Volume 6 No. 2, May-June 1998

Editor: Ali R. Fazely, Associate Editors: Saied Andalib and Milan Sulc P.O.Box 80333 Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70808 e-mail: 76451.271@CompuServe.com

We must obey GOD for our own good. GOD teaches us the Quran according to His Infinite Wisdom at the right time. GOD is the One who has established laws to benefit everyone and will not do anyone an atom weight or even smaller than that injustice. There are traditions in every society and people practice them without ever questioning their source or their validity. These traditions over thousands of years have taken the form of "culture" and are used as laws in different societies. A people having the same culture usually look upon others who have a different culture as inferiors. Some of these cultural and traditional behaviors are so deeply rooted that they replace GOD's laws. Once this blind replacement of GOD's laws is practiced, misery and unhappiness follow. One such disobedience of GOD's laws is the case of marriage. We have disobeyed GOD's laws and we have to come back to Him for our own good.

If we look in the Quran, we never find the word "dowry" in the Arabic text. Note that Arabic is the language that GOD chose to reveal the Quran. However, GOD is the protector of people, and He knows that tyrannical, male-dominated societies abuse women's right. It is customary, and has been for thousands of years to have a pre-nuptial agreement, called "mahr" never mentioned in the Quran, when a man and a woman get married. GOD knows that this is no more than a lip-service and does not give women economic freedom in the form "liquid asset" and they will be slaves to the will of their husbands for the entire duration of their married life. GOD, therefore, uses the word "Ujoorahunna", which simply translates to "their wages" and not "their due dowries" as it is traditionally translated. [1,2,3,4,5]

GOD wants to free women from traditions, frequently designed by men who did not believe in GOD. GOD knows that the word "housewife" has been used and is used as a term meaning the lowest class of women whom by the definition of societies are incapable of doing any other form of useful work and that is why they are simply "housewives". GOD knows that these traditions are designed to enslave women and take all economic freedom away from them. This is exactly why in today's societies women have to get out there and work for economic independence.

GOD also knows that housewives provide services that -as a rule- cannot be provided by a single individual. They cook, do the laundry, take care of children, clean the house, run errands, shuttle the children around, do the grocery shopping, and provide clean and Divinely approved love for their husbands. For these services provided all year round with no vacation, they absolutely get "nothing". One has to think how much would it cost if all these services were to be bought from outside. Women often are the recipients of insult and bodily harm from their husbands. This is their wages for a selfless service provided at home.

The Quran speaks only to the believers. It is incumbent upon the believers to remedy this situation as soon as possible. Remember that obeying GOD's commandments brings happiness and joy here in this world and closeness to GOD in the hereafter. Sit down with your wife and agree upon an amount according to what you can afford. Remember that GOD does not burden any soul beyond his means. Note that this is her "money" and cannot be used for grocery shopping or other household necessities. This is to give some dignity to women, if for example, they want to be amicable to their parents as it is commanded by GOD, by buying a gift, they do not have to be dependent on their husbands generosity. Excuses such as, "we cannot afford it" or other man-made statements such as, "she already has a dowry" will not be accepted by GOD. Remember that GOD is The One who provides for people and increase or decrease the provision for them. Disobeying GOD's laws will bring misery in this world and painful retribution in the hereafter.

GOD's revelation of the Quran in a given language, namely Arabic, is to point to us that GOD means what He says, GOD does everything for a reason, GOD is the All Wise, and He is fully aware of all things. He further tells us that understanding the Quran is independent of language and GOD is the one who teaches the Quran to those who sincerely seek Him.

The Quran according to GOD, its Author, is a complete and fully detailed book. It is the only book which can be called "book of GOD". People who bring examples and references for religion or religious practices from books other than Quran are teaching GOD about their religion.

49:16 -- Are you teaching GOD about your religion? GOD knows what is the skies and what is in the land GOD is All Knowledgeable of everything.

GOD has chosen the religion of Submission for us. [6] We need GOD for "everything". We cannot even be thankful to GOD on our own, GOD is the One who makes us be thankful to Him. Please read sura 27 and pay attention to Solomon's prayer in 27:19.

In this article, I will introduce you to a mathematical Sign which explains why GOD has chosen Arabic, and how this confirms number of verses in three suras in the Quran and emphasizes that since Prophet Muhammad was the recipient of the Quran, then Sura 9 has to have 127 verses.

