|
WHATEVER
DESTINY DETERMINES IS GOOD
It
has been proved in the First Topic that
whatever is determined by Destiny is
good, and that even if some events
appear to be evil, they are actually
good, and ugly things are in essence
beautiful. If this is opposed by arguing
that calamities and misfortunes that
befall man contradict this, the answer
will be as follows:
Even
though you, my carnal soul and my
friend, feel agonies as a result of your
strong connections with existence and
affection toward beings, existence is
entirely good since it generates every
beauty and perfection, whilst
non-existence is purely evil since all
sins and misfortunes originate in it.
Since non-existence is evil, those
circumstances which have a suggestion of
non-existence in them contain some
element of evil. Therefore, life, the
most brilliant light of existence, grows
in vigor as it revolves in different
circumstances. It is purified and
perfected through experience of
contradictory events and happenings, and
it produces the desired results through
taking on different qualities, and thus
gives testimony to the manifestations of
the Divine Names. It is for this purpose
that living creatures go through many
states, and experience situations in
which they suffer misfortunes and
hardships, so purifying their lives.
During each one of these hardships, they
renew the light of their existence, and
depart from the negative darkness of
non-existence. Idleness, inertia and
monotony are in quality and as
conditions all some aspects of
non-existence. Even the greatest
pleasure is reduced to nothing by
monotony.
In
short: Since life displays the
manifestations of God’s Beautiful
Names, everything which occurs in it is
beautiful. Let us suppose that an
extremely rich and infinitely skilled
clothes designer employs an ordinary man
as a model to display his works of art
in return for wages. He requires the man
to dress up in a bejeweled and
artistically fashioned garment which
illustrates the works of his art and his
invaluable wealth. He works the garment
on the man, giving it various forms. In
order to display every variety of his
art, he cuts it, changes it, and
lengthens and shortens it. How bizarre,
then, it would be for this employee to
say, ‘You are causing me trouble. You
are making me bow and stand up. By
cutting and shortening this garment
which makes me more beautiful, you are
spoiling my beauty’! Does he have the
right to tell him, ‘You are acting
unkindly and unfairly?’
In
the same way, the Creator causes living
creatures to put on the garment of
existence, bejeweled with senses, and
reason, intellect and heart. He cuts out
the pattern of that garment to give it
new shapes, and adds to it beauties, and
displays the magnificence of His
Beautiful Names. Those circumstances
which appear to cause misfortune and
pain are actually flashes of the Divine
Wisdom which reflect rays of compassion
and contain subtle beauties.
If
man has only a nominal share in his
acts because his free will does not
possess creative ability, why do we
read in the holy Qur’an that the
Creator of the Heavens and the Earth
takes man’s rebellion so seriously?
Unbelief,
rebellion and sinfulness mean
destruction, and complete destruction
can result from an act of disobedience
of a most nominal weight. Just as a
vessel may sink due to the helmsman’s
negligence, whilst the efforts of the
whole crew can achieve nothing to save
it. A man’s free will can cause great
depredations as a result of unbelief and
sinfulness, no matter how insignificant
a share it actually has in the
performance of acts. Unbelief is so
great a sin by its nature that it
reduces the whole universe to something
of no value, and contradicts the
witnessing to the Oneness of God by the
whole of creation, and denies the
manifestations of the Divine Names. It
is, therefore, entirely proper that God
should take unbelief so seriously and
threaten unbelievers so severely in the
name of the whole of creation and the
Divine Names, and it is absolutely just
to condemn them to the eternal torment
of Hell. Since rebellious men cause vast
corruption through unbelief and
sinfulness, the believers are in great
need of God’s succour against them. A
mischievous boy can set a whole house on
fire although it is guarded by ten
strong men, and those guards may need to
apply to the parents of that boy to
prevent him from committing such a
crime. So too do believers need the help
of God against rebellious and sinful
men.
What
is the divine reason for calamities?
In
the Name of God, the Merciful, the
Compassionate.
When
the earth is shaken with a mighty
shaking,, and the earth brings forth
its burdens, and man says, “What
ails it?” Upon that day it shall
tell its tidings for that your Lord
has inspired it. (al-Zilzal, 99.1-8)
This
sura states explicitly that the earth
moves and quakes at a command, on
receiving inspiration. Sometimes it
trembles.
[The
following comprises the brief answers to
seven questions asked in connection with
the recent earthquake.]
First
question:
More
distressing than the material disaster
of this recent earthquake, the fear
and despair coming from its recurrence
are destroying the nightly repose of
most of the people in most areas. What
is the reason for this terrible
torment?
Answer:
They were broadcasting obscene songs in
a sort of drunken rapture, some of them
sung by girls, by means of the radio,
during the tarawih (supererogatory
prayers done after the early night
prayer) in the month of Ramadan in every
corner of this blessed center of Islam.
This resulted in the torment of this
fear.
Second
question
Why
is it that, rather than the
populations of the countries of
unbelievers, the unhappy Muslims are
afflicted with such heavenly blows?
Answer:
Major cases and big crimes are tried and
judged in big centers, while the minor
ones are decided in small centers.
Similarly, for a significant purpose,
the requital for the greater part of the
unbelievers’ crimes is postponed to
the Last, Supreme Judgement, while the
believers are partly punished in this
world for their faults.
Third
question
What
is the reason for this disaster, which
arose from the wrongdoing of
particular individuals, encompassing
almost all the people in the area?
