This is a Readers Article. The views, opinions and understanding expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect our own understanding on the issue. Any visitor, with a membership may write an article which would be posted on these pages.
> This is off topic. I happen to read here, so I though I might
> post:
>
> The Noble Qur’an, Chapter II, Verse 28:
>
> “How can ye reject the faith in Allah? – seeing that ye were
> without life, and He gave you life; then will He cause you to die,
> and will again bring you to life; and again to Him will ye
> return.”
>
> Is this mention of reincarnation, or what?
Dear brother,
Of course it is reincarnation. Let me give you more examples in the
Qur’an which will be posed to the ulema (Islamic learned scholars)
in future:
I. Rebirth: Surah 22:5 Al Hajj (The Pilgrimage)
Mankind! if ye have a doubt about the Resurrection, (Consider) that
We created you out of dust, then out of sperm,
Then out of leech-like clot, partly formed and partly unformed, in
order that We may manifest (Our Power) to you;
And We cause whom We will to rest in the womb for an appointed term.
Then do we bring you out as babes, (then foster) you, that ye may
reach your age of full strength;
And some of you are called to die, and some are sent back to the
feeblest old age,
So that they know nothing after having known much.2776
surah 22:5 Al Hajj (The Pilgrimage)
(Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’an, Amana Corporation, 1989.)
Here the subtle message of reincarnation is hidden in the last
line: “So that they know nothing after having known much.”
But all the Muslim theologians could muster is this: “Here it is
used to illustrate Allah’s power in giving us a future Life of
even greater promise.” Yes, that’s all the illumination they
could give to a billion Muslims!
The stages human growth begins with the spring of childhood that
takes us through many, many enriching experiences where innocence is
bliss, and life an unending Divine Dream. Adolescent and a good
education expand our vision of the world and enable us to grasp and
penetrate the constantly unfolding mysteries of life. The zest of
youth ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ the raging desires for the summer of life ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ overcomes
most barriers, taboos and restrictions. Caution is a fool’s fear
and blunders become landmarks on the landscape of Life to be avoided
in future. The transition into adulthood quickens the pace of
learning as added responsibilities increases experience, vision and
application of past knowledge. Life revolves around marriage,
children and the pursuit of wealth and happiness. The learning
process is in full swing. Then friends dwindle. Relatives disappear.
Children leave. Increasingly the stark realities of a mature world
bring about bittersweet lessons, bestowing an autumn maturity not
found in youth. There is little left to learn. One becomes wise.
Slowly age starts to sap the vigor, and the fires in the loins begin
to flicker and fade. The world passes by, hardly stopping to pay
attention. Old friends fall and are swallowed by the earth. Life-
partners depart without a parting kiss, a final goodbye, a few last
words of thanks. The solitude of life’s cold winter silences. A
million memories are relived. Countless experiences are remembered.
There is nothing more to learn, only to be reflected. Knowledge of
life is complete.
So why does the Qur’an accuse humans of knowing nothing despite
knowing all? Why this deliberate contradiction in the same sentence?
What is the baffling paradox of “they know nothing after having
known much”?
But we know nothing after having known so much. We know nothing of
our past lives. We know nothing of our past existence as spiritual
beings. We know nothing of our past experiences in His Dominion. We
know nothing of The Almighty Creator. We know nothing. We know
nothing despite knowing so much.
The Signs of Allah are everywhere for us to see and learn by
observance. We must know that spring will again burst forth in all
its splendor of hope, rejuvenation and renewal. We must know that
whatever we learn from all the seasons of this life will be the
seeds of rebirth. We must know that good deeds produce good seeds.
“Could you describe the process of reincarnation?
Reincarnation, known in Sanskrit as samsara, is a very openly
discussed subject these days. Shirley MacLaine went “out on a
limb” on this subject and made popular throughout the United
States. Now nearly every television script has standard statements
written into it such as “See you in the next life,” or “I
must have known you in a past life.” The TV serial “Quantum
Leap” is a great example of a program that is bringing this
knowledge of a one soul inhabiting many bodies to the forefront of
mass consciousness. I talked with Shirley a few weeks ago in San
Francisco and told her what a fantastic job we all thought she is
doing in spreading this knowledge, and assured her that she has the
full support of Hindus. . . .
Answer #1: Reincarnation, yes, carnate means flesh. The word
reincarnate means to “reenter the flesh.” We Hindus believe
the soul is immortal and keeps reentering a fleshy body time and
time again in order to resolve experiences and thereby learn all the
lessons life in the material world has to offer.
Answer #2: There have been many recorded out-of-the-body
experiences. These have been researched by scientists, psychiatrists
and parapsychologists during the last decade and documented in some
very good books. Even science is discovering reincarnation.
Answer #3: Yes, we Hindus believe in reincarnation. To us, it
explains the natural way the soul evolves from immaturity to
spiritual illumination. I myself have had many lives before this one
and expect to have more. Finally, when I have it all worked out and
all the lessons have been learned, I will attain mukti. This means I
will still exist but no longer be pulled back to incarnate in a
physical body.”
Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami
(Himalayan Academy, 1998, www.hinduismtoday.kauai.hi.us/welcome.html)
II. Rebirth: Surah 39:42 Al Zumar (Crowds)
It is Allah that takes the souls at death: And those that die not
during their sleep:
Those on whom He has passed the decree of death, He keeps back, 4308
but the rest He sends for a term appointed.
