054 Ilm - Knowing Allah

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1 54 IlmKnowing Allah

CULTURE OF ISLAM

054 Ilm

Knowing Allah

Imtiaz Muhsin

09-Dec-11

The main objective of these talks (and therefore the scripts of these talks), is to stimulate thinking.

Sensible, rational and logical thinking. So, my message, think, think & think!

Be sensible, be rational and be logical.


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Please Note

1. I have had the great privilege, (since Aug 2010), of presenting talks on the weekly Radio ProgramCulture of Islam [Every Friday 8 to 8.30 pm, Radio Sri Lanka - FM 97.4]

2. Since these are Radio Talks, I refer to, or address the audience as listeners3. I am well aware that the audience to these talks would consist of people belonging to a variety offaiths. So as to make people of all faiths feel included, I very often use words and names that are

common to all religions.

4. For these reasons, I use the name GOD, as well as Abraham, Moses, Jesus etc as well as thenames Allah, Ibrahim (Alaihis Salaam), Moosa (Alaihis Salaam), Easa (Alaihis Salaam) etc

5. Muslims by habit usually say Sallallahu Alaihiwasallam, when the name of Prophet Muhammadis mentioned, and Alaihis Salaam' when the name of a Prophet is mentioned. However, in these

series of talks I have reduced the use of these prayers & sayings to the bare minimum.

6. Muslims, also by habit, use a number of Arabic prayers or sayings, such as Alhamdulillah, InshaAllah and so on. Again, I have reduced the use of these prayers or sayings to the bare minimum.

7. Sometimes I have to write Arabic words in the English script.I have devised my own way of writing Arabic in English, as follows;th s DHL H Gh

TH Ss DHZ h GH

SW

Information on these talks along with all download links can be found on my on my Blog(http://imtiazm.wordpress.com/)

The dates or the schedules of these talks can be viewed on the Facebook Page(http://www.facebook.com/ImtiazMuhsin786)

The Scripts of these talks can be downloaded from www.ScribD.com(www.ScribD.com Author Imtiaz Muhsin)

The audio files of these talks can be downloaded from YouTube(YouTube Channel Imtiaz Muhsin)

The YouTube Link to this talk is atAll Praise and Thanks

is due to Allah and Allah aloneAlhamdulillah!

P.SThe picture on the cover is that of the Wellawatte Jummah Mosque in Colombo, Sri Lanka


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54 Ilm Knowing Allah

Dear Friends,

Assalamu Alaikum,

I greet all you listeners with Assalamu Alaikumwhich, I am sure all of you would recognize asthe greeting of a Muslim and means Peace be upon you!

This program, as the title suggests, discusses the many aspects of the Culture of Islam.

The most centric theme of this Culture is the belief, or the better word would be the conviction

that there is just one God, whom we Muslims call AllahI prefer to refer to him as Allah

Taaalah, or Allah Most Exalted.

Together with this conviction that there is just one God, Muslims are required to persistently

strive to instill the conviction that everything in this Universe, all its observed as well as unknown

dimensions, including the dimensions of space and time, completely belongs to Allah Taaalahand everything both the holistic, the intricate and the infinitesimal are all in His absolute and

supreme control.

That description was a bit of a mouthfulbut to put it into simpler termseverything, simply

everything, belongs to Allah Taaalah and He is in complete control of everything.

The second Aayath in Surah Faathiha describes this in even fewer words, very rich in meaning;

It is most informative to note that this Aayaththe second in the Holy Quran, is couched between

2 other Aayathsviz. the 1st and the 3rd Aayaths - and what do these two Aayaths conveythey

extol two out of the many attributes of Allah Taaalah and those are the attributes of Rahmaan

and Raheem.

Both words are derived from the root word Rahimaor Mercy; they both convey the meanings of

Mercy, Beneficence and Kindness.

The word Rahmaan conveys the meaning of the attribute The Beneficent and Raheem the

attribute of Mercy.

