Balad, part 3
Recap: We may think that no one observes us when we do something behind closed doors. We may also think that our feelings (including a negative attitude of denying God) cannot be known if we do not expose it out externally. However, the Quran says that the One who creates you right now, don’t you think that He wouldn’t know. The One who is making me now, is there any way that this One does not know what I am doing? How ridiculous is it to think like this!? If a person who does not think that He has a Creator, who is continuously renewing his/her creation, then s/he is denying the existence of God. To accept that I have a Creator who is the Creator of the universe is very human, most of the people agree on this. They may call different names, such as God, a Creator, just like my glasses can be referred to as spectacles or corrective lenses.
How about now? What is going on in me? Am I creating it or the things around me are creating it? What is nature? Is nature creating me? Where is it? Is it in this world or outside this world, what does it mean?
There is a source of change taking place in me that is the most important point to pay attention to. From last year to this year, we all changed. Some of us may have gained weight, some of us may have appearances of grey hair… What does realize this change? What can be responsible for this change? Can my DNA structure do it and give me a new being? Who is the Originator of my existence at every moment? Again, we may say that if I do not show my feelings and act upon it, no one will know it. We may also say that God knows it, but do we feel it? In other words, do we feel how God is teaching us and taking us to a journey where we can realize that He is the One who is observing us and keeping the record of what we are doing? This is a purposeful creation, which cannot end up with a dead end or nothingness.
- If there is a conscious action, there must be a purpose to it i.e., if I see wisdom in something, then there must be a conscious agent or Originator behind it. This change is a constant deliberate change functioning within an order. The order functions by the will of a One who has established the order. The order itself is nothing but how the universe is created within an order. The order itself cannot be the source of existence anything, including the change in the universe. .
What is an order? There is no such entity existing out there called “order”. Example: there is a tree outside, can you show it? Yes. Example: there is a feeling in me, can I show it? Yes, I can express my feelings because I am living it. The order is information/knowledge that we gather from the sequences of the acts of creation. Through these acts of creation, conscious human beings observe it and as a result of their observances, we say that everything is orderly happening.
The order does not have external existence. People say natural order, which is just a concept. Example: There are two books on my table. The notion of “two” is in my mind and I have made a name for the existence of the two books on the table. The “two” is just an abstract notion to describe what the objects/things are there. The natural laws are just our perception and descriptions of the events. That is, “nature” is a description of what is going on in the world. The order is a description of the observation of the sequences of the actions that we are observing. There is no entity there as “order”. However, the quality of the things, the order of the universe points to the quality of the order-er, there must be an Order-er. Example: Is gravity/natural law a “constant happening”? Yes. This constant happening must be the action of something which is not in the universe but is the Artist and Originator of this universe.
We are observing and experiencing the manifestation of “a constant happening”, and its manifestation is a logical conclusion that there must be an Owner of this quality manifesting Itself. “This constant happening” does not have an external existence just like the two books on the table (as per example above). The “two” is my notion, but the quality of this numbering/counting the things is an ability which demonstrates my Maker’s quality that I can perceive creation in this way.
- The order itself points to the quality of the Order-er which manifests itself in this universe, but there is no entity within the universe which can be called “order”.
Can I say that the order of the universe is there happening constantly because of itself? Can I say that two books are there because of the “two” that I named? No, that is ridiculous!? The countability of “two” is a quality which is given to me, and this quality shows that my Creator is the One that teaches how to count. He is creating this quality within me, so that I can say that my Creator is the “muhasib” i.e., computes. Nothing should be difficult for the Creator because, He is the Source of Existence (SOE). The SOE means to give existence to things out of nothing, i.e., no materials are being used, just willing something to exist. These kinds of subjects may seem Philosophical speculations. Without turning it into Philosophy, we must be realistic, and we have to think about the real nature of this world, what is going on in this world, then we will understand.
