When the Unstoppable Force Meets the Immovable Object

There's a centuries old Chinese story about a man trying to sell a
spear and a shield. When askedhow good his spear was, he said that his
spear could pierce any shield. Then, when asked how good his shield
was, he said that it could defend from all spear attacks. Then one
person asked him what would happen if he were to take his spear to
strike his shield; the seller could not answer. This led to the idiom
of " zìx?ang máodùn ", or "self-contradictory".
Today we would call this a paradox. A modern phrasing of this
particular paradox might be, "What happens whenan unstoppable force
meets an immovable object?"
The scientist and author Isaac Asimov answered this by saying that the
question was essentially meaningless, because a universe in which
there exists such a thing as an irresistible force is, by definition,
a universe which cannot also contain an immovable object, and vice
versa.
I want to look at this paradox from a personal angle, in terms of
challenges in our relationships and at work, and confronting the
myriad obstacles of life.
I believe that – within this worldly plane and subject only to Allah's
decree – the human will triumphs over all. I can become either the
unstoppable force or the immovable object.
Unstoppable Force
Try it. When faced with a challenge, become the unstoppable force.
Don't give up, no matter what. If one approach does not work, try
another. Ignorethose who tell you that what you're doing is
impossible. Learn from failure and try again. When the road is dark,
ask Allah for guidance and feel your way forward. When the path is
obscured with thorns and branches, blaze your own trail. You will find
that through sheer determination, the so-called "unstoppable force"
will crumble before you like a clod of dirt, Insha'Allah.
I've experienced this. By not taking "no" for an answer, I've gotten
jobs when there were no jobsto be had. By being persistent and patient
and never losing hope, I've experienced true love. By never quitting
even when I was tired and discouraged, I've become a martial arts
expert.
I first began practicing martial arts as a teenager. I used to
literally walk across the desert outside Riyadh to get to karate
class, carrying stones in case I needed to keep the wild dogs at bay.
Later, when Ilived in Oakland, I took up a different martial art
called Hapkido. When I moved to Panama I found a Hapkido school and I
rode the bus over an hour each way to get there. The bus had no air
conditioning and was packed with tired Panamanians going home from
work. It was noisy, hot and uncomfortable. People covered their mouths
with cloths because of the smog. The Hapkido school also had no air
conditioning. After class I would wring the sweat out of my uniform.
When I later moved to a house up in the mountains there were no
martial arts schools, so I bought mats, laid them in my living room,
and recruited a few locals to come to my house for training. I even
convinced my gardener to practice with me, on the clock. So I was
payinghim to learn from me, just so I could have a practice partner!
When I returned to California I found no Hapkido school,so I started
my own class, and three years later thatclass is still going strong.
Meanwhile I have earnedblack belts in two other martial arts.
I'm not boasting, I'm simply trying to give you a real-world example.
When you want something badly enough,become the unstoppable force.
Keep moving toward your goal no matter what.
Immovable Object
When you feel like you are under attack, becomethe immovable object.
Duck your head and root yourself like a mountain, and the "unstoppable
force" will break around you like a breeze. Whether you are under
attack for your faith, or being criticized for making life choices
that others do not understand, hold your ground and do not yield an
inch, as long as you are in Allah's path.
When the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) began preaching in
Makkah, thepeople were idol worshipers. The Prophet used to go to the
Ka'bah, the square mosque which is the oldest houseof worship on
earth, and preach the idea of "Laa ilaha-il-Allah". There is noGod but
Allah. In other words no idol is worthy of worship, no human being
should be deified, no saint or angel should be venerated. Only Allah.
Because of this preachingthe Quraysh (the Arab tribe which held sway
in Makkah, and to which the Prophet Muhammad himself belonged)
persecuted him relentlessly. And yet he persisted, gaining followers,
until the Quraysh became desperate. They met withMuhammad (sws)
privately, and offered to make him king of Quraysh, and to bestow
great wealth on him, on the condition that he stop preaching. He
replied, "…if they should put the sun in my right hand and the moon in
my left, even then I shall not abandon the proclamation of the Unityof
God. I shall set up the true faith upon the earth or perish in the
attempt."
Allahu Akbar! That is the immovable object! I will not detail the
extreme suffering that was imposed upon the Prophet Muhammad (sws) and
his family after that; the economic boycott, the assassinationattempts
and attempted wars of extermination against the Muslims; suffice it to
say that Islampersisted and grew until it became the dominant religion
of the world. All because one man was unstoppable and immovable.

