At an educational institution: Professing to be wise, they became fools ….

“LET ME EXPLAIN THE problem science has with God.”

The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

“You’re a Muslim, aren’t you, son?”
“Yes, sir.”
“So you believe in God?”
“Absolutely.”
“Is God good?”
“Sure! God’s good.”
“Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?”
“Yes.”

The professor grins knowingly and considers for a moment.

“Here’s one for you. Let’s say there’s a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help them? Would you try?”
“Yes sir, I would.”
“So you’re good…!”
“I wouldn’t say that.”
“Why not say that? You would help a sick and maimed person if you could in fact most of us would if we could… God doesn’t.”

[No answer]

“He doesn’t, does he? My brother was a Muslim who died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him. How is this God good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?”

[No answer]

The elderly man is sympathetic.
“No, you can’t, can you?” He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax. In philosophy, you have to go easy with the new ones. Let’s start again, young fella.”
“Is God good?”
“Er… Yes.”
“Is Satan good?”
“No.”
“Where does Satan come from?” The student falters.
“From… God…”
“That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he?”

The elderly man runs his bony fingers through his thinning hair and turns to the smirking, student audience.

“I think we’re going to have a lot of fun this semester, ladies and gentlemen.”

He turns back to the Muslim.

“Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? Did God make everything?”
“Yes.”
“Who created evil?”
[No answer]
“Is there sickness in this world? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All the terrible things – do they exist in this world?”

The student squirms on his feet.

“Yes.”
“Who created them? ”
[No answer]

The professor suddenly shouts at his student.

“WHO CREATED THEM? TELL ME, PLEASE!”

The professor closes in for the kill and climbs into the Muslim’s face. In a still small voice:
“God created all evil, didn’t He, son?”
[No answer]

The student tries to hold the steady, experienced gaze and fails.Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace the front of the classroom like an aging panther. The class is mesmerized.

“Tell me,” he continues, “How is it that this God is good if He created all evil throughout all time?”

The professor swishes his arms around to encompass the wickedness of the world.

“All the hatred, the brutality, all the pain, all the torture, all the death and ugliness and all the suffering created by this good God is all over the world, isn’t it, young man?”
[No answer]
“Don’t you see it all over the place? Huh?”

Pause.

“Don’t you?”
The professor leans into the student’s face again and whispers, Is God good?”
[No answer]
“Do you believe in God, son?”

The student’s voice betrays him and cracks.

“Yes, professor. I do.”

The old man shakes his head sadly.

“Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. You have never seen God, Have you?
“No, sir. I’ve never seen Him.”
“Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your God?”
“No, sir. I have not.”
“Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God or smelt your God…in fact, do you have any sensory perception of your God whatsoever?”
[No answer]
“Answer me, please.”
“No, sir, I’m afraid I haven’t.”
“You’re AFRAID… you haven’t?”
“No, sir.”
“Yet you still believe in him?”
“…yes…”
“That takes FAITH!” The professor smiles sagely at the underling. According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son? Where is your God now?”
[The student doesn't answer]
“Sit down, please.”

The Muslim sits…Defeated. Another Muslim raises his hand.

“Professor, may I address the class?”

The professor turns and smiles.
“Ah, another Muslim in the vanguard! Come, come, young man. Speak some proper wisdom to the gathering.”

The Muslim looks around the room.
“Some interesting points you are making, sir. Now I’ve got a question for you.
“Is there such thing as heat?”
“Yes,” the professor replies.
“There’s heat.”
“Is there such a thing as cold?”
“Yes, son, there’s cold too.”
“No, sir, there isn’t.”

The professor’s grin freezes. The room suddenly goes very cold. The second Muslim continues.

“You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat but we don’t have anything called ‘cold’. We can hit 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold, otherwise we would be able to go colder than 458 – - You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold.”
“Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it.”

Silence. A pin drops somewhere in the classroom.

