The Fundraiser

I attended a fundraising dinner last night to help pay off a non-interest bearing debt owed by a mosque. There were about 400 people present including men, women and children. It was a most educational and interesting experience. What follows are some of my observations of the evening supported by an analysis in light of the guidance of the Qur'an.

The objective of this post is to be an example and case study to show how knowledge of the Qur'an is the best guidance to make sound judgment and fair assessment according to God's laws.

The Event...

The imam used pressure tactics to raise funds in the name of God. He stated (paraphrased)...'On the Day of Resurrection there will be a long waiting period...while we await God's judgement. We will be burdened with overbearing heat during the waiting period and the charity we give in this life will be like a shade against the heat.' The imam used this astounding prologue, none of which is even remotely supported by any verse anywhere in the Qur'an, and pressed for:

• $10,000 individual donations on the first round of requests. The second round bid price was $5,000 followed by $2500, $1000 and finally $500. At the end of each round he would say "last chance for this opportunity...okay, you've now missed your opportunity". If anyone committed the funds, he would personally bless the individual. In one case two people gave from the same table, so he blessed the entire table.
• Singled out someone on our table, identified him specifically, to donate $1000. Talk about pressure.
• Throughout the 'rounds' he would make statements such as "who would like to have their sins forgiven on the Day of Judgement". I found this particularly appalling.

Needless to say, it was quite a spectacle. This reminded me, and in my opinion was no different than the clergy, during the medieval ages, asking for payments to reduce people's time in purgatory (in Christianity, the waiting place between heaven and hell until God's judgement arrives - apparently, not a very pleasant place to hang out). The idea of the imam having the authority to bless an individual, or worse yet an entire table in one go, seems to me a Qur'anic anathema. The definition of 'blessed' is to have God's grace or favour. How did the imam attain the authority to grace someone on behalf of God?

After this, the head shaykh of this particular 'sect within Sunni Islam' with chapters in over 100 countries, arrived at the hall and soon thereafter made a five minute dua in Urdu. He never made a speech, or gave an enlightening lecture, but we were all 'blessed' by his presence nonetheless...especially since he offered a dua on our behalf.

There was a buffet dinner, a silent auction and get this...raffle tickets. Yes, that's right...raffle tickets. What a mockery...last time I checked, gambling was against Islam.

Finally, as the evening wound down, I noticed the shaykh was sitting on a highly decorative and throne like chair, as opposed to the rest of us plebeians. Ironically, the prophet Muhammad, pbuh, would never himself be caught sitting on such a chair; he was far too humble and far too fearful of Allah.

This was followed up by the Shaykh extending his majestic hands and offered all individuals the opportunity and honour to kiss them...for which, judging by the line-up, there was no shortage. I think this is what disturbed me most. It was readily apparent people have stopped using their minds...they are lazy, they are sheep, and they are easily manipulated.

My stomach began to turn.

Guidance from the Qur'an...

It is clear the Qur'an is needed more than ever. God's guidance is the only true guidance. Let's then, review the evening in light of the guidance of the Qur'an. Consider the following Qur'anic verses (paraphrased):

1. There is no one worthy of worship except God...He is God. There is no God but Him...Do not associate any partners with God.

To kiss a man's hand - waiting in line to do this in fact, to me at least, is a type of worship...and worship of another human being is shirk. Do we not find it abhorrent when people kiss the pope's hands? Why then do we not apply the same standard for our own religious leaders?

2. Through gambling and intoxicants, Satan lures you away from the remembrance of Allah.

I agree the raffle was just for fun, and there was no other form of gambling. But still, it was thoughtless and set a very poor Islamic precedent.

3. In God's eyes, the most honoured among you are those who are most mindful of God.

To be honoured by God is to be blessed. How then can the imam bless you? Does he know who is most mindful of God? Has God given him authority to do so?

4. The Believers are those who give charitably to the beggar, the needy, the poor and the traveller...Give God a good loan...God knows what is in your heart, and deeper still...It is better to give in private than public...Prophet, your duty is only to call people to God, you are not there to force them.

