Adam and Eve

I have learnt throughout my life that there is no conflict between religion and science. In fact, I have been taught that science when properly applied and interpreted is simply another facet of faith, and I sincerely believe this.

But then I hear many "theologists" and "religious individuals" talking about Adam and Eve and how Evolution couldn't have happened. On the other side of the debate stand individuals such as Bill Nye (The Science Guy), and a relatively massive pile of information... so there has to be a conflict right? Only one can prevail!!!

Not quite...

In Islam, our holy book, the Qur'an talks about Hazrat Adam (AS) and Bibi Hawa (Eve - AS), however it also mentions that God speaks to Mankind in parables and allegories, for God is the Knower of all things... So, here is my completely flawed, terribly biased attempt at understanding how, maybe, just maybe there is a way to believe in both a scientific principle as central as Evolution, and believe in the way the Holy books speak of it.

Of course, this requires a disclaimer - there is really no proof of anything I will write, if it offends you, I apologize. My perspective on this may (and likely will) change over the days, months and years, and when I am an older person, this may not hold true to me anymore. Additionally, I realize there are many things written that may contradict this, but it is simply a different way of looking at an issue, I personally believe that you cannot "sandbox" a concept as powerful and vast as Religion within something as limited as Science, so really science can only be one lens through which a person can view religion, but not the only one - however, it is the one that we see most often at odds with belief, so this is my attempt to tackle this.

Science tells us that mankind evolved from a common ancestor with apes and chimpanzees. At one point in time, there was a differentiation that occurred... almost an "AHA" moment, where suddenly a species had changed enough from that common ancestor that it could be called what we know today as "mankind." At one point in time, perhaps there was a single individual, who became cognizant, who became self aware. For the first time in our history there was a part of creation capable of naming itself... Adam.

So far, it could be plausible, God created mankind and the world, and man was created from a clot and formed essentially of base materials (clay of course could also be a metaphor referring to the ability to mould the intellect).

The next part of the narrative where God commands Adam and Eve not to partake of the forbidden fruit and they are tricked into it through the work of the Devil can also be interpreted in many ways. I have always considered that the greatest gift and the greatest curse we have been given has been our intellect. Our sense of awareness allows us to name things, allows us to communicate, pray and love. However, it can also lead to poor decisions, willfulness, anger, hatred, violence, catastrophic power and pride. For this reason, I have often chosen to interpret the devil as a metaphor for the intellect or, more specifically, the nafs al-amarra or the negative aspects of the intellect. Perhaps the garden of paradise that Adam and Eve lived in was a metaphorical garden within the mind. A sheltered place where their innocence as the first cognizant human beings could be expressed. Perhaps when Adam and Eve began to first ponder the nature and existence of God (the forbidden fruit that completely innocent beings cannot partake of), God chose to let them question. God allowed Adam and Eve to be free of the Garden of Paradise, a Garden that was a beautiful place, however, also a prison for their intellects. A place where they would be eternally happy, yet never truly living to their full potential.

Maybe, maybe not... but it's one possible way to think about creation. I personally refuse to believe that Science and Religion disagree completely on things as important as the creation of mankind. Maybe it's a poor compromise, but I feel it's a step in the right direction towards truly understanding religion and it's child, science.

What I have learned

With the passing of my father comes a time of reflection, of thankfulness and of peace.

Through this I have realized that I have learned a great deal from a great man.

When my father was alive, I remember loving him fiercely, being protective of him almost as one would be protective of their own child, and just as parents are wont to do, I had completely ignored all the lessons my father was teaching me as I helped take care of him.

There are 3 things, 3 lessons that have really stood out for me in my time of reflection.

My father taught me to love. I already knew how to love of course, but through needing my help, through giving me his rare but beautiful smiles, through treating me differently than the rest of the world, I knew that I was very important to him and this of course meant that he was very important to me. Love means many things to many people, but for me, love is truly manifest when you are willing and able to do anything for the betterment of another, when you would give anything to make another smile, when you would fight against anything or anyone else to protect someone. That to me makes up a small part of what it means to love. I truly understood that thanks to my father.

