There is a fact hiding in plain sight in the language of the Quran. The Arabic word for "thing"—shayʾ (شيء)—and the word for "to will"—shāʾa (شاء)—come from the same root: shīn-yāʾ-hamza (ش-ي-أ). In the language of the revelation, a thing is not a neutral lump of existence sitting inertly in the world. A shayʾ is, … Continue reading The Willed World: What the Word “Thing” Confesses
Moses & Aaron and the Allegory of the Mind
The Divided Brain In 2009, the British psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and philosopher Iain McGilchrist published a book called The Master and His Emissary: The Divided Brain and the Making of the Western World. It is not a light read. It runs nearly six hundred pages, draws on neuroscience, philosophy, literature, and the history of Western civilization, … Continue reading Moses & Aaron and the Allegory of the Mind
Two Plus Two and the Law of God: A Simple Test for Telling Divine Law from Human Law
Near the end of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Winston Smith is strapped to a table in the Ministry of Love, and his torturer, O'Brien, holds up four fingers. "How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?" "Four." "And if the Party says that it is not four but five—then how many?" The dial goes up. … Continue reading Two Plus Two and the Law of God: A Simple Test for Telling Divine Law from Human Law
A Hundred Years in Herodotus and the Hadith
In the spring of 480 BC, Xerxes stood at Abydos and looked out over the Hellespont. The strait was covered with his ships; the shore and every plain around the city were dark with men. Herodotus tells us the Persian king congratulated himself on his good fortune—and then, a moment later, he wept. His uncle … Continue reading A Hundred Years in Herodotus and the Hadith
Why Does the Quran Quote the Bible and Talmud?
There is a puzzle buried in the Quran's appeal to what came before it that most readers walk past it without noticing the strangeness. The Quran cites the Torah. It quotes the Psalms. It echoes the Gospel and even references the Talmudic commentary on the Torah. And yet the same book informs its audience that … Continue reading Why Does the Quran Quote the Bible and Talmud?
How Do We Learn Anything New?
Part II of "The Mirror We Refuse to Hold" In the previous article, we established that darkness is not the absence of light but the absence of reflection. The cosmos is flooded with photons that pass through empty space unseen, not because the light fails but because there is nothing there to catch it and … Continue reading How Do We Learn Anything New?
The Paradox of Eternity: What Infinity Reveals About the Hereafter
Consider the following thought experiment. If you suffer one minute out of every hour for eternity, how much do you suffer in total? The answer is: infinitely. But how much do you not suffer? Also infinitely. Two infinities coexist—infinite suffering and infinite relief—which means neither is ultimately dominant. The punishment is no more ultimate than … Continue reading The Paradox of Eternity: What Infinity Reveals About the Hereafter
The Mirror We Refuse to Hold: On Darkness, Ignorance, and the Nature of Reflection
There is a fact about the universe that should unsettle us more than it does. Space—the cosmos in its vast totality—is bathed in light. Photons pour out of billions of stars in every direction, crossing the void in straight lines at the only speed the universe permits. And yet space appears dark. Not because light … Continue reading The Mirror We Refuse to Hold: On Darkness, Ignorance, and the Nature of Reflection
The Burden the Mountains Refused (Part IV: Constitutive Freedom)
We have offered the responsibility—the freedom of choice—to the heavens and the earth, and the mountains, but they refused to bear it, and were afraid of it. But the human being accepted it; he was transgressing, ignorant. — Quran 33:72 Read that verse again slowly, because the standard reading glosses over something extraordinary. The responsibility—al-amanah, … Continue reading The Burden the Mountains Refused (Part IV: Constitutive Freedom)
The Tyranny of the Ticker (Part III: Expectation Freedom)
Here is a man you probably know. Every morning, before he has spoken to his family, before he has eaten, before he has done a single thing that is actually within his control, he reaches for his phone and checks the market. If the numbers are green, he will be in a good mood today. … Continue reading The Tyranny of the Ticker (Part III: Expectation Freedom)
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