Beauty Pageants

Beauty Pageants.

A friend recently, hit the nail on it's proverbial head, by saying that he liked my patriotism, in reference to my religiosity.

This is something that the powers-that-be hate tooth and nail. That we Muslims identify with one another even whilst we adopt different cultures and languages. It is a patriotism of a type because we gain a sense of belonging and identity through it. The second aspect of that patriotism is that we cannot help being proud of our religion and that is what my friend inadvertently referred to.

But just like secular patriotism, we are in danger of the same problem of doing, promoting and accepting wrong, just because it is what we 'as a collective' do.

Thankfully Muhammad (saw) kept us from that harm through his patriotic saying, "Help your brother whether he be the oppressor or oppressed".

In the era before Muhammad (saw) it was a pagan Arab slogan that cemented the tribal rights, and their sometimes consequent wrongs by quite literally admonishing the support of wrong-doing. But that was then transformed in Islam with Muhammad (saw)'s qualification "If he be the oppressor then help him by stopping his oppression."

A slogan that allows for no silence in the face of any wrong, and even less so when it is your brother who belittles himself through through doing, or accepting, wrong.

Later in the conversation he drew my attention to a woman of Iranian descent who was purportedly being threatened with stoning for taking part in a Beauty Pageant. Then I was at a loss for words.

But now my loss is all gain.
I can understand my Muslim brothers and their wives reaction to that nonsense. The single atomic unit of any Muslim society is the family and not the individual. This is quite unlike the West, where no matter how many policy essays address the benefit to society of families, the individuals rights remain paramount.

And so from my and the majority Muslim perspective, no women, nor for that matter any male, has the right to act or promote actions which can undermine the family. I do not believe that I need to spell out for you exactly how taking part in Beauty Pageants can undermine family values. I will leave that to your imagination.

So I believe in the primacy of family rights, over individual rights. And that acts that can undermine family values should be precluded by convention, and that anyone that seeks to undermine such values should be castigated with due measure.

But two wrongs never did make a right, as the English say.

Stoning or whipping is a punishment decreed by GOD for the sexual crimes. How then can they be advocated for anything less than that?

To advocate that is to make a mockery of the decree of GOD, and to visit an oppression that GOD himself likens to the killing of the whole of humanity.

We also know that it is decreed that the fornicator only be allowed to marry their like, the fornicatoress (S. Noor). Is not the similitude of a women who wishes to reveal her body to the World, like that of the fornicator? And whilst no sexual crime has been committed, the judgement in regards of her should be like that of a fornicator.

And should she not be excommunicated from the community?

And if it is that she, or for that matter he, feels more at home in the West, then they should be given every encouragement to relocate. That they might live with those whose values they mimic most.

And let us Muslim hold our values, true and solid, never deviating from them.

Shafeesthoughts.
This is about a conversation I had with my friend Lukas P. about a year ago. May God guide him to the straight path. And sufficient is God for me. Ameen.


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Location:Europe

The MULTIVERSE: An Admission.

The Multiverse, as an admission!

Science is often motivated, or if you prefer inspired, by ideology.

That's why Darwinism gained greater credence during the essentially European Market Revolution. Scientists are people after all, and most people could both assimilate and understand the idea of progress through trial.

It's interesting, then, to note the motivation for the Multiverse postulate.

You see a Multiverse is the opposite of a Universe. It is an idea, which says that our Universe is but one of a multitude of such Universes.

If Scientist are serious about entertaining this idea then shouldn't they as a matter of rule engineer a suitable test? Isn't that what Scientists are supposed to do?

But wouldn't such a test, if it existed, rule out the idea of a Multiplicity of "Closed Boxed" Universes?
Since by definition they would then no longer be CLOSED boxes.

And so they cannot.
Then why entertain an IDEA which at roots is NOT SCIENTIFIC?

Well the answer lies in this fact:

"He Who created the seven heavens one above another: No want of proportion wilt thou see in the Creation of (Allah) Most Gracious. So turn thy vision again: seest thou any flaw?

Again turn thy vision a second time: (thy) vision will come back to thee dull and discomfited, in a state worn out."
(Surah Mulk).

