The Contingency Argument for God's existence, in simple language (thread):

When we look at the world around us, we see many things that change. For example, at one time a man may be standing, but at another time he may be sitting. Yet he is the same man. (1/)

Philosophers express this fact by saying that the man's posture is contingent, i.e. that it could be different than it is. Humans are contingent beings because they could be different than they are at any given moment. The same is true of everything we see in the universe. (2/)

Living things like people, animals, and plants all grow and develop. Inanimate things like your car, phone, or computer may be turned on or off. Even rocks and gems can be cut, polished, or moved from one place to another. (3/)

All the things in the physical world are contingent: they could be different than they are.

But is absolutely everything contingent? Let's consider a man who is standing. Why is he standing *now*? (4/)

This question can be answered in different ways. You might appeal to something in the future (he's standing to reach something on a shelf) or to something in the past (he just got out of bed), but we're not interested in these. Why is he standing *right now*? (5/)

#Ramayana #LecturesOnTheRamayana

In today's thread and perhaps some subsequent threads, we will start looking into Rama as a person. The author clearly tries to bring out the human aspect of Rama captured beautifully in some of the verses.

1/

Please note, the discussion is NEVER challenging the supreme divinity of the person, but tries to capture the nuances or the finer points of the Bhagwan.

Sri Rama had extra-ordinary merit - Unequalled, Unmatched merit. He always remained at his own highest level.

2/

He seldom fell below it at times, wherein one can spot the conditions that led to the decline. In these conditions, he did & said things that his own higher nature would never approve.

Sri Rama was indeed the guardian and embodiment in himself of Dharma.

3/

Some incidents bring out the very best in him where he is able to uphold his own moral ideal.

For ex, when Vibhishina sought asylum, he held a council of war with all eminent counsellors. Except Hanuman whose advice was considered weak, rest all including Lakshmana ..

4/

recommended him to reject Vibhishina, with a few even ordering killing him.

He listened to this charged conversation (a skill where we humans utterly lack today) & said the famous words:
" No man shall seek my protection in vain. No matter who, how undeserving, how wicked..

5/

Dua is the core (or bone marrow) of worship because unlike other acts of worship, people’s hearts are always present when they want something. Wanting things, along with the process of receiving it, is one of the best ways for iman, character, and love for Allah to grow.

The Prophet ﷺ said, “Love Allah for the blessings He showers upon you.”

I believe that if you sincerely want something, you’ll wait for it. The waiting and bearing through rejection after rejection has a ton of wisdoms. It’s is a way to purify intention and gain control over your emotions.

You see-saw between wanting/seeking and sufficing without. When you fail once, you can’t always try again right away. There’s a recovery period in which you lick your wounds and regroup.

If you give up during that recovery period, then you didn’t really want it enough. It was mere whim. Delay separates whim from truth. Whim clouds the intellect. You need to get rid of it in order to think clearly.

#THREAD
1.JALAKANDESWARAR TEMPLE,Vellore,#TamilNadu It's dedicated to God SHIVA is located inside the Vellore Fort. The temple is named Jalakandeswarar,as it is located at a lower height than the temple moat.The construction of the temple began in the year 1274 CE @LostTemple7

2.its construction continued for 50 years.The temple has two courtyards and has a main shrine with a closed path around it and a number of sub-shrines. Inside the Garbha griha, main deity Jalakandeswarar is seen in the form of Shivalinga. @ReclaimTemples

3.Goddess Sri Akilandeswari Amman is seen in separate sanctum in the inner enclosure of the temple. To the outer walls of Amman sanctum one can get the darshan of Vinayaka, Madeswari, Vaishnavi, Varahi, Lakshmi & Saraswathi.

4.There is also a Nandi statue in front, facing Sri Jalakandeswarar sanctum.According to puranas, Athri muni installed a Shiva Lingam in this place and worshiped. After he left, without proper maintenance the Shiva Lingam in the temple was covered by an ant-hill.

5. Rain waters in the lower levels of the ant-hill made a tank there. God Shiva appeared in the dream of a chieftain Bommi Reddy who was ruling the region and asked him to build a temple there.

