"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 ennoble us all". That is no less true today"(Aga Khan IV, Speech,1996, Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A.)
"The truth, as the famous Islamic scholars repeatedly told their students, is that the spirit of disciplined, objective enquiry is the property of no single culture, but of all humanity. To quote the great physician and philosopher, Ibn Sina: "My profession is to be forever journeying, to travel about the universe so that I may know all its conditions." "(Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan University, 16 March 1983, Karachi, Pakistan)
"Our religious leadership must be acutely aware of secular trends, including those generated by this age of science and technology. Equally, our academic or secular elite must be deeply aware of Muslim history, of the scale and depth of leadership exercised by the Islamic empire of the past in all fields"(Aga Khan IV, 6th February 1970, Hyderabad, Pakistan)
The above are 3 quotes and excerpts taken from Blogpost Four Hundred, a collection of about 100 quotes on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html
1)Darth Vader gets tripped up by the Energizer Bunny, who almost gets her head chopped off; It's time for us to embrace 'Ijtihad' says Irshad Manji.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/01/436darth-vader-gets-tripped-up-by.html
2)Our half-sister Irshad Manji says Wilders' movie "Fitna" would be more effective with more "rose" Quran verses in it, not only the "thorn" verses
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/04/339our-half-sister-irshad-manji-says.html
3)Two interesting viewpoints by a Canadian journalist.
http://easynash.blogspot.com/2007/07/211two-interesting-viewpoints-by.html
4)How's this for a gutsy sister in religion: Yasmin Alibhai-Brown?; Quote of Easy Nash.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/02/325hows-this-for-gutsy-sister-in.html
5)Whew! I could feel the mirchis and masala blow through my ears when I read this comment by our sister in religion Moghul; I take my hat off to you
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/04/355whew-i-could-feel-mirchis-and-masala.html
6)Muslim Women in Math and Science: Sheema Khan Gives Us the Straight Goods
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/03/458muslim-women-in-math-and-science.html
Bonus Post:
7)Here's a toast to the late Dr Sheela Basrur, my former classmate at the University of Toronto Medical School; great communicator, great humanity.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/06/369heres-toast-to-late-dr-sheela-basrur.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 Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims: Aga Khan IV(1985)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql): Prophet Muhammad(circa 632CE)
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
461)A Collection Of Posts By Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy, World-Renowned Physics Professor And Disciple Of 1979 Physics Nobel Laureate Abdus Salaam
Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
Seek knowledge, even in China(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
One hour of contemplation on the works of the Creator is better than a thousand hours of prayer(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
The ink of the scholar is better than the blood of the martyr(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
The above are 4 quotes and excerpts taken from Blogpost Four Hundred, a collection of about 100 quotes on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html
1)Pervez Hoodbhoy, World-Renowned Physics Professor, Disciple of 1979 Physics Nobel Laureate Abdus Salaam, says Pakistan Hurtling Towards Theocracy
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/03/457pervez-hoodbhoy-world-renowned.html
2)Pervez Hoodbhoy, World-Renowned Physics Professor, Disciple Of 1979 Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam, Laments The Saudi-isation of Pakistan
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/01/443pervez-hoodbhoy-world-renowned.html
3)From the Pamir Times Blog: Critical minds alone can take us forward says world-renowned scientist Dr Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/06/371critical-minds-alone-can-take-us.html
4)Abdus Salam: 1979 Nobel laureate in Physics.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/285abdus-salam-1979-nobel-laureate-in.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 Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims: Aga Khan IV(1985)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql): Prophet Muhammad(circa 632CE)
Seek knowledge, even in China(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
One hour of contemplation on the works of the Creator is better than a thousand hours of prayer(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
The ink of the scholar is better than the blood of the martyr(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
The above are 4 quotes and excerpts taken from Blogpost Four Hundred, a collection of about 100 quotes on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html
1)Pervez Hoodbhoy, World-Renowned Physics Professor, Disciple of 1979 Physics Nobel Laureate Abdus Salaam, says Pakistan Hurtling Towards Theocracy
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/03/457pervez-hoodbhoy-world-renowned.html
2)Pervez Hoodbhoy, World-Renowned Physics Professor, Disciple Of 1979 Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam, Laments The Saudi-isation of Pakistan
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/01/443pervez-hoodbhoy-world-renowned.html
3)From the Pamir Times Blog: Critical minds alone can take us forward says world-renowned scientist Dr Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/06/371critical-minds-alone-can-take-us.html
4)Abdus Salam: 1979 Nobel laureate in Physics.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/285abdus-salam-1979-nobel-laureate-in.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 Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims: Aga Khan IV(1985)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql): Prophet Muhammad(circa 632CE)
Sunday, March 29, 2009
460)Ayats(Signs) In The Universe Series:A Collection of Seven+ Posts;Quotes of Noble Quran, Prophet Muhammad, Aga Khans, Nasir Khusraw + Al Sijistani
Kathalika yubayyinu Allahu lakum ayatihi la'allakum ta-'aqiloona: "Allah thus makes clear to you His Signs that you may intellect"(Noble Quran 2:242)
Chapter 30, Verse 27: He originates creation; then refashions it - for Him an easy task. His is the most Sublime Symbol in the heavens and the earth(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)
Chapter 21, Verse 30: Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together before We clove them asunder, and of water fashioned every thing? Will they not then believe?(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)
"One hour of contemplation on the works of the Creator is better than a thousand hours of prayer"(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
"And the more we discover, the more we know, the more we penetrate just below the surface of our normal lives - the more our imagination staggers.........What we feel, even as we learn, is an ever-renewed sense of wonder, indeed, a powerful sense of awe – and of Divine inspiration.....the Power and the Mystery of Allah as the Lord of Creation"(Aga Khan IV, Ottawa, Canada, December 6th 2008)
"......The Quran tells us that signs of Allah’s Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation - in the heavens and the earth, the night and the day, the clouds and the seas, the winds and the waters...."(Aga Khan IV, Kampala, Uganda, August 22 2007)
"In this context, would it not also be relevant to consider how, above all, it has been the Qur'anic notion of the universe as an expression of Allah's will and creation that has inspired, in diverse Muslim communities, generations of artists, scientists and philosophers? Scientific pursuits, philosophic inquiry and artistic endeavour are all seen as the response of the faithful to the recurring call of the Qur'an to ponder the creation as a way to understand Allah's benevolent majesty. As Sura al-Baqara proclaims: 'Wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah'.The famous verse of 'light' in the Qur'an, the Ayat al-Nur, whose first line is rendered here in the mural behind me, inspires among Muslims a reflection on the sacred, the transcendent. It hints at a cosmos full of signs and symbols that evoke the perfection of Allah's creation and mercy"(Aga Khan IV,Speech, Institute of Ismaili Studies, October 2003, London, U.K.)
"The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims"(Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan University Inauguration Speech, Karachi, Pakistan, November 11th 1985)
“Muslims believe in an all-encompassing unit of man and nature. To them there is no fundamental division between the spiritual and the material while the whole world, whether it be the earth, sea or air, or the living creatures that inhabit them, is an expression of God’s creation.”(Aga Khan IV, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, 13 April 1984)
"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)
"Islamic doctrine goes further than the other great religions, for it proclaims the presence of the soul, perhaps minute but nevertheless existing in an embryonic state, in all existence in matter, in animals, trees, and space itself. Every individual, every molecule, every atom has its own spiritual relationship with the All-Powerful Soul of God"(Memoirs of Aga Khan III, 1954)
"Islam is fundamentally in its very nature a natural religion. Throughout the Quran God's signs (Ayats) are referred to as the natural phenomenon, the law and order of the universe, the exactitudes and consequences of the relations between natural phenomenon in cause and effect. Over and over, the stars, sun, moon, earthquakes, fruits of the earth and trees are mentioned as the signs of divine power, divine law and divine order. Even in the Ayeh of Noor, divine is referred to as the natural phenomenon of light and even references are made to the fruit of the earth"(Aga Khan III, April 4th 1952)
"The God of the Quran is the One whose Ayats(Signs) are the Universe in which we live, move and have our being"(Aga Khan III, April 4th 1952)
"O brother! You asked: What is the [meaning of] `alam [world] and what is that entity to which this name applies? How should we describe the world in its entirety? And how many worlds are there? Explain so that we may recognize. Know, O brother, that the name `alam is derived from [the word] `ilm(knowledge), because the traces of knowledge are evident in [all] parts of the physical world. Thus, we say that the very constitution (nihad) of the world is based on a profound wisdom"(Nasir Khusraw, 11th century Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-poet, from his book "Knowledge and Liberation")
"In fact this world is a book in which you see inscribed the writings of God the Almighty"(Nasir Khusraw, 11th century Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-poet)
"Tarkib' is composition as in the compounding of elements in the process of making more complex things, that is, of adding together two things to form a synthesis, a compound. Soul composes in the sense of 'tarkib'; it is the animating force that combines the physical elements of the natural universe into beings that move and act. Incorporating is an especially apt word in this instance. It means to turn something into a body, as in 'composing'. But it is actually the conversion of an intellectual object, a thought, into a physical thing. Soul acts by incorporating reason into physical objects, the natural matter of the universe and all the things composed of it"(Abu Yakub Al-Sijistani,10th century Fatimid Ismaili cosmologist, d971CE, from the book, 'Abu Yakub Al-Sijistani: Intellectual Missionary', by Paul Walker)
The above are 16 quotes and excerpts taken from Blogpost Four Hundred, a collection of about 100 quotes on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html
No 10, Ayats(Signs) In The Universe Series:Marine Animal Steals Marine Plant's Photosynthetic Genes Then Kicks Back With No Need To Feed;Chor Salo
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/02/554no-10-ayatssigns-in-universe.html
No. 9, Ayats(Signs) In The Universe Series:Mathematical Abstractions And Tawhid; Multidimensional Pattern Solved First By Math Then Seen In Nature
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/01/548no-9-ayatssigns-in-universe.html
No. 8, Ayats(Signs) In The Universe Series: Insects Selfprotect From Freezing By Making Their Own Antifreeze; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/01/547no-8-ayatssigns-in-universe-series.html
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
No.6, 'Ayats'(Signs) in the Universe series. HIV/AIDS: Marvel of creation, foe of man.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/280no6-ayatssigns-in-universe-series.html
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
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
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
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
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
Bonus Posts:
8)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
9)Allegories in Nature: "....a Cosmos full of signs and symbols that evoke the perfection of Allah's creation and mercy"; Quote of AgaKhans.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/03/332allegories-in-nature-cosmos-full-of.html
10)The Wonders of Blood: the Foundation of our Existence as Multi-Cellular Creatures; Quotes of Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan III and Abu Yakub Al-Sijistani.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/10/418the-wonders-of-blood-foundation-of.html
11)WATER, Life's Little Essential: Quotes of Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan III and Fatimid Shia Ismaili Muslim cosmologist-philosopher Abu Yakub Al-Sijistani
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/07/381water-lifes-little-essential-quotes.html
12)The Particle Zoo: The Building Blocks of All Matter; Quotes of Aga Khans IV and III and others.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/08/393the-particle-zoo-building-blocks-of.html
13)The Microscopic Universe within a Cell; Genes and their Sidekicks: Uncovering a Marvel of God's Creation; Quotes of Aga Khan IV and others.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/02/448the-microscopic-universe-within-cell.html
14)Marvels Of God's Creation:Pigeons Usually Let Best Navigator Take The Lead But Other Birds Sometimes Get A Chance As Well;Quotes From Blogpost 400
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/06/627marvels-of-gods-creationpigeons.html
15)Birds That Migrate Thousands of Miles With Nary A Stop: 7,000 Miles Nonstop, And No Pretzels; A Marvel To Behold; Quotes From Blogpost 400.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/06/628birds-that-migrate-thousands-of.html
16)Fossils From Just Before The Cambrian Period: Quotes Of Aga Khan IV and Aga Khan III
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/08/632fossils-from-just-before-cambrian.html
17)The Incredible Shrinking Proton: Subatomic Particle May Be Smaller Than Theory Dictates; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/08/634the-incredible-shrinking-proton.html
18)Global Marine Life Census Reveals New Species From The Deep Ocean, Marvels of God's Creation; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/08/635global-marine-life-census-reveals.html
19)Arctic Rocks Reveal Earth's Recipe: Volcanic Rocks Made Of 4.5-Billion-Year-Old Material From The Inner Earth Discovered; Quotes Of Blogpost 400.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/08/639arctic-rocks-reveal-earths-recipe.html
20)Biochip Weds Brain Cells And Electronics; Marvel Of Science; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/08/644biochip-weds-brain-cells-and.html
21)A Nod To A Gaggle Of Telus-Coloured Pinkies From Auckland, NZ: It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month And The Colour Is Pink; Quotes From Blogpost 400
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/09/654a-nod-to-gaggle-of-telus-coloured.html
22)2010 Nobels Recognize Potential Of Basic Science To Shape The World; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/10/6592010-nobels-recognize-potential-of.html
23)Studying Tropical Genetic Blood Diseases: A Conversation With David J. Weatherall On Thalassemia; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/10/660studying-tropical-genetic-blood.html
24)Bacteria Strut Their Stuff: Videos Catch Microbes Walking On Hairlike Appendages; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/10/661bacteria-strut-their-stuff-videos.html
25)Bacteria Growing With Poisonous Arsenic Instead Of Vitalizing And 'Indispensable' Phosphorous Changes The Debate On The Origins Of Life On Earth.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/12/667bacteria-growing-with-poisonous.html
26)The Bacterial Flagellum – Truly An Engineering Marvel!; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/12/671the-bacterial-flagellum-truly.html
27)The Miracle Of Ribosome(The Cell's Protein Factory) Assembly Evolution; Quotes from Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/12/672the-miracle-of-ribosomethe-cells.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)
Chapter 30, Verse 27: He originates creation; then refashions it - for Him an easy task. His is the most Sublime Symbol in the heavens and the earth(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)
Chapter 21, Verse 30: Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together before We clove them asunder, and of water fashioned every thing? Will they not then believe?(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)
"One hour of contemplation on the works of the Creator is better than a thousand hours of prayer"(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
"And the more we discover, the more we know, the more we penetrate just below the surface of our normal lives - the more our imagination staggers.........What we feel, even as we learn, is an ever-renewed sense of wonder, indeed, a powerful sense of awe – and of Divine inspiration.....the Power and the Mystery of Allah as the Lord of Creation"(Aga Khan IV, Ottawa, Canada, December 6th 2008)
"......The Quran tells us that signs of Allah’s Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation - in the heavens and the earth, the night and the day, the clouds and the seas, the winds and the waters...."(Aga Khan IV, Kampala, Uganda, August 22 2007)
"In this context, would it not also be relevant to consider how, above all, it has been the Qur'anic notion of the universe as an expression of Allah's will and creation that has inspired, in diverse Muslim communities, generations of artists, scientists and philosophers? Scientific pursuits, philosophic inquiry and artistic endeavour are all seen as the response of the faithful to the recurring call of the Qur'an to ponder the creation as a way to understand Allah's benevolent majesty. As Sura al-Baqara proclaims: 'Wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah'.The famous verse of 'light' in the Qur'an, the Ayat al-Nur, whose first line is rendered here in the mural behind me, inspires among Muslims a reflection on the sacred, the transcendent. It hints at a cosmos full of signs and symbols that evoke the perfection of Allah's creation and mercy"(Aga Khan IV,Speech, Institute of Ismaili Studies, October 2003, London, U.K.)
