Guidance and law that is valid till the last day?

A mind trapped in “The Evolution Syndrome” cannot envisage a message being valid till the end of time. Everything changes, our mind tells us, so our laws and our approach too must change. We are evolving and improving all the time, so our laws must change in tandem.

Such a mind cannot envisage that there can exist any thing that is already at the end point, some thing that is already the ultimate best and for which there can be no more “improvement” or evolution.

Such a mind cannot envisage God, or the divine knowledge from God which is at its maximum of competence and relevance and for which there can be no improvement, no need for change.

What is this message for which no change is needed?

It is commonly referred to as the message of the last Prophet (PBUH), which is true, but it is not exclusively his; it was in fact the message of all prophets (PBUT). While many (especially "Muslims") do accept that the message is valid till the last day, no one seems to ask a very pertinent question, from when does its validity begin? This knowledge, which God has shared with mankind and which is meant for all mankind, has been valid from the beginning of creation and will remain as such till the last day. This is in stark contrast to everything held "sacred" by the evolution mindset.

What is this message? What follows are some of the important aspects.

There is only one God.

God alone is competent to make laws. The one we worship is the one whose laws (directives) we follow, hence, the directives of God are the only ones worthy of being followed, ie God is the only one worthy of being worshipped.

The poor have a right to a small portion of what God grants us as earning; this is not ours and is their right. Failing to honour this trust is a grave injustice, and has the effect of polluting our entire wealth just as a drop of urine pollutes an entire barrel of water. Everything that is acquired with this polluted wealth is itself polluted and a source of pain, not a source of comfort.

Abstinence or fasting is recommended and has great spiritual and physical benefits.

Four actions are crimes against God, and if the criteria for guilt are met, the perpetrators qualify for the prescribed punishment, and there is no exception. These are adultery, theft, robbery and perjury. We are not authorized to criminalize any other action.

Any one who feels his rights have been violated is entitled to bring his complaint before a competent adjudicator.

We should always uphold the truth, even against our self and family, fulfill all our pledges and keep all our promises.

All debts should be paid as agreed upon, or earlier if possible since no one knows when we are to die. No debt is anulled by death or the passage of time and one will be held accountable for all unpaid debts on the day of judgment.

Respect and honour our parents, but not to the extent that we violate Gods guidance.

Be kind and protective to the orphan, traveler, the infirm and the poor.

Everyone is created with free will and no one may violate the free will of another, or allow their own free will to be violated (we are born free and guided on how we can preserve our freedom).

Everyone is born subservient to the will of God.

We all have common ancestors in Adam and Eve (PBUT), this makes us all members of one family. Our differences are there to help us identify each another, and not for us to despise one another.

Everyone is born pure and sin free; to be born otherwise would be an injustice (answerable for a sin that was not of our doing).

No one is accountable for the deeds of another, only for our own.

Everyone will be treated with full justice, and any claims brought against us on the Day of Judgment will be backed with full proof.

We will all be tested, whether we recognize the existence of God or not, but we will not be tasked with a burden that is greater than our capability.

Guidelines on things that we should avoid (that we should treat as "forbidden") apply to all mankind, whether we acknowledge them as such or not.

Man has a status higher than woman, this means a degree of responsibility that is greater, and has been made differently so as to be able to fulfill this greater responsibility.

God judges us on our piety, and nothing else.

God judges our actions on the basis of our intention.

Our actions only qualify as a service to God if done in a manner accepted by God and when done exclusively for Him. Actions not approved by God can never be a source of benefit or a way by which we worship God.

We should seek knowledge from the cradle to the grave. God has created the world in such a way that the knowledge he wishes to share with us can be learned through observation of his creations.

The time of our birth and of our death are determined before we are born; we cannot influence the quantity of our life, only the quality.

Satan has vowed to subjugate man (make man his slave, deprive man of his free will). He deceives us by mixing truth with falsehood. We are guided to protect ourselves against him.

Nothing that the Messenger’s of God did or implied varied from the above. They are guidelines that are truly eternal, and valid to the last day. God has promised to protect and preserve this guidance which we can access in the Quraan and the practice of God’s last Messenger on Earth (PBUH)

These guidelines are valid from the beginning to the end of time.

In keeping with the promise not to place a burden on us greater than we can bear, God has spared us the responsibility of making laws. All the guidance and directives we require for a successful stay on Earth have been revealed. Any addition or subtraction on our part is retrogressive and to our detriment..

Our duty is to ensure that no one violates the rights of anyone else; that everyone is free. The role of Government is not to make laws, but to give effect to the guidance of God, and in practical terms, it means ensuring that the free will of no one is violated and that those who are guilty of the prescribed crimes are duly punished. Our government is supposed to help preserve our freedom and keep the peace.

The guidance is simple, so that everyone can understand them, and will be in a position to recognize when attempts are made to violate them.

It becomes abundantly clear that involuntary taxation is theft and strictly forbidden. It is the yoke on the beast of burden, on the human slave. No one is free if burdened in this manner.

It should be clear to anyone who is honest and unbiased, that these guides are “evergreen”; that they have been valid from the beginning of creation, and will be valid till the end of time? This is why it is possible for every human to be judged fairly (in relation to their contemporaries as well as people of other eras).

When we create our own criteria of what qualifies as good or bad, right or wrong, we do not worship God but ourselves.When we make our own laws, we are treading on the exclusive domain of the Almighty. Failure is a certainty. Everyone has the right to do this in terms of our free will, but it denies us the hidden benefits that are present in certain actions only, and these are the ones God has sanctioned and guides us towards.

They are hidden simply because the way in which God created us makes it almost impossible for us to make the connections between our actions and all their consequences. God, in His infinite mercy does not deprive us of this benefit which we are incapable of appreciating because of no fault of our own. All that is required of us is to place our trust in Him. By following God’s guidance we are led to these benefits and protected from those actions that lead to negative consequences which we are similarly incapable of anticipating or predicting.

Do we acknowledge God’s infinite wisdom and follow His perfect guidance, or do we follow a course of trial by error. If we do not act to secure our freedom, we will not have the luxury of choice; that decision will be made for us.

Do we dare take this risk?

Until next time (God willing).

