PROPHET MUHAMMAD

GOD'S REVELATION

In 610, on the seventeenth night of Ramadan, a 40 year merchant Muhammad-ibn-Abdulla from the city of Mecca in the Hejaz province of Arabia, who was in a cave on mount Hira for a spiritual retreat with his family, suddenly found himself engulfed by numinous presence of an angel.

'Iqra!' (Recite) commanded the angel. His face became pallor with fright. But he refused thinking that the angel had mistaken him for a 'Kahin'-the reciters of Arabia.

'I am not a Kahin', said Muhammad. Angel embraced Muhammad tightly till he gasped for breath. The angel repeated 'Iqra!' Muhammad refused again and Angel further tightened his embrace. Just when Muhammad felt that he had reached his endurance he found words pouring out of his mouth:

'Recite in the name of thy Lord who created

He created man from a clot of blood

recite and thy Lord is most bountiful,

He who hath taught by the Pen

taught man what he knew not.'

And with these words came the first revelation by the God. Muhammad still terrified of the happening ran atop to jump himself to death found angel on the mountain top, who inhibited him from doing so. Muhammad later identified him as angel Gabriel.

Muhammad was the messenger of God, the chosen one – The prophet whom Arabs were awaiting. God had revealed himself to Arabs via Muhammad. The revelation would continue for next twenty three years till Muhammad was alive. The compilation of these revelations would become 'Al-Quran' (The Recitation), the holy book of Islam, the religion which Muhammad was going to emanate.

That night, the event that would change the course of world had happened. The event was unexpected for Muhammad but not for people of Arabia who were waiting in anticipation that God would soon send them a Prophet and a Book which would make them at par with the Christians and Jews the 'Ahl-kitabees' (followers of the book) .

The Land of the Prophet

In 6^th century, Arabian Peninsula was sandwiched between two mighty empires, The Byzantine in the west and the Persian (Sassanid Kingdom) in the east. Both the empires were involved in an internecine rivalry to control southern Arabia, the present day Yemen. Yemen was a fertile land because of regular monsoons but the rest of Arabia was an intractable land. People in these parts of Arabia were Bedouins living in tents. There life was harsh and living conditions very primitive. It was a god less region. Though some tribes of Jews and Christian traders were known to have dwelled in these area (particularly Yathrib , the present day Madina).

The two empires fought for fertile land of Southern Arabia but it would be the desert of Arabia where the sapling of Islam would be planted the tree from which spread around the world.

In 525, Abyssinia (present day Ethiopia), which was a client state of Byzantine Empire attacked Yemen. Yemen sought help from Persians who were happy to oblige. In Abyssinia, Monophysitism which was a heretical from of Christianity wherein followers believe that Christ has only one divine nature was the official religion. The Zoroastrian kingdom of Persia favored the Jews. Abyssinia conquered Yemen and made Monophysitism as official religion.

In 570 King Khusrau of Persia invaded Yemen and conquered it back. This time Nestorianism which was another form of heretical Christianity which believed that Jesus exists as two being one as man and another as son of God was made the official religion by Persia. So the Arabs who were surrounded by deviant form of Christianity and Judaism grew suspicious of both the religion. The Arabs felt themselves inferior to both the religion as they thought that God has been unfair to them by not giving them a prophet and the holy book which both Christians and the Jews had.

Jahiliyah – The Age of Ignorance

Life was a matter of subsistence for Arabs. The nomads lived in harsh terrains with meager means of survival. To fight the hardship they lived in close knit tribes called 'Qaum' (people). The 'Qaum' was paramount for every Bedouin who had absolute loyalty towards its tribe and every other tribe related with its own. To evolve the communal spirit within the tribe Arabs evolved an ideology called 'Muruwah' (something similar to Machoism) which was a set of tribal laws. Though 'Muruwah' was just some set of tribal rules for the Arabs and at times brutal yet it acted as a quasi religion and helped tribes function according to the need.

The two main drivers for a tribe were 'Vendetta against rival tribe' and 'Gazzu'. If a tribesman got killed by other tribe then it is the duty of tribe to revenge the killing. Hence it was a never ending vicious cycle. The tribes were in constant fight with each other. 'Gazzu' or raid was another form of preoccupation of tribes. One tribe would raid and loot the property of another tribe. 'Gazzu' was the means of survival for tribes.

Gradually some tribes involved themselves in trade and settled in cities. One such tribe was 'Quraysh' in which Muhammad was born. 'Muruwah' which worked well for tribal system failed against the new lifestyle of settled Arabs. Arabs felt disoriented and confused because of their new found wealth. A new Ideology was needed to guide them.