"The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims"(Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan University Inauguration Speech, Karachi, Pakistan, November 11th 1985)
“Muslims believe in an all-encompassing unit of man and nature. To them there is no fundamental division between the spiritual and the material while the whole world, whether it be the earth, sea or air, or the living creatures that inhabit them, is an expression of God’s creation.”(Aga Khan IV, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA, 13 April 1984)
"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)
"Islamic doctrine goes further than the other great religions, for it proclaims the presence of the soul, perhaps minute but nevertheless existing in an embryonic state, in all existence in matter, in animals, trees, and space itself. Every individual, every molecule, every atom has its own spiritual relationship with the All-Powerful Soul of God"(Memoirs of Aga Khan III, 1954)
"Islam is fundamentally in its very nature a natural religion. Throughout the Quran God's signs (Ayats) are referred to as the natural phenomenon, the law and order of the universe, the exactitudes and consequences of the relations between natural phenomenon in cause and effect. Over and over, the stars, sun, moon, earthquakes, fruits of the earth and trees are mentioned as the signs of divine power, divine law and divine order. Even in the Ayeh of Noor, divine is referred to as the natural phenomenon of light and even references are made to the fruit of the earth"(Aga Khan III, April 4th 1952)
"The God of the Quran is the One whose Ayats(Signs) are the Universe in which we live, move and have our being"(Aga Khan III, April 4th 1952)
"O brother! You asked: What is the [meaning of] `alam [world] and what is that entity to which this name applies? How should we describe the world in its entirety? And how many worlds are there? Explain so that we may recognize. Know, O brother, that the name `alam is derived from [the word] `ilm(knowledge), because the traces of knowledge are evident in [all] parts of the physical world. Thus, we say that the very constitution (nihad) of the world is based on a profound wisdom"(Nasir Khusraw, 11th century Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-poet, from his book "Knowledge and Liberation")
"In fact this world is a book in which you see inscribed the writings of God the Almighty"(Nasir Khusraw, 11th century Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-poet)
"Tarkib' is composition as in the compounding of elements in the process of making more complex things, that is, of adding together two things to form a synthesis, a compound. Soul composes in the sense of 'tarkib'; it is the animating force that combines the physical elements of the natural universe into beings that move and act. Incorporating is an especially apt word in this instance. It means to turn something into a body, as in 'composing'. But it is actually the conversion of an intellectual object, a thought, into a physical thing. Soul acts by incorporating reason into physical objects, the natural matter of the universe and all the things composed of it"(Abu Yakub Al-Sijistani,10th century Fatimid Ismaili cosmologist, d971CE, from the book, 'Abu Yakub Al-Sijistani: Intellectual Missionary', by Paul Walker)
The above are 16 quotes and excerpts taken from Blogpost Four Hundred, a collection of about 100 quotes on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html
No 10, Ayats(Signs) In The Universe Series:Marine Animal Steals Marine Plant's Photosynthetic Genes Then Kicks Back With No Need To Feed;Chor Salo
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/02/554no-10-ayatssigns-in-universe.html
No. 9, Ayats(Signs) In The Universe Series:Mathematical Abstractions And Tawhid; Multidimensional Pattern Solved First By Math Then Seen In Nature
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/01/548no-9-ayatssigns-in-universe.html
No. 8, Ayats(Signs) In The Universe Series: Insects Selfprotect From Freezing By Making Their Own Antifreeze; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/01/547no-8-ayatssigns-in-universe-series.html
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
No.6, 'Ayats'(Signs) in the Universe series. HIV/AIDS: Marvel of creation, foe of man.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/280no6-ayatssigns-in-universe-series.html
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
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
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
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
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
Bonus Posts:
8)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
9)Allegories in Nature: "....a Cosmos full of signs and symbols that evoke the perfection of Allah's creation and mercy"; Quote of AgaKhans.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/03/332allegories-in-nature-cosmos-full-of.html
10)The Wonders of Blood: the Foundation of our Existence as Multi-Cellular Creatures; Quotes of Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan III and Abu Yakub Al-Sijistani.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/10/418the-wonders-of-blood-foundation-of.html
11)WATER, Life's Little Essential: Quotes of Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan III and Fatimid Shia Ismaili Muslim cosmologist-philosopher Abu Yakub Al-Sijistani
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/07/381water-lifes-little-essential-quotes.html
12)The Particle Zoo: The Building Blocks of All Matter; Quotes of Aga Khans IV and III and others.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/08/393the-particle-zoo-building-blocks-of.html
13)The Microscopic Universe within a Cell; Genes and their Sidekicks: Uncovering a Marvel of God's Creation; Quotes of Aga Khan IV and others.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/02/448the-microscopic-universe-within-cell.html
14)Marvels Of God's Creation:Pigeons Usually Let Best Navigator Take The Lead But Other Birds Sometimes Get A Chance As Well;Quotes From Blogpost 400
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/06/627marvels-of-gods-creationpigeons.html
15)Birds That Migrate Thousands of Miles With Nary A Stop: 7,000 Miles Nonstop, And No Pretzels; A Marvel To Behold; Quotes From Blogpost 400.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/06/628birds-that-migrate-thousands-of.html
16)Fossils From Just Before The Cambrian Period: Quotes Of Aga Khan IV and Aga Khan III
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/08/632fossils-from-just-before-cambrian.html
17)The Incredible Shrinking Proton: Subatomic Particle May Be Smaller Than Theory Dictates; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/08/634the-incredible-shrinking-proton.html
18)Global Marine Life Census Reveals New Species From The Deep Ocean, Marvels of God's Creation; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/08/635global-marine-life-census-reveals.html
19)Arctic Rocks Reveal Earth's Recipe: Volcanic Rocks Made Of 4.5-Billion-Year-Old Material From The Inner Earth Discovered; Quotes Of Blogpost 400.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/08/639arctic-rocks-reveal-earths-recipe.html
20)Biochip Weds Brain Cells And Electronics; Marvel Of Science; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/08/644biochip-weds-brain-cells-and.html
21)A Nod To A Gaggle Of Telus-Coloured Pinkies From Auckland, NZ: It's Breast Cancer Awareness Month And The Colour Is Pink; Quotes From Blogpost 400
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/09/654a-nod-to-gaggle-of-telus-coloured.html
22)2010 Nobels Recognize Potential Of Basic Science To Shape The World; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/10/6592010-nobels-recognize-potential-of.html
23)Studying Tropical Genetic Blood Diseases: A Conversation With David J. Weatherall On Thalassemia; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/10/660studying-tropical-genetic-blood.html
24)Bacteria Strut Their Stuff: Videos Catch Microbes Walking On Hairlike Appendages; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/10/661bacteria-strut-their-stuff-videos.html
25)Bacteria Growing With Poisonous Arsenic Instead Of Vitalizing And 'Indispensable' Phosphorous Changes The Debate On The Origins Of Life On Earth.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/12/667bacteria-growing-with-poisonous.html
26)The Bacterial Flagellum – Truly An Engineering Marvel!; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/12/671the-bacterial-flagellum-truly.html
27)The Miracle Of Ribosome(The Cell's Protein Factory) Assembly Evolution; Quotes from Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/12/672the-miracle-of-ribosomethe-cells.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)
Sunday, March 22, 2009
459)Pakistan to battle fundamentalism with science; Quotes of Aga Khan IV and Aga Khan III.
"Islam is fundamentally in its very nature a natural religion. Throughout the Quran God's signs (Ayats) are referred to as the natural phenomenon, the law and order of the universe, the exactitudes and consequences of the relations between natural phenomenon in cause and effect. Over and over, the stars, sun, moon, earthquakes, fruits of the earth and trees are mentioned as the signs of divine power, divine law and divine order. Even in the Ayeh of Noor, divine is referred to as the natural phenomenon of light and even references are made to the fruit of the earth. During the great period of Islam, Muslims did not forget these principles of their religion. Alas, Islam which is a natural religion in which God's miracles are the very law and order of nature drifted away and is still drifting away, even in Pakistan, from Science, which is the study of those very laws and orders of nature.……Islam is a natural religion of which the Ayats are the universe in which we live and move and have our being………..The God of the Quran is the one whose Ayats are the universe……"(Aga Khan III, April 4th 1952)
"The second great historical lesson to be learnt is that the Muslim world has always been wide open to every aspect of human existence. The sciences, society, art, the oceans, the environment and the cosmos have all contributed to the great moments in the history of Muslim civilisations. The Qur’an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God’s creation"(Closing Address by His Highness Aga Khan IV at the "Musée-Musées" Round Table Louvre Museum, Paris, France, October 17th 2007)
“Parts of the Ummah are concerned about the relationship between Muslims and the contemporary knowledge society, which is now principally rooted in the West. It is my deepest conviction, my deepest conviction, that we must make that knowledge society our own, in keeping with the Alid tradition towards the intellect, but always doing so within the ethics of our faith. Thus, I have sought from my Jamat your Nazrana of time and knowledge.”(Aga Khan IV, Paris, France, July 11th 2007)
"In this context, would it not also be relevant to consider how, above all, it has been the Qur'anic notion of the universe as an expression of Allah's will and creation that has inspired, in diverse Muslim communities, generations of artists, scientists and philosophers? Scientific pursuits, philosophic inquiry and artistic endeavour are all seen as the response of the faithful to the recurring call of the Qur'an to ponder the creation as a way to understand Allah's benevolent majesty. As Sura al-Baqara proclaims: 'Wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah'.The famous verse of 'light' in the Qur'an, the Ayat al-Nur, whose first line is rendered here in the mural behind me, inspires among Muslims a reflection on the sacred, the transcendent. It hints at a cosmos full of signs and symbols that evoke the perfection of Allah's creation and mercy"(Aga Khan IV,Speech, Institute of Ismaili Studies, October 2003, London, U.K.)
"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.)
"Science is a wonderful, powerful tool and research budgets are essential. But Science is only the beginning in the new age we are entering. Islam does not perceive the world as two seperate domains of mind and spirit, science and belief. Science and the search for knowledge are an expression of man's designated role in the universe, but they do not define that role totally....."(Aga Khan IV, McMaster University Convocation, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, May 15th 1987)
"In Islamic belief, knowledge is two-fold. There is that revealed through the Holy Prophet (s.a.s.) and that which man discovers by virtue of his own intellect. Nor do these two involve any contradiction, provided man remembers that his own mind is itself the creation of God. Without this humility, no balance is possible. With it, there are no barriers. 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)
"Our religious leadership must be acutely aware of secular trends, including those generated by this age of science and technology. Equally, our academic or secular elite must be deeply aware of Muslim history, of the scale and depth of leadership exercised by the Islamic empire of the past in all fields"(Aga Khan IV, 6th February 1970, Hyderabad, Pakistan)
"God has given us the miracle of life with all its attributes: the extraordinary manifestations of sunrise and sunset, of sickness and recovery, of birth and death, but surely if He has given us the means with which to remove ourselves from this world so as to go to other parts of the Universe, we can but accept as further manifestations the creation and destructions of stars, the birth and death of atomic particles, the flighting new sound and light waves. I am afraid that the torch of intellectual discovery, the attraction of the unknown, the desire for intellectual self-perfection have left us"(Aga Khan IV,Speech, 1963, Mindanao, Phillipines)
"The God of the Quran is the One whose Ayats(Signs) are the Universe in which we live, move and have our being"(Aga Khan III, April 4th 1952)
"Nature is the great daily book of God whose secrets must be found and used for the well-being of humanity"(Aga Khan III, Radio Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan, February 19th 1950)
The above are 11 quotes and excerpts taken from Blogpost Four Hundred, a collection of about 100 quotes on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html
Pakistan to battle fundamentalism with science
13 March 2009 by
Lawrence Krauss
THIS month will see my last two World lines columns for New Scientist which, judging by some of the email I have received, will be a source of celebration in some quarters. While I have sometimes used the opportunity afforded by this column to criticise developments that I perceive as dangerous - from governments cutting back on support for basic research, to creationists' meddling in school boards - this week I want to discuss a development I just learned about which is truly worth celebrating.
Over recent years there has been much violence reported from the war in Afganistan against the fundamentalist Taliban, which has spilled over into Pakistan. But despite the military might we throw at the Taliban, winning the hearts and minds of the next generation in these regions may depend less on using bullets than books, and less on waging war than creating jobs. Educated minds are hopefully more open to the free exchange of ideas than minds that are closed in childhood. And gainful employment is often a cure for unrest and hatred.
Educated minds are hopefully more open to the free exchange of ideas than minds closed in childhood
As many people in developing countries have realised, the hope for economic progress in the 21st century lies in becoming technologically competitive - and such competitiveness depends on producing scientists and engineers. India is the poster child here. Anyone who has visited any of the Indian Institutes of Technology - where admission is harder than at Harvard University and graduation virtually guarantees a job in the growing technology sector- has seen how effective first-rate schools can be in contributing to raising a nation's standard of living.