Verily in this are Signs for those who reflect.
surah 39:42 Al Zumar (Crowds)
4308. Sleep being twin-brother to Death, our souls are for the
time being released from the bondage of the flesh. Allah takes them
for the time being. If, as some do, we are to die peacefully in
sleep, our soul does not come back to the physical body, and the
later decays and dies. If we still have some period of life to
fulfill according to Allah’s decree, our soul comes back to the
body, and we resume our function in this life.،¨
Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur،¦an, Amana Corporation, 1989, p.
1193.
This explanation makes no sense if there is no acceptance of rebirth:
1. How will our soul come back to the body?
2. Why must the soul come back to this body?
3. When will the soul come back to this body?
4. How will this remaining period of life be fulfilled?
5. Why is there some remaining period of life to be fulfilled?
6. How is it possible to have only one life if the soul comes back
into another body?
The Qur’an explains that Allah takes back all souls, whether the
owner dies in sleep or while awake. Those who have sinned are marked
for Death and kept by HIM, to be given the appropriate punishments.
The rest, who have committed only minor sins, are sent back for an
appointed time. They are neither sent to heaven or hell. The Kingdom
of Heaven is only inhabited by pure souls who have completely rid
themselves of all ignorance. The vast majority of humans are far
from being spiritually purified to enter the Promised Paradise.
Their souls are again sent back to redeem themselves and remove all
lingering ignorance and impurities. This cycle goes on and on until
their souls get purified enough to enter His Kingdom.
The Qur’an directs that “verily in this are Signs for those
who reflect.” God is informing humans to reflect, as there are far-
reaching and profound Revelations for those who think and ponder.
Allah has given a clear direction for this surah 39:42 to be
examined as it holds priceless spiritual treasures for those who
look for the Signs. Then, is this Sign the mundane single life
theory of spiritually retarded Islamic scholars, or is it the mind-
boggling burst of Cosmic Evolution? Why do fools and fundamentalists
reduce the Intelligence of Allah down to their primate levels?
Abdullah Yusuf Ali and his eminent scholars downplay the importance
of this surah into obscurity, even though Allah has directed
that “verily in this are Signs for those who reflect.” The
Muslims are supposed to find the Signs by having deliberations as to
the meanings of these beacons of spiritual Truth, and guide
themselves higher towards Cosmic Consciousness. Instead the Islamic
Defrauders (Al-Mutaffin) conveniently refrained from any further
explanation.
1) Why this indifference to a deeper interpretation of this
surah?
2) Why this abrupt end to the interpretation of a verse that
Allah had directed to be reflected for Signs?
3) Why this lack of enlightenment in the narration of a verse
that reflected a profound Truth?
4) Why are so many minor surahs examined in detail, while vital
ones left mutilated and unrecognizable?
The answer is as simple as it is sinister: It would force them to
admit reincarnation, a pristine Knowledge that Allah had revealed to
Hindus and Buddhists millenniums earlier. Accepting rebirth would
open the floodgates of a vast and pristine spiritual Knowledge of
the East that would reduce the stature of the Qur’an, exposing the
Muslim masses to superior spiritual Scriptures. It was far safer to
obscure the Truth and keep the religious herd captive with
relentless empty rhetoric of religious superiority and triumph.
“Mohammedans are, in the main, not reincarnationists. A text from
the Koran, much quoted by those who believe in rebirth, runs,
God generates beings and hence they return over and over again,
until they return to him. . . . In the early days of Islam, however,
there was widespread belief in reincarnation in each of three forms.
There was hulul, the periodic incarnation of the perfect man or
deity; rij’at, the return of an imam or spiritual leader after
death; and tanasukh, reincarnation of the souls of ordinary men. As
with other faiths, rebirth was said to have been taught by the
leaders of Islam who succeeded the Prophet to select inner circles,
but not to the masses ،X though no ordinary Moslem who accepted
the belief in it or favoured it would be regarded as heretical.،¨
David Christie-Murray, Reincarnation: Ancient Beliefs and Modern
Evidence, Prism Press, 1988, p. 46-7.)
“Edgar Cayce, the greatest American clairvoyant of the twentieth
century, didn’t believe a word he was saying. The date was August
10, 1923, and Cayce, deep in a self-imposed hypnotic trance, was
asserting, contrary to his conscious belief that people
are reborn in different bodies. Listening subsequently to a
transcript of his words, Cayce was shocked and confounded. For
incarnation was alien and repulsive to the sensibilities of this
devout Presbyterian who taught a Sunday school and read the Bible
daily.”
Joe Fisher, The Case for Reincarnation,
Collins Publishers, 1984, p. 160-61.
“Hindus generally accept the doctrine of transmigration and
rebirth and the complimentary belief in karma, or previous acts as
the condition into which a being, after a stay in heaven or hell, is
reborn in one form or another. The whole process of rebirth is
called samsara. Any worldly process is viewed as cyclic, and all
worldly existence is subject to the cycle. Samsara has no beginning
and, in most cases, no end; it is not a cycle of progress or a
process of purification but a matter of perpetual attachment. Karma,
acting like a clockwork that, while running down, always winds
itself up, binds the atmas (selves) of the beings to the world and
compels them to go through an endless series of births and deaths.
