Why Pray?

A response to the question about 'why do you pray for changing His plans (whatever those may be)?'

You assume that. 

We pray because we are directed to pray and because we are informed in the Quran that we have been created to worship, which I think encompasses willing obedience, submission and service.  

We have ritualistic prayers and we have informal prayers: 

In ritualistic prayers, we recite reminders about the core beliefs of faith and pray for guidance for all [http://quran.com/1/ ], recite any portion of the Quran again as a reminder, then submit physically and verbally by bowing and prostrating, then bear witness that there is no God but God, and that Mohammad is His messenger, then pray that Mohammad and his family is blessed the way Abraham and his family have been blessed, and then any Quranic or personal prayer we wish to ask. We conclude the formal prayers by greeting the angels who are maintaining our record, whom we believe are constantly on our right and left, mentioned in the Quran as the honourable recorders in Chapter 82, verses 10-12 [http://quran.com/82 ] as well as in Chapter 50, verses 16-18 [http://quran.com/50 ] 

In informal prayers, we glorify God, thus being mindful of His Majesty, Grace and Love, and we seek forgiveness, thus reminding ourselves of our limits of knowledge and understanding, and human weaknesses and shortcomings, and our utter dependence on the Grace of God. 

Also, since we believe that God's love is far greater than any mother can even imagine loving her child, we cry our hearts out to God to find solace and comfort when life seems overwhelming. We do not know if God will change His plans for us, or change our hearts to be more open to the trials of this temporal life, or if it is also part of God's plan to make us pray some particular prayer at some particular moment in time. The Uncertainty Principle applies to us, but not to God.   

Why Pray for Changing God's Plans?

Question: If God is the best Sustainer, why do you pray for changing His plans (whatever those may be)? 

Answer: 
1) From a human point of view: I suppose its a human need to reach out... its a natural instinct to pray, especially when one is out of options  

2) From the general Muslim point of view: God can do anything, so praying may change the situation. Indeed, collective prayers are held for water in periods of drought, etc. There is also the belief that prayers are never unanswered, so when someone prays to God, He never rejects any prayer: its either granted as is, or it is answered differently, or it is stored and carried forward for the Hereafter. You can read some more on it here: http://askaquestionto.us/question-answer/dua/does-allah-answer-prayer 

3) From my understanding of the Quran: whatever happens, both good and bad, is already destined and we should bear with patience whatever befalls us; though it is okay to pray for temporal things, what we should actually be praying for is guidance, so that we are able to believe and do good works: belief will qualify us for 'the Balance' on which will be weighed 'our deeds' [http://quran.com/18/105]; so that we are granted the 'Noor' for a safe passage [http://quran.com/57/12] around Hell and through the upheavals of the Day when the Heaven(s) and Earth are being destroyed and created anew, towards the Garden(s) of Eden which we qualify for [http://quran.com/8/4 , http://quran.com/3/133 , http://quran.com/57/21]. I think we can perhaps understand this in terms of the Theory of Balance, Theory of Chaos, Big Crunch and reversal of the Arrow of Time. Here is my understanding of Creation and relevant verses of the Quran: http://signsandscience.blogspot.com/2014/10/creation.html    

4) And when My servants question thee concerning Me, then surely I am nigh. I answer the prayer of the suppliant when he crieth unto Me. So let them hear My call and let them trust in Me, in order that they may be led aright. [http://quran.com/2/186]

Faith and Doubt

Excerpts of an email conversation I (SI) had with a mathematician (B)  

B: I don't ask you to abandon your faith, but to doubt the literacy of its rendering. 

SI: Then it would no longer be faith! 

  

B: Jews, christians, and muslims were more open to, if not more aware of, the Platonist way to conceive/search God in their earlier periods, but eventually the mainstream continues to stick on the Aristotelian dogma, like notably, the existence of some primitively physical beings. 

SI: I believe in [1] Allah, [2] His Angels, [3] His Books, [4] His Messengers, [5] The Latter Day (of destruction and re-creation), [6] Predestination (all fate, good or otherwise, is from Allah, the Most High), [7] Resurrection after Death. I believe in it just like I believe I’m alive in the present moment and that I will be dead at some future moment.   

