Modern Science and Hazrat Ali
1. Troposphere
Fig.6. Picture showing the seven layers
FIG.69. Potrait of Darwin as a young man, and when he has become old. Darwin was a Christian and a believer in God. If he would have used the word ‘God’ instead of the word ‘nature’, his theory would have been regarded as theology (study of religion). His work was a scientific one (through collection of data).He did not use the word “God”, he used the word “nature” instead.
FIG.76.Life started with amino acids and nucleotide.Aminoacids gave rise to proteins and nucleotide gave birth to RNA (ribose nucleic acid).The most primitive organism had RNA as genetic material. The HIV virus which causes AIDS has RNA as it’s genetic material (retro virus).Does it means that the HIV virus was existing before the arrival of human race?
FIG.77. The tree of evolution. Plants and animals had a common ancestor.
Imam Ali : " Mutual affection between fathers creates a relationship between the sons. Relationship is more in need of affection (love) than affection is of relationship."
Nahjulbalagha: Saying.no-303
It is a very strange saying of Imam Ali and is among those saying which took my life time to understand. I am still happy because there are scholars and people who never understood it and went away from this world without knowing the significance of the above saying of Imam Ali (peace be upon him).I am humbled and feel blessed by Allah and thank Allah so that He may increase his blessings on me.
The above saying simply means that if two people, man or woman, like each other or are true friends their children will inherit their behaviour. The above saying means to convey the message that behaviour is inherited.To the contrary, if two people hate each other their enmity is also inherited into their children. First the behaviour is transmitted by epigenesis (in the form of chemicals or pheromones) which later take the form of genes which are inherited. Regarding rivalry among siblings Imam Ali says; "The rivalry among siblings is because of the rivalry among parents."
If there is a lots of mutual love among parents, siblings will never hate each other. Similarly, if two men are very good friends in real sense of the word their children will develop a very cordial relationship and will be close to each other more than true siblings and this behaviour will be transmitted among generations. There are stories of rivalry running among two families and there are stories of love running among families.The best example of enmity running among two families is the story of Karbla. Yazeed belonged to the clan of Bani Umaiyya and Imam Hussain (as) belonged to the clan of Bani Hashim. Abu Sufiyyan, father of Mawiyya , fought with Prophet Muhammad (saw) his whole life and Mawiyya fought with Imam Ali his whole life and finally Yazeed , son of Mawiyya, killed Imam Hussain Ibne Ali in the battle of Karbala. Imam Ali (as) was raised by Prophet Muhammad (saw) like his son though Ali (as) was his cousin so the analogy is perfect.Regarding his relationship with Prophet Muhammad (saw) Imam Ali (as) says,
" When I was only a child the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) adopted me.He used to press me to his chest and lay me beside him in his bed and make me smell his fragrance.He used to chew food and fed me with it." Nahjulbalagha:Sermon-191,page 393
Ali loved Prophet Muhammad (saw) more than himself and was ready to lay down his life for him,in fact, he was the first to accept Islam, the first Muslim, at the hands of Prophet Muhammad (saw).This was because Abu-Talib, father of Ali, supported Prophet Muhammad his whole life and loved him very much and Prophet Muhammad (saw) loved Abu-Talib so much that he (saw) declared the year of demise of Abu-Talib as the year of grief. The love between Abdullah, father of Prophet Muhammad, and Abu-Talib was exemplary. Hence, you can see love running in families in this case.
The Holy Quran calls the family tree of Banu-Hashim as 'Shajar-e-tayyiba-purified tree' and calls the family of Bani Umaiyya as 'Shajar-e-Khabeesa-the accursed tree', so rivalry is logical. Yazeed killed Imam Hussain (as) because hatred was running for too long in his (Yazeed's) family and it reached a saturation point with his arrival. When the sacred head of Imam Hussain (as) was brought into the palace of Yazeed he felt over-joyed and foolishly declared,
" Where are my ancestors who died at Badr, if they were here they would have proclaimed "O' Yazeed ,may your hands never suffer leprosy, what a wonderful revenge you have taken."
The enmity of Bani-Umaiyya towards Banu-Hashim culminated with the massacre of Imam Hussain and his holy family at the battle of Karbala in 60 Hijri.
Till recently science did not believed in the existence of behavioral genes but now the scenario is contrary.Matt Ridley in his famous book 'Genome ' writes,
" Nobody doubts that genes can shape anatomy.The idea that they also shape behaviour takes a lots more swallowing.Yet,I hope to persuade you that on chromosome 7 there lies a gene that plays an important part in equipping human beings with an instinct, and an instinct (instinct of grammar), moreover, that lies at the heart of all Human culture." Genome by Matt Ridley page 91
Matt Ridley is talking about the 'grammer gene' which lies on the long hand of chromosome 7.It was very hard for the science community to digest this discovery because learning grammar comes under behaviour .Matt Ridley further writes,
" The conclusion of both behaviour genetics and evolutionary psychology remains distinctly indigestible to many non-scientist, whose main objection is a superficially reasonable argument from incredulity? How can a gene, a stretch of DNA letters, cause a behaviour? The idea of genes for behaviour is no more strange than the idea of genes for development.Both are mind-boggling, but nature has never found human incomprehension a reason for changing her method."
Book:Genome by Matt Ridely-Page-106
The above saying of Imam Ali talking about behaviours like enmity and love running in families is so strange a concept that it is unpalatable even for educated people of this century. Ali (as) was far ahead of everyone during his time as well because the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) said:
" I am the city of knowledge and Ali is it's gate." It simply means, if you want knowledge go to Ali."
Fig.54.Heitler is a Meme; a bad meme. He is the ambassador of human destruction.
Fig.57.The figure shows a real cat’s eye dissection, the yellow part is macula which gives sight. We cannot see without macula which is made of pure fat.
9. HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY
Fig.1. Image of cosmic froth. The whole galaxies in the universe are arranged in the form of froth which you get when you shake a soap solution. The stars in a galaxy are also arranged in the form of froth and amazingly the space-time also have a foam/froth structure.
According to recent observation,by telescopes and radio telescopes,the universe has a pattern of froth.A froth is made of hallow regions with matter surrounding them.If you observe a soap bubble it will be very clear to you.The froth which you get when you shake a soap solution is made of millions of such soap bubble with hallow center.All galaxies are arranged around a hallow center which in scientific terminology is termed as 'BLACK HOLE'.And each galaxy also has a hallow center or BLACK HOLE around which all the stars are arranged.And amazingly enough ,space-time is also having the structure of froth.
Fig.3. Space-time having the structure of froth/foam.You can see the hallow center with the fabric of space surrounding it.
As far as I have studied, I have found only one man speaking about the universe and calling it a froth or foam, and that great man is none other than the cousin of the Holy Prophet Muhammad Imam Ali.Imam Ali (as) lived 1400 years back in Saudi Arabia,the land of scanty water, and was still well aware of the froth like nature of the universe. He (as) says,
" When Almighty (Allah) created the opening of the atmosphere, expanse of firmament and strata of winds, He flowed into it water whose waves were Stormy and whose surges leapt one over the other.He loaded it on dashing wind and breaking typhoons, ordered them to (wind and typhoons) to shed it (the liquid or water) back (as rain), gave the wind ( a gas) control over the vigour of the rain, and acquainted it with its limitations (laws of fluid mechanics).The wind blew under it (wind) while the water furiously flowed over it.Then almighty created another wind and made its movement sterile(inert gas),perpetuate its position, intensified its motion and spread it (the wind) far and wide.Then he ordered the wind to raise up deep waters (denser liquids) and to intensify the waves of the oceans (cosmic soup).So the wind churned it like the churning of curd and pushed it freely into the firmament throwing its front position on the rear and the stationary on the flowing till its level (level of cosmic soup) was raised the surface was full of froth.Then Almighty raised the froth on to the open wind and vast firmament and made from it the seven skies (the universe)."
Nahjulbalagha:Sermon-1:
If we convert the above words of Imam Ali (as) in modern scientific language it will be as follows,
"A universe of liquids initiated the formation of inert gases which, with time, gained much kinetic energy and got turned into a hurricane.This hurricane or cyclone of inert gases agitated the great mass of liquid giving rise to a huge body of foam.This foam got separated from the liquid universe and with passage of time got developed into our present universe with galaxies,nebulae and stars which are again shaped as foam or froth.
Fig.4. In construction,the foam pattern is famous as Callans landscape.You can notice the hallow center,the black-hole, around which cement is arranged.
The word froth/Foam' can be clearly seen to this day in the sermon of Imam Ali (as) in any translation of Nahjulbalagha which is the famous anthology of his sermons,sayings and letters.
The fundamental pattern which is found in nature is 'Froth' pattern. The universes exist as Froth ,the galaxies in each universe are arranged as froth, stars in each Galaxy are arranged as froth, and even SPACE-TIME has a structure of FROTH. According to Hazrat Ali, our present universe with its millions of galaxies is just the froth of huge liquid universe which lies somewhere in the unknown space undiscovered some trillions and trillions of light years away.
Fig.5. Voronoi's cells.In mathematics the foam pattern is explained by the concept of Voronoi's cell.
Lan Stewart in his famous book 'Cows in the Maze' writes,
"In a letter to the editor, Adrian Webster of the Royal Observatory, Edinbugrgh, pointed out that the curious geometry of Callan's Landscapes (foam pattern) can be understood using a much more classical branch of mathematics, the theory of Voronoi cells. He also explained how the Voronoi cells in Callan's landscapes illustrate one of the big discoveries of recent astronomy, the foam-like distribution of matter in the Universe."
The Cows in the Maze by Lan Stewart:Chapter-17: Page-233
Apart from all the scientific laws,Imam Ali (as) was also aware of the froth pattern wide spread in the universe,and why should not he (as) be aware of the modern science because the Holy Prophet (saw) said,
" I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate."
References
1. Cows in the Maze by Lan Stewart,Oxford University Press,Great Clarendon Street,Oxford ox2 6dp,ISBN-978-0-19-956207-7
2. Reference article: The Froth Across the Universe by Rien Van De Weygaert,Kapteyn Institute,University of Groningen,Netherland
In physics time is considered as the least understood of concepts. Till now, the physicists have failed completely to understand time. Einstein himself was puzzled with time, and his endeavor to understand time led him to his special theory of relativity. In his special theory of relativity, Einstein proposed the relativity of time and gave a new dimension to the world of physics called ‘The space-time’.
Fig.40.The astronaut’s brother is younger than his twin brother when he returns from a journey to the stars (time travel). (Google images: special theory of relativity-Twin paradox.)
Fig.41.We are existing in the space-time web. (Google images) space-time).
Fig.42.The future and past light cones are the sphere of influence of sun(OBSERVER).When an astronaut goes out of this influence cones of the sun, time slows down for him.(Google images:space-time).
Fig.43.JULIAN BARBOUR, a theoretical physicist, has worked on foundational issues in physics for 35 years, specializing in the study of time and inertia. He is the author of Absolute or Relative Motion?, The End of Time, and the Discovery-of-Dynamics.
Fig.44.Picture showing a man in loss. Time brings loss, with time anarchy-increases;2nd-law-of-thermodynamics.
There are two words in Arabic which denote time: Dahr and Asr .Regarding time the prophet of Islam said,
Fig.45.Painting showing the second law of thermodynamics, that there is increase of disorder with time.
Fig.48.The inflation theory says that the present universe was formed because of an energy bubble (negative energy bubble) which failed to perish. It is the inherent property of space time to produce energy bubbles which get perished in millionth of a second. The lucky energy bubble expanded exponentially to fill the space with energy, and then the energy condensed and exploded in the form of a big bang to form universe with thousands of galaxies and stars.
Fig.49.Julian says that time is an illusion, but according to Imam Ali-(a.s)-time-is-grief.
Fig.50.God encompasses time. His throne (Kursi) surrounds the heaven and-the-earth.
12. Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and Hazrat Ali
"o' slaves of desires, cut them short because he who leans on them gets nothing out of them except the pain of hardships', people, ‘take upon yourself your own training and turn away from the dictates of your natural inclinations (desires) NahjulBalagha: saying.354
"Keep walking in your sickness till you can."
NahjulBalagha.saying.26
Fig.37. Picture showing the different aspects of moral character. It is strange that compassion is one of the characteristic of moral character.
Fig.38. A bit of pain, anxiety and tension is good for the development of human personality.
An evil society is formed when the scholars and the rich become corrupt, this is the view of Imam Ali (KW).Some people raise their brows when we blame scholars for the spread of evil in the society, to such people I would suggest that they better go to Najaf, where Imam Ali (KW) is buried, and raise their brows on him (KW), if they have guts enough.
BY
Zeeshan Haider Moosavi
----- Prophet Muhammad (pbuh):
“I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate.”
INDEX
1.On
Thinking
2.
Hazrat Ali and Geology
3.
Hazrat Ali on sound,light and microorganisms
4.
Hazrat Ali – The first molecular biologist
5.
Hazrat Ali and Darwinism
6.
Genetics of Behaviour and Hazrat Ali
7.
Meme and Hazrat Ali
8.
Hazrat Ali – The ENT specialist
9.
Hazrat Ali and Human psychology
9.5. Hazrat Ali on Emotions
10.
Hazrat Ali and the creation of the universe
11.
Hazrat Ali on time
12.
Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle and Hazrat Ali
13.
Tidal force and Hazrat Ali
14.
Hazrat Ali on power
15.
What is philosophy?
16.
Hazrat Ali and Arthur Schopenhauer
17.
Hazrat Ali and William James
18.
The philosophy of Plotinus and Hazrat Ali
19.
Where is God?
20.
God, infinity and pi
21. The Ocean
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In the name of Allah, the Merciful and Benevolent
PREFACE
Any attempt to correlate religion and science usually meets with stiff opposition. The Clergy consider religion to be their exclusive domain, while most of the scientists reject religion as a bundle of unverifiable dogma. For the scientist, what cannot be verified simply does not exist. Dr. Raymond A. Moody Jr and also Fritjof Capra in his ‘TAO OF PHYSICS’ made a sincere and to a large extent, successful attempt to test religious dogma in terms of scientific inquiry. Whether it is a belief in life after death or the search for water on other planets in the universe, until we reach the end, it has to remain only in the sphere of a ‘belief’. Any hasty denial of a belief would be unwise, to say the least.
The lack of special knowledge sufficient to confirm a belief may be true for ordinary men. But then, what about the Sages and Savants? People who are competent to use more than the 7% of the capacity of their brain which an ordinary man cannot exceed? To assume that there never existed such extraordinarily brilliant people, would be recklessly wild ignorance, to put it mildly. It is the Savants and Sages that are considered the Prophets and their vicegerents, especially imbued with Devine wisdom (Quran: 3:81-81, 4:54, 4:163) and divinely appointed to remind, warn and guide mankind (Quran: 6:92).
The Quran for a Muslim is the ultimate word of God containing everything within its fold (Quran: 6:59). Even non-Muslims find that not a single verse, let alone a tiny chapter could be produced during all these centuries. Apart from the Quran, the only person to stake a claim to unlimited wisdom was Imam Ali (a.s) Ibn Abi Talib (a.s), the cousin, son in law and vicegerent of the Prophet Muhammad (a.s). On the basis of the Divine wisdom bestowed upon him, Imam Ali (a.s) said:”Ask me about the book of God, for I know when every single verse was revealed in the
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day or at night, in the valley or in the mountains (Ihqaqul Haq,v.7,p 586). On another occasion he said:” Ask me before you loose me. Would you not ask the one who knows man’s beginning and his end and his ancestry (Bihar, v.26, p.147)?” On yet another occasion he said: ”Ask me before I am taken away from you, for, I know better what is in the heavens than that on earth (Bihar, v.10, p.12). The compendium of sermons and sayings of Imam Ali (a.s), the Nahjul Balagha is acknowledged to be a classic beyond human effort and subordinate only to God’s word, that is the Quran.
Maurice Becaule had rendered a yeoman service in collecting wonderful scientific facts from the Quran. My friend Zeeshan Haider Moosavi has done the next best thing. He has correlated scientific facts with sayings of Imam Ali (a.s). There is great scope of further research in this field and I sincerely pray that the author of this book may, by the Grace of God and his chosen ones, succeed in astonishing the scientific community by unearthing the ancient divinely inspired scientific wisdom of Imam Ali (a.s) that has remained undiscovered through centuries. There was a time when anyone speaking well about Imam Ali (a.s) would have been persecuted by the so called Muslim rulers. Imam Ali (a.s)’s friends concealed his virtues for the fear of reprisal and his enemies wished to destroy all traces of Imam Ali (a.s)’s virtues. Now, particularly in India, there is freedom of speech. I wish my friend Zeeshan Haider Moosavi stellar success through recognition of the merits of his work here in this life and Grace and Munificence of his mentor in the life to come.
A.K.Ahmed
Advocate
Hyderabad
BIOGRAPHY OF IMAM ALI (A.S)
Imam Ali (a.s) son of Abu Talib (a.s) was the first cousin of the Holy Prophet of Islam. His parents, Abu Talib and Fatima (daughter of Asad), were cousins. Imam Ali (a.s) was born in Mecca on the 13th of Rajab 610 A.D. According to a majority of both Sunni and Shia scholars Ali (a.s) was born inside the Holy Kaba - The house of God, the Sunni references for his birth in Kaba are as follows,
1. Mustadrak by Imam Hakim
2. Marooj-uz-zahaab by Masoodi,page 125
Imam Ali (a.s) was born ten years before the holy Prophet’s declaration of his prophetic mission. It is narrated that just three days before his birth, his mother Fatima bint Asad got a miraculous call from the holy Kaba, following the call she approached the Holy Kaba. The wall of Kaba opened giving a safe passage to her, and when she went inside the wall of Holy Kaba rejoined again. This happened when Abu Talib and the Holy Prophet were outside Mecca, and when they came back on the third day, they ran towards the Holy Kaba on hearing about the miraculous opening of the wall of the Holy Kaba;Fatima bint Asad came out of the Holy Kaba with Ali (a.s) in her arms. Abu Talib was going through a very bad financial crisis in those days. The Prophet of Islam had promised Abu Talib that he will adopt one of his child. Fatima bint Asad handed Ali (a.s) to the Holy prophet who named him ‘Ali’, and in this way Ali (a.s) opened his eyes in the lap of the Holy prophet(Pbuh). Regarding this scenario Imam Ali (a.s) himself says,
“When I was only a child the Holy prophet adopted me. He used to press me to his chest and lay me beside him in his bed and make me smell his fragrance. He used to chew food and fed me with it.” Nahjulbalagha: sermon-191, page 393
This shows that the Holy prophet was not only the cousin, but also the foster father of Imam Ali (a.s) . When Ali (a.s) became 13 years of age the prophet of Islam got the first revelation: Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“Every year the Holy prophet used to go into the seclusion of the mountain of Hira where I saw him and no one else saw. In those times Islam did not exist in any house except that of the Holy prophet and Khadija and I was the third of these two. I used to see and watch the effulgence of the divine revelation and breathe the scent of prophet hood.” Nahjulbalagha: sermon-191, page 393
After declaring his prophethood the Holy prophet of Islam (a.s) invited his relatives to a party (dinner) because according to the Holy Quran blood relations have the first right in every thing and declared his Prophethood to his clan. Every one in the party refused to accept him (a.s) as a prophet, except for Ali who stood and declared himself as the first Muslim and promised his support and loyalty to the Holy prophet. Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“I spoke when others remained silent. I am the first to testify the Holy prophet of Islam-may peace and mercy of Allah be upon him.” Nahjulbalagha: sermon 37, page 123-124
Both, the Sunni and Shia scholar are unanimous on the fact that Imam Ali (a.s) was the first Muslim. They are also unanimous on the fact that he (a.s) was the only one who never worshipped idols even for a second in his whole life. The reason behind this is that Imam Ali (a.s) was under the supervision of the Holy prophet, and any flaw on the part of Ali would actually be taken as a failure on the part of the Holy prophet of Islam. In this scenario Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“From the time when the Holy prophet was a child, Allah had appointed a mighty angel with him to take him along the path of high character and good behavior through the day and night. While I used to follow him like a young camel following in the foot prints of its mother. Every day he would show me, in the form of a banner, some of his high traits and command me to follow it.” Nahjulbalagha: sermon-191, page 393
Imam Ali (a.s) was the only person who used to accompany the Holy prophet in the cave of Hira; it was during the days when the Holy prophet had not yet declared his prophethood. When the first revelation (wahi) came to the Holy prophet in the cave of Hira, Imam Ali (a.s) was there with him: Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“When the first revelation descended on the Holy prophet of Islam, I heard the moan of Satan and I said “O’ prophet of Allah, what is this moan? And he replied “this is the moan of Satan who has lost all hopes of being worshipped’ Ali! You see what all I see and you hear what all I hear except that you are not a prophet, but you are a (my) vicegerent (caliph) and are surly on virtue.” Nahjulbalagha: sermon-191, page 393
When we analyze the above words of Imam Ali (a.s) it becomes very clear that Ali was declared as the devine vicegerent (caliph) by the Holy Prophet (a.s) on the very day of the first revelation. Adam was made the devine caliph (vicegerent) in the sky before the human race was formed and by analogy Ali (a.s) was made the devine caliph (vicegerent) by the Holy Prophet in the cave of Hira before Muslims came into being, amazing analogy indeed.