Don't act smart with Shankaracharya, you will get roasted...

This is a very interesting story from ShankarDigvijaya where Mandan Mishra tries to insult Shankaracharya but gets insulted in return.

The fun lies in the twisting of meanings of Sanskrit words by Shankaracharya.I will try my best to translate while preserving the real meaning.

Shankaracharya went to house of Mandan Mishra to debate with him, but he found the door locked so he took alternate way and went in

The conversation that followed went somewhat like this...

On seeing Shankaracharya

Mandan(angrily)- From where did you come, you bald fellow?

Shankar - I am bald till neck.

(He said कुतो मुण्ड्य Shankar took meaning as, 'How far are you shaven?' so he replied till neck. )

Mandan - I did not ask this, I asked your way

Shankar - Then what did the way reply?

(Mandan ment "I asked about your way" (From where did you come?) Shankar twisted meaning as 'I asked your way' so he said "What did the way reply?")

Mandan (frustrated) - It said, your mother is bald.

Shankar - But you asked it, it must be talking about your mother not mine.

My faith in Christ was settled at 18. After that, my struggle was not with belief as much as with believers. In college, I wrestled mightily with indentifying myself openly as a Christian. Others, both in the culture & on my campus, had made the label toxic. Christians were...

...not respected. Some Christians on campus welcomed the disrespect as authentication of their faith. After all, Jesus was disrespected too. What they missed, however, was that Jesus was maligned for his compassion, love, association with the lowly & sinners, & for rebuking...

...the powerful & self-righteous. Christianity on my campus was maligned for being intolerant, bigoted, unintellectual, partisan, arrogant, mean, & condemning. This reputation was earned by the behavior of some believers at my school, but more by the national figures leading...

...the Religious Right. Simply put, the disrespect didn’t come because Christians were emulating Jesus, but because they were not. That’s why I struggled. To identify myself with this twisted anti-Christ Christianity would be a betrayal of the true Christ to whom I belonged...

...That was 1994. Today, I have teenage kids including one attending my alma mater. As we talk about faith, I hear echoes of my struggle in them & my heart breaks. The idolatry & hypocrisy that existed in American Christianity a generation ago I now far, far worse. My kids know..

Today makes four years since I took my shahada and became Muslim, even though it feels like a lifetime ago.

Below are some reflections and advices I’d give to new Muslims and the greater Muslim community as someone who accepted Islam:

1) Remember what you got here in the first place: Allah. No one has an easy journey in this fleeting life. Remember when times get difficult that your Lord guiding you to Islam is a sign of His mercy. Let your actions be for Him alone, and you’ll see the blessings unfold.

2) Choose your company wisely: the Prophet ﷺ tells us good company is like the one who sells perfume and bad company is like a blacksmith. Surround yourself around people who will benefit you in your journey seeking Allah. Do not be around people who will hurt your akhira.

3) Be gentle: if you want guidance for your loved ones, don’t be harsh with them nor should you try and debate them. Speak kindly, treat them with honor, and allow your actions to be a representation of your faith. Remember the Prophet ﷺ was characterized as a walking Quran!

4) Seek knowledge, but take it slow: it’s easy to rush into things overzealously and be burnt out. Take things a step at a time, and in increments. You won’t ever be perfect, but strive for ihsan. Make it so that you feel like you’re falling in love with your deen repeatedly.

@Ensoilife Savukku Shankar started this. Anywhere, anyone who's a Brahmin he's targeting them. But dumeels will claim they fight paarpaneeyam only not Brahmins. He's cleverly instigating people to go against brahmins. Subtle, incremental nudging.. don't know where it's going to end.

Along with him there are newly cropped YouTube channels. U2Brutus is another rabid anti Brahmin channel. Their ecosystem is well established. They try to emulate the RSS networking style to unleash a cultural war against Hindus, the first step is targeting Brahmins in TN.