Nowhere in the Qur'an does it say to give charitably for the purpose of building a mosque. Nowhere. This does not mean one cannot give funds for a mosque as a form of charity. But the imam cannot say your deeds, or part of your deeds, will definitively be wiped out for giving to a mosque or any other charity for that matter. The imam cannot know God's mind. The imam cannot know with what intention the individual is giving money. This is Allah's decision only.

The imam conducted his requests for donations through the use of pressure tactics combined with a reward of public recognition; essentially bullying through peer pressure. But the Qur'an clearly says private donations are better, so why did the imam encourage public donations as the first choice if he truly cares about 'blessing' individuals? How can the imam use pressure tactics to raise funds for charity when the Prophet (pbuh) himself is instructed only to call people to God? Where does the Qur'an say, 'thou shall use pressure and force people to give in charity'? The tactics employed encouraged giving for the wrong reasons. Instead of giving only for the sake of Allah, you are more likely now to give for show. And giving for show is not giving God a good loan, it is giving yourself a good image. It is not from the heart...and only God knows what is in our hearts, and deeper still.

5. Do not accept anything which you yourself have not verified...You will be repaid in full only for your deeds...No soul will bear the burden of another soul...You will return to God alone, just as you were first created...Whoever labours, does so for the benefit for his own soul.

Have people verified for themselves what the shaykh really advocates? At the event, there were many books on sale authored by this shaykh. In one of the books, the shaykh went out of his way to state our good deeds can be transferred to other individuals, living or dead, simply by naming the individual and making the intention of the transfer. This is outrageous and clearly against the Qur'anic verses above.

We can see from these examples, if people took the time and effort on an individual basis to read the Qur'an, reflect on its verses, and reason on their meaning...how we, as individuals, would then be empowered to critically assess things for ourselves. Consider the Qur'anic verse,

6. The disbelievers will call out to the leading disbelievers, to those who were in authority, 'you misguided us and led us astray', and they will reply, 'it was not us that led you astray, you were already astray on your own'. And God will reply, 'go to the fire, all of you, that is where you belong'.

On what basis then can we rely on imams, shaykhs and scholars for guidance and not seek guidance for ourselves directly from God's words in the Qur'an? After all, religious leaders will not bear the burden of our sins on the Day of Judgement. We will be all alone in God's presence, and we will be judged directly by God. If religious leaders will not intercede for us on that Day, why then do we depend on them to understand God's words now?...words He has made directly available and protected through the Qur'an...words God Himself says He has made easy to understand!

Our Qur'an study class is therefore clearly on the right track. This is further cemented in my mind as a result of last night's experience. The purpose of our class is to empower each of us to think for ourselves, so we can make our own decisions directly from God's words and guidance.

Can anyone's guidance be better than God's?

The Seen and the Unseen

God's Creation and the purpose of life can be viewed from another perspective altogether. It can be viewed simply from the perspective of the Seen and the Unseen. All of God's creation can be categorized as belonging to one of these two worlds. Belief too, can be viewed from this perspective. When one says "I am a Believer", isn't he really saying he believes in both the Seen and the Unseen? And when someone is a disbeliever, isn't he really saying he doesn't believe in the Unseen (or at least in the Unseen world as described by the Qur'an)?

The Seen world is not only what we can 'see' with our eyes, but includes what we can sense through our five senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. It also includes what we can detect through the technology our minds were given the ability to develop such as ultrasound, infrared, X-rays (and the entire electromagnetic spectrum), subatomic particle detection (e.g. neutrinos), and the list goes on.

The Unseen world is the world which can never be detected by us in this mortal life. This includes God Himself, His angels, the Jinn, the Heavens (other than the first level of heaven which is the universe we live in), Hell, other Unseen forces only God knows, and our very own souls. When a Believer makes a prayer for example, he is really asking God to use His forces of the Unseen world to help him in the Seen world. The disbeliever, by definition, cannot make a prayer because he doesn't believe in the Unseen.

God is the Controller of both the Seen and the Unseen worlds. Control means to direct and regulate.

