The nice thing about bedtime stories is that they are a fiction of our imagination. So, I would like to share one with you; and please, get your pillow ready, your teddy and read it before going to sleep. 

Once upon this same Earth, beneath this same sun, long before you… before the ape and the elephant as well, before the wolf, the bison, the whale, before the mammoth and the mastodon (opening words of The Land Before Time); the world was a scary place. 

There lived, deep under the sea, teeny, tiny, miniature, invisible little particles that would rub shoulders with one another. They would collide, crash, clash, and eventually merge to unite into a vibrant active group that could rearrange other particles. In turn, there came to be a lot of these different groups and each had their own thing going for them; one could line particles up in a chain, another could break them apart, others could replicate them, and so on. But they all worked separately and not in harmony. 

Until a big round greasy blob passed along and swallowed a bunch of them whole. Being stuck in this blob, it was the first time that these individual colonies had to work together to escape this messy overlord in order to go back to their independent way of life. So, everyone did his job; but this time, in concert. The escape plan was to produce as many particles as possible to explode the blob. So, the replication colony would make copies of his friends, the ranking colony would line them up. 

Meanwhile, the breakout gang would work desperately hard to breach through the thick greasy walls to smuggle in the sufficient particles from the outside. Everything was going as planned, the blob got bigger and bigger and looked like he was about to explode. But it did not explode, it just split into two. But how could this be? Turned out that there was a mole amongst them, there was one of these groups that would help the blob get bigger until the blob could split itself in two. And this kept on going and going, but to no avail, they could not escape. So instead of continuing this never-ending squabble, everyone came to a peace treaty, everyone would learn to coexist together; all different groups within the blob. However, if it ever got too crowded, the blob would expand and then split into two so that all had their own domain. 

Gradually, these little groups within each blob started to get more and more organized and started to build structures within the blob, a transportation system, and energy plant, waste management facility; it started to look more and more like a real community. And what was interesting is that each community would share its know-how with its sister city, yet still keep a distinct “je ne sais quoi” of its own. Some would develop a motorized method to move within the primeval ocean, others would build stronger barriers around the blob to allow it to resist the elements, and others started to conquer other smaller communities and merge them. 

Once, one of these invaders engulfed a community called Mitochondria, which was really, really good at producing energy, but this little atomic power plant would not be taken apart, so the larger community just taped into its power source. Seeing that there is no point in a feud, both sides agreed to mutually aid one another; the larger community would provide the fuel necessary to produce energy, and the high-end power plant would produce enough energy for all. 

Seeing this method proved to be successful, other communities followed this model plan and even improved on it. They started fractioning all of its services; there became to be an information management and logistics area at the center of things, production and transportation right beside it, the power grid floating around all to distribute the required energy, ports and portals to allow entry and exit of resources and waste… It was no more a little rundown town, it turned into a bustling modern metropolis. 

But we all know that bigger is better, so to rival with all these big shot blobs, smaller similar organized blobs started forming agglomerations with open borders between each other; since they shared the same needs, they might as well unite. 

The moral of the story is when you are at the right place at the right time with the right conditions, anything that is improbable becomes impossible; but could still happen… Exactly! 

This makes no sense!

Exactly!

Exactly doesn’t make more sense either… 

Exactly!

You know how Google has its daily doodle… Well, for no good reason, I was browsing through them, and April Fools popped up. So, as I was looking into the origins of this day, Atheist Day came up (I can’t believe that I didn’t have this date circled on my calendar). Anyways, I said to myself, there goes another internet hoax, kind of like the Nigerian diplomas scam… But no! There really is an Atheist Day (even if it did actually start as a hoax). When you think about it, it is pretty fitting for it to be on the same day as April Fools. 

To be fair, it is now celebrated on March 23^rd, and they (atheists celebrating it) even have their own logo for it: a green painted contour. The green symbol is supposed to represent symmetry, peace, and harmony. Moreover, the zero look symbolizes the absence of the belief in God. To me, it just looks like a big hole, just like the holes found in their beliefs and theories.

