Common practice divides reality into the natural and the supernatural. And occasionally God is thought to interfere with the natural order, reaching down from the supernatural, and He works a miracle. This kind of miracle is really a monster. Its not the same kind of miracle as the miracle of a beautiful sunrise, or the miracle that a spot as small as a speck of dust can grow into a human being - thats a miracle. But this miracle that interferes with the natural order, thats a whole different thing that people are thinking of - to me, its a monster. (3 of 8) By all means there are remarkable things that Muslims are ready to believe in, they are ready to accept. But they are things that are accomplished, not by a suspension of the natural laws, but by an unusual application of the natural laws. The Quran explains that when God Wills something, He simply says to it be and it is. Is this hard to understand? Can the saying be the doing? In fact we deal this way ourselves, some say always. Suppose I say to this man, I congratulate you. When did I congratulate him? Did I tell him about something I was going to do or I did? The same saying was the doing - I congratulate you - I did it when I said it. Or if I say to this man, I appoint you as my representative. When I said it, I did it. Its not a difficult concept to understand, that the saying can be the same as the doing. This is God as Baruch Spinoza understood him about 300 years ago, the Will of God is no more and no less than those things which take place in the sense of physics. This is why we can say all things originate with God, but we bring evil on ourselves. For example, the chemical reactions between cigarette smoke and human lung tissue are a natural law. But the smoker brings the damage on himself. Spinoza said, there is but one infinite item, and that only is logical, if its infinite there cant be room for two of them, he said, there is but one infinite item, and whatever the attributes of that item are, we can only know about two of them: extension and thought. He meant that we know the physical Universe and we know how it works. This is the same as the Qurans ascription of Allah as Alzaher, Albatin - The Evident and The Imminent [?] or The External and The Internal. This means that the Universe and how it functions is all we know of God. The same verse also describes Allah as Source and Goal - Alawwal, Alakher - The First and The Last; two attributes that seem to be opposites and yet they are really just two different viewpoints of one reality. And let me continue with that thought. Im talking here, a moment ago, about God being everywhere, in the sense that as the Universe performs, thats the way that He wants it to perform. His will is the same as the functioning of the Universe. From another point of view we could say that God is only rarely present, only sometimes is He present. And by this I mean He is present when a man has taqwa, when a man has really attained a constant awareness of God as a reference point, something remarkable happens - God puts in an appearance: whether that man be a Jesus Christ [PBUH] or an Albert Schweitzer; if their mind is fixed on the Absolute they become a remarkable individual. So then to avoid being lost, in every sense of the word, it is necessary to (1) verify things and (2) to take necessary action. These are the first two points. The last two requirements parallel these because knowledge and action, in order to be meaningful, must be effective - they must accomplish something, or they dont really mean anything. So as we acquire knowledge we aid others to do the same, and as we do well we help others to do the same. So possibly the 103rd surah is more significantly, or alternatively, translated as: Man is lost, except for those who verify things and realize their potential, and confront others with reality, and encourage others to persevere.
Posted on: Wed, 29 Jan 2014 11:20:11 +0000
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