Ali (a.s) was the sincerest and most loyal among all the relatives of Holy prophet and did not desist to sacrifice even his life for him. This he (a.s) proved by lying himself on the bed of the Holy prophet when he (pbuh) was migrating secretly to Madina, and in the morning when the Quarysh attacked the bed of the prophet they were shocked to find Ali (a.s) sleeping and spared him because they were in search of the Holy prophet .The Quarysh used to tease and ridicule Ali (a.s) for his exemplary sincerity. Nahjulbalagha: sermon-191, page 328
The Holy prophet loved Ali (a.s) very much, and in fact Ali (a.s) was the dearest of all. The Holy prophet taught Ali (a.s) all the secrets of knowledge and sometime used to demand Ali’s special attention and deliver to him the secrets of knowledge and wisdom, which were peculiar to none but the prophet himself. That is the reason for the declaration of the Holy prophet, “I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate”.
1.Mustadarak-al-hakam:vol.3,page-226(a-Sunni-book)
2. Al-jami-al sagir, Suyuti, page 107 (a Sunni book)
2. Al-jami-al sagir, Suyuti, page 107 (a Sunni book)
And at another place the Holy Prophet (a.s) said: I am the house of wisdom and Ali is its door.
1. Sahih-al-tirmizi 2.Kanz-ul-ummal, page, 107(Sunni book)
3. Al Jami al sager, vol.1, page, 170
Ali (a.s) was the only man to inherit the knowledge and wisdom of the Holy Prophet (a.s). Ali (a.s) is famous among the Muslims as a brave warrior. His first battle was the battle of Badr in which he killed the uncle and brothers of Muawiya son of Abu Sufiyan. This cost Ali (a.s) heavily when he became the fourth caliph of Islam because Muawiya did not forget the death of his uncle and brothers and avenged Ali (a.s) by waging the war of Siffeen. Ali defeated all the great warriors of Arabia, Ali (a.s) says,
“Even in boyhood I had defeated the great men of Arabia and broken the horn points of the tribes of Rabee and Muzar.” Nahjulbalagha: sermon-191, page 327
Imam Ali (a.s) inculcated bravery and courage in the companions of the Holy prophet. It was by following Ali (a.s), and through his personality, the companions learned the meaning of bravery and sincerity. In the real sense of the word Ali taught the companions the meaning of being a Muslim. All the companions used to imitate Ali (a.s) in following the Holy prophet, that is why the Holy prophet gave the title of “Ameerul-momineen (chief of believers)," and in fact Ali (a.s) was the first to get that title. Ali himself says,
“I am the chief of all the believers and wealth is the chief of all the wicked.” Nahjulbalagha: saying-302
Brave men are seldom great men of knowledge. But Ali (a.s) had carried these contradictory traits to perfection. He was the greatest warrior of Islam and at the same time he was the greatest among all the men of knowledge and wisdom. Combining contradictory traits like bravery and wisdom and carrying them to perfection is a sign of Allah. Such people are called Ayatollah and Imam Ali (a.s) said,
“I am the greatest sign of Allah.” Usoole-Kafi
According to the Holy Quran knowledge and bodily strength exist together in the caliph appointed by Allah,
“And their prophet (Samuel) said,” Indeed Allah has appointed Talut (Saul) as a king over you.” They said,” How can he be our king when we are fitter than him for the kingdom, and he has not been given enough wealth.” He (Samuel) said: Verily, Allah has chosen him above you and has increased him abundantly in knowledge and strength. And Allah grants his kingdom to whomsoever he wills.” Quran: 2:247
Ali was the most strongest and at the same time most knowledgeable and wise, hence according to Quran Ali (a.s) is the king of all the believers, and thus, the Holy prophet of Islam said,
“Whosoever takes me as his Moula (master) this Ali is his Moula.” Sahih Muslim
There are more than 100 verses in Quran which say that those who reject the signs of Allah are the dwellers of hell. Quran says,
“Verily! Those who believe not in the Ayat of Allah, Allah will not guide then and theirs will be a painful torment.”
Surah: 16: Verse-104
Surah: 16: Verse-104
The Holy prophet loved Ali so much that he died in Ali’s(a.s) lap, in this context Ali (a.s) says,
“When the Holy prophet died his head was on my chest and his last breath blew over (from) my palms when I made it pass over my face”. Nahjulbalagha: sermon-195, page 338
When the Holy prophet died Ali (a.s) was a very sad man. He was busy giving ghusl (funeral bath) and leading his funeral prayer. Had Ali (a.s) too gone to Saqifa, leaving the dead body of the Holy prophet (a.s), he would have been selected unanimously by all the Qurayesh and Ansar, for the fact that he was the first Muslim. Regarding the Holy prophet’s funeral prayer Ali says,
“I preformed his (Holy prophet’s) funeral bath, Allah may bless him and his descendants, and the angels helped me. The house and courtyard were full of angels. One party of angel was ascending and the other party was descending. My ears were continually catching their humming voices, as they were invoking Allah’s blessings till we buried him in the grave.” Nahjulbalagha: sermon-195
When Abu Bakr was made the first caliph of Islam Ali was at peace.He says,
“Then I began to think whether I should assault or endure calmly the blinding darkness of tribulations wherein the grown up are feeble and the young grow old and the true believer acts under strain till he meets Allah. I found that endurance was wiser. So I adopted patience although there was pricking in the eye and suffocation in the throat. I watched the plundering of my inheritance (caliphate) till Abu Bakr died and handed over the caliphate to Umar ibne Khattab after him.” Nahjulbalagha: sermon-3, page 59
This was not the end of Ali’s sufferings, but just the beginning, Another thunderbolt was waiting for Ali (a.s) in ambush, it was the sudden demise of his wife, cousin and soul mate Fatima Zahra who died just within six month (or three months or less) of the Holy prophet’s death. After burying her Ali delivered the Following sermon,
O' Prophet of Allah, peace be upon you from me and from your daughter who has come to you and who has hastened to meet you. O' Prophet of Allah, my patience about your chosen (daughter) has been exhausted, and my power of endurance has weakened, except that I have ground for consolation in having endured the great hardship and heart-rending event of your separation. I laid you down in your grave when your last breath had passed (when your head was) between my neck and chest.
Verily we are Allah's and verily unto Him shall we return. (Qur'an 2:156)
Now the trust has been returned and what had been given has been taken back. As to my grief, it knows no bounds, and as to my nights, they will remain sleepless till Allah chooses for me the house in which you are now residing. Certainly, your daughter would apprise you of the joining together of your ummah (people) for oppressing her. You ask her in detail and get all the news about the position. This has happened when a long time had not elapsed and your remembrance had not disappeared. My salam (salutation) be on you both, the salaam of a grief stricken not a disgusted or hateful person; for if I go away it is not because I am weary (of you), and if I stay it is not due to lack of belief in what Allah has promised the endurer. Nahjulbalagha:sermon-200, page 247
Even though Ali (a.s) was not made the caliph, this did not stop him from giving his sincere advice for the good of Islam. Once the second caliph, Omar, came to Ali (a.s) and put forth the proposal of removing the gold ornaments of the holy Kaba and spending it on strengthening the Islamic army, Omar was of the opinion that Kaba has nothing to do with gold ornaments, on this Ali said,
“When Quran descended on the holy prophet (S.A) there were four kinds of properties. One, the property of Muslims individual which he distributed among the successor according to fixed shares. Second, the tax (Zakat) which he distributed to those for whom it was meant. Third, one fifth levy (khums) for which Allah had fixed the ways of disposal. Fourth, amount of charity (sadqua) whose disposal was also fixed by Allah. The ornaments of Kaba did exist in those days but Allah left them as they were, and he did not leave them by forgetfulness, nor they were unknown to Him. Therefore you keep them where Allah and his prophet placed them.”
Omar said: Had it not been for you, we would have been humiliated, and let the ornaments as they were. Nahjulbalagha: saying -265
When some muslims surrounded the house of the third caliph Uthman and wanted to kill him, as they were annoyed by his policies, Ali (a.s) went to him and said,
“I swear to you by Allah that you should not be that Imam of the people who will be killed because it has been said (by the holy prophet) that, an Imam of this people will be killed after which killing and fighting will be made open for them till the Day of Judgment, and he will confuse their matters and spread troubles over them. As a result, they will not discern truth from wrong. They will oscillate like waves and would be utterly misled." You should not behave as the carrying beast for Marwan so that he may drag you wherever he likes, despite (your) seniority of age and length of life.” Nahjulbalagha: sermon-162, page 271
It happened just as Ali (a.s) had forewarned, the death of Usman was followed by the wars of Jamal, Siffeen, Neharwan and subsequently created strife among the Muslims.
Ali (a.s) won all the wars, the war of Jamal, the war of Siffeen and the war of Neharwaaan.And on the awful day of 19th Ramzaan, Ali (a.s)) was leading the morning prayer in the mosque of Kufa when ibne-Muljim appeared from behind the pillars of the mosque and gave a blow with his poisonous sword on the head of Ali (a.s) while he was in prostration. His auspicious beard was smeared with blood and he said,
“By the lord of Kaba I have succeeded.”
People took Ali to his home. Ali went into a deep sleep and the Holy prophet appeared before him, regarding this happening Ali (a.s) says,
“I was sitting when sleep overtook me. I saw the Prophet of Allah appear before me, and I said: "O' Prophet of Allah! What crookedness and enmity I had to face from the people. “The prophet of Allah said: "curse them," but I said, "Allah may change them for me with better ones and change me for them with a worse one.” Nahjulbalagha: sermon-68, page 145
For three days Ali (a.s) was busy giving good advice from his death bed. To his son Hassan (a.s), Ali (a.s) says,
“O' sons of Abdul Muttalib! Let there be no retaliation for the act of my murder, do not roam about with a drawn sword and with the slogan: Amir al-Mu'minin is killed. And do not start the massacre of my opponents and enemies. See to it that only one man, that is my assassin, is killed, as the punishment of the crime of murder is death and nobody else is molested. The punishment to the man who attempted the murder shall take place only when I die of the wound delivered by him and this punishment shall be only one stroke of sword to end his life. He should not be tortured before his death, his hands and feet should not be amputated because I have heard the Holy Prophet (s) saying: "Do not amputate hands and feet of anybody, be it a biting dog.” Nahjulbalagha: letter-47.page 452
Ali died on 21st Ramzaan, 38-hijra, 671 AD, and was buried at Najaf (Behind City of Kufa) in Iraq.
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INTRODUCTION
The aim of this work is to introduce Imam Ali (a.s) in the field of science & philosophy. If one goes through Nahjulbalagha, the anthology of sermons, letters and saying of Imam Ali (a.s) , he appears to be a scientist trying to reveal the hidden mysteries of life and universe through logical analysis. His sermons on the bat, ants and peacocks (sermon, 256 and 183) clearly portray him as a scientist. He is seen using inductive logic in many of his sermons. In Nahjulbalagha he (a.s) has discussed animals (zoology), plants (botany), birds (ornithology), earth formation and structure (geology), human nature (psychology), formation of universe (cosmology), kinds of stars (astrophysics) etc. And in some of his sermons he appears as a philosopher challenging the great western philosophers like Rene Descartes, Arthur Schopenhauer, William James, Fedrich Nietzsche etc. Nahjulbalagha is not a book of science and philosophy, but a book of theology. One will be surprised to find jewels of science and philosophy scattered in it. Imam Ali (a.s) has solved the deep mysteries of life and death with unimaginable ease. At one place he (a.s) says,
“There is no good in life except gaining knowledge.”
According to Imam Ali (a.s) , the main aim of life is to gain knowledge. We humans are given intellect which no other organism is given. And the satisfaction of intellect is in gaining knowledge. It sounds very relevant that one should make the pursuit of knowledge as the main aim of life. And his saying: The one who does good, is better than good and the one who does evil is worse than evil (NahjuBbalagha: saying: 32), directly contradicts the Christian philosophy which says, hate the sin not the sinner. But when we ponder deeply we find that Imam Ali (a.s)’s concept is the truth because sin is a potential and the sinner the embodiment of sin, and similarly good is a potential whereas; the one who does good is the embodiment of good. An alcoholic is more damaging than the alcohol which is lying harmless in the shelf. The present work of mine aims at proving Imam Ali (a.s) as the embodiment of science and philosophy, and “Nahjulbalagha” as a compendium of great philosophies and scientific truths.
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1. ON THINKING
1. ON THINKING
We humans, the species Homo sapiens, are gifted with a great faculty called ‘thinking’. It is the only tool which made us superior to all the other species on earth, and is responsible for our complete dominance over them. But recent research on Apes, Lemurs and Monkey shows that they have the ability to think, but to a lesser degree (The Dragons of Eden: Carl Sagan). It was found that Chimps and Apes use sticks in order to get the termites out of their holes (The Dragons of Eden). All the Primates (Lemurs, Apes, Monkey and Humans) have this special gift (thinking) to some degree. But we, humans, differ from the other Primates in having a highly developed faculty of thinking.
Fig.1.All the monkey like mammals including humans are called primates.
All the Primates use thinking to fulfill their materialistic requirements,but human beings are the only Primates to have the faculty of Philosophical and Mathematical thinking. This kind of thinking is Peculiar to humans and is absent in other Primates. The Apes cannot ponder over the creation of heavens and the earth, and completely lack the capacity to ask questions like; Who are we? Why do we exist? What is the reason behind the existence of this cosmos? Is there a creator? Etc. This difference between other Primates and human beings is because of the difference in weight and the anatomy of their brains (The Dragons of Eden). The Primates (Apes, Lemurs, Monkey and humans) have the heaviest brain in the animal Kingdom, and among Primates we, humans, have the heaviest brain; as because a large number of neurons are packed in a very small volume. And with regard to the anatomy of the brain, we all (all Primates) follow the triune brain model.
Fig.2. Figure showing the triune brain model of primates (The Dragons-of-Eden.page-59).
TRIUNE-BRAIN-MODEL
A sagittal section of brain from the middle shows three areas.
1. R-Complex(Reptilian-complex)
2. Limbic-system
3. Neo-cortex
The human beings differ from Primates in having a highly developed neo-cortex whereas the neo-cortex of all the other Primates is feebly developed (The Dragons of Eden).
Coming to the triune model of brain; the R-complex is the Reptilian complex found in Reptiles & Mammals and is absent in Amphibians and Fishes, it is the seat of sex and aggressive behavior. The Limbic system is well developed in mammals, feebly developed in reptiles, and is the seat of strong emotions like, love, fear and olfaction. A well-developed Neo-cortex is found only in humans and is present in the other Primates in rudimentary stage.The neo-cortex is made of a left and right cerebral hemisphere and is the seat of thinking, balance etc. The left cerebral hemisphere is associated with mathematical and analytical thinking, and the right cerebral hemisphere is associated with philosophical thinking and pattern-recognition-(The-Dragons-of-Eden).
A well-developed Neo-cortex is peculiar to humans and hence, the qualities associated with it (Mathematical and philosophical thinking). The other primates have a feebly developed neo-cortex; they use their thinking only to fulfill their food requirements and other materialistic needs.
If we, humans, are busy thinking only of the ways of earning a livelihood then we are no greater than Apes and Lemurs. To be a human we have to ponder over the creation of the heaven and the earth then, and then only, we have the right to be called as human being. And this is the only ways which makes our Neo-cortex work & develop further. Regarding this sort of thinking Quran says:
“Verily! In the creation of the heaven and earth and in the alteration of night and day there are indeed signs for men of understanding. Those who remember Allah (God) standing, sitting, lying down on their sides and think deeply about the creation of heaven and earth, saying “our Lord! You have not created this without a purpose, glory to be you! Give us salvation from the torments of fire.” Quran:3:190/191
Fig.4. Portrait of Rene Descartes, the father of co-ordinate geometry
In this article, the word ‘thinking’ refers to pondering over the creation of heaven and earth and whatever exists in it. The first western philosopher who gave importance to this sort of thinking was Rene Descartes.
Rene Descartes was born in England in 1650.AD. A mathematician and a philosopher, he invented the coordinate geometry and is known as the father of Modern Philosophy (History of Western Philosophy: Bertrand Russell). His 'cogito ergo sum; I think, therefore I am' came as a fresh breath to exhausted materialistic western Philosophy. He is known as the discoverer of cogito. His philosophy is popularly known as the Cogito- I think. The cogito, opened new avenues in the western philosophy and saved it from an abrupt end by changing it's realistic approach to an idealistic approach towards life. It also solved forever, the problem relating to the hierarchy of matter and mind, which was existing since the time-of-Plato.
Descartes started with a method called Cartesian doubt; doubting every possible thing till you reach the certainty. Apart from skepticism, it was actually a method which knew the result before hand. He declared that every sensible thing can be doubted. Senses are deceptive; the eyes deceive by falsely showing a straight rod in water to be bent. Hence Knowledge gained through senses is not fool proof. He was in search of something which cannot be doubted. He was in search of a concrete and fool proof method by which Knowledge could be gained, so he went on to say: Everything I see is deception, this world, its people, my body etc. May be this world is a magic, and all that exist in it. May be a Satan has charmed me (History of Western Philosophy). My body may also be a deception. May be, it is a dream. But there is one thing in which there is no doubt; My thinking! Thinking is the sole proof of one’s existence. Hence he declared Cogito ergo sum; I think, therefore I must exist. Through ‘Cogito’ Descartes established the superiority of mind’ over ‘matter. When ‘mind, which is the seat of thinking, is the proof the material, (his body) then it means the invisible is superior to the visible. It was finally established that the knowledge gained through thinking is superior to the knowledge gained through the senses. Newton’s laws of motion, Einstein’s theory of relativity and Planck’s quantum theory are examples of knowledge gained through thinking, they have indeed changed the world. The senses give you knowledge of the visible world, whereas thinking gives you the hidden knowledge of the laws governing the world. Hence real knowledge comes from inside, not from outside. The Knowledge gained through the senses acts only as a media to reach-the-Real-knowledge.
Descartes Philosophy is a preference of mind over the matter; soul over the body and God over the universe. Just as mind exists in us, God exist in the universe. There can be no body without a ‘Mind’ and hence there can be no universe without a ‘God’ this is what Cogito ergo sum has given to the western philosophy. (Those who wish to know more of Descartes philosophy can refer to Bertrand Russell’s-History-of-Western-Philosophy).
Descartes’s philosophy of Cogito can be visualized in the following sayings of Imam Ali (a.s),
1) Seeing with eyes is not like analysis with vision (muainatul absar),definitely eyes misguide their possessor while intelligence (aql) never put into swoon those who heed to it's dictates.
NahjulBalagha: saying No:281
Here Imam Ali (a.s) says that senses, especially eyes, deceive, and hence the Knowledge gained by the senses is not completely reliable. Intelligence guides correctly only those who give heed to it's dictates. Egocentric people think that their thinking is always right, to such people intelligence misguides by vindicating their stand. Hence, whosoever want to listen to the dictates of intelligence, to them intelligence never misguides.The most wonderful part of this saying is the phrase 'analysis with vision.' Albert Einstein developed his special and general theory of relativity by using thought experiment which is nothing but visual analysis.The whole thoery of relativity is full of sentences like ' imagine you are moving on light,' 'imagine a blind beetle moving on a curved surface,' etc. Visual analysis literally means thought experiment.
2) Thinking is a clear mirror. Nahjul Balagha:saying-no:4
Imam Ali (a.s) says that thinking is a flawless tool for gaining genuine knowledge; just as a clear mirror which gives a clear image to the observer. He means to say that the knowledge gained through thinking is credible.
3) There is no Knowledge like thinking.
This saying is a part of the saying 113 of Nahjulbalagha.
4) There is no honor like knowledge.
NahjulBalagha-saying-no: 113
Here Imam Ali (a.s) says that greatest knowledge is that which is gained by thinking.
All the great theories in Physics, which describe the functioning of the universe as well as the subatomic particles, were achieved through the thinking of great minds. All the computers and other modern equipments work on the principle of Planck’s quantum theory which describe the behavior of the subatomic particle-the microcosm, whereas the general theory of relativity and the special theory of relativity describes the workig of the universe at large-the macrocosm. Both the theories are the outcome of thinking-visual analysis. The greatest knowledge is thinking and the greatest honor is knowledge. It means that the greatest honor for the man is ‘thinking’. If you don’t ponder, you are-not-a-human-being.
Imam Ali (a.s) said what all Descartes has said, but he (a.s) said it a fourteen hundered years before and in a far more better and wonderful manner than Descartes.To the sunni muslims Ali was a worrior par excellence,a knight, who played a major role in establishing Islam on his muscle power whereas to the shia muslims Ali was a sign of God with excellence in every field of knowledge and action.
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2. IMAM ALI (A.S) AND GEOLOGY
It is through the strength of God’s greatness and His subtle power of innovation that He made the solid dry earth out of the water of the fathomless, compact and dashing ocean. Then He made from the ocean skies (samawat) and separated them into seven layers (seven layers of atmosphere) after they have been joined together. Nahjulbalagha: sermon, 209
The above paragraph is taken from Nahjulbalagha which was compiled in 1000 A.D (422 A.H) by Sharif Razi (student of Sheikh Mufeed). It is still regarded as a masterpiece of Arabic language and is taught as a course of rhetoric in Islamic universities. Since its compilation both the Sunni and the Shia scholars have been writing commentaries on it, and in fact, one of the best (popular) commentary on Nahjulbalagha is by a Sunni scholar named Ibne-Abil-Hadeed and is called sharah-Nahjulbalgha.
Coming back to the above mentioned paragraph, Imam Ali (a.s) says that the earth and the seven layers of it’s atmosphere were created from the oceans. It is only four decades since the establishment of the seven layer theory of the earth’s atmosphere by
the modern science. The seven layers of atmosphere as established are,
1. Troposphere
2. Stratosphere
3. Ozonosphere
4. Mesosphere
5. Thermosphere
6. Ionosphere
7. Exosphere
(The ORM seven layers standard atmosphere: Nicholas Devaney and Mette Owner, September, 13, 2001.)