The AAI (Atheist Alliance International) advances that Atheist Day is a day to celebrate reason and evidence above faith. What they lack to underline is that reason and evidence are flawed without proper interpretation, and selectively picking data and ignoring others. What is needed is needed is truth. So, let’s use evidence and reason to poke a few holes in Atheism.

Wait, we already did, a couple months back; but let’s keep doing it, but on a founding scientific principle of Atheism: Evolution. This “scientific” theory (and I do underline THEORY) in the cornerstone of negating the presence of a Creator (i.e. God). But before we get started, I’ll just put something forward: If I believe in creation, I cannot, without any doubt, disprove evolution as a mechanism. Just as someone who believes in evolution as a natural adaptation, cannot, without any doubt, disprove the presence of a Creator as a cause. However, we’ll be dismanteling the theory of evolution anyways.

And just before starting, I want to do this on a purely scientific side, not a philosophical side, but with science. And not just biology, because a lot of biologists overlook the chemical implications of DNA. And that is where the proof lies.

In any venture, time is key. Now let’s apply this to the development of the human being. If a bodily function does not develop at its due chronological state; the living being may not turn out so alive or at least not turn out to be the expected being. 

We know that there are chemical signals that induce or repress DNA expression and some of these signals only appear, or are activated, at a specific time in one’s life; puberty, for instance. 

Now, if we were to study DNA expression within a newly adolescent teen, we would find a stunning rise in DNA activity due to growth, sexual maturity, and hormonal production. Yet, puberty is only a side note when it comes to the development that goes on in the womb. 

For so long, it has been taught that most of your DNA is useless since it does not code for anything; junk DNA as it has been called. However, more and more, we discover that a lot of it (over 80%) has an essential role in regulation, reconnaissance, and defense. Where I am going with this is to find out what is DNA’s impact on timing? The single most important stage of development is in your mom’s belly. Therefore, it would only be logical that DNA expression would be at an all-time summit. And those same strands (maybe a good chunk of those strands) would only be useful for one specific, yet critical, time of one’s life. And even though that use is single, it remains nonetheless existential and an integral part of one’s genome to be passed from generation to generation. 

The ‘’how to study this’’ is way out of my league and it might involve great ethical questions if it comes to studies on the foetus. I know that there are studies done with amniotic liquid in predicting birth defects and the gender of the newborn just weeks into pregnancy. I just truly wish that this line of thinking would be pursued to find out the real extent of the information used within our DNA; not just leftover garbage of test-evolution. 

Now, as it goes for why we have a good percentage of our genetic makeup similar to other living creatures, that might be in part because of our bodily mechanisms and not only our traits. For instance, mammals have more in common with one another than with reptiles. Plus, the same kinds of organs work generally the same way in a similar environment; it is not like there are billions of ways to the function of a lung (regardless of a few differences). 

Another argument is that DNA is degenerate. What I mean is that there is a degeneration in the genetic code; meaning, there are sequences that code for the same amino acid. 

Let’s start by following Biology 101. DNA is the building block of life, right? Not exactly, simplistically, it is a blueprint. Amino acids, which in turn form proteins, are the real bricks. DNA has four letters attributed to its code: A (Adenine), T (Thymine), C (Cytosine), and G (Guanine). Three of these letters must be placed in sequence to attract a messenger (mRNA) complimentary to it; this forms a message strand, which in turn will code for amino acids. The amino acids keep on coming; a chain of amino acids turns into protein; proteins form cells, living organisms…etc. The only difference is that the messengers have U (Uracil) instead of T (Thymine) For instance, UGG codes for the amino acid Tryptophan, AUG codes for Methionine. Three slots with four possible letters (4 x 4 x 4) give 64 possibilities. 

Now, this is where evolution jumps the rails. With 64 possibilities, only 21 amino acids exist. So, there must be three-letter sequences that code for nothing, right? No, that’s the thing! They all code for something, but some are redundant. For instance, CGA, CGC, CGG, and CGU all code for Arginine. The same goes for most amino acids. 

