Reflections On Park51

Reflections On Park51

I’ve had mixed emotions and jumbled thoughts about the Park51 mosque. Bigotry masquerading as sensitivity has reared its ugly head to the delight of morally bankrupt pundits and rapacious politicians looking to gain an advantage with the November elections looming. In evaluating the situation, I consider the possible consequences of both going ahead with the project and a strategic retreat. It could possibly be a no-win scenario in either case.

Going ahead with the project gives the journalistic bottom-dwellers at Fox News and the ultra-conservative media the hot button issue they need to fan the flames of America’s latent bigotry while they watch ratings, and revenue, soar. We must always keep in mind that jingoism in America is a profitable growth industry. This could lead to even greater percentages in the polls of anti-Islamic Americans and greater risk for Muslims in this country. On the other hand, backing down from the project would strike such a note of triumphalism that all future mosque construction or expansion could be in danger of meeting resistance by emboldened pseudo-patriots who see terror cells under every skull cap.

The irony is that Park51 is already an existing mosque and has been for a year now. What is being discussed is a grand expansion, nothing more. If they were to abandon the grand project and scale back their expansion, a mosque would still remain at the site. Would there still be a protest? And what about Masjid Manhattan, 2 to 3 blocks from Park51 and only a half a block from City Hall which has been there for 40 years with no incident? Would they now raise a hue and cry about something that even pre-dated the Twin Towers and had co-existed peacefully for over three decades in their shadow just a stone’s throw from City Hall?

And a note to all those who suffered loss on 9/11. My condolences for your loss and I respect your pain. But I had nothing to do with it, nor did my wife; nor my daughter; nor my son’s former math teacher; nor my butcher; nor the Mali goat-herder; nor the Malaysian fisherman; nor the Sengalese taxi driver; nor Muhammad Ali; nor Dr. Oz; nor the hundreds of millions of Muslims around the world who were horrified by what happened. These were the acts of crazed individuals. There is nothing remotely religious, or remotely Islamic, in deliberately flying planes into skyscrapers. There is no such thing as a Qur’anic prayer for mass murder and destruction.

Your grief and pain is misdirected. Your holding the religion of Islam and Muslims responsible for your loss is wrong.

That needed to be said.

The Thermodynamics of Fasting

The Thermodynamics of Fasting

Have you ever found yourself staring at a candle’s flame or a well-stoked fire? Remember the effect was nearly mesmerizing, even captivating, as you watched, with eyes transfixed, the candle’s stately, understated brilliance, or the incendiary power of a raging blaze as it rends asunder its hapless kindling to its molecular core, scattering its atoms to the winds.

Our fascination with fire may reflect our primordial preoccupation with what it has come to symbolize for mankind: the guiding light of knowledge; the burning crucible of test and trial; and the ultimate penal nightmare. The word Ramadan comes from a root denoting excessive heat, and true to its linguistic roots, Ramadan is the fiery cauldron where people’s souls are tried, the dross removed, and the spirits purified. It is a joyous month whose healing flame of hunger, thirst, and denial draws us ever closer to Allah, Divine Light of the heavens and the earth.

Warmth from a fire has come to symbolize life, and there is life indeed in this month of sacrifice and obedience. In essence, it is eternal life in the sacred incandescence of Paradise which is the primary objective of this annual endeavor, a reward for pleasing our Lord, the Most High.

Those Muslims who deliberately refuse to partake of the blessings of this month, and stubbornly persist in eating and drinking despite admonitions are imbeciles. The light of guidance is flickering out for them and their souls, untouched by the fast’s purifying flame, are encrusted with the vile accretions of disobedience. They perceive themselves clever for finding creative ways to avoid the fast. Yet, as they devour the meals the obedient have denied themselves, they do not realize that they have become combustible fools, renewable tinder for the last word in pyrotechnic displays: Hell.

Let us walk into this blessed furnace and set the dial on “high”. Let us pray that we come out well-done and well prepared to do our Master’s will.

The Magic Act

The Magic Act

Most people are fascinated by illusion. They marvel at the magician’s sleight of hand and are dazzled by cinematic wonders wrought by modern day special effects wizardry. In many cases, the illusionary effects are merely diversionary, just pure entertainment. But when applied to the real world, the realm of illusion can reveal its sinister, dark side, masking a life of evil and doom behind a cloak of pleasure and ease. This is predicated on the distortion of reality.

For a Muslim, his perception of reality is based on the guidance contained in the book of Allah, the Most High, the Qur’an, and the traditions of His Messenger Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). This guidance is the core of his faith. It is his criterion for judgement and sets the parameters for all his actions. With this guidance, a Muslim is firmly rooted, solidly grounded, and clearly defined. Without it, he is ethereal, evanescent, an amorphous mass of aimless fluff.

