By July 22, 2015 Read More →

In The Footsteps Of The Prophets – Part 1

Paper demonstration: A regular sheet of paper has two dimensions. When you fold the edges on both sides and leave it up, it has three dimensions. Now, if we look at its color, it gets an additional dimension. Time will add another dimension to it. Thus far, we have width, length, height, time and color. Let’s say that the paper had a note from a loved one. Our perception about the content of the message will increase the dimension and thus our relationship with the paper can be increased from two dimensions to more.

  • Lesson: An object/event may have more dimensions to it from what our narrow vision initially perceive.

Human demonstration: When a baby is born, she reacts with her instincts. The baby starts developing concerns with her environment which consists of food, play and friends. As she grows, her relationship with the world increases. She may develop a sense of jealousy or love towards her younger siblings. She starts noticing her belongings (dress, toys, house…) and may start comparing them to her friends. That is how she is increasing her relationship with the world. When she reaches puberty, she starts noticing the opposite gender and may start taking interests in cosmetics. As she grows more, her dimension keeps increasing: college-> job->husband->children->social security->grand- children… She suddenly has many dimensions to her connection with the rest of the world.

  • Lesson: Human beings should not only have a two dimensional relationship with the universe. Our relationship with the universe has endless dimensions.

How about our reality?

  • How many dimensions do I have in my relationship with my existence?
  • What is the meaning of our relationship with the universe and the objects/events?

We usually have a one dimensional relationship with the world. I exist (point A) and here is the universe (point B). The existence dimension is from A to B, a straight line. Most people live with this one dimensional relationship.

How about the meaning of A and B?

Some people say this world cannot be created by itself, some say it is a deliberate act of creation and it might have a Creator. Now we have three points: A(Me); B(universe) and C(Creator). The existence dimension is triangular. This is the start of a belief system but with a vague vision.

What about death? We mostly do not think about death and try to forget about this reality including the transient nature of this universe. We have to think more seriously about our existence to see the other dimensions of our relationship with the universe.

What about angels? Most monotheistic religions mention about the existence of angels. Quran says that everything glorifies God and carries a meaning. We have to take the meaning from the events/objects which is represented by angels that consciously glorify their Creator (God) and bring message from God and convey to us with utmost care. We have to add this dimension to our understanding of existence.

Our understanding of God has to progress depending on how much time we are spending and concentrating on our existence. If the universe is continuously bringing message to us and giving news about the Creator, we wonder about the Creator and its qualities. Just as the quality of art declares the quality of the artist, similarly, the universe declares the quality of its Maker.

The book form of the Quran (mushaf) itself is not the Speech of God. It is just a recorded text. When we read, we are reading the written book. Quran is the Speech of God, the verbal expression of the Creator speaking to me by pointing out the visual expression of the universe. The Creator of the universe speaks with the language that we understand. He tells us the meaning of our human qualities and how we are going to deal with them. We are expected to have this third dimensional relationship with the universe. After all, we got to hear the voice of the Creator. Reading this book must be in order to understand what he is saying to me and taking guidance from Him which should eventually help me understand what I am doing here, what my reality is and what my existence means to me. Listening to the Creator is another dimension.

Thus far, we have covered the following dimensions:

  • Creator (1st dimension)
  • Angels (2nd dimension)
  • Speech and listening to the Speech (3rd dimension)

What about Prophethood?

Universe carries a message to me and tells me who made me. After reviewing this message, what is a human being expected to do in this universe in regards to his relationship with other beings? The abstract idea does not satisfy us and we need a teacher to teach us.

Speech=text book
Universe=lab
Instructor=messenger

God speaks to me telling me why I am here (my purpose) which is represented by a human being i.e. messengers. These messengers are called “Instructors/teachers”. In our worldview, we should have a dimension that the Creator of this universe is speaking to me and it is represented by a human being that is my teacher. Just as our memory of our loved ones always exist for us even if we may be separated from them, similarly, we have to live with our teacher i.e. with his/her instruction. Example: When we learn something from the teacher, our knowledge of what the teacher taught us stays with us, although the teacher might have died. This feeling of what he/she taught us is with us and that adds another dimension to our lives. God is speaking to us and it’s represented by a person (the Prophet) and the message is alive. This is the rationale behind Prophethood which should help us avoid killing the Prophets in our life.

