Sunday, September 26, 2021

True Story of Jesus


Story of Jesus, son of Mary

Compiled from the verses of the Holy Qur’an

 

(English translation quoted from Sahih International)

Compiled by Muhammad Nasim (mohnasim@gmail.com)

 

2.136 Say, [O believers], “We have believed in Allah and what has been revealed to us and what has been revealed to Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Descendants and what was given to Moses and Jesus and what was given to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [in submission] to Him.”

3.35 [Mention, O Muhammad], when the wife of ‘Imran said, “My Lord, indeed I have pledged to You what is in my womb, consecrated [for Your service], so accept this from me. Indeed, You are the Hearing, the Knowing.”

3.36   But when she delivered her, she said, “My Lord, I have delivered a female.” And Allah was most knowing of what she delivered, “And the male is not like the female. And I have named her Mary, and I seek refuge for her in You and [for] her descendants from Satan, the expelled [from the mercy of Allah].”

3.37 So her Lord accepted her with good acceptance and caused her to grow in a good manner and put her in the care of Zechariah. Every time Zechariah entered upon her in the prayer chamber, he found with her provision. He said, “O Mary, from where is this [coming] to you?” She said, “It is from Allah . Indeed, Allah provides for whom He wills without account.”

3.38 At that, Zechariah called upon his Lord, saying, “My Lord, grant me from Yourself a good offspring. Indeed, You are the Hearer of supplication.”

3.39 So the angels called him while he was standing in prayer in the chamber, “Indeed, Allah gives you good tidings of John, confirming a word from Allah and [who will be] honorable, abstaining [from women], and a prophet from among the righteous.”

3.40 He said, “My Lord, how will I have a boy when I have reached old age and my wife is barren?” The angel said, “Such is Allah; He does what He wills.”

3.41 He said, “My Lord, make for me a sign.” He Said, “Your sign is that you will not [be able to] speak to the people for three days except by gesture. And remember your Lord much and exalt [Him with praise] in the evening and the morning.”

3.42 And [mention] when the angels said, “O Mary, indeed Allah has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds.

3.43 O Mary, be devoutly obedient to your Lord and prostrate and bow with those who bow [in prayer].”

3.44 That is from the news of the unseen which We reveal to you, [O Muhammad]. And you were not with them when they cast their pens as to which of them should be responsible for Mary. Nor were you with them when they disputed.

3.45 [And mention] when the angels said, “O Mary, indeed Allah gives you good tidings of a word from Him, whose name will be the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary – distinguished in this world and the Hereafter and among those brought near [to Allah].

3.46 He will speak to the people in the cradle and in maturity and will be of the righteous.”

3.47 She said, “My Lord, how will I have a child when no man has touched me?” [The angel] said, “Such is Allah; He creates what He wills. When He decrees a matter, He only says to it, ‘Be,’ and it is.

3.48 And He will teach him writing and wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel

3.49 And [make him] a messenger to the Children of Israel, [who will say], ‘Indeed I have come to you with a sign from your Lord in that I design for you from clay [that which is] like the form of a bird, then I breathe into it and it becomes a bird by permission of Allah. And I cure the blind and the leper, and I give life to the dead – by permission of Allah. And I inform you of what you eat and what you store in your houses. Indeed in that is a sign for you, if you are believers.

3,84 Say, “We have believed in Allah and in what was revealed to us and what was revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the Descendants, and in what was given to Moses and Jesus and to the prophets from their Lord. We make no distinction between any of them, and we are Muslims [submitting] to Him.”

19.16 And mention, [O Muhammad], in the Book [the story of] Mary, when she withdrew from her family to a place toward the east.

19.17 And she took, in seclusion from them, a screen. Then We sent to her Our Angel, and he represented himself to her as a well-proportioned man.

19.18 She said, “Indeed, I seek refuge in the Most Merciful from you, [so leave me], if you should be fearing of Allah.”

19.19 He said, “I am only the messenger of your Lord to give you [news of] a pure boy.”

19.20 She said, “How can I have a boy while no man has touched me and I have not been unchaste?”

19.21 He said, “Thus [it will be]; your Lord says, ‘It is easy for Me, and We will make him a sign to the people and a mercy from Us. And it is a matter [already] decreed.’ “

66.12 And [the example of] Mary, the daughter of ‘Imran, who guarded her chastity, so We blew into [her garment] through Our angel, and she believed in the words of her Lord and His scriptures and was of the devoutly obedient.

19.22 So she conceived him, and she withdrew with him to a remote place.

19.23 And the pains of childbirth drove her to the trunk of a palm tree. She said, “Oh, I wish I had died before this and was in oblivion, forgotten.”

19.24 But he called her from below her, “Do not grieve; your Lord has provided beneath you a stream.

19.25 And shake toward you the trunk of the palm tree; it will drop upon you ripe, fresh dates.

19.26 So eat and drink and be contented. And if you see from among humanity anyone, say, ‘Indeed, I have vowed to the Most Merciful abstention, so I will not speak today to [any] man.’ “

19.27 Then she brought him to her people, carrying him. They said, “O Mary, you have certainly done a thing unprecedented.

