This is to inform you that if the Google or any other search engines bring you to this post it has been updated and is now entitled:
Fall And Winter Reading For Those Who Are Interested: My Choice Of The Top 50 Posts On My 427-Post Blog
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/12/427fall-and-winter-reading-for-those.html
My blog postings are about to become sporadic as the summer vacation dawns upon us so I came up with a list of my top 50 posts as I see them. They represent a tiny fraction of my experiential encounter with the religion of my birth, Islam. The idea that learning about our universe, what it is made up of and how it operates, can be and is an integral part of the faith of Islam is a very powerful idea indeed. Here they are in descending order:
1)Comprehensive quotes of Aga Khan IV and others relating to knowledge, intellect, creation, science and religion-FROM 2007CE DOWN TO 322BC:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/02/327comprehensive-quotes-of-aga-khan-iv.html
2)2 intellectual giants speak to each other accross a millenium on "time": can it be slowed, sped up, reversed, transcended?Ask Einstein and Khusraw
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/05/3592-intellectual-giants-speak-to-each.html
3)Allegories in Nature: "....a Cosmos full of signs and symbols that evoke the perfection of Allah's creation and mercy"; Quotes of Aga Khans.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/03/332allegories-in-nature-cosmos-full-of.html
4)No. 7: Ayats(Signs) in the Universe series. How are proteins made inside living cells and what does this have to do with religion?
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/282no-7-ayatssigns-in-universe-series.html
5)The Death of Science in Islam/What have we forgotten in Islam?-COMBO DELIGHT
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/305the-death-of-science-in-islamwhat.html
6)The architect of universal good -Gulf News Interview with Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness Aga Khan IV, April 2008, United Arab Emirates.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/04/351the-architect-of-universal-good-gulf.html
7)Intellect and Faith in Shia Ismaili Islam as described on the Preamble to the AKDN website:
Intellect and Faith
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/05/361intellect-and-faith-in-shia-ismaili.html
8)The uninterrupted thread of the search for knowledge of all types.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/306the-uninterrupted-thread-of-search.html
9)Abu Yakub al-Sijistani: Cosmologist, Theologian, Philosopher par excellence.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/284abu-yakub-al-sijistani-cosmologist.html
10)One mega-post, encompassing five regular posts, on the pioneering 9th century Muslim scientist Ibn al-Haytham or Alhazen(965CE to 1039CE).
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/296one-mega-post-encompassing-four.html
11)So how old is the Universe anyway, 6000 years or 14 billion(14,000,000,000) years old?; Quotes of Aga Khan IV.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/317so-how-old-is-universe-anyway-6000.html
12)Basics on the vast distances and sizes in Astronomy.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/273basics-on-vast-distances-and-sizes.html
13)Islam and Astronomy: Vestiges of a fine legacy; Quotes of Aga Khan IV and Ibn Sina
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/05/358islam-and-astronomy-vestiges-of-fine.html
14)Al-Nitak, Al-Nilam, Mintaka, Betelgeuse, Al-Deberan: Arabic-named stars in nearby constellations in space.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/289al-nitak-al-nilam-mintaka-betelgeuse.html
15)A collection of speeches by Aga Khans IV and III, source of some of my doctrinal material on science, religion, creation, knowledge and intellect
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/05/365a-collection-of-speeches-by-aga.html
16)Albert Einstein and Faith; Quote of Aga Khan III.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/311albert-einstein-and-faith-quote-of.html
17)Excitement mounts as Peter Higgs announces that the discovery of the "God Particle" is at hand; Quotes of Prophet Muhammad, Aga Khans and others.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/04/342excitement-mounts-as-peter-higgs.html
18)Existential Wonderment: Huge star exploded 7.5 billion yrs ago, Earth was created 5 billion yrs ago: light from the star arrived here Mar 19 '08!!
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/04/340existential-wonderment-huge-star.html
19)"Knowledge Society", by Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness Aga Khan IV
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/04/344knowledge-society-by-aga-khan-iv.html
20)Pluralism and Ikhwan al-Safa: If society is to start from a premise that knowledge should be foundational, what form should that knowledge take?
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/12/267pluralism-and-ikhwan-al-safa-if.html
21)Latest 2008 USA quotes and speech excerpts of Mawlana Hazar Imam, His Highness Aga Khan IV, on the subjects of knowledge, learning and education.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/04/349latest-2008-quotes-and-speech.html
22)Humans were nearly wiped out 70,000 years ago says Spencer Wells of the National Geographic Society's Genographic Project
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/04/354humans-were-nearly-wiped-out-70000.html
23)Two back-to-back pictures on NASA Astronomy website reflect the tiniest living organisms(viruses) versus the largest galaxies of stars in space
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/04/352two-back-to-back-pictures-on-nasa.html
24)No. 3, 'Ayats'(Signs) in the Universe series: The dynamic, roiling, rumbling surface of the earth.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/276no-3-ayatssigns-in-universe-series.html
25)No. 4, 'Ayats'(Signs) in the Universe series. Photosynthesis: Allah is the light of the heavens and the earth....
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/288no-4-ayatssigns-in-universe-series.html
26)No. 2, 'Ayats'(Signs) in the Universe series: The miniscule universe inside a living cell.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/275no-2-ayatssigns-in-universe-series.html
27)No. 1, 'Ayats'(Signs) in the Universe series: A magnificent vista of nature as seen from a cottage deck
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/272no-1-ayatssigns-in-universe-series.html
28)No. 5, 'Ayats'(Signs) in the Universe series: Speeding angels; the relativity of time; everywhere and nowhere all at the same time.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/289no-5-ayatssigns-in-universe-series.html
29)Excerpt: Aga Khan IV's interview with Spiegel newspaper, October 9th 2006.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/28760excerpt-aga-khan-ivs-interview.html
30)Symmetry in nature; Symmetry as a product of the human mind.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/288symmetry-in-nature-symmetry-as.html
31)Tiniest matter: The strange world of the Quantum; harbinger of the world of spirit?
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/297tiniest-matter-strange-world-of.html
32)The bending and scattering of light in the recent total lunar eclipse; Quote of Aga Khan IV.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/308the-bending-and-scattering-of-light.html
33)Harmonious mathematical reasoning and the Universe in which we live, move and have our being; Quotes of Aga Khan IV.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/309harmonious-mathematical-reasoning.html
34)20 things you need to know about Albert Einstein, the smartest scientist of the 20th century; Quotes of Aga Khan III.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/31220-things-you-need-to-know-about.html
35)Nima Arkani-Hamed, theoretical physicist, Iranian, American, Canadian: a junior Albert Einstein?
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/05/360nima-arkani-hamed-theoretical.html
36)Sir Isaac Newton: Man of Science and Religion.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/283sir-isaac-newton-man-of-science-and.html
37)Abdus Salam: 1979 Nobel laureate in Physics.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/285abdus-salam-1979-nobel-laureate-in.html
38)"The learning of mathematics was therefore linked to the Muslim religion and developing an understanding of the world...."; Quotes of Aga Khan IV
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/319the-learning-of-mathematics-was.html
39)Muslim Philosophy and the Sciences(IIS Review Article); Quotes of Aga Khan IV.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/02/331muslim-philosophy-and-sciencesiis.html
40)Matter and Energy: two sides of the same coin; how interpreting the light(energy) from the sun gives precise information about the matter in it.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/02/330matter-and-energy-two-sides-of-same.html
41)A survey of off-topic posts in the 2-year history of my blog.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/04/356a-survey-of-off-topic-posts-in-2.html
42)Our Sun is a WILD place-doing all kinds of ablutions, looking like a Picasso painting, having a bad hair day, or just scintillating radiantly....
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/02/329our-sun-is-wild-place-doing-pesap.html
43)Mountains according to the Quran, as we know them today and as part of the dynamic, roiling, rumbling surface of the Earth; Quotes of Aga Khans.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/02/326mountains-according-to-quran-as-we.html
44)A must-see documentary movie on His Highness Aga Khan IV, who is the beloved muse of my blog.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/12/256a-must-see-documentary-movie-on-his.html
45)The Top Ten Hubble Space Telescope photographs of the past 16 years.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/12/265the-top-ten-hubble-space-telescope.html
46)The Quran itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation(Aga Khan IV)
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/11/250the-quran-itself-repeatedly.html
47)Four giants of 10th to 13th century Science in early Islam:Ibn Sina, Ibn al-Haytham, Ibn Butlan, Nasir al-Din Tusi; more quotes of Aga Khan IV.
http://easynash.blogspot.com/2007/07/219four-giants-of-10th-to-13th-century.html
48)Science, Philosophy and Religion in medieval times: Moses Maimonides and the Institute of Ismaili Studies.
http://easynash.blogspot.com/2007/06/189science-and-religion-in-medieval.html
49)Whats new in the world of Astronomy?
http://easynash.blogspot.com/2007/06/185whats-new-in-world-of-astronomy.html
50)Einstein=Genius squared: the man who taught us key insights about the Universal "Soul that sustains, embraces and is the Universe".
http://easynash.blogspot.com/2007/05/178einsteingenius-squared-man-who.html
Easy Nash
The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql)(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Thursday, June 12, 2008
374)Dialogue among the Religions: The Vatican Prepares the Guidelines; Mohammed Arkoun of the IIS on Faith and Reason in Islam; Quotes of Aga Khan IV
IIS= Institute of Ismaili Studies
My friend Almoonir of the Calgary Interfaith Initiatives brought the article below to my attention, for which I am grateful:
http://almoonir.blogspot.com/
Quotes of Aga Khan IV:
"What does it (the West) know about the Islamic world? Is anything taught in secondary education? Does anybody know the names of the great philosophers, the scientists, the great theologians? Do they even know the names of the great civilizations?"(Aga Khan IV, Interview, 2nd Feb. 2002)
"The faith of a billion people is not part of the general education process in the West - ignored by school and college curricula in history, the sciences, philosophy and geography"(Aga Khan IV, Speech, 2002)
"The basic problem is the enormous lack of knowledge of the Islamic world in the general world-culture. It's a rather remarkable thing and a very sad thing to me, that over a billion people, their 1400 year history, of civilizations, are simply not part of general education in the general Western world. It's a remarkable knowledge gap"(Aga Khan IV, Interview, 2002)
"The Muslim world, once a remarkable bastion of scientific and humanist knowledge, a rich and self-confident cradle of culture and art, has never forgotten its past.The great Muslim philosopher al-Kindi wrote eleven hundred years ago, "No one is diminished by the truth, rather does the truth ennobles all". That is no less true today"(Aga Khan IV, Speech,1996, Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A.)
