Who Created God?, Self-Liberation, Cracks in the Social Mirror.
Who Created God?
People with no inner spiritual life sometimes ask: If God created everything, who created God? The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that some people would ask this very question: "A day will certainly come when some people will sit with their legs crossed and ask: 'If God created everything, who created God?'" [Bukhari, I'tisam, 3]
At best, the question is based on perceived "cause and effect" relationships. Everything can be thought of as an effect and attributed to a prior cause that, in turn, is attributed to a prior cause, and so on. However, we must remember that cause is only a hypothesis, for it has no objective existence. All that objectively exists is a particular sequence of circumstances that is often (but not always) repeated. If such a hypothesis is applied to existence, we cannot find a creator of the first cause, because each creator must have had a prior creator. The end result is a never-ending chain of creators.
The Creator must be Self-Subsistent and One, without like or equal. If any created being "causes" anything, that capacity was created within that being, for only the Creator is Self-Existent and Self-Subsistent. Only the Creator truly creates and determines possible causes and effects for His creation. Therefore, we speak of God as the Sustainer, who holds and gives life to all of His Creation. All causes begin in Him, and all effects end in Him. In truth, created things are "0"s that will never add up to anything, unless God bestows real value or existence by placing a positive "1" before the "0".
In the sphere of existence, what we call causes and effects have no direct or independent influence. We may have to use such words to understand how a part of creation is made intelligible to us and available for our use. But even this confirms our dependence upon God and our answerability before Him. God does not need causes and effects to create; rather, we need them to understand what He has created.
Source:
"Who Created God?" – Fethullah Gulen
Al-Shams (The Sun)
Chapter 91: Verses 7-10
Self-Liberation
By the soul in the body (al-nafs) and what has balanced it (given it form) and inspired [both] its licentiousness and its intimate sense of God (its piety). He who purifies it will certainly be happy and he who corrupts it will certainly be lost (crushed).
Muslim spirituality is the work the consciousness of the believer does on the self in order to be liberated from all forms of worship of things other than the Transcendent and to find the way to the original breath (fitra) and its purity. This way toward the One is difficult and demanding, because human nature also tends to be drawn to the contingent realities of the world. Caught between longing for the Most High and the attraction of the world, the believer's first experience of awareness is of facing an internal conflict. The choice is between liberating one's self or losing one's self and drowning in the varieties of life.
Islamic teaching has given us concrete tools to help us succeed in this work on ourselves and to arrive at a balance. The daily requirements of Muslim practice give us the direction and the first steps along the way to this freedom. Awareness of the Presence and of the closeness of the Very Near One moves toward the centre, the heart of the same community of faith, through the five daily meetings in prayer, the weekly gathering of that community of faith, the purifying tax on one's possessions (zakat), the fasting for a full month of the year, and the making of the pilgrimage once in a lifetime (if one has the means). By meditating on these requirements, we discover that they really are demanding and operate on several levels: the memory (for people are so inclined to forget); on the management of time (the daily rhythm of prayers and other practices throughout the year); on the individual and communal aspects of being before God (communal prayer, giving zakat, and so on); and on the division of efforts among the various elements that constitute the human being (heart, spirit, body, possessions).
Source:
"Western Muslims and The Future of Islam" - Tariq Ramadan, pp. 119-121
Cracks in the Social Mirror
When it comes to how you feel about yourself, which mirror are you looking at? There are two mirrors to choose from. One the social mirror, the other the true mirror. The social mirror is a reflection of how other people see you. The true mirror is a reflection of the real you. Looking to the social mirror is bad news for several reasons:
The social mirror is unrealistic. Somehow the media has sold everyone the lie that looks are everything. And we've bought it! Our culture proclaims that if you are good-looking, skinny, or buff, you can have it all - popularity, boyfriends, girlfriends, success, and happiness. The problem is that the images of how we're supposed to look come from movies and magazines that feature unrealistic models of perfection.
The social mirror is always changing. If your self-perception comes from how others see you, you'll never feel stable, because opinions, fads, and fashion are always changing. It's hard to keep up. You'll start to feel like Alice in Wonderland.
The social mirror isn't accurate. You are so much more than the opinions of others. You are so much more than how you look on the outside. You have beauty and potential that no one recognizes, not even you.
Beware of the social mirror.
