WOMAN LOVE AND BASIC RIGHTS ACCORDING TO THE QUR'AN-
After watching the video that is shown below; I decided to take up that subject and share with you my own opinion and experience that I had as a professional tour guide for half a century.''Do not break the chain''is a common expression that is widely used in our times.But in this video it is used in a different contex.So this young man's analysis of life and hereafter presents a mathematical format which is based on the fact that when someone dies then all the dead are equal whether they were rich or poor while they were alive.By the same token if they had learned for example English or not as a foreign language makes no difference and all the time and effort they had spent while they were alive to learn a second language all goes to waste;unless their purpose of learning that second language was for a Divine reason.We can find the root to this statement in the Qur'an Chapter 25-Al-Furqan- Verse 52-'' Fela tutti'ilkafiriyne ve Cahidhum bihi Cihaden Kebiyra''which literally translates into English as ''hence do not defer (the likes and dislikes of)those who deny the truth,but strive hard against them by means of this Divine Writ(the Qur'an),with utmost striving.I am using the translation of the Qur'an done by Muhammad Asad;peace be upon his soul.I tried to write this verse with Latin alphabet so you could see the word ''Cihad''which is a very controversial concept of Islam and here it means struggle,striving an effort to defend ones self against the teachings of Qur'an by using the verses of the Qur'an and that is also noted as the Bigger Cihad.Defending ones self or country against those who are attacking is refered as the Lesser Cihad and in that case Cihad is only a defensive war where Muslims are forbidden to kill children,women or elderly from their enemy.
Therefore the young man is telling us that if one had learned English and was using it to explain the Message of the Holy Qur'an which in this verse is given to us as the Bigger Cihad then by doing this good deed his efforts for learning English as a second language will not go to waste and he or she will be rewarded in the hereafter.
Unfortunately my efforts to learn more from the Qur'an started after I became a Haci(a Muslim pilgrim) by which time I was already 53 years of age.It took 23 years of Prophet Muhammad's life to compile the Qur'an so my decision was to go to the root of the matter and learn Islam from the very words of Allah and that time was ticking away and I would one day have to answer to Allah from His own message.I attended several seminars given by Professors of Theology and studied the Abrahamic teachings as well as the Qur'an.I was leading several religious tours as a guide and one very common question that came up on almost all my tours was about the rights of women in Islam.One of those esteemed professors of Islamic theology was Professor Bayraktar Bayraklı whose book that you see here in Turkish ''Kadın,Sevgi ve Temel Haklar'' had all the answers to those questions however it was available only in Turkish and by the permission given to me by Professor Bayraktar Bayraklı I translated that into English.It was edited by Ms.Tilly Leunig from Australia as she was one of my guests who was a Christian by faith.Therefore by using his mathematical format I am hoping to be rewarded in the hereafter along with Tilly Leunig for all her efforts.
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I would like to conclude this section with a verse from the Holy Qur'an:Chapter 2-Al-Baqarah(The Cow)- Verse-261''The parable of those who spend their possessions for the sake of Allah is that of a grain out of which grow seven ears,in every ear a hundred grains:for Allah grants manifold increaase unto whom He wills;and Allah is infinite ,all-knowing''.
According to the Qur'an spending ones possessions for the sake of Allah includes ones wealth and in that case Alms Giving and charitable donations fall into this catagory while sharing ones information and know-how so others can understand better the Message of the Qur'an constitutes generally educating the public and is regarded as a possession and a good deed.
If we refer back to our original video which was''Do not break the chain'' and remember how Allah will reward those on earth as well as in the hearafter based on their pious deeds according to the above mentioned verse the outcome may not be understood fully if you are not a true believer.However for a pious Muslim their belief gives them total confidence as soon as they put themselves in the hands of Allah Who gives them their inner peace.Therefore as long as we perform those good deeds we shall be rewarded infinitely Inshallah.
FOR THIS REASON!!! -
WHY AM I REFERING A LOT TO RELIGION? LATER ON I WILL SHARE WITH YOU SOME OF THE QUESTIONS ASKED BY MY GUESTS AND I MUST UNDERLINE ONE OF MY OBSERVATIONS AS A GUIDE WHO COULD SAY ''YOU CAN ASK ME ANYTHING YOU LIKE ABOUT TURKEY'';AND WHEN I LOOK AT THOSE QUESTIONS NOW I REALISE THREE QUARTERS OF ALL THE QUESTIONS WERE RELATED WITH ISLAM NOT JUST BECAUSE I WAS A MUSLIM BUT BECAUSE THE MAJORITY RELIGION IN TÜRKİYE WAS ISLAM.THEY WERE SIMPLY TRYING TO UNDERSTAND HOW A LAND WHICH WAS CHRISTIAN SOME NINE HUNDRED YEARS AGO HAD CHOSEN ISLAM WHILE THE REVERSE HAPPENED AFTER EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS OF MOORISH RULE IN SPAIN BACK IN 1492 AND HOW THESE TWO SIGNIFICANT HISTORIC MILESTONES EFFECTED OUR LIVES TODAY.
