Читать книгу I Wonder About Allah - Ozkan Oze - Страница 7
ОглавлениеDO YOU WANT to see Allah? Don’t be afraid to say, “Yes, I want to see Allah,” because I understand how you feel. I want to see Allah too.
I, too, wonder about Allah, who hung the glistening sun above the earth like a lamp.
Is it possible not to wonder about Allah, who lit up the dark night sky with the moon and millions of stars?
Look at the earth! A humongous basketball hanging in space. No, no, I am wrong. It is not just hanging; it’s orbiting the sun at extraordinary speeds. I also want to see Allah, who keeps the earth in its orbit without allowing it to fall.
How could we not wonder about Allah, who wraps the earth with the sky?
Who wouldn’t wonder about Allah, who makes heavy clouds float in the sky as if they’re not carrying seas and rivers of water?
What is more reasonable than wanting to know about and wanting to see Allah, who allows rain to fall from the clouds, who creates each snowflake to be different from another?
Look at those trees! They drink muddy water through their roots, yet cherries as sweet as honey, mouth-watering apples, succulent pears and pomegranates with hundreds of seeds, grow out of their branches.
Who wouldn’t want to see Allah, who creates and does all these things?
“Why can’t I see Allah?” you ask. You’re completely justified in wanting to see Him.
I feel the same way.
I want to see Allah too! I want to know Him better and love Him more.
Look at all these flowers: daisies, carnations, roses – all different from each another.
Of course you wonder about Allah, who created all these flowers, all more beautiful than the other, all so colourful and with their individual fragrances.
Oh no, I almost forgot!
What about the sparrows chirping in the trees?
Think about the tall storks. What about the seagulls you throw your bread at?
Close your eyes for a second and think about all the birds you have seen. Think about how they beat their wings when they fly, and how they float with the wind.
Some have pleasant voices.
Some have magnificent feathers.
And some make spectacular nests and feed their chicks.
I wonder more than anything about Allah, who created those birds and gives them beaks, wings and voices. You want to see Him too and you want to know why you can’t.
You’re completely right. We’re both right.
Isn’t it a miracle how a tiny cell multiplies into many and develops into a baby in your mum’s tummy?
Your hands, fingers, your face, eyes, mouth, tongue, ears, your hair and your eyebrows, are all the result of two cells combining and then splitting and multiplying inside your mum’s belly.
Yet, these are such hard and complicated things.
Your heart, lungs, kidneys, brain – all of your organs have been perfectly placed and are made to work. Now, you’re curious about Allah, and you are wondering, “Why can’t I see Allah, who created me and everything around me so perfectly?”
You’re right, you’re completely right.
Okay, now I’m going to try to answer your questions, but first I need to remind you of a few things. You need to be patient.
Because, my friend, you haven’t asked a question that can be easily answered.
Your question is very big.
And, of course, such big questions have big answers.
Everything has a limit
There’s a limit to everything you can do. For example, what’s the maximum weight you can lift? Twenty, twenty-five, thirty kilograms… but never a hundred. This is because the muscles in your arms and in the rest of your body have a limit to how much they can take. You can never go beyond this limit. If you try to go over the limit, you will either break a bone or get squashed under the weight.
Your ears have a limit too. You can hear your teacher in your classroom, but you can’t hear the teacher in the class across from you.
Your voice also has a limit. You can shout as much as you want, but if you have a grandma in a far away village, she will not hear you. If you want to talk to her, you must phone her or visit her village. Of course, your grandma could come over to you too.
What about your legs?
How fast can you run?
Are you as fast as a leopard?
Of course, your legs also have a limit.
Even if you run very fast, after some time you will get tired and you will have to stop.
How many glasses of milk can you drink at once? Two, maybe three, right?
Because your stomach has a limit too.
Now, here’s a question for you:
3 x 5
Okay, okay. You don’t have to laugh! I know this is a very easy question.
Well, tell me the answer to this question:
2134594 x 777
What happened?
It’s pretty hard to answer this question without a calculator. But don’t worry, this is completely normal, because your mind also has a limit.
Some things you understand easily.
Some questions you can answer straight away. But you can’t understand everything that easily, and you can’t answer every question straight away.
Some things you will never know on your own. You learn from those who do know. Because, like I said, even your mind has a limit.
As you probably guessed, it’s time to have a look at your eyes.
Don’t you think they have a limit?
Can you see everything you want with one glance?
The fact is, if we compare what our eyes can see to what our eyes can’t see, we could be considered ‘almost blind’.
Don’t be shocked! This is the truth.
Look, according to scientists’ rough calculations, we live in a universe that has a radius of 15 million light years.
