MUSINGS ...

Albert Camus’ book, The Plague, stunned me with the parallels that could be drawn to the modern world, and in particular, to how most Muslims go through life. Camus describes the condition of the populace prior to the disaster (i.e., the plague) that befell them as follows:

“A pestilence isn’t a thing made to man’s measure; therefore we tell ourselves that pestilence is a mere bogy of the mind, a bad dream that will pass away. But it doesn’t always pass away and, from one bad dream to another, it is men who pass away, and the humanists first of all, because they haven’t taken their precautions.

Our townsfolk were not more to blame than others; they forgot to be modest, that was all, and thought that everything still was possible for them; which presupposed that pestilences were impossible. They went on doing business, arranged for journeys, and formed views. How should they have given a thought to anything like plague, which rules out any future, cancels journeys, silences the exchange of views. They fancied themselves free, and no one will ever be free so long as there are pestilences.”

Hm. They “forgot to be modest,” and “they fancied themselves free.” Hardly the greatest of crimes, you might think. However, when we consider the evils that arrogance and anarchy lead to, we might come to a very different conclusion, for the greatest crime of these transgressions is the ultimate crime against Allah, namely that of disbelief. Interestingly, Camus comments as follows:

“Stupidity has a knack of getting its way; as we should see if we were not always so much wrapped up in ourselves.”

Again, he dwells on the evil of self-preoccupation. What is more, he points out that people, for the most part, fail to learn from the past:

“And since a dead man has no substance unless one has actually seen him dead, a hundred million corpses broadcast through history are no more than a puff of smoke in the imagination.”

Is this not the case for most people, and especially, for most Muslims? Despite the multiple wars and genocides of the past and present, most Muslims place emphasis on worldly pursuits rather than the pursuit of Allah’s pleasure. What will wake them up, if not the recent genocides of Muslims in the many corners of the world? These could very well be the “hundred million corpses broadcast through history” that barely break the surface of most Muslims’ contemplation. When will Muslims wake up and start to live their religion fully, including showing a good face to the world through polite religious discourse and high moral example? For Camus, the populace did not even begin to contemplate reform until the rats and people were starting to die (in other words, until it was too late): “And it was then that fear, and with fear serious reflection, began.”

This reminds me of Allah’s warning in the Holy Qur’an: “And We sent not the signs except to warn, and to make them afraid (of destruction)” (The Noble Qur’an 17:59)

When it comes to arrogance and denial, I think of Pharaoh and his followers, and others of their like. In the Holy Qur’an, we find this:

(TMQ7:132-6)  They said (to Moses): “Whatever Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) you may bring to us, to work therewith your sorcery on us, we shall never believe in you.

So We sent on them: the flood, the locusts, the lice, the frogs, and the blood: (as a succession of) manifest signs, yet they remained arrogant, and they were of those people who were Mujrimun (criminals, polytheists, sinners, etc.).

And when the punishment fell on them they said: “O Moses! Invoke your Lord for us because of His Promise to you. If you will remove the punishment from us, we indeed shall believe in you, and we shall let the Children of Israel go with you.”
But when We removed the punishment from them to a fixed term, which they had to reach, behold! They broke their word!

So We took retribution from them. We drowned them in the sea, because they belied Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.)

So people! Beware of arrogance and denial of religious evidences, before Allah seals the hearts as a result of the evil of their transgressions! As Allah teaches humankind:

(TMQ 7:146-7)  I shall turn away from My Ayat (verses of the Qur’an) those who behave arrogantly on the earth, in a wrongful manner, and (even) if they see all the Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), they will not believe in them. And if they see the way of righteousness (monotheism, piety, and good deeds), they will not adopt it as the Way, but if they see the way of error (polytheism, crimes and evil deeds), they will adopt that way, that is because they have rejected Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and were heedless (to learn a lesson) from them.

Those who deny Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) and the Meeting in the Hereafter (Day of Resurrection), vain are their deeds.

For those who call to truth and to Islam, do not get frustrated. Remember that Allah teaches us in the Noble Qur’an, 12:106,  “And most of them believe not in Allah except that they attribute partners (unto Him, i.e., they are Mushrikun – polytheists)”. Whatever we do, most people will choose to disbelieve . . . and according to the scholars who have commented on this ayat, THAT INCLUDES MUSLIMS. Although this is sad, it is the duty of the believer to accept Allah’s decree. So do not be disheartened, for “And most of mankind will not believe even if you desire it eagerly” (TMQ 12:103), and “Verily! You (O Muhammad) guide not whom you like, but Allah guides whom He wills.” (TMQ 28:56). Sahih Bukhari #5705, relates a hadith in which Allah’s Messenger, Muhammad (Peace be upon him), related that “Nations were displayed before me; one or two prophets would pass by along with a few followers. A prophet would pass by accompanied by nobody . . .”  So imagine: If there were even prophets who could not gather more than “a few followers,” and in at least one case, not a single follower, who are we to complain at the poor results of our efforts? Remember that the goal is to achieve Allah’s pleasure by discharging our duty to Him, which is to bear the message. If we persevere, show the noble qualities of Muslims, keep good relations, and be ambassadors of peace, truth, and the final revelation and religion of almighty Allah, we will be successful.