It is also mentioned in Quran that there are seven layers to the sky above us in the following verses,
“It is He (God) who created everything on earth for you and then directed his attention up to the sky (samawat) and arranged it into seven layers. He has knowledge of all things.” Quran:2:220
In the above verse the seven skies are mentioned in the context of earth, and their formation is referred after the creation of earth, this implies that the seven skies refer to the seven layers of atmosphere. Imam Ali (a.s) too talks about the seven skies in the context of earth and further attributes their (atmosphere’s) origin to the oceans of earth.
Fig.5.Picture showing the formation of atmospheric oxygen, carbon dioxide and hydrogen from the water of ocean.
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According to Imam Ali (a.s), the atmosphere originated from the ocean, which is a very modern concept and all the present day geologists hold the same theory which is still in the process of research. The atmosphere contains oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide which are in the highest percentage. The oxygen of atmosphere is supposed to be formed from the break down of water by the ultraviolet rays of the sun and the same is supposed to be the case with atmospheric hydrogen (The Atmosphere: Lutgens and Tarbuk). The nitrogen of the atmosphere can be attributed to the nitrates of the ocean and the carbon dioxide to it’s carbonates.
Fig.6. Picture showing the seven layers
Of the earth’s atmosphere.
Coming to the second paragraph of the same sermon (sermon.210) Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“He (God) also created high hills, rocks of stones and lofty mountains. He put those (mountains) in their positions and made them remain stationary. Their peaks rose into air while their roots remained in water.” Nahjulbalagha:sermon,209
In the above Para, Imam Ali (a.s) introduces the concept of mountain roots which has been discovered in 19th century while studying the phenomenon of Isostasy (state of equilibrium between earth’s crust and atmosphere). The concept of mountain roots was discovered in India by a British scientist during his study of isostasy of the Himalayan mountains (Gravity and Isostasy: John Fillmore Hayford,1917). There is nowhere mentioned in Quran, directly, that mountains have roots, but their existence can be inferred from the following verse of Quran,
“Have we not made the earth as bed and the mountains its pegs?” Quran: 78:6-7
Fig.7.Picture showing relation between earth crust and mountain root (Google: picture of mountain roots)
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Fig.9.Mountain roots were discovered when,Gerorge Everest,the surveyor general of India found some anamoly in the data of the Himalayas.He called John Pratt to analyse the data who finally dicovered 'Isostasy' and hence, mountain roots (1850)
At this stage, one would say that it is indeed miraculous for a man of 7th century A.D to be aware of a concept which is considered as a discovery of 19th century: Faith is always ahead of science.
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3. IMAM ALI’s (A.S) CONCEPT OF SOUND, LIGHT AND MICRO ORGANISM
“Every listener other than Allah is deaf to light voices while loud
voices make him deaf and distant voices also get away from him.
Every onlooker other than Allah (God) is blind to hidden colors
and delicate bodies.” Nahjulbalagha: sermon.63, page 140
In the above paragraph Imam Ali (a.s) says that sound is of three kinds, one which we cannot hear, one which makes us deaf, and last which gets away from us. Every student of science knows that a sound wave which has a frequency of less than 20 hertz is called infra sonic sound and is inaudible to us. Falling rain drops, movement of eye lid, running of blood in our veins etc produce infrasonic sounds which we cannot hear.
Fig.10. Modern art's imagination of infrasonic sound.
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Sound is measured in a unit called decibel (db).Sound of more than 120 db can make us deaf in the long run. While sound of 140 decibel can make you instantly def for life. A boeing jet produces 140 decibel sound.
Fig.11.Sound scale in decibel.
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The third kind of sound which Imam Ali (a.s) mentions is the sound which gets away from us. The phase ‘the sound which gets away from us,’ should have been very strange for the arabs of those time to understand.It clearly refers to the sound coming from the far universe. This is what is called Cosmic Noise in the world of physics referred to as CMBR-cosmic microwave background radiation. Though these are microwaves, a kind of light, but still they are called noise because they cannot be seen,the hidden colour of light spectrum, but only heard when converted by an antenna into sound. Arno Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson received the Nobel prize for physics in 1978 for discovering the cosmic noise (CMBR).The discovery of cosmic microwave background confirmed the Big-Bang theory of the expanding universe. These cosmic wave do not stay on earth, they get away, a word perfectly used by Imam Ali (pbuh) to remind us of the microwave background (s sound constantly visiting us and getting away from us). The cosmic noise is constantly reaching us and getting away from us reminding us of the big bag which gave birth to this huge cosmos. This needs a bit of explanation; the infrasonic sound waves are not noticed by our ear drum and hence are inaudible, while the sound of 140 decibel is made of very high intensity sound wanves and hence causes deafness. And the sound waves which get away from us refer to the microwaves which pass through our external ear, middle ear and internal without any hindrance, like X-rays which pass through our body, and hence are not detected by us. Microwave background is nothing, but the microwaves coming from the distant galaxies, and were formed at the time of big bang.
Fig.12. Image of earth surrounded by microwaves, the whole universe is surrounded by these waves and we are also surrounded by them; they are reaching us every second, but we cannot hear them because they get away from us.
It will not be wrong if we assume the distant sounds which get away from us as mentioned by Imam Ali (a.s) to be the microwave background.
HIDDEN COLOURS: White light emitted from the lamp, candle etc when passed through a prism gets split into seven colors called spectrum of light. Newton was the first scientist to prove that the light produced form candles and other sources is composite and is made of seven colors (VIBGYOR).
Fig.13. Spectrum of light showing that the white light is made of seven colors.
Blood appears red because it absorbs all the colors from the white light except red. A mango appears green because it absorbs all the colors except green, but when it ripens it reflects yellow light because of change in its composition (ripe mango contains lots of fructose). If an object reflects two or more than two colors, it appears in the combination of the colors it reflects, this is an explanation for colors in our surrounding, and that they are reflected light. According to Imam Ali (a.s) there are light waves (Hidden Colors) which are invisible to us . William Herschel discovered infrared rays in 18th century and first used the word ‘invisible light’ for the infrared rays.But we do not know who coined the term ‘infrared rays’ which literally means rays below red; the word infra means below in latin.May be, it was sir William Herschel who coined the term infrared rays, we do not know.Ali (pbuh) him used the word ‘invisible colour’ in 700 A.D and William Herschel used the term ‘invisible light’ in 1800 A.D. The age difference betweeen Ali (pbuh) and Sir William Herschel is roughly 1600 years.But Ali’s word ‘invisible colour’ is more sophisticated and more scientific than sir Herschel’s word ‘invisible light.’ Here I should say Imam Ali (pbuh) sound’s more modern and scientific then sir William Herschel who was born some 1500 years after Imam Ali (Pbuh).But there is one more difference between Ali (pbuh) and Sir William Herschel; Sir Herschel was a musician turned astronomer and Ali (pbuh) is famous a knight and a swords man parexcellence who dispatched to hell many evildoers and stalwars of wrong.He (pbuh) would often return home with his war apron drenched in blood, sometime his blood and sometimes the blood of his enemies where as Sir Herschel had a royal life as a royal astronomer getting some rupees five lakhs of todays calculation as his every month’s stiefund.
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Fig.14. Spectrum of light showing infra red and ultra violet light which are invisible.
When Imam Ali (a.s) knew that there are hidden colors, and then it can be assumed that he knew every thing about light, well truth is stranger than fiction.
DELICATE BODIES:
Imam Ali (a.s) says that we are surrounded by organisms, so delicate that they are invisible to us. It is obvious that he (as) is referring to the micro-organisms like virus, bacteria and protozoa. The world of micro organisms was discovered by Anton von Leeuwenhoek in the 17Th century. Imam Ali (a.s) was at least 1000 years ahead of Leeuwenhoek.
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Fig.15.Potreit of Anton Van Leeuwenhoek, father of microbiology
At this stage I would like to quote the speech of Van Leeuwenhoek which he delivered when he was awarded by the royal society for his pioneering work on microorganisms, which is as follows,
". . My work, which I've done for a long time, was not pursued in order to gain the praise I now enjoy, but chiefly from a craving after knowledge, which I notice resides in me more than in most other men. And wherewithal, whenever I found out anything remarkable, I have thought it my duty to put down my discovery on paper, so that all ingenious people might be informed thereof." - Anton van Leeuwenhoek"
Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“Certainly our case is difficult and complicated. No one would bear it except a believer whose heart Allah has tried with belief. Our traditions (knowledge) will not be preserved except by trustworthy bosoms and (men of) solid understandings.O’ people
ask me before you miss me, because certainly I am acquainted with the passages of the sky more than the passages of the earth.” Nahjulbalagha: Sermon-187, page-312
4. IMAM ALI (A.S),
THE FIRST MOLECULAR BIOLOGIST
“And at the very heart of life on earth - the proteins that control cell chemistry and the nucleic acid (DNA) that carry hereditary instructions - we find these molecules to be identical in all the plants and animals. An oak tree and I (Carl Sagan) are made of the same stuff. If you go far enough back, we have a common ancestor.” Cosmos:Carl Sagan,page 24
Fig.20.similarity cartoon.
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The above paragraph is taken form the best selling science book ‘Cosmos’ by a great science man and atheist: Carl Sagan,director of Viking mission to mars at NASA. The main point of the above paragraph is that all living things are the same with respect to their fundamental ingredients.
Fig.21.All the living things, from virus to human beings, have chromosomes for storing genetic information, the chromosomes are made of DNA just as a cloth or your shirt is made of fine continuous thread.
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And Carl Sagan’s conclusion on this phenomenon (similarity of all living things) is that it proves the common ancestry of all the living things.
Fig.22.Picture of DNA, each bead is a molecule and the color of bead represents the nature of the molecule, like red beads are sugars, blue beads are bases and yellow beads are phosphorous.
Now coming to another paragraph, but not from Carl Sagan's book, but from Nahjulbalagha, the paragraph is as follows,
“If you tread on the path of your thinking and reach it's extremity it will not lead you anywhere except that the originator of the ant is the same as he who is the originator of the date palm, because every thing has same delicacy and detail and every living being has little difference.” Nahjulbalagha: sermon.183, page 305
A thousand year old copy of NahjulBalagha is still available at the library of Mosul, Iraq. The main point of the above paragraph of Imam Ali (a.s) is same as that of Carl Sagan's; that there is very little difference between-living-things.
On analysis of the above mentioned paragraphs, it appears as if Carl Sagan and Imam Ali (a.s) are contemporaries, but everyone knows that Imam Ali (a.s) lived 1400 years before Carl Sagan. It is amazing that a man living in 700 AD Saudi Arabia, the land of sand, ignorance, wars and scarce water should know that living things are made of the same stuff, and that there is very less difference between them. But amazingly Imam Ali (a.s) establishes a very different conclusion from the similarity among living things; that they have the same creator. Carl Sagan, a hardcore atheist and Imam Ali (a.s), a hardcore believer in God, as expected amazingly, reached the opposite conclusions about the same phenomenon (similarity of living things). A believer can accept both the conclusions and still have his faith intact, but if an atheist accepts Imam Ali’s (a.s) conclusion then he will be bereft of his atheism.
DNA was discovered in 1950, and we know that all living things from virus, bacteria, and plants to human beings are made of DNA. So it is very correct to say that living things have little difference among them. At this stage the saying of the Prophet of Islam: I am the city of knowledge and Ali (a.s) is It’s gate, is realized in it’s greatness.
5. IMAM ALI (A.S) AND DARWINISM
“The survivors of sword (battles) live longer and have large progeny.” Imam Ali (a.s)-Nahjulbalagha: saying: 84
FIG.69. Potrait of Darwin as a young man, and when he has become old. Darwin was a Christian and a believer in God. If he would have used the word ‘God’ instead of the word ‘nature’, his theory would have been regarded as theology (study of religion). His work was a scientific one (through collection of data).He did not use the word “God”, he used the word “nature” instead.
The clergy and religious scholars of Islam and Christianity opposed “Darwinism” or “The Evolutionary Theory” because they believe that Darwinism refutes the existence of God. To the contrary, the only flaw in the evolutionary theory is the ample usage of the word ‘Nature.’ If Darwin would have used the word ‘God’ instead of the word ‘Nature’, his theory would have been welcomed, even, by the staunchly religious clergy. The point is, the believers in God want God to create all the living beings at one go, they cannot digest the idea of God making his creation slowly and gradually through selection and climatic change. Why should God create all the living beings through evolution? But the fact is, God’s creating through evolution is logical and abides by the law of “cause and effect.” God does not violates his own law of causality (cause and effect) .Even miracles, which were performed by the great prophets, can be explained to some extent by causality theory (for example, the great deluge of the Prophet Noah was explained by one of the great erstwhile scientist as an outcome of the gravitational pull of a comet passing by the earth, at that time).One of the great names of God is “The Subtle-Lateef (in Arabic);the lover of minute details and complexity.” Which act of God lie more nearer to logic? God creating the creation at one instant, like a magician or his creating the universe thorough change in the environment; struggle for existence; survival of the fittest; accumulation of minute positive changes with period of time; known as Darwinism or evolutionary theory (Charles Dawkins proved that even the sub-atomic particles, like electrons and protons, evolved following the Darwin’s evolutionary principle, so theory of evolution is not restricted to only living beings but applies to the whole universe itself).
FIG.70. In his book “The Origin of Species”, Darwin never tried to prove that man has evolved form apes. His theory just provides a basis for the assumption that man has evolved form apes (in this
writing we have countered the faulty assumption of man evolving from apes).
Darwin’s theory was an attempt to explain existence of ‘connecting links’. Connecting links are not only characteristic of life but of non-life as well; the sub-atomic particle ‘electron’ is the connecting link between energy and matter; liquids are connecting link between gases and solids’; viruses are connecting link between non-life (death) and life etc.
The holy Quran says, “Verily! Allah (God) selected (astafa) Adam, Noah, and the family of Ibrahim and the family of Imran above the ‘Alamin (mankind).” Surah-3; verse-33
“O children of Israel! Remember My Favor which I bestowed upon you and that I preferred (selected) you to the ‘Mankind’.” Surah-2; verse-47
The above given verses hints towards the theory of natural selection; God indeed has favorites, but his favoritism is based on justice, he only selects those who are fit or worthy of his preference. Thus, it is the nature of God to do natural selection, he creates adverse circumstances and selects only those who are fit.
" Do you think that you will be left while Allah has not yet made evident those among you who strive and do not take other than Allah, His Messenger and believers as intimates? And Allah is fully aware of what you do." Quran:9:16
Dr. Haroon Yahya, the famous Islamic scientist/scholar, tried to refute the theory of evolution in his book ‘Darwinism refuted.’ The book was a great disappointment because he did not quote a single verse from The Holy Quran or mentioned any Hadith (Traditions) which is against Darwinism or the theory of evolution. The only thing which he did in his whole book was, finding flaws in the fossil record. To prove that a particular concept is against Islam, one has to produce verses from Quran or mention any Tradition (Hadith) which is against the concept in question. It will be wrong to refute a concept without reference to Quran and Hadith and then say that Islam refutes it; this is not expected, at least, from a good scholar like Haroon Yahya.If you try to find evidences against Darwinism in the Islamic sources you will end up doing the opposite, that is, you will get evidences in favor of Darwinism. The Darwin’s theory of evolution is based on the following concepts,
1. Climatic change
2. Struggle for existence
3. Survival of the fittest
4. Connecting link
All the above mentioned concepts of the Darwin’s theory of evolution can be found in the Quran, Hadith and teachings of Imam Ali (a.s) (Nahjulbalagha).
CLIMATIC CHANGE:
FIG.71.Malthus proposed that with increase in population the natural disasters increase in order to keep a check on the population, and hence only the lucky and the fittest survive. Darwin’s theory of evolution was an extension of the Malthus theory.
Darwin was motivated by Malthus theory, which says that when population increases natural disasters increase (to put a check on the growth of population). Every living organism has immense potential to over breed. A single bacterium gives 70 generations in 20 minutes. If all the bacteria survive, then in a months time, there will be no place on earth to stand. Everything will be covered by a mountain of bacteria. The Elephant is one of the slow breeders; if all its progeny survive then in just 25 years there will be elephants at every point on earth. To check this growth, nature (God) creates climatic change.
FIG.72. Increase in population brings climatic change; only the strong spirited one who can cope with the climatic change will survive.
Quran says, “We do not change the circumstances unless you change from within.” Quran:13:11
It means God always puts you in unfavorable conditions, and wishes that you should change and modify yourself to suit the harsh conditions, and once you get adapted to the harsh conditions, he changes the unfavorable conditions into favorable one.Thus,God loves change. First, he changes the external conditions, and then he changes you.
Imam Ali (a.s) says, “Through the change of circumstances the mettle of men is known.” Nahjulbalagha
The above mentioned statements of Quran and Nahjulbalagha agree with Malthus theory and the concept of climatic change.
STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE:
FIG.73. Climatic change creates shortage of food which is the main reason for ‘the struggle for existence’.
Climatic change leads to struggle for existence. To face the change of circumstances or climate, species or organisms have to change or develop positive mutations (the change should help in fighting the troublesome conditions). In today’s scenario of over population and environmental damage, only those will survive who have developed a strong spirit which can control the body and make it adapt to the deteriorating climatic conditions.
Quran says, “Every soul shall get only that for which it struggles”.
Quran:53:39
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST:
FIG.74. In the struggle for existence only the fittest will survive.
Only those organisms which are fit to fight the harsh conditions are selected by nature. The climatic change, struggle for existence, and survival of the fittest concept are found in the following saying of Imam Ali (a.s),
“The survivors of sword (battle field) live longer and have large progeny” Nahjulbalagha saying: 84
The Battle field is a place of struggle wherein only the fit survives. Those who survive the sword live longer because they have developed positive change during their struggle and they have a large progeny because nature (God) wants these positive changes to survive.
The Quran says, “When the mercy of God descends, the valleys flow according to their measures and only that stays which is of use to the mankind.”
According to Quran, God always wants those people or organisms to survive and grow which are useful for His creation. With constant accumulation of these positive changes new organisms come into being or in evolutionary terminology ‘originates’. This new organism multiplies tremendously owing to its new acquired characteristics which match the demand of the changing environment. The process continues. Regarding such a scenario Quran says,
“See they not how Allah originates the creation and repeats it.” Quran:29:19
“Say: Travel in the land and see how (Allah) originated the creation, and then Allah will bring forth the creation of the hearafter.Verily, Allah is able to do all things.” Quran:29:20
God wants us to travel in the earth, like Darwin, and find the puzzle of “The Origin of Species.”
CONNECTING LINK:
FIG.75. Because of the climatic change, struggle for existence and survival of the fittest phenomena, one species is converted into other species; the connecting links are an evidence of this conversion process. The above picture is of Duck Billed Platypus which is a connecting link (having qualities of both birds and mammals) between birds and mammals.Sceintists used to think that it is a bird, they were shocked when they found that it has mammary glands, feeds its young ones with milk and is viviparous (give birth to young ones), now it is regarded as a mammal. As God is wise, why did he create connecting links when he has created the creation at one go?
During the process of the origin of species through evolution, connecting links (animals having qualities of two different groups) are formed. Most of the connecting links which were formed during the process of evolution are found in the fossil record. Viruses are the connecting link between nonliving and living; photosynthetic microorganisms are the connecting link between bacteria and plants; parasitic bacteria are the connecting link between bacteria and animals. Lung fishes are the connecting link between fishes and amphibians; salamanders are the connecting link between amphibians and reptiles, dinosaurs are the connecting link between reptiles and birds; Duck Billed Platypus is the connecting link between birds and mammals. The list is very large. Regarding connecting link Quran says, “Thus We have made you (The Prophet’s family-The Infallibles), a middle nation (Wasat{connecting link), that you be a witness over mankind and the Messenger be a witness over you.” Surah Baqra: 142-143
‘Ummat-e-Wasat’ in Arabic means a middle nation; a connecting link. The holy prophet and his progeny are the connecting link between God and humans. They connect human beings to God. This literally means they help people in establishing a relationship with God. All the prophets and the great saints can be called as connecting link between and God and humans. Imam Ali (a.s) says, “Do not call us God because we are His creation and hence below him, and do not call us simply humans because we are above humans”.
ORIGIN OF LIFE:
FIG.76.Life started with amino acids and nucleotide.Aminoacids gave rise to proteins and nucleotide gave birth to RNA (ribose nucleic acid).The most primitive organism had RNA as genetic material. The HIV virus which causes AIDS has RNA as it’s genetic material (retro virus).Does it means that the HIV virus was existing before the arrival of human race?
The theory of evolution predicted that life originated in the oceans, and modern science has provided ample evidences of life starting at the ocean. Regarding the origination of life Quran says,
“Do not the unbelievers see that the heaven and the earth were joined together, before we clove them asunder? We made from water every living thing. Will they not then believe?” Quran:21:30
“And Allah created every animal from water.” Quran:24:25
The most basic ingredients of life are amino acids, DNA (genes) and RNA. A piece of DNA is commonly termed as a ‘gene.’ DNA is the information store house of an organism. It contains information of the sequence of amino acids in a protein. The RNA reads the information on the DNA and converts it into protein by aligning the amino acids into a sequence as mentioned on the DNA. According to the latest theory of life; RNA is the first life ingredient which was formed in the sea (the RNA played dual role of storage of information (like DNA) and sequencing the amino acids in primitive organisms). Later, amino acids were formed, which were arranged by the RNA into a sequence to give rise to the fist protein (proteins are sequence of amino acids).Thus the most primitive organism was made of only protein and RNA. When life became more complex the need for DNA was inevitable; like in the olden days information was stored in big books then computers came, and we are using CDs and pen drives. The AIDS virus is made of only protein and RNA, and hence is considered as the most primitive life forms. The viruses which contain RNA as genetic material are called retro-viruses. All the retro-viruses hold the secret of life; there is a thorough research going regarding the retro-viruses, now-a- days.