“Is there such a thing as darkness, professor?”
“That’s a dumb question, son. What is night if it isn’t darkness? What are you getting at…?
“So you say there is such a thing as darkness?”
“Yes…”
“You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it’s called darkness, isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, Darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker and give me a jar of it. Can you…give me a jar of darker darkness, professor?”

Despite himself, the professor smiles at the young effrontery before him. This will indeed be a good semester.

“Would you mind telling us what your point is, young man?”
“Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with and so your conclusion must be in error….”
“The professor goes toxic.” Flawed…? How dare you…!”
“Sir, may I explain what I mean?”

The class is all ears.

“Explain… oh, explain…”

The professor makes an admirable effort to regain control. Suddenly he is affability itself. He waves his hand to silence the class, for the student to continue.

“You are working on the premise of duality,” the Muslim explains.”That for example there is life and then there’s death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science cannot even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism but has never seen, much less fully understood them. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, merely the absence of it.”

The young man holds up a newspaper he takes from the desk of a neighbor who has been reading it.

“Here is one of the most disgusting tabloids this country hosts, professor. Is there such a thing as immorality?”
“Of course there is, now look…”
“Wrong again, sir. You see, immorality is merely the absence of morality. Is there such thing as injustice? No. Injustice is the absence of justice. Is there such a thing as evil?”

The Muslim pauses.

“Isn’t evil the absence of good?”

The professor’s face has turned an alarming colour. He is so angry he is temporarily speechless.

The Muslim continues.

“If there is evil in the world, professor, and we all agree there is, then God, if he exists, must be accomplishing a work through the agency of evil. What is that work, God is
accomplishing? Islam tells us it is to see if each one of us will, choose good over evil.”

The professor bridles.

“As a philosophical scientist, I don’t view this matter as having anything to do with any choice; as a realist, I absolutely do not recognize the concept of God or any other theological factor as being part of the world equation because God is not observable.”
“I would have thought that the absence of God’s moral code in this world is probably one of the most observable phenomena going,” the Muslim replies.
“Newspapers make billions of dollars reporting it every week! Tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?”
“If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do.”
“Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?”

The professor makes a sucking sound with his teeth and gives his student a silent, stony stare.

“Professor. Since no-one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a priest?”
“I will overlook your impudence in the light of our philosophical discussion. Now, have you quite finished?” the professor hisses.
“So you don’t accept God’s moral code to do what is righteous?”
“I believe in what is – that’s science!”
“Ahh! SCIENCE!” the student’s face splits into a grin.
“Sir, you rightly state that science is the study of observed phenomena. Science too is a premise which is flawed…”
“SCIENCE IS FLAWED..?” the professor splutters.

The class is in uproar. The Muslim remains standing until the commotion has subsided.

“To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, may I give you an example of what I mean?”

The professor wisely keeps silent. The Muslim looks around the room.

“Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen air, Oxygen, molecules, atoms, the professor’s brain?”

The class breaks out in laughter. The Muslim points towards his elderly, crumbling tutor.

“Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain…felt the professor’s brain, touched or smelt the professor’s brain?”

No one appears to have done so. The Muslim shakes his head sadly.

“It appears no-one here has had any sensory perception of the professor’s brain whatsoever. Well, according to the rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science, I DECLARE that the professor has no brain! As we can’t feel it, we can’t touch it; we can’t ever smell it using our sense.

NOW IT IS EVERYONE’S CHANCE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT ISLAM, ABOUT GOD, ABOUT THE PURPOSE OF EXISTENCE OF CREATION AND LIFE, ABOUT THE MESSENGERS OF GOD, & ABOUT HIS HOLY BOOKS, ESPECIALLY THE HOLY QUR’AAN. THEN IT IS YOUR CHOICE TO BECOME A MUSLIM, OR NOT.