19.28 O sister of Aaron, your father was not a man of evil, nor was your mother unchaste.”

19.29 So she pointed to him. They said, “How can we speak to one who is in the cradle a child?”

19.30 [Jesus] said, “Indeed, I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet.

19.31 And He has made me blessed wherever I am and has enjoined upon me prayer and zakah as long as I remain alive

19.32 And [made me] dutiful to my mother, and He has not made me a wretched tyrant.

19.33 And peace is on me the day I was born and the day I will die and the day I am raised alive.”

19.34 That is Jesus, the son of Mary – the word of truth about which they are in dispute.

19.35 It is not [befitting] for Allah to take a son; exalted is He! When He decrees an affair, He only says to it, “Be,” and it is.

19.36 [Jesus said], “And indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. That is a straight path.”

3.50 And [I have come] confirming what was before me of the Torah and to make lawful for you some of what was forbidden to you. And I have come to you with a sign from your Lord, so fear Allah and obey me.

3.51 Indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. That is the straight path.”

23.50 And We made the son of Mary and his mother a sign and sheltered them within a high ground having level [areas] and flowing water.

2.87 And We did certainly give Moses the Torah and followed up after him with messengers. And We gave Jesus, the son of Mary, clear proofs and supported him with the Pure Spirit. But is it [not] that every time a messenger came to you, [O Children of Israel], with what your souls did not desire, you were arrogant? And a party [of messengers] you denied and another party you killed.

61.6 And [mention] when Jesus, the son of Mary, said, “O children of Israel, indeed I am the messenger of Allah to you confirming what came before me of the Torah and bringing good tidings of a messenger to come after me, whose name is Ahmad.” But when he came to them with clear evidences, they said, “This is obvious magic.”

61.14 O you who have believed, be supporters of Allah, as when Jesus, the son of Mary, said to the disciples, “Who are my supporters for Allah?” The disciples said, “We are supporters of Allah.” And a faction of the Children of Israel believed and a faction disbelieved. So We supported those who believed against their enemy, and they became dominant.

66.10 Allah presents an example of those who disbelieved: the wife of Noah and the wife of Lot. They were under two of Our righteous servants but betrayed them, so those prophets did not avail them from Allah at all, and it was said, “Enter the Fire with those who enter.”

66.11 And Allah presents an example of those who believed: the wife of Pharaoh, when she said, “My Lord, build for me near You a house in Paradise and save me from Pharaoh and his deeds and save me from the wrongdoing people.”

2.253 Those messengers – some of them We caused to exceed others. Among them were those to whom Allah spoke, and He raised some of them in degree. And We gave Jesus, the Son of Mary, clear proofs, and We supported him with the Pure Spirit. If Allah had willed, those [generations] succeeding them would not have fought each other after the clear proofs had come to them. But they differed, and some of them believed and some of them disbelieved. And if Allah had willed, they would not have fought each other, but Allah does what He intends.

3.52 But when Jesus felt [persistence in] disbelief from them, he said, “Who are my supporters for [the cause of] Allah?” The disciples said,” We are supporters for Allah. We have believed in Allah and testify that we are Muslims [submitting to Him].

3.53 Our Lord, we have believed in what You revealed and have followed the messenger Jesus, so register us among the witnesses [to truth].”

3.54 And the disbelievers planned, but Allah planned. And Allah is the best of planners.

3.55 [Mention] when Allah said, “O Jesus, indeed I will take you and raise you to Myself and purify you from those who disbelieve and make those who follow you [in submission to Allah alone] superior to those who disbelieve until the Day of Resurrection. Then to Me is your return, and I will judge between you concerning that in which you used to differ.

3.56 And as for those who disbelieved, I will punish them with a severe punishment in this world and the Hereafter, and they will have no helpers.”

3.57 But as for those who believed and did righteous deeds, He will give them in full their rewards, and Allah does not like the wrongdoers.

3.58 This is what We recite to you, [O Muhammad], of [Our] verses and the precise [and wise] message.

3.59 Indeed, the example of Jesus to Allah is like that of Adam. He created Him from dust; then He said to him, “Be,” and he was.

3.60 The truth is from your Lord, so do not be among the doubters.  

4.153 The People of the Scripture ask you to bring down to them a book from the heaven. But they had asked of Moses [even] greater than that and said, “Show us Allah outright,” so the thunderbolt struck them for their wrongdoing. Then they took the calf [for worship] after clear evidences had come to them, and We pardoned that. And We gave Moses a clear authority.

4.154 And We raised over them the mount for [refusal of] their covenant; and We said to them, “Enter the gate bowing humbly”, and We said to them, “Do not transgress on the sabbath”, and We took from them a solemn covenant.

4.155 And [We cursed them] for their breaking of the covenant and their disbelief in the signs of Allah and their killing of the prophets without right and their saying, “Our hearts are wrapped”. Rather, Allah has sealed them because of their disbelief, so they believe not, except for a few.

4.156 And [We cursed them] for their disbelief and their saying against Mary a great slander,

4.157 And [for] their saying, “Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah.” And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except the following of assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.