My father taught me patience. Many times he would need to express himself but would be unable to, many times the specific word(s) he was looking for would remain just off the tip of his tongue. Many times, he would simply be cranky... My love for him helped me to endure these... this was truly an amazing way to learn to be patient... by listening to someone you love. Most of us love someone else deeply, but most of us are too preoccupied with our own desires, wants and needs to really listen to those whom we love. I was blessed, I was forced to listen to someone whom I loved, if I didn't listen and stay patient, I would have never understood anything he wished to say. Eventually, listening became a bit more of a habit, and I sincerely hope I can keep on listening through every relationship I have.

The final and most important lesson my father taught me was in humility. My father truly taught me to be humble, but unfortunately, this essential lesson has been more firmly learned only after his passing. Humility is among the most important traits we possess as humans, it is a characteristic that allows us to love, to be spiritual. It keeps us from vanity and allows us to be honest. If I were to be completely honest, I have never truly been a humble person. I have always felt different, and this uniqueness over the years has tended to express itself through pride. My deepest thanks have always gone to God for the many gifts I have received, but I always recognized that in my heart of hearts I was never truly humble. I understood that what I have in my life is not purely my own doing, I have always known that without the love of God, I would be nothing... but this is not all it takes to be truly humble. To be humble, one must acknowledge the impact other human beings have on ones spiritual and material growth. To be truly humble, one's heart must understand that life is not permanent and that everyone leaves unfinished business when they pass. To be truly humble can be depressing... because it means that one must let go of ones identity, abilities and beliefs. Through this, a person can realize the truth. When my father passed away, I realized that the events in my life that I thought were of my own doing, were often linked directly to the actions of my family. When I thought I was on my own, I almost always had many others with me. When I believed that I worked hard to achieve something, often my parents worked even harder than I did to help me to achieve. I was never alone, I have never done anything truly independently... and in this lies the greatest of truths. We are individually, both insignificant and the most significant being in all of creation... at the same time.

Thank you Dad.

Selfish Tears

When one we love passes away, we cry...

Why?

Even looking at it from a non-religious standpoint, we don't cry for the deceased. We have no idea what happens to that individual after they die. We can say that we believe they go to heaven, or we know that they are "One with God" or "at peace"...  but in reality, very few people, if any are gifted with the knowledge of exactly what lies after death...

So, what are we crying for?

We cry because that person will no longer share in our lives, that person will no longer make up a portion of our life story. We cry because we must live through a present and a future without them.

We cry because we are selfish...

The person who passes away and has tears shed for them, was such an amazing, AMAZING person, that regardless of faults, pain caused knowingly or unknowingly to others... that person has inspired sadness. That person has given the world gifts that will be sorely missed now that they are gone.

Those selfish tears are all that we are left with... and memories.

I remember my father as a strong man, and as a weak man. I remember him as being many things, angry, sad, happy, but I cry not because of the things I remember about him, I cry because of the gifts he has given me that I cannot recall. I cry because of the moral values he has instilled in every fibre of my being. I cry because my children and grandchildren (if I am given the grace of God to have any) will not have the privilege and opportunity to ever meet a man who has changed so many lives.

The Holy Prophet Muhammad once said, "Paradise lies at the feet of mothers"... for me, I saw Paradise whenever my father smiled.

Thankfulness

I wonder on the nature of being thankful...

One of the most important prayers that I urge others to recite is one dealing with thanking God for all that we have. Nothing that we have in our lives would exist if not for the mercy and kindness of the Big Guy. There are many reasons that thankfulness is encouraged, it emphasizes humility, spiritual growth, understanding of the self and a host of other positives. Through being thankful for what one has, one truly appreciates what one does have and can look past what one does not have. In this way, being thankful is a way in which the trap of the material world can be overcome.

So, for all of these reasons, I personally give thanks and encourage others to give thanks. There are many things that we can appreciate in our lives, our health, wealth, bodies, homes, families, friends, communities, the fact that we are alive in a beautiful vibrant world. That new toy or material object that brings us so much joy.

But one aspect of thankfulness that exists in my own life is one I seem to constantly overlook. Thankfulness towards those around me, my family, friends and loved ones.

