WHY WOULD GOD FORSAKE US?!!!

“. . . for His (God’s) mercy endures forever.”
[Psalm 136:1]
This one sentence is repeated 26 times in the 26 verses of Psalm 136. What a miracle!

The Nokia Manufacturing Company would not manufacture a phone without supplementing it with a Manual. Just recently, I had bought a new Nokia Phone, a 1203 Nokia Model. It came with a User Guide (manual) detailing important information on how to use the device. In the General Information corner of the manual, it read:

Check www.nokia.com/support or your local Nokia Web site for the latest version of this guide, additional information, downloads, and services related to your Nokia product. On the website, you can get information on the use of Nokia products and services. If you need to contact customer service, check the list of local Nokia contact centers at www.nokia.com/customerservice. For maintenance services, check your nearest Nokia service center at www.nokia.com/ repair.

Now that is what I call caring for the customers. The Manual went further to provide a diversity of resources for helping customers to properly use the phone. On page 6 of the Manual, it warned: “Read these simple guidelines. Not following them may be dangerous or illegal. Read the complete user guide for further information.” And we hear shameless people wanting us to believe that God is a “don’t carer” because He didn’t provide us with simple guidelines on how to use the planet earth in the most efficient way. It is only those who prefer to die than endure the pain of thinking, who assumes God created them without a manual. Some consider thinking is the greatest torture, some believe thinking is the hardest work on earth and others have the conviction that if you think hard, you will die, and some are made to believe that if they think, they will go to hell, hence very few people take the risk of thinking.

God made the sun to provide light during the day and at night the moon reflects the Suns’ light assisting us to fight waves of darkness. And the stars had been useful for navigation. God gifted creatures with perfect systems best suited for their conditions and needs thus you hear that migrating birds can navigate, even on overcast days, by light polarization. The pit viper (a type of snake) uses a natural infrared sensor to sense warm-blooded animals. Animals give off different heat signatures. The pit viper senses body heat from animals and gives the snake a ‘picture’ of that animal. This helps the snake to find prey in the dark and defend itself against intruders, even in complete darkness. Sharks possess what is called passive electroreception; they sense electric fields hence they can identify obstacles, potential prey, or even a mate. Using such sensory system, the sharks can even locate living fish under the sand. Bees use the earth’s magnetic field for comb building and navigation. Bats and dolphins “see” with sonar. Whales migrate by “reading” the Earth’s magnetic fields. The mentally-handicapped and those who take little or no pleasure from thinking would have the right to say animals were endowed with a perfect and systematic program of survival while man was totally neglected. “And they did not appraise Allah with true appraisal when they said, “Allah did not reveal to a human being anything.” [Q 6:91]

Do you think you can count all the favors of God on mankind! I doubt if there is someone capable of counting them. Those demanding ignorance think God has bestowed us with infinite favors save the favor of a Life-Manual. Among the blessings is that:

. . . the grazing livestock He (God) has created for you; in them is warmth and [numerous] benefits, and from them you eat. And for you in them is [the enjoyment of] beauty when you bring them in [for the evening] and when you send them out [to pasture]. And they carry your loads to a land you could not have reached except with difficulty to yourselves. Indeed, your Lord is Kind and Merciful. And [He created] the horses, mules and donkeys for you to ride and [as] adornment. And He creates that which you do not know . . . It is He who sends down rain from the sky; from it is drink and from it is foliage in which you pasture [animals]. He causes to grow for you thereby the crops, olives, palm trees, grapevines, and from all the fruits. Indeed in that is a sign for a people who give thought. And He has subjected for you the night and day and the sun and moon, and the stars are subjected by His command. Indeed in that are signs for a people who reason. And [He has subjected] whatever He multiplied for you on the earth of varying colors. Indeed in that is a sign for a people who remember. And it is He who subjected the sea for you to eat from it tender meat and to extract from it ornaments which you wear. And you see the ships plowing through it, and [He subjected it] that you may seek of His bounty; and perhaps you will be grateful. And He has cast into the earth firmly set mountains, lest it shift with you, and [made] rivers and roads, that you may be guided. And landmarks. And by the stars they are [also] guided . . . And if you should count the favors of Allah, you could not enumerate them. Indeed, Allah is Forgiving and Merciful. [Q 16:5-18]

