The Trials in Life

March 22, 2009, 8:07 am by dc-agape.

Image by Colin Purrington via Flickr

Surāh 113: Al-Falaq (The Dawn)

I am not at a computer that allows Zemanta to operate properly.  I will update the last couple of posts with Zemanta links and flickr as soon as possible.  If, of course, Zemanta will give any appropriate images and links.

Surāh 113 starts with a statement to seek the spiritual protection of Allāh.  In this case the Prophet used the term “Lord of the dawn”.  Hence the name of the Surāh, but with a deeper meaning.  Just any morning, when the spiritual dawn appears the “Truth” will triumph.  In the Islamic case this “Truth” is that of the teachings of the Qur’an.  As a gay Atheist, I see little difference between Judaism, Christianity, or Islamic faith in this concept.  I would even dare to say that Atheist, Hindu, and Buddhist also hope for the day that the “Truth” will spread to all humankind.  The major question will be: what combination of these philosophies will survive to be part of the final “Truth”?

Surāh 113 and 114 are linked.  Together they list the four obstacles for the accomplishment of a goal or job.  I have already spoken about surāh 114 and the trickery of the evil, even though I did get a little side-tracked by the word “jinn”.  In this surāh, three more obstacles are described.  Personally, I have felt the first two.  The third one is a bit more difficult to separated personal interpretation from the actual situation.

The first obstacle is the gloom of wondering if the task will ever end.  Some jobs are so large or so complicated that this is an easy feeling to get.  Many “evils” arise from this feeling.  Gloom is one, but frustration is another.  One must stand back and look at the “bigger picture” to overcome these natural feelings.  The Prophet suggests appealing to Allāh.  As an Atheist, I see no reason to do this.  I have learned that by taking a few steps back, even walking away, changes the perspective drastically.  Then the task can be resumed with fresh energy and determination.

The second obstacle to overcome is the exhaustion that ensues from a long project.  The cumulative exams that I just finished were wrought with this problem.  After taking 5 four hours exams, I just wanted out of the room.  But perseverance wins and by staying for the entire four hours I could write more and the final scores was high enough to pass.  But long ago, I learned to not give up.  Be as bull-head and tenacious as required, but don’t give up.  I learned even more from WC Fields:

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Then quit. There’s no use being a damn fool about it.

Again, as an Atheist, there is no reason to go looking for refuge in a supernatural being.  Try more than once, yes, even two or three times more.  But at some point quit.  The cost of money, time, blood, and sweat is just not worth it.

The final obstacle described in this surāh is that of other peoples envy at your personal success.  Well there is certainly nothing that can be done about that.  Some people will envy success.  Those same people might even sabotage the projects outcome.  But instead of looking for help from a supernatural being, why not put in place some guarantees that sabotage is either averted or minimized.  Some of those guarantees would to have many trusted people on your side, making sure that the more slimy ones are left out of the planning sessions.  Or do as NASA has done in the past; make secondary backups and tertiary backups.  These do not always succeed but what’s the harm, better to do it yourself than rely on “fate” or blind chance.

Reading this surāh, as an Atheist, it is quite apparent that the Prophet was an astute figure.  To teach others about these problems was quite very noble.  Appling to a supernatural protection was the only weakness.  One of my personal beliefs post will have to be on “coincidence”.

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