Islam

The Lost Opportunity at the Miʿrāj: A Critique of Humanity, Not of the Prophets

The story of the Miʿrāj may easily give rise to a misunderstanding. Some readers may conclude that the criticism is directed toward the prophets themselves—toward Muhammad for accepting the reduction of the prayers, or toward Moses for recommending it. Nothing could be further from my intention. In fact, the more I reflect upon the story, the more my admiration for both prophets increases. The criticism, if there is any, is directed elsewhere. It is directed toward humanity itself and toward a persistent feature of the human condition that the story so brilliantly exposes.

If Only I Had Been There at the Miʿrāj

Part 1.

Sometimes I find myself imagining a rather unusual thing.

I imagine that I was standing there instead of Muhammad during the story of the Miʿrāj. God speaks and says, "Fifty prayers each day."

Everyone else seems relieved that the number was reduced.

I cannot help wondering whether I would have reacted in exactly the opposite way.

I honestly think I would have asked for sixty.

Not because I enjoy collecting obligations. Not because I believe that more prayers somehow earn more points with God. Quite the contrary.

The Doctrine of Worship

One of the most misunderstood questions in religion concerns the purpose of worshipping God. Many people assume that worship is something God requires from human beings, as if the Creator had fashioned humanity in order to receive praise. This idea leads critics to ask a familiar question: why would a perfect and self-sufficient God need validation from His own creatures?

The question arises from a mistaken assumption about the nature of worship.

The Qur’an states:

“I did not create jinn and mankind except that they worship Me.” (51:56)
— Qur'an

Shirk Explanation

Shirk explanation. What is shirk? Associating God with partners. Where is the problem? Is it a problem for God or a man? For a man. Man made idol does not have any effect for anything. Idol worshipper is actually the one who wants to make himself a partner to God. When God is so angry about it, it is not because He is hurt but because it is a downfall for a man to put himself in his own care. As idol does not have legs and arms to help even itself, this is an allegory of the idol’s worshiper inability to help himself in any way without God.

Two Ways of Nearness: The Household of the Word

I. One Light, Two Postures

Throughout history the divine Word has addressed humanity in different idioms.
Christianity receives the Word as incarnate—God drawing near in personal intimacy.
Islam receives the Word as revealed—God speaking with majestic authority.
The contrast is not opposition but angle: the same sun viewed from two horizons.

“Read”: Revelation as Epistemic Clearing Rather Than Instruction

The traditional account of the first revelation to Muhammad—in which the angel commands “Read,” the prophet replies “I cannot read,” and is then repeatedly seized and squeezed—has been explained countless times within Islamic theology. Yet the dominant explanations, particularly in their common apologetic presentation, remain internally unstable. They oscillate between “read” and “recite,” between illiteracy as proof and recitation as function, and between portraying the angelic embrace as strengthening while describing it in terms that are unmistakably forceful.

The Divine Inversion in the Order of the Qur’an

I have long wondered why the Qur’an was assembled in the particular order that it now bears — an order not by chronology, nor by topic, nor by the flow of story, but rather by size: the longer chapters first, the shorter ones last. At first glance, the reason appears practical, even technical. It is said that this made memorization easier for the companions of the Prophet, who could begin with long portions and then recite shorter ones toward the end.

Paradise Beyond Sensualism: Reconsidering the Qur’anic Imagery of Youth, Maternal Nourishment, and Eternal Life

The traditional popular imagination of Paradise often reduces the Qur’anic descriptions of the afterlife to a realm of perfected sensual gratification. Gardens, rivers, companions, cups overflowing, and youthful beauty are frequently interpreted through a heavily literal and erotic lens. Yet such readings raise profound conceptual difficulties once one begins reflecting carefully on the nature of eternal life itself.

The Best Ever Opportunity Wasted at the Miʿrāj Story

The traditional interpretation presents the story as one of divine mercy. God initially prescribes fifty daily prayers for humanity, but after repeated requests by Muhammad, prompted by Moses, the number is reduced to five while preserving the reward of fifty. Mainstream theology celebrates this as compassion toward human weakness. But there is another way to read the story entirely. What if the tragedy of the narrative lies precisely in the reduction itself?

Demons, Attention, and Responsibility: A Practical Reframing

There is a simple but demanding starting point: we do not actually know what demons are in any mechanistic sense. Scripture affirms their reality, but it does not provide a technical “microscope” for their nature. Attempts to build detailed theories from encounters tend to circle back on themselves, reinforcing what the interpreter already believes. If that is so, then progress begins not by multiplying explanations, but by clearing them—refusing to treat demonic encounters as a source of new, objective knowledge about demons themselves.

Islam