Aimlessness is the hallmark of a world based on illusionary foundations, a world made prurient and hedonistic by malicious delusion. Transience is embellished and the temporal is bedecked with baubles of bewitchment. In such a rudderless existence, material possessions and the pursuit of homes, fat bank accounts, expensive furnishings, and unrestricted access to intoxicants and sexual gratifications are symbols of having “made it”. Yet human beings were not created by Allah for this purpose. As a result, every conceivable repercussion spawned by this life-style has afflicted humanity at great cost: broken marriages, wars, venereal and degenerative diseases, criminal anarchy, and the disintegration caused by all manner of social pathologies and psychoses.

To any sane person who could clearly see the cause and effect relationship between this unrestrained lifestyle and its destructive consequences, this would have as much appeal as a lifetime of root canals. The social misery is that great. Yet hundreds of millions remain devotees and defenders of this way of life in spite of tremendous human pain and suffering. This is a triumph for the real master illusionists, a grand collusion of big business, the government, the media and morally bankrupt pundits, many with the highest academic credentials, who soothe the masses into compliance with the ideals of hedonism and consumerism. This means, of course, untold wealth for those with a vested interest in profiting from a dissolute public’s relentless urge for gratification.

The master deceivers and their henchmen, modern admen, have convinced people that hedonism, the doctrine that the pursuit of pleasure is the highest good, is in fact an affirmation of life. It is actually the very negation of life. Newport once used the slogan “Alive with Pleasure” in its cigarette ads marketing disease and death. Sex is an important tool for the adman who uses it to sell everything from blue jeans to cars. With the complicity of Hollywood, the advertising industry has helped promote a climate of uninhibited sexuality divorced from the traditional moral underpinnings.

Take the word promiscuous, which has virtually disappeared from the airwaves and print media. It has been replaced in the language of modern doublespeak by the less specific and, therefore, less accurate term “sexually active”, which carries none of the moral overtones of the former word. So now “it has become socially acceptable for sexually active, uninhibited women to be more assertive in establishing intimacy with men.” Translation: “There is no shame in being a slut.”

We as Muslims should ever be on guard against this form of sophisticated deception and should always be eager to point it out to those unfortunately deluded. The objective of this deception is to turn one away from the remembrance of Allah and from the doing the doing of righteousness which leads to the eternal reward of Paradise. The road to hell has been cleverly concealed. Only strict adherence to our sources of guidance can lead us through the labyrinth of trickery relatively unscathed.

Chaos Theory

On Dinosaurs, Chaos, And Jurassic Park

The movie Jurassic Park was once an international sensation. It was wildly received by the public and grossed over 700 million dollars worldwide in its initial run. Virtually all the movie-going public in the United States had seen it and it made millions more when it was released on video. It set a new standard for public entertainment with its thrilling special effects which, for an instant of suspended belief, brought long-extinct dinosaurs back to life.

Yet beyond the standard Hollywood stock of thrills and chills, there was a deeper and more poignant message which is expounded in greater detail in Michael Crichton’s eponymous book. Jurassic Park questioned not the feasibility of dinosaur regeneration through genetic engineering, a remote possibility, but the ethical question of whether it should be attempted at all. It also questioned whether man was equipped to harness the forces his technology was poised to unleash.

Michael Crichton, who also co-wrote the screenplay, introduced to the public a little-known but important mathematical theory which has vast implications and was being made widely known for the first time: Chaos.

A Chaotic World: A New Reality

Chaos theory deals with predictability in complex systems. The main thrust of Chaos theory is that traditional mathematical models fail to accurately predict phenomena in complex systems. For example, computers were first developed to predict the weather over half a century ago. Yet even with the most complex computer systems, it is still impossible to accurately predict the weather. Even if you were to let drops of water fall on the precise same spot on your hand repeatedly, each drop would behave differently than the one which preceded it due to a multiplicity of factors ranging from microscopic skin imperfections to minute changes in water flow.

Man’s record in predicting and controlling complex systems is abysmal. Witness the mess he has made of the earth’s ecosystem and the environmental tragedy engulfing the planet.

A Grave Miscalculation

Even though mankind has not been able to accurately predict whether it will rain next month, people have been more presumptuous in their belief that they can take on the most complex of all systems and try to provide a solution for it: human life. Scholars, philosophers, and ideologues have presumed to provide the answers that have perplexed mankind since time immemorial. Yet nothing has proved more difficult and elusive than providing a system of life for human beings that does not end up in injustice, misery, and social disintegration.