At every point from the Anthropic Principle; which sensibly suggests that the laws of Nature that were in prominence from even less than a microsecond after the Big Bang must account for our (cognisant and rational beings') existence; to the Sciences that cannot find any flaw;

The guardian/ sun is the most perfect natural sphere.
; the World that we inhabit is perfect.

For Scientists that entertain the Multiverse postulate it is in fact TOO PERFECT.

In fact it's so perfect that they are forced to assume an untestable idea of a near infinite number of other Universes where the law of Nature and Physics do NOT produce cognisant beings like us, and do NOT produce a perfect Universe that we see around us. And then Our Universe is just one single of a Multitude of other Universes.

Hah.

Doesn't it just make you laugh.

That in order to avoid admitting the perfection of creation that they would go to such lengths.

And in order to avoid the then obvious admission that there must be a PERFECT Creator and Designer they would also go to such lengths.

And to deny those things they would appeal to something even remoter and even more infinitely more unlikely than a Single CREATOR.

So it all really boils down to you.

You DO THE MATHS and work out the likelihoods:

A single CREATOR who sent countless Messengers and Prophets to proclaim His Truth and Oneness.

OR

A near infinite number of Universes each with their own Physical Laws and Cosmic Constants.
And of those off course we only need ONE to have the exact right conditions and Laws to sustain cognisant life that can account for our existence, and also create a Universe which is absolutely perfect in every way.

And that the rest of those Universes, that we cannot see, are DEAD. Lifeless and full of nothing of significance.


I know where I'd lay my bet.
Especially if my life depended on it.

YOU CHOOSE !!!!!

Shafeesthoughts. :)

Location:CERN Labs, I wished.

The Invisible WORLD

..The Invisible World..

To know it is to be blessed, to live in it is to live for an eternity......

to Know?
We wish to know things to satisfy our most intensive need for solidity, in an uncertain World.

But what does it mean to know something?

The short answer is that we know through our interaction, by changing and being changed, with the thing we seek to know. (For a fuller answer please see a previous blog if mine called "What Can We Know" 28 Aug 2007).

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=202238659&blogID=304426297&Mytoken=1A908A66-04F1-42E4-90F12611B4F66BAD45938673

Knowing the Unseen.
Just as the primary means of knowing are through our senses, the primary means of being changed is through the fulfilment of our needs. However the question that then presents itself is one of whether we can only know through the fulfilment of those, being our needs.

And if this is the case, then how can we ever know the objective truth whilst our only recourse to knowledge is through our subjective needs.

An Objective Truth?
Perhaps it is our very subjective needs that cause us to believe in a singular objective truth surrounding us all?

For, of course, a wrongly held belief in an objective truth would satisfy that most basic need for solidity.

So, can we safely assume such a singular objective truth?

But by our questioning, we know that we all have subjective needs. And furthermore we know that these needs are not dissimilar, even down to the need for a solid "unified" objective truth. And this of itself is sufficient to prove that there must be one. (*1)

That is the Invisible World that surrounds us.
An Unseen World.
The Real World.

Is it Knowable?
However, in essence, every action and interaction we have with our World is in search of fulfilment.

And so it would seem that we cannot know through our senses, the hidden objective world around us.

That GOD, being al-Haqq "the Ultimate Objective Truth", is not knowable!

Materialists and Scientists.
Materialists can only acknowledge what they can see and measure.

They deny an unseen reality.

But after the Kuhnian Scientific revolution even Scientists, the bastions of materialism, are recognized as holding acclaim within their respective scientific fraternities in equal import, if not greater, than the truth.

Theirs is not an objective truth, any more than any and all of us who seek to make sense of our World.

We are all tainted with the same problem of subjective needs.
And thus to dismiss the Unseen World is not rational!

The Qur'an.
It is Religion that teaches us that the un-see-able can be known.
And it is the Qur'an suggests that it is possible that the conundrum of knowing the unseen through your senses is possible.

To see the Invisible.
By in essence, acting such that you remove yourself from being the centre of your known world.

For not all the actions that we might do, seek to fulfil our needs solely.