All these God does for His creation. All the innumerable favors which God bestows man, all these favors . . . I mean, in all the immeasurable favors, God did not include the favor of a revelation/divine book/blueprint whereby man can know how to live according to God’s wish. More grippingly, loving parents guide their children by providing good education, good health, protect them against harm and so forth. Sometimes your mother will provide you with some recommendations such as: It’s going to rain, don’t forget to carry your umbrella! Carry a jacket, its really cold out there! Early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy wealthy and wise! Wash your hands before you eat! For strong and healthy teeth, brush your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste! Son, carrots are good for your eyes! Don’t eat too much candy dear! I don’t want to see you walking with those thugs! e.t.c. No one doubts that such do’s and don’ts have a lot of benefits. I am wondering that our mothers (just human beings with limited knowledge) could give us such useful recommendations while our good and loving God (the All-knower of what harms and benefits mankind) decided not to list some tips of smart living on the surface of earth. I beg to differ.

At the time of Prophet Muhammad, there was a woman who was frantically searching for her baby in a crowd. Naturally, mothers have overwhelming feelings of love, tenderness and mercy for their babies. So when she finally found the baby, she took it in her arms, cradled it next to her chest and suckled it. Then the Prophet asked his disciples, “Do you think that this lady can throw her son in the fire?” Of course our fast and furious reply would be “hell no!” and similarly the disciples responded by saying that the woman would never do such a thing. The Prophet then said, “Allah is more merciful to His slaves (i.e. human beings) than this lady to her son.” In Psalm 23 God is described as a “shepherd” who cares for His sheep but which kind of a shepherd is this, one may ask, who does not provide a map/manual/textbook/scripture which would lead people to the right path? Those who are not deprived the right to think will know that God can never condemn us to Hell without revealing to us what it takes to be a candidate of Hell. What is the point of the government establishing prisons if they don’t set to its people what is lawful and what is unlawful. It would be accusing God of felony criminal neglect if he will let us suffer on earth and later be cast in tormenting Hell Fire because He fails to give us perfect guidance on the most important aspect of life which is how to worship God. It is really funny that everything has been figured out, except how to live! Men who employ just a modicum of commonsense will agree for sure that God must have given us a perfect and systematic guidance of worshipping him.

There is the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights yet we are selfish not to give the Creator of the Universe a chance to make some few Declarations of Rights. We are living in a world of rules and regulations. Every game has a rule; you’ve also heard safety rules, rules of grammer, rule of law, rule of the land, rules of engagement (ROE), military rule, library rules, rule of court, rule of thumb, rule of force e.t.c. but intellectual dwarfs launch protestations when God frames His rules. When invited to someone’s house, you will struggle to conform to the standards and rules of that home. The while-in-Rome-do-as-Romans-do principle otherwise don’t go to Rome. But stupidity of man is manifested when he is invited in a home called planet earth, he does not respect the Owner and His rules, and to make things worse, man decides to establish his own rules (Way of life/Laws/Policy/Religion/Ideology). “Do they then seek the judgement of (the Days of) Ignorance? And who is better in judgement than Allâh for a people who have firm Faith.” [Q 5:50] And to escape from reality, man pretends that God did not reveal a certain code of behavior. Almost every country has a constitution. Some marvel at the ingenuity of this man-made document as in the example of a British prime minister, William Gladstone describing the US constitution as “. . . the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man.” When you open the American Constitution, the first thing you will come across is the following statement:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Someone might inquire: “Did your God ever ordain any document that is meant to establish Justice, insure domestic and international Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to people?” Again, am still troubled at hearing that God did not establish a constitution for mankind.

We are told that, “When Allah completed the creation, He wrote in His Book which is with Him on His Throne, “My Mercy overpowers My Anger.” Moreover, Psalm 136 goes with repetitive message that “. . . His mercy endures forever”, but why would God abandon us on this planet without supplementing us with a systematic way/formula of living? According to the Qur’an, after Adam and Eve disobeyed God, they were expelled to earth, but God in his mercy promised them that He will send them a Manual from which the dwellers of earth will get guidance. Addressing them, God said, “Descend from it [i.e., Paradise] – all, [your descendants] being enemies to one another. And if there should come to you guidance (i.e. manual/revelation/scripture) from Me – then whoever follows My guidance will neither go astray [in the world] nor suffer. And whoever turns away from My remembrance (revelation) – indeed, he will have a depressed [i.e., difficult] life. . . .” [Q 20:123-124] So we see that through God’s enduring mercy, man is given a Life-Manual but because of man’s ignorance of the existence of the manual, his life becomes enveloped with difficulties. Those who assumed God didn’t lay down a systematic code of living didn’t utilize their huge frontal lobes to come up with a better idea. Behind wrong living is wrong thinking and just like operating any garget without a manual (or using a wrong manual) is distressful, similarly living without a God-given manual is stressful.