This belief is indissolubly connected with the traditional Indian
views of society and worldly life, and any social interaction
(particularly those involving sex and food) results in the mutual
exchange of good and bad karma. It has given rise to the belief that
any misfortune is the effect of karma, or one’s own deeds, and to
the conviction that the course of world history is conditioned by
collective karma. . . .
Although unlimitedly expansive, God is conceived to be essentially
different from everything material, the absolute opposite of any
evil, free from any imperfection, omniscient, omnipotent, possessed
of all positive qualities (such as knowledge, bliss, beauty, and
truth), of incomparable majesty, the inner soul of all beings, and
the ultimate goal of all religious effort. The universe is
considered a real transformation of brahman, whose ‘body’
consists of the conscious souls and everything unconscious in their
subtle and gross states. The karma doctrine is modified as follows:
the Lord, having determined good and bad deeds, provides all
individual souls with a body in which they perform deeds, reveals to
them the scriptures from which they may learn the dharma, and enters
into them as the internal regulator. The individual acts as his own
discretion but needs the Lord’s assent. If the devotee wishes to
please him, God induces him, with infallible justice and loving
regard, to intentions and efforts to perform good deeds by which the
devotee will attain him; if not, God keeps him from that goal.،¨
The New Encyclopaedia Britannica 1992
“Many of the so-called new religions of Japan include
reincarnation among beliefs which have been laid down over the past
140 years. Tentikyoi, a religion that boasts more than two million
adherents teaches that man is reborn many times and that children
inherit the consequences of their parents’ previous lives.”
Joe Fisher, The Case for Reincarnation, Collins Publishers, 1984, p.
125.
“The most important point to remember is that at the individual
level, reincarnation becomes not a question of proof or faith but of
personal experiences that give meaning and dimension to our present
life.”
Rosicrucian Digest (October, 1979)
“If you want to know the past, look at your present life. If you
want to know the future, look at your present.”
Gautama Buddha
“Rebirth is an affirmation that must be counted among the
primordial affirmations of mankind.”
Carl Jung
“We all return; it is this certainty that gives meaning to life
and it does not make the slightest difference whether or not in a
later incarnation we remember the former life. What counts is not
the individual and his comfort, but the great aspiration to the
perfect and the pure which goes on in each incarnation.”
Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
III. Rebirth: Surah 2.28 Al Baqarah (The Heifer)
O How can ye reject the faith in Allah ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬
Seeing that ye werewithout life,1 and He gave you life;
Then will He cause you to die, 2
and will again bring you to life; 3
and again to Him will ye return.
surah 2.28 Al Baqarah (The Heifer)
(Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’an, Amana Corporation, 1989.)
1. Allah informs humans that seeing them without life (dead) HE gave
them life. The only way they could have been dead is by being alive
before, and then succumbing to death. If there was no previous birth
then how is it possible for one to die? If one is not even born how
does one die? One has to be previously alive to be subsequently
dead. By Allah giving them life HE clearly confirms previous births
and ensuing deaths!
2. The same individual is brought to life again, and then caused to
die again, confirming yet another life or rebirth.
3. Yet again this same individual is again brought to life,
confirming yet another life or rebirth.
In this surah the same soul went through two deaths and rebirths and
there is no indication how many previous rebirths were there, or
when this cycle will end. In fact the very words “and again to
Him will ye return” strongly hint that the process will continue.
There is no acknowledgment of Judgement Day, an event that occurs
during Qiyamah!
Every death brings humans back to Allah and those marked for death
(as they have sinned beyond redemption) are held back, but the rest
sent back to continue the purification process. This process of
life, death, life, death, life, death continues relentlessly until
the individual ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ through sustained spiritual cleansing and
stepping up into higher consciousness ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ is eligible for
everlasting life in Paradise.
If this is not achieved then the process goes on until the Day of
Qiyamah when rampant anti-god activities have become intolerable,
and Allah’s hope that humans will mend their ways fades. Then His
Truth is announced for those who want to enter His Kingdom and a
line drawn between the True Believers (Al-Mu’minun) and the rest
of humanity. This becomes His Grace of Qiyamah. When there are no
humans desiring salvation left on Earth, the End comes to those
remaining in the form of the Second Coming of Christ.
The wise priest knows he now must reap the fruits of deeds of former
births. For be they many or but few, deeds done in covetousness or
hate, or through infatuation’s power, must bear their needful
consequence. Hence not to covetousness, nor hate, nor to
infatuation’s power the wise priest yields, but knowledge seeks and
leaves the way to punishment.
Anguttara Nikaya iii. 33 (Garland Sutra 10, p. 188.)
Put not off from day to day and from cycle to cycle, in the belief
that ye will succeed in obtaining the mysteries,
When ye return to the world in another cycle.
Lord Jesus Christ (Pistis Sophia)
“By the turn of the century, it is likely that among the most
preposterous will be the idea that we only have one life to live.”
Sybil Leek
“My opinion is that we shall be reincarnated . . . and that
hereafter we shall suffer or benefit in accordance with what we have
done in this world. For example, the employer who sweats his
workpeople will be condemned to be sweated himself . . .”
David Llyod George (British Prime Minister 1916-1922)
“A hundred years ago Bedlam would have been the place for anyone
who voiced the fact that in the future we would be able to
communicate with countries across the sea by seeing and hearing ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬
or with men on the moon. In a century to come perhaps science and
regressive hypnotism will have finally proven the fact of our many lives.”
