Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The trial of life



Struggle, Suffering and Death: The Story of Life

You may have seen it, lived it and hated it.  Or you may have disbelieved in it, ridiculed it and accepted convenient explanations for it. 

What I am talking about are non-random patterns in the course of life.  Even if there was nothing else to prove it (and there is much else to prove it), I would believe in God because of the patterns of occurrences in my life.  The pattern of things going wrong, of circumstances, of people, place and time that just never properly align no matter what I do.  The pattern is so clearly non-random, so clearly beyond my control to change, that it speaks of a higher power.  What highlights this is the fact that for some, life is the opposite; everything works out with or without merit.

Fortunate people think that their skills and attitude explain their success.  They tend to want to eliminate the role of powers beyond themselves in how their life has worked out. Unfortunate people very readily understand and clearly see that where they end up and how things work out for them often has little to do with their efforts or skills.  What is the truth?

Why won't you think?



Why Won’t you Think?
إِنَّ شَرَّ الدَّوَابَّ عِندَ اللّهِ الصُّمُّ الْبُكْمُ الَّذِينَ لاَ يَعْقِلُونَ
Truly, the worst of all creatures in the sight of Allah are the deaf,
the dumb, those who do not use their reason/think.
Qur'an 8:22

Consider this verse carefully, Allah is telling us that the worst creatures are the ones that do not reason.

أَمْ تَحْسَبُ أَنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ يَسْمَعُونَ أَوْ يَعْقِلُونَ ۚ إِنْ هُمْ إِلَّا كَالْأَنْعَامِ ۖ بَلْ هُمْ أَضَلُّ سَبِيلًا
Or do you think that most of them hear or reason? They are like livestock. Rather, they are [even] more astray in [their] way.
(25:44)

There can be no excuse for giving up your right to think for yourself.  The consequences of switching off your critical faculties are absolutely terrifying, not just in the next world, but in this world.  In this world you end up wandering astray like livestock, or herded in your ignorance by those who are evil, or otherwise.

Sunday, November 18, 2012

The Qur’anic Dress Code for Women



The Qur’anic Dress Code for Women

1         Introduction


This topic of dress code for women in the Qur’an is an important one as it is under relentless attack by liberalists in the Qur’an movement.  It has become almost a matter of fact among those in the Qur’an movement that many aspects of clothing regulations that Muslim women have followed over the centuries are wrong.  So the idea of a head cover is outright rejected, as well as the wearing of a robe (jilbab).  What we are left with are vague, self-serving manipulations of the guidance of Allah.

As I will show in this article, this liberal view is blatantly wrong.  So wrong in fact that I would say that any authors in the Qur’an movement who have promoted such a view are immediately disqualified from serious consideration for the simple reason that they have demonstrated that their biases have trumped the revelation of Allah. 

This topic is a valuable litmus test for liberalism and ideologically biased authors.  A similar litmus test is on the topic of evolution in the Qur’an.

Monday, November 12, 2012

Hajj in the Qur'an

Where?


Hajj is to be done to the Sacred Mosque at the Ka’bah which is in Mecca.  Evidence for this can be seen in the following ayahs: -

The first House established for mankind was that at Bakka, a place of blessing and guidance for all beings.
In it are Clear Signs–the place where Ibrahim stood (to pray). All who enter it are safe. Pilgrimage to the House is a duty owed to Allah by all mankind–those who can find a way to do it. But if anyone disbelieves, Allah is rich beyond need of any being.
(3:96-97)