4.158 Rather, Allah raised him to Himself. And ever is Allah Exalted in Might and Wise.

4.159 And there is none from the People of the Scripture but that he will surely believe in Jesus before his death. And on the Day of Resurrection he will be against them a witness.

4.163 Indeed, We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], as We revealed to Noah and the prophets after him. And we revealed to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, the Descendants, Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon, and to David We gave the book [of Psalms].

4.171 O People of the Scripture do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a messenger of Allah and His word which He directed to Mary and a soul [created at a command] from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, “Three”; desist – it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs.

5.17 They have certainly disbelieved who say that Allah is Christ, the son of Mary. Say, “Then who could prevent Allah at all if He had intended to destroy Christ, the son of Mary, or his mother or everyone on the earth?” And to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever is between them. He creates what He wills, and Allah is over all things competent.

5.43 But how is it that they come to you for judgement while they have the Torah, in which is the judgement of Allah? Then they turn away, [even] after that; but those are not [in fact] believers.

5.44 Indeed, We sent down the Torah, in which was guidance and light. The prophets who submitted [to Allah] judged by it for the Jews, as did the rabbis and scholars by that with which they were entrusted of the Scripture of Allah, and they were witnesses thereto. So do not fear the people but fear Me, and do not exchange My verses for a small price. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the disbelievers.

5.45 And We ordained for them therein a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and for wounds is legal retribution. But whoever gives [up his right as] charity, it is an expiation for him. And whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed – then it is those who are the wrongdoers.

5.46 And We sent, following in their footsteps, Jesus, the son of Mary, confirming that which came before him in the Torah; and We gave him the Gospel, in which was guidance and light and confirming that which preceded it of the Torah as guidance and instruction for the righteous.

5.72 They have certainly disbelieved who say, “Allah is the Messiah, the son of Mary” while the Messiah has said, “O Children of Israel, worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord.” Indeed, he who associates others with Allah – Allah has forbidden him Paradise, and his refuge is the Fire. And there are not for the wrongdoers any helpers.

5.73 They have certainly disbelieved who say, “Allah is the third of three.” And there is no god except one God. And if they do not desist from what they are saying, there will surely afflict the disbelievers among them a painful punishment.

5.74 So will they not repent to Allah and seek His forgiveness? And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.

5.75 The Messiah, son of Mary, was not but a messenger; [other] messengers have passed on before him. And his mother was a supporter of truth. They both used to eat food. Look how We make clear to them the signs; then look how they are deluded.

5.76 Say, “Do you worship besides Allah that which holds for you no [power of] harm or benefit while it is Allah who is the Hearing, the Knowing?”

5.77 Say, “O People of the Scripture, do not exceed limits in your religion beyond the truth and do not follow the inclinations of a people who had gone astray before and misled many and have strayed from the soundness of the way.”

5.78 Cursed were those who disbelieved among the Children of Israel by the tongue of David and of Jesus, the son of Mary. That was because they disobeyed and [habitually] transgressed.

5.110  [The Day] when Allah will say, “O Jesus, Son of Mary, remember My favor upon you and upon your mother when I supported you with the Pure Spirit and you spoke to the people in the cradle and in maturity; and [remember] when I taught you writing and wisdom and the Torah and the Gospel; and when you designed from clay [what was] like the form of a bird with My permission, then you breathed into it, and it became a bird with My permission; and you healed the blind and the leper with My permission; and when you brought forth the dead with My permission; and when I restrained the Children of Israel from [killing] you when you came to them with clear proofs and those who disbelieved among them said, “This is not but obvious magic.”

5.111 And [remember] when I inspired to the disciples, “Believe in Me and in My messenger Jesus.” They said, “We have believed, so bear witness that indeed we are Muslims [in submission to Allah].”

5.112 [And remember] when the disciples said, “O Jesus, Son of Mary, can your Lord send down to us a table [spread with food] from the heaven? [Jesus] said,” Fear Allah, if you should be believers.”

5.113 They said, “We wish to eat from it and let our hearts be reassured and know that you have been truthful to us and be among its witnesses.”

5.114 Said Jesus, the son of Mary, “O Allah, our Lord, send down to us a table [spread with food] from the heaven to be for us a festival for the first of us and the last of us and a sign from You. And provide for us, and You are the best of providers.”

5.115 Allah said, “Indeed, I will send it down to you, but whoever disbelieves afterwards from among you – then indeed will I punish him with a punishment by which I have not punished anyone among the worlds.”

5.116 And [beware the Day] when Allah will say, “O Jesus, Son of Mary, did you say to the people, ‘Take me and my mother as deities besides Allah?’” He will say, “Exalted are You! It was not for me to say that to which I have no right. If I had said it, You would have known it. You know what is within myself, and I do not know what is within Yourself. Indeed, it is You who is Knower of the unseen.

5.117 I said not to them except what You commanded me – to worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord. And I was a witness over them as long as I was among them; but when You took me up, You were the Observer over them, and You are, over all things, Witness.

5.118 If You should punish them – indeed they are Your servants; but if You forgive them – indeed it is You who is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.

5.119 Allah will say, “This is the Day when the truthful will benefit from their truthfulness.” For them are gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever, Allah being pleased with them, and they with Him. That is the great attainment.

