First, Second and Third Word The Words First, Second and Third Word

The First Word Bismillah (In the Name of God). We are in the realm of examination. The sphere where both good and bad exist. The place where God’s name of ‘Hakim’ takes precedence over the name of ‘Kadir’. A place where we can win or lose never-ending pleasure. The pass rate is very low. Through the fine-tuning discussion, we saw the probability of things coming to fruition is so low.

The First Word cont... For this reason we must say ‘Bismillah’ before we attempted anything. Before we eat! Before we work! Before we worship! Before we sleep!

The Second Word This Word concisely describes the subjective approach of proving the existence of God I have mentioned before. What’s the definition of a ‘proof’? ‘The validation of a proposition by application of specified rules, as of induction or deduction, to assumptions, axioms, and sequentially derived conclusions.’ ‘The evidence or argument that compels the (sane and healthy) mind to accept an assertion as true.’

The Second Word cont... The rules are pain and pleasure. We have been created in way to follow what is pleasurable. Also to avoid what is painful. This how God’s desires are fulfilled. However, the answer to the question, ‘Does God exist?’ plays a crucial role in what will be considered pleasure and what will be considered pain. Although, looking at the two path in its entirety, the same rules of pain and pleasure can be used to determine which is true.

The Second Word cont... That’s exactly what Bediuzzaman does in this chapter. Looking at the two paths, he firstly shows how the person who follows the path of atheism is in utter pain and torment. “Know that the first man represents an unbeliever, or someone depraved and heedless. In his view the world is a house of universal mourning. All living creature are orphans weeping at the blows of death and separation. Mighty beings like the mountains and oceans are like horrendous, lifeless corpses.”

The Second Word cont... Then he shows how a believer is always in pleasure regardless of what position he may be in. “Elhamdulillahi Ala Kulli Hal” “All praise be to God for every situation.” “As for the other man, he is a believer. He recognizes and affirms Almighty God. In his view this world is an abode where the Names of the All-Merciful One are constantly recited, a place of instruction for man and the animals, and a field of examination for man and jinn. All animal and human deaths are a demobilization.”

The Second Word cont... “Those who have completed their duties of life depart from this transient world for another, happy and trouble- free, world so that place may be made for new officials to come and work. The birth of animals and humans marks their enlistment into the army, their being taken under arms, and the start of their duties. Each living being is a joyful regular soldier, an honest, contented official. And all voices are either glorification of God and the recitation of His Names at the outset of their duties, and the thanks and rejoicing at their ceasing work, or the songs arising from their joy at working.”

The Second Word cont... “In the view of the believer, all beings are the friendly servants, amicable officials, and agreeable books of his Most Generous Lord and All-Compassionate Owner.” Challenge for everyone is to come up with a state other than unbelief that would be painful and torment for a believer? Thus, Bediuzzaman in this word summarises the subjective approach to the existence of God.

The Third Word “O you people, worship...” Quran 2:21. A chapter about the profit and happiness that lie in worship. Also about the loss and ruin that lie in vice, dissipation and laziness. Lets be honest, if we use our time on worship, what else would we do with our time? Vice, dissipation or being lazy...

The Third Word cont... Bediuzzaman provides an example about two soldiers receiving orders to proceed to a distant city. They are given two roads that they can take to reach their destination. They are the same in terms of distance. Two differences are that (1) people who take the road on the right receive great profit and experience great ease whereas the people who take the road on the left make a loss and (2) people who take the road on the right have to carry a baggage which is not that heavy whereas the people who take the road on the left travel without baggage.

The Third Word cont... The road on the right is belief... The road on the left is vice, dissipation or laziness... The baggage is worship and staying away from sinning. There is an apparent burden in worship, but there is an ease and lightness in its meaning that defies description.

The Third Word cont... For in the prescribed prayers the worshipper declares, “I bear witness that there is no god but God.” That is to say, he finds the door of a treasury of mercy in everything because he is believing and saying, “There is no Creator and Provider other than Him. Harm and benefit are in His hand. He is both All-Wise; He does nothing in vain, and He is All-Compassionate; His bounty and mercy are abundant.” Moreover, he sees that everything is subjugated to the command of his own Sustainer, so he takes refuge in Him. He places his trust in Him and relies on Him, and is fortified against every disaster; his belief gives him complete confidence.

The Third Word cont... Whereas a philosopher, with a so-called enlightened mind, sees a comet in the sky, he trembles on the ground, and exclaims anxiously: “Isn’t that comet going to hit the earth?” On one occasion, America was quaking with fear at such a comet, and many people left their homes in the middle of the night. So in this chapter, Bediuzzaman shows that there is great profit and ease in worshipping God and the contrary in not worshipping him.