Being careful what one says

Being careful what one says

1986 5 May 11 Being careful what one says (46) ‘Abudullah Tastari said that one who makes a new addition to religious learning will be questioned on the Day of Resurrection. “If what he has said is in accordance with the pattern of the Prophet, then he will be saved. If not, he will be doomed.”

“Each in its Own Orbit Runs.”

1986 5 May 11 “Each in its Own Orbit Runs.” (366) Modern technology has produced a mechanical ‘man’ – the robot – which performs the prodigious feats of walking, talking and working. But, at the end of it all, it functions in a purely mechanical way, just like any other man-made machine. In no way does it evince the subtlety of behaviour controlled by human intelligence which we find in homo sapiens.

On one notable occasion a robot was hired by a London office to perform the services of an office boy. As soon as it was installed, the lady secretary, a Miss Jennie Seff, decided to give it a trial run. She was testing the battery, when, the robot sprang to life and began to stalk along behind her. Miss Seff walked faster and faster as it bore down on her, then started to run to escape its relentless pursuit, but the robot followed on her heels with equal rapidity. In the process, a new typewriter was knocked over and damaged. Finally, with great difficulty the robot was brought under control (30 June, 1981).

In the world of today, those who do not believe in God say that the universe is nothing but a vast machine, and that it moves like a robot, in a mindless, mechanical fashion. But for millions and millions of years the perfect and harmonious movement of the universe has contradicted such a supposition. Had the universe been a mere robot-like mechanism, there would certainly have been many unaccountable clashes – like the one in the London office.

According to the Quran, “The sun hastens to its resting place; that is the decree of the Mighty One, the All-knowing. And for the moon, we have ordained mansions till it becomes again as an old dry palm branch. The sun is not allowed to overtake the moon, nor does the night outpace the day. Each in its own orbit runs” (36 : 38-40).

This statement of the Quran has been borne out in the present world by human observations, and this in itself is enough to prove that the universe is governed by some conscious being. Without this the universe could never have been disciplined and harmonious to such a degree of perfection as it is.