  

B: To progress in the fundamental, we have to progress in doubting *almost* everything. OK?

SI: I am willing to doubt reason and logic and all other constructs of human intellect including my own. I am willing to question your theory and assumptions and proofs, in an effort to arrive at the possible truth. However, I am not willing to sacrifice faith on the altar of doubt. I do not believe that science has the ability to conceive God but I’m a believer in science’ ability to reason the existence of God, without presuming the existence of God. I think your comp represents the latter approach. That is why it interests me. 

  

B: We will never sacrifice faith. How could we? Why should we? On the contrary, faith is what really remains when you attempt the universal doubt. Of course, I distinguish faith in God, from faith in anything a human can relate to God. By experience I know it is difficult to do that by mail. I am curious to see how much you are open to science/doubt, and so how much deep is your faith. (and I test myself in passing, and everybody is invited to seized the opportunity). 

SI: My faith encourages me to pursue the sciences, to use my faculties and intelligence for reason and logic, and the study of the sciences is not doubt. Doubt is the lack of faith! 

  

B: Doubt about God, is a lack of faith. Doubt about humans and all what they say, especially on God, is an evidence of faith. All texts, all theories, all reports, all journals, all books, can and should be put in doubt, always, if you are confident enough in the search of truth. 

SI: Agree in principle, differ in detail. 

And about a couple of weeks later  

B: I am not sure I commented on this. It might be the heart of the matter. Science is only doubt. But as Descartes saw, we cannot doubt of everything, and so, we do trust something. The more we are able to doubt, the more we can see what remains undoubtable, and faith can build on that. So, those who have the faith have no problem doubting any theories, texts, etc. The faith rises from within, and is definitely beyond words, texts, theories, equations,  etc. The universal machines are confronted to something similar when they introspect themselves (in the sense of Kleene second recursion diagonal way). In front of the absolute truth, science can only augment the doubt, but without ever needing to abandon faith. It is the faith in the ineffable which invites the doubt on *all* the fables. 

An atheist/agnostic responded: So you must have faith - but not in anything in particular? 

  

Book Review: When Life Begins

Book Title: When Life Begins

Book Author: Abu Yahya

Translated By: Bashir Nazir et al.

Publisher: Inzaar Publications 

Year: 2012

Pages: eBook 129 pages; Paper back: 256

eBook: http://www.inzaar.org/books/when-life-begins/

When Life Begins is an astonishing journey into the future, a time-travel, which transports us into another world. A world where there is great misery and desolation for many, but also a world where a select few enjoy extreme bliss and complete peace. Yet, it is nothing like our world: there is no injustice in this world. Those who are suffering are suffering because of themselves, and they know that they have brought it on upon themselves. Those in bliss are continually being amazed by the wonderful life that is unfolding for them, beyond their deepest desires and wildest imagination.

It is the story of a family. The main character is Abdullah, the father, and his close companion Saleh, who explains and clarifies each situation, as the story develops. Abdullah, his wife Naimah, and some children are in bliss, while a son and a daughter are in a state of misery and desolation. The novel traces the reasons why which character is in which state. There are a few other additional characters who lend an explanation to the story. It also traces the larger story of nations, of humans and humanity, of trial and suffering in our present world, attempting to answer the bigger question: why!

The novel is an incredible, marvelous, harrowing, scary, romantic, sci-fi fantasy. What is unique about the book is that it is based upon the description of the Day of Reckoning and Hereafter, as related in the Quran and Sunnah. It builds upon the information in these two sources and presents a preview of what might be when we are raised from our graves and the sequel of events that will unfold. It is a very bold attempt and it can be argued that one should not take such liberties with religion. Indeed, but if one does not treat it as a religious text, if one is to read it only as a novel, it is a great introduction to what might be, and a starting point for the inquisitive mind to begin their own study of the Quran in search of the greater purpose of life!  