This is why I was so heartened recently when I met my friend Bob Jaffe, a theoretical physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He told me about a remarkable experiment in Pakistan that he is a part of, in which a unique combination of private money, government support and intellectual leadership is helping to build the first private research school for science and engineering in that country, the School of Science and Engineering (SSE), part of the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Developments so far have been encouraging. More than $53 million in support has come in from individuals, government and industry - and world-class faculty are returning to Pakistan to participate in the new institution. Admission is merit-based and open to all, independent of gender and social or religious background, providing opportunities to outstanding students who need financial aid to make a new life.
As Jaffe says in a brochure about the new institution: "Access to world-class education opens the door to economic prosperity and personal creativity. Our vision is to bring transformational science and engineering education to Pakistan. Our goal is to ignite development at a fundamental level by educating the most promising young people of all backgrounds. We hope to end Pakistan's disastrous "brain drain" by expanding the national market for superbly trained scientists and engineers. SSE will seek out the best-prepared, most motivated students from all social and economic backgrounds. We will educate them and provide them the skills and experience to succeed in the world... We believe that this is the most effective and positive way we can impact Pakistan's economic future."
It is developments like this that provide hope for the future. I wish all those at the SSE, and those who might be inspired to emulate this kind of institution elsewhere, the best of luck in using science and engineering to wage the war that really needs to be fought- the war on ignorance and poverty.
Lawrence Krauss is director of the Origins Initiative at Arizona State University in Phoenix
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126995.200-pakistan-to-battle-fundamentalism-with-science.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news
Related:
With thanks to Arif
http://arif.amplify.com/2009/03/14/pakistan-to-battle-fundamentalism-with-science/
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)
"The second great historical lesson to be learnt is that the Muslim world has always been wide open to every aspect of human existence. The sciences, society, art, the oceans, the environment and the cosmos have all contributed to the great moments in the history of Muslim civilisations. The Qur’an itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God’s creation"(Closing Address by His Highness Aga Khan IV at the "Musée-Musées" Round Table Louvre Museum, Paris, France, October 17th 2007)
“Parts of the Ummah are concerned about the relationship between Muslims and the contemporary knowledge society, which is now principally rooted in the West. It is my deepest conviction, my deepest conviction, that we must make that knowledge society our own, in keeping with the Alid tradition towards the intellect, but always doing so within the ethics of our faith. Thus, I have sought from my Jamat your Nazrana of time and knowledge.”(Aga Khan IV, Paris, France, July 11th 2007)
"In this context, would it not also be relevant to consider how, above all, it has been the Qur'anic notion of the universe as an expression of Allah's will and creation that has inspired, in diverse Muslim communities, generations of artists, scientists and philosophers? Scientific pursuits, philosophic inquiry and artistic endeavour are all seen as the response of the faithful to the recurring call of the Qur'an to ponder the creation as a way to understand Allah's benevolent majesty. As Sura al-Baqara proclaims: 'Wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah'.The famous verse of 'light' in the Qur'an, the Ayat al-Nur, whose first line is rendered here in the mural behind me, inspires among Muslims a reflection on the sacred, the transcendent. It hints at a cosmos full of signs and symbols that evoke the perfection of Allah's creation and mercy"(Aga Khan IV,Speech, Institute of Ismaili Studies, October 2003, London, U.K.)
"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.)
"Science is a wonderful, powerful tool and research budgets are essential. But Science is only the beginning in the new age we are entering. Islam does not perceive the world as two seperate domains of mind and spirit, science and belief. Science and the search for knowledge are an expression of man's designated role in the universe, but they do not define that role totally....."(Aga Khan IV, McMaster University Convocation, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, May 15th 1987)
"In Islamic belief, knowledge is two-fold. There is that revealed through the Holy Prophet (s.a.s.) and that which man discovers by virtue of his own intellect. Nor do these two involve any contradiction, provided man remembers that his own mind is itself the creation of God. Without this humility, no balance is possible. With it, there are no barriers. 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)
"Our religious leadership must be acutely aware of secular trends, including those generated by this age of science and technology. Equally, our academic or secular elite must be deeply aware of Muslim history, of the scale and depth of leadership exercised by the Islamic empire of the past in all fields"(Aga Khan IV, 6th February 1970, Hyderabad, Pakistan)
"God has given us the miracle of life with all its attributes: the extraordinary manifestations of sunrise and sunset, of sickness and recovery, of birth and death, but surely if He has given us the means with which to remove ourselves from this world so as to go to other parts of the Universe, we can but accept as further manifestations the creation and destructions of stars, the birth and death of atomic particles, the flighting new sound and light waves. I am afraid that the torch of intellectual discovery, the attraction of the unknown, the desire for intellectual self-perfection have left us"(Aga Khan IV,Speech, 1963, Mindanao, Phillipines)
"The God of the Quran is the One whose Ayats(Signs) are the Universe in which we live, move and have our being"(Aga Khan III, April 4th 1952)
"Nature is the great daily book of God whose secrets must be found and used for the well-being of humanity"(Aga Khan III, Radio Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan, February 19th 1950)
The above are 11 quotes and excerpts taken from Blogpost Four Hundred, a collection of about 100 quotes on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html
Pakistan to battle fundamentalism with science
13 March 2009 by
Lawrence Krauss
THIS month will see my last two World lines columns for New Scientist which, judging by some of the email I have received, will be a source of celebration in some quarters. While I have sometimes used the opportunity afforded by this column to criticise developments that I perceive as dangerous - from governments cutting back on support for basic research, to creationists' meddling in school boards - this week I want to discuss a development I just learned about which is truly worth celebrating.
Over recent years there has been much violence reported from the war in Afganistan against the fundamentalist Taliban, which has spilled over into Pakistan. But despite the military might we throw at the Taliban, winning the hearts and minds of the next generation in these regions may depend less on using bullets than books, and less on waging war than creating jobs. Educated minds are hopefully more open to the free exchange of ideas than minds that are closed in childhood. And gainful employment is often a cure for unrest and hatred.
Educated minds are hopefully more open to the free exchange of ideas than minds closed in childhood
As many people in developing countries have realised, the hope for economic progress in the 21st century lies in becoming technologically competitive - and such competitiveness depends on producing scientists and engineers. India is the poster child here. Anyone who has visited any of the Indian Institutes of Technology - where admission is harder than at Harvard University and graduation virtually guarantees a job in the growing technology sector- has seen how effective first-rate schools can be in contributing to raising a nation's standard of living.
This is why I was so heartened recently when I met my friend Bob Jaffe, a theoretical physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He told me about a remarkable experiment in Pakistan that he is a part of, in which a unique combination of private money, government support and intellectual leadership is helping to build the first private research school for science and engineering in that country, the School of Science and Engineering (SSE), part of the Lahore University of Management Sciences.
Developments so far have been encouraging. More than $53 million in support has come in from individuals, government and industry - and world-class faculty are returning to Pakistan to participate in the new institution. Admission is merit-based and open to all, independent of gender and social or religious background, providing opportunities to outstanding students who need financial aid to make a new life.
As Jaffe says in a brochure about the new institution: "Access to world-class education opens the door to economic prosperity and personal creativity. Our vision is to bring transformational science and engineering education to Pakistan. Our goal is to ignite development at a fundamental level by educating the most promising young people of all backgrounds. We hope to end Pakistan's disastrous "brain drain" by expanding the national market for superbly trained scientists and engineers. SSE will seek out the best-prepared, most motivated students from all social and economic backgrounds. We will educate them and provide them the skills and experience to succeed in the world... We believe that this is the most effective and positive way we can impact Pakistan's economic future."
It is developments like this that provide hope for the future. I wish all those at the SSE, and those who might be inspired to emulate this kind of institution elsewhere, the best of luck in using science and engineering to wage the war that really needs to be fought- the war on ignorance and poverty.
Lawrence Krauss is director of the Origins Initiative at Arizona State University in Phoenix
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20126995.200-pakistan-to-battle-fundamentalism-with-science.html?DCMP=OTC-rss&nsref=online-news
Related:
With thanks to Arif
http://arif.amplify.com/2009/03/14/pakistan-to-battle-fundamentalism-with-science/
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, March 16, 2009
458)Muslim Women in Math and Science: Sheema Khan Gives Us the Straight Goods
We've done the math and, yes, we women have it in us
SHEEMA KHAN
From Monday's Globe and Mail
March 16, 2009 at 12:00 AM EDT
A while back, I was given the task of teaching a Grade 12 remedial class in physics. Since the failure rate always hovered around 50 per cent, I was told to expect the same. Besides, most of the incoming students had failed high-school physics and thus were expected to do so again. I refused to accept this cynical outlook.
On the first day, I told the students: Attend all lectures, complete all assignments and tests, and you will be guaranteed a passing grade. Hard work will be rewarded. Having taught remedial courses in chemistry and math, I knew the key was to make the subject matter relevant to everyday life.
Isaac Newton's equations of motion made more sense when used to calculate the braking distance of a speeding Mazda RX-7 (or the distance a human body would be thrown without a seatbelt). Gustav Kirchhoff's laws of circuits were plain to see when I almost electrocuted myself during a lab class. X-rays and camera filters were a natural segue into light scattering and polarization. By the end of the course, students had analyzed an MIT article on airport-screening machines based on costs, energy efficiency and civil liberties. Their assignment: "You're the airport manager. You decide which machine is the best purchase." Intelligent, nuanced arguments buttressed each student's conclusion. In the end, only one constant no-show failed.
The key ingredient to their success: confidence. Why think students don't have it in them to understand physics? Why imprison them to the past? Before parting ways, I advised: Never believe you can't tackle a challenge.
The power within should never be underestimated. Yet, there are some who believe that biological determinism trumps the human spirit. A few academics now say women don't have the genetic makeup for math. Obscure scientific theories and dubious experiments are given as proof - much like 19th-century European tests that "proved" the inferior intelligence of blacks by comparing the skull size of black Africans and white Europeans. (Guess whose skulls were always bigger?)
Biological determinism is a blunt tool used by elites to thwart the aspirations of those whom they wish to control. Mirroring this are those religious elders who insist that women don't have the intellectual capacity of men. They dismiss demands for equality as espousal for sameness. Within many Muslim cultures, there is the accepted ideology that women lack intelligence, are too "emotional" and "weak." Yet, there is no theological proof for these assertions.
Syed Abul A'la Maududi, an influential 20th-century Indo-Pakistani scholar, argued in the misogynous tract Purdah and the Status of Women in Islam that the dearth of female Nobel Prize winners was proof of their subpar intelligence (reasoning echoed by the archly secular Shah of Iran to Barbara Walters). According to his logic, then, the lack of Muslim Nobel Prize winners proves the subpar intelligence of Muslims - a conclusion that belies the astounding scientific achievements of the Golden Age of Islamic civilization.
Those who insist that Muslim women are inherently intellectually deficient willfully ignore their accomplishments across 14 centuries in fields such as jurisprudence, theology and science.
Similarly, the sheer numbers of female mathematicians, physicists and engineers challenge the "women can't do math" mantra. Thankfully, there are enough educators who don't believe the cynics. I was fortunate to have nurturers of the mind throughout my education in Montreal. Not once did I meet discouragement. At Harvard, I pursued my love of math and physics as one would pursue a love of music. Spherical Bessel functions, Feynman diagrams and the like resonated in my spirit. My doctoral thesis involved the application of mathematical physics to statistical mechanics, resulting in a theory (albeit obscure) of electrolyte solutions.
I, along with a growing female sorority, stand on the giant shoulders of pioneers such as mathematician and physicist Emmy Noether. Today, 19-year-old wunderkind physicist Alia Sabur is poised to go where no man (or woman) has gone before. For those who tell us "you don't have it in you," we say: We've done the math, and found infinity in the palm of our hands.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090313.wcokhan16/BNStory/specialComment/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)
SHEEMA KHAN
From Monday's Globe and Mail
March 16, 2009 at 12:00 AM EDT
A while back, I was given the task of teaching a Grade 12 remedial class in physics. Since the failure rate always hovered around 50 per cent, I was told to expect the same. Besides, most of the incoming students had failed high-school physics and thus were expected to do so again. I refused to accept this cynical outlook.
On the first day, I told the students: Attend all lectures, complete all assignments and tests, and you will be guaranteed a passing grade. Hard work will be rewarded. Having taught remedial courses in chemistry and math, I knew the key was to make the subject matter relevant to everyday life.
Isaac Newton's equations of motion made more sense when used to calculate the braking distance of a speeding Mazda RX-7 (or the distance a human body would be thrown without a seatbelt). Gustav Kirchhoff's laws of circuits were plain to see when I almost electrocuted myself during a lab class. X-rays and camera filters were a natural segue into light scattering and polarization. By the end of the course, students had analyzed an MIT article on airport-screening machines based on costs, energy efficiency and civil liberties. Their assignment: "You're the airport manager. You decide which machine is the best purchase." Intelligent, nuanced arguments buttressed each student's conclusion. In the end, only one constant no-show failed.
The key ingredient to their success: confidence. Why think students don't have it in them to understand physics? Why imprison them to the past? Before parting ways, I advised: Never believe you can't tackle a challenge.
The power within should never be underestimated. Yet, there are some who believe that biological determinism trumps the human spirit. A few academics now say women don't have the genetic makeup for math. Obscure scientific theories and dubious experiments are given as proof - much like 19th-century European tests that "proved" the inferior intelligence of blacks by comparing the skull size of black Africans and white Europeans. (Guess whose skulls were always bigger?)
Biological determinism is a blunt tool used by elites to thwart the aspirations of those whom they wish to control. Mirroring this are those religious elders who insist that women don't have the intellectual capacity of men. They dismiss demands for equality as espousal for sameness. Within many Muslim cultures, there is the accepted ideology that women lack intelligence, are too "emotional" and "weak." Yet, there is no theological proof for these assertions.