The two Aayaths are;

and


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The 3 Aayaths together would read as;

Today my talk is on the Topic Knowing Allah and as the title indicates, to know we needknowledge. The Arabic word for knowledge is Ilm; however Ilm does not mean any knowledge. It

is a word that means enlightened knowledge, enlightening knowledge or truthful knowledge.

The word opposite to Ilm would be Jaahil or ignorance. Now to all of us the word ignorance

means not knowing or a lack of proper understanding. However, in Arabic the word Jaahil does

not just indicate the lack of knowledge, or incomplete knowledge or what we sometimes refer to

as half baked knowledge -but it also strongly indicates that knowledge or those branches of

knowledge that clouds our vision and even includes those attitudes that leads us away from the

truth or away from being enlightened.

My talk today is however an attempt to demonstrate that there is considerable knowledge presentin this World and to reason out that this knowledge could only have been given or we could

even use the word taught by God, Allah Taaalah.

I would even like to say that one of the main objectives of my talk is to reason out that this

knowledge that is in this World, if viewed properly would lead us to the path of Ilm or in other

words it is up to us to process this knowledge and thereby derive Ilm or enlightenment.

Now that is quite a task, I have to be a little innovative. So the ploy I have chosen is to present the

World to you in a new perspective. Lets say with new eyes. Let us just imagine that an alien

being has come into our Earth and is observing the activities on Earth as well as in our

surrounding Solar System.

Let us imagine that this alien is invisible, intelligent and very perceptive.

Now this alien would observe many things or many processes. So let us take a few of them, one

by one.

Let us begin with his observations of the Human Being.


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1. The Human Being.

Now, it would become obvious to this alien, that the human being has a vast amount of

knowledge. The manner in which humans communicate with each other, how they go about with

set purposes and agendas, the manner in which they have built their houses, the roads, the manner

in which they have discovered new technologies and making use of this knowledge to make life

easier and improve lifestyles would be obvious to this observer.

The alien would realize that this knowledge that the human beings are displaying is organized,

and is shared amongst the whole human race and is also handed down from generation to

generation and each generation improves on this knowledge and hands it over to the next

generation.

He would also realize that some branches of knowledge are eco specific for example people

living in urban areas share a particular segment of knowledge that we could say are Urban

specific, similarly for those living in Rural areas, in Jungles, in Deserts, in the Arctic and

Antarctic Zones, in Coastal areas and so on.

The Polar Bear and Penguin live only in the Arctic or the Antarctic Eco system, the Tiger andLion live in the Jungle Eco systems, the Camel in the Desert Ecosystem and so on, whilst the

Human Being has demonstrated his ability to inhabit almost all Ecosystems on this Earth, and has

developed knowledge to invade even the far and deep reaches of the sea.

Human Beings possess the skills and the ability to learn to adapt to any environment on Earth

you could say they have been blessed with the learning skills or even use the term learning tools

to imbibe knowledge from the environment.

Now let us go to the second set of processes that this alien would observethis time also we

choose the Human Being, but now we are observing the physiological functions or processes

within the Human Being.

2. The Insides of the Human Being

In the same manner in which the alien realized that Human Beings possess knowledge, and he

deduced this by watching the activities of the Human Beings, if I may repeat the phrase I used

earlier in describing the aliens observations on the activities of the Human Beings,the manner

in which the humans communicate with each other, how they go about with set purposes and

agendas well, it would surprise all of us to know that this would be the same observation he

would make about the inner workings or the Physiology of the Human Being.

What do we mean by Physiologythis is the definition in WikipediaPhysiology isthe science of the function of living systems. This includes how organisms, organ

systems, organs, cells, and bio-molecules carry out the chemical or physical functions that exist in

a livingsystem

Wikipedia elaborates on this definition by providing for us a definition of Human Physiology,

which is;

Human physiology is the science of the mechanical, physical, and biochemical functions of

humans in good health, their organs, and the cells of which they are composed. The principal

level of focus of physiology is at the level of organs and systems within systems
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sciencehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_(biology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cell_(biology)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science


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Within the Human Body there are a number of organs and systems.