ON THE OTHER HAND IN THE SECTION ''WHY TURKEY(TÜRKİYE)''THE THIRD VIDEO I SHARED WITH YOU EXPLAINS IN DEPTH HOW I WAS INVITED TO CLAREMONT,CALIFORNIA TO DELIVER A SPEECH IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.MY TOPIC WAS CHOSEN BY THE CHURCH FATHER TOM WELBERS AND IT WAS ''AS CHRISTIANS HOW SHOULD WE UNDERSTAND ISLAM?''THEREFORE MY JOB WAS TO DELIVER THE ANSWERS TO THEIR QUESTIONS AND NO MORE.
QUR'AN CHAPTER 5-AL-MA'IDAH VERSE 99 SAYS''NO MORE IS THE PROPHET BOUND TO DO THAN DELIVER THE MESSAGE (ENTRUSTED TO HIM) AND ALLAH KNOWS ALL THAT YOU DO OPENLY AND ALL THAT YOU WOULD CONCEAL''AS THERE IS NO NEED FOR MISSIONARY WORK IN ISLAM. ALL AS A MUSLIM GUIDE I WAS BOUND TO DO WAS TO ANSWER ALL THOSE QUESTIONS PERTAINING TO ISLAM AND I RESPECT EVERYONES OPINION.THEREFORE FOR THIS REASON YOU WILL FIND SEVERAL DISCUSSIONS REGARDING ISLAM IN MY BLOGS.
After the book that I translated was published I was asked by a group of Protestant Church leaders from around the world if I would be able to arrange an interview with Professor Bayraktar Bayraklı and during Ramadan of 2008 this materialised and I used my own video camera to record it as well as acted as a moderator and translated the questions and answers.Down below is that video recording and please accept my apologies for the audio inadequateness due to some outside noisiness.
It was the Summer of 2016 when Professor Bayraktar Bayraklı and I met at Çay TV Station in İstanbul and made four different sessions regarding general questions asked by the public on Islam.Total time of recording is over one hour and you can watch them next.In todays world there is a great misunderstanding regarding Islam.What existed seventy five years ago against European Jews which ended up with Halocaust is now aimed against Muslims worlwide.Unfortunately it is all happening in front of the world and we are mostly watching it.The most recent tragedy against the Muslims is taking place in Arakan and the Arakanese and Myanmar Budists have exterminated unfortunately tens of thousands of Arakanese Muslims.A recent story told by a 55 year old Arakanese Muslim is that this is his third flee from home.Same things have been happening since 1978.If you go on-line and check it out you will find more details.The Human Rights Watch calls it ''Crimes against Humanity and Ethnic Cleansing''.Have you heard so far in the world press anywhere where those Budist monks are referred to as Budist radicals or terrorists?Also can you find on-line any information regarding the Oklohoma City bomber;Timothy Mc Weigh being referred as a Christian terrorist? How can I even say that because those terms are only applicable to Muslims!!!!Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was at the United Nations only a week ago and declared Turkey was the most merciful nation on earth according to the statistical information and had been providing shelter to Syrians and Iraqıs over three million refugees and had spent thirty billion dollars so far and the international community only had repaid under two billion dollars worth of those expenses.He also keeps saying it is high time for a renewal at the UN and the world is far bigger than the five UN Security Council Members.
Therefore the following four sessions hopefully will answer some of your questions.Reporting live from İstanbul,Türkiye;September 27,2017...
It has been a week since I received this video from a friend.Each time I would work as a guide for one of our local travel agencies for the first time I would opt for the most comprehensive tour programme.Longer the itinerary was better for me as there was so much to talk about my country.That used to be the way.Folks who are within my age group can probably understand my feelings.I belong to that 68 generation.I was in Paris when the students rioted so I left town while they were busy burning cars and moved on with my holiday to London.Within the same week riots started there also.So I left for home and returned to İstanbul but students would not calm down and it seemed rather contagious at the time.My university was by the Blue Mosque and student unrest continued around the Roman Hippodrome as it was quite a large area.I do not remember a single occasion where I would join any one of those rallies and if I would see them march in one direction than I would walk away in the opposite direction.I was busy with my tours and during final exams I would only have time to do two questions out of three so I would rush to meet my group in front of St.Sophia Museum and spend the rest of the day with them.
