Is my God different to your God?

"Say, 'He is Allah, [who is] One. Allah, the Eternal Refuge. He neither begets nor is born. Nor is there to Him any equivalent'." (Al-Qur'an, Chapter 112, Verses 1-4)

It's pretty fundamental, one's understanding of God. There are those who don't believe in God and those who do. As for those who do, do they each believe in a different God or the same God, or multiple Gods even? It's a question often put forward by those of no faith, or of uncertain faith: "Let's say I am to believe in God, which do I believe in?!"

The problem, like a lot of things in life (!!), lies in a dependence on names over definitions. Call a God "God" or "Allah" or "Jehovah" or "Krishna" or whatever, but it matters little as compared to what one takes these names to mean. So, let's try our hands at a definition: God is the Originator of creation (the "universe" as we know it and the "angels" and so forth of which we know little), Who has no beginning and no end. What do you think? You like? You agree?

Now, let's work with that definition - of God being the Originator, Who has no beginning and no end - it's then impossible for there to be multiple Gods or for each of us to believe in a different God, i.e. assuming there is such a God, there can only be one such God and we each believe in and call out to that one same God. From this basis does all interesting discussion begin: is there such a God? Did God then create us and the world around us with a purpose? Are we to figure out this purpose ourselves or has God communicated it to us? Of those to have claimed such revelation ("prophethood"), how can we distinguish the truthful from the opportunist from the mistaken? How do we know that the teachings with us today attributed to these "prophets" are indeed the teachings of these prophets? And so on and so forth...

Mathaabah - a place of returning

wa idh ja3alnaa-al-bayta mathaabatan-li-nnaasi...

"And when We made the House (the Ka3bah at Makkah) a Mathaabah (a place of resort) for mankind..." (Al-Qur'an, 2:125)

The word 'Mathaabah' in the verse above is used denote a place to which one returns again and again. And how fitting this word is when one of the undeniable privileges the Ka3bah enjoys is its being a place where people assemble from all over the world, and to which they long to return to timelessly.

Indeed, a person never has enough of visiting the Ka3bah and he parts every time with a greater desire to return. How spectacular this power to draw millions of people is when one thinks how little Makkah has to offer by way of landscape, and how little the Ka3bah has to offer by way of architecture and artistry!

Some even go on to say that a sign of one's Hajj being accepted is that, on parting, they find in their heart this desire to return and to present themselves at the Ka3bah once more.

(Paraphrased commentary of Mufti Muhammad Shaafi'ee's Ma3aariful Qur'an)

Hajj 2013 for me insha-Allah!!

When his Lord put Abraham to test

"And when his Rabb put Ibrahim to test with certain Words, and he fulfilled them. He (God) said, 'I am going to make you an Imaam for the people'..."

(Al-Qur'an, Surah al-Baqarah, part of verse 124)

Sweet commentary in Mufti Muhammad Shaafi'ee's Ma'aariful Qur'an about this verse! Boiled down...

We see in this verse the purpose of the many tests and trials which the Prophet Abraham was made to pass through. It was not punishment for a crime or anything like that! The attribute of God - Rabb - used in the verse conveys the purpose finely: it was to develop and nurture him, gradually, in stages, for his role, his reward you could say, to be an Imaam, a guide, a leader, for his people.

Envy vs Contentment

"... Contentment is a treasure that never exhausts.
Know that that which has been allotted for you, it will reach you..."

(Quote from the chapter on envy in the 'Purification of the Heart' audio series)

Envy: a want aroused on sight of someone else's possessions, qualities or luck.

Contentment: satisfaction in what one is and has.

Dua: For You alone

Nice Dua I found last night in Mawlaanaa Ashraf Ali Thanawi's 'The Accepted Whispers' (Khalid Baig's translation, page 111):

(1) O Allah, for You alone is all praise.
(2) For You alone is all gratitude.
(3) Yours alone is the entire dominion.
(4) To You alone belongs the entire creation.
(5) All good is in Your hands alone.
(6) And the disposal of all matters ultimately rests in You alone.
(7) I beg You for all good
(8) And I seek protection in You from all evil.

(1) Allahumma lakal-hamdu kulluh(u),
(2) wa lakash-shukru kulluh(u),
(3) wa lakal-mulku kulluh(u),
(4) wa lakal-khalqu kulluh(u),
(5) biyadikal-khayru kulluh(u),
(6) wa ilayka yarji3ul-amru kulluh(u),
(7) as-aluka minal-khayri kullih(i),
(8) wa a3oodhu bika minash-sharri kullih(i).

It's referenced in 'The Accepted Whispers' as having been taken from [Abu Sa'eed al-Khudri. Kanz al-'Ummal #22551].

New Testament: Be ye serpents, Be ye doves

Be ye wise,

shrewd, as serpents.

Be ye innocent,

harmless, as doves.

(Slight adaptation of Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 10, Verse 16)

New Testament: The Harvest

The harvest is plenteous,

the labourers few.

(Part of Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 9, Verse 37)

Ma'ariful Qur'an: The Free

On them shall be no fear,

for that which is to come.

nor will they grieve,

over that which has passed.