It's a meticulously choreographed political stunt by the Dravidian parties. Shankar and U2Brutus are the tools. Shankar targets specifically brahmins.
Kamal
Gurumurthy
Pandey
Prashant Kishore
Vembu
Sumanth
List goes on. Whether they support DMK or not.

He and the Periyarist channels subtly sow the seeds of violence against Brahmins. Won't be surprised if in future there are physical attacks on brahmins in TN.

Kashmirisation of TN begins. Ironically BJP will let it happen as the fall out can help them if Hindus consolidated against Dravidian parties. That's why we see this polarising all the castes of Hindus against Brahmins. Making TN Hindus find their common enemy in Brahmins.

Har Har Mahadev 🙏🙏🕉️🕉️ Suprabhat 🙏

Lord Shiva has five faces called Ishana, Tatpurusha, Aghora, Vamadeva and Sadyojatha. These five faces of Shiva represent the five basic elements viz. akash, air, fire, water and earth.

#MondayMotivation #MondayMorning #MondayVibes

In fact these faces can be called five forms of Shiva.

Any creation has to be made out of these five gross elements. The 1st form or face called Ishana, is the first physical form of Shiva. This form gives us pleasure that is enjoyed by our physical body.

This is represented in the form of organs of hearing and speech in our body and in the form of subtle sound and the celestial sphere or akash. It may be recalled that ancient rishis got the sound of Vedas only from akash.

The second form or face is called Tatpurusha, the second physical form of the Lord. This form is identified with prakrti or the source of objectivity. This is the home of atman. This form is represented by organs of touch, organs of action, and is the subtle form of air.

Third form is Aghora is the physical form of Shiva and is identified with cosmic intellect. This form is represented by eyes, feet and dharma. This is identified with rupa or physical structure and the subtle form of fire.

"'How do I know I'm saved' is perhaps the central question of Christian life. Each tradition & sect finds different answers.

Most end up engaging in some flavor of works righteousness. For someone it is straight-up synergism. For others, it's the more subtle "fruit checking." /1

Whenever we discuss about Mahabharata, we discuss same characters again & again. I thought we should discuss about lesser known but significant characters.

My #thread on Shalya, he was Charioteer of Karna & how he played an important role in the duel between Arjun & Karna. 👇🏼

Shalya was King of province called Madra. He was also known as Madra Naresh and he was the brother of Queen Madri, 2nd wife of King Pandu & Maternal Uncle of Nakul & Sahdev.

Pandavas called him Mama. Mama Shalya had pledged his supports to Pandavas, but then comes a twist.

Pandavas had gathered 7 Akshauhini Sena, while Kauravas had 9 Akshauhini Sena

According to epic Mahabarta, one Akshauhini contains four different types of armed forces
 21,870 chariots
 21,870 elephants
 65,616 horses
 109350 infantry

Pandavas knew Shalya has 2 Akshauhini Sena

With Mama Shalya joining Pandavas, things would have been squared at 9 Akshauhini Sena each. But Shakuni tricked him.

While Shalya was travelling towards Kurukshetra, Shakuni arranged excellent hospitality for him along the road for him & his Sena. Shalya was highly impressed.

Shalya was under the impression that this has been arranged by Yudhistir. After Madri went Sati, Nakul & Sahdev lived with Kunti instead of living with their uncle. Hence Shalya barely got chance to meet his nephews

He met Duryodhana on his arrival & he thought it was Yudhistir

1/15 Self-loathing (self-hating) #Jews and the existence of #Israel. After WW2 a lot of #Jewish survivors denied their #Jewishness all together. Converted to Protestantism, became hardcore socialists or even communists. Pretending to by one of the many, instead one of the few.

2/15 Examples in my little family. Another hiding place was to marry non-Jews. Male Jew & non-Jewish woman broke the bloodline. Female #Jew & non-Jewish male was a reason to not follow Jewish traditions. No Brit Milah, no Bar/Bat Mitswah, nada. Also examples in my little family.

3/15 Remember this was in the early 1950/60’s and the man of the house decided most. The deeper thought, no, the huge fear that something like the #Holocaust could happen again was the reason for this. Don’t show the outside world you’re a #Jew, you could be round up next time.