Some of them we do for primarily for the benefit of others, and secondarily for ourselves. It is through these actions and interactions with our World that we might glimpse the eternal with our very own senses.

This is S. Baqara (S. 2)
"Those who believe in the Unseen and who establish the prayer and give out of what WE have given to them".

For the prayer is the centre-point of doing good to the people as a community. And the charity is the centre-point of doing good to a person as an individual. And the invisible is the reality we cannot see.

And these are part of the small miracles that we can perceive. When we see a true good dream, or when we feel the whispher into our hearts of the salutations of the Angels saying Peace. Or when you do Dhikr in a Masgid, or in the depths of the night, and you feel sakina and you taste a remarkable taste. Or when you smell a beautiful perfume as you walk in the dirt of the street towards the Masgid and the ordained Prayer.

These are the miracles that happened to our Predecessors when they gave what had been given to them, of their lives and their possessions, to do good to their fellow-man. They perceived the Angels with their sight, and smelt the fragrance of the eternal garden.

To cast the veils from your eyes, ears, nose, taste and to feel eternity within your heart.... believe and do good!
That is to be blessed...

To Reason.
The Qur'an continues "Those who believe in what has been sent down to you (O Muhammad (saw)).." S. Baqara (S. 2) Contd.

For the Qur'an, for one, appeals to man's higher faculties of knowing, being reasoning as a means of knowing the hidden World.

To reason is to know. And reasoning is to progress by way of argument from what we do know to what we don't know. And what is the Unseen World other than the greatest of unknowns.

Does this knowledge affect us and do we affect it?

In the classification of this theory of knowledge such a question is of importance, since I have said that we know a thing through it's interaction with ourselves. Through our changing of it and it's changing of us.

And it is this that the Qur'an itself lays emphasis on this "Have you not seen the one who denies the Religion. Do they not repulse the orphan, and urge not the feeding of the poor" (Al-Qur'an S. Maun).
And the Hadeeth Qudsi inform us that GOD Says "I am as MY servant thinks of ME!" and "If you come to ME walking, then I will run to you"..
So ever is the True Unseen World, a World that changes with your perception of it and changes you for the better. It is a thing that makes you better than who you are, more upright, more trusting and more willing to give.

Thus to know the Unseen, is the supreme knowledge... it can change you as nothing else can change you.
And the Qur'an's main subject matter is the unseen World, and yet contrarily its arguments are fully rational.

It suggests that it is through our rational minds that we might come to know of the World that we cannot normally perceive.

Al-Qur'an "Have you not considered the camels and how they are created? And the Heavens and how they are raised..."etc.. (S. Ghashiya).
" And look at the World, and look again at it and your gaze and sight will come back to you dazed and confused (because of the perfection you will find there)" Paraphrased Al-Qur'an.

Revelation.
And the Qur'an continues "And that which was sent down before your time." S. Baqara (S. 2) Contd.

It says this in reference to the revelation from before, and revelation in general.

In general we know thorough direct sensual perception and reasoning based upon that perception.

However there is another way beyond reasoning that we often glimpse. This is intuition and inspiration, the ah-hah feeling of eureka, that comes from a place we know not where. In Arabic this is ilham, the sister of Wahiy (revelation).

The Ways of KNOWING...
And so just one verse of the Qur'an lays down the hierarchy of how we may come to know the True Invisible World that surrounds us, and is independent of our subjective needs.
"Those who believe in the Unseen and establish the Prayer and who give out of that which WE have given to them. They are the ones who believe in what has been sent down to you (O Muhammad (saw)), and what has been sent down before your time (O the Prophets and Messengers of old, amongst them being Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus (as))... And they are the righly guided, the successful!" S Baqara (Chp2, v2..)
The Certain Knowledge (Ilm al Yakeen of S at-Takathur Chp 102) is
seeing it, feeling it and knowing it. And this is conditional on first believing in it. That there are things that you cannot see and cannot know, directly.

This first means of perception is the most intimate and direct, and the least detailed. It is to make yourself not the centre of your World, to give without count.. that GOD might give you without count or measure.. abundantly from HIS mercies.

