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Editor's Note: The Arabic word for "God" is "Allah." There are several Arabic Christian sects
who use the word "Allah" and not "God" in their Christian worship. God is God no matter what word we use. -BEC
December 2014
Dr. John Duke Anthony, Founding President & CEO
Dr. Imad Kamel Harb, Distinguished International Affairs Fellow
National Council on U.S.-Arab Relations
Gentlemen:
I do not see mentioned in your discussions for the Manama meetings the following:
1. How to get all people involved in small business starts. It could be a massive social media program to get every able body person to start, run and grow a business. There is so much to do to rebuild, nobody should lack for work. We did 14 years of a weekly, half-hour, best practices television series for PBS-TV and Voice of America-TV. It was a daily on Dubai Business Channel for about three years. You can freely make use of all those resources online: http://www.zhutou.net.cn
2. How to resolve the split between the Sunnis and Shi'a. The Dali Lama said if Buddhism contradicts science, then Buddhism is wrong and must change. Every teacher of Islam, from school teachers to the leading scholar-theologians as well as all other leaders of any kind (i.e. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_current_Maraji) need to confront the fact the entire earth, the universe, and everything therein is the creation of Allah and that the constants and universals are also the language of the Almighty. The continuity principles, order- relations- dynamics -- that create real relations and moments of deep harmony are the words directly from the heart of Allah.
I will insert an article below in reference to that.
3. Attack the movies, theatre, television and presses that exploit people in any way. That is the demonic underbelly that earned the USA its designation as the Great Satan. It is easy for people who do not live in the USA to believe all that garbage on television and in our theatres reflects the core of the USA. Of course, it does not. That attack must be well-organized, highly philosophical and psychological so that it opens a path for those industries to change.
Thank you.
Warm regards,
Bruce Camber
New Orleans, Boston
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Who is the very best interpreter for Allah?
The Answer: Allah and only Allah
Remembering that the word, Allah, is the Arabic word for God, we choose here
to use the word, Allah, when communicating with people of Islam. A key question is,
"Is God perfect?" If God is perfect, then Allah is perfect.
If Allah is perfect, then we must understand the nature of perfection. One possible way to understand perfection is within science and mathematics. Here perfection is every manifestation of continuity (time), symmetry (space) and harmony (space-time). That includes every perfection within space and time and beyond. Perfection is the access between the finite and the Infinite and this perfection is an all-knowing and all-present and all-powerful God.
How can we know such a God? Surely the blessed writings of God’s most profound followers can help us. Yet, we must realize that all statements from humans are from humans. Mohammed, a blessed follower of Allah, was a human. So, it follows that Mohammed’s statements in the Qur’an (Koran) are both historical statements and statements that capture the very essence of Allah.
Historical statements are historical statements and should be interpreted in light of their time.
Allah’s statements captured by Mohammed are timeless and eternal. These are not Mohammed's statements.
Allah speaks best for Allah. And we know when Allah speaks those statements will be perfect and we know that perfection is all manifestations of continuity (time -order), symmetry (space-relations) and harmony (space-time and perfect dynamical moments). Allah makes laws every moment of every day that override historic statements by human beings.
Let’s look deeper.
How do we know the nature of Allah’s perfections? Because Allah creates all and sustains all, we simply look to nature and the known universe to see what each tells us.
The first thing Allah teaches us every day is that there is order because there is continuity. In the deepest sense of the words, in everything and everywhere, it is true. From a heart beat to cycles of days, Allah is in control.
The second thing Allah teaches us is that there are relations that build on each relation because there is a natural and deep symmetry everywhere and in everything. From flowers to nanotechnologies, everything is related to everything.
The third thing Allah teaches us is that there is a natural flow, a fully dynamic universe; and occasionally those deep symmetries mix, and there is a harmony that transcends all other experiences.
A simple chart is just below to make these statements easier to visualize.
This short writing is an introductory, working draft to begin to explore these issues in light of science and the largest possible scientific and mathematical view of the entire universe.
Very-early stage writings. Work needs to be done by people who likewise struggle with these issues and who have even deeper and more-textured insights. There are many scholars throughout Muslim world and my prayer is that we all collaborate to know our God and our universe in a much more profoundly engaging manner.
Thank you.
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