Sunday, September 15, 2013

Ekonomik tercihler

benim ekonomik prensiplerimin kokeninde zulme ve dolayisiyla capitalisme alet olmamak icin elimden geleni yapmak var. bunun icin:
1) faiz almamak ve vermemek. faiz almamak fakirlerden emek (ve risk) sahibi olmadan calmamak icin, faiz vermemek ise "not-so-secret-anymore" rotschchilds'larin basini cektigi (sanki o kral, J. P. Morgan'lar falan da onun lord'lari duke'lari) banker monarchies'in bizden calip iyice sismelerini onlemek icin. zaten enflasyon ve vergi yontemiyle caldiklari yeter de artar bile-ki bununla ilgili de 6. madde. vergi demem sasirttiysa, devletlerin bankalara olan borclarinin faizlerinin de bizim vergilerimizden calinarak odendigini dusunmemiz gerekir.bu sekilde dunya insanlarinin cogunlugu olarak global & federal bankalarin sahiplerine resmen duzenli harac odedigimizi biliyor muydunuz?
Bu nedenle, kutsal olan, devlete verilen vergi degil, fakire verilen zekat ve sadakadir.

Muhammad asm da "Faizi alanı-vereni, faiz işlemine vekil olanı, faiz işlemine şahitlik görevini üstleneni, faiz işlemini yazanı da lanetlemiştir." (bk. Müslim, Müsâkât 106; Tirmizî, Buyu’, 2)
Isa asm'in tek "siddet" icerir olarak bilinen davranisi da faiz yiyen tefecilerin masalarini tekmeleyip dagitmis olmasidir. Faiz ayrica acikca Tevrat, Incil ve Kur'an'da ayri ayri yasaklanmistir, bkz Kur'an 2:275-278, Incil ve Tevrat ayetleri icin bkz:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usury#Religious_context