All great ancient civilizations believed that theirs was the pinnacle of progress and development, in hindsight a colossally preposterous assumption considering that most were built on brutality and slave labor. This country, also, in trying to maintain its international reputation as the fortress of justice and democracy, downplays the role slavery and the near-annihilation of the American Indian had in the building of its empire.

Islam in a Chaotic World

Muslims, on the other hand, do not consider it a fault if they, of their own force of intellect, cannot provide the crucial answers to life. They acknowledge their own ignorance and realize that something so vast and complicated is beyond their ability to grasp.

Therefore, in humility, they turn to the Creator of this immense universe Who alone knows the hidden mysteries of life. Through the Prophets (peace be upon them all), Allah, Lord of all the worlds, has provided mankind with the answers to the most perplexing questions and has gifted His creatures with a system of life in consonance with their own true nature.

Islam is such a wonderful and perfect solution precisely because man had nothing to do with its formulation. As the movie Jurassic Park showed, man was not prepared to cope with the forces his technology had unleashed. How much more valid is his ignorance when it comes to himself and how much greater the need to recognize his limitations and submit himself wholly to the One Who designed and fashioned him and is closer to him than his jugular vein?

Reflections On Faith

Unity of the Divine

Why it matters to believe in one God

Colossal, shimmering bronze statues of Buddha tower over terraced paddies and awed rice farmers in a Cambodian valley. In downtown Tokyo, a bell is rung in the hope of summoning a god at a Shinto shrine. A hapless chicken meets his fate in a South Bronx basement, not to provide drumsticks, but to satisfy the bloodlust of a Yoruban god. In a botanica in New York’s El Barrio, brightly painted plaster casts of saints crowd shelves amid the pungent aromas of herbs and incense, Caribbean Catholicism’s thin veil over an ancient African religion.

Polytheism, the belief that there are many gods, once dominated the ancient world. Even now, one-third to one half of the world’s population still claim allegiance to polytheistic faiths. We live, however, in a country where the vast majority claim adherence to Christianity which, along with Judaism and Islam, professes to be a monotheistic religion. Monotheism, the flip-side of paganism, is the belief that there is but one and only one God. Even a nominally religious Christian believes that there is only one God and is averse to the open worship of multiple deities.

Monotheism, the purest and most sublime notion of Godhead, was not meant to remain exclusively in the world of ideas but to be reflected in the lives of people. Yet this belief, as it is understood by modern Christian society, has done little to prevent it from gradually slipping into an abyss of spiritual and moral degeneration. A closer look at the true meaning of monotheism should provide answers to this apparent paradox.

The True Meaning of Monotheism

The cornerstone of the Islamic faith is concisely expressed in the sentence la ilaha illallah (there is no deity but Allah). This Arabic phrase is known as the kalimah. It is important to analyze this phrase in order to understand the fundamental difference between Islamic monotheism and other variants. Literally, the phrase means that there is no ilah but Allah. The word ilah is loosely translated as god but there are other significant implications.

The word ilah not only means god but it refers to any being, authority, social custom, or institution which you feel has authority over you or to which you owe obedience. For example, it is pretty clear that an idol worshipper who sacrifices a chicken to appease one god, lights candles and incense to another to ward off evil spirits, and then offers prayers and offerings to yet another to obtain fame and fortune has a lot of ilahs in his life. He is offering to other ilahs acts of worship and obedience when the only one deserving of acts of worship and obedience is the One God. So for him, the phrase la ilaha illallah (there is no ilah but Allah, the One True God) does not apply.

Similarly, when you ask of someone a thing which only the One True God can grant, such as forgiveness and salvation from Hell, then you treat whoever you ask as an ilah. Directing prayers to people who haven’t been on the earth for thousands of years like Siddartha Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ (may Allah’s peace be upon him) and his venerable mother Mary (may Allah have mercy on her) definitely fall into this category. In the Islamic view, those priests who believe they can forgive sins in effect are trying to usurp the power of forgiveness which belongs to the only God. If you have been wronged, no one can stand in your place to forgive the wrongdoer. As it is your sole right to forgive a wrong done to you, it is solely God’s right to forgive disobedience to His commands.

The pagan Arabs, among whom the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) first appeared over 1500 years ago, were well aware that Allah was the Creator of all things and the Supreme Power of the universe.

“Say: ‘Who is it that gives you all sustenance from the sky and earth, governs sight and hearing, brings forth life from dead (matter) and death from the living, and plans the affairs of man?’ They will all say, ‘Allah’.”

Al Qur’an, Surah Yunus 10:31

“If you asked them who created them, they would surely say, ‘Allah’.”

Al Qur’an, Surah Az Zukhruf 43:87

The Arabs worshipped 360 gods at the time of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) but claimed they did so only to gain nearness to the Supreme God, Allah.