Allah says in the His Holy Book:

There is no compulsion in religion; truly the right way has become clearly distinct from error; and he who rejects false deities and believes in Allah (The God) has grasped a firm handhold which will never break and Allah is ALL-Hearing, All-Knowing 2:256

Allah is the Protecting Guardian of those who believe. He brings them out of the darkness into the light; as for those who disbelieve, their guardians are false deities. They bring them out of light into darkness…(257)”

The Muslim sits… Because that is what a chair is for!!!

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Hey guys. Lols, it has been decades since the last time I ever considered clicking on the “add new post” button lol. I was so busy with exam until I’ve forgotten everything about being a human. I mean real human, real homo sapien.

I’ve forgotten to cut my hair and most importantly my physical cleanliness. So it happened that I decided to cut my hair right after my last paper, Accounts which had been delayed for months. I couldn’t bare to be nudged by teachers regarding my hair. Seriously I gave up.

Frankly, I haven’t really planned what will I be doing this holiday. I just know I’d be busy with my tuition life. This happens every year and it has been one of my school holiday activity traditions.

I just know there will be extra classes for Chemistry, Miss Linda, BM, Grace Tay and Add Maths, Mr. Low. The most suffering day would be this oncoming Friday where I will be having 4 classes in a row, starting with Add Maths, followed by BM double period and finally Maths.

Apart from all the miseries that I’ll be facing soon, I’m actually quite happy and contented with yesterday event. It was our school Hari Kecemerlangan.

We were having this rehearsal since last Thursday as if it’s a really grand event. I somehow pity the teachers as they’re the ones who had to arrange and organize the whole thing. We were the kings of the day.

At first all the the students were called to gather in our grand hall. What I hated so much about this whole thing is because it was not planned accordingly.

Everything was like so hectic with one program overlapping another mercilessly and it happened exactly the day where we must hand in our Add Maths project.

Could you imagine on Thursday we were told it’d be our PEKA. I’m not sure if you guys ever completed your PEKA, just tell me how long did you take to finish one assignment? Lols. Exactly, I be it’d be hours! So we ended up not finishing even one PEKA lol.

Everything was ruined by the rehearsal programme. I was actually busy doing my Physics thingy, not realizing the whole agenda even teacher was shouting through the microphone.

We were seriously late as everyone was reluctant to move around and busying with PEKA (the hall was quite far from our class). After we reached to the hall, everything was already done by the juniors.

The chairs were well arranged and the decorations were already made by teachers. Yeah, teachers. Who else would be bothering about the grand event when all the students were busy procrastinating? Good thing you notice!

The next day was the big day. I could say the whole programme was okay. Not to say overly boring although I was kinnda suffering from a complete loneliness.

I was sitting behind with another friend who I barely talk. My other talkative friends were sitting in front enjoying while I was behind dying in a disasterous boredom. Perhaps another questionable system.

I somehow disagree with the system where all the Jayid students were driven outside. There were tents for them outside the hall which I reckoned a subtle discrimination towards them.

They were excellent students too but were treated less fortunate. Although our hall is big but there’s still limitation. I just hope this won’t happen again next year.

The long listing of “nobel prize” winners was outnumbered and I finally given up waiting for the ceremony to end. So I sneaked out of the hall, went to the canteen for eating spree, took all my certificates and went off with my dad.

My friend Ihsan received 5 awards and other friends receive many awards too. I think I should try harder for more awards next time lol. I think I will upload the photos taken when I was receiving the prize later.

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I am ethnically a Russian Jew. My quest began when I was 19 years old. I was recovering from my stint with Scientology (yes I was brainwashed into it).

My belief in God was uncertain. My goals in life were to be a rock star. I was living in my Pasadena apartment and working as a secretary. Funny, I know.

One night I was walking to the kitchen, and encountered a dark fellow. I remembered asking him: “Can I keep this vodka in the fridge tonight?” We shook hands and went to sleep. After that point, my life changed drastically…

This dark fellow, a Muslim, was the first Muslim I had ever met. Extremely curious, I conversed with him about his faith. What’s this stuff I hear about praying 5 times a day? And about Holy War? Who is this Mohammed guy?

