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Scientific Issues of Today.Part3

Such words were spoken at a time when people generally believed that the sun made a daily circuit around the Earth.

Another four-word inspiring and eloquent Qur'anic verse says that the universe is expanding: And the firmament: We constructed it with power and skill, and We are expanding it (51:47–48).

This verse reveals that the distance between celestial bodies is increasing, for the universe is expanding. In 1922, the astronomer Hubble claimed that all galaxies, except the five closest to Earth, are moving further into space at a speed directly proportional to their distance from Earth. Thus, a galaxy one million light years away is moving away at a speed of 168 km/year, one two million light years away at twice that speed, and so on. Le Maître, a Belgian mathematician and priest, later proposed and developed the theory that the universe is expanding. No matter how we express this reality, the Qur'an clearly presents the reality of this expansion.

The Qur'an indicates various laws of physics, such as attraction and repulsion, rotation and revolution in the universe: God raised the heavens without any pillars that you can see… (13:2)

All celestial bodies move in order, balance, and harmony. They are held and supported in this order by pillars invisible to our eyes. Some of these "pillars" are repulsion or centrifugal force: … He holds back the sky from falling on earth except by His leave… (22:65).

From this verse, we understand that the heavenly bodies may at any moment collapse on the Earth, but that the All-Mighty does not allow it. This is an instance of the universal obedience to His Word, which in the language of contemporary science is explained as a balance of centripetal and centrifugal forces.

Qur'anic commentators have considered one verse as a reference to travelling to the moon, which is now a reality: By the moon's fullness! You shall surely travel from stage to stage (84:18–19).

Some earlier commentators understood this verse figuratively, as a reference to one's spiritual life considered as an ascent from one stage to the next, or as a general process of change from one state to another. Later on, Qur'anic interpreters tried to explain it in non-literal terms, for the literal meaning did not agree with what they "knew" about actually travelling such a distance. But in fact, the more appropriate sense of the words following the oath (By the moon!), given the verse's immediate context, is that of really travelling to the moon, whether literally or figuratively.

The Qur'anic account of the Earth's geographical shape and change in that shape are particularly interesting: Do they not see how We gradually shrink the land from its outlying borders? Is it then they who will be victors? (21:44)

The reference to shrinking from its borders could relate to the now-known fact that the Earth is compressed at the poles, rather than to such earlier believed ideas as the erosion of mountains by wind and rain, of the sea-shores by the sea, or of the desert's encroachment of cultivated lands.

At a time when people generally believed that the Earth was flat and stationary, the Qur'an explicitly and implicitly revealed in several verses that it is round. More unexpectedly still, it tells us that its precise shape is more like an ostrich egg than a sphere: After that He shaped the earth like an egg, whence He caused to spring forth the water thereof, and the pasture thereof (79:30–32).

The Arabic verb daha means "to shape like an egg." The derived noun dahia is still used to mean "an egg." Some interpreters, who might have viewed it as contrary to what they "knew," misunderstood the meaning as "stretched out," perhaps fearing that the literal meaning might be difficult to understand and so mislead. Modern scientists have established that the Earth is shaped more like an egg than a perfect sphere, that there is a slight flattening around the poles, and a slight curving around the equator.

As a final example, consider what the Qur'an says about the sun and the moon: We have made the night and the day as two signs; the sign of the night We have obscured, while the sign of the day We have made to enlighten you… (17:12)

According to Ibn 'Abbas, the sign of the night refers to the moon, and the sign of the day to the sun. Therefore, from the words the sign of the night We have obscured, we understand that the moon once emitted light and that God took its light from it, thereby causing it to darken or become obscured. While the verse thus accurately recounts the moon's past, it points to the future destiny of other heavenly bodies.

Many other Qur'anic verses are related to scientific facts. Their existence indicates that our quest for knowledge is a portion of Divine Mercy graciously bestowed upon us by our Creator. Indeed, Divine Mercy is one of the Qur'an's names for itself, and all that it contains of truth and knowledge is beyond our ability to relate or to hold in our minds.

