: That is the reward of Allah's enemies: the Fire. Therein is their immortal home, payment forasmuch as they denied Our revelations.
SHAKIR: That is the reward of the enemies of Allah-- the fire; for them therein shall be the house of long abiding; a reward for their denying Our communications.
YUSUFALI: And the Unbelievers will say: "Our Lord! Show us those, among Jinns and men, who misled us: We shall crush them beneath our feet, so that they become the vilest (before all)."
PICKTHAL: And those who disbelieve will say: Our Lord! Show us those who beguiled us of the jinn and humankind. We will place them underneath our feet that they may be among the nethermost.
SHAKIR: And those who disbelieve will say: Our Lord! show us those who led us astray from among the jinn and the men that we may trample them under our feet so that they may be of the lowest.
YUSUFALI: In the case of those who say, "Our Lord is Allah", and, further, stand straight and steadfast, the angels descend on them (from time to time): "Fear ye not!" (they suggest), "Nor grieve! but receive the Glad Tidings of the Garden (of Bliss), the which ye were promised!
PICKTHAL: Lo! those who say: Our Lord is Allah, and afterward are upright, the angels descend upon them, saying: Fear not nor grieve, but hear good tidings of the paradise which ye are promised.
SHAKIR: (As for) those who say: Our Lord is Allah, then continue in the right way, the angels descend upon them, saying: Fear not, nor be grieved, and receive good news of the garden which you were promised.
YUSUFALI: "We are your protectors in this life and in the Hereafter: therein shall ye have all that your souls shall desire; therein shall ye have all that ye ask for!-
PICKTHAL: We are your protecting friends in the life of the world and in the Hereafter. There ye will have (all) that your souls desire, and there ye will have (all) for which ye pray.
SHAKIR: We are your guardians in this world's life and in the hereafter, and you shall have therein what your souls desire and you shall have therein what you ask for:
YUSUFALI: Who is better in speech than one who calls (men) to Allah, works righteousness, and says, "I am of those who bow in Islam"?
PICKTHAL: And who is better in speech than him who prayeth unto his Lord and doeth right, and saith: Lo! I am of those who are muslims (surrender unto Him).
SHAKIR: And who speaks better than he who calls to Allah while he himself does good, and says: I am surely of those who submit?
YUSUFALI: Nor can goodness and Evil be equal. Repel (Evil) with what is better: Then will he between whom and thee was hatred become as it were thy friend and intimate!
PICKTHAL: The good deed and the evil deed are not alike. Repel the evil deed with one which is better, then lo! he, between whom and thee there was enmity (will become) as though he was a bosom friend.
SHAKIR: And not alike are the good and the evil. Repel (evil) with what is best, when lo! he between whom and you was enmity would be as if he were a warm friend.
YUSUFALI: And no one will be granted such goodness except those who exercise patience and self-restraint,- none but persons of the greatest good fortune.
PICKTHAL: But none is granted it save those who are steadfast, and none is granted it save the owner of great happiness.
SHAKIR: And none are made to receive it but those who are patient, and none are made to receive it but those who have a mighty good fortune.
YUSUFALI: And if (at any time) an incitement to discord is made to thee by the Evil One, seek refuge in Allah. He is the One Who hears and knows all things.
PICKTHAL: And if a whisper from the devil reach thee (O Muhammad) then seek refuge in Allah. Lo! He is the Hearer, the Knower.
SHAKIR: And if an interference of the Shaitan should cause you mischief, seek refuge in Allah; surely He is the Hearing, the Knowing.