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1a. Blessing and Dissipation

1a.
as we read in Surat al-A'raf, 32:
Say: "Who has forbidden the fine clothing that Allahhas produced for
His servants and the good kinds of provision?" Say:"On the Day of
Rising, suchthings will be exclusively for those who had faith during
their life in the hereafter�"
The Qur'an gives the example of Prophet Sulayman (as), to whom Allah
gave great wealth. Infact, it describes these possessions, as well as
his opulent palace and works of art, in Surah Saba', 12-13 and Surat
an-Naml, 44.
The important thing here is that Sulayman (as) gave thanks to Allah
amid all of these magnificent possessions, for he knew that they were
a mercy from our Lord. By relating his words: "Truly do I love the
love of good with a view to the glory of my Lord" (Surah Sad, 32), the
Qur'an draws our attention to his deep understanding.
This example shows us that the love of possessions, defined here as
"the love of good," is legitimate as long as it is ameans to praise
Allah. No doubt, believers who havethis kind of love will not hesitate
to use their possessions as Allah directs. Possessions are a blessing
belonging to Allah, and so those who have them will use them as Allah
commands.
But if possessions are not seen as a blessing, dissolution sets in.
The Qur'an gives many examples of how deviators understand the meaning
of riches. One of the clearest examples is that of Qarun, a rich man
who "gloated" (Surat al-Qasas, 76) and said: "I have only been given
it because of the knowledge I have" (Surat al-Qasas, 78). Such a love
of possessions cannot bring people close to Allah; rather, it diverts
them from His way and alienates them from faith. The Qur'an describes
this type of love as:
Truly man is ungrateful to his Lord, and indeed he bears witness to
that. Truly he is fierce in his love of wealth. (Surat al-'Adiyat,
6-8)
So, for this reason Muslimsmust view wealth according to the Qur'an's
criteria and pursue it only to please Allah and serve Islam. They must
desire allof Allah's blessings, because all blessings of this earthly
life have been created for those faithful and sincere servants who
exert every effort to please and serve Allah. Wehave to be continually
thankful for these blessings and follow Sulayman's (as) example:"What
an excellent servant! He truly turned tohis Lord" (Surah Sad, 30).
Those who live according to the real spirit of the Qur'an's moral
teachings and adopt the point of view described above will be deemed
"worthy and qualified" to enter Paradise, which possesses, as one of
its most salient characteristics, eternal splendor and dazzling wealth
and beauty. Peoplewho think and feel like Sulayman (as), who
said:"Truly do I love the love ofgood with a view to the glory of my
Lord" (Surah Sad, 32) amid all of this beauty, are believers.
Since this is how believers will think in Paradise, theirtrue home,
they must establish this point of view in this world, which is no more
than a preparation for the world to come. Far from regarding wealth,
beauty, and splendor as dissolution, believers mustknow that every
blessing is a mercy from our Lord, recognize its value, learn to enjoy
it, and be thankful.
The blessings of Paradise that we will look at in the following pages
must be examined from this point of view./

