The Age of Information is at hand! Behold the Internet! A web of power that envelops the earth and invades the consciousness of every educated human being and of the less privileged, who have only heard legends of it's power.
The power to provide instant gratification to all. Those in search of knowledge. Those seeking truth or opinion. Fact or Fiction. Those seeking friends and companionship or seeking to earn their portion. Those seeking thrills cheaply, or by way of great expense.
You get the general picture. Everyone reading this article and many more besides spend a great deal of time on the internet for many reasons both business and personal. Having an identity on the net is now as important as having a telephone number or a postal address. Somewhere to hang our hats - a place to express our opinions and to view the opinions of others.
Minorities in particular benefit from this phenomena by being able to reach out across distances, great and small, to touch the minds and chat windows of our peers.
This has had the effect of highlighting a common trait in the online world of the Muslim today. By definition, we are educated and love to enhance our knowledge through many means. To read and comment/criticize articles, books, journals, movies and events. Our intellect enables us to absorb vast quantities of knowledge and opinions as well as vast quantities of our time! We are empowered to express our opinions on the opinions of others and as educated and enlightened individuals, why shouldn't we? Surely that is our God given right!
Our view of the world is rational and scientific - based in the reality of the here and now with an occassional thought for the glorious past and the dubious future.
Why then are we unable to reconcile our faith with our understanding of the world today? Why then are we unable to question the beliefs so ceremoniously handed down to us from our forefathers for fear of retribution? How then can we be so superstitious?
'But Wait', you say. 'I'm not superstitious!'
Superstition Test - Take a picture of a loved one and then, without hesitation, try and stab it through the eyes with a pair of scissors or something. Can you? If you can, then indeed you aren't superstitious in the least...but if you can't...why can't you? It's just a picture! A simple exposure of light onto a light sensitive device!
Most of us would fail this 'superstition test'. Perhaps we have inherited superstition through generation upon generation of humanity.
We, as enlightened, moderate, educated individuals, have a number of 'no-go' areas in our lives and minds. We are unable to tackle these, 'head-on', as we tackle almost everything else that this life throws at us. We hesitate, pause, and attempt to find a way to avoid it and if forced to face it, we do so with trepidation.
Our faith is one of the things to suffer from this hesitation. The stream of religious duties and obligations, the rituals and rites, the fear of doing something wrong or for not doing something right - the fear of even thinking the wrong thing let alone expressing it in case of retribution from our Lord or from religious leaders, or of criticism from our religious peers and western colleagues.
How many of you can relate to the following :
As the twin towers crashed to the ground and Islam was blamed I felt the eyes of my colleagues turn to me with incredulity. 'This is what you follow? This is what you condone?' My pleas that it was not Islamic terrorism but only terrorism fell on ears deafened by the noise emanating from the media circus who were eager to pounce on this - almost ready and waiting to pounce.
Today as the deafening roar of the media shows no signs of subsiding, we skirt around the issues, at times expressing ignorance and at other times trying in vain to create a distance between 'us and them', only to find that the trail of breadcrumbs leads back to the doorway of our identity as Muslims.
We have difficulty in reconciling what is portrayed as Islam by mullahs, religious leaders/scholars and what we - as moderate, enlightened, educated individuals expect from the religion prescribed for us by the Creator of everything.
Some of us are of the view that ‘our parents followed it and so must we’, while others push it to a corner of their minds - up on a shelf, in a room rarely visited. Something to be kept in honor of our elders, but not to be shown to the outside world as a part of who we are or want to be seen as. Still others tend to drift away from it, hoping that it will fade away and allow them to just live their lives and some just rebel against it choosing to believe that if some parts of what we are taught are wrong then so must all of it be.
We will happily pick up the latest best-seller and consume it in one bleary eyed night – happy to critically examine the mind of the author and evaluate his/her writing or thinking. We boast of our interest in reading and learning – fact and fiction alike and so literate are we that we know there is no book coming from the mind of humankind that we cannot comprehend - so literate are we.
We hear ample stories of converts to Islam who are progressive and religious and seem to have no difficulty in accepting that, of which some of us feel ashamed. We know that the Quran is a best seller – being sold in huge numbers across the whole world and we feel pride - a resurgence of hope that the predictions of a glorious day when Islam will spread to the four corners of the Earth will come soon so that we can hold up our heads and say 'we are of those who believe'.
And yet. We will not pick up the Quran and read it as it was meant to be read. Very few of us do what is enjoined upon us to do, which is to go to the source - without any middle men to 'explain' it to us and to see whether we can find out for ourselves what the realities are.
To attempt to understand what it is that God is saying in His OPEN LETTER to humankind. To evaluate The Criterion, by which mankind – WE - are to be judged. To ascertain for ourselves The Truth - without addition or alteration or well rehearsed guidance from those who would control us.
Would it help if there was a description on the back as there are on the covers of best sellers these days? ….I’ll leave you with this intro :
Experience the Miracle that is the Quran and study how it revealed science to mankind over 1400 years ago in intricate detail. Discover the Truth about Joseph and his dreams and whether Jesus really spoke as a child. See how the formation of a baby in the womb is described accurately by the All Knowing Author and discover the Truth about rain and clouds - all laid out for us, 1400 years before modern science.
Learn about Love from the Creator of Love and gain insights into the equality of men and women.
This Book has it all and more.
Bonus features include :
The Seen and the Unseen, are we the only sentient life in the Universe?
As yet unfulfilled prophecies
The truth about life and death
The way to achieve ultimate success and happiness
And much, much more……
..and believe me it brings to light a different version of Islam than that which is generally espoused by would-be scholars and religious leaders or the western media.