In the Seen world, humans understand some of the directions and regulations assigned to it by God. We call these the Natural Laws of the Universe or Scientific Laws. Every discipline of science has identified laws, theories or principles that govern and apply to that realm of science. And of course, we are also seeking the 'Unified Theory of Everything' which seeks to unite all known scientific laws. God says 'He has made the Heavens and the Earth for the benefit of mankind'. This partly means He has given man the intellect to understand the laws by which He regulates the Seen world, and that we can use this understanding to our benefit by developing technologies to harness it, and in so doing, seek His bounty.

The Unseen world however, is something man can never harness by science. The Unseen world is directed and regulated by another set of laws altogether, laws we do not know and only God knows. However, God has given us clues on how to call upon the Unseen for our benefit through revelations given to the Messengers. Since it is Unseen, the only way we can call upon it, is through Faith and Prayer. It is my belief, that the firmer the faith of an individual, the more the Unseen world will respond to his prayers. The Believer has a big advantage over the disbeliever. The believer can call upon the full might of God's Creation; he can use both the Seen and the Unseen worlds to help him. Whereas, the disbeliever can only harness the Seen world. The two are not equal.

There is a defined relationship between the two worlds: The Unseen world can observe the Seen world, but not the other way round. Although we cannot see God, the angels, the jinn...they can see us. As the Qur'an says (paraphrased), 'the Jinn can see us from a place where we cannot see them'.

Why then did God create the Seen and the Unseen worlds?

This can be partially answered. On the Day of Judgement, the Seen world will disappear, and the Unseen world will appear. Only the Unseen world will remain. This is The Great Irony: That which we can see will no longer be, and that which we cannot see, will be. The purpose of the Seen world is only for man to accumulate Unseen things for the Unseen world. And what are the Unseen things? They are our deeds and the intention behind those deeds. Everything else perishes and only these survive.

Can you see a deed that's already been done? Can you touch it? Taste it? Smell it? Hear it? Can you develop an instrument that can detect a deed? How about the intention behind the deed? No, you cannot. The deed and its intentions therefore meet the criteria of the Unseen. And since all that can be 'seen' will disappear, our souls and the deeds they accumulate will be all that remain, since they are already part of the Unseen world.

When viewed from this perspective, we can see the Seen world is truly a game. That we are truly deceived to think that the purpose is only the Seen world itself. And that the Seen world is truly illusory because it is temporary. The Unseen world is the true life. It is real now, and it will continue to be real for eternity after the Seen world ceases to exist.

I feel sad for the disbelievers, who spend their entire lives searching for pleasure, of one sort or another...for something that is so short lived...at the expense of what really matters; our eternal life waiting for us in the Unseen world.

What is Submission?

Note to Reader: This post is an exception since it is not based on my views alone and is largely based on a sufi book I read sometime ago. I am not a sufi supporter per se, and to be frank, I'm not sure if this view of submission is correct. It is an interesting concept however, which I want to share. But the post does make a point...we should consider what it really means to submit...for it is a root issue.

Islam means submission, and a Muslim is he who submits. But what is submission? What does it mean to submit? How do you go about submitting? These are important questions, as they form the very backbone of following the straight path as commanded to us by God.

Muslims have always been told to submit to God, to be devoted to God, to be mindful of God and to fear God. These are really variations of the same command. And typically we are told the way to submit is to follow the do's and the don'ts. Do your prayers, don't backbite, do your fasts, don't be greedy, and so on. But fundamentally the list of do's and don'ts are only the outward manifestations of submission; they do not get at the root issue - that which drives the behaviour of submission in the first place.

And what drives submission? It is that which is at the very core of us. It is the understanding the soul given to each of us by God is part of His very spirit, and the soul longs to be close to its Master. It is only Satan who tempts us and arouses our ego so as to make pride and arrogance our Masters instead of God. This after all, is exactly what Satan tempted Adam with, when he promised Adam immortality if he ate from the tree...as stated in the Qur'an. Satan, essentially, awakened Adam's ego.

So what is ego? It is the identification of yourself as its own force. The "I". "I" am great. "I" am smart, "I" am strong, "I" am...and the list goes on. So our challenge at the very core, is to recruit our ego away from the service of the self, the "I", to the service of Allah. The ego cannot be eliminated, an ego is given to us by God as a gift...for without it we will not create, we will not accomplish, we will not do. The challenge is to harness the ego, and use it to do work that is good, work that is in the cause of Allah.

