text:
Home Is Where the Food Is
As the former dining editor of Time Out New York, Gabriella Gershenson was once a gatekeeper to one of the country's most food-obsessed cities. In her current role, as senior editor of Saveur magazine, she is responsible for introducing readers to food cultures from around the world, editing stories on such far-flung topics as the mushrooms of Yunnan, China, and traditional Mexican salsas. Gershenson wears the role of global food enthusiast with ease, and yet when it comes to cravings, you're as likely to find her snacking on smoked fish perched atop rye bread, or shredding potatoes to make doily-crisp latkes, as dining at a newly opened restaurant. And on a recent visit to her apartment, on New York City's Upper West Side, a jar of black currant jam from Latvia, where her parents emigrated from shortly before she was born, greeted me, along with a basket of warm scones.
Like many first-generation Americans, 34-year old Gershenson straddles past and present, home and homeland with particular acuity and sensitivity. She grew up in suburban Boston, attending a public high school and studying English literature at Montreal's McGill University. And on a professional level, she is arguably living out her own version of the American dream. In addition to her robust writing and editorial work, Gershenson recently made a foray into television, joining a panel of judges on the Food Network show "24 Hour Restaurant Battle." And yet, her family's roots tug her toward a different reality — one steeped in history and hardship on the one hand, and in deep pride on the other. Until recently, she had never traveled to her family's former home in Riga, Latvia's capital city. But, as she wrote in a recent article for Saveur, the seaport city, which she knew through only photos and family stories, held for her, "an almost mythical status."
Gershenson credits her connections to family, food and Jewish tradition to the strong women in her life — particularly her babulinka (grandmother) Rhoda Gurevich, and her mother, Anna. Gurevich, in fact, is among Gershenson's greatest role models: an "intelligent, brazen and charming" woman who lived during Latvia's golden age, weathered immense tragedy — including losing both of her parents in World War II — and ultimately joined her daughter, Anna, her son-in-law Edward, and their two children, Gabriella and her older sister Shulamit, in America. Babulinka, Gershenson said, was the family's charismatic leader, instilling in members a respect for religion, Zionism and culture through her own hardiness of spirit.
Even after arriving in America, Gurevich remained a guardian of culture — making hand-ground gefilte fish on holidays, krendel (a yeasted, streusel-topped Latvian cake) on birthdays and sharing glowing memories of Riga's beloved cafe culture, Jewish schools and, particularly, its produce market, which she and her own mother once visited nearly every day. In her personal memoir, "Ambershore," she described the market as a bustling paradise filled with "bricks of homemade [almond-scented] butter," "smoked smelts with their golden skins," "sourdough bread baked from the rich grains grown in Latvian fields," sour apples and sweet-tart currants, gooseberries, blackberries and just-laid chicken eggs with yolks so fresh that they stood up.
Gurevich's love of food passed easily to the generations that followed. Gershenson's mother runs a successful catering business out of her family's home kitchen, which means that cooking was a fixture of Gershenson's daily life. Unlike Babulinka, her mother rarely made traditional Latvian dishes, preferring the natural and health food recipes she discovered in America in the late 1970s.
"Our family lived the whole foods cliché, eating carob and shopping at food co-ops long before it was mainstream," Gershenson said. Gershenson did not always relish her mother's ban on junk food or atypical school lunches that replaced potato chips with green pepper slices, and peanut butter and jelly on white bread with plain pumpernickel rolls. "I'm probably still rebelling against that," she said. And yet, from a young age, she gained an understanding of, and an intimacy with, the kitchen, playing regular observer and occasional sous-chef to her mother's work. "I grew up just assuming that everyone knew how to make a cake," she said.
Considering her family's gastronomic pedigree, Gershenson's success as a food writer feels like a natural progression. But it was only a recent trip she took with her parents to Riga that allowed her to fully tap into her family's cultural and culinary heritage. The trip was Gershenson's idea, a personal quest to taste history. It was also a present to her parents, who had not visited since they fled anti-Semitism, and an oppressive Soviet existence, more than three decades ago. The visit was understandably bittersweet. They found that some things, like the cobblestone streets and the buildings in Riga's Old City, remained exactly the same. Other things — like the cafes where her father used to eat a cream-filled pastry called cremeschnitte, and the once-thriving Jewish population — were gone. Still, her parents relished the experience and the flood of memories it opened. "The market, that is my love," Gershenson's mother said. "Seeing that again, and eating the things I grew up eating — what an amazing gift from a daughter." For Gershenson, many of the dishes they ate on the trip, from the lingonberry juice to the chopped herring salads decorated with stripes of egg white and dill, felt like "being back at my grandmother's table."
In a generation seemingly fascinated by the past — mining our grandparents' closets for style tips, and their nostalgia for authenticity — Gershenson stands out for her integrity. She carries the weight and joys of her family's past with a sense of reverence and responsibility, seeking new ways to share her heritage with a wider audience and remembering that, throughout time and shifting circumstance, home always exists at the table.
Leah Koenig writes a monthly column for the Forward on food and culinary trends. Contact her at [email protected].


text:
Bonobos, a brand that sells men's clothing online, has raised $16.4 million led by retail giant Nordstrom, with Accel Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners participating. This brings the company's total funding to nearly $40 million. In addition to the funding, Nordstrom will now sell Bonobos clothing at a number of its stores and on Nordstrom.com. The news was originally reported by the New York Times.
Bonobos is best known for launching an online site to help men find better-fitting pants. The company debuted in 2007 with their signature pants, and eventually expanded to offer a full menswear line, including dress shirts, suits, shorts, sweaters and more.
The site was originally founded by Brian Spaly and Andy Dunn while at Stanford Business School, Spaly has since left Bonobos to lead online men's stylist and platform Trunk Club.
The deal with Nordstrom will be the first time the brand is available in-store and online outside Bonobos.com and the company's New York City headquarters' showroom store. Beginning in April, Nordstrom will carry the top two product lines of Bonobos: the best-selling Washed Chinos as well as the Bonobos Weekday Warriors, a collection of non-iron cotton trousers. In addition, some seasonal pants and shorts will be offered at select stores and online. The brand will launch at 20 of Nordstrom's full-line stores and within the Men's Shop on Nordstrom.com.
What makes the partnership interesting is that the clothing brand has been able to launch on the web, scale, and then expand into offline sales. It's a model that could eventually become more popular with other online brands. For example, you could imagine Warby Parker, the New York-based startup that sells prescription, designer glasses, cutting a similar deal.
Dunn said of the Nordstrom integration: "We understand there are people who still want to touch and feel clothing before they purchase. We realized we needed help expanding beyond our web-only roots."
Nordstrom, in particular, hasn't shied away from approaching some of the newer e-commerce models for retail. Last March, the retailer acquired flash sales site HauteLook for $270 million. The New York Times reports that Nordstrom plans to spend $140 million on e-commerce this year, a 40 percent increase from 2011. And with the company's investment in Bonobos, Nordstrom is making another bet on an online e-commerce model.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Nokia ha aggiornato, dopo il full fatto ieri della serie E, anche gli ultimi modelli: stiamo parlando di E75, che passare dalla release v.110.48.125 alla 201.12.01, con notevoli cambiamenti.
E75 integra l'User Data Preservation, quindi nessuno dei vostri dati dovrebbe andare perduto, nemmeno con l'aggiornamento di NSU. Il mio consiglio ?, se possibile, quello di aggiornare tramite OTA, accedendo al menu Firmware con il comando *#0000# del tastierino numerico.
Nell'articolo completo il changelog (lista dei cambiamenti) che apporta la nuova release. Fateci sapere se ne riscontrate altri o se riscontrate invece problematiche.
New supported features:
- OVI Contacts
- Facebook, YouTube and MySpace
- N-Gage baseline update to N-Gage 1.2
- Share Online update to 4.3
- Accidental/Double key press filter
- Area Description Comment
- Ovi Contacts ? Integrated to Contacts. Chat with your friends using your Ovi account. Gtalk is also enabled. Share your status and location. Ovi Contacts users can upgrade to Chat 2.0, which will be available in Ovi Store.
- Facebook, YouTube and MySpace ? In Applications folder, there are icons to launch these services.
- N-Gage update to 1.2 ? The user can more easily find and purchase games
- Improved support for Chinese
- Improvements for developers
- Share online update to 4.3 ? Provides direct sharing from Camera and direct upload from Gallery
- Improved uploading experience (the next image can be uploaded when the previous in uploading)
- Direct sharing using device address book
- Geo-tagging
- Accidental key press filter ? When accidentally pressing two keys at the same time on the qwerty key mat, the second press will be ignored
- Corrections concerning Wlan and Calendar plug-ins
- Improvements in Easy dialling
- The following reported issues have been solved in this release:
- The icon of E-mail notifications changes from grey into yellow cover after disabling/enabling.
- Eclipsing item feature not working in Homescreen shortcuts
- Pressing keys during a call appears as letters on screen
- Homescreen settings help topic missing
- Default call type is ignored in Offline profile
- Wlan plug-in is missing in Homescreen applications
- Wrong preview type of E-mail notification after switching between modes with different E-mail Notifications settings
- Customized FS Homescreen shortcut with URL link not visible in selection list
- Security enhancement
- Gmail shown as Google Mail in Email folder in Germany and UK
- Baseline update (incl. Email, Calendar and Contacts)
- Email in Email support (if an email message is received, where an email message is as attachment, the attachment is opened in email viewer, not in notepad as earlier).
- IAD support (enables upgrading the email software later)
- OMA-CP support (Settings Provisioning for MfE) Improvements in stability
- Improvements :
- Stability improvements
- Improved compatibility with different Exchange server configurations
- Improvements in attachment handling
- Faster response , especially when large number of Emails
- Additionally, the following issues have been solved:
- Incomplete note and fetched text when fetching message body
- Screen update takes too long when opening/closing slide in message list with ~500 mails
- Mailbox name is not changed (NES)
- When forwarding Meeting Request to 3rd person then participant list is not updated in original Meeting Request
- Email application closed when user Exit from MR?s details
- English string ?Search for WLAN? displayed in AP setting view.
- Pressing shortcut on title divider displays black screen
- MFE_2.9.158 MFE After initial synchs, can not sync to this 2007 server, HTTP 502/501 is received.
- Cannot send email via action menu from meeting viewer
- Sync after performing restore: no prompt displayed to user to enter
- Meeting with alarm 0 min before event is not synced correctly
- Load HTML images? has no effect
- Phone has no response after selecting ?Open in intranet? to open Intranet link in an email.
