Seventeenth Juz

As salaam alaikum,

The proclamation of "No more blues" is one that I really should take with me every day and every night...I should wear it on a t-shirt, hang it on my wall over my bed, or better yet on my ceiling, so that every time I wake from slumber I remember what I had so recently proclaimed...there's no reason to have the blues in God's world unless you, in some capacity, do not believe!

"And [know that] We havve not created the heavens and the earth and all that is in between them in mere idle play: [for,] had We willed to indulge in a pastime, We would have indeed have produced it from within Ourselves--if such had been Our will at all." (21:16-17)

I love this...if those who don't believe in God would only read the Qur'an, each one of their arguments would be addressed. There are so many that would liken God to a creator who made a game out of creation, but here is an affirmation that this is, indeed, not true, and ridiculous. And thereafter it warns against trying to define God by any more than is outlined in the Qur'an. We don't know why we were created, but we know that our ultimate purpose is to serve Him in the ways He's outlined for us to worship...the good deeds, constant prayer and charity, that which benefits ourselves and those around us. These are the ways we serve Him, by doing what will purify ourselves and help others, so that they may, too, purify themselves if they so choose...

And lest anyone believes that the Qur'an places too much emphasis on war, and if they argue for the peaceful nature of their religion:

"Permission [to fight] is given to those against whom war is being wrongfully waged--and, verily, God has indeed the power to succor them: --those who have been driven from their homelands against all right for no other reason than their saying, "Our Sustainer is God!" For, if God had not enabled people to defend themselves against one another, [all] monasteries and churches and synagogues and mosques -- in [all of] which God's name is abundantly extolled -- would surely have been destroyed [ere now]." (22:39-40)

Aggression is never justified. Only legitimate, rightful self-defense. And if those of other faiths had not once defended themselves, they would have died out. So what better form of self-defense than one ordained by God, and not one that people go about by following their own whims...

This is for my father:

"Unto every community have We appointed [different] ways of worship, which they ought to observe. Hence, [O believer,] do not let those [who follow ways other than thine] draw thee into disputes on this score, but summon [them all] unto thy Sustainer: for, behold, thou art indeed on the right way. And if they [try to] argue with thee, say [only]: "God knows best what you are doing." [For, indeed,] God will judge between you on Resurrection Day with regard to all on which you were wont to differ." (22:67-69)

We can ultimately coexist and have unity within our separate communities if we realize that we're approaching the same God.

And this is my mother's favorite parable...don't fear anyone but God:

"O men! A parable is set forth [herewith]: hearken, then, to it! Behold, those beings whom you invoke instead of God cannot create [as much as] a fly, even were they to join all their forces to that end! And if a fly robs them of anything, they cannot [even] rescue it from him! Weak indeed is the seeker, and [week] the sought!" (22:73).

Not only for the obvious worship of deities besides God, but revering human beings, whether good or evil, in a place where such reverence only belongs to God. Because if you put all of the geniuses together, they would not be able to create a fruit fly, even if they could put its genome into C. elegans.

Oh man, C. elegans...the remembrance makes me almost miss my former life as a Cell and Molecular biology major at the UMich...anyway...