The Evolution Syndrome

In an earlier post I discussed the Theory of Evolution, explained how Charles Darwin was perfectly within his right as a scholar, scientist and thinker to propose a possible explanation for offspring resembling their parents. With the discovery of chromosomes this mystery was solved, and with it Darwin’s theory was proven wrong.

The facts are there for all to see.

What we need to ask is how is it possible for this theory to still be around, after all these years, for it to be presented as a fact in schools and the media, and for this to be promoted by people from all walks of life (media, politics, industry, academia at every level). This is the same as having the whole world believe that scurvy is due to a virus (which was the theory until that too was disproved).

What becomes obvious from the outset is that the people behind this falsehood have great influence at the highest level across almost every facet of society. There is no other explanation bearing in mind the irrefutable evidence against the Theory of Evolution.

All of us are affected in some way or another by this grand deception.

The first and most obvious consequence is the uncertainty that is created in our minds. No one can prove that we were not created, because we were. The objective is not to prove the point, only to create a doubt, while building on the lie as if it were a truth.

Most of us can avoid forbidden fruit most of the time. There will, however, arise that instance when we are most vulnerable and at our weakest. KNOWING that He is there, that we will have to answer to Him and that there are consequences for failing enables us to resist. Even the slightest doubt can cause us to fail. It is at times like this that these doubts influence our mind; maybe evolution is true; what if there is no God? What if this is not really “wrong”? When this happens we are as good as lost. In the sober light of day we will regret deeply our actions, but the harm has already been done.

We strengthen ourselves not for our day to day challenges, but for that instance which we may have to face possibly only once in our life. Our entire preparation is for that occasion. If we fail, then everything we had done in the past, all our preparations have been in vain, and many people have found how their entire lives just unravel because of just such an instance.

It is this doubt that is our greatest enemy, and if we are one of those affected, we owe it to ourselves to re-examine the facts that prove Darwin’s theory was proven wrong. Once we study this fully, we realize how, in the creation of the world we live in, God is helping us understand that He exists, and by implication that there is life after death. We will accept more readily that there is a Day of Judgment; that we will be held accountable, that angels do exist, and that Heaven and Hell are real.

Darwin’s theory also impacts on our approach to other Divine matters. Since we are in a state of doubt, nothing about life is certain, and our life becomes a constant search as we try to discover the truth of our existence. Our entire life becomes a quest as we search for this answer. This results in people formulating thousands of different “theories”, adopting numerous techniques, and experimenting with untold new “beliefs” in an effort to acquire this “truth”. This is a social manifestation of the evolution mindset, it is a manifestation of the malady I call “The Evolution Syndrome”, which is a compendium of consequences that follow our entertaining the possibility that we evolved into our present form.

In a world produced through evolution, nothing can be fixed or constant. Change is essential and perpetual. Those of us who fall into the trap spend our entire lives searching for something which cannot be found by the process we are using to find it. This is because there is no end point to the process of evolution (hence there can be no end point to our search).

The moment organisms stop changing, evolution ends, and when this happens, the theory of Evolution itself is destroyed (unicellular organisms which reach a stable state and evolve no further brings evolution to an end so higher forms such as humans would not be able to evolve. The existence of primitive forms that remain distinct from the beginning of creation therefore means we could not have evolved).

Under the theory of Evolution, no organism can reach a state of “maturity” or “ultimate” development, because there is always another change the organism can undergo. Evolution is a never ending process. Hence the truth we seek regarding our purpose on earth can never be discovered.

Even if, by chance, the most advanced form of life that is possible does evolve, evolution would continue and undo what good had been achieved because it cannot know when to stop. It is a never ending process leading no where. When we are trapped in this mindset, we too keep searching not sure if something better, or “more true” lay in the next theory or the one after that, and life becomes a perpetual search, a perpetual waste. “The” answer will forever remain elusive.

When we realize that our creation is the process of deliberate design, we are directed to this source for the answer to our question, and in the process we learn what we must do to fulfill this objective. We are no longer swayed by constant doubt; we become focused.

Do not be misled into thinking that this makes life any less challenging. It is possibly even more so than that of the constant searcher. Reaching the high standards we seek will only be possible for a few, but even so, being on the right path itself confers so many advantages that we may still succeed in our ultimate objective (of proving our worthiness of our place in Paradise) despite our shortcomings.

It is those who have not “discovered God” that see a life spent this way as one spent in vain, not realizing that what they are describing is their own existence.

God created us. He knows we cannot perceive Him with the senses with which we were created. But He has given us the means of deducing and “feeling” His presence, if only we use the tools wisely.

Thirdly, the evolution syndrome impacts on our relations with others in society. We are more accommodating of man made legal systems that are constantly changing, forever trying to get better. We accept the making and breaking of laws, and the constant change this involves. It is in keeping with our understanding of an “evolving” existence. We do not have the ability to recognize how our actions serve only to prove the inherent defectiveness of this system.

We believe that the law must evolve to continue meeting the needs of changing circumstances, failing to acknowledge that the reason the law keeps changing is because it has never been able to meet the needs of any circumstance.

We do not realize how schizophrenic this makes us. We know but deny the stable world around us that is intolerant of change. We fail to acknowledge how our body is designed to protect itself against changes. We impose upon this stability our deranged belief that change is the natural order of things.

God has guided us with knowledge that will be valid and true to the last day. There is no need to change because the guidance is perfect, and something like this cannot be improved upon.

There are only four crimes by definition. No one may legitimately enact any law criminalizing our normal daily activities (which are sanctioned by God). We have free will. We may only be bound by our duty not to violate the rights of others. What is right and what is wrong has been explained by God, the One with the knowledge of everything, the One who has the Ultimate Answers. No searching on our part can ever produce, by trial and error, a better model and a better blue print than that which He has given us. It is the ultimate model.

Furthermore, which normal person accepts something as a store of wealth, as “money”, if it is created on a photocopier by privileged individuals, and where we have to pay for the privilege to use it (as we are forced to pay interest on the use of paper money), and whose value can change on a daily basis on the whims and fancies of privileged individuals. There is no point in accumulate it since it has no intrinsic value, and these “notes” may even be withdrawn from circulation making it truly totally worthless. Its value depreciates with time, literally evaporating its worth.

Only those afflicted with this malady can. And that is us.

