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« Jesus was a Capitalist????? | Similarities and Differences »

Devine Power

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field, is an image of a ...Image via Wikipedia

Surāh 91 – Al-Shams: The Sun

I will start each post on the Qur’an with a link to M Mohammad Ali’s translation of the Qur’an with his commentaries. 

Reading the first six verses I cannot help but remember what my Agnostic father says about the creation of the universe, sun, moon, and earth (including the weather, seasons, etc):

If God exists, he stuck his finger in the pot of chaos, swirled it around and then stood back and watched what happened.  He calls it the divine spark, as in the spark that starts a car’s engine but then has nothing to do with the actual operation of the car.

Being that my father is also a retired civil engineer, he knows that the earth will continue to revolve around the sun for millions of years, that the sun will continue to shine for at least that long, and the moon will continue to revolve around the earth (until centrifugal force pushes it away from the earth).  He also knows that spring will follow winter, and summer will follow spring, etc.  He knows that for best results seeds must be planted at a particular time of the year to get the most yield.  What he also knows since these things will continue without fail long past his lifetime, that whatever put these things in motion does not interfere now that things are in equilibrium. 

Continuing with the verses on human’s ability to be good or bad…no Divine Retribution is seen occurs in our life time to many evil people. Adding that the “good” person does not succeed any more often than the “evil” person, gives evidence (to my father) that “God” is sitting back and watching but does not interfere.  So basically, the exact same things that “prove” a Divine Being exists can be used to “prove” that this Divine Being does not interact with the universe.  Atheists, of course, go one step further.  We know why the sun exists; we know why the earth and moon travel through space.  We know why spring arrives at the same (or close to the same) time each year.  We even know that how to increase the yield from crops with planting times, fertilizers, and water.  We know why spring is so beautiful (plants create flowers to mate), and we know what forces created beautiful mountains and lakes and seas.  This beauty, to a scientist, only makes us more humble at the power we see in a natural world.  Atheists ask the question: where is a Divine Creator in any of this?  Even life itself and humans in specific, are complex processes that have physical explanation that do not rely on supernatural intervention.  Because humans cannot fathom how life started or reproduce it does not mean that it was not governed by physical “earthly” processes that occur whenever the environment is “perfect”.  This concept of “perfect” is the same condition that causes lightening “followed” by thunder, hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, or forest fires. 

The qualities of being “good” are without a doubt in polar opposition to the qualities of being “evil”.  The odd thing here is that in Judaea-Christian tradition it is not “God” who gave humans the capacity to know good and evil but our sin of eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  So Christians believe that YHWH continues to punish us generation after generation for the one single sin of eating the forbidden fruit.  From the Agnostic/Atheist view point it is simply the knowledge of good and evil comes from human civilization that has existed for at least 6,000 years (of recorded history).  That’s a pretty good length of time to learn the difference between good and evil.

I do like the concept that by contemplating the size of the earth, we should be humbled by its expanse.  We, individually, are small by comparison.  If we expand that to the universe itself, the human race becomes so tiny that humility is the only logical response.  When the concept of time is introduced it only makes one all the more humble.  Carl Sagan once had a great example of the human condition, which he called the Cosmic Calendar:

Imagine that the entire history of the universe is compressed into one year – with the Big Bang corresponding to the first second of the New Year’s Day, and the present time to the last second of December 31st (midnight).

In this Calendar, humans did not even appear until 10:30pm on Dec 31st.  It sure did take that supreme being a long time to get around to creating his special spiritual creature: humans.  Why?

The rest of this surāh uses a specific example to prove that Allāh does intervene against the evil in human nature.  It is horrifying to an Ethical Humanist, like me, to think that a society could be so cruel, as the Thamūd, to keep livestock from drinking.  Worse, is the thought, that the same society would kill an animal for attempting to satiate its thirst.  But such tyranny cannot last, other groups of people will take offense and will overpower such brutality.  If the society was destroyed by natural causes, that would be nothing new as well.  Just look at the most recent acts of nature: floods in Fargo, Hurricane Katrina, and the December Tsunami.  Can we say that these natural events were punishment for arrogance or sin?  Yet that is exactly what the Prophet is saying about the Thamūd.

