God increases his blessings on those who are grateful

Every person is in need of God at every instant of life. From the air
one breathes to the food he eats, from the ability to use one's hands
to the faculty of speech, from being sheltered to beingin a joyful
spirit, one lives completely in need of what God creates and grants
him. Still, a vast majority of people do not perceive their weaknesses
and that they are in need of God. They suppose that thingsdevelop
spontaneously or that they acquire everything by their own efforts.
This is an important error, as well as a serious ingratitude towards
God. Ironically, people who render theirthanks to a person for even an
insignificant gift, spend all their lives ignoring the countless
blessings that God gives them all through their lives. However, so
great are the blessings granted to a person that one could never count
them. God relates this fact in a verse as follows:
If you tried to number God's blessings, you could never count them.
God is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful. (Surat an-Nahl: 18)
Despite this fact, most people fail to give thanks for any of the
blessings they have. The reason for this is related in the Qur'an:
Satan, who pledged to misguide people from God's way, said that his
ultimate aim is to make people be ungrateful to God. Satan's defiant
statements to God emphasize the importance of giving thanks to God:
'Then I will come at them, from in front of them behind them, from
their right and from their left. You will not find most of them
thankful.' He (God) said, 'Get out of it, reviled anddriven out. As
for those of them (mankind) who follow you, I, will fill up Hell with
every one of you.' (Surat al-A'raf: 17-18)
Believers, on the other hand, aware of their weaknesses and in
humility before God, render their thanks to Him for every blessing
granted. Wealth and possessions are not the only blessings for which
believers render their thanks to God. Knowing that God is the Owner
and Possessor of everything, believers express their inner
gratefulness for good health, beauty, knowledge, wisdom, love of faith
and hatred from disbelief, understanding, insight, foresight and for
power.They are thankful for being rightly guided andfor being in the
company of believers.
A beautiful landscape, easy handling of their affairs, fulfillment of
their wishes, tidings of great joy, respectful conduct or any other
blessings make believersimmediately turn to God,express their
gratefulness to Him and reflect on His mercy and compassion.
In return for good morals displayed, a reward awaits believers.This is
another of the secrets revealed in the Qur'an; God increases
Hisblessings on those who are grateful. For example, God grants even
more health and power to those who render their thanks to God for the
good health and strength they have. God bestows even more knowledge
and propertyto those who are grateful for their knowledge or wealth.
This is because they are sincere people who are contented with what
God gives and are pleased with the blessings and who take God as their
friend. God relates this secret in the Qur'an as follows:
And when your Lord announced: "If you are grateful, I will certainly
give you increase, but if you are ungrateful, My punishment is
severe."' (Surah Ibrahim: 7)
Being grateful is also a sign of one's closeness toand love of God.
People who give thanks have the insight and capability to perceive the
beauties and blessings that God creates. God's Messenger, peace be
upon him, also referred to this when he said:
When God gives you property, the bliss of God's blessing and offering
must be reflected on you.
On the other hand, a disbelieving or ungrateful person will only see
the imperfections and faults even in the most beautiful environment,
and thus will be unhappy and discontented. Indeed, as a divine purpose
in God's creation, such people, always come across with seemingly
unfavorable events and unpleasant scenes. On the other hand, God
displays more of His bounties and blessings to those who have a
sincere and insightful outlook.
That God increases His blessings to those who are grateful is one of
thesecrets of the Qur'an. However, one needs to keep in mind that
sincerity is a prerequisite for being grateful. No doubt, one'sway of
showing his gratitude without turning sincerely to God and feeling the
inner peace of God's infinite mercy and compassion, which is solely
intended to impress people, would be sheer insincerity. God knows what
hearts harbor, and will bear witness to this insincerity. Those who
have insincere inner intentions may conceal itfrom other people, but
not from God. Such people may render their thanks with affected
manners when there is no affliction, but at times of hardship, it is
possible that they may readily lapse into ungratefulness.
It should be also noted that true believers remain grateful to God
even under harshest conditions. Someone looking from outside may see
the diminishing of some blessings believers enjoy. However, believers,
whoare able to perceive the good aspect of every event and situation,
see goodness in this too. For example, God states that He will test
people with fear, hunger and loss of wealth or life. In such a
situation, believers rejoice and feel grateful,hoping that God will
reward them with the gifts of paradise in return for the steadfastness
they displayed in this test.
They know that God does not impose on anyone more than he can bear.
The steadfastness and submission of such awareness lead them to
patience and gratitude. Therefore, it is an obvious attribute of
believers to show unwavering dedication and submission and God
promises to expand His blessings on His grateful servants both in the
life of this world and in the Hereafter.

