Quran Binary - Geomancy and the African Ifa

Geomancy means "science of the sand." I have often wondered what Jesus is doing in the sand in the Gospel of John. It has something to do with the Garden of Eden and Adam and Eve, but what else? The first binary symbols were probably written in the sand. 

The Quran knows about the importance of binary, just like the I-Ching and the Bible. This thinking was also somewhat developed in Ancient Egypt. I actually see some of this in the writings of Aristotle too, along with aspects of systems theory. The Bible is about Systems Theory.

The intersection of the Quran and "binary" typically spans three different contexts: the theological concept of creation in pairs, modern computer/numerical interpretations (such as digital codes or the Arabic numeral roots), and conceptual art or linguistic structuralism.

Creation in Pairs (Duality in Nature)

The Quran repeatedly emphasizes that God created the universe and all living things in pairs or dualities:

Surah Adh-Dhariyat (51:49): "And of everything We have created pairs, that you may remember [or: be mindful]."

Surah Ya-Sin (36:36): "Glory be to the One Who created all pairs—(be it) what the earth produces, their genders, or what they do not know!"

Surah Az-Zariyat / Al-Lail (53:45): "And that He creates the two mates—the male and female."

You see this practiced much more with African Muslims, probably because of Ifa. (I don't know where Ifa originated, but I think the idea possibly originated in Ancient Egypt. This is similar to the I-Ching. 

• Religious Prohibition: Mainstream Islamic orthodoxy strictly forbids geomancy, fortune-telling, and all forms of divination (ilm al-ghayb), considering them acts of shirk (associating partners with God) or forbidden practices. A well-known prophetic tradition recorded in Sunan Abi Dawud explicitly condemns divining through lines (raml). 
• Historical and Cultural Persistence: Despite religious prohibitions, historical and contemporary records show that ilm al-raml was and continues to be practiced underground or in specific traditional/Sufi circles across parts of North Africa, the Middle East, and West Africa
• Geomancy is significantly more common and deeply integrated into the cultural fabric of African Muslim communities than in most other parts of the Islamic world

The development of algebra involved a major synthesis of ancient Indian (Hindu) mathematical traditions and Islamic Golden Age scholarship in Baghdad.

Most people in the Western world do not know much about Muslim scholars who were integrating Aristotle with the Quran. I have to read more about these people one day; I have known about them for a while but never got around to reading their work. 

Al-Khwarizmi

Al-Battani

Al-Biruni

Omar Khayyam

Ibn al-Haytham

Al-Kindi (Alkindus, 801–873 CE): Known as the "Philosopher of the Arabs"; he introduced Greek philosophy to the Islamic world and pioneered cryptanalysis

Al-Farabi (Alpharabius, 872–950 CE): Referred to as the "Second Teacher" (after Aristotle), he heavily influenced Avicenna's logic and political philosophy

Avicenna (Ibn Sina, c. 980 – 1037) is widely regarded as one of the most influential physicians, philosophers, and polymaths of the Islamic Golden Age.

Al-Ghazali (Algazel, 1058–1111 CE): A highly influential theologian and philosopher who critiqued several neo-Platonic views held by Avicenna in his famous work The Incoherence of the Philosophers

Ibn Rushd (Averroes, 1126–1198 CE): Based in Islamic Spain (Al-Andalus), he wrote detailed commentaries on Aristotle that integrated Greek philosophy into both Islamic and European scholastic traditions