Inspiration

Be sure that you go to the author to get at his meaning, not to find yours – John Ruskin

MisGod'ed

 

PURCHASE ON AMAZON

Which religions went right, which went wrong, and why? MisGod’ed analyzes the scriptural foundation of the three Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, identifies the valid links in the chain of revelation, and differentiates the truth of God’s guidance from the falsehoods of human corruption. The central theme is to examine Judaism, Christianity and Islam for truth in revelation, and then trace the chain of revelation to its logical conclusion. For all who have ever questioned the theological puzzles parroted down to them by sincere friends, well-meaning family or seemingly sincere but single-minded clergy, this book is a roadmap of guidance and misguidance in the history of revealed religion.

WHO AM I?

I am a Muslim, an ordained interfaith minister, and a devoted seeker of religious and temporal truth. My platform includes:

Freedom of religious choice and tolerance of differences.
Respect of the various religions' holy precincts.
Global adoption of a "Golden Rule" ethic that transcends race, culture and creed.

On the other hand, I recognize that we don't live in a "Barney" world - we are not one big happy family. But that doesn't mean we can't continue to work toward that end, and adopting the above values will move all of us closer to peaceful coexistence.

Dear Friends ...

Some of my books are under attack! Please take time for the pleasure of Allah and support my work by giving positive ratings on Amazon.com and on Amazon.co.uk at the following links:

MisGode'ed -

 A bold and open-ended text of comparative religion that analyzes the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam for truth in revelation.

http://www.amazon.com/MisGoded-Guidance-Misguidance-Abrahamic-Religions/dp/1419681486/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1358653392&sr=1-1&keywords=misgod%27ed

http://www.amazon.co.uk/MisGoded-Guidance-Misguidance-Abrahamic-Religions/dp/1419681486/ref=pd_bxgy_b_img_z

Interview With Fascinating Authors

Q: What excites you most about your book’s topic? Why did you choose it?

Author: What excites me most is the movie rights. Oops, no, what I really meant is I get a kick out of the realization that the world’s major religions pray to find the gospel of James, or of Jesus, despite the fact that these gospels can be expected to contradict, rather than support, accepted doctrines of major religions. And this is where the Dead Sea Scrolls come into the picture . . .

Q: How long did the book take you from start to finish?

Author: Six weeks for the first draft, six months of crying, screaming and hair-pulling over my editor’s (a manuscript-mauling literary dominatrix) developmental edit, and another three to four months of mewling like a subdued kitten over the line edit.

Q: What aspect of writing the book did you find particularly challenging?

Author: Pouring my heart and soul into a passage that simply flowed with liquid genius, just to realize it was really overcooked, fetid tripe. Killing my baby, by which I mean deleting favorite passages in the interest of improving the book as a whole, was the hardest part.

Q: What surprised you the most about the book writing process?

Author: What a kick-ass, page-pumping, action stud I could be when I put my mind to it – and modest, too. Actually, the most surprising thing was how totally draining the process of novel creation was, both physically and emotionally. Toward the end, I wanted to curl up and cry in the shower, like Glenn Close in The Big Chill. But then my bear-bashing, lumberjack superego slapped me out of it and I . . . curled up naked and cried in the closet instead, hugging a feather duster that tickled my hel-lo.

Q: Did you have any favorite experiences when writing your book?

Author: Heck yeah! I remember that wild night in Singapore when my antipsychotic medications wore off and I . . . Huh? You mean experiences relating to my book? Oh. Nope, none of those. Well, unless you count the feather duster story. Or maybe the night my wife suggested I could break my writer’s block by grabbing the chocolate sauce, a bottle of baby oil and . . . What? A family audience, you say? Gosh, that makes it tough. Okay, how’s this: I had just finished tightening the black leather straps on my (CENSORED BY WEBSITE)
Just kidding. Actually, I wrote that.
NO, WE DID.
Uh, no . . . I did.
WE DID, WE DID, WE DID. NAH, NAH, WE’RE NOT LISTENING . . .

Q: What do you hope your readers will gain from reading your book?