Let us look at the suras 43 to 46. Remember that seven suras in the Quran, namely 40 through 46 are initialed with the two Arabic letters "Ha" and "Meem". The following table shows the frequency of these letters from 43 to 46. Note that the sequence of Ha and Meem is from right to left as in the Arabic text. This becomes apparent as we proceed.

Sura No.	Frequency of Occurrence	Meem Ha
43	324	44
44	150	16
45	200	31
46	225	36
Total	899	127

If we put number 43, the sura number we started with in front of 899 127, we get

43899127

This number tells us that sura 43 has 89 verses and sura 9 has 127 verses. If we perform the following operation;

9127 - 4389 = 4738

Note that 4738 tells us that sura 47 has 38 verses. Also

4738 = 23 x 2 x 103

The indices of these prime factors are

9 1 27

We. therefore, are back to sura 9 having 127 verses. This is GOD's Design. Also, please note the name of Sura 47 which is Muhammad. GOD is telling us that the Quran revealed to Muhammad has 127 verses in sura 9. All praises shall be directed to GOD, Creator of all things.

A central foundation of our belief- the so called Islamic theism- is belief in GOD who is absolutely Omnipotent and Good. Mere creative energy would not make GOD; the creative energy must be consciously and purposefully directed towards goodness. Creating without rhyme or reason, blind will, is the exact opposite of theism. Empirically, we do see order in the universe, but it may be a mechanical order, a product of the laws of physics, fundamental forces, etc., having no consciousness and no purpose, but as Quran says there is beauty and reason and purpose in all that is created- wherever you look and at whatever you look.

When we say GOD is Omnipotent we mean GOD is All Powerful; He can and does what He likes or what He wills; there is absolutely no power external to GOD. Now if such power exists and as we say He is Good, then we are faced with the dilemma of how to answer the question of why evil and bad and pain and suffering exists in the world? There is cosmic evil as well as moral evil which needs to be explained. In nature we see construction as well as destruction; there is life as well as death and decay. Human life is also full of moral, and physical evil and tragedies. If GOD is Omnipotent and Good why is evil in any shape or form allowed to exist? It is repeatedly argued, that if GOD is Good He would wish to make His creatures perfectly happy, and if He were All Powerful then He would be able to do it; and since there is pain and tragedies, He either lacks goodness or power or both.

Of course, there is no force, to counteract His will and as Quran says whenever He wishes to do anything or to create anything He simple says "Be" and it is. But, His Will is also subject to His own Laws- it is a rational will. This requires a perfect balance on omnipotence which are self imposed and according to His Infinite Wisdom, and by the necessities of creation. As Quran says:

15:21 "And there is not a thing but with Us are the treasures of it, but we do not send down but in a known measure."

Without laws and uniformity there would be neither nature nor life. But the laws do not impose ANY limitation on the omnipotence of GOD, they are themselves expressions of rational power. There are possibilities and impossibilities inherent in the nature of things. A thing cannot "be" and "not be" at the same time. Taking numbers as an expression of GOD's rationality, for example, GOD will not make two and two five. Note, I did not say He cannot - because He can do anything - but He will not. He will not violate His own laws. Omnipotence does not mean capacity to work without laws or to make laws and then violate them arbitrarily. Quran repudiates such omnipotence. Nature is a system of laws and uniformity and reason and has its own possibilities and impossibilities. GOD is not an arbitrary and blind creator. GOD creates what He wills but His will is purposeful, and whatever He creates exhibits a rationale. Remember, He is The All Wise.

With reference to the so-called miracles, the word miracle has never been mentioned in the Quran. I only say that GOD calls them "SIGNS". In principle the intrinsically impossible and self-contradictory is not brought into being by GOD - although of course GOD is able to do anything and He is not limited in any way. There may be happenings that are not understood by us with our limited knowledge or by known laws of physics, but there may also be one type of causation modifying the effects of another type of causation rather than violation of the laws of causation and rationality in general.