Indeed the verses of Quran are very harsh on the non-believers. There is no doubt about that. But the question is that why are the people crying so intensely. Can it not be inferred that people are crying for the salvation of humanity. It is very common in mosques to listen to such Quranic discourses and shed tears and also to pray to Allah that non-Muslims be shown a straight path. It is also common for Muslims to cry over their own plight. Why cannot one think that there are ex-non-Muslims and ex-sinners standing in the prayer who are praying for their own salvation. Why does Sam Harris have to infer that Muslims are crying tears of joy because non-Muslims are being sent to hell according to the verses. Indeed one should try to understand that the opposite could be true. That Muslims are shedding tears of empathy viz a viz non-Muslims. Islam does not teach Muslims to look at any or many non-Muslims as inferior beings as compared with themselves. On the contrary, it is a central message of the teachings of Islam to be humble in this regard. Humility is specially preached because it is believed that any amount of faith that a Muslim has can be snatched from him by the will of Allah and can be given to the non-believer. Should any one have any doubts regarding that, he/she should visit Ubqari and listen to the online lectures. Here is a link to one of the many sermons I have heard from Hakeem Tariq Mehmood Chughtai in which he has particularly prayed for non-Muslims, taught how to behave with non-Muslims, which includes Christians, Jews, Hindus and atheists etc. I have personally heard hakeem sahib literally cry while praying for non-Muslims. Particularly, it is taught that all humanity is bonded in a brotherhood in a meaningful sense. It is taught that the whole humanity is ummah. It is a pity that the lectures are in Urdu but the listener can ask an Urdu speaking person for help. An excerpt from another weekly sermon can be found here in which Muslims are strongly advised to scratch off any hatred or grudges they hold in their hearts about non-Muslims. And indeed, these kind of emotions should be sowed in the hearts of the human beings which could lead to a peaceful co-existence.
Sam Harris has nonetheless gotten the whole message wrong and has portrayed it as an equally haunting thing about Islam to his readers. But I hope that Sam would change by the passage of time. In any case, his current argument is absolutely wrong. I thought he is better than that.
Actually if you watch the video again very carefully you will observe that the congregation starts crying the most on recitation of the following verse:
YUSUFALI: And the Unbelievers will say: "Our Lord! Show us those, among Jinns and men, who misled us: We shall crush them beneath our feet, so that they become the vilest (before all)." PICKTHAL: And those who disbelieve will say: Our Lord! Show us those who beguiled us of the jinn and humankind. We will place them underneath our feet that they may be among the nethermost. SHAKIR: And those who disbelieve will say: Our Lord! show us those who led us astray from among the jinn and the men that we may trample them under our feet so that they may be of the lowest. Now, the verse just before that is: 041.028 YUSUFALI: Such is the requital of the enemies of Allah,- the Fire: therein will be for them the Eternal Home: a (fit) requital, for that they were wont to reject Our Signs. PICKTHAL: That is the reward of Allah's enemies: the Fire. Therein is their immortal home, payment forasmuch as they denied Our revelations. SHAKIR: That is the reward of the enemies of Allah-- the fire; for them therein shall be the house of long abiding; a reward for their denying Our communications. One may infer whatever one may wish from this. But clearly, it can be inferred with a high likelihood that congregation is crying on the idea that it is probably too late for the unbelievers to ask for such compensations and relaxations on part of the unbelievers to ask Allah to let them know of the jinns and humans who led them astray as they have reached the judgement day. This thought is what I guess makes the whole congregation cry. The congregation is crying in empathy for the non-believers that they should, or should have, repented while they were alive and not once they have died. Obviously one could infer any amount of bigotry from anything and it is always a personal wish.
In light of new evidence, it sounds that the materialist face of science is crumbling. More and more people in the scientific arena are getting to believe that there indeed is life after death. This is based on a great deal of evidence from NDE and OBE research and also from western spiritualism. Indeed if this turns out to be true it would mean an official end for atheism as any system of thought. As atheism is based on two basic premises. One, that there is no God. And second, that there is no life after death. Indeed, most believers would fail to show any concrete evidence for the existence of the God they believe in. But whether there is afterlife or not? A great deal of evidence suggests that there is one. The internet is full of accounts of that including lucid explanations on youtube to intricate journal publications of the past spiritualists. So while atheism crumbles, Sam Harris current articles seems to be one of his last takes on religion. In the meanwhile, Muslims lament over the plight of the humanity in the afterlife, according to their beliefs. Perhaps they are lamenting as perhaps someone would mourn over the death of a loved one. There is nothing wrong about it.
But Sam Harris is a nice man otherwise. I truly believe that he is a very good natured man. I have always given due attention to his views on religion and read them with open-mindedness. This time, even though he wrote the article very eloquently, he failed to make a point. Indeed, he has messed it all for himself. That is, from an argumentative point of view.