Travel industry had changed tremendously in fifty years.So guides who were still around from the old school had a lot of adjusting to do.Three years ago I attended a seminar given by an international tour operator and our tutor was asking all of us for how long we had been working as guides.When I said fourty-seven she put that figure on the board and the next closest figure was twenty-seven.Most of the others had some twenty years experience.I may some day write another blog with more details about that seminar which lasted four days.According to the new format while doing a ten day tour of Turkey we were to limit our discussions to fifteen minutes.Then we should give them time on their own.We were told they were on a holiday and we should respect that.This was the age of twitters with very limited vocabulary and even most politicians were using that all the time.Now less was more but we were educated in a fashion so we had no limits when it came to providing our utmost information to our guests.We felt like we had to cover many details and only then we thought we were giving the service which they had paid for! Imagine talking about the history of this land and Yarımburgaz Caves in İstanbul go back some eight hundred thousand years before our times.Then lets cut it shorter and continue with Göbeklitepe near Şanlı Urfa,ancient Edessa which goes back some twelve thousand years and cover all of that in a nut shell in fifteen minutes!
I was used to saying ''You can ask me anything you like about Turkey'' and then they were no longer reluctant with all sorts of questions about history,religion, politics and arts.The more I tried to make my explanations as short as possible then questions would pour down on me and I had no complaints because I was doing my job however I started getting some complaints on questionaire forms and the agency asked me why I was talking too much on history,religion and politics.So I decided to make a change and asked them to give their questions in a written format rather than verbally and the next time I got complaints I presented the office manager a handful of those questions and asked them''are you paying me to answer these questions or not to answer them?''When you put thirty people on a coach(we were told not to use the word bus anymore as times had changed) and they may be at different age groups and nationalities with different interests so it was obvious some would like sports and others would like politics.I would usually remind them that this was a coach tour and I would conduct my services based on majority requests but I would be saddened even with one unhappy guest and I simply could not get over that in fifty years.Therefore the saying ''You can't win them all''was absolutely correct.!
There is a lot a guide must learn every year because of newly excavated sights.However the reason why I chose the next video for you is about a city where I have never been in all these years.Karakoçan,Elazığ is in Eastern Turkey and they have a tradition of providing free food for the needy in some of their restaurants.To be able to confirm this video I phoned the Merkez Restaurant that is mentioned and asked them if this system was applicable.The answer was ''yes'' and the present owner had been running the operation in the last twenty five years and it was a family business.You may have heard of the Turkish hospitality by now or if you have not my question to you would be ''what took you so long to come?''There is so much to learn and see in the Craddle of Civilizations and it may well be the trip of a lifetime for you!
By the way the word ''Bereket'' in Turkish stands for abundance and is the result of the Blessings of Allah.You may have heard of Alms giving which also increases the earnings.The Qur'an Chapter 2-Al-Baqarah Verse three says''Those who believe in the existence of that which is beyond the reach of human perception(Al-Ghayb) and are in constant prayer and spend on others out of what We provide for them as sustenance''.It was probably more than ten years ago when I learned this verse for the first time and only then I realised what a Blessing it was for me.The English which I had learned in my teens now had enabled me to translate a religious book;answer all the questions pertaining to Islam and teach my students in the Travel Industry as well as in the Hand-Made Turkish Carpets free of charge by sharing all my knowledge and life long experience while I was paid by the patrons of these industries.So the teaching in all the Abrahamic Faith is when you share what you have for a Divine reason it does not diminish your income but rather increase it;as is in the Alms giving so I feel obligated to express my gratitude to all my teachers and my parents who all worked very hard to raise us all and I pray for their souls to be rewarded with Paradise.That is what ''Bereket'' is all about according to the Qur'an.
September 29,2017-Friday;Reporting from İstanbul,Türkiye.
Down below we can identify a sea that comes in two colours.It reminds us what naturally happens after a torrential rainfall when the nearby river brings all the mud from the surrounding areas.That is all only for those who have not come across what the Qur'an says in Chapter 55-Ar-Rahman Verses 19 and 20 as shown in the picture.''He has given freedom to the two great bodies of water,so that they might meet;yet between them is a barrier which they may not transgress.''Because if this was only the mud from the hills in couple of days the sea would return back to its original colour however Verse 21 says''Which then,of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?''If you ever decide to take an indepth study of the Qur'an there will be details that will surprise you.Did you know Chapter 19 was called Maryam who is the Mother of Jesus Christ and ''Mary''is mentioned 34 times in the Qur'an while she is refered to in the Bible 19 times.I am not trying to tell you we love her more than you do but the Muslims regard her as the most noble woman of all times.Getting back to Chapter 55 the Verse''Which then of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?'' is mentioned 31 times.Can you imagine this Chapter 55 has only 78 Verses and 31 times Allah is asking us the same question! Isn't it high time that we should try to understand what our Creator is telling us?