So I define submission/fear/devotion/mindfulness of Allah as:

The recruitment of the ego away from the service of the Self to the service of Allah.

When you are in submission - in the true sense, not only the ritual sense - you become an observer of yourself, just as you observe anyone else. You are no longer identified with yourself, but rather you are an Observer. The Observer now has a non-biased choice of recruiting the ego to serve either you (and that means your desires) or serve God. When you, as the Observer, decide and successfuly guide your ego to serve God instead of your desires, then you have reached the state of submission.

And a state of submission to Allah, is actually a state of freedom from the desires...and I would say meanness of the Self. When put in this way, submission is actually freedom...and freedom from your own desires is peace; you are no longer searching for your next buzz, your next source of excitement, your next activity that will satisfy whatever craving YOU want.

Now all this sounds nice...but its easier said than done. By no means have I personally achieved this on a sustained basis as of this writing. But I am striving. I am in and out of submission. But in those periods when I am in submission, well it is nothing but peace. I get an inkling of what the serenity in heaven might be like.

When you achieve this state, of recruitment of your ego away from the service of the Self to the service of Allah, a number of other things happen. First, the ego simply cannot be hurt, cannot be disappointed, cannot even pick you in preference to others because it is not serving you, it is serving Allah. And therefore you cannot get angry, regretful or impatient. Since the ego is in the service of Allah, you are therefore obliged to follow the guidance of the Qur'an, and part of that guidance is to provide for yourself...but to do so in an appropriately measured amount...and greed is eliminated as are all other vices.

The soul therefore, which is God's very own spirit, effectively holds on to God by a rope, just as the Qur'an says. In this state, praying 5 times a day is not only easy, you actually long for the next prayer. In this state, you look out for other's needs in a measured proportion according to God's guidance without neglecting your own needs and your family's needs. In this state, the veil is lifted, the 'game' of this life becomes evident...and you begin to treat it as such. You realize that 'things' in this life are not so important. In this state, Satan has no temptation over you at all.

And what does God say? He says in the Qur'an (paraphrased) 'Satan will be able to tempt all but the true Believers'. This to me, gets at the root of what it really means to be submitted to God...and what it means to be a Muslim...he who submits. Once the soul reaches this state of submission, it is now able to fully follow the guidance of the Qur'an without exception because it no longer is vulnerable to Satan's temptations.

To truly follow the guidance of the Qur'an in a state of submission is what is meant by "Guide us to the straight path.." in sura Fatiha, The Opening.

Why did God make the Universe so BIG?

Have you ever thought about how big the universe is? I mean it is HUGE. Imagine you are travelling at the speed of light, at 300,000km/sec. That means you'd circle the earth 7.5 times in one second! Now imagine going at this speed for about 15 billion years. Okay, well now you have only crossed half the distance of the universe!

There are more galaxies in the universe then there are the number of neurons in our brains. And there are millions and billions of stars per galaxy depending on its size. To put it another way, if you gathered up all the human beings who have ever lived since the time of Adam, and you gave each person their very own galaxy...you'd still have billions of galaxies left over. Now that's a pretty large piece of real estate for each person! I am not suggesting each Believer will have his very own galaxy - especially since the Qur'an clearly states heaven will turn into another heaven on the Day of Judgement. I am however trying to illustrate, by way of comparison, God does mean exactly what He says when He promises each Believer a garden as large as the heavens. But what's more...the universe we see is only the first or lowest level of heaven. There are six more heavens above this one. The virtual infinity of God is staggering.

And I think that's one of the reasons God has made the universe so large. It is to show He is speaking the truth in the Qur'an when He says He is infinite in bounty. He wants us to get a glimpse of the understanding of what He means when He says He's infinite. I am certain the first level of heaven, or the universe we see, is still miniscule in comparison to the sum total of all of God's creation.

