Friends,
I was surfing an Islamic website,www.islamic-world.net today and discovered a gem!!! This is Malaysian based website!!!. World class!!!Headed by Prof Muhammad al-Mahdi. No Dato'ship or Tan Seri-ship here, just the simple honorific Prof but his contribution to Truth here is better than a hundred Tan Sri's.
If you peruse through my earlier writings, on Tuesday 13th May 2008 I wrote on 'Surah al-Anbiya :The Big Bang and a Century of Science',my 2nd article in the blog in fact, after the celebrated 'Lina Joy' affair.
[also, Surah al-Anbiya 21 : 30, 'heavens and earth.' start from one point....May 18th, 2008.....].
I was lamenting on the inability of most Western physicists 'to see God' in their work. Their inability and refusal to see ' intelligent design' behind this universe, even though , of all people the physicists are the ones 'mapping out' the 'finger print' of God on this universe."Intelligent design' stood out like a sore 'elephant' in front of them! A high sense of 'ignorant arrogance' or most probably 'feigned ignorance' of the 1st order that 99 % of them missed it..
Any 2nd year science students across the globe would be familiar with Heisenburg Uncertainty Principle of matter. From there one proceed to the more 'hazy' and mind boggling Albert Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity and his famous formullae : E=MC squared where E is energy, M stood for Mass and C is a constant representing the speed of light[ 300,000 km per second!]. The collective'destructive' brains of this 'material' world of that time looked at this formullae, within the constraint , stress and rat race to get the 1st nuclear fission bomb during the 2nd World War, and lo and behold we have the 'atom' bomb with such destructive power 'tried' on the 'yellow perils' ie the Japanese. [ Why not on the Germans you may ask...Long story the historians may answer but again history is always written by the victors! Just look at Iraq ! ]
Actually ,E=MC squared, is the formullae that 'unites the spiritual ,'non material' world to the 'material world', according to the good professor. E stands for 'absolute light', that is light itself. M stands for 'relative light' that are made up of electrons,neutrons and protons.One do not see protons, neutrons or electrons but it is there.C is 300,000. You square it and that explain the collousal destruction that followed. On the other hand if you are 'rightly' guided, God willing, you would be able to see God, angels [ alam Malikut , from 'light'], and man from earth as the khalifah of this universe, in such elegant formullae.
Listen to the good Prof Muhammad al-Mahdi carefully in his 'elegant' and mind boogling audio presentation on The True Nature of Reality and 'intelligent design' at : http://http://www.islamic-world.net/
Go to section: Mechanism behind intelligent design, and enjoy the audio. He was the missing link I have been searching since may 2008. I knew for years after reading Abdal Qadir as-Sufi's seminal work, ' The way of Muhammad' ,that E= MC squared has higher meanings than what it seemed but could not put my finger on it .Now Prof Muhammad al-Mahdi had elegantly put it on the 'silver platter' for us all to fathom and gain an 'atom' of insight into God's work : God , the Absolute, malaikat from light, and man from 'earth', 'Time' before time,ten thousand billion billion stars starting from a 'point of singularity'[ Surah al-Anbiya, ayat 30... ], and Kun Fayakun, starting something from nothing!
Carl Sagan, Stephen Hawkin [ A short history of the universe ], Brian Green [ Elegant universe ], Leon Ledderman [ The God particle ], and above all the rest, Albert Einstein himself, all knew too much science but all these men of science, like those 'blind men' feeling the proverbial 'elephant' missed the crux of the matter when they are too proud and too arrogant to accept the truth and follow their conscience to where their knowledge lead them. You can have an IQ of 200 and the best read in the world but without 'hidayah' you are just like a donkey carrying a whole load of books! As the Quran succinctly puts it: " They repudiated them wrongly and haughtily, in spite of their own certainty about them. See the final fate of the corrupters." [ Surah an-Naml, 14 ]
GOd need no science to validate Him before ,now or in the future,but in 2009 when science reigned supreme in our psyche, and when one 'hamba allah' with a strong background of quantum physics come along who can justify the universe along scientific lines, then why not?I am proud to be Malaysian today!