Therefore we have to think more and try to understand this natural phenomena.There is a rumour about the famous French underwater explorer Jacques Cousteau;bless his soul who passed away twenty years ago.He was jubilant when he discovered what was happening at the Gibraltar Sill.He witnessed at that sill how the Mediterranean Sea water with a salinity higher than 36,5 pro one thousand went below the Atlantic Ocean water which has a salinity lower than 36 pro one thousand flowing on top and how those two bodies of water never mixed.His friends told him that it was already mentioned in the Qur'an.The concept of a ''Miracle''in Islam is the Holy Qur'an Which is full of such infinite details.
Reporting from İstanbul,Türkiye October 01,2017-Sunday
There may be those of you who may find the picture and the Qur'anic Verses unconvincing or even irrelevant so I would like to present the next video.As we can see it is a sunny day in the Mediterranean Sea and the cruise ship is headed towards the Gibraltar Sill.At the point where the two bodies of water meet we can notice how they do not mix as well as how the saltier waters of the blue Mediterranean Sea is no longer visable because as soon as the two bodies of water met the saltier waters started to flow under the less saltier waters.The cruise ship is headed now towards the Atlantic Ocean.
The Qur’an is not a book for student’s of Science however it is full of such miracles and only those who spend time to understand and cross question every detail then we can see the bigger picture.However there is a misunderstanding which is rather common.The original Qur’anic text is in Arabic and it tells us that other prophets; before Prophet Muhammad received the Holy Message; those other Prophets were chosen from several communities and their message was the very language of those communities.As a result of this; commonly people expect Arabic speaking peoples to understand the Qur’an best and that may be right only to an extend as the language of the Holy Qur’an is also Rabbic.
What do I mean by Rabbic? To explain myself a little better I will take you to the Holiest night according to the Qur’an:The night of Qadr(Destiny) is when Muhammad of Mecca received the very first revelation in a cave of Mount Hira where he used to withdraw into seclusion just outside of Mecca at the age of forty.The ninety-seventh Surah(Chapter) of the Qur’an explains as to what happens every year during that night.’’97/1-Behold,from on high have We bestowed this Divine Writ on the Night of Destiny;97/2-And what could make thee conceive what it is,that Night of Destiny;97/3-The Night of Destiny is better than a thousand months;97/4-Angels descending bearing Divine Inspiration by their Sustainer’s leave,from all evil that may happen;97/5-does it make secure until the rise of dawn.’’In the second Verse of this chapter the Arabic words in Latin Alphabet is ‘’ve ma edrake’’is telling us that Muhammad of Mecca at that point could not conceive the word Qadr meaning power in Arabic actually was meant to be ‘’better than a thousand months’’according to Allah.That is why it was a clear message to the last Prophet of the Abrahamic Heritage even though the language spoken in Mecca was Arabic this was the word of Allah so not even the chosen Arab to be the last Prophet could not conceive the Divine Message because it was purely Rabbic.
At this point I leave you to cross question everything that Islam has brought.However there are three exclusions to my cross questioning.As a Muslim I can not cross question 1-Allah 2-His Prophets 3-The Qur’an.These three conceps are purely part of Faith.There are several hundred Verses in the Qur’an where Allah uses several Arabic words and is asking us to understand His Divine Writ by using our inteligence.We can do that by ‘’thinking’’ so in the Qur’an Arabic words’’Tefekkür’’;’’Tezekkür’’;Tefakkuh’’;’’Teakkul’’ and ‘’Tedebbür’’are all related with ‘’thinking’’and are all part of the Qur’an being Rabbic.
My wife sent me the next video.Please watch it and read my take which you will find in depth after this video.
