The Building Blocks Of Our Reality
We know the Sun is one giant sub atomic reaction creating particles after particles, in a number of ahadith the prophet mentions its relationship to the Kursi and Arsh;
“It has been related on the authority of Akrama that the sun is one seventieth of a part of the light (particle) of the Footstool (Kursi), and the Footstool (Kursi) is one seventieth of a part of the light (particle) of the Throne.”
The Footstool and the Throne are the deepest sub atomic depths that exist so this hadith tells us where in the universe, relative to earth, the Arsh and Kursi are because of the depths to which the reactions of the sun reach to, and the place of the sun in relation to them.
Because all Laws of the universe are in Allah’s control/hand He said, “Allah is the One who holds the heavens and the Earth (the universe), lest they cease to exist. And if they vanished, no one could then keep hold of them (this is a literal statement about physics). Certainly, He is Most Forbearing, Ever-Forgiving.” (35:41)
The laws of the universe exist because of subatomic space, if they stopped existing Atoms would unravel or come apart just as they formed when the universe began and as a result all space, galaxies, black holes, suns and planets would also cease to exist, as the verse in the Quran states.
al Arsh al Raheem surrounds the universe helping it persist and protects it from what is outside of it, Musa (as) saw a glimpse of this when He asked to see Allah with nothing between them and that power he (as) witnessed disintegrated the particles of the mountain to nothing. What creates physics and other sciences we know of are the subatomic forces that created sub atomic space and all its particles.
By analogy to us a gust of wind is made of small Atoms, this is a force that shapes the weather and landscape on earth, to Atoms and most subatomic particles the forces that created them are made of the smallest and first particles to exist after the big bang and they are like a gust of wind that shaped the subatomic world, so when these forces stop existing everything will fall apart.
These particles exist at the deepest depths of subatomic space, and beyond them is the edge/limit of the universe, many have asked what is outside the universe, the prophet (saws) answered this question when He (saws) spoke about the Arsh (throne).
After first describing the subatomic world, when He (saws) reached the limit of sub atomic space he said “knowledge of creatures stops at the knowledge of the creator”, not even the Angels know and no one has been taught anything about this, this tells us something about the universe indirectly, from the description we can be certain that Allah created the universe with defined limits and it has a size known to Allah and isn’t infinite like some early scholars and philosophers thought.
This is a conclusion Islam’s schools of Aqeedah came to in contradiction to the philosophers that challenged them, Greek philosophy especially which Islam mostly refuted. Truth is universal and it can persist even after a civilisation is gone because Allah said “Truth hath come and falsehood hath vanished away. Lo! falsehood is ever bound to vanish” (17:81) and Islamic scholars have always accepted truth/science no matter which civilisation it came from, therefore what the Greeks got right they accepted and what was wrong they refuted, such as the infinite nature of the universe.
Everything we know is created from things inside the universe, they rely on the forces of the universe to exist, if for example the space surrounding us no longer existed the atoms we are made from can’t survive for long and would disintegrate or unravel back into nothing just as they formed from nothing. So, what ever is outside the universe is like saying the space surrounding us no longer exists, hence, no person, Angel or Jinn can go outside the universe because the Atoms or particles they are created from can’t survive there, they would unravel or disintegrate.
Our atoms need the boundaries of the universe, its laws, sub-atomic layers (depths) and systems that sustain them to continually persist and because of this Allah called Himself the (continuous) sustainer of the universe; “Allah is the One who holds the heavens and the Earth (the universe), lest they cease to exist. And if they vanished (disintegrated) no one could then keep hold of them”. (35:41)
The point of all this is to remove bewilderment about what the universe looks like in people’s minds and how it is relevant to man’s spirituality, because Allah says there is a direct relationship with space and man’s spirituality that we need to understand, when you know what the reality He created looks like you can better understand your situation (reality);
Allah says, “In time We shall make them fully understand Our messages
This is one of the keys in the Quran that spurred mankind to study the world around them through history, Allah is telling us we should use science to understand spirituality. Previous generations of Muslims could only have understood the world to their depth of science. So, Allah placed other verses in the Quran that directed later generations of mankind to the relationships between them and everything around them, they began studying them as their significance became apparent in their time. In fact, this is the most common way Allah teaches in the Quran by associating subjects together in a verse or surah and connecting it with other verses or surah’s.
As we study the universe the more we will come to understand spirituality, but this is a process that would span over a thousand years and mankind faced many trials in history like the fanatical sects or scholars that claimed any new knowledge is bidah or kufr, just as the church banned science in dark ages these groups exist even today.
Allah says: “BY the sun and its radiant brightness (its sub atomic activity), By the moon as it reflects the sun! (It reflects the suns solar activity at night) BY the day…BY the night…BY the sky…BY the earth…BY the Soul (which is made from subatomic particles, as all things are), and how it is formed (from these particles) in accordance with what it is meant to be (it is deliberately formed to give life from these particles) And inspired it (BY everything mentioned so far in the surah, see our tafsir to this surah) with what is wrong for it and right for it. To a happy state shall indeed attain he who causes this (soul) to grow in purity, and truly lost is he who buries it [in darkness through his actions] (91:1-11).