Clarice Toyne
IV. Rebirth: Surah 4:97-99 Al Nisa (The Women)
When angels take the souls of those who die in sin against their
souls.
Except those who are weak and oppressed ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ Men, women and children
who have no means in their power,
Nor ( a guide post) to direct their way.
For these, there is hope that Allah will forgive:
For Allah doth blot out (sins) and forgive again and again.
surah 4:97-99 Al Nisa (The Women)
(Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’an, Amana Corporation, 1989.)
All humans who are mentally incapable, ignorant, or still
uncivilized will be forgiven for not being able to able to attain
everlasting life. With a single stroke the Qur’an excuses those
unfortunate to realize HIM ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ the infirm, sick, mentally retarded,
ignorant, those dying prematurely, illiterate tribes and other
disadvantaged beings. When the Qur’an was revealed 1,400 years ago
there were many backward communities and some still exist today. All
these souls will be forgiven again and again for not being able to
fulfill their obligation to Allah. But they will not be allowed to
enter His Kingdom. Repeatedly (rebirth after rebirth) they will be
forgiven as they slowly evolve towards increasing enlightenment in
each succeeding life, until they realize the Ultimate Reality (Al-
Haqqah).
Every human being will be given repeated chances, depending on his
actions on Earth, to attain HIS Promised Paradise. Their past good
karma unfailingly rewards them in each successive life and they are
inexorably drawn higher up the Spiritual Spiral, no matter under
what circumstances they are born. There are no short cuts or
exemptions; all are equal in HIS eyes and have to perform their
duties. Those unable will be forgiven again and again. His Mercy is
only possible through rebirth, again and again. If this is not the
case then Allah has already condemned hundreds of millions to hell
through absolutely no fault of theirs. This is an outright atrocity
and a deliberate mass genocide from a murderous, psychopathic god.
Muslims should know even corrupt humans are capable of far better
judgement and genuine compassion.
Homo sapiens have no knowledge of the number of times they are
reborn before attaining complete spiritual Knowledge and purity. For
primitive people such a state of being is still far away, but they
will be forgiven again and again through repeated rebirths till they
attain God-Realization. The Islamic interpreters have given no clue
as to what will happen to these unfortunate souls; will they be
allowed into Paradise or not? If the Qur’an says that they are
eligible, then where is it stated? And if they are not allowed to
enter then how are they going to redeem themselves? They have no
answer and never will.
“Death is defined differently according to what people believe
themselves to be. If they are only the body and brain (as with
humanists or atheists), then death is the end of sensory experience,
of self. If we live once, death ends our only sojourn on Earth and
is naturally dreaded. If we are born again and again, it loses its
dread in light of the soul’s pilgrimage to eternity. No matter how
ill, how infirm our condition, there is a serene and consoling
center of our being to which we can adjourn, the Source within. It
is more us than our body, more us than our mind and emotion. It will
not die. It does not hurt or fear. As physical debility and death
draw near, we seek this center, whether we call it Paramatma, God,
Self or Divine Consciousness. In the Krishna Yajur Veda, Katha
Upanishad, Yama, Lord of Death, explains: “Death is a mere
illusion which appears to those who cannot grasp Absolute Reality.
The soul is immortal, self-existent, self-luminous and never
dies.” “
Himalayan Academy, 1998,
www.hinduismtoday.kauai.hi.us/welcome.html
“I know I am deathless. We have thus far exhausted trillions of
winters and summers. There are trillions ahead, and trillions ahead
of them.”
Whalt Whitman, Leaves of Grass,
The Viking Press, New York 1965, p. 43.)
“I did not begin when I was born, nor when I was conceived. I
have been growing, developing, through incalculable myriads of
millenniums. . . . All my previous selves have their voices, echoes,
promptings, in me. . . . Oh! Incalculable times again shall I be
born. . . . There is no death.”
Jack London, The Star Rover,
Macmillan Co., 1943, p. 241-42.
“I did not find it at all difficult to imagine that I might have
lived centuries ago; and that I encountered problems that I still
not able to solve at that time; therefore I had to get born again
for not having been able to accomplish the task received.”
Carl Jung, Memories, Dreams and Reflections,
Pantheon, 1963, p. 323.
“We choose our next world through what we learn in this one. . .
. But you, you learned so much at one time that you didn’t have to
go through a thousand lives to reach this one.”
Richard Bach, Jonathan Livingston,
Pan Books Ltd., 1973, p. 54.
“There is inhalation, there is exhalation; there is death, there
is rebirth. Such is the drama of continuity that sustains the all-
pervading process in which we are enveloped. As the catalyst of
transformation on which the evolution of all matter and spirit
depends, reincarnation is ceaselessly within us and around us. From
the tiniest micro to the macro most huge, cycles that hinge on
rebirth and regeneration are proceeding at every conceivable level
of life.
The idea of palingenesis (a word of Greek and Latin origin literally
meaning “again, birth”) is as old as the human race. Eastern
mystics have long viewed the universe in terms of samsara, or
continuous death and rebirth . . . The rational West, trussed for
centuries in a strait-jacket tailored by scientific concepts that
impeded any meeting of matter and spirit, looked condescendingly
upon this exotic interpretation. Until, that is, science was pushed
into a magnificent transformation of its own perceptions. The
transformation was triggered by Einstein’s theories of relativity
which showed that there was much to time, space and motion in the
universe than classical Newtonian physics allowed. Next came the
development of quantum mechanics and its rigorous inquiry into the
nature of subatomic phenomena . . . Writes Gary Zukav in The Dancing
Wu Li Masters:
Every subatomic interaction consists of the annihilation of the
original particles and the creation of new subatomic particles. The
subatomic world is a continual dance of creation and annihilation,
of mass changing to energy and energy changing to mass. Transient
forms sparkle in and out of existence creating a never-ending,
forever-newly-created reality.
