If Not Allah, Then Who?

Dr. Pasha

(Bringing Islam to the World One Concept at a Time!
Taking the Qur’an to Every Home and Heart that Needs It —
And which One Does Not?)

One of the most amazing things about Allah’s boundaries is that they work not only with regard to human affairs, but also with regard to all the other animate and inanimate phenomena in the world. Nature, as many people refer to them collectively.

How beautifully Allah puts it in the Qur’an — a pair of Aayats I used to wonder about forever as a child as to what exactly they meant: Marajal Bahraini yaltaqiyaan, bainahumaa barzakhun laa yabghiyaan. Paraphrase: Allah causes the two seas to meet, but in such a way that neither one of the two breaches the barrier that separates them.

Allahu Akbar, what a concept. What an unassailable scientific verity. What a miracle!

The question I ask myself over and over is this: If this Qur’an is not from Allah, and if it is Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, Ma’adhallah, God forbid, who “wrote” it, then who in the world taught this Unlettered Man a most profound scientific fact like this — 1400 years ago, in the heart of an illiterate culture?

And of course it is not the only scientific fact of its kind in the Qur’an.

A World Filled with Allah’s Blessings and Signs

No wonder Allah demands of us in the Qur’an: Fabi-ayyi aalaa-i rabbikumaa tukaddhibaan? Paraphrase: Which one of Allah’s blessings will you deny?

Indeed, which one will we, in a world that is so filled with his blessings and signs?

Or if you want to hear it more directly: Fa-ayya aayaatillahi tunkiroon? Paraphrase: Which one of Allah’s signs will you deny?

How beautiful it is. The first Aayat talks about Allah’s blessings and bounties — Aalaa’ — whereas the second Aayat talks about Allah’s signs and miracles — Aayaat.

The subtle difference between the two expressions Tukaddhibaan and Tunkiroon is simply mind-blowing as they say. The first expression would be more appropriate in cases where someone knows the truth and then deliberately rejects it or lies about it. The second would indicate a failure or inability to recognize facts.

No, I am not launching into Tafseer. Just couldn’t help sharing some of those exciting observations. Besides, anything we ever say about anything is a Tafseer of kalimaatullah anyway, which is endless. For, what else is there in this world except Allah; his Qur’an; his kalimaat; his Rasul, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam; his explanation, illustration and practice of those kalimaat; and the reality which Allah created as a space-time manifestation of his kalimaat?

From “Fun” and “Boundaries” to “Miracles”

We started out talking about “fun”. In one of my earlier Payaams, that is. But before we go any further with this topic, the topic of “fun” I mean, let me explain what I mean by that other expression, “miracle,” that I use so frequently in my writings — and in my speeches, on those rare occasions when I accept a speaking engagement these days — and then I will see if I can get back to talking a bit more about what I mean by “fun.”

For, no matter which way I look at Islam, what I see is a wave upon wave upon wave of miracles. Aankh waalaa teyree qudrat kaa tamaashaa deykhey, as my mother used to sing, Allah bless her. Paraphrase: Anyone with eyes can behold the spectacle of your wonders.

It leaves me speechless when I think of all the poetry some of these Muslim people can remember and recite — some absolutely brilliant and amazing women among them, including my mother, Allah bless her, who is in her nineties. In Urdu, in Farsi, in Arabic, and who knows in what else? Another little miracle of Islam and Muslims in its own right, I must say.

So, What in the World Is a Miracle?

So let us now turn to the question of miracles and ask what in the world is this miracle that I keep talking about all the time? It simply means how, to me, everything about Islam, the Qur’an and the life of Sayyidina Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, is a most spectacular phenomenon in this world, the most amazing thing that you can imagine.

I just call it a miracle — with the small “m” to distinguish it from all the other big things that everyone routinely refers to as miracles such as the flood of Noah, Alaihis Salaam, or the raising of the dead by Jesus, Alaihis Salaam, or the parting of the sea by Moses, Alaihis Salaam.

That means to me everything in the creation of Allah is a miracle. Even what people may consider the most simple or ordinary things. I mean every blade of grass in the lush lawns of Delhi, Aligarh, Simla, Lahore, Chandigarh, England, Europe, America and Australia; every leaf, flower and fruit on every mango, neem, peepal, apple and cherry tree everywhere; and every grain of sand on every beach in Madras, Kerala, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Florida, California and the West Indies.

