Hoping to be human someday!

Knowledge Of The Book

Friday, January 16th, 2009

I have been going through some Quraanic translations lately. Consider the following translations of Surah Al-Qalam, 1-6:

Ahmed Raza Khan: Mohammed Aqib Qadri:

Nuun* – by oath of the pen and by oath of what is written by it. (Alphabet of the Arabic language; Allah and to whomever He reveals, know their precise meanings.) You are not insane, by the munificence of your Lord. And indeed for you is an unlimited reward. And indeed you possess an exemplary character. So very soon, you will see and they too will realise – That who among you was insane.

Yusuf Ali:

Nun. By the Pen and the (Record) which (men) write,- Thou art not, by the Grace of thy Lord, mad or possessed. Nay, verily for thee is a Reward unfailing: And thou (standest) on an exalted standard of character. Soon wilt thou see, and they will see, – Which of you is afflicted with madness.

Pickthal:

Nun. By the pen and that which they write (therewith), Thou art not, for thy Lord’s favour unto thee, a madman. And lo! thine verily will be a reward unfailing. And lo! thou art of a tremendous nature. And thou wilt see and they will see Which of you is the demented.

Do you find a difference in translation?

Anyone who has studied the Arabic language can see that every word has multiple meanings. Hell, even in Urdu there are words with multiple meanings, not to mention English (try learning words for GRE, you’ll go mad!) I’m not a scholar on Arabic but I’ve seen and heard examples of such words. I’ll share one with you on an upcoming post: Rasool-e-Ummi.

So which of the above translations is correct? I mean, in which meaning did Allah reveal the Quraan?

Scholars can gather on one specific translation and declare it to be authentic. What if some scholars gather on one translation and some gather on another? Which is correct? Is the level of knowledge of these translators and scholars enough to decipher the words and intention of God?

Qayaas, as it is popularly known, or unified human opinion on a subject (”unified” might be wrong but “human opinion” isn’t), is spread widely in the Muslim world. Different problems are solved in this way by Muslims. Religion has become the thought of humans, rather than something from God.

And now we have Qayaas on the Quraan. People gather and say “Hey I think this verse means this!”

Notice the word think.

Surely when the Quraan wasn’t here, humans were thinking about idol worship (Laat, Manaat, Uzza, etc). And about Jesus and the Trinity. And Yahweh. And Rama, Krishna, Seeta, etc. They still are. Now that the Quraan is here, would Allah trust humans with thinking about the meaning of the Quraan?

And now that they have thought about it, you can see the result above.

Some will say “the Quraan says it’s an easy book to understand”. But we already see that above, don’t we? There are countless more examples that I’m too lazy to post.

In Surah-e-Namal, the tale of Suleiman and Bilquees is told in which Asif Bine Barkhia promises to bring the throne of Bilquees to Suleiman before he can bat his eyelids, just because he possesses a “little knowledge of the book”. Uh-oh, is the name Asif Bine Barkhia even in the Quraan? Whoops!

Doesn’t matter. What matters is the following verse (it’s actually not the whole verse, only the end part):

Qul Kafa Billahi Shaheedam Bayeni Wa Bayenakum Waman Indahu Ilm-ul-Kitab!

“(O’ Prophet) say: Enough for witness between me and you, is Allah and he who possesses the Knowledge of the Book.”

(Thunder: 43)

Oh-kaayy…..I know Allah and the Prophet. Someone know the third guy?

Asif Bine Barkhia can move a throne in a jiffy if he possesses some of the knowledge of the Book. And then there’s this ‘third guy’ who possesses knowledge of the whole Book. Imagine what he must be able to do. Who is he?

He must know what the Quraan means then. If the above translators could understand the Quraan, they would be moving thrones too, starting with Bush. Bring his desk, throw a shoe, send back. Repeat procedure. Make an infinite loop. America would’ve been in a load of crap…sorry, shoes by now.

So…who’s this guy I’m asking about? Does anyone know here please?

You must be wanting to ask me “Why not consult the Prophet himself?” Well, he must indeed know the knowledge in the Book as he got the Book. And he used it too. Shaq-qul-Qamar, anyone? But since he was an Ummi, I’d rather go for this third guy. Imagine having Knowledge of the Whole Book yet not being able to read and write. Must be pretty hard on the Prophet.

Don’t ask me whether this guy came to this planet or not. If he didn’t, why would Allah use his name as witness to the Holy Prophet’s prophethood in front of the non-believers?

It CANNOT be Gabriel, he couldn’t even go beyond the point of Sidra during the Prophet’s Mairaj. This guy has to be wayyy better!

But sadly, the question remains who? :(

Allah And The Intricacies Of Space-Time

Sunday, December 14th, 2008

I asked a question “The Universe is billions of years old. How old then, is Allah?”

Well, here’s the answer after a long wait.

Asking “How old?” implies a measurement of time. Now we all know that time started when the Universe was created. And so did space. But this reduces our frame of thought. There could be any number of things that might have been created before our Universe. There may be parallel universes running alongside ours for all we know.

You can skip this blockquote if you want.