And when you do that even in the most basic of forms, you feel good! As Allah t'ala declares in Al-Qur'an "And what is (can be?) the recompense of Good, other than Good". No evolution or Darwinism can explain that feeling. Doing good for the sake of Goodness, itself!

And when you do it collectively and individually, following the Way of Muhammad (saw), you shall taste it in your mouth, smell it in your nose, and feel it in your heart.... a far superior means of knowing, that which is promised.

The last is the most detailed and the least direct. It is to believe in the Truth of Muhammad (saw), who forever will be blessed.. and then to follow him. The question is not whether his morality agrees with your morality, but whether he was as he claimed to be "the seal of the Prophets and the last Messenger sent from GOD" to the whole of Mankind. And to believe in him and follow his way is to know the unseen with your senses and your mind.
In the middle is reasoning applied, and it is to know somewhat of the unseen.. but it is forever the maid of it's premises.. of it's beliefs.

PARADOXICALLY.
Islam as a religion is counter-intuitive. It seeks to teach man the REAL, Unseen World about us through not renouncing the World. Instead the Muslim lives fully in this World, sensually, but makes not this World his centre. That is the Whys and Wherefores of so much of our religion.

To give to others abundantly, without count, so that GOD might say "I am the Magnanimous, the Most Generous" which HE is, that HE might give to us.. even beyond our wildest dreams.

That is why when we fast, we wake for Sobh and sin not by delaying the breaking of the fast. For we fast not to eschew the World, but to feel the pains of hunger and the feelings of satiety. That we might feel, and be alive.

That is the why of our daily ablutions. To wake our senses from their slumber.

That is why when we go to our wives, we make wudhu.. to better enjoy and better give pleasure.

That is our prayer and our Hajj.. a Worldly Prayer and Hajj.. with GOD, the Most Gracious at It's Centre.
So To END
Knowledge of the Unseen is of three types. Direct and Sensual, which is available to us all when we make not ourselves the centre of our Worlds. Indirectly we can know the Unseen, even as Abraham (as) became convinced of the reality of a Benevolent GOD by reasoning based on observing the World and it's intricacies and beauties. The third way is through the acceptance of a BOOK, the revelation that was sent down to Muhammad (saw) the Messenger of GOD. This of itself blesses us with an abundance of knowledge, wisdom and depth whereby we might know the Unseen World about us.
Your Brother in PEACE...
Shafeesthoughts

FOOTNOTES
*1: Because even as I write questioning an objective truth, I am affected and concerned by it, and as you read it you are yourself concerned with it. So that at the very least we are, the two of us, concerned with the same problem. And then this need becomes at once something not solely belonging to us.

A VERY Tired Shafeesthoughts
I will revise this later!



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Location:London

Primordial Knowledge

Primordial Knowledge.

Miles below France the CERN laboratory is smashing together subatomic particles, at extremes of temperature and speed, in order to glimpse particles and forces that can shed light on the beginnings of creation.

Both direct experience and the rational mind are sources of knowledge. However Islam also holds that we ALL hold deep within us a "primordial knowledge".

Just like our quantum experiments, this knowledge surfaces at the extreme moments of our lives; when we face loss, or certain death and then we call and name and cry.

Irrespective of who we name when we cry, or shout so, it is to GOD, the most High, that we petition.

This the Muslim calls the fitra, and is the echoes of a solemn oath long ago taken. When at the beginnings of our creation, ALLAH t'ala called forth from the loins of Adam all of his children and made them swear. We, ALL of us, swore to bear witness that there is only ONE God, transcendent... above all creation (S.Araf, Al-Qur'an).

And it is this primordial knowledge contained within all of us, that the Muslims call fitra...our natural disposition to believe. And it is this fitra that is covered up under layers of other man-made beliefs.

But even the worst of us will make that cry and petition GOD when the time comes.

Just like Pharoah who belied Moses (as) and disbelieved. When the time came he and his host ran headlong into their doom, and when the sea fell upon them, they believed. But it was too late.

Shafeesthoughts.


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Change and The Changeless

We all observe movement about us, and that is one of the constants of nature. 

Indeed it may be argued that perception itself, is relativistic and that we can only perceive change. 

