Cartesian rethinking - a circle unwound

Lately I read a book called 'Maya', by Jostein Gaarder. He's a Norwegian author, and I've read two of his other books called 'Sophie's World' and 'The Solitaire Mystery' respectively. He usually puts in pieces of philosophy in his stories, and it makes for quite good reading.
With this book he appears to hold a very firm 'evolutionary' and atheistic standpoint (or at least the characters do), but that's not quite what I want to observe today. No, I want to do a little bit of my own philosophy, which has probably been done before, but if it has, I'm not aware of it.
So, we've heard on inumerable occasions Descartes' legendary premise Cogito Ergo Sum, 'I think therefore I am'. Now many people criticise this as flawed logic, that even if one is, it doesnt necessarily depend on them thinking, or some other convuluted twisting of thoughts and the merry-go-round usage of reasonable logic.
Today I was thinking on the issue. (OK go easy on me - do I be just because I was thinking?) I came up with something which struck me as more important, and I couldnt see anything wrong with it logically, but it came largely from being exposed to the perspectives portrayed in the aforementioned book. The philosophical premise that came to mind was:

I am, therefore Why am I?

Now I pondered how that would come across in other languages, and realised from my limited perspective on world languages (including French and Arabic), it struck me that in both French and Arabic (and probably Spanish too - dont know about German) 'Why' translates more like 'for what'. (In French pourquoi, and in Arabic limadha.) So another possibility for the statement is:

I am, therefore For what am I?

I personally (being the one who is here!) think that this is a much more important question for humanity, and cuts through any unnecessary existentialisms, getting right to the question which should be asked every time we notice we are. That question is 'What is the purpose of life?'.

Lets agree that we exist, in some way or other, cos there's a bit of communication between us. I could very well be talking to myself, but I believe the statement is still relevent. I exist, so why do I exist? Dont you feel that's something we should ask ourselves?

The answer of course, is simple. Or maybe it just appears that way with the benefit of hindsight, or the intervention of revelation.

***

God says in the Last Revelation, 'And We did not create the spirits or man except for our worship.' (The 'We' is a royal we, not plural)

***

So there's our answer. There's no other reason for our existence except for the worship of God.

Now, my dear fellow travellers, that throws a lot of sand up in the air. Why? Because most people say they dont believe in God, and thus can not, or will not admit that this is the purpose for their lives. Then, the question still stands, for what do you exist?

There appears to be the choice between 1) choosing to wander around ignoring that the answer is being screamed at you, saying 'Im going to figure this out myself', which runs the risk of remaining lost until death, and 2) Allowing the answer to be given to you by an 'other' who is trying to underline the simplicity of the answer.

(Actually there may be another choice of not even approaching the question, but that's another ignorance, so the overall result is the same as choice one (if you dont come to the answer)).

Well, for now thats my wee amateur philosophising, a taster for us to get our teeth into, chew over and all the rest. Please let me know what you make of it.

Are there any flaws in the logic? Should we patent the idea and take our stand as the next Descartes? Not yet methinks - I dont have the right accent.

Take care fellow dreamers.

Where are we?

'Dont you ever feel lost?', an old man asked his wife, as they lay in their beds one cold dark night. 'But of course not, now I lay here with you', she replied.

How many years they'd lain together, and parented, full of pain and delight? Never thinking past the necessities until the moment one of them died.

The ancient scissors snipped the cord of life - an umbilical tube connected to the realm of life, and edge-of-the-seat pre-eternal existence.

The life squeezed out, til the body just crumbles to the floor through the hands of the wife, all panicked grief and superstitious insistance.

'It cannot be', she cries, 'why couldnt it be me?' and she screams her anger at a power she cant percieve, and no longer deny.

'That's what some had called a 'cross to bear'', she supposed she had to agree, but on what then is there left for her to rely?

She hadn't thought about herself in all that time, even in grief giving her all to the children she felt it was her reason to serve as a mother.

But little thanks they gave, being just as dazed and unseeing and focussed on self. Unquestioning, and meandering as any other.

There's nothing so terrible than when the mother who gives her all is shunned by those she loves more than she ever thought could be true.

And it drives her to ruin, and terminal unappreciation, and ill-health. And a prodigal son's unfeasible, cos he doesnt have a clue.

He drove her to her own grave, in his selfishly indulgent infatuation, and ingratitude. The terminal disease of individualisation.

No cross-bearing revolutionary slave, or simple human platitudes. Only 'Me, me, me', and a barcode of the faceless generation.

But deep down in the darkness, of a cruel heart, stirred beauty, and love and that umbilicular, natural light of the gestational bond.

