By December 20, 2017 Read More →

Chapter A’la – Part 3

“God created me” is a baseless language. “I am given existence” is a correct start. By what? Nature? Accident? Let us see.

First we have to realize that we are given existence, in the language of the Quran means that we are created. Create means give existence to something i.e. when you realize that you have some qualities. Example: the ability to think is given to you. The ability to walk is given to you. Go through all your qualities and see how all your qualities are given to you and accordingly you start thinking: what can give existence to me with these qualities?

87: 2 “who creates and forms it in accordance with what it is meant to be.”

  • Can accident form me in accordance to what is meant to be in my existence?
  • Can matter make me?
  • Can nature or the particles themselves form me in accordance with what is meant to be in my existence?
  • Think freely.
  • If you say no, then do not be fearful. There must be something giving me existence.

In order to assign a Maker to the computer, I have to investigate the qualities of the computer. Similarly, when I investigate my qualities, I attribute them to a Maker. This Maker must have enough qualities to put all my particles in accordance to what is meant to be in my existence. I am in need of a Maker, a Source which will give me my existence with a certain form that I am willed to function according to the purpose in my existence. Does this Source have enough qualities to make everything perfectly fitting each other in order to be consistent within Its Own existence?

“Qaddara” comes from the word “mikdaar” in Arabic, one of the meanings of which is “according to measurement”. Does the Source have enough power and at the same time enough measuring quality to adjust everything perfectly with each other? My eyes work with the capacity of my brain and my brain works with the capacity of my heart and lungs. Just a tiny example of the physical side of my existence. I also have an emotional side such as when I get excited, I start laughing. My physical side is used to display my feeling which is my happiness. Everything is perfectly fitting.

87:3 “and who determines the nature of creatures, and thereupon guides it [towards its fulfillment]”

A sheep gives birth to a lamb and gives milk for human beings. Sheep also eats grass and chews. Everything must be adjusted and measured to the very finest point that there should be no discrepancy within all the processes taking place. Every part is perfectly measured and determined accordingly. We are concerned about creation, how things are determined perfectly and function. Fulfillment is what creation is meant to be for. Hence for me, I question what am I going to do here as a human being in my existence? Why am I here? We are conscious beings and we are created. I am given existence and what is interesting is that I am aware of my existence. I am given the ability to be aware of my existence. I am hard wired with it. What does it mean that I am aware of my existence? I am aware that I am given existence by something which makes me be aware of my own qualities and makes me question: “how come I have these abilities? How am I enabled to be able to question my ability i.e. my existence?” It is the most important subject that we have to think about every day and every moment. If you use this ability, you will find that everything around you is given existence and you are also given existence.

  • I am aware that our existence has a purpose to be fulfilled.

Why am I given the ability to think why am I here and that I must have a purpose in my existence? I cannot deny it and say that I do not care as I am here by myself. If you do not care, then why do you eat, drink, breathe…? Why do you prefer to maintain your existence as a live being? This is also included in your consciousness: “I am in need for my qualities to be maintained”. Every baby comes to this world and automatically they get nourishment. The need for being given existence is within us. We need to question the Source of our existence and the purpose of our existence as we are created and given existence in this world.

Why did God create me? That is a self-contradictory question. You do not know why do you exist in this world and you keep bringing God in the equation. Where did you get the concept of God? First see the creation and the qualities and see how they work and then look for a Source. If you can conclude that I cannot exist by myself, my particles cannot give me my existence and form, they need to be created and need to be given existence, and only then you can bring in God into the picture. There is nothing superfluous in existence. Whether you find something today or tomorrow, there is nothing futile in creation. Even dirt is not futile. Can you imagine there is no dirt in the universe?

  • See the purpose in the existence of everything and see if It has a Source.

The whole universe is like me and I need to be given existence and I need to be adorned with the necessary equipment in order to function for the purpose that I am created for. (Just as the laptop is given existence to function as a laptop).

Who is arranging for everything to be like me? As a result of which, I can comfortably go out of the whole universe looking for a Source, something which is not within the universe, yet arranging everything. How about the qualities? Which kind of Source of existence can it be? Look at yourself. How your nature has been determined and decided in a way that demonstrates all the qualities of its Maker in a perfect measured way? This same Maker adjusted your nature perfectly and guided it towards the fulfillment of what it is meant to be for i.e. to question: What is the purpose of my existence?