"From the seventh century to the thirteenth century, the Muslim civilizations dominated world culture, accepting, adopting, using and preserving all preceding study of mathematics, philosophy, medicine and astronomy, among other areas of learning. The Islamic field of thought and knowledge included and added to much of the information on which all civilisations are founded. And yet this fact is seldom acknowledged today, be it in the West or in the Muslim world, and this amnesia has left a six hundred year gap in the history of human thought"(Aga Khan IV, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, 1996)
My take on the article below:
Ikhwan Al-Safa, An-Nasafi, Al-Sijistani, Ibn Sina, Al-Kirmani, Alfarabi, Nasir Khusraw, Nasir Al-Din Tusi, Ibn Rushd and many others were very involved in the reason-faith debate from the 8th to the 13th centuries within Islam. Among Jews Moses Maimonides and, among Christians, St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas also grappled with the reason-faith debate and the so-called "pagan" philosophy of the Greeks was a common thread employed among these 3 monotheistic faiths. Greek philosophy was also the precursor to modern western philosophy. That same common thread today presents a golden opportunity for bridge-building among the 3 faiths along with the bridge linking antiquity to modernity in the study of philosophy and religion, if only the mindless formalists on all sides can be subdued.
Dialogue Among the Religions. The Vatican Prepares the Guidelines
Chiesa Sandro Magister
Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008
1)Enough with the ceremonies.
2)And more conviction in proclaiming the Gospel.
3)New signs of openness come from Saudi Arabia.
4)Algerian philosopher Mohammed Arkoun criticizes the Pope, but even more the cultural void in the Muslim world.
ROMA, June 11, 2008 – The plenary meeting that the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue held at the Vatican last week was the first of this pontificate, and took place with a new president – Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran – and with experts who were also newcomers to a great extent.
And the aim of the plenary session was itself new: to develop new guidelines for the bishops, priests, and faithful in relating to other religions. This objective, Cardinal Tauran said, was decided "after many years of hesitation over its appropriateness."
On Saturday, June 9, at the end of the three-day meeting, Benedict XVI received the participants in the Sala del Concistoro. He encouraged the publication of the guidelines because, he said, "the great proliferation of interreligious meetings in today's world requires discernment." This last word is used in ecclesiastical language to urge critical analysis and the choices that stem from it.
In effect, the relationship with men of other religions has been and is being practiced in different and sometimes contradictory ways within the Catholic Church.
In the Muslim countries, for example, the most widespread practice among Catholics is that of the silent testimony of Christian life. There are reasons of prudence that justify this practice. But against those who justify it always and everywhere, the congregation for the doctrine of the faith published a doctrinal note last December 3, presenting instead a thesis previously voiced by Paul VI in "Evangelii Nuntiandi" in 1975:
"Even the finest witness will prove ineffective in the long run if it is not [...] made explicit by a clear and unequivocal proclamation of the Lord Jesus."
The guidelines that the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue is preparing to publish will point in this direction. In introducing the plenary assembly, Cardinal Tauran said:
"We know that the Holy Spirit works in every man and every woman, independently of his religious or spiritual creed. But on the other hand, we must proclaim that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. God has revealed to us the truth about God and the truth about man, and for us this is the Good News. We cannot hide this truth under a bushel basket."
Speaking to 200 representatives of other religions during his recent visit to the United States, Benedict XVI expressed himself no less clearly:
"It is Jesus whom we bring to the forum of interreligious dialogue. The ardent desire to follow in his footsteps spurs Christians to open their minds and hearts in dialogue. [...] In our attempt to discover points of commonality, perhaps we have shied away from the responsibility to discuss our differences with calmness and clarity. [...] The higher goal of interreligious dialogue requires a clear exposition of our respective religious tenets."
This does not eliminate the fact that there is common ground for action among men of different beliefs, as the guidelines will insist. Introducing the plenary session, Tauran also said:
"The Ten Commandments are a sort of universal grammar that all believers can use in their relationship with God and neighbor. [...] In creating man, God ordered him with wisdom and love to his end, through the law written within his heart (Romans 2:15), the natural law. This is nothing other than the light of intelligence infused within us by God. Thanks to this, we know what we must do and what we must avoid. God gave us this light and this law at creation."
* * *
During the same days when the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue was holding its plenary assembly at the Vatican, there were new developments in relations between the Catholic Church and Islam.
In Saudi Arabia, in the holy city of Mecca, king Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud inaugurated on June 4 a conference of 600 representatives from the vast Muslim world, with the aim of "telling the world that we are the voice of justice and moral human values, of coexistence and dialogue."
To this end, Abdullah confirmed his desire to "organize meetings with brothers belonging to other faiths," in particular Judaism and Christianity. Islamism, according to the Saudi sovereign, "has defined the principles and opened the road for a dialogue with the faithful of other religions," and this road "passes through the values common to the three monotheistic religions".
These values "reject treason, alienate crime, and combat the terrorism" practiced by "extremists among [our] own people," who "have joined forces in a flagrant aggressiveness to distort the rightfulness and tolerance of Islam."
Spoken by the king of Saudi Arabia – a nation of rigid Wahhabi Islamism and the place of origin of Osama bin Laden and of most of the authors of the attacks on September 11, 2001 – these words are of indisputable significance. At the Vatican, "L'Osservatore Romano" emphasized them in its reporting.
Moreover, King Abdullah said that he had gotten the "green light" for his project of interreligious dialogue from the Saudi ulema, and that he wants to consult with Muslims of other countries as well about the possibility. At the conference in Mecca, he brought together in a single room the sheikh of the al-Azhar mosque in Cairo, Sayyid Tantawi, a leading Sunni authority, and the Shiite ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former president of Iran and member of the Assembly of Experts, the center of the regime's supreme power.
In Israel, the proposals of King Abdullah were received favorably by the Ashkenazi chief rabbi Yona Metzger, and the Sephardic chief rabbi Shlomo Amar.
The final statement of the conference, called "The Appeal from Mecca," announced the creation of an Islamic center for relations among civilizations. This will organize moments of dialogue with representatives of other religions, cultures, and philosophies, and will promote the publication of books on this topic.
* * *
Another novelty in these days is the upcoming meeting that the experts of the international magazine "Oasis" – backed by the patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Angelo Scola, and with a focus on dialogue between Christians and Muslims – will hold in Amman, Jordan, from June 23-24, on the topic of the connections between truth and freedom.
Amman is the city where the al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought is based, headed by prince of Jordan Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal. It is the same institute that promoted the famous letter of the 138 Muslims entitled "A common word between us and you" and addressed to the pope and to the other heads of Christian confessions.
Next November, a meeting is planned in Rome between authorities and experts of the Catholic Church, and a delegation of the 138 Muslims.
Meanwhile, one of the 138, Mustafa Cherif, a former education minister and ambassador of Algeria, has published a commentary on two recent events in his country in the monthly "Mondo e Missione" of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions.
The first of these events, which took place in early June, was the sentencing of four Algerians for converting from Islam to Christianity. The four are Protestant, but a similar sentence had been pronounced previously against a Catholic priest, guilty of leading a prayer, at Christmas, for a group of immigrants from Cameroon.
Cherif calls "incomprehensible and deplorable" the ways in which the question of proselytism is addressed in Algeria, because "our vision of law is founded on the Qur'anic principle: no imposition in matters of religion."
And he adds:
"Moreover, our Catholic friends in Algeria, who have been here for fifty years, have never tried to convert anyone, although they do have the right to witness to their faith. This, in spite of the fact that the current pope frequently recalls the central nature of the evangelizing mission for the Catholic Church."
The second event Cherif comments on is connected to this previous observation: the resignation, for reasons of age, of the archbishop of Algiers, Henri Teissier, made official by the Vatican last May 24.
Cherif draws a portrait of the elderly archbishop as "one of those moderate priests who seek the right balance, aware also of the reforms needed within the Church, and not hesitating sometimes to express their disagreements with the Vatican, especially over relations with Muslims."
As evidence of the "right balance" sought by Teissier, Cherif writes:
"Last December, the Vatican published a doctrinal note that reaffirms the mission of evangelizing non-Catholics. [...] Sometimes, nonetheless, after leaving to evangelize the world, many priests and pastors have set themselves to learn from the people they have encountered and from their culture, without necessarily seeking to divert them from their original religion. Archbishop Henri Teissier is one of those great men of faith who respect the other."
Cherif adds that he met Teissier for the first time in Cordoba in 1974, on the occasion of an international Islamic-Christian conference:
"It is important to recall that at that juncture, through the personal intervention of Archbishop Teissier with the bishop of Cordoba, our group of Muslim participants was authorized to hold our Friday prayers in the mosque of Cordoba."
The "mosque" cited here is properly, and has been for centuries, the cathedral church of the city. * * *
The third interesting novelty is the criticism made against Benedict XVI, but even more so against the Islamic world as a whole, by a prominent Muslim intellectual, Mohammed Arkoun.
Arkoun, 80, born in Algeria, has taught at the Sorbonne, at Princeton, and at other famous universities in Europe and America. Today, he is the research director at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, founded by Aga Khan.
Interviewed by John Allen, the Vatican analyst for the "National Catholic Reporter," during a conference in Lugano, Switzerland, Arkoun took his cue from the lecture in Regensburg:
"Pope Benedict has said that an intimate relationship between reason and faith does not exist in Islamic elaboration and expressions. This statement, historically speaking, is not true. If we consider the period from the 8th century to the 13th century, it is simply not true. But after the death of the philosopher Averroes in 1198, philosophy disappeared in Islamic thought. To that extent the pope was right [...]. The fact is today, when one speaks with Muslims, they don't have any idea about this history."
And the 138 who signed the letter are no exception, Arkoun continues: "I don't know any historians of thought among them."