“We only worship them so that they may bring us closer to Allah.”

Al Qur’an, Surah Az Zumar 39:3

The pagan Arabs believed that Allah was the Supreme Lord and only worshipped other gods as intermediaries yet Allah called them polytheists and heathens for doing so. Those of you who light candles, make offerings, and pray to the images of saints or others in the hope that they can do things for you or serve as a go-between with God should think about this.

These are some of the most obvious examples of ilahs other than Allah that can creep into religious worship. Now let us see how hidden ilahs can dominate nearly every aspect of our society and culture by delving deeper into the implications of the word.

Hidden Polytheism

The pagan Arabs were well aware of the significance of the phrase la ilaha illallah. They knew that the word ilah meant more than a mere idol, that the statement no ilah but Allah meant that there was nothing worthy of authority, obedience, and worship but Allah. This meant that all their laws, social and moral customs, and forms of rule which were not consonant with Allah’s dictates as expressed in the Qur’an and the example of His Prophet (peace be upon him) were no longer valid in the eyes of those who converted to this belief. They rightly saw this as a threat to their way of life because this kalimah declared that only the One True God, Lord and Master of the universe, and King of all creation had the right to legislate for mankind.

All systems of life which did not govern by the laws of the Creator were declared illegitimate. Whatever Allah declared legal was legal and whatever He declared illegal was illegal and the only sources for these laws were the Qur’an, His last revelation to mankind and the example of His last prophet, Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him).

The presumed legitimacy of their way of life crumbled before this bold declaration as Allah proclaimed that only a way of life of total submission to His will, the actual meaning of the word Islam, would be acceptable to Him.

“Truly, the way of life with Allah is Islam (submission to His will).”

Al Qur’an, Surah Al Imran 3:19

The struggle that followed inflicted torture and atrocities on those who completely submitted to Allah’s will, the true meaning of the word Muslim. After 23 years of tremendous trial, tribulation, and bloodshed, the pagan Arabs could not extinguish the flame of truth which burned in these Muslims’ hearts. During this period, Allah revealed to His Prophet (peace be upon him) in the Qur’an a complete way of life covering all spheres of life: social, moral, spiritual, political, juridical and economic.

Then, with victory in sight, Allah made this stirring proclamation:

“This day have those who reject faith given up all hope of your way of life. Yet fear them not but fear Me. This day have I perfected your way of life for you, completed My favor upon you, and have chosen Islam (submission to My will) as your way of life.”

Al Qur’an, Surah Al Maida 5:3

Monotheism and You

Even in these modern times, there are still millions who openly worship Allah’s created things, taking as gods rivers, stones, trees, lightning and thunder, planets, the sun, the moon, stars, and inventions of their own imaginations. Even human beings are worshipped and prayed to as do the Christians with Jesus and his mother (may peace be upon them both) and Buddhists who deify the great Indian sage Siddartha Gautama Buddha.

But you, also, may be obeying and worshipping more ilahs than you imagine. If you believe that your government can make legal what Allah has made illegal such as the consumption of wine and pork and collecting interest, then it has become an ilah you worship beside Allah. If you believe that it’s okay for a woman to stand soaking wet on a public beach in July in what amounts to little more than her underwear, then you have allowed society to dictate what is an acceptable social norm completely disregarding Allah’s will regarding norms of dress and decency. And if a flirtatious wink from your neighbor’s wife has you diving under the sheets with her, then you have taken your lust as your ilah, seeking to please it with the same fervor and eagerness which should be reserved for the Creator of all things.

As a result of this approach to life, millions of alcoholics and drug addicts haunt our society rending our social fabric by increasing our divorce rates and accelerating the breakdown of the family. Social and economic injustice has fostered the growth of despair in inner cities and the rise of crime and urban decay. Tens of thousands of women each year endure the horror of sexual assault both on the streets and in their homes causing physical and incalculable psychological damage. And sexually transmitted diseases, like the super-STD AIDS, proliferate in pandemic proportions at a terrible price in human misery.

“Corruption has spread over land and sea because of what men’s hands have done. That He may make them taste the fruit of their deeds and perhaps they may turn away from evil.”

Al Qur’an, Surah Ar Rum 30:41

Starting with families, then moving on to neighborhoods, communities, and the society at large, the truth of Allah’s revelation to mankind needs to be conveyed by word and personal example in order that people be given the opportunity to halt the degeneration of their way of life.

“Surely Allah does not change the condition of a people until they change that which is in their own hearts.”

Al Qur’an, Surah Ar Ra’d 13:11

Only by both believing and practicing true monotheism can we save our society from a free-fall over the precipice toward spiritual and moral destruction.