The Criterion (Part 1)

Disclaimer, This is not an intended Religious Sermon or a book-thumping session of any sort. This is just awareness which I’m encouraged to bring out in response to the call of the times.

From ever since man has existed, Religion has existed alongside.

There can be long debates as to which one was the first and which is the latest or whatever. But I’ll give you an Islamic perspective of things.

Allah (God), created man from clay, and from his rib, fashioned the woman. Which is why in Islamic wisdom, a man is told not to put a woman on his head (to rule him) nor at his feet (to be a slave to him), but to be treated in the rightful manner as to her origin, under the protection of his arm, and closest to his heart (RIB PEOPLE, NEAR THE RIB !!), So this is a metaphorical slap-answer to the super-feminists and the weirdos out there who say Islam calls for the subjugation of women.

Okay back on topic.

So ever since man was created (not evolved from Monkeys), its been a constant development phase (read GROWTH). You know the route it took, stone age, metal age, feudal age, imperial age, industrial age, information age etc.

So well, Allah sent guidance to Man through all these ages. He didn’t just put us on the planet n say, “Go wild guys !!”

Nope, every age had guidance, in fact the Islamic wisdom goes to say that every tribe, ever community had guidance. These came in the form of messengers, angels etc. These people were special clues which helped man to understand many things. The type of guidance came according to the age and developmental stage of the human society.

For example, in the time of Moses (PBUH), Ancient egypt was full of mystical stuff. Royal Magicians would turn crocodiles into soft fluffy blankets, and turn a camel into a vase of mayonnaise, that sort of thing. So what did Allah choose as a weapon for Moses’ (PBUH)? A staff which turned into a snake. When the Royal magicians saw that, they handed in their resignations to the big kahuna (Pharoah Wazzisface the III). Phar (as his imaginary friends knew him) had them killed but they died believers so....WIN!

In the same manner, in the time of Jesus (PBUH), the language of Miracles was profound, and Jesus (PBUH) performed some real awesome miracles. I mean he conducted a grand luncheon out of a handful of bread and fish. If there were Event organizers in that day, they'd fold their business and travel off to Scotland (I don't know I've heard its nice there)

Likewise, when the time of Muhammad ﷺ dawned, the Arabs of Makkah, to whom he was sent, were a totally chilled out tribe. They spent their days letting someone graze their camels and sheep. And since Makkah was the hub of the peninsula, the yearly caravans passed through the city, so business came to them, and if you hear the tales of the caravans consisting of hundreds of camels, you can assume that Makkah was the silicon valley of the day and age. So they had a lot of time on their hands. And trust me when I say A LOT. They had so much time, that they sat around and developed Language.

Try that, develop a language, to sit and decide upon words, phrases, usages, similes, metaphors, puns and the intricate grammar that every Arabic student dreads. Arabic word formulation is just mind-blowing by the way. Its like a literary mathematics (Yeah scary I know). I blow a capillary trying to decide a place to go for the weekend with my friends and these guys just sat down and built one of the finest languages in the history of humanity. Obviously then, these guys were masters of Arabic. One of the Arabs most prominent skills was Poetry and memory. It was not just a skill, it was a super skill. Check this out, you could sit down under a cool tent, sipping date juice with your pal and go, “Hey Bro, lissen to this awesome verse I just made up.”

And you go off rattling a 100 verse poem, at the end of which your pal would go, “Woah… that’s real sweet bro, I'll be retweeting that"

And he would. Just like that, he’d remember the 100 line poem just like that, after hearing it once, and will recite it with amazing flair at the next falconry meeting or something. 

Arabs just had to hear one part of a poem and complete the other part purely because they had owned the skill. They were the Ronaldos & Messis of poetry, and not just one or two, almost every one of em.

There's a story about a merchant, who was ambushed by highway robbers. They took everything he had, but the old Sheikh had a trick up his kandoora sleeve. He told the Head of the Thieves (Aladdin?) that as a request, if he could deliver his last words to his daughter. The Sheikh insisted the head of the thieves does it himself as a favor. The man accepted. The old Sheikh recited a line of poetry which probably made the criminal CEO roll his eyes. But Arabs no matter where, do not give their word lightly. So despite having killed the old Sheikh, the head went to his village and found the old Sheikh's house, knocked and told the daughter he knew her father and he had passed away. As she grieves, the robber tells her the last words of the father. That brings about a sudden change in her. She asks the robber to make himself comfortable and she'll just be back. Expecting hospitality (another things Arabs are famous for), he obliges. The girl returns with her clan's warriors (or the Police of the day). Mr. Robber is stunned. Don't know if someone told him, but the poetry line from the dying father was incomplete. The verse completing it implicated the man bringing the verse. The old Sheikh had pointed a finger at his killer by using the killer's own finger!! 

So I guess it would be safe to say, that the stupid highway robber, carried his own death “sentence”. (Haa !)

- To be Continued