CULTURE OF ISLAM

87 The Programming of Man

Imtiaz Muhsin [Pick the date]

The main objective of these talks (and therefore the scripts of these talks), is to stimulate thinking. Sensible, rational and logical thinking. So, my message, think, think & think! Be sensible, be rational and be logical.

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Please Note
1. I have had the great privilege, (since Aug 2010), of presenting talks on the weekly Radio Program Culture of Islam [Every Friday 8 to 8.30 pm, Radio Sri Lanka - FM 97.4] 2. Since these are Radio Talks, I refer to, or address the audience as listeners 3. I am well aware that the audience to these talks would consist of people belonging to a variety of faiths. So as to make people of all faiths feel included, I very often use words and names that are common to all religions. 4. For these reasons, I use the name GOD, as well as Abraham, Moses, Jesus etc as well as the names Allah, Ibrahim (Alaihis Salaam), Moosa (Alaihis Salaam), Easa (Alaihis Salaam) etc 5. Muslims by habit usually say Sallallahu Alaihiwasallam, when the name of Prophet Muhammad is mentioned, and Alaihis Salaam' when the name of a Prophet is mentioned. However, in these series of talks I have reduced the use of these prayers & sayings to the bare minimum. 6. Muslims, also by habit, use a number of Arabic prayers or sayings, such as Alhamdulillah, Insha Allah and so on. Again, I have reduced the use of these prayers or sayings to the bare minimum. 7. Sometimes I have to write Arabic words in the English script. I have devised my own way of writing Arabic in English, as follows;

th TH

s Ss SW

DHL DHZ

H h

Gh GH

Information on these talks along with all download links can be found on my on my Blog (http://imtiazm.wordpress.com/) The dates or the schedules of these talks can be viewed on the Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/ImtiazMuhsin786) The Scripts of these talks can be downloaded from www.ScribD.com (www.ScribD.com Author Imtiaz Muhsin) The audio files of these talks can be downloaded from YouTube (YouTube Channel Imtiaz Muhsin) The YouTube Link to this talk is at

All Praise and Thanks is due to Allah and Allah alone Alhamdulillah! P.S. The picture on the cover is of the Kondawattuwaan Ziyaaram a few miles from Ampara in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka

87 The Programming of Man

87 The Programming of Man

Dear Friends, Assalamu Alaikum, As Muslims, our core belief is the conviction of One God whom we call Allah and it is God who has designed everything, created everything and has a plan in place for the future of everything. Now, the question, how do we detect God, how do we recognize Him or better still how do we get in to His favor? We cannot see God, we cannot hear Him, we cannot touch Him and then how do we detect Him? Through Science a variety of meters have been invented, where through some ingenious ways we can detect many physical phenomena that we just cannot see. For example, on our Mobile Phones there are those two icons with a series of bars. One of those Icons is to indicate to us the electrical charge remaining in our battery and the other indicates to us what we call the signal strength We know what these means. Many times we hear people saying My battery charge is low, the call may terminate any moment or I cannot hear you properly, the signal is low here, wait, I will go out and call you What he means is that he would go to a place where the Signal being beamed from a Tower is not being obstructed. But we do not have a God meter. Now to many of us when we look around at the world, when we look at our lives especially when we recall certain experiences, we have this feeling, there has to be a God! We cannot explain this feeling, we try to, but words cannot express what we feel. Invariably we find that our explanation lacks substance and we feel defeated by the arguments being provided by others. Though defeated or ridiculed, the feeling remains. Now how do we find or detect God? The answer the Muslims have is the Holy Quran. The Holy Quran consists of what we call the Signs of Allah and we are expected to do is to listen to these signs, at the beginning it would not make sense, but then we are also required to take time and think out what the Quran says and if we are sincere, then slowly but surely some of those points described in those Aayaths or in those Signs, (the word Aayath means Signs the Signs of Allah) begin to make sense, and then you get this feeling, this explanation can only come from God. That is what we Muslims take pride in, that the Quran is a living miracle. It is through these Signs that we detect God, we recognize Him and we understand the objectives of Creation. If we say the signs are the meters or the indicators, then to read the sign we should possess meters that are sensitive to those signs. For example we have the simple pH test, where we dip a strip of chemically treated paper known as Litmus Paper in to a solution and the color change on that strip would let us know whether the solution was acidic, alkaline or neutral.

