The Proof of God

Many are the people who ask this question. 

Many are the people who conclude there is none. 

But it is their approach that is fundamentally wrong. For GOD is not the ONE to be questioned. 

Rather HE is the greatest, most supreme and most wondrous of assumptions. 

To assume HIM is to believe, and proof comes only afterwards in our thoughts and actions. And it is that assumption and belief that changes man in wondrous ways that no other thing can. 

In the words of Al-Qur'an (S. Maun, neighbourly kindness) "See you not he who denies the religion? Does he not shun the orphan-child, and does he not disregard the poor?". 

To believe in GOD is to leave off the narrowness of this World, and enter the vastness of the World to come. 

For such a person that does not mean that they feel no pain, and that they do not grieve. But only that their pain and grief is tempered by a certainty of it's limitedness. 

And more importantly that they are able to give far more than any other man ever could. 

For man, in essence, is a self-interested being. And how can he truly give selflessly, without even a regard for reward or acclaim, unless he believes in God. How great is GOD, how magnanimous and generous is HE and how abundantly good HE is! 

And to God, most gracious, is the final return of all. 

For a true Muslim this certainty is not a cause of bigotry, for he is all to aware of the supremacy of GOD and the frailties of himself. 

He is fully aware that pride, arrogance and hypocrisy can be the downfall of even the best of us. And that GOD, most gracious, loves best those who do good to the people. This he continually reads in the Qur'an. 

And this the believer knows is without exception, or qualification, for all men except those who wantonly do wrong. 

Precisely because he remembers the words of GOD, most gracious, kept in the famous ahadith qudsi... "Was I not thirsty, and you did not water me. Was I not hungry and you did not feed me. Was I not in need of shelter and you did not house me!" (*1) 

To end, God, most gracious, is the greatest assumption a man can ever make. 

To believe is to change your life in ways no other thing can. 

To believe is to live and die happy, even that is when other people might consider your circumstances strained. 

To believe is to free yourself from worry, to believe enables you to give happily. 

 Your brother, Shafees. 

 1st posted MySpace: 03 Jul 2008 

2nd posted blogger 24 March 2013 03:58

 - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A Transcending Loop

A transcending loop. 

As a book, the Qur'an stands out by the sheer amount of self-referential passages that are contained within it. This is one of it’s modern miracles. 

Indeed, you would be hard pressed to find a Surah or Chapter within the Quran that does not begin, or end with, a reference to itself, in one form or another. Obviously there are exceptions, but these exceptions just draw more attention to it’s unusualness. 

In the Pulitzer winning  “Godel, Escher & Bach” Douglas Hofstadter argues that the key to self-consciousness, the I, is what he terms a strange loop. And he argues that such loops transcends themselves. 

He presents various examples to pad out his claim from the double helix of DNA, which transcends it’s being a simple replicating molecule, since parts of it code for the very colour of your eyes. To the Escher drawings with each of two hands painting one another, or monks ascending a never ending staircase which loops on itself. To a Bach symphony which gives us the impression of an ever increasing pitch whilst always remaining within hearing bounds. 

And then to Godel’s mathematical theorem in which he encoded theorems, in self-reference, within a numeric framework and proved that not all that we know to be true can be proven so. 

It is self reference that allowed this fact to be proven true that in any well defined language, not all that we know to be true (since it is self evidently true) can be proven true. Note the loop even here, on itself. *1

This self referential transcendentalism is also found within the very essence of our religion. 

Just think how grateful to God we should be that He has given us gratitude, and imagine if He left us as ungrateful fools. 

How gratitude is itself and unbounded blessing. 

Take a minute to let that sink in. 

That we should be grateful to God for choosing for us to be grateful. And when you contemplate it, you realise that it is impossible for your gratitude to compass what it should, and what it sets out to do in the first place. *2

Recall then the verse in the Quran in which God declares of Himself that He is the Most Grateful, the One who is independent of all, and in need of none. 

And that His gratitude can and does compass all that it should. 

Then contemplate the verse in Surah Nur, in which God describes Himself. The imagery whilst crescendoing to a summit is topped by the self referential “Nur ala Nur”. Light upon Light. Light over Light, in apparent reference to an unending loop, that has a meaning that transcends its very expression. Just as does the description of the olive oil that lights without even a flame touching it, and is neither of the East nor the West. 