There are many theories about the birth of the Universe. One of them is of Quantum Fluctuation.

Planck Time is the earliest moment in history where our physics still works. It is the shortest amount of time we can probe in the laboratory with our current knowledge of physics. It’s value is 10-43 sec.

This particular theory states that Universe was born from a quantum vacuum. A quantum vacuum is a state of a quantum field in which no quanta are excited, i.e. no particles are present. It is a state of minimum energy and has potentiality (read Potential Energy). Laws of classical physics do not apply here, only quantum mechanics. Our Universe originated from a quantum vacuum. Before Planck time (10-43 seconds of the Universe), classical physics is not applicable to the Universe, i.e. space-time did not exist.

Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle states that for a pair of conjugate variables for a particle, such as position/momentum and energy/time, it is impossible to have a precisely determined value of each member of the pair at the same time. For example, a particle pair can pop out of the vacuum during a very short time interval.

So what the theory states is that according to Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, there were fluctuations in the vacuum and particles pairs appeared and disappeared quickly, from nothingness. This is not ordinary nothingness, it has potentiality. Slowly, this gave birth to the Universe which was a compact particle in the beginning with extremely high density, and expanded into “black holes forming and disappearing”. Expansion continued, space-time formed after Planck Time and slowly the Universe was created as we see it today.

I’m sorry, that was the most I could understand of this crappy concept. But it accepts the fact that energy (potentiality) was present at the beginning in the quantum vacuum. It’s origin, anyone?

If we take the first creation of Allah, i.e. the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.W.) and mark it as the beginning of celestial time, much before the birth of the Universe, or as the beginning of “all” time, what before it?

Allah is the creator of all, He created Space-Time so He cannot be subject to it. But the question above provides one problem in this theory. What was Allah doing before the origin of celestial time? The word “origin” indicates a beginning. If Allah is devoid of space-time, He has neither a future, nor a past. Only the present. If so, how do we explain our “past, present and future” in terms of His “present”?

Simple!

Let’s take the example of a ray of light. It travels from the Sun to our Earth. Let the Sun and Earth be two points A and B, respectively. At all given moments of our time, Allah is watching both points. He is aware of all that will happen when the ray originates from A, to the moment it culminates at B, i.e. He can see the past, present and future of that ray of light, at the same time!

Still confused? Let me simplify it more.

Picture a film editor with a reel of film spread out before him. The film is divided into different frames, each of which has a different moment of time imprinted on it. When we watch the film on a screen, each frame appears one by one, creating a “motion” effect. But the editor is looking at all frames at the same time.

Here, each frame on the film is analogous to each moment of time. We experience motion but Allah is looking at all moments simultaneously!

For Him, Prophet Adam (A.S.) is being created, the storm of Nooh (A.S.) is in full swing, Musa (A.S.) is splitting the Nile with his Asa (walking stick), Eesa (A.S.) is being crucified, Muhammad (S.A.W.W.) is declaring Prophethood, Ali (A.S.) is being born in the Ka’bah and martyred in the mosque of Kufah, Husain (A.S.) being slain in Karbala with his family and friends, Pakistan gaining independence, me typing this post, Zakir Naik and [Dr. ?] Israr Ahmed going bonkers and upholding the tyrannical Bani Umayyads (L.A.), all at the same moment!

Savvy? :lol:

I’m feeling sleepy…

The Karachi Bloggers Meetup!

Monday, December 1st, 2008

Yes, there’s going to be a Karachi Bloggers meetup too!

From their registration page:

Event Website: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=38794231298

The idea is to encourage Internet users & bloggers to meet offline as well. Senior bloggers get a chance to share knowledge & experience. New wanna-be bloggers can learn from the local success stories and network with leaders & professionals in this field.

Date & Time: Saturday, Dec 06, 2008
Venue: TBA soon
Organizer: CIO Pakistan in association with Google Pakistan
Contact 1: Badar Khushnood ; +92.300.8486070 ; badar@google.com
Contact 2: Mehjabeen Sheikh ; +92.21.4255022 ; mehjabeen.shaikh@rasalagroup.org

Since we have limited seats, registration (FREE) in advance is mandatory.

Register here.

I’m Not A Mushrik, Just Trying To Think…

Thursday, November 20th, 2008

Please read my previous post before reading this.

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The Prophet Eesa (A.S.) was walking with his followers when on their way they passed a house where a wedding was to take place and celebrations were underway. He addressed his followers that when they would return the house would be filled with mourning as the bride would be dead.

But when they returned, the celebrations had not ceased.

The Prophet was extremely bewildered by this. He entered the house and found the bride in her room. He asked whether she had moved anywhere.

She replied that a beggar had come to the door but due to the celebrations nobody had heard him except her. Since no one had responded to his cries, she had gone and gotten him a flour bag and he went away happy.

After hearing this, Eesa (A.S.) quickly removed her pillow from the bed and beneath that, was a black snake!

Her good deed had saved her life, even when she was supposed to die.

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There are 124,000 prophets and all were given separate parts of ‘knowledge’. That is, they knew a lot but they didn’t know it ‘all’.