- Receive an Appointment: in the mail for exchange message folder ?accept?, ?temporary? or ?reject? do not work (MEMORY FULL PART)
- Sending POP3 emails: in the forward folder only the subject text was visible
- Contacts disappear after phone has been used for longer period
- Incorrect pasting into address fields of Message and Meeting request editors
- Message body is empty. Extra characters visible. Different results for different languages.
- URL based picture is not shown in HTML viewer if WLAN is not configured
- ?Move to Drafts? does not work in Outbox of MFE.
- MFE loses AP configuration when different connections are up.
- Issues with Gmail in UK and Germany
- E-mail sync does not start with shortcut ?9?
- Reply/forward causes slowliness in Message composer (AS, IMAP, POP)
- Incorrect pasting into address fields of Message and Meeting request editors
- Sorting with MFE does not work in PC Outlook when sending email
- Performance & Usability improvement (eg. opening of calendar items is faster).
- Improvements in Calendar syncronisation
- Meeting request improvements
- Corrections concerning layout
- In addition, the following issues have been solved:
- The first attempt to connect with ?Open link in intranet? fails
- Option button without any name in Calendar->Options->Settings->Default Mailbox
- Empty mailbox shown under Default mailbox setting in Calendar
- Keep prompted to select Gmail as the default email
- Meeting request, write mail address and add contact in the contacts clears addresses
- The following issues have been solved:
- ?Feature not supported? when trying to send MR via email
- All-day recurring Meeting Request is changed to 0min Meeting Request after opening it in editor
- Meeting request with ?Fortnightly? recurrence is shown as ?Weekly? in meeting request viewer.
- Wrong start time in Meeting Request.
- Performance improvements, especially when handling a large number of contacts, eg. opening a contact is faster.
- Improvements in Contacts syncronisation
- Search algorithm improvements.
- Improvements in handling groups:
- List of group members with no matching parts is displayed after group member is removed from group or new contact is added to the group
- View is returned to the group members list after group is deleted from edit group view
- Many operations in contacts are impossible after pressing clear key when call conference service is in focus in Group Members list.
- ?Contacts: system error (-6)? pops up when delete several marked groups.
- The following improvements have been made since 110.48.125:
- Phonebook application is opened after memory card backup if VoIP settings are set.
- If a user tries to clear the find pane by long press of a clear key, delete confirmation query is displayed and some contacts are not shown in phonebook.
- Wrong background for the contacts selector view and incorrect positions of thumbnails are displayed
- With Chinese input, Contacts Apps. is closed when sending a message to a contact.
- Update to browser 7.1
- performance improvements, faster browsing and smooth zooming.
- 9-way navigation
- Updated WebKit Engine (better support for the web standards)
- better web widget development support
- Automatic Full-screen
- Multi-file download
- CJSE support (System API?s) support via JavaScript for widgets
- Improved Cookie support
- Improved cache support
- Baseline Update
- Fixes for voice call continuity VCC (seemless handover between Voip calls (WLAN as bearer) and 2G/3G calls)
- The following improvements have been made since 110.48.125:
- Gizmo icon in net settings is not displayed properly in Landscape mode
- VCC VoIP settings: Can not open VCC settings in Net settings.
- VCC: VoIP to VoIP call mute in MT phone not goes on
- No automatic handover when held-waiting call setting is 1
- Better conference call performance.
- Nokia BH-604 usability correction
- A2DP corrections
- Spool icon correction
- Voice call stability improvement
- Support for coming hardware component changes, no new features
- Engine clock speed increase about 10%
- Quickoffice 5.3, with Windows 2007 document support. Additionally, the user can update to Quickoffice Premier 6 in-device using the Quickoffice application.
- Welcome video icon to Welcome application. The video itself is on the memory card
- Memory card content update (content might vary depending on the sales unit and country)
- Psiloc Wireless Presenter
- Font Magnifier
- Advanced Comm. Manager
- World Traveler
- Block Cascade
- Boom Letters
- Top Hits Solitaire Collection
- Bounce N-Gage game (trial)
- Device unable to receive text massages
- Nokia E75: default bookmark in browser is directing to wrong page
- Problem in writing Turkish characters
- Calendar letters are shown in opposite order in V24


text:
Radeon 3D acceleration Portal
This page is the entry portal for everything related to open source 3D hardware acceleration support on AMD (formerly ATI) Radeon cards, from the old Radeon 7000 up to the latest Radeon HD cards. More information about general Radeon issues (2D acceleration etc.) can be found over at the X.org Wiki.
How well does it work?
As of October 2009, all Radeon cards are well supported in 2D using the Radeon DDX 6.12.4. Using Mesa 7.6, the 3D support is as follows:
- Radeon 7000 - X1950: Well supported by the free drivers
. Experimental work on a Gallium3D driver for Radeon 9500 - X1950 is in progress under the codenamer300g
. - Radeon X2000 - X4870: Initial experimental 3D support is available by the free driver
, and is rapidly improving in the Mesa master branch. For more detail, see a list of supported features and the program and games test matrix.
How to get bleeding-edge 3D drivers?
Your distribution should install a nice choice of default drivers. This section applies only if you want to experience the bleeding edge, if a developer has suggested that you try some patch, or if you want to become a developer yourself.
Be careful, for this section may lead you into a world of pain and crashes.
As a first step, maybe your distribution offers more bleeding edge packages already:
- Ubuntu has an xorg-edgers team and PPA
- Rawhide tends to provide a very recent and up-to-day graphics environment
- TODO: Add information for other distributions If you want to go to the source, you should follow the instructions on the Building site.
Where can I get help?
If you have a concrete problem for which you need help, perhaps the problem is already known. Check out the RadeonTroubleshooting page.
Your distribution may have documentation and/or an active community that is willing to help you out:
- Ubuntu has a How to get help
- TODO: Add information for other distributions
You can also visit the forums at Phoronix or the IRC channel
How to report bugs
First of all, make sure your problem isn't already known, by perusing the "Where can I get help?" section.
We use the FreeDesktop Bugzilla for bug tracking, and this should be your first stop to check for already existing bugs. There are separate components for the different 3D drivers:
- radeon: Radeon 7000
- r200: Radeon 8500 - 9200
- r300: Radeon 9500 - X1950
- r600: all Radeon HD cards
There is currently no bug tracker for the experimental
driver. We'll create one as soon as we are interested in receiving bug reports for that driver.
Make sure you use good bug hygiene:
- Check whether the bug has already been reported.
- Provide steps to reproduce the bug.
- If the bug affects uncommon programs (in particular, if it affects games), provide a link where developers can obtain the program.
- State clearly what is going wrong, i.e. what do you expect to happen, and where do things fail. In the case of incorrect rendering (i.e. graphics artefacts), it is most useful if you can provide screenshots of both incorrect and correct rendering.
- Provide full information about your system. Many distributions have tools to help with that. In particular, you should provide:
- the version of all involved software, in particular the kernel, the DDX, ?libdrm, Mesa
- the version of the program that is affected by the bug
- whether you are using ?Kernel Mode Setting (KMS) or not
- information about your hardware: state the model of your graphics card, whether it's AGP or PCIE; output of
can't hurt either - output of
, and yourXorg.0.log
- output of the affected program, if any
- Do not paste log files and the like into bug comments. Instead, add those files as attachments to the bug report.
- Be responsive if a developer asks for more information or asks you to test some workaround or patch. If at all possible, use git bisect to pin-point the cause of the bug if it is a regression.
How can I help?
There are many ways you can help, whether you are a programmer or not. Here are some suggestions for non-programmers:
- Help us keep the program support matrix up to date.
- Contribute to this documentation (for example, you may come across troubleshooting advice from developers that they haven't been able to add; don't hesitate to add it yourself!); be helpful to people who are running into issues in the various Linux and FreeBSD communities.
Run bleeding-edge drivers on your own system, and report any regressions you run into. We try to keep Mesa master as stable as possible, but regressions do creep in occasionally, and the sooner we know about them, the better. If you want to get your hands dirty with the code itself, welcome! Here are some of things that should help you to get started:
Build Mesa and related packages from source.
- Get yourself acquainted with the development community places (see section below).
- Browse the source code and familiarize yourself with how it works, perhaps via the other development resources.
Learn to program small OpenGL programs and learn to read the OpenGL and extension specifications. Finally, you should find yourself some small project to work on. This could be:
Fix one of the many open bugs in the bug tracker.
- Check out the piglit test suite. There are still failing tests, maybe you can fix one of them.
- There may be a bug affecting your favourite 3D game.
Perhaps you want to improve the performance of your favourite 3D game. There are also semi-up-to-date Todo lists that you may peruse for inspiration:
r300: R300ToDo; note that work on new feature is more appreciated for
these days- r600: R600ToDo;
Once you have a working patch (even if the patch merely adds or clarifies some comments in the source code!), you should send your patch to the developers. The most accepted way to do this is to send your patch in an email to the
(for Mesa patches) ordri-devel
(for libdrm or kernel patches) mailing list. Thegit format-patch
command can help you with that. If your patch is small enough and you feel comfortable with IRC, you can also ask for feedback on#radeon
, having uploaded your patch to a pastebin site (e.g. here) or to a public Git repository of your own.
Development Community Places
The development centers around the source code, which is available in the Mesa Git repository. Most of the development discussion actually takes place on IRC, in #radeon
on irc.freenode.net
. Some discussions, particularly about Gallium3D, also take place in the channel #dri-devel
. IRC logs of past discussions are available. The second most important place are the relevant mailing lists. Furthermore, many developers visit the Phoronix forums, where they will often provide useful information; however, development discussions usually do not take place there.
There are also several developers' blogs which are aggregated on Planet Freedesktop, and an (also aggregated) extremely irregular blog specifically about Radeon development.
Development Resources
- R300Compiler provides some information about the shader compiler for R300-R500
- Hardware Information
- Hardware documentation from AMD
- ATIRadeon: Chipset naming, and various information that maybe should be integrated in a nicer way
- ?Radeon Architecture - mostly superseded by the documentation from AMD
- General Todo list
- Various collected links (may benefit from updating):
- MesaDriver: How to write a Mesa driver (only applies to classic drivers and the Mesa state tracker, but not to Gallium3D drivers)
- A locking mechanism for the DRI (no longer applies to DRI2)
- ReverseEngineering: Reverse engineering tools
- Old TiRDCs: Radeon Companion 1, Radeon Companion 2, Radeon Companion 3, Radeon Companion 4


text:
Unity of Allah (Tawhid) Tawheed
(FROM THE BOOK: "Allah: The Concept of God in Islam" by Yasin T. al-Jibouri)
Islam falls in the category of monotheistic creeds whose adherents believe in the Oneness of God. This concept is referred to in Islam as Tawhid, and it is so important and so vast that volumes of books have been written about it. `Allama al-Majlisi, for example, dedicates two entire volumes of his encyclopedic work Bihar al-Anwar to this most important tenet of Islam. Tawhid instructs Muslims that: there is only one God, one truth, one straight line between two points: God and His servants, one family, one couple of parents, Adam and Eve, one human race, one heaven, and one hell.
