Issue 24 (October - December 1998)

Creation began with a syllable of speech made up of two letters, namely Be. The roads leading from unity to multiplicity, from single to plural, appeared with speech and were illuminated with words, which are parts of speech. Before speech resounded in their hearts, man was in no way different from…

In the 18th century Western rationalism and enlightenment movement, one of the leading names, perhaps the foremost, was Immanuel Kant. In the conflict between religion and science which began in the West during the Renaissance, the French mathematician and philosopher, Descartes, was the leading ex…

Just as we encounter people with low intelligence or almost no intelligence at all, in a similar way it is possible to find people with above average or very high intelligence. And as schools are established for those with impaired intelligence, schools with special training in the sciences and oth…

An embarrassing fabrication of evolutionists: The reconstruction of Piltdown man from the chin of an orangutan and a man’s skull.   In the West, the theory of evolution continues to be promoted as if it were a proven fact or a secure, testable and tested law-something that no-one in their right m…

‘The least understood aspect of the universe is its being understandable,’ said Einstein. These words attempt to pierce the veil of habit that develops in our minds from not looking into the reason for things. The perfection of the order operative in the universe is of such a degree that it preven…

The seven heavens and the earth and all in them glorify Him. There is nothing that does not glorify him. (Qur’an 17.44) According to the meaning of the verse above, the Maker has attached to the heavenly bodies so many instances of wisdom and meanings that, as if to express His Majesty and Gra…

A faded adventure experienced with weary eyes Sound of leaves Beating in the ear with the force of strong, cold winds A music of fall   The roses of poetical spring weep everywhere Colours are plaintive Nightingales in quiet lands lament Single melancholy notes   Fountains are lost in thi…

With the publication of the ‘Theory of Relativity’ at the turn of the century, the world-view based on the laws of simple cause and effect physics that began with Galileo and reached its peak in the 19th century, received a severe blow. Goethe’s observation that ‘people running after an idea fall i…

Divine Decree and Destiny in relation to Divine Knowledge As was pointed out earlier (in previous issues), God is beyond all comparison and whatever we conceive of Him, He is different from it. We can only acquire some knowledge of Him, not of His Divine Essence, but His Attributes and Names, by m…

Addiction to Urgent Tasks People like to be seen to be busy. If we’re busy, we’re important; if we’re not busy, we’re embarrassed to admit it. Responsibility has become a sign of status. It gives us security, makes us feel good and is a nice excuse for occupying ourselves with priorities. Most of…

Some truths are absolute, universal and without exception, some are general and some relative. For example, God’s existence with His essence, attributes, Names and works are absolute and universal truths; so are principles of faith such as Divine justice with its dimensions of forgiveness, munifice…

The worth of ‘ecosystem services’ has recently been priced at $33 trillion total per year (Nature 1997, vol. 387, p.253). But can money truly buy our lifelines? Or are they priceless entities not to be taken for granted? A team lead by Robert Costanza, the director of the Institute of Ecological E…

The history of Islam has seen many just, pious rulers, among whom the first four Caliphs, ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz of the Umayyads and Mahdi of the ‘Abbasids, Mahmud of the Gaznawids, and especially the early ones from amongst the Seljuks and Ottomans were the most famous. They consistently consulte…