The Muslim Miracle

In fact, to me — believe it or not — everything about the life of the Muslims is a miracle. I mean average, everyday Muslims — if only the Muslims will rub their eyes and see it.

To me every Muslim — to the extent that Muslim has any connection with Islam — is a walking, talking, breathing, ongoing miracle of God Almighty on his earth. He or she is a living witness and testimony to God’s presence and power in his world and a powerful proof in every age and place of the miraculous truth of Islam.

After all, the Prophet, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, said it most beautifully: Antum shuhadaa-ullah! Meaning: You are God’s witnesses on earth. What is that if not calling every Muslim a miracle — in that sense?

These are the everyday, ordinary, routine miracles of Islam and Muslims. That is what I call them. But what does it really mean though — the expression “miracle,” the way I use that word? Let me explain.

An Event of Low Probability

To me, all it means is an event or outcome — as I guess experts in statistics would call it — of palpably, visibly and extraordinarily low probability.

That means to me a miracle is an event or outcome that is least likely to happen. It is an event that has the lowest likelihood or probability or chance of occurring at any particular place and time — at any particular set of spacetime coordinates that is.

It is something so extraordinary, remarkable and rare that the chances of its happening in the real world are miniscule or infinitesimal. That means it is something that, on the face of it, does not and will not ordinarily happen.

As a result, a miracle to me is an event that, when reported, carries very low or near-zero credibility. In other words, it is something if someone told you it happened you would have trouble believing. Your first reaction will be something like: “No way! It can’t be true!”

Events like that are generally not known to happen — until that time. For, they run contrary to the established patterns and predictions of “normal” behavior of the world — how nature, left to itself, would “normally” behave. Generally speaking, to the extent you know and understand that is not how the world of Allah is known or supposed to work.

I am trying to drive home this point in so many different ways to make sure that we fully understand how extraordinary, remarkable and “miraculous” everything about Islam and Muslims really is. Most Muslims today have no understanding or appreciation of this fact.

Not Exceptions to the Rule
But Rules “Within” Rules

Did I say that is not how Allah’s world is generally known or supposed to work? Oh, really? But that is a different matter. No time to address it here.

For, if Allah gives me time, I may argue at a later date, with some plausibility, that that is precisely how Allah’s world is supposed to operate. It is set up — ab initio, from the beginning — to function that way.

That means what we call miracles are not “exceptions” to Allah’s rules, they are simply rules “within” Allah’s rules. Call them, if you will, sub-sections and clauses within the larger and broader framework of Allah’s laws that govern his world. Except that you need special cognitive, emotional and spiritual equipment to be able to see and recognize them and to be in tune with them.

Demystifying the Miracles:
Did the Sea Really Have a Choice?

I mean what choice did the sea have but to part, when the staff of Allah’s messenger Moses, Alaihis Salaam, struck it?

Or what choice did the poor moon have but to split when Prophet Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, pointed his finger at it?

Or what choice did the spider have but to weave its net at the mouth of the cave when he took refuge in that cave from his pursuers who wanted to kill him? And what choice did the dove have but to rush to nest and lay eggs over that net?

And what choice did the dead body have but to jump to its feet and say yes when Allah’s blessed messenger Jesus, Alaihis Salaam, in the name of God Almighty, commanded it to arise?

Not one of them, given the divine laws that govern the universe — mostly observed patterns and regularities in heaven and earth many people call laws of nature — could afford to act otherwise?

Allah’s very, very special people telling you, in the name of Allah, to do certain things and you wouldn’t do them? You must be living in a very different universe than the one created and run by Allah! The sea, the moon, the dead bodies, the spiders and doves of this world cannot dare or dream to disobey the orders given to them by Allah’s messengers in the name of Allah and under the commands of Allah.

Humanity’s Right of Choice: A Dubious Privilege?

That dubious privilege — of freedom of choice, of having the right to say yes or no — is granted only to human beings. And what a mess most of them have made of their privileged status!

Now you tell me which is the rule and which is the exception.

Well, enough about it. In how many different ways will I have to say it? But that is what the expression miracle essentially means to me in this context. And what I am trying to say here is that everything about Islam, Muslims and life in general is nothing short of a miracle — in that sense.

The Larger Miracles of History
vs.
The Everyday Miracles of Islam

But for most people, and in ordinary parlance, there is a huge difference. A miracle for most people means the parting of the sea — by Moses, Allah bless him — or the splitting of the moon — by Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam. It means what people call a “supernatural” event, generally occurring within what people call a “religious” context.