In other words, science advances the hypothesis that a microscopic
form of rebirth underlies everything in the physical world. In The
Tao of Physics Fritjof Capra refers to these subatomic particles as
being “destructible and indestructible at the same time.”
This is precisely what is being implied by reincarnation: even as we
die we are capable of activating another body. Destructible yet
indestructible. Dead yet very much alive.
A similar process is taking place among the fifty trillion cells in
the human body. At a rate that defies imagination, old cells perish
and new ones are created from a mixture of the dead material and
freshly absorbed nutrients. Every second, two million oxygen-
carrying red cells are dying and being replaced while the hundreds
of millions of cells in the human gut renew themselves completely
every one or two days. Tracer studies have shown that, in the course
of a year, approximately 98 per cent of the atoms in the human body
are replaced by other atoms ingested with air, food and drink. Colin
Wilson argues in his work The Occult that . . . Life is not at the
mercy of death. It is in control of death. Half a billion years ago,
it learned the secret of reincarnation.
Shooting far beyond the body into the vastness of space, the same
principle appears to be at work in the most macroscopic of worlds.
While agreeing to disagree on the finer points of theory, many
cosmologists and astro-physics suggest that the universe is
oscillating, forever dying in order to be reborn . . . Renowned
astro-physicist John Gribben says he believes the universe “rolls
on forever in an eternal cycle in which death is merely the
necessary prelude to rebirth.” “
Joe Fisher, The Case for Reincarnation,
Collins Publishers, 1984, p. 23-5.
“7. East meets West. When the Beatles brought meditation and the
sitar back from India, they helped popularize the Eastern spiritual
and healing traditions that have changed the way the West thinks.
Since then, Eastern methods and beliefs have become household words:
meditation and yoga, yin-yang (non-dualist thinking), karma (the law
of cause and effect), maya (belief that the world is only one
insubstantial manifestation of reality), prana or chi (the life
force flowing through the body), and nirvana (the state on non-
attachment, i.e. enlightenment.) Hindu and Buddhist beliefs in
reincarnation, and their appreciation for the present moment, differ
from the Western model of redemption in the afterlife and encourage
us to relax into the mysterious unfolding of eternity.”
New Age Journal, The 10 Best of the New Age,
January/February 1997, p. 131.
“Individual action (karma) plays a key role in the preservation
of universal harmony, but it also significantly affects a person’s
involvement in the social and material world. According to the law
of karma, every deed generates a result that contributes to a
person’s further involvement or withdrawal from this world. The
Hindu tradition recognizes a cycle of rebirth (samsara) in which the
individual soul (atman) is repeatedly reincarnated. The actions
performed in this life also contribute to an individual’s fate in
his or her next life. As the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad explains, one
becomes virtuous by virtuous action, evil by evil action.
Although karma ties a person to the pleasures as well as to the
pains of this world, it is believed that the soul ultimately longs
to escape from the cycle of rebirth. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna
teaches that one cannot simply avoid acting, but one can strive to
avoid attachment to actions and their results. Through virtuous
living and detachment from the consequences of one’s behavior ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬
that is, acting disinterestedly, free of egotistical concern and
desire ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ an individual can advance through a series of lives
until he or she reaches spiritual perfection, realizing the final
goal of moksa and achieving release from samsara.”
Professor Mary McGee, Eastern Wisdom,
Duncan Baird Publishers, England, 1996, p. 26.
V. Rebirth: Surah 56:60-61 Al Waqi’ah (The Inevitable)
We have decreed Death to be your common lot, 5250
And We are not to be frustrated from changing your forms,
And creating you (again) in (forms) that ye know not.
surah 56:60-61 Al Waqi’ah (The Inevitable)
(Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’an, Amana Corporation, 1989.)
Allah has prescribed physical death to be a normal fact of
existence. Since the spirit of humans is eternal, material death in
no way effects it. The individual spirit remains in its pure state,
in the endless cycle of death, rebirth, and death again of each and
every gross body it occupies. Allah can never ever be prevented
from “changing your forms;” your present human form. You may
be born again blind, retarded, sickly, rich, poor, evil, mad, dumb,
intelligent, ugly, or idiotic. Allah can never ever be obstructed
from “creating you again”; giving you birth again. You may be
born a Jew, Japanese, Hindu, aborigine, Muslim, black, prostitute,
or king, Allah can never ever be averted from transforming you
again “in forms that ye know not.” You may be created again
as an insect, ape, tree, chicken, or dog.
Only if humans are changed into other forms does death become a
common lot. Only if humans are changed into other forms does rebirth
become a common lot. Only if death becomes a common lot does rebirth
become a common lot. Only if humans are changed into other forms
does death and rebirth become a common lot. It is common sense.