   

The original novel is in Urdu with the title: ‘Jab Zindagi Shuru Hogi’. Part 2 of the book has also been published, but is currently available in Urdu only, titled: ‘Qasam Us Waqt Ki’. This sequel is a journey into the past, taking the main character, Naimah, in her search for truth, back into the times of the prophets of God, so that she can witness with her own eyes how God has continually guided humans. This novel also attempts to handle contemporary questions raised by the curious, educated young minds, questions which need to be dealt with on an intelligent and objective basis, without prejudice and without requiring the questioning mind to take things on faith. This novel is another wonderful attempt to answer many pertinent questions, and help bring people towards the Quran. 

Published in Renaissance: When Life Begins

Book Review: Conference of the Books

Book Title: Conference of the Books: The Search for Beauty in Islam

Book Author: Khaled M. Abou El Fadl

Copyright: ©2001 by University Press of America, ® Inc.

Published in Pakistan by: Paramount Publishing Enterprise

Pages: 419 

Conference of the Books, a collection of essays, draws upon the remarkable intellectual heritage of the Muslim civilization. With admiration for the ethos of knowledge that was the hallmark of the civilization of the word, the civilization which was based upon the book of God, the author takes recurring contemporary issues and searches how they were dealt with earlier, reconstructing the past and examining the diversity of scholarly opinion, trying to learn from their successes and their mistakes. In the essay: The Pearls of Beauty, to the question: “…what do you do with the long-established practice of Muslims?”, the author responds: “…, I respect and honor it – it is a formidable precedent to be considered and studied. But if it no longer persuades me, I will respectfully disagree with it.” 

The author, a jurist and a teacher, believes that beauty is a core Islamic value. Hence, the laws of Islam are based upon beautiful moral and ethical values, which need to be understood and appreciated, for the rules and laws to be implemented in spirit, and not just in letter. As he puts it: “Piety creates and pursues the rules, but the rules do not create piety”. 

Based on the premise that the intellect is the most wondrous of all of God’s creations, the author laments the ‘shelters of ignorance’, the ‘delusions of comfort’ and the ‘derangement of fear’ that have plagued the Muslim mind for centuries now. He beckons the reader to knowledge, to the ‘expanse of its magnitude’ and the ‘richness of its sublimity’. Through his nightly conferences, he takes the reader into the world of the jurists of the past, studying their efforts, methodologies and solutions. He consults them, and they point the way, helping him to understand and confront the challenging problems of the contemporary era. He believes in the beauty and resilience of the Islamic message, and hopes that the Conference of the Books will help rekindle the interest of the Muslims in the book.           

Published in Renaissance: Conference of the Books: The Search for Beauty in Islam

Book Review: The Event of the Quran

Book Title: The Event of the Qur’an - Islam in Its Scripture  

Book Author: Kenneth Cragg

Copyright: ©Kenneth Cragg

Publisher: One World Publication, Oxford, England

Published in India by: Gopsons Papers Ltd., Noida

Pages: 208 

The Event of the Quran offers an interesting perspective of a non-Muslim’s effort to understand Islam through its scripture. The author, Bishop Kenneth Cragg, in the preface, lists three broad concerns which led to this study:

1.       Christian world’s grudging and imperceptive attention to Quran
2.       Quran has much that Christians can greet and share
3.       The Quran presented formidable obstacles to comprehension by outsiders 

Therefore, he states, ‘the definite text needed to be explored with hope and realism’, and ‘trans-religious openness of heart’. In his attempt to answer what happens in the Quran, he takes his readers along a fascinating journey. In his words, ‘The Quran is a fusion, unique in history, of personal charisma, literary fascination, corporate possession and imperative religion. In the continuity of its reception since the event we have perhaps the largest and most sustained expression of what might be called documentary faith. Throughout we have to do with revelation as literature and with literature as revelation.’

He explores the relation between words and meanings and the audience, i.e. the primary addressee of the Quran, how they listened and what they understood.

In exploring this, the author feels that ‘to be firmly planted in the seventh century is not to exclude the Quran from the twentieth. Rather, it is to plant there more intelligently.’ The living context is Arabian paganism where the prophetic mission must be carried out. He explores the events that are pivotal in the Quran which relate to the struggle to terminate idolatry and establish the sole worship of God.

Considerable thought is given to the landscape, the economy, the emigration, and then, in that context, the actual shaping of Muslim character and conduct – how the pagan mind and heart transforms, embracing and realizing Islam in thought and action!