5.120 To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth and whatever is within them. And He is over all things competent.

9.30 The Jews say, “Ezra is the son of Allah “; and the Christians say, “The Messiah is the son of Allah.” That is their statement from their mouths; they imitate the saying of those who disbelieved [before them]. May Allah destroy them; how are they deluded?

9.31 They have taken their scholars and monks as lords besides Allah, and [also] the Messiah, the son of Mary. And they were not commanded except to worship one God; there is no deity except Him. Exalted is He above whatever they associate with Him.

42.13 He has ordained for you of religion what He enjoined upon Noah and that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], and what We enjoined upon Abraham and Moses and Jesus – to establish the religion and not be divided therein. Difficult for those who associate others with Allah is that to which you invite them. Allah chooses for Himself whom He wills and guides to Himself whoever turns back [to Him].

43.57 And when the son of Mary was presented as an example, immediately your people laughed aloud.

43.58 And they said, “Are our gods better, or is he?” They did not present the comparison except for [mere] argument. But, [in fact], they are a people prone to dispute.

43.59 Jesus was not but a servant upon whom We bestowed favor, and We made him an example for the Children of Israel.

43.60 And if We willed, We could have made [instead] of you angels succeeding [one another] on the earth.

43.61 And indeed, Jesus will be [a sign for] knowledge of the Hour, so be not in doubt of it, and follow Me. This is a straight path.

43.62 And never let Satan avert you. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.

43.63 And when Jesus brought clear proofs, he said, “I have come to you with wisdom and to make clear to you some of that over which you differ, so fear Allah and obey me.

43.64 Indeed, Allah is my Lord and your Lord, so worship Him. This is a straight path.”

33.7 And [mention, O Muhammad], when We took from the prophets their covenant and from you and from Noah and Abraham and Moses and Jesus, the son of Mary; and We took from them a solemn covenant.

57.26 And We have already sent Noah and Abraham and placed in their descendants prophethood and scripture; and among them is he who is guided, but many of them are defiantly disobedient.

57.27 Then We sent following their footsteps Our messengers and followed [them] with Jesus, the son of Mary, and gave him the Gospel. And We placed in the hearts of those who followed him compassion and mercy and monasticism, which they innovated; We did not prescribe it for them except [that they did so] seeking the approval of Allah. But they did not observe it with due observance. So We gave the ones who believed among them their reward, but many of them are defiantly disobedient.

 

 


Sunday, May 02, 2021

Jus Primae Noctis

 

I first heard about the law of Prima Noctis when watching a BBC television program in Manchester, UK around 1970. The TV presenter explained that it meant that the members of the house of lords had the legal right to commandeer any newly married woman in their respective realms and spend the first night after her marriage with her as they wished. He claimed that the law was, until then, on the English statute books.

Wikipedia has a lengthy article on the subject with 56 references that suggest the law had existed and been practiced in Europe and elsewhere from as early as the third century BC until abolished in certain countries as late as the 18th century CE and made covert or voluntarily abandoned in other places.

Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Droit_du_seigneur.s

Recently, I came across the following passage from the King James version of the holy Bible:

Luke 1

 1.26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto

a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

1.27 to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house

of David ; and the virgin’s name was Mary.

1.28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly

favored, the Lord is with thee : blessed art thou among women.

1.29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in

her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

1.30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary : for thou hast found

favor with God.

1.31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a

son, and shalt call his name Jesus.

1.32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest ; and

the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David :

1.33 and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever ; and of his

kingdom there shall be no end.

1.34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know

not a man ?

1.35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall

come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow

thee : therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee

shall be called the Son of God.

 The passage must have been read millions of times by as many devout Christians who found nothing amiss in it. However, someone devoid of reverence for the Bible might see it differently. He might observe the Holy Ghost trying to seduce a married woman who is still a virgin offering the unlimited kingdom of the world – something that could be termed the divine exercise of Jus Primae Noctis.

Could it be that the incident was phrased by the scribes of King James intentionally in this way to provide religious justification for a practice that would seem immoral in the light of commonly understood Christian values?

 


Friday, April 16, 2021

A Tale of Two Abrahams

It was in the privileged region of Arabia, nearly four thousand years ago as per Biblical records and Islamic traditions, that a man named Ibrahim (Abram or Abraham) was born in a family of stone carvers who from his very early life, protested against man's worship of other men and stone objects.
 The story is narrated in the Holy Qur’an as in following Verses translated by M. H. Shakir: 