If someone thinks that whatever is hidden in my mind and feelings, no one knows it if I don’t expose it. Rather, the One who creates you right now with the ability to see, think and reason must know it. The way the Quran presents this in a very simple way, which aims at educating the general public so that it can get easily integrated into their culture. The Quran actually provides the methodology of thinking, just like in the verses under discussion.
90:7 “Does he think that no one observes him?”
Now the following verse brings in evidence of this question.
90:8 “Have We not given him two eyes?”
Your Creator who creates you with these qualities of two eyes, who gave it to you, think about it? This is the simplest example that the Quran gives. Yes, I have two eyes, who gave it to me, I must investigate it. Can I have it accidentally, because of the jumbling up of atoms? Think about it, is it possible? Example: your house has perfectly arranged furniture. Is it possible that even after a billion years of jumbled random happenings, the particles in the house can come together and arrange the furniture? No. Is the furniture arranged accidentally? No. Can I say that I am evolving by myself? No. Can I say that my senses are developing out of matter, and I found myself loving this appearance?
This appearance and my sense in my being happen to come into existence at the end of the jumbling up of unconscious matter perfecting themselves? Would you believe this? Ask yourself this question and give it an answer.
- Impossible! Beauty cannot come out of matter and matter cannot act by itself. Matter is subject to the order, and it does not have any freedom to go out of the order of the universe.
They say that the natural laws don’t change. If the natural laws do not change, it means that there is no option for the particles to act or obey according to the requirements of the order. Everything must obey the order. The order means a perfect design of this universe, which demonstrates that the Creator of this universe is creating everything with a perfect design, preparations, and order. Again, there is no order out there, rather it (the order) demonstrates the quality of the Creator, the Originator of this order. Nothing here has the choice to develop by themselves nor the ability to do anything by itself. If the furniture in the example above has the ability to arrange themselves, then they should have consciousness so that they will continue to follow the wise way, to perfect themselves and become a perfect arrangement of the furniture in a house and man loves it. The sense of love on the one hand, and the beauty of art on the other must also be arranged so that the communication will happen between the furniture and the man.
- The universe is created in such a way that we communicate with it.
Question: How am I to derive these attributes?
I have feelings, that is my capacity which is limited with my responsibility. My belief should be in line with myself. What does this mean? I should not reject my own reality, that is my responsibility. I do not know what God really thinks of me. However, what I know is that there is a purpose and there is an orderly creation here. Innumerable acts of creation are continuously taking place in the world and my senses are given to me by the One who created the universe and keeps creating it within an order. The same One has given me the sense of perceiving the order, understanding the order and given me the capacity to confirm that the SOE of this universe must have the quality to create the things within an order, and so I can call: “He is an Order-er Creator God, the Wise Creator and the Knowledgeable Creator, because I see the qualities of Him with the capacity given to me.”
- Whoever created you has given you this nature.
Let’s be honest to ourselves without any previous notions: “I do not know what it is, but I have these qualities and I must be honest to these qualities, whatever its SOE is. Also, I understand that I cannot explain my existence through accidental sequences of accidents. I am a human being, and I cannot accept that, that is what I am.” These qualities within me teaches me that I cannot accept that this universe is acting accidentally by itself and reaching this perfection by itself: “I must be consistent with myself even if I don’t take notice of God and responsibility before God seriously.” That is my honesty to be consistent within myself. I see that the universe is created within an order (this is nothing but a description of the things coming into existence in an orderly fashion, and this is the quality of the acts of the creation.
Whoever is the Originator, and the SOE of these types of action, must have the quality. Example: When I read a book, I see that there is knowledge there. Whoever wrote the book must also have knowledge that is why s/he reflected it on the book. However, is there any knowledge out there? Well, if I don’t see it, then I do not communicate with it. When I read the book, then I realize that the author of this book must have knowledge. That is what I am reading, His knowledge, although the author is not there. Since I am given the ability to perceive the knowledge, evaluate the knowledge, and appreciate the meaning in it, I must be consistent within myself and say that the paper and the ink cannot be the source of knowledge manifested in the book. There must be an author who must have knowledge. How do you know? Well, knowledge is manifested there, the order is manifested there. If I can consciously conclude that I have a conscious Creator, then He must have given me the quality to perceive creation in this way, and so, I should be consistent within myself, i.e., I would expect that if I am consistent with the way that I am created, then I am acting on the will of my Creator.