We are forced to accept this useless waste in return for our hard labour. We cannot change to a gold based currency because laws prevent us from doing this. This fact should make us aware of our slave like situation.

God helps by giving us the answers we seek, but this does not fit in with our distorted view of reality. The victim of “evolution syndrome” cannot believe that an ideal answer can exist, that it is possible to have one, and that no “evolution” is necessary to further improve on it, so we scoff at it; such is the effect of this malady.

Under the effect of this syndrome the truth will be in full view but we will fail to recognize it and will accept obvious falsehood in its place. It is as if we are under a form of mass hypnosis. We are no different from the Emperor who parades his nakedness boasting his new clothes and convinced they are good because of the approval from those around him. We know the lies as the truth because everyone around us accepts them as such, and most importantly, because of the ridicule that follows when we think differently.

This disease is the basis of our relationship with politicians.

We accept their promises even when we know they don’t mean a word they say. When their lies are reveled in concrete form (eg.wikileaks) we allow them to hunt down those who exposed them, and to do untold harm to them instead of rounding them up and seeing that justice is served.

The original Theory of Evolution was about science, its subsequent abuse is not; it is about social engineering, and we engineer a mind by detaching it from its real roots, and giving it a new identity. In this way, we can make this mind do anything we want it to do and it will oblige thinking that this is what it wants. It is part of a mind control exercise.

Are we the product of God, or do we allow ourselves to become the product of satan? That is the choice we are faced with.

Until next time (God willing).

Riding the Interfaith Express… have we checked the destination?

Welcome once again to those who have accepted my invitation to visit and share your thoughts here. It is good to have you.

During my internet search for suitable people to invite to this blog, I was taken by surprised at the number of organizations worldwide that are dedicated to the aspect of “interfaith” activities.

Not only is this done at local level, even the United Nations is involved in some way or other. Governments are actively involved in promoting this phenomenon.

The time is overdue, I believe, for us to pause, sit back, take a deep breath and reflect on this?

The storyline is very simple. There is great diversity in our religious beliefs and practices. This is a fact. In society there are times when people act violently or disparagingly towards others. This too is a fact. We are told that this is due to “religious intolerance” or prejudice. This is a theory that is presented as fact. Based on this we find hundreds of organizations springing up ostensibly to help people understand each other so that these unwanted acts may no longer happen.

Another objective of “interfaith” discourse apparently is for us to get to know each other’s faith. It appears that attempts are made to understand other faiths, and in so doing discover some “common ground” between them, study these and then work towards formulating a code of practice that in some way incorporates the essential aspects of everyone’s belief. In this way we all become as one.

Let us begin by examining the first.

Who becomes a member of such groups if not people who are already tolerant of the views of others? They are the ones who are prepared to meet and discuss and work with people of different beliefs. Those who really need to learn to interact with other groups usually never join, and if they do, because of their “disruptive” ideas, are usually the ones that are kicked out.

The very people that need to be there are the ones that are explicitly excluded. There is no hope ever of these groups solving the problem of religious intolerance. In fact, the intolerance displayed by members of such groups to those who are perceived as being “intolerant of others” makes the whole situation farcical.

Intolerance of others by some will always be a fact of life. Religion is not the only factor. Social standing, education, assets, physical appearance popularity, nationality, race are all factors that separate us and which form the basis of “intolerance”.

We do not solve the problem of intolerance by bringing together people who are already tolerant of the views of others. We solve this problem by strengthening the existing religious institutions (not dismantling them), fostering the bond of family (the building block of society), by ensuring proper and relevant education (not destructive indoctrination with politically motivated ideologies) and by developing a system that ensures swift and efficient justice.

None of this is possible in a slave world. This only happens when people are free. This objective can therefore not be met under the prevailing political environment and neither is the problem of intolerance solved by these interfaith groups.

Let us look briefly at the second aspect, where we come together, understand each other, and formulate a code of practice “respectful of all groups present”. Have we actually stopped and asked ourselves what is actually happening here?

Those of us who have a close association with God are convinced that our belief and practice is God ordained (we act in terms of God's guidance to us, not on some arbitrary personal preference). We practice this “religiously” to gain God’s blessing. If we are right, there is no need to make any change to our practice. If we are wrong, and someone else is correct, then we have to adopt their practice so as to obtain the blessing of God since we only obtain Gods blessing if we act according to His guidance.

If we come together and make up our own practice by bringing together practices from different faiths, we are now creating our own religion. We are no longer worshipping God but ourselves.

Those who think and act in this way have not truly “found” God, do not appreciate that true “religious” practice is God inspired and do not understand the need to heed Gods advice as a means of earning God’s pleasure, and are, at best, nominal members of a faith, if at all.

The danger here is that these people may cause their confusion and lack of true faith to confuse and mislead those of faith who are not learned enough to recognize such people. They serve not to promote interfaith cohesion, but faith destruction. Such groups serve the fanciful egos of those who actually have no true connection with God.

An organization that is true to interfaith discourse is one which shows its respect of other beliefs by respecting the other person’s determination not to have his belief challenged or interfered with in any way. Working together is not about having common ground in belief, but common ground in issues that are of common concern. Our faith and its practice can never be on the agenda. We accept as a given fact that common ground exists between our practices because we believe all are originally inspired by God. We do not need to meet to spell out the similarities.

If the stated purpose of the group is to learn about the faith of others, then they are being deceptive, since everyone with a little common sense knows that we learn about a faith from the source material, not the fallible people who are always getting things wrong. If I truly wanted to learn about Islam and I chose to learn this from Muslims, I would never be a Muslim today, and I am quite certain the same applies to other faiths as well. These groups become a forum where one persons part perception of his supposed faith is debated with another person’s distorted version of his supposed faith, and in the end everyone leaves with no faith at all.

These groups therefore serve as a platform for the eventual destruction of ones association with God. They should more correctly be called the “out – er – faith groups”.

Let us examine the aspect of interfaith studies as manifested in the practice of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

A close and pious companion, Umar (RA) obtained a few pages of the Torah, and when Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) saw this, his displeasure was evident. He explained that if Prophet Moses (PBUH) was present, he too would have followed the teachings as God had revealed to them (and by implication, not that which was in the pages he held).

