The Science of Belief

 Belief is at the foundation of being a submitter to God. That’s for anybody on this planet. Not just for people who do Salat, and give Zakat on the day of harvest. 

[2:62] Surely, those who believe, those who are Jewish, the Christians, and the converts; anyone who (1) believes in GOD, and (2) believes in the Last Day, and (3) leads a righteous life, will receive their recompense from their Lord. They have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve. 

Belief – it’s the common denominator. There are many different levels of belief and many tangents about what there is to believe in. But with regards to our souls and where we wind up after we physically die and leave our bodies, it’s not a lot to ask: believe in God, the last day and be righteous. Yet God says most people are going to hell, so perhaps it is a lot to ask. 

[49:14] The Arabs said, “We are Mu’mens (believers).” Say; “You have not believed; what you should say is, ‘We are Muslims (submitters)’; until belief is established in your hearts”. If you obey GOD and His messenger, He will not put any of your works to waste. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful. 

Let’s look at the science of how believing can benefit you…as well as harm you. For centuries, even millennia, belief is all we had to go on with regard to so many aspects of life. We used to believe the earth was flat, that the sun revolved around the earth, that blood-letting would cure disease. So many incorrect beliefs have been disproven by science. 

There is a scientist by the name of Dr. Bruce Lipton who studies genetics. In 2005 he wrote a book called “The Biology of Belief”. 

Let’s start with the basics. We are made up of cells. And cells act very much like humans in the fact that they have an outer layer (skin), they have organ cells underneath the skin, miniature organs. They reproduce. In the center of every cell, there is a nucleus. What would be the complementary part? The brain? You would think so. The nucleus contains the chromosomes and the DNA, the building blocks. It’s for reproduction.

 What are the basic building blocks for DNA? Proteins. There are about 150,000 different proteins in our body that help perform all of its functions by God’s grace. All the proteins have a unique shape. They all have what one could consider a backbone made of linked units called amino acids. There are 20 different shaped amino acids. What makes each protein different is the length of the chain and the sequence of the amino acids. And their movement/behavior in your body is caused by what is called a “signal.” 

Things happen in our bodies because of the movement of the turning on or off of proteins. Movement is where life comes from. When proteins change shape or move they create behavior. It could be respiratory, digestive, kidney, liver, etc. Proteins need signals to move. A signal could be chemical, hormonal or a vibrational wave. 

So the proteins make up the genes. And genes are handed down to us through our parents. Through heredity. You may have heard the phrase: I was born with “bad genes;” that’s why I’m afflicted with whatever it is I’m afflicted with. 

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