Source:
"The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make" - Sean Covey, pp. 269-273
People with no inner spiritual life sometimes ask: If God created everything, who created God? The Prophet, peace be upon him, said that some people would ask this very question: "A day will certainly come when some people will sit with their legs crossed and ask: 'If God created everything, who created God?'" [Bukhari, I'tisam, 3]
At best, the question is based on perceived "cause and effect" relationships. Everything can be thought of as an effect and attributed to a prior cause that, in turn, is attributed to a prior cause, and so on. However, we must remember that cause is only a hypothesis, for it has no objective existence. All that objectively exists is a particular sequence of circumstances that is often (but not always) repeated. If such a hypothesis is applied to existence, we cannot find a creator of the first cause, because each creator must have had a prior creator. The end result is a never-ending chain of creators.
The Creator must be Self-Subsistent and One, without like or equal. If any created being "causes" anything, that capacity was created within that being, for only the Creator is Self-Existent and Self-Subsistent. Only the Creator truly creates and determines possible causes and effects for His creation. Therefore, we speak of God as the Sustainer, who holds and gives life to all of His Creation. All causes begin in Him, and all effects end in Him. In truth, created things are "0"s that will never add up to anything, unless God bestows real value or existence by placing a positive "1" before the "0".
In the sphere of existence, what we call causes and effects have no direct or independent influence. We may have to use such words to understand how a part of creation is made intelligible to us and available for our use. But even this confirms our dependence upon God and our answerability before Him. God does not need causes and effects to create; rather, we need them to understand what He has created.
Source:
"Who Created God?" – Fethullah Gulen
Al-Shams (The Sun)
Chapter 91: Verses 7-10
Self-LiberationBy the soul in the body (al-nafs) and what has balanced it (given it form) and inspired [both] its licentiousness and its intimate sense of God (its piety). He who purifies it will certainly be happy and he who corrupts it will certainly be lost (crushed).
Muslim spirituality is the work the consciousness of the believer does on the self in order to be liberated from all forms of worship of things other than the Transcendent and to find the way to the original breath (fitra) and its purity. This way toward the One is difficult and demanding, because human nature also tends to be drawn to the contingent realities of the world. Caught between longing for the Most High and the attraction of the world, the believer's first experience of awareness is of facing an internal conflict. The choice is between liberating one's self or losing one's self and drowning in the varieties of life.
Islamic teaching has given us concrete tools to help us succeed in this work on ourselves and to arrive at a balance. The daily requirements of Muslim practice give us the direction and the first steps along the way to this freedom. Awareness of the Presence and of the closeness of the Very Near One moves toward the centre, the heart of the same community of faith, through the five daily meetings in prayer, the weekly gathering of that community of faith, the purifying tax on one's possessions (zakat), the fasting for a full month of the year, and the making of the pilgrimage once in a lifetime (if one has the means). By meditating on these requirements, we discover that they really are demanding and operate on several levels: the memory (for people are so inclined to forget); on the management of time (the daily rhythm of prayers and other practices throughout the year); on the individual and communal aspects of being before God (communal prayer, giving zakat, and so on); and on the division of efforts among the various elements that constitute the human being (heart, spirit, body, possessions).
Source:
"Western Muslims and The Future of Islam" - Tariq Ramadan, pp. 119-121
Cracks in the Social Mirror
When it comes to how you feel about yourself, which mirror are you looking at? There are two mirrors to choose from. One the social mirror, the other the true mirror. The social mirror is a reflection of how other people see you. The true mirror is a reflection of the real you. Looking to the social mirror is bad news for several reasons:
The social mirror is unrealistic. Somehow the media has sold everyone the lie that looks are everything. And we've bought it! Our culture proclaims that if you are good-looking, skinny, or buff, you can have it all - popularity, boyfriends, girlfriends, success, and happiness. The problem is that the images of how we're supposed to look come from movies and magazines that feature unrealistic models of perfection.
The social mirror is always changing. If your self-perception comes from how others see you, you'll never feel stable, because opinions, fads, and fashion are always changing. It's hard to keep up. You'll start to feel like Alice in Wonderland.
The social mirror isn't accurate. You are so much more than the opinions of others. You are so much more than how you look on the outside. You have beauty and potential that no one recognizes, not even you.
Beware of the social mirror.
Source:
"The 6 Most Important Decisions You'll Ever Make" - Sean Covey, pp. 269-273
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