The imagery is of God transcending light upon, or over, light. 

And now lastly consider our testimony of faith, that confirms us as Muslim in the first, and guarantees us Heaven in the last. 

A mathematician and logician of the calibre of Raymond Smllyan would be astounded by it. 

No gods except the God. 

There feels like there should be a loop here. And the apparent contradiction in the statement is astounding. It’s clear that something else is going on here which is very profound. And then you see what is really implied by the statement. 

No gods ergo the One God. 

Or if you prefer- 

No gods therefore the One True God. 

It is an outstanding statement. 

But still you feel that there is something missing, some loop missing from this statement until you realise that the loop is given by the first person, and it is that, that is also actually implied by the very statement. 

The Statement is God’s. 

And God declares its truth so many times in the Quran. 

Now the loop becomes clear. 

And the apparent contradiction is removed. And the statement actually transcends itself. 

(God declares) that there are no gods except the One True God. 

When you read the Quran and you come across a self referential verse, where the Quran, or Kitab, or Ayahs are mentioned know that there is a second meaning there that transcends the apparent and clear meaning. It’s beautiful to deliberate and contemplate on those other meanings. 

So for example one reading of V 2 of Baqara has this ostensible meaning:

That is the book about which there is no doubt.*3

But the other meanings of the same rendering could well be in reference to V23 of Baqara, and another could well be “so follow it”. 

In Surah Balad the self reference is beautiful in what it points to. 

And that is for you to find. 

And whenever you come across others contemplate them too. 

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

Shafees. 

NOTES

*1 this is an extension to the classic statement “this statement is false” which cannot take a specific truth value (it is neither true nor false, or perhaps both at the same time?). 

*2 that we should also be grateful that God enabled us for being able to be grateful for being grateful (ad infinitum). 

*3 a second reading is as follows. 

That is the book. No doubt a guidance for the pious. 

NOTE there was an error in the first draft. 

Please see comments. 

Emotional Trauma

PROLOGUE

The following has been written following on from the recent and tragic suicide of a former St Olaves pupil. Our heartfelt condolences go out to his family and the loved ones that he leaves behind, particularly his friends

 It is also written from a purely Muslim and personal standpoint. 

If you need help then please refer to qualified counsellors. 

It is further written specifically for a Muslim and Friends WhatsApp group that I run for guys that play 5aSide football with us in Beckenham. There our ages range from upwards of 14 (who we ask to be accompanied by an adult with parental responsibility) to over 50s. We organise random teams, and as evenly as possible spread out the talent and the ages. 

EMOTIONAL TRAUMA

Roughly 3 in 4 of suicide attempts made by 14 to 24 year olds are boys and young men.

Of course the emotional trauma that attends to the general population, will also attend to our friends here and our younger brothers. 

And of course the way that we approach such problem is marked by our belief, and so what I say here is not as a trained counsellor. 

In just under a week it will be over 30 years since my friend Mark Evans took his life aged 15. We were at Kingsbury High School, and although we did not have the same friends’ circle, I still considered him my friend since we had English and PE together. 

The first we heard, the school gathered us together in a impromptu hall assembly with all the other years, all 900 of us crammed into a hall. 

And I couldn’t hear a word of what was said, but saw people dazed and others crying. Following on all we had were rumours, and no certitude, nor any help. 

And so I have had no closure for over 30 years. And still don’t know what happened. Not even the means that he used, let alone any snippet of information. 

And so every so often I try to review and revisit that time, and try to make sense of what happened. 

Unfortunately for me his parents had him cremated, and so there is not even a resting place that I can homage to. 

The human need for narrative is an important one, that no one should overlook not least those that have suffered trauma. 

That we need a narrative to make sense of it all. And then it is that narrative that can really determine what we make of our lives going on from there. 

Suicide is haram, forbidden. 

And for good reason. 

Life is a beautiful gift, and to despair of God’s good grace is something that no one should do. And then to throw away a life when so many suffer much worse than us, and yet continue to hope even until their last breath, is an insult to them. And an insult to God, who created you in the first, and nourishes you from places you cannot see, in the second. 

