In the cause of Allah

     The early Greek philosophers from Homer to Pythagoras' quest for understanding the world around them led to scientific inquiries. They observed and studied the natural processes and changes around them. Homer was mindful of the unpredictable irregularities of nature. Hesiod understood justice and the moral obligation of Zeus. Thales believed that water was the cause of all things. He also devised the concept of theories to understand the world. Anaximander differed from Thales only in the substance that made up all things. For him, that staff was something infinite or boundless. Heraclitus thought that fire created the world. Parmenides used geometric knowledge to answer the questions his predecessors were preoccupied with. Empedocles proposed that reality is a plurality, not a unity. Anaxagoras questioned the changeability and malleability of things to become something else. Finally, Pythagoreans used mathematics to study nature around them. All these early Greek ph...

In the pre-Socratic philosophers from Thales up to Pythagoras, the questions related to metaphysics have concluded that the world comes out of a single substance. For instance, Thales believed that the world comes out of water. Anaximander understood that it wasn’t water; it was something boundless. Anaximenes believed in the diversity of things, and air is the ultimate stuff in all things. Empedocles decided that the components that comprised the world were earth, air, fire, and water and that these were the ingredients of all other creations. Unlike others who believed in some physical material as the basic concept, Pythagoreans derived everything from numbers. The pluralists, atomists, sophists, and Socrates and Plato rejected the idea of monism that one single thing made all things. The latter philosophical studies offered an understanding of the universe, reality, and life. In this essay, we compare and contrast these philosophical viewpoints.  To begin with, pluralists ask qu...

Aristotle was born in 384 B.C. in the ancient city of Stagira where he flourished and founded Lyceum. He was sent to Athens at the age of seventeen to study with Plato at Plato’s Academy. He studied with Plato for twenty years and died in Chalcis in 322 B.C. His father was a doctor and Aristotle was interested in biology, especially marine biology. He tutored Alexander the Great. His school Lyceum differed a lot from Plato’s academy. He wrote more than 200 works on marine biology and Athenian constituencies. He was a naturalist and proposed a third way in the field of philosophy. Aristotle was not religious. He was a naturalist. He differs from Plato, Socrates, Parmenides, and many others of his time. He was not a super-naturalist while explaining the world and universe. He differs from atomist who believes in the existence of the universe through their theory that homogeneous and indivisible atoms move through space mechanically, interact with one another, and create diversity. He...

I met many travelers during my trips around the world. I heard them say they hadn't found the perfect place for vacation. Throughout history, humans have been trying to find the perfect place to live forever. They have discovered a new land, conquered oceans, and stepped on the moon. They haven't found a place where they can let go of their fears, inadequacies, and flaws. Why don't we find the place we've been looking for? Are the roads we are walking on wrong? We need to step back from our busy lives and dive deep into the mysteries of this universe.  When we think beyond our material and worldly needs, we will find that the perfect place for vacation isn't possible in this world. There have been people in different cultures around the world who have tried to undergo spiritual transformations. They proclaim that they have found the perfect resort for tranquility and peace in supernatural things. They say that every place on this earth is perfect for a vacation. It ...