2) capitalistlere emeklerimizi kaptirip, kole olmamak, mesela ben matematik mezunu olarak "kariyer" yapmak istesem bu en kolay banka ve sigortalarda calismaktan geciyor. ama banka, sigorta, petrol firmalari, outsourcing yoluyla isci somurusu yapan global sirketlerin tumunden kapitalizm canavarindan kacar gibi kacmaya calisiyorum.
3) capitalistlere para kaptirmamak: bu en zorlarindan biri, nerde yasadigina gore. bunun icin walmart, turkiye'de migros, capitol falan vardi tarzi "chain store'lardan" "supermarketlerden" "buyuk markalardan" kacinip lokal bakkal, cakkal, mahalle pazari, burda co-op, ya da mumkunse direkt ciftcilerden ve el ureticilerinden, fair trade, local prensiplerine gore yiyeceklerimizi giyeceklerimizi ve temel ihtiyaclarimizi satin almak, boylece araci global kapitalistlerin ureticinin emegini somurmesini paramizla olabildigince engellemek
4) bu aslinda 1.siyle ve 2.siyle yakindan alakali, her zaman ayagimizi yorganimiza gore uzatmak, consumerism'e tuketicilik'e israfa hayir demek. boylece kendimize gereksiz ihtiyaclar yaratip (babadan kalan para varsa o ayri ama orda da guzel olan bir sonraki maddeye uymaktir), ardindan o ihtiyaclari karsilayacagim diye kole gibi calismamak, ya da gece gunduz calistiktan sonra bile isteklerimizi ihtiyaca donusturup onlari karsilayacagim diye paran yetmeyince, banka ahtapotlarinin en buyuk tuzagina dusmemek, ki en buyuk tuzak faizli borc alip onlara artik faiz adi altinda neyin varsa yoksa vermek, onlarin butun dunyaya daha cok tasallut etmelerine ekonomikman destek olmak. bugun koleligin 2. yolu borctan geciyor. amerika'da (high class olmayan) butun universite mezunlarinin ish hayatina tuition borcuyla baslamalari da bu sistemin ne kadar islerine geldiginin kaniti.
5) fazla paramiz oldugu zaman olabildigince cevremizde ya da dunyada en fakirlere temel ihtiyaclarini karsilamak uzere (yiyecek, giyecek, ev, saglik/hastane ve is baslatmalari icin ana para, tezgah, dukkan ya da egitim-sokakta misir satan bir adamin aylik karinin 7,000 tl oldugunu duydum, issiz birine verilecek kucuk bir misirci tezgahi bile bir aileyi rahat doyurur gozukuyor) vermek ve onlari zalim kapitalizm ahtapotunun kiskaclarindan biraz olsun ferahlatmak. bence diger amaclar icin -hayvanlari koruma, cevreyi koruma, bilimsel arastirmalara destek olma, gibi- dunyada acliktan ve barinaksizliktan iskence ceken insanlar kalmayinca vermeli, bu da sahsi gorusum ki ac insanlari kurtarmak su anda oncelik sahibi. ekonomik esitlik saglanirsa digerlerini saglamak cok da kolaylasacaktir zaten. ve gece o kadar karardi ki, gunesin dogmasina daha adil ve esit bir dunyanin gelmesine cok az kaldigina gonulden inaniyorum, istersen polyanna diyebilirsin ama polyanna'nin pozitif dusunce dusturuna da zaten inaniyorum :) pozitif dusuncelerin pozitif action'a donustugunu ve cevremizi ve gelecegimizi degistirdigine inaniyorum. 
6) enflasyonu ve paranin kagittan baska gercek bir degeri olmadigini "banker monarchies"in bir ulkeyi batirip cikarmak istedikleri zaman kolaylikla dolarin degerini belirleyebildiklerini, ulkelerin para basan (abd'deki federal reserve bank gibi) bankalarina da onlarin sahip olduklarini cogumuz biliyoruz. bu nedenle fazla birikmis paramiz olursa, bundan zekat ve sadaka ve faizsiz borc verdikten sonraki kisimlarini degeri belirsiz kagittan para ve ef puften banka hesaplari cinsinden degil, gumus, altin, tasinamaz mallar, sanat eserleri vs cinsinden koruyup bunlari da olabildigince halkin kullanimina sunmak, mesela evi kiraya vermek (bedavaya verirsen comertliginden olur), sanat eserlerini bir muzeye koymak, bahceyi birkac bahcivana verip mahsulati onlarla esit paylasmak, gibi..
7) kefenin cebinin olmadigini unutmamak, bu dunya malina bu dunyada bize emanet edilen beden ve hayatlarimizin ihtiyacini karsilayacak kadar prim vermek: fazlasini biriktiricem diye gece gunduz calisip, cimrilik yapip, fakirden calip, emegini somurup (bir cok billionaire'in yaptigi gibi) bosa harcanmis yillarin ve susturulmus vicdan ve kalbin karsiligini da biriktirdiklerinden tek bir kurus bile olup topraga girdikten sonra isine yaramamasi sonucuna maruz kalmamak. Gonulden "transient" "fani" olan, "sinirli" (finite) olan herseyin (kendi adlarina) sevgisini atmak ve onlarin egomuzu esir almalarini engellemek. (bu fikir Buddhism'de ve Sikhism'de ve Sufism'de cok temel bir gorustur) Sadece Sonsuz olan, tum varligin her an Kaynagi olan, sevdigimiz herseyin ve onlarin tum sevdigimiz ozelliklerinin Sonsuz olan Kaynagi'na kalbimizi donup, fani insanlardan, maddeden medet ummak yerine, insanlarin ve maddenin Sahibi'nden istemek, istedigimiz sonuclara dua ederken, yani fiilen sebeplere basvururken, evrenin yaratilis kanunlarinin (doga kanunlari ya da arapcasi seriat-ullah) Sahibi'ne basvurma bilinciyle basvurmak. Boylece, bir an sonra var edilmeye dahi muhtac bizleri her an Var eden'e kulluk yaparken, herhangi bir insana, patrona, dogaya kolelik yapmaktan (patron, kisiligim ve dusuncelerim ve inanclarim ve prensiplerim pahasina da olsa atma beni lutfedip verdigin isinden) ve muhtac olmaktan (toprak, ne olur, bana yemek ver) ve yalvarmaktan (meteorlar, ne olur bize carpmayin) kurtulmak, insaniyet izzetimize kavusmak. Bu dunyadaki esas amacimizin fani olup da olumle sonlanan bir hayat icin olmadigini, nasil ki fetusun cigerleri amniyotik sivi icinde nefes almak icin degil, bir sonraki hayatinda oksijenli hava icin hazirlaniyor; bizim ruhumuz da olumdeki sonraki hayatimiza hazirlandigini, bu hayatin yoklukla sonlanacak kadar anlamsiz olmadigini (duygularim buna isyan eder), ve bu hayattaki esas amacimiza her an hazirlik yapma cabasi icinde olmamiz gerektigini (bu "caba"nin arapcasi "jihad", maalesef tam ters anlasilan cok konsept var kur'an'da, ya da sanki birileri ters anlasilsin diye medyayi ve gizli servisleri ozellikle kullaniyor) ve bunu da yapmanin 2 yolu oldugunu: 1) her an kendi ve yaratilmisliginin farkindaligiyla yasamak, goren gozum degil, gozume gormeyi Veren var; susuzlugumu dindiren bu cahil su degil, onu bana sifa Kilan var, vs seklinde 2) kendi farkindaligini, her an ne dusundugunun ve hissettigin ve nasil konusup davrandiginin farkindaligini, her an daha iyi bir insan olma cabasi icin sarfetmek: gratitude (sukur ve niyaz) yerine complaining (sikayet ve nazli) bir tavrim/yaklasimim mi var? affetmek yerine intikam, sevgi yerine nefret ve kiskanclik mi besliyorum? kirici mi konusuyorum? incitiyor muyum? kendime ve basklarina haksiz adaletsiz mi davraniyorum? seklinde hem vicdanimin hem de vicdanimi bana emanet Eden'in isteklerine (yani bana istettirdiklerine) uygun davraniyor muyum diye her an bencil olmak uzere yaratilmis ama sonuclari bize sevdirilmemis egomu check/kontrol altinda tutuyor muyum? egom mu bana hizmet ediyor, ben mi ona? bencilce davranip da sonuclarindan memnun olmadigim her zaman, eger bundan ders alirsam, egom bana hizmet etmis olur; ders almayip bencilce davranmaya devam edersem ise ben egoma hizmet etmis olurum.  http://www.sikhnet.com/stories/audio/horse-mind
...ve boylece bu sonuncu (7.) madde ise akli, duygulari ve ruhu nasil besleyip ihtiyaclarini karsilayabilecegimiz hakkinda dusunceler. bunlar hayattaki diger-mesela ekonomik-tercihlerimizi de yonlendireceginden burada relevant/ilgili.
7. madde ile ilgili daha cok dusunceler icin: http://pan-cck.blogspot.com/2013/09/oh-my-ego-who-has-lost-inner-peace.html