Everything is guided to that direction. Human beings start thinking that I have been given freewill either to search or ignore. Lailaha Illahu (there is no Source of existence in this world but It). When you are living in this world, be conscious and careful of this reality. I am here and everyone around me is given existence in a perfect way as well and given the ability to fulfill its purpose. All beings fulfill their purpose automatically (as they are created) (example, a cow fulfills its purpose automatically by giving milk) and so do angels but only human beings can make things difficult for themselves because of “freewill”. We can choose to ignore it, act accordingly or go against it. Nothing in the world can do what human beings are capable of because of freewill.

Is it difficult to act in accordance with the purpose of my existence? No, but because of the lack of consciousness about the importance of freedom, we divert ourselves without referring to our reality saying that I am doing this and I have freewill. Apart from the biological reasons, if any of us have psychological problems, it is just because of our freewill. We are choosing something wrong and we are treating ourselves in the wrong way, no other reason.

Comment: But I am depressed.

You are choosing to employ your freewill in the wrong way. Face your reality! “I am using my freewill in the wrong way.” After diagnosing the problem, the solution is very easy. I am not utilizing my freewill within my own capacity as it is given to me to be employed to work in the right way. My consciousness is the source of everything and knows everything.

  • My consciousness comes first before anything else.

Then I am aware that I am conscious of questioning why am I here and what am I doing? Then if I decide to be honest with myself, with my own qualities and face myself with my own qualities in a realistic way without diverting/swerving it in another direction, then I should fulfill the purpose in my existence. If I am not using my freewill in the right way, be brave and say: “It is my mistake!” God does not say that you should not do any mistakes. No! There are no verses that say that we should not make any mistakes as if people are not supposed to make mistakes. No! We make mistakes. It is quite normal. What is expected of us is to accept it. “This was a mistake, I accept and I repent”. Confess it and YOU WILL SOLVE ALL YOUR PROBLEMS! Be realistic. Do not be disappointed because you have misused your freewill. Just find out where you went wrong since you are given the ability to be conscious of what is going on within your own existence. Find out where I have distorted my usage of freewill to choose the wrong way rather than the guided way (fulfillment of what is meant to be in my existence).

What is meant to be in my existence?

Ask yourself: “Why am I here?” Do not say that I am going to read the scripture to find out why I am here? That is external! Be careful about it! Do not blindly follow religious concepts to mislead yourself. First go back to your own consciousness and question within your own self: “Where am I contradicting within the purpose of my existence by misusing my freewill i.e. choosing the wrong way?” No one interferes in your freedom including the Creator of the freewill, Who does not interfere in the usage of your freewill. “You are set free that is My promise until I give an end to your life in this world, i.e. transform it to another type of creation”. If someone says that I cannot know how to use my freewill and I have to use religious sources, then that is escapism. That is, some may read the verses as “yes God created me and now I need to get guidance from the scripture”.

Unless you start questioning and searching within your existence the guidance within you (which is your consciousness), and then you say that I want to be aware of the purpose of my existence, let me examine it and only after that the Speech of God gives you teaching and guiding or helps you to discover what is in yourself within your capacity. We do not learn anything which is not within our capacity. If I do not have the capacity to understand something beyond the capacity of this universe, then how can I know that there must be something which is beyond the capacity of this universe and gave existence to this universe?

  • If you do not have the capacity to comprehend the necessary existence of the Creator, then how can you believe and accept that there must be a Creator since it is not within your capacity?

This Quran is guidance for those people who want to help fulfill the guidance within themselves. It looks like as if Quran is not a serious source but it is a serious source. The Speech of the teacher is a serious source. Just as you want to use this laptop in a perfect way without spoiling it. What do you do the first time that you get a laptop? You are very cautious not to make a mistake as you are using it. “Muttaqee” or Taqwah i.e. I should not spoil it. In other words, trying to be careful not to make mistake or misuse my existence. Then, these people need what? The manual for how to use the laptop.

“Muttaqee” comes from a word which has a meaning of “be careful not to spoil it”. Mother is very muttaqee not to hurt the baby. Mother’s affection for the baby is not out of her freewill. If I am muttaqee not to use myself in the wrong way or not to contradict the purpose in my existence, then I have to deal with myself as a “baby”. I am the mother and my being is a baby, how can I not damage it? The first time you are careful with a new laptop. Muttaqee means “being careful”. If you have this choice as a result of your freewill, then the guidance of the speech or the teacher helps you. Otherwise, if you are not careful about fulfilling the purpose of your existence, then the manual will not be beneficial.