Author: After what I’ve written above, I shudder to suggest “sanity.” But, yeah, I hope readers find their hearts and minds sucked into the story, their emotions strained, their imaginations ignited, and their fantasies fulfilled. Then, I hope they rally around me with flaming torches, brandishing pitchforks and bladed farm implements while we march on the bastions of conventional wisdom, chanting battle cries of rage and lust. Together, we’ll assault the walls of the doctrinal prisons that suppress licit desires,  enslave creative minds and suffocate the soul of spirituality. We’ll overcome the forces of evil and establish peace, justice, love and tranquility in the land. Then we’ll congregate on the King’s lawn, where we’ll truck in greasy take-out and thirst-buster sodas, flop senseless on the grass and sleep the slumber of the righteous, farting softly.

Q: What projects are you currently working on?

Author: Farting softly, but I still can’t get the tone quite right. Actually, if you think The Eighth Scroll excites controversy, just wait until you read my next thriller, Sarah’s War. If The Eighth Scroll brings hate mail, Sarah’s War will get me killed. And on this, I’m not joking. In fact, Sarah’s War addresses such a sensitive subject, I have been warned to not even talk about it until the book is published.

Q: Is writing your sole career? If not, what else do you do?

Author: I’m the medical director and chief of ophthalmology at a busy clinic in the Middle East. My specialty is extreme cataracts, as well as glaucoma and refractive surgery.

Q: Did you do any research for your books, or did you write from experience?

Author: Both. My research was years in the compilation, my experience longer. I spent the past fifteen years studying the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. For the last eleven years, I have divided my time between America, England, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Q: How did you come up with your title?

Author: Although the Dead Sea Scrolls number in the hundreds, the initial find was of seven scrolls. I wrote The Eighth Scroll about a hypothetical text that was hidden away because of its theologically-threatening content. Based on the content of valid scripture, this scroll has the potential to either confirm or condemn established religious beliefs and practices. As a result, world powers will fight to possess it, or kill to suppress it. The first seven scrolls contain nothing earth-shattering. The eighth scroll, on the other hand, most certainly does.

Q: What books have influenced you the most?

Author: Archie and Jughead. Or was it Curious George? I don’t know. Final answer? My Potty, My Friend. If not for that book, I might still be in diapers.

Q: Who was your publisher and why did you choose them?

Author: As a new author in the field of fiction, BookSurge (now CreateSpace) allowed me to maintain control of my books. Now, I’m not a hundred percent idealistic. I mean, I can be bought. Make your offer and we’ll see if we can do business.

Q: What inspired you to create a work of fiction?

Author: Hey, reality might be stranger than fiction, but fiction sells more copies and can be leveraged into a movie deal. I always wanted to write a fiction novel, so when I completed my non-fiction works of comparative religion, MisGod’ed and God’ed, it seemed time to pen the sort of thriller I would like to read.

Q: Did you seek the support of a writer’s group or class?

Author: No, I just had a whip-cracking editor take me to school on the art of writing fiction. Note to new authors: never hire a “cheerleader” editor. Editors who say you’re doing everything right don’t help you improve. Find a rabid, manuscript-shredding critic who identifies your weaknesses and helps you overcome them.

Q: What tips would you offer to anyone writing fiction for the first time?

Author: Keep your day job, write for yourself, refuse praise but accept criticism. Praise doesn’t help you improve, and frequently is insincere. Criticism usually is well-intended, and typically identifies valid issues. Reject criticism at your own peril. That’s your audience out there. They know what they want better than you do.

http://www.fascinatingauthors.com

Inspiration

In general, people judge more from appearances than from reality. All people have eyes, but few have the gift of perception – Machiavelli

CONVERSIOIN by Laurence Brown

There is a certain fascination with conversion stories, and for good reason. Frequently they involve dramatic life-altering events, sufficient to shock the convert out of the materialistic world and into the spiritual. Most who pass through such moments of trial and panic experience an overwhelming feeling of helplessness, and turn to their Creator in prayer. In virtually every case I know, they forget the strained theological formulas they have been taught and instinctively pray directly to our Creator.

For example, a lady once related her 'Born Again Christian' conversion story on a popular evangelical television show. This lady told how she had been the sole survivor of a terrible boat-wreck. During her days and nights alone in the harsh elements of the open ocean, she told how God spoke to her, guided her and protected her and how, seeking His favor, she prayed to God and to God Alone. In her long tale, she mentioned God over and over again, and never once mentioned Jesus Christ. However, the moment she was saved by a passing ship, she threw her arms open to the heavens and yelled, "Thank you, Jesus!"