CHINESE RAINBOW COLOURED MOUNTAINS IN THE QUR'AN-The picture of the Qur'an pages down below is from Chapter 35-Al-Fatır(The Originator) and the Verse that we listened to in Arabic in the last video is 27 which translates into English as ‘’Are you not aware that Allah sends down water from the skies,whereby We bring forth fruits of many hues,just as in the mountains there are streaks of white and red of various shades as well as others in raven-black’’
How could our Prophet Muhammad who had never been to China would have known these rainbow coloured mountains existed in China?There is no Hadith(saying of Prophet Muhammad) that we know of today which talks about these Chinese mountains. As the first interpreter of the Qur’an was our Prophet and he has not related this verse like we can do today with China.There has been several people in history who claimed and later insisted that the Qur’an was written by Prophet Muhammad.By all means this is false information and when the pure words of Allah were revealed to our Prophet by Angel Gabriel;the Qur’anic clerks wrote them down.There may be scholars who keep claiming that Prophet Muhammad was illiterate so he could not have written the Qur’an.According to my take yes he was not aware of the Old and the New Testaments until they were revealed to him as stories but because he was a trader on the road with caravans selling and buying all the time until the age of forty when he was chosen as the last of the Prophethood;assessing him as illiterate means one needs to understand the Qur’an better.
How can you buy and sell without keeping a record?Let us imagine he had a clerk who did his book keeping;and if the clerk made a mistake he could write it down as profit or loss but it is unthinkable for him to make a mistake while the clerk was writing down the Revelation because he would have to double check every letter in Arabic as it was written down and he was told not to add anything other than what he was told in Surah (chapter) 69-Al- Haqqah in Verses 44 to 47’’Now if he;whom We had entrusted with the Qur’an,had dared to attribute some of his own sayings unto Us;We would indeed have seized him very tightly and would indeed have cut his jugular vein and none of you could have saved him.’’This was an open threat to His own Messenger and how could he under those circumstances could have been illiterate enough not to understand the Divine Message? In Surah Al-Maidah -5 Verse 3 Allah says ''...today I completed your religion and all My blessings unto you and I chose for you;Islam as your religion....''Therefore in a Book completed by Allah trying to search for missing information as some experts may claim and try to add other information through human effort clearly violates Surah 69 Verses 44-47 as described above.As a result of this analysis one should better understand as a true believer of Islam that Prophet Muhammad would double check what was revealed through Gabriel so that he would avoid the Qur’anic clerks make a mistake.
Muslims were organised by Allah to be ‘’Hafız’;which was to memorize the whole Qur’an.Obviously this was not for every Muslim but for the more dedicated it was a form of ‘’Cihad’’and by organising His last message in this fashion Allah fulfilled His Mission of safeguarding His own Message.You do not find this application with Judism or Christianity,eventhough illiteracy was also high back then frescoes and mosaic depictions were used in Churches for people to understand their religion.According to the Qur’an in time The Old and the New Testaments went through some changes caused by the human intervention.This is why approximately some sixty percent of the Qur’an is comprised of the Old and the New Testament stories.They are not exactly how it appears in today’s Bible or the Torah but how the Messages were like originally.
The Abrahamic Faith is based on the Oneness of Allah,therefore attributing conflicting messages to Allah was stopped by the Qur’an.If the ground rule was ‘’One Allah’’ then there had to be ‘’One Message’’The bottom line of this section is if we are checking to understand if a hadith(saying of Prophet Muhammad) is valid or not by Qur’anic Standarts then the litmus paper to be used in this case is the Qur’an itself.As our Prophet was warned by Allah not to make any additions then if the hadith does not comply with the Qur’an then that hadith is not valid according to the Qur’an.In my opinion this is a very complicated issue and the Muslims worldwide must put their house in order as soon as possible.Sooner the better!
The divisions within the religion is Satanic and is the cause of global unrest.By the way how would you answer my next questions? Was Prophet Muhammad Sunni or Shia? And was Jesus Christ a Catholic or Protestant? And finally as Allah sent a Prophet to every tribe who was the Christian Prophet because according to the Christian dogma Jesus Christ had been attributed with Trinity!Therefore the best we can do is apply Chapter 109 of the Qur’an Verse 6-‘’Your religion is for you,my religion is for me’’ and hopefully end this religious rhetoric and stop sending the bill to Allah for all our differences because if He had planned the creation of Mankind to be the cause of divisions he would not have sent so many Prophets to put us in good order.!-Reporting live from İstanbul,Türkiye October 3,2017-Tuesday
The Media has always been a powerful source of communication.As in every source of media the so called ‘’social media’’ has spread globally beyond all possible borders.The pros and cons of social media at this point is not my topic.It has become a life style to billions of people everyday to use this social media one way or the other.So the day before I shared the above explained video ‘’Chinese Rainbow Colured Mountains In the Qur’an’’with an esteemed friend living in Doha,Qatar and he told me check out the ones in Peru and I went on line and discovered the below shown article written about Vinicunca (Rainbow) Mountain in Peru.Apparently one has to go on trekking for five to six days in the Andes Mountains to be able to locate the natural wonder created by Allah.I will mention this to a couple living in Lima;Peru and find out if they have been there so far.They were on one of my tours of Turkey;wonderful people and I am ever so glad that after fifty years as a guide there are such friends who keep up the friendship we established back then.