A popular example can be seen in the Quraan where Hazrat Musa (A.S.) learns a lot from Hazrat Khizr (A.S.)

The only prophet who was given the knowledge of “All To Happen” and the power to change that was our beloved Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W.W.), the reason for the creation of this Universe.

In the case above, Hazrat Eesa (A.S.) knew that the bride would die but what he didn’t know was the fact that she would give food to the beggar and it would change her destiny i.e. Loh.

But who changes that destiny? Who has the power to alter the Loh? Who has the power to change the Universe, yet keep it in a perfect state?

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Sadqa (صدقہ) is the averter of calamities and that is why we hear ‘Sadqa Rad-de-Bala Hai’ (صدقہ ردِّ بلا ہے)!

The Universe is perfect. Allah made it so. It will achieve whatever it’s ultimate objective is. And it will follow the Loh.

By the Loh, if someone is to be killed by a snake, then it will happen. But Sadqa is something that can prevent that. Giving sadqa will avert any misfortunes coming one’s way but that would require changes in the Loh. And Allah is the only one who can do that. So the proof of Allah’s existence or that Allah is still alive is that he still interferes in the affairs of the Universe by editing the Loh and sadqa is the only thing that guarantees it. There are countless examples available through out our books.

Miracles and prayers can be said to change fate, but they don’t guarantee it. Sadqa does.

But is it also written in the Loh that the person will give sadqa?

That would mean the Loh is evolving. So what is the future of the Loh?

Only Allah knows, or Muhammad (S.A.W.W.).

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The Sadqa of Islam

اسلام کا صدقہ

In 61 AH, Islam was a relatively young religion, an infant, and it wouldn’t be absurd to say that it hadn’t even crawled on all fours till then. It was a new faith with shallow roots and was still taking over people’s hearts and lives. It was at that time that a tyrant came to power after his father’s death.

He made the claim that there was no Allah, no heaven nor hell and that Prophethood was just a drama by the Bani Hashim (A.S.). He claimed that no revelations had occurred, no angel had come and that Muhammad (S.A.W.W.) had deceived all. The infant Islam was in grave danger. ‘Allah’ was in danger!

After making these claims, he decided to drive the nail into the coffin and force the heir of Muhammad (S.A.W.W.) to swear allegiance to him as the rightful ruler and accept his claims. A “hand or head” offer was extended to that heir.

The heir rejected to provide his hand in allegiance and set forth on a journey with his entire family to Makkah. The tyrant dispatched his men to try and kill the heir during Hajj.

The heir came to know of this and changed his Hajj to an Umrah. Then he left the city of Makkah in order to preserve it’s Holiness and to prevent bloodshed within the boundaries of the Haram. His final destination became the desert land that Muhammad (S.A.W.W.) had promised would be the grounds of his slaughter.

There he stopped and set up camp. Forces of the tyrant started to arrive soon after. They forced the heir to move his camp away from the water and blocked it.

Children in the heir’s camp started crying and begging for water. Even the six-month old had nothing to drink.

Three days later, all men were cut to pieces, including many children and even the six-month old was butchered from ear to ear by a three-pronged arrow. The heir sacrificed every thing and everyone for the sake of truth, then offered himself. He fought valiantly and reduced the tyrants massive army to countable numbers. When it was the time of Asr, he put his sword back in it’s sheath, was pierced by arrows from every direction and then bowed to Allah. His head was cut off in the state of Sajdah. The remaining man, women and children were captured and subjected to the most inhuman tortures possible.

All martyrs gave their lives to prove that Muhammad (S.A.W.W.) was right, there had been revelations, there are heaven and hell and that it was worth dying for. They showed the world the difference between right and wrong.

They offered their lives as Sadqa over Islam and Islam’s fate changed!

The heir saved the religion of Allah. Now Islam has grown into a 1400 year old, mature religion with roots deep into people’s lives. It is the fastest growing religion of all. Allah is still alive in the minds of Muslims everywhere.

And so is Husain…

 

انسان   کو   بیدار  تو   ہو   لینے   دو

ہر قوم پکارے گی  ہمارے ہیں حسین


اسلام کے دامن میں بس اس کے سوا کیا ہے

اِک  ضربِ  یداللّہی  ،   اِک  سجدہءِ  شبّیری

 

شاعر: علامہ محمد اقبال

Yadullah is the title of Hazrat Ali (A.S.) meaning the hand of Allah while Shabbir is the title of Imam Husain (A.S.).

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SAWJ’s Note: This is a post written on the go, without any planning. If you disagree, try to be polite!

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People Who Almost Got The Answer: Adnan, Saadat.

People Who Wasted My Time In Trying To Prove The Question Wrong: Absar, Brickwall. :P

World In Which Creations Have Drowned

Tuesday, November 18th, 2008

Oh my son! This world is like an ocean in which many a creation had drowned. Make, therefore, the fear of God your boat in this ocean; your faith the main hull of the boat; reliance on God as its sails; reason as its rower; knowledge as its captain; and patience as its anchor.

Hazrat Ali (A.S.)

Credit: Wajahat Abbas