“And remember you said: “O Moses! We cannot endure one kind of food (always); so beseech your Lord for us to produce for us of what the earth grows, -its pot-herbs, and cucumbers, Its garlic, lentils, and onions.” He said: “Will you exchange the better for the worse? Go down to any town, and you shall find what you want!” They were covered with humiliation and misery; they drew on themselves the wrath of God. This because they went on rejecting the Signs of Allah and slaying His Messengers without just cause. This because they rebelled and went on transgressing. Baqara (2): 61

But, we know that there is no narration in any of the historical evidence showing that Mose’s people killed Moses physically. (See also Al- Imran (3): 21).

Consciousness of the Messenger is important, as they are exemplary people employed; at least we have to feel their presence in our understanding of our existence. Prophets must live with us as long as we live. Fourth dimension requires the consciousness of the existence of Prophethood.

Going, forward, we should have a more conscious human life. Our religiosity does not save us, our consciousness saves us. Are you aware that you live in this universe which has multiple dimensions?

The order of the universe is under His control. It means that everything is set by a conscious Creator. In our relationship with the universe, we are dealing with this Creator i.e. we are bound to exist as we are created (we are not free not to exist). No one can get out of existence; even while we are sleeping we exist. We are totally dependent on our Creator. We cannot make four arms or legs. We have to be as we are made. That is the way we are created and we have been given freewill to use our human qualities. In that regard, we are absolutely free on how we want to use our human qualities. That is called belief in Divine Determining, the fifth dimension.

What about resurrection?

When we die, we will not go into annihilation. Just as we experience sleeping and waking up, death will just be a change to our existence. Similarly, a baby grows up and is still in existence. The transformation takes place at every moment. The temporary life in this universe is one stage to our existence, which is given to us by the Eternal Existence Giver, God. And so, there must be another stage waiting for me i.e. resurrection which is the 6th dimension. Just as we go from school->graduate->professional, our existence in this life of the world goes from baby->adult->……->death. Life is temporary, but existence is Eternal.

Religion teaches us to live with the (above mentioned) six dimensions simultaneously. Every dimension can also have sub-categories. Example: the 99 spectrums of the Creator’s qualities we see are just dominant Names of God mentioned by the Prophet. Similarly, there are four angels mentioned in the religious texts. These are just categories mentioned and in reality, every news is represented by an independent angel.

In Physics, we are told that the universe has endless dimensions which give us endless opportunities and ways to communicate with its Creator through the universe. The fact that we are given the capacity to live in this multi-dimensional universe makes us wealthy. As a result, we can make our life meaningful, be as happy as a baby and live in this world as if we are living in Paradise in the presence of our Creator who is Absolute. We belong to Him, and everything is from Him. We need to train ourselves with this notion.

We do not need to go anywhere else to study religion, as long as we got the universe, we can educate ourselves. All the dimensions of our existence are here: presence of God, prophet and resurrection is always with us. So why worry about death? We are with our Creator who is assuring us that He has interest in us, which is why we exist. If I exist, it is inevitable for my Creator to love me. If He did not love me He would not have given me existence, anyways. If I do not feel loved, then I am not aware of my Lord taking care of me.

We need to be more vigilant of the Existence Giver of our existence including all six dimensions discussed (above). This Creator is speaking to us through many channels: angels, prophets… Without Prophets or any other dimensions mentioned, this universe will never make any sense. Religion lies in our spirit and our consciousness; alas it is occupied by worthless concerns. If we think about our concerns of the day, it is filled with temporary and worthless matter. We got to develop our understanding of the universe in a way that it makes our existence (in this temporary universe) worthwhile. We are created to be the guests of God.

We have to communicate with the Creator that is the only way we can make His Speech meaningful. When we wonder about something, only then can we learn. As long as we exist, the love of anything is created by Him. Let us make our existence meaningful!




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