Though Arabs had no religion they had their pantheon of deities. There were shrines dedicated to these deities. The most important shrine was the Ka'aba which was situated near the spring of ZamZam. According to legend of Jews of Arabia, Abraham has left his wife Hagar and his son Ishmael in the valley of Mecca, where God has taken care of them revealing the scared spring of ZamZam when the child was dying of thirst. Later Abraham had visited Ishmael and together Father and son had built the Ka'abah. This box like shrine has a black stone embedded in its eastern corner. At the time of Muhammad Ka'abah was officially dedicated to God Hubal. There were other gods such as Al-Lah, Al-Lat, Al-Uzzaj, Manat etc who had their shrine but Al-lah was considered as the highest god by the Arabs.

Birth of a the Prophet

According to a legend, Abd-Al-Muttalib and his son Abdullah were walking through the street when suddenly a woman came and invited Abdullah to her bed. Abdullah said that he is on his way to his marriage and couldn't accept her invitation. A day later after consummating his marriage with Aamina-bint-Wahab Abdullah returned to oblige the woman but she refused. She said that yesterday Abdullah had a divine glow on his face which boded that he will become father of a prophet but today the glow has gone which meant that some other woman has got blessing to become prophet's mother. In 570, on 12 Rabi'u al-awwal a child was born to Abdulla and Aamina. He was named Muhammad. Forty years later, on the seventeenth night of Ramadan, in the cave of mount Hira near the city of Mecca, Muhammad would have an excruciating divine experience when God would reveal to Muhammad.

To be Continued...

Should Govt. open an IIM in 2nd tier cities?

This article is in response to the article published in Mint http://www.livemint.com/2007/08/27001558/Lesson-from-IIMK-Set-up-new.html

Most of us retain enough of the theological attitude to think that we are little gods.
~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr

Just imagine what would have happened to the country if Indian army would have fought battles only around their location of advantage and not in the remote and inaccessible terrains.

In his article Mr. Palety has taken tunneled approach and has missed the broader picture. His ideas are myopic and ignore the long term tangible and intangible benefits of opening IIMs in 2nd tier cities of India. I would like to comment on some points:

On not opening IIMs in remote places

Government has a holistic approach towards the country as it thinks about the growth of country as a whole. The growth and development should be equitable as far as possible. If Govt. starts opening IITs and IIMs in industrial belt then all the IITs and IIMs will be segregated in few industrial areas of the country. In that case what will happen to the other parts of the country? Wouldn't the disparity between them increase?

Any city having an IIT, IIM or ISC will automatically come on the India's education map. It will give the city a prominence. It will ensure of the quality skilled manpower supply to the industries in the nearby areas and hence helping in the growth in that area.

Many of my friends have counter argued me by giving examples of younger IIMs and some of the IITs where industrial development has not happened in spite of the presence of these institutes for long time. If anyone believes that mere presence of IITs and IIMs in a particular region should lead to the industrial development of that region then either he is very high on expectations or is naïve. All that these institutes can do is to provide support to the development process. Rest is the prerogative of state/local government that how they capitalize on this advantage. If industries have not come up in the proximity of these institutes even after a prolonged interval then it is the failure the government not of the institutes.

Equitable distribution of growth

A lot of hue and cry is made over opening an IIM in Shillong. I feel that this is a very good move by the government of India. Till date GoI has given less attention toward the development of north east compared to other parts of the country. No wonder these states are one of the least developed states of India. With opening an IIT and now an IIM Govt. has taken a step in right direction. IIMs, IITs, IISs are not just educational institution but they are wealth of the country and it needs to be equitably distributed across the country. Also this gesture is sign of inclusivity towards these states.

Many of my friends are from north east. They travel to far areas in the country to get higher education. If they get an IIM in their backyard it will save them from a lot of hardship. Also it will motivate others to pursue higher education.

Industry Interaction is important not locating near the industries

The most valuable asset an educational institution has is its students; everything else comes a distant second. Open an IIM at any remote location and you can rest assured that it gets the best of the breed. Once you have right people right thing will automatically fall in place on doing right thing.

As far as industry interaction is concerned two months of summer training gives student a lot of exposure. Apart from this there are numerous seminars and workshops organized where people from industry share their ideas and views. Also the batch is laden with rich industry experience as it comprises of students from diverse field and having substantial work.