There is another reason still why God made the universe as large as it is, and the earth the size it is. God made the universe so immense...simply to do justice to the intellect He gave man. Think about it. If the universe was small, say just the size of our earth and the stars were just jewels encrusted in our sky which was only a canopy....if that was all there was, well...eventually humans wouldn't buy it. Just like the movie, 'The Truman Show.' It simply wouldn't do justice to our intellect. God gave man the intellect to peer into the very beginnings of the universe, and the cognitive capability to comprehend the structure, formation and evolution of the universe. So far, our intellectual limit seems to be the comprehension that something came from nothing in the event known as the Big Bang.

He also made the earth the size it is so we can easily navigate it, at a speed and distance, according to whatever level of our technology. So, for most of the history of man...although we didn't understand the structure of the universe, at the same time, we didn't yet develop transportation and communication technologies that would make the earth a 'global village'. Back then, the earth was a big place, and much of it remained unexplored. So even if we thought the sky was only a canopy with encrusted jewels, the earth was big enough to effectively seem relatively infinite. In other words, God's home for us remained 'infinite' according to our relative development levels of science and technology...so our minds never felt anything was 'fake'.

There is another reason still why God made the earth so big and beautiful. It is to demonstrate His capability and creativity...so there is no doubt in our mind He truly is capable of providing whatever we want for those striving to be close to Him in our next life in heaven, that He is fully capable of delivering His promise. Just look at God's beauty in our earth. The breath taking views of mountains and valleys, all the wonderful plants, flowers and trees, the magnificent animals on both land and sea...both in the present and the past. Can anyone deny God's artistry?

At the same time...He has made volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, hail storms, tsunamis, floods, meteor impacts, and the heat of the sun itself, to demonstrate He is fully capable of severely punishing...that it is easy for Him to bring the punishing fire of Hell into being.

That is God, there is no God but Him.

Why should we be mindful of God lying, sitting and standing?

Allah instructs us in the Qur'an the true Believers are those who are mindful of God as much as possible - they remember Him lying, sitting and standing. So the question is why does God want us to be mindful of Him at the highest level possible? Well first of all, to be mindful simply means to remember God, to keep him at least in the back of your mind if not the forefront when you are doing a task or engaged in a conversation.

Now, let's look at some of the reasons why.

Consider we wouldn't even be alive if God didn't exist. And if God ceased to exist (which is an impossibility), then we too would also cease to exist along with everything else. This is because God is both the Creator and the Sustainer of His creation. So if God created us, and He sustains us...right through each and every one of our breaths...well, don't you think we ought to be thinking about him lying, sitting and standing?

Let's not take this lightly. Let me put this in perspective. How much do we think about our upcoming exam? How much do we think about our upcoming job interview, our big sales meeting, our meeting with our boss, or even a movie we recently saw? An awful lot don't we? And yet, these things pale in utter insignificance in the face of the importance and gravity of what God does for us in each and every single moment of every day. The Qur'an says (paraphrased), 'if you tried to count God's favours, you could never count them all'.

Do you want to know what the real question is? How can we be so deluded as to not think about God as often as possible...that is, when we are lying, sitting and standing?

By being mindful of God, it keeps us more aligned with God's attributes, which is our natural disposition if we allowed since He breathed our souls into us from His very spirit. God says to hold tight to His rope. He also says to take refuge in Him from the temptations of Satan. How else do we do this except by being mindful of God, by remembering Him. Human beings are capable of only one thought at any given time...so if we are thinking of Allah, then it is impossible to be tempted by Satan at that particular point in time. So the remembrance of Allah, by consequence, encourages us to behave in ways that are more in line with, and thus express, Allah's qualities.

Can there be any better qualities than Allah's?

What happens when you make a dua (prayer)?

We all make duas. Many of us make duas many times per day. But what exactly is a dua or prayer?

A dua is a specific request to God.

And what are you actually asking God to do when you make a specific request? It's an important question and deserves consideration.

When you make a dua...what you are really doing is asking God to change the normal course of events, into another course of events in such a way that the dua comes true. In other words, you are asking God to intervene in the natural laws He has set up for mankind here on earth. And to be more specific, you are asking God to use His forces of the Unseen to make your dua come true.

So when viewed from this perspective, when you are making a dua, you are really saying..."God, recruit your forces of the Unseen, which only you know, to help make my specific request come true."