So the pope is mistaken to choose them as dialogue partners:
"The pope should create a kind of space of debate, instead of all these so-called interreligious dialogues that have been going on since the Second Vatican Council. I've participated in so many of them, and I can tell you that they're absolutely nothing. It's gossip. There's no intellectual input in it. There is no respect for scholarship in it. A huge scholarship has already been produced devoted to the question of faith and reason. All this is put aside and we ignore it. We just congratulate one another, saying: 'I respect your faith, and you respect mine.' This is nonsense."
And to the question of whether the young Muslim generations have a real thirst for a new way of expressing their faith, different from that of the "ulema on the television, " Arkoun responds:
"Of course. When [in Egypt] I give a lecture, the turnout is enormous. The interest of people is very strong. Also the older generations are happy, they feel they can breathe. People applauded when I said after this affair with the pope [Pope Benedict's 2006 lecture at the University of Regensburg] that Muslims should not go to the street demonstrating against him, but they should run to the libraries. They should know what has happened to Islamic thought after the 13th century."
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2030070/posts
Related Posts:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/02/331muslim-philosophy-and-sciencesiis.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/306the-uninterrupted-thread-of-search.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/305the-death-of-science-in-islamwhat.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/294philosophical-judaism-christianity.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/286intellect-and-faith-from-aga-khan.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/284abu-yakub-al-sijistani-cosmologist.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/277intellectual-pluralism-in-10th-to.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/271ikhwan-al-safa-early-attempt-to.html
Easy Nash
The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql)(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
My friend Almoonir of the Calgary Interfaith Initiatives brought the article below to my attention, for which I am grateful:
http://almoonir.blogspot.com/
Quotes of Aga Khan IV:
"What does it (the West) know about the Islamic world? Is anything taught in secondary education? Does anybody know the names of the great philosophers, the scientists, the great theologians? Do they even know the names of the great civilizations?"(Aga Khan IV, Interview, 2nd Feb. 2002)
"The faith of a billion people is not part of the general education process in the West - ignored by school and college curricula in history, the sciences, philosophy and geography"(Aga Khan IV, Speech, 2002)
"The basic problem is the enormous lack of knowledge of the Islamic world in the general world-culture. It's a rather remarkable thing and a very sad thing to me, that over a billion people, their 1400 year history, of civilizations, are simply not part of general education in the general Western world. It's a remarkable knowledge gap"(Aga Khan IV, Interview, 2002)
"The Muslim world, once a remarkable bastion of scientific and humanist knowledge, a rich and self-confident cradle of culture and art, has never forgotten its past.The great Muslim philosopher al-Kindi wrote eleven hundred years ago, "No one is diminished by the truth, rather does the truth ennobles all". That is no less true today"(Aga Khan IV, Speech,1996, Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A.)
"From the seventh century to the thirteenth century, the Muslim civilizations dominated world culture, accepting, adopting, using and preserving all preceding study of mathematics, philosophy, medicine and astronomy, among other areas of learning. The Islamic field of thought and knowledge included and added to much of the information on which all civilisations are founded. And yet this fact is seldom acknowledged today, be it in the West or in the Muslim world, and this amnesia has left a six hundred year gap in the history of human thought"(Aga Khan IV, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA, 1996)
My take on the article below:
Ikhwan Al-Safa, An-Nasafi, Al-Sijistani, Ibn Sina, Al-Kirmani, Alfarabi, Nasir Khusraw, Nasir Al-Din Tusi, Ibn Rushd and many others were very involved in the reason-faith debate from the 8th to the 13th centuries within Islam. Among Jews Moses Maimonides and, among Christians, St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas also grappled with the reason-faith debate and the so-called "pagan" philosophy of the Greeks was a common thread employed among these 3 monotheistic faiths. Greek philosophy was also the precursor to modern western philosophy. That same common thread today presents a golden opportunity for bridge-building among the 3 faiths along with the bridge linking antiquity to modernity in the study of philosophy and religion, if only the mindless formalists on all sides can be subdued.
Dialogue Among the Religions. The Vatican Prepares the Guidelines
Chiesa Sandro Magister
Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008
1)Enough with the ceremonies.
2)And more conviction in proclaiming the Gospel.
3)New signs of openness come from Saudi Arabia.
4)Algerian philosopher Mohammed Arkoun criticizes the Pope, but even more the cultural void in the Muslim world.
ROMA, June 11, 2008 – The plenary meeting that the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue held at the Vatican last week was the first of this pontificate, and took place with a new president – Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran – and with experts who were also newcomers to a great extent.
And the aim of the plenary session was itself new: to develop new guidelines for the bishops, priests, and faithful in relating to other religions. This objective, Cardinal Tauran said, was decided "after many years of hesitation over its appropriateness."
On Saturday, June 9, at the end of the three-day meeting, Benedict XVI received the participants in the Sala del Concistoro. He encouraged the publication of the guidelines because, he said, "the great proliferation of interreligious meetings in today's world requires discernment." This last word is used in ecclesiastical language to urge critical analysis and the choices that stem from it.
In effect, the relationship with men of other religions has been and is being practiced in different and sometimes contradictory ways within the Catholic Church.
In the Muslim countries, for example, the most widespread practice among Catholics is that of the silent testimony of Christian life. There are reasons of prudence that justify this practice. But against those who justify it always and everywhere, the congregation for the doctrine of the faith published a doctrinal note last December 3, presenting instead a thesis previously voiced by Paul VI in "Evangelii Nuntiandi" in 1975:
"Even the finest witness will prove ineffective in the long run if it is not [...] made explicit by a clear and unequivocal proclamation of the Lord Jesus."
The guidelines that the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue is preparing to publish will point in this direction. In introducing the plenary assembly, Cardinal Tauran said:
"We know that the Holy Spirit works in every man and every woman, independently of his religious or spiritual creed. But on the other hand, we must proclaim that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. God has revealed to us the truth about God and the truth about man, and for us this is the Good News. We cannot hide this truth under a bushel basket."
Speaking to 200 representatives of other religions during his recent visit to the United States, Benedict XVI expressed himself no less clearly:
"It is Jesus whom we bring to the forum of interreligious dialogue. The ardent desire to follow in his footsteps spurs Christians to open their minds and hearts in dialogue. [...] In our attempt to discover points of commonality, perhaps we have shied away from the responsibility to discuss our differences with calmness and clarity. [...] The higher goal of interreligious dialogue requires a clear exposition of our respective religious tenets."
This does not eliminate the fact that there is common ground for action among men of different beliefs, as the guidelines will insist. Introducing the plenary session, Tauran also said:
"The Ten Commandments are a sort of universal grammar that all believers can use in their relationship with God and neighbor. [...] In creating man, God ordered him with wisdom and love to his end, through the law written within his heart (Romans 2:15), the natural law. This is nothing other than the light of intelligence infused within us by God. Thanks to this, we know what we must do and what we must avoid. God gave us this light and this law at creation."
* * *
During the same days when the pontifical council for interreligious dialogue was holding its plenary assembly at the Vatican, there were new developments in relations between the Catholic Church and Islam.
In Saudi Arabia, in the holy city of Mecca, king Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud inaugurated on June 4 a conference of 600 representatives from the vast Muslim world, with the aim of "telling the world that we are the voice of justice and moral human values, of coexistence and dialogue."
To this end, Abdullah confirmed his desire to "organize meetings with brothers belonging to other faiths," in particular Judaism and Christianity. Islamism, according to the Saudi sovereign, "has defined the principles and opened the road for a dialogue with the faithful of other religions," and this road "passes through the values common to the three monotheistic religions".
These values "reject treason, alienate crime, and combat the terrorism" practiced by "extremists among [our] own people," who "have joined forces in a flagrant aggressiveness to distort the rightfulness and tolerance of Islam."
Spoken by the king of Saudi Arabia – a nation of rigid Wahhabi Islamism and the place of origin of Osama bin Laden and of most of the authors of the attacks on September 11, 2001 – these words are of indisputable significance. At the Vatican, "L'Osservatore Romano" emphasized them in its reporting.
Moreover, King Abdullah said that he had gotten the "green light" for his project of interreligious dialogue from the Saudi ulema, and that he wants to consult with Muslims of other countries as well about the possibility. At the conference in Mecca, he brought together in a single room the sheikh of the al-Azhar mosque in Cairo, Sayyid Tantawi, a leading Sunni authority, and the Shiite ayatollah Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, former president of Iran and member of the Assembly of Experts, the center of the regime's supreme power.
In Israel, the proposals of King Abdullah were received favorably by the Ashkenazi chief rabbi Yona Metzger, and the Sephardic chief rabbi Shlomo Amar.
The final statement of the conference, called "The Appeal from Mecca," announced the creation of an Islamic center for relations among civilizations. This will organize moments of dialogue with representatives of other religions, cultures, and philosophies, and will promote the publication of books on this topic.
* * *
Another novelty in these days is the upcoming meeting that the experts of the international magazine "Oasis" – backed by the patriarch of Venice, Cardinal Angelo Scola, and with a focus on dialogue between Christians and Muslims – will hold in Amman, Jordan, from June 23-24, on the topic of the connections between truth and freedom.
Amman is the city where the al-Bayt Institute for Islamic Thought is based, headed by prince of Jordan Ghazi bin Muhammad bin Talal. It is the same institute that promoted the famous letter of the 138 Muslims entitled "A common word between us and you" and addressed to the pope and to the other heads of Christian confessions.
Next November, a meeting is planned in Rome between authorities and experts of the Catholic Church, and a delegation of the 138 Muslims.
Meanwhile, one of the 138, Mustafa Cherif, a former education minister and ambassador of Algeria, has published a commentary on two recent events in his country in the monthly "Mondo e Missione" of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions.
The first of these events, which took place in early June, was the sentencing of four Algerians for converting from Islam to Christianity. The four are Protestant, but a similar sentence had been pronounced previously against a Catholic priest, guilty of leading a prayer, at Christmas, for a group of immigrants from Cameroon.
Cherif calls "incomprehensible and deplorable" the ways in which the question of proselytism is addressed in Algeria, because "our vision of law is founded on the Qur'anic principle: no imposition in matters of religion."
And he adds:
"Moreover, our Catholic friends in Algeria, who have been here for fifty years, have never tried to convert anyone, although they do have the right to witness to their faith. This, in spite of the fact that the current pope frequently recalls the central nature of the evangelizing mission for the Catholic Church."