Location is no more important

Distances are no more the same as they were few years back. In another couple of years one can expect most of the 2nd tiers cities well connected with Metros. Location disadvantage of IIMK is very minimal because of its proximity to Bangalore and Cochin. Also it is very well connected with Delhi and Mumbai.

Do not leave the problem, find the solution

There are certain problems that an institute faces because of its being situated in remote area. The way to develop these institutes is to solve these problems. When Govt. is opening any institute of education in remote places it should ensure that basic amenities which are essential to sustain the institutes are there. An airport which is well connected to metros, good schools for faculty's children, jobs for spouses are some of them. In short it should ensure about the good life of the faculty and staff

Also Sparch Zarathustra

"Zarathustra and '2001: A space odyssey'"

'In search of Zarathustra' by Paul Kriwaczekia is aptly titled. The blurb of the book quotes Boston review:

"Vital… Remarkable…It is written with prescient elegance of a curious traveler and in the hope that ideas that once changed the world may do so again"

The review is true to each word. In this travelogue Kriwaczekia writes about places he went in search of Zarathustra. But the book is more a travelogue back in time than in physical space. Kriwaczekia picks up the a thread in present and spooling it traverses back in time finding Strauss, Kubrick, Nietzsche Bogomils , Catharses, The Sassanid , The Achemenids and finally at the other end the prophet Zarathustra.

In most recent times people who have made Zarathustra name familiar to common man are composer Richard Strauss and film director Stanley Kubrick. Kubrick's cult movie '2001: A space odyssey' features prominently Richard Strauss's tone poem 'Also Sparch Zarathustra'. The movie depicts the evolution of apes into human and human into superhuman. The theme of movie is that human beings are the midway between the evolution of apes and superman. This concept was first propounded by Nietzsche in his book 'Thus Sparch Zarathustra'. Kubrick, it seems, had taken inspiration from this book. Kriwaczekia gets his second link and he moves on to Nietzsche to know why he has chosen Zarathustra.

"Also Sparch Zarathustra"

Karl Ludwig, the Lutheran pastor of a little country town of Rocken bei Lutzen near Leipzig in eastern Germany, in the baptism ceremony of his son asked "what will become of this child? Will it be good or will it be evil". He was not prescient but was just getting rhetorical.

But ever since the young boy's life would deal with the issue of good and evil trying to fathom the two opposite end of moral spectrum. The child became Fredrick William Nietzsche.

'Also Sparch Zarathustra' ('Thus spake Zarathustra') is a masterpiece by Nietzsche. In this book which is written in a first person account has Zarathustra as the main character. But before discussing about the book we need to know why Nietzsche chose Zarathustra, an obscure prophet of antiquity. For this we need to traverse further back in time to look at Nietzsche earlier days that shaped his thoughts.

Nietzsche was born on 15 Oct, 1844 in deeply religious family. From the very beginning his life was marked with distress. His father died when he was only five years old. One year later his younger brother, Joseph, died. These deaths left a deep impact on Nietzsche's mind. He became reserved and melancholic. His family, of which he was the only male member, moved to a small town of Naumberg. For next eight years Nietzsche remained in Naumberg living with his two aunts, grandmother, mother and younger sister Elisabeth. These women, who wanted that he never misses his father, loved him a lot. It is this extreme affection that might have given Nietzsche the idea about women which he has written in his book "Old and Young Women"

'Let man fear woman when she loves,

Then she makes all sacrifices,

Everything else she regards as worthless.'

Despite all the affection he cocooned himself in solitude. Older he grew loner he became. He was unable to reconcile with the fact that such good and innocent people like his father and brother met such a cruel fate. In search of peace he resorted to religion. He took a deep interest in Christianity and studied Bible thoroughly. For others this was a natural act on his part for he was following what his family had been doing for generations, but no one could sense the storm within him.

But those were the time when world was going through intellectual turbulence. The two opposite ideas were at loggerhead. The churning gave rise to many philosopher and theologians. 'Enlightenment' that developed during 17^th and 18^th centuries was one of the ideas. Though on decline it was a massive force for it stood for rationality, reason, order, norm, restrain and progressiveness. The other idea, 'German Romanticism', was at its peak. Romanticism symbolized irrationality, mysticism, dissonance and excessiveness. The 'Enlightened' thinkers had painstakingly developed the framework for how world works but romanticist casted a doubt on the validity of all factual knowledge. Enlightenment stood for victory of mind over body whereas Romanticism emphasized a preeminence of body over mind.