No doubt they are the big, “supernatural” miracles, performed by God’s prophets and messengers, Allah bless them all. What I am talking about here are the smaller, more routine ones, if you will. I call them the Everyday Miracles of Islam and Muslims, which simply means the extraordinary things that lie scattered throughout the most routine teachings and practices of Islam.

And in practically every thing Islamic that Muslims do throughout the world.

Miracles That Stay Forever

And here is a profound difference. In general, those big miracles have come and gone. Just as they were supposed to. They appeared and disappeared within the precise limits of the time and space that Allah placed upon them.

But the everyday miracles of the Qur’an and Islam — and of the daily Islamic practice of Muslims everywhere and in every age — transcend all limitations of space and time. They are forever. They are still with us after the passage of 1400 long years, just as Allah promised in the Qur’an they will be.

And they will stay with us forever and ever until the end of time, just as Allah said in the Qur’an they will. And they are visible from any and every part of Allah’s earth, at all times of day and night, during all weather conditions.

Only a limited number of people witnessed and experienced those “supernatural” events first hand, whereas anyone anywhere and at anytime — all of humanity for all time to come — can, does and shall witness and experience these other miracles that I am talking about: the Everyday Miracles of Islam, Muslims and the Qur’an.

Provided people have eyes to see and a clear enough mind to think rationally, as the Qur’an puts it, and they also have the necessary courage and humility to respect and accept the testimony of their own senses and minds.

But if you think about it seriously, these other miracles are no less “miraculous” for being ordinary, everyday events.

Miracles of the Parting Sea, the Splitting Moon
and the Dead Man Rising

Consider the miracle of the parting sea.

A man, Allah bless him, hits the sea with his staff and the sea parts? The sea then organizes itself into two huge “mounds” of water on either side revealing in the middle firm ground providing safe passage for this man, Musa, Alaihis Salaam, and his people?

Ordinarily speaking, how credible is a story like that?

Or consider this other event. Another man, Allah bless him, is sitting in a group with his companions, the miraculous title by which he and everyone else refers to them, under a clear night sky. A billion bright stars shimmer around a full moon in all its radiant glory.

This man, Allah bless him, then, in response to a demand by the skeptics for a sign or a miracle, points his finger at the moon and the moon splits in two halves, each half hanging by itself at either end of the horizon?

How many times did you see that happen?

But these are things that did happen, no matter how unlikely they sound.

We say they happened because the Qur’an says they happened. The first event happened in the life of Musa, Alaihis Salaam, and the second one in the life of Sayyidina Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam. They happened as truly and surely as you and I came into this world when our mothers — Allah bless them — gave birth to us.

Why We Believe in
These Big Supernatural Miracles

We know about the occurrence of these two most unlikely events — these big “supernatural” miracles if you will — because God Almighty himself told us of their occurrence in his book, the Qur’an.

And we know about, and we believe in, the equally unlikely event of Jesus, Alaihis Salaam, raising the dead for precisely the same reason: God Almighty told us about it in the Qur’an.

That most amazing book — Dhaalikal Kitaab — that he, God Almighty, not only revealed to his blessed messenger Muhammad, Sallallahu Alaihi wa Sallam, but which he then also protected and preserved and transmitted down the ages, generation after generation, right down to us.

That is why we believe that those things did indeed happen — because the Qur’an said they did. And that is why we call them miracles.

We believe in them even though we were not personally and physically present on the scene when they happened. We believe in these unseen miracles because God asked us to believe in them.

All three of these events are what people would refer to as real miracles — “supernatural” occurrences as it were. Most people would also want to mystify and theologize them by calling them “religious.”

Islam and Muslims’
Gift to Jews and Christians

That is what Islam and Muslims have to offer Jews and Christians: a rousing and unstinted celebration of the lives and accomplishments of the central figures of their religions, Moses and Jesus, may Almighty God bless them both.

Here is what the world needs to ask itself: Can anyone think of a better goodwill gesture or peace offering on the part of anyone toward anyone?

And here is what the Jews and Christians need to ask themselves: If this is what Islam and Muslims are giving us, what do we owe Islam and Muslims in return?

And here is what the Muslims need to ask themselves: If this is what we are offering the world, what kind of a job did we do of informing the world about it? Just where did we go wrong?

And how can we get our act together at this stage?

END

Dr. Pasha is an educator and scholar of exceptional
talent, training and experience. He can be reached at DrSyedPasha [at]
AOL [dot] com or www.IslamicSolutions.com.