By saying this, I do not mean to say that being thankful to God for all that He has given is lessened in any way, however, over the course of our everyday lives, there are so many people that give so much to help us out. Be it intentionally or unintentionally, the impact of others around us is immense. We are social beings, so social contact moulds who we are. Be it a brother who sacrifices time, money and energy in small or large ways, be it another sibling who acts simply as an example of what we can be or wish to be. Be it a father or a mother who give so much time and energy towards raising us and keeping us fed and entertained. Be it a friend or significant other who gives of their time to help you. People around us deserve to be thanked. Even for those who do not appreciate significantly what others around them do, there are lessons to be learned from what others have done or have not done, and for these lessons, if not anything else, we should give our thanks.

Giving thanks to others in our lives can take many forms, the obvious way to thank another person would be to tell them, however, if that individual has given you something intangible, it is difficult to thank them. As logical beings, we need to have reasons for events, we do not appreciate intangibles and coincidences. So, another way to thank those around you would be to include them in your prayers.

When giving a prayer of thanks to the Almighty, add a word of thanks for those who have touched you. They may never hear it, but when you say those words of thanks, you gain so much benefit. This ritual of thanking others will also result in truly realizing and appreciating some of the things that are done for you without you even realizing.

Words have great power, God taught mankind with words, we pass on knowledge using them, but we can also use these same words to strengthen our own faith and our relationships with others around us. For by growing as physical creatures, we also grow spiritually.

Thank you.

Language

An influential thinker on the topic of religion and the holy in the first half of the twentieth century was a man named Rudolph Otto. He wrote extensively on the topic of what is "holy" and what constitutes a conception of the Divine. His specific writings (the little I have had the privilege of reading thus far) are very interesting indeed, however, today I wanted to focus on how he wrote...

During his writing about religion, Otto was forced to use words that are familiar to the audience. Words such as "dread," and "majesty," and, "gracious." However, these words when used to describe the religious experience, or when used as descriptors for the Divine fall short of truly being descriptive, rather, these words are used in our common vernacular to describe common phenomena. In Otto's work he at times resorts to using Greek or Latin words for key concepts, as these words serve to impart a sense of uniqueness to the concepts they express...

And here we have the crux of it.

Revelation has been delivered to mankind many times throughout the ages, many people have received the "word of God," in many ways, and these words have been passed on to others in many ways. If we look at an example such as the Holy Qur'an, we see that the language used within the holy book differs from common, spoken Arabic. This unique language is a part of what imparts sacredness to the words. In my previous posts, I have attempted to "describe" qualities of God, or at least to turn concepts relating to the Divine and to the Sacred into language that I feel can be easily understood by most people. However, I have also been told that by doing so, something about what I am doing seems almost sacrilegious.

Language is so important, it is the way in which we communicate to each other, and it is the way in which we attempt to commune with the Divine or the Sacred. However, the type of language we use is very important as well. Sometimes things are done for a reason beyond what we can hope to understand. Why was the Holy Book of Islam, a religion with 1.6 billion adherents around the world, revealed in a language that only a small fraction can understand or read? Further, even amongst those who claim Arabic as their mother tongue, many are unable to navigate the archaic linguistic nuances found within the Qur'an.

The true answer will always be a mystery, but the sense of sacredness found within those words which we do not encounter in our common parlance undoubtedly plays a part. This is also partly why rituals are so important in the religious experience. Rituals and ceremonies impart a sense of "special-ness" a unique air about them... This is not something that happens in our mundane life, rather it is something that is reserved for times when we wish to communicate with the Sacred, these rituals, these forms of languages are to only be used in special situations, and by making the situation surrounding the religious experience special, we in turn make everything associated with the experience special as well.

Once again, this is another quite sad attempt at bringing the Sacred, the Divine into a form of language that can easily be understood, but the true message is deeper, the true message behind anything that communicates the sacred is tied to not only what is said, but how it is said.

Beauty

I saw one of the most wondrous sights of my life today.

As I drove along a road, near my home, I saw a small pond. This "pond" was made of rain water and snow that had melted by the road (actually, highway) and a small body of water had formed. So truly, it was a small body of pretty dirty, probably muddy water. Yet, it captivated me.