The organs in the body can be described separatelyfor example, the Heart, the Lungs, the

Kidneys, the Brain, the Liver and so on.

The workings of these systems can be described in isolationfor examplethe digestive system,

the respiratory system, the defense system, the nervous System, the reproductive system and so

on.

Though the organs and the systems can be described in isolation, it is actually amazing to find that

all the organs and all the systems are well coordinated and work in tandem you could easily say

work in orchestration, well synchronized well adapted.

It could even be compared to a well rehearsed orchestra playing some very complex Musical

composition, every instrument provides a different sound a different texture, each musical

instrument following a different script, often to different beats or rhythms, but then, all together

this orchestra provides beautiful well synchronized music.

But then the workings of our body are so complex that comparing it with an orchestra wouldactually be belittling the physiology of the bodythe physiology of the body is simply amazing.

The alien would realize that every organ is communicating with each other and responding and

amazingly in this set up the whole body too is making a multiplicity of decisions at any given

momentthere are quite a few options for each organ and the whole body at any given time, but

the organ and the body always seem to work in tandem, always taking the best and the most

appropriate action.

The Heart has a number of roles to play and apparently the Heart possesses the knowledge of its

purpose, its structure, its function and all the intricate processes and responses within it and

amongst the other organs that it communicates withapparently seamlesslythis is amazing.

Similarly for every other organ in the bodyit is obvious that each organ possesses or is imbibed

with a great depth of knowledge.

Some years ago there were these interesting series of articles in the Readers Digest titled I am

Joes Heart, I am Joes Liver, I am Joes Kidney, I am Joes Eye, I am Joes Foot and so on.

Anyone reading these articles would wonder, does not each of these organs posses amazing

knowledge?

How or where did this knowledge come from?

Where is this knowledge stored and how is this knowledge accessed, selected, retrieved and acted

upon?

Big big questions, right?

Now just for curiositys sake or to understand the depth of knowledge that is stored in our body or

the depth of knowledge shared by the organs in our body, let us realize that there are many organs

in our body and each organ performs a number of functions.

For example the Liver performs its functions; the Heart performs its functions, and so on. Now

each cell in that organ helps to perform that function. Every cell in the Heart has a specific

structure and has a role to play in assisting the Heart to perform all its functions.


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Similarly for the Liver, Kidneys, Brain, and so on.

So how many different processes are activated in our body at any given moment. We could get a

grasp of the magnitude by trying to find out the number of cells in our bodyeach participating

in a myriad of processes. This is not a definite number that people can give, but estimates show

that we have between 10 Trillion to 100 Trillion cells in our body.

Do you know what a Trillion is?

Looking at the multiples of ten, we have ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand, hundred thousand,

One Million, ten million, hundred million, a Billion (i.e. a thousand Millions9 zeros), Ten

Billion, Hundred Billion and then a Trillion (a thousand Billions12 zeros)

But then the number of cells in our bodies is estimated to be between 10 Trillion to 100 Trillion

Amazing isnt it?

Each cell possesses the knowledge to perform its specific functions, synchronizing with the other

cells within its specific tissue (part of an organ), its specific organ as well as the physiology of thewhole body.

When someone decides to sleep, the whole body goes in to Sleep mode. If someone decides to

get aggressive, the whole body gets in to controlled aggressive mode. We even have what we

perceive as uncontrolled aggressionbut do not be fooled, the whole body is precisely

modulating every aspect of even this aggression.

So, this alien, would observe that our bodies possess an amazing amount of well organized

knowledge.

A very important observation that this alien would make is that, there are two storehouses ofknowledge in a human being.

One is demonstrated by the outward or the manner in which the human being reacts to outside

stimulationwe could even call it behavioral patternsthere are many factors that contribute to

this.