Now I would like to refer to the Qur’an to shed some light regarding such discoveries in our times.At the end of the Chinese Rainbow Mountains video there is reference to Qur’an Chapter 27-An-Naml- Verse 88 which reads’’And you will see the mountains which now you deemest so firm,however they pass away as clouds pass away;a work of Allah,who has ordered all things to perfection.Verily He is fully aware of all that you do.’’Muslims realise that fully because as they pray five times a day at the end of each prayer they first turn to the right and salute the angels who are recording our good deeds and then to the left and salute the angels on the left who are recording our bad deeds and only then our prayers are finished and only then we can continue with our daily lives from where we have left them.Therefore Allah is fully aware of all that we do.Qur’an Chapter Qaf-50 Verse 16’’Now,Verily,it is We who have created man,and We know what his innermost self whispers within him,for We are closer to him than his neck-vein(jugular-vein), Verse 17-‘’At that time(before we salute the angels);two angels one on either side(right and left) are writing down everything that we do(good or bad)’.’
Therefore speaking about the five fundamental pillars of Islam how correct is it if we do not take the other do’s and don’ts of the Qur’an into consideration?Can a Muslim person lie or kill?These two are not part of the five pillars but they are part of the Old and the New Testaments.Until the house cleaning is done by all the religious entities that exist on Earth then all the torture and killing that goes on will never finish.After what happened recently in a Las Vegas,Nevada concert where a lunatic killed 59 and wounded more than 500 people how safe are we? Does it matter which religion or social group the mass murderer belonged to? Are we going to forget this messacre in couple of days and start worrying about a whale that is stranded on a beach in California? Wednesday October 4,2017-İstanbul
RAINBOW MOUNTAIN AT PERU - A WALK INTO THE UNKNOWN
http://theendlessadventures.blogspot.com.tr/2015/10/a-walk-into-unknown-searching-for.html?m=1
Speaking about putting our religious entities in order I would like to bring to your attention another topic in the Qur’an where the scholarly debate has been going on for a long time and it looks like the end is not so near.This time the Qur’anic reference is Chapter 3-Verse 7-‘’He it is who has bestowed upon you from on High this Divine Writ;containing messages that are clear in ;(Stedfast=Muhkem) and by themselves,and these are the essence of the Qur’an;as well as others that are (allegorical) which is (Müteşabih) in Turkish.Now those whose hearts are given to swerving from the truth go after that part of the Divine Writ which has been expressed in allegory seeking out what is bound to create confusion;and seeking to arrive at its final meaning in an arbitrary manner; but none save Allah knows its final meaning.Hence those who are deeply rooted in knowledge say;we believe in it,the whole of the Qur’an is from our Sustainer;albeit none takes this to heart save those who are endowed with insight.’’
I specially chose this Verse in order to shed light to what is described as confusing.Where it said ‘’save those who are endowed with insight’’ reminded me of another Verse from the Qur’an.Chapter 39-Az-Zumar Verse 9 is presenting us a paragon;’’.....Say:Can they who know and they who do not know be deemed equal?’’What is know-how? If you know how then it is easy but if you do not know how then it is difficult.Know-how is also an economical entity.We pay for know-how and then buy the formula to be able to produce it as merchandise.This is a very simple equation that is applicable for any endeavour that we come across with.Information is the most important commodity on earth as long as that information is correct.So to those who have the correct information then analysing confusion is a piece of cake.Let us reconsider the above mentioned verses from Chapter 3/7;35/27;27/88;39/9 and 55/19-20 and try to understand what constitutes ‘’Stedfast’’ and ‘’Allegorical’’ By keeping in our minds the meanings to all the above mentioned verses and looking at the big picure here is my take:
Had it not been the cross questioning and discovery of Jacques Yves Cousteau the natural phenomenon at the Gibraltar Sill the Verses 19 and 20 of Chapter 55-Ar-Rahman these Verses were regarded as allegorical but since it was so discovered now those Verses have become clearly stedfast to all of us.The same assessment would be in order for the Rainbow Mountains in China and Peru as Chapter 35/27 is no longer allegorical to me but the stedfastness of the Verse is proven by the help of internet.However for Allah every verse in the Qur'an is steadfast but for the mankind some are allegorical because of our limited capacity.Some more capable than others in understanding! I do hope this clears some of the confusion. Wednesday October 4,2017-İstanbul-