The viruses were converted into bacteria, the bacteria into first microscopic plant (photosynthetic green bacteria) and the first microscopic animals (the parasitic bacteria).The green bacteria invaded the land and evolved into plant kingdom; and the parasitic bacteria evolved into animal kingdom, first in the ocean then on land. Thus, animals and plants have a common ancestor. Hence when you go to a zoology department of any university, you will find a chart of phylogenic tree of evolution .The base of phylogenic tree of evolution shows bacteria and then the stem of the phylogenic tree divides into two branches, one branch showing the evolution of plant and the other branch showing the evolution of animals. At the tip of animal branch of the phylogenic tree, we humans are placed, marking the end of the great journey.
FIG.77. The tree of evolution. Plants and animals had a common ancestor.
Now let us read what Quran says,“Then Allah has bought you forth from the earth like a tree (nabath).” Surah-71; v17
Could it be that the Holy Quran is referring to the phylogenic tree of life?
DID ADAM EVOLVE FROM MONKEY?
It is possible that life originated at sea, and evolution happened till apes or monkeys, and then God sent Adam (Adam was made in the heaven before evolution started) on earth as a king (Caliph). Adam was made as a special creation, regarding the creation of Adam Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“Allah collected from hard, soft, sweet, and sour, clay, which he dipped in water till it got pure, and kneaded it with moisture till it became gluey. From it, he carved an image with curves, joints, limbs, and segments. He solidified it (the soul less body of Adam (as)) and dried it and kept it just like that for a fixed time and known duration. Nahjulbalagha: Sermon.1, page 48.
Now question is, why did God keep the body of Adam for a known time? Why did he not blow the spirit in it, there and then? For what was God actually waiting? May be God was waiting for the process evolution to complete (till apes or monkeys were formed; apes are the last stage in the process of evolution), and then sent Adam who was the chief of all that was existing on earth, just like a palace which is made and furnished with every kind of embellishments so that its king may come and claim it. The earth with all its living beings was like a well embellished palace waiting for its king, Adam, to arrive.Quran says,
“We are going to send a ‘Caliph’ (Adam) on earth.”
Imam Ali (a.s) (a.s.) says: “When he (God) has spread out the earth and enforced his command, he chose Adam as the best of his creation and made him the first of all creation.” Nahjulbalagha: Sermon-89, page 174
Thus, Adam was made before the process of evolution began on earth. Therefore, God did not blow his spirit in him, but only after the process of evolution was completed, God blew his spirit in Adam and sent him from the heaven to the earth to control the less intelligent. Compete intelligence can never be achieved through evolution, it has to be made, and that was Adam “The best of creation (ashraf-ul-maqlooqat.)”
6.Genetics of behaviour and Imam Ali
Nahjulbalagha: Saying.no-303
It is a very strange saying of Imam Ali and is among those saying which took my life time to understand. I am still happy because there are scholars and people who never understood it and went away from this world without knowing the significance of the above saying of Imam Ali (peace be upon him).I am humbled and feel blessed by Allah and thank Allah so that He may increase his blessings on me.
The above saying simply means that if two people, man or woman, like each other or are true friends their children will inherit their behaviour. The above saying means to convey the message that behaviour is inherited.To the contrary, if two people hate each other their enmity is also inherited into their children. First the behaviour is transmitted by epigenesis (in the form of chemicals or pheromones) which later take the form of genes which are inherited. Regarding rivalry among siblings Imam Ali says; "The rivalry among siblings is because of the rivalry among parents."
If there is a lots of mutual love among parents, siblings will never hate each other. Similarly, if two men are very good friends in real sense of the word their children will develop a very cordial relationship and will be close to each other more than true siblings and this behaviour will be transmitted among generations. There are stories of rivalry running among two families and there are stories of love running among families.The best example of enmity running among two families is the story of Karbla. Yazeed belonged to the clan of Bani Umaiyya and Imam Hussain (as) belonged to the clan of Bani Hashim. Abu Sufiyyan, father of Mawiyya , fought with Prophet Muhammad (saw) his whole life and Mawiyya fought with Imam Ali his whole life and finally Yazeed , son of Mawiyya, killed Imam Hussain Ibne Ali in the battle of Karbala. Imam Ali (as) was raised by Prophet Muhammad (saw) like his son though Ali (as) was his cousin so the analogy is perfect.Regarding his relationship with Prophet Muhammad (saw) Imam Ali (as) says,
" When I was only a child the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) adopted me.He used to press me to his chest and lay me beside him in his bed and make me smell his fragrance.He used to chew food and fed me with it." Nahjulbalagha:Sermon-191,page 393
Ali loved Prophet Muhammad (saw) more than himself and was ready to lay down his life for him,in fact, he was the first to accept Islam, the first Muslim, at the hands of Prophet Muhammad (saw).This was because Abu-Talib, father of Ali, supported Prophet Muhammad his whole life and loved him very much and Prophet Muhammad (saw) loved Abu-Talib so much that he (saw) declared the year of demise of Abu-Talib as the year of grief. The love between Abdullah, father of Prophet Muhammad, and Abu-Talib was exemplary. Hence, you can see love running in families in this case.
The Holy Quran calls the family tree of Banu-Hashim as 'Shajar-e-tayyiba-purified tree' and calls the family of Bani Umaiyya as 'Shajar-e-Khabeesa-the accursed tree', so rivalry is logical. Yazeed killed Imam Hussain (as) because hatred was running for too long in his (Yazeed's) family and it reached a saturation point with his arrival. When the sacred head of Imam Hussain (as) was brought into the palace of Yazeed he felt over-joyed and foolishly declared,
" Where are my ancestors who died at Badr, if they were here they would have proclaimed "O' Yazeed ,may your hands never suffer leprosy, what a wonderful revenge you have taken."
The enmity of Bani-Umaiyya towards Banu-Hashim culminated with the massacre of Imam Hussain and his holy family at the battle of Karbala in 60 Hijri.
Till recently science did not believed in the existence of behavioral genes but now the scenario is contrary.Matt Ridley in his famous book 'Genome ' writes,
" Nobody doubts that genes can shape anatomy.The idea that they also shape behaviour takes a lots more swallowing.Yet,I hope to persuade you that on chromosome 7 there lies a gene that plays an important part in equipping human beings with an instinct, and an instinct (instinct of grammar), moreover, that lies at the heart of all Human culture." Genome by Matt Ridley page 91
Matt Ridley is talking about the 'grammer gene' which lies on the long hand of chromosome 7.It was very hard for the science community to digest this discovery because learning grammar comes under behaviour .Matt Ridley further writes,
" The conclusion of both behaviour genetics and evolutionary psychology remains distinctly indigestible to many non-scientist, whose main objection is a superficially reasonable argument from incredulity? How can a gene, a stretch of DNA letters, cause a behaviour? The idea of genes for behaviour is no more strange than the idea of genes for development.Both are mind-boggling, but nature has never found human incomprehension a reason for changing her method."
Book:Genome by Matt Ridely-Page-106
The above saying of Imam Ali talking about behaviours like enmity and love running in families is so strange a concept that it is unpalatable even for educated people of this century. Ali (as) was far ahead of everyone during his time as well because the Holy Prophet Muhammad (saw) said:
" I am the city of knowledge and Ali is it's gate." It simply means, if you want knowledge go to Ali."
7. MEME
The meme (pronounced as meam) are the basic units of culture just as atoms are the basic unit of matter (solid, liquid and gas is called matter) and genes are the basic unit of all living organisms. But unlike atom, meme and genes are contagious elements which can multiply and increase in complexity giving rise to a new culture and a new organism. Meme behave just like genes. But before we study meme, I think an introduction to the nature of the gene will be in order.
Fig.51.All living organisms are made of cells containing chromosomes, chromosomes are made of DNA and a piece of DNA is called a gene.
Genes are present in the chromosomes of living organisms, and code for proteins which in turn make the characteristics (physical) of an organism. Every organism differs from the other organism because of difference in the nature of proteins coded by their genes. We humans, differ from monkeys because of the difference in the proteins coded by the respective genes. Humans again differ among themselves because of the difference in the nature of protein coded by their respective genes. Genes only code for proteins and the proteins determine the characteristics of an organism. From the simple virus to the most complicated mammals, to the human being, all have genes in common. A gene is a piece of DNA present in the chromosome. The genes multiply, spread and increase in complexity.
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Fig.52.The root word of psychology, psychopath, psychoanalysis etc is ‘psych’, which means mind.
The genes are like words of a language. Every word in a language has a root word from which other words are formed. The root word spreads, multiplies and becomes complex, resulting in the richness and complexity of a language. The words, revolve, involve and evolve were developed from the word ‘Volvo ‘which means ‘to roll’. And the words magnificent, magnate, magnify, magnitude, magnum-opus (a-complex) all came into being from the single word ‘Magnus’ which means big. All the words in a language can be traced back to the root words. Similarly all the genes in the world of living organism can be traced back to a few basic genes. Genes are also the basic unit of life, where there is life there should be genes. Charles Dawkin, in his famous book ‘the selfish genes’, termed the genes as replicators because of their multiplying ability. Life has three characteristic, multiplication, spread and developing complexity with time. So replicators or genes should also have these three characteristics. Wherever there is life there should be replicators having the three above mentioned characteristics. Genes are conscious elements whose only aims is to survive, spread and become complex. All the basic instincts of animals and humans can be explained in terms of the surviving desire of their genes. All the living organisms do sex because it is the genes which are prompting them to do so, so that they (genes) survive in the progeny.
Reproduction is the characteristic of all the living organisms, from bacteria to human being. Reproduction is a command of the genes. We do sex and reproduce because our genes want to survive. The genes inside us are the rulers, and are the real controllers. We are just tools in the hands of our genes. It is a popular phenomenon that a male lion kills it’s cubs; this can be explained in terms of the surviving nature of the genes. The genes dictate the lion to kill the cubs because it knows that when the cubs will grow there will be less food available for the lion; in the jungle there is limited food supply, so the lion kills its cubs on the command of it’s genes. Parents sacrifice their lives for their children because their genes command them to do so. If the child dies the genes perish with the death of parents, hence the genes command the parents to sacrifice their life for their progeny. This is the reason behind the intense love of the parents for their progeny. This gene theory was put forth by Charles Dawkins in his best selling book ‘the selfish gene’.
Fig.53.Meme is the basic unit of knowledge which spreads like a virus and has all the properties of a gene except that it is an abstract unit or idea.
Genes vary in size, the smallest gene is 15 nucleotide (the alphabets of gene are called nucleotides) and the largest is 50,000 nucleotide.
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Meme: Meme are basic units of human culture and civilization. Where there is life there should be gene replicators, and similarly where there is culture and civilization there should be meme replicators. Meme is a piece of knowledge which can spread, multiply and evolve. It can also be called as a mind virus. Meme are the basic unit of knowledge and memes exist in the form of meme complex. The main meme complexes of a culture are religion, art, fashion, music, poetry, prose, technology, philosophy etc. Meme develops into meme complexes. Money determines life, this meme Carl Marx imbibed from somewhere and developed the whole philosophy of Marxism, which is a meme complex. Communism is a meme complex which was the political culture of Russia, once. Islam is a meme complex and the meme of Islam is ‘moderation’. A man asked Imam Ali (a.s) to define Islam in one word he said, ‘moderation’(Nahjulbalagha).When he was asked to define Islam in one sentence he (a.s) said: to accomplish one’s obligations is Islam(Nahjulbalagha:saying:124).As genes vary in sizes, memes also vary in sizes ,they can be from one word to 10,000 word or more. A piece of knowledge can become a meme only when it acquires the property of capturing the brain, multiplication and development. Language is a meme complex and each word of a language is a meme. A child learns a language when each meme (word) of that language enters it’s brain and finally forms a meme complex. Each word of a language acts like a virus, it captures the brain and unites with other memes and spreads to other brains. The properties of meme are same as those of computer virus or biological virus. There are good meme and bad meme.
Bad words are bad memes. Good memes help in your mental progress and bad memes hinder your mental progress.Poronography, Magic, racism, chauvinism, etc are examples of bad meme complexes.Galellio, Newton, Einstein, Dirac etc, gave memes which changed the human culture forever. Now let’s go to the saying 146 of Nahjulbalagha which runs as follows,
Kumayl bin Ziyad Nakha'i says that once Imam Ali (a.s) put his hand in his hand and took him to the grave-yard. When he passed through it and left the city behind, he heaved a sigh and said "Kumayl, these minds are containers of the secrets of knowledge and wisdom and the best container is the one which can hold the most and what it holds, it can preserve and protect in the best way. Therefore, remember carefully what I am telling you. Remember that there are three kinds of people: one is the scholar, who is the divine. Second, is the student who is also on the way to deliverance and the third is that class of people who are uneducated. They follow every pretender and accept every slogan, they have neither acquired any knowledge nor have they secured any support of firm and rational convictions. Remember, Kumayl, knowledge is better than wealth because it protects you while you have to guard wealth. Wealth decreases by spending while knowledge multiplies
by spending. What you get through wealth disappears as soon as wealth disappears but knowledge (which you have gained) will remain even after you are dead.
O Kumayl! Knowledge is power and it can command obedience. A man of knowledge during his lifetime can make people obey and follow him and he is praised and venerated after his death. Remember that knowledge is a ruler and wealth is its subject.
O Kumayl ! Those who amass wealth, though alive, are dead to realities of life, and those who achieve knowledge, will remain alive through their knowledge and wisdom even after their death, though their faces may disappear from the community of living beings, yet their ideas, the knowledge which they had left behind and their memory, will remain in the minds of people". Nahjulbalagha: saying 146
In the above saying Imam Ali (a.s) has not used the word ‘meme’, but the characteristics he ascribes to knowledge are the same as those of ‘memes’. In the first part of the above saying Imam Ali (a.s) says that our minds are the dwelling place of knowledge (memes) and our mind has been created with the sole purpose of storing knowledge (memes).
Knowledge guards you while you have to guard wealth: Imam Ali (a.s) says that knowledge (meme) is superior to us and guards us. And says that it multiplies on spending. He ascribes the property of spreading and multiplication to knowledge which today’s scientist have ascribed to meme. And he (a.s) says that knowledge is the ruler which is akin to controlling characteristics of meme. The knowledge which we gain rules us as well as others. Imam Ali (a.s) says that the men of knowledge live through the knowledge (meme) they leave. Meme or knowledge never dies.
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8. IMAM ALI (A.S)-THE ENT SPECIALIST
“O’! Man, strange are thou, thou see with fat, hear with bone, talks with flesh (lahm) and breathes through a hole.” Nahjul-balagha: saying: 7
This saying of Imam Ali (a.s) arouses wonder and awe even in this epoch of science and technology. Imam Ali (a.s) says that we seen with fat. The relation of eyesight with fat is a strange concept even for a well qualified man of life sciences. Being a very good student of life sciences, I was unaware of the relation of our eye sight with fat until I came face to face with this saying of our master (Imam Ali (a.s)).When I searched for the data on the fat content of our eye I was astonished to find that 60% our eye is made up of fat.
This is a great and magnificent achievement for a man of 7th century. But a layman of today may question that if our eye is made of 60% of fat, it is not necessary that our eye sight should be because of fat; the seeing ability may be due to the remaining 40% of the component of our eye. Well, this is a very valid argument. If our eye is made of 60% fat, there is only probability that our eye sight may be due to fat, it cannot be said for sure. And Imam Ali (a.s) himself says that it is not justice to finalize a decision just on the basis of probabilities (Nahjulbalagha: saying: 216). Hence to answer this we have to go a bit deeper into the anatomy and physiology of human eye.
The main part of our eye which bestows sight is retina. If retina is removed or damaged you go blind. The retina is divided into two parts, one part help you to see in the dark, and other part makes you see in the light. The latter part of retina which helps you to see in light is called Macula and is the main sight giving area. The Macula is made of only cones and is solely responsible for day vision. If the Macula is destroyed you go blind. Hence, we can say that our eye has sight because of the macula. There is a disease of the old people called AMD-age related macular degeneration. Old people go blind slowly because of the degeneration of the macula. And now the shock, do you know what is the macula made of? Obviously, it is made of purest form of fat called fatty acids.
Fig.58. Docosahexanoic acid is an omega-3-fatty acid found in fish. Docosahexanoic acid is a structural fatty acid and is responsible for our vision.
The main fatty acid of macula is docosahexanoiec acid which belongs to the omega-3 fatty acid group. If this structural fatty acid is supplemented in the food we never suffer from AMD (old age blindness).The fish oil and other fats contains docosahexanoiec acid. Amazingly the ophthalmologists prescribe a special fat diet for the old to escape AMD disease. It is amazing, that how much ahead Imam Ali (a.s) was of his times and the phenomenal wisdom his words contain.
Talks with flesh (Lahm):
Here Imam Ali (a.s) says that that we speak with flesh. This is again a very unusual saying. He could have easily used the word ‘tongue’, but instead he used the word flesh (lahm).Imam Ali (a.s) was the wisest man of his time and the prophet of Islam (saw) regarded him (a.s) as door to the house of wisdom. Let us ponder over his usage of the word lahm (flesh).
Fig.59. Human talking apparatus.
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In humans sound is produced in a special area of trachea called ‘larynx’. Air from the lungs comes out with pressure (this happens when you want to speak) and vibrates the plates in the larynx producing sound. We convert the sound into words by the instructions from the Brocas area in the brain with the help of speech articulators. The speech articulators which converts the sound into words are, tongue, jaw muscles and lips. The tongue is a very complex organ which is made of 16 types of muscles and in humans, apart from being an organ of taste, it is also the main organ of speech (articulator), and without the tongue you can hardly pronounce 5 alphabets from among the 26 alphabets of English. The tongue muscles are among the strongest muscles in the human body. The jaw muscles are the strongest muscles in humans and play a very important role in speech production only next in importance to tongue and the last are the lips which are also pure muscles. All the three articulators are pure muscles. Just like fatty acids which are the purest form of fat, by analogy, muscles are the purest form of flesh. Imam Ali (a.s) was 100% right even for the speech specialist of today. If he would have used the word’ tongue’ it would have been a very normal kind of speech, but his use of the word ‘flesh’ makes his words valid for ages and till the human race exists. This shows that Imam Ali (a.s)’s words were not just for his generation, but are for all the generations to come. He used words keeping the coming generations in mind; which makes him the true guide and imam for the future generation as well.
Hears with bone:
Imam Ali (a.s) says that we humans hear through bone. This saying of Imam Ali (a.s) is perfectly in consonance with the latest anatomy and physiology of hearing.
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Fig.60. Just next to the ear drum is attached the middle ear which consist of three bones. The middle ear bones (malleus, incus and stapes) connect ear drum with the internal ear.
Our hearing apparatus consist of external ear (the fleshy ear), middle ear and the internal ear. The external ear is the fleshy pinna while the middle ear consist of the ear drum, and the three bones called ear ossicles, whereas the internal ear consist of cochlea or labyrinth which contains liquid. The sound falls on the eardrum and vibrates it, these vibration are transmitted to the fluid filled labyrinth through the three bones of the middle ear. If the bones of middle ear are damaged the human hearing is permanently impaired. This saying of Imam Ali (a.s) is definitely a shock to the ENT specialist of this century.
Fig.61.The hole which Imam Ali (a.s) refers to can be the hole of trachea.
Imam Ali (a.s) says that we breathe through a hole. This saying is again strange because he should have said two holes instead he says that we breath through a hole, means one hole. May be he is referring to the main bronchus; anyway I leave it to my literate readers to go into the depth of this saying and find anything relating to it.
Imam Ali (a.s) said: “I have hidden knowledge; if I disclose it you will start trembling like ropes in deep wells.” Nahjulbalagha: sermon-5
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9. HUMAN PSYCHOLOGY
"A man can sleep at the death of his child, but cannot sleep at the loss of property.” NahjulBalagha: saying: 302
Fig.55.Man is an animal
COMMENTARY: Human beings are social animals and hence, we find selfishness hardwired in them. As a matter of his selfish nature, a man has more concern for his material needs than to his spiritual and emotional needs. On the contrary, a believer is a different species, possessing contrary traits to that of ordinary human beings. A believer is one stage ahead of humans just as humans are one step (high level of rational thinking) ahead of chimpanzees. When we analyze the sayings and sermons of Nahjulbalagha we find that believers have opposite traits to that of-human-beings-(man).
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Fig.56.A man of God or a believer is the better half of a human personality;(angel-personified).
A believer hates high position and dislikes renown (Nahjul Balagha:saying 328).They remain in trial as they remain in comfort(Nahjul Balagha:sermon:191).They do not regard their big acts as big(sermon:191).They hate praise(sermon :191).They take easy (The loss)what others take seriously and regard as serious(,death, sins etc) what others regard as trivial (sermon:191).
Thus the above mentioned saying (saying: 302) describes the traits of man, which is to regard wealth as more important than relations (like son, etc).A man, being a different species, differs from believers (men with faith) in many aspects of behviour. Imam Ali (a.s), in his Nahjulbalagha, treats man and a believer as two different species and regards them as very different and opposite to each other.