The second would be what is demonstrated by the insides of the human being the organs, the

systems or the physiology. Now the most salient point or observation would be that these two

storehouses of knowledge though present in one individual, they are compartmentalized. The

Human being is apparently in charge of his outward behavior or the outward knowledge, but is

completely unaware of his inward knowledge or his physiology. He has no control over itwhatsoever.

In our words we could say the physiology of Man is programmed whilst the outward behavior of

Man is learnedso we have 2 sets of knowledgethe programmed knowledge and the

learned, or the learnt knowledge.

Now the question - who provided this knowledge, where is it stored and how is it retrieved and

acted upon, how was this knowledge given, how is this knowledge modulated, how is this

knowledge protected from getting corrupted and so on.

As I said earlier, we possess the tools to think, in fact we are blessed with them surely we canapply ourselves to these puzzles that promise enlightenment, and seek out the answers.


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This is Ilm!

Now let us proceed to the third set of processes that this imagined alien would observe.

This time it is the world of the Animals.

3. The Animals

Now when this alien observes the Animalshe would obviously realize that Animals posses

amazing knowledge, and he would also find that this knowledge would be species specific. For

example the knowledge displayed by a Zebra would be very different to that displayed by, say,

the Polar Bear.

So we find that knowledge displayed by animals is species specific, as well as environment or eco

specific.

Unfortunately we have become so desensitized to the displays of knowledge by animals.

We only become aware of it when this is pointed out to us in this perspective, and then we realize

how elusive this fact has been, even though it has been staring us in the face right throughout our

lives!

We could cite any animal; however as an example lets take the case of a simple bird.

Let us again view it as if an alien was doing the observing.

The alien would observe that Birds are hatched from Eggs. The chick is unable to fend for itself

and has to be fed by the parent birdssometimes the mother bird only and in some instances both

the mother and the father birds.

Anyway, the Chick lives in a small nest on top of a treeit can only eat what is sent down its

throat by the parent bird. Gradually as the bird gets bigger it has to learn to fly. Now the alien

would report that the bird already knows to flywe call it programmingwe say the bird is

programmed to fly.

By whom, how? These are big questions.

The eager chick has no place to practiceit has to just jump out of the nest, on top of a high tree

and within 2 or 3 seconds it should get its act right, or else it falls on the ground and then trying to

take off from the ground is more difficult.

So the alien would tell us that the bird does not learn to fly as such, but it puts into practice or

executes the lessons that are already programmed into it how, when, where and by whom are

unanswered questions.

This bird that now flies has never seen its surroundings from anywhere else but from its nest, on

top of the tree. But now it flies around, sometimes many miles in search of food and always finds

its way back to the nesthow? No maps, no navigation equipment that we can see, and no

familiarization tripshow does this simple bird manage it?

This is knowledge that the bird possesses.


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The Bird naturally knows how to search for its food, even hunt for itand we are amazed at its

methods. The bird recognizes what constitutes its food, for example worms, insects etc and can

immediately differentiate items that are not food or even harmful to it for example, poisonous

worms and insects.

The Bird naturally recognizes the other birds and animals that are friendly and those that are a

threat. Without ever having seen an Eagle before, the bird would fly away raising the alarm, as it

were if it were to ever detect an Eagle in flight where did this bird get this knowledge?

To recognize, to sort, to act?

Then the alien would observe the Bird in mating seasonhow does the bird recognize this

season. The Bird goes through a courting ritualagain who taught it this ritual, then the bird

mates, again the question who taught it to mate, and so on.

The amazing phenomenon in some birds is what we call its migrations. The bird recognizes the

timing or the season to migrate; the journey is sometimes over 1000 to 6000 miles. The bird

possesses the knowledge of navigation, flying in formation with the flock, recognizing the

migratory lands, recognizing the new hunting grounds in these new lands, building its nest,

laying its eggs, patiently incubating the eggs for the required number of days, looking after itsyoung, feeding them protecting them and seeing them off to a flying startall these routines need

an enormous amount of knowledgeeach bird each animal, occupying a niche in the different

eco systems and everything apparently functioning seamlesslyit becomes obvious that not only

do these animals possess an amazing amount of knowledge but all this knowledge is directed at

making the animal play a pre-designated or a selected role in the grand design of the functioning

of the World itself.