The second event Cherif comments on is connected to this previous observation: the resignation, for reasons of age, of the archbishop of Algiers, Henri Teissier, made official by the Vatican last May 24.
Cherif draws a portrait of the elderly archbishop as "one of those moderate priests who seek the right balance, aware also of the reforms needed within the Church, and not hesitating sometimes to express their disagreements with the Vatican, especially over relations with Muslims."
As evidence of the "right balance" sought by Teissier, Cherif writes:
"Last December, the Vatican published a doctrinal note that reaffirms the mission of evangelizing non-Catholics. [...] Sometimes, nonetheless, after leaving to evangelize the world, many priests and pastors have set themselves to learn from the people they have encountered and from their culture, without necessarily seeking to divert them from their original religion. Archbishop Henri Teissier is one of those great men of faith who respect the other."
Cherif adds that he met Teissier for the first time in Cordoba in 1974, on the occasion of an international Islamic-Christian conference:
"It is important to recall that at that juncture, through the personal intervention of Archbishop Teissier with the bishop of Cordoba, our group of Muslim participants was authorized to hold our Friday prayers in the mosque of Cordoba."
The "mosque" cited here is properly, and has been for centuries, the cathedral church of the city. * * *
The third interesting novelty is the criticism made against Benedict XVI, but even more so against the Islamic world as a whole, by a prominent Muslim intellectual, Mohammed Arkoun.
Arkoun, 80, born in Algeria, has taught at the Sorbonne, at Princeton, and at other famous universities in Europe and America. Today, he is the research director at the Institute of Ismaili Studies in London, founded by Aga Khan.
Interviewed by John Allen, the Vatican analyst for the "National Catholic Reporter," during a conference in Lugano, Switzerland, Arkoun took his cue from the lecture in Regensburg:
"Pope Benedict has said that an intimate relationship between reason and faith does not exist in Islamic elaboration and expressions. This statement, historically speaking, is not true. If we consider the period from the 8th century to the 13th century, it is simply not true. But after the death of the philosopher Averroes in 1198, philosophy disappeared in Islamic thought. To that extent the pope was right [...]. The fact is today, when one speaks with Muslims, they don't have any idea about this history."
And the 138 who signed the letter are no exception, Arkoun continues: "I don't know any historians of thought among them."
So the pope is mistaken to choose them as dialogue partners:
"The pope should create a kind of space of debate, instead of all these so-called interreligious dialogues that have been going on since the Second Vatican Council. I've participated in so many of them, and I can tell you that they're absolutely nothing. It's gossip. There's no intellectual input in it. There is no respect for scholarship in it. A huge scholarship has already been produced devoted to the question of faith and reason. All this is put aside and we ignore it. We just congratulate one another, saying: 'I respect your faith, and you respect mine.' This is nonsense."
And to the question of whether the young Muslim generations have a real thirst for a new way of expressing their faith, different from that of the "ulema on the television, " Arkoun responds:
"Of course. When [in Egypt] I give a lecture, the turnout is enormous. The interest of people is very strong. Also the older generations are happy, they feel they can breathe. People applauded when I said after this affair with the pope [Pope Benedict's 2006 lecture at the University of Regensburg] that Muslims should not go to the street demonstrating against him, but they should run to the libraries. They should know what has happened to Islamic thought after the 13th century."
http://freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2030070/posts
Related Posts:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/02/331muslim-philosophy-and-sciencesiis.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/306the-uninterrupted-thread-of-search.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/305the-death-of-science-in-islamwhat.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/294philosophical-judaism-christianity.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/286intellect-and-faith-from-aga-khan.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/284abu-yakub-al-sijistani-cosmologist.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/277intellectual-pluralism-in-10th-to.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/271ikhwan-al-safa-early-attempt-to.html
Easy Nash
The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql)(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
373)I guess the literalists have to start somewhere: Comic book series with Superheroes personifying Allah's 99 Names; I've always enjoyed comics :-)
To see another slant on this exact article read Jalaledin's Blog:
http://jalaledin.blogspot.com/2008/06/99-superheroes-sura-15-worldcentric.html
Excerpts from article below:
1)"Mutawa acknowledges he did not consult a cleric before creating the series. "We should not allow a very limited number of people to tell us how to practice our religion. An Islam where I can be an active participant is the only Islam I can belong to. I believe in Islam and I also believe in evolution," he said, sitting in his office in a traditional long white robe and headdress."
2)"When Mutawa recently visited the class, a young student in a black head scarf and makeup told him she was shocked by a scene in which Noora the Light said she was going to go pray to God, even though her hair was not covered."Why?" Mutawa asked. "Do you think only people who wear the hijab ask God for help? There isn't just one way to be Muslim. There areat least 99 different ways to be Muslim.""
Author Looks to the Koran For 99 New Superheroes
By Faiza Saleh Ambah
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, June 11, 2008; A14
KUWAIT CITY -- Naif al-Mutawa was in a London taxi with his sister when she asked when he'd go back to writing children's books. Mutawa, a Kuwaiti psychologist with two doctorates and an MBA from Columbia, said the question sparked a chain of thoughts:
To go back to writing after all that education, it would have to be something big, something with the potential of Pokémon, the Japanese cartoon that was briefly banned by Saudi religious authorities. God would have been disappointed by that, he thought; God has 99 attributes, or names, including tolerance.
"And then the idea formed in my mind," Mutawa said. "Heroes with the 99 attributes."
He mixed his deep religious faith, business acumen and firsthand experience with other cultures -- his childhood summers were spent at a predominantly Jewish camp in New Hampshire -- to create The 99, a comic-book series about superheroes imbued with the 99 attributes of God.
Those traits represent one of Islam's most recognizable concepts.
Mutawa's superheroes are modern, secular and spiritual, moving seamlessly between East and West. They come from 99 countries and are split between males and females.
The heroes include Darr the Afflicter, an American paraplegic named John Wheeler, who manipulates nerve endings to transmit or prevent pain. Noora the Light -- Dana Ibrahim, a university student from the United Arab Emirates -- shows people the light and dark inside themselves. Mumita the Destroyer, a ferocious fighter, is Catarina Barbarosa, a Portuguese bombshell in tight clothes.
They distribute aid to starving Afghan villagers, battle elephant poachers in Africa, fight the evil Rughal and train to increase their powers.
"I wanted to create something that would be a classic, not another made-in-the-fifth-world product," said Mutawa, 37, who has four sons. "It was either going to be Spiderman or nothing."
After returning from London to Kuwait, Mutawa raised $7 million -- some from his old Columbia classmates, the rest from Persian Gulf investors -- and set up the Teshkeel media group in 2004. He hired some of the best people in the industry, including writers and artists who had worked at Marvel and DC Comics. His current writing partner, Stuart Moore, is a writer on the new Iron Man comics.
In November 2006, Mutawa's first comic book hit the newsstands.
Since then, his creation has gained many fans but also faced a rumble of criticism across the Muslim world. Some have disapproved of heroines' makeup and tight clothing. Others view the personification of God's attributes as blasphemous. One Kuwaiti cleric said the series promotes reliance on humans instead of God, counter to the Koran's teachings.
Mutawa acknowledges he did not consult a cleric before creating the series. "We should not allow a very limited number of people to tell us how to practice our religion. An Islam where I can be an active participant is the only Islam I can belong to. I believe in Islam and I also believe in evolution," he said, sitting in his office in a traditional long white robe and headdress.
When it was time to raise a second round of financing in 2007, Mutawa sold 30 percent of Teshkeel to Unicorn Investment Bank, an Islamic bank based in Bahrain. "Now, when people ask me religious questions, I ask them to go to the board of Unicorn," he said, smiling.
Over the past year, he said, he has given dozens of lectures around the world, focused on pushing an Islam at odds with no one. "We shouldn't be fighting globalization," he told a crowd in Indonesia at the launch of the series there last year. "We should be participating in it by putting our own ideas out there."
Mutawa describes The 99 as a modern tale with an ancient Islamic architecture. Ninety-nine gemstones imbued with the wisdom and knowledge of Baghdad's famous Dar al-Hikma library during the 13th century, the golden age of Islam, are scattered around the world, some on Christopher Columbus's ships, after an explosion of the dome in which the stones were embedded. The stones seem to find the people who become the superheroes, whose mystical link to the gems gives them special powers.
Worldwide sales of the comic in English and Arabic, including in the United States, have yet to exceed 30,000 copies a month, including Internet downloads, but Mutawa has been inundated with licensing demands. An American company wants to brand its halal hot dogs with The 99. He has signed deals with Malaysian, Indonesian, Indian and North African publishing companies.
In his office are pencils, rulers, backpacks, notebooks and folders with The 99 logo, by a Spanish company. A Dubai firm is interested in making action figures. A deal for an animated series by a European company will be announced in July, Mutawa said. Last month, he signed a deal for six theme parks.
This semester, the American University of Kuwait offered a class, "The Superhero in the Arab World," that focused on The 99. As a final project, students created their own comic-book heroes.
When Mutawa recently visited the class, a young student in a black head scarf and makeup told him she was shocked by a scene in which Noora the Light said she was going to go pray to God, even though her hair was not covered.
"Why?" Mutawa asked. "Do you think only people who wear the hijab ask God for help? There isn't just one way to be Muslim. There are at least 99 different ways to be Muslim."
To read more of these features, go to the new Worldview page at www.washingtonpost.com/world.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/10/AR2008061002762_pf.html
Easy Nash
The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql)(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
http://jalaledin.blogspot.com/2008/06/99-superheroes-sura-15-worldcentric.html
Excerpts from article below:
1)"Mutawa acknowledges he did not consult a cleric before creating the series. "We should not allow a very limited number of people to tell us how to practice our religion. An Islam where I can be an active participant is the only Islam I can belong to. I believe in Islam and I also believe in evolution," he said, sitting in his office in a traditional long white robe and headdress."
2)"When Mutawa recently visited the class, a young student in a black head scarf and makeup told him she was shocked by a scene in which Noora the Light said she was going to go pray to God, even though her hair was not covered."Why?" Mutawa asked. "Do you think only people who wear the hijab ask God for help? There isn't just one way to be Muslim. There areat least 99 different ways to be Muslim.""