We know man should have a divine guidance either in the form of a Prophet or a Scripture, but what about those generations that lived prior the Torah, Gospels and Qur’an? The answer is very simple. God’s knowledge of the past outmatches the knowledge of all world historians and record keepers. The Qur’an describes God in the following format: “Allah – there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of [all] existence. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is [presently] before them and what will be after them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills . . . .”[Q 2:255] That is a God who knew the number of all galaxies even before man came up with the Hubble Telescope. And as you haven’t imagined, “. . . with Him (i.e. God) are the keys of the unseen; none knows them except Him. And He knows what is on the land and in the sea. Not a leaf falls but that He knows it. And no grain is there within the darknesses of the earth and no moist or dry [thing] but that it is [written] in a clear record.” [Q 6:59] As we browse through the verses of the Qur’an, the following message pops up: “. . . No fruit comes out of its sheath, nor does a female conceive (within her womb), nor brings forth (young), except by His (i.e. God’s) Knowledge.” [Q 41:47] So it means that God even knows the birthdays and deathdays of all the 6 billion people on earth! “And not absent from your Lord is any [part] of an atom’s weight within the earth or within the heaven or [anything] smaller than that or greater but that it is in a clear register (i.e. God knows it).” [Q 10:61] So Allah knows the word count of this book! And what if I say I have a secret that is confined in my heart and I haven’t confided it to anyone, would you say that Allah knows of it? “It is the same (to God)” Qur’an Chapter 13 verse 10 states, “whether any of you conceal his speech or declare it openly, whether he be hid by night or go forth freely by day (Allah knows all that).” In fact, even a mystified pregnant woman heading to hospital for an ultrasound check may get a miscarriage when she astonishingly discovers that “Allah knows what every female bears, and by how much the wombs fall short (of their time or number) or exceed.” [Q 13:8] He is a God who knows the weight of every mountain, a God who knows the exact number of litres of waters present in our oceans, a God who knows the exact number of raindrops when it rains. A God who knows all the leaves of plants and trees, a God who knows the precise number of people sleeping at this minute on this planet and the number of people who will wake up after exactly one hour from now. When we read the verse “And there is no creature on earth but that upon Allah is its provision, and He knows its place of dwelling and place of storage. . . .” [Q 11:6] does it mean that God knows the room I slept in last night? You should also know that God even knows that right now, right there, you are reading this book! So you mean “Allah is the All-Knower of everything.” [Q 64:11]. That’s my point.

Now, when such a God says “. . . We certainly sent into every nation a messenger (proclaiming): “Worship Allâh (Alone), and avoid (or keep away from) Tâghût (i.e. all false deities)….” [Q 16:36], no clever person should dispute. Even Muhammad was not fully aware of past history of divine guidance. God taught Muhammad saying, “And We (i.e God) have already sent messengers before you. Among them are those [whose stories] We have related to you, and among them are those [whose stories] We have not related to you.” [Q 40:78]. So not only is God aware of the fact that every nation had a messenger preaching the true religion, but also there is a “. . . Day (i.e. the Day of Resurrection) when Allah will resurrect them (i.e. mankind) all together and inform them of what they did. Allah has kept account of it, while they have forgotten it. And Allah is Witness over all things.” [Q 58:6] Because God is Just and “. . . His mercy endures forever.” [Psalm 136:1], every people/generation was given a manual on how to worship God. But because of the injustice of man, he doesn’t want to know whether God sent divine guidance and even if he acknowledges the existence of the Guidance, he doesn’t care its do’s and don’ts.

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Excerpted from Salim Boss’ book “They are either Extremely Smart or Extremely Ignorant”
For more articles from this author, please visit his website; www.extremelysmart.org You can also Get the Book in both hard-copy and ebook formats from the author’s website.
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NOTES:
1. Nokia 1202/1203 User Guide in English. 9211638/ Issue 2, 2008.p.9.
2. Bukhari Vol.8, Bk.73, No.28. Also see Muslim, Bk. 37, No. 6635.
3. The Constitution of the United States of America, Analysis and Interpretation. Preface. By Alexander Willey. Washington D.C.,: United States Government printing Office, 1953.

4. The Constitution of the United States of America, Analysis and Interpretation. Washington D.C.,: United States Government printing Office, 1953. p.19.
5. Bukhari Vol.4, Bk. 54, No. 416. Also see Muslim Bk. 37, No. 6628.