However Science presumes laws which are changeless; for example the Newtonian laws of motion. 

Essentially seeing changelessness as underpinning that change. That we can change because of some constant underlying. 

This is Zeno’s paradox revisited. (*1)

That if we assume a divisible reality then we get into problems with regard to movement and change. 

And that therefore there must be some unchanging indivisible thing underlying. And this understanding explains movement as an unfolding, much like the current space time continuum concept. 

What is interesting is that whilst Science perceived changeless Laws as underpinning reality, it also sought the indivisible nature of things- the atoms, which by definition were the smallest indivisible units of matter (prior to them becoming a circumscribed list of elements from which all matter was composed). Science answered Zeno both with indivisibilty, and with an underlying continuum. 

And of the two pronged attack into Zeno's dilemma, it is the search into the quantum nature of things that has really challenged our understanding of the indivisibilty of a natural continuum; that the experimenter is equally part of any experiment; in the philosophy of Science, that every experiment is theory laden. 

This clearly shines through in the double split experiment where we see what we want to see, even that is after it has happened. (*2)

An idea that resonates with the Islamic conception of reality; "I am as my servant thinks of me" a Hadith Qudsi in which GOD speaks directly to man of His relationship with His servants, us. That those who say that God's hands are tied, God's hands will be tied for them. And those that see the generosity of God, God becomes generous to them. 

Do we, then, make our own reality?

Even that is within the familial, social and societal levels of existence.

The Hadith Qudsi talks of the individual level of man's relationship with his Lord. But does this hold true at our other levels of our existence?

Interestingly I recently had a conversation with a good Christian friend about the concept of a borderless World; a One World, so to speak. And I did not know till that time the depth of belief that he held in the essentially evil nature of man. 

Original Sin as a belief caused him to justify borders on the basis that people are essentially thieves, murders and bandits. 

When it was put to him that borders were an effective means of control against the poor people of developing Nations, but exerted no control over the rich people of the developed Nations, he was non-plussed. 

His view was challenged since the flow of evil was shown to be a one-sided affair. 

But more importantly his worry of One- World being an enactment or foretunner to an Anti-Christal Prophesy, showed me him in a new light. 

For whilst we both derided the gung-ho red-necked gun lobby of America, I could well imagine him in such a setting. For does not that Iobby feverently defend the right to carry guns as a means of exerting a curb on the power of the Feds (for them perhaps a forerunner to a one World government)? 

And could not the evil of action, and reaction, that underpins much of World Politics be lain at the door of such a belief in the essentially evil nature of man?

Whilst we Muslims regard Islam as being a Deen ul-Fitra, and that every man is born on that Fitra, and in his true heart yearns for it. 

That people are essentially good and wish to believe in a Good God. But when they wrong, they wrong themselves first. They are the ones to be pitied. 

And is it not true that-

What goes around, comes around?

That,

You reap what you sow?

And does not the Qur'anic declaration reverberate with our souls:

"Does man think that he will be left alone and not be tried?"

That we each make our Worlds, and at the end of it, will be judged on those Worlds that we perpetuated?

That we are the experiment to see which of us will remain true to a Good God, and which false. 

And this God in His infinite grace reflects back our understanding of how things are, that we have the opportunity to change for the better. 

But little do people reflect on how their negativity fuels itself, instead all too easily finding justification for it. Their hope died a million deaths. 

“Indeed God is the best of Judges”. 

(Surah The Fig.)

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

Notes,

*1 Zeno's theorem was a thought experiment that stated that movement is composed of a infinite sum of steps, and is therefore impossible since it would take an infinite time to perform such. Each movement is precluded by a movement to half that distance, and even for that movement, and so on. 

*2- for "double split experiment" please see Wikipedia entry. 

1st Published 5th May 2013, entitled “the Implications of Zeno”. 

Updated on 12th October 2021. 

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:London

Theories of Knowledge- from beginning to end

Theories of Knowledge

Recap.

