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.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Monday, 6 May 2013
Sunday, 5 May 2013
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"
(2): "The Invisible World"
(3):Part One: “Life & Fractals.”
AND
Part Two: “Life & Fractals Contd.”
AND
“Frankenstein & the Lode-Stone”
(4): “Do Muslims Love to Hate”
(5): “Primordial Knowledge.”
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.
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!
Saturday, 4 May 2013
Cultural Truths
Cultural Truths.
"Does our culture determine our truth? And what does our rejection of other people's truths look like, from an individualistic to a nationalistic perspective?"
The first characteristic of truth is that it corresponds with reality. But from being immersed within one culture to judging another culture, we would always be prone to bias.
The second, and more objectively measurable, characteristic of truth is that it is free from contradiction. Such contradictions should be self evident even to those participants within their own culture.
Truth in regard to cultures relates to cultural truths; societal truths and not scientific truths. Scientific truths about our World should be independent of culture since by definition they would need to be repeatable and verifiable within each.
And so cultural truths relate to our value; to those things that we would hope to hold true for ourselves. That is to those things that participants, within a culture, value both positively and negatively. Hence they may not be objectively true like the Scientific truths, but we hold them as true because that is what we value and appreciate, and what we would want our children to value and appreciate. The first characteristic of truth can have no bearing here. However the second is tell tale of who we really are.
For the most obvious contradictions within cultural systems occur when there is a disparity between values as they are promoted and values as they are enacted. That is when hypocrisy is present within the enactment of values that we hold dear to ourselves, or when the values that we deride appear within ourselves.
Off course whilst we might be able to judge other cultures based upon this criterion, it would be prudent to first judge our own. "People in glass houses should not throw stones".
So we must ask of ourselves, "Are we hypocritical in the values that we promote, or hold true".
And then we would, if true, experience severe trauma.
For,
Are not Palestinian Children the most worthy of Children's rights. Whilst they are unjustly criminalised and held without trial behind Isreali bars? And we, by saying nothing, condone such savagery?
Is not Hamas a democratically elected body? And yet the international community feigns to ignore its legitimacy.
Why is a man that caused a war, by a malicious lie, still honoured in these isles and abroad? That is whilst hundreds of thousands of people have died for not making Iraq a better place.
In these terms our cultural truths are proven to be the worst.
And then we have so little regard for other people's truths because they do not fit with ours.
By this measure our rejection of their truths is solely bigotry.
Shafeesthoughts :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
"Does our culture determine our truth? And what does our rejection of other people's truths look like, from an individualistic to a nationalistic perspective?"
The first characteristic of truth is that it corresponds with reality. But from being immersed within one culture to judging another culture, we would always be prone to bias.
The second, and more objectively measurable, characteristic of truth is that it is free from contradiction. Such contradictions should be self evident even to those participants within their own culture.
Truth in regard to cultures relates to cultural truths; societal truths and not scientific truths. Scientific truths about our World should be independent of culture since by definition they would need to be repeatable and verifiable within each.
And so cultural truths relate to our value; to those things that we would hope to hold true for ourselves. That is to those things that participants, within a culture, value both positively and negatively. Hence they may not be objectively true like the Scientific truths, but we hold them as true because that is what we value and appreciate, and what we would want our children to value and appreciate. The first characteristic of truth can have no bearing here. However the second is tell tale of who we really are.
For the most obvious contradictions within cultural systems occur when there is a disparity between values as they are promoted and values as they are enacted. That is when hypocrisy is present within the enactment of values that we hold dear to ourselves, or when the values that we deride appear within ourselves.
Off course whilst we might be able to judge other cultures based upon this criterion, it would be prudent to first judge our own. "People in glass houses should not throw stones".
So we must ask of ourselves, "Are we hypocritical in the values that we promote, or hold true".
And then we would, if true, experience severe trauma.
For,
Are not Palestinian Children the most worthy of Children's rights. Whilst they are unjustly criminalised and held without trial behind Isreali bars? And we, by saying nothing, condone such savagery?
Is not Hamas a democratically elected body? And yet the international community feigns to ignore its legitimacy.