وَابْتَغِ فِيمَا آتَاكَ اللَّهُ الدَّارَ الْآخِرَةَ ۖ وَلَا تَنسَ نَصِيبَكَ مِنَ الدُّنْيَا

But seek, by means of what God has granted you, the abode of the Hereafter (by spending in alms and other good causes), without forgetting your share (which God has appointed) in this world.(Al-Qasas 28:77)

As Said Nursi states, 

“A thousands years of happy life of this world is not equal to even one hour of the Hereafter. Likewise, a thousands years of happy life in the Hereafter is not equal to even one minute of seeing the Beauty of God.”

Accordingly, we are seeking such a life described above. Thus, how much value can this world have in comparison to the Hereafter so that we can attempt to compare it with Hereafter? We have in average sixty-year lifespan in this world, half of which passes in sleeping. Hence, what value can such a life have? Therefore, to overvalue this world by transgressing the limits of balanced thinking and to compare the world and the Hereafter in equal terms mean a lack of true understanding of the Qur’ān and the essentials of the religion.

In addition, Bediüzzaman Said Nursi has a very meaningful approach to the world, which I have not seen in another. He says that the world has three facets: one looking to the All-Beautiful Names of God, the second looking to the fact that it is the field of the Hereafter, and the third relating to human desires and lusts.

In regard to being a polished mirror of God’s All-Beautiful Names, this world is an invaluable realm. We love it very much in respect of this. It is an arable field to be sown with the seeds of the Hereafter, and we could not have been candidates for the Hereafter if we had not been sent to this fleeting world. The world has an exceptional value in respect to this as well. As for the third aspect of the world, which allures our desires and lusts, it is worse than it seems to be. 

In other words, if people are caught up in their personal pleasures and forget the afterlife, then this world is despicable and deserving of contempt.

Nursi also says that the world should be renounced at heart, not by way of working and earning one’s life. 

If we approach the world from these viewpoints of Nursi, we will have no problem with the world. One who deals with the world and has relations with it from these perspectives can work, earn as much money as possible in the lawful ways, and become rich. For such people can donate all their earnings in God’s cause and for the needy. Among the Companions of God’s Messenger, ‘Abdur-Rahman ibn ‘Awf was very wealthy. Once he spent in charity seven hundred camels’ load of wealth. God’s Messenger said nothing negative to him because of his richness; he only warned him to carry out what fell to him as a duty in return for it and encouraged him to spend a good portion out of his wealth in God’s cause and for the needy by giving him the glad tidings of Paradise in return.

Question: What Does the Islamic Concept of Fitra (Primordial Nature) Mean?

In an authentic hadith, the Prophet Muhammad says that every new-born is born in the Islamic fitra, after which the parents cause the child to become either Christian or Jew or a member of another religion.

The hadith means that everyone has the innate potential to become a Muslim. Meaning peace, salvation and obedience, Islam is, first of all, the natural religion of all creatures. Since everything in nature has been created to render absolute obedience to God and functions according to His laws, all creatures are Muslims. Considered from the viewpoint of their bodily structure, every human being and jinn, regardless of their religion, is muslim, since all bodies operate according to the laws determined for them by God. If a new-born could lead a completely isolated life free of environmental effects, he or she would remain a natural Muslim.

This hadith has another meaning: A new-born's mind is like a blank tape on which everything can be recorded. If he or she could be protected from any external effect that would bring about some impurity in his or her brain, such a person easily could receive anything related to Islam and become a perfect Muslim. But if the mind is made impure with many adverse elements, or if non-Islamic dogmas and traditions are fed into it, the person will become a follower of those religions or face great difficulties while trying to become a good Muslim.