And yet every now and then I make excuses for Mark, and beg that God forgive him and accept him. We are all human, and we feel and we have empathy for those who feel such desperation. 

They say that the pressures that cause such hidden despair are on the rise- from the parental expectation to do well in exams, to the expectation to be a pillar of strength (or even a good laugh) from your friends, and of course the incessant bullying of a 24/7 culture. For the twenty year olds they say it is more money pressures that play a larger role- that you feel bound to go out and spend, even when the capital is sparse. 

But I don’t believe the desperation is really born of such pressures, nor of the trauma that such pressures might inevitably bring. 

But is really born of a sense of purposelessness. 

And I admit that that is my Muslimness shining through, but then as I said before very much who we are is determined by the narrative that we allow ourselves to be guided by. And then the choice is about which narrative is best, and which to choose. 

The questions that really hurt, are those that can cause an emptiness to well up inside us. And it is this emptiness that I believe can only temporarily be bridged by dialogue because in essence they are about belief, that cannot be skated around. 

Why am I here?

Is this all that there really is?

And the anticlimax of being told... yes, that’s it- you live and you die- and that’s all there is, nothing more. 

It was the same anticlimax that took hold of me just after my A levels had finished. And after all that hard graft, that sense of pointlessness was palpable. On some days I hardly woke, and I suppose you could say that I was suicidal (but I didn’t say that then, and I won’t now). 

But we Muslims are fortunate. 

For Islam came to me at 18, when I was away from home at the University of Bath. 

A friend took me to spend a night in a Mosque, and there I felt a tranquility and peace that I had never felt before. 

That I belonged, and had found my place in praising God. 

For we Muslims are fortunate, for Islam. (Submission to the will of the Most Gracious). For 

1- there you know your purpose, to praise and serve your Creator, the Most Gracious. The One that gives without measure. 

2- And you know your place, alongside the whole cosmos, and everything within it, to likewise serve and praise our Creator, the Great, the Wise. 

The One who knows you better than you know yourself. 

3- And you have your Dhikr (remembrance of God) which repeatedly said will break the cycle of any negative thoughts. 

4- And you have the greatest of Dhikrs, which when recited sonorously calms any heart- the Quran. (Indeed in the remembrance of God, let hearts find peace). 

5- And you have your 5 daily prayers, that lend structure to your lives. Even the simplest of routines; such as making your bed after you wake up, or remembering and thanking God when you sup; help to give us the structure we crave and need. Then imagine something that was God sent, and placed at the five corners of each day. 

6- And you have your community of brothers, who more than anyone would do anything for you. For they remember that to help you in your hour of need is more than if they spent the last ten days secluded in prayer in the blessed month of Ramadan. 

7- And if you have suffered trauma, psychological or otherwise. Then what is important is that you build a positive narrative to make sense of it all. That you try to focus yourself on the good from it all, for there will always, God willing, be some good. And this is Qadr’Allah, a unique belief for the Muslims, whereby the Messenger (saw) informed us that for the Muslims there is always good no matter what happens. 

Even if that good is your resilience in the face of hardship, focus on that. 

That you are a fighter. 

8- And if you are in a relationship that hurts. Then, as much as possible, remove yourself from that relationship. 

For nothing good comes from things that oppress the soul. 

And if you cannot remove yourself from it, then as much as possible try to minimise its impact on your soul. 

Minimise your exposure, and fight against the negativity with patience and positivity. 

Remember as a general rule people do not change. Circumstance change, and people remain the same. 

So try your best to change your circumstances. And if you fail then don’t give up trying, nor lose your faith that one day things will have changed. 

Remain positive, remember the good and focus on that. 

Learn patience from the impatience. 

Kindness from the unkind. 

Positivity from those that are always negative. 

Do not let their narrative and the narrative of their lives, become your narrative. 

Catch yourself before you fall. 

And if you fall, then pull yourself right back up, there are always second chances. 

9- And foremost trust in God, because He knows what you declare to the World, what you hide, and what is still more hidden within you. Put your trust in Him who created you, and nourishes you and cares for you. And make sincere supplication to Him for help. 