I think the above shown video comes from Australia.The accent of the moderator is why I feel that way.I can be mistaken however it looks like a multicultural society as some ladies in the crowd are wearing a headscarf while this young lady wearing a tee shirt with the sign in front’’naive’’ is asking a question about Islam.This question is often asked by Non-Muslims and in this video a Muslim Scholar from Durban,South Africa answers her question.As he does he gives examples from the Bible by touching ‘’1 Corinthians 11:6 and 14:34 which you can check as I did to see if it was quoted correctly Then he goes to the Qur’an Chapter 3-Al-Imran Verse 14 and explains his answers while the crowd is enjoying it.I have to admit it looked to me like both sides were displaying a theatrical fashion as well as providing an answer to a question.About a month ago during a court case one of the defendants in Turkey was wearing a tee shirt which read ‘’Hero’’ while he was on trial for treason it caused a great deal of public unrest.Later on it was decided that this action was chosen purposely to agitate the national interest of the country and was banned.Therefore this young lady is asking a ‘’naive’’ question and the Scholar expresses his concern about the way women are dressed in the West:He is about my age and I can emphatise what he is saying however one can feel the friction during this discussion and if we go back to Qur’an Chapter 2-Al-Baqarah Verse 256 which wants to end religious differences by saying’’My religion is for me while yours is for you’’only then by respecting each others life styles we can have more peace in the world.. Why muslim women must wear a headscarf is an order of Allah according to the Qur’an Chapter 24-An-Nur Verse 31and that is the end of the discussion in my opinion.
Communities araound the globe would like to emphasize some sort of superiority over their counterparts.They may decide to export their life styles to others with or without their consent.As an example in 2003 the USA decided to bring Democracy to Iraq. Did the Iraqı people request it ?No; they did not.Were they looking for WMD or really was the plan to get rid of Saddam Hussein?The West knew he had no WMD because they had not sold him those weapons.This was a pre-emptive strike.At the time when American forces ended the Saddam regime in Iraq they were happy to liberate the Iraqi people from a dictator and bring Democracy.According to the census in Iraq 65% were Shiites,20% were Sunni and some 15% were Kurdish.So with the first elections Shiites came to power and they are still ruling Iraq.Of course there were minorities including the Arabs and the Turcomans.When the first Shiite Prime Minister Maliki took control of Iraq he distanced himself from the USA and established closer ties with the Iranian Shiite regime.Americans knew Iraq was predominantly Shiite and America had lost Iran after the Shah had left in 1979.So why bring Democracy to a country where the majority would be against you?After a referandum last week in North Iraq now we may have to face more chaos in the Middle East because the leader of North Iraq Mesud Barzani.So countries may invade other countries with their military forces or they can apply an embargo and force them to file bankrupcy or divide them into smaller entitties and states and apply ‘’divide and conquer’’Or they can impose some kind of ‘’perception building’’by the help of ‘’friendly media’’and spread rumours to influence the public opinion.The following article was sent to me from a very close friend of mine from Australia Peter wanted to know why it was so that only 8% of global GDP comes from Muslim nations.
’’ We need to look at the Muslim world more widely to assess whether Muslims are really disadvantaged because of us in the West.
Globally, there are 50 Muslim majority nations. It is evident by every measure, that these nations are less free, less democratic, less tolerant, less economically successful (apart from the accident of oil wealth), less equal, less healthy and less a part of the modern world (see list below). In countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Iran, Pakistan or Afghanistan it is extremely uncomfortable, and sometimes fatal, to belong to a religion other than Islam. Christians and Jews have practically been eradicated from these countries.
Only eight percent of the globe’s gross domestic product comes from Muslim nations while Muslims make up 23% of global population. Only one per cent of scientific journals come from Islamic countries. Women barely work and 60% of all Muslims are illiterate.
One need only look at the stark differences in wealth, peace and freedom between Muslim Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, and non-Muslim Hindu majority India to see the stark contrast.
When Muslims are in charge of their own lands, they run them into the ground. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh were all Hindu / Buddhist until the Islamic invasion and conquests of India resulted in a Muslim majority which oppressed Hindus for ten centuries in their own country. Yet given independence, India has become the world’s fastest growing economy, whilst its neighbour, made up of the same genetic peoples and the same physical land, Islamic Pakistan, is 133th in the world in terms of GDP. Pakistan has been racked by war and instability, as has Afghanistan – all under Muslim rule. Bangladesh does better than Pakistan and ranks 44th globally in terms of GDP. Afghanistan ranks 108th. India ranks 7th.