Why is a man that caused a war, by a malicious lie, still honoured in these isles and abroad? That is whilst hundreds of thousands of people have died for not making Iraq a better place.
In these terms our cultural truths are proven to be the worst.
And then we have so little regard for other people's truths because they do not fit with ours.
By this measure our rejection of their truths is solely bigotry.
Shafeesthoughts :)
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:London
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
The Bringer of Smiles
Walking back from the Haram, seeing the street poverty of my people.
Your people, our people.
The less able mixed with the more able.
Their unfettered naturalness,
Free from political correctness,
Yet beautifully sublime.
Their poverty is my richness,
Our richness,
their richness.
For them all Sadaqa is a gift,
From our hands to their hands.
For Allah t'ala has enriched them,
More than any hand could give.
With a Qibla,
and Kaba.
With rites, sublime.
With His words,
Perturbing hearts,
Causing men to cry.
With His Messenger,
Our Master.
A man like no other.
A three fold richness,
That no man could take away.
No matter how poor or thin,
I could never doubt them.
That GOD has enriched them,
More than any hand could give.
For them all charity is but a gift.
May GOD bless me,
That I might be the giver of those gifts,
The bringer of smiles.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Your people, our people.
The less able mixed with the more able.
Their unfettered naturalness,
Free from political correctness,
Yet beautifully sublime.
Their poverty is my richness,
Our richness,
their richness.
For them all Sadaqa is a gift,
From our hands to their hands.
For Allah t'ala has enriched them,
More than any hand could give.
With a Qibla,
and Kaba.
With rites, sublime.
With His words,
Perturbing hearts,
Causing men to cry.
With His Messenger,
Our Master.
A man like no other.
A three fold richness,
That no man could take away.
No matter how poor or thin,
I could never doubt them.
That GOD has enriched them,
More than any hand could give.
For them all charity is but a gift.
May GOD bless me,
That I might be the giver of those gifts,
The bringer of smiles.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:The Centre of the World
Monday, 29 April 2013
My Umrah, a poem
My Umrah
At the centre of the World, is Mecca,
And at the centre of Mecca, lies the Kaba.
A cuboid raised by Abraham, of old.
Proclaiming devotion to God, the only.
A sublime sign of God's power and majesty;
A call reverberating through centuries.
To donn the pilgrim garb,
Released from our World.
Is our answer to that call,
Then to the pilgrim chant.
"Labayk, Allah huma labayk..."
Here I am, O my Lord, here I am.
At your service, ready to do your bidding.
To enter Mecca,
With the pilgrim's gait.
Whatever she gives, you take,
Whatever she leaves, you leave.
At that Holy sight.
Seven circuits make.
Seven rounds for seven heavens.
Seven rounds for the seven Earths.
Seven rounds that could fill a multitude of verse.
Proclamations, dedications and supplications,
In tune with all the universe.
Then to remember that first family,
It's trials and tribulations.
It's faith and their reverberations.
Before Muhammad (saw) there was the pilgrimmage,
And afterwards, confirmed by him.
No person was sacred.
Solely a place,
And an act,
Of pure and holy
Submission:
That is Islam.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
At the centre of the World, is Mecca,
And at the centre of Mecca, lies the Kaba.
A cuboid raised by Abraham, of old.
Proclaiming devotion to God, the only.
A sublime sign of God's power and majesty;
A call reverberating through centuries.
To donn the pilgrim garb,
Released from our World.
Is our answer to that call,
Then to the pilgrim chant.
"Labayk, Allah huma labayk..."
Here I am, O my Lord, here I am.
At your service, ready to do your bidding.
To enter Mecca,
With the pilgrim's gait.
Whatever she gives, you take,
Whatever she leaves, you leave.
At that Holy sight.
Seven circuits make.
Seven rounds for seven heavens.
Seven rounds for the seven Earths.
Seven rounds that could fill a multitude of verse.
Proclamations, dedications and supplications,
In tune with all the universe.
Then to remember that first family,
It's trials and tribulations.
It's faith and their reverberations.
Before Muhammad (saw) there was the pilgrimmage,
And afterwards, confirmed by him.
No person was sacred.
Solely a place,
And an act,
Of pure and holy
Submission:
That is Islam.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Location:The centre of the World
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