Since the space here is limited, we will have to be brief as much as possible. Had we been able to afford the space, we would have refuted the views of dualists and polytheists as well as those who believe in the concept of the Trinity and in God having a son, a daughter, a wife, or any close family relative!
The Holy Qura'n is an inexhaustible source of knowledge for those who seek to discuss this subject. We have preferred here to be very brief in bringing the reader the following aspects relevant to Tawhid as outlined in the Holy Qura'n. Additional interesting and useful information shedding light on Tawhid is included in two chapters to follow.
A. Allah is Unique, Peerless
Qura'nic verses testifying to the fact that Allah, Praise to Him, is One and peerless and can never have a partner in His authority, or a similitude, nor can He have a son, a daughter, an aunt, or any kin, are numerous; here are some of them:
(He is) the Originator of the heavens and the earth; He made mates for you from among yourselves, and mates of (and for) the cattle, too, multiplying you (humans and animals) thereby; nothing is like Him; and He is the Hearing, the Seeing. - Quran 42:11
Say: He, Allah, is One. Allah is He on Whom all (beings and things) depend. He does not beget, nor is He begotten. And none is like Him. - Quran 112:1-4
He is Allah, the One, the Subduer (of all). - Quran 39:4
Say: Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth? Say: Allah. Say: Do you then take besides Him guardians who do not control any benefit or harm for themselves? Say: Are the blind and the seeing alike? Or can the darkness and the light be equal? Or have they set up with Allah associates who have created creation like His, so what is created became confused to them? Say: Allah is the Creator of all, and He is the One, the Supreme. - Quran 13:16
All these verses, and many others, testify that Allah is the One and Only God, negating the theories of dualists or polytheists.
B. He is the Only Creator
None besides Allah has ever created anything out of nothing. He, and only He, is the Creator, whereas everything besides Him is a creation of His. Everything in the cosmos, the stars and constellations, the earth and its mountains, oceans, rivers, vegetation, small or large beings, and the humans who live on it, are all among His creations. Verses stressing this fact abound in the Holy Qura'n; among them are: (See 13:16 above)
Allah is the Creator of everything and He has authority over everything. His are the treasures of the heavens and the earth; as for those who disbelieve in the communications of Allah, they surely are the losers. – Quran 39:62-63
Such is Allah, your Lord, the Creator of everything; there is no God but He; whence are you then turned away? – Quran 40:62
Such is Allah, your Lord; there is no god but He, the Creator of all things; so, worship Him (and Him alone), and He has charge of all things. – Quran 6:102
He is Allah, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner; His are the most beautiful names; whatever in the heavens and in the earth declares His glory, and He is the Mighty, the Wise. – Quran 59:24
(Allah is the) Wonderful Originator of the heavens and the earth! How could He have a son when He has no consort, and He (Himself) created everything? And He knows all things. – Quran 6:101
O men! Call to mind the favour of Allah on you; is there any creator besides Allah who gives you sustenance from the heavens and the earth? There is no god but He; whence are you then turned away? – Quran 35:3
Surely your Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six periods of time, and He is firm in power; He throws the veil of night over the day, which it incessantly pursues, and (He created) the sun and the moon and the stars (and) made them subservient (to you, serving you) by His command; surely His is the creation and the command; blessed is Allah, the Lord of the worlds. – Quran 7:54
C. The One in Godhead and in Nurturing His Beings
There is only One God for the entire cosmos. He deals with it as He pleases without having anyone to share His authority, or to help Him. He manages the affairs through many agents, the most noteworthy of whom are the angels who outnumber by many, many times, all the residents of earth, and whose duties and ranks vary a great deal. They carry out His orders most efficiently and effectively; He enabled them to do so. Consider the following verses:
Surely your Lord is Allah Who created the heavens and the earth in six periods, and He is firm in power, regulating the affairs; there is no intercessor except with His permission. Such is Allah, your Lord; so, worship Him; will you not then mind? – Quran 10:3
Allah raised the heavens without any pillars that you can see, and He is firm in power, and He made the sun and the moon subservient (to you): each pursues its course to an appointed time;He regulates the affairs, making clear the signs so that you may be certain of meeting your Lord. – Quran 13:2
He is the Supreme above His servants, and He sends keepers over you until, when death comes to one of you, Our messengers (angels of death) cause him to die, and they are not remiss. – Quran 6:61
Allah takes the souls away at the time of death (through His agents, the angels of death), and those that do not die during their sleep, He withholds those on whom He has passed the decree of death and sends the others back till an appointed term; most surely there are signs in this for people who reflect. – Quran 39:42
And seek assistance through patience and prayer, and most surely it is hard except for the humble ones. – Quran 2:45
Say: Allah's is the intercession all of it; His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, then to Him shall you all be brought back. – Quran 39:44
And how many an angel is there in the heavens whose intercession does not avail at all except after Allah has given permission to whom He pleases and chooses (to receive His mercy)? – Quran 53:26
Say: None in the heavens and in the earth knows the unseen except Allah, and they do not know when they shall be raised. – Quran 27:65
On no account will Allah leave the believers in the condition in which you are till He separates the evil from the good, nor is Allah going to make you acquainted with the unseen, but Allah chooses as His prophets whomsoever He pleases; so, believe in Allah and in His prophets, and if you believe and guard (yourselves against evil), you shall then have a great reward. – Quran 3:179
And when I am sick, He restores h ealth to me. – Quran 26:80
And We reveal of the Qura'n that wherein there is a healing and a mercy to the believers, and it adds only perdition to the unjust ones. – Quran 17:82
Surely Allah bestows sustenance, the Lord of Power, the Strong One. – Quran 51:58
"... and maintain them out of (the benefits thereof), and clothe them and speak to them words of honest advice." – Quran 4:5
Have you considered what you sow? Is it you that cause it to grow, or do We not cause its growth?! – Quran 56:63-64
" ... it delights the one that sows it, so that He may enrage the unbelievers on their account; Allah has promised those who believe and do good from among them forgiveness and a great reward." – Quran 48:29
" ... Allah writes down (through His agents, the angels) what they decide by night; therefore, turn aside from them and trust in Allah, and Allah suffices as the Protector". – Quran 4:81
Aye! And Our messengers (angels) are with them writing down (whatever they say and do). – Quran 43:80
As for those who do not believe in the hereafter, We have surely made their deed s fair-seeming to them, so they blindly wander on. – Quran 27:4
And Satan made their deeds fair-seeming to them and said: No one can overcome you this day, and surely I am your protector. But when the two parties came in sight of each other, he turned upon his heels and said: Surely I am clear of you; surely I see what you do not see; surely I fear Allah. And Allah is severe in requiting (evil). – Quran 8:48
And We have appointed form them comrades, so they have made fair-seeming to them what is before them and what is behind them. – Quran 41:25
Say: Who gives you sustenance from the heavens and the earth? Or Who controls the hearing and the sight? And Who brings forth the living from the dead and the dead from the living? And Who regulates the affairs? They will then say: Allah. Say: Will you not then guard (yourselves against evil)? – Quran 20:31
Then those that regulate the affair (on behalf of and according to the instructions of Allah)... – Quran 79:5
" ... and you did not smite them when you smote (the, the enemy), but it was Allah Who sm ote (them)". – Quran 8:17
Had there been in them any gods other than Allah, they would have both been in a state of disorder; therefore, glory to Allah, the Lord of the dominion, above what they attribute (to Him). – Quran 21:22
Neither did Allah take to Himself a son, and never was there with him any (other) god; in that case, each god would certainly have taken away what he created, and some of them would certainly have overpowered others; glory to Allah above what they describe! – Quran 23:91
D. Allah is the Only Source of Legislation
For the Muslims, Allah is the only One Who legislates every rule of their lives. Such a code of legislation, i.e. the Shari`a, regulates everyone's relationship with all others as well as with his/her Lord and Maker. The Holy Qura'n clearly indicates that no man-made law or constitution is acceptable, that the only canon is the Holy Qura'n. Verses requiring the believers to obey only Allah are numerous; here are some of them:
You do not worship besides Him except names which you yourselves and your fathers have named; Allah has not sent down any authority for them; judgment is only Allah's; He has commanded that you should worship none but Him; this is the right religion, but most people do not know. – Quran 12:40
Is it then the judgment of (the times of) ignorance (jahiliyya) that they desire? And who is better than Allah to judge for people who are sure? – Quran 5:50
Surely We revealed the Torah in which there was guidance and light. With it, the prophets who submitted themselves (to Allah) judged (matters) for those who were Jews, and the masters of Divine knowledge and the doctors, because they were required to guard (part) of the Book of Allah, and they were witnesses thereof; therefore, do not fear the people but fear Me, and do not take a small price for My communications.
Whoever does not judge by what Allah has revealed, they are the unbelievers. And We prescribed to them in it that: a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a nose for a nose, an ear for an ear, a tooth for a tooth, and (that there is) reprisal in wounds; but whoever forgoes it, it shall be an expiation for him, and whoever does not judge by what Allah revealed, those are they that are the unjust.
And We sent after them in their footsteps Jesus son of Mary testifying to what was before him of the Torah, and We gave him the Gospel wherein there was guidance and light and testifying to what was before it of the Torah, and a guidance, and an admonition for those who guard (themselves against evil). And the People of the Book should have judged by what Allah revealed in it, and whoever does not judge by what Allah revealed, those are they that are the transgressors. – Quran 5:44-47
The questions that force themselves on us here are: Are Muslims really following the Islamic Shari`a? Are they deriving their laws from the Holy Qura'n? Do their legal, social, and economical systems adhere to the Holy Qura'n? What about their blind imitation of the anti-Islamic Western way of life? What about their bowing down to the authority of the organization called the "United Nations" which is ruled by the non-Muslim and anti-Islamic permanent members of its Security Council?
Why do they brag about following the so-called "international law" knowing that it is neither the law of the Holy Qura'n, nor does the Islamic Shari`a make room for any man-made code of any kind whatsoever?
For how long will they keep closing their eyes to the fact that the United Nations is united only against them? Will they ever wake up? When will they ever tell the United Nations to go to hell? But they have first of all to purge their countries of corrupt rulers who fear nothing more than the Islamic Shari`a and who deri ve their strength not from public support but from the enemies of the Islamic Shari`a.