 [6.74] And when Ibrahim said to his sire, Azar1: Do you take idols for gods? Surely I see you and your people in manifest error. 
[6.75] And thus did We show Ibrahim the kingdom of the heavens and the earth and that he might be of those who are sure. 
 [6.76] So when the night over-shadowed him, he saw a star; said he: Is this my Lord? So when it set, he said: I do not love the setting ones. 
[6.77] Then when he saw the moon rising, he said: Is this my Lord? So when it set, he said: If my Lord had not guided me I should certainly be of the erring people. 
 [6.78] Then when he saw the sun rising, he said: Is this my Lord? Is this the greatest? So when it set, he said: O my people! surely I am clear of what you set up (with Allah). 
 [6.79] Surely I have turned myself, being upright, wholly to Him Who originated the heavens and the earth, and I am not of the polytheists. 
 [2.258] Have you not considered him (Namrud) who disputed with Ibrahim about his Lord, because Allah had given him the kingdom? When Ibrahim said: My Lord is He who gives life and causes to die, he said: I give life and cause death. Ibrahim said: So surely Allah causes the sun to rise from the east, then make it rise from the west; thus he who disbelieved was confounded; and Allah does not guide aright the unjust people. 
 [21.51] And certainly We gave to Ibrahim his rectitude before, and We knew him fully well. 
 [21.52] When he said to his father and his people: What are these images to whose worship you cleave? 
[21.53] They said: We found our fathers worshipping them. 
 [21.54] He said: Certainly you have been, (both) you and your fathers, in manifest error. 
 [21.55] They said: Have you brought to us the truth, or are you one of the triflers? 
[21.56] He said: Nay! your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, Who brought them into existence, and I am of those who bear witness to this: 
[21.57] And, by Allah! I will certainly do something against your idols after you go away, turning back. [21.58] So he broke them into pieces, except the chief of them, that haply they may return to it. 
 [21.59] They said: Who has done this to our gods? Most surely he is one of the unjust. 
 [21.60] They said: We heard a youth called Ibrahim speak of them. 
 [21.61] Said they: Then bring him before the eyes of the people, perhaps they may bear witness.
 [21.62] They said: Have you done this to our gods, O Ibrahim? 
 [21.63] He said: Surely (some doer) has done it; the chief of them is this, therefore ask them, if they can speak. 
 [21.64] Then they turned to themselves and said: Surely you yourselves are the unjust; 
[21.65] Then they were made to hang down their heads: Certainly you know that they do not speak.
 [21.66] He said: What! do you then serve besides Allah what brings you not any benefit at all, nor does it harm you? 
 [21.67] Fie on you and on what you serve besides Allah; what! do you not then understand? 
 [21.68] They said: Burn him and help your gods, if you are going to do (anything). 
 [21.69] We said: O fire! be a comfort and peace to Ibrahim; 
 [21.70] And they desired a war on him, but We made them the greatest losers. 
[21.71] And We delivered him as well as Lut (removing them) to the land which We had blessed for all people. 
[21.72] And We gave him Ishaq and Yaqoub, a son's son, and We made (them) all good. 

 1: According to Qur’an Abraham’s father was Azar, not Terah as in KJB Genesis 11:26 “And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.” 

After considerable reflection and divine guidance on the commonly worshipped phenomena and the royal claims of divinity, he put forward the concept of a Supreme Being, omnipotent and omnipresent, who created the world and who alone deserved to be worshiped; that by comparison to that Being all humans are almost equal and ought to treat each other equally and that all human beings will have to account for all their actions on the day of judgment. The believers of Jewism, Christianity and Islam believe that the ideas were not his own but were the result of God’s guidance. 

As he became vocal in the expression of his ideas of human dignity, monotheistic religion and democratic attitudes, the imperial establishment unable to counter him by argument began to feel threatened and he was made the object of crude persecution. The refusal to worship political and religious rulers and their deities was really a negation of their domination, which deserved the most exemplary punishment. So much so, that he had to leave his homeland and migrate to a distant land.

 According to merged and rationalized Biblical and Muslim traditions he left Mesopotamia (now Iraq) and migrated to Egypt with his beautiful wife Sarah (or Serai). As per Islamic popular texts his reputation as a man of great new ideas earned him access to the court of the King or Pharaoh, but unfortunately the King was more impressed by Sarah's beauty than by Prophet Ibrahim's (PBUH) philosophy. (The Old Testament/Torah however says that Abram was forced to migrate from Canaan due to famine Genesis 13.10). 
According to generally accepted legends the Pharaoh promptly gave him one of his prettiest maids or daughter according to some traditions -- Hagar, hoping to make a fair exchange. But he was quite disappointed when he discovered Sarah's complete loyalty to Ibrahim. In the meantime, Hagar also started showing signs of having been influenced by Ibrahim's philosophy of dignity and fidelity. The King was shattered. Here was a man who possessed the ability to command absolute loyalty and unity of thought with individuals close to him; something he had always wanted but never achieved. He could not have Ibrahim (PBUH) killed. So, he simply asked him to leave Egypt and take both women with him. If the legends are true, then the original descendants of Ibrahim (pbuh) in Hijaz would also be of a mixed race. The holy Qur’an does mention the aborted sacrifice of Ibrahim’s son Ismail but does not corroborate the name or number of his wives. 