9.5. HADRAT ALI – ON EMOTIONS
Emotions are the commands embedded in every living organism, from the smallest virus and bacteria to the largest elephant and the greatest humans. The plat viruses are emotional towards plant and only attack plants whereas the animal viruses are emotional towards animals and never attack plants. Similarly the bacteria and other pathogens are selective with regards to their hosts. The nitrogen bacteria only feed on nitrogenous compounds, methane bacteria on methane and the oil bacteria feeds only on oil. We human are no different form the viruses and bacteria in having emotions but human emotions are very complex and are many in number when compared to the other animals in the animal world. Human emotions are feelings which are responsible for survival of human beings. Human emotions are the emotions which make human beings human where as intelligence is a command which makes humans establish a hierarchy. The most intelligent human acquires the top order in the hierarchy. Emotions are the foundation and intelligence, the building.
Emotions are the commands embedded in every living organism, from the smallest virus and bacteria to the largest elephant and the greatest humans. The plat viruses are emotional towards plant and only attack plants whereas the animal viruses are emotional towards animals and never attack plants. Similarly the bacteria and other pathogens are selective with regards to their hosts. The nitrogen bacteria only feed on nitrogenous compounds, methane bacteria on methane and the oil bacteria feeds only on oil. We human are no different form the viruses and bacteria in having emotions but human emotions are very complex and are many in number when compared to the other animals in the animal world. Human emotions are feelings which are responsible for survival of human beings. Human emotions are the emotions which make human beings human where as intelligence is a command which makes humans establish a hierarchy. The most intelligent human acquires the top order in the hierarchy. Emotions are the foundation and intelligence, the building.
Fig.1.Max Scheller was one of the greatest German philosophers, born in 1874 and died in 1928.He used to teach philosophy at the University of Jena.He propounded the philosophy of phenomenology.
According to Marx Scheller there are four basic human emotions,
1. Sensory emotion: pleasure-displeasure
2. Mental emotion: right and wrong, ugly and beautiful
3. Vital emotion: noble and base
4. Spiritual emotion: sacred and profane
We shall discuss each of the above given emotions in relation to the teachings of Imam Ali (A.S)
Sensory emotion: We humans have the following senses, 1.sense of taste 2.Sense of smell 3.sense of hearing 4.sense of movement and 5.sense of sight. According to Scheller the sensory emotion is of two kinds, pleasure and displeasure. If you taste good food you feel pleasure and if you taste bad food you feel displeasure similarly when you smell a perfume you feel pleasure and if you smell rotten meat you feel displeasure. Regarding sensory emotions Imam Ali (A.S) says,
“Scent gives pleasure, honey gives pleasure, riding on a horse gives pleasure and looking at greenery gives pleasure.”
Nahjulbalagha:saying 393-part-2
In the above saying Imam Ali (A.S) mentions the different things which arouse the sensory emotion of pleasure. Now science says that we have a pleasure area in the brain and also an area of displeasure. If you taste good food the area of pleasure becomes active and similarly if you smell perfume, again, the area of pleasure gets active and if you cast a glance at greenery the area of pleasure get active. What are the components of the things which always make the area of pleasure active.Honey,scent,horse riding and looking at good things always make the pleasure area active. So there should be something common in scent,honey,greenery horse riding and all the things which give pleasure to us. Animals also have sensory emotion but the sensory emotions of humans are highly developed. Animals enjoy raw flesh and other things which we humans cannot enjoy because our sensory emotional area of pleasure and displeasure are more developed than animals. If we, humans, start enjoying raw flesh and other things which other animals enjoy then it means we have become animals from inside. And when we are cooking meat a cat or a dog watching it may think why we are destroying such a tasty food as ‘raw flesh’, they may think that we have gone crazy. A small of difference in sensory emotion can make such a big difference.
Mental emotion: According to Scheler mental emotion gives the ability to differentiate between right and wrong. The mental emotional area is present in the cerebrum which is highly developed only in humans. This emotion is peculiar to humans and is lacking in insane or mad people. The area of mental emotion develops with right education and that is the reason why the ability of an educated man to differentiate between right and wrong is better than an illiterate.Every sane man gets emotionally disturbed if he is treated unjustly and is happy when justice is done to him. Only a mad man can be neutral when injustice is done to him. The list of right and wrong is very big. If you take what is right to be wrong and what is wrong to be right then you end up as garbage which is of no use to society. Imam Ali gives a short list of right and wrong as follows,he says,
“Evil effect of sight is true(right),charm is true, sorcery is true, taking good omen is true, while taking bad omen is not true and spreading of disease(genetic disease and malfunction of organs) from one to the other is not true.”
Nahjulbalagha: saying-393, part-1
According to the above saying of Imam Ali if someone denies the effect of evil eye,sorcery,charm then his mental emotion will be developing in a wrong way and ultimately will effect his ability to make judgment between right and wrong. And a beautiful point Imam Ali elaborates is, you can believe in good omen but you should not believe in bad omen: if you believe in good omen it will impart positivity in you but when you start believing in bad omen it will impart negativity in your attitude, hence taking good omen is encouraged and bad omen is discouraged. If the area of mental emotion in the brain gets damaged we end up in a mental hospital for life long, this is what makes the difference between the sane and the insane.
Vital emotion:According to Scheller, the area of vital emotion in the brain gives you the ability to differentiate between noble and base qualities. This area is peculiar to humans and is lacking in animals. If this area is damaged you cannot differentiate between noble and base qualities. The traits like generosity,piety,forgiveness,sympathy and sacrifice are noble qualities and the traits like stinginess,transgression,revenge,selfishness and miserliness are ignoble or base qualities. An ignoble man can never understand a generous man. The noble and ignoble qualities are genetic in nature and cannot be changed, Imam Ali says,
“Give high positions to only those who belong to noble families.”
Nahjulbalagha: saying-428
“A noble man never commits adultery.”
Nahjulbalagha: saying-300
“Fear the attack of a noble man when he is hungry and that of a ignoble man when is satiated (full stomach, happy and satisfied).”
Nahjulbalagha: saying-48
A piety and impiety, generosity and miserliness, selfish and selfless are always opposite to each other and never go together. A noble man becomes dangerous when he is hungry or in hard circumstances and an ignoble man becomes dangerous when he is happy and satisfied. This difference between humans is due to a small difference in the vital emotions.
Spiritual emotion: According to Scheler there are two kinds of spiritual emotions: sacred and profane. A man with sacred spiritual emotions is inimical towards a man with profane spiritual emotions. The 72 sects of Christianity, 73 sects of Islam and many sects of Hindu and other religions occurred due to the difference of spiritual emotions of their followers. Visiting holy places, remembering the martyrs and respecting the holy things are some of the sacred spiritual emotions. Whereas the practice of ‘sati’ in erstwhile India, human sacrifice and the modern suicide bombings are the profane spiritual emotions. A man with profane spiritual emotions can never understand a man with sacred spiritual emotions. There is a hairline difference between sacred and profane. There are possibilities wherein sacred is regarded as profane and profane as sacred. The terrorist regards suicide bombing as sacred whereas the man having sacred spiritual emotions finds it abominable.
In the history of Islam it is mentioned that when the treaty of hudaibiyah was going on between Sohail and the Prophet of Islam,Sohail objected to the word ‘messenger of Allah’ in the treaty. As Imam Ali (A.S) wrote the treaty, the Prophet of Islam (sws) asked Ali to erase the word ‘messan ger of Allah” to which Ali refused and said “how can I erase a statement which I believe in,’ to this the Prophet of Islam took the pen from Ali and himself erased the word. By doing this the messenger of Allah was respecting the spiritual emotion of imam Ali.The following word of Imam Ali point toward the sacred spiritual emotion,
“Where are my comrades who died in ‘badr’ and ‘ohad’,we shall be justified if become eager for them and bite our hands(expression of deep remorse and anguish) in their remembrance.”
Nahjulbalagha: sermon-119
According to Imam Ali biting our hand (expression of remorse and anguish) in the remembrance of martyrs is justified and is a sacred spiritual emotion. but again, those who possess profane spiritual emotion cannot understand those who have sacred spiritual emotions just as an animal cannot understand why humans cook flesh, an insane cannot understand why a sane wears clothes, a stingy person cannot understand a generous person, thus a one who believes in terrorism cannot understand the one who flagellates himself in the remembrance of the martyrs. Not respecting each others spiritual emotions is the only reason for the divisions occurring in all the religions of the world.
10.The creation of the universe and Imam Ali
Fig.1. Image of cosmic froth. The whole galaxies in the universe are arranged in the form of froth which you get when you shake a soap solution. The stars in a galaxy are also arranged in the form of froth and amazingly the space-time also have a foam/froth structure.
Fig.2. Froth of a soap. You can see the hollow center around which soap matter is arranged. There are thousands of microscopic bubbles which we cannot see with our naked eyes. With help of a microscope you can see millions of microscopic bubbles which make the froth.
According to recent observation,by telescopes and radio telescopes,the universe has a pattern of froth.A froth is made of hallow regions with matter surrounding them.If you observe a soap bubble it will be very clear to you.The froth which you get when you shake a soap solution is made of millions of such soap bubble with hallow center.All galaxies are arranged around a hallow center which in scientific terminology is termed as 'BLACK HOLE'.And each galaxy also has a hallow center or BLACK HOLE around which all the stars are arranged.And amazingly enough ,space-time is also having the structure of froth.
As far as I have studied, I have found only one man speaking about the universe and calling it a froth or foam, and that great man is none other than the cousin of the Holy Prophet Muhammad Imam Ali.Imam Ali (as) lived 1400 years back in Saudi Arabia,the land of scanty water, and was still well aware of the froth like nature of the universe. He (as) says,
" When Almighty (Allah) created the opening of the atmosphere, expanse of firmament and strata of winds, He flowed into it water whose waves were Stormy and whose surges leapt one over the other.He loaded it on dashing wind and breaking typhoons, ordered them to (wind and typhoons) to shed it (the liquid or water) back (as rain), gave the wind ( a gas) control over the vigour of the rain, and acquainted it with its limitations (laws of fluid mechanics).The wind blew under it (wind) while the water furiously flowed over it.Then almighty created another wind and made its movement sterile(inert gas),perpetuate its position, intensified its motion and spread it (the wind) far and wide.Then he ordered the wind to raise up deep waters (denser liquids) and to intensify the waves of the oceans (cosmic soup).So the wind churned it like the churning of curd and pushed it freely into the firmament throwing its front position on the rear and the stationary on the flowing till its level (level of cosmic soup) was raised the surface was full of froth.Then Almighty raised the froth on to the open wind and vast firmament and made from it the seven skies (the universe)."
Nahjulbalagha:Sermon-1:
If we convert the above words of Imam Ali (as) in modern scientific language it will be as follows,
"A universe of liquids initiated the formation of inert gases which, with time, gained much kinetic energy and got turned into a hurricane.This hurricane or cyclone of inert gases agitated the great mass of liquid giving rise to a huge body of foam.This foam got separated from the liquid universe and with passage of time got developed into our present universe with galaxies,nebulae and stars which are again shaped as foam or froth.
Fig.4. In construction,the foam pattern is famous as Callans landscape.You can notice the hallow center,the black-hole, around which cement is arranged.
The word froth/Foam' can be clearly seen to this day in the sermon of Imam Ali (as) in any translation of Nahjulbalagha which is the famous anthology of his sermons,sayings and letters.
The fundamental pattern which is found in nature is 'Froth' pattern. The universes exist as Froth ,the galaxies in each universe are arranged as froth, stars in each Galaxy are arranged as froth, and even SPACE-TIME has a structure of FROTH. According to Hazrat Ali, our present universe with its millions of galaxies is just the froth of huge liquid universe which lies somewhere in the unknown space undiscovered some trillions and trillions of light years away.
Fig.5. Voronoi's cells.In mathematics the foam pattern is explained by the concept of Voronoi's cell.
Lan Stewart in his famous book 'Cows in the Maze' writes,
"In a letter to the editor, Adrian Webster of the Royal Observatory, Edinbugrgh, pointed out that the curious geometry of Callan's Landscapes (foam pattern) can be understood using a much more classical branch of mathematics, the theory of Voronoi cells. He also explained how the Voronoi cells in Callan's landscapes illustrate one of the big discoveries of recent astronomy, the foam-like distribution of matter in the Universe."
The Cows in the Maze by Lan Stewart:Chapter-17: Page-233
Apart from all the scientific laws,Imam Ali (as) was also aware of the froth pattern wide spread in the universe,and why should not he (as) be aware of the modern science because the Holy Prophet (saw) said,
" I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate."
References
1. Cows in the Maze by Lan Stewart,Oxford University Press,Great Clarendon Street,Oxford ox2 6dp,ISBN-978-0-19-956207-7
2. Reference article: The Froth Across the Universe by Rien Van De Weygaert,Kapteyn Institute,University of Groningen,Netherland
In physics time is considered as the least understood of concepts. Till now, the physicists have failed completely to understand time. Einstein himself was puzzled with time, and his endeavor to understand time led him to his special theory of relativity. In his special theory of relativity, Einstein proposed the relativity of time and gave a new dimension to the world of physics called ‘The space-time’.
Fig.40.The astronaut’s brother is younger than his twin brother when he returns from a journey to the stars (time travel). (Google images: special theory of relativity-Twin paradox.)
The special theory of relativity is based on the proposition that nothing can move faster than light. Einstein discovered that the speed with which light moves is the limit of speed which is 300000 km/second and hence, is a constant. According to his theory, matter cannot cross this speed limit. And when a body starts approaching the speed of light it’s mass starts approaching the value of infinity (the body become heavier and heavier) or it has to lose it's mass. It obviously means that it is impossible to move with speed of light. At this point of the argument I find it very relevant to quote the words of Imam Ali (a.s) form Nahjulbalagha which are as follows,
God has fixed limits for every thing he has created and made the limits firm.” NahjulBalagha: sermon, 89: page, 170
Well, this is a very awesome generalization, and this piece of wisdom has been there since 1000 years in Nahjulbalagha, but no Muslim got the temptation to ponder over it and discover the physical constant called the speed of light. The above saying of Imam Ali (a.s) is like an ocean enclosed in a jar. It is not too late if we start pondering over it, at least, now.
Constants in physics are the natural limits of the physical quantities. The Planck constant is the limit of mass or energy which is 1.6/10000000000000000000000000000000000 joule/second. It is 1.6 divided by ten followed by thirty four zeroes. It is the smallest quantity of mass/energy (mass and energy are same) possible in the universe, mass/energy cannot be less than the Planck constant. The other most popular constant is the charge of electron which is 1.6/10000000000000000000 Coulombs that is, 1.6 divided by ten followed by 19 zeroes. It is the minimum amount of charge possible in the universe, if a particle has a charge less than the charge of the electron it will be considered as a neutral particle. There are numerous constants and to mention them will be out of the scope of this book. If one starts approaching the speed of light, time starts vanishing (of course, which is impossible, at least in this century).
In conclusion, special theory of relativity says that if an astronaut goes on a voyage to the nearest star, alpha-centaury, which is four light years away (light year = distance traveled by light in one year, light covers 3 lakh kilometers in one second) then as soon as he comes out of the sphere of influence of the sun (he should move with the velocity of light) time slows down for him. It means if he returns to earth after his eight year journey, he will be of the same age (Fig.1) when he left the earth. Thus you can beat the influence of time in two ways, first start moving with velocity of light or move out of the gravitational field of any object like the stars,sun or any galexy. But space has its own gravity, and if there is no space you will automatically move with the speed of light. It means if there is no space light will appear by default. Therefore we can say for sure that the first thing to appear in this universe, before the appearance of space, is light. Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) said: " The first thing God created was my light."
Fig.41.We are existing in the space-time web. (Google images) space-time).
It means that when we leave the sphere of influence of the sun, time slows down until we enter the sphere of influence of the other sun or star (to go out of the sun's sphere of influence one has to move with velocity of light).
Fig.42.The future and past light cones are the sphere of influence of sun(OBSERVER).When an astronaut goes out of this influence cones of the sun, time slows down for him.(Google images:space-time).
On entering the sphere of influence (gravitational field) of an another star a different time starts operating on you, if the star in whose gravitational field you have entered has more gravitational pull than the sun, time will be running faster and you will be aging fast and in the contradictory scenario the opposite will happen, which means you will be ageing slowly. You can say that a day on earth can be a second on another star and a day can also be 50,000 years (if it’s gravity is very low) on the other star (the movie intestellar will be a good watch) regarding such a scenario Quran says,
“And they ask you to hasten on the torment! And Allah fails not his promise. And verily, a day with your lord is as a thousand years of what you reckon.” Quran:22:47
the above verse of Quran clearly speaks of relativity of time. At other place Quran-says,
“The angels and the spirit ascend to him in a day the measure of which is fifty-thousand-years. Quran:70:4.
“And they ask you to hasten on the torment! And Allah fails not his promise. And verily, a day with your lord is as a thousand years of what you reckon.” Quran:22:47
the above verse of Quran clearly speaks of relativity of time. At other place Quran-says,
“The angels and the spirit ascend to him in a day the measure of which is fifty-thousand-years. Quran:70:4.
This verse of Quran says that angels cover 50,000 years in a day. Quran also declares ‘year’ as the unit of speed. In our solar system itself we can see that different planets have different time. A day on Mars is 24 hours and 37 minutes long; on Jupiter it is 9 hours 55 minutes, on Uranus 10 hours and on Saturn-17-hours. Physicists are so sick of time that they are planning to remove time from physics.
Fig.43.JULIAN BARBOUR, a theoretical physicist, has worked on foundational issues in physics for 35 years, specializing in the study of time and inertia. He is the author of Absolute or Relative Motion?, The End of Time, and the Discovery-of-Dynamics.
Julian Barbour is one such physicist who says that time is an illusion, and should be removed from physics. In his controversial book, ‘THE END OF TIME”, Julian Barbour says that time is a psychological concept. He says that there is no past, there is only present. There are so many presents that the distance between them give rise to an illusion called ’time’. According to him, for an unconscious man there is no time. In fact, there are many cases in medical history where the patients arising after many years of coma appeared very young. We can call Julian Barbour as a disbeliever or unbeliever (kafir) of time, as he does not believe in it. So we have two kinds of physicists, ones who believe in time and ones who do not believe in it’s existence. Regarding God also there are two sorts of people, one who believe in him and other who deny his existence. Time is regarded as a very sacred concept in Islam, regarding time Quran says,
“I(God) swear by the time! Man is in loss, except those who believe and exhort-for-truth-and-patience”. Quran:103
“I(God) swear by the time! Man is in loss, except those who believe and exhort-for-truth-and-patience”. Quran:103
Fig.44.Picture showing a man in loss. Time brings loss, with time anarchy-increases;2nd-law-of-thermodynamics.
There are two words in Arabic which denote time: Dahr and Asr .Regarding time the prophet of Islam said,
“Do not abuse time (Dahr) for it is God .”
1.Sahih-al-bukhari,vol.6,hadith.no.351(Sunni-book)
2. Translation of Quran by Maqbool Ahmad, vol.2, page 798(urdu- Shia-book)
2. Translation of Quran by Maqbool Ahmad, vol.2, page 798(urdu- Shia-book)
3.Majma-ul-Bayan
It is strange that the above hadith (tradition) is found in both the Sunni and the Shia books with exactly the same words and content.
God is invisible so is time, God cannot be understood and time is still not understood by physicists. There are atheists who don’t believe in God; and there are physicists who don’t believe in time, God controls everything and nobody can control God, same is with time. God is omnipresent and according to Einstein’s space- time concept time is the property of space, where there is space there is time, hence time is omnipresent as well. Nobody can influence time, but time influences everything, regarding the nature of time Imam Ali (a.s)-says,
“Time (Dahr) wears bodies, renews aspiration, brings end near and takes away aspiration. Whoever is successful with it (time) encounters grief and whosoever allows time to go also-feels-sorry.” NahjulBalagha:saying-72
Time-wears-bodies:
“Time (Dahr) wears bodies, renews aspiration, brings end near and takes away aspiration. Whoever is successful with it (time) encounters grief and whosoever allows time to go also-feels-sorry.” NahjulBalagha:saying-72
Time-wears-bodies:
With time disorder increases ,this is called as the second law of thermodynamic. Imam Ali (a.s) points towards this property of time that it destroys or wears bodies.
Ageing is a process which is controlled by time. According to Einstein, if an Astronaut goes out of the time frame of the sun (one has to move with velocity of light in all time travel) he will stop ageing because time stops for him. So time destroys things but, it-also-brings new things and new events.
Fig.45.Painting showing the second law of thermodynamics, that there is increase of disorder with time.
Fig.47. Picture of Paul Dirac,the Nobel prize winner in physics.
According to the theory of inflation, proposed by Paul Dirac-Nobel laureate, space has the inherent capacity to produce energy fluctuations (in pair) which die very fast, but one energy bubble out of 10, 0000000 survives to produce a universe. This creative aspect of space is due to the presence of time in it. Imam Ali (a.s) says that time spoils the old system and bring in new system (renews aspiration).But as time is inherent in space, when an astronaut moves out of the time frame of the sun he will still be ageing but very slowly (if he happens to be out of the gravitational field of any star), as if he is not at all ageing.