Attachment

Where you lay your treasure,

there will your heart be.

(Play on words of Matthew's Gospel, Chapter 6, Verses 19-21)

A twofold system for memorising Quran

I thought I'd type up the current system I'm using for memorising the Quran. I say current because it's a system that I amend slightly as the years go by. Here's how it works; there are two parts which go together hand in hand:

1. You learn one new line every day. Some days you'll learn two lines and some days you'll learn half a line. The important thing is that you average one new line every day. By following this religiously you'll learn fifteen lines in half a month, which is a page, and therefore two pages every month. Continuing the math, you'll learn twenty pages every ten months, which is a Juz. Each day, recite the new line in sequence along with the lines that immediately precede it. For added benefit, be sure to look up the meaning of the new line whilst you're learning it.
2. You revise half of a Juz every day. You start on the first day with the first half-Juz of the Quran. The next day you proceed to the second half-Juz. And so on and so forth up to the last half-Juz that you know. When you reach the last half-Juz that you know, go back and start the revision cycle again. A half-Juz daily may seem a lot but when you spread it over the five prayers of the day (reciting the verses in the prayers even), it's not difficult at all.

Feel free to start with smaller targets than what I've suggested here but do keep track of both your learning and your revision. Find an app that helps you with this or stick a chart up on your bedroom wall if you're averse to technology. The only way to really keep on top of your memorisation and your revision is to track it. Trust the data and not how you feel you're doing.

Ma'ariful Qur'an: Blessings – The tangible and intangible

Food, wealth, health, family, security.

Honour, happiness, intelligence, wisdom, guidance.

The joys of this world

The joys of this world

joys they are indeed

joys no doubt

tainted as they are

tinged as they are

with fear, with worry, with grief,

of decrease, of protection, of loss.

Such, is the life of this world.

Ma'ariful Qur'an: The Prophet's Miracle

To celebrate the start of Ramadhan - the month of Qur'an - let's have a think to enumerate some of the Qur'an's distinctive qualities:

1. When listened to with even the slightest courtesy, the recitation of the Qur'an - the melody and rhythm alone - takes a hold of the heart of the listener – Muslim or non-Muslim, Arab or non-Arab – in a strange, undeniable, incomparable manner.
2. The more one recites, studies and ponders a passage of the Qur'an – any passage of the Qur'an – the more eager one becomes to recite it and to understand it in yet greater depth. Few other books – if any – can retain their charm beyond a fourth or fifth reading for even the most fervent admirer.
3. No other book or comprehensive collection of teachings is so easy to memorise and memorised by so many people.

The distinguished few

If you love those who love you,
what reward have you?
Do not all men do the same?

And if you salute those who salute you,
what reward have you?
Do not all men do the same?

And if you bless those who curse you,
have heart for those who hate you,
pray for those who persecute you,
few are those who do the same.

Desire

Obeying desire
you'll see
is like watering a plant
or feeding a pet.
It grows!!

No alcoholic,
no gambler,
no banker,
ever had his fill,
ever consumed his want.

Consumed he was.

Yaqeen

Certainty.
Confidence.
Certainty carried in Confidence.

You alone our Lord

To You alone we direct our worship.
Free we are from submission
to any beside You.

From You alone we seek our help.
Free we are from dependence
on any beside You.

In Your hand we are our Lord.

The prayer for guidance

Guide us to the straight path
the Muslim's oft-repeated prayer
leaves no doubt

guidance is not binary
rather
a force to be fuelled

strengthened
in opposing one's self,
in the want to be led.

Ma'ariful Qur'an: Merits and peculiarities of al-Fatihah

Here is a summary of a chapter in Ma'aariful Qur'an which I found greatly beneficial. It describes some distinguishing merits and peculiarities of al-Fatihah, the opening Surah of the Qur'an:

1. It is the first Surah to be revealed in complete form.
2. It is the quintessence of the Qur'an and the rest of the Qur'an is its elaboration.
3. It ends with a request for guidance – the rest of the Qur'an is the answer to this request.
4. No other chapter of the Qur'an and no other book has anything to compare with it.
5. It is a cure for all kinds of illnesses.

And eat from it...

Following the previous post, here's another set of verses very very similar in wording and meaning to each other which I often confuse and mix up, the emphasised wa and fa in particular:

"... wa qulnaa yaa aadamu-skun anta wa zawjuka-al-jannata wa kulaa minhaa raghadan 7aythu shi'tumaa..." (2:35)

"... wa idh qulnaa-dkhuloo haadhihi-al-qaryata fa kuloo minhaa 7aythu shi'tum raghadan-wa-dkhuloo-al-baaba sujjadan..." (2:58)

"... wa yaa aadamu-skun anta wa zawjuka-al-jannata fa kulaa min 7aythu shi'tumaa..." (7:19)

"... wa idh qeela lahumu-skunoo haadhihi-al-qaryata wa kuloo minhaa 7aythu shi'tum..." (7:161)

That, that is the great success

There is this phrase in Surah at-Tawba which repeats four times (with slight variations) and which I keep getting slightly muddled up so writing the four occurrences of this phrase down side to side in hope of solidifying and disambiguating my memory store!

