Quotessence
Home / Books / Reflections on the Origins in the Post COVID-19 World

Reflections on the Origins in the Post COVID-19 World

Book by Salman Ahmed Shaikh · 37 quotes · Islam And Science, Atheism, New Atheism

Filter quotes by topic

Reflections on the Origins in the Post COVID-19 World Quotes

“Religion gives meaning to actions and moral choices. Else, both mass murderers and honest go through the same biological decay of their skulls after they die. One can decide to do an act morally as an end in itself and not merely as a means to a material end with the knowledge that there are deterministic rewards beyond the interpersonal relations in the world. If one believes in this life only; then that person will be more selfish to get everything in this life. If we restrict our existence confined to this world alone with no accountability in the afterlife; then, I am "just" as long as I am "just" in front of the society even though there could be crimes that the society could never have seen me doing. Contrarily, I could be regarded as "unjust" by the society if it convicts me based on evidence which could have been untrue. Life hereafter gives meaning to all our actions by promising each and every soul a just reward.”

“Religion concerns primarily with the moral sphere of life. It concerns with the moral conscience and strengthening it to elicit positive actions and behaviour. The developments in technology through modern science are in no way a replacement of moral values. Just like we can survive without sun neither in ancient times nor to this date, the same way religion is also a fundamental part of human society by giving it values and meaningfulness.”

“Immanuel Kant is quoted to have said: “In law, a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics, he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.” The question is who knows the intentions and who can provide absolute justice. Even if we could know intentions and start enforcing punishment, the suffering is irreversible as the punishment can only take the life of the murderer at best. Criminals responsible for genocide and unjust wars cannot be accorded with absolute justice even if they accept all their crimes. Belief in afterlife accountability promises absolute justice for every small act of evil or kindness in this life. It enlightens human’s life and makes every act of everyone relevant. Belief in afterlife accountability actualizes the cause and effect in moral matters.”

“Islamic worldview says that humans are one of the creatures of Allah along with other living and non-living things created by Allah. As creatures, not as fittest survivors, we owe thankfulness to Allah for our existence, which is made possible through all suitable life- supporting systems on this earth. This worldview engenders a spirit of compassion, humility, kindness, care, sacrifice and humbleness.”

“Have we created ourselves? If not and if we have been created, then the intellect with which we discover knowledge about the matter in physical sciences to answer the question of 'What is' and the conscience with which we differentiate between right and wrong, are both created and bestowed by Allah.”

“Some people often ask that why would people who do not belong to any faith, but who do pro-social acts not get anything in the afterlife from Allah. If a person does not believe in Allah and afterlife, then, it is important to understand what will have been the motive of that person for good actions. It may be one of these things: 1) helping others and see their lives improve in this world, 2) getting a good name and die in good records till this world ends and 3) gain self- satisfaction till the life ends. These can be some of the broad objectives for a person who does good acts and who knowingly does not believe in Allah and afterlife. As far as this world can provide justice, all of these objectives will be achieved to a certain extent. If not achieved or if a person anticipates that the world will not be just enough to reward good actions and right intentions; then, one has to question how the 'aspiration of absolute justice' can be fulfilled. Religion promises absolute justice for every wilful action and intention in the afterlife for everyone.”

“Is faith just a human conception coming out of fear? As a matter of fact, the faithful people have lived in the most primitive civilizations as well as in the most recent times. Despite racism, bias, discrimination, genocide and even decimation of their native lands in some cases, the Muslims and Christian population alone would exceed 60% of the global population by 2050 as per Pew Research Centre. In UK alone, about 5,200 people convert to Islam every year. So, it is inappropriate to undermine conscious faithfulness by people who adopt faith even when it could result in bias, discrimination and racism.”

“The Creator introduces Himself rather than some people filling the gap with an assumed deity. Qur’an provides evidence of its divinity since its descriptive accuracy of nature (even though mentioned only as a supplement to its core message) is not contradicted by established facts of modern science. The unity of origin (Tawheed) is also consistent with the order and design manifested in the universe.”

“Every civilized society with laws accepts freedom only with responsibility. When that responsibility is determined and guided by the Creator Himself, belief in Tawheed enables a person to be free from being subservient to anyone else except the Creator. Belief in Tawheed ensures equality since every human being is the creature of Allah like everyone and everything else. Religion does not argue for ‘Creation’ doctrine alone. It gives a worldview which explains the meaning and purpose of life, i.e. submission to Allah and ethical purification of actions and which will bring deterministic rewards with absolute justice in the afterlife.”

“Conscience is a powerful source to guide towards the straight path. Having knowledge of the right path, what will encourage righteous actions? What makes conscience functioning? Religion is not just a source of information to know right and wrong. Religion gives a worldview that explains the purpose of life. The objective of religious guidance is submission to Allah alone and ethical purification of one’s actions. This belief should be reflected in one’s duties to the Creator and the environment which includes other humans and animals of present and future generations. Belief in divine appraisal can limit mischief of those in authority, can motivate selfless behaviour and is a source of contentment for those with unfair lives and deaths since every small act of goodness and evil would be subject to deterministic rewards in the life hereafter.”

“The human mind wants absolute justice, but it is not possible for natural reasons like an army general cannot be given equivalent punishment for committing genocide and in cases where the oppressed are in a weak position legally, diplomatically, politically and militarily. Raymond Davis killed two human beings in Pakistan, but went free from Pakistan without any punishment. Later on, he was charged in the USA for a minor traffic violation. Chilcot report in UK is most critical about the loss of 150 British soldiers in Iraq war while more than a million Iraqi civilians also died in the unjust Iraq war.”

“meaning to life and what we and others do in it. Else, in a godless paradigm, it is just a game of survival of the fittest. Animals play it as well as humans with no difference between the two in the godless view of life.”

“Some people argue that why Allah despite being most merciful, does not end suffering and evil. Charles Darwin also had problem with understanding why there is evil. We know Allah by His attributes, which are informed to us by the divine scriptures. Even if one does not believe in the divine scriptures, one has to refer to the scriptures to understand the religious viewpoint. Allah is merciful as well as just and He is consistent in His attributes. The hardships people go through in this world are not necessarily a punishment in response to disobedience only. The blessings that we enjoy in this world are also not necessarily in response to virtuous actions alone. The endowment inequality in this world is a way to test thankfulness and patience in us. The test concerns the choices we make with free will and Allah will reward the quality of actions and sincerity of intentions in afterlife.”

“The sufferings which some people go through in this world are in some cases a result of morally indifferent behaviour. Lack of social justice, unequal opportunities, extractive socio-economic institutions, socio-political injustice and outright wars have resulted in loss of millions of lives in the modern scientific age. Religion compels pro-social behaviour to avoid sufferings as far as possible and even if the sufferings do occur without human interventions, then religion urges moral action to help the needy and exemplify self-less spirit in dealing with catastrophes. If we leave the faith altogether, then science alone cannot provide any solace and meaning to the people who live their lives in unfair circumstances and who die in vain unjustly.”

“have an opportunity to exercise free will. Approximately, more than 150,000 human beings die every day. Natural catastrophes just bring isolated deaths together at one point in time and space. These events act as a reminder of death and fragility of life. It provides a chance for reflection and introspection. These circumstances sometimes test compassion in those who remain unscathed. If life in this cosmos happened by chance and will end for no other consequences beyond this life, then this life ends both for the rich and for the poor, for the outlaws and for the victims of injustice and for the honest as well as the dishonest. A faith-based worldview which has been outlined above makes the life of everyone meaningful as well as accords due justice to everyone.”

“Furthermore, it is often asked that sometimes we see people dying in accidents even in holy places. In addition to that, people including children often do not have normal capabilities to enjoy life to the fullest and even to exercise free will. The answer from the faith viewpoint is that those who are not able to exercise free will are not going to be held accountable for something in which they did not have an opportunity to exercise free will. Approximately, more than 150,000 human beings die every day. Natural catastrophes just bring isolated deaths together at one point in time and space. These events act as a reminder of death and fragility of life. It provides a chance for reflection and introspection. These circumstances sometimes test compassion in those who remain unscathed. If life in this cosmos happened by chance and will end for no other consequences beyond this life, then this life ends both for the rich and for the poor, for the outlaws and for the victims of injustice and for the honest as well as the dishonest. A faith-based worldview which has been outlined above makes the life of everyone meaningful as well as accords due justice to everyone.”

“In addition to that, a question is sometimes raised that if Allah knows and has power over all things, then why He does not stop the evil actions before they cause suffering. In reflecting on this, it is important to understand how the faith-based worldview explains life in this world. Human life in this world is a trial in which if we remain faithful and morally conscious individuals in carrying out all normal duties of life, then we will be rewarded in life hereafter. If we do otherwise and live immoral lives, then we will not escape divine justice in the afterlife. Since the trial nature of this life requires the exercise of free will, that is why, Allah does not intervene to provide absolute justice in this world. However, faith-based teachings in Qur’an urge and compel moral and pro-social behaviour. The knowledge of perfect accountability boosts hope and aspiration and reduces despair of worldly misfortunes and temptation towards unrestrained material pleasures.”

“There is profound thinking and conviction with which people hold onto their beliefs. Monotheist religions differ in their details, but not in Who the One and Only God is. They believe in the same God. Since the religious scriptures were meant to be read by general public and were revealed in human language, the name maybe different in different languages. The important thing is the concept no matter whether we name pull of gravity as ‘Kashish-e-Saql’ in Urdu language or by any other name in another language.”

“In fact, almost half of all scientists believe in some form of Deistic God as confirmed by a survey conducted by Pew Research in 2009. Among most of them who believe in God, they conceive of God as a singularity. Knowledge of Big Bang where everything originated from singularity also provides credence to the idea of a single Ultimate Creator.”

“Historical and archaeological records also tell us a lot about the past. The universe is expanding and the galaxies are moving away from each other at an ever accelerating speed. Future telescopes would only rely upon historical records to see the universe we are able to see at a special time. Else, the modern telescopes of future taking the latest pictures and filming reality even with increased capability will find and show darkness in space. Qur’an reminded Arabs, Jews and Christians about their history and historical records present with them and which provided them a clear chance to affirm truth and evaluate it. People like King Najashi (also known as Armah, the ruler of the Kingdom of Aksum) and Warqah Ibn Nawfal knowing their historical records and their reference in Qur’an were able to affirm the evidence of Prophet Hood of Muhammad (pbuh) through their own historical scriptures instantly.”

“It is correct that not all beliefs are true. Some are mere superstitions. A belief can be true or false. If we cannot prove or disprove God from scientific method alone, then we need to evaluate a belief by using other faculties other than physical senses, such as logic and philosophy. If a concept dates back to history, then we ought to evaluate history and archaeology. If the concept is written in a book and millions of people attribute their held views to that book, then one is ought to read and evaluate information in that book. Curiosity demands this continuous probing from a person who is interested in seeking reality, knowledge and truths.”

“From the perspective of science, take the unprovable proposition that there exist unobservable fairies beneath the garden. When the human rationality would understand that this is an unobservable proposition, it would employ other faculties to probe it further rather than relying on experiments or physical senses. For instance, ask who believes that fairies exist beneath the gardens. If none, then we do not need to find an answer to an irrelevant hypothetical belief as to whether it is true or false. If someone does believe in unobservable fairies beneath the garden, we need to see what question it answers for him/her and what is the source of this answer? This kind of logical probing will be done to all kinds of beliefs, whether it is existence of unicorn or tea pot orbiting around some distant planet. It should be clear that how probing unobservable claims can be debunked through logic and rationality, whereas science on its own cannot resolve unobservable absurdities definitively.”

“When we see an orderly thing and reflect on its origin or existence, the questions like who created it, how it was created and why it was created come to mind. Atheists want to replace the question of who with chance for primordial matter and skip the question of why. How something comes about is an important part of reality. It comes under the domain of science to seek answers to that. But, that does not mean that the answer to ‘how’ alone tells us the complete story and also answers ‘Who did it’ and ‘Why’.”

“For validation of knowledge about something, seeing something is not necessary. We use inference to know about things we have not seen, but which nevertheless are considered as true by inference. We would infer that someone put book on table if it was lying in cupboard when we last saw it. If we see an infant crying in a stroller in park and is unattended, we would immediately search for the parent or attendant who would have accompanied the infant to this place. Inference can be used to derive valid knowledge about unseen concepts whose physical manifestations can however be observed like gravity, for instance. We know that dark energy and dark matter, detectable only because of their effect on the visible matter around them, make up most of the universe. We knew black holes exist even before we observed them through a visible image in 2019.”

“Science has made us truly amazed at how we exist through fine- tuned balance in numerous variables. The natural question is for what purpose? Can aspiration of getting a due reward for right conduct is possible for everyone? Can absolute justice ever be established? Is everlasting happiness achievable? Can the outlaws responsible for genocide be brought to justice ever? Can the honest and truthful people who suffer unjust lives be duly compensated, if ever?”

“Big bang proved the premise scientifically that the universe began to exist. Everything that begins to exist cannot create itself. It cannot create itself while not in existence. So, it cannot be existing and non-existing at the same time. It has to be created by something that is not ‘it’. The creator has to be independent of the universe itself. So, the constraints of this universe do not apply to that Creator since the Ultimate Creator is not part of the universe. It is the author of both the universe and its laws.”

“The Ultimate Creator has to be uncreated since it is necessary for the universe to be created in the first place. We find cause or creator for something that is created and that begins to exist at some finite point in time like the universe which came into existence 13.7 billion years ago. The Ultimate Creator did not come into existence at some finite point in time. It is ever-existing. This God is not the ‘scientific conjecture of god of the gaps’ which fits in the novel for pages that are not found in the novel. This God is the author of the whole novel and the programmer of nested loops within loops. He is not the pixel of the painting or a brush or a colour or the painting itself. It is the painter. It is not the laws of physics or theorems of mathematics alone. It is the source of these laws and theorems. Isaac Newton aptly said that gravity explains the motions of the planets, but it cannot explain who sets the planets in motion.”

“Even many of the scientists who present themselves as atheists or agnostics are comfortable with a non-intervening concept of deity which brought the laws of physics and primordial inputs in existence in the first place. It is the concept of god espoused by William Paley, Voltaire and Spinoza. Nonetheless, this line of thinking is inconsistent with human curiosity. If we believe that there is a God, then we should seek Him. As a matter of fact, God has communicated to us through His messengers and the last two messengers, Jesus (pbuh) and Muhammad (pbuh) have lived in the daylight of history. Qur’an is the God’s words with us which explains the purpose of creation. Instead of assuming God as a watchmaker, mathematician, master equation and a pilot who starts engine but turns the machine to autopilot, it is important for us to be consistent with our curiosity to seek God. We should not avoid it simply because of not willing to have responsibility.”

“As per monotheistic religions, Allah, the Supreme Being, created all living and non-living things in the universe. This universe had a beginning and this is a fact which is endorsed by physics. This universe cannot be its own creator since it began to exist at some point in time. It cannot create itself into existence while being in existence already at the same time. As part of the cosmos, are we our own creators? James Clarke Maxwell who formulated the classical theory of electromagnetic radiation is quoted to have said: “Science is incompetent to reason upon the creation of matter itself out of nothing. We have reached the utmost limit of our thinking faculties when we have admitted that because matter cannot be eternal and self-existent, it must have been created.”

“The question of who created the Ultimate Creator is not valid since the Ultimate Creator is not a creature and needs not to be created. For someone to be the Ultimate Creator, He has to be someone beyond the constraints of this world and nature. If the premise is that the Ultimate Creator created everything and nothing exists independent of His will, then, the logical conclusion would be that He has to be an independent personality outside of the universe and have no constraints of laws governing this universe.”

“As per the faith of Islam, human beings are created for a test by Allah and we live in His universe under finely tuned life-supporting systems. Our success in this test depends on moral excellence in matters involving free will. The nature of the test examines human actions made with free will. The wish to see absolute justice around us and to achieve everlasting happiness would be possible in afterlife provided we use our free will in choosing moral actions in this life. Success in this test is possible even for those who suffered injustice throughout their lives. Failure is also possible for the richest, powerful and outlaws who nonetheless might be able to evade law enforcement all their lives in this world.”

“Self-centrism creates another problem on the response side. The problem with commercially motivated technological change is that if it does not make good business, the idea does not see its growth. Sanitation and clean water is still a problem in localities where everyone has 4G connection and mobile wallet accounts. Commercially motivated research is more intensely pursued than socially urgent ones. Technological improvements to ease sanitation, bring clean water and achieve recycling are given less attention than telecommunication and digital financial services which are commercially more profitable ventures.”

“Education geared to industry demands has also got into the trap of producing commercial technologists for corporations. These corporations are not built for social responsibility in free-market capitalism. Milton Friedman said the biggest and only responsibility of a corporation is to increase shareholders’ wealth. If these corporations do research and find a vaccine eventually that costs $1,000, then those who are not able to afford it would be regarded by mainstream economists as having less willingness to pay. For the poor, it is not a choice, but a helpless situation. But, poor having less budget for essential needs is a problem that we do not start our economics textbooks with.”

“In the earlier era, the subject of economics was geared to human needs. Now, the prime emphasis is on market behaviour and market outcomes based on choices under uncertainty and scarcity. The emphasis on choice behaviour subtly and inadvertently makes economics and most of its contents largely irrelevant for poor people.”

“Mankiw’s famous quote was ‘People react to incentives, all else is just explanation’. However, poor people are helpless. They do not have or face a willingness to pay choice in helpless scenarios. A literal application of definition of demand would imply that the poor people do not have demand for the essential goods. Their wants are not backed up by purchasing power. Economics does not differentiate between essential and non-essential wants. If a rich person demands golf course in a locality near a big population of homeless people, then, the golf course will be built first if he can afford it. Are poor willing to give fewer dollar votes by choice to buy the essential needs? Is it their conscious and sovereign decision?”

“When welfare is discussed in microeconomics textbooks, it is only in the domain of economic exchange in markets. The discussion in such places sets total welfare maximization as the virtuous end or criterion. In first-degree price discrimination adopted by a monopolist, there is no welfare loss. However, there is no consumer surplus either despite having optimal efficiency. Economics is neutral between desirable or undesirable equilibrium from the point of view of equity.”

“We enjoy free sunshine, oxygen, water and life-supporting climate to live. The blessings and hardships are good and bad only till we are alive. All social problems and their solutions become irrelevant when we are no more. Beneath all the chaos and clutter and hopes and fears, we need to reflect on what is the purpose of life?”