What is even more astonishing is that there is only one sequence that signals the beginning of transcription (AUG, which is the amino acid Methionine); yet, three sequences end transcription (UAG, UGA, UAA). So, if there is a mutation in the start sequence, the protein will not be transcribed; however, if there is a mutation in the end sequence (second or third base), you still have three chances of ending the transcription without error. 

If evolution happens because of mutation, it should be the other way around and our genetic code would not be redundant in order to augment the evolutionary possibilities.Next week, In Sha Allah, I will tell you the most amazing bedtime story.

Ayat Al-Kursy is the 255^th Ayat in the longest Surah (Al-Baqara, the Cow) and is also the only place that Kursy is mentioned in the Quran. Kursy is often translated as chair or throne; but it is more like a “tabouret”, a kind of stool, a pouf. It is also known as the greatest Ayat in the Quran. And for good reason, it is an Ayat that deals greatly with monotheism and is full of meaning. Let’s explore deeper.

Ayat Al-Kursy is often sectioned into ten parts :

(Intro)   Allah, there is no god but He,

(part 1) the Ever-Living (Al-Hay), the Self-Subsisting (Al-Qayyum). 

(part 2) Neither slumber (Sinatun) seizes Him, nor sleep (Nawm).

(part 3) To Him belongs all that is in the Heavens and all that is in the Earth. 

(part 4) Who is there who might intercede with Him save with His leave?

(part 5) He knows what lies before them (Bayna Aydeehim) and what lies after them (Khalfahum).

(part 6) Whereas they cannot attain to anything of His knowledge save what He wills them to attain. 

(part 7) His Dominion (Kursiyuhu) overspreads the Heavens and the Earth,

(part 8) and their upholding wearies Him not,

(part 9) and He is the All-High (Al-A’liy), the Supreme (Al-‘Adheem).

Intro: Allah brings forward the subject of the Ayat: Himself, Allah. Then, He poses the main idea of it: Monotheism, the oneness of Allah. And all that comes after encompasses this idea.

Part 1: He is the Ever-Living (Al-Hay), the Self-Subsisting (Al-Qayyum), the meaning of both are close but different in the manner that Ever-Living means Eternal, but Self-Subsisting implies that he does not need sustenance, He does not rely on anything nor anyone. Al-Qayyum is an attribute that means through which others exist. This dichotomy is unique to Allah; He is the only one who does not need anyone/thing and all life relies on him to exist and live.

Part 2: Sinatun and Nawm have subtle differences, but major ones at the same time. If I tell you to hold two bottles in your hands and stand all night; the bottles would most likely fall from your hands and break. It’s not like you fell unconscious on your face, it’s just that you dozed off a little: this does not happen to Allah. Another way of seeing this is when someone says he’s resting his eyes; he might daydream, but he’s not completely disconnected from reality; this does not happen to Allah. Or, the difference between listening and hearing. Listening is active hearing, paying attention with your ears and your mind. As for hearing, your senses are working, but they are not in sync with your cognition. It is like when you catch a kid in class looking out the window and ask him to repeat the last words the teacher said, every student can do that; but if you ask him what was the subject at hand, he is completely oblivious; this does not happen to Allah. In sum, If Allah would dare to slumber (praise be to Allah), chaos would ensue in the Heavens and Earth.

Part 3: He owns all that exists, He is the sole possessor of everyone and everything in Heavens and Earth.

Part 4: No one can intercede for anyone except with his permission. On the day of judgment, you can’t speak on behalf of anyone; not for your mother, son, brother… no one. Except if Allah wills. No believer, no prophet, no angel can intercede; it is only by the will of Allah that anything will happen.

Part 5: Basically, Allah knows what His creatures do, past, present, and future; what happened before and what will happen after; what is obvious and what is hidden. He knows all, forever.

Part 6: So no knowledge can be attained without his will; none given, none revealed or discovered, except with his authority. Allah has given scriptures and methods to man, He has revealed instinct to his creatures, He has allowed us to explore, discover and extrapolate through experience and intellect which has all been given to us. He decides what, when, to whom, how, and how much will be revealed of His knowledge.