Carrying this line of reasoning further...what then are God's forces of the Unseen? Well we know angels are a big of part of that. And Jinn too. And there are likely all types of other forces we have not been made aware of. Some examples of the use of angels in the Qur'an include:

1. God sent thousands of angels down to help the Prophet (pbuh) and the Believers against the disbelievers during the battle of badr. The much smaller force of believers triumphed against the much larger force as a result.
2. There are 8 angels that hold up God's throne.
3. We each have 2 recording angels and 2 guardian angels.
4. On the Day of Judgement, each of us will have 2 angels assigned to us, one to lead us on and the other to bear witness.
5. The angel of death will take our soul away when we die.
6. The archangel Gabriel is generally given the honour of transmitting God's messages to the Prophets.

So we can see from these examples God employes angels to do His bidding. Angels also have 2, 3 or 4 pairs of wings implying there are different types or classes of angels.

In some instances, God also employs Jinn to do His bidding. We know Solomon had mastery over the Jinn by God's leave. There were Jinn who dove for him, built all kinds of palaces, cauldrons and many types of fineries. However, unlike angels who are made specifically to obey God, Jinn are given free will, and hence seem to be reluctant when God specifically forces them to obey Him. For example, when the Jinn found out sometime after Solomon's death that he had passed away, they lamented doing, what they considered demeaning work, unnecessarily longer than they had to.

So by and large, in my opinion, when you make a dua, you are really asking God to send down angels and other unseen forces to intercede in the normal course of events to somehow make things happen according to your own specific request.

But now, here's the really important part. God has said in the Qur'an that He has made it His duty to help the Believers. If this is so, and it must be so because God does not break His promise, it is reasonable to conclude that one of the key ways God achieves this (although if God wanted He could simply say "Be" and it is) is by sending the angels down to the Believers just as he did during the battle of badr.

Now I want the reader to contemplate something. Doesn't it make sense the greater the belief of the Believer the more God will help him? So if the Believer only believes a little, God will send only a little help. It could be by instructing only one angel to help only a little for example. Now if the Believer is strong in his belief and trust in God, then God would help him more (e.g. by sending many angels with each given large help tasks). Doesn't that make sense?

Now can anyone have a stronger and truer faith in God than the prophet Muhammad (pbuh) or the previous messengers? I think not. And since the messengers had the highest and purest faith, they received the highest level of help from Allah. This is one of the reasons why the Prophet (pbuh) succeeded in his mission.

There is a lesson here for all of us. I think it is obvious is it not? If we want God's help, I mean truly want it, we have to truly earn it. And we truly earn it by striving to attain the highest level of pure faith possible. It's not easy, it doesn't occur over night...it can take years.

It is in fact, a life long journey, but the only journey that has true meaning.

Why I'm Muslim Part 2; the Prophet (pbuh) could not have authored the Qur'an

There is no way the prophet (pbuh) could have authored the Qur'an. It's an impossibility. It must have been sent down by God.

Have you ever tried to write an entire page perfectly without a single error? Exceedingly difficult isn't it?

Okay now try and write an entire book about 400 pages long with not one single edit required. The whole book must be gramatically and linguistically correct right off the bat. Impossible isn't it? I mean really, think about it.

Okay, now write the one and same book over 23 years and fake a trance right before you write each new section.

Okay, now fake the trance so that it could initiate at any time and place...you could be driving your car, having your coffee with some friends, over breakfast. And never ever forget to fake the trance prior to the recitation of a new section. However, if you ever recite a previously revealed section make sure YOU DO NOT FAKE A TRANCE. And make sure you get the TRANCE ON/TRANCE OFF switch correct each and every time over 23 years or else you'll be caught and likely killed because you are a proven imposter.

Okay, now write the entire book...but wait...instead of writing it, memorize it instead and only verbally recite each section as and when it comes to you.

Okay, now make sure you never ever contradict yourself throughout any of your verbal recitations over the 23 years.

Okay, now also inspire yourself to compose profound wisdoms.

Okay, now get people to recite various parts of it, and you must mentally double check it only off memory, and never ever make a mistake double checking it or else others who have memorized the same parts would catch your errors; you would then be branded an imposter and likely killed.