Even if there was no God, I am still honest to myself, that is how I am and I love it. The feeling of being honest within myself makes me feel happy and dishonesty to myself makes me unhappy. “The One who caused me to exist must have the quality of order, wisdom, purpose, and knowledge.” No one will question us apart from our Creator who has given us the quality to question, and you are granted the freedom to say what you want.
- To be honest to yourself is the point.
That is why we see amazing explanation in the Quran that says that “Islam is a religion of fitrah (nature) and essence, nothing different than yourself.” An internal consistency is the essence of God’s teachings.
- That is why we keep saying that belief is being consistent within oneself.
Comment: How does a person find out about themselves and explore their nature?
You must use yourself and your qualities, it needs reflection. In other words, a reflection on your own self or introspective analysis of yourself: Who am I? Which kinds of feelings do I have? An answer will not make sense to you if you do not have any questions. To have your concern about something, you must question yourself. Some essential questions: How can I get these feelings? Which kind of being am I? We learn religious knowledge without questioning about ourselves. Example: How come I have a sense of love towards my mother, and I do not want her to die? It is not you who loves your mother, rather who gave you the sense of not wanting your mother to die.
- When you question yourself, you start realizing the importance of the existence of these senses and you will find out your nature, the way that you are created.
Question: How do I reconcile the feeling of wanting to be alone when bothered by others?
Within your nature there is a sense of love, jealousy, hatred, suspicion, isolation, and being cold. We have been given various senses and we must use them in the way that they are created, and I have been given the option to deny them, spoil them and misuse them or not.
Comment: Where did this prompt of introspection come from? It seems that it is not necessary to survive, reproduce and be introspective here? Where did we get this idea to examine ourselves to get some meaning from? Most of us go on living by denying our feelings here though may not be intentionally. Where will this prompt lead us to when we follow it? When we follow it, we find an internal world and then when we question both worlds, we see that there is no difference. Our feelings are messengers given to us to fulfill a purpose to not deny God.
Indeed, introspective analysis is the beginning of the realization of our human nature.
Comment: What is my nature seeking for when looking for isolation?
Within your human nature, there is a sense of isolation, being cold and distant. The conditions are out there, and you must decide because all these options are given to you. Love is given to you. Hate is given to you. And so, you must see under which conditions you are going to use the sense of love, or under which conditions you are going to use the sense of hatred? Example: If someone denies God, I must use the sense of hatred towards this idea. I must love the man who denies because he is the neediest man on Earth, and he needs help. If a person is very ill and cannot move, do you get angry with him or you try to help him move?
If an atheist needs compassion from you and he is going to die of hunger for the truth, we must extend our help to him. Are we going to expand our acceptance of her/his obvious denial of the reality in the universe? No.
Example: Do I want to be ill? No, that is why I must help sick people to recover from their health. They need it and what I love for myself I should love for others regardless of their faith. For we see in this world that God gives everyone equally, whoever works for their provisions gets the result regardless of their belief. If anyone chooses submission to their Creator equally receives the security and happiness in their lives, and otherwise is also correct.
Everything depends on the condition. While I am hating the idea of denial, I am loving the man to help him. I must love him as a human being completely in need of help, not the choice of denial.
That is why all the Prophets begged God: “Please give those who are showing enmity to me guidance, they don’t know, and they need it.” Just like you pray and try to help hunger-stricken people: “O God! You gave me the sense and I cannot stand it”. When it comes to hunger, we all want to help with food. However, when it comes to denial, we should extend more helping hands. Why? Hunger can damage your body, but denial is damaging your spirit and destroying your eternal life.
