First published on: Why Do People Go to Church?


 Noha Waseem

     That was on one of 1909’s Sundays. It was raining heavily and I went outside for some reason. That when I saw the famous astronomer Sir James Jeans – the professor at Cambridge University – heading towards the church, carrying the Bible and the umbrella under his arms. So I went closer to him and saluted him but he did not answer me!

I saluted him one more time “What do you want from me?” he responded.

I said, “Two things actually sir. The first one is that your umbrella is under your arms although it rains heavily!” 

He smiled at me and opened his umbrella at once.

“The second thing,” I said, “What makes someone with such outstanding  position like you go to church?”

Sir James stopped for a moment and then replied with “You have to come for tea at my house this evening.”

On that Evening 


When I arrived on this evening, at 4:00 Pm exactly, Lady James went outside to tell me that Sir James is waiting for me in his room. When I entered his room, I found him in front of a small table where the tea things are on.

And when he felt my existence he said, “What was your question?” and before my answer, he started lecturing about how amazing are the spiral stars, and they are amazingly organized and their flooding stunning light. Until I felt my heart is shaking out of God’s majesty.

As for Sir James, tears were running on his cheeks and his hand was shaking out of his fear from God. He stopped suddenly and said “Inyatallah, when I look at masterpieces of God’s creation my structure starts to shake from divine majesty! When I Kneel down before God and say, ” God, you are Great” I feel everything in my structure is supporting me in such prayer and I feel both happiness and beautiful calmness; and I feel a thousand times more happy than others, did you understand now; why I go to church?”

I said, “ O Sir, I was very touched by these scientific details you said, and I remembered a verse from my Holy book if you would like to listen.”

“With pleasure” he replied.

I started then reading this verse

Do you not see that Allah sends down rain from the sky, and We produce thereby fruits of varying colors? And in the mountains are tracts, white and red of varying shades and [some] extremely black. And among people and moving creatures and grazing livestock are various colors similarly. Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Forgiving.” [Qur’an 35:27-28] (1)

Sir James yelled and said, “what did you say?, “Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge. Amazing, strange and very weird! What I have discovered in 50 years of observations and study; who told Muhammad about it? Does this verse really exist in the Qur’an? If yes! Then here is a testimony from me that Qur’an is God’s revelation.”

He completed saying “Muhammad was ignorant and he could not reveal such secret by himself. It is God who told him the secret, Amazing and extremely weird.”

This interesting conversation was between the physicist/ astronomer James Jeans and the Indian mathematics scientist Inyatallah Al-mashraqi*

Reflection


What sir James has reached was the truth, that for anyone who is going to look and observe Allah’s universe, creators, stars, galaxies, planets….etc, and how such things are beautifully organized; he would immediately search for the creator. As for Sir James his hands shake while thinking of Allah’s glory although he never saw him, but he actually saw magnificent signs for Allah’s existence.

And Sir James did not stop here, he was amused by how Allah SWT beautifully described him in the Qur’an when He said,

“Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge.” And Sir James was of great knowledge that explains his shaking while praying or when he contemplates in Allah’s universe.

A lot of people experience such feelings however, they never question the righteous path to God ‘Allah’!  They keep on enjoying Allah’s glory and greatness without looking for who is God ‘Allah’.

Here is an invitation to read/ hear the whole chapter of surah Fatir (Originator). It is where you can find the above-mentioned verse. (2)