First you have to feel the need of knowing how to use your abilities without spoiling it, messing it up according to the purpose of your existence. Why am I here? What is expected of me? How can I train myself in order to fulfill the purpose of my existence in this world? When you start thinking/feeling about it, you start developing a sensitivity not to spoil the purpose of your existence and not to misuse it or corrupt it and then you can get guidance from the verbal explanation.

  • Manual book/ The Quran= how to use yourself.

Comment: Can you explain how a mother has no freewill when feeding the baby?

The emotions towards the baby to nourish it are automatic. However, parent’s may exploit the baby’s needs with their imagination i.e. use their freewill in order to adapt the needs of the child to their own needs. Spoil the child and make them dependent on themselves. That is, the child is a toy and they appropriate it to themselves. They reflect their own feelings to the baby. Otherwise, feeling affectionate towards the baby is automatic.

Breathing is not the result of freewill. We have to be careful not to use freewill in contradiction with the way that we are guided in our creation because only then we can get guidance from the manual book. If you say that I do not care if my creation gets spoiled, then, that is what you are choosing not to listen to teachers or use the manual book. Unless you are determined and decisive to be careful on how to use yourself, then you want a teacher to guide you and that is your decision.

  • Muttaqee= the one who is very careful not to make a mistake or misuse himself.

In the religious circle, muttaqee is the one who prays more rakaat. You can do it but it is not what taqwa means. Here, the word has lost its real meaning.

Comment: In order not to misuse my freewill, is that when I need to go look for guidance?

In order not to misuse your freewill, pay attention to your consciousness. I am aware of my existence and I am endowed with the quality to realize what I am doing right or wrong. Choose within my quality that I should make the right choice. Have your questions ready and then look for the answer to them.

Comment: So, at what point am I ready to seek guidance?

After being aware of your existence, if you are practicing taqwa, you decided that you have to use your abilities and you are aware that you are given existence by someone which is not within the conditions of this universe and you want to use yourself in accordance to what is meant to be in your existence. Now try to use yourself, your feelings and inclinations within yourself and then you can go and have a reference from the manual book (verbal teaching) or exemplary teachings in the exemplary life of the Prophet. But you have to decide to be consistent in your own existence. Face your reality first and see that you are given the ability to be aware of yourself and the purpose of your existence but how can I make it function in the right way or fulfill the purpose of my existence?

Analogy: If you want to learn Engineering, what do you do? You go to school. If you are not determined to be an Engineer and do not feel the need for it, even if you go to school forced by your parents, can you learn anything? No. The Quran does not help you if you have not prepared yourself. Everything depends on you and your choice. Be brave, use your consciousness and question yourself. Here are the stages that are automatic within us i.e. within the act of creation:

Stage 1: Realize that you are created.
Stage 2: Realize that you are formed in a specific way (i.e. the human way).
Stage 3: Realize that you are created for a purpose.
Stage 4: Realize that you need guidance to fulfill this purpose.

Comment: That is where the problems lie within me right now, the differentiation between what is automatic within me and feeling the need to consult a manual. Why should I consult a manual?

Because your consciousness says that I should be perfectly operating my existence in the way that it is created for to fulfill its purpose perfectly. If there is a manual, why shouldn’t I use it? Another aspect, if the Maker of the laptop is a wise person, if He is wise enough to make the machine, what would you expect from this person? To provide a manual on how to use it so that people should operate it in the right way without messing it up. Wisdom requires this. This is my consciousness which tells me that the One who makes this machine of the universe and my own machine of my being (if you think that there is a wisdom in your existence i.e. physical and emotional side of human beings, nervous system, blood circulation system and kidneys…), then definitely you conclude that my Maker is a wise One. “He is a Wise guy, really doing everything perfectly”. As a result of this reasoning, you conclude that this guy must have a manual book for the people who do not want to spoil the machine. If you do not want to spoil your being, then you look for “taqwa”. But you have to understand that within your existence, everything (all 4 stages) work perfectly in harmony with each other. Within myself I am equipped with everything so let me not mess it up. My Maker must teach me without putting me in trouble. I am breathing and everything in my body works perfectly. What should I do, I have to use my freewill to keep my being to fulfill the purpose of its existence.

Why am I made in the way that I am made? Then you start reading the manual book to not contradict the purpose of your existence. What is the purpose of my existence? Why am I here? What am I supposed to do here? Very human questions. “Yes I have a consciousness that questions that. Why? I do not know. The One who made me must explain me.” Only after that the verbal explanation helps you.

Comment: Our human qualities all communicate with each other in all senses.

