“The Second Way
When we enter the division of time known as the past, we should consider the following four points:
The first is that those who specialize in a branch of science and base their thesis on it will demonstrate eminence in that branch.
The second is this, O brothers and sisters! If you have some knowledge of human nature, you will accept that even a person who has little renown cannot lie to a group of people about an insignificant matter without giving themselves away through anxiety or unease. And yet there is a person who is unlettered, but has great renown and honor, who, while undertaking a tremendous task and needing protection against his enemies, easily speaks about great causes before large congregations (and the whole of history), and who, in the face of great obstinacy, acts without any anxiety or hesitation. Furthermore, no contradictions can be found in what such a person proclaims with such pure sincerity and great gravity. In addition, he does so in such an intense, elevated manner that it vexes his opponents. Will not all these show his truthfulness in the brightest sun?”
If you look at the workings of a city, you conclude that it must have an administration. When something has an administration, then it must have a chief or head. Similarly, this universe has a regular order that I am made to observe and if regularity exists, then it necessitates it to have an Order-Giver, a Source that brings about the regularity into existence.
Have you ever wondered that you will die one day? Since I am going to die, what am I doing here? Who brought me here and for what purpose? What am I expected to do?
- The Creator who created you with this wonder, answers it. How?
- Look at the universe, everything is meaningful and well organized. Do you think the sun does not send light sometimes? No, the sun and moon are perfectly obeying the order of the administration of the universe.
The Creator created you with wonder to ask what am I doing here? You wonder: “Creation is perfectly done, I do not know how and why? It looks that something mysterious is going on?”
Example: When you use the iPhone, are you sure that some Engineer designed it? Yes. If you have not heard that someone designed it, then you do not know what the source of this iPhone is, though you still keep wondering what the source of existence of the iPhone is. Hence, you need to be taught which kind of source it is. When I have a problem with the iPhone, I ask for help. Similarly, we need help to understand this huge universe i.e. How does it exist? Why does it exist? How am I going to use it? Every iPhone comes with an electronic manual. Whoever makes the iPhone sends the manual to you with it. Sometimes you do not understand what the manual says as far as the technical words are concerned. You may take your iPhone to the apple store and ask the technicians how to apply the instructions and use the machine without destroying it. Understandably, they help you. These technicians/instructors are the Prophets telling us how to use the universe and human feelings and capacities without destroying it.
Let us come back to the administration example. Who is the Mayor? I do not know. In order to know who the Mayor is, you must listen to other people. Someone may say, I have seen him, he is a man who does so and so. Similarly, who is the Prophet? Now, you must hear what others say such as the Prophet was Muhammad. How can I make sure? You must listen to other people’s narration such as I have seen him, he has taught this and that. If the technician/Prophet died 1400 years ago, how can you get to know the technician/Prophet?
- You must rely on the narrations about his life, sayings and actions narrated by the people around him.
- Can you see a man who lived 1400 years ago to say: “Nice to meet you.”?
No. Now, what we must do is to be careful about the narrations, what they say about him. They say, this instructor/technician did not know how to read and write, he was not educated in any way and he was in a society where there was no education/no school/no place where you can go and learn something from someone. That time people used to breed animals because there was no farming in Mecca and Muhammad was a shepherd. Afterwards, he started challenging the whole society by saying that you are using the “iPhone” in the wrong way, rather you must use it this way. Excuse me! Are you an expert on it? Did you get some education from an institution? No, the Maker of the iPhone taught me this. Do you think he is challenging the whole society where everyone is using the iPhone in a particular way without really benefitting from it and he says do not use it this way, it is harmful?
- Don’t you think this man was challenging the whole society?
People reacted that we have been using the iPhone for years like this and all our previous generation, as well so who are you telling me that I am using the iPhone in the wrong way? Well, he recommended that they try as it will be appropriate and work much better. Try this! Do you think this man can tell a lie in front of a thousand people and he, himself is not educated but saying that the Engineer of the smartphone told me that this is the best way of using the smartphone? He is challenging people to try and let them know if what he says is wrong. These people kept the traditions that they learned from their parents. Some said that this man is saying something interesting, let me try what he says. While others say that this man is telling us not to go to the small iPhone repair shop because they are teaching you something wrong. The small shop felt threatened that they will go out of business and they said not to listen to that man, what we are saying is the best. Those people who did not have the shop and manual said that let me try a second opinion.
If someone tells you that I will teach you the best way of using the iPhone with all its functionalities, would you go and listen to this man or would you rather go the traditional shop run by some old man from generations? Will you give the man a chance to teach you how to use the iPhone in the best way? Which one would you do? Give the guy a chance. Those people are the majority and the shop owners are a few. They checked the shepherd’s claim that I will teach you the best way of using the iPhone with thousands of applications and it will work in the best way. The shop owners suggested not to listen to the shepherd because they were business owners and few in numbers (chieftains, nobles). However, the majority since they did not have any shop (no administrative status), they said, let me go listen to what the man said because they did not have anything to lose.