Working according to laws is the essence of rationality and if rationality is good we cannot then object to the relentlessness and apparent ruthlessness of the laws of nature. If a prophet or a messenger sits under a crumbling roof or wall, it will fall on his head and may kill him, the laws of gravity will pay not heed and do not care for his piety and righteousness; on the other hand, a sinner knowing the structure to be dangerous may save himself by keeping away from it. Superficial religiosity would say that GOD should have saved his messenger and should have let the sinner be crushed. This would mean that GOD Who created the system of nature and laws should disregard and violate its workings in the interest of individuals in their various situations. In that case nature would cease to be nature and would be reduced to chaos and arbitrary will. Who would then consider GOD to be omnipotent and good or rational who could not create a system or having created it would interfere with it at every step to suit the conveniences or whims and desires of this or that creature of His?

Unfortunately, that is the picture of GOD that has been painted by the overzealous and false religiosity thought out the ages. They believe in GOD who gets up every morning, so to speak, and looks around to see what disaster He should cause and what disasters to prevent and what fires to start or to prevent and dispatch His many angels to stop the law of gravity, for example, and prevent that wall in street x from crumbling because a good person is passing by and have a wall in street y crumble because a sinner is passing by or have the fruits of this garden turn all sour and bitter because a sinner has just forcibly taken over it from a believer, etc.

When it comes to science and laws of nature the same picture has been painted of GOD. Throughout the ages whenever science could not explain something in nature, the overzealous and simple minded were too quick to give that as proof that it is the work of GOD and proof of GOD's existence and of course there were not too many things in the working of nature that they understood and so everything was a "miracle". As we know, in every case a few years later a very simple explanation for that so called "miracle" of nature was found and so the so called proof evaporated. In this way they have really reduced GOD to a silly pottery maker, they even have a name for it "God of the gaps."

If something does not make sense at all and cannot be explained then GOD must have made it but if it is the beautiful laws of nature and the simplicity and purposefulness that exits throughout then it is 'nature's and accidents and probability. As you know, in science, if there are several theories that can explain a phenomenon, it is always the simplest, the most beautiful and the most elegant that is accepted and always turns out to be true, yet they take this as proof that GOD had nothing to do with it, because they do not consider GOD more than just a simple pottery maker- they really do not believe in GOD, they do not understand the glory and the majesty of GOD at all. Because of this ignorance and the phony proofs that science constantly nullified, even today most people separate GOD and sciences and laws of nature as if He had nothing to do with it at all; as if He is not the maker and setter of all laws, natural, physical, as well as religious and moral laws.

In any case, an omnipotent being who is also rational can will only rationally. If He repudiates his rationality by his arbitrariness then he ceases to be a good and rational GOD. But there is no inconsistency and contradiction and arbitrariness in GOD's creation.

67:3 "(it is) He Who has created the seven heavens in perfect harmony with one another; no disharmony will you see in the creation of the All Gracious. And turn thy vision (upon it) again; do you see any flaw?"

There is no flaw or evil in nature. It is only our desires and conveniences that attribute good or evil to the events in nature. Nature is a system of changes according to laws. Life and death are relative terms; they only denote changes in the form of being; GOD continuously brings life out of death and death out of life and the whole process conserves the fit and does away with the unfit. It is dominated by the preservation of values and the survival of the fittest. These variations are not chaotic and unplanned and accidental. Life proceeds from weakness to strength, and after having developed to a definite measure, it descends to weakness again. There are ascending curves of development and decay but during all these changes nothing essential is irretrievably lost because the whole process is planned and directed by the Knowing GOD. The ignorant might say that if GOD is Omnipotent and Good then death and decay should not exist, but Quran points to this very phenomenon as proof for the existence of the Creator.

6:95 "... He is the One who brings forth the dead from the living and the living from the dead; such is GOD, how are you then deluded away from the truth?"

30:54 "It is GOD Who creates you from a state of weakness, then ordains strength after weakness; and then after strength ordains weakness and hoary hair. He creates what he wills, and He alone is the All Knowing, the All Powerful."

As we mentioned before, at the end of many verses some attributes of GOD are mentioned and the specific attributes mentioned in a given verse-like everything else in Quran- is no accidental and there are reasons for it. In the above verse, for example, you note the attributes of knowledge and power are mentioned at the end. It refers to the fact that the whole process in consciously planned and serves a definite purpose according to GOD's knowledge and power.

20:50 "...Our Lord is he Who gives every thing its true nature and form and then guides it."

So we see GOD's omnipotence works according to a plan. The power to do everything does not include power to contradict its own nature. As this omnipotence is rational, it works for goodness because the rational includes the good and is necessarily good. Accordingly the working of nature is flawless; it is only our ignorance which sees haphazard change where it cannot discern the law and which calls that evil which does not suit its transient desire of convenience.

