Sailing Ships: Something To Think About

Sailing ships were among the most advanced technologies at the time of the revelation of Qur’an. Obviously it was not born like other biological creatures. It was, rather, manufactured using the human intelligence and raw materials. It is, however, very interesting to note that when a ship was manufactured, the Almighty considered it among His Signs (aayaat), “And His are the Ships sailing smoothly through the seas, lofty as mountains.” (Soorah ar-Rahmaan, 55: 24) The word ‘His’ is remarkable here. How come these are His even though created by the ordinary human beings with so many shortcomings.

Another thing to note here is the fact that according to the majority of scholars Soorah ar-Rahman is a Makkan Soorah. It also means that the ships which are being referred to here were certainly manufactured by the non-Muslims. Still Allah calls them “His”.

Not only this, the above verse is followed by “Then which of the Favors of your Lord will you deny?”. (55: 25) These ships are among His Favors, too! It is not only ‘Favors’, though. Aalaa’ means al-fi‘aal al-‘ajeebah (wonderful acts i.e. Karishma [in Persian]). These are ‘Favors’, too, because these wonderful things are very useful at the same time.

We can very easily extend the same analogy to all the modern day tools and techniques as well as discoveries which will certainly fall under the Aayaat (Signs) of Allah and His Favors as long as these are aimed at the betterment of and facilitation for humanity. You name a tool and a gadget and it is definitely within the creation scheme of Allah and among His Favors. Inspired by the cumulative spirit of Qur’an (which asks us to think differently) our early luminaries made an indelible mark in the fields of science and technology together with the other branches of human knowledge.

When someone asks me whether pictures are permissible in Islam I am painfully shocked. I start wondering that we are not even able to appreciate such a wonderful tool as camera (a picture is worth a thousand words) then how much intellectually detached we are from the idea of contributing any such useful tools to the total fund of discoveries and inventions of the humanity. I do not take the existing discoveries for granted. I assuredly feel that there could have been much more (manifesting the glory of Allah further) which have not been made due to a different thought pattern.

Our existing thought patters have to change, substantially. Unless we change our thought processes even the mass education is not going to take us any further. Right from the very beginning we have to inculcate some larger civilizational goals only then we will see the results in the long run. Therefore, let us convey our ultimate goals even more effectively to our teachers and students. This is the only way to earn genuine respect at home and abroad – in the comity of nations. Because:

jo ‘aalam-e eejaad meiN hai saaheb-e eejaad

hur daur meiN karta hai tawaaf uska zamaanaa