The subatomic world created the world around us and our reality, but it does one more important thing, it creates our spirituality as well, which surah al Shams (91) outlined, and nearly every world religion on earth and ancient civilisation understood this fact even if sub atomic space wasn’t readily outlined by them as science does so today.
In fact Allah informs us of this in the same surah of the Quran, “TO [THIS] TRUTH gave the lie, in their overweening arrogance, [the tribe of] Thamud”. They followed the celestial bodies and their sub atomic influence on earth like most ancient civilisations but denied the One who created them, what we can learn from their scientific observations and understanding of the universe is that the subatomic forces on earth, follow cycles influenced by the celestial bodies that create the Major forces in our solar system, such as the sun, moon, planets and the distant stars and neighbouring solar systems, like one giant ocean a single wave in one location ripples and travels influencing how the forces in our solar system behave during the seasons of the year, every body in space is in motion and orbit connected sub-atomically creating seasonal effects, and just like the light of those distant stars reaches us so does their subatomic activity.
Our scholars spoke about these things at length and from their understanding developed Islamic sciences surrounding these subjects, for example, Imam Ibn Arabi said in his major work Futuhat al Makkiya that the origin of the universe is the particle (Al Habba), He then goes on to outline the creation of the universe from the subatomic world and how mans spirituality is created by it. All religions understood that there was a subtle (Latif) part to the body finer than the solid matter it was created from, which they identified as being responsible for man’s spirituality, they spoke about this in their books over the past few thousand years in their own scientific vocabulary, even if they didn’t go into detail about the scientific world and how it is constructed that is what they are referring to in their observations and knowledge, how that world impacts us.
Our spirituality is created by the subatomic part of our body, in the language of the Quran, this is the subtle (Lataif) part of our physiology. Things that influence us sub-atomically filter through the body and its systems and create what we feel and experience, all of that is governed by the cycles of the sun, moon, seasons, day, night, orbit of the planets and stars, basically all the cycles we live under on earth are influenced by what is occurring in space.
All these objects create periods of increased and decreased sub atomic activity on earth over a lifetime that influence moulds who you are since you live under these conditions, that is the meaning of surah al Shams.
When Islamic scholars first understood that the origin of man’s spirituality comes from the subtlest parts of his body they researched this and developed the science of the Lataif al Sita, literally the six subtle points of the body, this is a subject that was learnt, taught and developed in every corner of the ancient world, especially China, and Islam played a major part in its development into the modern world.
The Prophet (saws) commanded that His community should “Seek knowledge even as far as China”; In Buddhism and Hinduism this same Islamic science was known as the seven Chakras, a chakra is a subtle (sub atomic) spot or centre in our body (Lataif in Arabic, this is the same vocabulary) that gathers energy from other areas like the organs. The organs take energy from the subatomic world surrounding it because each organ is a focal point for the nervous system which is the electrical wiring of the body, and that wiring is focused in and around each organ. This science is essentially focused on the nervous system of the entire body and it is being explained in their ancient vocabulary.
Unlike Islam, in Buddhist and Hindu medicine and religion, they focused on the spinal cord were the seven chakras are located because the spinal cord takes all the signals (energy) of every organ and sends it to the brain.
In Chinese medicine and religion, this same understanding of the Lataif points are called Meridian points, unlike Buddhism and Hinduism who focused on the spinal cord, they focused on the organs themselves to treat people, in their vocabulary the body takes in Chi energy from the (sub atomic) world around it.
It is very significant that when Allah mentions human perception, consciousness and awareness in the Quran Allah always mentions His quality of being subtly aware (al Latif), hence the subtle parts of our body are closely tied to our reality.
“Vision comprehendeth Him not, but He comprehendeth (all) vision. He is the Subtile, the Aware.” (6:103)
“And (whether you) keep your opinion secret or proclaim it, lo! He is Knower of all that is in the breasts (of men). Should He (Allah) not know what He created? (every part of you and what it is made from) And He is the Subtile, the Aware” (Of all subatomic space. This is the context because subatomic particles are the medium for man’s intellect and secret thoughts, all thoughts are made of particles, hence these subjects are mentioned together starting with the subtle thoughts man keeps hidden in himself) (67:13-14) To a world that didn’t have the scientific tools we do to see in front of us subatomic space, Allah directs man towards it by associating it with what they know and have with them.
The word subtle (Latif) is almost exclusively used in the Quran regarding what occurs sub-atomically in our world, our very thoughts are made of particles (“Should He not know what He created?”), especially the images we see in our mind.
“Seest thou not how Allah sendeth down water from the sky and then the earth becometh green upon the morrow? Lo! Allah is Subtile, Aware (of the particles that nourish and create it).” (22:63)
Unlike the other religions, Islam focused on the subtle (Latif) points in and around the heart directly responsible for man’s reality, spirituality, self and consciousness. Buddhism and Hinduism focused on healing the sick and the points around the spinal cord that take from the body and each organ, Chinese medicine focused on the points around the organs and the body at large to do the same, these are different facets of the same systems in the body all connected with each other which then impact the self last, Islam looked at the areas immediately related to the self around the heart as the prophet (saws) taught them.