There is a lesson here. When in panic and stress, people instinctively pray directly to God, without intermediary or intercessor. That is the default setting of our spiritual consciousness. However, when relieved of their distress, people frequently return to their previously held theological formulas, no matter how strained or bizarre. All converts feel God saved them, and that the miracle of their salvation justifies their beliefs. But there is only One God, so it makes sense that there can only be one religion that is true in all aspects. Hence, only one group can be right and all others are, to one degree or another, wrong. For the latter group, their personal miracles serve to confirm them upon disbelief rather than upon truth. As Allah teaches in the Holy Qur'an, "Allah leaves astray whom He wills and guides to Himself whoever turns back [to Him]" (TMQ -- Translation of the Meaning of the Qur'an: 13:27) and "So those who believe in Allah and hold fast to Him - He will admit them to mercy from Himself and bounty and guide them to Himself on a straight path." (TMQ 4:175) As for those astray in disbelief, our Creator leaves them to stray upon whatever misdirected path they themselves choose.

So who will become Muslim based upon my conversion story? Only one person: me. Muslims might appreciate my story, others might not. Either way, here it is:

In 1990, I was in the last year of my ophthalmology residency at George Washington University hospital in Washington, DC. My second daughter was born October tenth. To my great dismay, she was a dusky, gunmetal blue from the chest to the toes. Her body was not getting enough blood, and the cause was found to be a coarctation of the aorta -- a critical narrowing in the major artery from the heart. Needless to say, I was shattered. Being a doctor, I understood she needed emergency surgery, with a poor chance of long-term survival. A consultant pediatric cardio-thoracic surgeon was called from across town, and I left him in the neonatal intensive care unit to examine my daughter. With no companion but my fears, I went to the hospital prayer room and fell to my knees. A product of Christian-American heritage dating back to 1677, nonetheless this was the first time that I even partially recognized God. I say partially, for even then I prayed the prayer of a skeptic, "Oh, God, if you are there . . ." I promised that if God existed, and if He saved my daughter and then guided me to the religion most pleasing to Him, that I would follow. I returned to the neonatal ICU roughly fifteen minutes later, and was shocked when the consultant told me that my daughter would be fine. True to his assessment, within the next two days her condition resolved miraculously, without medicine or surgery. She grew to be a perfectly normal child and as of this date -- July 2008 -- is on the verge of her eighteenth birthday.

Now, as I said before, I am a doctor. And although the consultant provided a medical explanation for my daughter's miraculous recovery, I simply didn't buy it. I remember him explaining about a patent ductus arteriosis, low oxygenation and spontaneous resolution. But I also remember thinking, "No," my daughter's salvation was not a medical miracle, but a divine one. Many who make promises to God in moments of panic find or invent excuses to escape their part of the bargain, once God relieves them of their distress. I could easily have assigned my daughter's recovery to the doctor's explanation rather than to a miracle from God. But faith had entered my heart, and it wouldn't leave. We had cardiac ultrasounds taken before and after, showing the stricture one day and gone the next, and all I could think was that God had made good on His part of the deal, and I had to make good on mine. Even if there was a medical explanation, that was nothing more than the pathway by which Almighty God chose to answer my prayer and effect His decree. I did not then, and I do not now, accept any other explanation.

For the next few years I tried to fulfill my side of the bargain, but failed. I studied Judaism and a large number of Christian sects. I felt I was on the right track, close to the truth but not upon it. I never fully embraced any specific Christian formula, for I could not reconcile the differences between Christian canon and Jesus' teachings. Eventually I was introduced to the Holy Qur'an and Martin Lings's biography, Muhammad, His Life Based on the Earliest Sources.

During my years of study, I had encountered the Jewish scriptures' reference to three prophets to follow Moses. I had concluded that John the Baptist and Jesus Christ were two, but that left one. In the New Testament Jesus Christ spoke of a final prophet to follow. When I found the Holy Qur'an teaching the oneness of God, as both Moses and Jesus Christ had taught, I become convinced Muhammad was the predicted final prophet. Suddenly, everything made sense: The continuity in the chain of prophethood and revelation, the One-ness of Almighty God, and the completion of revelation in the Holy Qur'an. It was then that I became Muslim.

Pretty smart, hunh? No, I would err greatly if I believed that I figured it out for myself. One lesson I have learned is that there are a lot of people more intelligent than I who have not learned the truth of Islam. It is not a matter of intelligence but of enlightenment, for "...whoever believes in Allah - He will guide his heart" (TMQ 64:11), "Allah chooses for Himself whom He wills and guides to Himself whoever turns back [to Him]" (TMQ 42:13), "And Allah guides whom He wills to a straight path." (TMQ 24:46)

So I thank Allah that He chose to guide me, and I attribute that guidance to one simple formula: recognizing our Creator, praying to Him and to Him alone, and sincerely seeking His guidance. And whom He guides, none can lead astray.