10- And if you are in need of a buddy, someone that you can talk confidentially to then reach out to the one friend you are closest to. Don’t be scared to ask for or to second guess their response. They may just surprise you with empathy. 

11- And, if you know someone who might be in need of support, then pick up the phone. NO DON’T TEXT. Don’t message. 

RING and TALK. And remember to say these words- If you ever need help then you know I’ll always be there for you. 

And get them to promise that they will call you whenever they need. 

Remember to make it clear to them that the favour that they’ll be doing is from them to you, that you value their friendship and if they call you then they will be affirming the truth of that friendship back to you. That their being in need and being willing to call you, is the affirmation that you want and wish for. 

12- Lastly, if you are willing to buddy with someone who might need a helping hand, who might need someone to talk to in confidence, then reach out to  any of us at the Dream Team. 

Remember if you’re in need, then InshaAllah 

We’ll have your back. 

And be your second, anytime. 

The Dream Team are the following:

Ahmed

Omar

Saleem

Shafees

Life as Fractals

Life as Fractals.  

Original Cause

Many people believe that the essence of religious knowledge is the question of the original cause.

Granted the original cause is a fundamental spanner in the work of materialistic theology that tends to avoid it like the plague. Because as with Hawkins they cannot answer that problem unless they resort to an infinite series of infinites, which any sane person will throw off as incomprehensible dogma.

But even if we forget that original problem, the complexity that is life, the universe and everything should be humbling. However just as many people as those who believe in GOD, also believe that GOD created, set the World in motion and left. They believe that the laws of biology, chemistry and physics were determined by the act of creation and that the rest is history.

A ClockWork Mechanism

This is the Christian belief of the 7th day of Creation "and then HE rested"... a clockwork Universe set in motion.

The Muslim version is HE created and then "HE rose over the Throne (of Authority)" and "Neither does HE rest, nor does HE sleep" and "All affairs go back to HIM for decision" (All Qur’anic Quotes).

At the turn of the Scientific Revolution it was this idea that drove our exploration into the ever smaller realms. That everything could be explained by reduction, by examining the cogs and wheels and their relations with one another.

The Mandelbrot Blot

However the more we have studied the World, the more we have observed it’s similarity to fractal geometry!

Because no matter which level of existence you consider, there is no depreciation in complexity.

Quantum Dynamics

The most basic/elementary/explanatory of the Sciences is purported to be Particle Physics, and yet the laws that hold in that realm have absolutely no relation to say Cosmology (which is just another branch of Physics), or any other branch of science.

Gravity is a basic force of the Physics of Cosmology that exerts itself over huge distances, and yet it has no power or use when it comes to considering the interactions between electrons/ quarks etc... Likewise the relationships that exist between particles have no consequence when considering the motion of the planets.

a ToE

Of course in order to mend the hole in their aspirations Physicists have long looked for a particle that would be a modulator for gravity, the so called graviton. If it existed it would neatly tie up both cosmology and quantum mechanics into one neat bundle. But the Physicists search for that their holy grail of a ToE (Theory of Everything) is in vain. The World is a Mandlebrot blot!

If this is true of the so called mother of all sciences, it is also true of chemistry and of the study of life, biology.

Life

Each is as intricate as the other, and the study of life is the most intricate of them all.

Un-Fascination.

Many people ignore the complexity that is the World because they believe that it has all been explained away by cataloguing its constituent parts and their relations with one another.

And likewise, to many people the miracle of life holds no fascination simply because they believe it to have been explained away by evolution.

A recurring theme within the Qur’an is however the miracle of our lives. Of our conception and being put to rest in a safe place (in our Mothers’ wombs). Of the clothing of our bones with flesh and of the development of our senses through which we know so much of our World.

Evolution & Chaos.

In essence evolution does affirm the complexity and intricacy that is life. But it seeks to explain this by purporting the existence of a relationship between the order we see and a chaos that is.

Because both evolution and quantum theory see an underlying chaos as being the basis for, and even the foundation-stone of that intricate order. And so they claim that there is no need to suppose an intelligent design in order to explain the complexity and intricacy that is Life, the Universe and Everything.

LAWS rule.

