A Muslim, a Christian and an infinite universe

400 years ago in 1600s a theologian named Giordano Bruno proposed a theory of infinite universe with nothing at the centre, refuting Aristotle and the belief of most Christians at the time. For this he was persecuted for 8 years and finally On 17 February 1600, he was burned at the stake with his books destroyed for heresy.

Between 1149 to 1209 AD, roughly 400 years before Bruno and 800 years from today. A Persian Muslim theologian called Fakhr ad-Din ar-Razi, wrote this in his book called MATALIB AL ALIYA:

It is established by evidence that there exists beyond the world a void without a terminal limit (khala’ la nihayata laha), and it is established as well by evidence that God Most High has power over all contingent beings (al-mumkinat). Therefore He the Most High has the power (qadir) to create a thousand thousand worlds (alfa alfi ‘awalim) beyond this world such that each one of those worlds be bigger and more massive than this world as well as having the like of what this world has of the throne (al-arsh), the chair (al-kursiyy), the heavens (al-samawat) and the earth (al-ard), and the sun (al-shams) and the moon (al-qamar). The arguments of the philosophers (dala’il al-falasifah) for establishing that the world is one are weak, flimsy arguments founded upon feeble premises.

He wrote this as a commentary to second verse of the Quran.

“All praise belongs to God, lord of the WORLDS” Quran Ch1 Verse 2

Despite his contrasting views to much accepted theories of Aristotle and many other Muslim theologians of time. He was neither persecuted, nor killed, in fact he is still revered by many who have some knowledge of rich Islamic history.

Ar Razi was not only an Astronomer but a well established Physian and a medical researcher. He was the first to distinguish smallpox and measles and recognise that fever is not an illness in itself, but a way for your body to fight off an illness. He had a great passion for treating the disease in children and wrote first known medical book on the subject. In his 30 volume Medical Encyclopaedia called ‘Al-hawi ‘ or ‘The virtuous life’ lies the first celebrated monogram on small pox. This book was translated into Latin and take to Europe by a Sicilian Jewish scholar by the name of Faraj ben Salim. This book remained relevant in medical studies in Europe till late 18th Century, during which time Ibn Sina and Ar Razi were held in higher regard than most Roman and Greek philosophers.

When Europe was lingering in dark ages, the House of Wisdom in Baghdad was teeming with free thinkers and philosophers of all faiths. The only criteria to gain entry was their ability to think critically for the benefit of humanity. It was because of the scholars in the great cities like Cordoba, Baghdad and Damascus that Roman, Greek and Indian knowledge was translated, preserved and added to, only to be passed on to Europe.

Question all of us including Muslims should ponder upon is that the Islam remains the same than why is there little to no new knowledge coming out of the Muslim world?

All these scholars were not only dedicated to their professions but were devout to their faith and found no contradiction between studying the creation and believing in the creator. Modern scientists speaks of the observable and unobservable universe thinking that only modern human mind can comprehend such concepts. But the Islamic free thinkers of the past spoke of ‘Alam ul ghaib (Unseen Universe) and ‘Alam ul sahood’ (Observable Universe) centuries ago. And why wouldn’t they, the creator of this infinity gave them the mind to ponder on the book which says:

He is Allah, than Whom there is La ilaha illa Huwa (none has the right to be worshipped but He) the All-Knower of the unseen and the seen. He is the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. Quran Ch 59 V 22

To those on the right including Andrew Bolt

Going through the comments and the emails I have received after my opinion piece, it is good to see that there is an active interest in debating my point of view. There is very little sympathy from 105 people who commented on the article in courier mail and Andrew bolt’s response and 10 emails I have received so far. However, the encouraging aspect is that people are reaching out to communicate.

Unlike many Muslims, attack on me and my faith do not deter me or make me feel alienated. In fact, I am proud of this tradition of debating and expressing point of views, no matter how extreme. My inspiration to be civil against attacks is nothing else but my faith and understanding of Islam. There are many allegations made against Islam in the comments and I will try and give my response through this piece.

Many might say that free speech is only limited to Australia and/or West and most Muslim countries do not provide such opportunities and trust me I agree with that analysis without any debate. It is also true that many such regimes or groups use Islam as an excuse to stifle free speech and critical analysis, but I believe Islam to be the victim of such oppression rather than the cause of it. At this point I think I have lost many of you, but let me try and give you reasons behind this statement.

My first argument is that it’s not always the free religious thought which is suppressed using more conservative argument but anything which is seen as a political threat is suppressed by these regimes using anything including religion. This is not because they are Islamic, they are far from it, but free thought brings political and social change. There lies the problem. Most dictatorial regimes in the Muslim world are secular, yet they are happy to use religious justifications or proxies to stifle dissent. Some of those who are suppressed fall prey to terrorist groups which preach violent and extreme ways of bringing change.

Some have attacked Islam using Islamic texts, which when taken out of context indeed seem violent and aggressive. However, one can come to a similar conclusion if context is not applied to some verses of Old Testament or indeed the New Testament. Even our criminal code, when taken out of context may make the state look like a violent oppressor rather than a government. While all Muslims are obliged to learn Islam only certain scholars have a right to give religious dictates. Anyone can memorize few verses or Quran or Hadith but their application is based on Ijtihad (diligence) of renowned scholars with serious religious credentials.

The reason we are witnessing atrocities which are attributed to Islamic text is because the extremists, who have very little knowledge and acceptance, interpret these verses in the same way most of those conservative anti-Islam pundits do. One such practical argument of the falsehood of groups like ISIS is in the fact that while Iraq has been under Muslim rule since 7^th Century, no Muslim scholar or leader has ever destroyed Babylonian artifacts or driven out Christians and other minorities in the way ISIS has done.

It is a thing of great irony that there were comments by non-Muslims suggesting that Muslims like me are considered heretics by most Muslims. In fact it’s quite the opposite, most mainstream Muslims including scholars consider atrocities committed by ISIS as heresy and have openly and repeatedly condemned them. I am an elected president of Brisbane’s oldest Mosque and a spokesperson of Islamic Council of Queensland and have not received a single negative comment from any Muslim. This should be proof enough of the rejection of terrorism by overwhelming majority of Aussie Muslims. As far as the question of integration is concerned, the problem is that almost everyone has a different view on what Australian values are.

To me Australian values are to uphold the law of the land, believe in the freedom of religion and accepting diversity. So even if most Muslims don’t drink alcohol, grow a beard and females wear a Hijab, they are as Aussies as those who like to drink, wear bikinis and are clean shaved. Integration means accepting this fact and if anyone has a problem accepting this than they should seriously reconsider their own values or consider relocating.