The Lords Prayer

When the Huwayiroon  *1  asked Nabi Isa (as), Jesus the son of Mary *2, for a prayer he gave them what is known as the Lords Prayer:

<<Our Lord who art in Heaven 

Hallowed be thy name 

Thy kingdom come,

Thy will be done,

On Earth as it is Heaven. 

….>>

It is said that this prayer unites the Christian World. 

And then some 600 years later, Muhammed (saw) was given Al-Fathihah- a prayer that known as the opening, the bringer of success, the seven oft repeated, and The Mother of the Book (Umm ul Kitab). 

Al Fathihah starts with a verse so phenomenal that it is sufficient for you to stand in awe of the Most Merciful, whose Mercy is so powerful that it cannot be thwarted nor diminished. 

This Friday, and then for the rest of your life, when you stand in prayer contemplate the meaning of this prayer. 

Find the reading (meaning) within it that is the answer to the prayer of Nabi Isa. 

Search for and find the reading (meaning) with the connectives between each verse that reveals it power. 

And then let that be for you a daily source of immense happiness, a daily source of both guidance and instruction. 

That we are the successors, and inheritors of the Kingdom of God on Earth. 

And this religion of ours is God’s very own religion *3. 

But do not become like those that believe that they are blessed, and then oppress the people, for indeed God hates the oppressors. 

Nor like those who believe that they are blessed and stray, inventing things in the religion for which there is no basis. 

The true religion is simple. 

And do not complicate it, thinking that in doing so it brings you closer, for it only drives you, and others, further away. 

And right action stands out clear from error. *4

*May you be blessed with a lifetime of contemplation* 

Knowledge is through study and contemplation, not lectures, nor this ostensibly above. 

*1 the disciples, who when Isa (as) asked who will be the helpers for God, said “we will be the helpers of God”. 

*2 Nabi Isa (as) called himself alternatively the son of man, and the son of David.

In the first instance emphasising his human nature. 

 In the second instance ruling himself out from being the Lord of David, the one foretold to come from out of the Dessert. 

*3 endorsed and established by Him. From the time of Ibrahim (as), He had called us Muslims (last verse of Surah Hajj), and every Prophet and Messenger that He sent was Muslim. 

*4 follows from the greatest verse of the Quran. Ayah tul Kursi. 

The Cosmic Choice

When you think deeply about the true religion you see how clearly it mirrors the cosmos and the Sunnah of Allah (the ways and methods of God) that we can see evident within it. 

For Allah is al-Batin, the One who wishes to remain hidden, Az-Zahir, the clearly evident One. And so He appointed the Angels as Messengers of His will, sent heavenly books to challenge us to intelligence, and to wake us to reality, in the hands of Prophets (*1) to give us better examples of living. 

That He wishes to remain hidden, and for us to believe in Him not because of any authority sent down, but because of the vast intricacies and care that surrounds not just us, but absolutely everything. This extends not just to those things we can see, but even to those things that we have yet to find and discover. His care and sustenance is the one fact that no one can doubt. 

So that even when He sends a true Prophet and Messenger to the people, He raises amongst them his enemy. *2

So that the people have a ready choice. 

And so belief is never such an easy thing. 

That He wants for you to choose belief over disbelief and does not compel you to it. 

So it is with His speech, that for some it only misguides them because they have no faith, no honesty and no truth. 

And even with those that He wishes to do good to, because they do good to others, even for them He only makes clear the choice and opens up the opportunity. 

And He leaves the choice to you. 

Now look at His religion. 

How our Imams are not titles, but positions that we fulfil. 

That we have no priesthood with whom no authority lies, save only a religion perfectly open to all. 

Look at the Quran, revealed in simple Arabic that it might instruct. 

For here you do not need to look at the origin of each word in order to find the meaning. But solely to contemplate and deliberate upon the context. 

For unlike any other language Arabic has remained unchanged and evolved down through the centuries *3. 

So when an Imam shows you that he is well versed in the Arabic tongue as a means of impressing upon you his qualification, you should know that he follows not the Sunnah of the Most Gracious. 

For the Message needs no authority, it’s truth should be free to ring true to you without encumbrance from one who claims authority. 

And it is replete with meaning just waiting to find expression within each and everyone of you, who would deliberate and contemplate. 

*How beautiful God’s religion that remains free for you to choose.*

 

Knowledge is sought through study and deliberation, not this above, nor lectures and talks. 

*1 a Prophet that received a Book attains the stature of a Messenger. 