Our talks were accompanied by our Christian roommate, Wade. Together, we created “The Jewish, Christian, and Muslim dialogue sessions”. In it, we discovered many differences, and many commonalities.

My interest had then shifted from sex, drugs, and parties, to a massive search for the truth. A search that I had to complete. A search for God. And a search for how to follow him.

In my quest for the truth, I asked myself: “Ok let’s start simple, how many God’s do I think are out there?” I figured only one; knowing that a divided God is weaker than One God; figuring that if one God didn’t agree with the other, there might be arguments and feuds. One God was my choice.

Once I opened up my mind to the possibility of the existence of God, I analyzed both atheist and theist beliefs. The thing that directed me to the latter was the quote “Every design has a designer”. With that in mind, eventually I woke up with certainty that God exists. I can’t explain why, I just felt it somehow.

This newfound excitement was accompanied by a sense of responsibility to follow the Creator. The world of religion was my next frontier.

Then I asked myself, “Where do I start?” There are literally thousands of them. I need a way to narrow them down to a just a few. How do I accomplish such a task? “Find the ones that are monotheistic” entered my mind. “Hey that makes sense, since I believe in only One God.”

Ok, then. This ruled out Buddhism and Hinduism, both being polytheistic faiths. The major religions I encountered that fell under the title of Monotheistic, where Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Well since I’m a Jew, I started with Judaism. One God, some prophets, 10 commandments, Torah, Jewish souls…uh, what: “Jewish souls?”

While doing research this idea was brought to my attention. The story goes, “if a person is born Jewish, then they have a Jewish soul, and they must follow Judaism.” Hold on a sec…that’s discrimination, isn’t it? That’s not universal.

So God makes Jewish souls, and Christian souls, and Muslim souls, and Hindu souls? I thought all men are created equal? So, because one is born into a religion that means by the decree of God he must remain in it… even if the person believes it to be false? Hmm…I don’t agree with that.

Another thing really bothered me…there is no strict concept of hell in Judaism…then why be good? Why not sin? If I don’t have fear of strict punishment, then why should I be moral?

Moving on, I discovered Christianity. Ok, one God, a father, a son, and a holy ghost…one more time: one God, a father, a son, and a holy ghost. Uhhh, please explain. How can all those things be one God? 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 right? So how can you say you believe in only one God?

Explanation after explanation, equation after equation, comparison after comparison, analogy after analogy, I couldn’t grasp this concept. Ok let’s keep looking here.

Ok, next major doctrine: Jesus died for our sins and he did this because we all are polluted with “Original Sin”. So, Jesus Christ, the “son of God”, had to be murdered to save everyone from Hell and cure us of our sin “given” to us by Adam.

Ok then, so are you saying that we are all born as sinners? And to sin is to do something wrong right? Then you’re telling me that a one-year old baby is guilty of sin or doing something wrong? Ok that’s strange, so based on the actions of one man, all of mankind must suffer? What’s the moral of that story? Punish the whole group if one deviates? Why would God create such a rule? That’s just not in agreement with my logic.

So Jesus died because he “loves mankind”. Hold on, it says in the Bible that Jesus said “father, why have you forsaken me?” So, apparently, Jesus didn’t understand why he was being brutally murdered. But you just said he “volunteered” to be sacrificed. Anyway, I couldn’t accept this belief. Ok, what’s the next religion?

Islam. Islam means submission. The main beliefs are as follows: One God, worship God five times a day, give 2.5% annual charity, fast during Ramadan (to be closer to God and appreciate life…among other reasons) and finally journey to Mecca for Hajj if you are able financially. Ok, nothing hard to understand so far.

There’s nothing that conflicts with my logic here. The Qur’an is a book with all of these interesting miracles and timeless wisdom. Many scientific facts only discovered recently where proclaimed 1400 years ago in this book.