E. The Only One to Obey
Only Allah should be obeyed. Obedience of His commandments manifests one's submission to Him. A Muslim is required to do only what pleases Allah and what He has decreed as permissible. Anything besides that is apostasy:
Be careful of (your duty to) Allah as much as you can, and hear and obey and spend (of what He bestows upon you); it is better for your souls (that you do so), and whoever is saved from the greediness of his soul, these it is that are the successful. – Quran 64:16
And We did not send any prophet except that he should be obeyed by Allah's permission. – Quran 4:64
F. Allah is the Only Judge
Allah is the only Judge, the Judge of Judges, the One Whose authority is above that of anyone else's. His Word is the law, His injunctions are binding on everyone. To accept anyone else's judgment in preference to Allah's is to commit shirk; we seek refuge with Him against doing so. Consider the following verses: (See 12:40 above)
Say: Surely I have a manifest proof from my Lord but you call it a lie; I have not with me (to bring about) that which you hasten; judgment is only Allah's; He relates the truth and He is the best of those who decide. – Quran 6:57
Then they are sent back to Allah, their Master, the True One; surely His is the judgment, and He is the swiftest in taking account. – Quran 6:62
O David! Surely We have made you a ruler in the land; so judge between men with justice and do not follow (your own personal) desire lest it should lead you astray from the path of Allah. – Quran 38:26
G. Rewards of Testifying that "There is no god except Allah"
To articulate the testimony of La ilaha illa-Allah (There is no god except Allah) is regarded in Islam as an act of worship for which the believer will be richly rewarded.
Such rewards are recorded starting from p. 20 of Thawab al-A`mal wa Iqab al-A`mal by the great mentor Abu Ja`fer Muhammed ibn `Ali ibn al-Husain ibn Babawayh al-Saduq al-Qummi (d. 381 A.H./991 A.D.) and published in 1410 A.H./1989 A.D. by al-A`lami Establishment for Publications (Beirut, Lebanon).
We would like to quote some of the very interesting and enlightening text on those pages for the benefit of the dear reader:
Abu Sa`eed al-Khudri [1] quotes the Messenger of Allah saying, "Allah, the most Exalted and Sublime, said once to Moses son of `Imran (Amram), `O Moses! Had the heavens and all those who reside therein, as well as those of the seven (layers) of earth, been placed on one scale and La ilha illa-Allah on the other, the scale containing La ilaha illa-Allah would surely have weighed more."
The great sahabi Jabir ibn Abdullah al-Ansari quotes the Messenger of Allah saying, "Two most sure things are:
1) Whoever dies testifying that There is no god except Allah will enter Paradise and,
2) Whoever dies associating anything with Allah will enter the fire (of hell)."
Imam Ja`fer al-Sadiq quotes his great grandfather the Messenger of Allah saying, "Teach your dying persons to say: La ilaha illa-Allah, for it will smash their sins all of them." He was asked, "O Messenger of Allah! What about one who says so while enjoying good health?" He said, "That is more smashing to them, more so, and still more! Indeed, La ilaha illa-Allah is the best companion of anyone during his lifetime, when he dies, and when he is brought back to life again... Gabriel has said (to me): `O Muhammed! Were you only to see them when they are brought back to life again! Some are raised with white faces calling out: La ilaha illa-Allah! Allahu Akbar! And the faces of others will be black, and they will be crying out: Ya Waylah! Ya Thuburah! (O woe unto me! O what a calamity!)'"
The Messenger of Allah has said, "Whoever says: La ilaha illa-Allah will have a tree planted for him in Paradise of red sapphire; it is planted in white musk, is sweeter than honey and is more white than snow; its fragrance is better than musk, its fruit looks like virgins' breasts, and it opens up for seventy outfits."
Jabir ibn Yazid al-Ju`fi quotes Imam Abu Ja`fer al-Baqir who quotes the Messenger of Allah saying, "For everything there is something else equal to it except Allah, the Exalted, the Sublime, for nothing at all equals Him, and so is La ilaha illa-Allah: nothing equals it. Nothing can weigh heavier than one's tear shed out of fear of Allah. If it trickles down his face, no exhaustion nor humiliation shall ever touch it (his face) thereafter."
The Commander of the Faithful Imam `Ali ibn Abu Talib has said, "Whenever a servant of Allah says: La ilaha illa-Allah, it (the statement) ascends piercing every ceiling, wiping out his sins as it passes by them till it reaches its equivalent in good deeds. It is only there that it will."
Abu Ja`fer, Imam Muhammed al-Baqir, has said, "Nothing is more rewardable than testifying that There is no god except Allah, for nothing equates Allah, the most Exalted One, nor is there any partner with him."
Abu Sa`eed al-Khudri quotes the Messenger of Allah saying, "I have not said anything, nor has anyone else before me, like: La ilaha illa-Allah."
Abu Abdullah Imam Ja`fer al-Sadiq has said, "The testimony of la ilaha illa-Allah is the price of Paradise."
The Messenger of Allah is quoted saying, "Repeat la ilaha illa-Allah and Allahu Akbar as often as you can, for Allah loves nothing more than them both." Of course the more you pronounce this short but very weighty statement, the more rewards you will earn. Imam Ja`fer al-Sadiq has said, "Whoever repeats the testimony of la ilaha illa-Allah a hundred times is better than all other people that day except one who repeats it more often than him."
Imam al-Sadiq has also said, "If one says La ilaha illa-Allah a hundred times prior to going to bed, Allah builds him a mansion in Paradise, and whoever seeks Allah's forgiveness a hundred times before going to bed, his sins will fall down as leaves fall down from the trees."
First of all, the references cited in this part are all written by well known Sunni scholars of hadith. The numbers of their books' volumes and pages reflect those of their original Arabic texts. Many of them are yet to be translated into English. The translated ones, on the other hand, are quite often edited, and the editing includes the elimination of a good deal of the original text.
Like Jews and Christians, Sunnis view Allah as having created Adam in His own image. Reference to the Almighty creating Adam in His image exists in the Book of Genesis of the Old Testament, and some ignorant people take it literally.
On p. 1481, Vol. 4, of the English translation of Muslim's Sahih (published in New Delhi, India, in 1977 by Nusrat `Ali Nasri for Kitab Bhavan),
Abu Hurayra quotes the Messenger of Allah saying, "Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, created Adam in His own image with His length of sixty cubits..." [2]
In Bukhari, we read how Allah is described as having the same physical appearance given to man. Read Bukhari's Sahih, particularly the chapter on seeking permission to enter, p. 122, Vol. 2, where Surat al-Zumar is explained, p. 184, Vol. 6, "Kitab al-Tawhid" (Book of the Unity of Allah), where the verse saying, "... I created in My own hand," p. 192, Vol. 6, where the verse saying, "[Some faces] on that Day shall be pleased," in his explanation of the verse saying, "On the Day when a leg shall be uncovered" which exists in Surat Noon (i.e. 68:42), in his exegesis of Surat Qaf, in a chapter explaining the verse saying, "The mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good" on p. 191 of Vol. 4, in his "Kitab al-Tahajjud," in a chapter dealing with supplications and prayers at the end of the night, and elsewhere. Other references are indicated in the footnotes below.
Sunnis, as indicated above, claim that Allah created Adam in His image [3] that He has fingers [4], legs [5], and feet [6].
As for Allah having fingers, readers who are not fluent in Arabic are referred to p. 1461, Vol. 4, of the English translation of Muslim's Sahih where they will be reading about Allah's alleged fingers in the following "tradition" narrated by Abdullah ibn Masu`d [7], by Mansur, and by al-A`mash. Both latter narrators narrate it in slightly different variations. Its unedited text is as follows:
A Jew scholar came to Allah's Prophet (may peace be upon him) and said: Muhammed, or Abu al-Qasim, verily, Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, would carry the Heavens on the Day of Judgment upon one finger and earths upon one finger and the mountains and trees upon one finger and the ocean and moist earth upon one finger__in fact the whole of the creation upon one finger, and then He would stir them and say: I am your Lord, I am your Lord. Thereupon Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) smiled testifying what that scholar had said. [8]
The same "tradition" is recorded in both its Arabic text and English translation on p. 113 of The Divine Traditions. In another "tradition" on the following page (p. 1462 of the English translation of Muslim's Sahih), we are told that Allah has hands. It is narrated by none other than Abu Hurayra who quotes the Messenger of Allah saying, "Allah, the Exalted and Glorious, will take in His grip the earth on the Day of Judgment and He would roll up the sky in His right hand and would say: I am the Lord; where are the sovereigns of the world?"
With slightly different wording, the same "tradition" is narrated by Abdullh ibn Omer, and it is also reported by Abu Bakr ibn Abu Shaybah and is published in both languages on p. 114 of The Divine Traditions. Reference to Allah's alleged hands exists in the following page (p. 1463 of the English translation of Muslim's Sahih); here is its unedited text:
Abu al-Sai`d Khudri [9] reported Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) as saying that the earth would turn to be one single bread on the Day of Resurrection and the Almighty would turn it in His hand as one of you turns a loaf while on a journey. It would be a feast arranged in the honour of the people of Paradise. He (the narrator) further narrated that a person from among the Jews came and he said: Abu al-Qasim, may the Compassionate Lord be pleased with you! May I inform you about the feast arranged in honour of the people of Paradise on the Day of Resurrection? He said: Do it, of course. He said: The earth would become one single bread. Then Allah's Messenger (may peace be upon him) looked towards us and laughed until his molar teeth became visible [10] . He then again said: May I inform you about that with which they would season it? He said: Do it, of course. He said: Their seasoning would be balam and fish. The Companions of the Holy Prophet (may peace be upon him) said: What is this balam? He said: Ox and fish from whose excessive livers seventy thousand people would be able to eat.
Since when did the Prophet of Allah need the Jews to tell him about the hereafter? Could the Jews have told him better than arch-angel Gabriel? This is how Judaica crept into Islamic literature, wreaking havoc in and corrupting it, rendering it un-Islamic. Laughter is not at all dignifying. Whenever a Muslim laughs, he/she is supposed to seek Allah's forgiveness and say, "Allahomma la tamqutni" (O Allah! Do not despise me!" Such is the Islamic code of conduct.
Yet there are numerous references to the Prophet laughing in hadith the authenticity of which leaves much to be desired. Whenever you laugh, you ought to remember verse 82 of Surat Bar'a:
"So they shall laugh a little and weep much as a recompense for what they earned" (Qura'n, 9:82).