44:38 "We did not create the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in sport."

44:39 "We did not create them but with the truth, but most of them do not know."

There is no natural or cosmic evil; nature is not a battlefield of good and evil forces. The whole process is planned by an almighty and knowing power; it is good and tends toward goodness. Death and decay are phases in the process of the fulfillment of a plan; only that is dispensed with which ceases to have value. GOD retains His omnipotence by promulgating laws and observing them. There is no cosmic evil and tragedy; the problem arises out of ignorance or narrowness of vision; real insight into the working of nature would find no fault with it.

Nature works according to universal laws of GOD which are no respecter of any particular person. These laws are rational and work for the good. If sometime their working does not suit our personal desire we call it evil and disaster. The problem of evil in nature is not raised by nature itself, but by our interpretation of it. The best and only correct attitude towards nature is the understanding of its workings and resignation to whatever it brings forth. Marcus Auraius said,"What is good for thee is good for me, O Universe." But we say; we submit to You and Your will only, O GOD because we know it is the absolute good and it is for our good and the good of Your creatures. We know all that is , all that becomes and all that does not become is according to GOD's will only and so we willingly submit.

Submission is and must be absolute and by definition does not involve analysis on our part. It is not up to us to analyze and decide if it is good or not and then submit, we simply do not have all the facts as Quran points out and in any case, GOD by telling us to submit, to be a 'Moslem' is telling us to give up our ego and opinion and the "I" in us and accept His decisions unconditionally. We can have no opinion, our only decision is to submit or not and after that-if we do submit-it would be the ultimate ease because it is only contentment and happiness at whatever GOD has in store for us, whatever He brings our way. It does not mean that we get whatever we wish and we'll be rich and free from disease etc., rather we will be absolutely content at our situation and that is the ultimate good and tranquility.

Remember throughout the Quran GOD calls us, He addresses us as 'O' you who believe...'you who believe in Quran, He tells us to submit to His will, to be Moslem, a sincere submitter. The entire universe submits to GOD, only we have been given a choice-to submit and be the highest of GOD's creatures or to revolt and deny and be the lowest of the low. But remember, or those who deny should remember they cannot really escape submission to GOD, since every step of the way they must and do follow GOD's eternal laws and are governed by GOD -no matter how much they hate it and no matter how much they hate to admit it. By denying, all they have done, as Quran says, is they have shown their true nature. GOD has given us the opportunity to expose our true disposition, to determine, to make known-not to GOD because He already knows-but to ourselves, so there will be no excuse in the day of reckoning, so that we testify against ourselves.

As Quran says it does not make any difference that deniers will reject, because still the Skies and the Land belong to GOD, still GOD does all things and everything, and therefore all the praise belongs to GOD, no matter how much they scream that there is no GOD, and GOD's will and His laws are enforced upon each and every creature including them. By denying, they have not changed a single thing in GOD's universe, they have only proved their evil character and their arrogance and guaranteed their own eternal misery because GOD's system is rational and GOD will oblige and will punish them as they deserve.

False evolutionists present a picture of nature as red in tooth and claw and as a ruthless struggle for survival. But the other side of hypothesis is that nature produces more and more good and fitness and the survival of the fit is the developing force in nature. Life is movement from lesser to greater fitness, but is any construction possible without any destruction? Transformation means passing away of one state and coming into being of another state. Those who want a good GOD should have maintained and developed life without decay and death are demanding an absurdity and an impossibility. It would have been meaningless to us and impossible to appreciate life without death, health without sickness. As Quran says, only GOD is Unique and The One, all else is created in pairs and nothing by itself would have any meaning at all. How could you possibly have appreciated light if there was no darkness? There would have been nothing even to discuss and to argue. It is very aptly said "unless you have been to the bottom of the valley you cannot appreciate the majesty and the glory of the mountain tops." Childhood may be sweet but in advancing towards youth it has to give way. In all development there seems to be an element of ruthlessness but this ruthlessness is only apparent and not real.

False evolutionists claim that evolution disproves the existence of GOD, but Quran considers the survival of the fit as a strong proof of the existence of GOD. There are many verses clearly enunciating this essential feature of nature that it makes the fit to survive and remove the unfit.