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Now obviously to read the results you should not be color blind. If you were color blind you would think that all solutions are neutral, neither acidic nor alkaline. Similarly to be able to detect God we should be able to read the Signs or the Aayaths in the Quran properly, or the manner in which it should be read. We should not be God blind Now this vision of detecting through the Signs or through the Aayath can be developed and the beauty of this system is that those who seek, their sight would improve. Those who are arrogant and doubt God or think that they could have done a better job than God well, obviously, they are not going to be blessed with that important factor God vision You would not see God, as we describe seeing but we would be able to detect His glorious presence through those Signs. Those Signs or the Aayaths of Allah are wondrously revealing because everything we would ever want to know is enshrined or you could even say enshrouded in those signs. Let me now read to you an objective of these Signs of Allah, which is in itself one of the Aayaths or the Signs of Allah. I read to you from Surah Saad (38:29) (38:29) This is a Book We have revealed to you, full of blessings so that they deliberate in its Aayath (Signs), and so that the men of understanding may do Zikr (heed advice, learn, bring to life)

So that is what we are supposed to do with the Aayaths of the Quran. Listen to them, process them through our minds, think about them and then try to see with the vision of what those Aayaths are instructing us. Then, Insha Allah, we would become what He describes as the men of understanding Recently, I was discussing some topics with some programmers. Who are programmers? They are those who are skilled in writing out programs for Computers. Now writing or even reading those programs is not easy. There are many languages through which these programs are written or coded. It is a very complicated field, but follows strict disciplined logic. On my return home, the thought occurred to me, How would it be f we were to program a human being? How would we do it? The more I thought the more wondrous I became at realizing how complex the designing and programming of the human being is (that is not discussing the rest of the plant and animal kingdom and the rest of all matter in the universe)

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And then the realization that this program is written and transmitted through the sperm and the ova it is really wondrous. Let us go through what programming we have been through and I will keep it very very simple. Listeners would realize the depth of what I am saying and hopefully would begin their own thinking processes too. First I would like to draw your attention to 3 Aayaths in the Holy Quran. I refer to Aayath Nos 58 & 59 from Surah No 56 Surah Waqia, and Aayath No 24 from Surah Hashr Surah No 59 of the Holy Quran. Aayath Nos 58 & 59 in Surah Waqia states as follows;

(56:58) Do you see what you emit?

(56:59) Is it you who create it, or are We the Creators? And in Surah Hashr

(59:24) He is Allah, the Creator, the Evolver, the bestower of forms. His are the Most Beautiful Names. His glory is proclaimed by all that is in the heavens and the earth, and He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.

So we read in the Holy Quran that Allah Taala is not just the Khaliq or Creator, but also the evolver Baari and the bestower of forms MuSWawwiru and the owner of all the Most Beautiful names or attributes. So, Allah Taala is inviting us to look at the wonderful programming through which he has created us. This is what our scientists term the DNA or deoxyribose nucleic acid, and is defined as A large complex molecule that contains, in chemically coded form, all the information needed by living organism Scientists teach us that this programming is a result of millions of accidents that has gradually evolved over the last millions of years. This is the view of those who are not blessed to accept the truth, the reality that everything around us, every organism is designed, created and sustained by Allah Taala. Be that as it may. We all know how complex software or even hardware programming is. Even the simplest of programs for software is very complicated and requires many years of study to understand its principles.

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We know that in computing programs are written in text form and that even if one letter is out of place then the program would not work or would malfunction. Then how could this very complex programming for life or for humans not have a programmer? How could it be that the complete program has been written by a series of accidents? Let us see what programming entails. In the English alphabet we have 26 letters, thus the keyboard has 52 letters, when we consider capital and simple letters. If we want to type a six letter word, say the word banana by randomly hitting keys on the keyboard the chances of getting the word banana is very very low even to the extent of being termed impossible. To get the letter b the mathematical chances would be 1 is to 52 To get the letters ba the mathematical chances would be 1 is to 52 x 52 = 2,704 To get the letter ban the mathematical chances would be 1 is to 52 x 52 x 52 = 140,608 To get the letter bana the mathematical chances would be 1 is to 52 x 52 x 52 x 52 = 7,311,616 Thus, to get the word banana the mathematical chances of getting all six letters in sequence would be 52 x 52 6 times , which works out to the incredible numbers, a chance of 1 is to would be 1 is to 19 Billion 770 Million 609 Thousand 664 (19,770,609,664) The program for humans is not 6 letters but could be billions and billions of letters that is if it could be written in letters! Then we have this question we could write a good computer program on a piece of paper, or on to a floppy drive, a Hard Disc, a Pen Drive a CD and so on. Now if we throw this piece of paper or any of the Drives on which this program is written say into the sea, onto a pile of sand or a pile of clothes or even onto a pile of gold, would the program be executed No it has to be read onto a proper computer having the correct hardware, operating system and software as well as electricity and also a skilled operator. So not only has this code been expertly written, Allah Taala has also created the correct environment to execute this program this is within the womb of the female maybe we could refer in computing terms to this womb as the hardware and software to host and execute this amazing program. A program of any species would not be hosted or executed in the wombs of a different species is this also not a wonder? Now the program being executed in the womb is indeed amazing. First there is an exchange of genetic material between the codified programs of the male and the female. This is just amazing. Every minute detail of the child that is being programmed is taken either from the male or the female and remembers each of these is carrying or transmitting genetic code that they have inherited from so many of their ancestors over so many generations. Now the actual forming of the baby or the fetus begins. A very brief simplified explanation is necessary, but remember all the organs, the heart, brain, liver, lungs, kidney, bones, skin which is now being developed, originates from just one cell.

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A fertilized egg divides in to 32 cells forming a ball known as the Blastocyst, with a cell mass inside. This cell mass is known as Inner Cell Mass (ICM) this takes around 5 days The Blastocyst (the outer cells) becomes the Placenta and the other supporting tissues after attaching itself to the Uterus Wall - The pregnancy is now initiated The ICM Inner Cell Mass becomes a disc shaped with just 3 layers of cells, it is very very tiny microscopic these three layers of cells are known as the Germ Layers and are called; The Ectoderm The Mesoderm The Endoderm From The Ectoderm we get Tissue for the Brain, Nerves, Epidermis, Hair, Nails, lining for Nose and Anus From The Mesoderm we get Tissues specific to the bone, cartilage, Muscle, lining of blood vessels From The Endoderm we get The surface of the Alimentary Canal and the associated glands, the surface of the lungs, trachea and larynx It is so amazing imagine how does the different organs be formed and how do they get their shape and determine their functions the thoughts are simply amazing. So after 9 months we have a complete baby. The development and growth of the baby in the womb can be called of this amazing programming of humans. Now we begin to observe another arena of programming. For us to get a better understanding, imagine a brand new Factory has been built and production is about to begin. All the components of the factory are in place The Raw Material, the processing centers, the assembling section, the quality control personnel, the environment monitoring equipment, the waste disposal system, the conveyor belt, the packaging unit etc everything then for the factory to work there has to be movement many trained and skilled personnel man every section within the factory only then would the factory work. Similarly with the human, every organ could be there but then the program must be working to ensure that the heart is pumping blood, the lungs are getting ventilated, the kidneys are functioning etc for this the body has to make use of inbuilt programs to monitor temp, pH of blood, and 100s maybe millions of factors within the body is this also not an amazing program. Every enzyme, every hormone, every chemical that the body needs is produced by some organ or tissues and released in minute precision amounts with a precise system to ensure that that chemical reaches the target and carries out the programmed command. Simply millions of such commands are being executed in our bodies at every mili-second of time. Is this not another amazing paradigm of programming?

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Now we get onto the next level of programming. The body is functioning, all organs are working, synchronized even better than in an orchestra every change triggers many reactions and adjustments, dynamically balanced all through programs inbuilt into the body. Now the body is activating learn and response program; Through at least 8 senses the body is learning, taking in a variety of information, processing this information, storing it in a manner that the body can retrieve it easily, when necessary, not retrieve just the information, but all factors that were stimulating the senses when that bit of information was being registered, processed and stored. The mind keeps on building on this information and creates a formidable data base of all sensations related to or associated with any information. The 8 senses that are [programmed to feed information for registering, processing, storing and retrieval are (in short no time for descriptions) 1. The sense of seeing - The eyes 2. The sense of hearing - The ears 3. The sense of smell The nose 4. The sense of touch and heat The skin 5. The sense of taste The Tongue 6. The sense of balance The inner ear 7. The kinesthetic sense - The kinesthetic sense is the sense of posture and movement. It is the sense which recognizes the orientation of the different parts of the body in relation to other parts as well as the rates of movements of the body parts. Kinesthetic receptors in the muscles, tendons and joints inform the brain about the position, shape, effort and direction of bodily movement. This information is processed continuously, creating what amounts to an ever - changing kinesthetic awareness of how a part, or all, of the body feels at any given moment - the position of the limbs, the tension in the shoulders, the amount of space the body occupies, the distance of the feet from the waist, and so on. 8. Organic Sense - The organic sense refers only to sensation generated from the internal organs, such as discomfort in alimentary canal, difficulty in breathing, fullness of bladder etc Now we get onto another level of programming. This body has many needs. It has to communicate, it needs food, warmth, shelter, it needs to defend itself, it needs to defend its family and so on. There is a program running within every living organism on how to fulfill these necessities or how to learn to fulfill these necessities. Birds learn to fly. But the ability to fly has been programmed in this bird. The bird migrates apparently no one teaches it all the instructions with regard to this complex undertaking which it performs naturally. The timing of the migration, the destination, the follow the leader, to fly in formation etc as we all know are not taught to the bird but it is programmed into the birds system which we call learning by instinct. We human beings too are programmed so that we can observe changes and the behavioral responses after those changes. Teeth appear at 8 months. There is a period of adolescence during the early teens and then there is an aging process. The timing of all these and many other processes are programmed deep into our system.

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At the next level we have the programming for our animal needs. The animal needs food so it goes out and gets it. It either attacks or defends. It stakes out territories, attacking any intruder into what it has staked as his or her territory. Its children would not inherit, but would have to fight out for their own hunting grounds and territories. This is the programming for animal life. And then we have the superior most programming, which makes man superior to the other animals in the animal kingdom. That is the program for human qualities. Animals will migrate in winter humans are programmed with the skill to build an environment or a home that is human friendly. Animals will kill for food, humans have been programmed to learn to grow and share, barter or sell the surplus. Humans are programmed to have a sense of ownership and to recognize that others too own. Thus when humans need something, we are programmed to communicate in friendly terms and to obtain from others in amicable ways. Animals fight for territory, even if it was the territory of their father, humans are programmed with a conscience that tells them that possessions of the father should be shared amongst his descendants. Allah Taala has created and installed this massive complex programming in all life with special programming in humans and has also made humans superior to all other animals. Allah Taala has sent to us many Prophets, the final being Muhammad (sal) and the Holy Quran to instruct us how to make best use of this human program that we are blessed with. This would basically mean the message of Islam, peace or submission to Allah Taala. Alhamdulillah, I was, by the grace of Almighty Allah discuss with you about the miracle of human programming this is response to the three verses viz. I refer to Aayath Nos 58 & 59 from Surah No 56 Surah Waqia, and Aayath No 24 from Surah Hash (Surah No 59) which states as follows; (56:58) Do you see what you emit? (56:59) Is it you who create it, or are We the Creators? And in Surah Hashr

(59:24) He is Allah, the Creator, the Evolver, the bestower of forms. His are the Most Beautiful Names. His glory is proclaimed by all that is in the heavens and the earth, and He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.

87 The Programming of Man

So we read in the Holy Quran that Allah Taala is not just the Khaliq or Creator, but also the evolver Baari and the bestower of forms MuSWawwiru and the owner of all the Most Beautiful names or attributes. As I mentioned at the beginning of this discussion there are many similar verses that draw our attention to many of the amazing wonders that Allah Taala has created and built in to this World I pray that Allah Taala gives me the thowfeek of discussing many of these topics with you in the near future. It is a most stimulating learning experience for me and I hope that is a great learning experience to all you listeners as well. May Allah Taala guide us all and accept us all! Jazza Kalla Khairan Assalamu Alaikum!

Imtiaz Muhsin Colombo Sri Lanka crescent786@hotmail.com

You Tube Channel - HaneefanMusliman

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87 The Programming of Man