They would indeed shed blood

It can be really depressing witnessing the bloodshed that is currently happening. The killings in Myanmar, Syria, Palestine, Iraq, and most recently in Egypt are all examples of how evil and morally bankrupt can human beings become. Why are these things happening? How people could kill others in cold blood and how they are comfortable in oppressing others is just beyond my comprehension. Why do these kind of people exist? Why did God create them?

Well, I guess that was just how the Angels felt when our father, Adam AS*, was created. The Angels knew that humanity would shed blood. The Angels knew that humanity would create unimaginable destruction on earth. God’s reply was: “I know that which you don’t know.”

Along with the potency for destruction, humanity also has the potency of much good. So much so that the Angels were ordered to bow to Adam AS. Granted we will also make mistakes, just as our father Adam AS did when he ate from the tree. But we also have in ourselves remorse and the ability to repent, realize our mistakes, learn from them, and in turn become better human beings.

Going back to the oppressions that we see in our times. We condemn them. That’s the least we can do. Normal human beings will condemn injustice. Normal human beings will condemn oppression of their kin. After all, we are all brothers and sisters from the lineage of our father Adam AS aren’t we? 

There are certain times, many times in fact, where we will feel helpless to help those we want to help. Thus, there are things we need to try to remind ourselves. We will always shed blood. We will always disagree. There will always be oppression and injustice, until the end of time. While doing our best, within our own capacity to eradicate them, know that EVERYTHING is under control. From the rotation of the smallest particles, the leaves that fall, to the expansion of the universe, God is in control. Humanity will continue to shed blood, yet He knows that which we don't know.

Reflections from Al Baqarah, ayah 30 ~

*AS: Alayhissalaam (peace be upon him)
Images are free stock pictures from here and here

All of us will whither in the end…

It’s summer time here in Japan. Although hot, the plants are at their full lushness (it’s around 34 degrees here in Kyoto, and it will get hotter in August). It’s hard to imagine that just a few months ago, at the end of winter, all of these plants didn't even exist. Well, they might have existed as roots, being dormant, as seeds ready to germinate or whatever, but to the naked eye, they were literally, dead.

The weather changed, spring came, and suddenly all these plants just came out of nowhere. Showing their beautiful spring colors. The sakura (cherry blossom) flowers bloomed, the tulips bloomed, the ume (plum) flowers bloomed, along with all the other amazing flowers and plants. Everybody loves spring, photographers particularly. They can get amazing shots that would have been impossible to get in other seasons.

But all this beauty and magnificence, they don't last very long. Cherry blossoms (which is often used to symbolize Japan) are in full bloom for only two weeks at maximum. If rain comes, their display of beauty could end even sooner. And that goes the same for other flowers as well. In fact, even though the trees and plants are at their full lushness right now, in another few months, they will eventually wither and “die” all over again.  

Such is a lesson for all of us. Nothing lasts forever. It’s a cycle of creative magnificence. Just as we were brought into this world as babies, grew strong and beautiful, full of “lushness”, we will also wither and come to our time eventually. Some of us won’t even be given the chance to reach old age. So it is not so far fetched if we were to be raised up again, even if it’s as a new creation all together. Isn’t it easy for The One who created us in the beginning?

The disappearance of religiosity

Not very long ago people used to be religious. They used to hold on to religion and make it their life rope. Their lives revolved around religion. Constitutions of countries were based on articles of faith. Not many people denied God nor questioned whether God exists or not, because for them, the answer was obvious. In fact, I just saw a video of Magic Johnson when he gave a speech on behalf of the US basketball dream team, and the first thing that he mentioned was God. Similar to Hakeem Olajuwon when he was admitted into the NBA hall of fame, where the first thing he said was “I thank God.” I believe that we wouldn’t hear that kind of opening from this generation of NBA players.

Look at how degraded we have become. The quality of our religiosity and the religiosity of the society has dropped so far that it has come to the point where many don’t even want to admit/believe in God. Nowadays, by rejecting God, people feel as if they’re cool, smart, and liberated. Feeling a false sense of superiority, believing that they’re modern thinkers, thinking ahead of others. Of course we are free to think what we want to think. But feeling superior because of not believing in God is absurd.

The root of the drop in religiosity is perhaps ignorance (which leads to concluding things with inadequate amount of knowledge), greed, and arrogance (which results in rejecting the truth even if he has inclination towards it).

