1. اسلام اور جدید سائنس
 
2. تخلیقِ کائنات کا قرآنی 

اسلام اور جدید سائنس

تخلیقِ کائنات کا قرآنی نظریہ

یہ بات اِنتہائی قابلِ توجہ ہے کہ سائنس نے جو دریافتیں بیسویں صدی اور بالخصوص اُس کی آخری چند دہائیوں میں حاصل کی ہیں قرآنِ مجید اُنہیں آج سے 1,400 سال پہلے بیان کر چکا ہے۔ تخلیقِ کائنات کے قرآنی اُصولوں میں سے ایک بنیادی اُصول یہ ہے کہ اِبتدائے خلق کے وقت کائنات کا تمام بنیادی مواد ایک اِکائی کی صورت میں موجود تھا، جسے بعد ازاں پارہ پارہ کرتے ہوئے مختلف حصوں میں تقسیم کر دیا گیا۔ اِس سے کائنات میں توسیع کا عمل شروع ہوا جو ہنوز مسلسل جاری و ساری ہے۔

قرآنِ مجید اِس حقیقت کو اِن اَلفاظ میں بیان کرتا ہے :

أَوَلَمْ يَرَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ كَانَتَا رَتْقًا فَفَتَقْنَاهُمَا.

(الانبياء، 21 : 30)

اور کیا کافر لوگوں نے نہیں دیکھا کہ جملہ آسمانی کائنات اور زمین (سب) ایک اِکائی (singularity) کی شکل میں جڑے ہوئے تھے، پس ہم نے اُنہیں پھاڑ کر جدا کر دیا۔

اِس آیتِ کریمہ میں دو اَلفاظ ’’رَتْق‘‘ اور ’’فَتْق‘‘ خصوصی توجہ کے مستحق ہیں۔ ’رَتْق‘ کے معنی کسی شے کو ہم جنس مواد پیدا کرنے کے لئے ملانے اور باندھنے کے ہیں۔ ’فَتْق‘ متضاد ہے ’رَتْق‘ کا، جس کا معنی توڑنے، جدا کرنے اور الگ الگ کرنے کا عمل ہے۔ قرآنِ مجید نے آج سے 14 صدیاں قبل تخلیقِ کائنات کی یہ حقیقت عرب کے ایک جاہل معاشرے میں بیان کر دی تھی اور لوگوں کو یہ دعوتِ فکر دی تھی کہ وہ اِس حقیقت کے بارے میں سوچیں۔ صدیوں کی تحقیق کے بعد بیسویں صدی کے وسط میں جدید علمِ تخلیقیات (cosmology)، علمِ فلکیات (astronomy) اور علمِ فلکی طبیعیات (astrophysics) کے ماہرین نے بالکل وُہی نظریہ منظرِ عام پر پیش کیا ہے کہ کائنات کی تخلیق ایک ’صفر درجہ جسامت کی اِکائیت‘ سے ہوئی۔ ’عظیم دھماکے کا نظریہ‘ (Big Bang Theory) اسی کی معقول تشریح و توضیح ہے۔

یہ

Optimism needs care and feeding. It’s as fragile and mighty as a chickadee faced with enduring heaps of winter snow. They dart from one bare tree to another in search of the seeds they need to sustain them. Where they go on snowy days, I do not know. Optimism can slip away like that, too. A seed here, a seed there, and then hard times force me to shelter, forgetting the hunt for sustenance.

Is optimism necessary?

My answer is yes. Optimism gives me hope for the future despite the past. Optimism gives me roots in the here and now; a practice of mindfulness. When I think of possibilities, I can overcome problems. Like where to find seeds in sparse times. Optimism is why I believe in unicorns.

I created a Unicorn Room because I needed space for optimism. I craved a sanctuary where I could breathe, stretch, talk to the Ancestors, and map novels. If unicorns exist they exist in the form of possibilities worth seeking. First I painted the room pale pink, then I filled it with things to brighten the shine of optimism.

Magic unfolded in the way of synchronicity. Unicorns emerged. The first miracle of the room was completing my MFA. The second came when I overcame a spinal injury to cultivate yoga again. During dark times when optimism flitted dim like a hunkered chickadee, I learned to breathe through it and sit with my fears. When optimism rose, so did synchronicity. My room now houses treasure like a magic wand from my dad who is a mountain man (apparently he’s discovered Amazon from his remote high desert ranges). And a glass globe from Africa to ward off the evil eye. Not that I had been thinking about such things, but the gift is from an octogenarian whom I admire greatly. She once danced with Katherine Dunham and in a voodoo troupe with a python. My unicorns are highly protected.

When I think of the magic of unicorns, I consider the words of an American author an activist:

“No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.”

HELEN KELLER

I want to explore and discover and never stop learning. My over-arching goal in life is to be happy. Optimism can be cultivated and shared. Though the Vet Center has abandoned our local veteran community, I made sure my Warrior Sisters stayed connected. This year, while no offers to help us have emerged, I’ve purchased materials to spend the year focusing our veteran spouses’ group on developing an optimistic mindset. It’s something these long-haulers of caregiving to Vietnam veterans know about naturally. They are resilient. But they also deserve to be lifelong learners, too.

It’s a long and rich article, but you too can join us in our journey to optimism by learning more about positive psychology. I’ve never been interested in the Pollyanna kind of fake optimism because the authentic mindset is real. It’s work to cultivate, but worth the effort. After all, there are unicorns of possibility at the end of the mindfully constructed rainbow.

Even the earth holds onto hope. If Greta Thurnberg demanded of me an answer to what I’m doing about climate change, I’d take her to meet my Anishinaabe friend, Kathy Smith (holding the Water Walkers’ Eagle STaff). To witness a tribe regain their teachings is like watching a buckaroo saddle up a horned horse. It seems like magic but it is really the hard work of optimism to follow the path of caring for earth like kin.

We need to find our way back to center as humanity, seed by seed. In a brilliant book that reminds us of the power of hope, Celeste Ng (pronounced “ing”) has released her latest novel, Our Missing Hearts. Recommended by my mentor, Sharon Blackie, I didn’t hesitate to select the novel for my current ENG 103 class at Finlandia University. Listening to Celeste’s beautiful writing on audiobook has become an optimism tonic for me weekly. I’m also blessed with some deep thinking and feeling students this semester.

I’m buoyant with possibility in the uncertainty of right now.

A note that might bring relief or joy to some who blog — I’m lifting the no-links ban on the Challenge posts. It fizzled as an experiment. Please keep in mind, not all writers at Carrot Ranch are bloggers and I do not consider this space to be a blog but rather a literary community. There are intersections between the Ranch, the Keweenaw, and the publishing industry at large that remain unseen but give us all possibilities for connecting through literary art.

If you are going to share your links, please add meaning through thoughtful discourse. This is not a blog hop. Do not get your pants in a bunch if others do not go to your blog (this is not a blog hop). We have a strong and loyal readership at the Ranch who genuinely enjoy the stories and many have indeed found their way to your blogs and books. You are well-served to promote outside this community to find new readers (especially your specific target readers) through your participation here. For example, if you are published in the collection, add that to your author credibility and use it to bring new readers to your blogs or websites.

Keep our community space accessible and optimistic for all literary enthusiasts. Our weekly challenges are meant to cultivate a weekly creative writing practice and our collections remain fascinating curations of endless creative expression. It is a simple but optimistic premise for writers. We make literary art accessible in 99 words. Go write, read, and shine!

January 23, 2023, prompt: In 99 words (no more, no less), write a story that is optimistic. Feel free to explore optimism in all its forms from a positive mindset to toxic positivity. Is it a heartfelt story or a devious one? So much wiggle room for the optimistic writer. Go where the prompt leads!

1. Submit by January 28, 2022. Please use