Everything we perceive with our five senses is the interpretation of electric signals in our brains

Although some people may realize that images consist of
electricsignals in the brain, theymay also form the impression that
the other senses, touch for instance, are different. They may think
that when they touch or smell something they aremaking direct contact
with real matter. Again, however, they are actually perceiving nothing
more than electric signals in the brain.
When we touch something with our hands, we are not really touching
that object at all. A chemical bond is formed between atoms in a
constant state of motion. But these atoms never actually "touch" one
another. In physical terms, therefore, we have never touched anything
we think we have. As a result of this illusory sense of touch, the
atoms in our hands vibrate and initiate an electrical current. That
current then moves towards the touch center in our brains. It is then
"interpreted" whenit arrives. And this is a great miracle. In the same
way that the visualcenter interprets an incoming current as a yellow
rose, the touch center interprets the signals reaching it as soft, hot
or rough. Similar signals head from our mouths to the taste region in
the brain and form a sensation of flavor, sweetness or sourness. The
signals from the nose reaching the scent detection center in the brain
and set up a perception in the brain regarding the aroma of the object
in question. Sound from the ears reaches the brain in the form of
other electric signals, and we then in some way are convinced that the
person calling our names is our mother. Weenjoy the tunes set up
byelectrical signals forwarded to the brain from the ear, and have no
doubt that the ringtone is actually coming from the phone.
All this is an extraordinary miracle created by Allah.
But the sound we hear does not actually belong to the phone, and
neither doesthe sound of music comefrom our stereos. We experience the
sound of a telephone, the originalof which we can never see, the
original of which we can never hear unless Allah so wills.What we see
is not the yellow flower on the outside. That flower, its image, its
perfume and all its beauty, consists of electric signals reaching our
brains. And we have no evidence whether the image of this flower is
the same as the real flower on the outside. Peter Russell explains
this as follows:
If all that we ever know are the sensory images that appear in our
minds, how can we be sure there is a physical realitybehind our
perceptions?Is it not just an assumption? My answer is: Yes, it is an
assumption; nevertheless, it seems a most plausible one. [i]
There is no doubt that it is impossible for us to know whether the
images, sounds, smells and tastes that form in our brains actually
exist on the outside. On the basis of this, we can be sure of only one
thing; there is a world created especially for us in our brains. And
we can never know whether other people see this world in the same way
we do. We can only see the images, hear the sounds and taste the
flavors of a world created especially for us.We can have no direct
experience of anything else.
That being the case, we need to ask the following question: can
electric signals alone give rise to such a harmonious world?
Of course, not. Itis Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, Who creates the
world for us in all its reality, clarity and beauty. Allah bestows
onus a soul from His own spirit. It is the soul created by Allah that
perceives, enjoys and rejoices, and the electric signals are merely an
instrument.
[i] Peter Russell, From Science toGod "A Physicist's Journey into the
Mystery of Consciousness", New World Library, 2002, p. 47

The foolishness of those who make idols out of animals by believing in the theoryof evolution is described in the gospels