Ok, Islam had passed my initial religious prerequisites. But I wanted to ask some deep questions about it. Is this religion universal? Yes, anyone can understand these basic beliefs…no analogy or equation are needed. Does it agree with science? Yes, dozens of verses in the Qur’an agree with modern science and technology.

As I sifted through the countless logical facts that I read through and researched, one thing took my attention the most. “Islam”. The name of this religion. I noticed it is written many times in this Qur’an.

However, recalling my prior studies, I didn’t remember once seeing the word “Judaism” in the Old Testament or “Christianity” in the New Testament. This was BIG. Why couldn’t I find the very name of the religions in those two books? Because, there is no name in these books! Thinking…I noticed that “Judaism” could be broken down to “Juda- ism” and “Christianity” could be respectively “Christ-ianity”.

So who is Juda? Or Judah, rather. He was the tribe leader of the Hebrews when God revealed his message to mankind. So this religion was named after…a person. Ok let’s look at who Christ is. He was the person who delivered the message of God to the Jews. So this religion was named after…a person.

So in recollection, we can deduct that the names of these religions are people’s proper names attached to “ism” and “ianity”. Regardless of that fact, the very names of those religions are not mentioned in their scriptures. I thought that was very odd.

If I went door to door selling a product, and I said “Would you like to buy this _______”? Wouldn’t the logical question be: “What is this _____ called?” I would make no money off of a product without a name.

Naming is the very basis which humans identify with objects, both physical and non-physical. If religion is supposed to be practiced and spread to every person on earth, shouldn’t there be a NAME for it?

Moreover, shouldn’t the name be given to us from God Almighty? YES, my point exactly. The names “Christianity” and “Judaism” were not written in the Holy Scriptures. Humans named them, not God. The notion that God would ordain a religion for mankind to follow without a name is impossible for my mind to accept.

At that point, both Christianity and Judaism lost their credibility as pure, logical, and complete religions, at least from my perspective.

Islam is the ONLY of these religions to include the NAME of the religion in its scriptures. This is so huge for me.

I realized I would follow Islam at that point. I then became a Muslim. I knew the truth. I was out of the darkness. I came into the light…

Taken from here and special thanks to Turnip. I’d found the article in English and it seems nicer

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I am an atheist, or at least I was; now I’m not so sure. I’ve recently been thinking about Islam but I’m having several crises.

1) I am in love with a Muslim (unmarried) and I feel that she is acting as kind of a catalyst in me coming to Islam. There are many reasons besides her but I am worried that her centrality and my desire to be with her in a proper and pure relationship (we are currently friends) rather taint my religious pursuit. In some ways I can’t separate my quest for Islam with my quest for her.

2) I have visited mosques and have been reading the Quran, websites, and studying one or two books and yet my conversations with her on Islamic issues are far more rewarding, again though I can’t separate my newfound love for her with my pursuit of truth.

3) My family are atheists and I have been raised and educated to pursue everything with an enquiring, intellectual rigour. I feel however that my application of these principals to Islam is leaving it rather cold at times. In some ways I wonder whether this is merely a dispassionate intellectual kind of anthropology rather than a newly acquired faith.

4) In short I don’t FEEL Allah. I want to and I’m learning but how am I supposed to know if my path is becoming perverted by my impure intentions and how do I know when I’m a Muslim? When I feel it in my heart or in my head? I respectfully ask your advice on this matter. Salaam, Yusuf – England

Salam, Questioner.

I greet you with the Muslim greeting of peace. Many thanks for your question and for the honesty with which you describe your current situation. The fact that you are addressing your concerns with both an “enquiring, intellectual rigor” and an open heart reveals just how sincere you are in finding the answer to your question.

The English dictionary writer, Dr. Samuel Johnson, found it difficult to write an entry describing an elephant. He simply wrote that “it is difficult to describe one, but you will know one when you see one.” Without being at all flippant, I think this is how you will know when your quest is over.

