The Aim Of The Message

The Aim of the Message :The Aim of the Message Based on: The all-Embracing Message of Islam By Sh. El-Nayyal Abd-Alqadir Abu-Quroon

The School of Muhammad :The School of Muhammad The school of Muhammad (PBHH) is indeed the greatest school in the history of humanity, as God Almighty in His Glory and Sanctity, has Himself praised its founder in His eternal speech, for his high moral qualities and has sworn an oath on that. As God Almighty has the Supreme authoritative control over people, He is in no need to swear to them (by something) to reinforce His words or deeds! Therefore, His oath is but an assertion of the greatness of the one whom He has described and praised for his high moral qualities, and is not intended to make people believe Him.

The School of Muhammad :The School of Muhammad God Almighty says: “(I swear by) “Noon” and the Pen and what they write. By the g race of your Lord you are not mad or possessed. And you rightfully deserve and shall have a never ending reward. And indeed, you are of a great integrity of morals” [68:1-4]. Therefore, Muhammad (PBHH) is the finest and greatest teacher in the school of human life, and for that reason he has been sent, as he said: “as a teacher” Sunan Ibn Majah. He was the first of all prophets to be created and the last of them to be sent with this sealing Message as the teacher for all humanity. God Almighty says: “…and We have not sent you (O Muhammad) but as a universal Messenger to all people, a Bearer of glad tidings, and a Herald, but most people do not know.” [34:28]. Indeed, this is the aim of his Message.

The School of Muhammad :The School of Muhammad Muhammad has been sent as the divine example of humanity in its perfection, to be followed by all people, imbuing them by his great morals and behaviour and leading them to God Almighty’s path without straying or faltering. People were drawn to him immediately upon seeing him and hearing him speak, as his manners were devoid of coarseness. God Almighty says: “…had you [O Muhammad] been harsh or hard-hearted, they would have left you” [3:159]. In him , souls found all that they sought and loved. As a result, they became at peace and their anxieties disappeared as they perceived their purpose and their path was clarified by this great teacher: “… and We have sent you the Revelation (O Muhammad) to clarify to people what has been sent to them” [16:44].

The School of Muhammad :The School of Muhammad This great teacher (PBHH) has been sent to the entire human race to teach them the high moral qualities which distinguished him from the rest of all creation including Prophets, Messengers, Martyrs, and Saints. The Creator of the universe, Supreme and Divine in His domain, praised him for these moral qualities and described them as great: “And indeed, you are of a great integrity of morals” [68:4].

The School of Muhammad :The School of Muhammad Prophet Muhammad the teacher of good conduct and humility said: “Verily, I have been sent to perfect high moral qualities” Musnad Ahmad. Therefore, even those who have faith and do righteous deeds are in need of him, for without him they are in darkness as God Almighty has sent him as: “… a Luminous source of Light” [33:46], “…So that he may lead those who have faith and do good deeds from Darkness to Light” [65:11]. This is the summit of the goal of what humanity can learn. He said: “Nothing exceeds good conduct on the scale of a faithful person on the Day of Resurrection” Sunan Tirmithi, and this, indeed, is the aim of the Message.

Acts of worship are means for noble character :Acts of worship are means for noble character Therefore, one should not think that devotion to fasting and night prayers are exclusively the worship and aim of the Message, so that people may say that such a person “is the pigeon of the mosque” (i.e. a devout worshipper). The people who fast and gossip slanderously about others behind their backs have actually broken their fast as if they were eating their flesh: “… and do not spy, nor backbite one another . Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would then abhor the one (who does that)!” [49:12]. The Messenger also says: “Many are the people who fast and gain nothing from their fasting except hunger and thirst”.

Acts of worship are means for noble character :Acts of worship are means for noble character Likewise, those whose prayer has not prevented him/her from committing evil and immoral deeds remains as if he has not prayed. God Almighty has ordained prayer as a means of protecting its performer from committing evil and immoral deeds: “Surely Prayer prevents from evil and immoral deeds” [29:45]. Prophet Muhammad the most truthful of all speakers said: “With high moral qualities a faithful person reaches the status of one who is devoutly praying and fasting”. Majma’ al-Zawa’id

Moral qualities are the aim of the Message :Moral qualities are the aim of the Message As has been reiterated, high moral qualities are the aim of the Message and whoever is so described is, in fact, the closest to the Messenger of God Almighty (PBHH) on the day when one is most in need of salvation: “Indeed, the most beloved and closest to me of you in the Hereafter, are the best in moral qualities.”. “It was said to the Messenger of God Almighty Muhammad (PBHH), that a woman prays the whole night and fasts the whole day and some of her words are harmful to her neighbours, he said: “There is no good in her, she is in hell” Mustadrak.

Moral qualities are the aim of the Message :Moral qualities are the aim of the Message Good character is distinguished from fasting and night prayer by not being afflicted by boasting, conceit, and vanity that wipe out good deeds. It is also a virtue that extends to others in a manner similar to charitable spending. However, the latter might get affected by boasting and undue reminding of others of favours done, as the Almighty said: “And don’t remind others of favours (that you do), proudly boasting” [74:6]. Therefore, the benefit of prayer and fasting does not extend further than their doer even if they are safe from afflictions, while good conduct is always safe from afflictions and moreover, its benefit extends to others.

Religion is Good Conduct :Religion is Good Conduct The teacher (PBHH) continued guiding people and clarifying the ethics and the high moral qualities to elevate them from the “darkness” of misconduct, rough dealings, tense relationships, and expression of anger to the “light” of brotherhood, good conduct, love, and tolerance. He elaborated that: “Religion is interaction with good conduct”. This good conduct had been the foundation of interaction; so, coercion did not exist in religion in all aspects of life: in people’s interaction between themselves, between a ruler and his people, or between people and their Creator, and even when preaching; for the Holy Quran states: “… Would you then compel people until they become faithful?” [10:99].

Human Rights :Human Rights Here the Message shines brightly to illuminate its aim clearly, as the Master of high moral qualities expounds: “He who harms a thimmi (non-Muslim citizen in all religions) has indeed harmed me and will answer to me on the Day of Resurrection”. No one should be considered inferior or be discriminated against because of their faith, nor should they be coerced to change it and forcibly accept another. It is a religious obligation to treat human being s in accordance with their humanity, without compulsion or humiliation, as the great teacher said: “Religion is interaction with good conduct”.

Human Rights :Human Rights He exemplified this principle himself when he stood in respect as a funeral passed by. Then someone objected and pointed out that the funeral was for a Jew. In response, the Prophet (PBHH) said: “Is he not a human being?” When his companions once asked him to lay a curse upon their persecutors, he replied: “I have not been sent to lay curses, but I have been sent as a mercy.” Sahih Muslim

Mercy for people :Mercy for people A non-believer once entered the mosque of the Prophet (PBHH) and urinated in it. The Prophet’s companions rushed to him, berating and terrifying him, and wanted to beat him up. The Prophet (PBHH) stopped them, consoled him and said to him: “Arab brother, this Mosque is not intended for what you have done, but it is built for the reverence of God Almighty”. The integrity of the Prophet so captivated the non-believer, who there and then embraced Islam and prayed: “O God Almighty, have mercy on me and Muhammad but on no one else”. The Prophet (PBHH) said to him: “You have constrained what is infinite”.

Mercy for people :Mercy for people The Prophet had once been asleep with his sword cushioned underneath him, when a non-believer snatched it and said to him: “Who will save you from me Muhammad?” He said: “God Almighty”. At that moment, the sword slipped from the man’s hand and the Prophet took it and said to him: “Now, who will save you from me?” The non-believer said: “Your clemency O Muhammad”. So, the Prophet (PBHH) there and then, left him without compelling him to say: “There is no God but God Almighty” to become a Muslim. He said: “He who kills a thimmi (non-Muslim citizen in all-religions) will never smell the scent of Heaven even though its scent can be detected over the distance traversed in forty years” Bukhari.

Slide 16 :THANK YOU

The Message & The Messenger

The Message & The Messenger :The Message & The Messenger Based on: The all-Embracing Message of Islam By Sh. El-Nayyal Abd-Alqadir Abu-Quroon

Mercy & Justice :According to the Qudsi Hadith (sacred saying of God Almighty), God Almighty’s mercy preceded His anger: “Indeed, My mercy preceded My anger” Bukhari. This may raise a question: Were Messengers sent from God Almighty to deliver mercy to people or to set a scale of accountability to hunt down their mistakes for vengeance? Mercy & Justice

Mercy in Justice :There can be no doubt that what the Messengers have delivered from God Almighty is the mercy for humankind. However, setting a scale of accountability for people’s deeds is to remind and show them where these deeds place them in relation to the bountiful mercy that their Creator intended and delivered to them. Knowing this, they will abandon their errors. Hence, God Almighty will overlook their misdeeds and will not hold them for the sins they have earned: “Your Lord is the Most Forgiving, the Lord of Mercy, if He were to hold them for what they have earned (of sins), He would have hastened upon them the sufferance” [18:58]. Mercy in Justice

Terror for Mercy?! :The Message of Islam is mercy from God Almighty if we agree that what had been delivered from Him through His Messengers is mercy for all people. However, some Muslim preachers chose the second part of the opening question as the main theme of their way of preaching Islam (da’wah). So, they used the scale of accountability to frighten, terrorize, and threaten people. They even drove them to a state of despair and hopelessness from the mercy of God Almighty; and those who does not respond to their terrifying admonitions will be persecuted by the use of arms to the extent of execution! Terror for Mercy?!

Terror for Mercy?! :Therefore, they distanced people from God Almighty’s mercy, while He said in the Qudsi Hadith: “My mercy preceded My anger.” Bukhari, as he said in the holy Quran: “My mercy encompassed everything” [7:156]. Isn’t it more befitting for those preachers to present to the people this mercy which encompassed everything including anger, if anger can be considered a thing? Terror for Mercy?!

Messenger of Mercy with a Message of Mercy :The high moral qualities of Prophet Muhammad, may the Prayers and Blessings of God Almighty be upon Him and His family (PBHH), are the embodiment of The Holy Quran, and he is God Almighty’s mercy in essence: “And We have not sent you (O Muhammad) but as mercy for all the worlds.” [21:107]. In fact, Prophet Muhammad (PBHH) is inseparable from the Message he delivered, as God Almighty said “… Surely, We have been sending Mercy from your Lord; it is He who is All-Hearing, All-Knowing.” [44:5-6]. Messenger of Mercy with a Message of Mercy

Messenger of Mercy with a Message of Mercy :Prophet Muhammad (PBHH) is surely a Messenger for all people, as God Almighty said: “We have not sent you (O Muhammad) but as a universal Messenger to all people” [34:28]. The Prophet (PBHH) also said about himself: “Indeed, I am a bestowed mercy (upon creation)” Mustadrak, thus confirming that he is the standard reference and that he is God Almighty’s mercy sent to all. Messenger of Mercy with a Message of Mercy

The Message is inseparable from the Messenger :Many people, however, committed the crime of separating the Message from the Messenger (PBHH), claiming the ability of interpreting the Message themselves, without the need to refer to the one who delivered it. Furthermore, they gave themselves the right to hold the Prophet accountable to their faulty scale of judgement in an attempt to find fault with his conveyance of the Message, as if God Almighty has not chosen for His Message the most befitting of all His creation in terms of knowledge, integrity of morals, and beauty of form! Little did they know that, consequent to this separation, they have grievously erred and strayed, through their misinterpretations and misconceptions, from comprehending the mercy that God Almighty has bestowed upon people! The Message is inseparable from the Messenger

The Message is inseparable from the Messenger :Little did they know that, consequent to this separation, they have grievously erred and strayed, through their misinterpretations and misconceptions, from comprehending the mercy that God Almighty has bestowed upon people! The Message is inseparable from the Messenger

Mercy in Morality :Prophet Muhammad (PBHH) also said “Verily, I have been sent to perfect high moral qualities” Ahmad. These are the moral qualities for which God Almighty had praised him and sent him to teach to all people: “ And indeed, you are of a great integrity of morals” [68:4]. Therefore, he was sent to complete and perfect the highest moral attributes, i.e.to approve and seal what has been preached by the previous Messengers (May God Almighty’s Prayers be Upon them) since they have all been sent to form virtuous communities. Mercy in Morality

The standard reference for humanity :So, he is the seal of the Messages, the first in creation (“A man asked the Prophet since when was he a Prophet; he replied: While Adam’s creation was between the soul and the body”) and the aim (Qiblah) of the prayers (of God Almighty, His angles, and the believers). Since his Message is the all-embracing of all previous Messages, God Almighty made: his throwing His own throwing: “ …and it was not thou who threw (sand into their eyes, O Prophet), when thou didst throw it, but it was God Almighty who threw it” [8:17]. obeying him is His obedience: “Whoever obeys the Prophet has indeed obeyed God Almighty” [4:80]. pledging to him is pledging to Him: “Behold, those who pledge their allegiance to you have indeed pledged their allegiance to God Almighty, the hand of God Almighty on top of their hands ” [48:10]. and his order is His divine order: “the order (you give) is not yours (but is God Almighty’s) ” [3:128]. He, thus, set him as the standard reference for humanity and the summit of the goal of those seeking human perfection. The standard reference for humanity

Part 3: The Big Bang & The Holy Quran

The Big Bang:A Muslim Perspective :The Big Bang:A Muslim Perspective Part 3: The Big Bang & The Holy Quran

Human Curiosity! :Human Curiosity! What existed then at the beginning of the universe? How did it begin, and why? Why did it take the form it did? Who are we? Where did we come from, and why for? Where are we going?

Shall we put it this way? :S. Hawking: This picture of a universe that started off very hot and cooled as it expanded is in agreement with all observational evidence that we have today. We are therefore thoroughly confident that we have the right picture, at least back to one second after the big bang. Shall we put it this way?

The Perfection of Creation? :The universe started out with so nearly the critical rate of expansion to just avoid re-collapse. If the rate of expansion one second after the big bang had been smaller by even one part in a hundred thousand million million, the universe would have re-collapsed before it ever reached its present size. On the other hand, if the expansion rate at one second had been larger by the same amount, the universe would have expanded so much that it would be effectively empty now. Roger Penrose showed that the probability of a universe like the one in which we exist, out of the array in ‘phase space’ of possible universes, is 1 in 10 to the power 123, a number too big to be written down in full even if every proton in the entire universe were used to write a digit on. The Perfection of Creation?

The Perfection of Creation? :The balance and precise strength of the fundamental gravitational, electromagnetic and nuclear forces needs to be exactly what it is if conscious life is to exist. So Peter Atkins says: If nuclei were bound together slightly more weakly, or slightly more strongly, the universe would lack chemistry. If the electric force were slightly stronger than it is, evolution would not reach organisms before the sun went out. And if it were only slightly less, stars would not have planets, and life would be unknown. Peter Atkins, Creation Revisited, p. 23. The Perfection of Creation?

The Inevitable Conclusion :Hawking: This means that the initial state of the universe must have been very carefully chosen indeed if the big bang model was correct right back to the beginning of time. It would be very difficult to explain why the universe should have begun in just this way, except as the act of a God who intended to create beings like us. The Inevitable Conclusion

Guidance is from Allah (S) :However, this conclusion was not sufficient for Stephen Hawking to acknowledge that act of God even though it is full agreement with all observational evidence available today. This is because, I suppose, he did not investigate the evidence that God provided when He claimed the creation of the universe. This evidence can be seen in His description to what He created. Here is some of this evidence: Guidance is from Allah (S)

The Evidence of God: agreement between the book of creation & the book of revelation :The Evidence of God: agreement between the book of creation & the book of revelation Allah (S) said: Soon We will show them Our Signs on the horizons (of nature), and in their own (creation), until it becomes manifest to them that it (Quran) is the Truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is witnessed (via His signs) on all things?” [41:53]

Failure of Predictability at the Big Bang Singularity :At the big bang singularity, the density of the universe and the curvature of space time would have been infinite. Therefore, the general relativity and all other physical laws including the laws of vision and perception, which are based on the assumption that space-time is smooth and nearly flat, would break down. One cannot predict what would come out of the singularity, which is the moment of creation. Allah (S) regarding this failure of predictability and lack of any scientific vision or description of that moment said: Failure of Predictability at the Big Bang Singularity

Failure of predictability at the big bang singularity :Failure of predictability at the big bang singularity “I did not make them witness to the creation of the skies and the earth or to the creation of themselves, and I would not have the misguiders as assistants.”18\51.

The Initial Distance Between Cosmic Bodies was Zero :The Initial Distance Between Cosmic Bodies was Zero At the beginning, the distance between the neighbouring galaxies was zero, therefore, the universe was one entity, and as it expanded, all cosmic structures started to take shape. This is mentioned in detail, without any metaphoric indications, by Allah (S): “Have those who disbelieved not considered that the skies and the earth were a joined entity, and We separated them and made from water every living thing? Then will they not believe?”21\30.

The Expanding Universe :The Expanding Universe The discovery that the universe is expanding was one of the great intellectual revolutions of the twentieth century, said Stephen Hawking. However, this great intellectual revolution of the last century was mentioned in the Holy Quran fourteen centuries ago. Allah (S) said: “And the sky We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are expanding it.” 51/47.

Creation of Cosmic Bodies from Clouds of Gas & Debris :Creation of Cosmic Bodies from Clouds of Gas & Debris The cosmic bodies: galaxies, stars and planets including earth were formed of cosmic clouds of gas and debris. Allah (S) mentioned that in the verse: “Then He directed His power and will to the sky while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth “come (into being) willingly or by compulsion”. They said: we have come willingly.” 41/11.

The Big Crunch :It is a fact that the universe is expanding since the moment of its creation. One of Friedmann’s models of the expanding universe is that the universe is expanding so sufficiently slowly that the gravitational attraction between different galaxies would cause the expansion to slow down and eventually to stop. The galaxies then would start to move toward each other and the universe contracts. The distance between two neighbouring galaxies starts at zero, increases to a maximum, and then decreases back to zero again. The Big Crunch

The fate of the Universe :The fate of the Universe However, the fact about the end of the universe is mentioned in the Holy Quran, Allah (S) said: “The Day when We will fold the sky like the folding of a [written] sheet for records. As We began the first creation, We will repeat it. [That is] a promise binding upon us. Indeed, We will do it.” 21/104.

Why The Universe began? The Purpose of Life :Why The Universe began? The Purpose of Life “And I did not create the Jinn and humankind except to worship Me. I don’t want from them any provision, nor do I want them to feed Me. Indeed, it is Allah Who is the [continual] Provider, the firm possessor of strength” [51:56-8]

Part 2: Development Of The Theory

The Big BangA Muslim Perspective :The Big BangA Muslim Perspective Part 2: Development of the Theory

Human Curiosity! :Human Curiosity! What existed then at the beginning of the universe? How did it begin, and why? Why did it take the form it did? Who are we? Where did we come from, and why for? Where are we going?

Development of the Big Bang Model :How did this vast cosmos, awesome in beauty and extent, come into being? The general theory of relativity provides the ideas we use to understand space, time and gravity. The theory of relativity predict that our universe should have the big bang, a beginning of time. Development of the Big Bang Model

Is the Universe Static? :Albert Einstein, who in 1915 published the general theory of relativity, was sure that the universe is static, so he introduced a so-called cosmological constant into his equations. This was a new antigravity force assumed to be built into the very fabric of space-time and gives it an inbuilt tendency to expand. This could be made to exactly balance the attraction of all the matter in the universe so that a static universe would result. Is the Universe Static?

The Expansion of the Universe :Alexander Friedmann, 1922, made two very simple assumptions about the universe: 1-The universe looks identical in whichever direction we look; 2-This would be true if we were observing the universe from anywhere else. On the basis of general relativity and these two assumptions, he showed that the universe was not static but instead expanding. Edwin Hubble, 1929, observed exactly what Friedmann predicted that all galaxies were moving away from us, the farther the galaxy was, the faster it was moving away. The Expansion of the Universe

The Hot Early Universe :At the big bang the universe had zero size and so must have been infinitely hot but as the universe expanded, the temperature of the radiation would have decreased. George Gamow, 1948 was the first to put forward this picture of a hot early stage of the universe and made a remarkable prediction that radiation from the very hot early stages of the universe should still be around today. This is the cosmic microwave background of radiation that was discovered by Penzias and Wilson in 1965 (approximately 2.7 Kelvin). The Hot Early Universe

Evidence for Early Hot Universe:The Microwave Background Radiation :Evidence for Early Hot Universe:The Microwave Background Radiation

The Birth of the Theory :Roger Penrose, 1965 showed that a star that collapses under its own gravity is trapped in a region whose boundary eventually shrinks to zero size. This means that all the matter in the star will be compressed into a region of zero volume, so the density of matter and the curvature of space time become infinite. In other words, one has a singularity contained within a region of space-time known as a black hole. The Birth of the Theory

The Birth of the Theory :Stephen Hawking (1965) assumed that if the direction of time is reversed in Penrose’s theorem so that the collapse became expansion, the conditions of his theorem would still hold. Penrose’s theorem had shown that any collapsing star must end in a singularity; the time-reversed argument showed that the expanding universe as described by Friedmann’s model must have begun with a singularity. The final result was a joint paper by R. Penrose and S. Hawking (1970) which showed that the universe started from a big bang singularity, the primeval explosion that brought all space and time, all matter and energy, into being. The Birth of the Theory

The Hot Big Bang ModelThe Big Bang Singularity :At some point in the past, between ten and twenty thousand million years ago, the distance between the neighbouring galaxies must have been zero. At this stage which is known as the big bang singularity, the density of the universe and the curvature of space time would have been infinite; therefore, the general relativity and all other physical laws would break down. One cannot predict what would come out of the singularity. The Hot Big Bang ModelThe Big Bang Singularity

One Second Old!Radiation & Sub-atomic Particles :One Second after the big the bang the temperature would have fallen to about ten thousand million degrees. At this time the universe would have contained mostly photons, electrons, and neutrinos and their antiparticles, together with some protons and neutrons. One Second Old!Radiation & Sub-atomic Particles

100 Seconds to 100 hrs Plasma of Light Elements :About one hundred seconds after the big the bang, the temperature would have fallen to one thousand million degrees where protons and neutrons would no longer have sufficient energy to escape the attraction of the strong nuclear force. They would start to combine together to produce the nuclei of atoms of deuterium or heavy hydrogen. The deuterium nuclei would then have combined with more protons and neutrons to make helium nuclei; there would also be small amounts of a couple of heavier elements, lithium and beryllium. Within only a few hours of the big bang, the production of nuclei of helium and other elements would have stopped. 100 Seconds to 100 hrs Plasma of Light Elements

Formation of Atoms :In the next million years or so when the temperature had dropped to a few thousand degrees, the electrons and nuclei would no longer have had enough energy to overcome the electromagnetic attraction between them. They would then have started combining to form atoms. Formation of Atoms

Formation of Galaxies :The universe as a whole would have continued expanding and cooling. In regions that were slightly denser than average, the expansion would have been slowed down by extra gravitational attraction. This would have eventually stop expansion in some regions and cause them to start to collapse. The gravitational pull outside these regions may cause them to rotate slightly and as the collapsing region gets smaller, it spins faster and eventually balances the attraction of gravity. In this way the disk-like rotating galaxies like our own galaxy, The Milky Way, were born. Formation of Galaxies

Formation of Stars :As time went on the gas in the galaxies would break up into smaller clouds that would collapse under their own gravity. As these concentrated, the temperature of the gas would increase until it became hot enough to start nuclear reactions. These would convert the hydrogen into more helium and the heat given off would raise the pressure, and so stop the clouds from contracting any farther. They would remain in this state for a long time as stars like our own sun, burning hydrogen into helium and radiating the energy as heat and light. Formation of Stars

Eagle Nebula: The Pillars of Creation :Eagle Nebula: The Pillars of Creation

Formation of our Solar System :Our own sun contains about 2% of heavier elements like carbon and oxygen because it is a second or third generation star. It was formed some five thousand million years ago out of a cloud of rotating gas containing debris of earlier supernovas. Most of the gas in that cloud went to form the sun or got blown away. However, a small amount of the heavier elements collected together to form the bodies that now orbit the sun as planets like the earth. Formation of our Solar System

Shall we put it this way? :S. Hawking: This picture of a universe that started off very hot and cooled as it expanded is in agreement with all observational evidence that we have today. We are therefore thoroughly confident that we have the right picture, at least back to one second after the big bang. Shall we put it this way?

Part 1: The Phenomenon: The Universe

The Solar System

The known solar system consists of 1 star which is the Sun and is at the centre of our Solar System with the 8 planets and all the other bodies in orbit around the Sun as in the diagram below, all held in their orbits by the Sun’s gravity. Our Sun is just like all the other stars you see in the night sky, some are smaller and some larger, our star being classed as medium in size.

Our solar system

Our planets are split into 2 groups, the four inner Planets known as the Rockies and the four Outer Planets known as the Gas Giants, this relates to the makeup of these planets.

The four gas giants of the outer solar system

Astronomical Units of Distance

• The astronomical unit =149,600,000km (1.00AU), which is the distance between the earth and the sun.
• The light-year is a unit of distance. It is the distance that light can travel in one year. Light travels at a speed of about 300,000 km each second. So in one year, it can travel about 10 trillion km. More precisely, one light-year is equal to 9,500,000,000,000 kilometres.
• 1.00AU = 8.3 light minutes!

Size Of The Solar System

The size of the solar system was always based very roughly around Pluto’s orbit of the Sun which is an ellipse shape that ranges from 30 AU to 50 AU. But now, if dwarf planets are included, the size must relate to the orbit of Eris which ranges from 38 AU to 97 AU. Therefore, its average diameter is 135 AU, which should be the outer reaches of our Solar System. Many people find it difficult to relate to these figures. However, our solar system is an extremely tiny part of the Milky Way galaxy. If the diameter of the solar system (about 1 light day) is reduced to 1 cm, the diameter of the Milky Way (100,000 light years) would be 365 km. Compared to the size of the universe, our solar system is near infinitely smaller. It’s safe to say a grain of sand to the size of the earth isn’t even comparable to our solar system compared to the Universe.

Orbit Of Eris, one of the moons of Pluto and one of the outermost units that defines the size of our solar system

The following maps of the universe are taken from Atlas Of The Universe a site designed to give everyone an idea of what our universe actually looks like. There are nine main maps on this web page, each one approximately ten times the scale of the previous one. The first map shows the nearest stars and then the other maps slowly expand out until we have reached the scale of the entire visible universe.

The Universe Within 12.5 Light Years - Our Nearest Stars

This map shows all of the stellar systems that lie within 12.5 light years from us. The closest star to the Sun is only 7000 times further than the edge of our solar system.

The Universe Within 12.5 Light Years - Our Nearest Stars

The Universe within 250 Light Years - The Solar Neighbourhood

• Number of stars within 250 light years = 260 000.

This map is a plot of the 1500 most luminous stars within 250 light years. All of these stars are much more luminous than the Sun and most of them can be seen with the naked eye. About one third of the stars visible with the naked eye lie within 250 light years, even though this is only a tiny part of our galaxy.

The Universe within 250 Light Years - The Solar Neighbourhood: This map is a plot of the 1500 most luminous stars within 250 light years.

The Universe Within 5,000 Light Years - The Orion Arm

• Number of stars within 5,000 light years = 600 million

This is a map of our corner of the Milky Way galaxy. The Sun is located in the Orion Arm - a fairly minor arm compared with the Sagittarius Arm, which is located closer to the galactic centre. The map shows several stars visible with the naked eye which are located deep within the Orion arm. The most notable group of stars here are main stars in the constellation of Orion - from which the spiral arm gets its name. All of these stars are bright giant and supergiant stars, thousands of times more luminous than the Sun. The most luminous star on the map is Rho Cassiopeia and is 4,000 light years away, it is a dim naked eye star, but in reality it is a huge supergiant star 100,000 times more luminous than our Sun.

The Universe Within 5000 Light Years - The Orion Arm: This is a map of our corner of the Milky Way galaxy.

The Universe within 100,000 Light Years - The Milky Way Galaxy

• Number of stars within 100,000 light years = 200 billion

This map shows the full extent of the Milky Way galaxy - a spiral galaxy of at least two hundred billion stars. Our Sun is buried deep within the Orion Arm about 26 000 light years from the centre. Towards the centre of the Galaxy the stars are packed together much closer than they are where we live. Notice also the presence of small globular clusters of stars which lie well outside the plane of the Galaxy, and notice too the presence of a nearby dwarf galaxy - the Sagittarius dwarf - which is slowly being swallowed up by our own galaxy.

The Universe Within 100,000 Light Years - The Milky Way Galaxy: This map shows the full extent of the Milky Way galaxy - a spiral galaxy of at least two hundred billion stars.

The Universe within 500,000 Light Years - The Satellite Galaxies

• Number of large galaxies within 500 000 light years = 1
• Number of dwarf galaxies within 500 000 light years = 12
• Number of stars within 500,000 light years = 225 billion

The Milky Way is surrounded by several dwarf galaxies, typically containing a few tens of millions of stars, which is insignificant compared with the number of stars in the Milky Way itself. This map shows the closest dwarf galaxies, they are all gravitationally bound to the Milky Way requiring billions of years to orbit it.

The Universe within 500,000 Light Years - The Satellite Galaxies: This map shows the closest dwarf galaxies, they are all gravitationally bound to the Milky Way requiring billions of years to orbit it.

The Universe within 5 million Light Years - The Local Group of Galaxies

• Number of large galaxies within 5 million light years = 3
• Number of dwarf galaxies within 5 million light years = 46
• Number of stars within 5 million light years = 700 billion

The Milky Way is one of three large galaxies belonging to the group of galaxies called the Local Group which also contains several dozen dwarf galaxies. Most of these galaxies are depicted on the map, although most dwarf galaxies are so faint, that there are probably several more waiting to be discovered.

The Universe within 5 million Light Years - The Local Group of Galaxies

The Universe within 100 million Light Years - The Virgo Supercluster

• Number of galaxy groups within 100 million light years = 200
• Number of large galaxies within 100 million light years = 2500
• Number of dwarf galaxies within 100 million light years = 50,000
• Number of stars within 100 million light years = 200 trillion

Our galaxy is just one of thousands that lie within 100 million light years. The map shows how galaxies tend to cluster into groups, the largest nearby cluster is the Virgo cluster a concentration of several hundred galaxies which dominates the galaxy groups around it. Collectively, all of these groups of galaxies are known as the Virgo Supercluster. The second richest cluster in this volume of space is the Fornax Cluster, but it is not nearly as rich as the Virgo cluster. Only bright galaxies are depicted on the map, our galaxy is the dot in the very centre.

The Universe within 100 million Light Years - The Virgo Supercluster: The above map shows how galaxies tend to cluster into groups, the largest nearby cluster is the Virgo cluster a concentration of several hundred galaxies which dominates the galaxy groups around it.

The Universe within 1 billion Light Years - The Neighbouring Superclusters

• Number of superclusters within 1 billion light years = 100
• Number of galaxy groups within 1 billion light years = 240,000
• Number of large galaxies within 1 billion light years = 3 million
• Number of dwarf galaxies within 1 billion light years = 60 million
• Number of stars within 1 billion light years = 250,000 trillion

Galaxies and clusters of galaxies are not uniformly distributed in the Universe, instead they collect into vast clusters and sheets and walls of galaxies interspersed with large voids in which very few galaxies seem to exist. The map above shows many of these superclusters including the Virgo supercluster - the minor supercluster of which our galaxy is just a minor member. The entire map is approximately 7 percent of the diameter of the entire visible Universe.

The Universe within 1 billion Light Years - The Neighbouring Supercluster: The entire map is approximately 7 percent of the diameter of the entire visible Universe.

The Universe within 14 billion Light Years - The Visible Universe

• Number of superclusters in the visible universe = 10 million
• Number of galaxy groups in the visible universe = 25 billion
• Number of large galaxies in the visible universe = 350 billion
• Number of dwarf galaxies in the visible universe = 7 trillion
• Number of stars in the visible universe = 30 billion trillion (3×10²²)

This map attempts to show the entire visible Universe. The galaxies in the universe tend to collect into vast sheets and superclusters of galaxies surrounding large voids giving the universe a cellular appearance. Because light in the universe only travels at a fixed speed, we see objects at the edge of the universe when it was very young up to 14 billion years ago.

The Universe within 14 billion Light Years - The Visible Universe: This map attempts to show the entire visible Universe.

Cosmic Time and Scale

• If the solar system were the size of a table, the Andromeda Galaxy would lie at 10 times the distance to the moon, and the most distant galaxies would lie at 60 times the distance to the Sun.
• If we were to compress the time since the Big Bang into one year, and make the time of the Big Bang January 1.
  • The Earth would be formed in mid-September.
  • The mammals would appear on December 26.
  • All human prehistory (from the first known stone tools) and history would have occurred in the last 1/2 hour of New Year’s Eve.

God Almighty mentioned in the Holy Quran that He created seven skies and that He adorned the sky nearest to earth with lights, i.e. stars, the basic units of the universe.

“Then He ordained them seven heavens in two Days and inspired in each heaven its mandate; and We adorned the sky nearest to the earth with lights, and made them secure: such is the ordaining of the Almighty, the All-Knowing”

[41:12]

“And, indeed, We have adorned the sky nearest to the earth with lights,”

[67:5]

Therefore, the seven skies or heavens are likely to be separate space-times beyond the limits of our universe or space-time (a sphere 14 billion light years across), the stars of which adorn the lowest of them.

Embryology in the Revelation

If God Almighty (Allah) is indeed the creator of the human being, the verses of the revelation to His messengers in which He described this creation are expected to be in harmony with the stable scientific facts about human development. Such facts are stable in the sense that they never exhibit radical changes with progress of science, rather, better understanding. Therefore, progress in science will always help better interpretation of the revelation, i.e. revelation from the Creator of nature and good scientific description of nature should always be in harmony. This is exactly what God mentioned in the verses:

“Have you (people) given thought: if this (Quran) be truly [a revelation] from God, while you deny its truth? Who could be more astray than one who places himself [so] deeply in the wrong? Soon will We show them Our Signs on the horizons (of nature), and in their own (creation), until it becomes manifest to them that it (Quran) is the Truth. Is it not enough that your Lord is witnessed (via His signs) on all things?”

[41:52-3]

In 1677, Johan Ham and Anton van Leeuwenhoek were the first to see human sperm under a microscope. They mistakenly believed that each sperm carried a tiny human, a ‘homunculus’, and that the woman contributed nothing. Almost a century later, Lazzaro Spallanzani showed (by carrying out artificial insemination in dogs) that both egg and sperm are needed to create a new life. In 1759, Caspar Wolff proposed that the different parts of a growing baby develop from different layers of cells, which we now know to be correct. However, 1400 years ago a Jewish man passed by Prophet Muhammad (S) while he was talking to His companions. Some of the disbelievers from Quraish (the tribe of Muhammad) said to him:

“This man claims that he is a prophet.”

He said: “I shall ask him a question that only a prophet will know its answer.“

So he came and said: “O Muhammad, what the human being is created from?“

He (S) said: “O Jew, the human is created from both the Nutfah (reproductive fluid) of the man and that of the woman….“

Then the Jew stood up and said: “This is what was said by those (Prophets) before you.“

Reported by Ahmad.

God Almighty revealed to Prophet Muhammad (S) the following verse about the questions of who we are and from where we did come into being:

“Indeed, We have created the human being (Adam) out of the essence of clay. And then We have made him a Nutfah (drop of gametes) in a safe lodging [the womb]. And then We have created out of the drop of gametes Alaqah ( a leach-like lump), and then We create out of the leach- like lump a Mudghah (chewed-like lump of flesh), and then We create within the embryonic lump bones, and then We clothe the bones with flesh - and then We bring [all] this into being as a new creation: hallowed, therefore, is God, the best of artisans!“

[23:12-14]

Sperm (Nutfah of the man)

A fertile young man makes around 1000 new sperm per second, in the testes. Each carries half the instructions (genes) needed to make a new person, packed into its head. The rest of the cell is a long tail, which propels the sperm towards the egg at about three millimeters per minute. The neck is crammed with mitochondria, which help make the energy needed for the journey. Once they’re released, sperm usually survive for 48 hours.

The Male Nutfah and Sex Determination

A humans’ sex is predetermined in the sperm gamete. Welshons, WJ; Russell, LB. was the first to define the role of the male Y chromosome in sex determination in his paper: THE Y-CHROMOSOME AS THE BEARER OF MALE DETERMINING FACTORS IN THE MOUSE. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1959 Apr;45(4):560-566. [PubMed] In the XY sex-determination system, females have two of the same kind of sex chromosome (XX), while males have two distinct sex chromosomes (XY). Some species (including humans) have a gene SRY on the Y chromosome that determines maleness; others (such as the fruit fly) use the presence of two X chromosomes to determine femaleness. Since sperm are the variable factor (i.e. which sperm fertilises the egg) they are responsible for determining sex. However, this system of sex determination was mentioned in the Holy Quran 1400 years ago:

“And that it is He (God Almighty) who creates the two kinds - the male and the female -out of a [mere] drop of sperm as it is poured forth“

[53:45]

Eggs (Nutfah of the woman)

A fertile young woman usually releases one egg a month, from one of her two ovaries. Unless the egg is fertilized within the next 24 hours, it dies. At its centre, the egg contains half the instructions (genes) needed to make a new person. The rest of the cell is a rich food store for the fertilized egg during the first few days of its life. A baby girl is born with around half a million eggs already formed in her undeveloped ovaries. However, only about 400 are released in her lifetime, between puberty and the menopause.

Fertilization (the combined Nutfah)

Fertilization is the moment when a sperm and egg join together, and the genes from the mother and father combine to form a new human being. For the sperm, it is the end of a long and difficult journey - the winner of a race that started out with 500 million competitors (that’s more than 16,000 times the number of runners in the 2000 London marathon). The prize is the egg, which is released from the ovary and then travels along the fallopian tube to meet the sperm Allah (SW) referred to the formation of the Zygote by the process of fertilization in this verse:

“Verily, it is We who have created the human being out of mixed gametes (of a male and a female)…“

[76:2]

Week 1

After fertilization, the genes carried by the egg and sperm combine, creating the complete set of instructions needed to make a new person as in the verse:

“And then We have made him (=copied his structural and functional characteristics in the genes of his reproductive cells) a drop of combined gametes in a safe lodging [the womb]“

[23:13]

The fertilized egg is called a zygote. About 30 hours later, this single cell starts to divide - into two, four, then eight cells, and so on. Meanwhile it travels down the fallopian tube and six days later, the resulting clump of cells burrows into the lining of the womb. Only about 75 per cent of all fertilized eggs get as far as this stage.

Week 2

At 12 days, the embryo is still just a clump of around a couple of thousand cells. The different parts of its body do not start to grow until after the first two weeks. Now completely embedded into the wall of the womb, some cells are starting to form the placenta, which will bring the mother’s blood vessels right alongside those of the baby. This phase is described in the verse above as leach-like, which is structurally and functionally typical to this phase: And then We have created out of the drop of gametes a leach-like lump. These cells begin to produce a hormone, which can be detected by a pregnancy test.

Week 3

Three weeks after fertilization, the different parts of the embryo start to form. Three layers of cells form, out of which all the different organs of the body will develop. Two folds grow along the length of the embryo - these roll up to make the neural tube which eventually becomes the brain and spinal cord. The placenta, the embryo’s life-support system, starts to work, delivering nourishment and taking waste products away.

Week 4

By four weeks, the embryo has head, tail, backbone and limb buds - which will eventually become arms and legs. This phase is described in the verse above as Mudghah (chewed-like lump of flesh), which is a morphological description typical to this phase: and then We create out of the leach- like lump a Mudghah. The beginnings of ears and eyes are also visible. Its heart is already beating, and the other organs are forming fast. An umbilical cord starts to grow between the embryo and the placenta. During this time, the embryo is especially sensitive to any drugs or infections capable of crossing the placenta from the mother.

Weeks 4 to 8

By the end of week 8 (the 10th week of pregnancy), all the different parts of the body are in place. Fingers and toes form - the embryo now has unique fingerprints. Its head is still very large compared to its body - almost half its length. The brain is growing at about 100,000 new brain cells every minute. All embryos look identical at seven weeks, before the sex-determining gene is switched on in males.

Weeks 9 to 12

From week 9 (the 11th week of pregnancy) the developing embryo is called a fetus. The size of its body catches up with the outsized head, making it look more human, although the legs are still slightly short. Protected by the amniotic fluid, the fetus can move around and flex its limbs. By 12 weeks, it can hear sounds, and its skin is sensitive to touch.

Weeks 13 to 16

The fetus grows very quickly during weeks 13 to 16 - doubling in size from 5 to 10 centimeters. The face starts to form, and by 14 weeks (the 16th week of pregnancy) the eyes can move. The eyelids stay closed until the final two months of pregnancy. Now that the internal organs are in their final positions, the bones begin to harden, although they remain flexible until after the baby has been born.

Weeks 17 to 20

By 20 weeks (the 22nd week of pregnancy), the mother can feel the fetus move. It has eyebrows and hair on its head. Its entire body is covered in fine, downy hair. A greasy substance called vernix protects the skin. The fetus practices swallowing and digesting fluid, and can even tell sweet tastes from bitter ones. An ultrasound scan may now reveal whether the fetus is a boy or a girl.

Weeks 21 to 25

During the second half of pregnancy, the fetus becomes increasingly aware of the world outside. It is startled by sudden noises, and is thought to be capable of feeling pain after 5-6 months. Rapid eye movements, associated with dreaming sleep in adults, begin at 21 weeks (the 23rd week of pregnancy). The fetus looks transparent, as it doesn’t yet have any fat under its skin.

Weeks 26 to 29

By 26 weeks (the 28th week of pregnancy), the lungs are ready to breathe air. The brain has developed enough to control breathing and body temperature to some extent. So from now on the fetus stands a good chance of surviving even if it’s born early. It has eyelashes and fingernails. It appears less wrinkled, as more and more fat is laid down under the skin.

Weeks 30 to 34

The baby’s skin is now pink and smooth, and its arms and legs are fatter. The eyes have opened, and by 30 weeks (the 32nd week of pregnancy) the pupils will dilate and contract in response to light. The mother may feel the baby hiccupping, after it has swallowed too much amniotic fluid. By 34 weeks, most babies have their heads downwards, ready for birth.

Weeks 35 to 38

The baby continues to put on weight, reaching an average of 3.4 kilograms by 38 weeks (the 40th week of pregnancy). It is outgrowing the womb, and starts the birth off by releasing hormones. The muscles of the mother’s womb start to contract, and labour begins. Most babies are born within ten days of their due date - but only 5 per cent actually arrive on the predicted day. This process of creation of the human being is stated in the following verses:

Allah (SW) said: “Verily We created man from a product of wet earth; Then placed him as a drop (of seed) in a safe lodging (womb); Then fashioned We the drop a clot, then fashioned We the clot a little lump, then fashioned We the little lump bones, then clothed the bones with flesh, and then produced it another creation. So blessed be Allah, the Best of Creators!“

[23:12-14]

The Attributes and Names of the Ranks and Stations of the Nafs in its Striving and Elevation

A Translation of a Classic Text

by Mahmoud Mostafa

As has been made clear to us previously, there are three primary enemies and causes of destruction and misguidance for humanity:

1. The desires of the ego (Hawa Al Nafs). Also known as the hidden lust. This is the first and most dangerous of the enemies for through its existence the other two enemies exist and without it there is no existence to the inner enemies of the Nafs. This enemy is inside the very essence of the human being, i.e. in his nafs, in the left half and is inspired to transgression (Fujur). It is the opposite of the right side of the soul that is inspired to consciousness (Taqwah).

The transgression of the nafs is contained in its desires and its desires mean its lust for immortality (Me!) and sovereignty (boundless greed and covetousness). This enemy is the main cause of the self-oppression of humanity. This oppression leads to either denial and polytheism or to misguidance, disobedience, and sins. There is no remedy for these two desires except through constantly reminding the nafs of its mortality and the certainty of death.

"Verily, the Nafs commands to harm except for those upon whom my Lord has mercy" (Yusuf-53)

2. The desire for the ornaments of the world (Shahwat Al Dunia). This is the second enemy but it is outside of the human being's essence. It is the weapon of Iblis that he displays before the lustful eyes of the ego's desire. Thus he makes it like a mirror that attracts the nafs and seduces it so that it stirs and moves toward inequity and attachment to its desires and the love of the material world that leads it to drown in the world's false and perishing ocean.

The only remedy for this desire is to become aware and certain of the fleeting nature of this world and of the necessity of losing one's attachment to it. It is to know the world for the temporary abode and place of trial and test that it is. It is to understand that this world is part of a continuum; before it was the abode of the atom (Dar Al Zhar) and after it will come other stages that are the world of the Isthmus (Alam Al Barzakh). The desires of the world are five as explained in the Quran:

"The love of desires has been made beautiful to people; for women, offspring, gold and silver, beautiful horses and cattle, and cultivation." (Al Imran-14)

3. Satan is the third enemy (Shaytan Al Rajeem). He is also external to the human being's essence. His role is to seduce, mislead, and make beautiful all that is false and forbidden and repugnant in this world in order to cause the nafs to become attached to these things through its desires. He has no means other than to embellish and tempt the ego and no weapon except to energize and stir the two inner desires of the ego, the "Me" and "Greed" so that the human being will inflate himself and in turn increase his separation. In this way Satan leads the human being to either denial and polytheism or to disobedience and sins. There is no remedy or prevention for this other than the constant remembrance and seeking refuge in Allah and in putting one's trust in Him.

"Verily, Satan is your enemy so take him as your enemy." (Fatir-6)

The ascent or descent of the Nafs depends on the degree of remedy and protection from these three enemies. So the Nafs either ascends to the station of "…the most beautiful station." Or it may descend to the station of "…the lowest of the low."

The Quran mentions five levels for the human soul. The basic level is the one in which we are born which is called the Blaming Self (Nafs Al Lawwama). If it is neglected and left to its whims and desires it will descend to the station of the Commanding Self (Nafs Al Ammara). And if it is developed and cared for through effort and resistance to its desires it will, God willing, ascend to the highest levels of closeness, contentment, and love for Allah and His Prophet. These higher levels are three, the first one above the Blaming Self is the Secure Self (Nafs Al Muttma'ina), followed by the Content Self (Nafs Al Radiyah), and finally to the Gratified Self (Nafs Al Mardiyyah) and that is the self that reaches its natural place and station which is "…the most beautiful station."

The Gnostics (Arifun) have detailed and explained this matter and made it easy for the Muslim to know it and act upon it thus making immunity and remedy easy. They made the levels seven in number within the scope of the five mentioned in the Quran.

1. The Commanding Self (Nafs Al Ammara).

The remembrance that is appropriate for its treatment is La Illah Illa Allah (There is no god except God). It is the lowest level of the self and the worst. In it is found extreme desire and lust for immortality and sovereignty. Thus it is attached to the worst of characteristics from which we have been warned by Allah and His Prophet. For example self-admiration, arrogance and pride, hardness of the heart, oppression of creatures, love for exposing the faults of others, lying, gossip, back-biting, envy, jealousy, criticism, undeserved self-praise, bitterness, attachment to what belongs to others even if it possesses what is better, lack of contentment, constant complaining, lack of gratitude, blindness to its blessings, wishing for increase without effort, extreme selfishness, greed and covetousness that knows no limit, love of control, and love of self and its desires, hatred for those who criticize it even if it is for its own good and love for those who praise it even if it is in hypocrisy, rejection of advice and counsel, and only talking about itself.

This Commanding Self is generally divided into two levels:

The Animal Self (Nafs Al Hayawaniyyah); this is the self that runs after sensual desires and material possessions without regard for right or wrong, justice or inequity, lawful or unlawful. It is drowned in the pleasures of possessions, sex, and adornments. It is characterized by lewdness, evil, and lack of humanity. It abhors religion and loves itself selfishly. It knows neither fullness, nor humility, nor thankfulness, nor honor, nor manners.

The Satanic Self (Nafs Al Iblissiyyah); is even lower than the Animal Self because its love for itself has taken it to the stage where it competes with Allah in His divinity and lordship. "I am your lord supreme…" as Pharaoh proclaimed, and "I am better than him…" as Iblis contended.

The Commanding Self is the one with the ill heart. If the heart is not healed, the nafs continues in its ways until the heart is blinded and then it is finally sealed.

The root of this level of the self is that it's convinced that it is perfect and that others are flawed and that everyone will die but it will remain immortal. It got its name because of its constant demands and its numerous calls to satisfy its desires. So it demands a thing and before it attains it, it demands another thing and so on without end. The human in this state is the friend and beloved of Satan and the enemy of the Merciful. "Except those upon whom Allah shows mercy."

2. The Blaming Self (Nafs Al Lawwama)

Its healing remembrance is Allah (God). This is the self in its original state of birth into the world as Allah says, "By the One who brought the self to equilibrium inspiring it with its transgression and its consciousness." (Shams-7:8)

This is the self that has been touched by Allah's Mercy so that when it commits a sin or falls into disobedience, it blames itself and turns to forgiveness and repents to its Sustainer. Then it holds on to obedience until it slips back into sin then it turns to forgiveness and repentance and so on.

It has grasped what the Prophet said, "All humans are prone to sin and the best sinners are those who repent."

It is a self that is in constant fluctuation between obedience and disobedience. One time it is heedless and falls and another it is aware and resists.

This is the natural station which we start from at birth and from there we descend or ascend. Its sign is the fluctuation between the characteristics of the people of this world and the people of the next world. It is not in the same evil condition as the Commanding Self but the two desires of immortality and sovereignty are still active in it although in a much reduced or weakened condition. This is the first stage of salvation for the self and the first step toward its purification and success.

3. The Inspired Self (Nafs Al Mulhamah).

Its remembrance is Hu (The Divine Pronoun HE). This is the self that has ascended through effort and commitment to its true way from the station of the Blaming Self to the station of the self that is constantly seeking forgiveness and repentance regardless of its guilt or innocence. This is due to its certainty that the root of its attributes is imperfection, fault, weakness and incompletion.

At this level the self is inspired with the early stages of love for good wholesome deeds (Amal Saleh), and for the Quran and Traditions of the Prophet. It is also inspired with love of remembrance (Zhikr) and to seeking forgiveness (Istighfar) and to correcting its intentions (Niyyah) and renewing its repentance (Tawbah).

This is the last level of danger for the self for it is still vulnerable to descending to the lower stages of Blame and Commanding. At this stage the two desires for immortality and sovereignty are dormant except in passing thoughts.

4. The Secure Self ((Nafs Al Muttma'ina)

Its remembrance is Haqq (Truth). It is the self that has ascended to the first station of development and the ladders of light toward intimacy, contentment and love for Allah. Its refinement is attained through increasing commitment and honest and sincere fulfillment of its obligations with respect to the true way in all its aspects particularly with respect to human relationships and conduct before acts of worship as the Prophet said, "The Way (Deen) is in conduct," and, "The best of you in character is the best in faith."

The Secure Self has entered the pathways, methods and means of protection and healing through self-accounting, resistance, striving, and devotion. These efforts bear the fruit of certainty in the truth that Allah alone is the Actor. He is the cause and motivator of everything for there is no god but Him and no Lord but Him. And that Allah in all of his actions is merciful and generous. He knows the best interests of the self. This certainty leads to confidence in Allah. It leads to confidence in His mercy and generosity. The self becomes confident that what is with Allah is better and more enduring than whatever is in its possession or in the possession of others. In this way it reaches complete confidence in its Lord; He is the one who knows what is best for it and He is the best of Sustainers (Rabb) and the best of Trustees (Wakeel). So the self becomes secure and ceases to occupy itself with anything other than what it has reached confidence in, that is its Lord Allah.

The self in this station expands in its capacity beyond efforts and devotions toward repentance. Once it is secure with Allah it occupies itself with additional stations such as hope (Rajaa') and fear (Khawf) and trust in Him (Tawwakul). In this station the Secure Self is in constant remembrance of Allah both on the tongue and in the heart.

"Is it not through remembrance of Allah that hearts become secure?" (Raad-28)

This is the first level of completion (Kamal) of the self. The heart begins to shine with the light of consciousness. The ego's power begins to shrink so that purity, refinement, clarity, and light dominate the heart so that it becomes the Secure Self. In this station the desires of immortality and sovereignty become completely veiled and they are returned to their true owner who is Allah. Now the self begins to show its true attributes that were previously hidden; these are the attributes of servanthood (Ubudiyyah), helplessness ('Ajz), humility (Zhull), poverty (Faqr), need (Ihtiyaj), and annihilation (Fana').

5. The Content Self (Nafs Al Radiyah).

"Return to your Lord content…" (Fajr-28)

Its remembrance is Hayy (Living). As the Secure Self ascends to its Lord the lights of the heart increase and fill the entire body transforming the sensual desires of the ego to the desire for what the Prophet brought in the Quran and Traditions. Its desires are now solely for these things and it is totally content with its Lord. Now hardship and ease are the same to it as are harm and benefit, and withholding and giving because it has become certain after becoming secure that every action and deed is from Allah alone; He is its Master, Sovereign, and Creator. He is the one who grants it Mercy and Compassion. He is the one who is Tender and Benevolent toward it. Everything that is from its Beloved is accepted by it and it is content with it. It is content with whatever Allah wishes to do with it.