"... jannaatin-tajree min-ta7tihaa-al-anhaaru khaalideena feehaa
wa masaakina Tayyibatan-fee jannaati 3adnin;
dhaalika huwa-al-fawzu-al-aDheemu" (9:72)

"... jannaatin-tajree min-ta7tihaa-al-anhaaru khaalideena feehaa;
dhaalika-al-fawzu-al-aDheemu" (9:89)

"... jannaatin-tajree ta7tahaa-al-anhaaru khaalideena feehaa abadan;
dhaalika-al-fawzu-al-aDheemu" (9:100)

"... wa dhaalika huwa-al-fawzu-al-aDheemu" (9:111)

Written compilation of the Qur'an

Had a "wow that's quite freaky" moment whilst reading on the coach into London from Stansted airport yesterday. Read a bit of Chris Kuzneski's novel 'Sword of God' (not all that great a book but will write a full-er review when I get to the end) and a bit of Mufti Muhammad Shaafi's 'Ma'aariful Qur'an' from where I last left off in both books. And, strangely, the exact topic of both passages I read was the written compilation of the Qur'an initiated by the third caliph of Islam, Uthman ibn Affan.

Great to see in 'Sword of God' first hand what Mufti Muhammad Shaafi sets out to clarify in his 'Ma'aariful Qur'an'. That is, the Qur'an in the early generation of Muslims was hardly, if at all, spread by the written word. There were many many individuals around the Prophet who had committed the entire Qur'an to memory and this is what the Qur'an is (something to be spoken, recited rather) and how the Muslims of the time functioned. And these individuals were still around when the first caliph, Abu Bakr, assigned Zayd Ibn Thabit the task of collecting all the parchments (materials) on which verses of the Qur'an had been written in the presence of the Prophet. And many of these individuals (and many more) who had committed the Qur'an to memory/heart were still around when Uthman ibn Affan commissioned a group of four individuals (Zayd Ibn Thaabit, 'Abdullah ibn Zubayr, Sa'eed ibn al-'Aas, Abdur-Rahmaan ibn Harith ibn Hishaam) to put together a single-volume surah-ordered written copy of the Qur'an which incorporated all the different possible readings which the Prophet taught.

Quite an achievement in my opinion to put together a single written copy which served as an authority and incorporated and unified the multiple readings which the revelation allowed. Shame the point of it got missed and it clarified one misunderstanding for those of the time (i.e. the different readings the Qur'an allowed) only to give birth to another years later (i.e. none of the copies compiled at the time of Uthman ibn Affan can be found so there's no guarantee that the Qur'an we have is the unaltered version as taught by the Prophet). I guess there's no pleasing all. To each his goal.

H2O and The Trinity

On my way home last night, I bumped into two gentlemen standing outside a Church handing out leaflets and inviting people in for coffee. I got talking to them on the topic of the Trinity which I struggle to get my head around. And, despite the lengthy discussion, I still cannot get my head around it. So: God is composed of three elements – the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost – just like water is composed of three elements – two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. And: God changes form – sometimes the Father, sometimes the Son and sometimes the Holy Ghost – just like water changes form – sometimes liquid, sometimes solid and sometimes gas.

I cannot understand how people who are otherwise brilliant, smart and intellectual feed on this. I mean: if water changes to liquid, solid or gas, it's still always wholly water, just in a different form (i.e. liquid, solid or gas). Likewise, if God were to change form to be the Father, the Son or the Holy Ghost, God is still God, just in a different form. However, if God is wholly the Father, wholly the Son or wholly the Holy Ghost, then God cannot simultaneously be a fractional composition of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. This is like saying one hydrogen or oxygen atom is water. It's not the case. The simile doesn't work.

Lastly, there's the question which I can never find a convincing response to: if Jesus is God or a fraction of God even, is it not a bit strange that Jesus (when on this earth) was supplicating and praying to God? And by "convincing response" I mean consistent with sense and reason. Because: whilst we find that revelation from God is oftentimes outside the realm of sense and reason (e.g. being taught that we have a soul or how to make ablution for prayer), it is never inconsistent with sense and reason. Well, at least I haven't been able to find an example of revelation which is inconsistent with sense and reason. I am happy to retract this belief of mine if there is a counter-example. It is not central to my argument about the Trinity being a mathematical absurdity. It's just a side point.

Ma'ariful Qur'an: Wahy - The divine revelation

Man has his senses,
and reason,
and then there is revelation.
Men inspired by God
to teach what is beyond us,
what is beyond this world.

Smile

I was given a near final collection of sayings and doings of the Prophet (عليه الصلاة والسلام) on the topic of smiling to look over around a week ago. I started going over it today and in doing so noticed this verse (53:44) mentioned a few times...

"And it is He (Allah) 

Who brings about laughter 

and brings about tears."

... and then irony of ironies guess which Surah the Imaam recites just now in Eisha prayer? Yup! Never noticed it before but'll probably now never miss it, alhamdulillah.

It's like being out at sea!

He stands there
out at sea...
Hit by a wave

how foolish he would be
out at sea
to think it his first, or his last.

For waves are
out at sea
the rule.