If a person says that s/he is hungry, you feel empathy and help out. Now if a person is burning out of having no satisfaction in their existence, then they are deprived from the Mercy of their Creator. If the Creator does not treat you with His Mercy, where else do you get it? This is Hell. Can you imagine that a person drags himself/herself to Hell by the sense of the idea of denial? How can you not organize an Islamic relief for the people and present them with the best way (without accepted biases), freely organized and encouraging people to use their brain/thinking?
It depends on the atmosphere, environment, and conditions for us to use the sense of love, hate and others in the right place, we know it and the Quran gives us guidance. The Quran usually emphasizes on the necessity of eternal life in the hereafter, which is the most essential need of the human being.
In the verse, have we not given you two eyes, to explain to you that what is going on in you is known by the One who has created you with these qualities? The Quran always gives simple examples because it must be available and understandable to the minds of every kind of people. That is, the literate and Illiterate people can benefit from the Quran. While the Qur’an gives simple examples it puts them in such a way that everyone benefits from the same example according to their capacities. This is due to the rhetorical quality of the Qur’an.
Who decides for you to look at something? Can your brain automatically decide that I will look there? When you choose to use your brain, to turn your eyes, the brain communicates with the eyes, nerves and then synapse. The eye is like a photographic machine, someone must have made it this way. When I want my brain to command my eye to turn this way, materially it functions in a certain way, although they are not the creator. You may say that my brain functions when I want to. Who are you besides your brain, body, and eyes? What do we mean by “mine”? Without me wanting my eyes to turn, can it turn? No. Can the brain command the eye to turn? No. We are conscious beings.
What is consciousness? What is self-awareness?
Most say that the scientists are going to find out. Scientists only find out the subatomic particles, but I am not my body, I am not particles, I am not my brain, I am not my eye and I have my own existence. That is how I am made. All these elements including the mind in my body are under my control. You cannot reduce me to a lump of matter!
90:9 “And a tongue, and a pair of lips?”
The obvious evidence out there demonstrates that the One who created my eyes, tongue and two lips is organizing everything perfectly demonstrating that He is an all-Powerful Creator, all-Wise and all-Knowledgeable Creator. Example: I am speaking, my tongue and lips are moving. If I do not speak, my tongue does not do anything. Does the brain command the tongue to speak? No. My brain follows my choice, I do not follow my brain. The problem of materialism is that they cannot explain human qualities, especially selfhood. Some of them reduce existence to consciousness, which is true, but consciousness is only a part of our self-hood i.e., “spirit” given to you by your Creator, and He made it perfect for yourself. That is what they are denying the spirit (or “rooh”) and that is why they are unbelievers. We must introduce their human senses to them in order to help them.
The One who does all this is the One who is the SOE, creating your mind, the senses of memory, fear and all the other qualities. Thus, He knows.
By giving accessible and simple examples, God ensures that He is the One observing us. Do you know what I have in my feelings? No one in the world knows it, but my Creator knows. If we have this awareness that my Creator is with me, and seeing what I have in my mind, can you have a bad intention at all? No. This is a matter of belief in your Creator.
Comment: Each one of us can find what is right and what is wrong.
Think: “Right now what is going on in me, my thoughts, my feelings are known by the Creator of the universe, and I am in front of Him. I cannot hide myself from Him, both body and internal feelings as well.” What can you do? Don’t you start trembling? It is so amazing if you can experience this for 3 seconds at least, i.e. I am in front of my Creator, and He is in front of me. That is the ever-kept alarmed consciousness of the Messengers. Don’t be afraid of anything, God is with us, and He knows what is going on because He is the Creator. (The verse reads: “…he [the messenger] said to his companion, ‘Do not worry, God is with us…” Qur’an, 9: 40) I am choosing and while He is creating the result of choice He is video recording it to show me when the day comes, what have you learned from My presentation?
- He is with me and seeing what I have in my heart and mind. This realization is only possible as a result of my belief in God.
We are not expected to be perfect, but with the guidance of our Creator, we should make some sort of progress with our struggles. God is the Perfect One! At least we must seek perfection as much as possible wherever we are. Where I am in my journey is not important, because the importance is to be on the path to perfection, not to be perfect.