Author Looks to the Koran For 99 New Superheroes
By Faiza Saleh Ambah
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, June 11, 2008; A14
KUWAIT CITY -- Naif al-Mutawa was in a London taxi with his sister when she asked when he'd go back to writing children's books. Mutawa, a Kuwaiti psychologist with two doctorates and an MBA from Columbia, said the question sparked a chain of thoughts:
To go back to writing after all that education, it would have to be something big, something with the potential of Pokémon, the Japanese cartoon that was briefly banned by Saudi religious authorities. God would have been disappointed by that, he thought; God has 99 attributes, or names, including tolerance.
"And then the idea formed in my mind," Mutawa said. "Heroes with the 99 attributes."
He mixed his deep religious faith, business acumen and firsthand experience with other cultures -- his childhood summers were spent at a predominantly Jewish camp in New Hampshire -- to create The 99, a comic-book series about superheroes imbued with the 99 attributes of God.
Those traits represent one of Islam's most recognizable concepts.
Mutawa's superheroes are modern, secular and spiritual, moving seamlessly between East and West. They come from 99 countries and are split between males and females.
The heroes include Darr the Afflicter, an American paraplegic named John Wheeler, who manipulates nerve endings to transmit or prevent pain. Noora the Light -- Dana Ibrahim, a university student from the United Arab Emirates -- shows people the light and dark inside themselves. Mumita the Destroyer, a ferocious fighter, is Catarina Barbarosa, a Portuguese bombshell in tight clothes.
They distribute aid to starving Afghan villagers, battle elephant poachers in Africa, fight the evil Rughal and train to increase their powers.
"I wanted to create something that would be a classic, not another made-in-the-fifth-world product," said Mutawa, 37, who has four sons. "It was either going to be Spiderman or nothing."
After returning from London to Kuwait, Mutawa raised $7 million -- some from his old Columbia classmates, the rest from Persian Gulf investors -- and set up the Teshkeel media group in 2004. He hired some of the best people in the industry, including writers and artists who had worked at Marvel and DC Comics. His current writing partner, Stuart Moore, is a writer on the new Iron Man comics.
In November 2006, Mutawa's first comic book hit the newsstands.
Since then, his creation has gained many fans but also faced a rumble of criticism across the Muslim world. Some have disapproved of heroines' makeup and tight clothing. Others view the personification of God's attributes as blasphemous. One Kuwaiti cleric said the series promotes reliance on humans instead of God, counter to the Koran's teachings.
Mutawa acknowledges he did not consult a cleric before creating the series. "We should not allow a very limited number of people to tell us how to practice our religion. An Islam where I can be an active participant is the only Islam I can belong to. I believe in Islam and I also believe in evolution," he said, sitting in his office in a traditional long white robe and headdress.
When it was time to raise a second round of financing in 2007, Mutawa sold 30 percent of Teshkeel to Unicorn Investment Bank, an Islamic bank based in Bahrain. "Now, when people ask me religious questions, I ask them to go to the board of Unicorn," he said, smiling.
Over the past year, he said, he has given dozens of lectures around the world, focused on pushing an Islam at odds with no one. "We shouldn't be fighting globalization," he told a crowd in Indonesia at the launch of the series there last year. "We should be participating in it by putting our own ideas out there."
Mutawa describes The 99 as a modern tale with an ancient Islamic architecture. Ninety-nine gemstones imbued with the wisdom and knowledge of Baghdad's famous Dar al-Hikma library during the 13th century, the golden age of Islam, are scattered around the world, some on Christopher Columbus's ships, after an explosion of the dome in which the stones were embedded. The stones seem to find the people who become the superheroes, whose mystical link to the gems gives them special powers.
Worldwide sales of the comic in English and Arabic, including in the United States, have yet to exceed 30,000 copies a month, including Internet downloads, but Mutawa has been inundated with licensing demands. An American company wants to brand its halal hot dogs with The 99. He has signed deals with Malaysian, Indonesian, Indian and North African publishing companies.
In his office are pencils, rulers, backpacks, notebooks and folders with The 99 logo, by a Spanish company. A Dubai firm is interested in making action figures. A deal for an animated series by a European company will be announced in July, Mutawa said. Last month, he signed a deal for six theme parks.
This semester, the American University of Kuwait offered a class, "The Superhero in the Arab World," that focused on The 99. As a final project, students created their own comic-book heroes.
When Mutawa recently visited the class, a young student in a black head scarf and makeup told him she was shocked by a scene in which Noora the Light said she was going to go pray to God, even though her hair was not covered.
"Why?" Mutawa asked. "Do you think only people who wear the hijab ask God for help? There isn't just one way to be Muslim. There are at least 99 different ways to be Muslim."
To read more of these features, go to the new Worldview page at www.washingtonpost.com/world.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/10/AR2008061002762_pf.html
Easy Nash
The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql)(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
Monday, June 9, 2008
372)A great example of a continuous and dynamic creation, all in the same location; Quotes of Aga Khans IV and III.
A great example of a continuous and dynamic creation, all in the same location:
This is a well known region and a signature photograph of the Eagle Nebula(collection of dust and gas) within our Milky Way galaxy and 7000 light years away from earth(70,000,000,000, 000, 000 km away or 70 thousand trillion km). Within some parts of these pillars or "Fingers of God" as some call them there are stellar nurseries where new stars are continuously being born, and in other parts of this nebula and just outside it are dying stars such as exploding supernovae or red giants:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070218.html
These pillars of star creation are part of what looks like the "Hand of God" as seen in this 'big picture', at 4 o'clock in the picture:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070111.html
"Indeed, one strength of Islam has always lain in its belief that creation is not static but continuous, that through scientific and other endeavours, God has opened and continues to open new windows for us to see the marvels of His creation"(Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan University, 16 March 1983, Karachi, Pakistan)
"The creation according to Islam is not a unique act in a given time but a perpetual and constant event; and God supports and sustains all existence at every moment by His will and His thought. Outside His will, outside His thought, all is nothing, even the things which seem to us absolutely self-evident such as space and time. Allah alone wishes: the Universe exists; and all manifestations are as a witness of the Divine Will"(Memoirs of Aga Khan III, 1954)
Thus Islam's basic principle can only be defined as mono-realism and not as monotheism. Consider, for example, the opening declaration of every Islamic prayer: "Allah-o-Akbar". What does that mean? There can be no doubt that the second word of the declaration likens the character of Allah to a matrix which contains all and gives existence to the infinite, to space, to time, to the Universe, to all active and passive forces imaginable, to life and to the soul."(Memoirs of Aga Khan III, 1954)
Easy Nash
The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql)(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
This is a well known region and a signature photograph of the Eagle Nebula(collection of dust and gas) within our Milky Way galaxy and 7000 light years away from earth(70,000,000,000, 000, 000 km away or 70 thousand trillion km). Within some parts of these pillars or "Fingers of God" as some call them there are stellar nurseries where new stars are continuously being born, and in other parts of this nebula and just outside it are dying stars such as exploding supernovae or red giants:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070218.html
These pillars of star creation are part of what looks like the "Hand of God" as seen in this 'big picture', at 4 o'clock in the picture:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap070111.html
"Indeed, one strength of Islam has always lain in its belief that creation is not static but continuous, that through scientific and other endeavours, God has opened and continues to open new windows for us to see the marvels of His creation"(Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan University, 16 March 1983, Karachi, Pakistan)
"The creation according to Islam is not a unique act in a given time but a perpetual and constant event; and God supports and sustains all existence at every moment by His will and His thought. Outside His will, outside His thought, all is nothing, even the things which seem to us absolutely self-evident such as space and time. Allah alone wishes: the Universe exists; and all manifestations are as a witness of the Divine Will"(Memoirs of Aga Khan III, 1954)
Thus Islam's basic principle can only be defined as mono-realism and not as monotheism. Consider, for example, the opening declaration of every Islamic prayer: "Allah-o-Akbar". What does that mean? There can be no doubt that the second word of the declaration likens the character of Allah to a matrix which contains all and gives existence to the infinite, to space, to time, to the Universe, to all active and passive forces imaginable, to life and to the soul."(Memoirs of Aga Khan III, 1954)
Easy Nash
The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql)(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
Friday, June 6, 2008
371)From the Pamir Times Blog: Critical minds alone can take us forward says world-renowned scientist Dr Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy
Critical minds alone can take us forward: Dr Hoodbhoy
June 4, 2008
Pamirtimes
ISLAMABAD, June 3: Pakistan needs an education system that develops humanism, enlightenment and critical thinking in its children and not jingoism, according to physicist and peace activist Dr Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy.
Education is not about getting degrees or jobs but about creating a tolerant, caring, progressive and forward-looking society, he said in a lecture on “Education and emerging challenges” at the Pakistan Academy of Letters organised by the Gojal Educational and Cultural Association (GECA).
“The education our children are acquiring today breeds hatred and violence,” he said, citing last week’s ethnic clashes on the campus of Quaid-i-Azam University. Such irrationality was not unexpected when children are taught about differences between Hindus and Muslims and the wars fought between India and Pakistan from very young age.
Dr Hoodbhoy said the foremost objective of education was to produce a good human being, who appreciates others’ rights and values and takes a scientific approach to decide about right and wrong. But the trend in Pakistan had been on the reverse.
“Students were more enlightened and liberal 30 years ago. Today 60 per cent of the girl students in Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) come in burqa and another 10 per cent in hijab,” said Dr Hoodbhoy who is Professor of Nuclear Physics and Chairman of the Physics Department, Quaid-i-Azam University. He has been a faculty member at the QAU since 1973.
The author of `Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality’ which has been translated into five languages, Dr Hoodbhoy said: “We should think about it, and find out the causes as the situation is getting worse in NWFP where girls can’t dare to go out bare faced and their schools are being bombed and closed”.
He called for giving priority to primary education and criticised the low education budget - two per cent of GDP. “If we want to improve the situation we should cut the defence and non-development budget and devise a secular education system,” he said.
“Secularism does not mean abandoning religion,” he stressed. “In Europe there exist many religions but their followers live as equal citizens. There is no other way to take a nation forward than path of secularism and scientific thinking.”
