Embodying the Grace of Peace

The World As It Is. . .
Having been invited to speak about "World Peace and Harmony," I ask
myself: What is the cause and nature of conflict in today's world?
Does religion contribute to conflict as so many people assert? And can
the idealistic calls for world peace by religious leaders produce any
real effect? How can I speak anything more than truisms, sentimental
clichés, and ideas we've all heard before? Can the teachings of the
world's great mystics effect any real change on the societal level or
are these teachingsmeant only for personal transformation?
Without a doubt spiritual teachings can bring more peace into one's
own heartand increase peace between people, perhaps, even, among
different communities. But peace ona global level? If we are to work
toward peace and harmony at the global level, we must hope to
understand the world as it is.
The more I study the situation at the global level—a subject that
interests me because I routinely travel among countries involved in
serious conflicts—the moreI am convinced that there is a behind the
scenes competition over the resources of the world and this leads to
long term strategies aimed at regional domination. The world is a
game-board andthe players conceal their identities and their purposes.
Let's be realistic: we live in a world where war is a profitable
racket, not a noble endeavor. My heart feels compassion and pity for
the young people who enlist because they actuallybelieve they are
"defending our freedom." This is a world where many people are in
love with war. Surely, if they actually knew war, they would not love
it. One day, we can hope, the atrocity of war will be seen for what it
is: a crime against humanity. We do not need to be pacifists to
recognize this. It is our job to make war inconceivable.
Neither Islam, nor any religion is the primary problem, but religions
maybe used by the powers thatbe to control a suggestible population.
Religion is used to manipulate the population because it has apowerful
effect on the emotions and opinions of sleeping people.
Consciousness is the best corrective for this suggestibility, and it
is the responsibility of practical mystics to help people wake up, to
become conscious in their own livesand thus to be less manipulated and
controlled.
After human beings have become minimally self-aware, they can move on
to compassion, justice, and truth—the foundation on which a lasting
peace can be built. Peace withoutcompassion, justice, and truth is an
illusion, a hoax.
Truth is essential to peace, but the Great Lie governs much of public
life. The Lie is needed to obscure the lack of justice and compassion.
But it is a principle that truth will in the end prevail. The Quran
says: God hurls the Truth against falsehood. When Truth comes
falsehood must wither.
While the Lie may temporarily drown out the voices of the oppressed,
it is a spiritual law that the cries of the innocent and oppressed
reach to the high throne of heaven.
Meanwhile almost everything in the media is a combination of
performance, spectacle, and entertainment designed to distract us from
what is really going on and what we should really be paying attention
to. We are all subjects in a vast program of mind-control. The
deception is far more extensive than the averageperson could imagine.
Human beings' suggestibility is easily exploited because the great
majority of human beings are living without a spiritual center capable
of withstanding the weapons of mass distraction. The power of
suggestion, whennot balanced by conscious thought, can lead us to be
programmed to believe almost anything.
The principle means of control are the desire for pleasure which keeps
us interested in sensuality, the need to belong which may be satisfied
through sectarianism and patriotism, the need to winapproval and
attention which makes us manipulatable by authorities.
Under Islamic Law it is not allowable to kill indiscriminately, or
even touse fire as a weapon. Weapons of mass destruction are haram ,
forbidden, according to theteaching of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and
blessings be upon him, though I am not aware of any so-called Islamic
government that honors this.
The Urgency of Consciousness
The conscious human being can witness, be aware of the contents of the
mind and the drives of the ego. This is the beginning of spiritual
freedom. This can lead us out of our enslavement to fear and the
endless desires of the false self, theselfish human ego.

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3a. Beyond Time and Space: 揥here is Allah?

3a.
In conclusion, one must have the Aqidah that Allah Most High is pure
from space and time. It is wrong to say that He is everywhere and it
is also wrong to believe that He ison something, as all these are
limited whereas Allah Almighty is limitless. However, we must believe
that His knowledge encompasses everything, and he knows, sees and
listens to everything.
And Allah Knows Best/

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3. Beyond Time and Space: 揥here is Allah?