And we send our salutations and peace upon them all. 

*2 so a verse of the Quran informed our noble Messenger, Muhammed (saw) about this Sunnah of God. 

*3 here I am not taking about the different dialects of Arabic, but MSA - Modern Standard Arabic. 

Try reading Chaucer which is only a hundred or so old and then compare it to Tabari which is a thousand plus years old. 

A letter to Brian Cox and all Physicists

In most Muslim religious circles, though they are unaware of it, a Popperian view of the Natural Sciences holds sway. 

There, Karl Popper, a mid 20th Century Philosopher, argued that Science is in the job of falsifying theories, and thus that there is nothing sure or certain about it. 

This was later bolstered by Thomas Kuhn who empirically showed that Science can be seen as a social enterprise that progresses through seismic shifts in understanding that he likened to revolutions. 

But whilst Kuhn took a realist and sociological view of the job of science, Popper’s was fully dogmatic. 

Too many people erroneously compounded those two separate ideas, believing that they each corroborated one another. 

But whilst Kuhn showed that Scientific progress is a social enterprise and this dented the view of Scientists being solely in the business of truth discovery, it did not endorse the opposing view of Scientists being in the business of falsifying theories. *1(a & b)

Then when we come across verse 53 of Surah Fussilat and we are confronted with; 

“We will show them our signs..” in the outer reaches and within themselves; 

we are forced to deliberate as to whether the “them” mentioned here is as a collective many, or as a collection of many individuals?

In the language of science - is it observable and repeatable, as in the collective many, or is it like a “revelationary showing” that is only accessible to those who are brought close, but as individuals only. These cannot share what they know, because it is not accessible to the vast many. *2

And then when we also come across verse 2 of Surah Raad, Thunder, we should be in awe of its clarity. 

Surah Raad sits between Yusuf and Ibrahim, and when you read it you should realise that it is talking about our Messenger, who is a Messenger to us all and to those that will come after us. (All of the peoples *3). 

Verse 2 here, talks directly to our current cosmological understanding of the Universe, but with such clarity that it is as if God is here showing us His signs first hand:

<Allah it is who raised the Heavens without any support that you can see,

And then afterwards He ascended the Throne.>

When you compare the ‘Arsh with the Kursi mentioned in greatest verse contained in Surah Baqara, one is translated as throne and the other as seat. 

Even in the English idiom we know the difference, vis a vis ..

“Throne of Authority” and “Seat of Knowledge”, look now again at Ayah tul Kursi to see this for yourself. 

And then ask yourself what happens on Thrones?

Edicts are issued and Laws are enacted. 

So here Allah t’ala is informing us that it is He who expanded the whole Cosmos and then rose on His Throne of Authority and established the Laws of Creation. 

<And then that He subjected the Sun and the Moon> to those Laws. 

Arabic is unusual as a language because  it’s words take forms that designate so much from subject to object to indirect object, from male to female, from singular to many to even two. 

The next word here is outstanding, because Allah t’ala does not refer to the Sun and Moon and say “both of them” (as most translators of its meaning hold), but simply “all” as a singular subject, and not even “all things” (kuli shay), nor even “all of them” (kuli huma). *4

Here the All is not made definite by the inclusion of a preceding Al- (the definite article in Arabic) nor by a following noun or pronoun, but is in the indefinite subject form… meaning ALL- EVERYTHING- and as the subject of that speech. 

Most Mufasir miss this and translate the Kulli here as both of them, when the word is clearly ..

<ALL run in their course for an appointed time. >

And everything when you think about it in cosmological terms is either a satellite like the moon, or a star like the sun. 

But here it is clear that Allah t’ala is talking about the Whole Cosmos, and not just everything contained within it. 

And in particular, in relation to our cosmological understanding this would explain those words in that place. That Allah t’ala here is telling us that He is the One that set everything in motion, established laws to govern those motions, and all of them are subjected to those .. running their course for an appointed time. 

Now look out of your window and consider how much movement can you see?

In this verse God is saying that everything is in motion. *5

<And He regulates all actions and makes clear (or decisive) to you (plural form) the signs that you might know of the meeting.>

The last portion of this verse above, refers to itself. 

God says We make clear to you, meaning to us here in this age of men, the truth of this verse so that you might also know of the truth of the promised meeting. 

This is a direct message without any ambiguity. And that ambiguity has only fallen away in this age of men, and it is clear as daylight to all of us with a care for a rudimentary understanding of the current state of cosmology. 

That the promised meeting is a sure reality. 