According to the theory of inflation, proposed by Paul Dirac-Nobel laureate, space has the inherent capacity to produce energy fluctuations (in pair) which die very fast, but one energy bubble out of 10, 0000000 survives to produce a universe. This creative aspect of space is due to the presence of time in it. Imam Ali (a.s) says that time spoils the old system and bring in new system (renews aspiration).But as time is inherent in space, when an astronaut moves out of the time frame of the sun he will still be ageing but very slowly (if he happens to be out of the gravitational field of any star), as if he is not at all ageing.
Fig.48.The inflation theory says that the present universe was formed because of an energy bubble (negative energy bubble) which failed to perish. It is the inherent property of space time to produce energy bubbles which get perished in millionth of a second. The lucky energy bubble expanded exponentially to fill the space with energy, and then the energy condensed and exploded in the form of a big bang to form universe with thousands of galaxies and stars.
“Whoever is successful with it (time) encounters grief and whosoever misses it also-feels-sorry.”
According to Imam Ali (a.s) no one can win over time. Melancholy is the nature of time. Time is grief, so there is grief in space time, so there is suffering in the universe. As long as one exists in space-time there can be no relief from grief, so instead of trying to escape from grief it is a better idea to embrace it and try living with it. At some other place in Nahjulbalagha Imam Ali (a.s) says: When you are facing trouble constantly, jump into them.
Fig.49.Julian says that time is an illusion, but according to Imam Ali-(a.s)-time-is-grief.
At this stage of discussion I would like to advice Julian Barbour to abandon the idea of removing time from physics. With time there is trouble in physics, and without time there will be more trouble, as Imam Ali (a.s) says if you are successful with time you will be unhappy and if you allow time to go away you will be again unhappy. So it is better to be unhappy with time than to be unhappy without it (in physics).
Fig.50.God encompasses time. His throne (Kursi) surrounds the heaven and-the-earth.
If you don’t believe in God you will be a loser in the hereafter, and if you believe in God you will be a loser in this world, at least for a part of time, for Quran-says,
“And certainly, we shall test you (those who believe in God) with something of fear,hunger,loss of wealth, lives and fruit of labour,but give glad tidings to the-patient.” Quran:2:155
“And certainly, we shall test you (those who believe in God) with something of fear,hunger,loss of wealth, lives and fruit of labour,but give glad tidings to the-patient.” Quran:2:155
If you believe in God there is trouble and if you don’t believe in God there is trouble again, choice is yours. Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“If you endure even then matters will move as ordained by Allah, but in that case you will deserve reward; while if you lose patience matters will again move as ordained by Allah, but in this case you will be bearing the burden(of sins).”
Nahjulbalagha: saying: 286.
Nahjulbalagha: saying: 286.
It is mentioned in the Quran that Jesus Christ used to make birds of clay and blow spirit in them, and they would become alive and fly away, but just before blowing spirit Jesus used to say: “They shall fly with the permission of God.” Time, like Jesus Christ, does every thing, but the real force or power behind it is ‘God’. This may be the interpretation of the Prophets saying: “Do not abuse time for, it is God.”
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12. Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and Hazrat Ali
“Do not feel safe from the punishment of Allah even about the best man in the whole community because Allah (God) says: But feel not secure any one save the people who are losers (Quran: 7:99). Again, do not lose hope even for the worst man of the community because Allah says: Verily despair not of Allah's mercy but the disbelieving people.” (Quran.12.87). Nahjulbalagha:saying:372
The parallel of the above saying of Imam Ali (a.s) is found in quantum mechanics, known as Heisenberg's uncertainty principle which states that it is impossible to find the velocity and
position of a sub-atomic particle like electron accurately at the same time.
Fig.18.Uncertainty principle makes possible the detection of an electron at two different places at the same time.
If it's (electron’s) velocity is found accurately then the uncertainty of finding its position becomes infinite and if it's (electron's) position is found accurately then the uncertainty of finding its velocity becomes infinite (Wikipedia: Heisenberg's uncertainty principle).
Fig.19.According to uncertainty principle, nothing is sure.
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Wherever there is an electron the uncertainty principle works there. The Heisenberg's uncertainty principle works in the whole universe, and hence Islam also prescribes uncertainty for believers with regard to their going to heaven or hell. There is uncertainty of going to paradise even for the best person (Who appears to be so) and there is uncertainty of going to hell even for the worst (Who appears to be so). If one is sure of going to paradise then deterioration creeps into one's behavior and vice-versa. Fear of going to hell bridles one's behavior and guards from deterioration of character. Thus, uncertainty is a blessing in disguise.
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13. Tidal force and Imam Ali
Quran:2:154: "And say not of those who are slain in the way of Allah. "They are dead." Nay, they are living, though you perceive (it) not."
Quran:2:155: "Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere,"
Fig.5. Things on entering a black hole simply disappear.
Quran:2:155: "Be sure we shall test you with something of fear and hunger, some loss in goods or lives or the fruits (of your toil), but give glad tidings to those who patiently persevere,"
Tidal force comes into play when an object moves towards or around a very large object. When a satellite rotating around the earth enters into the earth, it breaks into pieces. Tidal force is a gravitational force. The movement of the moon around the earth causes high tides and low tides in the oceans which are comparatively smaller than the moon. As oceans are big they don’t break into pieces. Only small objects break into pieces when they approach a very large object like the earth.
The Holy Quran regards fear of God (taqwa) as a tidal force, the Holy Quran says,
The Holy Quran regards fear of God (taqwa) as a tidal force, the Holy Quran says,
Quran:2:74: "Then, even after that, your hearts were hardened and became as rocks, or worse than rocks, for hardness. For indeed there are rocks from out which rivers gush, and indeed there are rocks which split asunder so that water flow from them. And indeed there are rocks which fall down for the fear of Allah. Allah is not unaware of what ye do."
The Holy Quran has appreciation for those rocks (hearts) which break and fall asunder under the tidal force of taqwa (fear of God).It is an amazing fact that the Holy Prophet (saw) regarded love of Ali (as) as 'taqwa'.
The Holy Quran has appreciation for those rocks (hearts) which break and fall asunder under the tidal force of taqwa (fear of God).It is an amazing fact that the Holy Prophet (saw) regarded love of Ali (as) as 'taqwa'.
Fig.1. A satellite entering the Roche limit breaks into pieces.
Imam Ali (as): “Even if a mountain loves me, it will be crushed into bits.”
Nahjulbalagha: Saying-110
The above saying of Imam Ali (as) was never understood in its proper sense. Imam Ali (as) wants to say that he is so huge that his tidal force can shatter even a mountain into bits.
Imam Ali (as): “The flood water flows down from me, and the birds cannot fly up to me.”
Nahjulbalagha:Sermon-3
Fig.2. In 2003 the Columbia space shuttle was shattered to bits because of the earth's tidal force killing all the seven astronauts on board.
Imam Ali (as) used the word ‘mountain’ because it the biggest object known to human beings. But, here Imam Ali is not talking about his enemies, to the contrary, he is talking about those who love him. Love is a journey and when you are moving towards a galaxy of faith like Imam Ali (as) there is no doubt that you will be shattered to pieces. The question is, will anyone continue to love Imam Ali (as) when he know that he is going to get shattered into bits. Well, the following saying of Imam Ali (as) is the reply,
“Even if I cut the nose of a believer for hating me, he will not hate me and even if I give the whole wealth of the universe to a hypocrite for loving me, he will not love me because Prophet Muhammad (saw) said: “O’ Ali, a believer will never hate you and a hypocrite will never love you.”
Nahjulbalagha
Fig.3. A meteor breaking into pieces on entering the earth.
All the authentic books of the Sunnis and the Shias contain the following hadith of the holy Prophet Muhammad (saw),
“ Loving Ali is faith.”
Shahih-Muslim
Fig.4. In 1994, the comet Shoemaker Levy-9 broke into twenty bits on entering the Jupiter's powerful gravitational field-tidal force and finally crashed into it.
It means loving Ali (as) is in itself a religion. Love means attraction, to get attracted to every aspect of the beloved, and as Imam Ali (as) was the first Muslim and a perfect believer, it is obvious that those who love him will never go out of his gravitational pull even at the cost of getting shattered into bits. It means, if you love Imam Ali (as) you will never be able to hate him because the love of Imam Ali (as) is like a black hole on entering which you can never come back. Anything entering a black hole is shattered into bits because of its immense gravity; anything which enters a black hole never remains the same and can never come back.
14.power
“Correctness of decision goes with power. It (correct decision making ability) emerges with its (power) emergence and disappears when the other (power) disappears.” NahjulBalagha: saying.334
Imam Ali (a.s) says that correct decision making ability comes with power, therefore, when power leaves, the ability to make correct decisions also leaves. As Imam Ali (a.s) was the chief of all the believers and Caliph of Islam, his words has to be interpreted in terms of faith, belief in God, life after death etc. Well, what is power then? According to Imam Ali (a.s) faith is power.
Fig.16.Faith is power
The ability to stick to one thing whatsoever the consequences may be is power. Self confidence, unyielding attitude and standing by one’s word are all signs of power. Power means that
you should prefer truth when it harms you and avoid falsehood when it benefits you (Nahjulbalagha: saying: 450).
When wealth is lost nothing is lost, when health is lost, something is lost and when character is lost, everything is lost (Nahjulbalagha: saying.382).
One's character is the throne over which one sits and reigns with power (fear of God is the chief trait of human character (Nahjulbalagha.saying.403).
When that throne is lost, you can no more rule. You become a slave of your bad deeds, and slaves have no decision making ability. At another place, Imam Ali (a.s) says: Be afraid of the ideas of believers (those having faith in God) because God has put truth on their tongues. (Nahjulbalagha: saying.304).
Fig.17.Alexander the great standing like a beggar before the man of faith, Diogenes.
Thus a man of faith seldom makes wrong decisions. According to Imam Ali (a.s) power, faith, and character are the same. Consequently, what we find is; power is related to the controlling ability of our emotions and feelings. Powerful is the one who is capable of controlling the basic emotions like anger, lust, enmity, greed etc. We become powerful by controlling the dictates of our animal nature. Imam Ali (a.s) says,
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“If I am angry when shall I curb my anger-whether when I am unable to take revenge and it be said, "better you endure” or when I have power to take revenge and it be said,” Better forgive.” Nahjulbalagha: saying.190
“When you gain power over your enemy, pardon him by way of thanks for being able to over-power him.” Nahjulbalagha: saying.10
Thus, according to Imam Ali (a.s) a powerful man is the one who has power to forgive when he has got full power to take revenge, a very powerful thing indeed.
Fredrick Nietzsche, who is regarded as the most influential philosopher of the 20th century, and whose philosophy of will to power Adolph Hitler camouflaged to wage the Second World War says that the main aim of human being is to become powerful (Nietzsche by Heidegger), and surprisingly he also prescribes the control of basic instincts (like hunger, thirst, sex, anger, revenge) as the tools for becoming powerful. At this point of argument I find it relevant to say that fasting which Islam ordains, is actually a methodology aimed at making us powerful. Discipline makes you powerful. Thus waking early for prayers, praying regularly, fasting, curbing ones anger, being generous and doing other humanitarian and unselfish acts make you strong and powerful. At another place Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“The best action is the one which you have to force yourself to do.” Nahjulbalagha: saying: 245
Thus the conclusion is, to become powerful one has to go through hardships. The drug which can make you powerful is trouble. Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“Whoever regards small trouble as big then Allah involves him in big trouble.” Nahjulbalagha:saying:440
“Objection, evasion, joyous distrust, and love of irony are signs of health; everything absolute belongs to pathology.”
(Friedrich-Nietzsche:-Beyond-good-and-evil;page,52)
With constant trouble shooting (facing trouble and coming out of it) one gains the ability to make correct decisions. Thus leadership is achieved through facing troubles. A hero is always surrounded in tragedies (Neitzsche: every thing turns into tragedy in hero's sphere).
With constant trouble shooting (facing trouble and coming out of it) one gains the ability to make correct decisions. Thus leadership is achieved through facing troubles. A hero is always surrounded in tragedies (Neitzsche: every thing turns into tragedy in hero's sphere).
In Quran God says: we desire to give the leadership of the earth to those who were made weak (through troubles) and downtrodden. Quran:
Imam Ali (a.s) says, “By facing hardships leadership is achieved.” Nahjulbalagha: saying: 220
Thus by facing troubles (with patience) one becomes powerful and gains correct decision making ability and hence, becomes worthy of leadership.
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15.What is Philosophy?
The word ‘philo’ means love and the word ‘sophy’ means wisdom, and thus, philosophy means love of wisdom. Philosophy is a branch of fine arts which deals with problems arising in matters relating to life, truth, love, mind, justice, religion, language etc. Philosophy aims at providing answers to all the whys; like, why do we exist; why the earth is round; why there is pain in life; why the universe is like it is now etc. Before 19th century science and philosophy were one, but after 19th century science was separated from philosophy on account of it’s complex and mathematical nature. Now science is a branch of philosophy which aims at providing answers to the whys through practical experiments and philosophy provides answers to the same questions through logical arguments. Philosophy is a branch of knowledge which connects science with religion. Philosophy is the ‘no man’s land’ between science and religion (History of Western Philosophy: Bertrand Russell). The wisdom behind every thing that exists is called it's philosophy. Wisdom and philosophy are synonyms, and in our up coming discussion we shall be using the word ‘wisdom’ in the place of ‘philosophy’.
Regarding wisdom Quran says, “God grants wisdom (Hikma) to whom he pleases, and he to whom wisdom is granted, is indeed granted abundant good.” Quran: 1:269
And Imam Ali (a.s) says, “There is no wealth like wisdom.” Nahjulbalagha: Saying 54
Fig.23.A famous painting showing philosophers of Athens busy discussing philosophy, the central figures are Aristotle and Plato.
Fig.24. Philosophy also aims at providing the definition of every possible thing.
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Wisdom is a special kind of thinking ability which allows one to relate knowledge to its real cause. For every thing that exists, there is a cause (reason). Then what is the cause of knowledge? Why does knowledge exist? The one who answers this question correctly is a wise man possessing wisdom, and is called a philosopher. Religion says that the cause of knowledge is God whereas science has no answer for it. Islam being one of the greatest (great with respect to its content) among religions says,
“Wisdom is the fruit of truthfulness and fear of God.”
Prophet of Islam
According to religion an atheist can gain knowledge, but not wisdom. Thus every man of knowledge is not wise. Wisdom is the essence of knowledge and the essence of wisdom is God.
Quran says,
“Whatever is in the heaven and the earth has signs for the Believers (those who believe in God)”.
Quran: 3:190
Fig.3.Critical analysis or deep thinking leads to philosophy.
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It means you cannot be called wise unless you believe in God-the creator of all knowledge. Whatever knowledge exists between the heaven and the earth, aims at increasing the wisdom or faith in the creator. The stars, the black holes, the neutron, stars, the galaxies, the bacteria, virus and all the living and non living things should increase your faith in God, and then only you will be called as a possessor of wisdom. When a micro- biologist is analyzing a bacteria under his microscope, his faith in God should increase, then only he will be called as a wise microbiologist, same is the case with every branch of science. Regarding wise people Quran says,
“It is only those who have knowledge among his slaves that fear God.” Quran: 35:28
Fig.25. Wisdom says that there can be no creation without a Creator. Can there be footprints without a walker?
When you realize that all knowledge is because of God, then you start fearing him; the complex workings of the world around you arouses awe towards the Creator. As your knowledge increases, the different aspects of God’s working become obvious to you and you start fearing him more. When a wise bachelor of science completes his masters in microbiology, his degree of fear towards God should also increase. As your degrees in science increase, your fear towards God should also increase. The main aim of life is to know the Creator, and the best way to know the Creator is to understand his creation. That is why the Prophet of Islam said,
“Gain knowledge from cradle to the grave.”
Fig.26.The aim of life is to be aware, and awareness means knowledge.
And Imam Ali (a.s) says,
.
“There is no good in life except gaining knowledge.” NahjulBalagha:
It is obvious that the above sayings are addressed to the believers.
When we say knowledge, we mean the knowledge of the creation which includes all sciences. Commerce, economics and civics are also knowledge, but they don’t help you much in knowing
the Creator, on the contrary they increase your knowledge in knowing the ways of making money and gaining power. The knowledge of science is a must on every believer in God. Any branch of science can help you in increasing your faith in God, for instance, the study of birds (ornithology) can help you in gaining an understanding of God. The Holy Quran sasy,
“Do they not see the birds held in the midst of the sky? None holds them but Allah (God).Verily, in this are clear signs for those who believe.” Quran: 16:79
Fig.27.Study of birds is called ornithology.
When we go through Nahjulbalagha, we find Imam Ali (a.s) delivering great sermons on bats, peacock, etc. For a wise man all knowledge is one because the aim of knowledge is one and that is to increase ones understanding of God. If knowledge is not increasing your faith in God then it means you are gaining knowledge for worldly gain; you are not on the straight track ( sirat-e-mustaquim), your purpose of gaining knowledge has gone wrong, and you should rectify it as soon as possible.
Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“It is enough if your wisdom distinguishes for you the ways of going astray from those of guidance.” Nahjulbalagha: saying. 430
Fig.28.There is no good in knowledge without wisdom; this is what has happened in this century. Knowledge has increased without increase in wisdom, result, anarchy.
Wisdom is a kind of light, and very few are gifted with this light. Light allows you to realize the difference between black and the white, good and the bad, and virtue and vice etc.
There are different levels in wisdom as there are different levels in knowledge. The highest degree in wisdom is to realize God in every thing. The reason behind every thing is called wisdom, but knowing the ultimate cause of everything is the real wisdom; like in the study of cause and effect, there are many secondary causes, but the primary cause is one. Like in A, B, C and D; C is the cause of D; and B is the cause of C; A is the cause of B; and A does not have any cause and is know as the primary cause. Science deals with all the secondary causes where as philosophy or wisdom (ultimate one) aims at the primary cause. Science describes the various secondary causes which brought the universe into existence (unification theory: the force of gravity, the strong and weak nuclear forces etc), but fails to describe the ultimate cause of all these forces.
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Fig.29.Einstein said: All my theories are just an attempt to know the working of God (How God works) ;science without religion is lame, and religion without science is blind.
Philosophy or wisdom is the only tool which can give you glimpses of the ultimate cause, God or as in philosophy, Being. So now we have two sorts of wisdom one is the primary wisdom and the other the secondary wisdom. Primary wisdom is that which leads to God, and secondary wisdom is that which does not leads to God. The primary Wisdom is the property of a believer, the one who relates every cause or knowledge to God. But as far as the secondary wisdom is concerned, any one can possess it. Like, doctors are called ‘Hakim (wise) because they are gifted with the ability to find the cause behind every disease. All the doctors are wise but their wisdom is of secondary nature. There are many atheists who are great doctors and great scientists, but lack primary wisdom, regarding secondary wisdom,Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“A wise point is the lost articles of a believer therefore get wise points even though from the people of hypocrisy.” NahjulBalagha: saying.80
It means there are no criteria for secondary wisdom but for primary wisdom you need to have character and virtue.
“alif,laam,meem.This book, there is no doubt, is a guidance for those who fear God.”
In the above verse of Quran the word ‘guidance’ refers to primary wisdom. Secondary wisdom can lead to primary wisdom and primary can lead to secondary wisdom. Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“O’ God, the eyes have not seen you so as to be aware of you, but you were in front of the describer of your creation (scientist,doctor,etc).” NahjulBalagha: sermon: 107, page 197.
It means there are better chances for a doctor or a scientist to become a believer (man of primary wisdom).
At another place Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“Take wisdom from wherever it may be, even from the people of hypocracy,because a wise saying is the lost article of a believer, it flutters in the bosom of hypocrite till it comes out and settles in the heart of a believer.” NahjulBalagha: saying: 79.
The above saying of Imam Ali (a.s) teaches extreme liberalism to all the Muslims, you have to maintain good relation even with hypocrites and take good things from them, being the first Muslim Imam Ali (a.s)’s words make it clear that Islam is a religion of extreme liberalism. There is no place for religious or sectarian chauvinism in Islam. Why Islam preaches such a degree of liberalism, the answer lies in the following saying of Imam Ali (a.s),
“Loving one another is half wisdom.” Nahjulbalagha: saying: 142
There is a great amount of discord among humans because we have forgotten loving each other, Imam Ali (a.s) says that you cannot be a believer unless you regard as bad for others what you regard as bad for yourself. This lesson we Muslims have specially forgotten and got involved in reckless religious chauvinism. Chauvinism leads to hatred and loving each other leads to wisdom.
Identification of the wise: It was said to Imam Ali (a.s):Describe the wise to us; And he said: The wise is the one who places things in their proper positions. Then he was asked: Describe the ignorant to us, he said: I have already done so. Nahjulbalagha: .saying.236
Imam Ali (a.s) was only next to the prophet of Islam with regard to his achievements in knowledge and philosophy. Regarding Imam Ali (a.s)’s knowledge the prophet of Islam says,
“I am the city of knowledge and Ali is its gate.”
1. Al-jami al sageer by Syyuti,page 107
2. Al mustadrak al hakim , vol.3,page 226
And regarding Imam Ali (a.s)’s wisdom (hikma), the prophet of Islam said,
“I am the house of wisdom and Ali is its door.”
1. Kanz ul ummal, vol.6, page 41
2. Al jami al sager, vol.1, page 170
The above two sayings of the prophet of Islam describe beautifully the difference between knowledge and wisdom. For his knowledge, the prophet of Islam used the word ‘city’ and for his wisdom he (as) used the word ‘house’. You get to the house only when you enter the city, so it is established that wisdom is the essence of knowledge. Thus, philosophy is the essence of all knowledge.
