From Jesus to Adam

Whenever there are discussions about the beginning of humanity, sooner or later a discussion related to religion ensues. According to the classical interpretation of Islamic sources, it is said that God created Adam directly, without any intermediate steps. According to some modern interpretations, however, theory of evolution can help us explore the dawn of humanity in line with the Islamic sources. In my previous blogs on the theory of evolution (1, 2, 3, 4), I tried to shed light on the matter, so I don't want to repeat myself. Here, I would like to do something unusual: bring the story of Jesus pbuh to the table.

Indeed, the example of Jesus to Allah is like that of Adam. He created Him from dust; then He said to him, "Be," and he was. (3/59)

The usual approach in context of Adam and Jesus is to employ the story of Adam in order to explain the birth of Jesus without a father. If you think for a second, creation of Adam is something of an unknown past, whereas creation of Jesus is something only two millennia away. Plus, we know a lot more about the latter. Then, why not use story of Jesus's creation in order to understand humanity's initial creation!

According to the Quran, Jesus was created without a father (3/47). That means, his creation was out of the ordinary. Then, according to the equivalence set by the verse above, we must admit that creation of Adam was also out of the ordinary. About this point, everybody agrees. The disagreement comes about the nature of that extraordinary event.

Second, we know that Jesus was not created as a fully developed human being. Rather, he was born out of a mother, like the rest of us. The miraculous step is his conception in Mary's womb. Can this fact tell us something about our foremost father? I would say "most definitely". Again using the equivalence in 3/59 from the Quran, we can hypothesize that Adam pbuh was not created directly as a complete human being. But, when we choose to go with this idea, we must think about the form of miraculous initial creation?

If we take the example of Jesus's miraculous conception, one possibility is that a fertilized egg was created miraculously, and this cell was planted in a medium that is suitable for this purpose. Such a proposal may sound extremely unusual, but supporting verses from the Quran can be found:

And Allah has caused you to grow from the earth a [progressive] growth. (71/17)

The first underlined part in this verse is actually a single word, a verb that suggests a growth like a plant. Similarly the second underlined part is a single word in Arabic, again suggesting a plant-like growth. This is why it has caused discussions among the scholars, and the traditional perspective regarding this verse holds that this verb refers to the feeding of humans and animals from plants. Nevertheless, in context of our discussion, it makes more sense to go with the obvious meaning, i.e. growing like a plant!

Another verse with similar meaning is from the chapter Al-Luqman, given below. The underlined verb is actually an Arabic word suggesting a plant-like growth, and that's why the translators decided to put in parenthesis an explanation to this end. But the original text is general in meaning, not specific to plants!

And We sent down rain from the sky and made grow therein [plants] of every noble kind. (31/10)

In the end, the above suggestion is only a brainstorm, and is open for criticism. Only God knows the truth.

View From the Archers Hill

Geographically higher locations are considered as ports to the realm of wisdom. Many remarkable individuals throughout the history had a close connection with mountains. Elevated places provide "security from the turbulence of daily life", or at least a better view of the environment. I, too, would like to go up on a hill now, and share with you what I see from there. This hill is known as the Archers Hill.

In the Islamic history, the second war, Uhud, was waged against the oppressors in Mecca, who had been violating almost all basic human rights of the believers. Those of you who are interested in the historical details of this event can go to the relevant sources. Here, I would like to delve into two aspects of this war related to the Archers (Aynayn) Hill; one psychological, the other metaphorical.

First aspect is on the notion of obedience. It is told that the Prophet Muhammad pbuh had given explicit orders to 50 archers to stay on that hill no matter what happens: "Even if you see that we have defeated the enemy, do not leave your position unless I inform you or I send you someone." "Even if you see that the enemy has defeated us, do not leave your position in order to help us. Even if you see that birds pull our bodies to pieces, do not leave your position unless I send you someone."

