Chapter Falaq – Part 2

Recap: Do we have to take refuge with anything?  For what reason do we have to take refuge with the Lord?  What does it mean to take refuge with the Lord?  What does “Lord” mean?  According to our needs, we take refuge with the One that causes satisfaction for our needs.  Example: if I am hungry, I need food.  If you have a tooth ache, you need a dentist.  Depending on what you need, you need to find a solution for it.  We need that to secure our existence/life.  We must take refuge with a One that satisfies our needs.

Translating falaq as daybreak is restricting its meaning.  Falaq mostly means opening/splitting/cleaving something and getting something from it.  The same word in the Quran is used for other purposes.  Let’s say there is a box and when you break the box, whatever is inside is something else i.e. a different entity.  Example: a piggy bank has things inside such as coins or jewelry.

When the human side discloses itself through the body, that is falaq (i.e. when a seed is cleft the shoot comes out slowly.  In the same way, the human qualities make themselves apparent).  Just as through the DNA you see how the body is constructed, however, you cannot know how the human being is constructed with the same DNA.  That is to say, can you know which kind of person you are (i.e. your human qualities) through studying the DNA?  No.

Rabb (Lord) is the care-taker of the universe.  If He is taking care of existence, then He must know what He is doing.  That is why if a person has any kind of worries in his heart, who can get rid of those worries and save this person?  The One who has originated existence of this feeling (while you worry) can save this person; and that One is what is needed to satisfy this feeling.

• Something to seek refuge with.

Our problems, our concerns.  Who knows the feelings one goes through?

Analogy:  A book has paragraphs in it.  A thousand people read that paragraph.  How many people understood exactly the same thing from the same paragraph?  None.  What does it mean?  Everyone is unique.  What is inside (our human being) is completely different.  Who can respond to your needs so that you can take refuge with that one to satisfy your needs?  Either there must be a Lord who created the universe, or I must be a result of randomness.

• Only the One who knows and can respond to my need and gives existence to every single feeling i.e. whatever I desire.

No one can know what is going on in me?  Only myself when I am aware.  If I am not aware, then I do not know it.  Whatever has originated that feeling in my being must know it.

Every secret within me is known by no one else except its Originator i.e. my Creator.  “I know what you are hiding within the depths of your heart.”  If something exists, then its Creator must know it.  Otherwise, nothing can come into existence by itself.  That is why we must make the correlation between the need and to seek refuge with the One who can respond back to me.

My refuge can only be the Originator of my every single feeling.  Do not make the mistake by saying that anything of this universe (including following the order) can cure my feeling.  Yes, physically and temporarily, things of this universe can help cure my issues as discovered in the order of the universe (i.e. through research) and for example eating certain fruits provide optimal health benefits…, however, how do I explain the existence of this feeling in the first place?  Also, what does it mean that the order and things that we are experiencing and learning here are established?

Order is a set phenomenon here.  In other words, order is a constant here.  We think of order in terms of space, solar system and galaxy within a certain space.  We usually do not take notice of order within time.  If something happens before our knowing it or experience, then we learn.  After we learn, it is disclosed to us.  We take it for granted that since it happened like this yesterday i.e. continuation of the same sort of order, hoping that it will happen like this tomorrow.  As far as our experience is concerned, we can see what is likely going to happen.  However, we cannot guarantee that it will happen because nothing is the cause of its own existence here.  We are just guessing from our previous experiences. Nothing has the quality to guarantee its existence in the next moment.

(All kind of negative attitude towards the Source of Existence of this universe is the result of not only social construct but also misunderstanding certain phenomenon that we experience here.)

Example: you find a seed for the first time.  Can you know what kind of plant will grow out of this seed?  No.  However, the One who has given existence to the seed, must know it (by definition, because It has given existence to it).

If I can make the correlation between my need to take refuge and a One that is the Source of Existence of my need, then my need and the One I seek refuge with must correspond with each other.  At the same time, every being is unique in their individuality.  Who is the One who can respond to human needs and satisfy them exactly as they want it?  Only the One who is the Originator and Creator of the whole cosmic order space-time.

The universe is coming into existence from our experiences within space-time, not static space, rather dynamic.  It is dynamic in such a way that its dynamism is constant.  That is what I experience here.  When I become aware of what is going on around me and towards the end of my life when I die, space time is constantly dynamic which I witness from birth to death.