Every new-born is like a seed to grow a good Muslim, for everyone comes to the world as the seed of a future Muslim. Adverse conditions cause this seed to be deformed or spoiled and, consequently, to become a follower of another religion or, according to the surrounding conditions, of no religion at all. 

The Point of Worship.Part1

Question: What is the Point of Worship, and Why Does it Have to Be Done in a Certain Way?

Consider our position in this universe. We are neither omnipotent nor self-sufficient, and so have needs, many of which we cannot satisfy. We are weak and vulnerable, and subject to worry, illness, and other negative events. 

When we look at the sheer abundance of animate and inanimate things around us, as well as their tremendous harmony and order, we cannot help but reflect on our own frailty and relative insignificance. This realization awakens a deeply embedded need to acknowledge the Divine and to worship the great mysterious power that controls everything. Since whatever we can see and touch is both transient and dependent on something else, it is unworthy of our worship, for logic dictates that behind them is a Supreme Being, a Transcendent Will guiding and controlling everything. This Being, therefore, must be the goal of our worship.

Reflecting more carefully on existence, we see the all-encompassing lawfulness and order of things and events, as well as their uniformity, regularity, and obedience to an All-Powerful Will. We thus become aware of the fact that everything has a part in that lawfulness and order. That part is its purpose or duty. As we realize that each one of us is also just a part, we conclude that each individual's existence cannot be a purposeless accident; rather, each individual has a specific purpose and duty to fulfil.

In aesthetic terms, we can never emulate the beauty of creation. 

From our own form to the vigorous and lively beauty of the innumerable forms and colors surrounding us, not to mention the those of the stars and planets, everything causes a strong desire within us to know the Creator. It is as if everything were designed and produced elsewhere and then simply placed before us so that we could marvel at them while using and benefiting from them. The world is presented as a richly laid table of foods and ornaments for our use. As we reach for any item, we inevitably sense the Giver's presence, and so experience an even greater joy and wonder.

In religious terms, such sentiments and conceptions aroused in human consciousness, as it were by nature, are a stage in acknowledging the Beautiful Names and Attributes of the Creator making Himself known through His creation.

Every blessing, excellence, and beauty speaks of the one who made it possible. 

Every system, balance, and order indicates the one who established and sustains it. 

In sum, we naturally feel grateful for what God has provided and so worship Him in response to His making Himself known.

Based on this, the Mu'tazilis and (to some extent) the Maturidis, say that even in the absence of Prophets or guides, we should be able to gain some knowledge of God by observing the universe and then act accordingly. There is some evidence to support this argument. Before Islam, many people, including Muhammad, were born and lived in Makkah, the heartland of Arab paganism and idolatry. No one showed them the way to God or spoke to them of the Oneness of God (tawhid). And yet history records the remarks of a desert nomad of that time: 

"Camel droppings point to a camel's existence. Footprints on the sand tell of a traveler. Heaven with its stars, the Earth with its mountains and valleys, and the sea with its waves—don't they point to the All-Powerful, Knowing, Wise, and Caring Maker?"

If even a simple bedouin could understand this much, what about others? What about Muhammad, who one day would be appointed to deliver God's final Revelation? Long before the Revelation began, he understood the world's reality, perceived the Truth (al-Haqq) in the grand Book of the Universe, and began to search for it. Taking refuge in Hira cave, he devoted himself to worship. 'A'isha, narrating directly from Khadija, said that he gave himself up to prayer, only occasionally coming home for provisions. This might indicate that we can reach some degree of knowledge and so worship God.

Zayd ibn 'Amr, 'Umar ibn al-Khattab's uncle, reached a similar understanding. Although he died before Muhammad's Prophethood, he intuitively felt the truth of Islam in the air, as well as the meaning and significance of Prophet Muhammad's coming. As he lay dying, he called his family members and said: 

"The light of God is on the horizon. I believe it will emerge fully very soon. I already feel its signs over our heads." 

Addressing God, he continued: