He is Allah, the Creator, the Maker, the Fashioner. His are the most beautiful names. All that is in the heavens and the earth glorifies Him, and He is the Mighty, the Wise. (Al Quran 59:24/25)

Source: Advancing Rational Faith Academy

By Ehsan Butt PhD

General Human Consensus That Nature Is Bound To Rules

Before the modern era no nation or fair-minded individual denied the idea that a systematic and organic universe is a testimony to its single-minded comprehensive control. Any person who has looked at the stories of Greek or Pre-Greek philosophers recognizes the acceptance of a universal comprehensive control. Thinkers debate this comprehensive control in terms of puzzles, struggling to reconcile particular observations of a precise time and space with the general observation. They recognize that they are not talking about problems in nature or universe in general. They are only expressing their inability to satisfactorily understand some particular phenomena seemingly appearing to them as some exception. Few people deny the universal principle that exceptions do not make the rule.

Nature is good, society corrupts,
Everything is good as it leaves the hand of the Author of things.
Rousseau 1712-1778 Francophone Genevan philosopher wrote in his famous book Émile

The Monotheism

That evidence of the single-minded control of the world with its observed principled character, following rules and laws indiscriminately, is the bedrock of Monotheism. Another associated observation is that nothing has ever been observed in nature that can come even close to match the scale and characteristics of the controller directly inferred from evidence exhibited by the natural world. The concept of the single supernatural controller deity is thus not actually a blind-faith but a rational conclusion as the direct corollary of the universal natural observations.

Monotheism of British, Protestants, Puritans and Deists

Puritans migrated from Britain to America to save their ancestral belief and practices. British history included many periods of Iconoclasm by Puritans. During these Iconoclasm campaigns Puritans, who represented public sentiments demanded the government to destroy all the well known icons or images in places of worship and the government accepted the demand many times. Presence of Icons and images in places of religious activities was considered idolatry whereby something or somebody is regarded as worthy of worship along with the single Creator God. Especially Years 1600-60 were an age of reaction from public triggered by the introduction of Spanish Catholic church icons. English people had long held strong religious beliefs and sentiments against the presence of statues, icons and human figures of any form in places of religious worship. August 1643 An Ordinance was passed in the parliament for the utter demolishing, removing and taking away of all Monuments of Superstition or Idolatry stating:

The Lords and Commons in Parliament taking into their serious considerations how well pleasing it is to God, and conduceable to the blessed Reformation in his Worship, so much desired by both Houses of Parliament, that all Monuments of Superstition or Idolatry should be removed and demolished.
British History Online, 1642-1660; Spraggon, 2003

A famous American politician from the descendants of Puritans who represented American colonies in Europe was Benjamin Franklin 1705 -1790.

Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter to Ezra Stiles, President of Yale College, March 9, 1790:

Here is my creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe. That he governs it by His providence. That He ought to be worshiped. That the most acceptable service we render Him is doing good to His other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. p 8 Rousseau, 1858

Thomas Paine d 1809, the greatest American founding father who not only put forward the idea of American independence but also became its main activist and motivational spokesman. He stated about the Monotheism as the common element of faith among all people of his time, he wrote:

Every person of whatever religious denomination he may be is a Deist in the first article of his Creed Deism from the Latin word Deus God is the belief of a God and this belief is the first article of every man’s creed. It is on this article universally consented to by all mankind that the Deist builds his church and here he rests.

The American Declaration of Independence

In congress, July 4, 1776, The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America:

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

French Declaration of the Rights of Man – 1789

National Assembly of France Approved as Law of the Land, August 26, 1789:

The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly, believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man, in order that this declaration, being constantly before all the members of the Social body, shall remind them continually of their rights and duties; in order that the acts of the legislative power, as well as those of the executive power, may be compared at any moment with the objects and purposes of all political institutions and may thus be more respected, and, lastly, in order that the grievances of the citizens, based hereafter upon simple and incontestable principles, shall tend to the maintenance of the constitution and rebound to the happiness of all. Therefore the National Assembly recognizes and proclaims, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being*, the following rights of man and of the citizen: … contd.

*French declaration’s word “Supreme Being” and the American’s words “Nature’s God” and “their Creator” all point to the consensus of American and French public belief in God and Monotheism

How Only Monotheism Can Guarantee Human Equality

It is not a random coincidence that the strongest idea, platform or foundation to unite men against tyranny of all kinds and successfully bring evidenced reformation has always been Monotheism. Islam, American and French revolutions are its examples. All in their ideal forms were absolute rebellions against human inequality in all spheres from relationship with God, against divisions like laymen and priest to the ownership of global natural resources.

Founded on the principle of accepting humanity as a single human family, a creation of the single Benevolent God, Monotheism unites us all with our shared common bond, our love for our Creator. Monotheism thus provides the strongest foundation imaginable whereby establishing fairness, equality, indiscriminate rule of law, justice and equal rights, privileges and responsibilities becomes rational and voluntarily acceptable with broadest consensus.

It can be seen that the equal rights of individuals include a right to decent e.g right of expressing, believing and practicing polytheism, atheism etc. Also such rights to differ can best be guaranteed only under the Monotheism.

Defining Conceptions Other than Monotheism

As shown above Monotheism is aimed at directly observing and understanding the evidences of nature for arriving at best ideas about it. Monotheism is examined belief that begins and gets strength from growing its harmony with the evidences in nature. Anything other than Monotheism thus has to find its support from somewhere else. Because of this reason conceptions other than monotheism begin from dogmas and are not intended to understand the universe. Most blind-faiths argue for something they define as “Salvation” that supersedes inquiry for the best option. As we come across only the one single organic universe the ideas other than monotheism are just words or names that can not be defined using something from our natural observation. However people have expressed their opinions about their conceptions other than monotheism which are as varied as the opinion holders.

Some dogmas are so crucial to keep and scenario of their contradiction so scary that it is necessary to begin from them ensuring they are assumed as the end result rather than from a fresh look at the info, re-examination of what is available and related, trying to make best sense out of it and seeking reasons of how, why others interpret it etc.

Radical Monotheism and Western Culture

Helmut Richard Niebuhr 1894-1962 is considered one of the most important rational theologian of the 20th century. He gives a thorough analysis of faith as the idea rooted deep in every person’s mind as the ultimate object of confidence and loyalty. He describes three forms of faith namely the radical monotheism, which is the rational faith in One God actively involved behind nature. Henotheism – irrational, unexamined claim of faith in monotheism that can be shown as irrelevant to seeking harmony with nature and universal observations, which is like a social blind-faith or faith of a cult necessary to create and sustain a finite society as faction within humanity, examples nationalism, national Socialism and fascism. Polytheism -faith that is like chasing multiple ghosts at the same time. Niebuhr describes it as the aftermath of appearance of conflicts and a disintegration of cult consequently shattering of its henotheism in despair.

He has also analyzed the implications of radical monotheism i.e loyalty to and confidence in One God beyond all as the engine behind great reformers and reformation movements of history and real universal and transcendent sustain-er behind all of human life. Niebuhr’s Radical Monotheism is simply the genuine real rationally examined and consciously chosen monotheism. “Its two great mottoes are: “I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt have no other gods before me” amid “Whatever is, is good.” ” (Niebuhr, p 37, please see references below for details). i.e Humanism-Embracing all nature and all humanity with love. He wrote:

Officially our religious institutions and rites are monotheistic; actually we can discern in them, without much more than a casual glance, many tendencies toward polytheism and especially toward henotheistic or social faith. (Niebuhr, p 38-39)

Humanism is the affirmation of the value of all men and as the acceptance of the vow of loyalty to the whole human community has flourished only within the framework of radical monotheism.

A radically monotheistic faith says to them as to all the other claimants to ‘the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.’ to all the ‘circumnavigators of being’ as Santayana calls them: ‘I do not believe you. God is great.’ (Niebuhr, p 83-93)

“God is great” is well known Islamic exclamation The Takbīr (تَكْبِير), also written Tekbir or Takbeer, is the term for the Arabic phrase Allāhu Akbar (الله أكبر)

Monotheism is the main topic in the Qur’an:

And worship Allah. Ascribe no thing as partner unto Him. Qur’an 4:36

Radical Monotheism A Common Denominator in American Revolutionary Founding Fathers

Thomas Paine 1737-1809 detailed why and how the foundation of American and French liberation movement stands on the rational conclusion that the world evidences the rule of one God and no more in a discourse at the Society of the Theophilanthropists, in Paris in 1798. He also pointed out that these facts must be remembered, taught to new generations for the long term survival of the achievements of the successful struggle for liberation, he said:

” All men in the outset of the religion they profess are Theophilanthropists** It is impossible to form any system of religion without building upou those principles and therefore they are not sectarian principles unless we suppose a sect composed of all the world ”

** Theophilanthropist is of Greek origin and is compounded of three words: Theos God; philos a lover and anthropos man. It therefore means a lover of God and man.

” the study of natural philosophy(science) is a divine study because it is the study of the works of God in the Creation.”

Emphasizing that education in all schools must include pointing to the natural evidences of the universal rule of God to all students he said:
“The cultivator will there see developed the principles of vegetation while at the same time they will be led to see the hand of God in all these things ” p 190 Rousseau, 1858

Mid 19th Century American Thought that Foundations of Freedom and Democracy Are Rooted in the Monotheism

“Who could not glory in being a monotheist, free from bigotry, ready to reason, and bow to the decrees of rational religion? Who wants irrational faith, when none but rational religion is true? We can only ask for this as the purest to hope, live, and die by. Rational is the legitimate, real and substantial. You desire the best triumphs of rational religion, then seek the most rational to be the most successful means of their attainment. Rational religion unites all the fragments of society, all sects into one universal brotherhood. It is the noblest duty of every rational mind to investigate the subject of rational religion. Define monotheism; it is that which defines the correct adoration of one Supreme Being in his strictest unity of character and design. The subject is so deep that it cannot be exhausted and rises in confirmed sublimity on the advance of mental light, that will illuminate the world, the universe. The bible of rational mind and religion is the only one that can be given to the world there can be no other. The world’s happiness requires principles.” p 229, Vaiden 1852

America vindicated

American Nationality. —Nothing can develope American Nationality in such bold and characteristic Freedom, as its proper appreciation of its Monotheist Government, the model to the world, and the greatest lesson to collusive despots, who perpetrate the highest treason against the people, by the deepest stratagems for the spoils. Monotheist institutions were created for the human family, and American nationality will be conspicuous for the magnanimity of gratitude in perfecting the fullest exemplification of monotheist principles. A perpetual oligarchy has conspired against the people, with the avowed determination to ignore their monotheist institutions, the only ones ever devised by God for man, who is by nature and principles a monotheist. The great victory of the people has to be consummated, that their complete triumph may be realized. The day of truth-light is advancing, when liberty-loving people will not permit mankind to have ecclesiastical and military conventionalisms to be dictated to them, when they rightfully and absolutely assert all the purity and magnificence of God’s own chart and chartered statutes.” p 11, Vaiden 1855

Note 1:

Atheism in principle is denial of the legitimacy of any rule and any common bond among people to agree on some common cause, unite and get motivation about the legitimacy of their natural rights from e.g observations in nature, historical traditions. Atheism as a consequence provides a perfect medium for continuation of status quo.

Note 2:

American and French revolutions were lead by the people who were mostly self educated, home-schooled, truth-seekers, or enlightened freethinkers. They openly challenged the propaganda emanating from establishments of kings, their allied church and cronies that a state without them being patrons could not work. The most famous of such crony propagandists was Edmund Burke 1729-1797 member of parliament, London. The revolutionaries were successful in convincing the public and motivating them to fight until success against racist, inherited preferences and other privileges of kings and church and achieved the goal that is stated in the declarations as “equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them” and “the National Assembly recognizes and proclaims, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being*, the following (equal) rights of man and of the citizen …”.

Liberation of the American states and France is known as one of the great achievements, a leap forward in the human civilization. However neither in America nor in France the history of the struggle, debates, and foundations of the convincing philosophy of the liberation movement could be successfully transmitted to new generations for long. The same pre-revolutionary Academia loyal to kings and church and in many cases the same organizations not only continued what they have been doing but grew in numbers and effectiveness. In many cases isolated efforts by the revolutionary thinkers who realized the crucial need to convey the reasons, rational and intellectual foundations of the struggle and established some institutions to express, record and convey that were soon infested and completely controlled by the agents of global anti-revolutionary establishment. Their effectiveness can be seen in the present literature e.g. the consensus of French public in the monotheism indicated by the spirit of the declaration expressed in clear words “Supreme Being” is now widely misstated as merely a belief of some small group of French people who the mainstream edu academia now openly describe as the idea of small a group they call derogatorily “Cult of Supreme Being” not the French public which is an outrageous lie. Thus new French generations are being told that their revolutionary founding fathers belonged to some misguided cult. Situation about mainstream edu academia’s forgeries to tarnish the image of American revolutionary founding fathers in the literature is worse. Early Puritans are tried to be depicted as blind-faith Christians or witch hunter fools and later ones as atheists or people with un-commonsense beliefs mocked by public. On the contrary the enlightened Puritans, many of them were active leading members of the top learning societies like the Imperial Society. Sir Francis Bacon(1561-1626), known as the philosopher of Puritanism, wrote about the importance of mechanical arts:
“founded on nature and the light of experience … are continuously thriving and growing, as having in them a breath of life, at the first rude, then convenient, afterwards adorned, and all the times advancing”
and for him, there were three things that made a nation great:
” a fertile soil, busy workshops and easy conveyance for men and goods from place to place”
all being dependent on tools devised by man and the third pointing to an increasing mastery of the technology of travel, without which the Puritan migration could not have succeeded.
p 3-, Hopper 2009

Thomas Paine is being maligned as some atheist or the one who did not believe in God who is interested in the world anymore. He and Deists are almost always targeted by the mainstream edu academia, if they are ever mentioned, as some group who blindly believed in a God who ran away, after his baby universe was born, and is least concerned about it now. Similarly propaganda publications, using public money in most cases, continued spreading the falsehood that the idea of state without kings and church privileges is impractical and a recipe of disaster. An example is a recent work “THE SUBJUGATION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: A FAILED ATTEMPT”, by Lee White, read at Regional Phi Alpha Theta Conference at University of the Cumberlands, Williamsburg Kentucky
Expression of ideas or pointing to evidences supporting Monotheism, e.g intelligent design, are strictly prohibited in the mainstream edu academia as taboo and the people who dare to do that are penalized, forcibly silenced or removed. Some references that support the above conclusions are given: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0146193
http://www.evolutionnews.org/2016/03/censorship_in_r102659.html
Ben Stein examines the issue of academic freedom and decides that there is none when it comes to the debate over intelligent design http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1091617/
Theological fiefdoms under agreements between Church & States where certain human rights do not apply, are growing
http://www.concordatwatch.eu/showsite.php?org_id=843

Historically Attested Statements Of Polytheists Do Not Indicate Their Open Denial Of Monotheism

Monotheism seems to be such a natural intrinsic idea that its clear and consistent denial has never been observed. We can see an example in the dialogues with idol worshipers of Arabia responding to Mohammad SAW ‘s invitation towards pure Monotheism (Deism/Puritanism):

Ask (them): ‘Who is the Lord of the heavens and of the earth?’ 9 (They will) Say: ‘God.’ Say: ‘Then have you taken unto you others beside Him to be your protectors, even such as have no power to profit or hurt themselves?’ Say: ‘Are the blind and the seeing man equal, or are the shadows and the light equal? Or have they ascribed to God associates who created as He created creations, so that creation is all alike to them?’ ( i.e they find confusion about deciding among multiple creators) Say: ‘God is the Creator of everything, and He is the One, the Omnipotent.’ (Qur’an 13:16)

And those who take gods (objects of worship), apart from Him ( present their excuse saying that) ‘We only serve them ( those gods) that they (acting as reminders or pointers) may bring us nigh in nearness to God’ — surely God shall judge between them touching that whereon they are at variance. Surely God guides not him who is a liar, unthankful. (Qur’an 39:3)

Literal Forms of Monotheism Polytheism And How Modern Atheism Is Polytheism In Disguise

Polytheists believe the world runs on wishful desires of gods. The modern atheistic view is exactly that, i.e world is unprincipled, except that the wording is different. Proclaiming the world to be of unprincipled nature destroys all foundations of equal natural unalienable rights and hence a basis for the human classes, privileges and discrimination is created. Atheists exactly like polytheist idol worshipers associate powers and abilities of creation, control and guidance of the world to inanimate matter or mythical forces. The difference between the beliefs of polytheist idol worshipers and atheists is no more than of the scale and dimensions of their gods. Idol worshipers associate unknown powers and abilities with statues, trees, hills, mountains, moon and sun. Modern atheists assume exactly the same abilities and powers with the whole of cosmic universe. It may be important to note that western literature tends to blur the contrast between monotheism and polytheism and have developed a term “Theism” which as they define is a mixture of opposites. That term is the most blatant example of mainstream educational academia’s crimes of public deception where terms are invented not to clarify and differentiate but to confuse and betray. This is in fact their attempt to justify that Trinity is monotheism. Some excuse for this can be found in the fact that since polytheism has a stigma on its face so the European kings association with Trinity and Catholicism would have made it a serious insult and blasphemy of the king.

How Polytheist’s Worldview of Natural World Differs From a Monotheist

Polytheist’s agree that their postulate, that material and natural forces can produce feats of superhuman interventions of mind, is not verifiable from human experience. However, the improbability is taken as an excuse.

For Monotheist all nature is an evidence of his postulate. Monotheist looks at the evidence of what characteristics the idols and other objects of nature exhibit. They all exhibit characteristics of slaves bound by rules, not masters. Even the largest army of slaves is still a slave. The largest group of sheep is still not a lion. As consistent human experience is a testimony that numbers will not create a feat that is not in the individual, infinity multiplied by zero is a zero, no fair mind has ever thought otherwise. Slaves can be different in many traits but always share a common characteristic, they can not depend on themselves. They need support to live, orders to follow, even if it is a mass suicide. The standing armies of slaves and their unprecedented shows in nature all point to the conclusion that the source of their support and direction can only exist beyond themselves. All human experience from atom to cosmos is fundamentally the same in this respect that we have always come across slaves. Observing slaves begs the question of their master? The cosmological parades of slaves only raises the grandeur of their master! A monotheist is fair in attributing to slaves what they exhibit and he continues his search, and learns a lesson that power behind the slaves has to be somewhere else: supernatural. True to the spirit of fact finding, following the evidence wherever it leads, he makes no assumptions about the master he has not come across. The only inference that seems reasonable is that since all the slave cosmos parades in unison following universal rules and no exceptions are observed and in addition the rules establish stability, equilibrium and progress a testament to their being under only one master and no more. Here begins a search for the attributes of the master from the exhibitions of slaves.

Human Spirit of Scientific Inquiry Is Rooted In Monotheism

Only a belief in the existence of principles that are effectively in charge drives a search for those principles. A search for scientific inquiry is not a bed of roses. You need to have very strong resolve, voluntarily ready for sacrifices going through trouble all based on your belief that world runs on principles. This relationship between monotheism and scientific pursuit is the reason Islamic iconoclastic monotheism brought forth an enlightened scientific society.

Isaac Newton And Charles Darwin State That Their Scientific Inquiries Stem From Their Monotheism

Charles Darwin (died 1882) believed exactly like Isaac Newton (died 1727) that we live in a principled world. Darwin’s views were little different from his predecessor monotheist scholars. A Muslim scientist al-Jahiz (died 868 AD) describing the characteristics of animals remarked:

“Animals engage in a struggle for existence, and for resources, to avoid being eaten, and to breed.” He added, “Environmental factors influence organisms to develop new characteristics to ensure survival, thus transforming them into new species. Animals that survive to breed can pass on their successful characteristics to their offspring.” http://goo.gl/feCWtp

Isaac Newton wrote that his main motive behind his scientific endeavors is to know God and His actions in the light of nature; nature is a creation and in continuous control of God. At the end of his famous book OPTICKS Issac Newton wrote:

And if natural Philosophy in all its Parts, by pursuing this Method, shall at length be perfected, the Bounds of Moral Philosophy will be also enlarged. For so far as we can know by naturalPhilosophy what is the first Cause, what Power he has over us, and what Benefits we receive from him, so far our Duty towards him, as well as that towards one another, will appear to us by the Light of Nature. And no doubt, if the Worship of false Gods had not blinded the Heathen, their moral Philosophy would have gone farther than to the four Cardinal Virtues; and instead of teaching the Transmigration of Souls, and to worship the Sun and Moon, and dead Heroes, they would have taught us to worship our true Author and Benefactor, as their Ancestors Sons before they corrupted themselves did under the Government of Noah and his. – Optics by Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) published by London:: Printed for William Innys in 1730.