Okay, now make sure the 400 page verbal novel you have recited flawlessly, without errors, in piecemeal over 23 years, without any grammatical errors, without ever making a mistake on the TRANCE ON/TRANCE OFF switch, always correctly double checking each recitation of each and all memorizers...

...is also a literary masterpiece and has caused people to be moved to tears and change their time honoured way of life and set off the formation of one of the greatest empires in the history of mankind.

Oh and one more thing...you're illiterate and it was your very first book.

What is the matter with people? Can they not see the Qur'an, in the way it was revealed, could not have been authored by the prophet Muhammad (pbuh). It could only have been authored by God Himself. The prophet (pbuh) is a true Messenger and the Qur'an is God's final revelation.

We should be studying the Qur'an day and night...for the benefit of our own souls.

Free Will vs Predestination

So God has given us free will. But He knows the future. Hmmm....there's a problem here isn't there? Or is there? Many people have attempted to come to grips with this problem. Some have made up theories such as God knows the general future but not the exact future. This is clearly not the case. Consider 57:22-25 which definitively states our exact futures were preordained.

At the same time, as I write this post, I clearly feel I have free will. I can sip on my cup of tea or decide to get up and leave this post. From my point of view right now...it's completely up to me. God also says 'He does not change a condition of a people unless they first change it for themselves'. Again, fully supporting free will. And just to be clear, whenever we refer to free will for human beings, it means limited free will. After all, I can't very well split the moon or cause the sun to rise from the west instead of the east. So it certainly seems, that we as human beings, have free will. If we didn't, on what basis could God even judge us?

At the same time, the Qur'an clearly states God has set the future before He brought creation into being. So where does this leave us? Well first of all, let's understand the only reason the future, the present and the past exist, is because time exists. And the only reason time exists is because God created time itself. And if God created time, then it must mean God stands outside of time. Yes, just think about that one. So if God stands outside of time it must also mean that for God there is no distinction betweeen the future, present or the past. It's all the same to God. This is part of what is meant by God stating that He is all knowing.

So now, it would seem the only option that is left, considering God has predetermined our future, and that He has also given us free will...as difficult as it is to accept...is that they both exist together. Yes that's right...you heard me. Free will and predestination co-exist. In fact, it is the inevitable outcome of Creation by an omniscient Being.

You see the issue all along has been the wording...it isn't so much free will vs. predestination, rather it should be stated...free will and predestination. Consider them opposite sides of the same coin. So again, how is that possible? Well simple really. God knows the future because He stands outside of time and observes all of time at once. We don't. From His point of view it is predetermined. From our point of view it isn't.

Let's take an example. Let's say you travel to the future two years from now strictly as an observer with no interaction with the environment and without affecting the environment even through the observation of it. You find out many things...like who your best friend marries, what job he takes. You come back to the present but you know the future. Does this mean your friend no longer has freedom of choice, that he no longer has free will just because you went to the future and know it? Of course he still has freedom of choice from his point of view, while at the same time, you know the future from your point of view. As I say to my in-laws...it's all relative.

Here's another way to look at it. God created all the heavens, the universe, the earth, all the creatures on it including man. Do we know how God managed to create all that from nothing? We don't have a clue...but it's God...He's capable of doing anything. Okay, so why can God do anything, yet He can't create existence in such a way where He knows the future and still gives us free will? I mean it's God isn't it? If there's someone who can do that...it has to be God.

Let's look at it from the point of view of physics...and specifically the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. It states that the smaller the mass of an object and the faster its speed, the greater the uncertainty of its location at a given time. So electrons for example that travel really fast, and are really really small...well we have no idea where they exactly are in their orbit around a proton, nucleus or molecule at any given time. Hence, the uncertainty.

And considering that electron transfer is the basis of chemical reactions between atoms when molecular bonds are formed...including the neurochemical basis of thought along our neural pathways. So from our point of view, we don't know what we're going to do or think in the future. The uncertainty is built into the system that allows us to have freedom of thought. However the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle does not apply to God. He knows exactly where the electrons are...and therefore knows what we are going to think and do.

Hence, the reconciliation between Free Will and Predestination.