So blessed are those that prepare for it, and unblessed are the heedless. 

Knowledge is through study and contemplation. 

Not lectures, nor this above. 

1a

It is the job of theorists to put forward theories that are falsifiable, and that therefore lend to the construction of experiments. It is the offshoot of these experiments that is the engine for technological advancement. 

*1b

Can it really be said that Newtonian dynamics has been supplanted by Einstein’s relativistic universe?

Or is it better to consider that they each hold explanatory power within each their respective remits?

*2

And when they do, then they risk humiliation. 

*3 see the end of v7 of Raad. 

*4 As one of my good friends who is an Arab has it that it means “Each of Them” without a restriction to the two, informing us that there are more. 

*5 I read a quote recently that Jafar bin Abi Talib (ra) had said as much, and held this as a certain conviction, maybe having understood or deliberated on this verse or a similar verse. 

Dessert Island Discs- My Choice

If you were stranded, alone and on a dessert island with little to no hope of rescue, would you be concerned with questions of what is moral, and what not?

More pertinent to the question that I want to bring to your attention, "if you had never known the society of men, would you ever have the capacity to know what is moral and what is not?"

Succinctly, "Is morality a social construct?"

In the first case having known the society of men, you would have been versed in that type of morality which is a social construct and could therefore choose to ignore it, by virtue of your having known it. So your choice of ignoring it, is part answer to the question that I posed above. For choosing to ignore it, is proof enough that you had, even if ever so remotely, considered it.

In the second case, each person is born to this World, weak, vulnerable and alone, without exception. And if it is not the society of men that is to raise them to maturity then it must be another society or agency that must perform the same duty. And all societies, and agencies, harbour within them order, and order is maintained by rules of acceptable behaviour and sanction for breaches. It is these rules of behaviour that many consider to be moral.

But what is most tantalising in the whole deliberation is the persistence of the question of morality. That it is the kernel about which so much turns. 

That people in general want to lead a moral life, and by this they do not understand that which is socially acceptable, but that which is virtuous.

So many treatises have been written about this from Marcus Aurelius's "Meditations" to the famous Greek Philosophers and their works, and indeed it the central theme of the whole of Philosophy- "what is the best way to live life?"

And it is God's speech which, first off, directly answers this defining, very human, need and dilemma with in the first instance a method that points to each our aspiritations-

“For this is the book. Without doubt a guide to the Muttaqqun.”

Before following it with a sure method. 

We do not get to the defining verses of who the Muttaqun are until much later at verse 177:

It is not righteousness the you turn your (plural) faces to the East and the West. 

Is this not a clear indictment of socially constructed morality?

Notice the plural possessive form of “your”, which symbolises a collective decision. 

And then the conjunction between East and West, here it is not said East or West. East and West looks again like a procedural form without any basis, that you cannot choose or have no compass through which to choose your direction. 

So it is as if here the one being addressed is the one seeking a virtuous, moral and upright life and they are being told that do not follow these man made conventions that will have you turning this way and then that way, rather …

The virtuous one is the one who believes in Allah, in the Day to come, in the Angels and the verse continues and ends with 

These are the Muttaqun. 

Belief is first profession and then action. 

And the Quran is our guide. 

Knowledge is sought through study and contemplation. Not lectures, nor this above. 

The Persistence of Errors

Errors permeate the story of humanity. 

From Fleming’s discovery of penicillin, to the many miscarriages of justice that destroy peoples’ lives. 

*1

And thus a thoughtful understanding of the nature of errors is something that everyone should undertake. 

For whilst we might think that errors occur randomly on every timeline, when we examine them then we would realise that their occurrence  rather than occasioning us to reign in actually makes it more likely than not to cause yet more errors. 

These are of two types 

1- Compounding errors, which occur when we do not hold ourselves to a higher account, as in when we allow our allegiance to a “family” to determine our outlook and our choice of ignorance, over scrutiny. 

2- Concomitant errors. These occur when our attention to all other factors waivers in the anxious search for the cause of the first. 

The first type of error is the more pernicious, causing the greater harm because we are unwilling to cast aspersions against those on whose loyalty we likewise rely, just as they rely on us. 

The worst of these occur behind a black impenetrable box of obfuscation and obscuration that is our Criminal Justice System, where no one except the most foolhardy can call our Police to question. 

For it is clear to many of our public that they rather than keeping the Law are above it, and furthermore are above common human decency, and the moral behaviour of what we should expect from our model citizens. 

