Processes

You know, God made the world for humankind to live in.

It has everything that they might need.

But some things are easy to find and some are much harder to get at,

so they make things into tools to make getting at their resources easier.

And they make different tools to do different jobs.

They might tie some twigs together to make a broom to sweep the floor,

then give it a stick for a handle to avoid having to bend down.

That kind of broom was common in the world before there was plastic,

and is still common in lots of places in the world today.

That kind of broom has not always been just for witches,

and anyway, it's really hard to get them to fly.

People invent ways to do things that they want to do.

So, to cut down a tree you need something to cut it with,

to bite into it.

Well, they tried out hitting a tree with a rock,

and they found that flat rocks with sharp edges worked best.

then they found that they could make the edge sharper if they hit it in the right way with other rocks.

And that way they found they could make something sharp enough to use as a kind of knife.

Or they could give it a handle and use it as an axe.

So those first axes were made of stone, as that was all that they had.

Until they found something that could do the job better than stones,

but for that they had to find a way to get metal out of the ground.

And you can hit things together, or soak them in water,

or squeeze them, or stretch them,

but it takes fire to burn or melt things,

and that's what it takes to get iron from the earth.

And someone discovered how to do that with the help of God.

Then because metal can be melted and made into different shapes, it could be made into all sorts of other different things.

Not just axes and knives, but spades and ploughs,

and hammers and saws, and spoons and forks.

And fire is not just for making tools, but it's also used for warmth and for cooking.

So they made metal pots to cook in,

and cups and bowls from baked clay,

just as they do in the same way today.

People are always looking to find ways to do things better and easier.

and they make things easier by doing them one step at a time.

If they wanted to go to places where the weather was cold, they had to find ways to keep themselves warm.

And at first they would keep themselves warm by wearing animal skins.

But then they found they could take the wool from a sheep and twist it together to make threads of different thicknesses.

And the thick threads they knit,

and the finer threads they weave,

and they use the very finest threads to sew.

And that way they went from making simple clothing

to making beautiful clothes from the finest of fabrics.

The urge to do things better is part of the way that humans are made.

And doing better is not just making things more useful. or easier to use.

Trying to be a better person,

doing good and not hurting others

is at the heart of the muslim way of life.