Ali (ra) & some philosophers
Ali (ra) and some philosophers
Once some men of learning came to Sayyidina Ali (RA), the fourth Caliph of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) who was his cousin as well as his son-in-law. They were neither Muslim nor Christian scholars, but philosophers. They were asking Sayyidina Ali (RA) questions, and he was answering them. Finally, they spoke out and said ‘There is no God.’ He said, ‘I cannot give you an answer here, let us go to the seashore.’
They went to the Red Sea in Jeddah. Sayyidina Ali (RA) was sitting on the seashore, and those philosophers were with him. He looked across to the horizon and saw a ship making its way to the shore.
He said ‘O, I am astonished! There is no captain on that ship and no crew, and that ship is coming by itself to shore. What miraculous power!’
‘Are you crazy? Are you saying that ship has no captain and crew to make it come to land?’ said the philosphers.
‘Yes- because I am not seeing either a captain and crew for that ship. so it is apparent to me that the ship is coming ashore by itself’ said Sayyidina Ali (RA).
‘We thought you were a wise man. It turns out that you are not wise at all.’
‘Why are you jumping to this conclusion? Wait until the ship arrives. If there is indeed a captain and a crew, then you may say that I am not wise.’
Since this was a reasonable condition, the philosophers agreed to wait. After several hours the ship reached port. Out of the ship emerged the captain and crew.
The philosophers looked at Sayyidina Ali (RA) and said ‘Didn’t we say that you are not wise? You said that ship was coming here by itself and now you see this crew and this captain?’
He said, ‘Yes I saw’.
They then said ‘But you said before that ship has no captain or crew.’
Sayyidina Ali (RA) said
‘For that ship, you accept that there has to be a captain and an entire crew of men. But to govern this universe, you are not accepting even one Lord’.
.
Assalamu alaikum sister
Excellent post MashAllah, I like this a lot.
It reminds me of another story of an atheist and a religious person. They were debating the existence of God almighty, and the Athiest had mocked the religious person saying that you could not see or measure God or his powers.
The religious person asked the athiest if he believed in darkness - did darkness exist?
The Athiest responded that of course he believed in Darkness as he saw it every night.
The religious person then advised the athiest that there was actually no such thing as darkness. The Athiest was puzzled.
The religious person advised him that Darkness did not exist, as all it is, is an absence of light. You can measure light, you can buy a 100 watt lightbulb, but not a darkbulb
So you cant measure it, and it doesnt really exist, but it is there and affects the human being.
He then asked the Athiest if he belivied in cold, or coldness.
The athiest advised of course he did, he felt cold all the time in the winter.
The religious person then advised the athiest that cold does not exist - again the athiest was puzzled.
Cold does not exist as all it is, is an absence of heat. All the measures of temperature, degrees celsius, fahrenheit etc are all measures of heat, not cold. You can't measure cold, just that there is not a lot of heat, but it is there and affects the human being, and you can see its effects.
In the same way, just because a scientific approach to quantify the existence of our Creator, will miss the point in most cases as they look at the wrong things, ie the what - the thing, instead of the why.....or who?
Ali (ra) and some philosophers
Once some men of learning came to Sayyidina Ali (RA), the fourth Caliph of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) who was his cousin as well as his son-in-law. They were neither Muslim nor Christian scholars, but philosophers. They were asking Sayyidina Ali (RA) questions, and he was answering them. Finally, they spoke out and said ‘There is no God.’ He said, ‘I cannot give you an answer here, let us go to the seashore.’
They went to the Red Sea in Jeddah. Sayyidina Ali (RA) was sitting on the seashore, and those philosophers were with him. He looked across to the horizon and saw a ship making its way to the shore.
He said ‘O, I am astonished! There is no captain on that ship and no crew, and that ship is coming by itself to shore. What miraculous power!’
‘Are you crazy? Are you saying that ship has no captain and crew to make it come to land?’ said the philosphers.
‘Yes- because I am not seeing either a captain and crew for that ship. so it is apparent to me that the ship is coming ashore by itself’ said Sayyidina Ali (RA).
‘We thought you were a wise man. It turns out that you are not wise at all.’
‘Why are you jumping to this conclusion? Wait until the ship arrives. If there is indeed a captain and a crew, then you may say that I am not wise.’
Since this was a reasonable condition, the philosophers agreed to wait. After several hours the ship reached port. Out of the ship emerged the captain and crew.
The philosophers looked at Sayyidina Ali (RA) and said ‘Didn’t we say that you are not wise? You said that ship was coming here by itself and now you see this crew and this captain?’
He said, ‘Yes I saw’.
They then said ‘But you said before that ship has no captain or crew.’
Sayyidina Ali (RA) said
‘For that ship, you accept that there has to be a captain and an entire crew of men. But to govern this universe, you are not accepting even one Lord’.
.