He was making it clear that we do not need to study all the old texts, because God had crystallized the essential teachings for all mankind and for all time. Our duty is to try and learn and understand this properly, rather than wasting precious time with older and outdated texts, without this in any way intending to be any disrespect to them. They are teachings from God also, but the latest edition was the most relevant, and we have hardly enough time to study, understand, and apply this alone, without having to incur the added burden of studying the teachings which have already been rescinded.

From this we can deduce that interfaith studies which encompasses the study of older religious texts for what ever purpose was not sanctioned by Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

When Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) migrated to Medina, and established the first “state”, a treaty was entered into with the other major group in Medina, the Jewish community, which laid down many guidelines not least of which was measures to ensure their mutual freedom and safety. Such “interfaith” activities, therefore, are supported.

Interfaith groups help bring together tolerant people who can work with others. This is good as a start, but to be of any real relevance, it must form the platform for political change that will bring about our freedom and so bring an end to a myriad problems that beset us.

Through these forums, people who are capable of living and working with people of different faiths need to use this new found unity to overcome our common problems, and the highest on the list is the need to replace our slave like system with one which ensures freedom for all.

If it becomes a substitute for political action, or acts to prevent participation at the political level, or worse, joins with the political establishment to preserve and protect it in return for small favors, then we are best served by excluding ourselves from them.

One aspect of interfaith discourse has seen different groups coming together to “solve” social problems, such as by way of hunger relief. The danger here is that the perception is created among the masses that this is how we solve these problems. The true solution lay in addressing the cause, not the manifestations. Slavery in its diverse ways has the effect of creating the poverty and starvation that we see. When we feed the starving, we are actually hiding from view the evil manifestations of our slave like system.

We solve the problem by ending the slavery. Feeding them makes us feel good, but is not the solution. If we are honest that our actions are a stop gap measure, then plans to end the slavery have to be a part of our strategy. If not, then we are no longer a part of the solution, we have become a part of the problem.

We must not paint all groups with the same brush; some may involve people sincerely trying to learn about other faiths. If this applies to you, my advice is to approach a reputable institution of that faith, get a list of recommended reading material, and obtain these from libraries of that faith, or over the internet. When faced with questions, bring these to a recognized learned elder of that faith. This is the responsible way of learning about God’s teachings.

The views of the man on the street regarding people of other faiths is influenced not by seeing clerics of different faiths working together, but by his personal relationship with members of other faith of a daily basis. His view is not affected by what these clerics mouth in public, but by what is said in the relative privacy within the walls of the places of worship. If we truly wish peace between people, the clerics must spell this out from the pulpits and the mimbars. There is no need for public displays of “unity”.

When we become a part of “interfaith” groups, we need to clearly define why we join and what we hope to achieve. There is a danger that these groups may be as great a threat to those of us with true faith in God as the problems we are trying to solve, if not greater.

The devil always makes his deception appear appealing to us.

We, the true believers in God (of every denomination), must exercise extreme care and caution lest this vehicle becomes the Trojan horse of our time.

Until next time (God willing).

Fear

If we experience fear, does this mean we are cowards?

This is a loaded question so I will not venture an answer. What I will do is explain why this question is raised.

Many things that we do are controlled by fear. We may fear the wrath of Government so we avoid doing or saying certain things. Our fear of God, employers, thugs and bullies etc all may play a part in influencing our behavior in some way or other, but we may not always acknowledge the fear, and in some cases, especially where our actions have been controlled for very long, we may not even realize that such an underlying fear actually exists.

An important step on the road to freedom is not only recognising this fear, but learning how to overcome it. It is through fear that most tyrants extract our "loyalty".

This question is most pertinent in the context of what I believe we have to do in order to restore our freedom. Many of us may not even wish to think about this because it involves taking a stand against the established powers of our time, who ever they may be. There is a fear of repercussions.

When it involves standing up to power, we choose not to think about the problems. In this way our conscience is at ease; “Ignorance is bliss” rings very true.

We carry on our sorry lives, believing that we trust in God, that we worship God alone, and that we are very good and devout Christians, Muslims, Hindu etc who must qualify for Paradise without realizing that our failure to respond is evidence of the very opposite, ie, the absence of faith in God.

God has power over everything. Nothing can happen without His consent. These are things we rattle off like school children boasting off our memorization of nursery rhymes. But if we truly believed this, then we would also be aware that nothing can happen but by the will of God. We will be confident that when we act in His service, we enjoy His protection. We know also that to act contrary to His guidance will cause us to incur His displeasure.

Armed with this knowledge, it should be impossible for our actions to be guided by anything but the fear of the displeasure of God.

When our slave like existence becomes apparent to us, and the need to be free as part of our service to God hits our conscious mind, there should be no concern about the potential difficulties we must overcome. We should simply act in terms of what is right. Thoughts of secondary benefits or luxuries that we may lose should never enter the equation.

A Worshipper of God does what is right (as defined by God) irrespective of who is concerned. It is this that distinguishes us from those who no longer worship God in sincerity.

When our actions are guided by fear of the consequences of displeasing some worldly “power”, without realizing it, what we are doing is placing this power on par, if not superior to God. Our actions say that we do not believe that God can protect us from them. It says that we surrender to them and do as we are told. It means we have become worshippers of these powers and are therefore no longer exclusive worshippers of God.

It means our claim that “there is no God but God” is no longer true and that when we are assembled on the Day of Judgment, it will be as non-believers.

Think very deeply on this.

The defense of ignorance is no longer valid.

We have a duty, and we need to see that this duty is fulfilled. We need to free ourselves, and in so doing to give effect to our God given right of free-will; this means we have to act. We need to ensure that we do not contribute to the enslavement of others; this means we cannot remain inactive.

We need to share this message with as many people as we can. When the time comes to vote, we must do so fearlessly and without exception.

Being afraid is normal. When this happens we remind ourselves that all power rests with God, we invoke Gods protection, and we are afraid no more. This is how we worship God. If we become afraid then act against what is right, we are serving the cause of satan; we are worshipping him. This is how we reject God.

It is by our intention that God judges us, and He is never fooled. It is by our actions that our fellow man judges us, and action, as we all know, speaks louder than words.

How are we going to act?

Until next time.