Listen to Prof Muhammad al-Mahdi......
Dr Nik Howk
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Spiritual Confusion, Liberal Islam...A Dissenting View
Friends,
A major problem with Muslim Malaysia nowadays, if one examine the issue of 'religious and political freedom of expression' closely, is not that of increasing narrowness of freedom of expression per se. Accepted that we are not America, and nor do we want to be America or Britain. People who still wish we are perhaps can softly and quietly migrate to these 'so called 'Lands of the Free' where there they can 'burn the Quran', if one fine day they woke up on the wrong side of their beds and in their hearts of hearts,felt so. That is freedom as they interpret it.Freedom to denigrate and sneer thy neighbours!
Malaysian's freedom , so to speak, has been 'hijacked' by some few individuals who are 'media savvy',be it electronic, mainstream or within the cyber space.It is a case of a small group given the option and the 'public space' by people who control the mainly secular media[ for purpose to further their own interest], to make the loudest noise, as if they are the mainstream 'thoughts and soul of our soceity. In the main, these individuals generally are upper Malay middle class in upbringing, have excellent control of the English language, years and years of public funded secular, oxbridge education or the likes, and until recently, highly sought after and courted by the so called National Press [ Thank God, that Mamak fella has lost his job with NST and now using his talent elsewhere !] and print media. Their hobby horse: pandering to the gallery of mainly ignorant, similarly secular audience, Malay Muslims and non Muslims Malaysians ready to join the bandwagon of 'Islam bashing', at least if not physical, 'mental' will do [ just read the letters section of Farish's OtherMalaysia blog in the 'link' section, and you will know what I mean.]
These individuals are no doubt Muslim by names [ and sadly by 'National definition'], less so in spirit. They are what God termed as 'sellers of the Religion for a 'fistfull of ringgit'. They , at least for some of them , enjoy unlimited business class travel to oversea conferences selling their 'moans and groans'[ you know who I am alluding to], international media hypes and funding [ Ford Foundation funded some of them to the hilt], etc etc and etc.If they are within the academic circles, they get their 'highs' from the gallery of applause whenever they 'score' with their convoluted arguments and circuitous reasonings.
A major problem with Muslim Malaysia nowadays, if one examine the issue of 'religious and political freedom of expression' closely, is not that of increasing narrowness of freedom of expression per se. Accepted that we are not America, and nor do we want to be America or Britain. People who still wish we are perhaps can softly and quietly migrate to these 'so called 'Lands of the Free' where there they can 'burn the Quran', if one fine day they woke up on the wrong side of their beds and in their hearts of hearts,felt so. That is freedom as they interpret it.Freedom to denigrate and sneer thy neighbours!
Malaysian's freedom , so to speak, has been 'hijacked' by some few individuals who are 'media savvy',be it electronic, mainstream or within the cyber space.It is a case of a small group given the option and the 'public space' by people who control the mainly secular media[ for purpose to further their own interest], to make the loudest noise, as if they are the mainstream 'thoughts and soul of our soceity. In the main, these individuals generally are upper Malay middle class in upbringing, have excellent control of the English language, years and years of public funded secular, oxbridge education or the likes, and until recently, highly sought after and courted by the so called National Press [ Thank God, that Mamak fella has lost his job with NST and now using his talent elsewhere !] and print media. Their hobby horse: pandering to the gallery of mainly ignorant, similarly secular audience, Malay Muslims and non Muslims Malaysians ready to join the bandwagon of 'Islam bashing', at least if not physical, 'mental' will do [ just read the letters section of Farish's OtherMalaysia blog in the 'link' section, and you will know what I mean.]