The slow moving ripples along the surface. The small wind-stirred waves that made the entire pool look as though it were made up of thousands of tiny mountains and valleys. But mostly, the reflection of the sky in the water. The many shades of blue were spectacular. Cerulean, azure, sky blue, a royal shade. Every type of blue I have ever seen or imagined was captured in that water.

And then I realized, that the water was not beautiful, rather, the sky was.

The sky had incredible colours and variety today, mostly in anticipation of a coming summer storm. The vast magnitude of the sky, the many colours and beauties it contained were fortuitously reflected back at a perfect angle for me to have a perfect moment of beauty.

This happens often in our lives as well. We often see someone who is beautiful, or something that captures our imaginations, our hearts and we see that object or individual and we know that it is special. However, what we see as beauty, be it internal or external, is often simply a reflection of something greater.

I am sure if I return to that pool tomorrow and take a very close look at the water, I will see many imperfections and possibly I will not see the same beauty I saw today. In fact, if it is a rainy day, I may even think the sky that was the source of the beauty looks quite drab. However, what has been seen cannot be unseen. The moment I had, that moment of pure beauty remains.

Maybe this is how God is? Maybe God shows us glimpses of His beauty in our daily lives, but never enough beauty to fully satisfy us. Maybe, even if we look at what we believe to be the source of beauty, we still may not continually see what we wish to see... because true beauty is not meant to last forever. True beauty is a concept which we can only experience for a short moment, for it serves as a small taste, a reminder that we are in the end meant to keep searching.

Ways to prostrate

The famous poet Rumi once wrote (and I am paraphrasing... it's translated from Persian anyways, so I'm sure I won't botch it too badly), that there are hundreds of ways to prostrate, hundreds of ways to bow in prayer...

I was thinking about that, and I realized that it's true in a very devious way.

Every individual has their own conception of what the Divine is... even those who choose not to recognize any form of a Divine presence at all, still choose to conceive of Divinity as non-existent.

So, even a complete atheist recognizes that there could be a Divine presence, but they are choosing to follow a set of facts, evidence and beliefs that imply that there is no Divinity.

In this recognition of the possibility of Divinity, we see a deep seated expression of humility.

Even the most staunch believer or disbeliever in God will have to acknowledge that at the end of the day, we do not know. One who does not believe in God would have to say that nothing is completely certain, and they cannot disprove God's existence (the null hypothesis cannot be fulfilled), even if hundreds of pieces of anecdotal evidence point towards their set of beliefs. Conversely, a believer, even one who is completely staunch in their beliefs would have to agree that they can never comprehend God. God is far beyond the human psyche, God extends past what any individual mind can conceive, therefore, one can believe in God, but one cannot rule out the possibility of God not existing, simply because God cannot be conceived of by the human mind... therefore, anything pertaining to the existence of God, would also be beyond the comprehension of the human mind.

with me so far?

Thinkers from the era of the Fatimids (a Muslim Dynasty that ruled Egypt and area extending from North Africa to Sindh about a thousand years ago) worried about this contradiction as to the human definition of God. How could the human mind think on God without a definition? How could God be defined with the limits of language? Could God be proven?

Ultimately they settled on a simple definition called the Theory of Double Negation. It states that, God is Not a thing (i.e. does not exist), and (that's the inclusive and for my logic speaking friends) God is Not Not a thing.

That was the best that the brightest minds of the world could come up with.

Looking at this and going back to the beginning we see that humility abounds in this.

If we cannot prove or disprove God's existence, then the existence of the concept of God serves it's own purpose. It shows us that we are NOT infallible, that we are not perfect, that with some things we will never have all the answers.

If we don't have all the answers, then isn't that the perfect expression of humility? The simple concept of God, acts as a shield against our own pride. We cannot prove or disprove God, we can never truly know. Just as we can know the position of an electron but not it's speed (and vice versa), similarly, we won't know about God.

So, what if we're wrong? What if there is no God and we believe? ... well, as long as each faith tradition is lived fully and truly and one recognizes the importance and sacredness of human life and ethical living... it doesn't hurt to bow down in any way that we see fit.

And the other way? What if there is a God and we don't believe? ... well, if God is truly as merciful as He claims to be, I'm sure He won't mind us using the gift He gave us, our intellect in a way that we see fit.

Just as long as we think about it.