But isn’t Sharia a Muslim Thing?

Like most important questions in life, there is no simple answer. One would be correct in this instance if one answered yes… and no.

I have been stating repeatedly that shariah is the best system of government for everyone. Perhaps it is time I explained a little more why this is so, just I case I failed to make the point.

To understand the answer I gave, we return to the question of how God guides us. There is no compulsion. The advice given is for our benefit, and it is up to us whether we follow the advice or not.

I previously used the example of the candle. God guides us not to touch the flame. If we reject the advice, we get burnt. This is not punishment, simply the consequence of not heeding good advice. I mentioned also that we do not know all the possible long term consequences of our actions, and that it is difficult for us to make the connection between our actions and the negative consequences which may only manifest years or decades later. God is aware of these and advises us in advance. If we do not heed the advice, the consequences are ours to bear.

What we must remember is that whether we believe in God or not,  worship Him or not, or choose to follow God’s advice or not, we are all God’s children, and God never abandons any of us. His advice is likewise for all of us. It makes no different what our relation with God is, if we touch the flame we get burnt. The flame does not burn us only if we worship God, or only if we do not, in much the same way that rain falls on everyone without prejudice.

This is an important point, because the same applies in the case of Shariah; it is advice from God for all His children, whether we recognize Him or not.

We are not expected to impose our views (even if these views or based 100% on God’s advice for us). In other words, God does not impose His guidance on us and He expects us to practice the same restraint. To do otherwise and claim that this is done “in the name of God” is gross misrepresentation.

God expects us to live our lives giving full expression to our free-will, and to ensure that everyone else is allowed to do the same. When we chose to follow Gods advice, it is done voluntarily and out of conviction, not coercion.

We cannot force women to wear the hijab or forcibly prevent them, neither can we force men to wear a beard or to be clean shaven, and so is the case with everything else.

Four crimes have been defined for which there is prescribed punishment. In everything else we do, we may act in terms of God’s guidance (worship God) or our own opinion (worship ourselves). The choices we make determine the consequences we face.

You may choose to gamble. I may not. I may advise you against it, but I cannot force you to stop. The consequences of gambling will be yours to bear. Only one whose rights have been violated may bring a charge against someone else. When you gamble, you are violating the rights of no one so no one can have any claim against you. This is how free people live.

Shariah is the best system of government for every human being, but what it requires is people who are willing to make it a reality. Assuming power and making laws that impose aspects of God’s guidance is not Shariah, and I have made this point repeatedly because we have observed others acting in this way, calling it Shariah, and creating the false impression that this is what Shariah is all about.

This is the system which makes it mandatory on us to guarantee our own freedom and to ensure that peace prevails. This is what we do “in the name of God”.

When our safety is left in the care of someone else, we lose both our safety and our freedom. This is another message that Shariah delivers. We are personally responsible, neither should we abdicate this responsibility (give it up voluntarily) nor should we allow others to assume it by force (involuntarily). If we do, we surrender as slaves.

We have a great responsibility to bring about the necessary change that ensures true freedom, and this obligation rests on all of us, whether we have found God or not, and the system we choose to adopt should be the one guided by God, and we should accept this despite the fact that we do not accept God’s existence. We should judge the product by putting it to the test, not by our personal views of God.

I began by answering the question with a yes… and no. Here is the reason why.

Each of us is born totally submissive to God. Hence, by definition, everyone is born Muslim. Our home and other environments may have the effect of influencing us away from this state of total submission. Many of us realize our error, and by the grace of the Almighty, restore our true relationship with God.

Because each of us is born Muslim, we can say that Shariah is “a Muslim thing”. But seen from a different perspective, since not all of us acknowledge our birth right, Shariah would then not be considered exclusively “a Muslim thing”.

Which ever way we see it, this is the best way for those of us who want nothing else but to live our lives in peace, minding our own business, and having no inclination to stick our noses in the affairs of others or having any grandiose ideas of “ruling over” them.

If this is you, then perhaps together we, and others like us, can come together and make this vision a reality.

Until next time.

What is this all about?

I have been on the internet more than usual recently as I search for suitable people to invite to this blog, and you may be one of those recently invited; if so, my sincerest gratitude for accepting the invitation.

What I did discover, however, is that there are thousands of sites, each of which must require constant attention and care by many thousands of dedicated people, and the information available is phenomenal, even though much duplication between sites exists. After all, there is only one authentic Quraan, and we all make reference to the same one.

The thought did cross my mind, what if all these hard working and dedicated people are so busy loading the information on the sites, that they have little time to actually study the information for themselves. We then have a similar situation as happens with many lectures in university, where the notes of the lecturer become the notes of the students without having entered the mind of either. We who are greedy for information may also be guilty of downloading loads of great information but finding no time to actually study and apply them.

Talking is not why this blog was started. We have enough of that. What we need is to do something concrete which will have the effect of bringing an end to the cause of the endless discussions. If these are solved, the need to talk will stop, and we will be free to start living our lives. Now, wouldn’t that be great?

I can only pray that you will be stimulated to contribute your thoughts not only here, but also to other sites that you visit regularly and so help start a world wide awareness that there is a real solution to the world’s problems, that the principles of Shariah are the ideal alternative to Democracy, and that “bringing” Democracy to those who do not want it is not the solution, it is part of the problem.

No man made system can come even close to ensuring freedom for everyone; they always involve one group subjugating another.

Shariah makes this possible because ensuring the freedom of ourselves and of others is part of our duty and service to God. We do it voluntarily and without coercion.

As such, we who seek nothing more than to live our lives in peace and who have no desire to interfere in the lives of others will welcome this. Slave masters and those under their compulsion will resist us every bit of the way. They have great influence on the media and will even create doubts in us about the practicality and wisdom of our actions. We will be called many things, none of them complimentary, for doing nothing other that ensuring our freedom. All those who serve God find themselves castigated in this way.

Those of us who have not found God are equally victims of such people, and as such, we too will find true freedom and security under a system based on the principles of Shariah. The way of the Prophets (PBUT) is recommended for all mankind, though this may appear hard to believe with all the misinformation going around.