And take away the oil that the Gulf states so heavily rely on, then the figure is probably close to 0. No wonder they try and swarm here to the West, it isn't enough that they've made a mess of their own Islamic run nations.’’
Another global war was between the Holy books of the Christians and Muslims according to the Economist Magazine published in December 19,2007.Last but not the least the battle for global supremacy is on at full speed.President Trump and the We need to look at the Muslim world more widely to assess whether Muslims are really disadvantaged because of us in the West.
Globally, there are 50 Muslim majority nations. It is evident by every measure, that these nations are less free, less democratic, less tolerant, less economically successful (apart from the accident of oil wealth), less equal, less healthy and less a part of the modern world (see list below). In countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Iran, Pakistan or Afghanistan it is extremely uncomfortable, and sometimes fatal, to belong to a religion other than Islam. Christians and Jews have practically been eradicated from these countries.
Only eight percent of the globe’s gross domestic product comes from Muslim nations while Muslims make up 23% of global population. Only one per cent of scientific journals come from Islamic countries. Women barely work and 60% of all Muslims are illiterate.
One need only look at the stark differences in wealth, peace and freedom between Muslim Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh, and non-Muslim Hindu majority India to see the stark contrast.
When Muslims are in charge of their own lands, they run them into the ground. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh were all Hindu / Buddhist until the Islamic invasion and conquests of India resulted in a Muslim majority which oppressed Hindus for ten centuries in their own country. Yet given independence, India has become the world’s fastest growing economy, whilst its neighbour, made up of the same genetic peoples and the same physical land, Islamic Pakistan, is 133th in the world in terms of GDP. Pakistan has been racked by war and instability, as has Afghanistan – all under Muslim rule. Bangladesh does better than Pakistan and ranks 44th globally in terms of GDP. Afghanistan ranks 108th. India ranks 7th.
And take away the oil that the Gulf states so heavily rely on, then the figure is probably close to 0. No wonder they try and swarm here to the West, it isn't enough that they've made a mess of their own Islamic run nations.’’
Besides ‘’perception building’’ in order to influence the public opinion even the Holy Books The Bible and The Qur’an are portrayed in such a fashion by the media that there is a hidden battle between these Books that we should look into.Let me take you to December 19,2007 and lets check out what the Economist Magazine is claiming. http://www.economist.com/node/10311317
Last but not least President Trump and the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un are headed in a full collision course and we are praying that it does not happen.No one needs the Third World War.
Reporting from İstanbul,Turkey-October 5,2017-Thursday
As I watched the next video of this thirteen year older Jack from Virginia USA,immediately I thought of my two grand sons living within the borders of the same State.Our older grandson Ömer is now fourteen and the younger one Ali is now eight.I congratulate those who were involved in the making of this video.They are trying to increase awareness of a common problem that seems rather contagious in that country.A 13 year-old boy who is not old enough: to drive a car,to buy bear;cigarettes,racy magazines or lottery tickets can easily and legally buy a 22 caliber rifle by paying cash and walk away with it in no time leaves me speachless.Al I can say is ‘’oh boy’’;’’oh boy’’.
I could not have ended this blog without sharing with you the following video of 10 Fantastic Words:
1-The most selfish one letter word-I=Avoid it.
2-Two most satisfying two letter word-We=Use it before you loose it.
3-The most poisonous three letter word-Ego=Kill it.
4-The most used four letter word –Love=Value it.
5-The most pleasing five letter word-Smile=Keep it.
6-The fastest spreading six letter word –Rumour=Ignore it.
7-The hard working seven letter word-Success=Achieve it.
8-The most enviable eight letter word-Jealousy=Distance it.
9-The most powerful nine letter word-Knowledge =Acquire it.
10-The most Divine ten letter word-Friendship=Maintain it.
Last but not the least in the Qur’an there is a relative section in Chapter 49-Al-Hujurat Verse 13-‘’O men!Behold,We have created you all out of a male and a female,and have made you into nations and tribes,so that you might come to know one another.Verily,the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the one who is most deeply conscious of Him.Behold,Allah is all-knowing,all-aware.’’
Regarding the above Verse here is my take:Allah created us all with different finger prints and made us into nations and tribes so we would come to know each other and learn from one another.With this system humanity would progress by the competition created.So with Friendship and Knowledge we can acquire the highest civilization and by using our inteligence hopefully we can maintain it.
Reporting from İstanbul,Türkiye-October 8,2017-Sunday
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