alhasil borca harca dusmeyecek sekilde, ay sonunda fazladan biriktirmis bulundugun parayla biletlerini alip gitmek istedigin tiyatro, sergi, konser, vs.lerine gidebilmen icin dua ediyorum, ve konserleri izlerken insanlara verilmis olan yeteneklerin Sahibine, sana bu sanattan zevk aldirttan duygularin Sahibine olan sevgin ve hayranligin da buyur; hem duygularin hem de ruhun mest olur; ve hepimizin Sonsuz'a olan sevgisi, Ilahi Aski buyur buyur ve benligimizi, egomuzu kaplar; egomuz dahi, tatmin olmus, baris ve huzur icindeki egolardan (nafs-ul mutmainnah diye geciyor kur'an'da) olur diye dua ediyorum. 

Sunday, September 8, 2013

Oh my ego who has lost inner peace...

Oh my ego who has lost inner peace and suffers! Are you the source of your own torment? Are you the source of what you see of yourself in front of your eyes and what you can see of your bones and organs in Xrays and of your brain activities in fMRIs and of your field of energy in photography and what you cannot see of yourself, like your torment? Or is your torment a most important sign on a most significant mission to remind you of your needs? Just as your hunger is a sign on a mission to remind you not to fail to eat your food and your thirst is a sign on a mission to remind you not to forget to drink your water and just as your various illnesses and pains are signs on most important missions to inform you you're not getting sufficient micro-nutrients (vitamins and minerals); so too your torment is a sign on an even more important mission reminding you of your purpose in life and reminding you not to fail to meet the needs of your soul and emotions as well as your mind.