People of faith believe that God speaks to them in many different ways. Some people are drawn to Him through science, others through the beauty of nature, while others still find Him in places and events.

In my own case, Allah Almighty drew me to Islam not through listening to a great speech, or through reading books or even by reading the Quran.

My first introduction to Islam came through the simple greeting of a young boy cleaning shoes in the street. The simplicity and the honesty of his faith really touched my heart and set me upon a journey which eventually led me to embrace Islam.

As a speaker now about Islam all over the world, I often tell my audiences that this young boy will be in for a surprise when he meets his Maker. As well as having the good and the bad deeds of his life read out on Judgement Day, he will also learn that his kind greeting was the catalyst that has now brought many to Islam. Without his initial as-salamu alaykum, I would not be writing this answer for you today.

So, for all people, it is different. There is no doubt that many have embraced Islam to marry the one they love, perhaps coming to understand its real message and meaning only some time after their declaration of the Shahadah (the words by which we declare our acceptance of Islam).

I must tell you very clearly, though, that we accept Islam because we believe its message, not to please someone else, no matter how much we might love them. I am sure that you understand this.

Sometimes, people do declare the Shahadah for this reason, only to fall back and turn away from their new faith. It seems to me, though, that your seriousness in finding the right path will help you to avoid such a pitfall.

To put it quite bluntly, you might even find that in accepting Islam your love for this person falls away, and that it was Allah Almighty’s way of drawing you to Himself.

Only a few days ago I witnessed a new brother’s acceptance of Islam in New York. The circumstances were very unusual, but then it is not every day that the Maker of the Heavens and the Earth intervenes in someone’s life and calls them to be Muslim.

This man contacted me via the Internet, leaving the message that if I was still in New York, could I please call him to discuss his conversion to Islam. I called him, but there did not seem time enough for us to meet, so I promised to put him in touch with some good Muslims in New York with whom he could talk. We then said our goodbyes and put down the phone.

After I had done so I began to think. Could it be, I asked myself, that Allah had brought me thousands of miles to the USA so that this man could accept Islam? I called him back, and he told me how pleased he was that I had done so. We made arrangements to meet in the mosque where I was to deliver the Friday sermon, where we spoke for about half an hour.

When the Friday Prayers were over he accepted Islam in front of the Congregation.

How will you know, you ask. Will it be when you feel it in your heart or your head? That is the part I cannot answer. But you will indeed know for sure when the time is right.

I don’t know quite what steps you have taken to look into Islam. Talking and reading are certainly helpful, but they are not going to convince or persuade you because that is not how people come to Islam. They are not persuaded.

They come because they feel called, so I have two small suggestions to make to you. Perhaps you have not thought of doing either.

The first suggestion is that you visit a mosque on your own. No one will challenge you. Just go in and sit quietly on the floor and allow the atmosphere of the place to speak to you.

Ask all your questions there in the silence of your own heart. Ask your questions directly to God. If you feel no reply, don’t despair. He has a way of answering our questions when we least expect an answer.

Another suggestion is something that can be done in the privacy of your own home. If this whole question is important enough to you, set your alarm clock and get up in the last third of the night — around 4 am or so. Almighty Allah tells us that at this time of the night He descends to the lowest of the seven heavens and actively seeks out those who want to speak to Him.

Take a shower or a wash and just sit quietly in the silence and the darkness, once more asking the Maker of the heavens and the earth and everything in between to listen to your cry. The Quran tells us that Allah knows every leaf that falls from every tree, so He will surely know what is troubling you.

If you come from a non-religious, atheist background, both of these suggestions will be outside your own experience. If you are normally used to being in control, they will seem strange to you, precisely since they are quite outside your experience.

If Allah wills it to be so, He will help you to resolve this question which is giving you so much cause for concern. I, too, hope that you will find an answer.

I hope that this has been of some help. Please keep in touch. Peace.

Taken from here

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May Desktop – Nonchalance

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