These individuals are no doubt Muslim by names [ and sadly by 'National definition'], less so in spirit. They are what God termed as 'sellers of the Religion for a 'fistfull of ringgit'. They , at least for some of them , enjoy unlimited business class travel to oversea conferences selling their 'moans and groans'[ you know who I am alluding to], international media hypes and funding [ Ford Foundation funded some of them to the hilt], etc etc and etc.If they are within the academic circles, they get their 'highs' from the gallery of applause whenever they 'score' with their convoluted arguments and circuitous reasonings.
During Pak Lah's time we see and hear too many of them, discussing Islam and professing their brand of Islam even within the proximity of Sri Perdana Putrajaya. That phase of political 'immunity' has ended but one has only to read the writings of the likes of Farish Noor and Marina Mahathir et al to realise that they are still well and flourishing.
It is always fashionable, and trendy to lament on politically correct but contentious issues such as 'human rights', gay rights, liberal feminism, the unfairness of 'Faraid', polygamy in Islam, 'democratic space' to discuss and dissect Islam in the lay press[ for whatever it means ] by 'lay' people etc etc but these chaps do have to thread carefully on issues that borders on the 'aqidah'. To make matters worse open it to a gallery of equally ignorant and secular minded populace, and at worse to non Muslims. In plural Malaysia I question the wisdom of this very public 'slaying' of Islam. It is alright if one wants to burn one's bra or even the Quran in Central Square, Copenhagen.Not inKuala Lumpur, please....
Yes, it is similarly trendy and sounds intellectually profound to be able to say that 'at the highest level, there is transcendence of all religions, that all religions are the same' but do these people understand or comprehend what they are regurgitating like parrots what the likes of erudite scholars like Martin Ling, Prof Fazlur Rahman, Hussien Nasr et al, meant. Even then, the fully 'converted' like Prof Syed Naguib al Attas, former doyen of ISTAC and his more humble and junior colleague Prof Wan Muhammad of ATMA UKM, have high reservation. Certainly both of them think Martin Ling et al are treading on 'boggy ground'.
The contentious issue of 'transcendence of religions aside', it is easier to accept that 'Kufr at its highest level, does transcends all religions'. Serious food for thought.
" Is he who goeth groping on his face more rightly guided, or he who walketh on a straight road? [22]. Say [unto them , O Muhammad]: He it is who gave you being, and hath assigned unto you ears and eyes and hearts. Small thanks gave ye! [23].".......[ Surah al Mulk: 67, 22-23 ]
It is always fashionable, and trendy to lament on politically correct but contentious issues such as 'human rights', gay rights, liberal feminism, the unfairness of 'Faraid', polygamy in Islam, 'democratic space' to discuss and dissect Islam in the lay press[ for whatever it means ] by 'lay' people etc etc but these chaps do have to thread carefully on issues that borders on the 'aqidah'. To make matters worse open it to a gallery of equally ignorant and secular minded populace, and at worse to non Muslims. In plural Malaysia I question the wisdom of this very public 'slaying' of Islam. It is alright if one wants to burn one's bra or even the Quran in Central Square, Copenhagen.Not inKuala Lumpur, please....
Yes, it is similarly trendy and sounds intellectually profound to be able to say that 'at the highest level, there is transcendence of all religions, that all religions are the same' but do these people understand or comprehend what they are regurgitating like parrots what the likes of erudite scholars like Martin Ling, Prof Fazlur Rahman, Hussien Nasr et al, meant. Even then, the fully 'converted' like Prof Syed Naguib al Attas, former doyen of ISTAC and his more humble and junior colleague Prof Wan Muhammad of ATMA UKM, have high reservation. Certainly both of them think Martin Ling et al are treading on 'boggy ground'.
The contentious issue of 'transcendence of religions aside', it is easier to accept that 'Kufr at its highest level, does transcends all religions'. Serious food for thought.