Those were the time when society was divided into two extremes. The Apollonian spirit (after Greek Sun God Apollo who symbolizes balance and rationality) of measured and restrain in confrontation with Dionysian spirit (After Dionysus, God of nature, drunkenness and sensuality). Romanticist felt that everything wrong with this world is because of overemphasis of Apollonian spirit in contrast to Dionysian spirit.

Amid this dichotomy something happened that changed the course of cognition world over. Charles Darwin had published his 'Origin of Species'. This book not only took head on with book of Genesis but seemed to be over powering it. In a stroke, human being became descendent of apes and was no more the favorite creation of God. God didn't create Adam in a day. Over the centuries he evolved from apes. This book raised many questions.

Nietzsche tried to find these answers in theological text but got engulfed in more questions. He got confused. Disappointed, he took diametrically opposite stance. From an ardent Christian he became its most vociferous critic. He started opposing what he revered once. His quest for knowledge continued but his path had changed. In his quest, he got impressed by two philosophers, Schopenhauer and Wagner. According to Schopenhauer life does not have any meaning. He argued that it is better not to be born or at least die quickly. Mesmerized by these two philosophers, Nietzsche wrote 'Birth of tragedy'. This book brought him public attention.

After few years, Nietzsche became acutely ill. He was in the second stage of Syphilis. His proposal for marriage was turned down. His illness and solitude increased. His friend circle became narrower and narrower. Stateless, caustic and peripatetic he hopped between Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Naumberg.

This was also the time when west was discovering Oriental charms. Sir William Jones, the famous Indologist, had found out that most of the Europe's, Iran's and half of Indian languages have a common origin. This new found relation helped in deciphering many Iranian scriptures which were similar to Sanskrit and were undeciphered till then. Central to this was Zoroastrian text brought to Europe by Frenchman named 'Du Peron'. Zoroaster and his teaching became the talk of time and it was during this period that Nietzsche met 'Zoroaster'.

Zoroaster text shows a struggle between good and evil. 'Ahura Mazda', the God, stands for goodness and 'Ahirman', the evil spirit, stands for everything bad. Unlike other religions where God is supreme power, in Zoroastarism evil is equally powerful. According to Zoroaster this world is a battle ground for good and evil. Anything good done by human being is victory of God and anything bad is victory of evil. So it is the duty of every human being to act with propriety and to transcend himself of the worldly things and evolve himself into super being. And this is the central philosophy of Nietzsche. According to Nietzsche Zoroaster has been the first to see in the struggle between good and evil as the essential wheel in the working of things. He believed that Zarathustra was the first prophet who brought concept of morality. Nietzsche believed that Zoroaster was the source of profoundest error in the history of mankind by inventing morality and it is upto Zoroaster to undo his mistake.

In the summers of 1881 two thousand meters above good and evil in the mountain village of Sils-Maria amid the idyllic environment surrounded by snow covered alpine peaks Nietzsche had a revelation. Zarathustra passed him by. Hence begot the first few lines of 'Thus sparch zarthushtra'

'I sat there waiting – not for anything.

Beyond good and evil, enjoying now the light

now the shades, now only play, now

the lake, now the noon, wholly time without end.

Then suddenly, friend, one became two –

And Zarathustra passed me by.'

The spirit of Zarathustra had engulfed him. It was not that Nietzsche chose Zarathustra to convey his philosophy but as if it was Zarathustra who had manifested Nietzsche and was speaking through his words. Nietzsche wrote:

"one hears-one does not seek; one takes-one does not ask who gives; a thought suddenly flashes up like lightning, it comes with necessity, unhesitatingly – I have never had any choice in that matter."

Kriwaczekia succinctly summarizes Nietzsche new teaching in two paragraphs:

"God is dead.. Religious belief is a comforting but a debilitating self delusion. A Christian God can no longer express the highest ideals of western civilization. Belief in God is now a burden on the individual and on society. A system of ethics and morality founded on faith is no longer valid; the time has come for new set of values to take its place, beyond good and evil as religion has until now defended them.

Values are the creation of human being. One person's good is another's evil. None the less, we all are responsible for creating values of ourselves and for the living up to them. And the highest of all values is the duty to transcend ourselves, to struggle for the next step in our personal evolution: to leave behind the animal natured "blond beast: and strive for the "super human". Though most will never achieve it, this self overcoming, this "will to power", is the proper task of all human beings. Anything that supports this goal is good and anything that undermines it is evil:

What is good? Everything that heightens the feeling of power in man, the will to power, power itself. What is bad? Everything that is born of weakness"