13:17 "He sends down water from the sky, then water-courses flow according to their measure and the torrent bears the welling foam, and from what they melt in the fire in order to make ornaments or utensils arises a scum like it. Thus does GOD compare truth and falsehood; then as far the scum, it passes always as a worthless thing and as for that which profits the people, it abides on the earth."

GOD, the Fosterer does not bring into being things which stay out in one state, life is a development from stage to stage; the lesser has to be replaced by the greater and the lower has to be replaced by the higher. This process of planned evolution, universal evolution, continuous development and decay - GOD's system - however you wish to call it, is ceaselessly prevalent among individuals of a given species and for each given species as a whole. The law of decay and death is another name of the law of change and development. Man, for example, starts life with material element and then develops from stage to stage until GOD breathes into it from His Spirit and becomes a human being whereas before he was nothing but material, flesh and bone and still continues to develop.

So the question why there is evil in life becomes really tantamount to asking why there is life at all. Life is inconceivable without change and without resistance to be overcome. Struggle results from the overcoming of obstacles. If a flying bird were to resent the resistance of air which it has to overcome with great effort in order to fly, it does not know that it is the resistance of air which makes flight possible. Resistance is created by nature as a correlate with wings designed to overcome it. The goodness of GOD is manifested in the creation of both. What we call good and evil are the concave and the convex sides of the same surface; you cannot have the one without the other.

Now we come to the question of evil, or pain and suffering in human life which is different from the natural phenomena. These may be generally classified into the so called deserved and undeserved; pains which we are responsible and pains and tragedies that we do not seem to have any responsibility. The first category can be easily explained by the freedom that we have been granted because freedom is a double-edged sword. We have the choice of following the right or the wrong path, we can even revolt against GOD and disobey GOD as Adam did. Along with freedom we are granted capacity to think and use reason and logic. So if we choose to disobey and sink below the animals, we will suffer the consequences and Good cannot be held responsible for our sufferings. These are the sufferings that we bring upon ourselves by violating GOD's laws - religious, moral, well being, health etc. Attaching suffering and pain to wrong doing and excess, once again, proves the rationality and goodness of GOD. The granting of freedom to man, which we accepted voluntarily, is an act of a loving fosterer; therefore any evil that may result from it cannot be attributed to lack of goodness in the Creator. But what about he undeserved suffering/ Pains and tragedies that we apparently have nothing to do with?

Through these trials human beings are purified and exalted. Only in adversity and suffering we are truly tested. It brings out the noblest qualities of man and tests his character; it brings out his qualities of patience and fortitude. In all cases, the right attitude towards life would purify and strengthen a man's character. Throughout the Quran GOD continues to remind us to show patience and perseverance - obviously in sufferings and hardships that we do go through whether deserved or undeserved - and only in this way we can reach the highest of the highs.

2:155 " We shall certainly test you by means of danger, and hunger, and loss of worldly goods, lives and fruits: give good news to those who patiently persevere."

An unbelieving man, when he suffers in any way that he considers as undeserved brings charge of irrationality against life and nature; a man of little faith has his faith shaken either in the omnipotence or the goodness and the caring of GOD. But the submitter and true believer in goodness and caring and the omnipotence of GOD knows and is sure of the twofold purpose of suffering as punishment for the violation of GOD's laws-natural as well as moral and religious laws - and as something that must be combatted only with patience, perseverance and fortitude.

All praise belongs to GOD

Hossein Kowsari

We had our annual meeting, by GOD's Grace on June 19 and 20 (Friday and Saturday) 1998, here in Baton Rouge. The meeting was attended by 75 people who were eager to worship GOD Alone and we went through day and a half of commemorating GOD, praising GOD, and glorifying GOD.

A Farsi translation of the Quran by Behruz Mofidi is available. Interested parties should contact him directly in order to obtain more information. His address/phone number is:

P.O. Box 251902

Los Angeles, CA 90025

Tel: (310) 262-7838

Behruz Mofidi has expressed and is expressing, in the strongest terms, that although; he has translated the preface, the footnotes, the subtitles, the items in the parenthesis, and the appendices from Rashad's English translation of the Quran; these items ARE NOT parts of the Quran.

The editor

[1] Quran, 4:24-25

[2] Quran, 5:5

[3] Quran, 33:50

[4] Quran, 60:10

[5] Quran, 65:6

[6] Quran, 5:3; 22:78

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