Imam Ja`fer al-Sadiq quotes his father citing the Messenger of Allah saying, "A good deal of jesting is not at all dignifying, while a good deal of laughter wipes out iman (conviction)." [11]
Imam al-Sadiq has also quoted his father Imam Muhammed al-Baqir saying, "(Prophet) David said to (his son, later Prophet) Solomon: `O son! Beware of laughing a lot, for a good deal of laughter leaves a servant of Allah very poor on the Day of Judgment.'" [12]
Abu Abdullah, Imam Ja`fer al-Sadiq, has also said, "Three things invoke Allah's contempt: one sleeps without having kept a vigil, laughs without having witnessed something extra-ordinary, and one who eats though his stomach is already full." [13]
One of the pieces of advice given by the Messenger of Allah to Abu Tharr al-Ghifari was this one which is recorded in `Uyoon Akhbar al-Rida: "Strange how one who knows that there is the fire (of hell) and who still laughs." He has also said, "Beware of much laughter, for it causes the death of the heart." [14]
The Messenger of Allah always smiled but never laughed. As a matter of fact, to smile in the face of your Muslim brother is equivalent to paying charity, according to one hadith. One day the Messenger of Allah passed by a band of young Ansaris who were talking and laughing hear tily, so he said to them, "O folks! Anyone among you who is deceived by his hopes and is short of doing good deeds should look at the graves and be admonished about the life to come. And remember death, for it shall put an end to each and every enjoyment." [15]
The readers may tolerate reading about the Prophet laughing, but what is their conclusion when they come across the claim that Allah, too, laughs?! References to Allah laughing exist in lengthy "traditions" narrated by Ma`ath ibn Fulah who quotes Hisham quoting Qatadah quoting Anas ibn Malik and is recorded on pp. 119-120 of The Divine Traditions.
It depicts one of the scenes on the Day of Judgment. A variation of it is narrated by Abd al-`Aziz ibn Abdullah who quotes Ibrahim ibn Sa`d quoting Ibn Shihab quoting `Ata ibn Yazid al-Laythi quoting Abu Hurayra, and it is recorded by al-Bukhari and cited on pp. 121-122 of The Divine Traditions. We do not think it is worth quoting here.
Sunnis also claim that Allah occupies a certain space and travels from one place to another, building their argument not on any Qura'nic verse but on a tradition wherein the Messenger of Allah says, "Our Lord, before creating His creation, did not have anything with Him; underneath Him was air; above Him was air, then He created His throne on water." [16]
They also quote the Messenger of Allah saying, "His `Arsh was over His heavens like this (then he demonstrated with his finger the shape of a dome), and He mounted it as a rider mounts over the saddle of his mount." [17]
They also quote him saying, "Allah descends at the last part of the night from the heavens to the lower earth and says, `Who is there to ask Me, so I respond to him, and who is there to ask Me, so I give him?'" [18]
They also quote him saying, "Allah descends during the night of the middle of Sha`ban to the lower heavens where He forgives..." [19]
They also quote him saying the following about the Day of Judgment: "It will be said to hell: `Are you filled up?' It will say, `Is there any more?' So the Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, will put His leg into it, whereupon it will say, `Now I am full!'" In another version of this "tradition," Prophet Muhammed is quoted saying, "As to the fire (of hell), it will not be filled up until He puts His foot in it, whereupon it will say, `Now, only now, am I full!' It is then that it will be full, and each of its parts will close in on the other." [20]
Similar variations of this "tradition" are narrated by Qatdah who quotes Anas ibn Malik.
Sunnis claim that Allah will be seen by Muhammed, the Messenger of Allah, who will have audience with Him, as well as by everyone else on the Day of Judgment.
They quote the Messenger of Allah saying, "The believers will come to Me for intercession after all prophets refuse to intercede on their behalf, so I will set out and seek audience with my Lord, and I will be granted audience with Him. Once I see my Lord, I shall fall down prostrating... Then I shall seek His intercession, and He will draw a line for me, so I shall let them enter Paradise. Then I shall go back to my Lord. Once I see Him, I shall fall prostrating..., etc." [21]
According to this "tradition," [22] the Almighty is confined to a specific place where He is visited by the Messenger of Allah who recognizes Him upon seeing Him... An entire chapter in The Divine Traditions is dedicated to the believers allegedly seeing their Lord. It starts on p. 157. The narrators who narrate such "traditions" include: Ubaydullah ibn Omer ibn Maysarah, Ab d al-Rahman ibn Mahdi, Hammad ibn Salamah, Thabit al-Bunani, Abd al-Rahman ibn Abu Layla, Shuhayb, Jabir ibn Abdullah, Saheeb, and others. They are recorded in the hadith and sunan books of Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah, al-Tirmithi, and al-Nisa'i.
Sunnis also quote the Messenger of Allah saying, "Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, will descend on the Day of Judgment to His servants in order to judge between them." [23]
They claim that he said, "You shall see your God with your own eyes." [24]
They claim that Muslims will see their God on the Day of Judgment just as they see the moon without suffering any pain while looking at Him. [25]
They go beyond that to cite the Almighty saying,
"Whoever worships something, let him follow it." So, they proceed to say, some people will follow the sun while others will follow the moon, while still others will follow the tyrants, and this nation shall stay including its hypocrites. "Allah will then come to them not in the shape whereby they know Him, and He will say, `I am y our God.' They will say, `We seek refuge with Allah against you. We shall stay here till our God comes to us. So once our God comes to us, we shall recognize Him.' It is then that Allah will go to them in the shape whereby they know Him, and He will say, `I am your God.' They will say, `You are our Lord,' and they shall follow Him... etc." [26]
Another "tradition" states the following:
So when nobody remains except the righteous and the libertine who worshipped Allah, the Lord of the Worlds will come to them in the form wherein they saw Him, and He will ask them, "What are you waiting for? Each nation should follow what it used to worship." They will say, "We are waiting for our Lord Whom we worshipped." "I am your Lord," He will say. They will twice or thrice respond by saying, "We do not associate any with Allah..." He will ask them, "Is there any mark whereby you can recognize Him?" They will say, "Yes, the leg." So He will uncover His leg, whereupon they will fall prostrating. Then they will raise their heads and see Him in the form whereby they saw Him the first time. It is then that He will say, "I am your Lord." They will say, "You are our Lord." [27]
And Allah speaks to His servants on the Day of Judgment and those near and far will hear His voice as we are told in the following "tradition" compiled and published in The Divine Traditions (Al-Ahadith al-Qudsiya); its text here exists on p. 226 and is unedited, hence its broken English:
Jabir (RAA) narrated on the authority of Abdullah bin Unais (RAA) who said, "Allah will gather the people and call them with a Voice which will be heard by those who will be far away and those who will be near, by saying, `I am the King; I am the Daiyan (The one who Judges people on their deeds after calling them to account). Bukhari transmitted it. (The Book [of] Monotheism; chapter: The statement of Allah, "No intercession avails with Him except for him whom He permits" (Qura'n, 34:23).
Sunnis, therefore, believe that Allah will speak to His servants who will be permitted to enter into His Paradise as the above cited quotation implies.
There is another lengthy "tradition" on pp. 160-161 of The Divine Traditions transmitted by Sa`eed ibn al-Musayyab who met Abu Hurayra who informed him of it. A portion of it states, as the poorly translated text reads, as follows: Abu Huraira told that he asked, "O Allah's Messenger, shall we see our Lord?" To which he replied, "Yes, are you in doubt about seeing the sun and the moon on the night when it is full?" On receiving the reply that they were not, he said, "Similarly you will have no doubts about the vision of your Lord, and no man will remain in that assembly without Allah conversing with him, till he says to one of them, `So and so son of so and so, do you remember the day you said such-and-such?' And He will remind him of one of the dishonest things he did in the world. He will say, `O my Lord, hast Thou not forgiven me?' And He will reply, `Yes; by the widness [28] of my forgiveness you have reached this station of yours.'" [29]
This "tradition" is included in al-Tirmithi's Sahih, Vol. 2, pp. 89-90. There are many such "traditions" which the reader can review in Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah, and other "reliable" Sunni recorders of hadith. Had we attempted to quote all of them here, this book would have become much larger than it already is. Probably the most evident of the belief of Sunnis that Allah has the same human physical attributes is what is recorded by the "imam of imams," namely the great hafiz Muhammed ibn Ishaq ibn Khuzaymah (d. 311 A.H./923 A.D.) who taught hadith to both Bukhari and Muslim.
He wrote a book with a rather lengthy title: Al-Tawhid wa ithbat sifat al-rabb `azza wa jall allati waafa bih nafsah fi tanzeelih wa `ala lisn nabiyyih (The Unity of God and the proof about the characteristics of the Lord, the Unique and the Exalted One, whereby He described Himself in His Book and through His Prophet). This book was published in 1378 A.H./1958 A.D. by Maktabat al-Kulliyyat al-Azhariyya (Library of al-Azhar's Coll eges) at Maydan al-Azhar, Cairo.
The titles of some of this book sound like a piece-by-piece list of the Almighty's alleged bodily parts: His face, His form, His eyes, His hearing, His vision, His hands, His leg..., and a chapter on how all the believers will see Allah on the Day of Judgment and will be able to recognize Him. Another hafiz imam, Othman ibn Sa`eed al-Darmi (d. 280 A.H./893 A.D.), wrote a book as a rebuttal to the views of the Jahmites; among its chapters are: how the Lord seats Himself on the Throne and ascends to heavens, how He is different from His creation , how He descends on the night of the middle of Sha`ban, how He descends on the Day of `Arafat, how He descends on the Day of Judgment for the great trial, how He descends to the residents of Paradise, and how He is seen.
This much should suffice to demonstrate to the discreet reader how our Sunni brethren consider the Almighty as having a physical body quite like ours, how He comes and goes, ascends and descends, walks, talks, laughs and does I do not know what else...!
The above views adopted and recorded by Sunni Muslims are not at all endorsed by Shi`a Muslims who refute them by quoting verse 103 of Surat al-Ana`m (6:103) that states the following:
Vision does not comprehend Him, while He comprehends all vision, and He knows all the subtleties, (He is) the Aware One.