Doc Mood
The power to provide instant gratification to all. Those in search of knowledge. Those seeking truth or opinion. Fact or Fiction. Those seeking friends and companionship or seeking to earn their portion. Those seeking thrills cheaply, or by way of great expense.
You get the general picture. Everyone reading this article and many more besides spend a great deal of time on the internet for many reasons both business and personal. Having an identity on the net is now as important as having a telephone number or a postal address. Somewhere to hang our hats - a place to express our opinions and to view the opinions of others.
Minorities in particular benefit from this phenomena by being able to reach out across distances, great and small, to touch the minds and chat windows of our peers.
This has had the effect of highlighting a common trait in the online world of the Muslim today. By definition, we are educated and love to enhance our knowledge through many means. To read and comment/criticize articles, books, journals, movies and events. Our intellect enables us to absorb vast quantities of knowledge and opinions as well as vast quantities of our time! We are empowered to express our opinions on the opinions of others and as educated and enlightened individuals, why shouldn't we? Surely that is our God given right!
Our view of the world is rational and scientific - based in the reality of the here and now with an occassional thought for the glorious past and the dubious future.
Why then are we unable to reconcile our faith with our understanding of the world today? Why then are we unable to question the beliefs so ceremoniously handed down to us from our forefathers for fear of retribution? How then can we be so superstitious?
'But Wait', you say. 'I'm not superstitious!'
Superstition Test - Take a picture of a loved one and then, without hesitation, try and stab it through the eyes with a pair of scissors or something. Can you? If you can, then indeed you aren't superstitious in the least...but if you can't...why can't you? It's just a picture! A simple exposure of light onto a light sensitive device!
Most of us would fail this 'superstition test'. Perhaps we have inherited superstition through generation upon generation of humanity.
We, as enlightened, moderate, educated individuals, have a number of 'no-go' areas in our lives and minds. We are unable to tackle these, 'head-on', as we tackle almost everything else that this life throws at us. We hesitate, pause, and attempt to find a way to avoid it and if forced to face it, we do so with trepidation.
Our faith is one of the things to suffer from this hesitation. The stream of religious duties and obligations, the rituals and rites, the fear of doing something wrong or for not doing something right - the fear of even thinking the wrong thing let alone expressing it in case of retribution from our Lord or from religious leaders, or of criticism from our religious peers and western colleagues.
How many of you can relate to the following :
As the twin towers crashed to the ground and Islam was blamed I felt the eyes of my colleagues turn to me with incredulity. 'This is what you follow? This is what you condone?' My pleas that it was not Islamic terrorism but only terrorism fell on ears deafened by the noise emanating from the media circus who were eager to pounce on this - almost ready and waiting to pounce.
Today as the deafening roar of the media shows no signs of subsiding, we skirt around the issues, at times expressing ignorance and at other times trying in vain to create a distance between 'us and them', only to find that the trail of breadcrumbs leads back to the doorway of our identity as Muslims.
We have difficulty in reconciling what is portrayed as Islam by mullahs, religious leaders/scholars and what we - as moderate, enlightened, educated individuals expect from the religion prescribed for us by the Creator of everything.
Some of us are of the view that ‘our parents followed it and so must we’, while others push it to a corner of their minds - up on a shelf, in a room rarely visited. Something to be kept in honor of our elders, but not to be shown to the outside world as a part of who we are or want to be seen as. Still others tend to drift away from it, hoping that it will fade away and allow them to just live their lives and some just rebel against it choosing to believe that if some parts of what we are taught are wrong then so must all of it be.
We will happily pick up the latest best-seller and consume it in one bleary eyed night – happy to critically examine the mind of the author and evaluate his/her writing or thinking. We boast of our interest in reading and learning – fact and fiction alike and so literate are we that we know there is no book coming from the mind of humankind that we cannot comprehend - so literate are we.
We hear ample stories of converts to Islam who are progressive and religious and seem to have no difficulty in accepting that, of which some of us feel ashamed. We know that the Quran is a best seller – being sold in huge numbers across the whole world and we feel pride - a resurgence of hope that the predictions of a glorious day when Islam will spread to the four corners of the Earth will come soon so that we can hold up our heads and say 'we are of those who believe'.
And yet. We will not pick up the Quran and read it as it was meant to be read. Very few of us do what is enjoined upon us to do, which is to go to the source - without any middle men to 'explain' it to us and to see whether we can find out for ourselves what the realities are.
To attempt to understand what it is that God is saying in His OPEN LETTER to humankind. To evaluate The Criterion, by which mankind – WE - are to be judged. To ascertain for ourselves The Truth - without addition or alteration or well rehearsed guidance from those who would control us.
Would it help if there was a description on the back as there are on the covers of best sellers these days? ….I’ll leave you with this intro :
Experience the Miracle that is the Quran and study how it revealed science to mankind over 1400 years ago in intricate detail. Discover the Truth about Joseph and his dreams and whether Jesus really spoke as a child. See how the formation of a baby in the womb is described accurately by the All Knowing Author and discover the Truth about rain and clouds - all laid out for us, 1400 years before modern science.
Learn about Love from the Creator of Love and gain insights into the equality of men and women.
This Book has it all and more.
Bonus features include :
The Seen and the Unseen, are we the only sentient life in the Universe?
As yet unfulfilled prophecies
The truth about life and death
The way to achieve ultimate success and happiness
And much, much more……
..and believe me it brings to light a different version of Islam than that which is generally espoused by would-be scholars and religious leaders or the western media.
Doc Mood
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