Despite this order, after the first half of the war, which was victorious for the believers, most of the archers left their positions, thinking that the war was over and that their duty was finished. Looking back from today, it is explained in the sermons that this behavior represented a lack of obedience towards the prophet, and that the losses incurred following this action was a lesson on the matter.

Without objecting to it, I would like to bring a different perspective on the same issue. As I had discussed in a previous blog (Chosen From Among Us Humans), exaggeration is a property of the Arabic culture. That is, if you want to encourage people towards something or discourage them, you utter exaggerated words; and even make your words poetic to further strengthen your stance. Both the prophet and his companions were blended with this culture. Keeping this in mind, if you rethink why those archers left their positions, you can catch a new possibility: they might have thought that the order given before the war was overexpressed for the sake of importance, and so, it was not literal! Then, it is understandable that they acted in the way they did.

Now let's ponder over what this could mean for us today. We are the people who are living the periods ever close to the end of time. So, if we take a second look at the admonishments of the prophet regarding the conflicts near the end of times, and also keep in mind the above notion, we can get some lessons that might have skipped our eyes.

Before the Last Hour there will be commotions like pieces of a dark night in which a man will be a believer in the morning and an infidel in the evening, or a believer in the evening and infidel in the morning. He who sits during them will be better than he who gets up and he who walks during them is better than he who runs. So break your bows, cut your bowstrings and strike your swords on stones. If people then come in to one of you, let him be like the better of Adam's two sons.
(Abu Dawud, 4259, Grade: Sahih)

Another hadith on the same matter is this:

He then said to me: What will you do, Abu Dharr, when you see the Ahjar az-Zayt covered with blood?
I replied: What Allah and His Apostle choose for me.
He said: You must go to those who are like-minded.
I asked: Should I not take my sword and put it on my shoulder?
He replied: you would then associate yourself with the people.
I then asked: What do you order me to do?
You must stay at home.
I asked: (What should I do) if people enter my house and find me?
He replied: If you are afraid the gleam of the sword may dazzle you, put the end of your garment over your face in order that (the one who kills you) may bear the punishment of your sins and his.
(Abu Davud, 4261, Grade: Sahih)

Listening to these hadiths, what we hear is a clear order to stay away from conflicts, even if it means not defending our very basic rights or giving them up. Since this kind of inaction is "out of reason", it is normally thought that these expressions are exaggerations, and that a believer should use defenses as long as they are in the rightful way, and must make sure that they are not serving to unlawful ends. This interpretation could be correct, but what if the admonishment of the prophet was literal?

Without answering this question at the moment, I would like to go to the second aspect related to the Archers Hill. If you were on that hill, you would be out of  what was going on below you, and you would have a better and bigger view of the situation. Furthermore, let's assume that you are obeying the Messenger of God, and not descending from the hill. Whether the rest of the army is collecting bounty or being torn into pieces, you are staying where you are. Let's stop here, and put this situation in perspective with the aforementioned admonishment of the prophet about the end of time. Of course they are not the same, but they are not completely different either. In short, they tell that if you are out of the conflict, stay so. Now, I would like to add a verse from Quran to complete the picture:

And it is not for the believers to go forth [to battle] all at once. For there should separate from every division of them a group [remaining] to obtain understanding in the religion and warn their people when they return to them that they might be cautious. (9/122)

In case of the conflicts near the end of time, staying out of trouble and not taking sides, even at the cost of your very basic rights, is actually for a purpose. And that purpose is that you can have a better and bigger picture of what is going on, and when things settle down, you can help the confused and/or sinful people find the right path. This position of yours is so important that even if you see a group perishing or another group prospering, protect the honor of your duty outlined by the Messenger of God, and stay away.

How to Forgive!

During the initial years of Islam, the believers were outcast from the Meccan society and, worse, they were occasionally tortured to death. This systematic oppression against the believers, while the number of believers in Medina grew, led to a exodus that changed the history. In many books on the topic, various aspects are told, but here, I would like to discuss a psychological aspect of the migration from Mecca to Medina.