I look at the myriad of sites explaining the merits of God’s teaching to us, but rarely do we find in them a model that truly recognizes that we are all equally children of God, and I am yet to find a single site which does not promote its understanding of Religion as the ultimate truth and which seeks to invite people to their way of thinking to the exclusion of all others.

God showed us how to teach people about Him. We do this by putting His teaching into practice with the conviction that it is the ideal way of life and that others who witness this will be inspired to adopt our way of life as their own. Compulsion in any form is against God’s teaching and guidance. This teaching applies to EVERYONE. We must put to the test our understanding of the truth. The real truth will prevail against all imposters. If it is the real truth we seek, then we have nothing to fear from Shariah.

We cannot manifest God’s teachings in its totality under Democracy, because Democracy demands primary allegiance to its creations (Parliaments and its equivalents) while a true believer in God submits to no one but God.

This is our challenge.

I hope you who are reading this will carry these ideas far and wide, and in different languages so that we can set in motion the formation of an international movement dedicated to making true freedom a reality in our time.

Soon, God willing, I will describe some of the more practical manifestations of the Shariah system.

Until then.

What is freedom?

The name of this blog claims a link between finding God and finding freedom.

What is freedom? This is perhaps a question few of us would expect to be asked. After all, surely everyone knows the answer. We hear it mentioned regularly. Is not freedom having the right to vote?

Many South Africans were deprived of a vote, and then a vote of equal value to the Whites. Today everyone has the same vote, and that is why we are all free.

People in many countries have the vote which is meaningless because of “rigging”, a sanitized word for fraud. Freedom, you may say, is having a vote in a free and fair election. So, if independent monitors declare an election free and fair, it means we are free people, such as the Afghans.

Having a vote in “free and fair” elections has nothing to do with being free.

Let me illustrate this with an example which may be considered somewhat extreme.

Imagine that we are slaves on a plantation. We demand that our voice be heard. Our master accedes to our wishes and decides to hold elections. We will each have a vote to choose the person who will represent us concerning our grievances. The candidates are our master, his daughter and his son. Having a vote does not necessarily mean freedom. Even if we were choosing one of our own to represent us before the master, it would not mean that we are free. Our world is very much like this, if only we could see it.

The democratic process that we are a part of gives us the opportunity of deciding which party will rule over us, not which people will act in our interest, and there is a very big difference between the two.

Democracy and elections have nothing to do with freedom.

To understand this we need to compare a free man with his opposite, the slave.

What is it really about a slave that makes a person a slave? Is it the chains? Is it the inability to act as he pleases? Is it the restrictions on movement? Is it being forced to do things he does not want to? Is it about submitting to the whims of someone with consequences for failing to do so?  Is it about being monitored all the time? Is it about the lack of justice? Is it about not having any rights over the fruit of our labour – (they belong to the master)?

Being a slave involves all of these. Examine ourselves and see if our situation is really any different. Our “slave” camp is not so restricted, but it is a defined area with a name and we call these “countries”. We are not “branded” like cattle, but we do have ID documents and passports which serve the same purpose.

We may not leave without a passport (consent to leave), and movement is sometimes restricted by the requirement of visas (consent to enter).

We are burdened with compulsory taxes which are the chains that tie us. We do not own the fruit of our labour. By law, everything we earn belongs to the government and we are allowed a small amount to subsist, and this amount is adjusted by varying the rate we are taxed. The true rate is obscured by many hidden taxes, such as licenses and various fees. New taxes are introduced regularly to siphon off even more. By many estimates, more than 60 cents in every rand ends up as taxes.

What ever we do must be authorized in some way. Purchasing property involves a transfer process which will not be allowed under certain situations. We pay a tax every time we transfer the right to occupy property. No one owns property except the government and we pay a monthly rental called rates.

If we own a car, we may not use it without permission, obtained by purchasing a “consent” or license.

We are forced to act in predetermined ways. We may not build on “our” land without permission, including how it will be built and what materials may be used etc. We may not drive except at speeds which are pre-determined. We may not trade without permission (license).

Intrusive surveillance is becoming commonplace with cameras appearing just about everywhere.

Abiding by every new law which violates are free will is submitting to the whims of those in Government.

As is becoming more apparent by the day, Democracy does not deliver justice. I can say this without fear of contradiction because the duty of the Department of “Justice” is to interpret the Law as enacted by Government, not to ensure justice.

The slave masters used to reward the acquisition of certain skills above others because of their need for these artisans. As the numbers of such people have increased (doctors, accountants, lawyers, scientists etc), the need to keep up this differential payment is falling away and the true slave system will reveal itself as each person will be forced to receive the same “stipend” irrespective of occupation, and refusal to work will be a crime.

Our area of movement is larger than in the past. We have certain liberties which were denied to slaves in the past such as choosing which clothes we wear, having a greater variety of entertainment etc, but with this has come with a loss of our guarantee of housing, clothing, health care and food. Despite these cosmetic differences, the essence of slavery still exists.

We are slaves in everything but name but we think we are free because we have a vote. This is the best type of slave; one who does not see the link between his miserable life and the fact that it is due to his being a slave. We will never search for the identity of the slave master in order to free ourselves because we are unaware that one even exists.

The guidance from God opens our eyes to our true situation and guides us out of our slavery.

Under shariah no one is competent to make laws that bind his fellow man. We are free to live as we please as long as we do not violate the rights of someone else, and if we do, courts exist where justice is served, not the blind adherence to some predetermined man-made law.

Only four activities are defined as crimes; adultery, perjury, robbery and theft. In every other instance, nothing we do is “inherently” a crime, and we are free to act as we please. No one can compel us to provide a justification for anything we do. Under current law systems, almost everything is regulated and acting contrary to these “laws” makes our actions criminal by definition. We either pay a penalty or attempt to justify our actions, and our explanation may not be accepted, and a penalty incurred despite the fact that our conduct violated the rights of no one.

As believers in God we know that we are accountable for our actions. There is a Day of Judgment. We are guided to ensure the safety of those around us and in so doing we have a formula for peaceful co-existence. The greeting of “peace” is a promise of safety to the person, his family and his property.

God safeguards our free will, and as His representatives on earth, we are duty bound to do the same. We may not force our belief, practices, ideology, nuances or preferences upon anyone else and we may not allow anyone else to do this to us. We protect our freedom (absence of slavery) because without it we cannot be worshippers of God alone, the first principle for acceptance in the community of true Believers.