 Prophet Ibrahim (PBUH) on his part had learned the crucial lesson that it is futile to try to reform a corrupt establishment by joining it and working from within. He decided to create an institution of his own. By coincidence or design or divine guidance he ended up in the valley of Makkah situated in the middle of mountains and only a few meters above a great aquifer i.e., a natural underground water reservoir. Possibly as he stood on one of the mountains around Makkah and looked around and saw vegetation and wild animals in the mountain surrounded valley, he knew that occasionally it rained in the area. But there was no lake at the bottom of the valley, so where did the rainwater go? There had to be a great aquifer and cracks in the earth through which water seeped; the same cracks could serve as wells, or water could be stored by digging waterways and embankments. Ibrahim was not just a stone carver and philosopher; he was a good engineer too. There he settled with his wife who gave birth to a pious and obedient son Ismail with whom he built a cubic structure on whose walls he wrote his inspired thesis on human dignity proclaiming the unacceptability of man's worship of man or objects, the equality of all men in worldly matters and the inevitability of a day of final reckoning leading to heaven or hell. The message would have been in hieroglyphics running in seven lines spirally along the four walls -- perhaps the writing referred to in the Qur'an as "Sohhof Ibrahim....." (Verse 87:19). This was Ka'bah, the first monument to what we call Democracy. 

 The holy Qur’an describes the event as follows: 

 [2.127] And when Ibrahim and Ismail raised the foundations of the House: Our Lord! accept from us; surely Thou art the Hearing, the Knowing: 
 [2.128] Our Lord! and make us both submissive to Thee and (raise) from our offspring a nation submitting to Thee, and show us our ways of devotion and turn to us (mercifully), surely Thou art the Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful. 
 [2.129] Our Lord! and raise up in them an Apostle from among them who shall recite to them Thy communications and teach them the Book and the wisdom, and purify them; surely Thou art the Mighty, the Wise. 

 For hundreds of years to follow, men and women would come to walk around this Ka'bah, read the inscriptions and meditate and get inspiration to live with dignity, freedom and democracy. From the traditionally established direction of circumambulation (Tawaf) it is apparent that the inscriptions on the walls of the Ka'bah were in a language that was written and read from left to right. The kissing of the black stone fixed at the edge from where circumambulations start and end is exactly in line with the Arab custom of kissing a book after reading it. The black stone of Ka'bah may have been the world's first bookmark. Traditions indicate that with the passage of time, the Ka'bah gradually came to be known as a place where one could acquire great knowledge and wisdom -- even magic. The sanctity of the place would impart the visitor absolution from his sins; and the infirm could regain health by exercising between the hills of Safa and Marwa and drinking the mineral rich water of the nearby natural fountain of Zamzam. In those days it was believed that sickness was the punishment for one’s sins or was caused by evil spirits, and any place or person or object that helped people to be cured had to have divine significance and power of atonement. So much so that even trading caravans traveling between Northern Arabia and Yemen began to make a detour to stop by it. Makkah thus became, maybe, the world's first city to have simultaneously a university, a hospital, a church, an international trading center and no king. 

 The following extract from Wikipedia raises serious doubts about the credibility of the Biblical accounts. “In the early to mid-20th century leading scholars such as William F. Albright and Albrecht Alt believed the patriarchs and matriarchs to be either real individuals or believable composite people living in the "patriarchal age", the 2nd millennium BCE. In the 1970s, however, new conclusions about Israel's past and the biblical texts challenged this portrait. The two works largely responsible were Thomas L. Thompson's The Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives (1974), and John Van Seters' Abraham in History and Tradition (1975). Thompson's argument, based on archaeology and ancient texts, was that no compelling evidence pointed to the patriarchs living in the 2nd millennium and that the biblical texts reflected first millennium conditions and concerns; Van Seters, basing himself on an examination of the patriarchal stories, agreed with Thompson that their names, social milieu and messages strongly suggested that they were Iron Age creations.[7] By the beginning of the 21st century, and despite sporadic attempts by more conservative scholars such as Kenneth Kitchen to save the patriarchal narratives as history, archaeologists had "given up hope of recovering any context that would make Abraham, Isaac or Jacob credible 'historical figures'". 
 Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham#Historicity 

 However it seems that the western archeologists were looking for Abraham in the wrong place. The Bible suggests that Abraham travelled from Canaan to Egypt and back along the shores of the Mediterranean. If they had looked further south in those areas of Saudi Arabia close to Makkah and Madinah, they might have had better luck. Excavations at Tayma reported in 2010 CE have already revealed some hieroglyphic inscriptions dating back to 12th century BCE. 

It is strange that although Abraham is regarded as the founder of Jewish and Christian morality, the Old Testament depicts him as a liar who on occasion introduced his wife as his sister to save his own life and earn riches (Genesis 13:10-16) Genesis 13 
10 And there was a famine in the land : and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there ; for the famine was grievous in the land. 
11 And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said unto Sarai his wife, Behold now, I know that thou art a fair woman to look upon : 
 12 therefore it shall come to pass, when the Egyptians shall see thee, that they shall say, This is his wife : and they will kill me, but they will save thee alive. 
13 Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister : that it may be well with me for thy sake ; and my soul shall live because of thee. 
 14 And it came to pass, that, when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians beheld the woman that she was very fair. 
 15 The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh : and the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 
 16 And he entreated Abram well for her sake : and he had sheep, and oxen, and he asses, and menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels. The end of the episode is equally instructive as to the virtues of courage and faith in God: 
 17. And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues, because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18. And Pharaoh called Abram, and said, What is this that thou hast done unto me ? why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife ? 
 19. Why saidst thou, She is my sister ? so I might have taken her to me to wife : now therefore behold thy wife, take her, and go thy way. 
 20. And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him : and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had. 