Part 7: His Kursy (as we have explained before) also refers to His dominion, His dominance, His power, His kingdom, His sovereignty, His rule over all that exists in its vastness.

Part 8: It is of no burden, nor is it tiresome for Him to continuously be maintaining Heavens and Earth. We get bored or fed up of our duties; whether it be chores, school, work or even play; This does not happen to Allah.

Part 9: He is the All-High, the Supreme. The difference between both is close but distinct. It is like saying a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square; Al-‘Adheem is like that to Al-A’liy. Let’s use a sport comparative; I can say that so and so is the best player in the world, yet this does not mean that he cannot lose. Supreme (Al-‘Adheem), involves dominance; the Strongest who cannot be beaten.

Now, with the Ayat explained, where I want to stress my point is not only on the content but the style and structure of this verse. It is the obvious proof that no man is capable of such thought out structure spurred out of spontaneity that supports that much meaning. We have mentioned this before (chapters on Great Speech is Divine and The Human Contradiction), but here is an obvious example of how Allah combines structure and content that is unmatchable by anyone or anything.

There is a symmetry present throughout the Ayat once the subject of monotheism has been presented.

In parts 1 and 9, each contains two qualities/attributes of Allah, with the latter in both parts specifying a greater degree of might and dominance than the former.

In parts 2 and 8, they deal with rest; Glory to Allah, he does not rest. As to us, try going two days without sleep; pink elephants with purple polka dots will appear and gibberish will slur through your lips before falling face-first in your gargle of spit. Just out of general knowledge, the record for sleeplessness that was set about 50 years ago lasted 11 days (and nights). However, what comes after this period is incoherence and a long quiet replenishing slumber, exactly the opposite of what Allah has described; He does not get fatigued in preserving/maintaining Heavens and Earth.

In parts 3 and 7, entitlement is in play, two types to be precise: Maalik and Malik. These two words in Arabic are of the same root and resemble one another except in their differences. Maalik has to do with ownership (like in part 3), while Malik has to do with kingship (like in part 7). It is possible to own something without being king, just as one can be king without owning all in his domain. Yet, for Allah, He rules (Malik) all and all belong (Maalik) to Him.

In parts 4 and 6, it deals with will; does Allah allow something to happen or not. In the hereafter, it has to do with intercession; in life, it has to do with knowledge.

In part 5, Allah links the past with the future, the here with the hereafter, the ephemeral with the eternal, the known with the unknown. This 5^th part is the mirror of the first half and the second half of the Ayat. An Ayat that has the theme that Allah has chosen for it: La Ilaha Illa Huwa (there is no god but He).

To imply this kind of organization that resembles a closed loop and is complimentary at the same time is mind-boggling. No one can come up with this in an oral manner instantaneously; not the greatest poet, nor the most avid linguist. And even for sake of argument, if it was humanly possible; to advance this and believe that it was done over and over again throughout the whole Quran is an insult to one’s intellect and moreover, to Allah the All-Mighty.

Oddly enough, just after this verse on monotheism, with all its grandeur and its meaning, comes the verse of “choice”. Allah gives us the right and responsibility of choosing our path despite clearly depicting true belief.

There shall be no compulsion in [acceptance of] the religion. The right course has become clear from the wrong. So whoever disbelieves in Taghut and believes in Allah has grasped the most trustworthy handhold with no break in it. And Allah is Hearing and Knowing.

Surah Al-Baqarah (2 – 256)

You can’t force a belief on someone; social conduct is one thing, but belief is specific to the heart. It is a choice. Nonetheless, belief gives you the strongest grasp.

And say, “The truth is from your Lord, so whoever wills – let him believe; and whoever wills – let him disbelieve.” Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose walls will surround them. And if they call for relief, they will be relieved with water like murky oil, which scalds [their] faces. Wretched is the drink, and evil is the resting place.

Surah Al-Kahf (18 – 29) Once the line of monotheism and disbelief are clear, it is up to oneself to decide.