While the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has been given big money, it was being spent on “producing degree holders in bulk and not scientific minds”.
About plagiarism, Dr Hoodbhoy said that plagiarism has exploded for the first time thanks to the internet. He cited many cases of plagiarism which is rampant in public universities. Some cases were detected recently which he described sheer dishonesty. A substantial amount is lost on ghost schools. Some 8,000 such schools had been discovered in Punjab alone.
“While the modern concept treats education as a problem-solving tool, our system encourages only cramming without comprehension or application of mind. Knowledge is a living thing which increases with the passage of time. We seek Tehsil-i-Ilm (acquisition of knowledge) and not Takhleeq-i-Ilm (creation of knowledge),” he observed.
Examinations just test the memory of a student and not his comprehension.
The lecture generated a lively question-answer session.
In response to the questions Dr Hoodbhoy said people need to know their natural resources and how to exploit them. For that education should be need-based. Technical and vocational schools should be set up to impart skills and training to the local people according to the geographical condition of the area.
In the context of Gilgit-Baltistan it would mean learning how to harness the region’s abundant water resources to produce electricity and set up industries.
He congratulated the Gojal Educational and Cultural Association team for organising the programme and the association that, he hoped, would provide a platform to the people of Hunza-Gojal to discuss various issues. He assured the GECA of his help in promoting education and cultural harmony in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Earlier in his introductory remarks senior journalist from Gilgit-Baltstan Farman Ali highlighted the problems and challenges being faced by the students and youth from Hunza-Gojal during their studies in urban centres of the country. They stream down the plains from North due to non-availability of educational facilities in their areas and face a host of psychological, social and economic problems.
He said our educational priorities have totally changed due to the media onslaught and globalisation agenda that have reduced education to a market commodity, to produce career-oriented individualistic apolitical, obedient workers for the multinational corporations and NGOs rather than serving social purposes or creating thinkers, intellectuals.
According to him the divide between private and public education systems has reinforced class differences between the rich and the poor disturbing the social harmony.
The government has failed to fulfil its responsibilities and created space for sellers of education. Knowledge today has been made a commodity which can be bought and sold and possessed and as such produced individualism and selfishness.
He recalled the relationship between Dr Eqbal Ahmed, one of the greatest scholars and thinkers of the 20th century, and Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy and how they met first at MIT, and became friends. Dr Eqbal Ahmed, who died in 1999, wanted to establish a university in Islamabad after the name of Ibne Khaldun, one of the greatest scholars and liberal thinkers of the Muslim world. Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy has taken upon himself the gigantic task and vows to continue Dr Eqbla’s mission.
Mr Farman Ali paid tribute to Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy for his unflinching commitment to the cause of promotion of education, science, peace and against extremism and prejudices in Pakistan. For which he received the prestigious Faiz Ahmed Faiz Award in 1990. In recognition of his contribution towards the cause of popularising science in Pakistan, he got UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize. His TV serials and film The Bell Tolls for Planet Earth won honourable mention at the Paris Film Festival.
Dr Hoodbhoy, who got his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1978, is a visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, the University of Maryland, and Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre. He also occasionally lectures at various American and European research institutions. He received the Baker Award for Electronics in 1968 and the Abdus Salam Prize for Mathematics in 1984. He has authored over 18 scientific research papers in international journals.
Prof Hoodbhoy is also a prominent environmental and social activist and regularly writes and speaks on wide range of issues from social, cultural, environment, science to education and nuclear disarmament in international and national newspapers including Dawn.
Mr Farman also thanked Iftikhar Arif, renowned poet and Chairman of the Pakistan Academy of Letters for allowing the GECA to hold the lecture programme in the premises of PAL.
Prominent among those who attended the lecture were Mohammad Darjat, Gul Baig, Baig Ali, Mohammad Jabbar, Yasmin Ali, Fazal Amin Baig, Ghulam Shah, Sher Karim, Ayub Malik and many others.
http://pamirtimes.wordpress.com/2008/06/04/critical-minds-alone-can-take-us-forward-dr-hoodbhoy/
Related Posts:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/285abdus-salam-1979-nobel-laureate-in.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/297tiniest-matter-strange-world-of.html
Easy Nash
The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql)(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
June 4, 2008
Pamirtimes
ISLAMABAD, June 3: Pakistan needs an education system that develops humanism, enlightenment and critical thinking in its children and not jingoism, according to physicist and peace activist Dr Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy.
Education is not about getting degrees or jobs but about creating a tolerant, caring, progressive and forward-looking society, he said in a lecture on “Education and emerging challenges” at the Pakistan Academy of Letters organised by the Gojal Educational and Cultural Association (GECA).
“The education our children are acquiring today breeds hatred and violence,” he said, citing last week’s ethnic clashes on the campus of Quaid-i-Azam University. Such irrationality was not unexpected when children are taught about differences between Hindus and Muslims and the wars fought between India and Pakistan from very young age.
Dr Hoodbhoy said the foremost objective of education was to produce a good human being, who appreciates others’ rights and values and takes a scientific approach to decide about right and wrong. But the trend in Pakistan had been on the reverse.
“Students were more enlightened and liberal 30 years ago. Today 60 per cent of the girl students in Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) come in burqa and another 10 per cent in hijab,” said Dr Hoodbhoy who is Professor of Nuclear Physics and Chairman of the Physics Department, Quaid-i-Azam University. He has been a faculty member at the QAU since 1973.
The author of `Islam and Science: Religious Orthodoxy and the Battle for Rationality’ which has been translated into five languages, Dr Hoodbhoy said: “We should think about it, and find out the causes as the situation is getting worse in NWFP where girls can’t dare to go out bare faced and their schools are being bombed and closed”.
He called for giving priority to primary education and criticised the low education budget - two per cent of GDP. “If we want to improve the situation we should cut the defence and non-development budget and devise a secular education system,” he said.
“Secularism does not mean abandoning religion,” he stressed. “In Europe there exist many religions but their followers live as equal citizens. There is no other way to take a nation forward than path of secularism and scientific thinking.”
While the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has been given big money, it was being spent on “producing degree holders in bulk and not scientific minds”.
About plagiarism, Dr Hoodbhoy said that plagiarism has exploded for the first time thanks to the internet. He cited many cases of plagiarism which is rampant in public universities. Some cases were detected recently which he described sheer dishonesty. A substantial amount is lost on ghost schools. Some 8,000 such schools had been discovered in Punjab alone.
“While the modern concept treats education as a problem-solving tool, our system encourages only cramming without comprehension or application of mind. Knowledge is a living thing which increases with the passage of time. We seek Tehsil-i-Ilm (acquisition of knowledge) and not Takhleeq-i-Ilm (creation of knowledge),” he observed.
Examinations just test the memory of a student and not his comprehension.
The lecture generated a lively question-answer session.
In response to the questions Dr Hoodbhoy said people need to know their natural resources and how to exploit them. For that education should be need-based. Technical and vocational schools should be set up to impart skills and training to the local people according to the geographical condition of the area.
In the context of Gilgit-Baltistan it would mean learning how to harness the region’s abundant water resources to produce electricity and set up industries.
He congratulated the Gojal Educational and Cultural Association team for organising the programme and the association that, he hoped, would provide a platform to the people of Hunza-Gojal to discuss various issues. He assured the GECA of his help in promoting education and cultural harmony in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Earlier in his introductory remarks senior journalist from Gilgit-Baltstan Farman Ali highlighted the problems and challenges being faced by the students and youth from Hunza-Gojal during their studies in urban centres of the country. They stream down the plains from North due to non-availability of educational facilities in their areas and face a host of psychological, social and economic problems.
He said our educational priorities have totally changed due to the media onslaught and globalisation agenda that have reduced education to a market commodity, to produce career-oriented individualistic apolitical, obedient workers for the multinational corporations and NGOs rather than serving social purposes or creating thinkers, intellectuals.
According to him the divide between private and public education systems has reinforced class differences between the rich and the poor disturbing the social harmony.
The government has failed to fulfil its responsibilities and created space for sellers of education. Knowledge today has been made a commodity which can be bought and sold and possessed and as such produced individualism and selfishness.
He recalled the relationship between Dr Eqbal Ahmed, one of the greatest scholars and thinkers of the 20th century, and Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy and how they met first at MIT, and became friends. Dr Eqbal Ahmed, who died in 1999, wanted to establish a university in Islamabad after the name of Ibne Khaldun, one of the greatest scholars and liberal thinkers of the Muslim world. Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy has taken upon himself the gigantic task and vows to continue Dr Eqbla’s mission.
Mr Farman Ali paid tribute to Dr Pervez Hoodbhoy for his unflinching commitment to the cause of promotion of education, science, peace and against extremism and prejudices in Pakistan. For which he received the prestigious Faiz Ahmed Faiz Award in 1990. In recognition of his contribution towards the cause of popularising science in Pakistan, he got UNESCO’s Kalinga Prize. His TV serials and film The Bell Tolls for Planet Earth won honourable mention at the Paris Film Festival.
Dr Hoodbhoy, who got his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Electrical Engineering and PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1978, is a visiting professor at Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, the University of Maryland, and Stanford Linear Accelerator Centre. He also occasionally lectures at various American and European research institutions. He received the Baker Award for Electronics in 1968 and the Abdus Salam Prize for Mathematics in 1984. He has authored over 18 scientific research papers in international journals.
Prof Hoodbhoy is also a prominent environmental and social activist and regularly writes and speaks on wide range of issues from social, cultural, environment, science to education and nuclear disarmament in international and national newspapers including Dawn.
Mr Farman also thanked Iftikhar Arif, renowned poet and Chairman of the Pakistan Academy of Letters for allowing the GECA to hold the lecture programme in the premises of PAL.
Prominent among those who attended the lecture were Mohammad Darjat, Gul Baig, Baig Ali, Mohammad Jabbar, Yasmin Ali, Fazal Amin Baig, Ghulam Shah, Sher Karim, Ayub Malik and many others.
http://pamirtimes.wordpress.com/2008/06/04/critical-minds-alone-can-take-us-forward-dr-hoodbhoy/
Related Posts:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/285abdus-salam-1979-nobel-laureate-in.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/297tiniest-matter-strange-world-of.html
Easy Nash
The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql)(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
370)Book Recommendation: "1001 Inventions Book: Muslim Heritage in Our World"
Interesting new book, should be a handy reference source:
1001 Inventions Book: Muslim Heritage in Our World:
http://www.1001inventions.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.viewSection&intSectionID=405
Comments:
"If you ask the average person where their spectacles or camera or fountain pen come from, few people would say Muslims. This project takes you in a journey through a thousand years of Muslim contributions in medicine, mechanics, cartography, chemistry, education, engineering, architecture and astronomy."