Syed Abul A'la Maududi, an influential 20th-century Indo-Pakistani scholar, argued in the misogynous tract Purdah and the Status of Women in Islam that the dearth of female Nobel Prize winners was proof of their subpar intelligence (reasoning echoed by the archly secular Shah of Iran to Barbara Walters). According to his logic, then, the lack of Muslim Nobel Prize winners proves the subpar intelligence of Muslims - a conclusion that belies the astounding scientific achievements of the Golden Age of Islamic civilization.
Those who insist that Muslim women are inherently intellectually deficient willfully ignore their accomplishments across 14 centuries in fields such as jurisprudence, theology and science.
Similarly, the sheer numbers of female mathematicians, physicists and engineers challenge the "women can't do math" mantra. Thankfully, there are enough educators who don't believe the cynics. I was fortunate to have nurturers of the mind throughout my education in Montreal. Not once did I meet discouragement. At Harvard, I pursued my love of math and physics as one would pursue a love of music. Spherical Bessel functions, Feynman diagrams and the like resonated in my spirit. My doctoral thesis involved the application of mathematical physics to statistical mechanics, resulting in a theory (albeit obscure) of electrolyte solutions.
I, along with a growing female sorority, stand on the giant shoulders of pioneers such as mathematician and physicist Emmy Noether. Today, 19-year-old wunderkind physicist Alia Sabur is poised to go where no man (or woman) has gone before. For those who tell us "you don't have it in you," we say: We've done the math, and found infinity in the palm of our hands.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090313.wcokhan16/BNStory/specialComment/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)
457)Pervez Hoodbhoy, World-Renowned Physics Professor, Disciple of 1979 Physics Nobel Laureate Abdus Salaam, says Pakistan Hurtling Towards Theocracy
Towards theocracy?
PERVEZ AMIRALI HOODBHOY
State and society in Pakistan today.
FOR 20 years or more, a few of us in Pakistan have been desperately sending out SOS messages, warning of terrible times to come. Nevertheless, none anticipated how quickly and accurately our dire predictions would come true. It is a small matter that the flames of terrorism set Mumbai on fire and, more recently, destroyed Pakistan’s cricketing future. A much more important and brutal fight lies ahead as Pakistan, a nation of 175 million, struggles for its very survival. The implications for the future of South Asia are enormous.
Today a full-scale war is being fought in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), Swat and other “wild” areas of Pakistan, with thousands dying and hundreds of thousands of IDPs (internally displaced people) streaming into cities and towns. In February 2009, with the writ of the Pakistani state in tatters, the government gave in to the demand of the TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, the Pakistani Taliban Movement) to implement the Islamic Sharia in Malakand, a region of FATA. It also announced the suspension of a military offensive in Swat, which has been almost totally taken over by the TTP. But the respite that it brought was short-lived and started breaking down only hours later.
The fighting is now inexorably migrating towards Peshawar where, fearing the Taliban, video shop owners have shut shop, banners have been placed in bazaars declaring them closed for women, musicians are out of business, and kidnapping for ransom is the best business in town. Islamabad has already seen Lal Masjid and the Marriot bombing, and has had its police personnel repeatedly blown up by suicide bombers. Today, its barricaded streets give a picture of a city under siege. In Karachi, the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), an ethnic but secular party well known for strong-arm tactics, has issued a call for arms to prevent the Taliban from making further inroads into the city. Lahore once appeared relatively safe and different but, after the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, has rejoined Pakistan.
The suicide bomber and the masked abductor have crippled Pakistan’s urban life and shattered its national economy. Soldiers, policemen, factory and hospital workers, mourners at funerals, and ordinary people praying in mosques have been reduced to hideous masses of flesh and fragments of bones. The bearded ones, many operating out of madrassas, are hitting targets across the country. Although a substantial part of the Pakistani public insists upon lionising them as “standing up to the Americans”, they are neither seeking to evict a foreign occupier nor fighting for a homeland. They want nothing less than to seize power and to turn Pakistan into their version of the ideal Islamic state. In their incoherent, ill-formed vision, this would include restoring the caliphate as well as doing away with all forms of western influence and elements of modernity. The AK-47 and the Internet, of course, would stay.
But, perhaps paradoxically, in spite of the fact that the dead bodies and shattered lives are almost all Muslim ones, few Pakistanis speak out against these atrocities. Nor do they approve of military action against the cruel perpetrators, choosing to believe that they are fighting for Islam and against an imagined American occupation. Political leaders like Qazi Husain Ahmed and Imran Khan have no words of kindness for those who have suffered from Islamic extremists. Their tears are reserved for the victims of predator drones, whether innocent or otherwise. By definition, for them terrorism is an act that only Americans can commit.
Why the Denial?
To understand Pakistan’s collective masochism, one needs to study the drastic social and cultural transformations that have made this country so utterly different from what it was in earlier times. For three decades, deep tectonic forces have been silently tearing Pakistan away from the Indian subcontinent and driving it towards the Arabian peninsula.
This continental drift is not physical but cultural, driven by a belief that Pakistan must exchange its South Asian identity for an Arab-Muslim one. Grain by grain, the desert sands of Saudi Arabia are replacing the rich soil that had nurtured a rich Muslim culture in India for a thousand years. This culture produced Mughal architecture, the Taj Mahal, the poetry of Asadullah Ghalib, and much more. Now a stern, unyielding version of Islam – Wahabism – is replacing the kinder, gentler Islam of the sufis and saints who had walked on this land for hundreds of years.
This change is by design. Twenty-five years ago, under the approving gaze of Ronald Reagan’s America, the Pakistani state pushed Islam on to its people. Prayers in government departments were deemed compulsory, floggings were carried out publicly, punishments were meted out to those who did not fast in Ramadan, selection for university academic posts required that the candidate demonstrate knowledge of Islamic teachings, and jehad was declared essential for every Muslim.
Villages have changed drastically, driven in part by Pakistani workers returning from Arab countries. Many village mosques are now giant madrassas that propagate hard-line Salafi and Deobandi beliefs through oversized loudspeakers. They are bitterly opposed to Barelvis, Shias and other Muslims, who they do not consider to be proper Muslims. Punjabis, who were far more liberal towards women than Pashtuns, are now also beginning to take a line resembling the Taliban. Hanafi law has begun to prevail over tradition and civil law, as is evident from recent decisions in the Lahore High Court.
K.M. CHAUDHRY/AP Pakistan’s Ministry of Education estimates that 1.5 million students are getting religious education in 13,000 madrassas. These figures could be quite off the mark. Commonly quoted figures range between 18,000 and 22,000 such schools. Here, students at the Jamia Manzoorul Islam, a madrassa in Lahore.
In the Pakistani lower-middle and middle-middle classes lurks a grim and humourless Saudi-inspired revivalist movement which frowns on every expression of joy and pleasurable pastime. Lacking any positive connection to history, culture and knowledge, it seeks to eliminate “corruption” by regulating cultural life and seizing control of the education system.
“Classical music is on its last legs in Pakistan; the sarangi and vichtarveena are completely dead,” laments Mohammad Shehzad, a music aficionado. Indeed, teaching music in public universities is violently opposed by students of the Islami Jamaat-e-Talaba at Punjab University. Religious fundamentalists consider music haram. Kathak dancing, once popular with the Muslim elite of India, has no teachers left. Pakistan produces no feature films of any consequence.
As a part of General Zia-ul-Haq’s cultural offensive, Hindi words were expunged from daily use and replaced with heavy-sounding Arabic ones. Persian, the language of Mughal India, had once been taught as a second or third language in many Pakistani schools. But, because of its association with Shiite Iran, it too was dropped and replaced with Arabic. The morphing of the traditional “khuda hafiz” (Persian for “God be with you”) into “allah hafiz” (Arabic for “God be with you”) took two decades to complete. The Arab import sounded odd and contrived, but ultimately the Arabic God won and the Persian God lost.
Genesis of Jehad
One can squarely place the genesis of religious militancy in Pakistan to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the subsequent efforts of the U.S.-Pakistan-Saudi grand alliance to create and support the Great Global Jehad of the 20th century. A toxic mix of imperial might, religious fundamentalism, and local interests ultimately defeated the Soviets. But the network of Islamic militant organisations did not disappear after it achieved success. By now the Pakistani Army establishment had realised the power of jehad as an instrument of foreign policy, and so the network grew from strength to strength.
The amazing success of the state is now turning out to be its own undoing. Today the Pakistan Army and establishment are under attack from religious militants, and rival Islamic groups battle each other with heavy weapons. Ironically, the same Army – whose men were recruited under the banner of jehad, and which saw itself as the fighting arm of Islam – today stands accused of betrayal and is almost daily targeted by Islamist suicide bombers. Over 1,800 soldiers have died as of February 2009 in encounters with religious militants, and many have been tortured before decapitation. Nevertheless, the Army is still ambivalent in its relationship with the jehadists and largely focusses upon India.
Education or Indoctrination?
Similar sentiments exist in a large part of the Pakistani public media. The commonly expressed view is that Islamic radicalism is a problem only in FATA and that madrassas are the only jehad factories around. This could not be more wrong. Extremism is breeding at a ferocious rate in public and private schools within Pakistan’s towns and cities. Left unchallenged, this kind of education will produce a generation incapable of living together with any except strictly their own kind. Pakistan’s education system demands that Islam be understood as a complete code of life, and creates in the mind of the schoolchild a sense of siege and constant embattlement by stressing that Islam is under threat everywhere.
The government-approved curriculum, prepared by the Curriculum Wing of the Federal Ministry of Education, is the basic road map for transmitting values and knowledge to the young. By an Act of Parliament, passed in 1976, all government and private schools (except for O-level schools) are required to follow this curriculum. It is a blueprint for a religious fascist state.
The masthead of an illustrated primer for the Urdu alphabet states that it has been prepared by Iqra Publishers, Rawalpindi, along “Islamic lines”. Although not an officially approved textbook, it has been used for many years by some regular schools, as well as madrassas, associated with the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), an Islamic political party that had allied itself with General Pervez Musharraf.
The world of the Pakistani schoolchild was largely unchanged even after September 11, 2001, which led to Pakistan’s timely desertion of the Taliban and the slackening of the Kashmir jehad. Indeed, for all his hypocritical talk of “enlightened moderation”, Musharraf’s educational curriculum was far from enlightening. It was a slightly toned-down copy of that under Nawaz Sharif which, in turn, was identical to that under Benazir Bhutto, who inherited it from Zia-ul-Haq.
Fearful of taking on powerful religious forces, every incumbent government refused to take a position on the curriculum and thus quietly allowed young minds to be moulded by fanatics. What might happen a generation later has always been a secondary matter for a government challenged on so many sides.
The promotion of militarism in Pakistan’s so-called “secular” public schools, colleges and universities had a profound effect upon young minds. Militant jehad became part of the culture on college and university campuses. Armed groups flourished, invited students for jehad in Kashmir and Afghanistan, set up offices throughout the country, collected funds at Friday prayers, and declared a war without borders. Pre-9/11, my university was ablaze with posters inviting students to participate in the Kashmir jehad. After 2001, this slipped below the surface.
For all his hypocritical talk of “enlightened moderation”, General Pervez Musharraf’s educational curriculum was far from enlightening. It was a slightly toned-down copy of that under Nawaz Sharif which, in turn, was identical to that under Benazir Bhutto, who inherited it from Zia-ul-Haq. (From left) Zia-ul-Haq, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif and Musharraf.
The madrassas
The primary vehicle for Saudi-ising Pakistan’s education has been the madrassa. In earlier times, these had turned out the occasional Islamic scholar, using a curriculum that essentially dates from the 11th century with only minor subsequent revisions. But their principal function had been to produce imams and muezzins for mosques, and those who eked out an existence as “moulvi sahibs” teaching children to read the Quran.
The Afghan jehad changed everything. During the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, madrassas provided the U.S.-Saudi-Pakistani alliance the cannon fodder needed for fighting a holy war. The Americans and the Saudis, helped by a more-than-willing General Zia, funded new madrassas across the length and breadth of Pakistan.
A detailed picture of the current situation is not available. But, according to the national education census, which the Ministry of Education released in 2006, Punjab has 5,459 madrassas followed by the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) with 2,843; Sindh 1,935; Federally Administrated Northern Areas (FANA) 1,193; Balochistan 769; Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) 586; FATA 135; and Islamabad capital territory 77. The Ministry estimates that 1.5 million students are getting religious education in the 13,000 madrassas.
These figures could be quite off the mark. Commonly quoted figures range between 18,000 and 22,000 madrassas. The number of students could be correspondingly larger. The free room, board and supplies to students, form a key part of their appeal. But the desire of parents across the country is for children to be “disciplined” and to be given a thorough Islamic education. This is also a major contributing factor.
Madrassas have deeply impacted upon the urban environment. For example, until a few years ago, Islamabad was a quiet, orderly, modern city different from all others in Pakistan. Still earlier, it had been largely the abode of Pakistan’s hyper-elite and foreign diplomats. But the rapid transformation of its demography brought with it hundreds of mosques with multi-barrelled audio-cannons mounted on minarets, as well as scores of madrassas illegally constructed in what used to be public parks and green areas. Now, tens of thousands of their students with little prayer caps dutifully chant the Quran all day. In the evenings they swarm around the city, making bare-faced women increasingly nervous.
Women – the Lesser Species
Total separation of the sexes is a central goal of the Islamists. Two decades ago the fully veiled student was a rarity on Pakistani university and college campuses. The abaya was an unknown word in Urdu; it is a foreign import. But today, some shops in Islamabad specialise in abaya. At colleges and universities across Pakistan, female students are seeking the anonymity of the burqa. Such students outnumber their sisters who still dare show their faces.
While social conservatism does not necessarily lead to violent extremism, it does shorten the path. Those with beards and burqas are more easily convinced that Muslims are being demonised by the rest of the world. The real problem, they say, is the plight of the Palestinians, the decadent and discriminatory West, the Jews, the Christians, the Hindus, the Kashmir issue, the Bush doctrine, and so on. They vehemently deny that those committing terrorist acts are Muslims or, if faced by incontrovertible evidence, say it is a mere reaction to oppression. Faced with the embarrassment that 200 schools for girls were blown up in Swat by Fazlullah’s militants, they wriggle out by saying that some schools were housing the Pakistan Army, who should be targeted anyway.