In their view, the Almighty is not a physical form and, hence, does not occupy a space, nor does He move from one place to another, nor can He be seen by anyone. They contend that their Sunni brethren simply do not have the proper tafsir (exegesis) of certain Qura'nic verses such as the following:
Some faces will on that Day be bright, looking to their Lord. – Quran 75:22
"Looking to their Lord" does not mean "looking at their Lord;" it means: they are waiting in optimistic anticipation for His rewards. As regarding the Almighty seating Himself on the `Arsh, the Throne of Authority, Imam Ja`fer al-Sadiq (as), from whose fiqh Ithna-`Asheri Ja`feri Shi`as derive their creed, says the following:
Whoever claims that Allah sits on the `Arsh considers Allah as being conveyed (or mounted on something), implying that what conveys Him has to be stronger than Him (so it could carry His weight). And whoever claims that Allah is present somewhere, or is on top of something, or there is a place where He is not there, or that He occupies a space..., would be attributing to Him characteristics which are strictly relevant to those whom He creates, whereas Allah is the Creator of everything. He cannot be measured or compared by anything; He cannot be like people; He is not absent from anywhere, and He does not occupy a specific space. [30] Shi`as also refute this claim by citing Imam `Ali ibn Abu Talib saying,
Allah does not descend, nor does He need to descend. Such is claimed by those who attribute to Him an increase or a decrease. Everything mobile needs what mobilizes it or what means whereby it moves. Beware, then, when you discuss His characteristics lest you should imply any increase or decrease to Him, any movement or mobilization, any departure or descending, any sitting or standing. [31]
This is the view held by all other Imams from Ahl al-Bayt; none of them contradicts the other; such is the true creed, one wherein there is no contradiction at all. Allah as Viewed by the Commander of the Faithful Imam `Ali
Two narrators, Muhammed ibn Abi Abdillah and Muhammed ibn Yahya, narrate a tradition related by Abu Abdullah Imam Ja`fer al-Sadiq citing the Commander of the Faithful Imam `Ali ibn Abu Talib delivering a sermon once in order to solicit people's support in his second war against Mua`wiyah ibn Abu Sufyan. In it, the Commander of the Faithful says,
All praise is due to Allah, the One and Only God Who is sought by all, the Unique One Who is neither created out of anything pre-existing, nor has He created anything out of something. Through His Might does He manifest Himself, and it is through His Might that anything manifests itself. None of His attributes can be fully comprehended, nor does He have any measure whereby He is compared.
The tongue in any language is too crippled to describe His attributes, and the circumlocution of His attributes leads into nowhere but a blind alley. The sharpest of intellects are too puzzled to comprehend His kingdom; all comprehensive explanations are rendered short of delving into His kingdom. Unknown curtains obstruct the understanding of the lowest levels of His hidden knowledge, and the keenest insights are totally lost in comprehending the most (seemingly) superficial of His subtleties.
So Glorified is Allah Who cannot be reached by the most ambitious of wills, nor can He be grasped by the deepest of insights. Exalted is He for Whom there is no measure of time, nor any fixed duration, nor any limited description. Praised is He Who has no beginning at all nor any end, nor any extinction. Glorified is He as He has described Himself. Those who attempt to describe Him can never do so.
He delineated the boundaries of all things when He created them without having modelled them after any pre-existing models, thus distinguishing Himself from their similitude. Never has He resided in them, so it could be said that He is contained therein, nor has He been apart from them, so a place outside them could be sought for Him. Rather, He, all Praise is due to Him, encompassed them in His knowledge and perfected their design and computed them.
Even things beyond the curtains of the atmosphere are never hidden from His knowledge, nor are those obscurities within the depth of the dark, nor are those in th e high heavens, nor are those in the lowest layers of the earth: for each and every thing in them there is a custodian and a keeper, each one of them surrounds the others, while His knowledge encompasses them all. He is the One and Only God upon Whom all depend for their existence and subsistence, the One Whom the passage of time never alters, nor does the creation of things tire Him.
Whatever He wills, He says to it, "Be!" and it is. He created everything without following a pre-existing model or a precedent, and without encountering any fatigue or a prior planning. Whoever makes something makes it out of something else, whereas Allah created everything out of nothing. Every scholar acquires knowledge after being ignorant, while Allah is never ignorant, nor has He ever acquired knowledge out of what He creates. He encompasses all things in His knowledge before creating them.
Nothing is added to His knowledge because of their coming into existence: His knowledge is the same before and after He brought them into existence. He never created what He created in order to enhance His control, nor out of fear of its decay or loss, nor to seek help out of it against His adversary, nor to seek the upper hand over a progressive competitor, nor seeking to be the equal of a dominating partner; all creation is nurtured by Him; everyone and everything are humbled slaves before Him.
Glorified is He Who never feels weary on account of creating what He creates, nor in nurturing whatever He creates, nor does He, out of inability or slackness, terminate what He creates. He knows what He creates and creates what He knows. Whatever He creates He creates neither out of deliberating on any new knowledge, nor does any doubt entertain Him on account of what He creates. Rather, He creates out of His inviolable decision, firm knowledge, and exact command. He made Himself unique in His Mastership, peerless in unity, grandeur, and sublimity. He remains peerless in praise and exalted in glory. He is far above parenthood, purified from and sanctified against any cohabitation.
He is too Great and too Mighty to seek any partners. Thus, none among what He creates opposes Him, nor is there any equal peer like Him from among His possessions, nor is there any partner in His Kingdom. He is the One, the Unique, the One sought by all, the Eternal, the Everlasting, the Lord of the cosmos Who has always been and shall always be, the eternally all alone before the beginning of time and after the end of all affairs. He will never terminate nor expire. Thus do I describe my Lord; there is no god except Allah; Great is He and how Great! Glorified is He and how Glorified! Almighty is He and how Almighty! He is far above what the unjust ones say about Him, far, far above that!
[1] His name is Sa`d ibn Malik ibn Sinan al-Khudri al-Ansari al-Khazraji, Abu Sai`d. He was a sahabi who for many years kept the Prophet company and participated in twelve of his military campaigns. He died in 74 A.H./693 A.D.
[2] The maximum length of a cubit is 21 inches; hence, they claim that Adam and the Almighty is each 15 feet tall... Astaghfirullah...
[3] al-Bukhari, Sahih, "Kitab al-Isti'than" (Book of seeking permission to enter), in a chapter titled "Bab Bid' al-Salam" (a chapter dealing with initiating a greeting). Muslim, Sahih, "Kitab al-Jannah wa sifat na`eemiha" (Book of Paradise and the description of its bliss), in a chapter titled "Bab yadkhul al-jannah aqwam af'idatuhum mithl af'idat al-tayr" (a chapter about Paradise being entered by people whose hearts are like those of birds'), Vol. 28; see also Vol. 115, "Kitab al-birr: Bab al-nahi `an arb al-wajh" (Book of kindness: a chapter dealing with the prohibition of striking the face." Ahmed ibn Hanbal, Musnad, Vol. 2, pp. 244, 251, 323, 365, 424, and 569.
[4] al-Bukhari, Sahih, Vol. 2, p. 122, where Surat al-Zumar is explained. It is also stated in Vol. 4, p. 186, where the verse "What stopped you (O Eblis) from prostrating to what I created with My own hand?" is explained. It is also stated in Vol. 4, p. 192, where the verse saying, "Some faces will on that Day be pleased" is discussed. Muslim, Sahih, Vol. 19, pp. 21-22, where a description of the Day of Judgment, of Paradise, and of Hell, is given.
[5] al-Bukhari, Sahih, Vol. 4, p. 189, where verse 43 of Surat Noon is explained in "Kitab al-Tawhid" (Book of the Unity of God).
[6] al-Bukhari, Sahih, Vol. 4, p. 191, where Surat Qaf is explained. Al-Tirmithi, Sahih, Vols. 35-38, where a discussion of Hell being entered by the tyrants and Paradise by the weaklings exists. 20.
[7] His name is Abdullah ibn Masu`d ibn Khafil ibn Habib al-Hathli, Abu Abd al-Rahman, one of the foremost sahaba in Islamic history. He was the very first person in Mecca to openly recite the Holy Qura'n. He spent years serving and accompanying the Messenger of Allah, being one of his confidants. Ibn Masu`d died in 32 A.H./652 A.D.
[8] This quotation is cited without any editing at all, hence its broken English! We wonder, since Allah, according to this "tradition," has fingers, whether He also has toes!
[9] The correct spelling is: Abu Sa`eed al-Khudri.
[10] The Messenger of Allah was never reported laughing; instead, he always smiled. He never audibly laughed.
[11] al-Saduq, Amali, p. 324.
[12] al-Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 73, p. 58, citing Qurb al-Isnad.
[13] Ibid.
[14] Ibid., p. 59.
[15] al-Tusi, Al-amali, Vol. 2, p. 136.
[16] Ibn Majah, Sunan, Introduction. al-Tirmithi, Sunan, where Surat Hud is explained. Ahmed ibn Hanbal, Musnad, Vol. 4, pp. 11-12.
[17] Abu Dawud, Sunan, "Kitab al-Sunnah". Ibn Majah, Sunan, Introduction. Muhammed ibn Abd al-Wahhab, Kitab al-Tawhid. Ibn Taymiyyah, Minhaj al-Sunnah.
[18] al-Bukhari, Sahih, Vol. 2, pp. 233-235. Ibn Majah, Sunan, "Kitb al-Salah." Ibn Malik, Mawta', "Kitab al-Qura'n," Chapter 30. Ahmed ibn Hanbal, Musnad, Vol. 2, pp. 264, 267, 282, 419, 433, 487, 504, and 521.
[19] al-Tirmithi, Sunan, where he discusses the fast and the night of the middle of Sha`ban. Ibn Majah, Sunan, in a volume dealing with the prayers and with the night of the middle of Sha`ban. Ahmed ibn Hanbal, Musnad, Vol. 2, p. 433.
[20] Both "traditions" are narrated on the authority of the "sahabi" Abu Hurayra when al-Bukhari, in Vol. 3, p. 128, of his Sahih, explains Surat Qaf. They are repeated in Vol. 4, p. 191 of the same book in "Kitab al-Tawhid." The "tradition" referring to Allah's foot is narrated by Anas and is detailed in Vol. 4, p. 129, of the same Sahih. To review more of such "traditions," refer to "Kitab al-Jannah" in al-Tirmithi's Sunan, Vol. 10, p. 29, where the eternity of the residents of Paradise and those of hell is discussed. See also Ahmed ibn Hanbal's Musnad, Vol. 2, p. 396. Readers who are not well versed in Arabic may read their texts together with their English translation in The Divine Traditions, especially on p. 149 where the verbatim and unedited text reads as follows: "As for Paradise, (it will be filled with good people) because Allah does not wrong any of His created beings, and He created for Hell whomever He will, and they will be thrown into it, and it will say thrice, `Is there any more?' Till Allah will put His Foot over it, and it will become full and its sides will come close to each other and it will say, `Enough! Enough! Enough!' Bukhari transmitted it."
[21] al-Bukhari, Sahih, Vol. 4, p. 185, "Kitab al-Tawhid." See also Vol. 4, p. 190 of the same reference.
[22] This "tradition" is cited on pp. 115-116 of The Divine Traditions.
[23] al-Tirmithi, Sunan, Vol. 9, p. 229, "Kitab al-Zuhd."