Nevertheless, God is Merciful and opens some doors of guidance to us from time to time. He gives us opportunities to “snap out of it” at certain periods. These opportunities might come through spiritual experiences, interaction with pious people, or maybe through shock therapies that He gives us.

One story about this is eloquently told in the Qur’an. Although I am paraphrasing, I hope that I don't distort it.

There were people that owned a productive and beautiful garden. They benefited from the garden very much and had overwhelming confidence in their skills. They eventually shifted their mindset from attributing their success to God, to attributing their success to themselves and their garden. This mistaken way of thinking is a result of ignorance and arrogance blended together. Forgetting the true nature of things (that God is the one who gives success) and feeling self-sufficient, not needing God. They also developed a selfish attitude, wanting to have all the harvest to themselves without giving any portion to charity. They had a drop in their religiosity.

But then God, being merciful as He is, reminded them through shock therapy. Just as they were about to harvest their crops, they found their garden burnt to ashes. Through this, they “snapped out of it” and realized their mistake in being ignorant, arrogant, and selfish (greedy).

The disappearance of religiosity is most probably attributed to the mentioned traits. We are indoctrinated that success is the fruit of our effort only and that we are entitled to enjoy it alone without sharing it with others.

When we wake up, prepare for work, how many times do we direct our intentions for serving God? When we look at our career and our successes, how many times do we thank God and see it as a blessing that He has blessed upon us? When we receive our monthly payroll, how often do we think about giving a portion of it to charity? If the answer is in the negative, we should try to get back on track and not make the same mistakes of the people of the garden, lest lose our religiosity and share the same destiny.

Exhalting science

Science is fascinating. No doubt about it. I have always loved science. New findings and inventions have always interested me. Whether it’s new findings in physics, biology, archaeology, or whatever, I always spare some time to read them.

The most recent breakthrough is the discovery of the “god particle” (or the Higgs Boson particle), which gives us a whole different dimension in understanding existence of the universe. It’s said that this particle is the particle that gives us mass, and thus scientists say that it could help us understand how the galaxy was formed. Of course, since I am ignorant of this subject, I might have not properly described it.

But anyway, through science, we find new things everyday, about the world around us and about ourselves. Through science we also find ways to develop new technology that can help us in our interaction with the world, and alter the way we live our lives.

However, there are times when people become too obsessed with science, and think that it is the only option for humanity to understand the world and our existence. So much so that they disregard other ways that can be used to explain the difficult questions that we ask about (life, death, and other matters of the unseen).

Many people would argue that just because something cannot be proven scientifically right now, it doesn’t mean it can’t be proven in the future. But realistically, there are things that can just never be explained by science, forever. But then again, some people won’t be able to accept that notion. Some people have made science absolute; they have made it their god.

For Muslims, religion and spirituality answers many questions of the unseen. Regarding life, death, the soul, what comes after and before life, etc. For Muslims, science actually goes along with spirituality. They do not contradict at all. The Muslims reached the epitome of science in their civilization when spiritualism was also at its peak. Science and spiritualism complete each other. By getting better understanding of God’s creations, it will only increase the awe towards the perfectness of what He created. Whether we study about the laws of physics, biological processes in nature, astronomy, etc.

In truth, science is just one tool of many that can be used to understand things. On top of that, there are still so many things that science cannot explain properly, even things that happen everyday within ourselves such as yawning, adolescence, and blushing. And of course about other things: our soul, life, death, moral truth, etc. So wouldn't it be wise to at least take a look at what religion has to offer before judging it illogical and absurd?

Envying the glamorous life

As the consequence of being bombarded by materialism through the mainstream media, we are often tempted with all the glamour and glitter that it offers us. From the lifestyle of rich CEO's, Hollywood actors, athletes, political figures, and others, we are convinced to think that their lives are THE lives that we want.

Surrounded by an overwhelming amount of money, beautiful people, exotic food, expensive gadgets and cars, and many other materialistic pleasures, we are made to aspire and envy the lives that they have. Forget about all their unsuccessful marriages, misusage of alcohol and drugs, and even the depression (which often leads to suicide or death) that goes along with it. Their lives are the lives we should want (says the people who are in control).

And unfortunately, we fall into the traps that are sprung. We become milk cows of the ones who are pulling the strings. We think the way they want us to think. And as the consequence, we consume the things that they want us to consume, use the brands they want us to use, and in order to keep us constantly asleep / in delusion, they keep serving us with empty dreams through all the media they control, whether it be by TV, magazines, internet, etc.