The Prognosis
The immediate future is not hopeful: increasing numbers of mullahs are creating cults around themselves and seizing control over the minds of worshippers. In the tribal areas, a string of new Islamist leaders have suddenly emerged: Sufi Mohammad, Baitullah Mehsud, Fazlullah, Mangal Bagh…. The enabling environment of poverty, deprivation, lack of justice, and extreme differences of wealth is perfect for these demagogues. Their gruesome acts of terror and public beheadings are still being perceived by large numbers of Pakistanis as part of the fight against imperialist America and, sometimes, India as well. This could not be more wrong.
The jehadists have longer-range goals. A couple of years ago, a Karachi-based monthly magazine ran a cover story on the terrorism in Kashmir. One fighter was asked what he would do if a political resolution were found for the disputed valley. Revealingly, he replied that he would not lay down his gun but turn it on the Pakistani leadership, with the aim of installing an Islamic government there.
Over the next year or two, we are likely to see more short-lived “peace accords”, as in Malakand, Swat and, earlier on, in Shakai. In my opinion, these are exercises in futility. Until the Pakistan Army finally realises that Mr. Frankenstein needs to be eliminated rather than be engaged in negotiations, it will continue to soft-pedal on counter-insurgency. It will also continue to develop and demand from the U.S. high-tech weapons that are not the slightest use against insurgents. There are some indications that some realisation of the internal threat is dawning, but the speed is as yet glacial.
Even if Mumbai-II occurs, India’s options in dealing with nuclear Pakistan are severely limited. Cross-border strikes should be dismissed from the realm of possibilities. They could lead to escalations that neither government would have control over. I am convinced that India’s prosperity – and perhaps its physical survival – demands that Pakistan stays together. Pakistan could disintegrate into a hell, where different parts are run by different warlords. Paradoxically perhaps, India’s most effective defence could be the Pakistan Army, torn and fractured though it may be. To convert a former enemy army into a possible ally will require that India change tack.
To create a future working alliance with the struggling Pakistani state, and in deference to basic democratic principles, India must be seen as genuinely working towards some kind of resolution of the Kashmir issue. It must not deny that the majority of Kashmiri Muslims are deeply alienated from the Indian state and that they desperately seek balm for their wounds. Else the forces of cross-border jehad, and its hate-filled holy warriors, will continue to receive unnecessary succour.
I shall end this rather grim essay on an optimistic note: the forces of irrationality will surely cancel themselves out because they act in random directions, whereas reason pulls in only one. History leads us to believe that reason will triumph over unreason, and humans will continue their evolution towards a higher and better species. Ultimately, it will not matter whether we are Pakistanis, Indians, Kashmiris, or whatever. Using ways that we cannot currently anticipate, people will somehow overcome their primal impulses of territoriality, tribalism, religion and nationalism. But for now this must be just a hypothesis.
Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy is Professor and Chairman of the Physics Department at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad.
http://hinduonnet.com/fline/stories/20090327260601600.htm
Related posts:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/01/443pervez-hoodbhoy-world-renowned.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/06/371critical-minds-alone-can-take-us.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/285abdus-salam-1979-nobel-laureate-in.html
Easy Nash
Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
Seek knowledge, even in China(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
One hour of contemplation on the works of the Creator is better than a thousand hours of prayer(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
The ink of the scholar is better than the blood of the martyr(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
PERVEZ AMIRALI HOODBHOY
State and society in Pakistan today.
FOR 20 years or more, a few of us in Pakistan have been desperately sending out SOS messages, warning of terrible times to come. Nevertheless, none anticipated how quickly and accurately our dire predictions would come true. It is a small matter that the flames of terrorism set Mumbai on fire and, more recently, destroyed Pakistan’s cricketing future. A much more important and brutal fight lies ahead as Pakistan, a nation of 175 million, struggles for its very survival. The implications for the future of South Asia are enormous.
Today a full-scale war is being fought in FATA (Federally Administered Tribal Areas), Swat and other “wild” areas of Pakistan, with thousands dying and hundreds of thousands of IDPs (internally displaced people) streaming into cities and towns. In February 2009, with the writ of the Pakistani state in tatters, the government gave in to the demand of the TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, the Pakistani Taliban Movement) to implement the Islamic Sharia in Malakand, a region of FATA. It also announced the suspension of a military offensive in Swat, which has been almost totally taken over by the TTP. But the respite that it brought was short-lived and started breaking down only hours later.
The fighting is now inexorably migrating towards Peshawar where, fearing the Taliban, video shop owners have shut shop, banners have been placed in bazaars declaring them closed for women, musicians are out of business, and kidnapping for ransom is the best business in town. Islamabad has already seen Lal Masjid and the Marriot bombing, and has had its police personnel repeatedly blown up by suicide bombers. Today, its barricaded streets give a picture of a city under siege. In Karachi, the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM), an ethnic but secular party well known for strong-arm tactics, has issued a call for arms to prevent the Taliban from making further inroads into the city. Lahore once appeared relatively safe and different but, after the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, has rejoined Pakistan.
The suicide bomber and the masked abductor have crippled Pakistan’s urban life and shattered its national economy. Soldiers, policemen, factory and hospital workers, mourners at funerals, and ordinary people praying in mosques have been reduced to hideous masses of flesh and fragments of bones. The bearded ones, many operating out of madrassas, are hitting targets across the country. Although a substantial part of the Pakistani public insists upon lionising them as “standing up to the Americans”, they are neither seeking to evict a foreign occupier nor fighting for a homeland. They want nothing less than to seize power and to turn Pakistan into their version of the ideal Islamic state. In their incoherent, ill-formed vision, this would include restoring the caliphate as well as doing away with all forms of western influence and elements of modernity. The AK-47 and the Internet, of course, would stay.
But, perhaps paradoxically, in spite of the fact that the dead bodies and shattered lives are almost all Muslim ones, few Pakistanis speak out against these atrocities. Nor do they approve of military action against the cruel perpetrators, choosing to believe that they are fighting for Islam and against an imagined American occupation. Political leaders like Qazi Husain Ahmed and Imran Khan have no words of kindness for those who have suffered from Islamic extremists. Their tears are reserved for the victims of predator drones, whether innocent or otherwise. By definition, for them terrorism is an act that only Americans can commit.
Why the Denial?
To understand Pakistan’s collective masochism, one needs to study the drastic social and cultural transformations that have made this country so utterly different from what it was in earlier times. For three decades, deep tectonic forces have been silently tearing Pakistan away from the Indian subcontinent and driving it towards the Arabian peninsula.
This continental drift is not physical but cultural, driven by a belief that Pakistan must exchange its South Asian identity for an Arab-Muslim one. Grain by grain, the desert sands of Saudi Arabia are replacing the rich soil that had nurtured a rich Muslim culture in India for a thousand years. This culture produced Mughal architecture, the Taj Mahal, the poetry of Asadullah Ghalib, and much more. Now a stern, unyielding version of Islam – Wahabism – is replacing the kinder, gentler Islam of the sufis and saints who had walked on this land for hundreds of years.
This change is by design. Twenty-five years ago, under the approving gaze of Ronald Reagan’s America, the Pakistani state pushed Islam on to its people. Prayers in government departments were deemed compulsory, floggings were carried out publicly, punishments were meted out to those who did not fast in Ramadan, selection for university academic posts required that the candidate demonstrate knowledge of Islamic teachings, and jehad was declared essential for every Muslim.
Villages have changed drastically, driven in part by Pakistani workers returning from Arab countries. Many village mosques are now giant madrassas that propagate hard-line Salafi and Deobandi beliefs through oversized loudspeakers. They are bitterly opposed to Barelvis, Shias and other Muslims, who they do not consider to be proper Muslims. Punjabis, who were far more liberal towards women than Pashtuns, are now also beginning to take a line resembling the Taliban. Hanafi law has begun to prevail over tradition and civil law, as is evident from recent decisions in the Lahore High Court.
K.M. CHAUDHRY/AP Pakistan’s Ministry of Education estimates that 1.5 million students are getting religious education in 13,000 madrassas. These figures could be quite off the mark. Commonly quoted figures range between 18,000 and 22,000 such schools. Here, students at the Jamia Manzoorul Islam, a madrassa in Lahore.
In the Pakistani lower-middle and middle-middle classes lurks a grim and humourless Saudi-inspired revivalist movement which frowns on every expression of joy and pleasurable pastime. Lacking any positive connection to history, culture and knowledge, it seeks to eliminate “corruption” by regulating cultural life and seizing control of the education system.
“Classical music is on its last legs in Pakistan; the sarangi and vichtarveena are completely dead,” laments Mohammad Shehzad, a music aficionado. Indeed, teaching music in public universities is violently opposed by students of the Islami Jamaat-e-Talaba at Punjab University. Religious fundamentalists consider music haram. Kathak dancing, once popular with the Muslim elite of India, has no teachers left. Pakistan produces no feature films of any consequence.
As a part of General Zia-ul-Haq’s cultural offensive, Hindi words were expunged from daily use and replaced with heavy-sounding Arabic ones. Persian, the language of Mughal India, had once been taught as a second or third language in many Pakistani schools. But, because of its association with Shiite Iran, it too was dropped and replaced with Arabic. The morphing of the traditional “khuda hafiz” (Persian for “God be with you”) into “allah hafiz” (Arabic for “God be with you”) took two decades to complete. The Arab import sounded odd and contrived, but ultimately the Arabic God won and the Persian God lost.
Genesis of Jehad
One can squarely place the genesis of religious militancy in Pakistan to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 and the subsequent efforts of the U.S.-Pakistan-Saudi grand alliance to create and support the Great Global Jehad of the 20th century. A toxic mix of imperial might, religious fundamentalism, and local interests ultimately defeated the Soviets. But the network of Islamic militant organisations did not disappear after it achieved success. By now the Pakistani Army establishment had realised the power of jehad as an instrument of foreign policy, and so the network grew from strength to strength.
The amazing success of the state is now turning out to be its own undoing. Today the Pakistan Army and establishment are under attack from religious militants, and rival Islamic groups battle each other with heavy weapons. Ironically, the same Army – whose men were recruited under the banner of jehad, and which saw itself as the fighting arm of Islam – today stands accused of betrayal and is almost daily targeted by Islamist suicide bombers. Over 1,800 soldiers have died as of February 2009 in encounters with religious militants, and many have been tortured before decapitation. Nevertheless, the Army is still ambivalent in its relationship with the jehadists and largely focusses upon India.
Education or Indoctrination?
Similar sentiments exist in a large part of the Pakistani public media. The commonly expressed view is that Islamic radicalism is a problem only in FATA and that madrassas are the only jehad factories around. This could not be more wrong. Extremism is breeding at a ferocious rate in public and private schools within Pakistan’s towns and cities. Left unchallenged, this kind of education will produce a generation incapable of living together with any except strictly their own kind. Pakistan’s education system demands that Islam be understood as a complete code of life, and creates in the mind of the schoolchild a sense of siege and constant embattlement by stressing that Islam is under threat everywhere.
The government-approved curriculum, prepared by the Curriculum Wing of the Federal Ministry of Education, is the basic road map for transmitting values and knowledge to the young. By an Act of Parliament, passed in 1976, all government and private schools (except for O-level schools) are required to follow this curriculum. It is a blueprint for a religious fascist state.
The masthead of an illustrated primer for the Urdu alphabet states that it has been prepared by Iqra Publishers, Rawalpindi, along “Islamic lines”. Although not an officially approved textbook, it has been used for many years by some regular schools, as well as madrassas, associated with the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), an Islamic political party that had allied itself with General Pervez Musharraf.
The world of the Pakistani schoolchild was largely unchanged even after September 11, 2001, which led to Pakistan’s timely desertion of the Taliban and the slackening of the Kashmir jehad. Indeed, for all his hypocritical talk of “enlightened moderation”, Musharraf’s educational curriculum was far from enlightening. It was a slightly toned-down copy of that under Nawaz Sharif which, in turn, was identical to that under Benazir Bhutto, who inherited it from Zia-ul-Haq.
Fearful of taking on powerful religious forces, every incumbent government refused to take a position on the curriculum and thus quietly allowed young minds to be moulded by fanatics. What might happen a generation later has always been a secondary matter for a government challenged on so many sides.
The promotion of militarism in Pakistan’s so-called “secular” public schools, colleges and universities had a profound effect upon young minds. Militant jehad became part of the culture on college and university campuses. Armed groups flourished, invited students for jehad in Kashmir and Afghanistan, set up offices throughout the country, collected funds at Friday prayers, and declared a war without borders. Pre-9/11, my university was ablaze with posters inviting students to participate in the Kashmir jehad. After 2001, this slipped below the surface.
For all his hypocritical talk of “enlightened moderation”, General Pervez Musharraf’s educational curriculum was far from enlightening. It was a slightly toned-down copy of that under Nawaz Sharif which, in turn, was identical to that under Benazir Bhutto, who inherited it from Zia-ul-Haq. (From left) Zia-ul-Haq, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif and Musharraf.
The madrassas
The primary vehicle for Saudi-ising Pakistan’s education has been the madrassa. In earlier times, these had turned out the occasional Islamic scholar, using a curriculum that essentially dates from the 11th century with only minor subsequent revisions. But their principal function had been to produce imams and muezzins for mosques, and those who eked out an existence as “moulvi sahibs” teaching children to read the Quran.
The Afghan jehad changed everything. During the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, madrassas provided the U.S.-Saudi-Pakistani alliance the cannon fodder needed for fighting a holy war. The Americans and the Saudis, helped by a more-than-willing General Zia, funded new madrassas across the length and breadth of Pakistan.
A detailed picture of the current situation is not available. But, according to the national education census, which the Ministry of Education released in 2006, Punjab has 5,459 madrassas followed by the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) with 2,843; Sindh 1,935; Federally Administrated Northern Areas (FANA) 1,193; Balochistan 769; Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) 586; FATA 135; and Islamabad capital territory 77. The Ministry estimates that 1.5 million students are getting religious education in the 13,000 madrassas.