[24] al-Bukhari, Sahih, Vol. 4, p. 188, "Kitab al-Tawhid."
[25] Ibid., Vol. 10, pp. 18 and 20.
[26] Muslim, Sahih, Vol. 4, p. 188, "Kitab al-Iman."
[27] Ibid., p. 229, "Kitab al-Iman," in a chapter about how to see. Al-Bukhari words this "tradition" slightly differently in Vol. 4, p. 189 in his "Kitab al-Tawhid." We wish those who saw their Lord and His leg would tell us all about it! They will then be doing us a great favor, indeed! Astaghfirullah...
[28] This is how the text reads... The translator should have used "expanse," "spaciousness," "extent," "breadth," or the like.
[29] The Divine Traditions, Tr. Dr. Ibrahim al-Selek, Dar el-Fiker (Beirut, Lebanon, 1994), p. 160.
[30] al-Kulayni, Usool al-Kafi, Vol. 1, pp. 3, 7, and 9, "Kitab al-Tawhid." Shaikh al-Saduq, Al-Tawhid, pp. 9-10, p. 12. al-Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 3, p. 311, "Kitab al-Tawhid."
[31] Ibid., Vol. 1, p. 18. al-Majlisi, Bihar al-Anwar, Vol. 3, p. 311.
"Tawhid", Unity Of God
(FROM THE BOOK: "Islam" by Sayyid Akhtar Rizvi)
Belief in Allah and His Unity.
The belief in the Unity of God is the foundation stone of Islam. This belief governs the religious faith, designs the social patterns and gives life to the moral codes.
The first sentence of the Islamic kalimah,i.e. "There is no god except Allah," leads a Muslim throughout his life not only in religious matters but in social behaviour also. "There is no god" shows a Muslim that nothing in the Universe is superior to him. It is observed in Qur'an that:
"He it is Who created for you all that is in the earth ."(2:29).
So a Muslim knows that nothing in this world is to be worshipped. Neither stone nor trees; neither animals nor human-beings; neither the Sun nor the Moon nor the Stars can be worshipped; because everything is created, and created for his benefit. When a Muslim, thus, has rejected every falsehood and every idea of Nature-worship, Idol-worship or Human-worship, he is ready to believe in the positive truth of the Unity of God. Believing in a Supreme being gives an aim to our life and provides a purpose for our actions.
Had a man been left with the wrong impression that there was no God at all, his life would have been aimless, and an aimless life is dangerous. So it is added that there is no god "except Allah." This sentence has a negative as well as a positive aspect. Both are instrumental in creating the belief that every man is equal to every other person. When nobody is superior, nobody is inferior. Thus, the belief in the Unity of God promotes the sense of brotherhood and equality and equity which is another feature of Islam.
Now allow me to explain other aspects about the belief in the Unity of God:
We believe that God is Omnipotent and Omniscient. He was there when there was nothing. Nothing except Him is eternal. He has no beginning and no end. He knows everything. Even our unspoken intentions and desires are not hidden from Him. We believe that He has no partner, no advisor, no helper. He has no son, no daughter, no wife. He is above every need, because need presumes deficiency. He has no body, because body needs space. He is nowhere, because He has no body; and He is everywhere, because His power and knowledge is magnificently apparent everywhere. He cannot be defined in terms of Time and Space. He cannot be incarnated, because incarnation needs body and space. He cannot be seen because of the same reason.
When we say that Allah is Omnipotent and Merciful, we do not mean that His Power and Mercy is something different from His Person. We see that a child is born without any power, and then he acquires strength day by day. It is so because power is not his person. Allah is not like this. He is Power Himself; Mercy Himself; Knowledge Himself; Justice Himself; Virtue Himself; Truth Himself and so on.
The proper name which we use for God is 'ALLAH' and that also needs some explanations.
'ALLAH' means `One who deserves to be loved' and `Into Whom every one seeks refuge.' This word, grammatically speaking, is unique. It has no plural and no feminine. So this name itself reflects light upon the fact that Allah is one and only one; He has neither any partner nor any equal. The name cannot be translated by the word `GOD' because God can be transformed into `gods' and `goddess.'


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AT THE TIME of the first beginnings of Christianity there appear in ancient pagan culture conceptions of the world which seem to be a continuation of the Platonic way of thinking, and which may be understood as a more inward, spiritual Mystery wisdom. Such conceptions started with Philo of Alexandria (B.C. 25A.D. 50). (see Note 46) From his point of view the processes leading to the divine take place in the innermost part of the human soul. One could say that the mystery temple in which Philo seeks his initiations is simply and solely the innermost part of his being, and its higher experiences. In his case processes of a purely spiritual nature replace the procedures which took place in the Mystery centers. According to Philo sense-observation and cognition gained through the logical intellect, do not lead to the divine. They relate merely to what is transitory. But there is a path by which the soul may rise above these methods of cognition. It must step out of what it accepts as its ordinary I . It must be removed from this I . Then it enters a state of spiritual exaltation and illumination in which it no longer knows, thinks and cognizes in the ordinary sense. For it has become merged with the divine, identified with it. The divine is experienced in its essence, which cannot be formed in thoughts or imparted in concepts. It is experienced. One who experiences it knows that he can communicate this experience only if he is able to imbue his words with life. The world is a reflected image of this mystical reality, experienced in the innermost recesses of the soul. The world has come forth from the invisible, inconceivable God. A direct image of this Godhead is the wisdom-filled harmony of the world, out of which material phenomena arise. This wisdom-filled harmony is the spiritual image of the Godhead. It is the divine Spirit diffused in the world; cosmic reason, the Logos, the Offspring or Son of God. The Logos is the mediator between the world of the senses and the inconceivable God. When man steeps himself in cognition, he unites himself with the Logos. The Logos becomes embodied in him. The spiritually developed personality is the bearer of the Logos. Above the Logos is God; beneath is the transitory world. Man is called upon to link the two. What he experiences in his innermost being as spirit, is the cosmic Spirit. These ideas are directly reminiscent of Pythagorean thought. (see Note in Chapter 3) The center of existence is sought in the inner life. But this inner life is conscious of its cosmic significance. Augustine's statement, We see all created things because they are; and they are because God sees them, derives from a way of thinking essentially similar to that of Philo. And in describing what and how we see, Augustine adds significantly, Because they are, we see them outwardly: and because they are perfect, we see them inwardly. (see Note 73a) We find the same fundamental idea in Plato (see Note in Chapter 4). Philo, like Plato, sees in the destiny of the human soul the closing act of the great cosmic drama, the awakening of the spellbound God. He describes the inner deeds of the soul in the following words: The wisdom within man followed the ways of his Father, and shaped the different forms, looking to the archetypal patterns. It is not a personal matter when man shapes such forms within himself. These forms are the eternal wisdom, they are the cosmic life. This is in harmony with the interpretation of the folk myths in the light of the Mysteries. The mystic searches for the deeper truth in the myths (see Note in Chapter 5). And as the mystic treats the myths of paganism, Philo handles Moses' story of the creation. For him the Old Testament accounts are images of inner soul processes. The Bible relates the creation of the world. Whoever accepts it as a description of outer events, knows only half of it. Certainly it is written, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. But the true inner sense of such words must be experienced in the depths of the soul. God must be found within; then He appears as the archetypal essence sending forth myriads of rays, none visible to sense, all to the mind. (see Note 74) This is how Philo expresses himself. In Plato's Timaeus the words are almost identical with those of the Bible: And when the Father that engendered the universe perceived it in motion and alive, and a thing of joy to the eternal gods, He too rejoiced. (see Note 75) In the Bible we read, and God saw that it was good. For Plato, for Mystery wisdom, as well as for the Bible, cognition of the divine means to experience the process of creation as one's own destiny. Thus the story of creation and the story of the soul striving toward its apotheosis, flow into one. Philo is convinced that Moses' account of the creation may be used to tell the story of the soul which is seeking God. Everything in the Bible acquires a profoundly symbolic meaning when seen from this point of view. Philo becomes the interpreter of this symbolic meaning. He reads the Bible as the story of the soul.
We may say that Philo's manner of reading the Bible is in harmony with the trend of his time, which originated in the wisdom of the Mysteries; indeed he relates that the Therapeutae interpreted ancient writings in the same way. They have also works of ancient authors who were the founders of their way of thinking, and left behind them many monuments of the method used in allegorical interpretation ... the interpretation of the sacred scriptures is based upon the underlying meaning in the allegorical narratives. (see Note in Chapter 10). Thus Philo's goal was to discover the underlying meaning of the allegorical narratives in the Old Testament.
Let us imagine where such an interpretation could lead. We read the account of creation, and find in it not only a narrative of outward events, but a representation of the ways which the soul must take to reach the divine. Thus as a microcosm, the soul must repeat in itself the ways of God, and its mystical striving for wisdom can take only this form. The drama of the universe must be enacted in every soul. The soul life of the mystic is the fulfillment of the prototype given in the account of creation. Moses wrote not only to recount historical facts, but to represent pictorially the ways the soul must take if it desires to find God.