 It is obvious that Pharaoh was a decent and kindhearted person who was conned by the fugitive from Canaan. Abram is also depicted in Bible/Torah as a heartless opportunist who banished his Egyptian wife and elder son to the desert after his old fair wife bore a son. The tradition seems to have survived to date as in Saudi Arabia I learnt that occasionally a Lebanese businessman visiting other countries would be accompanied by a lady whom he would introduce as his sister who would quickly and smartly establish intimate relation with the local official or businessman and obtain concessions for her ‘brother’. 

 It is also possible that Abram and Abraham were two separate individuals, the former from northern and the latter from southern Arabia and their legends were somehow merged somewhere in the middle. The following Verses of the Bible, Book of Genesis Chapter 17 might have a clue to the dramatic change: 
 17.1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God ; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 
 17.5 Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham ; for a father of many nations have I made thee. 
 17.15 And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be. 

 Having pondered the above two accounts, one is persuaded to wonder if the reported encounters of Mr. Abram were really with God or with Satan whose mission according to Qur’an is:

 [15:39] He said: My Lord! because Thou hast made life evil to me, I will certainly make (evil) fairseeming to them on earth, and I will certainly cause them all to deviate.

Monday, March 01, 2021

Truncated Sanitizer

When I was young, I was instructed to listen carefully and respectfully to the ravings of mad men as they might contain clues to wisdom not found elsewhere. I heeded the advice for the practical reason that annoying a mad person twice your size could bode trouble. (This is a simile, not a sarcasm) 

So when I heard about the controversy about putting sanitizer inside people to protect them from coronavirus disease my ears stood up, another simile, and I recalled my childhood mathematics tutor in Bengal who regularly put a drop of mustard oil in his nostrils to clear his sinus of bacteria and lubricate his mind. I could not bring myself to follow his example and convinced myself that I had oil-free bearings in my head. Without delving in semantics or philosophical psychology one can easily truncate sanitizer into sanity which, if introduced into people results in a healthy and prosperous society.

 Unfortunately, the real problem is not putting it in people, the real problem is finding it. (This is humor and not simile.) We often tend to forget that all future viruses were taken into account when the human genome was originally designed and we all have the thing called immune system that can besiege and render any virus harmless before it can damage any of the organs. So if you eat food that improves your immune system such as fruit, nuts and dairy products and have a zest for life you should be ok.

Although there are many antiviruses available for computers, I have not yet seen any for people. All the hand sanitizers I have seen have ‘antibacterial’ written on them. None mentions viruses. So, I assume that anything that is antibacterial may also be used to eliminate external viruses with faith in God or Allah as the case may be. Soap is good protection against viruses as according to medical people it dissolves the skin of the virus and kills it instantly. However, if a moron on the hill advises you to add a piece of soap to the chloroquine, don't do it. Eating, injecting or pouring soap solution in your nose will only irritate you and may be harmful. 

Ever since the non-Islamophobic French scientist Luis Pasteur, mankind has come to believe that vaccines are the only cure for communicable diseases. The original vaccine production technique was to infect a horse with a bacterium, draw his blood and separate the serum which contained the antibodies that fought the bacteria. If the antibody was introduced into a human body, it would multiply and lie in wait to hunt the specific bacteria for many years to come. Apparently, horse sense was able to decode the genetic profile of the bacterium and generate a code for a DNA that could identify and destroy the bacteria in the blood and flesh etc. 

Until a few years ago it was believed that there can be no vaccine for a viral affliction which normally gets naturally cured within a week or two. However, with the development of powerful computers and highly deft robots it is possible to sequence and molest the hypothetical double helix of the DNA and find an inverted sequence that can neutralize the original stuff. Some antivirus vaccines are made from castrated viruses that cannot grow but can attract the wrath of the immune system that results in the production of antibodies by a natural process that scientist cannot imitate. 

The million-dollar question now is whether it is possible to create a mental sanitizer that can bring about sanity.

Friday, February 12, 2021

The monotheistic God

The Jews according to Torah portray God (Yahweh) as a desert wandering shrewd businessman who made many deals with individuals he thought could build Empires for him and controlled his subjects by making them oppress each other and by causing disasters. 

 Christian concept of God as in Bible (New Testament) is of a Playboy in the Penthouse of heaven who briefly visited the earth to immaculately impregnate Virgin Mary and then left his loved woman and innocent son at the mercy of the Romans. 

 Allah is the Muslims' preferred name for God. It signifies a being that embodies attributes of as many as 99 adjectives. The word Allah carries a sense of purity and majesty not conveyed by the more common word God. After centuries of bickering on its semantics, Muslim scholars , decided that the word Allah is a proper noun, rather than a derivative of the word elah which means sustainer, and collectively represents all the 99 attributes mentioned in the Holy Quran.