But both fail to see their dependence on laws and rules of behaviour to maintain that order. From the Mendelian rules of genetic inheritance, to the number of electrons that are required to fill an orbital shell and to the Quarks that can only come in threes! It is laws like these that provide the basis for that order.

Even evolutionary theory is suffused with laws. Is not "Survival of the Fittest" a Law?

At each level of our WORLD it is Laws that RULE. And it is this intricate web of Laws that should be humbling, marvelling, fascinating.

Whether these laws are contained within the very nature of the things that they regulate or not, as the case may be, is a by-the-by. What is relevant is that even if we suppose a quantum or evolutionary chaos we cannot escape from admitting the existence of such regulation and an underlying order that is provided by it.

Our LIVES.

Even in our chaotic lives, is it not our laws that lend stability to our society?

And a law that is not enforced is no law at all!

Evolution is POWERLess.

By its own admission and its belief in a chaotic World, Evolution is Powerless. It is an organising PRINCIPLE, a Law without a direct enforcer. Darwinists claim that the enforcer of Evolution is a distant force of a millennia, over vast distances/numbers and what ifs. A principle or a law is NOTHING without a FORCE, a real and tangible force, to enforce it.

The ONE who gives SHAPES.

Evolutionary force does not explain the intricacies of our creation in our Mothers Womb. As we develop our cells differentiate from generic mast cells and become our organs. Cells that are destined to become part of our eyes migrate, past countless other cells, and into the corresponding place of what would one day become your eye socket. What causes these cells to "know" how and where to migrate to, given that their destined place in your eye is not even ready for them? What if that cell makes one slip at one T-junction (and a T-junction is a 2-D characterisation of a 3-D dilemma!)? What prevents that chaos, a distant force that exerts itself over a millennia and over huge numbers of statistical proportions.... i think not!

The Programming.

Darwinists will counter that Evolution has caused each cell to be PROGRAMMED with the correct responses to each possible eventuality (or to at least 99.9% of them).

YOU DECIDE...

Do you think that a distant force can programme each cell for each eventuality?

And that it can do so whilst all other cells develop and morph in tandem?

The ISLAMic View.

In the Qur’an GOD asks you to look carefully at the World, at every aspect of it. And GOD testifies that your eyes will come back to you dazed, full of wonder at the perfection of HIS creation.

The Qur’an talks of the "Sunnat-Allah", the ways of God, being unchangeable! Unbending laws, God’s laws over His creation and laws enforced by Him. For GOD testifies that "No change will you find in the Sunnat ALLAH". HE is the ONE that upholds them and enforces them. And HE is closer to HIS creation than even your very own jugular vein.

HE is the Creator, the Giver of Shapes, the Sovereign, the KING to whom all things go back to for decision.

Muslim Scientists

Seek to make clear the LAWS of GOD on HIS creation. And they wonder at the Perfection of it all and glorify HIS names in the Mornings and Evenings!

END 

1st written 2013, no less relevant 

Hope Springs

The dance of swallows,
The livening brook.
Mill stones pounding.

The burst of blossom,
Sending up banners
Stretching and reaching.

The giggle and her chortle.
Roses that rises.
With the tease and delight.

The youth, for whom nothing disappoints.
Whilst yet the sun is in the air.
And the chirrups beat out hope.

The hustle and the bustle.
The slow gain, that quick loss.
The competition of sinew,
The pitting and the win.

The quiver shooting up spine.
Those laughing eyes under grey brows.
That quickening memory.

They bring to light one who slumbered,
Awaken and live.
Like you had not slept.

END
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Zam Zam River

ZAMZAM RIVER

The similitude of the Muhhadith

Is as of Bibi Hagar

 who dammed the Zam Zam river

Do they unremember God’s vow 

That it is for Him to explain it 

And for Him to make it come to fruition 

So understand the words of the Messenger 

Even unto China should those who seek 

Seek

And the best of those are those with the best interpretation. 

Shafees

Elitism

Bad habits are often want to return. 

And sometimes they return in a different form, that can fool many of us into believing that we have beaten them. 

If that is the case for us at a psychological level, then it is also true for us collectively on a sociological level. 