As an expert in Arabic language, the author comments that ‘the language of the Book illuminates the meaning: the clue is in the Arabic’. He reasons that had it been in Arabic only because it was the native language, the adjective ‘mobin’ used to describe the language in the Quran (26:195) would have been superfluous. Considering various meanings of the word ‘mobin’, he settles with luminous, i.e. a luminous Arabic language. 

The Event of the Quran is rich with words and meanings, and many a passage needs a re-read to understand what the author is trying to communicate. Some references to Chapter and Verse numbers are incorrect, but the text and translation seems okay. In all fairness, the book is an interesting read, combining the scholarly approach with a reverence and admiration for the text and the event!

Published in Renaissance: The Event of the Qur'an - Islam in its Scripture 

What divine consideration allows Satan to ... tempt and mislead, to beguile and decieve?

Question: I am familiar with the Islamic taboo against "partners unto Allah", but I am confused by the reference to Satan, a rebel. Must Satan not originally have been either a servant of God, a mighty being but not divine, like the angels you described, or else a partner of God? If Satan is not divine, then what divine consideration allows him to rebel and live for all these many years and harm so many human souls who otherwise might have pleased God? If Satan is not divine, from whence come "his" powers to tempt and mislead, to beguile and deceive? He often seems to be portrayed as a being of powers divine, greater than those of any angel, Christian or Islamic, and I find it hard to see how Satan is not essentially a partner of God. Does God not allow his rebellion to continue? Is that not a contract or agreement between divine good and evil? 

Answer: Satan (Iblis) refused to obey God out of pride and was cursed (removed from God's blessing forever). He blamed God for his fall from grace, and asked that he be given respite till Judgement Day so as to allow him & his progeny to lead mankind astray. God permitted that, knowing quite well that Satan will only be able to lead astray those who choose to be led by him.

Background:
1) Iblis is a dJinn. dJinns are a creature made of smokeless fire. They can see us but we cannot see them (from another dimension, I suppose).
2) Iblis was among the angels who were ordered to prostrate to Adam. Iblis refused to prostrate to Adam citing that he is superior to Adam as Adam has been created of clay.
3) Before God created Adam, God informed the angels that he is about to create a vice-regent for Earth. The angels asked why someone who would create mischief and shed blood... (Quran 2:30). God told them 'I know what ye know not'. After God had created Adam and taught him names of all beings (inferred from the arabic pronoun used), He then presented Adam to the angels and asked the angels to name them. The angels did not have the knowledge of those names and thus could not answer. Then Adam was asked and he was able to recite the names of them all.
4) Thereafter, the angels were ordered to prostrate to Adam. They all did except Iblis. He refused, was haughty and became of those who reject faith. God asked Iblis what prevented him from prostrating. Iblis said that Thou didst create me from fire and him from clay (Quran 7:12). God told him that it is not for Iblis to be arrogant , that he is the meanest of creatures, and he was ordered out. Iblis asked for respite till the day they (humans) are raised up. He was granted respite, disgraced and expelled. (Quran 7:13-18).
5) Adam and his wife were told to stay and enjoy all things in garden (heaven) and were only prohibited from one tree. They were warned that if they approach it, they will run into harm and transgression. Satan began to whisper suggestions to them and beguiled them, and through deceit brought their fall. God asked them that weren't they forbidden and were they not warned that Satan was their avowed enemy. They were repentant and humble, so God forgave them.    
6) Then were they sent to Earth for a temporal life (Quran 2:36 - 38 and 7:24).
Quran 2:38 'We said: "Get ye down all from here; and if, as is sure, there comes to you Guidance from me, whosoever follows My guidance, on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.'
7) We are warned that Satan and his progeny are our enemies, and that we need to be ever aware of that. We are also told that they have no real power over us: they can only whisper and suggest, and stir up desires; it is up to us whether we choose to follow them or not.  

We on Earth, this temporal life and its trials, Satan and his progeny, Prophets and God's guidance, Judgement Day, Heaven and Hell, all this is part of a much larger scheme, of which we have but very little knowledge and insight. Things will be made clear to us when the time is right. So, for the time being, we must use conscience and intelligence as our tools in search of guidance and choose accordingly.