It is known that, except a few, the companions of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) never returned to Mecca for good. They may have visited their city of birth for family visits, or trade or on state duty, but they did not move back. When we think about the psychology of these people, we can see a human dimension at work.

The believers were outcast, tortured, ripped of their wealth and family only because they had believed in the message brought by Prophet Muhammad. This unjust treatment, most naturally, breaks the human heart in the deepest sense. This break not only causes emotional pain stress but also creates a growing separation and polarization between the oppressors and the oppressed. This state of the human psyche demands "eye for an eye" in order to quench (9/13-15); just like the action-reaction principle in physics. But what if you are discouraged from that, and instead, you are asked to forgive?

"Who spend [in the cause of Allah ] during ease and hardship and who restrain anger and who pardon the people - and Allah loves the doers of good" (3/134)

Forgiving, in general, is not easy, because it requires the human ego to step back from its rightful claims. Still, depending on the level of violation of the rights, forgiving has different levels of hardship. For example, it may be relatively easy to forgive when your friend loses a book that they had borrowed from you, but forgiving someone who subjected you or your loved ones to physical pain, injury or loss or who has ripped you off your freedom for an unjust reason is really really difficult. This difficulty is so great that it is invisible to the conscious eye of the individual. Let me explain what I mean by this.

I had started my discussion with the example of the early Muslims, so let's continue with them. Upon encouragement from the prophet and following the highlighted virtues in the Quran, the companions of the prophet may have chosen not to retaliate against the Meccans for the injustices of the past. However, even if you consciously choose such a way, your psyche never forgets who did what, and where it happened. Places, smells, faces, words remind you of that painful past. Even if you consciously bury those years into the crevices of your brain, they still exist there and live subliminally. In order not to fall prey to the schemes of those memories, you must avoid anything that stimulates them.

"... and do not let the hatred of a people prevent you from being just. Be just; that is nearer to righteousness. And fear Allah ; indeed, Allah is Acquainted with what you do." (5/8)

This active state to avoid stimuli is exactly a depiction of the believers who migrated to Medina and stayed there until end of their lives. Similar is the situation of the prophet when he told Wakhshi (the murderer of Hamza, uncle of the prophet, but who later became Muslim) to not seem to Him in order to avoid any mishaps or upsetting feelings. If you continue reading the early Islamic history, you see a major lack of sensitivity towards "avoiding the triggers", which prepared the psychological grounds for dreadful conflicts among the Muslims. Even today, the unjust treatments of the Muslims by the Muslims still continues, and it seems that it is going to stay as such until the end of time. Otherwise, why would the Merciful Creator tell the believers to pray in the following way?

"Our Lord, forgive us and our brothers who preceded us in faith and put not in our hearts [any] resentment toward those who have believed. Our Lord, indeed You are Kind and Merciful." (59/10)

If we zoom out from the Muslim communities and look at the world at large, we see hate crimes, human rights violations and cases of unfair discrimination all around. We see retaliations for the past problems, and then retaliations to the retaliations... Such high number of deaths and murders is foretold by the words of the Prophet Muhammad pbuh:

"Near the establishment of the Hour there will be days during which (religious) knowledge will be taken away (vanish) and general ignorance will spread, and there will be Al-Harj in abundance, and Al-Harj means killing." (Bukhari, 7064)

Pondering of the calamities near the end of time, and keeping the Antichrist in perspective, it is not difficult to see that this trouble-maker is probably going to make use of such conflicts among people, and feed his power through the weakness of the societies in conflict.

In order to avoid such exacerbation of conflicts, taking the example of prophet Muhammad and his companions, people need to actively avoid triggers that provoke feelings of vengeance. One way to achieve this, it can be suggested that people should be given more freedom and means to travel farther and faster, and must be enabled to relocate elsewhere easily.