Just like satisfying your hunger by knocking on the door of the Infinitely Generous and Merciful Sustainer encompasses different activities such as farming, hunting, working in return for food, finding and carrying groceries (or gathering fruits and vegetables), making cooking utensils and building fire sources, gathering fuel (wood, gas, electricity, etc) for the fire or working in return for such fuel (for ex: paying utility bills), cooking, setting up a table, gathering around it with family or friends, in small bites carrying the food to your mouth and chewing each piece, cleaning up the table and washing dishes; so too does satisfying your non-animal needs encompasses various activities.

Just like the infinitely many bounties you're gifted are signs exposing the Divine Attributes because of their incapacity and their ignorance and their unawareness and their weakness and their being in need of being kept in existence themselves and their being in need of the Divine Laws of Nature to continue being upheld; and because despite all this they seem to be magically performing acts of intelligent, merciful generosity; and the inconsistency of these two observations; so too the signs in revelation introduce you to the Divine Attributes proclaimed and reflected, as in mirrors reflecting the Sun's light, by the entire universe from the mind-blowing amazing properties of the most minute particle of an atom mimicking the solar system, to the breathtaking beauty and elegance of a galaxy comprised of billions of gigantic stars, the distance between each uncomparably ever so greater than the size of each of the stars themselves.

The signs in both the universe, yourself (your body, mind, perceptive senses, your feelings of hunger, thirst, pain, your emotions of peace, bliss, happiness, anger, torment) and the revelation, through the enlightened ones who have attained to the light of iman-faith with conviction- (prophets, companions, saints, teachers, masters, gurus, Sufi sheikhs, etc), through the use of your own faculties (perceiving, thinking, meditating, evaluating, freely choosing, deciding, intending to put into action, subsequently acting upon your intention, perceiving the results of your actions and so the cycle continues) and by the will of the Source of all these signs and the Source of guidance, guide you in the steps needed to be taken to satisfy your non-animal needs.

Just as the pure unadulterated water from among rocks or earth ignorant of your body and its needs, is the best gift to meet the needs of your body and to satisfy your thirst; and just as vegetables, fruits, berries, nuts, meats, green leaves, starchy tubers, honey, milk, seeds from dumb animals, tasteless earth, colorless air, shapeless light, powerless branches of wood, are a table spread about the Earth of most exquisite gifts of innumerable varieties of tastes and smells and colors and designs and shapes and sizes and texture; so too remembering and thanking the Generous One, the Supreme Artist, the Source of Colors, the Shaper, the Designer, the Merciful, the Healer is a gift of revelation to meet the needs of your mind and of your emotions and of your soul.

Just as you've been gifted with parents and grandparents and teachers and doctors and the internet to teach you how to satisfy your hunger and thirst and how to avoid physical illnesses and pains, so too you've been gifted with revelation and teachers to teach and show you how to thank and how to remember the Generous Giver of Infinitely Bountiful Gifts and how to cure the pain of your existential angst, remembered by many as the terrible teenage years or as a midlife crisis.

Oh my ego, who likes to be free in her decisions and who likes to see for herself what's right and what's wrong by way of practical experimentation, why do you not hesitate in experimenting what you were warned against and you are hasty to act in what you know or feel to be wrong; but when it comes to experimenting the recipe of peace attested to by millions from all around the globe, from the most ancient to the most recent times, you are quick to oppose and you are hasty in coming up with excuses and you are thoughtlessly inclined to forgetfulness and you are lazy like you are lazy for nothing else. Oh my ego, if your logic and your emotions aren't convinced enough to move you to act, at least give an opportunity to the power of Truth to be realized by practical experimentation. Try the same basic recipe repeated for thousand of years in slightly different forms and expressions and see for yourself how it affects the torrents of your torment.

The recipe is expressed "mubeenan" clearly in a fashion easy to understand by all but carrying layers upon layers of meanings if you are willing to dive in, out of the Mercy of the One Who reveals us the recipe of light and makes it manifest on Earth. (Qur'an: Ya ayyuha alnnasu qad jaakum burhanun min rabbikum waanzalna ilaykum nooran mubeenan (4:174) (Asad) O MANKIND! A manifestation of the truth has now come unto you from your Sustainer, and We have sent down unto you a clear light.) To feel gratitude you must first think, reason, observe and travel. (see for some relevant ayats (ie. signs or verses) listed at this link: http://pan-cck.blogspot.com/2013/09/how-to-do-q-with-revelation.html) You must come to realize and not only realize but live with the consciousness of the unity, holistic connection and harmony within the universe which exists as a web of energy consisting of vibrations and motions of particles within the atoms and of planets and celestial bodies within the void of the universe. What you call matter is as minute so as to fit the entire amount of matter the Earth consists of (after subtracting all the emptiness between particles within atoms and between atoms within molecules, etc) in a thimble the size of the tip of a finger. What you perceive with your senses and brain as substance, flesh and bones is essentially the energy of the vibration of the particles, the angels, i.e. the executors, agents or instruments of the manifestation of the Source of this energy, those carrying the Divine Names to make them immanent in the form of the universe. You must live with an every moment consciousness of breathing in what other animals and plants and humans around you are breathing out in a flowing web of energy and that every breath is a gift from the Orderer of this energy and matter.

Oh my ego! Do you not see that your thoughts and your emotions and your actions have consequences? Have you not experienced that with the expectation of the unwanted coming up in the future or the whimsical fear of annihilation, even the most desirable circumstances fail to please you or give you any pleasure? Have you not experienced that with the expectation of the beautiful or the imagination of the desirable you can find peace and satisfaction in even the most wretched situations? Do you not see that your thoughts and perspective and interpretations guide your emotions? Do you not see that your emotions and your intentions and your decisions guide your actions? Do you not observe that your thoughts and your emotions and your actions have consequences? Do you not see the cat running away from you when you are angry? Do you not see the humming bird drinking sweet juice in the hands of those who compassionately and patiently persevere in approaching them? Do you not reason that your emotions and your actions are part of the flow over time of the web of energy and consequently are made to affect all that is around you and all that will be brought to existence and to your awareness? Do you not understand that the Continuous Source of Energy, the Source of your criterion of justice, the Source of your compassion, out of mercy, is guiding you to the right and wrong by creating appropriately positive and negative (that which we are made to dislike) consequences to your choices of thoughts and actions? Do you suppose that the Infinite Source of this infinite energy will suddenly cease to emit its Divine powers? Do you suppose that the Divine Teacher is guiding you through ease and turbulence to teach you to an end of annihilation or is it to prepare you for your existence yet to come, upon the birth called death?

Why then, oh my inconsiderate, self-centered ego, do you not take it upon yourself the jihad, the striving of being ever watchful of your thoughts and your emotions and your actions to be in harmony with that which you are a part of and to be in congruence with the will of the Source to whom you belong? Why then oh my ego, do you not take it upon yourself the jihad of quitting your bad habits and establishing better ones in their stead? Why then oh my ego, do you not take it upon yourself the jihad of quitting the attitude of complaining and sulking and replacing it with that of continuous gratitude with every breath taken, every beauty seen, every faculty in your body, mind and soul working, every morsel of food you put in your mouth, every drop of water that cools the throats of the ones you love? Why then oh my ego, do you not take it upon yourself the jihad of stopping carrying all the burdens of your needs and your fears, but instead starting to trust in the true Provider and Sustainer in whose hands is all that we know exists and that we are not aware of.