Most important ability for human beings is “consciousness”. I am aware that I can question, that I can think, I am aware that I have freewill, I can misuse my freewill. If you were not aware then you would not be responsible for anything or you are not treated as a human being. I am aware that I am aware sounds like a tautology. What a great thing! Nothing in existence has this quality. We are given the ability to be aware of our own qualities and we can question it.

Comment:Determines” has to do with measurement.

“Qaddara” includes in it all qualities manifested together. “If I do not use my power within proper measure, then I am a stupid man”. Qadara is a concept developed in the Quran, He is able to do it and He does it within a perfect measurement in the right place right time for the right purpose. You may be knowledgeable and if you use your knowledge in the wrong place, then you are a stupid man. Utilize the knowledge of mathematics according to the level of the students. That is measurement. In creation, we see power is manifested. The Creator is not manifesting anything without any measurement.

87:4 “and the One who brings forth the pasture”

Animals need to eat food and plants which are all prepared separately, in different varieties. I need food and produce is prepared in California. Pasture means that everything is tied up with each other in terms of needs. Grass needs to be eaten up by animals, otherwise, when grass grows wild, it’s hard to cut. California’s atmosphere does not know my needs but there is a relationship and interconnectedness between my sense of hunger and the food prepared in California. “We created the sun, mountains, rains, animals…as a source of nourishment for your needs”. Such a purposeful arrangement between acts of creation all around; they complete each other’s needs. I have the need to see and I am given eyes. My needs and the means to fulfill my needs are perfectly arranged.

Everything is perfectly tied to each other demonstrating that the Creator is constantly arranging everything perfectly. Why am I given the sense of hunger? Not that there is something wrong in my existence. When you are given hunger, you look for food, you find food and your consciousness says what is going on, who has prepared this food for me? From dirt food is prepared, why? I am arranged together by a conscious wise being in order to realize that He is giving existence to everything to help my consciousness to realize that He is out there taking care of me. Connection between me and the satisfaction of my needs demonstrates a purposeful arrangement so I will be comfortable that I need nourishment and the One who provides it is taking care of my needs and He is Compassionate, Merciful, Wise, Generous… because you eat from what apparently Earth grows for you. Do not get disappointed when you get ill or old, these are all purposeful arrangements. We need to be aware that we are given health and it is very precious and if there was no illness created, would you see the purpose in your existence that you are taken care of? Otherwise you will say that I am self-sufficient. The purpose of our existence would be missing if we would not pay attention to the creation of pasture.

87: 5 “then reduces it to withered chaff”

After things are used, they are discarded. Just as you are hungry and you eat, everything goes to the toilet i.e. all fulfilled their mission. Body is also given to you as a perfect arrangement between human needs and the tools you are given. Do you like the smell of a rose? Yes, you need a nose. Your feelings need a tool to operate on it. The purpose of pasture is to teach conscious human beings that we are compassionately being taken care of. Our Creator is a kind Creator, not an ordinary Being.

Body is given to us to fulfill human needs, feelings and experience existence to fulfill its purpose. Purpose finishes in this life but human feelings remain. Example: by smelling and tasting, we see that everything is perfectly arranged, which brings us to the conclusion. What is the conclusion? Somebody is taking care of my needs consciously, generously, mercifully. Then body is in the grave as chaff because it fulfilled its purpose in its existence. After using tools, the class finished, you got the degree and now you stop going to school because you completed the education. Body is to be left as chaff after it fulfills its mission. It is wise that after a certain period of education I have to leave this body. That is why the Quran says that the universe will be destroyed because at the end, it fulfilled the purpose of its existence.

Comment: My purpose is dictated because of my physical presence.

Getting rid of this body is not the end of your existence. You as a human being must exist because your consciousness says that I do not want to fall into non-existence or annihilation. It is winter now, you are wearing winter clothes but when summer comes, you remove all winter clothing. Similarly, the body is like the clothing of the spirit which needs to change when the type of creation changes after “graduation.”

I am using all my tools to understand the purpose of my existence not the purpose of the existence of my body. I learned the meaning of my existence and now I do not need my body anymore. That is why the Quran says that when the universe fulfills its function then it is reduced to chaff. That is, your body can be thrown away. When I have been given the opportunity to train myself, to answer questions of my consciousness and use my tools, I did my homework and now I do not need them anymore. After using your tools, you learned and your consciousness wants to exist eternally.

We are just learning the methodology of reading the Quran and how to develop concepts according to the purpose of the teachings of the Quran. Not many people are paying attention to this side. Dictionary meaning has nothing to do with understanding Quranic concepts.




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