These figures could be quite off the mark. Commonly quoted figures range between 18,000 and 22,000 madrassas. The number of students could be correspondingly larger. The free room, board and supplies to students, form a key part of their appeal. But the desire of parents across the country is for children to be “disciplined” and to be given a thorough Islamic education. This is also a major contributing factor.
Madrassas have deeply impacted upon the urban environment. For example, until a few years ago, Islamabad was a quiet, orderly, modern city different from all others in Pakistan. Still earlier, it had been largely the abode of Pakistan’s hyper-elite and foreign diplomats. But the rapid transformation of its demography brought with it hundreds of mosques with multi-barrelled audio-cannons mounted on minarets, as well as scores of madrassas illegally constructed in what used to be public parks and green areas. Now, tens of thousands of their students with little prayer caps dutifully chant the Quran all day. In the evenings they swarm around the city, making bare-faced women increasingly nervous.
Women – the Lesser Species
Total separation of the sexes is a central goal of the Islamists. Two decades ago the fully veiled student was a rarity on Pakistani university and college campuses. The abaya was an unknown word in Urdu; it is a foreign import. But today, some shops in Islamabad specialise in abaya. At colleges and universities across Pakistan, female students are seeking the anonymity of the burqa. Such students outnumber their sisters who still dare show their faces.
While social conservatism does not necessarily lead to violent extremism, it does shorten the path. Those with beards and burqas are more easily convinced that Muslims are being demonised by the rest of the world. The real problem, they say, is the plight of the Palestinians, the decadent and discriminatory West, the Jews, the Christians, the Hindus, the Kashmir issue, the Bush doctrine, and so on. They vehemently deny that those committing terrorist acts are Muslims or, if faced by incontrovertible evidence, say it is a mere reaction to oppression. Faced with the embarrassment that 200 schools for girls were blown up in Swat by Fazlullah’s militants, they wriggle out by saying that some schools were housing the Pakistan Army, who should be targeted anyway.
The Prognosis
The immediate future is not hopeful: increasing numbers of mullahs are creating cults around themselves and seizing control over the minds of worshippers. In the tribal areas, a string of new Islamist leaders have suddenly emerged: Sufi Mohammad, Baitullah Mehsud, Fazlullah, Mangal Bagh…. The enabling environment of poverty, deprivation, lack of justice, and extreme differences of wealth is perfect for these demagogues. Their gruesome acts of terror and public beheadings are still being perceived by large numbers of Pakistanis as part of the fight against imperialist America and, sometimes, India as well. This could not be more wrong.
The jehadists have longer-range goals. A couple of years ago, a Karachi-based monthly magazine ran a cover story on the terrorism in Kashmir. One fighter was asked what he would do if a political resolution were found for the disputed valley. Revealingly, he replied that he would not lay down his gun but turn it on the Pakistani leadership, with the aim of installing an Islamic government there.
Over the next year or two, we are likely to see more short-lived “peace accords”, as in Malakand, Swat and, earlier on, in Shakai. In my opinion, these are exercises in futility. Until the Pakistan Army finally realises that Mr. Frankenstein needs to be eliminated rather than be engaged in negotiations, it will continue to soft-pedal on counter-insurgency. It will also continue to develop and demand from the U.S. high-tech weapons that are not the slightest use against insurgents. There are some indications that some realisation of the internal threat is dawning, but the speed is as yet glacial.
Even if Mumbai-II occurs, India’s options in dealing with nuclear Pakistan are severely limited. Cross-border strikes should be dismissed from the realm of possibilities. They could lead to escalations that neither government would have control over. I am convinced that India’s prosperity – and perhaps its physical survival – demands that Pakistan stays together. Pakistan could disintegrate into a hell, where different parts are run by different warlords. Paradoxically perhaps, India’s most effective defence could be the Pakistan Army, torn and fractured though it may be. To convert a former enemy army into a possible ally will require that India change tack.
To create a future working alliance with the struggling Pakistani state, and in deference to basic democratic principles, India must be seen as genuinely working towards some kind of resolution of the Kashmir issue. It must not deny that the majority of Kashmiri Muslims are deeply alienated from the Indian state and that they desperately seek balm for their wounds. Else the forces of cross-border jehad, and its hate-filled holy warriors, will continue to receive unnecessary succour.
I shall end this rather grim essay on an optimistic note: the forces of irrationality will surely cancel themselves out because they act in random directions, whereas reason pulls in only one. History leads us to believe that reason will triumph over unreason, and humans will continue their evolution towards a higher and better species. Ultimately, it will not matter whether we are Pakistanis, Indians, Kashmiris, or whatever. Using ways that we cannot currently anticipate, people will somehow overcome their primal impulses of territoriality, tribalism, religion and nationalism. But for now this must be just a hypothesis.
Pervez Amirali Hoodbhoy is Professor and Chairman of the Physics Department at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad.
http://hinduonnet.com/fline/stories/20090327260601600.htm
Related posts:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/01/443pervez-hoodbhoy-world-renowned.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/06/371critical-minds-alone-can-take-us.html
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/285abdus-salam-1979-nobel-laureate-in.html
Easy Nash
Seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
Seek knowledge, even in China(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
One hour of contemplation on the works of the Creator is better than a thousand hours of prayer(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
The ink of the scholar is better than the blood of the martyr(Prophet Muhammad, circa 632CE)
Saturday, March 14, 2009
456)A Collection of Posts on Astronomy; Quotes of Noble Quran, Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan III, Nasir Khusraw, Abu Yakub Al Sijistani and Aristotle
"And the more we discover, the more we know, the more we penetrate just below the surface of our normal lives - the more our imagination staggers.........What we feel, even as we learn, is an ever-renewed sense of wonder, indeed, a powerful sense of awe – and of Divine inspiration.....the Power and the Mystery of Allah as the Lord of Creation"(Aga Khan IV, Ottawa, Canada, December 6th 2008)
"......The Quran tells us that signs of Allah’s Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation - in the heavens and the earth, the night and the day, the clouds and the seas, the winds and the waters...."(Aga Khan IV, Kampala, Uganda, August 22 2007)
"Astronomy, the so-called “Science of the Universe” was a field of particular distinction in Islamic civilization-–in sharp contrast to the weakness of Islamic countries in the field of Space research today. In this field, as in others, intellectual leadership is never a static condition, but something which is always shifting and always dynamic"(Aga Khan IV, Convocation, American University of Cairo, Cairo, Egypt, June 15th 2006)
"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)
"The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims"(Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan University Inauguration Speech, Karachi, Pakistan, November 11th 1985)
"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)
"The God of the Quran is the One whose Ayats(Signs) are the Universe in which we live, move and have our being"(Aga Khan III, April 4th 1952)
"Nature is the great daily book of God whose secrets must be found and used for the well-being of humanity"(Aga Khan III, Radio Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan, February 19th 1950)
"O brother! You asked: What is the [meaning of] `alam [world] and what is that entity to which this name applies? How should we describe the world in its entirety? And how many worlds are there? Explain so that we may recognize. Know, O brother, that the name `alam is derived from [the word] `ilm(knowledge), because the traces of knowledge are evident in [all] parts of the physical world. Thus, we say that the very constitution (nihad) of the world is based on a profound wisdom"(Nasir Khusraw, 11th century Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-poet, from his book "Knowledge and Liberation")
"Tarkib' is composition as in the compounding of elements in the process of making more complex things, that is, of adding together two things to form a synthesis, a compound. Soul composes in the sense of 'tarkib'; it is the animating force that combines the physical elements of the natural universe into beings that move and act. Incorporating is an especially apt word in this instance. It means to turn something into a body, as in 'composing'. But it is actually the conversion of an intellectual object, a thought, into a physical thing. Soul acts by incorporating reason into physical objects, the natural matter of the universe and all the things composed of it"(Abu Yakub Al-Sijistani,10th century Fatimid Ismaili cosmologist, d971CE, from the book, 'Abu Yakub Al-Sijistani: Intellectual Missionary', by Paul Walker)
Chapter 30, Verse 27: He originates creation; then refashions it - for Him an easy task. His is the most Sublime Symbol in the heavens and the earth(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)
Chapter 21, Verse 30: Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together before We clove them asunder, and of water fashioned every thing? Will they not then believe?(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)
Chapter 51, verse 47: We built the heavens with might, and We expand it wide(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)
Chapter79, verse 30: And then he gave the earth an oval form(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)
Chapter 86, verse 11: I swear by the reciprocating heaven.....(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)
"All human beings, by their nature, desire to know."(Aristotle, The Metaphysics, circa 322BC)
The above are 16 quotes and excerpts taken from Blogpost Four Hundred, a collection of around 100 quotes on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html
Basics on the vast distances and sizes in Astronomy. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/273basics-on-vast-distances-and-sizes.html
'Ismaili Lunar Calendar': An ideal base to unite the 'Ummah'; Quotes of Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan III and Noble Quran.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/406ismaili-lunar-calendar-ideal-base-to.html
Scientists catch exploding star red-handed in earliest stages recording unexpected burst of invisible X-rays 100 billion times brighter than sun. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/05/363scientists-catch-exploding-star-red.html
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
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
Star explodes 7.5 billion light years away from Earth with the emitted light reaching us on Wednesday March 19th 2008, 7.5 billion years later!! http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/03/335star-explodes-75-billion-light-years.html
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
Tonight most North Americans will see a total lunar eclipse; What the last one(March 2007) looked like; Quotes of Aga Khans.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/02/328tonight-most-north-americans-will.html
Massive supernova explosion: Source of chemical elements that make up all else in the universe, including living systems; Quotes of Aga Khans.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/318massive-supernova-explosion-source.html
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
"Pillars of Creation" or "Fingers on the Hand of God"; take your pick.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/307134pillars-of-creation-or-fingers-on.html
Invisible Dark Matter, making up a quarter of the contents of the Universe, uncovered; Quotes of Aga Khan IV.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/298invisible-dark-matter-making-up.html
Big Dipper and Little Dipper in the night sky: legacy of Astronomy during Islam's golden era. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/295big-dipper-and-little-dipper-in.html
A cosmic show of lights on December 13th 2006.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/290a-cosmic-show-of-lights-on-december.html
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
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
The Hubble Space Telescope: A fine example of the ingenuity of man.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/12/261the-hubble-space-telescope-fine.html
Neutrinos: Such small particles with so little mass that when they rain down on planet Earth they pass right through it!; Practical applications. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/12/260neutrinos-such-small-particles-with.html
Cosmic Rays, Stars and Black Holes: Marvels of Allah's creation
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/12/259cosmic-rays-stars-and-black-holes.html
Ayats(Signs) in the Universe: Why planet Venus is lifeless. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/11/252ayatssigns-in-universe-why-planet.html
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
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
Jupiter Takes It On The Chin:Images Suggest An Object Has Recently Struck The Giant Planet;Quotes Of Noble Quran, Prophet Muhammad and Aga Khan IV
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/07/495jupiter-takes-it-on-chinimages.html
Ayats(Signs) of Allah's Magnificence in the world of Astronomy, Collection from my old blog; Quotes from Noble Quran and the Aga Khans. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/314ayatssigns-of-allahs-magnificence-in.html
The tiniest submicroscopic particles in the Universe:
The Large Hadron Collider Collection Of Posts On Easy Nash's Blog: A 10 Billion Euro Gizmo That Could Unlock The Secrets Of Genesis.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/03/598the-large-hadron-collider-collection.html
Kepler Telescope Detects Possible Earth-Size Planet, Bringing Us Closer To Answering The Question: Are We Alone In The Universe?