But this common sense of repeated death has been deliberately and
deceitfully misinterpreted. These learned Islamic scholars knew that
by interpreting common lot as repeated death would be to also
acknowledge repeated rebirth. Then they would have to acknowledge to
the reincarnation doctrines of the eastern religions and expose
their indoctrinated prisoners to a fundamental Truth of Allah’s
other Messengers. It was easier to resort to falsehood than expose
their conditioned captives to this timeless Reality, no matter how
illogical the theory of a single life looked against the background
of an evolving universe in the splendor of endless regeneration.
With the craft and cunning of a deceiving mind they twisted His
Truth with this interpretation;
Islamic interpretation # 5250
“Just as Allah has created this life that we see, so He has
decreed that Death should be the common lot of all of us. Surely, if
He can thus give life and death, as we see it, why should we refuse
to believe that He can give us other forms when this life is over?
The Future Life, though indicated by what we know now, is to be on a
wholly different plane.”
Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’an, Amana Corporation, 1989.
Abdullah Yusuf Ali and his scholars agree that Allah can give us
other forms in future lives. What are these forms? They just
don’t know (or want to know)! Abdullah Yusuf Ali and his forty
scholars ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ the Defrauders (Al-Mutaffin) ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ apply their version
of “other forms when this life is over” to the Future Life.
What is their version? Nobody knows! And one billion naive humans
also do not know, preferring to keep their heads in the sand and
remain blissfully ignorant.
But there is a collective cause for this mass learning disability.
The majority of Muslims are non-Arabic and do not understand the
Qur’an. It doesn’t matter to fools if blind theologians or
ignorant scholars lead them. After all, ignorance is bliss.
“God, the Almighty, the Knower, the Cognizant knows that the
majority of the Muslims in the world will not be reading, speaking
or understanding Arabic. 90% of the Muslims in this world ( about
900 millions) cannot read, understand or speak Arabic.”
Dr. Rashad Khalifa, Ph.d
Masjid Tucson, United Submitters International,
PO Box 43476, Tucson, AZ, USA.
“Translations of the Qur’an in other languages are not called the
Qur’an. They are called ma’al or explanations of the Qur’an. If they
have been prepared by devout Muslims who are experts and who have
good intentions towards the subject, they can be read in order to
understand the meaning of the Qur’an. There is nothing wrong in
this. They cannot be read as the Qur’an itself. It is not reward-
deserving to read them as the Qur’an. It is a sin, instead. Muslims
should read the Qur’an as Allahu ta’ala revealed it. It is reward-
deserving also to read it without understanding the meaning.
Certainly it is all the more reward ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ deserving and better to
read it and to understand the meaning.
The Arabic spoken in Egypt, Iraq, Hijaz and Morocco is not the same
in each of these countries. In which of these dialects of Arabic
will the Qur’an be explained? For understanding the Qur’an, it is
necessary to know Quraish Arabic, not today’s Arabic.”
ihlas@i… (Waqf Ikhlas, Istanbul, 1995.)
VI. Rebirth: Surah 71:13-14 Nuh (Noah)
“What is the matter with you, that ye place not your hope for
kindness and long-suffering in Allah ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬
Seeing that it is He that created you in diverse stages?
surah 71:13-14 (Nuh)
(Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’an, Amana Corporation, 1989.)
This surah reinforces verse 23:12-15 (Al Mu’minun.) If Allah says
that He produced humans in diverse stages then they cannot grasp the
enormity of this diverseness. The Holy Scriptures proclaim that each
individual spirit have to pass through 6,400,000 stages of diverse
life forms before the stage of a human being is reached. That is the
diversity that the Qur’an talks about, not what their interpreters
think it is. These are the evolutionary rebirths that Allah is
talking about, not what Islamic mullahs conjecture.
We all existed from the very beginning of creation. You and me were
there the very instant the universe burst into existence in a nano-
second from within the Primordial Atom of Divine Desire. Everything
that we see and do not see, everything that we know and do not know
existed since that Primordial Beginning.
Since then we have all taken a long, torturous path, ever evolving
into higher life forms in HIS infinitely complex, interlinked,
interdependent Circle of Life. We are not a single life that the
Creator just molded out of clay and sent to Earth. It was far easier
for Allah to just simply say that He created humans out of clay
(earth elements) than explain even the faintest hint of evolution to
unsophisticated, uneducated desert dwellers hundreds of 600 AD.
The evolutionary pattern now emerging is that the Homo erectus are
now Homo sapiens and have to evolve into Homo spiritus. It is only
in the last 30,000 years or so that humans have become conscious of
God. During the last 10,000 years Primordial Messengers of Allah
began descending on Earth, one after another in different parts and
times, to illumine the human race of the existence of their Creator.
After thousands of years we now have the religious education and
spiritual maturity to realize The Almighty Creator within our own
beings and communicate with Him. Humans have now reached a critical
point in their long evolutionary trek and today, after experiencing
all the life-forms of God Almighty, are ready for the next and final
stage ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ becoming the spirit! (This awareness that we were, at one
point of our evolution, all that we see around us ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ from the
minute plankton to the mighty blue whale, from the tiny ant to the
magnificent elephant, from the primitive primate to the modern Homo
sapiens ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ humbles our arrogant ego and halts our senseless
destruction of Nature to satisfy wanton needs. Evolution is much
more than a Darwinian science. It is the faintest Reality of being
born in a conscious Cosmic Womb called Mother Earth.)