At this level the self's creed is that if it is tried it is patient, and if it is given it is thankful, and if it is deprived it is accepting, and if it is wronged it is forgiving. It has now become the self with a wholesome and sound heart. It fluctuates in all its states between trust (Tawwakul) and relegation (Tafweed), and contentment (Ridah) and surrender (Tassleem) to Allah. The characteristic of this self is constant cheerfulness, gratitude, and thankfulness no matter what happens.

This is the second stage of the Complete Self (Nafs Al Kamilah), which is the station of servanthood. By ascending to this level the Content Self has entered into the first stage of "…the most beautiful station." This station is connected to the station above it.

6. The Gratified Self (Nafs Al Mardiyyah).

"Return to your Lord Content and Gratified." (Fajr-28)

Its remembrance is Qayyum (Self-Subsistent). At this stage the self is not only content with its Lord it is also gratified by Him.

"Allah is content with them and they are content with Him." (Bayyinah-8)

The Prophet was asked "When shall we attain Allah's contentment with us?" he replied, "When you are content with your Lord."

At this stage the light of the heart is completed. The heart advances from wholesomeness (Qalb Saleem) to a heart that is in total awe (Khashiyah) of Allah, constantly inclined (Muneeb) toward Him, imbued with modesty (Hayaa') toward Him in every condition.

"Whoever is secretly in awe of the Merciful and comes to Him with a sound heart. Enter it in peace! This is the day of immortality. In it they shall have whatever they wish, and with Us is more." (Qaf-33:35)

The folk of this station are the people of witnessing of the manifestations of the actions of the names of Allah (Mushahadat Tajalliyyat Afa'al Allah). Their witnessing in their hearts to the manifestations of Allah's power results in their awe in the face of Allah's greatness and majesty in all of His actions that are essentially the manifestations of His names. The folk of this station are also gifted with unveiling and miracles to enable them to call people to the love of Allah. These miracles are essentially for those who deny and reject the truth but who are at the same time called to Allah. So He sends to them miracles through the folk of this station so that the egos of these people will submit to these miracles and thus return through Allah back to the path of Allah. For when Allah loves one of His servants He seeks Him and calls him to Him. If once called the servant responds then he is brought near otherwise Allah seeks him through trials, or through miracles. For Allah's command must come to be and is utterly irresistible.

This station is the last of the stations of faith (Iman) and through it the self enters the presence of the station of "…the most beautiful station" (Ihsan) which is the goal and desire of the heart of every servant.

7. The Complete Self (Nafs Al Kamilah).

Also known as the Self of Light (Nafs Al Nuraniyyah), the Muhammadan Self (Nafs Al Muhammadiyyah), and the Loving Self (Nafs Al Muhibbah).

"Allah will bring folk whom He loves and who love Him; they will be humble towards the faithful and stern toward the deniers. They shall strive in the way of Allah and will not fear any blame from the blamers. This is the favor of Allah that He grants whomever He wishes among His servants. Allah is All-Encompassing and All-Knowing." (Maa'idah-54)

"Then follow me and Allah will love you and forgive your sins. Allah is the Forgiving and Merciful." (Al Imran-31)

Its outer remembrance is Qahhar (Compelling) and its inner remembrance is Wadud (Loving). This is the station of the completeness of servanthood to Allah through the completeness of following the teachings of His beloved, Muhammad, peace be upon him. The one who reaches this station is blessed with knowing the complete love of Allah for him and for His Prophet.

This is the Station of Beauty (Maqam Al Ihsan) and it is above all the stations of faith that preceded it. In this station the servant has completely attained the level of "…the most beautiful station." And so enters into the light of His beloved, the Chosen, in the station of "Two bow's lengths or nearer." in the footsteps of the beloved, Muhammad, peace be upon him.

It is the final level in the stations of the self. This station has no end to its ascension and refinement. The people of this station have nothing in their hearts but the love of Allah and His Messenger and those who are loved by Allah and His Messenger. At this level the Completed Self becomes the mirror of the light of the essential Prophetic Muhammadan self so that it attains the complete attributes of love and servanthood. In this station the self enjoys the lights of manifestation of the Attributes and Essence of Allah (Tajaliyat Al Siffat wa Al Zhat Al Illahiyyah) so that it fluctuates in the lights of bliss in all its stations and states. It is an angelic self of light inside human bodies. The truth is that it is selfless; it has no choice and if given a choice it would chose only what Allah loves and is pleased with. If it is asked whether it is receiving or deprived it would not know because love has overpowered it and so it is totally unoccupied with causes. It is annihilated through love (Hubb), fascination (Walah), and passion (Ishq) into the light of the beauty of the essence of the Lord of causes who is its Beloved and Protector. The people of this station are the people of Divine Love and Passion. They are the people who follow the true footsteps of Muhammad.

They are busy with their love and worship of the Truth and are not distracted by creation except to fulfill their obligations. And since they have become a mirror of the Muhammadan light they are constantly in the Prophetic Presence. All their motions, stillness, words, and deeds are from Allah, through Him, to Him. All of their hearts follow the Beloved and Elect, peace be upon him because they have come to know through Allah that he (the Prophet) is the first beloved, the first light that prostrates, worships, and serves Him. Whoever of the lovers obeys him, and loves him, and models his example in character, deeds, and worship, gains the love of Allah.

The likes of these folk are the servants of Allah who have been brought near (Muqarrabun) and have been selected and have gained certainty that their first obligation, after servanthood, is to love Allah and His Messenger. This is while keeping the Law, and upholding its tenets. They are leaders of religious knowledge and they are lights of gnosis in Truth. Through the lights of their hearts the hearts of those around them are illuminated, and through their remembrance mercy descends. They have all they desire and they only desire love of Allah and His Messenger. They do not seek this world, nor are they occupied by the next world. All their concern is intimacy with Allah, to hear from Him, to be near Him for they regard even a moment of separation as torment greater than Hell.

"Truly, the God-conscious ones are in gardens and rivers, in a place of truth in the presence of an Able Sovereign" (Qamar 54:55)

Love in Islam

A Khutbah by Mahmoud Mostafa

Bismillahi Rahmani Raheem

Praise be to Allah. We bear witness that there is only one god who has no partners beside Him, and we bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and messenger.

Praise be to Allah who blessed us with the guidance of His prophets and messengers. Praise be to Allah whose Mercy encompasses everything. Praise be to Allah who knows our needs and answers our calls and brings peace to our hearts.

Praise be to Allah who breathed into us of His Spirit and placed the light of His guidance in our inmost being. Whomever Allah guides, no one can misguide, and whomever Allah misguides, no one can guide. We put our trust in Allah and seek His forgiveness, aid, and support.

A man once came to the Prophet (puh) and asked him about the hereafter. The Prophet asked him, “ And what have you prepared for that time? ” The man replied, “ Nothing, except that I love Allah and I love you. ” The Prophet (puh) answered him, “ You are with the ones you love. ”

Dear brothers and sisters, the guidance of Islam is the guidance of love. The innate, natural and ancient religion that is Islam is the religion of love. The Prophet (puh) came to guide us to love and to make clear the love that is at the core of all religion. Our purpose as human beings is to consciously manifest Allah ' s love in our lives. This is the most significant meaning of Khilafa and Ibada that can bring purpose to us and transform our lives. When we reflect upon the history of the Prophet (puh) and the spread of his message we will realize that Islam could not have taken root in the world without the love that filled the heart of the Prophet and was clearly manifest in his way of relating and interacting with people that brought out their own deep and profound love for him. Without this mutual and abiding love, none of us would be here today. Without this love Islam would not have been possible.

Today, it seems that we too often hear and read much that is harsh and heartless about Islam and not enough that is loving and beautiful. There seems to be too many messages of prejudice, literalism, legalism, violence, and oppression. The superficiality, ugliness and darkness that is too prevalent in today ' s Islamic discourse is nothing like what the Prophet brought us.

I would like to share with you part of the first sermon ever given by the Prophet (puh) in Medina. This is what he had to say to his companions,

“ Verily, the best discourse is the Book of Allah. One is truly successful whose heart Allah has adorned with the love of His Book, and whom, after living in denial, Allah has caused to enter into submission to Him, and caused him to prefer His Book above any human discourse. The Book of Allah is the most beautiful and eloquent of discourses.

Love that which Allah loves! Love Allah with all your hearts! Grow not weary of hearing the Word of Allah. Do not stop remembering Him. Do not let your hearts grow hard toward Him. For verily, Allah has preferred His Book above all of Creation. Indeed, Allah has endowed it with guidance to the best of deeds, and made it an example for the elect of His servants, and filled it with righteous discourse, and has made clear in it what is lawful and unlawful for you.

So, serve Allah alone, and associate with Him no other. Be ever conscious of Him. Be truthful to Allah in what you utter from your mouths. Let the Spirit of Allah be the source of love between you. ”

Can you hear the love in his words? Can you hear his urgent call to our hearts? Can you sense the profound purpose in his teaching?

Love is so central to Islam that without it there can be no real faith. The Quran tells us clearly what following the Prophet is about,

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3:31 “ Say, if you love Allah, then follow me and Allah will love you greatly and forgive your sins for Allah is forgiving and merciful …”

And even more decisively it says to the people of faith that,

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5:54 “ O you who have faith whoever among you turns back from his religion Allah will surely bring forth a people He loves and who love Him who are humble before the faithful and exalted before the deniers. They strive in the way of Allah and fear no blame from any blamers. This is the favor of Allah, He bestows it on whomever He wills. For Allah is all-encompassing, all-knowing! ”

In these two tremendous verses we can understand some remarkable things. We can understand that faith and faithfulness are defined as love between God and the people of faith. A Mu ' min is one who is deeply and profoundly in love with God. It is this love that motivates us to strive, to seek, to turn back to Allah, to give up our worldly attachments and return to our Rabb. It is this love that gives us the power and strength to face the various trials of our faith throughout our lives. It is this love that teaches us humility, compassion, trust, obedience and honesty. It is this love that enables us to sacrifice, to give of ourselves and of our possessions for the sake of God. It is this love that opens us to submission, to Islam. We can also understand that this relationship of love is a special, precious gift bestowed by God upon us. Without His will and generosity we would be heedless of His love in our hearts. We can also understand that the abandoning of religion in the context of this Ayah is to turn away from love because the consequence of this abandonment is that God promises to replace us with people who have this relationship of love with Him. And we can understand that the way to God ' s love is to follow the Prophet (puh), to be in his footsteps, to strive to be like him and in this striving our love is made greater and greater by God.

In a Sacred Tradition Allah says,

“ I was a hidden treasure and I loved to be known so I created heaven and earth that I may be known. ”

One of Allah ' s names, one of His attributes, is Al Wajid. This word has several meanings among them is to bring into existence. It also has the meaning of intense, existential love. Reflecting upon this divine name, we can see that there is a relationship between love and creation. And reflecting upon the sacred tradition we can see that God ' s love to be known is the primary reason for creation. In this way we can come to a truly profound insight; Allah ' s love is the very cause of existence. We are alive today because of His love, the whole Universe is here because of His love.

The relationship of love between us and Allah, between us and others, and between us and all of creation is essential to reaching our full potential as human beings. When we nourish our hearts with love, when we manifest Allah ' s love in our lives; with our families, with our friends, in our work, in our prayers, in everything that we do, the entire meaning of life changes for us and our own experience of our humanness is transformed; we become adorned with the beautiful characteristics of the Prophet.

This is the meaning of following in the footsteps of the Prophet (puh); we follow him by adorning ourselves with the qualities of his noble character. We follow him by striving to become like him in our humanness, in our quality of relationships, in our conduct in society, in our service to humanity.

The noble character of the Prophet (puh) has been best explained by his cousin, Jaffar Ibn Abu Talib, when he was asked by the King of Abbysinia to explain his religion. Jaffar replied:

“ We were a people lost in ignorance. We worshipped idols, we back-stabbed one another in gossip, we committed sins without shame, we severed the bonds of mercy among us, and we were unkind neighbors. The strong among us devoured the weak. Thus we were until Allah sent to us a messenger from among ourselves, well-known to us in his nobility, honesty, trustworthiness, and tenderness. He called us to unity and to devoting our worship to Allah alone and to removing the idols from our hearts. He commanded us to be truthful when we spoke, and to fulfill our trust, and to preserve the bonds of mercy among us, and to be kind neighbors, and to desist from violating what is sacred. He called us to turn back from our sins, and from falsehood, and from devouring the wealth of orphans, and from defaming honorable women. So we believed in him and in his message and we followed what he received from his Lord. ”

Brothers and sisters, the Sunnah of the Prophet is about the kind of character that manifests God ' s love in existence. His Sunnah is that which ennobles us, that which transforms us into better human beings. It ' s about becoming kind and tender human beings who are deeply and profoundly in love with God.

The Prophet's love, awe, and longing for Allah comes through with overwhelming clarity when we reflect upon his prayers. Here is just one example:

"O my God make me love You, make me love those who love You, make me love all things that bring me closer to loving You. O my God, make me love You, and Your angels, and Your prophets, and all of Your creation. O my God, make my love for You dearer to me than myself, and my family, and my wealth, and my children, and from cool, pure water to the thirsty."

May Allah bless us with His love, and the love of those who love Him. May Allah fill our hearts with love. Allah bless Prophet Muhammad, his family, and companions. Peace be with you and Allah ' s mercy.

• Bismillahi Rahmani Raheem

Praise is to Allah the Merciful, and the Compassionate. I bear witness that there is only one God and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Prophet. Peace and blessing upon him, his family and companions. We bear witness that he fulfilled his mission and delivered his trust and made the path of surrender clear to us.

In the Quran it says,

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2:165 “ Among people there are those who take others as equal besides Allah. They love them as they would love Allah. But those who have faith love Allah more than anything else. ”

You remember in the first part of this Khutba that the Prophet (puh) told the man who came to him, “ You are with those you love. ” The Prophet wasn ' t just being nice to this man, he was teaching him and us something very important. He was making clear that love is the ultimate test of our worthiness as human beings. And he was giving us a way to understand about our own love. To know what it is that we really love.

We are with what we love. Whatever we love is what is closest to us. What is most often thought of and remembered by us, what is most sought by us, that ' s what we love. So, what is it that we remember the most? What occupies our attention the most? What do we wish for the most? Let us be honest with ourselves, do we think of Allah most of the time? Or are we thinking of other things most of the time. Where is our attention? Is it on God or is it on the countless other things that occupy us and distract us from our real purpose?

If we can examine ourselves honestly and know what we love then we have taken a major step forward. If we find that what we love is Allah then we are blessed with a great gift for which all praise is due to Allah. But if what we love is other than Allah, then at least we know and we have the opportunity to seek to change what is in our hearts.

A reliable test of how true our love is for Allah is to see how much we are able to serve others and to give of ourselves generously and openly for Allah ' s sake. This is one of the most important truths: The quality of our faith is reflected in our intention, attitudes, and behavior.

How do we do this? How do we clear our hearts of our love and attachment for all these things that are other than Allah? How do we get rid of our pre-occupation with all the other captivating distractions that compete for our attention? How do we become among those who “… love Allah more than anything else ” ? We can find the answer in the Quran and the way of our Prophet (puh) and it is the remembrance of God because it is in the constant remembrance of God that our hearts can find stillness and intimacy can develop. As we are guided in the Quran:

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13:28 “… It is through remembrance of God that hearts find rest ”

In the Quran Allah promises us,

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2:152 “ Remember Me, I shall remember you. ”

Our remembrance of Allah is His remembrance of us. Our call to Him is His answer to us. Remembrance is the way of intimacy with Allah.

In a Sacred Tradition, Allah says, “ I am as my worshipper thinks I am. I am with him when he remembers Me … if he seeks closeness to Me by as little as an inch, I come closer to him by a yard. And if he seeks closeness to Me by a yard, I come closer to him by a mile. And if he comes to Me walking, I come to him running. ”

In another Sacred Tradition Allah says, “ My worshipper can get close to me with nothing better than what I have made obligatory. And as he continues to get closer with selfless acts of giving I love him. And when I love him, I become his hearing, his sight, his hands, and his feet. And whatever he asks of Me, I shall give him and whatever aid he seeks of Me, I shall aid him …”

So, Allah ' s grace multiplies with our sincere efforts and honest intention to come closer to Him. Whatever we give to Him comes back manifold to us. In this way, little by little, our love for Allah grows and develops and it transforms us into loving, noble human beings.

We get close to Allah by serving Him, by being for His sake, by learning to make our intentions purely for Him, by learning to become a little less selfish and a lot more giving.

The Prophet (puh) once told his dear companion, Muazh Ibn Jabal, “ Muazh, I do love you! ” Muazh replied, “ And I love you, Messenger of Allah, more dearly than my own father and mother! ” The Prophet then instructed Muazh, “ Do not end a prayer without asking Allah to help you remember Him, to be thankful to Him, and to serve Him in the best of ways. ”

As we continue to live our lives in remembrance of Allah our capacity for love will grow, our hearts will expand and we will reach our full human potential inshallah.

The intimacy and love that develops in us with our remembrance and other selfless acts of service is a mystery and a wonder.

Allah says in a Sacred Tradition, “ I have prepared for my righteous servants what no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor been imagined by any human heart …”

May Allah bless us with His merciful guidance to His straight path. May He bless us with His love. Allah we seek refuge in You from hearts that are not humble, and egos that are never satisfied, and eyes that do not weep, and prayers that are not answered, and works that are not elevated.

Allah, bless us with wholesome hearts, grateful tongues, and obedient bodies. Do not let us forget You. Do not deny us loving You. Allah, preserve us and protect us. Be merciful with us. Increase our blessings and support us. O You who has ability over all things.

Allah, bless Your beloved servant, and the light of our hearts, our master and friend Muhammad, the noble and pure Prophet and bless his family, companions, and followers. May we become his companions in this world and in the other world, and peace be upon you and Allah ' s mercy and blessings.

Rise to prayer that Allah may have mercy on us all.