Why then, oh my forgetful ego who would rather suffer from forgetfulness than take action to remind herself, do you not take it upon yourself the jihad of remembering the Truth? Why then do you not take the prescriptions teaching you and advising you how to remember the Truth and how to come to a higher understanding of It and how to live with It? Why are you apathetic to spending even as small as one or two hours of your day meditating upon the existence and its purpose and Source, in repeating the Divine Attributes of Beauty, Mercy and Perfection you so yearn for, asking all kinds of your needs from their True Source, the Unique One capable of meeting your desires, reflecting upon your weakness and poverty before your Owner, in gratefulness for the vicegerency you've been granted over the rest of the universe and studying the signs pointing to the Divine and the signs teaching of the Divine, and gathering with friends and loved ones to share this bliss of learning and using your mind and washing your heart and feeding your soul, just like sharing food and other things you love, in order that you may prepare for a life of eternity, where the karma, the outcome of all that you have gathered in this life will be realized and completed, oh my ego, when you are not shy from spending almost all your waking hours in running after your this-worldly affairs and finite pleasures that are bound to the grave, that are bound for transience, just like your very own body?
ayat (signs, verses) from the Qur'an:
Ar-Rum (The Romans)






  • 30:41 (Asad) [Since they have become oblivious of God,] corruption has appeared on land and in the sea as an outcome of what men’s hands have wrought: and so [38] He will let them taste [the evil of] some of their doings, so that they might return [to the right path]. [39]

  • Al-Hajj (The Pilgrimage)






  • 22:10 (Asad) [and he shall be told:] “This is an outcome of what thine own hands have wrought - for, never does God do the least wrong to His creatures!” 

  • An-Naml (The Ants)






  • 27:52 (Asad) and [now] those dwellings of theirs are empty, [ruined] as an outcome of their evil deeds. In this, behold, there is a message indeed for peo­ple of [innate] knowledge – 

  • Al-Qasas (The Narration)







  • 28:47 (Asad) and [We have sent thee] lest they say [on Judg­ment Day], when disaster befalls them as an outcome of what their own hands have wrought, “O our Sus­tainer, if only Thou had sent an apostle unto us, we would have followed Thy messages, and would have been among those who believe!”

  • Ar-Rum (The Romans)






  • 30:36 (Asad) And [thus it is:] when we let men taste [Our] grace, they rejoice in it; but if evil befalls them as an outcome of what their own hands have wrought [33] lo! they lose all hope!

  • Ya-Sin (Ya-Sin)






  • 36:64 (Asad) endure it today as an outcome of your persistent denial of the truth!”

  • Fussilat (Explained in Detail)






  • 41:17 (Asad) And as for [the tribe of] Thamud, We offered them guidance, but they chose blindness in pre­ference to guidance: and so the thunderbolt of shame­ful suffering fell upon them as an outcome of all [the evil] that they had wrought;

  • Ash-Shura (The Consultation)






  • 42:30 (Asad) Now whatever calamity may befall you [on Judgment Day] will be an outcome of what your own hands have wrought, although He pardons much; [34]

  • Al-Jathiya (The Kneeling)






  • 45:11 (Asad) [To pay heed to God’s signs and messages:] this is [the meaning of] guidance; on the other hand, [8] for those who are bent on denying the truth of their Sustainer’s messages there is grievous suffering in store as an outcome of [their] vileness. [9]

  • At-Tur (The Mount)






  • 52:19 (Asad) [And they will be told:] “Eat and drink with good cheer as an outcome of what you were wont to do,

  • At-Taghabun (Loss and Gain)






  • 64:5 (Asad) HAVE THE STORIES of those who, in earlier times, refused to acknowledge the truth never yet come within your ken? [They denied it -] and so they had to taste the evil outcome of their own doings, [4] with [more] grievous suffering awaiting them [in the life to come]:

  • At-Talaq (The Divorce)






  • 65:9 (Asad) and thus they had to taste the evil outcome of their own doing: [17] for, [in this world,] the end of their doings was ruin,

  • Oh my selfish and irrational ego who likes to drive me to trouble and pain when I do not use you appropriately, it is through you that the Source of Knowledge and Intelligence shows me how to attain an inner peace greater than that of animals and angels and nature. It is through using you properly, as taught by the enlightened ones, and by riding you like the horse of Burak that I journey ever closer to my Infinite Source. Oh my spoiled ego who likes to act like a child complaining instead of being grateful to her parents! I am thankful for the gift of you and I love you for being the means of opening me the path to my blissful connection of love towards the universe I am a part of and towards the Source of the universe that I belong to and the Source of the mercy and love that I am given samples of.

    In Lak'ech (I am you) (I am another yourself)
    Love your neighbor as yourself.
    Ong namo, guru dev namo (I call upon the reflection of the Divine in the universe, I call upon the manifestation of the Source of Truth and Wisdom within me)
    La ilaha illa Allah (there is no deity (Source of power, mercy, etc) but TheOneGod)
    Shalom/Salaam (peace)
    May you be surrounded by the Eternal Source of love and peace!


    Qur'an translation by Leopold Weiss Muhammad Asad from http://www.islamicity.com/QuranSearch/

    Wednesday, September 4, 2013

    how to do Q&A with revelation?

    I was a 3 years old little girl when I started reading the Qur'an. Every time I would complete the recitation of a page in Arabic and close my gigantic bind copy almost as big as myself to run off to play, I would see to my complete awe and delight a round piece of chocolate wrapped in golden paper appear out of nowhere under the bind. I would exclaim "where did this come from!?" and daddy would tell me every time: "the angels brought you the chocolate because they liked your reading the Qur'an." Of course, even though he was the one sticking the chocolate under the Qur'an, he was still telling the truth.

    I think this was one of the things that taught me to be excited with gratefulness at the miracle of creation through angels--the energy between matter and the figurative Creating hand, the aspect of things that look to the Divine Attributes of Beauty encompassed by Divine Mercy and Compassion. (consider that the cocoa beans and the abilities of the humans necessary to make a wrapped chocolate out of the cocoa beans are both from their Creator, the Creator of the unified creation, a cosmic space we and the cocoa beans both breath from and into.)
    see this video for an attempt into understanding angels in this way:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NayVQhGjyIo&list=PL429ABBE7B433E1DC&index=95
    or in short:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNdlf5TavAU&list=PL429ABBE7B433E1DC&index=98

    However, this non-tangible and fantastical sounding approach should be coupled with learning how to do, essentially, Q&A sessions with the Qur'an with empirical methodology. In fact, the Qur'an teaches us how to ask questions to it and how to verify its authenticity itself, through its challenges and advice to humanity.

    Consider these verses that call humans to observe, think, meditate, learn and travel, and these verses are just a few selections of many more. The more frequent repetition of a concept in the Qur'an stresses the relative importance of the matter compared to such practical and other matters that are often mentioned only once or twice.

    32:27 (Asad) Are they not aware that it is We who drive the rain onto dry land devoid of herbage, and thereby bring forth herbage of which their cattle and they themselves do eat? Can they not, then, see [the truth of resurrection]?

    36:68 (Asad) But [let them always remember that] if We lengthen a human being’s days, We also cause him to decline in his powers [when he grows old]: will they not, then, use their reason?

    12:109 (Asad) And [even] before thy time, We never sent [as Our apostles] any but [mortal] men, whom We inspired, [and whom We always chose] from among the people of the [very] communities [to whom the message was to be brought]. [105] Have, then, they [who reject this divine writ] never journeyed about the earth and beheld what happened in the end to those [deniers of the truth] who lived before them?-and [do they not know that] to those who are conscious of God the life in the hereafter is indeed better [than this world]? Will they not, then, use their reason?

    6:50 (Asad) Say [O Prophet]: "I do not say unto you, 'God's treasures are with me,'; nor [do I say], 'I know the things that are beyond the reach of human perception'; nor do I say unto you, 'Behold, I am an angel': I but follow what is revealed to me." [38] Say: "Can the blind and the seeing be deemed equal? [39] Will you not, then, take thought?

    96:1 (Asad) READ [1] in the name of thy Sustainer, who has
    96:2 (Asad) created man out of a germ-cell [2]
    96:3 (Asad) Read - for thy Sustainer is the Most Bountiful One
    96:4 (Asad) who has taught [man] the use of the pen 
    96:5 (Asad) taught man what he did not know! [3] 
    96:6 (Asad) Nay, verily, man becomes grossly overweening
    96:7 (Asad) whenever he believes himself to be self-sufficient:
    96:8 (Asad) for, behold, unto thy Sustainer all must return. [4]

    3:137 (Asad) [MANY] WAYS of life have passed away before your time.[98] Go, then, about the earth and behold what happened in the end to those who gave the lie to the truth:

    6:11 (Asad) Say: "Go all over the earth, and behold what happened in the end to those who gave the lie to the truth!" 