The prophet Muhammad (saws) explained the heart is the most top down approach to the body and self. The following hadith is about what harms one spiritually; An-Nu’man bin Bashir (ra) narrated, I heard Allah‘s Messenger (saws) saying, (Nu’man pointed with his two fingers to his ears) ‘Both lawful (Halal) and unlawful things (Haram) are evident but in between them there are doubtful things and most people have no knowledge about them. So, he who saves himself from these doubtful things, saves his religion and his honour (keeps it blameless). And he who indulges in these doubtful things is like a shepherd who pastures (his animals) near the Hima (private pasture) of someone else and at any moment he is liable to get in it (fall into sin). (O people!) Beware! Every king has a Hima (private pasture) and the Hima (private pasture) of Allah on earth is what He declared unlawful (Haram). Beware In the body there is a piece of flesh if it becomes sound and healthy, the whole body becomes sound and healthy but if it gets spoilt, the whole body gets spoilt and that is the heart.” (Agreed upon). (The private pasture of Allah are the Haram things because when you look at them they all relate to power and what dominates people’s self and minds, by different definitions of that).
Just like solar (sub atomic) activity can interfere with the signal satellites send and receive, whatever happens sub-atomically around us interferes and influences the human bodies electrical wiring, the nervous system, it affects our senses and influences our spirituality which Allah explains in surah al Shams (the Sun), “And inspired it (BY everything mentioned so far in the surah) with what is wrong for it and right for it”, but this isn’t intermittent mobile phone interference this is what shapes our lives every day. If it was always cold outside how would we feel about the world, or if it was always hot, or always night, or always dark or always raining what would our life look like over the years under these conditions, except Allah is saying what you experience in life isn’t random it is because of what is happening in space and this alternation between states in the environment helps the soul learn about right and wrong in life.
Imam Jalaludeen Rumi explained this by saying “Allah turns you from one feeling to another and teaches by means of opposites so that you will have two wings to fly, not one.”
All Religions studied the flow of energy in the human body and what it did, it was called Lataif energy in Islam, Chi in Chinese, Ki in Japanese, Prana in Hinduism, Pneuma in ancient Greek (etc.) they then explained it to the best of their knowledge, but Allah promised we would unravel its mysteries entirely after we first understood space, man’s physiology and the subatomic world (which we are doing in our lifetime essentially).
Religion throughout the world used the general term “energy” to describe all of this, science today calls this energy subatomic particles because each particle is basically a packet of energy, and because of this fact Allah in the Quran called them Nur (Light in the general sense of the word) because all energy and particles are a kind of “light” and in the minds and language of Arabs 1400 years ago light represents all other particles perfectly, so Allah used one thing to describe another by their relationship to each other.
A method the Quran and the prophet (saws) used often especially in ahadith about signs of the hour, for example, ahadith mention satellites, headphones, mobile phones, television, cars, planes but in the vocabulary of 1400 years ago.
Allah said, “Allah is the Nur (particles) of the heavens and the earth” (24:35) because all particles are what guide people’s souls, and He ended that verse by saying “He guides through His Nur (particles) whom He wills” (24:35).
In the words of the scholars ‘Sunlight guides the eyes while spiritual light (Particles) guide the soul’, Imam Al Ghazali said in his Mishqat al Anwar (Niche of Lights) ‘as light is to the eyes the Quran is like a sun to the mind’ it directs our inner self to the spiritual things that it mentions, like Hannah, Jahanam, the Arch, Kursi, sidrat al Muntaha. Man’s inner sight is via subatomic particles just as our eyes use visible light, this process our body takes care of for us when it interacts with the surrounding particles in the atmosphere.
The prophet (saws) used to pray in every prayer for Allah to increase the Light/Particles in each of his organs, which helped Him fulfil His (saws) role as the most spiritually aware person on earth;
He (saws) used to say “O Allah, place light in my heart, and on my tongue light, and in my ears light and in my sight light, and above me light, and below me light, and to my right light, and to my left light, and before me light and behind me light. Place in my soul light. Magnify for me light, and amplify for me light. Make for me light, and make me light. O Allah, grant me light, and place light in my nerves, and in my body light and in my blood light and in my hair light and in my skin light.” (These all relate to the lataif points of the nervous system) (Bukhari, Muslim)
“Make for me light, and make me light”, Allah says in the Quran He sent the Prophet (saws) “as a summoner unto Allah by His permission, and as a lamp that giveth light (to others)” (33:46) not only does the universe create our reality but we shape each other’s reality.
Everything we experience occurs because of what is happening in our bodies, here Allah is telling us the prophet was sent as a prophetic lamp so the light of His (saws) prophet hood could illuminate our realities.
The point of understanding all of this is to understand more complex verses in the Quran that talk about the word Haq (Reality). Because Allah teaches about it and where it comes from in gradual steps from different aspects, so it needs to be explained in gradual steps.
1. Lung meridian; grief, intolerance