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/08/645kepler-telescope-detects-possible.html
Arabic In The Sky: Saudi Aramco World Magazine Comes Up With A Comprehensive Article On Astronomy In Medieval Islam; Quotes From Blogpost 400
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/09/650arabic-in-sky-saudi-aramco-world.html
Scientists Race To Find Dark Matter, The Stuff That Shapes The Visible Universe, In Canadian Mine; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/09/653scientists-race-to-find-dark-matter.html
Scientists Find The First "Goldilocks" Extrasolar Planet: Not Too Hot, Not Too Cold But Just Right; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/10/657scientists-find-first-goldilocks.html
The Orbiting Hubble Space Telescope Reveals The Oldest And Furthest Known Galaxy In The Universe; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2011/01/676the-orbiting-hubble-space-telescope.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)
"......The Quran tells us that signs of Allah’s Sovereignty are found in the contemplation of His Creation - in the heavens and the earth, the night and the day, the clouds and the seas, the winds and the waters...."(Aga Khan IV, Kampala, Uganda, August 22 2007)
"Astronomy, the so-called “Science of the Universe” was a field of particular distinction in Islamic civilization-–in sharp contrast to the weakness of Islamic countries in the field of Space research today. In this field, as in others, intellectual leadership is never a static condition, but something which is always shifting and always dynamic"(Aga Khan IV, Convocation, American University of Cairo, Cairo, Egypt, June 15th 2006)
"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)
"The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims"(Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan University Inauguration Speech, Karachi, Pakistan, November 11th 1985)
"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)
"The God of the Quran is the One whose Ayats(Signs) are the Universe in which we live, move and have our being"(Aga Khan III, April 4th 1952)
"Nature is the great daily book of God whose secrets must be found and used for the well-being of humanity"(Aga Khan III, Radio Pakistan, Karachi, Pakistan, February 19th 1950)
"O brother! You asked: What is the [meaning of] `alam [world] and what is that entity to which this name applies? How should we describe the world in its entirety? And how many worlds are there? Explain so that we may recognize. Know, O brother, that the name `alam is derived from [the word] `ilm(knowledge), because the traces of knowledge are evident in [all] parts of the physical world. Thus, we say that the very constitution (nihad) of the world is based on a profound wisdom"(Nasir Khusraw, 11th century Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-poet, from his book "Knowledge and Liberation")
"Tarkib' is composition as in the compounding of elements in the process of making more complex things, that is, of adding together two things to form a synthesis, a compound. Soul composes in the sense of 'tarkib'; it is the animating force that combines the physical elements of the natural universe into beings that move and act. Incorporating is an especially apt word in this instance. It means to turn something into a body, as in 'composing'. But it is actually the conversion of an intellectual object, a thought, into a physical thing. Soul acts by incorporating reason into physical objects, the natural matter of the universe and all the things composed of it"(Abu Yakub Al-Sijistani,10th century Fatimid Ismaili cosmologist, d971CE, from the book, 'Abu Yakub Al-Sijistani: Intellectual Missionary', by Paul Walker)
Chapter 30, Verse 27: He originates creation; then refashions it - for Him an easy task. His is the most Sublime Symbol in the heavens and the earth(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)
Chapter 21, Verse 30: Do not the unbelievers see that the heavens and the earth were joined together before We clove them asunder, and of water fashioned every thing? Will they not then believe?(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)
Chapter 51, verse 47: We built the heavens with might, and We expand it wide(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)
Chapter79, verse 30: And then he gave the earth an oval form(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)
Chapter 86, verse 11: I swear by the reciprocating heaven.....(Noble Quran, 7th Century CE)
"All human beings, by their nature, desire to know."(Aristotle, The Metaphysics, circa 322BC)
The above are 16 quotes and excerpts taken from Blogpost Four Hundred, a collection of around 100 quotes on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html
Basics on the vast distances and sizes in Astronomy. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/273basics-on-vast-distances-and-sizes.html
'Ismaili Lunar Calendar': An ideal base to unite the 'Ummah'; Quotes of Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan III and Noble Quran.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/406ismaili-lunar-calendar-ideal-base-to.html
Scientists catch exploding star red-handed in earliest stages recording unexpected burst of invisible X-rays 100 billion times brighter than sun. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/05/363scientists-catch-exploding-star-red.html
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
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
Star explodes 7.5 billion light years away from Earth with the emitted light reaching us on Wednesday March 19th 2008, 7.5 billion years later!! http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/03/335star-explodes-75-billion-light-years.html
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
Tonight most North Americans will see a total lunar eclipse; What the last one(March 2007) looked like; Quotes of Aga Khans.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/02/328tonight-most-north-americans-will.html
Massive supernova explosion: Source of chemical elements that make up all else in the universe, including living systems; Quotes of Aga Khans.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/318massive-supernova-explosion-source.html
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
"Pillars of Creation" or "Fingers on the Hand of God"; take your pick.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/307134pillars-of-creation-or-fingers-on.html
Invisible Dark Matter, making up a quarter of the contents of the Universe, uncovered; Quotes of Aga Khan IV.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/298invisible-dark-matter-making-up.html
Big Dipper and Little Dipper in the night sky: legacy of Astronomy during Islam's golden era. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/295big-dipper-and-little-dipper-in.html
A cosmic show of lights on December 13th 2006.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/290a-cosmic-show-of-lights-on-december.html
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
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
The Hubble Space Telescope: A fine example of the ingenuity of man.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/12/261the-hubble-space-telescope-fine.html
Neutrinos: Such small particles with so little mass that when they rain down on planet Earth they pass right through it!; Practical applications. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/12/260neutrinos-such-small-particles-with.html
Cosmic Rays, Stars and Black Holes: Marvels of Allah's creation
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/12/259cosmic-rays-stars-and-black-holes.html
Ayats(Signs) in the Universe: Why planet Venus is lifeless. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/11/252ayatssigns-in-universe-why-planet.html
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
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
Jupiter Takes It On The Chin:Images Suggest An Object Has Recently Struck The Giant Planet;Quotes Of Noble Quran, Prophet Muhammad and Aga Khan IV
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/07/495jupiter-takes-it-on-chinimages.html
Ayats(Signs) of Allah's Magnificence in the world of Astronomy, Collection from my old blog; Quotes from Noble Quran and the Aga Khans. http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/314ayatssigns-of-allahs-magnificence-in.html
The tiniest submicroscopic particles in the Universe:
The Large Hadron Collider Collection Of Posts On Easy Nash's Blog: A 10 Billion Euro Gizmo That Could Unlock The Secrets Of Genesis.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/03/598the-large-hadron-collider-collection.html
Kepler Telescope Detects Possible Earth-Size Planet, Bringing Us Closer To Answering The Question: Are We Alone In The Universe?
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/08/645kepler-telescope-detects-possible.html
Arabic In The Sky: Saudi Aramco World Magazine Comes Up With A Comprehensive Article On Astronomy In Medieval Islam; Quotes From Blogpost 400
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/09/650arabic-in-sky-saudi-aramco-world.html
Scientists Race To Find Dark Matter, The Stuff That Shapes The Visible Universe, In Canadian Mine; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/09/653scientists-race-to-find-dark-matter.html
Scientists Find The First "Goldilocks" Extrasolar Planet: Not Too Hot, Not Too Cold But Just Right; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2010/10/657scientists-find-first-goldilocks.html
The Orbiting Hubble Space Telescope Reveals The Oldest And Furthest Known Galaxy In The Universe; Quotes From Blogpost Four Hundred.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2011/01/676the-orbiting-hubble-space-telescope.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)
Friday, March 13, 2009
455)A Collection of Posts on Nasir Khusraw; Quotes of Aga Khan IV and Nasir Khusraw
"In the ebb and flow of history, "knowledge is a shield against the blows of time". It dispels "the torment of ignorance" and nourishes "peace to blossom forth in the soul"."(Aga Khan IV quoting Nasir Khusraw, Dushanbe, Tajikistan, August 30, 2003)
"In fact this world is a book in which you see inscribed the writings of God the Almighty"(Nasir Khusraw, 11th century Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-poet)
"O brother! You asked: What is the [meaning of] `alam [world] and what is that entity to which this name applies? How should we describe the world in its entirety? And how many worlds are there? Explain so that we may recognize. Know, O brother, that the name `alam is derived from [the word] `ilm(knowledge), because the traces of knowledge are evident in [all] parts of the physical world. Thus, we say that the very constitution (nihad) of the world is based on a profound wisdom"(Nasir Khusraw, 11th century Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-poet, from his book "Knowledge and Liberation")
"Here is a relevant verse from the Noble Qur'an, cited by Nasir-i Khusraw, hujjat-i Khurasan in his Khawaan al-Ikhwaan : "It is He who created you from dust, then from a sperm drop, then from a blood clot, then He brings you forth as a child, then lets you reach your age of full strength, then lets you become old - though some of you die before - and then lets you reach the appointed term; and that haply you may find the intellect (la'allakum ta'qilun)."(Nasir Khusraw, 11th century Fatimid Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-poet)
The above are 4 quotes and excerpts taken from Blogpost Four Hundred, a collection of around 100 quotes on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/12/21/easy-nashs-blogpost-four-hundred-updated-with-quotes-from-the-opening-of-the-delegation-of-the-ismaili-imamat/
Nasir Khusraw, another Fatimid Cosmologist-Philosopher-Poet of enormous intellect from the mid-Fatimid era
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/08/390nasir-khusraw-another-fatimid.html
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/01/14/nasir-khusraw-1004-1060/
http://easynash.blogspot.com/2006/12/nasir-khusraw1004-1060-ruby-of.html
Nasir Khusraw's poetry reflecting Intellect and Soul in the Al Sijistani-Khusraw cosmological doctrine; link between science and religion in Islam
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/03/336nasir-khusraws-poetry-reflecting.html
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/nasir-khusraws-poetry-reflecting-intellect-and-soul/
Six Days of Creation
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2007/11/03/six-days-of-creation/
Early Life of Nasir-i Khusraw
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2009/01/04/early-life-of-nasir-i-khusraw/
Pictures from Nasir-i Khusraw Museum
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/pictures-from-nasir-khusraw-museum/
Sayyidna Nasir-i Khusraw and the Meaning of Id al-Fitr
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/10/02/sayyidna-nasir-i-khusraw-and-the-meaning-of-id-al-fitr/
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
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/two-intellectual-giants-speak-to-each-other-accross-a-millenium-on-time/
Searching For A Spiritual Guide
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/searching-for-a-spiritual-guide/
Kalam Peer Nasir Khusraw
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/kalam-peer-nasir-khusraw/
THE RUBY OF BADAKHSHAN:Mausoleum of Great Ismaili Pir
http://pamirtimes.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/547/
Nasir Khusraw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTfNi2SmL6A
Splendour of the Fatimids
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/splendor-of-the-fatimids/
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=103487
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=101087
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=100652
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=104818
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=105753
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=101641
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=106417
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=106747
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=100890
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=108982
Eastern Persian And Central Asian Ismaili Dai Nasir Khusraw's Concept Of Intellect And Theory Of Intellectual Education; Quotes From Blogpost 400.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2011/01/677eastern-persian-and-central-asian.html
Easy Nash http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/science_and_religion_in_islam_the_link/ http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/08/500blogpost-five-hundred-is-blogpost.html http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/03/453a-blog-constructed-within.html
In Shia Islam, intellect is a key component of faith. Intellect allows us to understand the creation of God: Aga Khan IV(2008)
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 Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims: Aga Khan IV(1985)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql): Prophet Muhammad(circa 632CE)
"In fact this world is a book in which you see inscribed the writings of God the Almighty"(Nasir Khusraw, 11th century Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-poet)
"O brother! You asked: What is the [meaning of] `alam [world] and what is that entity to which this name applies? How should we describe the world in its entirety? And how many worlds are there? Explain so that we may recognize. Know, O brother, that the name `alam is derived from [the word] `ilm(knowledge), because the traces of knowledge are evident in [all] parts of the physical world. Thus, we say that the very constitution (nihad) of the world is based on a profound wisdom"(Nasir Khusraw, 11th century Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-poet, from his book "Knowledge and Liberation")
"Here is a relevant verse from the Noble Qur'an, cited by Nasir-i Khusraw, hujjat-i Khurasan in his Khawaan al-Ikhwaan : "It is He who created you from dust, then from a sperm drop, then from a blood clot, then He brings you forth as a child, then lets you reach your age of full strength, then lets you become old - though some of you die before - and then lets you reach the appointed term; and that haply you may find the intellect (la'allakum ta'qilun)."(Nasir Khusraw, 11th century Fatimid Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-poet)
The above are 4 quotes and excerpts taken from Blogpost Four Hundred, a collection of around 100 quotes on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/12/21/easy-nashs-blogpost-four-hundred-updated-with-quotes-from-the-opening-of-the-delegation-of-the-ismaili-imamat/
Nasir Khusraw, another Fatimid Cosmologist-Philosopher-Poet of enormous intellect from the mid-Fatimid era
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/08/390nasir-khusraw-another-fatimid.html
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/01/14/nasir-khusraw-1004-1060/
http://easynash.blogspot.com/2006/12/nasir-khusraw1004-1060-ruby-of.html
Nasir Khusraw's poetry reflecting Intellect and Soul in the Al Sijistani-Khusraw cosmological doctrine; link between science and religion in Islam
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/03/336nasir-khusraws-poetry-reflecting.html
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/03/27/nasir-khusraws-poetry-reflecting-intellect-and-soul/
Six Days of Creation
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2007/11/03/six-days-of-creation/
Early Life of Nasir-i Khusraw
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2009/01/04/early-life-of-nasir-i-khusraw/
Pictures from Nasir-i Khusraw Museum
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/11/21/pictures-from-nasir-khusraw-museum/
Sayyidna Nasir-i Khusraw and the Meaning of Id al-Fitr
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/10/02/sayyidna-nasir-i-khusraw-and-the-meaning-of-id-al-fitr/
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
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/09/17/two-intellectual-giants-speak-to-each-other-accross-a-millenium-on-time/
Searching For A Spiritual Guide
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/08/21/searching-for-a-spiritual-guide/
Kalam Peer Nasir Khusraw
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/kalam-peer-nasir-khusraw/
THE RUBY OF BADAKHSHAN:Mausoleum of Great Ismaili Pir
http://pamirtimes.wordpress.com/2008/04/15/547/
Nasir Khusraw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTfNi2SmL6A
Splendour of the Fatimids
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/02/06/splendor-of-the-fatimids/
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=103487
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=101087
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=100652
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=104818
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=105753
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=101641
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=106417
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=106747
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=100890
http://www.iis.ac.uk/view_article.asp?ContentID=108982
Eastern Persian And Central Asian Ismaili Dai Nasir Khusraw's Concept Of Intellect And Theory Of Intellectual Education; Quotes From Blogpost 400.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2011/01/677eastern-persian-and-central-asian.html
Easy Nash http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/science_and_religion_in_islam_the_link/ http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/08/500blogpost-five-hundred-is-blogpost.html http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2009/03/453a-blog-constructed-within.html
In Shia Islam, intellect is a key component of faith. Intellect allows us to understand the creation of God: Aga Khan IV(2008)
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 Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims: Aga Khan IV(1985)
The first and only thing created by God was the Intellect(Aql): Prophet Muhammad(circa 632CE)
Saturday, March 7, 2009
454)A Collection of Posts on Symmetry in Nature, as a Product of the Human Mind, Geometry and Harmonious Mathematical Reasoning; Quotes of Aga Khan IV
"In this context, would it not also be relevant to consider how, above all, it has been the Qur'anic notion of the universe as an expression of Allah's will and creation that has inspired, in diverse Muslim communities, generations of artists, scientists and philosophers? Scientific pursuits, philosophic inquiry and artistic endeavour are all seen as the response of the faithful to the recurring call of the Qur'an to ponder the creation as a way to understand Allah's benevolent majesty. As Sura al-Baqara proclaims: 'Wherever you turn, there is the face of Allah'. The famous verse of 'light' in the Qur'an, the Ayat al-Nur, whose first line is rendered here in the mural behind me, inspires among Muslims a reflection on the sacred, the transcendent. It hints at a cosmos full of signs and symbols that evoke the perfection of Allah's creation and mercy"(Aga Khan IV, Speech, Institute of Ismaili Studies, October 2003, London, U.K.)