3.
Q. Is Allah everywhere, or isHe beyond the heavens and the earth?
A.
The issue of "Where is Allah?" is something that was never debated or
made a matter of dispute among the Muslims throughout the ages and
eras. In fact the Qur'an warns against delving into these issues in
Surah Aali Imraan (verse #7). The Sahabah and Tabi'een also dealt very
severely with those who began discussing these issues. Unfortunately,
due to immense ignorance about our deen, certain Muslims forget about
their real duties and responsibilities and waste their precious time
arguing about these issues regarding which we have been ordered not to
delve into.
Kindly see (abridged) answer of Mufti Muhammad ibn Adam Al-Kawthari
below: 'The belief (aqidah) one must have regarding his Lord and
Creator is that Allah Almighty is One, thereis nothing like Him, there
isnothing that can overwhelm Him, there is no god besides Him and Heis
Eternal without a beginning and Enduring without end. He will neither
perish nor come to an end and nothing happens except what He wills. No
imagination can conceive of Him and no understanding can comprehend
Him. He is different from any created being.
Allah Most High says about Himself:
"There is nothing whateverunto like Him." (al-Shura, 42:11).
And He says in Surah al-Ikhlas:
"And there is none like unto Him." (Al-Ikhlas, 112: 4).
Due to the above and othertexts of the Qur'an and Sunnah, one of the
major beliefs a Muslim must have regarding Allah Most High is that
there is no creation that is similar to Him. If Allah is regarded to
be similar or resemble or haveany qualities of His creation, then that
would constitute disbelief (Kufr).
Imam Abu Hamid al-Ghazali (May Allah have mercy on him) states:
"Whoever thinks that Allah has a body made of organs,then he is an
idol-worshipper…Whosoever worships a body is regarded a disbeliever by
the consensus of all the scholars, the early scholars (salaf) and the
late (muta'akhirun)" (Iljam al-Anam an Ilm al-Kalam, 6-8).
If one believes that there isnothing similar to Allah in any way, then
his Aqidah iscorrect and there is no need for disputes and arguments.
I believe that there isn't a Muslim that really believes that Allah is
similar to his creation in any way, thus disputes andarguments must be
avoided. Yes, if one does believe that Allah has hands, feet, face,
etc…that is similar to his creation, then without doubt this person
would come out of the fold of Islam.
Regarding the question, "where is Allah?" firstly, it should be
remembered that this is not something that one will be asked about on
the day of Qiyamah. We are in need ofpeople really learning about the
basics of Islam, rather than engaging themselves in these matters.
Those that argue and cause destruction with such issues are normally
ignorant about even the basics of Salah, Zakah, Hajj, etc…
Secondly, this question in itself is wrong. We ask regarding the
whereaboutsof a person that lives in time and space. For example, I
encompass time, meaning I live in time, and I have a body that needs
to fill some space.
However, Allah, Mighty andMajestic, is the creator of time and space.
If we limit Him to any time or space, then this would imply that we
resemble Him to his creation by giving Him a body, as space is
limited. If one was to say that Allah iseverywhere, then this is
wrong, as 'everywhere' is limited and ends somewhere, whereas Allah is
not limited.
Similarly, to say that Allah is on earth, sky, moon, sun, throne, etc…
is also wrong, as all these things are limited and to limit Allah
toany created thing is Kufr.
Imam al-Tahawi (Allah have mercy on him) states in his famous al-Aqida
al-Tahawiyya:
"He (Allah) is beyond having limits placed on Him, or being
restricted, or having parts or limbs. Nor is He contained by six
directions as all created things are." (P. 9).
Imam al-Nasafi (Allah have mercy on him) states:
"He (Allah) is not a body (jism), nor an atom (jawhar), nor is He
something formed (musawwar), nor a thing limited (mahdud), nor a thing
numbered (ma'dud), nor a thing portioned or divided, nor a thing
compounded (mutarakkab), nor does He come to end in Himself. He is not
described by quiddity (al-ma'hiya), or byquality (al-kayfiyya), nor is
He placed in space (al-makan), and time (al-zaman) does not affect
Him. Nothing resembles Him, that is to say, nothing is like Him."
(See: Sa'd al-Din al-Taftazani & Najm al-Din al-Nasafi, Sharh
al-Aqa'id al- Nasafiyya, 92-97).:->

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What Is in a Number?