Every being is within the whole cosmic order.  The One who provides this cosmic order must know what is coming next for each individual.  The order in the universe involves space-time.   The relationship space time is also orderly continuing (for example galaxies, solar system…).  I find myself in a universe, I travel in it space-time wise.  How about the Source of Existence of this universe?  Is It also traveling within space-time?

The universe is only one Will.  As far as I am concerned, I do not know the nature of Its Will.  I am only experiencing the momentary space-time and I have not yet experienced tomorrow, and I do not know.  As far as existence is concerned, space-time exists all at once.  And so, I cannot say, Hey what are you going to create for me tomorrow?  That does not make sense.  Analogy: You are travelling on the first cart of a train and you move on to the next cart which makes your experience.  You are travelling in space-time.  However, the Creator must know everything from beginning to end with no time i.e. what is inside all the carts of the train at the same time.  How should I understand doomsday?  It is already inside the last cart of my train, but I have not experienced it yet.

• According to me, I am going through space-time such as I will desire xyz, I will go through abc…
• According to the Originator of the universe, it is already there, everything arranged according to my choice within space-time, which must be known to the Eternal Knowledge.

“The pen has been lifted and the ink has dried” concept in Hadith literature means that everything is known and set. When you write with pen, whatever you write dries up.  Typical argument that stems from this: Since everything is written, why bother to choose?

I am made in a way that I am given the freedom to choose and practice within space-time.  Eternal Knowledge must have encompassed space-time at the same moment. But we human beings experience our free choice within space-time. He must know what I will choose before I have chosen.  He already knows and creation is set accordingly.  We are experiencing innumerable will (kun) within my field of experience.  The order within the dimension of space-time has been kept perfect.  From Its perspective, everything must be One will.

What is going on in here?   What kind of creation is this?  Our understanding of God is usually superficial, that is why we do not jump with excitement when we remember God.

Your relationship to your Lord is specific to your experience and no one knows it.  My experience and understanding are unique to me.

Only the One who knows your heart is the One you can take refuge with to secure your existence.  It is the Creator of our feelings.  We must use our qualities to realize that my utilizing infinite creation which is nothing, but infinite will/ “be” (kun,) points to One Single kun.

• I do not know what I am going to choose tomorrow until I choose it. That is me traveling within space-time. But the Source of Existence cannot be like me within space-time. He must be the One Who is the Originator of space-time at once.

Comment: Since everything is happening at once, then how can I have the freewill to choose freely?

If we come to understand that God’s Knowledge must be Absolute!  That is, His absolute knowledge follows my free choice.  In other words, His Absolute Knowledge includes my exercise of free will.  We usually cannot understand human freewill going in before God’s Absolute Will.  It is simple since existence is happening real-time within space-time for me. The decision in choice is made by me according to my freewill.  And so, the argument goes:  since the decision is already made according to my freewill or choice, then how am I going to practice it/experience my freewill freely?  My freewill is freely given to me to be exercised freely.  Example: let us look at the freewill of a butterfly, it is free to land on a flower, get pollen and fly back.  The butterfly is free there in its choice, it is not like a drone controlled through a remote control.  Now, coming back to my freewill.  When I choose something, the result gets created. I am not the one giving existence to the result which must be within the knowledge of the Creator if we understood Absolute Knowledge.  After being created, I am experiencing the existence of that result in space-time i.e. His knowledge must be Absolute, not like my knowledge; I cannot liken His knowledge to mine.  His Knowledge does not make me use my freewill forcing me to choose. Rather, His Knowledge knows it according to my choice.

You do not know how Absolute knows it but you understand that it must be known because you are seeing the order of the universe in space-time dimension. The universe must already be arranged according to my choice. I experience that I am choosing but I am not creating. The creation of my choice is taking place within an order of space-time. The One Who established this space-time in an order must know what I am going to choose with His Absolute Knowledge so that the order of the space-time must work with no contradiction. That is, we witness that there is no contradiction in space-time order of the universe.

• By definition, He must know what I am going to choose freely. His knowledge is subject to my free choice.  Yes, He is the One who has given me the free choice to choose freely and laid out all the choices for me to choose from.

I am not the Creator of my freewill.  Some scholars developed a concise language: “Knowledge is subject to what is known”.  Example: Here is a cup.  I am aware of the existence of the cup after I see the cup.  If there was no cup, then I wouldn’t have this knowledge. Now I find myself with this ability to choose and also to choose freely. Did I make/give existence to this ability? I understand that someone who made me must know me and must be the one to give me this ability. With this given ability, I am choosing freely and learn on what is created for me within space-time.  However, the one that is the Source of Knowledge, i.e. Absolute Knowledge is not bound to space-time as He is the Creator of space-time, must already have knowledge of my choice.