Everyone knows this is a big number, but it’s hard to understand just how big.
We will never know 70 percent of this 15 million light year radius universe. We can’t see it! Scientists have called this 70 percent “dark energy.”
From the 30 percent left, 25 percent of it is dark matter! We can never see this thing called dark matter either.
So what’s left is five percent.
See, everything we see and hear is in this five percent.
But, don’t hurry to say, “that’s good!”
Because, the human eye can’t even see all of that five percent. We can barely see a fragment of it.
Like I said before, when faced with the universe we could be considered almost ‘blind’.
In simpler words, with the most optimistic account, all our eyes can ever see in this universe is less than the area under an ants foot on the earth’s crust.
Now, since we can’t even see the universe we live in properly, how is it possible to see the creator of this universe who doesn’t look anything like His creation?
Allah can’t be seen directly
Some people say, “I won’t believe in something I don’t see”, “I don’t believe in what I don’t see, since I don’t see Allah, I don’t believe in Allah!”
This is an incredibly absurd thing to say, because there are so many things we don’t see but we are sure they exist.
Let’s quickly look at some of them:
GRAVITY
THE MIND
HAPPINESS
LOVE
THOUGHTS
You know what all these are, right?
But, you haven’t seen any of them with your eyes. Therefore, we don’t always have to see everything.
Just because we can’t see something, doesn’t mean it’s not there.
Although we can’t see Allah, we know He is our Creator and we believe in Him.
We don’t have to see Allah to believe in Him!
We don’t have to see Allah to believe in Him. Let me try to explain this to you with an example.
Come on, let’s go to an art gallery. Look at the beautiful paintings by artists.
There’s a huge canvas on that wall! The canvas is covered with daisies, with gold hearts adorning a little hillside.
Above the hill is a blue sky covered with clouds as white as the daisies.
What’s more, there are brown birds flying in the sky. So many birds…
And, in the distance, a lush green forest…
Now, I’m going to ask you some questions. You’re going to find some of the questions absurd. But still, you should answer them!
“Isn’t this a beautiful painting?”
“Oh it is!”
“Who made this painting?”
“An artist of course.”
“Did you see the artist?”
“No!”
“Then how do you know an artist made it?”
“Because there’s no other way! I know because only an artist could have made such a painting.”
“But you didn’t see the artist!”
“But I’ve seen the painting. I have seen the daisies, the sky, the brown birds and the clouds! It’s impossible for these things to occur on their own.”
“Alright, if the paints and paint brushes lay there on the table for a while, could they decide to make a painting one day? And couldn’t they do it once they made their decision?”
“You said your questions were going to be a little absurd, but I wasn’t expecting this much. Never mind a painting, a single brush stroke wouldn’t come about in this way.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m pretty confident. There needs to be an artist for such a painting to be made.”
“But the artist isn’t around. Could they be on the painting somewhere?”
“Is that possible? What would the artist be doing in the painting? The artist would be outside the painting.”
“What about the paint and brushes? Could the artist be one of them?”
“You’re being silly. Even if the brushes and paints lay there for millions of years, they couldn’t think of making a painting like this.”
“Why?”
“Because they don’t have the brains! Because they don’t have the ability! Because they aren’t alive!”
“Those are great answers.”
Come on, let’s get out of the gallery now.
Now we are at the bottom of a little hill.
Look at this place! We’re surrounded by daisies. The sky is so blue. And the blue sky is covered with white clouds. Clouds as white as daisies! And look at those birds tweeting, look how happy they are as they fly.
“Doesn’t this place look a lot like the painting we just saw?”
“Yes, but this is more beautiful. Everything here is so vibrant.”
“Do you think this scene is more beautiful than its painting?”
“Of course this scene is better.”
“Well, if it’s not possible for that painting to occur on its own, is it possible for this scene to come into existence on its own?”
“Of course not, it was created by…”
“Wait! Don’t answer yet.”
Now, look around you carefully! Don’t say anything for a while and listen to me.
Come, let’s look closer; let’s observe the golden-centred daisies more closely. Let’s count their leaves. Let’s look at their colours. Look how well the yellow and the white go together.
And what about the green grass? What a beautiful spring carpet.
Look, there are bees dancing on some of the flowers.
Hardworking ants are running from branch to branch.
Take a deep breath! Isn’t that a nice scent?
And what about that bright poppy?
Where else can you find such a colour?
How about that butterfly’s wings? Look! Look closely! But don’t touch. It’s so delicate…
Let’s lie on our backs, on the flowery carpet and watch the sky.
The sky, the blue sky!
The clouds, as white as daisies!
The swallows flying over us and the storks with their broad wings.