The Soul and the Body

What is a soul? What is a body? What is the purpose of each?

The Qur'an says God breathed from His spirit into us. This means that we all have a little bit of God's spirit in us...and I believe this is our soul. So in other words, the soul is the individualized form of God's spirit in each of us.

The soul however is lucid, it does not have a form. It needs a body to express itself. The function of the body is only to express the qualities of our soul. Since the soul is breathed into us from God Himself, it must inherently be good. Can God breath something into us from Himself which is anything but good? Think about this...it's important.

Remember Adam was in heaven along with his mate, and the two of them were happy and content. They did not naturally commit sin or were evil. It was only Satan that tempted them...and they listened to his temptation. But without Satan, they were without sin. So this means our natural disposition without Satan is to be good. And what is good? It is to manifest the attributes of God, because God gave us some of His own spirit...so it is easy for us to do this, it is in fact our natural state, provided we can shed the yoke of Satan's temptations.

The body is presented with all kinds of opportunities for the soul to express the natural goodness of God. But the body itself cannot be good, nor can it be bad. Thus, our challenge as individuals is to recognize that we have daily opportunities, endless opportunities to express God's attributes through our daily actions. Our soul is given the opportunity to express God's attributes of love, compassion, forgiveness, selflessness, charity, creativity, honesty, integrity, mercy...through the transactions of our daily live as presented to our bodies.

When viewed from this perspective, the purpose of life is not to acquire...not to acquire wealth, not to acquire pleasure, not to acquire emotional and mental things. It is in fact, to go through whatever we face, as opportunities to manifest God's attributes as given to us by God Himself by way of our soul. After all, how could our souls be given this opportunity without the body?

The Qur'an speaks of wronging our own soul. What does this mean? It means we decide to manifest qualities that are opposite of God's...and this means we are putting our soul in a state which wrongs its very nature. We manifest selfishness, greed, lust, envy...we all know the seven deadly sins. We do this because we are tempted by Satan to lead us away from God's qualities. Fundamentally speaking, our test is really to avoid the temptations of Satan, and to manifest the natural state of God's spirit, which He has breathed into us. Our souls are inherently good, we just need to give ourselves a chance to let that out.

The Old Man in the Café

I remember last summer sitting down in a café, enjoying a relaxing cup of coffee, reflecting on life…when I noticed, at the far end of the café, an old man sitting with a handicapped man. I can only imagine he must have been his son. What caught my eye wasn’t the handicapped man per se; it was how the old man took care of his son. The old man didn’t know the rest of the world existed; all his attention was on the well being of his son.

He talked to his son, even though his son didn’t answer back.

He helped his son with a napkin to wipe his mouth, even though his son didn’t reply with a thank you.

He helped his son up from his chair, and took the trouble to put the chair back in its proper spot, even though he had to help his son make his way round the table.

He guided his son, through the double doors that led out of the café, even though his briefcase was left unattended at their table.

And, from a distance in the parking lot, I noticed how he helped his son into their car, securely closing the car door behind him.

At first, I thought to myself, what an onerous life this must be for the old man. To do this, day in and day out; it must have been tiring and prevented him from doing so many other things in life. But then, the Qur’an inspired me to look at things differently. It wasn’t any particular verse or verses per se; it was just the overall spirit of what the Qur’an conveys.

I thought, how can this disabled man, who was very likely born with this disability, possibly be destined for anywhere but heaven in the life to come? And, I thought about all the good deeds the old man accumulated on every act of service to his son. Who knows what sins the old man might have done in his lifetime, and how these deeds may shift the balance to heaven in God’s eyes, the most Graceful, the most Merciful.

When you really look at it, his handicapped son wasn’t a misfortune for the old man, but in fact a blessing. The boy was guaranteed heaven because of the disability, and the old man was blessed with endless opportunities to take care of his son, for the sake of Allah, and gather good deeds. How, in this world, we look for opportunities to do good deeds, and how, the old man, was given an endless bounty of opportunities to do good deeds because of his blessed son.

When I see a parent now, with a disabled child, I no longer view the parent as being dealt with misfortune; I now see both being blessed because of the child, as part of God’s sublime mercy.