Comment: For me, the future is not here.

I am subject to space-time. For Absolute, everything is in existence and so It must know.  In other words, through our knowledge, we are not given the ability to know the essence of Absolute, but we are given the ability to know that such an Absolute Being must exist.  Here is the common confusion:

• Knowing the Necessary Existence of an Absolute Being is different than knowing the content of Absolute. Not knowing the content of the Absolute is not an obstacle for me not to know that such an Absolute Being must exist.  “Must exist” is a logical conclusion.
• I am given the ability to acknowledge that such an Absolute Being must exist. That is how I am made with this capacity.  I am responsible to admit/confirm that such an Absolute Being must exist.  In the language of the Quran this is called belief (imaan).

Belief is not an assumption but confirmation of your logical conclusion.  If there was no logical conclusion, there would be no belief.  Without logical conclusion, you cannot talk about belief.  You need to have a logical conclusion and your feelings must be satisfied with it.  Without logical conclusion, you cannot have feelings about the Necessity of an Absolute Being.

After being logically convinced, then heart gets satisfied.  Am I comfortable with this: “I belong to the One who must be Absolute?”  How do you feel about this?  Can you communicate with this One?

Can you ask and communicate anything with this One and expect It to answer?  Or you can go ask your boss, spouse, parent, friend to satisfy you?  Who can satisfy your human side?  Only the One who gave you all your tools which make you realize your needs.

• I have the need, who is going to satisfy it/execute it? Who can do that?

Atheist people say: “Some people believe in God, I wish it was correct.”

• Here, feeling is speaking but mind is not satisfied yet, most probably because of certain biases based which hinders free thinking.
• That is the mind says I do not think that there must be a One.
• But feelings say: “If I had someone who knows everything in my heart that I can communicate with and He responds back, then that would be great”.
• “Respond back” is mostly used according to my physical expectations, rather than according to the best result for me (human satisfaction). Example: If I feel ill, then I want to be cured.  Is that the best result for me, to be cured? Or I rather be ill and realize that I cannot control my body (I say that this is my body, but I have no control), I cannot guarantee my future tomorrow, who am I?

I cannot control myself, but I need the best for me. I should never get ill, hungry, angry, I do not want to be dependent on anyone else, be the richest man, etc.  With all these desires being fulfilled, this possibility of  becoming a Pharaoh arises: By declaring my independence and thinking that I am the Creator of myself and the people in the world.

• Which is better, to be ill or be a Pharaoh?

Example: Please God, take away the headache from me.  God says: “You did not utilize the opportunity yet, you did not utilize what is best for you yet.  You just kept saying take this away from me.  If you want to know me and communicate with me, then you should realize that you are totally dependent on my creation.  Have you decided yet?  Have you become aware of it?”  I just want to get rid of this headache.  For what?  What are you living in this world for?

What is the purpose of life, to be healthy and die healthy?  Are you crazy?  There is a purpose here, this is a training place here and you must utilize it.  We are shortsighted (example: when I am hungry, I just want to eat) and our Creator is far-sighted in a way (always chooses what is best for us).  “If you utilize things to get to know your reality, then you are fulfilling the purpose of your existence.  The purpose of My creation is for you to get to know Me and get better knowledge of Me”.  That is the fulfillment of the purpose of my existence.

Example: I have a headache now.  He knows.  I ask for cure.  He knows that I ask.  The ability to ask is given to me by Him.  You still have a headache.  He knows it.  Rather, “Oh, I need this headache”, start thinking and communicate with your Creator who has Absolute knowledge.  Then, you will never get annoyed and depressed.

Comment: The stories of Prophets in the Quran let us know about miracles that happened to prophets.

How do you know that the Quran is the truth?

You must confirm the source.  You cannot use the source to justify your understanding.  Before the confirmation process, no one can refer to the Quran.  Make the confirmation before justifying the Quran. Never make the Scriptures speak to justify your own understanding of a subject. Just narrating a sentence from a Scripture does not justify your understanding of that sentence.

If you are not logically convinced, you cannot claim belief.  Freedom comes before the use of logic. Then, senses must be satisfied.  When you are convinced, then that is called belief.  Use your evidence to confirm the Quran.  This existence in the universe is a training place to confirm belief by observing the acts of its Creator.