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

THE IMF QUAGMIRE

IMF is known to be the world's most powerful financial institution. Its board of trustees consists of representatives from various governments who have contributed its seed capital. Hence the IMF is not answerable to anybody except the largest shareholder. They are said to have the world's largest team of highest ranked economists and financial experts. They specialize in formulating mathematical models of a country's economy and analyze it. Probably they use Einstein’s tensors and supercomputers to execute their analyses. However, since my knowledge is limited to Newtonian mechanics, I would try to convey my observations in a language that my wife would understand. Blogging, in any case, is love’s labor. From close scrutiny of the terrific things that have happened in countries that sought assistance from IMF in their hour of peril, it seems that there exists an IMF dollar that makes the ordinary US dollar disappear. Wherever this august institution extends its helping hand, severe scarcity of US dollars takes place and its price in local currency inflates, often to determined levels. This inflation of the dollar or in other words the devaluation of the local currency creates contrasting scenarios when viewed from different perspectives. To the IMF actuaries who maintain accounts in US dollars, it results in the shrinking of the local debt in dollar terms dollars and the total debt in current dollars reduces. That is a good indicator. However, the local economists notes that whereas the local currency debt is constant the local currency equivalent of the dollar or other currency debts has increased in proportion of the devaluation and the total national debt in local currency has increased and a larger chunk of tax collected would go into debt servicing. It actually happens that way. The tale of woes does not end there. If the GDP in local currency remains the same or increases at a rate less than the devaluation, then the GDP in current dollars will register a hefty decline. That would be a bad indicator and cause embarrassment. Now, the local currency GDP can be increased in two ways; either by rapidly increasing the volume of indigenous production or by instantly inflating the costs of goods and services. The former requires dynamism, capital goods to expand industries, finding new markets, additional skilled labor, and increased supply of raw materials assuming that additional capital is available. The latter is extremely easy, it just requires mismanagement. So, the cost of local goods and services must inflate to bring the local currency GDP to such a level that current dollar GDP exceeds the previous year’s value. A simple numerical example should suffice to elucidate the complicated logic. Thanks to the IMF economic package USD parity grew from 100 to 160 PKR. Soon price of wheat flour rose from 40 to Rs. 64 per kg and sugar, rice, vegetables, meat, poultry, clothing, stationery, and everything else followed suit except salaries of civil servants; therefore, bribe rates and police extortion were upgraded accordingly. Now all indicators are good, and the IMF has done a great favor to this Godforsaken nation.

Sunday, May 10, 2020

Looking Back




Here is an excerpt from one of my old manuscripts which may seem pertinent in the present perspective:

This author’s thinking is based on the hypothesis that the universe has been objectively engineered with intended perfection, but in order to allow a certain freedom of action and eventual accountability there could be an intentional margin of deviation in God's creations. After all, the disobedience of Satan must have been documented in the Holy Qur’an with a purpose. True that God is perfect, but nowhere has He proclaimed that any of His creations is also perfect. The imperfection of His creations by no means diminishes His own greatness.

Scientists had surmised that the Earth and the Moon had condensed from hot gases that had spilled off the Sun, but recent discoveries haves shown that the compositions of the Earth and the Moon differ from the Sun suggesting that the two were formed at some remote spot in space and launched in orbit around the Sun as also hinted in Verses 5 to 10 of Chapter 55 in Qur’an.  It is possible that the Earth was targeted to be inclined at a quarter of a right angle to its orbital plane, but actually it turned out to be 23.5 degrees i.e. one degree more, or that the year was meant to be exactly 360 days and not 365 and a quarter as it actually is or that the lunar cycle was meant to be exactly thirty days but it strayed a little to twenty nine and a half or so. A 30 day lunar month and a 360 day year would seemingly have been a perfect combination; the phase of the moon would indicate the date and the constellation would show the month and if we looked keenly enough in the sky we might find a way to count the years as well. But since we cannot change it we have no choice but to accept it as God’s wisdom. However, we can change the course of rivers, harness the winds, seed clouds for rain and defy gravity by flying machines to our advantage as God has given us authority over the material universe – and we must advise and help others in finding the right way of life.

Similarly, disease, natural disasters and evils exist not because those were created by God as spontaneous expressions of His wrath but as a consequence of the imperfections of the creations; and God has set in motion a process of evolution and guidance of human beings for the rectification of these defects and for improvement in the quality of His creations. Adam failed the first test he was put to and Satan rebelled on the first command he did not like. The merciful God surely would not have built maladies, perversions and disasters into His perfect plan of creation. Reflection on the relevant texts of the holy Qur’an and the Bible suggests that the earth was originally planned to be a paradise and eventually after its destruction and the Day of Judgment it will be reconstructed as Paradise (Verse 36:81) for the pious and noble souls to live in absolute bliss forever free from all natural disasters, bacteria, viruses and diseases with plentiful supply of the most relished foods that will never become stale. The perfect world to be created then is destined to last forever.

Even more important is the fact that all the tangible knowledge of Physics, chemistry, biology, electronics, mechanics and much of mathematics that is or will ever be written in books is already at work in the human body and in the environment around us. Birds can fly because they are aerodynamically designed by God and they are born with the knowledge of aerodynamics so that they may glide or propel themselves in air and take off and land safely. Man is not discovering Science, but only learning to express what is already inherent in him, and so is woman who is born with the ability to form a baby inside her. The rest is speculation.