Very early on we, as a Nation, were schooled in the importance of acting against elitism, no matter how benign it’s form. (revelation of Abasa)

And yet today the social and political organisations that we look to for guidance out of the quagmire of modernity, in the Western mould, could easily be forgiven for sending out elitist vibes. 

From the many manifestations of Ikhwan ul-Muslimoon with their hierarchies, to our Mosque committees with their exclusivities, they are simply a return to the old ways that pre-dated Islam. A return to the days of Ignorance, even if now the person put on a pedestal holds religious credentials as opposed to money, or power, or both. 

Indeed knowledge of the religion is not a prerequisite for holding responsibility, the only prerequisite is that you act for the people and for the betterment of their lot, and are effective in doing so. 

A man came to Medina and not recognising the Messenger of God (saw) asked “who is your leader?” Without hesitation, or pause, he (saw) replied “The one who best helps the people”. 

The religion is subtlety and nuanced and here the statement is in contrast to the usually given one of responsibility (and hence authority)  belonging to our leaders, even if it is in regards to the helping of the people. Of course, the above is implied but not made clear. And contrary to other ways, we know that our religion was sent to make things clear. And so we should know that the reverse is more true- that those that help the people, they are their true leaders. 

And so there is no religious basis for choosing one versed in the religion over another not so well versed, other than in their ability to help the people. 

And if one is not well versed but is more adept at helping the people, then that is the one that is the true leader of the people. 

And this understanding is born out by the Seerah. Which then should cause us to realise that the statement to choose the one who best knows the Quran is specific, and not general. For there is no doubt that Abu Bakr (as) was chosen by the Messenger, and his preeminent knowledge lay in genealogy. However the Messenger did not leave our appreciation of Abu Bakr (as) to chance when he informed us that Abu Bakr (as) was the best amongst us because of his heart. 

It does not matter that those that we now hold in high regard are scholars, versed in the religion. For it is not without reason that we are a Nation built without a hierarchy of priests. And remember foremost that Abasa was sent down as a revelation to the noblest of Messengers, whom no one could accuse of harbouring elitist intentions. 

We should likewise remember the inaugural speech of Abu Bakr (as), how he asked the people to hold him to account.

And he was the first and the best of us after the Messenger. 

Maybe it’s just that we cannot fathom another way of working, another way of organising ourselves in an effective manner. After all there has to be an Ameer, right?

But an Ameer that upholds elitism, and appeals to authority as a means of stifling alternate ideas, and views, is only a throwback to the days before the times of our Messenger (saw). 

Whereas an Ameer that knows that his is not a title, but a very real responsibility that will be questioned. And a responsibility that is not his by right, other than that he fulfils the needs of the people. 

Who therefore guards against elitism at every outset, and at every turn, being open to everyone;

involving everyone and enabling everyone to contribute. 

Immaculate in the clarity of his accounting. And is eager for the people to call him to account. 

Not feeling that he must be at the centre of all endeavours, the intersecting ‘somewhat’ polygon of many circles.

An enabler of many others. 

A visionary that enthuses, and guides. 

A teacher that cares to listen and learn. 

Always ready to stop to help, both when bidden and unbidden. 

Whilst foremost being at the centre of a shuraa’, where everyone is equal and no voice remains unheard.  

That is our benchmark. 

And this does not diminish from the understanding that both community and communal action are important. 

In fact the main concern of the religion is with that. 

But it is this pre-eminent importance of community which means that this vital function should be done right. And not left to the return of old habits that predate the revelation and the community of believers that it built. 

Those  that do that, they are the true heirs to the successors of the Messenger, who worried about too much stipend, who worried to ensure that their accounts that they gave of themselves were both forthcoming and clear, who worried about both favouritism and elitism. Who worried about their excesses and wished that the people be ever ready to call them to account. 

And if you do not know this very real open society that was ushered in by our most noble Messenger, then you have not read nor contemplated the Seerah, nor our history. 

If nothing else then it is that time that showed us the possibility of what could be, and of the very real Barakah that can flow on from being open to all. 

For do you remember the name of the companion who first dreamt the Adhan?

I can’t and don’t. 

But I know that his name was inconsequential, for I know that the Barakah flows from the most unlooked for places. 

And the religion is complete. 

And  all things have been made clear. 

Shafees

London March 2020

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