A quiet revolution is takingplace in the Arabic language; it is fast
losing the character set used to represent numbers. Arabs gave the
Arabic numerals to the world, thereby making the tremendous advances
in mathematics and science possible. But today they are giving themup
in favor of the Europeanones.
The Arab contribution was the symbols for numbers one through nine,
the concept of and the symbol for zero, and the idea of the place
value of numbersthat made it possible to write all numbers, no matter
how big or small, using these ten symbols alone. All of these remain
valid today and are the essential elements of the Arabic numbering
system. However the symbols themselves changed upon their arrival in
Europe. While the European numerals are Arabic in theirgenesis, their
shapes are not the same as those of the Arabic numerals that have been
used for centuries in the Arabic world.
First it was the newspapers, magazines, and web sites. Then textbooks.
And now even the religious books --- the last refuge of the historic
numerals --- are slowly giving way to the European onslaught. There
are notable exceptions but the general trend is very clear.
The same is true of Urdu. Its numerals, which are thesame as the
Arabic ones (with the exception of 4 and 7), have rapidly joined the
endangered species list.Today they are absent from all printed matter
in mass circulation. In religious books one finds a hodgepodge of the
Urdu and European symbols sitting uneasily next to each other,
symbolizing the confusion of the writers or publishers.
While Farsi is holding its ground better than either Arabic or Urdu,
signs of change are visible there as well.
The computers and the Internet, with their built in bias in favor of
English at the current state of their evolution, have a lot to do with
this cultural sea change. But there is also a misconception that the
European numerals are actually Arabic or that this is a change for the
better or at least that it does not matter.
In 1403 AH, the organization of senior ulama in Saudi Arabia, in
its21st congress (Riyadh, 17-28 Rabiul Akhir 1403) reviewed the then
emerging trend and passeda resolution addressing these misgivings. It
declared that changing Arabic numerals to the prevalent European ones
inArabic was not right. Among the reasons it cited were the following:
1. The claim that the presently used European numerals are the real
Arabic ones is neither well known nor true. Centuries of use give
legitimacy and authenticity to the Arabic symbols that are now being
replaced.
2. The change will have ill consequences as it is a stepin the
direction of Westernization of the Islamic society.
3. It is a reflection of the blind following of the West.
4. The Arabic numerals have been used in all written works for
centuries. If they are now replaced, it will handicap the new
generation in benefiting from this great treasure, and cut it off
fromits history.
A year later (1404 AH) the Islamic Fiqh Academy in Makkah reviewed the
issue and issued a fatwa fully supporting the resolution of the ulama.
It declared it impermissible to use the European symbols while writing
Arabic and warned about very serious consequences of this move.
Today the fears expressed by the Islamic Fiqh Academy can be seen in
stark reality. In Pakistan, people are not only using the new symbols
for writing, they are increasingly using English when expressing
numbers in words in everyday usage. (Example: "Yeh Jora aap ko four
seventy five main laga donga."). This Urdish language now evolving is
a seriously handicapped language thatcannot count, do math, express
colors, name an organization, or discuss politics, business or culture
without resorting to English. The resulting chaoshas not improved
their command of English, but it has seriously endangered their
language, culture, andcivilization.
A similar fate may await Arabic if steps are not taken to reverse the
trend. Writers and publishers in Urdu and Arabic need to pause,
reflect, and stop thismad rush into numerical disaster. Twenty years
laterthe call of the Islamic Fiqh Academy remains as relevant as ever.
And even more urgent.

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