It becomes obvious that someone is providing this knowledge, is precisely modulating this

knowledge and orchestrating an enormous show, a gigantic project, every aspect of it, every

intricate detail of it is imbibed with specific knowledge that is complete in its scopeno half

learning, no quarter learning, no part learning.

So the question is, who is that somebody?

Another area that the alien would observe and be convinced of the presence of deep organized

knowledge is in the area of animal social behavior. This is altogether another topicamongst

Bees, amongst Ants, amongst a Pride of Lions, a herd of Buffaloes, even in shoals of Fishall of

them show complex as well as intricate behavioral patternseach member adding to the whole.

Would not this alien tell us that there is social knowledge, the knowledge is shared and the duties

or functions are delegated to each member of that animal society? Each animal knows its role

within its social set up.

Amazing isnt it?

As an example of the Animal Kingdom we looked at the aliens view of the Bird, but then surely

when the alien observes the animal kingdom as a whole, he has to realize that each species of

plants and animals all play specific roles and to play this great role, an enormous amount of

knowledge is necessarylet us for example take the case of what we could call the Food Chains

this is one of the areas where all Animals and Plants play their roles in the grander design, the

holistic picture - amazing stuff!

One of the most vital role of plants is to trap energy from the Sun, to breathe in Carbon dioxide

from the air and to suck in water and minerals through its roots.


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And then there is this astonishing process that takes place in the plant through an amazing mix

of these three ingredientsthe energy from the sun, the Carbon that is cleverly detached from the

Carbon di Oxide along with the water and minerals sucked in by the roots, the plant grows itself

yes grows itself, as well as produces energy rich and nutrient rich leaves and fruits to be

consumed by animals.

Wow, amazing isnt it?

Processes intertwined within and with other processes, so many complex circuitriesdoes this

not indisputably demonstrate that plants posses well organized knowledge, intricate knowledge,

precise knowledge - all of which is specific to its tasks.

And now coming back to these Food Chains

Plants provide all the food for all the Animalsboth directly and indirectly. The direct consumers

of the food produced by the plant would be the insects, the worms as well as the herbivores of the

animal Kingdomthe animals that eat leaves and vegetation etc etc.

These in turn are consumed by insectivores and carnivores, which in turn are consumed by largerinsectivores and larger carnivores till finally we see the pure carnivores who occupy the pinnacle

of the food chain or the food pyramid. That is what we see, but we do not realize that those

animals at the top of the food chain eventually become the food of those organisms that we call

the decomposers - the worms, insects and bacteria that live in the earth, breaking down the

nutrients in to the top soil, which in turn provides the nutrients to the plants - so it is not a Food

chain, but a Food or an energy and nutrient cycle.

Every plant and every animal, or we could say every species of plants and every species of animal

has a specific role to play in the grander design of things, the grander orchestration of the World,

as we see it.

Is this not what the alien would observe?

But the question we should ask is, that this process of the food chain or the food cycle

demonstrates a huge knowledge system at workwhere is the knowledge, who creates it, who

teaches it, how is it attained, who modulates it, who orchestrates it, who sustains it whose plan

is it?

4. The relationship between Man and Animals

Now, let us discuss how the alien would have viewed the relationship between the Animals and

Man.

1. He would realize that all animals and plants require a specific environment that is, it is

adapted only for a specific location and it has knowledge that can be utilized only in that

environment .

However where Man is concerned, he is capable of adapting to almost every environment on land

on Earth.

2. The structure of Plants and animals give it limited scopefor example,

a. Plants cannot move,

b. Fish can only move its fins and can only use its mouth and that too only for feeding.

c. Four legged Animals use their legs for walking and their Mouths for eatingthere are

only limited or limited specific tasks that they can perform with their appendages.d. Reptiles and most amphibians can only slither along and can only use their mouths.


