al-'alameen

[fireheart47]

Dear Quran's Message forum,

I'd like to share some perspective about the 2nd verse of the Surah al-Fatihah and get feedback, and additional wisdom from the community.

Surah al-Fatihah 1:2

ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ

Sahih International

[All] praise is [due] to Allah , Lord of the worlds

AJ Arberry's The Koran Interpreted

Praise belongs to God, the Lord of all Being,

Studying this verse was one of my first interests in the Qur'an and Islam. What stood out to me was the word al-'alameen or العلمين. I know now some people say it was originally العالمين، to whom I've said that it reminds me of the Geneva Bible.

When I was a kid, I used to play Call of Duty 2 on PC, and played a level in El Alamein, Egypt. I noticed the similarity in this word, and found it curious. Others have suggested it is not the same word, and even Wiktionary.org asserts it comes from a different root, meaning flags? However, I recently learned about the ancient Egyptian site of Zawyet El-Aryan, which transliterates the «-ال» as «El-», which furthers my belief that the city in Egypt was named after the verse in the Qur'an.

When I began to study this word, I was struck by the similarity between it and علم ('alam, English: knowledge, [many other words ...], Latin: scientia), as well as معلم (mu'alam, English: teacher). It is also similar to the Hebrew word עולם (olam, English: universe, [...]), which I had heard of before. When I read the verse, it made me think of God as the Lord of all-knowledge, where all that exists is God's awareness. It reminds me of how in English people can say about another person, "They are a worldly person", meaning they know the world and are knowledgeable. I believe the Arab, Jewish, historic Israelites, and all other linguistically connected people, had this similar way of perceiving knowledge.

When I learned about AJ Arberry translation, I was glad to see someone thought similarly. I was surprised it is considered less reliable. Why is that?

Then I began to ponder about El-Alamein and its significance in WW2. The German military was stopped there by the British, a moment where this terrible war changed tides, and the Nazi government's militaries which had been murdering innocent people, sterilizing innocent people, and doing other horrific things,  began to lose in a region where ancient world powers have fought and gained power (Rome, Greece, Persia, etc...).

El-Alamein is also a curious place, because if one looks at photos and watches videos about the WW2 memorial sites and battlegrounds shortly after WW2, it is surprising how it is in the middle-of-nowhere. It is desert. It makes one think how pointless war is, how all those soldiers fought and died for this barren land.

Perhaps one day with our changing climate, it won't be as barren. Yet even then, farmers and gardeners, like shepherds and civilians today, will have to be aware of the thousands of land-mines left by the foreign militaries. Not only those, but the other more modern land-mines left by Egyptian military near the Sinai Peninsula.

https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Location-map-for-landmines-distributions-in-Egypt_fig1_237580585

Some scholars suggest it was the first verse in the Qur'an, yet now is the second verse. That seems interesting, yet I believe the name of Allah and his attributes are so important, I think it makes sense for it to start how it does.

In a previous religious debate, when I considered myself only a Christian, the Muslim person said to me something wise, which I think is important. He said, paraphrased, "If a religion is the religion of God, only God can add or remove from the scriptures, it is not up to an authority to choose." Even though there are things in all the scriptures, which I don't feel comfortable about, I believe they should be preserved, because they are knowledge about the past.

Fireheart47


 

[fireheart47]

One topic related to knowledge and science, and also to the aforementioned verse, is the topic of miracles.

Many dismiss the possibilities of miracles, because they often think of the unrealistic stories we often told to accept by force, which contradict common sense. Many stories could've been exaggerated through time, changed through the game of telephone and hearsay, yet which still hold an element of truth, or a moral.

One certain miracle is how any of the holy scriptures have maintained a comparatively high degree of stability through countless scribes and thousands of years, with ancient wisdom and visions into the ancient past to savor.

There are things which defy our understanding and there some things we cannot study well.

The scientific method is a method to discover knowledge, which has been the best method to discover truths in our world. The scientific method requires building a hypothesis, experimentation, logical interpretation of data, and a conclusion, or continuation. It also requires peer-review, and this is what distinguishes it from religion. Because science ideally seeks to be refuted, until it arrives to certainty.

Religion teaches other truths. Truths about how people interact, how to expect the unexpected, and teaches the importance of faith.

The scientific method is really good at discovering the mechanistic properties of the universe, yet if something can only occur once, or appear to occur once, it is difficult to study. Also, even though the scientific process is logically oriented and the work scrutinized by others with a logical standard, the hypothesis building process can be illogical and involves faith. The way someone's life journey unfolds towards a certain topic can be a mystery, which is hard to predict. Often people have dreams or experience something illogical, which inspires them (ex: Mendeleev's Dream). Many times emotions, opinions, and worldviews influence what topics receive more attention, and what topics should be refuted.

Even our refutations belong at first to the world of imagination, possibilities upon possibilities.

It is important to distinguish the ideals of scientific method and the reality. The reality is that many people educate others and contribute to our collective opinions, and fewer participate in the real process.

How can we explain how events coincide? How does time work? And are the miracles we experience illusions, which appear to be exceptions to the rules? Or is there something we just can't understand? Perhaps if we satisfy ourselves with the unexpected goodness, we can receive its benefit. I've been told often people shun good things which come their way, because of self-perception.

May God help us. May God allow us to accept the miracles in our lives and to not feel excessive fear, rather to use discernment when necessary. May God help us have an ordered mind, which is not too rigid, yet natural and productive, so we can discover and do more good.

Praise belongs to God, the Lord of all Being.