Post 2: Gratitude: The Essence of Islam
Albert Einstein famously said that his greatest wish was to know “what God thinks”. So, if we were to wonder like that great genius: If God sends a 600-page book of guidance… to all humanity… that He intends to last for eternity… what would be the very first word of that book?
“All Gratitude and Praise be to Allah, the Lord (Cherisher and Sustainer) of the entire Universe.” (Al Fatiha, Verse 1)
The very first word God says as He starts to “speak”, and by extension, the most important lesson He wants humans to understand — in this mind-boggling mystery in which we all found ourselves that we call life — is to be grateful.
Such is the importance of these words that every Muslim is instructed to recite this sentence (at least) 17 times a day!
So, that’s it. That’s all! It is simply the realization of the immensity and beauty and perfection of all the gifts that God blessed us with by bringing us to life. In this wonderland, we call the Earth. In a much grander wonderland, called the Universe. And He does remind us that “He is the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Universe.”
But, how about praise?
Post 1: What is the First Sentence of the Quran?
The Quran is the Divine Book of Islam, and Muslims believe that it is the Word of God, unaltered. And Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said it will remain “his greatest miracle until the end of time.”
Clearly, these are bold claims, and a non-Muslim has every right to be skeptical about their truth. I will discuss these claims and the evidence put forward in detail in future posts.
For now though, what matters is that regardless of whether you believe this or not, these statements reflect how Muslims view the Quran.So, if you want to know what Islam is — as understood by Muslims — you start with the Quran.
First: A unique feature of the Quran is its hierarchical structure: that all the (600-page!) Quran is summarized in its first Chapter (1/3-page long!), and that the first chapter is summarized in the first Sentence.
(You may notice that this is precisely the format of modern scientific articles: “Article summarized in Introduction summarized in Abstract”, which I find pretty remarkable for a book that goes back 1500 years.)
So, what does that first sentence say? Here it is:
Elif-Lâm-Mîm: Görsel Bir Tefsir
(IN TURKISH:)
Kur’ân’da Bakara dahil 6 surenin ilk ayeti olan Elif-Lâm-Mîm üzerine yazdigim görsel tefsirin en yeni versiyonunu bu sayfadan indirebilirsiniz.