It couldnt be buried along with all that influence of chemicals and material unreality, so true love isnt dead and gone.

Then the eyes and hearts are brought alive by the Light, they turn back to their source, the Almighty One at the beginning and never having an end.

Glorify to Whom it is due, and the links of love come real and back to where they should be, and God is the Only true protecting friend.

Then to Him we belong, and to Him we return, after to dust we have been interned. So the husband's question can finally be replied.

The Truth deserves more than to be just ignored, now it is the Truth we have learned. Family submit together and together we lie.

Funeral

I saw a funeral yesterday, it was my friend's great aunt - so no-one very close to me, but I went along for the experience and because I'd like to think someone would be bothered to follow my funeral.
It was the first Muslim funeral I attended were I saw the burial. Amman has a giant graveyard outside the city, where everyone who dies in this city finds their place, and we arrived in the late afternoon.

The weather was chilly, but there was an amazing yellow/orange sun, so the shadows were growing longer, as the dirt was shovelled over the body. I couldnt help pondering on whether or not the dead person is worried about the cold..

So, a man gave a speech after that to remind us of death, and that our grave awaits us. Our life is as a mere day, in terms of how we will come to see it. And we return to our mother's embrace, and an interrogation by the two angels Munkar and Nakir. They will ask us, 'Who is your Lord?', What is your religion?, and 'Who do you say this man is?'. The only important questions in life.

But then if you havent prepared for those very questions, after death it's too late...

Before we came to the graveyard, we had to drive quite a bit. My friend said it's a good sign that we were moving quickly, because when the person is good the funeral says 'hurry, hurry', but when the person's fate is damned, the cortege moves very slowly, reluctant to reach it's destination.

I thought of the non-Muslim funerals I'd witnessed, and how the car crawls to the graveyard, and the mourners walk behind, in terms of this information. Its as if subconsciously we all know our fates.

It's easy not to remember our imminent crossing over to the 'other side', but watching others who have made that transition always reminds one starkly. Oh the human condition..

Beautiful Things

Today I am sick, and I was sick yesterday, but this has served to make me hyper-sensitive to things one wouldnt usually notice. Being unable to eat properly for two days, I was feeling quite low. My head was throbbing and swirling, and dizzy, and if I tried to get out of bed it would spin (not literally, you understand, but the fluid in the balance-centre was out of control).

I had been lying half in and out of sleep, trying to decide if I had it in me to make some soup, which would have involved at least 40 mins for the potatoes and lentils to be properly cooked - and at the same time I wasn't sure if I'd be able to stomach it. My other option was to make some hot lemon and add ginger, but I thought this wasnt solid enough.

The time came for the dawn prayer, and I was quite unable to get out from under the covers, but eventually I controlled my self, and denyed Satan, and made my way to the sink to make ablutions.

Then I prayed (very weakly) but in that state it seems easier to concentrate and make the prayer count and get close to Allah.

However, after the prayer I was wiped out but still had some energy, and thought it best to at least eat something. Then I remembered I had bought oranges, and decided to risk it.

Oh the sweet goodness that flowed through me! Such thirst-quenching satisfaction. It wasnt hard to eat, and it wasnt too much, or too little - just right. Perfection.

When I got back into bed, and as the warmth of the blankets gradually crept over me, I could still feel the power of that wonderful orange. I gift from God. I thought it was like eating a tropical village, and the cool breeze, and all the fantastical imaginings of someone half-starved and feverish.

Then I thought about this blog, and how I should write about the beautiful things in our lives. All the blessings that come from Allah, that we so easily ignore. And the pleasure we feel in this life is incomparable to that of what comes after.

How great is Allah as a provider?

Words and their Meanings

Through divine intervention or whatever, I've come to realise that sometimes my writings become difficult to understand - if the reader doesnt happen to be me. This is a little problematic.

At times I tend to use complicated words (that even I dont understand) which seem to jump at me from the depths of my sub-conscious, and at the time of writing I think they are suitable to get the meaning across that I intend, but instead it comes out as blurred pretentiousness, and murky inclarity (sorry, there I go again).


But then, I hadnt reckoned on the fact that most people simply dont have the time to really sit and think about the intricacies of my word formation, as everyone has a busy life to get through, and to waste precious moments trying to decipher my little codes cannot be expected.

So in present and future writings I will try to come out of my ivory tower, and step into the caring, sharing world of making oneself understood - hopefully by moderate language useage, and clearer explanations of what it is Im trying to say.

Well, that seems to be my mission statement for today. I thought there was more, but presently Im not ready to write it.

In good time - if Im given it. Please accept my apologies.