In the next millennium we will begin to metamorphose ourselves into
the spirit. This evolutionary process is within us, its triggering
point located at the Mooladhara Chakra. Every human is endowned with
absolutely equal means of self-metamorphosis, without any threat of
excommunication or fear of apostasy from any religious regime.HM All
seekers of the Spirit are free to abandon the Idols of organized
sects and commune directly with Allah. This is the Age of the Homo
Spiritus, the promised Resurrection.
“Karma literally means ‘action’ . . . the system of rewards and
punishments attached to various actions. Thus it refers to a system
of cause and effect that may span several lifetimes. That is, human
beings get rewarded or punished according to the merits and demerits
of their behavior. The theory of karma also implies continuing
rebirths (samsara.) Liberation from them (moksa), according to the
Upanishads, comes from a supreme, experiential, transforming wisdom.
When one gets this transforming knowledge, one is never reborn and
never dies; one attains immortality. The word for ‘immortal’ in
Sanskrit is a-mrta (‘without death)’. Rebirth or reincarnation and
its connection with karma ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ notions that are central to the later
Hindu tradition ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ are articulated clearly in the Upanishads. So
also is the ultimate goal, liberation from the cycle of birth and
death. The quest for a unifying truth is a distinctive feature of
the Upanisads, and recurs in Hindu philosophical traditions of later
centuries. In the Mundaka Upanisad (1.1.3), the one who seeks the
truth phrases his question, ‘What is it that being known, all else
becomes known?’
Unifying truth comes with enlightenment, which may be related to but
quite distinct from book learning. The Brihadaranyaka Upanisad of
the Yajur Veda has some lines reflecting the quest for wisdom that
characterizes the Upanisads:
Lead me from the unreal to reality. Lead me from darkness to light.
Lead me from death to immortality. Om, let there be peace, peace,
peace.
The Upanisads distinguish ‘lower’ knowledge, or that which can be
conceptualized and articulated, from the ‘higher’ knowledge of true
wisdom. Significantly enough, in later centuries the ‘higher’ wisdom
is divorced from Vedic or any book learning or conceptual knowledge.
One is freed from the birth-and-death cycle by an enlightenment
experience.
This higher wisdom comes from experientially knowing the
relationship between the human soul (Atman) and the Supreme Being
(Brahman.) Brahman pervades and yet transcends the universe as well
as human thought. Ultimately, Brahman cannot be described . . . To
know Brahman is to enter a new state of consciousness; to know
Brahman is to reach the Supreme.”
Professor Vasudha Narayanan, World Religions: The Hindu Tradition,
Oxford University Press Canada, 1996 p. 31-2.
“Steps in Evolution
Life originated more than 3.4 billion years ago, when the Earth’s
environment was much different than that of today. Especially
important was the lack of significant amounts of free oxygen in the
atmosphere. Experiments have shown that rather complicated organic
molecules, including amino acids, can arise spontaneously under
conditions that are believed to simulate the Earth’s primitive
environment. Concentration of such molecules evidently led to the
synthesis of active chemical groupings of molecules, such as
proteins, and eventually to interactions among chemical compounds. A
rudimentary genetic system eventually arose and was elaborated by
natural selection into the complicated mechanisms of inheritance
known today. The earliest organisms must have fed on nonliving
organic compounds, but chemical and solar energy sources were soon
tapped. Photosynthesis freed organisms from their dependence on
organic compounds and also released oxygen so the atmosphere and
oceans gradually became more hospitable to advanced life forms . . .
In order for complex animal communities to develop, plants must
first become established to support herbivore populations, which in
turn may support predators and scavengers. Land plants appeared
about 400 million years ago, spreading from lowland swamps as
expanding greenbelts. Arthropods (some evolving into insects) and
other invertebrate groups followed them onto land, and finally land
vertebrates (amphibians at first) rose from freshwater fish nearly
360 million years ago. In general, the subsequent radiations of land
vertebrates made them increasingly independent of water and
increasingly active. Dinosaurs and mammals shared the terrestrial
environment for 135 million years; dinosaurs may well have been more
active, and certainly were larger, than their mammalian
contemporaries, which were small and possibly nocturnal. The
mammals, however, survived a wave of extinction that eliminated
dinosaurs about 65 million years ago, and subsequently diversified
into many of the habitats and modes of life that formerly had been
dinosaurian.
Humans belong to an order of mammals, the primates, which existed
before the dinosaurs became extinct. Early primates seem to have
been tree dwelling and may have resembled squirrels in their habits.
Many of the primate attributes ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ the short face, overlapping
visual fields, grasping hands, large brains, and perhaps even
alertness and curiosity ƒ¢¢â€š¬¢â‚¬ must have been acquired as arboreal
adaptations. Descent from tree habitats to forest floors and
eventually to more open country, however, was associated with the
development of many of the unique features of the human primate,
including erect posture and reduced canine teeth, which suggest new
habits of feeding. A shift to cooperative hunting and gathering,
with concomitant requirements for a high level of intelligence and
social organization, accompanied the rise of the modern human
species within the last 2 million years or so . . .”
Microsoft Encarta 96 Encyclopedia. Microsoft Corporation, 1993-1995.)