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16. IMAM ALI (A.S) AND ARTHUR SCHOPENHAUER
Fig.30. Portrait of Arthur Schopenhauer, the German philosopher.
Arthur Schopenhauer was born in Germany in 1788(and died in 1860).He is considered among the most influential philosophers of Europe, influencing great minds like Albert Einstein, Nietzsche, Tolstoy, George Santana, Schrodinger, Vivekananda, etc.He is famous for introducing the concept of 'Will (desire)'.Every thing, from living to non-living, has a will (desire) programmed in it, a stone has a will that it will stay at it's place and not move. All the chemical and physical properties of a stone come under it’s will. Living things have the will (desire) to propagate themselves and spread. Different living beings have different wills and this brings them into conflict with each other.
Fig.31.The desire to satisfy hunger makes the tiger attack the buck.
In animal kingdom the degree of conflict is more because of the will to propagate and survive. Each individual among the humans has an independent and unique will (desire), thus there are chances of a greater degree of conflict among them, but, as they had been gifted with intelligence they have the ability to curb or suppress their will (desire).Hence Desire (Will) is the ultimate cause of all the sufferings.
Fig.32.Revenge, the oldest desire, has caused much agony to humanity. Hitler waged the second world to take the revenge of the First World War.
According to Schopenhauer, one way to get rid of desire is to take interest in art. It is true that the people of the fine arts have done least damage to the society. (The world as will and idea by Schopenhauer,1884).
Strikingly Imam Ali (a.s) preached exactly the same philosophy of Schopenhauer 1400 year ago, he used to preach that desire is the ultimate cause of all suffering and shunning of desires is the only remedy for human sufferings, his saying in Nahjulbalagha is as follows,
"o' slaves of desires, cut them short because he who leans on them gets nothing out of them except the pain of hardships', people, ‘take upon yourself your own training and turn away from the dictates of your natural inclinations (desires) NahjulBalagha: saying.354
Imam Ali (a.s) was aware that it is not possible to remove all the desires(will) hence, he said, 'cut them short'.
A desire of a single human individual can do immense damage to the whole of humanity.Women, wealth and power, apart from many others, are the elements which can generate desire in humans and had caused colossal damage to the humanity.
Fig.33.Portrait of Helen of Troy, the main cause of the Trojan War.
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If you take sex, for instance; sometimes different individuals have the same object as the cause of their sexual desire. One female and many males, this leads to a conflict and results in human tragedy.Akbar, the great king of India, marauded a whole kingdom of Junagad just for the sake of a damsel called 'Roopvati' .This he did despite of the fact that he had thousands of fine peerless concubines in his harem. And then Adolph Hitler, the German tyrant, desired (willed) to conquer Europe and ultimately caused the second world war leading to the annihilation of more than a million human lives. And the recent America's desire for oil had caused and is causing the human destruction in Iraq and other oil producing countries. Desire should be nipped in the bud otherwise it will cause colossal carnage.
Imam Ali (a.s) realized the ultimate cause of human sufferings a thousand years before Schopenhauer when he said,
"The bases of the occurrence of evils are those desires which are acted upon and the orders that are innovated." Nahjulbalagha: sermon: 50
"The bases of the occurrence of evils are those desires which are acted upon and the orders that are innovated." Nahjulbalagha: sermon: 50
Imam Ali (a.s) delivered this sermon(sermon.50) at a time when there was a great turmoil going on in the Muslim world.Muawiya,Imam Ali (a.s)'s opponent, wanted the Islamic caliphate despite the fact that he was unworthy of that position ,and wanted (desired) to snatch it from it’s worthy owner, Imam Ali (a.s).This led to a long war, the war of Siffeen,which killed thousands of Muslims in a year.Muawiya's illegal will (desire) to be the caliph of Islam was the single cause for the sufferings of Arab Muslims. If his desire was nipped at its initial stages, the Islamic history would have been empty of the pathetic tale of human destruction. When the war of Siffeen was taking its toll,Imam Ali(a.s) said, "o' people what I fear most about you are two things: Acting according to desires (will) and extending hopes. As regard acting according to desires, this prevents you from the truth and as regards the extending of hope; this makes one forget-the-next-world." NahjulBalagha.sermon:42
Schopenhauer did not explain precisely the workings of desire (will) whereas Imam Ali (a.s) says that desires work by preventing one from accepting the truth or reality. Desire makes one blind to reality.
Shunning all the desires means shunning life. A man without desires is a dead man. The answer is, desires can be categorized into two kinds, the legitimate desires and the illegitimate desires. Even the legitimate desires cause conflict, but of a less serious nature than the conflict caused by illegitimate ones. Thus by channelizing desire into a lawful one, one can just reduce the amount of suffering, but cannot be free form it. Suffering is hardwired into the destiny of human life on the face of earth. Sex is a desire and it is aught to bring trouble, hence if you accomplish your sexual desire through a legal way, marriage, the amount of suffering accruing from it will be less, than when it is accomplished illegally. Any desire which is fulfilled by trampling the right of a fellow human is considered as illegal. Hence desires, if fulfilled illegally are damaging to humanity to the maximum. All natural inclinations, if fulfilled without following the norms set by the law or religion, are considered illegal and bring suffering to humanity on a colossal scale. If the desires are fulfilled by following the norms set by the law or religion, suffering will be to a lesser degree. Hence there is a way for the legalization of every human desire, and religion, especially Islam has set ways for the legalization of every possible desire so that there is lesser human suffering. But if you want to shun all the sufferings you have to shun all the desires which is not possible practically. Marriage is an institution established by all the religions for the legalizations of sexual desire. But, in some cases, we see that despite of marriage the sexual desire is not curbed and people get involved in extra marital affairs. Now what is the way to curb the sexual desire which arises in the heart of a married man for married women, what is the remedy? In this scenario I want to quote the complete text of saying .no.429 from Nahjulbalagha which is as follows -
“Imam Ali (a.s) was sitting with his companions when a beautiful woman passed by them and they began to look at her whereupon
Imam Ali (a.s)(as)said: the eyes of these men are desiring and this glancing is the cause of their desire. Whenever anyone of you see a woman who attracts him, he should meet (have sex with) his wife because she is also a woman like her.” NahjulBalagha: saying.429.
The way sexual desire is channelised, every other desire can be channelised in the same fashion. For instance the desire for wealth can be dealt in the same way. Wealth can be gained illegally by fraud or deception and the legal way of it is through gaining knowledge and hard work. The Nobel prize winner in’ micro economics; Amartya Sen, got his prize for proving that the economy of a country is directly related to it’s literacy rate. As the education level of a country goes up its economic prosperity goes up, there is direct correlation between literacy rate and economic growth of a country. Knowledge is wealth is proved now. Well, Francis Beacon Said: knowledge is power, where as Imam Ali (a.s) says: knowledge is life, ignorance is death. Thus one can become wealthy and powerful by gaining knowledge and that is the legal way of doing it, but, still as it is also a desire you will not be free from suffering, but to a lesser degree. In conclusion, try to shun desires but if you can’t do that, channelize them in the legal way; in this way you will be leading a life with less suffering.
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17. IMAM ALI (A.S) AND WILLIAM JAMES
Fig.34.William James, father of American philosophy.
William James, born in New York in1842 (died in1910), was a Philosopher and psychologist responsible for the advancement of America in every sphere. He is considered as the father of American philosophy. He was responsible for establishing the foundations of the field of experimental psychology, and is the founder of the philosophy of radical pragmatism. His Book 'the principles of psychology' is still popular as the text book on psychology.
During my study of William James I have found the parallel of his philosophy and psychology in the teachings of Imam Ali (a.s).
Fig.35.Veena is a graduate student in the Experimental Psychology program. She is interested in language, memory, and the underlying brain mechanisms. She is currently doing research on reference processing in reading using self paced reading and event-related potential (ERP) methodologies.
Experimental psychology:
William James, the father of experimental psychology, propounded the idea that the physical actions and gestures can change the emotional state of a person. It means if you want to become angry just clench your fist and grind your teeth, in a few minutes you will feel that the emotion of anger has taken you in it's grip. And similarly, laughing (for no reason) promotes the emotion of happiness and calm to encompass your personality. Well, this is the reason for the success of the laughter therapy. If you make it a habit to act like an angry person, in the long run the emotion of anger
takes you in it’s permanent grip and you end up as a short tempered person. Similarly, if you act or follow the gesture of a calm and enduring person, in the long run you end up as a calm and enduring person. In conclusion, our emotions are in our control, and we can bring out whatever emotion we like just by making the gestures related to the emotion we wish. In our brain (which is a computer) the emotions and their respective gestures exist as programs. When you make a particular gesture, say clenching fists, the brain detects these gestures through the change in blood pressure and muscle movements, and finds out the emotion related to it, in this case anger, and then the program of anger starts running. Similarly we can manipulate other emotions. This means that you can be happy whenever you wish and you can be angry whenever you wish. Means, if you act like a short tempered person you become one and to the contrary if you act like a forbearing person you become one, this is what Imam Ali (a.s) means when he says,
“If you cannot forbear, act to do so because it is seldom that a man likens himself to a group and does not become one of them.”
Nahjulbalagha: saying.203.
Nahjulbalagha: saying.203.
Fatigue point:
William James, in his principles of psychology, gave evidence that most of us get tired every day not because of actual effort expended, but because we make a habit of feeling tired at a given hour. This self imposed limit James called as 'fatigue point’. When you continue to work at your fatigue point you suddenly get a burst of energy making you active again, this is called as 'first wind’. When you get tired after the first wind, and still continue to work; you again, become active with the second burst of energy called 'second wind’. In this way you can extend your fatigue point up to 4Th and 5Th wind. Great men become great by extending their fatigue point. Imam Ali (a.s) mentions about extending ones fatigue point in his following saying,
Fig.36. Forget your sickness portrait.
NahjulBalagha.saying.26
Fig.37. Picture showing the different aspects of moral character. It is strange that compassion is one of the characteristic of moral character.
Moral character:
William James was the first psychologist to point out the now accepted theory that every physical sensation and every physical contact with the outside world leaves a permanent trace among the billion neurons in the brain. Since, these impressions are permanent, they are constantly accumulating and the sum total of these impressions is called personality or character. Hence, our personality is the sum total of the impressions we make in our brain by our actions. Thus it can be said that we are slaves of our actions. Hence if we practice good habits it is for our own good.Well, what goes around turns around, as you sow so shall you reap, all these sayings are scientifically valid. In this regard Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“Contentment is as good as estate and courtesy is as good as blessing.” NahjulBalagha: saying.225
If you make courtesy as a habit you are a blessed man, means you will always be happy. Our character determines our happiness and sorrow, a man of ill character can never be happy, and a man of good character is always happy even though he may be in rags, with meager sustenance, sitting on a garbage dump. The actions which we perform daily become a permanent force in our lives and play a decisive role in our success and failure. A Good action performed daily becomes a positive force in our life and vice versa. Imam Ali (a.s) says,
"A small action done with regularity is better than a big action done with disgust." Nahjulbalagha: saying.273.
Fig.38. A bit of pain, anxiety and tension is good for the development of human personality.
Anxiety is good:
According to William James a bit of anxiety and tension is very good for mental and physical health (Reader's digest-special collection edition-50Th anniversary-1954to 2004,page 188).Professor Ralph Gerard at the university of Michigan points that anxiety and tension are good because they bring into use brain cells otherwise inactive, it heightens attention and improves performance, releases certain hormones and helps in fast learning at greater speed. Imam Ali (a.s)'s view in this scenario is as follows,
“Ignore pain otherwise you will never be happy: ignore pain you will ever be happy.” NahjulBalagha: saying.209.
According to Imam Ali (a.s) we should make it as a habit to bear pain, and if we try to escape pain we shall never be happy because it is not possible to escape pain. Instead of trying to escape from pain we should face pain and become resistant to It. Anxiety,
tension and pain are necessary evils which promote the growth of human psyche and personality, as a famous proverb goes,
'Sweet are the uses of adversities.'
A daily dose of adversities is like a daily dose of a bitter pill taken for the purpose of long term good health, in this scenario Imam Ali (a.s) says “Through change of circumstances the mettle of men is known.” NahjulBalagha: saying.213
Through change of circumstances and new challenges we grow and become a better person.Well, the other name of Imam Ali (a.s)'s philosophy is 'Optimism'-B-positive.
Fig.39. a philosophy or a religion is true only if it promotes the development of human beings or if it is beneficial to them in some aspect of worldly life: pragmatism.
Pragmatism:
William James is known for his philosophy of pragmatism according to which the test for truth is simply that it works. It means, if humans and societies are getting benefited or developed because of a particular philosophy or religion then there must be some truth in that philosophy or religion. Hence the test for truth is it’s cash value. In this context Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“Certainly right (truth) is weighty and wholesome (beneficial) while wrong is light-and-epidemic.” Nahjulbalagh:.saying.371.
According to Imam Ali (a.s) truth is beneficial as well as weighty (it stays for long).Wrong causes epidemic (disease) whereas truth brings health, it is wholesome and beneficial.
Mutual behavior:
William James says that if you believe well of your fellow men you create the good you believe in (Reader's digest-50TH anniversary).Tit for tat is not the only tool available when dealing with our fellow human beings, the strategy of forgiveness and doing good for bad works better, in this scenario Imam Ali (a.s) says,
“Admonish your comrade (friend) by way of good behavior towards him and ward of his evil by forgiving.”
NahjulBalagha: saying.156
NahjulBalagha: saying.156
At other place he (as) says,
“If a person has a good idea about you make his idea true.” Nahjulbalagha.saying.244
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18. ISLAMIC PHILOSOPHY AND PLOTINUS
“In all the periods and times when there were no Prophets there have been persons with whom Allah whispered through their wits and spoke through their minds.” Imam Ali (a.s): Nahjulbalagha: Sermon-219
Philosophy is the study of the ultimate cause of creation .Why is there a universe? What is the cause behind creation? Different philosophers gave different philosophic theories to explain the cause behind creation and the most prominent among them being Aristotle and Plato. The greatest among the last of the ancient philosophers was Plotinus. Plotinus was born in 204 A.D, some 400 years before Imam Ali (a.s) was born.
FIG.78.Protrait of Plotinus, the proponent of ‘Practical Mystical Philosophy’. He said that only joy and sorrow accompanied by reflection on the universe generate metaphysical theories-‘Enneads’.
117
Plotinus’s philosophy is a trinity consisting of the ‘One’ the ‘Nous’ and the Soul. Unlike the Christian trinity, the trinity of Plotinus is hierarchical in which the ‘One’ is the ultimate principle and is without any form, it cannot be grasped and is the ultimate. Next is the ‘Nous’ which is called the intellectual principle. And the last is the ‘Soul’ which is the creative principle. The ‘One’ gave the plan of creation to the ‘Nous’ and the ‘Soul’ imbibed the plan of action from the ‘Nous’ and created the universe (History of Western Philosophy by Bertrand Russell, page-294,295). The value of a philosophical theory is assessed on the basis of it’s beauty and appeal to the mind. Plotinus philosophy was wonderful because it had it’s basis in the human nature. Plotinus derived his philosophy from the study of human nature. We have three principles operating in us; the unconscious, the mind, and the superconscious. When we are in deep sleep, the unconscious become prominent; the one who controls our respiration and heartbeat while we are asleep. When we wake, most of the time, we know the duration of our sleep, the one who gives this knowledge is the unconscious. Plotinus reached the idea of ‘One’ through the unconscious. As the unconscious controls our heartbeat while we sleep, there is an ultimate unconscious which controls the whole universe. When we are dreaming the mind is active, it is the intellectual principle in us, similarly there is an ultimate intellectual principle in the universe which is the ‘Nous’.When we are awake the thought are converted into action, this is the superconscious similarly there is an ultimate super conscious in the universe who is responsible for the creation of the universe, this ultimate creative principle is the ‘Soul’. Even the Vedas talk about the concept of trinity, which is called the concept of ‘Trimurthy’. The Upanishads call the formless ‘One’ of Plotinus as the ‘Nirguna Brahman’. The ‘Nous’ and the soul together are called as the ‘Saguna Brahman’. In Hindu philosophy the ‘Nous’ and the ‘Soul’ are the complimentary unit of a whole called the ‘Saguna Brahman’. The Hindu philosophy treats the intellectual principle and the creative principle as one unit.
“DEV VAVA BRAHMANO RUPE MIRTAN CAMURTAN CA; ATHA YAN MURTAM TAD ASATYAM YAD AMURTAM TAT SATYAM TAD BRAHMA.
There are assuredly two forms of Brahman, the formed and the formless. Now that which is formed is unreal; that which is the formless is the real. That is light .OM is the self of the formless Brahman.” Upanishads by Radha Krishna: Maitri Upanishad, chapter 6, verse 3 page 817
Islamic Philosophy: In Islam Prophet Muhammad (as) is regarded as the fist creation. The first thing which was bought into existence was the light of the Holy Prophet of Islam. God (The formless ‘One’) wanted to introduce his first creation, Muhammad (Nous{as}), so he created the universe. The Prophet said,
“I was the messenger when Adam was existing in between sand and water (when he was not made).” He (as) also said, “The first thing which God created was intellect (Nous), and I am the intellect.”
The above given traditions are found in both the Sunni and the Shia books. It is very strange that even Plotinus used the same word ‘Intellect’ for the first creation.
Islamic Philosophy: The Islamic Philosophy is an extension of the philosophy of plotinus according to which God first created the light of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) and then split the light into two, the other part being Imam Ali (a.s).According to Islamic Philosophy Prophet Muhammad (as) and Imam Ali (a.s) (as) are the complimentary parts of a single unit. The following traditions of the Holy Prophet of Islam are found in both Sunni and Shia books,
“I and Ali are from the same light.”
“Ali is from me and I am from Ali.”
Imam Ali (a.s) (as) said: “I was the Wali (guardian) when Adam was in between sand and water.”
Just as the trinity of Plotinus, the Islamic Philosophy speaks of a formless, invisible and indivisible God, who created
Muhammad (as) the first intellectual principle, and from Muhammad (as) he created Ali (as ) the creative principle. In one of his sermon Hazrat Ali says, "I am the Amr (command) of Allah and the ‘Soul’ of Allah, as Allah says: They ask you (O’Prophet) about the soul, you tell them that soul is from Allah’s Amr (command)."
· . Nahjul-Asrar:Page,119-Dec 2002
It is very strange that Imam Ali (a.s) has used the word ‘Soul’ for himself … Who was Plotinus? How did he reached the concept of trinity; the formless God, the Intellectual Principle and the Soul. Imam Ali (a.s) says, “In all the periods and times when there were no Prophets there have been persons with whom Allah whispered through their wits and spoke through their minds.” Nahjulbalagha: Sermon-219
If Plotinus was born, some 500 years later, at the time of Muhammad (a.s) and Ali (a.s), he would have been overjoyed to hear Muhammad (a.s) saying “The first thing that God created was me, the Intellect (Nous).” It would have been an excitement for Plotinus to shake his hands with Muhammad (a.s) and Ali (a.s), the embodiment of his ‘Nous’ and ‘Soul’.
19.Where is God?
When you are waiting for a miracle and it does not happen, then it simply means that God has disappeared from the society. When we slip into a financial crisis and wait for some kind of divine intervention and it does not arrives, it means that the society is bankrupt of good.
God is good, and good is God. The Holy Quran says,
“Whatever good reaches you is from God, and whatever evil reaches you, it is from yourself; We have sent you (O’ Muhammad) to mankind as an Apostle; and God is sufficient as a witness.”
Quran:4:79
“And those who believe and go good, certainly will We remove from them their evil deeds and certainly We will recompense the best of what they were doing.”
Quran:29:7
Whatever good happens in your life or society is from God and whatever evil reaches you is because of your bad deeds or mistakes. Whatever evil takes place in the society, it is because of us. The word ‘Us’ here refers to the most knowledgeable among us- The scholars and the rich. Imam Ali says,
“O’ Jabir the mainstay of religion and world are four persons,
1.The scholar who acts on his knowledge
2.The ignorant who does not feel ashamed of learning.
3.The rich who is not miserly in giving favours.
4.The poor who does not sells his next life for the worldly benefits.
Consequently, when the scholar would waste his knowledge, the ignorant would feel ashamed in learning; and when the rich would be miserly (stingy) the poor will sell his next life for the worldly benefits.”
Nahjulbalagha:saying:367
According to the above saying of Imam Ali (KW) evil occurs in the society because of only two people
1. The scholars who waste their knowledge
2. The rich who are misers.
An evil society is formed when the scholars and the rich become corrupt, this is the view of Imam Ali (KW).Some people raise their brows when we blame scholars for the spread of evil in the society, to such people I would suggest that they better go to Najaf, where Imam Ali (KW) is buried, and raise their brows on him (KW), if they have guts enough.
If the society is well-developed and perfect, the credit goes to scholars and the rich.
The Holy Quran says,
“ Evil has appeared in the land and the sea on account of what the hands of men have done, that He may make them taste a part of what they have done, so that they may turn (from corruption).”
Quran:30:41
In the above verses the word ‘men’ refers to the scholars and the rich because there are the only people who can influence the world and the society. A scholar can influence a society and the world, and it is the same with the rich.
God is the architect of all the good. The scholars and the rich are architects of evil taking place in the society in particular and the world at large.
When you do good you become an agent of God or God personified (sa guna Brahman, among Hindus).If you feed a hungry man, it is God who is feeding the hungry, so you become the God personified. The finite becomes the infinite. You have the chance of playing God, do good and become God. The modern nuclear physics is proving the fact that the finite is infinite. We all have infinity within us, we only have to tap it, and that is done by doing good.