Dead Sea Scrolls Mystery

Experts unravel the mystery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and explore theories about their creation, including the Church's 50-year embargo on their publication.

Inspiration

I had ambition, by which sin the Angels fell;
I climbed and, step by step, O Lord,
Ascended into Hell

--W.H. Davies

Q & A With Dr. Laurence Brown

EMAILER: 

With all respect to your opinion, maybe Muhammad did nothing objectionable in his days, but look what the little girls of today are paying because of his teachings (Title: 450 child brides ages 6-9 married by Hamas in Gaza, in organized mass wedding):

http://rescueachild.hubpages.com/hub/450-child-brides-ages-6-9-married-in-Humas-in-Gaza-in-organized-mass-wedding

MY ANSWER:

Like you, I was disturbed when I first saw this video. We hear about child brides, so we think the worst when we see a video like this. However, I have lived in the Middle East for 13 years, so I knew something is wrong with this video. In thirteen years, I have never known of anyone taking a child bride. This is something that is blown out of proportion in the Western media, as a way of propagandizing against Islam. When I asked my Arab friends, we looked up the event on the internet in Arabic, not in English, and learned the true story. To begin with, the "sheikh" you saw in that video is not a respected scholar -- he's just dressed up to look like one. As a matter of fact, he is wrong on basic issues. For example, Aisha was married at the age of 9, and the marriage was consummated when she was 12. However, by all reports, Aisha was an unusual woman, and she was a fully grown woman at the time her marriage was consummated. Twelve, in her day and age, was adulthood.

Now, about the video. The men you see are NOT marrying the girls you see. The girls are proxy brides. In Islam, the bride does not come out in public in front of men, because men and women do not mix. Brides have their own, private celebration, attended only by other women. I am not familiar with the customs in Palestine, but the Arab brothers here tell me that in this video, because it is a mass wedding with many men around, the woman cannot come out in public, so the bridegroom escorts a proxy bride (the little girl, who is basically a stand-in for her older sister, the real bride. Because of her young age, the child has no restrictions upon her modesty, and she is allowed to be seen in public). What you don't see is that the same thing happens in the women's celebration, in that the women have proxy bridegrooms, in the form of young boys who "stand-in" for the real bridegroom. Because of their young age and immaturity, they are allowed in the presence of the women in the women's celebration. At the end of the celebration, another thing you don't see is the young boys and girls going home as the real bridegroom takes his real (mature) bride to their new home. The children are analogous to the little boy and girl who attend the bride and groom in a Western wedding. In fact, that might be where the tradition comes from, because Europe took much of its language, science and cultural traditions from the Arabs back when the Muslims occupied Europe. The problem here is not just that what is presented in this video is misrepresented to be something it is not, but that this video does not show the whole picture. No doubt, this was done on purpose to make Islam look bad to the viewing audience.

Go to minute 2:15 of this video to see the proxy boys and girls together, with the real bridegrooms in the background (as I said, the brides do not come out in public, so they are not in the picture): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAjqaP8F6b4

This is the worst form of propaganda, because it is an unadulterated lie. People buy it, however, because the Western media is biased in this direction, and the audience is programmed to believe every slander fed to them about Islam.

Now, please stop trying to justify your refusal of Islam. This doesn't wash in front of me, and I doubt very much that it will wash in front of Allah. As Allah teaches us in the Holy Qur'an, most people follow nothing but their desires, and that is what you are doing here. You are looking for the things that satisfy your opinions, and justifying your viewpoint with lies. It would be far better to seek the truth, submit to it, and follow.

Q & A With Dr. Laurence Brown

EMAILER: Dr. Brown, did you really find your answers in Islam? I was a Muslim myself, but I am thinking about converting to christianity because of the bad qualities of Mohammad. He married a 6 years old girl, and consumated the marriage when she was 9, and during those 3 years he molested her. What do you think about that? I wish you could guide me to remove my doubts about Islam.


MY RESPONSE: It is obvious you haven't looked into this very deeply. Muhammad (Peace and Blessings of Allah upon him) did nothing objectionable according to the social standards of his culture and time, although it does offend Western sensitivities in present day. But we live in a different culture and time. Also, you're way off on the ages, and there is no record of him molesting Aisha. Wherever you are getting your information, I suspect you're getting it from people who are trying to draw you away from Islam, rather than from people concerned with an objective search for truth.