- When they listened to the shepherd, they got amazed and accepted his teachings (the message).
Only the shop keepers (chieftains) opposed the message because it was against their interest. That is what historians tell us. This is the sign that this illiterate shepherd has not learned anything from the tradition and he is teaching us completely new things and they work. If this man is claiming all this, can he tell a lie and challenge the shop owners? If there is a mistake in the claim, then the shop owners would use it to their advantage. But since they could not find any such mistakes, they started saying that he is a liar, lunatic and thus wanted to chase him out of town.
- Freedom is the fundamental human need required to believe, otherwise you just end up imitating the shop keepers. We must use our freedom.
Chieftains want respect from others and do not want to lose that status in the society and so they opposed the Prophetic message as they opposed to the majority who accepted it. These chieftains only represent 2% of the society and this fact is exaggerated by historians narrating wars. 98% of people tested the message and agreed with it, while the 2% were trying to get people to support them. The numbers in the war description are totally exaggerated, it was just a matter of a few people who were really trying the destroy the newly emerging community. The rest of the soldiers in the army were just slaves forced to join and represent their masters. And the slaves had no real interest in their status and listened to the message of the Prophet and agreed with it. But their status did not allow them to express their own conclusions. Those who dared express their conclusions were tortured by their masters.
The exaggeration gives us an impression that Mecca was the trade center of the world. In fact, Mecca was just a simple community and Quraysh had no conflict with neighboring tribes because whoever came to Mecca, they hosted them and respected them for their own financial benefits. Everyone respected Quraysh because they were the host to Kabbah and did not make any distinction between anyone. The other tribes had conflict between themselves.
If there is a war going on between tribes, will they welcome their enemies? For business purpose, they welcome everyone. For money purpose, everyone says yes. In Mecca, how do you get income? There are “hotel” owners and they respect visitors. That is why they were good to everyone because it was the source of income. Because Mecca was in a special location, the Prophet Muhammad was sent there so that the neighboring tribes do not oppose his message.
- That is the order of the Creator, preparing the ground that the message will be presented to all of people freely, so that everyone will be listening to him freely without any existing enmity. The only prejudiced was felt among the shop keepers. That is why it was easy for the neighboring tribes to accept the message.
“Fath” is “opening”, not “conquer” as translated by historians. Arabs had no trained soldiers and army, just a tribal life and they only knew how to protect their tents within their tribe. At the same time, Romans and Sasanides (Persia, now Iran) had very well established and trained army. How can we say that the tribe people or camel riders wage war? Historians also exaggerate the status of the companions as if they were great war heroes. The companions became educated or great people after the teachings of the Prophet.
Example: If no one buys share in the stock exchange, what happens? The market crashes. The traders cannot do anything. Let’s say that you established a TV station, and no one watches it, what happens? It collapses. Can you call this action as “conquest”? No, it is a failure and people cannot stand their failure and so they react.
Comment: For someone to feel the need to use the iPhone in a new way, they must feel the need for a new way i.e. the way that I am currently using is not fully satisfying me. If you are already content with the limited use of the iPhone, even if someone comes with letting you know how to take maximum benefit from the iPhone, then you will not accept it because you will not feel the need for it. First, before you present the message and anyone accepting the message, you must make sure that the crowd that you are talking to also feel the need for the message. When someone is marketing a new product, they are also convincing you that you need this new product. When 90% of people accept the message, it is easy for an opening to happen but first you also must ensure that these people are mentally aware of what is missing in their life, otherwise how can you go on about presenting the message?
The first 15 years of the message that Muhammad conveyed to people was about: “You need Eternal Happiness, you need Absolute Satisfaction, you need to know why you are here…” Later, he said, do this and that.
Comment: If there is someone coming and saying that there is a better way of using the iPhone, but no one has a problem with it and they are using it with full satisfaction, then I am not going to be interested in what they are saying unless they convince me that I am not benefitting from my iPhone in the fullest sense. Before someone comes and offers me a new way, he must help me realize that my iPhone needs update.
- First Muhammad made people realize what their needs are.
The first message was: “The things themselves are transient, what are you going to do with these things? Don’t you want to make sure that your existence will be permanent, listen to yourself, you want paradise, let me teach you how to obtain eternal happiness.”
It took 17 years for Muhammad to establish this need. “You are a human being, you are not an animal, live and die. Use your humanity and you will understand what they point to.” First, you must use your consciousness and question what is the meaning of your existence. First, forget about any institutionalized religion and submission to it. Most importantly, think about yourself, who are you and what are you doing in this world? How are you going to use yourself?