It is becoming increasingly evident that Huguenots who were of Muslim descent, played a major role in the training of Isaac Newton and later for the dissemination of his works:

Coste (1669–1747), a Huguenot refugee, translated Newton’s Opticks (1720) and included his comments:

The Reader will allow me to add one more word on the Queries which are like a conclusion to this Work. There he will find what the Author thinks about the most important matters of Physics. They are the fruit of a Philosophy which one only has to study and understand to admire, & which through the scrutiny of the main Phenomena of Nature leads us necessarily to God, the Author & Preserver of all things.

John Theophilus Desaguliers was a French-born Huguenot, who was elected to the Royal Society in 1714 as experimental assistant to Isaac Newton.

Jean-Francois wrote:

I will suggest that not only did a significant number of Huguenots like Desaguliers contribute to the success of Newtonian science both at home and abroad, but they actually participated in the making of Newtonianism itself, or—to be quite specific—in the elaboration of a distinct variety of Newtonianism which happened to be authorized by Newton himself. – p 534 Early eighteenth- century Newtonianism: the Huguenot contribution, Jean-Francois Baillon, Stud. Hist. Phil. Sci. 35 (2004)

Hope and Optimism Spur From Monotheism

Monotheism envisions world as life at our home maintained by parents with negativeness as infrequent exceptions and exceptions do not make the rules. The observations like evolution, progress, equilibrium, recovery and stability of mother nature encompasses all negatives of the human civilization encounters as it journeys forward and hazards only grow to the level of sneezes and hiccups. Once men become positivists, enlightened with optimism that honesty, truthfulness, justice, fairness, rationality empathy are consistent with the nature of the universe and they join hands that their personal, family and society must demonstrate the same in harmony with the nature which is also a creation of God, global reformation is just around the corner.

History Teaches Lessons Is A Testimony That Rules That Bind Nature Similarly Bind and Encompass Human Affairs

Qur’an is focused on pointing out natural evidences that show how God rules through fair principles. e.g It explains how all nations are tried and tested and are provided opportunities to rise and fall according to the set just rules. It calls it Sunnatullah, Rules of God, ُسنَّة الله in the Qur’an, that are applied to all humanity indiscriminately. While it points in the history of the rise and fall of nations explaining that it depends on the choices they take on as characteristics including, motivations that orient human actions and commit deeds.

It is a recurring topic in the Qur’an that it narrates history of growth and fall of various pre-Islamic civilizations while pointing out the evidences that they were treated equally as other nations according to their deeds.

Chapter 35 Fatir

(Shown in their) behaving arrogantly in the land and plotting evil; and the evil plot encloseth but the men who make it. Then, can they expect aught save the treatment of the folk of old? Thou wilt not find for Allah’s way of treatment any substitute, nor wilt thou find for Allah’s way of treatment aught of power to change. (35:43) Have they not travelled in the land and seen the nature of the consequence for those who were before them, and they were mightier than these in power? Allah is not such that aught in the heavens or in the earth escapeth Him. Lo! He is the Wise, the Mighty. (35:44)

Chapter 22 Al-Fath

And if those who disbelieve join battle with you they will take to flight, and afterward they will find no protecting friend nor helper. (48:22) It is the law of Allah which hath taken course aforetime. Thou wilt not find for the law of Allah aught of power to change. (48:23)

How Monotheism Testifies That Indiscriminate Application of Rules Will Not Be Missed For Long

The human consensus experience, that history teaches lessons, not only testifies that strict application of rules is evidenced in the rise and fall of nations but it also invites attention towards the fair judgement of man as to why such control could be absent in the case of individuals? Because the fate of a nation depends on the individuals, it argues that it is reasonable to expect the accountability, reward and punishment as is evident in the world in the form of rise and fall of nations to complete its course to the level of each individual.

Chapter 53 An-Najm

That no soul laden bears the load of another, (53:38) and that a man shall have to his account only as he has laboured, (53:39) and that his labouring shall surely be seen, (53:40) then he shall be recompensed for it with the fullest recompense, (53:41)

One of the most interesting things in this regard is the description of the primary reason for the pending justice to the individuals stated in the Qur’an is to reward the good people, leaders of enlightenment, reformers who have been the best in character and deeds, honest loyal whistleblowers, truth-seekers, witnesses to truths , e.g. Thomas Paine but unfairly treated or persecuted, tortured or maligned by their own beneficiary nations. The penalty to the evil doers is inalienable side-effect of the process of justice.

