Is-Luck-a-god ?

 

Article appeared Friday, December 16th, 2011 in The News Today, Bangladesh

The Revelation (207)yousuf mahbubul Islam, PhD

How often are the expressions, “I was lucky” or “Wish me luck!” used? Have we ever consideredwhat the use of such expressions implies about our beliefs? Searching the Internet one finds avariety of opinions. For example, the website

{1}

discusses the popularity of such expressions,however, at the end asks, “But, is it (luck) for real?”

“

The existence of luck and of the ability to influence luck, both for good or ill is one of theprolific and diverse

beliefs

in all of humanity. More popular than a belief in a personalGod, more widespread than a belief in humanistic potential, and more prevalent thanany kind of belief in natural or earth based spirits, the belief in Luck crosses lines of religion, class, race, culture, upbringing, and geographic distance.

” {1}

So the question is: do “Bad Luck” and/or “Good Luck” represent gods in parallel to our Creator?Or, if luck is just an opportunity, does random chance create the opportunity? If we are created,by crediting our created opportunities to “Luck”, are we being derogatory or unjust to our Creator and thus

 proving 

our disbelief?To help us understand that opportunities are not accidents Warren (2002, p.22-23) writes:

“

You are not an accident. Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no flukeof nature. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did… Long before you wereconceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. He thought of youfirst. It is not fate, nor chance,

nor luck 

, nor coincidence that you are breathing at thisvery moment. You are alive because God wanted to create you…God prescribed everysingle detail of your body. He deliberately chose your race, the color of your skin, your hair, and every other feature. He custom-made your body just the way He wanted it. Hedetermined the natural talents you would possess and the uniqueness of your personality…Because God made you for a reason, He also decided

when you 

would beborn and

how long you 

would live.

He planned the days of your life in advance...God left no detail to chance.

He planned it all for 

his

purpose…Nothing in your life is arbitrary. It'sall for a purpose.

” {2}

Warren derives his wisdom from an in-depth study of the Bible. As an example, he quotes:

“

You saw me (in your mind) before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every

moment 

was laid out before a single day had passed.

”

[Psalm 139:16, NLT]

{3}

Before documenting, a design would need to be mentally pictured or conceived. Similarly, our Creator conceived each of us before creating us. In addition, He documented the opportunitiesand tests that we would be given each day during our designated stay on earth. The planincluded how we would be created in the womb, which womb, time and place. Whatopportunities each of us would be given, good or bad, what fortune or misfortune each of uswould be given, have all been pre-planned. The fact that nothing is random is confirmed by theQur’an, the most recent Revelation after the Bible.

“

No misfortune can happen on earth or in your souls but is recorded in a decree beforeWe bring it into existence: that is truly easy for Allah (our Creator):

”

[57.22]Two questions arise – why did

•

our Creator make the effort to fashion us as beautiful and complete human beings?

•

He give us opportunities, tests and varying degrees of fortune

Yousuf M Islam, PhD
Professor,
Dept of Computer Science & Engineering and
Executive Director,
Human Resources Development Institute (HRDI),
Computer Science & Engineering Department
Daffodil International University (DIU)
Mobile: 01711876909