VII. Rebirth: Surah 23:12-15 Al Mu’minun (The True Believers)
Man We did create from a quintessence (of clay); 2872 Then we placed
him as (a drop of) sperm,
In a place of rest, firmly fixed; Then we made the sperm into a clot
of congealed blood;
Then of that clot We made a (foetus) lump; Then We made out of that
lump bones,
And clothed the bones with flesh; Then We developed out of it
another creature. 2874
So blessed be Allah, the Best to create! After that, at length ye
will die.
surah 23:12-15 Al Mu’minun (The Believers)
2872 In this beautiful passage, Allah’s creative work, as far as
man is concerned, is recapitulated, in order to show man’s real
position in this life, and the certainty of the future; to which he
was referred for his reward in verses 10-11 above. For the various
stages of creation, see n. 120 to 2:117. Here we are not concerned
with the earliest stage, the creation of primeval matter out of
nothing. It is also a process of creation when inorganic matter
becomes living matter. Thus inorganic constituents of the earth are
absorbed into living matter by way of food and living matter
reproduces itself by means of sperm. This is deposited in the ovum
and fertilizes it and rests for a time in security in the mother’s
womb. The first change in the fertilized ovum and the conversion
into a sort of clot of thickly congealed blood; the zygote cells
grow by segmentation; then the mass gradually assumes shape in its
growth as a foetus. From the lump develop bones and flesh and organs
and a nervous system. So far man’s growth is like that of an animal,
but a further process takes place which makes the infant animal into
the infant man. This is the breathing of Allah’s spirit into him
(15:29): that process need not be precisely at a given point of
time. It may be a continuous process parallel to that of physical
growth. The child is born; it grows; it decays and dies; but after
death another chapter opens for the individual, and it is to remind
us of this most momentous chapter that the previous stages are
recapitulated.
2874. From a mere animal, we now consider man as man. Is it not a
Sign of wonder in itself that from dry dust (turab, 22:5) or
inorganic matter should be made protoplasm (moist clay or organic
matter); from it should grow a new animal life; and out of it should
grow human life, with all its capacities and responsibilities? Man
carries within himself Signs of Allah’s wisdom and power, and he can
see them every day in the universe around him.
Abdullah Yusuf Ali, The Holy Qur’an, Amana Corporation, 1989.
This verse tells of the Journey of Life, from the humblest amoebae
to the glorious Homo sapiens. Animals only become human when the
Creator breathes His Holy Spirit into them and they become
conscious of God. (In the animal kingdom only humans are conscious
of Him.) They continue to evolve still higher till they are able to
become the eternal spirit. These are the evolutionary stages from
animal to human being, and finally, the Spirit. This process takes
billions of years and goes on indefinitely as the entire universe is
also evolving.
1) So what makes humans think that the evolution from human to
spirit will be accomplished in a single lifetime?
2) What makes them think that the long winding cycle of evolution
spanning billions of years will abruptly come to a screeching halt
and force them to become perfect in a single human life?
3) What blinds them to the Reality that extends far beyond this tiny
cosmic dust particle call Earth?
4) What makes them think there is no rebirth?
5) What makes them think there is no cosmic regeneration?
6) What makes them think that spiritual Reality isn’t in perfect
harmony with cosmic Reality?
7) What makes them think that a single life will make them realize
what took the Creator billions of years to perfect?
8) How long will it take an ape to grasp Adam and Eve?
9) And what is an ape anyway – a creature of God to amuse us, or
a reminder of a very long and difficult trek that has led us to this
glorious and priceless human form?
10) Is evolution going to suddenly stop at the physical level or is
it going to relentlessly continue into the eternal spirit?
11) Have we reached that point where we are at that earliest Dawn of
the Resurrection?
Look up to the heavens and dream again for eternity is within grasp!
Eric Hermelin’s Persian Anthology; from the chapter on Rumi:
9. WHAT DEATH IS
From the lifelessness [14] I died. And growing [15] I became.
From the world of plants [16] I died. I raised myself to animal [17].
From the animal kingdom I died. A human being I became.
Why should I then have ‘fear’? When has the death maimed or reduced me?
Upon the next attack shall I be dying from the ‘man’;
So that I may lift my wing and head as well ‘mong angels.
And, yes, from the ‘angelhood’ likewise I leap will have to out of the river.
“All living things must be destroyed and vanished, except and only for His Face.”
Yet once again a victim will I be, this time I’ll dying be away from ‘mong those angels;
And then be THAT, which no eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor any human thought imagined. (Isaiah 64:4)
Become I shall the Non-Existence. Which speaks to me with roaring voice of an organ: “To Him shall we assuredly return.”
So as for death then, wit it is but ‘that’, concerning which confessors of Islam are in agreement over: “The Water Life of, that in darkness has abode.”
(Masnavi, III, v. 3901-3907)
[14] — the non-organic;
[15] — the organic;
[16] — the flora and vegetable kingdom;
[17] — the fauna and animal kingdom;
[18] — “Zi zulmat ma tars-aai passandeedah doost! Kee mumkin buvad, k’Aab-e-Haivaan dar oo’st.” “Fear not the darkness (or oppression), friend, which has been authorised/accepted, For it is possible, that the Life Water is hiding in it.”
From www.online-bible.org:
“I died as inanimate matter and arose a plant,
I died as a plant and rose again an animal. 5
I died as an animal and arose a man.
Why then should I fear to become less by dying?
I shall die once again as a man
To rise an angel perfect from head to foot!
Again when I suffer dissolution as an angel,
I shall become what passes the conception of man!
Let me then become non-existent, for non-existence
Sings to me in organ tones, ‘To him shall we return.’ 6
Know death to be the gathering together of the people.
The water of life is hidden in the land of darkness.
Like a water-lily seek life there!”