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Whilst Man, can stand upright, he can use his two hands for an innumerable innovative

uses.

The structure of the hand is simply amazing. It is through these hands that he can accomplish a

number of tasks or even design tools to perform these tasks for him or for those tasks which he is

unable to perform.

It is an accepted fact that the unique functioning of the Fore finger and the Thumb is in itself the

reason for civilizationbecause man can use tools, use a pen in a most simple mannerwhich no

other animal can do.

3. Man is the only animal that can subjugate other animals, even domesticate those that are useful

to him.

4. Man can enhance his environment to suit himthus the agricultural revolution, the industrial

revolution and now the IT revolution.

However, the alien would notice something very unusual in manas I mentioned earlier Man has

2 categories of Knowledgethe outward ad the insides. The insides or the Physiologicalknowledge is what we would call programmed whilst the outward knowledge has to be learned.

Man is apparently born without any knowledge. This fact is amazing, you could spend hours,

days and months just thinking on what arises from this simple observationmaybe we can

discuss those points on some other occasion!

Anyway, Animals and Plants would go through the same lifetime processes even if they were

isolated from their parents or isolated from their species even for generations. The best example is

birds kept in captivity, without access to other birds except for mating purposeseven if this was

done for generations, the birds released would know how to build a nest, how to migrate, how to

incubate their eggs etc etc

Man needs tutoring in every aspect of his life.

This is why man adapts to all environments, to all livelihoods, to all languages, to all cultures.

So, the alien would observe that Man is superior to all animals and Plants, but the knowledge he

has he learns from his environment and he also learns to build on this knowledge.

This process of learning and then building on this knowledge is something human beings hold as

very very dear.

How does a Human learn?

Through his senseshe watches, listens, discusses, processes this information through his mind

and then stores these experiences for future retrieval and comparison.

Right through life he is comparing the different experiences and reaching conclusionsthe

quality of the conclusions themselves keep maturing with time and experience.

Human beings are always striving to improve their living conditions and the lessons they learn are

very valuable. It is so valuable that every year a committee sits to discuss what humans have

learnt and they present an Annual Nobel Prize to the person who in their opinion has used his

knowledge to advance knowledge in a variety of fields. That is how important knowledge is.


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So, in my talk I am describing how an alien would view the world and how he would view the

world as a place full of knowledge, and the most knowledgeable amongst everything in this

World, is the Human beinghe does not possess ONLY programmed knowledge, but he is

capable of increasing his knowledge bank through the combined use of his senses and his brain.

Does it not become obvious that the Power that provided this knowledge to everything in this

World would have kept an unusual a testing role for Man? What would be that role or objective

it is for man to do his own outward learningto use his senses and the amazing processing

facilities he is blessed withwhich we call the brain or intelligence and to accumulate good

knowledge, or enlightening knowledge or the correct word would be Ilm

Now this leads me to a intriguing questionis what we are all learning, in our homes, in our

schools, in our professions or vocations of life really knowledgeis it enlightening us or is it

clouding our vision?

How could we find out?

Are we pursing ignorance in the belief that it is enlightening or are we actually following the ways

of enlightenment?

I think the best way to find the answers is to try to answer these 2 simple questions.

The first question is;

1. Where or who is the ultimate source of all this knowledge or in other words, who provides us

with this knowledge?

The second question is;

2. What could we consider to be the most valuable or enlightening knowledge that a man can seek

or learn, or build on, in this World?

To the second question there would be a variety of answers, a range of answers. Some would say

in the field of Medicine, others would say in the field of History or Natural History, still others

may say in the Field of Sociology and Political Science and so on.

But then let us look at the knowledge or the avenues to knowledge of two of the greatest people

we know.

Firstly I would take the case of our Holy Prophet Muhammad (Sal)the choice is obviously

because I am a Muslim.

Secondly, since we are living in Sri Lanka and Buddhism is the religion of maybe over 60% SriLankans, I would like to look at the example of Lord Buddha.

Muslims would claim that the epitome of all knowledge is demonstrated by Muhammad (Sal) and

Buddhists likewise would claim that this is demonstrated by Lord Buddha.

It is not surprising to find that both had many similarities.

Lets start with Lord Buddha around 2500 years ago in Lumbini, a place in Nepal a Royal

Prince named Siddhartha Gautama had been living in the lap of luxury. At about the age of 28 he

was very worried about the misery he observed outside the Palace and he wanted to find out the

way to get out of these miseries and what does he do, he leaves the Palace, living the life of an

asceticsearching seeking all the time, for the enlightening truths of the World


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Obviously being a Prince who moves out of a Palace, he would have drawn a lot of attention of

his people. And then at the age of maybe 3839 he begins to tell people things, and what he tells

them moves them. He tells them the truths of the World and of life people are amazed at his

perception, at his wisdom at his articulationin a few attractively placed words he describes his

lessonseveryone accepts that this Prince Siddhartha Gautama has been enlightened and now we

all reverently refer to him as the Lord Buddha.

The lesson for me in this story isall of us know that there is misery in this world, all of us

experience it, and all of us would say that the resources to solve peoples pressing problems, to

ease the misery of people are all there in the Palaceit is in the hands of those who rule. But then

Prince Siddhartha Gautama thinks very differentlyhe realizes that the solution to vanquishing

this misery cannot be acquired or learnt by within the Palacehe had to make the sacrifices, he

had to move out, he had to live the life of an ascetic to acquire or to learn this knowledge.

In many ways the story of the path to enlightenment of Prophet Muhammad is the same.

Muhammad (Sal) belonged to the Noble Quraish Tribethe Trustees of the Baithullah in Mecca.

His Father died before he was born and his Mother too passed away when Muhammad was only 6

years. He led a quiet life and is described as being a honest and trustworthy person. In his youthhe joined a Trade Caravan to Syria and his merchandise was that of a Widow Lady Khadija. He

returned with a good profit and people were impressed by his honesty and integrity.

Lady Khadija sent a proposal to him, which was accepted and when they married he was 25 years

old.

Now all of us would expect that this union would result in a good business venturethe Capital

was there with Lady Khadija, the proven business acumen was with Muhammad (Sal) and Mecca

was a seat of trade and the bazaar was administered by his family the Quraish Tribe.

Surprisingly, we do not hear of any business ventures of this couple whilst on the other hand wehear that he spends his time on thinking, meditating and reflecting.

After 15 years of Marriage and 3 young daughterswe hear that he climbs a Mountain, Mt Hira,

located a few miles outside Mecca in harsh desert environment and in rocky terrainthe purpose

to reflect or to meditate and whilst he is meditating he has an experience which we call

Nubbuwath or Prophet hood we could also refer to it as enlightenment.

Thereafter Prophet Muhammad (Sal) spoke words that moved anyone who heard them. The words

were clearly describing the clear, absolute and ultimate truth of this World.

Now that is Ilm

So dear listeners, if we want to learn Ilm then there is a lot of thinking, meditating, reflecting for

us to do. Are we accumulating and acting on knowledge as described by these enlightened

personages or are we accumulating knowledge that is possessed or shared by those that desire the

material world, and would resort to most unscrupulous ways of acquiring it?

So let us tread the path of Ilm, the path of enlightenment,and the starting steps are so easy, just

begin thinking, thinking clearly, think so that we can detect what is enlightening and what is

clouding.

In other words try to realize what Ilm is and what Jaahil means.


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So now returning to this program the Culture of Islam I began by explaining that the most

centric theme of this Culture is the belief, or the betterword would be the conviction that there

is just one GodAllah Taaalah

And then I explained that another pillar of this Culture would be the striving for the conviction

that everything is in the control of Allah Taaalah and that everything happens by the will of Allah

Taaalah.

I then read out the initial Aayaths from the first Chapter in the Holy Quranwhich gives a

description of Allah Taaalah in a very few words.

Now after having listened to this talk on IlmI would like to repeat these 3 Aayaths again;

Now I would like ask you all a question,

Did you not find that the perspectives we have of God or of Allah has been enhanced?

If the answer is yes, then I would say Alhamdulillah, some part of the objectives of this talk hasbeen achievedagain Alhamdulillah!

May Allah Taaalah guide us all and accept us all.

Imtiaz Muhsin

Colombo Sri Lanka

[email protected]

You Tube Channel - HaneefanMusliman
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


15/15


Series 2

The Talks numbered 054 to 071 is under a series titled Knowing Allah Taaalah or Knowing

GOD

The details of the scripts of these 16 Episodes (Talks) are as follows;

Talk No Talk Number & TitleDate

BroadcastDetails of Picture on Cover

Episode 1 054 IlmKnowing AllahDec 9

th

2011Wellawatte Jummah Mosque inColombo, Sri Lanka

Episode 2 055 Rationality - The Foundation of IslamDec 16h

2011

Parasangaswewa Mosque(a remote village)in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka

Episode 3 056 Is Man Special?Dec 23

t

2011Mutwal Jummah Mosque inColombo, Sri Lanka

Episode 4 057 Ar Rahmaan - The BeneficentDec 30t

2011

The Akbar Mosque in Slave

Island, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Episode 5 058 Nature or GOD?Jan 6

t

2012Mosque in Matara, from theSouthern Province of Sri Lanka

Episode 6 059 Our Relationship with GOD!Jan 13th

2012

Beach Mosque at Kalmunaikudi

in the Eastern Province, SriLanka

Episode 7Sub Series:060 Is this what we are created for?(Is this what we are created for? Part 1)

Jan 20th2012

A Mosque in the KurnegalaDistrict, Sri Lanka

Episode 8

Sub Series:

061 What do we see on Earth(Is this what we are created for? Part 2)

Jan 27th2012

Maradana Jummah Mosque in

Colombo, Sri Lanka

Episode 9Sub Series:062 Who are WE? Where do we fit in?(Is this what we are created for? Part 3)

Feb 3rd

2012

Colpetty Jummah Mosque, inColombo, Sri Lanka

Episode 10Sub Series:063 Our benefits on Earth

(Is this what we are created for? Part 4)

Feb 10th

2012

The Jummah Mosque atNatpidimunnai, in the Ampara

District, Sri Lanka

Episode 11

Sub Series:066 What makes us 'Stand Out'?What makes us 'Special'?(Is this what we are created for? Part 5)

Feb 17th

2012The Devatagaha Mosque inColombo, Sri Lanka

Episode 12Sub Series:067 Who is in charge?(Is this what we are created for? Part 6)

Feb 24th

2012

A Mosque in a rural village inthe Ampara District, in SriLanka

Episode 13

Sub Series:068 What ALLAH Teaches Us,About Himself(Is this what we are created for? Part 7)

Mar 2nd

2012

The Jummah Mosque in Oluvila village in the Ampara District,Sri Lanka

Episode 14

Sub Series:069 Our Special FacultiesHow they should be used,How they should not be used!(Is this what we are created for? Part 8)

Mar 9th

2012

The Dhanakawewa JummahMosque in a remote village inthe Anuradhapura District in SriLanka

Episode 15Sub Series:070 The TWO Paths

Mar 16th

2012Mosque at Madhavakulam in thePuttlam District, Sri Lanka

Episode 16071 Is this what we are created for?A review of Parts 1 to 8 from the Sub SeriesIs this what we are created for?

Mar 23rd

2012

A Mosque by a river in the

Eastern Province, Sri Lanka

054 Ilm - Knowing Allah

Documents

Transcript of 054 Ilm - Knowing Allah