Professor Salim Al-Hassani, Chairman of the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation (FSTC)
"This is a wonderful book, beautifully illustrated and very well re-searched. I bought a copy and I read it from cover to cover. I also lent it to my father who also thinks it is great! In its own right, it is a wonderful read that also has a rich background for my own projects. I do recommend it and think it is a fascinating book that is extremely well put together and referenced"
Professor Jim Al-Khalili, British Theoretical Nuclear Physicist, Academic, Author and Broadcaster.
"I have to say that I am absolutely delighted to support the 1001 Inventions Project. This is a scintillating and original initiative and incredibly timely... Of course the tradegy of much of Muslim Heritage is that it was burnt in 1492 in Spain, over one million Muslim texts were set into the fires. But with a project like 1001 Inventions, I think we are going to see a phoenix rise from the ashes."
Ms. Bettany Hughes, Renowned British TV Presenter
"It is super celebration of Islamic brillaiance in the Middle Ages. The Arabs were the people that shone with their extraordinary mathematical ability and abillity to observe the natural world and make sense of it... and that is what this project is all about."
Mr. Adam Hart Davis, Photographer, Writer and TV Science Presenter of the BBC Series
"The heritage that has been given to us by the Muslim community is immense. It is totally unrecognised. We want to bring it to the attention of the National Curriculum, so that in time, everybody will understand that the carpet, algebra, the stars and everything around you that has been brought to us scientifically and technologically, originated in the Muslim community. We know that it will bring harmony and knowledge to the whole population, not just to the Muslims, but to the whole world."
Mr. Peter Raymond, MBE Vice President, Parliamentary & Scientific Affairs Committee
"Today we all know that Islam and the West are not only compatible but can prosper together. That's what these projects demonstrate."
The Right Honourable MP Mike O'Brien, QC Solicitor General speaking on behalf of Prime Minister Tony Blair
"It is indeed a praiseworthy effort, a commendable and timely endeavour, an eye-opener which will allow new generations to catch a glimpse, a tiny portion of great global legacy and contribution to science and technology, realised by the Muslims in ancient times. We are all confident that this exhibition will help to bring cultural awareness conducive to filling part of the gap which separates Islam and the West, as well as defining the 1000 years of missing history."
His Excellency Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of OIC
"1001 inventions, which gave an insight into the quite extraordinary achievements of the Arab renaissance, which preceded and helped to power Europe's own, later, renaissance. At the same time we are being more active in debating and encouraging a sense of citizenship – getting people of all faiths to recognise the benefits of living in a thriving, democracy like Britain which protects their right to follow their religion as fully and openly as they want." Jack Straw, Secretary of State for Justice and former Foreign Secretary.
from "Two Kingdoms: Friendship and Partnership" speech
Related posts:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/02/327comprehensive-quotes-of-aga-khan-iv.html
Easy Nash
The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql)(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
1001 Inventions Book: Muslim Heritage in Our World:
http://www.1001inventions.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main.viewSection&intSectionID=405
Comments:
"If you ask the average person where their spectacles or camera or fountain pen come from, few people would say Muslims. This project takes you in a journey through a thousand years of Muslim contributions in medicine, mechanics, cartography, chemistry, education, engineering, architecture and astronomy."
Professor Salim Al-Hassani, Chairman of the Foundation for Science, Technology and Civilisation (FSTC)
"This is a wonderful book, beautifully illustrated and very well re-searched. I bought a copy and I read it from cover to cover. I also lent it to my father who also thinks it is great! In its own right, it is a wonderful read that also has a rich background for my own projects. I do recommend it and think it is a fascinating book that is extremely well put together and referenced"
Professor Jim Al-Khalili, British Theoretical Nuclear Physicist, Academic, Author and Broadcaster.
"I have to say that I am absolutely delighted to support the 1001 Inventions Project. This is a scintillating and original initiative and incredibly timely... Of course the tradegy of much of Muslim Heritage is that it was burnt in 1492 in Spain, over one million Muslim texts were set into the fires. But with a project like 1001 Inventions, I think we are going to see a phoenix rise from the ashes."
Ms. Bettany Hughes, Renowned British TV Presenter
"It is super celebration of Islamic brillaiance in the Middle Ages. The Arabs were the people that shone with their extraordinary mathematical ability and abillity to observe the natural world and make sense of it... and that is what this project is all about."
Mr. Adam Hart Davis, Photographer, Writer and TV Science Presenter of the BBC Series
"The heritage that has been given to us by the Muslim community is immense. It is totally unrecognised. We want to bring it to the attention of the National Curriculum, so that in time, everybody will understand that the carpet, algebra, the stars and everything around you that has been brought to us scientifically and technologically, originated in the Muslim community. We know that it will bring harmony and knowledge to the whole population, not just to the Muslims, but to the whole world."
Mr. Peter Raymond, MBE Vice President, Parliamentary & Scientific Affairs Committee
"Today we all know that Islam and the West are not only compatible but can prosper together. That's what these projects demonstrate."
The Right Honourable MP Mike O'Brien, QC Solicitor General speaking on behalf of Prime Minister Tony Blair
"It is indeed a praiseworthy effort, a commendable and timely endeavour, an eye-opener which will allow new generations to catch a glimpse, a tiny portion of great global legacy and contribution to science and technology, realised by the Muslims in ancient times. We are all confident that this exhibition will help to bring cultural awareness conducive to filling part of the gap which separates Islam and the West, as well as defining the 1000 years of missing history."
His Excellency Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of OIC
"1001 inventions, which gave an insight into the quite extraordinary achievements of the Arab renaissance, which preceded and helped to power Europe's own, later, renaissance. At the same time we are being more active in debating and encouraging a sense of citizenship – getting people of all faiths to recognise the benefits of living in a thriving, democracy like Britain which protects their right to follow their religion as fully and openly as they want." Jack Straw, Secretary of State for Justice and former Foreign Secretary.
from "Two Kingdoms: Friendship and Partnership" speech
Related posts:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/02/327comprehensive-quotes-of-aga-khan-iv.html
Easy Nash
The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql)(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
369)Here's a toast to the late Dr Sheela Basrur, my former classmate at the University of Toronto Medical School; great communicator, great humanity.
Those were memorable years in medical school at the University of Toronto from 1978 to 1982, 30 years ago. The class size was huge(252 students) compared to other medical class sizes in Canada and if you ask me what I knew of my classmate Dr. Sheela Basrur, not much is what I would say. Why am I writing this piece on a blog whose topic deals with the link between science and religion in Islam? My answer is that I allow myself a certain amount of poetic licence to write on off-topic posts that I feel passionate about.
I certainly knew of Sheela's existence in my class. One image of her really sticks out in my mind: I was sitting in the front row of the lecture theatre as I always did and one day I saw this diminutive, fragile-looking fellow student slowly limp into class on crutches. It appears that she had broken her leg during some sporting event and it was in a cast. She limped on at her own pace, gingerly went up the stairs to sit at the back of the class with her own cabal of fellow students. That's it! If she had been a keener like me and sat in the front of the class I might have gotten to know her better. Or, if I was not so much of a geek I might have prowled around at the back in the nether regions of the sprawling classroom at the Medical Sciences Building and gotten to know her better there. Sigh!
Everybody eventually went their own ways and the next time I heard about Sheela Basrur was when she was the Medical Officer of Health for East York in Toronto. I remember telling my wife excitedly, "I know her, she used to be my classmate at the U of T!". But her true genius was really only laid bare for all of us to behold during the SARS crisis in Toronto. She commanded the city's attention on TV as the great communicator, speaking calmly but firmly in impeccable King's English, in soothing, reassuring tones and the city of Toronto latched onto her and we were all pacified. She combined her certain knowledge of this unusual viral illness with a unique communication style to reassure a very anxious city and it worked magically. As I read and watch all the accolades pouring in about Sheela I feel lucky to have breathed the same air as her for four years.
Dr. Sheela Basrur, 51: Guided city through SARS
TheStar.com - Obituary
June 03, 2008
Tanya Talaga
Prithi Yelaja
Staff Reporters
In the darkest days of Toronto's fight against SARS, when people were dying and thousands more were quarantined prisoners in their homes, a small, mighty woman took control of the worst public health disaster to grip this city in years.
Standing barely 5 feet tall, Dr. Sheela Basrur was the calm voice of reason as people fell sick from a never before seen flu-like illness, prompting the World Health Organization to slap a devastating travel advisory against Toronto.
"None of us knew the situation, everybody was maxed out," said Liz Janzen, Basrur's colleague and friend from Toronto Public Health. "But she was able to talk about it, explain it and go out and express it in a way people could hear."
Basrur, the first woman of colour to be named both Toronto's chief medical officer of health in 1998 and then Ontario's in 2004, died yesterday after losing her struggle with a rare form of cancer. She was 51.
"Her way of communicating connected with people," said Janzen. "I remember going to her when things were very difficult and she'd sit on the edge of her seat, upright, and she'd listen. People here loved her."
She was a role model to many – a busy, single working mom. Her daughter, Simone, spent hours playing at her side, waiting to go home or out to a movie.
"Many a time Simone had to sit in her mom's office. I'd take her out for lunch or bring her a treat," said Janzen. "Simone was very patient. She showed her mother's stamina."
That stamina, in a woman often described as a "diminutive dynamo," helped Basrur as she put on a brave face during treatment for leiomyosarcoma, a rare vascular cancer that began in her uterus and spread to her spine, liver and lungs.
She carried on with her life, making public appearances and talking to the media. When Basrur showed up at Queen's Park in December 2006 to hear the announcement of a new Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion, the province's first arm's-length public health agency, MPPs gave her a standing ovation.
This spring, she rallied against the disease. Basrur answered calls from journalists and well-wishers and posed for a cover shoot for the May/June issue of Desi Life magazine.