I have previously argued that:

1)    We primarily "know" the World through interaction with it, by changing and being changed by it. (1)

2)    Secondarily, we know the World through the backwards and forwards movement of reasoning from what we "know" to what we don't. (2)

3)    Thirdly, that the objective and invisible World, that surrounds us all is knowable. Knowable through our internal senses (and sometimes external senses) when we act selflessly yet whilst being centred & concerned with the World that surrounds us.  (As opposed to being selfless, accepting fate and not acting to better oneself and the lives of those around us.) And secondarily in more detail when we accept revelation as a source of detailed knowledge about the greater unknown.(2)

4)    That empirical knowledge of the World, whose greatest proponent is Science and lesser proponent is Materialism, is limited in that it can answer all of the fundamental questions we can ask about our World bar one. That one is the question of "Why?", which intimates something hidden.(3)

A Hierarchy of Questions.

Of the six fundamental questions we can ask about our World four of them concern empirical/ observable fact. Our answers to "What, When, Who and Where?" may well change as our ideas and perceptions develop, but in essence they ask for a snapshot and concern themselves not with change.

However "How?" asks for an explanatory mechanism of causality. And "Why?" asks for something of deeper significance concerning "hidden" intentions and the causal reasons for things.

"How?" and "Why?" act to join the dots between the other four fundamental questions. "How?" addresses the question of causality with respect to what is nearer and more visible, whereas "Why?" addresses the same questions of causality but to what is more distant and less visible.

And so it is that there is a hierarchy to the questions that we can ask about our World that is given by its relation to causality (the very stuff and essence of time and memory).

The "Why?"s are greater than the "How?"s which are greater still than the rest.

This natural hierarchy that exists within our questions lends order to the knowledge that can be gleaned by their asking.

Sciences as Knowledge.

Science whilst attempting to answer the crucial "WHY?" gets only as far as "HOW?" and generates yet more "Whats?" (Whens, Whos and Wheres) in the process.(3)

It is this generative quality of the Sciences that has proven to be its greatest asset. By it we come to explore different ways of looking at old things, and discover new relationships between things that we once thought were un-related.

Furthermore if Science were to have answered, or could ever have answered, the question of WHY what then of progress? Would it not stop?

And so Science answers not "Why?s", but "How?s".

A general "How?" then Why Not a general "Why?".

Materialists in realising this failure of Science with respect to questions of "Why?" have ever sought to nullify the importance of such questions.

They would have us believe that the question of "Why?" is only relevant when applied to wilful agents (man) and their intentions. And that the question of "Why?", being raised for other than that, is just another reflection of Man's ancient egotism (the apex of which is an anthromorphic ORIGINATOR of all).

Are we then asked to believe that the chicken became without an egg, that wilfulness spontaneously erupted into existence. And this is especially unacceptable coming from a tradition (Science) which at its most rudimentary is observation. For ALL of observation points to things becoming things.

Even in the chasm of Supernova SCIENCE has found the seeds that lie within. Is it possible then to seriously say that wilfulness exists within a vacuum, is and of itself? That the question of "Why?" should, and can, only ever be applied to man's inner intentions.

However, there is a system of knowledge that exists distinct from the inner intentions of man that does provide fulfilment to the questions of "Why?".

Fulfilling the "Why?"s and "Wherefore?"s.

That system of knowledge is the study of Ethics, whose central precept is:

"Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself".

We, all of us, instinctively know the right of that saying. And all ethical appellations to that, by way of argument, fulfil our need of "Why?".

"Why should I keep trust?"

"Because, you should do unto others as you would have done unto yourself" is sufficient as an answer.

Ethics and Religion.

The fundamental teaching, of all true religions, is ethics.

The first command sent down upon Muhammad (saw) was not to destroy the false Meccan idols, but to make the people happy.

Happiness is a state of mind and Muhammad (saw), the patron of the Meccan poor and destitute, was commanded to remind them of how much they had to be grateful for. To make them happy not solely by giving materially, but more importantly reminding them of GOD's bountiful grace upon them.(4)

With regard to the Qur'an (the revelation sent down upon Muhammad (saw)), the vast majority of it deals with the rights of man upon man (as compared to the rights of GOD over man).

However rights and obligations concern justice and law, whereas ethical concerns are broader. For ethics encompasses all of social interaction.

Ethics and Law.