Acting is this way we are following the practice of the Prophets, we are practicing their shariah.

The slave masters of today will do-everything in their power to keep us enslaved. The benefits they offer us to serve them and act against our own is a poison which destroys us and will be a curse on the Day of Judgment.

The guidance is there and we can be free, but for this to happen we have to put the guidance into practice.

Until next time.

Democracy and the alleviation of poverty

Every 5 years, as elections loom, politicians hit the streets with promises of “better service delivery”, “creating more jobs”, “providing houses”, “alleviating poverty”, and people trudge to the polls to cast their ballot.

Each time round unemployment gets worse, most people are poorer, and more houses are required at the end of their tenure than at the beginning. Some people vote according to the race of the politician, others according to religion, but one thing no-body promises, and no one votes for, is freedom. Why would we when we think that we are already free.

Many of us support democratic elections because of the promise of “something for nothing”. The thought that the wealth of someone else will be taken and sheared with us is very appealing. Add to this a moral slant that suggests that this is our right, and all inhibitions fall away.

Do any of us really think about this?

A point that must be made at the outset is that nobody has any “rights” upon other people other than the right of the indigent to tithe and zakaah. A wrong done by someone in the past cannot be corrected by penalizing others in the future. This is gross injustice and any system based on injustice is doomed to failure.

We can all be successful as long as we are not prevented from exercising our individual God-given potential for our benefit. Shariah ensures that no one is subjugated in any way, fulfilling the most important criterion for a successful society.

Governments of today collect taxes but do not promise anything in return, and there is no way that government can be held liable for the failure of politicians to keep their election promises.

That which government doess provide is made possible because of taxes.

These taxes affect everyone, since things such as VAT, fuel levies, import duties, and license fees affect everyone, but the ones affected the most are the poor. The super rich have ways of legally paying very little tax.

Most of the tax that is collected is from the poor (though each person pays a small amount comparatively, the large number of poor people results in most of the tax that is collected having come from them), but they get very little in return. Most of the benefit actually goes to the rich or the politicians.

Poverty can not be eliminated by a system (such as Democracy) that inherently creates poverty.

The public administration carries a huge administrative cost that consumes a large part of the money collected. This is good money that is wasted but the accounting methods used reflect this spending as part of national productivity. This is a gross misrepresentation, hiding the true cost to the nation of bloated and wasteful government bureaucracies.The more government wastes on itsef, the more productive the nation is said to be. What can be more diabolical.

Where there is a large pool of money, there will always be someone willing to try and siphon some of this for themselves, and fraud and theft are common problems that are huge, and will never be eliminated under the present system.

When anything is taken from someone against their wishes and without their consent, this is theft, and involuntary taxes falls in this category.

Everyone who receives pensions, grants, disability payments, or any other “state benefit” is a recipient of stolen goods. God warns us that consuming this is taking poison into our system.There is a diifeerence between someone who receives charity having had no hand in how that wealth was acquired, compared to a person who abbets and assists a criminal to steal goods from a third party, then receives a share in the stolen goods.When we vote for someone because they promise us these monetary rewards for supporting them, we make the theft possible and are the recipients of stolen goods.

The asset stripping nature of taxes leaves most people unable to take care even of their personal needs, let alone those who are destitute. In the absence of taxes, more people who are really worthy recipients of charity will be helped by those close to them and who know their situation because they will have more money at thier disposal. State social services can never hope to match the efficiency of this.

Unjust “rates” on residential property can cause people to lose their homes because of inability to pay this tax. Is there a more unjust tax that one can imagine?

Pensions and grants can never solve our dire situation, it only makes it worse as people learn very quickly that working hard does not pay, we only end up paying more in taxes. The route followed by many is to try and qualify for “disability”, increasing further the burden on the state.

Added to this is the problem of people drawing state benefits when they do not qualify, and made possible by “contacts”. Where ever there is some money to be collected, there will always be someone who tries to become a beneficiary. Abuse of disability grants is well known.

This problem is compounded by the self-authorized power of government to make laws, and in this specific instance, Labour laws, which protect only those that are already employed thereby making it very difficult for people to be fired, and also makes it very difficult for people to employ others on a casual basis and for a small stipend. Many people who could survive on this casual labour are deprived.

The abuse of state funds is a major problem and one which seems out of our control. There is no way to improve or clean the system; it needs to be totally replaced.

Shariah is truly the answer.

Under this system there are no involuntary taxes and restrictive laws. People can hire and fire with greater discretion. People who are valuable can be rewarded without the concern that those who are useless must be kept employed and remunerated under the principle of “equal pay”.

There is a motivation to work since no work means no pay. The need for fraudulent doctor’s notes (and everything else this entails) comes to a grinding halt. Further motivation to work is provided by the fact that more work means more money in the pocket, not more tax payments.The absence of state grants makes being disabled a disability, not an advantage.

The cost of living drops precipitously because of the absence of import and other duties, end of VAT, no levies on fuel, no license etc. People are able to live a better life with less money than before, and there are also greater job opportunities as industry and small businesses are free to employ people without the concerns of oppressive labour laws.There is endleess opportunities for budding entrepreneurs to try their hand because of the absence of licenses and license fees. The best will thrive, and God provides for us all.

There is no way I could possibly give justice to this topic since there are just so many positive consequences of the sharia system and so many disadvantages of the current system.

The most important message is that poverty cannot end under Democracy, it can only get worse. Under Shariah, poverty will be the least of our problems.

The greatest threat faced by a shariah nation is the huge slave armies built by democracies which will be used to try and steal the wealth of the shariah living people. It is because of this threat that our own ability to defend ourselves must never be neglected. Our best defense is to make those under democracies aware of their slave like existence and to help them free themselves. This will end the state funding which builds these armies, and the consequent threat to other nations.

We owe it to ourselves and to every starving homeless person to make shariah a reality in our country and eventually the whole world. It is the first duty to God that we must fulfill.

PS:The following article once again manifests mans incompetance to make law and shows how licenses, (and permits) serve to worsen poverty (and in this case (hunger)

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7381016.html

This is the kind of mixed up world in which we live. No one has the right to tell others the degree of risk to which they should expose themselves. Here people are made to starve to ensure that they are not given food which may make them sick, where there is no evidence of this happening for over a year. Pure madness.