The more good you do the more infinite you become. The modern mathematics is telling us that there are many infinities, but the ultimate infinity is called Omega-Ω.The creator of all infinities is God- The Omega. God has given us a chance to play Himself by doing good, and that is the greatest bounty offered by Him to us. The Holy Quran says,
The more good you do the more infinite you become. The modern mathematics is telling us that there are many infinities, but the ultimate infinity is called Omega-Ω.The creator of all infinities is God- The Omega. God has given us a chance to play Himself by doing good, and that is the greatest bounty offered by Him to us. The Holy Quran says,
“ Verily, We offered the trust (doing good) to the heaven and the earth and the mountains, but they refused to bear it, and were afraid, and man undertook it, verily he was unjust and ignorant.”
Quran:33:72
Man is the only being who is capable of doing good because he is the only animal who can make a difference between the good and the bad. Man was given the trust of playing God by doing good consciously for the sake of God alone, but he failed and hence was proved unjust and ignorant. But those who fulfilled the trust became God personified. And that is the reason why good deeds carry so much weight in every religion. If you are constantly doing good you are keeping God alive in the society. God exists and will ever exist, but to bring Him to life in the society is the duty of man, and that duty is the sacred trust. If we stop doing good, God will disappear from the society. Man has been blessed with the privilege of bringing God to life in the society by doing good deeds. If you cannot expect anything positive in a society, that means the society has killed God.
God can come to life in a society through you and you can kill him as well. We are talking about a social God. I am sure that you might be having difficulty in digesting the concept of a social God who comes to life in a society by human good deeds. Kindly go through the following hadith-e-Khudsi in which God is saying,
God can come to life in a society through you and you can kill him as well. We are talking about a social God. I am sure that you might be having difficulty in digesting the concept of a social God who comes to life in a society by human good deeds. Kindly go through the following hadith-e-Khudsi in which God is saying,
“’O’ My servant obey me, I shall love you.When I love someone I become his ears with which he hears, His eyes with which he sees, his hands with which he holds, His feet with which he walks,If he asks me anything I will surely grant it to him.”
In another hadith-e-Khudsi God says,
“O’ my servant, obey Me so that I make you my example; I am ever living who never dies and I will make you the ever living who never dies; I am the self-sufficient who never begs and I will make you the self-sufficient who never begs; I can reach anywhere I wish and I will make you the one who can reach anywhere he wishes.”
Book:Mashariq-ul-Anwar-ul-Yaqeen
Obedience to God means to profess faith and do good deeds. When someone asked Prophet Muhammad (saw) to define Islam, he (saw) said, “Islam is obedience to God and service to mankind.”
When we start doing good deeds along with a good faith God starts taking shape in the society.
In Nahjulbalagha, Imam Ali (KW) says: “God has distributed his acts among the people.”
Nahjulbalagha: Sermon:238
Nahjulbalagha: Sermon:238
God will directly never intervene in the society; he will intervene only through an agent in the form of a human being. It the duty of human beings to bring God to life in the society by performing the acts of God which are distributed among the human beings in the society. These acts of God are called responsibilities or obligations. When someone asked Imam Ali (KW) to define Islam, he (KW) replied,
“Fulfillment of obligations is Islam.” Nahjulbalagha
When we start fulfilling our obligations or duties God comes to life in the society. The ‘Karma’ theory in the Bhagavad-Gita says the same. On following the ‘Karma’ concept the person becomes Saguna-Brahman-The God personified. Karma is to fulfill our obligations without expecting any reward. The Prophets and the Imams are the God-personified in the society, by their obedience and dedication they were successful in bringing God to life in the society single-handed.Since the disappearance of Imam Mehdi (the God-personified),some 1300 years back, the common human beings had the chance of bringing God to life in the society. Imam Mehdi will come only when there will be no hope of bringing God to life in the society. According to traditions, Imam Mehdi will arrive only when the world will be filled with injustice and tyranny-when God is dead (The social God).Imam Mehdi will arrive as a ready-made personified God to make a good, clean and truly spiritual society. When Neitzsche, the great German philosopher, said “God is dead,” he simply means to say that the German society, of that time, has killed God; bankruptcy of good deeds in the society.Eventually,Germany got destroyed in the 2nd world war. As a famous saying goes,
“A society get destroyed internally first (moral destruction) before getting destroyed externally.”
Imam Ali (KW): “Do not oppose any act which is capable of bearing some good.” Nahjulbalagha
Good is the basic principle of every religion. Any idea or act which is capable of bearing some good for the society or humanity should not be shunned. Good deeds keep God alive in the society. A man who does good is better than good and the man who does evil is worse than the evil (Imam Ali).
The value of a single good deed (which is done only to please God) is so great in Islam that a single good act will make you liable to a pure and perfect life in this world and the hereafter in the shadow of God.The Holy Quran says,
“And whosoever does a righteous deed, be it a male or a female, having faith, We shall make them live a life good and pure and We shall reward them according to the best of what they did.”
Quran:16:97
The gist is, all good done (for the sake of God alone) are an attempt to bring God to life in the society, and hence carry immense reward which is the eternal paradise, and all evil acts are an attempt to kill God and bring devil to life in the society, and hence carry severe punishment which is the eternal hell.
20. God, Infinity and pi
Everything in mathematics, from zero to infinity, represents a higher philosophy or truth. Mathematics is symbolical representation of mysticism. To Einstein God is a mathematician. When Heisenberg proposed the uncertainty principle, Einstein said: “ God does not plays dice with the universe.”But when Heisenberg principle of uncertainty was proved, Max Planck said, “ God indeed plays dice with the universe.” The uncertainty principle is now a major area of mathematics applied in physics or to the universe at large.
Pi, the heart of mathematics
Pi is a mathematical constant which is the ratio of circumference to the diameter of a circle (circumference/diameter).It is an irrational number, means it is a non-repeating and non-terminating number. If we start writing the value of pi it will be like this, 3.147.................. It will go on forever. It will be truth if we say that the value of pi can occupy the whole universe. If you convert the whole universe, along with its matter, dark matter and dark energies etc into a book, it will still fail to fill the value of pi. The value of pi tells us that every circle is imperfect because the value is not a whole number.Archimedes was upset when he found the value of Pi to be an imperfect number. To draw a circle you need a pen or a pencil which is made of matter. Every matter is made of electrons and protons which has wave nature accordi to De Broglie’s principle of duality. Hence, as long as we draw circles with things of matter we would never get a perfect circle. In order to draw a perfect circle you need a pen or a pencil which is not made of matter. So, only God can draw a perfect circle which will naturally be made of non-matter. This is what the value of pi is telling us since time immemorial. PI is an example of infinity.
There are many infinities in mathematics. The value of ‘e’ is also an irrational number which comes in exponential equations. Infinite numbers are many but zero is only one.Zero is the symbolic representation of God in mathematics (shunia vedenta) and the irrational numbers represents powerful beings,(having infinite power and life) made by God. God is beyond all infinities, the omega. In Upanishads (brahma Vedanta) the concept of Nirguna Brahman and Saguna Brahman convey the concept of Omega and other infinities.Nirguna Brahman is the ultimate principle who is beyond matter and energies and Saguna Brahman is the principle made by Nirguna Brahman. The Saguna Brahman, according to Upanishads, has infinite powers and made the whole universe by the command of the Nirguna Brahman (param eshwara).The Saguna Brahman is the ‘OM’ which according to the Upanishads is the first infinite principle made by the Nirguna Brahman, the Omega.The whole universe exist in the Saguna brahman which is “OM.According to me ‘OM’ and Pi are the same principles.
There are many infinities in mathematics. The value of ‘e’ is also an irrational number which comes in exponential equations. Infinite numbers are many but zero is only one.Zero is the symbolic representation of God in mathematics (shunia vedenta) and the irrational numbers represents powerful beings,(having infinite power and life) made by God. God is beyond all infinities, the omega. In Upanishads (brahma Vedanta) the concept of Nirguna Brahman and Saguna Brahman convey the concept of Omega and other infinities.Nirguna Brahman is the ultimate principle who is beyond matter and energies and Saguna Brahman is the principle made by Nirguna Brahman. The Saguna Brahman, according to Upanishads, has infinite powers and made the whole universe by the command of the Nirguna Brahman (param eshwara).The Saguna Brahman is the ‘OM’ which according to the Upanishads is the first infinite principle made by the Nirguna Brahman, the Omega.The whole universe exist in the Saguna brahman which is “OM.According to me ‘OM’ and Pi are the same principles.
INFINITY IN ISLAM
Very few people know that there are multiple infinities in Islam as well.The Holy Quran frequently talks of infinite principles made by God. The following verses of the Holy Quran goes as follows.
“ If all the tree of the earth become pen and oceans become ink, supported by more seven oceans, will fail to write the Word of Allah. Lo! Allah is Mighty, Wise.Quran:31:27
The word of Allah is not Allah.The word of Allah is a word made by Allah.Further,in Surah-Al-Ya Seen,the Holy Quran says,
“Everything we have encompassed in obvious leader (Imam-en- Mubeen).”
Holy Quran is telling that everything is moving in a personality called ‘Imam-en-Mubeen (leader of all things).If you read the verses with keen eyes you will notice that God is telling us that everything and not knowledge of everything is in Imam-en-Mubeen.Further,it is said in Surah-Naba,
“Everything is encompassed in a book”
Imam e Mubeen and the book are the same thing.The Holy Prophet of Islam further said,
Prophet Muhammad (saw): "We are the words whose merit cannot be realized nor can they be explored."
Al ahtijaj.454:2
Imam Ali, the cousin and vicegerent of the Holy Prophet of Islam regarding whom the Holy Prophet said, " I am the city of knowledge and Ali is it's gate," says,
"By Allah, if I wish I can tell every one of you from where he has come, where he has to go and all his affairs, but I fear that you will abandon the Prophet of Allah (saw) in my favour.I shall certainly convey these things to the selected ones who would remain safe from that fear."
Nahjulbalagha:Sermon-173
In the above paragraph of his sermon Imam Ali (as) is claiming to be the 'Imam-e-Mu been'.According to Shia sources and some Sunni source there are many authentic traditions which prove that Ali (as) is the Imam-e-Mubeen knowing everything about everything.The tradition of the Holy Prophet, " I am the city of knowledge and Ali is it's gate" is more than enough to prove the claim that Ali (as) is the Imam-e-Mubeen along with the Holy Prophet of Islam.
Imam Ali, the cousin and vicegerent of the Holy Prophet of Islam regarding whom the Holy Prophet said, " I am the city of knowledge and Ali is it's gate," says,
"By Allah, if I wish I can tell every one of you from where he has come, where he has to go and all his affairs, but I fear that you will abandon the Prophet of Allah (saw) in my favour.I shall certainly convey these things to the selected ones who would remain safe from that fear."
Nahjulbalagha:Sermon-173
In the above paragraph of his sermon Imam Ali (as) is claiming to be the 'Imam-e-Mu been'.According to Shia sources and some Sunni source there are many authentic traditions which prove that Ali (as) is the Imam-e-Mubeen knowing everything about everything.The tradition of the Holy Prophet, " I am the city of knowledge and Ali is it's gate" is more than enough to prove the claim that Ali (as) is the Imam-e-Mubeen along with the Holy Prophet of Islam.
The maker of all infinities is the creator,God.God is beyond all infinities and hence He is called omega. Everything has infinity embedded in it as mark of signature of the ultimate infinite God. Infinity comes in the realm of numbers and God is the creator of numbers and hence beyond infinity. Every religion gives an idea of infinity.The Holy Bible also talks of 'Omega' the ultimate infinity.
In Bhagvatagita Lord Krishna says: " I am the syllable 'OM'."
Hence, God made many infinities,the pi, e, OM etc.But He is beyond all the infinities.The ultimate undefined.Rudy Rucker,in his famous and great book 'Infinity and the Mind' writes,
" According to the Reflection Principle, it is impossible ever to conceive of an end to the ordinals ( numbers and infinities).We do have a symbol ,the big Omega, which we use to stand for the Absolute Infinity that lies beyond all the ordinals.But Omega is inconceivable.The Reflection Principle makes this precise by saying that any description of the Omega that we might come up with will apply to some ordinal (infinity) a short of Omega." Book: Infinity and the Mind,page-82
Hence, God made many infinities,the pi, e, OM etc.But He is beyond all the infinities.The ultimate undefined.Rudy Rucker,in his famous and great book 'Infinity and the Mind' writes,
" According to the Reflection Principle, it is impossible ever to conceive of an end to the ordinals ( numbers and infinities).We do have a symbol ,the big Omega, which we use to stand for the Absolute Infinity that lies beyond all the ordinals.But Omega is inconceivable.The Reflection Principle makes this precise by saying that any description of the Omega that we might come up with will apply to some ordinal (infinity) a short of Omega." Book: Infinity and the Mind,page-82
What Rudy Rucker is saying is that if you try to reach Omega you will end up reaching pi, e or any other infinity.In the words of religion he mean to say that if you try to reach God you will end up reaching His favourites.
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The ocean is symbolic of Almighty God; great,deep,mysterious and active. It producing millions of waves every minute. An oceanic wave starts it’s life with the declaration ‘La-ilaha-illal-laah-there is no God but God.’ And when it reaches the shore it says ‘Al-hamdu-lillah-all the praises are for God.’ The Holy Quran says,
Regarding those people who leave ahlul-baith and run after materialism, the saint of saint and king of all philosophers-Imam Ali (as) says,
IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE BENEFICIENT,THE MERCIFUL
THE OCEAN
The ocean is symbolic of Almighty God; great,deep,mysterious and active. It producing millions of waves every minute. An oceanic wave starts it’s life with the declaration ‘La-ilaha-illal-laah-there is no God but God.’ And when it reaches the shore it says ‘Al-hamdu-lillah-all the praises are for God.’ The Holy Quran says,
“See you not that Allah, He it is Whom glorify whosoever is in the heavens and the earth, the birds with wings outspread? Of each one He (Allah) knows indeed it’s Salat and it’s glorification and Allah is All-knower of what they do.”
An oceanic wave is made of millions of water drops. And according to quantum physics the number of electrons present in a drop of water is equal to the number of sand particles present in the earth. Unbelievable! Isn’t. According to Imam Zainul-Abadeen (as) each water drop is associated with an angel. The role of the angel, may be, is to control the complex movement of electron and protons in the water drop. In fact, every creature is associated with an angel and every atom is associated with an angel. The angels belong to the 5th dimension (Hyperspace by Kaku).
The relationship between the ocean and it’s wave is similar to the relationship between God and His creation. Millions of human beings, just like the oceanic waves, are born every minute and millions of them die at the shore of eternity, every minute. Trillions of other creatures, from the smallest virus and bacteria to the huge elephants and whales, start their life every minute and trillions of the same species say ‘bye bye’ to the world every minute. Every creation, from atoms to human beings, start with clause ‘La ilaha illal laah’ and end their life with the clause ‘Al hamdu-lillah-all the praises are due to Allah.’ The Holy Prophet (saw) said that the two clauses, La ilaha illal laah and Al hamdu lillah, establish balance. The arc of creation starts with La-ilaha illah laah and the arc of extinction completes with Al hamdu lillah.A circle is a symbol of balance and justice.La ilaha illah laah is a half circle and Al hamdu lillah is the other half circle. Life and death are two complimentary parts of a single whole called life. Life represents La ilaha illal laah and death represents Al-hamdu lillah.And there is not a single instant wherein waves are not formed in the ocean. And there is not a single instant wherein waves are not dying. Every second a life is born and every second a life terminates. Neither the ocean gets tired of producing waves nor God of producing his creation. The symbolism is perfect.
The act of balancing in the medical terminology is called ‘homeostasis. ‘The Holy Quran says,
“Indeed We have sent Our Messengers with clear proof, and revealed with them the Scripture and the Balance (Justice).”
Life balances death and death balances life. An increase should be balanced by a decrease and a decrease should be balanced by an increase. These are called positive feedback and negative feedback in medical terminology. The same phenomenon is operating in every field with a different terminology.
Studying the nature of waves produced by the ocean will never give you an idea of reality of the ocean. The nature of waves can give you no clue about the life at the heart of the ocean. No wave will tell you about the species of sharks, whales and other animals existing in the ocean. By analogy, a deep study of the creation of God is not enough to take you close to Him. You have to make a leap and profess faith in God. You have to jump into the ocean, the ocean of eternity and faith.Bertrand Russel in his monumental work “History of Western Philosophy’ says that faith is a leap. It is a leap beyond the visible.
Once you are in the ocean, you witness the great kingdom.But you cannot casually jump into it.You need to do a lots of study, arrange for a boat, a cord –which will keep you connected to the boat, an oxygen tank for breathing, a swimsuit with goggles etc.By analogy to know God the first thing you need is a boat.Where is the boat which will take you into the ocean of the reality of the Almighty God? Well, the boat which can help you in your pursuit to know God is the family of the Holy Prophet of Islam. The Holy Prophet said,
“The example of my ahlul-baith is that of Noah’s ship, whosoever gets into it is safe and whosoever gets out of it will drown.”
“ I advise you, O’ creatures of Allah, to have fear of Allah, and I warn you of this world which is a house from which departure is inevitable and a place of discomfort. He who lives in it has to depart, and he who stays here has to leave it. It is drifting with its people like a boat whom severe winds dash (here and there) in the deep sea. Some of them get drowned and die, while some of them escape on the surface of the waves, where winds push them with their currents and carry them towards their dangers. So, whatever is drowned cannot be restored, and whatever escapes is on the way to destruction.
Nahjulbalagha:Sermon-195
According to the above precious and wonderful words of Imam Ali (as),the followers of materialism are actually in a boat which is already destroyed in the middle of the ocean. Nobody can stop them from destruction, sooner or later. And those who are spiritual have taken the boat of ahlul-baith which is just like Noah’s Ark-safe, protective and immune to destruction. The Holy Quran says,
“By the time. Verily, man is in loss. Except those who believe and do good deeds and recommend one another to truth and recommend one another to patience.”
Quran:Surah-103
After you have arranged a powerful boat you have to arrange for the cord which will keep you connected to the boat when you are in the depth of the ocean.You got the boat-the Prophets family. Where is the cord? The Holy Quran says,
"WaiAAtasimoo bihabli Allahi jameeAAan wala tafarraqoo waothkuroo niAAmata Allahi AAalaykum ith kuntum aAAdaan faallafa bayna quloobikum faasbahtum biniAAmatihi ikhwanan wakuntum AAala shafa hufratin mina alnnari faanqathakum minha kathalika yubayyinu Allahu lakum ayatihi laAAallakum tahtadoona
And hold fast, all together, by the rope which Allah (stretches out for you), and be not divided among yourselves; and remember with gratitude Allah's favour on you; for ye were enemies and He joined your hearts in love, so that by His Grace, ye became brethren; and ye were on the brink of the pit of Fire, and He saved you from it. Thus doth Allah make His Signs clear to you: That ye may be guided."Quran:3:103
When the above verses was revealed the companions came the to the Prophet and asked about the rope of God. The Holy Prophet replied that it is none other than Ali-Ibne-Abitalib.There are numerous hadith accepted among the Sunnis and the Shias according to which Imam Ali (as) is the rope of God-the cord. Till now you have arranged the boat and also got the cord-the rope of God. Where is the oxygen tank? Well, Quran is the oxygen tank and taqwa (Piety) is the swimsuit with goggles.The Holy Quran says,
When you are attached to ahlul-baith and made Imam Ali (as) as your master and are attached to Quran along with good deeds and certainty, you will definitely witness the kingdom of God. Then every day you shall see a new glory of Almighty God.And after all this if you encounter any danger you have to immediately swim back to the boat with the help of the cord and sit in the boat till conditions become better.
"Ya banee adama qad anzalna AAalaykum libasan yuwaree sawatikum wareeshan walibasu alttaqwa thalika khayrun thalika min ayati Allahi laAAallahum yaththakkaroona
O ye Children of Adam! We have bestowed dress upon you to cover your shame, as well as to be an adornment to you. But the dress of Taqwa ( righteousness)- that is the best. Such are among the Signs of Allah, that they may receive admonition!"Quran:7:26
When you are attached to ahlul-baith and made Imam Ali (as) as your master and are attached to Quran along with good deeds and certainty, you will definitely witness the kingdom of God. Then every day you shall see a new glory of Almighty God.And after all this if you encounter any danger you have to immediately swim back to the boat with the help of the cord and sit in the boat till conditions become better.
All the praises are due to Allah the lord of the worlds.
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Bibliography
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2. The Noble Quran,Dr.Muhammad Taqi-ud-Din Al-Hilali, King Fahad Complex for Printing of The Holy Quran, Madina, Saudi Arabia.
3. Dictionary of Philosophy, Thomas Mautner,Penguin Publisher,8o strand, London wc2r ori,England,2000.
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14. Commentry Of Quran(urdu), Makbool Ahmad, tabligaat -e-imaani-e-hind,50,najafi house, nishaan pada road, Mumbai, 400009.
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16. Mind Virus, Richard Broody.
17. Reader’s digest,special collector’s edition, 50th anniversary 1954-2004, page 183-190.
18. History of Indian Philosophy, Dr. Radha Krishnan, Oxford University Press, YMCA library building, jai sing road, New Delhi,110001, seventh impression,2001
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20. Dictionary of Islam by Patrick Hughes.
Subhanallah. What a treatise! Went through the whole and would like to come back again and again whenever feel like so, to revisit the many subtle realities!! Wassalam..
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