"This is a sad day," said federal Health Minister Tony Clement, who was provincial health minister during the 2003 SARS crisis. He got to know Basrur well then, attending round-the-clock meetings and news conferences together.
"We had to rely on her every hour of every day," Clement said. "She was part of the public face of getting our message out on how we would fight the outbreak and she was integrally involved in strategy meetings morning, noon and night. She never lost her head."
Basrur's passing is everyone's loss, said Dr. Don Low, microbiology chief at Mount Sinai Hospital. "Everyone knew it was coming but it is so hard," said Low, who became a friend and colleague during the SARS crisis which claimed 44 Toronto lives. "It was during those tough times at the beginning, when no one knew what we were dealing with, she was the calm and confidence that got the message across."
But it was after she became Ontario's chief medical officer of health in 2004 that Basrur really shone.
"That was such an overwhelming task she agreed to take on and she did it because (Health Minister George) Smitherman asked her to," Low said. "It was hard to say no. I don't think it was something she was anxious to do but she was called upon. Public health in Ontario had been neglected for years. She reorganized it. Got the troops fired up and made people proud of what they were doing."
The daughter of immigrants who arrived from India in the 1950s, Basrur was born in Toronto and grew up in Guelph.
Science was always part of her life. Her mother, Pari Basrur, was a veterinary genetics professor and her father, Vasanth Basrur, a radiation oncologist. Growing up, Basrur recalled being the only minority family in town at the time and creating a stir when she and her sari-clad mother walked down the street.
"She understood being a woman of colour in her position was important and that faces are reflected in our power structure," said Janzen.
Basrur graduated from the University of Toronto with a medical degree in 1982. The next year, she bought an around-the-world plane ticket and headed for Europe, Nepal and India. It was in the latter two countries where she saw the importance of preventive health practices. She became convinced that public health was where she could make the most difference.
"I saw in very stark relief some of the health-care rationalization choices that can plague patients, as well as doctors and governments," Basrur said recently. "It smacked me squarely in the face."
When Basrur explained to people why she found public health so important to society, she would often tell a story of people drowning in a river, said Janzen. "When you are downstream, you see people in the water and you drag them out but they keep coming. But you go up the river and you find out why they swam down the stream. That is why she went into public health."
In addition to SARS, Basrur deftly led the charge on other public health campaigns. In 2001, she spearheaded DineSafe, the first program of its kind in Canada, which required restaurants to post health inspection pass or fail results in their windows. She was instrumental in implementing a city-wide smoking ban in 2004. She also devised a city plan to tackle bioterrorism post-9/11.
Outspoken and independent-minded, Basrur refused to back down on issues she cared about, even earning the admiration of those with whom she had tangled.
Though she lived in Scarborough, Basrur opted to be treated in Kitchener to be closer to her parents. She leaves her daughter Simone, 17, and her only sibling, sister Jyothi.
A private funeral is planned and a public memorial will be held at a later date. Donations can be made in her memory to the Grand River Hospital Foundation in Kitchener.
http://www.thestar.com/News/Obituary/article/435883
Related posts:
http://www.thestar.com/DesiLife/article/421939
http://www.thestar.com/fpLarge/video/435665
http://www.thestar.com/fpLarge/video/435641
http://www.thestar.com/fpLarge/photo/350373
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080602.wbasrur_obit0602/BNStory/National/home
Easy Nash
The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql)(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
I certainly knew of Sheela's existence in my class. One image of her really sticks out in my mind: I was sitting in the front row of the lecture theatre as I always did and one day I saw this diminutive, fragile-looking fellow student slowly limp into class on crutches. It appears that she had broken her leg during some sporting event and it was in a cast. She limped on at her own pace, gingerly went up the stairs to sit at the back of the class with her own cabal of fellow students. That's it! If she had been a keener like me and sat in the front of the class I might have gotten to know her better. Or, if I was not so much of a geek I might have prowled around at the back in the nether regions of the sprawling classroom at the Medical Sciences Building and gotten to know her better there. Sigh!
Everybody eventually went their own ways and the next time I heard about Sheela Basrur was when she was the Medical Officer of Health for East York in Toronto. I remember telling my wife excitedly, "I know her, she used to be my classmate at the U of T!". But her true genius was really only laid bare for all of us to behold during the SARS crisis in Toronto. She commanded the city's attention on TV as the great communicator, speaking calmly but firmly in impeccable King's English, in soothing, reassuring tones and the city of Toronto latched onto her and we were all pacified. She combined her certain knowledge of this unusual viral illness with a unique communication style to reassure a very anxious city and it worked magically. As I read and watch all the accolades pouring in about Sheela I feel lucky to have breathed the same air as her for four years.
Dr. Sheela Basrur, 51: Guided city through SARS
TheStar.com - Obituary
June 03, 2008
Tanya Talaga
Prithi Yelaja
Staff Reporters
In the darkest days of Toronto's fight against SARS, when people were dying and thousands more were quarantined prisoners in their homes, a small, mighty woman took control of the worst public health disaster to grip this city in years.
Standing barely 5 feet tall, Dr. Sheela Basrur was the calm voice of reason as people fell sick from a never before seen flu-like illness, prompting the World Health Organization to slap a devastating travel advisory against Toronto.
"None of us knew the situation, everybody was maxed out," said Liz Janzen, Basrur's colleague and friend from Toronto Public Health. "But she was able to talk about it, explain it and go out and express it in a way people could hear."
Basrur, the first woman of colour to be named both Toronto's chief medical officer of health in 1998 and then Ontario's in 2004, died yesterday after losing her struggle with a rare form of cancer. She was 51.
"Her way of communicating connected with people," said Janzen. "I remember going to her when things were very difficult and she'd sit on the edge of her seat, upright, and she'd listen. People here loved her."
She was a role model to many – a busy, single working mom. Her daughter, Simone, spent hours playing at her side, waiting to go home or out to a movie.
"Many a time Simone had to sit in her mom's office. I'd take her out for lunch or bring her a treat," said Janzen. "Simone was very patient. She showed her mother's stamina."
That stamina, in a woman often described as a "diminutive dynamo," helped Basrur as she put on a brave face during treatment for leiomyosarcoma, a rare vascular cancer that began in her uterus and spread to her spine, liver and lungs.
She carried on with her life, making public appearances and talking to the media. When Basrur showed up at Queen's Park in December 2006 to hear the announcement of a new Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion, the province's first arm's-length public health agency, MPPs gave her a standing ovation.
This spring, she rallied against the disease. Basrur answered calls from journalists and well-wishers and posed for a cover shoot for the May/June issue of Desi Life magazine.
"This is a sad day," said federal Health Minister Tony Clement, who was provincial health minister during the 2003 SARS crisis. He got to know Basrur well then, attending round-the-clock meetings and news conferences together.
"We had to rely on her every hour of every day," Clement said. "She was part of the public face of getting our message out on how we would fight the outbreak and she was integrally involved in strategy meetings morning, noon and night. She never lost her head."
Basrur's passing is everyone's loss, said Dr. Don Low, microbiology chief at Mount Sinai Hospital. "Everyone knew it was coming but it is so hard," said Low, who became a friend and colleague during the SARS crisis which claimed 44 Toronto lives. "It was during those tough times at the beginning, when no one knew what we were dealing with, she was the calm and confidence that got the message across."
But it was after she became Ontario's chief medical officer of health in 2004 that Basrur really shone.
"That was such an overwhelming task she agreed to take on and she did it because (Health Minister George) Smitherman asked her to," Low said. "It was hard to say no. I don't think it was something she was anxious to do but she was called upon. Public health in Ontario had been neglected for years. She reorganized it. Got the troops fired up and made people proud of what they were doing."
The daughter of immigrants who arrived from India in the 1950s, Basrur was born in Toronto and grew up in Guelph.
Science was always part of her life. Her mother, Pari Basrur, was a veterinary genetics professor and her father, Vasanth Basrur, a radiation oncologist. Growing up, Basrur recalled being the only minority family in town at the time and creating a stir when she and her sari-clad mother walked down the street.
"She understood being a woman of colour in her position was important and that faces are reflected in our power structure," said Janzen.
Basrur graduated from the University of Toronto with a medical degree in 1982. The next year, she bought an around-the-world plane ticket and headed for Europe, Nepal and India. It was in the latter two countries where she saw the importance of preventive health practices. She became convinced that public health was where she could make the most difference.
"I saw in very stark relief some of the health-care rationalization choices that can plague patients, as well as doctors and governments," Basrur said recently. "It smacked me squarely in the face."
When Basrur explained to people why she found public health so important to society, she would often tell a story of people drowning in a river, said Janzen. "When you are downstream, you see people in the water and you drag them out but they keep coming. But you go up the river and you find out why they swam down the stream. That is why she went into public health."
In addition to SARS, Basrur deftly led the charge on other public health campaigns. In 2001, she spearheaded DineSafe, the first program of its kind in Canada, which required restaurants to post health inspection pass or fail results in their windows. She was instrumental in implementing a city-wide smoking ban in 2004. She also devised a city plan to tackle bioterrorism post-9/11.
Outspoken and independent-minded, Basrur refused to back down on issues she cared about, even earning the admiration of those with whom she had tangled.
Though she lived in Scarborough, Basrur opted to be treated in Kitchener to be closer to her parents. She leaves her daughter Simone, 17, and her only sibling, sister Jyothi.
A private funeral is planned and a public memorial will be held at a later date. Donations can be made in her memory to the Grand River Hospital Foundation in Kitchener.
http://www.thestar.com/News/Obituary/article/435883
Related posts:
http://www.thestar.com/DesiLife/article/421939
http://www.thestar.com/fpLarge/video/435665
http://www.thestar.com/fpLarge/video/435641
http://www.thestar.com/fpLarge/photo/350373
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080602.wbasrur_obit0602/BNStory/National/home
Easy Nash
The Qur'an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
The Quran tells us that signs of Allah's Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation: Aga Khan IV(2007)
This notion of the capacity of the human intellect to understand and to admire the creation of Allah will bring you happiness in your everyday lives: Aga Khan IV(2007)
Islam, eminently logical, placing the greatest emphasis on knowledge, purports to understand God's creation: Aga Khan IV(2006)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql)(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
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