Answer:
Since the general disaster results from
the wrongdoing of the majority, most of
the people must have participated in the
actions of those sinful individuals
either actively or by giving them direct
or indirect support or in some other
way.
Fourth
question
Since
this disaster of the earthquake is the
result of wrongdoing and atonement for
sins, why were also the innocent and
faultless struck by it? How did Divine
Law allow this?
Answer:
Since this matter is concerned with
Divine Destiny, I refer you to the
Treatise on Destiny and Man’s Free
Will, and here only say this:
Fear
a trial, a disorder, which shall
surely not smite in particular the
evildoers among you.
The
verse means that this world is a field
of trial and testing, and a place of
responsibility and struggle. Testing and
responsibility require that the truth in
certain matters remains veiled so that,
through competition and struggle, those
like Abu Bakr may rise to the highest of
the high while others like Abu Jahl may
fall to the lowest of the low. If the
innocent remained untouched in such
disasters, the Abu Jahls would submit
just like the Abu Bakrs, and the door of
spiritual progress through struggle
would be closed and the responsibility
and testing would be meaningless.
If
Divine Wisdom requires that wronged and
wrongdoer are together visited by the
same disaster, what then is the share of
the wretched and the wronged in Divine
mercy and justice?
For
the wronged there is a kind of mercy
behind the wrath and anger in the
disaster. For just as the lost property
of the innocent becomes like alms given
to the poor and thereby gains
permanence, their death in the disaster
may be regarded as a kind of martyrdom
and therefore gains them an eternal life
of happiness. For this reason, having
gained for them a great and perpetual
profit from a relatively little and
temporary difficulty and torment, the
earthquake is, for them, an instance of
Divine mercy within wrath.
Fifth
question
Why
does the All-Just, All-Compassionate,
All-Powerful, All-Wise, not give
particular punishments for particular
wrongs, but returns them with
comprehensive afflictions? How can
this be reconciled with the grace of
His Mercy and inclusiveness of His
Power?
Answer:
The All-Powerful One of Majesty gives
numerous duties to each element in
creation and causes numerous effects to
be produced through each duty. One
effect of one of an element’s duties
may be ugly or evil or calamitous. But
the further effects of it may be good,
beautiful. If the element were prevented
from its duties on account of that one
ugly or evil effect, many instances of
good would be prevented also, which
means that the same quantity of evil
would be encouraged. Leaving many
instances of good undone to avoid a
single evil is extremely disapproved and
contrary to wisdom, contrary to reality,
and a fault. However, Divine Power and
Wisdom, and Truth are free of fault.
Certain faults constitute a rebellion
comprehensive enough to rouse the earth
and certain other elements to anger, and
constitute an insulting infringement of
the rights of numerous creatures. For
sure, in order to demonstrate the
extraordinary ugliness of that crime, to
give to a mighty element, as a part of
its universal duty, the command to
reprimand the rebellious is perfect
wisdom and justice, and for the wronged,
perfect mercy.
Sixth
question
The
heedless put it about that the
earthquake results from a fault in the
rock strata inside the earth, and
consider it as quite simply a chance
event, natural, and without purpose.
They do not recognize the non-material
causes and results, so that they might
be awakened to the truth and take a
lesson from the event. Does their
allegation have any truth in it?
Answer:
It has no truth in it, only misguidance.
For each year the earth is dressed in
and changes innumerable embroidered
well-designed clothes. Out of those
clothes, the fly has countless members.
Take the wing of a single individual
fly, which is only one out of its tens
of organs. The intention, will, purpose,
and wisdom manifested on the wing show
that-let alone its important movements
and actions-nothing on the earth, which
is the cradle, matrix, and protector of
innumerable conscious beings, is
neglected and left to itself. Everything
connected with it, whether particular or
universal, cannot lie outside the Divine
Will, choice, and purpose. However, as
is required by His Wisdom, the
Absolutely Powerful One veils His
disposals with apparent causes. When He
wills an earthquake, He may command the
movement of the rock strata and stir
them up. Even if the earthquake results
from this movement, still this movement
and the quake following it occur by
Divine Command and in accordance with
His Wisdom.
To
give an example, one man shot another
and killed him. If the killer is
entirely disregarded, and only the
movement of the bullet taken into
consideration, the rights of the
wretched victim would be completely
violated, and this would be utter
foolishness and injustice. The
All-Powerful One commands, "Move
the rock stratified inside you for
definite purposes in order to arouse the
heedless and the rebellious." To
disregard the command of the Lord
concerning the earth, which is a docile
"official" of the All-Powerful
One of Majesty, or a ship or an airplane
of His-to disregard this and to deviate
into attributing everything to
"cause and effect" is sheer
stupidity.
An
addition to the answer of the sixth
question: In order to maintain their way
and counter the awakening of the
believers and obstruct them, misguided
people and atheists display an
impertinence so strange and an
indifference so peculiar that it makes a
person regret his humanity. The Creator
shakes men in order to make them give up
their awesome and wrongful rebellion
which recently has, to a degree, taken a
general form, and to awaken mankind and
make them recognize the universe’s
Sovereign, Whom they do not want to
recognize. The Creator of the Heavens
and the earth has not shaken man on
account of a particular manifestation of
His Lordship but as the Ruler and Lord
of the whole universe, the whole of the
worlds. He has done so through an
overall, general manifestation
throughout the universe and in the
universal sphere of His Lordship. He has
struck mankind in the face with
widespread and terrible calamities like
earthquakes, storms, floods, and world
wars, and demonstrated in most clear
fashion His Wisdom, