God, Houdini & JFK

Q/A

Someone asks, “If Allah disappears would we know?”

I wish the person would have worded the question differently, but then I think maybe he is a kid.

Did Houdini disappear or make a woman disappear? Many people believed Houdini had disappeared, or had accomplished many of his other death-defying feats, by some “magical” trick; in fact he was an escape artist, and that is how he was billed. But of course naïve people and children will believe almost anything, and whether they thought Houdini was a mere illusionist or artist or a “real” magician they flocked to his shows because he was entertaining.

If a tree falls in the forest does anybody hear, is a question in a similar vein, or with a similar problem. The question is asked buy Bruce Cockburn in one of his songs but before that others (a poet, like Keats, or whoever it was) asked this and similar posers are well known.

Is the wording the best wording?

If a tree or anything falls, presumably someone will hear, whether a tiny or large creature, because they are equipped with excellent hearing, or because they are in close proximity to the falling tree. Will they know that it is a tree falling? Maybe not. It is always easier to know what event has occurred when one has the use of more than one sense, e.g. seeing, hearing, touching, to know. Many on 911, at the buildings which ‘fell’, reported hearing “explosions”, for example.

Someone might hear a tree falling, and assumes it is a tree, but for sure, he won’t know unless he can verify that’s what it was. If I hear a glass break in another room, I might believe my son has just broken a drinking glass because that happens sometimes, and it is my experience. But if the sound is more like a bottle of jam, I might be able to guess that. I will know once I have investigated, and given my son a stern look for again breaking something I wish he wouldn’t have, especially because I worry he might get hurt and also because I have to clean up after him. Other people have discussed this; how experience serves to give us a level of certainty, although it isn’t always the best way to know things. Our senses and experience can also be used against us, so that we think we have seen something, when in fact we haven’t. We might believe an event is similar to what has happened in the past, only to learn that we have been conned.

Some criminals have used their knowledge of human psychology or fabricated relationships to rob others of their wealth or to get them to help commit crimes, while the dupes don’t even realize. Sometimes, innocent people who have been used by professional criminals or psychopaths are convinced that that person is a good person and that the police are wrong about him/her. It takes a lot of hard evidence to convince someone in such a situation that s/he doesn’t really know that person at all, and that they have been used.

“Fooled once, shame on you, fooled twice, shame on me” or something like that, is good to heed. It is better if people don’t allow themselves to be carried away by feelings which might get them into real trouble. Even the fact that many girls get pregnant, is an example which also shows the sometimes avoidable consequences of trusting others implicitly, or of wishful thinking. People would like to believe that the world is good and that evil is not as common, but the reality is that a lot of evil exists, and also, even if we can’t call a guy who accidentally gets a girl pregnant “evil” (even purposely, though that would be very selfish of him and bad - it isn’t the end of the world, except the girl might perceive it as that, and maybe do something she would later regret, or hurt herself, which makes people hate the guy more, even though he is only partly responsible for the pregnancy but not for graver consequences after that.)

To get back to the main discussion, some questions are riddles which don’t really lend themselves to an answer.

To answer the question, the way that serves my purpose, I would say, firstly, in revelation, we have not read (probably in no text, is this subject ever brought up, that God disappeared) that God/Allah “disappeared”. I think the person asking the question is a child, or believes that I can’t answer the question (because it assumes about God something which isn’t true).

Secondly, in revelation, specifically the Quran, God/Allah tells us that “there is nothing like unto Him”. This is how we speak to the Christians about Allah and that He doesn’t need a son, nor want a son, and it isn’t befitting Allah to have a son. The Quran says if Allah had wanted a son, He could have chosen one from the creation (as opposed to creating Jesus and ‘adopting’ him as a son, which is also an idea with roots in Greek or Roman or pagan history or writings). The fact that Muslims don’t worship the prophet Muhammad, and Jews, (according to most people today), don’t worship any human being, is an indication that in the monotheistic religions, there is a stronger sense that God/Allah is above having a son or appointing anyone as his successor, or above having rivals, and so on. Even the notion that some Christians have that the devil “created evil” or that the devil is “ruling” this world, are not based on a true belief in God or show an incomplete belief and trust in God. Such ideas rather seem to be rooted in fear of the devil and fear of evil, and reveal many peoples’ belief that the world is essentially evil.

But as one scholar points out in a video I saw on an Islamic channel recently, the devil isn’t powerful but can only whisper evil ideas, which people then choose to act on, in their weakness or because they are not good (anyway).

“God Can Do Anything”

Lastly, Allah/God, can do anything, but there are things which He doesn’t do. That is the way most scholars have answered questions like this. Can Allah “disappear” or “appear” or “disappear and reappear”, isn’t about reality, but is about the questioner’s ignorance. This question does have an answer, which is as I just explained that it isn’t befitting Allah’s majesty, to do such things (which have no purpose or reason). There is no reason for Allah to appear to the creation, though people often wish He would (it isn’t for slaves of Allah (the creatures or the creation) to tell Allah what to do, or demand Allah do something, but Allah does what He wills. He is the best disposer of affairs, His command is just, His will is supreme, and He is the Lord of the worlds).

People complain that Allah doesn’t reveal Himself, but this is false. Allah has sent many prophets throughout the ages (to reveal His existence) to us. Allah’s will is revealed to us in the revelation, so that we can know and love Him. Despite the growing number of atheists, there are also a growing number of people who call themselves Muslims.

Allah tells us, that He is “the First” and “the Last”. Allah isn’t going to disappear, in other words. Allah forever is, has been and will be, and He is Most High, Most Great. Allah has 99 names (plus one) names we know, and other names which He knows, which we don’t know. Allah’s attributes describe Him, and these we also can read about in Islamic texts. It isn’t permissible for a person to name himself with Allah’s names, but he can name himself (or name his children) with the slave prefixing the names of Allah e.g. Abdu Rahman, the slave of the Most Merciful, or Abdullah, the slave of Allah. Allah’s attributes are also uniquely His, but it is permissible to say that someone possesses a quality of mercy or a quality of generosity, but only Allah is the Most Merciful, or The Self Sufficient, (Ghani prefixed by al) because only He is truly Self Sufficient. He is The Sustainer, and we are His slaves, who require his sustenance or succor (physical or spiritual).

Proof of God

That some people continually rail against religion and Islam in particular, doesn’t mean that they are right. The proof of God’s existence is all around, and so are proofs in the revelations. Even the Bible foretold the coming of a prophet (not a spirit or ghost, but a human being) after Jesus, A.S., whose name means “the praised one”. Ahmed is the name given in the bible, which is a name for Muhammad (an Arabic name, which also signifies the Prophet, SAWS, accurately) in the Bible, translated from the original word. In the context it was revealed, it is obvious that another Messenger of God is meant. E.g. “the comforter”.

The Grain of Truth

The verse doesn’t describe a spirit or an angel (e.g. Gabriel) because it goes onto say, that “the comforter” will not come until Jesus, A.S., goes away. Jesus describes the “comforter” as someone who will “teach you all things” (sorry if the translation isn’t spot on). The reason God sent human beings as Messengers rather than angels, is that human beings are better able to teach us and also live among us, which makes them perfect examples for us, as opposed to angels who do not understand us, nor know how human beings feel or cannot perceive our humanity the way another person can. Also, if Allah had sent angels to all the people, instead of just to a select few (Abraham, Muhammad and the other Messenger Prophets or sometimes showed obvious signs to some people only), means that we would have already been responsible for our disobedience, and there wouldn’t be much room for humanity to make mistakes or to learn from them. If that was the case, most of humanity would give excuses for their disobedience. That many human Messengers have brought the message of God’s oneness and the monotheistic creed and excelled in worshipping God, and that the great world religions all preach emphatically the existence of God, proves that human beings are created to worship Him. God is Merciful, which is why He sent guidance and books to us. If He had created us without sending us guidance, books or prophets and messengers, then we would think that Allah didn’t intend for us to know Him, or we would think that we have no reason to seek to worship God and love Him or even reason to behave morally.

Humans are Moral Creatures

People behave morally largely because they have been raised that way, and parents generally want children who are obedient, truthful, trustworthy and successful. If children are not raised with “morals” then they will definitely make many more mistakes, errors in judgment, cause problems, even become bad people, or commit crimes and worse. Many modern parents don’t raise their children to worship God or to have belief in a creator, but that doesn’t mean that they are being fair to their children to do so, or that this is real freedom. Many non-believers merely choose to teach their children what they themselves believe, not because it is right, but because they don’t have a religion and don’t want to.

Pagan Arabs Rejection of God Almighty

The ancient people didn’t believe in God because they saw angels, but they saw miraculous things and even angels, because they were in the presence of the prophet(s). Later on, for example, after the revelation had stopped, it wasn’t ever reported (thereafter) that the Muslims saw angel Gabriel (A.S). It was during the process of revelation that they (at least once, is mentioned) saw “a man whose clothing was exceedingly white” and “hair was exceedingly black” and “no signs of travel appeared on him” and no one knew him (in other words, he just appeared). It was the Prophet who informed them that it had been the angel Gabriel (A.S).

Non-believers, such as the pagan Arabs, also experienced some amazing or inexplicable things, but refused to accept the prophet Muhammad’s explanations for such things or events because they refused belief in Muhammad’s message, they refused belief in one God, preferring their hundreds of idols, and they chose to believe that other causes (such as magic or poetry, or even evil spirits) could explain away anything they saw, heard or experienced. They said the Quran was magic, they said the Prophet was a madman or afflicted by an evil spirit, and that the experiences that they or others had, were products of the mind, imagination, spirits, etc. For example, one man trying to kill the Prophet, SAWS, chased after him on a riding animal (camel or horse, I forget which) and continually stumbled when he reached the Prophet, SAWS, until he gave up. There was no common explanation for why the animal refused or was unable to continue the journey – maybe he explained it away, or maybe he became Muslim later (I can’t recall the ending, but it is in the hadiths) Another example, is when the non-believers saw a fire with wings coming out, and thought I guess, that it was some kind of “scary vision”, when they tried to approach the Prophet to harm him. At times, they used to abuse the prophet, physically and verbally, but when they attempted to assassinate him, their attempts (all) failed.

Assassination of Muhammad, pbuh, fails multiple times

The last assassination attempt was when Muhammad, SAWS, was returning from a battle, by a mountain pass, to Mecca. Even then, though there were twelve (or seven to a dozen) people in ambush for him, and only the holy Prophet, SAWS, and one other person with him, the attempt was unsuccessful. Compare this to how an assassination on several American presidents’ despite their security, have been successful, JFK, Robert Kennedy (senator, not President), Abraham Lincoln, before them. And maybe, Daniel Johnson (my history is not great on American presidents). Pope John Paul was also shot, before the bullet proof ride? Though some of these might have been actual inside jobs, or plots, and not done by a crazy person, it still proves that it’s possible to assassinate a person despite vigilance by his body guards and security. And actually, even physical evidence or other evidence isn’t conclusive, and it is hard to prove one way or another – what has really happened. This is why conspiracy theories abound.

Sometimes leaders assassinate their subordinates or enemies, but it is much harder to assassinate a public figure today without leaving some traces of evidence or without a conspiracy theory arising which seems to explain at least some of what happened with some accuracy.