Thinking like a free person – Seat Belts

To help us understand the difference between freedom and slavery, we shall begin with a simple example.

If we can truly understand what is said about seat belts, everything else that can be said about thinking like a free person will be very easy to grasp.

We are told that seat belts are very important. They increase our safety. Without them, many more people will be injured in accidents and there will be many unnecessary deaths. In short, seat belts save lives. You will find this conclusion just about everywhere.

This is such an important safety devise, we are told, that laws are passed making it a crime to travel in a vehicle without wearing one. Anyone found traveling "unbuckled" will be prosecuted. Buckle up or pay up seems to be the prevalent motto.

Let us examine the facts.

We are told that seat belts are very important because they reduce injuries and death.

Who said this? Can they be trusted? If seat belts did reduce injuries, how many injuries do they actually prevent?

Here are some figures taken from US Statistics, I think the year was 2006.

Population 300 million

Number of accident related injuries 3million

Number of deaths 43 000

Percentage of dead people not wearing seat belts 59%

Percentage of people dying wearing seat belts 41 %

Percentage of people likely to be involved in an accident related injury 3 million divided by 300 million = 1%.

Number of deaths in accidents per yr = 43 000

Percentage of people who die in an accident 43 000 divided by 300 million = 0.014%

In 41 % of cases one will die even if wearing a seat belt.

So 59% die without seat belts ie 59% of 43 000 = 25 370 which is = 0.00845% of the total population.

Chances of dying while wearing a seat belt is 41 % of 43000 = 17 630 which is = 0.00587% of the total population

i.e a difference of 0.00258%

Despite the fact that only a fraction of the population will be involved in an accident, and an even smaller fraction sustain injury in one, and an even smaller fraction still that will die during an accident, EVERYONE is FORCED to wear one!

What these figures show is that the difference between the chances of dying while wearing a seat belt and not wearing a seat belt is miniscule. Also, if we take into consideration the number of people using the road and the number of people that actually die while on the road, they form a very small fraction. The question that must be asked is, does this really warrant us making such a fuss about seat belts?

Having asked this question I will now make the most important point, by approaching this question along these lines we actually fall into a carefully prepared trap.

Our attention has been drawn to whether seat belts are indeed a safety feature or not. Our focus has been diverted to proving or disproving whether seat belts are safer or not. Governments will produce “research” proving that because 43 000 people died while on the road, that is evidence enough that seat belts are necessary, and hence the laws are necessary and what we fail to realize is that there is no connection between the “proof” of safety and the need for the law.

Think about this carefully.

Let us assume for the purposes of this discussion that there is no doubt whatsoever that seat belts are a benefit, and that many injuries are prevented by using them. The question that arises is what gives anyone the right to force its use on someone else?

If I think they are good, I will use them. I may choose not to. You may advise my but you cannot force me. That is my choice. When I am forced to act in a certain way it means you think that I am incapable of making decisions for myself. That is an insult. Does not the corollary also hold true. If I think you are wrong do I not have every right to reject your advice? But government forces its view through the “law”, which by God’s standards, they are incompetent to make in the first place.

No free person will allow such intrusion into his freedom.

Laws such as these take away our right to think and act for ourselves. Governments see themselves as our owners, and as such they seek to regulate every possible action of ours (There must be a law for everything – no one must be allowed to think for themselves and every action contrary to these laws must be accompanied by a fine/tax).

The danger in allowing ourselves to be treated in this was is that we cannot be sure that government is always acting in our best interest. People can be influenced in various ways. Government may pass laws which are actually to our disadvantage.

Think about the situation when the best medical minds of the time thought that arsenic should be used in the treatment of Pellagra (caused by a vitamin deficiency). If they had the power then, which Governments assume today, they could have passed a law forcing everyone to take arsenic as a treatment and possible preventative measure and this would have had disastrous consequences.

Another example could be the case where people influence Government to impose vaccination programmes on dubious "research" findings where the only benefit may be to the company producing the vaccine.

The only safe way is that prescribed by the Almighty. We can advise people, but they must make up their own minds. We cannot force them even if we think they are harming themselves because despite our best intentions we may be wrong.

These laws that enforce the wearing of seat belts serve an ulterior motive, that of creating another way by which we can be taxed since every citation or ticket is in fact a hidden tax.

But this story is not complete. What we discover when we apply our mind like a true believer in God is that the time of our birth and of our death is determined before we are born. We do not die from heart attacks, strokes, gun shot wounds, poisons or accidents; we die because it is our time to die.

With more people spending more time on the road, it is inevitable that more of us will be on the road when our time comes to die, and in many cases no accident is required; such as people who suddenly slump over the wheel.

This being the case, no one and nothing can stop people dying. Seat belts may reduce injuries, but they may also be the cause of injuries when they become stuck and prevent people from escaping their burning vehicles. There are pros and cons. Each person has the God given right to think and decide what is best for himself.

No free person will allow himself to be forced into doing anything against his will and this includes following a particular religion, fighting in a particular war, paying involuntary taxes, so why should the forced  wearing of seat belts be any different?

If seat belts are as good as we are told they are, the only person who will suffer from not wearing one is me. My failure to wear one does no harm to anyone else, and neither does it violate the rights of anyone else. On what legitimate ground can any one force me to wear a seat belt? Doing this is criminal and a violation of my rights as a free person. To fine me for exercising my free will is adding injury to insult.

Governments do this under a Democracy because here no one is free.

If we want true freedom, we have to replace Democracy and the best alternative is the one created for us by the Almighty, Shariah. Under this system, no one can force anyone to act against their will even if they are acting to their disadvantage. This is true freedom.

A person trained to think like a slave will insist not only that seat belts are good, but that it is right that everyone should be forced to wear them even against their wishes. They will even insist on severe penalties for those who violate their laws.

A person who thinks like a free person does not allow himself to be caught up in the argument whether seat belts are good or not, he simply insists on his right to decide for himself and makes it clear that it is no one else’s business whether he wears one or not.

Following the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) diligently makes us free people in thought and action.

What kind of people are we? What kind of people would we like to be?

Until next time.