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1. Blessing and Dissipation

1.
In the following sections, we will analyze how the Qur'an looks at
Paradise and, based upon these descriptions,"try to imagine this
perfect place. But before we do this, let'slook at a few important
points. In today's societies,many people have erroneous ideas and
impressions in their conscious and subconscious minds. As such
obstacles cause them to formulate a mistaken view, we must describe
some basic Islamic concepts whose meanings have departed from their
original understanding.
With this in mind, we first have to distinguish between "blessing"
and"dissipation."
In the following pages, wewill see that the Qur'an describes Paradise
as an extremely luxurious and magnificent place, and that life therein
is as comfortable and attractiveas it can be.
However, to many people today, such a life is not so much "Islamic" as
it is a natural outcome of being alienated from Allah and religious
moral teaching.
So, because of this erroneous understanding that dominates society,
very many people think that a comfortable, luxurious, and ostentatious
life, and all that goes along with it, are "un-Islamic." They see such
things as expensive clothes, rich food, entertainment, dinner parties,
magnificently appointed houses, d�cor, and valuable art works as
belonging to ignorant people cut off from their religion. They usually
call alife filled with these things"dissolute," and criticize those
who give this society its name as "living undisciplined lives of
dissolution." The word"dissolution" (safahat) comes from the Arabic
safih, and can be translated as "a lack of discipline, overindulgence,
a weakness of mind that comes from living an irresponsible life of
wealthand comfort."
Here, we encounter a falseunderstanding that must be corrected. The
life of Paradise that Allah has been pleased to choose forHis
servants, as well as a life that contains every kind of luxury,
comfort, and ostentation, is also the most beautiful and noble way of
life, one that conforms as closely as possible to religious
moralteaching.
A false definition of dissolution opens the way to misunderstanding.
Dissolution, or rebellion against Allah through a lack of discipline
and overindulgence, is a condition of the human mind. People are not
dissolute because of their clothes, ostentatious houses, aesthetic
environments, or material wealth. Rather, the problem is in their
minds.
The natural result of this situation is this: If people have a
Qur'anic morality and a strong faith, they can live among the richest
opulence imaginable without ever becoming dissolute. On the contrary,
because they view everything they encounteraccording to the Qur'anic
criteria and moral teaching, they see all of the beauty surrounding
them as a blessing. In other words, they realize that all of these
things are gifts from Allah. So, if Muslims know that Allah has given
all of the surrounding riches, beauty, opulence, and magnificence,
naturally they thank our Lord for what He has provided. This is, after
all, why all blessings have been created.
If we applied this general way of thinking to our present society, we
would have to say that those who live a dissolute life and turn away
from Allah's commands have gone astray, because they do not see that
all of their possibilities are blessings from Him. If they saw these
things as blessings, this understanding would lead them to give thanks
to Allah. And then, they would use these blessings as Allah intended
them to be used: avoiding waste and using them in a way pleasing to
Him.
So, wealth can be defined in two ways. Some rich people are believers
who consider all of their possessions to be blessings from Allah,
whileother rich people go astray by considering all oftheir
possessions as their own, forget Allah, and fall into dissolution.
However, the model that Allah has proposed for all of His servants is
wealth, as mentioned in the first model above. Wealth and poverty are
tests for believers. Although some believers may be tested bypoverty,
Allah commands:"We desired to show kindness to those who were
oppressed in the land, and to make them leaders and inheritors" (Surat
al-Qasas, 5). This might happen in the world, but it certainly will
happen in the afterlife.
Therefore, it would be very wrong for Muslims to find fault with
grand, luxurious, and opulent lives. Muslims must not shun such people
and regard them with disdain, because, after all, all material things
in this life (e.g., fine clothes, deliciousfood, magnificent homes and
works of art) were created for Muslims, as we read in Surat al-A'raf,
32:
Say: :->

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Introduction Sunni and Shi'a

Introduction
Sunni and Shi'a:
-
The words Sunni and Shi'a appear regularly in stories about the Muslim
world but few people know what they really mean. Religion permeates
every aspect of life in Muslim countries and understanding Sunni and
Shi'a beliefs is important in understanding the modern Muslim world.
Introduction
The division between Sunnis and Shi'as is the largest and oldest in
the history of Islam.
They both agree on the fundamentals of Islam and share the same Holy
Book (The Qur'an ), but there are differences mostly derived from
their different historical experiences, political and social
developments, as well asethnic composition.
These differences originate from the question of who would succeed the
Prophet Muhammad as leader of the emerging Muslim community after his
death. To understand them, we need to know a bit about the
Prophet'slife and political and spiritual legacy.
The Prophet Muhammad
When the Prophet died in the early 7th century he left not only the
religion of Islam but alsoa community of about one hundred thousand
Muslims organised as an Islamic state on the Arabian Peninsula. It
wasthe question of who should succeed the Prophet and lead the
fledgling Islamic state that created the divide.
The larger group of Muslims chose Abu Bakr, a close Companion of
theProphet, as the Caliph (politico-social leader) and he was accepted
as such by much of the community which saw the succession in political
and not spiritual terms. However another smaller group, which also
included some of the senior Companions, believed that the Prophet's
son-in-law and cousin, Ali, should be Caliph. They understood that the
Prophet had appointed him as the sole interpreter of his legacy, in
both political and spiritual terms. In the end Abu Bakr was appointed
First Caliph.
Leadership claims
Both Shi'as and Sunnis have good evidence to support their
understanding of the succession. Sunnis arguethat the Prophet chose
Abu Bakr to lead the congregational prayers as he lay on his deathbed,
thus suggesting that the Prophet was naming Abu Bakr as the next
leader. The Shi'as' evidence is that Muhammad stood up in front of his
Companions on the way back from his last Hajj, and proclaimed Ali the
spiritual guide and master of all believers. Shi'a reports say he
tookAli's hand and said that anyone who followed Muhammad should
follow Ali.
Muslims who believe that Abu Bakr should have been the Prophet's
successor have come to be known as Sunni Muslims. Those who believe
Ali should have been the Prophet's successor are now known as Shi'a
Muslims. It was only later that these terms came into use. Sunni means
'one who follows the Sunnah'(what the Prophet said, did, agreed to or
condemned). Shi'a is a contraction of the phrase 'Shiat Ali', meaning
'partisans of Ali'.
The use of the word"successor" should not be confused to mean that
those leaders that came after the Prophet Muhammad were also prophets
- both Shi'a and Sunni agree that Muhammad was the final prophet.

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