Muhammad (saw), in his wisdom, sublimely tied all this together when he (saw) said "A brother wishes for his brother (his fellow man) what he wishes for himself!" And by this standard, Justice and Law, the bedrock of all civilization could never be submerged under a wave of overtly divine ethics (Because to wish for a thing is different from giving a thing). Whilst at one and the same time ethical considerations became paramount; that you might seek to help your brother attain what you have attained.

Self-Evident Truths.

That we all possess, within our hearts, the means of recognizing the evils of injustice and oppression is sufficient argument that the question of "Why?" is relevant outside of individuals and present within the collective.

And if it is present within the collective, then how can it not have been present before the collective?

And this is maybe one of the reasons why ALLAH t'ala (GOD, most High) says many a time in the Qur'an: "And ALL things WE have created in (of, with) Truth."

Man is but one of those things created with and of Truth, knowing full well what it is.(5)

And ALLAH t'ala further says:

"(ALLAH t’ala) He (it is who) created Death & Life to see which of you is best in Deed."

The greatest expressions of TRUTH are the Denials of Falsehood.

And the worst of falsehoods, uttered against this universal truth, is Tyranny and Oppression.

Religion a Force for Change.

So it is that when True Religion stands against oppression and tyranny it can be the greatest force for change in this World. And likewise True Religion is, and can be, the greatest force for change within our own selves.

When we return to the central tenet of this system of knowledge we remember that we primarily know through the interaction between our World and our Selves. That True Religion is a true motivator in changing this World for the better is but one example of its fulfilment in the role of being a fundamental Knowledge-Provider.

Shafi.

References below are to previous blogs:

(1): "I think therefore I am"

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=202238659&blogID=304426297....

(2): "The Invisible World"

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=202238659&blogID=381941391....

(3):Part One: “Life & Fractals.”

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=202238659&blogID=370737283....

AND

      Part Two: “Life & Fractals Contd.”

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=202238659&blogID=372055045....

AND

      “Frankenstein & the Lode-Stone”

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=202238659&blogID=395274434....

(4): “Do Muslims Love to Hate”

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=202238659&blogID=325470150....

(5): “Primordial Knowledge.”

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=202238659&blogID=429821283....

AND “What is Truth?” http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=202238659&blogID=442023612....

Delusional Fanatasy, a poem

Delusional Fantasy...............................................a poem. (1st posted MySpace 30th Sept 2008)
What makes a Man take a Nation to War,
Destroy a People,
Make them homeless,
And without Law?

For him, another's misery is just a game to play.
See how he has destroyed their lives.
How many children he has orphaned, and women, widowed?

What makes a man lie through his teeth to get what he wants,
And then sincerely believe all those lies that he says.
Wide eyed he ferociously defends his liar's truth.

Why can't he see the lies that he says? The destruction he makes?
Justice is for himself and none else.
Clamouring for his rights, he disregards others' plights.

What makes a Man claim all virtue for himself.
Talk of humanitarian values,
Whilst encouraging,
Aiding and Abetting the Nation of Child Killers.

I'll tell you what blinds such a man,
So that Every Word,
Every Deed,
Is a lie. Nothing but a lie.

It's Hypocrisy. And Hypocrisy,
Just another Delusional Fantasy!
That blinds a man, the Hypocrite,
To all the evil that he does commit.

It's Hypocrisy. Hypocrisy,
all that Delusional Fantasy!
That causes him never to admit,
That it is he, himself, that is the culprit.

His assumed piety,
GOD will never accept.
Because deeds ever talk louder,
Than those holy words of his.

And a word without a deed is what makes a man, a hypocrite.
For him, there can be no Penance,
And No Absolution.

That can wash the evil of his deeds,
from the face of this Earth.
For they go too far and too deep,
And his blindness goes still further, still deeper.
O God, judge him justly,
This Hypocrite,
Give him disgrace upon disgrace,
Here, now, and eternally.

Ameen.

Remembering the suffering of others, even in the happiness of Eid.

Shafi.

I hope to post some commentary later...Hypocrisy goes deep (and is a difficult topic), and it is something that we ask Allah t'ala to protect us all from.... Lest we too become a Hypocrite!