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This entry was posted on April 15, 2009, 9:30 am at 09:30 and is filed under Holy Qur'an, Readings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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8 Responses to “Devine Power”

  1. kay says:
    April 16, 2009, 7:46 am at 07:46

    Concept of God–as previously explained, God is the Creator, all else is the created. The created are bound by “laws” that govern their existence/creation such as gravity, time/space, birth/death…etc. The Creator, being uncreated, is not subject to the laws that govern creation. The Creator is thus independent of creation, though creation is dependent on him.(the existence of creation being due to the Creator)Not being bound by the laws of creation, the Creator can have birds attack elephants for example. The Creator is the Force that keeps the universe working in balance and harmony and does so without rest/stopping.(Islam does not have a day of rest for God as in Christianity)
    Interference–Does he? or does he not?—In the affairs of Human beings, God can interfere to the minutest degree if he so chooses—But then, there would be no need for Human beings to have free-will. So God chooses to “guide without interfering” as the Tao says. (Lao Tzu) But that does not mean he cannot interfere if he so chooses.
    Do the “bad” get a better deal? –As we engage with life, we make choices. Those choices that create goodness (good intentions, good actions)bring spiritual progress to our soul and give it strength. but when we choose to do things that hurt others (bad intentions/bad actions) we weaken our soul and close the doors of spiritual progress. We harm our “self”/soul. Desires such as hate, envy, greed, power, jealousy…etc burn our “self”/soul and can leave room for little that is “good”. Bad deeds and intentions are themselves like self-inflicted punishments. But once our life is over—we can have no more chances and all our power, greed, wealth…etc will not help.
    Can sin be inherited?—No, neither sin nor merit(blessings) can be inherited, shared, or passed off to someone else. Our choices are our sole responsibility and no one else is accountable for them.
    Human existence—Judgement is based on the choices an individual makes in the life that is given to them from birth to death—It matters not if humanity itself existed since the birth of the universe or only towards the end because the journey of each human/soul is an individual one.
    Thamud—Not all natural disasters are “punishments from God”—most are simply natural disasters. In those instances where God decides to intervene—he sends “warners”/messengers to the community/nation. If they listen and change their ways, disaster is averted, if not, they may perish. So what about free-will?—Isn’t he supposed to “guide” without interfering?–It is precisely because oppression, corruption and injustice have made it impossible for good people to excercise their free-will that an intervention may become neccessary. But even then, God offers a chance for change. He sends “warners” to pursuade people to abandon their ways and turn to Goodness.
    Ego/egoic desire—The lowest level of soul in Islam (and Judaism–”Yezter HaRa”) is called the animal soul/egoic soul. We need to have “desires”–such as the desire for food, shelter, companionship, etc. Our bodies cannot survive without these basic “desires”. Fulfilling these needs is not “bad”. It is only when our desires become excessive that it becomes “bad” because such excessive concentration on egoic desires leaves no space for spiritual progress. That is why muslims practice Ramadhan. It is when we abstain from many of the “desires” such as eating, drinking, sex, anger ..etc during daylight (from dawn to sunset). This is so we become aware of ego and learn to curb it, learn compassion for those less fortunate, and provide space for spiritual growth.

  2. dc-agape says:
    April 16, 2009, 7:43 pm at 19:43

    kay,
    It is always elegant that the “Creator” creates laws that only he can break. That does cause some dilemma, which means that the “Creator” can arbitrarily break any law at any time, but he does not. which leads Atheist to ask the simple question: if he is a loving god who can break the laws he created, but does not, how loving is he? If the case of child molestation or starvation, this would imply that he is a cruel inhuman being. Any human that could stop such travesty, but did not, would be considered an accomplice.
    Another question comes up from your comments. How do we know that a certain disaster was averted? Many false messengers daily (in the present and past)warn(ed) about the impending dangers to the wicked. If a disaster does not occur, is it truly due to a society’s ability to change?
    On a lighter note: I have just purchased a very interesting book that explains many of the concepts that we have been discussing. It is called “How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neuroscientist” by A Newberg, MD and MR Waldman. The main jest of the research is how the positive aspects of religion (all) strengthen the higher functions of our brains while the negative aspects of religion actually damage our brains. The link is to the opening chapter.

  3. kay says:
    April 16, 2009, 10:53 pm at 22:53

    One could argue that an artist that creates a painting or sculpture or a chef that creates a dish—are not bound by the properties of the object they create.
    God and Love—What is Love?—Some Christians who have read the Quran have commented that the God of the Bible is about Love—but that this is missing in the God of the Quran(?????)For a muslim—there are no two Gods, there is only one God who is referred to by different names by different people–YHWH, Tao, Brahma, God, Kami, Allah(swt)….etc. In the Quran, no group of people are “chosen” above another—Yes some, such as the Jews have been more “blessed” than others in that they have been sent more Prophets/guidance than others—but with it comes more responsibility to follow that guidance. So God cannot simply interevene for a “chosen” few and leave the rest of humanity on their own devices—that would be unjust. On the other hand—if God intervened at every opportunity—There would be no chance for us to excersise our free-will and without the learning experience life provides us with—how will we know anything? We must engage with life and make choices—Yes–someone who lets harm happen to others and does nothing about it is an accomplice—but God is compassionate and merciful—we will get plenty of chances in our lifetime to ask forgiveness of those we allowed harm to happen and to rectify mistakes. We must learn from life–improve ourselves and help others. That is OUR responsibility and we are very capable of it—If we simply create a mess and expect a higher power to clean things up for us—we are nothing but spoiled,lazy,children. The Quran does NOT view its readers us spoiled children—It views them as responisible, intelligent, capable adults (who are inherently good). WE (Human beings)are capable of helping those who are starving, those who are oppressed, those who are in need.

    averting disaster—When people choose to turn to goodness–to live upto the noble purpose and potential for which they were created, disaster in the spiritual sense is averted, regardless of an actual physical disaster. But in the overall scheme of things—for the individual—what matters is the lifetime they have on earth. We have a finite time on earth—death may come in a natural disaster, in an accident, or ill health,..or….but we do know that today—now–we can make choices and that these choices can be “right”/good.