The second type of concomitant errors occur when our mind’s eye is distracted in the anxious search to avoid the first, and we fall prey to yet another. 

Worryingly when we “find” the source of the first error, even when it is not the real cause, this second type of error diminishes giving us the wrongful impression that our presumption was correct. 

In normal life the impact of concomitant errors may be small. But in policing the impact of this confirmation bias can be devastating. 

When both types come together we have what happens most of the time within our Criminal Justice System:

A Police Force that reigns in its investigation in order to secure a conviction. Solicitors and Judges that do not demand any proofs but rely on sentiment as judge, jury and executioner. 

And then a Police Force that rewards itself for securing a conviction no matter how convenient, or flawed. 

And a society that continues to think that the mantra “hard on crime” rings true, whilst pumping more money into a failed concept of Policing does nothing except increase crime, whilst securing yet more unsafe convictions. 

Like occurrences do also happen within our Medical Fraternity, but at the very least there each Clinician is at pains to take their each own patient histories, and draw each their own salient points from that. 

But once a treatment regime begins then these types of errors do still occur the more, and confirmation bias rules. 

These errors compound within our institutions, and are natural within them unless they each make conscious efforts to avoid them. And every institution is made up of people, just like you and me. 

The problem is the more insidious when human prejudice is added into the mixture, for then once the “culprit” is found confirmation bias proves their “guilt” irrespective of evidence, sometimes missing but more often then not just simply ignored.  

The first type can be solved by us each holding ourselves to a higher account, and not allowing ourselves to be cowed by the flavour of the day or other peoples sentiments. 

The second when we recognise that errors will occur, and then take them in our stride and do not cast around for blame. “Yes it has happened, but let that not stop us part stride”. 

*1 How can a person be convicted of the heinous crime of murder based upon purely circumstantial evidence. To me this irks full of errors that the CJS plainly encourages. 

 

Modus Operandi

The modus operandi of the Christian is to evangelise. 

But the Muslim knows that it is God, the Most Gracious, that guides whom He will. And God, the Most Gracious, who favours whom He will with true belief. 

And when he reads the story of Musa (as) in his book, he realises that his first mission was not to be a Messenger to the Children of Israel. 

The fire on the mountain top was a beacon that drew him close and brought him near. And then God spoke with him. *1

And sent him onward to Pharaoh. 

That his first mission was to confront Pharoah’s tyranny with kind, and wise, words. 

And indeed even before that, in the same conversation, we learn that God regarded him as an enemy and placed Musa (as) within his household for that very reason.  

So for the Muslim from the portent of each and every story of every Messenger that the Most Gracious sent to mankind, he knows his duty, his calling and his end. 

That we are to confront tyranny and oppression in all its forms. 

From the Political Hypocrisy of the Western Nations, that brands whole people as being undeserved of justice and peace. 

To their disfigured morality which equates every discernment with discrimination. 

To the oppression of their own people by their taxing the poor to give to the rich. 

To their Criminal Justice System hell bent on destroying people’s souls, and the Nations’ families. 

That belief in the Most Merciful God comes after we have freed people from the fetters of one tyrannising another. 

Where they are both the losers. 

And once free who cannot recognise that a universal and true justice amongst all Nations, that a morality based upon man’s natural order, that a just society can only be conceived and maintained with a true and complete submission to the Lord, Sustainer of all of the Worlds. 

That is our Islam. 

Knowledge is sought through study and contemplation. Not lectures and talks. Nor this above. 

*1 read the discourse in S Taha 

Musa (as) is here commanded first to worship Allah t’ala and then go to Pharoah. 

Not Forgot

I hope I’m not of those, so soon forgot 

What would let me know that I’m not?

Not forgot 

For what I have given 

My heart bleeds, and is shriven

The feeling is raw. 

And yet it keeps giving more. 

For hope never dies 

When belief is by its side 

And this anxiety 

Is but a prelude for certainty

The certainty of what 

Is that which galls me to know. 

The self made vulnerable man, 

who calls to prayer 

In the depths of the cold lonely dessert. 

For that is my part I shall never forget 

The warm friendship kindled within me

The medley smiles, and the banter of a friendship that will never meant to rot 

That day I asked you for eternity 

But never would I have ventured  

What then didst enfold.  

A trial of mammoth proportions 

Separation and heartaches

But never any doubt 

My heart crashes a thousand times 

Would I venture that again?

If it proves my truth, 

And yours too, to boot. 

Then I would, 

Most definitely would. 

again and again.