The theory of evolution is a distorted ideology that denies the fact
of Creation and maintains that all of life emerged as the result of
blind chance. The adherents ofthe theory of evolution claim that life
emerged through a chain of coincidences. That is the essence of
Darwin's writings, and all the Darwinists who have come after have
made the same claim. Therefore, someone who sincerely believes inAllah
must realize and admit that evolution andCreation are two
diametrically opposed concepts. Evolution believes in blind and
unconscious chance, while Creation reveals an unbounded Mind,
theabsolute might of Allah.
The theory of evolution is not a scientific fact; it has been refuted
by all fields of science and totally conflicts with the accounts of
Creation of the revealed religions. The theory is also explicitly
refuted in the Qur'an and is absolutely incompatible with the fact of
Creation revealed in the Qur'an. The same truth is also explicitly set
out in the Gospels. We are told in the Gospels ofAllah's infinite
might andthe diametrically opposed error that people fall into.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave
thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish
hearts were darkened. Although they claimed tobe wise, they became
fools and EXCHANGED THE GLORY OF THE IMMORTAL GOD FOR IMAGES MADE TO
LOOK LIKE MORTAL MAN AND BIRDS AND ANIMALS AND REPTILES. They
exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created
things rather than the Creator—Who is forever praised. Amen.(Romans
1:21-23, 25)
The Gospels explicitly sets out the foolishness of those who fail to
appreciate the infinite might of Allah and make idols out of animals
by believing in the lie of evolution.
The theory of evolution maintains that living things turn into other
life forms by supposedly developing under the impact of mutations.
According to the theory of evolution, the transition from one species
to another happened slowly and gradually. Accordingly, a number of
supposed transitional forms must have existed reflecting the period of
transition between two different species and with characteristics from
both. For example, according to what evolutionists' maintain, as fish
emerged onto dryland and turned into amphibians, various living things
with semi-lungs and semi-gills, semi-legs and semi-fins must have
existed over a period of millions of years. Evolutionists call these
imaginary live forms that they believe once existed in the past
'transitional forms.' However, NOT ONE FOSSILOF A TRANSITIONAL LIFE
FORM HAS EVER BEEN FOUND.
THERE ARE NO TRANSITIONAL FOSSILS. The 'transitional life forms' in
the picture never existed.
The passage from the Gospels that reads " EXCHANGED THE GLORY OF THE
IMMORTAL GOD FOR IMAGES MADE TO LOOK LIKE MORTAL MAN AND BIRDS AND
ANIMALS AND REPTILES " may be a reference to Darwinists believing in
the existence of these imaginary creatures theycall 'transitional
forms' and thus denying the incomparable nature of Allah's creation
and our Almighty Lord's sublime and immaculate creativepower and
omniscience. Allah knows the truth. The fact is, however, that every
detail emerging from an examination of the skies,the earth and all
living things is proof of Allah's might and power. Allah is the Lord
and Creator of all. This is revealed as follows in the Gospels:
For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or
authorities; all things were created by Him andfor Him. He is before
all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Collosians 1:16-17)
Almighty Allah has warned Christians who follow the Gospels of
thedanger of the theory of evolution and against this grave deception
andthreat. Contrary to what many people believe, believing in the
truth of the theory of evolution is not harmless. With the perverted
ideas at their roots and the atheism they bring with them, Darwinist
and materialist ideology are the main reason for the bigotry,
degeneration, perversion, racist killingsand genocide over the last
150 years, and even of the two disastrous world wars in which
350million people were killed and martyred. People would have to admit
they are not true believers in order to support such a conception.
Sincere Christians must see the dimensions of the threat posed by
Darwinism by recognizing this danger described in the Gospels,must
wage an intellectual struggle against this harmful ideology and
eradicate its freedom of action. They must realize that Darwinism is
the greatest scientific fraud ever invented against belief in Allah
and must adopt a determined stance against this scourge that has
spread among people to such a surprising extent. Superstition is
absolutelycertain always to be condemned to decay and fade away.
Darwinism, which poses such a threat, will also, as our Lord promises,
meet the same fate. Those who are instrumental in this happening will,
by Allah's leave, be true believers. As our Almighty Lord says in one
verse:
That is because Allah is the Real and what you call on apart from Him
is false. Allah is the All-High, the Most Great . (Surat al-Hajj, 62)

Treatment of the month: Iridium Spa ,Health, -

After a month of over-indulgence, it's timeto dust off the cobwebs and
start the year afresh. Iridium Spa at the St Regis Beijing
specialises in Ayurveda, India's oldest healing system. The core
belief ofAyurveda is that health is the balanced and dynamic
integration of our environment, body, mind and spirit.
Whereas most spas will offer a general selection of treatments, the
idea behind Ayurveda is that we're all unique and all have our own
characteristics – physical, mental and spiritual – and selecting the
right treatments based on our own identity is crucial.
We went in for a consultation with the lovely Dr Pramod Mane, who
analysed us carefullyto determine the most suitable treatment. This
turned out to be the winter care massage, which incorporates authentic
Ayurvedic herbal oil with a sesame base to nourish weather-beaten
skin. Two therapists, to provide balance, then stretch contracted
muscles and gently ease away any aches and pains.
After the massage, we satin the steam room to allow the oil to fully
penetrate our skin, followed by a rainforest shower to cleanse the
soul.