    16:36 (Asad) And indeed, within every community [33] have We raised up an apostle [entrusted with this message]: "Worship God, and shun the powers of evil!" [34] And among those [past generations] were people whom God graced with His guidance, [35] just as there was among them [many a one] who inevitably fell prey to grievous error: [36] go, then, about the earth and behold what happened in the end to those who gave the lie to the truth!

    27:69 (Asad) Say: “Go all over the earth and behold what happened in the end to those [who were thus] lost in sin!” [66] 

    29:20 (Asad) Say: “Go all over the earth and behold how [wondrously] He has created [man] in the first in­stance: and thus, too, will God bring into being your second life for, verily, God has the power to will anything![15] 

    30:42 (Asad) Say: “Go all over the earth, and behold what happened in the end to those [sinners] who lived before [you]: most of them were wont to ascribe divine qualities to things or beings other than God.” [40] 

    Also consider this verse challenging us to replicate a fly, or to even just take back what the fly takes from us (such as when mosquitoes suck on us):

    22:73 (Asad) O MEN! A parable is set forth [herewith]; hearken, then, to it! Behold, those beings whom you invoke instead of God cannot create [as much as] a fly, even were they to join all their forces to that end! And if a fly robs them of anything, they cannot [even] rescue it from him! Weak indeed is the seeker, and [weak] the sought!

    We are of course here reminded of our position of createdness and stemming from it our ajz (weakness) before God, but God only. We are also reminded to reflect upon creation and to use our reasoning based on such empirical observation when deciding who to hail as our god. Will it be money and material, bank accounts and assets, jewelry and art collections, political and mediatic power, doctors and medicine, technology, gravity and other laws of creation, good luck and chance that we will expect nourishment, salvation, protection, continuation of our existence, the meeting of our needs and desires from, or will it be the One Creator of all that is and all that can be conceived of? And God provides us with the tool of discerning the right from the wrong: anything that cannot create something insofar as even a fly, is not worthy of worship.

    Consider as well this verse challenging the readers to replicate the undisputedly superior eloquence by far surpassing any of the Arabic literary rivals of the Qur'an and its unique style, not in its entirety but only a portion of it. Subsequently revealed verses gradually reduce the challenge up from 10 chapters down to eventually a single chapter (surah). This challenge has yet to be met or to even be claimed to have been met. When these verses were revealed the best Arabic poets came together in councils in an attempt to imitate the eloquence of the Qur'an and failed self-admittedly. The fact that for 14 centuries the challenge has stood unmet is one of many proofs of the uniqueness of the Qur'an as divine speech, unadulterated by any form of human interventions, proof that Prophet Muhammad nicknamed as a young man as "al-Ameen" "the Trustworthy" before his prophethood, was neither a poet lying about his prophethood nor a crazy man in delusion of receiving divine revelation.  

    2:23 (Asad) And if you doubt any part of what We have, bestowed from on high, step by step, upon Our servant [Muhammad], [14] then produce a surah of similar merit, and call upon any other than God to bear witness for you [15] -if what you say is true!

    Here we are not shunned for our doubts, but instead we are asked to take experimental action to evaluate whether our doubts have a true basis or not. If we can produce ourselves or get others (a team of the best literature professors or poets) to produce a chapter of similar eloquence (not even of better eloquence! just similar), then, both the Qur'an's challenge has failed disproving its infallible divine source and I have proven that the Qur'an could have conceivably been written by a human. And if I fail at producing this, then I can once again confirm, now with all doubts removed from my heart that the Qur'an is the divine word. The doubt itself then becomes a tool to solidify and increase our imaan bil ghayb (belief with conviction and certainty in that which cannot be perceived with the 5 senses).

    Qur'an translation by Leopold Weiss Muhammad Asad from http://www.islamicity.com/QuranSearch/

    This can be used as khutbah or speech material