Chapter 34 Saba

The unbelievers say, ‘The Hour will never come to us.’ Say: ‘Yes indeed, by my Lord, it shall come to you, by Him who knows the Unseen; not so much as the weight of an ant in heaven and earth escapes from Him, neither is aught smaller than that, or greater, but it is in a Manifest Book; (3) that He may recompense those who believe, and do righteous deeds; theirs shall be forgiveness and generous provision. (4) ‘And those who strive against Our signs to void them — theirs shall be a chastisement of painful wrath.’ (5)

Chapter 55 Ar-Rahman

Shall the recompense of goodness be other than goodness? (55:60)

Chapter 6 Al-An’am

Ask them: ‘To whom belongs( & prostrates to) what is in the heavens and in the earth?’ (They will) Say: to God. ( So listen) He has prescribed for Himself mercy. He will surely gather you to the Resurrection Day, of which is no doubt. Those who have lost their souls, they do not believe. (6:12)

At other places an easy going and privileged life is likened to waste of the opportunity, which is like the Socrates call: “An unexamined life is not worth living”. Life worth living is that with mission of seeking truths, justice, enlightenment and reformation even if it invites difficulties, problems and suffering.

Chapter 10 YunusSurely those who look not to encounter Us and are well-pleased with the present life and are at rest in it, and those who are heedless of Our signs, (10:7) those — their refuge is the Fire, for that they have been earning. (10:8) Surely those who believe, and do deeds of righteousness, their Lord will guide them for their belief; beneath them rivers flowing in gardens of bliss; (10:9) their cry therein, ‘Glory to Thee, O God,’ their greeting, ‘Peace,’ and their cry ends, ‘Praise belongs to God, the Lord of all Being.’ (10:10)

Abraham the Model Rationalist: Qur’an details the story of Prophet Ibrahim, an upright rational truth seeker. He, despite being born in an idolatrous family discovered Monotheism based on his rational analysis of the observations evident in nature. Ibrahim is quoted in the Qur’an telling his Hanif faith (Deism) to his nation.

He told his nation, I am quit of that you associate (78)I have turned my face to Him who originated the heavens and the earth, a man of pure (rational) faith; I am not of the idolaters.’ (6 :79)

References:

British History Online, Acts and Ordinances of the Interregnum, 1642-1660 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/no-series/acts-ordinances-interregnum/pp265-266

Hopper, Ken & Hopper, Will ,The Puritan Gift: Reclaiming the American Dream Amidst Global Financial Chaos, I. B. Tauris, 2009

Kincaid, Paul W., Concrete evidence shows US government nuked New York City on 9/11, Monday, May 21st, 2012
http://presscore.ca/concrete-evidence-shows-us-government-nuked-new-york-city-on-911.html

Niebuhr, H. Richard, Radical Monotheism and Western Culture, Westminster/John Knox Press Published in Louisville, KY, 1993 and Harper, New York, 1960.
URL link:Radical Monotheism and Western Culture by H. Richard Niebuhr

Rousseau, Jean-Jacques, The Theological works of Thomas Paine, Thomas Paine, , Pub. J. P. Mendum, Boston USA, 1858

Spraggon, Julie , Puritan Iconoclasm during the English Civil War, Boydell Press, Woodbridge, Suffolk, UK, 2003

Vaiden, Thomas J., Rational Religion and Morals: Presenting Analysis of the Functions of Mind Under the Operations and Directions of Reason .., Pub. Vaiden, Thomas J., 1852

Vaiden, Thomas J., America vindicated from European theologico-political and infidel aspersions., New York, Morgan & Co., 1855.
Ehsan Butt, President, Advancing Rational Faith academy

Investigative historian and Scholar of Islamic Studies. He continues the Qur’anic rationalist traditions of his school, Idara-i-Tadabbur-i-Qur’an-o-Hadith Lahore, Pakistan which was founded by Amin Ahsan Islahi 1904–1997, one of the most brilliant Muslim scholars of Islam in the modern times. Investigating history that best explains the present, as it appeared from historical past, to build a scholarly consensus has always been a common thread in most of his works. He focuses on primary evidences in the natural world, common natural human conscience, universal truths, well known individual and societal processes to build his thesis. His teaching and research in scientific fields such as biotechnology to optimization math to nuclear science helps him directly review and verify technical details for literary forensic, chronological or dating methods. His ability to look at the issues from diverse angles often leads to radical but extraordinarily convincing conclusions.

ehsan.butt@arfaglobal.com

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