" Is he who goeth groping on his face more rightly guided, or he who walketh on a straight road? [22]. Say [unto them , O Muhammad]: He it is who gave you being, and hath assigned unto you ears and eyes and hearts. Small thanks gave ye! [23].".......[ Surah al Mulk: 67, 22-23 ]
Saturday, June 13, 2009
'Muslim Blood-letting' all across the globe.......
Friends,
"Muslim blood-letting' is occuring with alarming regularity in the past and present. It is no longer on 'an individual basis' but also has been upgraded as a 'national sport' in some regions of the world. Just take the case of the recent massarce in Narathiwat, Southern Thailand when eleven people were machine gunned to death in a mosque. It sounds like Peshawar or Rawalpindi and the Thai government was fast in putting the blame on intra Muslim strife as the cause, assuming there are 'naive people' around the world able to accept whatever they put up with. One basic important ingredient was missing in the Patani Massarce,which is the sine qua non of all intra Muslim blood letting the world over: schism amongst the Muslims of Narathiwat, as there are in Pakistan. They are 100 % Sunni !
It is high time the Buddhist government of Thailand wake up and set their 'Southern House' in order. World Muslim tolerance of what is going on can only go so far. If you' cannot govern and feed 'your' people despite their differences in the way they pray, give them liberty or give them autonomy . Fifty years on and 'you' guys are still searching for a formulla. That is poor governance by any standard. 'You' are very lucky the Muslim world is so disunited and in disarray ! And for God sake please stop pointing fingers at your neighbours !
Prophet Muhammad[ peace be upon him] was 100 % spot on when he prophesised 1450 years ago, in a well known hadith sahih, that 'there will come a time in the future when Muslims would be pushed aside like flotsams in the ocean'. A sahabat asked him what was wrong with the Muslims, were they few in number and he replied that ' they were numerous then but they all have lost the spirit of Islam, they are Muslims in name only' to that effect as I recall.
OIC as usual looks on and say 'Oh I see'.
Dr Nik Howk
Read: Of Slow Temiang and tales from Yala.....under 'diary', Monday 6th April, 2009
"Muslim blood-letting' is occuring with alarming regularity in the past and present. It is no longer on 'an individual basis' but also has been upgraded as a 'national sport' in some regions of the world. Just take the case of the recent massarce in Narathiwat, Southern Thailand when eleven people were machine gunned to death in a mosque. It sounds like Peshawar or Rawalpindi and the Thai government was fast in putting the blame on intra Muslim strife as the cause, assuming there are 'naive people' around the world able to accept whatever they put up with. One basic important ingredient was missing in the Patani Massarce,which is the sine qua non of all intra Muslim blood letting the world over: schism amongst the Muslims of Narathiwat, as there are in Pakistan. They are 100 % Sunni !
It is high time the Buddhist government of Thailand wake up and set their 'Southern House' in order. World Muslim tolerance of what is going on can only go so far. If you' cannot govern and feed 'your' people despite their differences in the way they pray, give them liberty or give them autonomy . Fifty years on and 'you' guys are still searching for a formulla. That is poor governance by any standard. 'You' are very lucky the Muslim world is so disunited and in disarray ! And for God sake please stop pointing fingers at your neighbours !
Prophet Muhammad[ peace be upon him] was 100 % spot on when he prophesised 1450 years ago, in a well known hadith sahih, that 'there will come a time in the future when Muslims would be pushed aside like flotsams in the ocean'. A sahabat asked him what was wrong with the Muslims, were they few in number and he replied that ' they were numerous then but they all have lost the spirit of Islam, they are Muslims in name only' to that effect as I recall.
OIC as usual looks on and say 'Oh I see'.
Dr Nik Howk
Read: Of Slow Temiang and tales from Yala.....under 'diary', Monday 6th April, 2009
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Muhammad Abduh
"I went to a place where there was Islam without Muslims and I came from a place where there were Muslims without Islam"
Muhammad Abduh, the Egyptian Islamic reformist, on his first visit to Paris.
Muhammad Abduh, the Egyptian Islamic reformist, on his first visit to Paris.
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