It's interesting how human psychology has stayed the same over the millennia. This envy towards richness and comfort is most definitely not a new thing. In the Qur’an, it is told about the story of Qarun. He was amongst the people of the Prophet Moses (AS). He was blessed by God to have immense amount of wealth, so much so that the weight of the keys to his depositories alone would be a burden for several able bodied men.

Qarun had a glamorous life, similar to of those who are in the media that we see. He was also boastful and arrogant with what he had, claiming it was not from God, but rather was a result of his own wits, ability and hard work. Of course, this is not true, as everything is a blessing from God, which is given to us as a test to show whether we can be grateful or not. Qarun forgot that everything he had, his wealth, his hands, his health, his body, his abilities, his will, his life, and everything that he can think of, is a blessing from God.

Many people were envious to what he had, and wished to have the same. However, the people of knowledge were able to see beyond the wealth and riches, and reminded the people that everything that one has, including wealth, is not beneficial in any way if not used for the sake of God (to seek rewards for the next life).

Eventually the earth swallowed Qarun along with his riches, and none of his efforts and wealth were able to save him from what happened. The people then realized their mistaken way of thinking. It is God who distributes wealth and gives it to whomever He wants, and we should be grateful with whatever we have.

Being envious to people who are living glamorous lives is a disease that we must try to get rid of. There is no harm in being wealthy. In fact we should work hard to be able to provide for others and ourselves. By being wealthy, we could have opportunities to help others. What’s important is not to make the wealth and glamour itself as our end goal. Our goal should be God’s pleasure. And by His will, through all our wealth and efforts, we will be admitted to a place where we will definitely live a glamorous life (for eternity). May God make us people who use our wealth for His sake and strive to do goodness throughout our lives.

Our interconnectedness through oxygen

It may sound cliché, but yes, we are all connected, somehow, someway. Humans, animals, plants, rocks, water, air, within the cosmos. But what we might not realize is that the interconnection is much more intimate than we might have imagined. We are even strongly connected to extinct creatures that have roamed the earth millions of years ago. To simply say it, a part of them might be living inside of us.

I am rephrasing this from a book that I read a long time ago (around 10 years long). The book was David Suzuki’s “sacred balance”, which as I can remember, talked about our relationship with nature and how we are affected with the natural phenomenon that occurs around us.  

In the book, he talks about how we are all connected through an act that we are constantly engaged in, breathing. We could fully understand what this means if we know the mechanism of breathing. And I think we should ought to at least be curious, as it is an act we do on average 20.000 times in one day. I don't quite remember his exact words in the book, so I’ll use another source to use as reference.

When we breathe, we take in air from the environment. The air that we breathe contains a lot of different things. It can contain dust, bacteria, and obviously gas. Within air, there are different gases. There’s nitrogen (70%), oxygen (20%), argon (1%), carbon dioxide (0.03%), and other gases. But our body uses only oxygen when we breathe.

Oxygen enters into the body through the respiration system and is diffused into the blood capillaries. Now here’s where it gets really interesting. Oxygen bonds to hemoglobin, one of the components of blood. The hemoglobin in our blood forms a complex with 8 oxygen molecules, and thus the oxygen we just inhaled becomes a part of our body. So you see, oxygen doesn't just come in and go out just like that. It becomes a part of us for a period of time. The oxygen is then transported to the cells where it is used in the process to create energy. In this process, oxygen is transformed into carbon dioxide and is eventually released from the body.

Carbon dioxide is then transformed again into oxygen through plant photosynthesis. And then the same oxygen molecule is used by other organisms for respiration, and becomes a part of them for a short period of time. So the oxygen molecule that bonded to us might have also been a part of a dinosaur, other people, plants, fish, bacteria, or any other organism. A part of them lived inside of us!

It’s amazing how we are so much connected with everything else. And so it is our duty as God's stewards/vicegerents/khalifah on earth to protect and maintain the balance (mizan). But ironically, we are doing the opposite with our consumption practices, pollution, exploitation of earth’s resources, etc. Animals go extinct, forests disappear, rivers being polluted, and it goes on and on. We need to at least start with ourselves. By realizing our interconnectedness with every other being on this earth, hopefully God will put into our hearts the wisdom to want to protect and preserve them, as in truth, that is our duty as His stewards on earth.