4/15 Same attitude was transferred to their children. Don’t show your Magen David (if you ever got one), don’t tell your Jewish. Hide, hide, hide. But indoors a few customs were kept. Friday night family night, Matzohs at Easter(!) – not Pesach, some kosher food with birthdays.

5/15 Their childrens children are now the so-called #leftist, #progressive Jews who deny their #Jewishness wholehearted. Code Pink, Jstreet, JVP… you name them. #Israel is their greatest fear aka Jews with self-determination, which triggers even more #antisemitism.

Lesser Known Fact:

Though it is believed that Pakistan’s first contact with Islam happened 711 CE with the conquest of Sind, Islam had touched the Indus region as early as the 640s during the caliphate of Umer R.A.

Thread on the early contacts of the Indus with Islam 1/n

As noted by Yaqut’s book ‘Mujam Al Buldan’, the Caliph’s intentions of spreading Islam in South Asia had been made as early as 634 CE.

The process of the first invasion upon the Indus region began in 641/‘42 CE when even after defeating the Sassanians at -

At the battle of Navahand, the Sassanid empire didn’t fully come under Muslim control and many provincial governors declared independence. So a large mobilisation of Muslim troops took place with 5 armies under 5 generals for 5 different places; one of which was Makran.

Shortly after the fall of the city of Isfahan, Abdullah Bin Utban (one of the men involved) marched towards the region of Kirman. The armies fought steadily with the locals of Kirman who were eventually routed and the city of Zaranj in modern Afghanistan was taken.

At this point, the Muslims made a treaty with the people of Kirman and the armies descended south to meet with the already present and arriving auxiliary forces strengthened near the border of Makran, preparing for the first thrust towards the Indus.

Ayaat from the Quran that uplift me when I’m down [Thread]

What really helps me sleep at night when I don’t feel well is reciting surah kafirun before sleeping. Protection from shirk gives me peace of mind, as it should for a muslim. AlhamdulilLah

Another thing that gave me peace of mind and ease at heart was reciting these 3 chapters of the Quran. The sunnah is beautiful wAllahi.

Suratul Baqarah in general but this verse in particular because it’s a reminder that whatever we go through, it’s not more than what we can bear and that patience and faith in Allah will give us victory, bi idhnilLah

Suratul Hadid in general but these 2 verses in particular because it reminds me of the greatness of Allah and that Allah is still the nearest to us. Brings my attention to Allah’s unlimited abilities and that goodness can only be sought from the aide of Allah. Allahu Akbar

Thread: Maktab/Islamic supplementary school Teacher training handbook.

My Muslim Uni professor once commented on early Muslim works relating to education as being an example of what we would today refer to as self help/training manuals for teachers. #education #IsEd #teacher

UK Muslim communities give great importance to the maktab/Islamic supplementary school system. The maktab provides an authentic, confessional religious & spiritual ed. to Muslim children. Since the 1st wave of Muslim migrants, mainly of South Asian origin, maktabs have increased

Many maktabs have managed to adapt to local needs. Work has been done on implementing and maintaining teaching/learning standards, updating curriculum and revising syllabus. However many are still playing catch up and are not lead by qualified and experienced leaders/teachers.

Furthermore, to my knowledge, structured, research driven, evidence based training courses or training manuals for those aspiring to be maktab teachers are non-existent. There seems to be an assumption that anyone can be a maktab teacher. As long as they know the content.

So a trad Darul Uloom/Islamic seminary graduate is seen as qualified to be a maktab teacher. They have extensive knowledge of Islam. But is that enough to be a maktab teacher? Should maktab SMT’s start looking into developing a QMTS qualification?

#Thread on Sarasvatî and related controversies.

The root of the term Sarasvati is sri (सृ)+ asun (असुन्)= saras (सरस्) meaning 'watery substance' + vati वती ie वतुप् स्त्री, meaning 'containing of' = sarasvati which means a lake, a pond, a large water body(stagnant).

@BesuraTaansane