Do you realize that you need more than what you have been doing in this world? Every morning, you wake up, have breakfast quickly, go to work and come back tired. Are you satisfied with this life? No. Civilization cheats you that you must work for 11 months and make some money, then go on vacation and enjoy yourself. Then, you must come back and do the same thing over and over again until you are ready to die. Similarly, Friday evenings, happy hour is the same way. That is the trap of current civilization.
This new man comes and says that you should not be stupid like this, you should be eternally free. How can you do that? It is possible, and I will teach. These are called the fundamentals of belief. If someone does not realize what s/he is, he/she cannot understand the Quran. Traditionally, s/he may recite the whole Quran and does not know what is going on unless they learn the fundamentals of the teaching as a result of their own personal inquiry.
This man taught people to use their iPhone (humanity) in a particular way. Do you want to be happy and enjoy your life not only when you are eating the food but in everything that you do?
- No one wants to be the slave.
- The Prophet was saying that you are the guest of the Owner of this universe, just get to know who He is.
The text that we read today said that the man who challenged the society, do you think he can tell a lie and get the support of 98% of the people against the defense of especially the old shop keepers?
Comment: They are politicians who can deceive mass amount of people even if they do not themselves believe in what they are saying.
If there is a vacuum in people’s lives and this new person comes with a new news, then the shop keepers label the new person as “terrorist” i.e. he is just a desert man, do not listen to him and the Quran is just a story book etc. On the other side, there are those people who say that the Quran is important, and Islam is our religion and we respect the Prophet without any established foundations. Why do you respect the Prophet? “He is our Prophet.” Why do you respect the Quran? “It’s our sacred book.” There is a vacuum here.
What politicians do is use the vacuum and contribute to the vacuum i.e. make the Muslims have their own closed community. This is the common practice in the US now: They bring in Imams from their native country with great tajweed (Quranic pronunciation) who narrates the same thing on every occasion and are provided with permanent residency and make the Muslims stupid. There is a big vacuum and no human aims are described here. Islam is not presented to human beings, it is presented to already Muslim communities by this kind of Muslim leaders.
This man who claimed to be the Messenger of God could not tell a lie because he did not force anyone or used an army. What is left? The message, just taught them to use the iPhone in the best way and practice it. You cannot say that this man was a liar and at the same time successful. Impossible. That is why we must rely on the outcome of what he did.
- Islam is imprisoned by Muslim culture, not by Atheistic ideologies. Nowadays Muslim culture is killing Islam.
Comment: Can people follow someone even if they are not telling the truth but through some other means of manipulation (getting them excited emotionally or taking advantage of emotional insecurity)? Can someone convince someone else to follow them without telling the truth?
Temporarily, yes. Example, you can say that you are an expert in iPhone and you can show me a couple of things and the rest is left for me to figure out. How long can you convince me with the iPhone with a mistaken information? Only, if I do not have an alternative then I can be cheated by you until I hear the alternative. If someone is only taught the rituals, do you think that he will remain in Islam, if s/he is exposed to the opposing ideologies? No. Only those people who are successful now using the vacuum shall remain. Quran is not presented to human beings, it is presented to those who already identify themselves with Islam because of their demographic identity.
Some people claim that every culture has its own narrative (story), that is what religion boils down to. Will you be interested in legends? No. Unless a convincing evidence comes to you, then you will check and see it for yourself, just like in the case of the iPhone example. Can you still cheat me after I am presented with the best way to use the iPhone? No.
Quran must be presented to human feelings, mind, intellect and capacity, so that people can experience it in themselves.
- If you are interested in Islam, stop watching informational videos or go the mosque and attend rituals such as iftar, rather go to your room and sit in front of the mirror and speak to yourself: who are you? What are you doing here? How did you come here? What are you expecting from your being?
What are you expecting from your humanity?
If you do not have answers to your human questions, then we can talk about it, otherwise go to the mosque. Vacuum gives the opportunity to manipulate people’s mind and they are successful because there is no alternative.
Muslims speaking to Muslims is how Islam is being taught most of the time. We are Muslims and we must fast during Ramadan. Why? Because Prophet said so. Don’t you believe in the Quran? This is so dangerous!
- If you identify yourself as a Muslim can you ask yourself that why am I Muslim? I must investigate.
We must ask ourselves: “How can I present the Qur’anic message to 11 years old boy or girl so that s/he will be convinced?”
After presenting the message to them, have them write a paragraph on “What I understood from today’s discussion…”
- We all should be asking ourselves: Am I convincing 11 years old without using prejudiced language?