    Interestingly—Surahs start with the words In the name of God, the most compassionate, the most merciful—Al-Rahman, Al-Rahim—the root of these words is the same as that for “womb” and evokes the idea of nurturing.

    I would like to know what is the Christian idea of “Love”?

  4. Rufor says:
    April 17, 2009, 2:15 am at 02:15

    blog.dc-agape.com - da best. Keep it going!

  5. dc-agape says:
    April 17, 2009, 6:50 am at 06:50

    kay,
    We are reaching the differences between Muslim faith and at least the Western Christian faith in our discussion. Foremost, Christians believe that mankind is inherently evil and do not want to do good. Secondly, they do believe that a higher power will come and clean things up after we (the non-Christians, not them - the Christians) have messed everything up. This is exactly why the Atheist movement is so strong in the US/Europe at the moment…Christians are acting like spoiled lazy children. When Muslim’s claim to worship the same “God” as these Christians, Atheist do not separate religions into differents groups, especially when there are radical Muslims who are determined to destroy specific societies.
    The ideal concept of Love in Christianity is defined in 1st Corinthians chapter 13. Verses 4-7 says this about Love:
    Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. If always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
    Unfortunately, when a Christian calls “God” Love they are obviously not using this definition. YHWH is not patient, he is envious, he is proud, he is easily angered, and he does keeps a record of wrongs. I can point to verses in both the OT and NT where these examples of contridictions occur if required. I, myself, am confused by this dichotomy of “God as Love” and the biblical definition of Love. But many Christians stop at John 3:16 and define “God” as Love by this verse. I will give you a link, but I will not repeat it until I reach the Gospel of John, where it will be a single post by itself.

  6. kay says:
    April 17, 2009, 8:45 am at 08:45

    Wow–Thankyou for the information! I did not intend to offend someone’s belief.(lazy children comment)…. Maybe muslim idea of love might be different too?—The Quran says that respect for parents is important—especially for mothers because of all they go through to nurture us—and I think that might be basically the theme on which the idea of “love” rests (…?)
    I have read some of the OT (Torah). Though the Quran says it is the same God—I do have some puzzlement at reconciling the difference—but then we muslims sort of put it down to revelation that has been changed over time.
    Radical muslims–or radical people who use religion–As far as I understand—Writers such as Qutb and others have written of their vision for a “just society” and used some verses of the Quran to “prove” THEIR point of view. These concepts have been seized on by political people to energize others to a cause—after all–religion is an easy way to stir up passions. That people used religion for their own purposes was a problem that Prophet Muhammed(pbuh) also encountered. The Quran emphasises that what label one uses won’t do much good since Judgement is based on ones intentions and actions. For muslims today—we must find ways to counter the reasons for radicalization within our societies in order to solve this problem. There isn’t a “one size fits all” solution though–because though Islam as a religion is clear and homogenous in its principles—muslims as a people are diverse and live in societies that are culturally and traditionally different from each other.
    I will look forward to your post on Gospel of John.
    By the way—What an amazing book!!!–How God changes your brain—I had no idea research was going on–though the field of neuroscience is advancing rapidly!!!but I will try to find it here and read it too. Thanks for mentioning it and for the link. It will be very interesting if this research is further verified. But I must agree–it is a bit of a surprise to find we were discussing some of these concepts–and then, to find them in a book written by scientists—wow!!!

  7. dc-agape says:
    April 17, 2009, 9:26 am at 09:26

    kay,
    The radical Christian groups also use their Holy Text to justify their own vision for a “just society”. but because Christianity is not as homogeneous as Islam we only have small splinter groups that can inflame their followers. For the past 30 years the Religious Right (actual group) here in the US have attempted to unify the extremist. Fortunately, due to individual charisma and corruption these attempts have only been partial “successful”. Atheism is spreading because of these “false witnesses”. Mostly because moderate Christians are either too lazy of too afraid to speak up and denounce these movements.
    Your “lazy child” comment may offend some peoples faith, but many Christians recognize that this is in fact what is wrong with their religion. Most Atheist would certainly agree with your opinion as well. Not to offend, but to state an observation.

  8. Dear Canonist » Blog Archive » Does History Lie? says:
    April 17, 2009, 2:09 pm at 14:09

    […] April 15, 2009, 9:30 am: Devine Power […]

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