"The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims. Exchanges of knowledge between institutions and nations and the widening of man's intellectual horizons are essentially Islamic concepts. The Faith urges freedom of intellectual enquiry and this freedom does not mean that knowledge will lose its spiritual dimension. That dimension is indeed itself a field for intellectual enquiry. I can not illustrate this interdependence of spiritual inspiration and learning better than by recounting a dialogue between Ibn Sina, the philosopher, and Abu Said Abu -Khyar, the Sufi mystic. Ibn Sina remarked, "Whatever I know, he sees". To which Abu Said replied," Whatever I see, he knows"."(Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan University Inauguration Speech, Karachi, Pakistan, November 11th 1985)
"The Divine Intellect, Aql-i Kull, both transcends and informs the human intellect. It is this Intellect which enables man to strive towards two aims dictated by the faith: that he should reflect upon the environment Allah has given him and that he should know himself. It is the Light of the Intellect which distinguishes the complete human being from the human animal, and developing that intellect requires free inquiry. The man of faith, who fails to pursue intellectual search is likely to have only a limited comprehension of Allah's creation. Indeed, it is man's intellect that enables him to expand his vision of that creation"(Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan University Inauguration Speech, Karachi, Pakistan, November 11, 1985)
The above are 3 quotes and excerpts taken from Blogpost Four Hundred, a collection of around 100 quotes on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html
Nobel Laureates uncover marvels of Allah's creation: HIV virus, HPV virus, Glowing Proteins, Symmetry, Asymmetry, Matter, Antimatter,Particles.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/10/416nobel-prize-winners-study-marvels-of.html
Mapping E8(248-dimensional mathematical object); Islam, Mathematics, Reasoning, Symmetry, Dimensions, Symbolism: an Update; Quotes of Aga Khan IV
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/410mapping-e8248-dimensional.html
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
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
Symmetry in nature; Symmetry as a product of the human mind: Part deux.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/293symmetry-in-nature-symmetry-as.html
Snowflakes, a beautiful, symmetric 'ayat'(sign) in creation and one of its marvels.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/292snowflakes-beautiful-symmetric.html
Symmetry in nature; Symmetry as a product of the human mind.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/288symmetry-in-nature-symmetry-as.html
Symmetry, Geometry and Mathematical harmony: The language of the cosmos.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/11/251symmetry-geometry-and-mathematical.html
Learning about geometry from the Maker of the cosmos.
http://easynash.blogspot.com/2007/04/151learning-geometry-from-maker-of.html
Traces of the Calligrapher: Islamic Calligraphy in Practice
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/01/23/traces-of-the-calligrapher-islamic-calligraphy-in-practice/
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)
"The Holy Qu'ran's encouragement to study nature and the physical world around us gave the original impetus to scientific enquiry among Muslims. Exchanges of knowledge between institutions and nations and the widening of man's intellectual horizons are essentially Islamic concepts. The Faith urges freedom of intellectual enquiry and this freedom does not mean that knowledge will lose its spiritual dimension. That dimension is indeed itself a field for intellectual enquiry. I can not illustrate this interdependence of spiritual inspiration and learning better than by recounting a dialogue between Ibn Sina, the philosopher, and Abu Said Abu -Khyar, the Sufi mystic. Ibn Sina remarked, "Whatever I know, he sees". To which Abu Said replied," Whatever I see, he knows"."(Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan University Inauguration Speech, Karachi, Pakistan, November 11th 1985)
"The Divine Intellect, Aql-i Kull, both transcends and informs the human intellect. It is this Intellect which enables man to strive towards two aims dictated by the faith: that he should reflect upon the environment Allah has given him and that he should know himself. It is the Light of the Intellect which distinguishes the complete human being from the human animal, and developing that intellect requires free inquiry. The man of faith, who fails to pursue intellectual search is likely to have only a limited comprehension of Allah's creation. Indeed, it is man's intellect that enables him to expand his vision of that creation"(Aga Khan IV, Aga Khan University Inauguration Speech, Karachi, Pakistan, November 11, 1985)
The above are 3 quotes and excerpts taken from Blogpost Four Hundred, a collection of around 100 quotes on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html
Nobel Laureates uncover marvels of Allah's creation: HIV virus, HPV virus, Glowing Proteins, Symmetry, Asymmetry, Matter, Antimatter,Particles.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/10/416nobel-prize-winners-study-marvels-of.html
Mapping E8(248-dimensional mathematical object); Islam, Mathematics, Reasoning, Symmetry, Dimensions, Symbolism: an Update; Quotes of Aga Khan IV
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/410mapping-e8248-dimensional.html
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
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
Symmetry in nature; Symmetry as a product of the human mind: Part deux.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/293symmetry-in-nature-symmetry-as.html
Snowflakes, a beautiful, symmetric 'ayat'(sign) in creation and one of its marvels.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/292snowflakes-beautiful-symmetric.html
Symmetry in nature; Symmetry as a product of the human mind.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/288symmetry-in-nature-symmetry-as.html
Symmetry, Geometry and Mathematical harmony: The language of the cosmos.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2007/11/251symmetry-geometry-and-mathematical.html
Learning about geometry from the Maker of the cosmos.
http://easynash.blogspot.com/2007/04/151learning-geometry-from-maker-of.html
Traces of the Calligrapher: Islamic Calligraphy in Practice
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/01/23/traces-of-the-calligrapher-islamic-calligraphy-in-practice/
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, March 4, 2009
453)A Blog Constructed Within a Scaffolding of the Al Sijistani-Khusraw Cosmological Doctrine and, Everywhere I Turn, There is Blogpost Four Hundred..
Blogpost Four Hundred,
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html
has turned out to be the high octane fuel that powers my now 453-post blog on the Link between Science and Religion in Islam. The post known as Blogpost Four Hundred has had numerous earlier incremental incarnations that have evolved with and grown this blog from its inception in March 2006 to the present, all detailed here:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/10/412blogpost-four-hundred-and-all-its.html
From the time one of our apex institutions, The Institute of Ismaili Studies,
http://www.iis.ac.uk/home.asp?I=en
began to churn out high quality, well-researched books after 1977 I became fascinated with Philosphical Ismailism, particularly those books that revealed fusions between the so-called "pagan" philosophy of the Greeks, notably Plato, Plotinus and Aristotle, and longstanding Shia Ismaili Muslim theological thoughts and ideas. Interestingly, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas did the same with early Christianity and Moses Maimonides with Judaism. I discovered the Ikhwan Al Safa and the Fatimid Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-theologian-poets, the former operating in and around the Imamats of the 4th and 5th Shia Ismaili Imams, the latter around the 14th to 18th Shia Ismaili Imams. In keeping with my background and deep interest in Science(the Life Sciences in particular) I was always on the lookout for ways to connect these two interests and harmonise them into one cohesive whole:
http://www.iep.utm.edu/i/ismaili.htm
Concurrent to the above search I also studied and began a collection of Quranic Ayats, Prophetic Hadith, many speeches, interviews and irshads of our present Imam Aga Khan IV and some of his predecessor Imams like Aga Khan III, Imam Jafar As Sadiq and Imam Ali, excerpts of our well-known cosmologist-philosopher-poets of yesteryear like Abu Yakub Al Sijistani, Nasir Khusraw, Al Kirmani and finally excerpts from other well-known philosophers, scientists and scholars like Aristotle, Albert Einstein and Azim Nanji. My Blogpost Four Hundred is a collection of about one hundred excerpts and quotes by the above-mentioned, mostly Aga Khan IV, on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion.
My blog is constructed and conceived within a scaffolding of the Al Sijistani-Khusraw cosmological doctrine(identifying the four wellsprings of knowledge: Intellect, Soul, Natiq and Asas), allowing for the discoveries of modern, empirical science to fit neatly into its overall structure. Abu Yakub Al Sijistani and Nasir Khusraw were Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-theologian-poets who lived during the period of the 14th to 18th Fatimid Ismaili Imam-Caliphs in Egypt around a thousand years ago:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/284abu-yakub-al-sijistani-cosmologist.html
http://www.iep.utm.edu/k/khusraw.htm
http://www.iep.utm.edu/i/ikhwan.htm
My Blog has the following description:
"This blog contains my thoughts on the above, reflecting the tradition of Shia Ismaili Islam: The material universe is part of the structure of truth, the ultimate nature of which it is the goal of religion to reach(monoreality). Among other things this blog asks two questions, what is the universe made up of and how does it operate? The answer to these questions finds its way onto a continuum of knowledge ranging from rationally-acquired knowledge to transcendental knowledge of the divine.
The signature post of my blog, Blogpost Four Hundred, quotes by Aga Khan IV and others, forms a solid doctrinal underpinning to my blog.
Quote of the Blog:"The Quran itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation"(Aga Khan IV, Louvre Museum, Paris, France, October 17th 2007).
This is what drives my blog: The Prophet Mohammed said that the first(and only) thing that was originated, through the Divine Command or Will, by the Absolutely Transcendent God, was Intellect(Aql). Intellect(from which all else emanates) provides 'tayyid' or inspiration to Natiq(Speaking Prophet, of whom there were six great ones) and Soul; Natiq composes('talif') a scripture made up of words and sentences from this inspiration, and Soul composes('tarkib') a universe made up of matter from this inspiration. This is what forms the basis of the link between science and religion. The compositions of Natiq and Soul are equivalent(both called 'ayats' or 'signs') and each contains Intellect wrapped within it. The Asas(Founder) interprets('tawil') the compositions of the Natiq and Soul, unincorporating them to uncover Intellect in its pure glory."
And so the Blog continues.........
As I survey the universe around me and each new scientific discovery I am filled with indescribable awe, wonder and inspiration and cannot escape the realization that "Everywhere I turn, there is the Face of Allah" in immanence and transcendence.
Related posts:
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/12/21/easy-nashs-blogpost-four-hundred-updated-with-quotes-from-the-opening-of-the-delegation-of-the-ismaili-imamat/
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/tag/easy-nash/
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://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html
has turned out to be the high octane fuel that powers my now 453-post blog on the Link between Science and Religion in Islam. The post known as Blogpost Four Hundred has had numerous earlier incremental incarnations that have evolved with and grown this blog from its inception in March 2006 to the present, all detailed here:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/10/412blogpost-four-hundred-and-all-its.html
From the time one of our apex institutions, The Institute of Ismaili Studies,
http://www.iis.ac.uk/home.asp?I=en
began to churn out high quality, well-researched books after 1977 I became fascinated with Philosphical Ismailism, particularly those books that revealed fusions between the so-called "pagan" philosophy of the Greeks, notably Plato, Plotinus and Aristotle, and longstanding Shia Ismaili Muslim theological thoughts and ideas. Interestingly, St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas did the same with early Christianity and Moses Maimonides with Judaism. I discovered the Ikhwan Al Safa and the Fatimid Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-theologian-poets, the former operating in and around the Imamats of the 4th and 5th Shia Ismaili Imams, the latter around the 14th to 18th Shia Ismaili Imams. In keeping with my background and deep interest in Science(the Life Sciences in particular) I was always on the lookout for ways to connect these two interests and harmonise them into one cohesive whole:
http://www.iep.utm.edu/i/ismaili.htm
Concurrent to the above search I also studied and began a collection of Quranic Ayats, Prophetic Hadith, many speeches, interviews and irshads of our present Imam Aga Khan IV and some of his predecessor Imams like Aga Khan III, Imam Jafar As Sadiq and Imam Ali, excerpts of our well-known cosmologist-philosopher-poets of yesteryear like Abu Yakub Al Sijistani, Nasir Khusraw, Al Kirmani and finally excerpts from other well-known philosophers, scientists and scholars like Aristotle, Albert Einstein and Azim Nanji. My Blogpost Four Hundred is a collection of about one hundred excerpts and quotes by the above-mentioned, mostly Aga Khan IV, on the subjects of Knowledge, Intellect, Creation, Education, Science and Religion.
My blog is constructed and conceived within a scaffolding of the Al Sijistani-Khusraw cosmological doctrine(identifying the four wellsprings of knowledge: Intellect, Soul, Natiq and Asas), allowing for the discoveries of modern, empirical science to fit neatly into its overall structure. Abu Yakub Al Sijistani and Nasir Khusraw were Ismaili cosmologist-philosopher-theologian-poets who lived during the period of the 14th to 18th Fatimid Ismaili Imam-Caliphs in Egypt around a thousand years ago:
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/01/284abu-yakub-al-sijistani-cosmologist.html
http://www.iep.utm.edu/k/khusraw.htm
http://www.iep.utm.edu/i/ikhwan.htm
My Blog has the following description:
"This blog contains my thoughts on the above, reflecting the tradition of Shia Ismaili Islam: The material universe is part of the structure of truth, the ultimate nature of which it is the goal of religion to reach(monoreality). Among other things this blog asks two questions, what is the universe made up of and how does it operate? The answer to these questions finds its way onto a continuum of knowledge ranging from rationally-acquired knowledge to transcendental knowledge of the divine.
The signature post of my blog, Blogpost Four Hundred, quotes by Aga Khan IV and others, forms a solid doctrinal underpinning to my blog.
Quote of the Blog:"The Quran itself repeatedly recommends Muslims to become better educated in order better to understand God's creation"(Aga Khan IV, Louvre Museum, Paris, France, October 17th 2007).
This is what drives my blog: The Prophet Mohammed said that the first(and only) thing that was originated, through the Divine Command or Will, by the Absolutely Transcendent God, was Intellect(Aql). Intellect(from which all else emanates) provides 'tayyid' or inspiration to Natiq(Speaking Prophet, of whom there were six great ones) and Soul; Natiq composes('talif') a scripture made up of words and sentences from this inspiration, and Soul composes('tarkib') a universe made up of matter from this inspiration. This is what forms the basis of the link between science and religion. The compositions of Natiq and Soul are equivalent(both called 'ayats' or 'signs') and each contains Intellect wrapped within it. The Asas(Founder) interprets('tawil') the compositions of the Natiq and Soul, unincorporating them to uncover Intellect in its pure glory."
And so the Blog continues.........
As I survey the universe around me and each new scientific discovery I am filled with indescribable awe, wonder and inspiration and cannot escape the realization that "Everywhere I turn, there is the Face of Allah" in immanence and transcendence.
Related posts:
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/2008/12/21/easy-nashs-blogpost-four-hundred-updated-with-quotes-from-the-opening-of-the-delegation-of-the-ismaili-imamat/
http://ismailimail.wordpress.com/tag/easy-nash/
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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