All this, in Philo's conception of the world, is contained within the human spirit. Man experiences within himself what God has experienced in the world. The Word of God, the Logos, becomes an experience of the soul. God led the Jews out of Egypt into the Promised Land; He made them undergo trials and privations before bestowing the Promised Land upon them. This is the outward event. Let us experience it inwardly. From the land of Egypt, the transitory world, passing through privations which lead to the suppression of sensuous experience and into the promised land of the soul, we reach the eternal. With Philo all this is an inner process. The God Who was poured out into the world, celebrates His resurrection in the soul, if His creative word is understood and re-created in the soul. Then within himself, man has given spiritual birth to God, to the Spirit of God that became Man, to the Logos, to Christ. In this sense, cognition, for Philo and those who thought like him, was a birth of Christ within the world of spirit. The Neoplatonic conception of the world, which developed contemporaneously with Christianity, was a continuation of Philo's method of thought. Let us see how Plotinus (204269 A.D.) describes his spiritual experience:
Many times it has happened: Lifted out of the body into myself; becoming external to all other things and self-centered; beholding a marvelous beauty; then, more than ever, assured of community with the loftiest order; enacting the noblest life, acquiring identity with the divine; rooted within it; attaining the strength to set myself above the higher world: yet, there comes the moment of descent from spiritual vision to reasoning, and after that reposing in God, I ask myself how it happens that I can now be descending, and how did my soul ever enter into my body, the soul which, in its essence, is the high thing it has shown itself to be, and What can it be that has brought the souls to forget the Father, God, and, though members of the Divine and entirely of that world, to ignore at once themselves and it? The evil that has overtaken them has its source in self-will, in the entry into the sphere of creation, and in the primal differentiation with the desire for self-ownership. They conceived a pleasure in this freedom and largely indulged in their own self-glorification; thus they were hurried down the wrong path, and in the end, drifting further and further, they came to lose even the thought of their origin in the Divine. Just as children who are immediately torn from their parents, and have for a long time been nurtured at a great distance from them, become ignorant both of themselves and their parents. (see Note 76) In the following words Plotinus describes the path of development the soul should seek: Let not merely the enveloping body be at peace, the body's turmoil stilled, but all that lies around; earth at peace, and sea at peace, and air and the very heavens be still. Let the soul be observed, externally as it were, diffusing and flowing into the quiescent cosmos, permeating it from all sides, and pouring in its light. As the rays of the sun, throwing their brilliance upon a lowering cloud make it gleam all gold, so the soul entering body of the heaven-opened world, bestows life and immortality. (see Note 77)
It follows that this conception of the world has a profound similarity to Christianity. Among those who acknowledge the community of Jesus it is said, That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life ... declare we unto you. (I John 1: 13.) In the same way it might be said in the sense of Neoplatonism, that which was from the beginning, which cannot be heard or seen, must be spiritually experienced as the word of life. The development of the old world conception thus is split. In Neoplatonism and similar conceptions of the world it leads to a concept of Christ related only to the spiritual realm, and on the other hand it leads to a fusion of this concept of Christ with a historical manifestation, the personality of Jesus. The writer of the Gospel of John may be said to unite these two world conceptions. In the beginning was the Word. He shares this conviction with the Neoplatonists. The Neoplatonists conclude that the Word becomes spirit in the innermost soul. The writer of John's Gospel, and with him the community of Christians, conclude that the Word became flesh in Jesus. The more intimate sense, in which alone the Word could become flesh was provided by the whole development of the old world conceptions. Plato says of the Macrocosm: God has stretched the soul of the world on the body of the world in the form of a cross. (see Note 77a) This soul of the world is the Logos. If the Logos is to become flesh He must repeat the cosmic process in physical existence. He must be nailed to the Cross and rise again. This most significant thought of Christianity had long before been outlined as a spiritual representation in the old world conceptions. This became a personal experience of the mystic during initiation. The Logos become Man had to experience this deed as a fact, valid for the whole of humanity. Something which was a Mystery process in the development of the old wisdom becomes historical fact through Christianity. Thus Christianity became the fulfillment not only of what the Jewish prophets had predicted, but also of what had been pre-formed in the Mysteries. The Cross of Golgotha is the Mystery cult of antiquity condensed into a fact. We find the Cross first in the ancient world conceptions; at the starting-point of Christianity it meets us within a unique event which is to be valid for the whole of humanity. From this point of view the mystical element in Christianity can be grasped. Christianity as mystical fact is a stage of development in the process of human evolution; and the events in the Mysteries and their effects are the preparations for this mystical fact.
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Tag Archives: young people
When you ask an old person what their biggest regret in life is, an overwhelming majority lament that they wish they had travelled more in their youth. They often cite a lack of funds, or life's responsibilities as reason for postponing their plans. Contiki was a company that was created to address this issue. Contiki is a tour company that connects like-minded people, by offering affordable trip packages for ages 18-35. The organization's slogan is "No Regrets" which shows that they know what note they need to strike with their customers to encourage them to book a trip. Contiki uses social media effectively to encourage their customers to tell their story, and by doing so, market the service to all of their friends. While not the only marketing technique they use, this is one of the many ways Contiki keeps their customers engaged.


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James D. Laird, Ph.D.Professor Emeritus |
Dr. Laird received a B.A. from Middlebury College in 1962, and a Ph.D. from the University of Rochester in 1966. He has been at Clark since that time.
Current Research and TeachingDr. Laird's research explores feelings: how they arise, affect behavior and may be controlled and organized. He uses a self-perception approach to emotional problems, including PMS, panic disorder and PTSD. Other ongoing research explores personality factors that predict medical outcomes and adherence to medical advice.Selected PublicationsLaird, J.D. (2007) Feelings: The perception of self. New York: Oxford University Press. R. Bibace, J. Laird, K. L. Noller, & J. Valsiner (Eds). (2005). Science and medicine in dialogue: Thinking through particulars and universals. Westport, CT: Greenwood. Strout,S.L., Laird,J.D., Shafer, A. & Thompson, N.S. (in press) The Effect of Vividness of Experience on Sex Differences in Jealousy. Evolutionary Psychology. Strout, S.L., Sokol, R.I., Laird, J.D., Thompson, N. S. (in press). The evolutionary foundation of perceiving one's own emotions. Behavior and Philosophy. Laird, J. D. & Strout, S. (in press) Emotional Behaviors As Emotional Stimuli, In James A. Coan and John J. B. Allen, (Eds.). The handbook of emotion elicitation and assessment. New York: Oxford Univ. Press. Laird, J. D. (2005) A microgenetic developmental perspective on statistics and measurement. In R. Bibace, J. Laird, K. L. Noller, & J. Valsiner (Eds). Science and medicine in dialogue: Thinking through particulars and universals. Westport, CT: Greenwood. |


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The developer of one of the Google Voice-related applications yanked from the iPhone App Store last month isn't buying Apple Inc.'s explanation to the Federal Communications Commission.
"Is Apple lying? I've been debating this for a while," said Kevin Duerr, the chief executive of Durham, N.C.-based Riverturn Inc. "My first reaction was that they're trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the FCC, especially when you see the transparency of their statements.
"It's kind of typical of Apple, not being entirely forthcoming," Duerr said. "They may not be lying when they say 'we didn't reject Google Voice, we're still pondering it,' but then why was my app, and the others, removed from the App Store?"
Duerr was reacting to Apple's response on Friday to FCC inquiries over the company's reported rejection of Google Inc.'s submission of Google Voice to the App Store and the removal of several other programs that used Google's service, including Riverturn's VoiceCentral.
In its official reply to FCC questions, Apple denied it had rejected Google Voice, saying it was still studying the "potential impact on the iPhone user experience." It also claimed that VoiceCentral and two other applications fell under the same umbrella of concerns, but did not tell the FCC that it had pulled all three from the App Store the last week of July.
"I wonder if their response has not been calculated to leave them open to reversing course on Google Voice," Duerr said in an interview Saturday. "But it was certainly black and white when we were told that VoiceCentral was being removed."
Just days after VoiceCentral was yanked from the App Store -- after a several month run on the online market -- Duerr slammed Apple over the explanation he was given for his program's removal. During a telephone conversation, an Apple representative told Duerr that VoiceCentral was being dropped because it "duplicates features of the iPhone," but repeatedly refused to answer questions, including what his developers could change to meet Apple's requirements.
It was the contrast with his experience and what Apple told the FCC that drew Duerr's ire on Saturday.
"We've had at least one rejection each time we've submitted an application to the App Store," Duerr said, referring to the three programs that Riverturn eventually placed on the iPhone's mart. "But not once did we ever get specific guidance on why. We were left to our own devices to interpret what they meant and take a flyer on changing it."
According to Duerr, Apple's comments to Riverturn about rejected applications consisted solely of form e-mails that cited sections of its agreement with developers.
That's different than what Apple told the FCC.
"If we find that an application has a problem, for example, a software bug that crashes the application, we send the developer a note describing the reason why the application will not be approved as submitted," Apple said Friday in its letter to the FCC. "In many cases we are able to provide specific guidance about how the developer can fix the application. We also let them know they can contact the app review team or technical support, or they can write to us for further guidance."
Duerr took exception to Apple's description of the App Store's submission process. "The last line is an insult to our intelligence," he said.
When VoiceCentral was withdrawn from the App Store, Riverturn sent e-mails to Apple's developer technical support team, to its app review team, even to Steve Jobs, the company's CEO, and Philip Schiller, its head of worldwide product marketing, asking for more information about why VoiceCentral was removed, and for help in retooling it to meet Apple's requirements. "They never even acknowledged that they got the e-mails," Duerr contended.
"I just don't understand that mentality," he added. "What's the harm in saying, in layman's terms, 'This is what we think is wrong' with the application? We've never seen an e-mail like that. That leaves developers guessing. To me, that seems ridiculous."
Duerr also said Apple's reasoning for not approving Google Voice, and by association the reason why VoiceCentral and other applications were pulled, smacked of a lie at worst, dissembling at best.
"The one thing that's frustrated me more than anything else is that if they stick with the story of duplication, at what point are apps duplicating [Apple's functionality] on the iPhone? That's what eats at me."
Apple told the FCC that the reason it has not approved Google Voice was because the software "appears to alter the iPhone's distinctive user experience by replacing the iPhone's core mobile telephone functionality and Apple user interface with its own user interface for telephone calls, text messaging and voicemail."
"We put out four updates for VoiceCentral, and we were in there for three months and everyone was fine with that," Duerr said. "That's the piece of the puzzle that I don't see. What suddenly changed?"
When the FCC launched its probe three weeks ago, Duerr said he considered it a glimmer of hope. "We thought that the decision fell under the obligations of an AT&T and Apple agreement," he said, "and the FCC might shed some light on that and maybe make it go away. But now it's square on Apple's shoulders, and we're more frustrated than ever."
In its separate reply to the FCC, AT&T said that although it has at times notified Apple that some App Store submissions would violate the agreement between the two companies to ban Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) software from using AT&T's data network for phone calls, it played no part in the Google Voice situation.
"AT&T has no role in Apple's consideration of Google Voice or related applications," the mobile carrier said in its response Friday.
When asked his estimate of whether Apple will reverse course under FCC scrutiny and eventually approve Google Voice, Duerr said he thought the chance was 50-50. "[But] I'm an optimist at heart," he said. "If the FCC sees how ridiculous Apple's answers are, maybe they'll force Apple to reconsider."
If that happens, Duerr hopes VoiceCentral will be restored to the iPhone App Store. Even then, though he will have questions for Apple. "What do they [say] about the last three weeks, when our app hasn't been for sale?" Duerr asked. "And are they going to make good on the refunds they've given our customers?"
After Apple yanked VoiceCentral from the App Store, some users asked for refunds, which Apple granted. Duerr's problem with the practice, he said last month, was that the user panic stemmed not from a flaw in his software, but from Apple's unilateral move to remove the application. "We didn't have any say in the matter," said Duerr at the time.
The FCC's investigation into the Google Voice matter is part of a wider-ranging inquiry by the agency into pricing and the exclusive arrangements between handset makers and mobile carriers. On Thursday, the FCC will vote on whether to launch a full investigation of wireless industry practices.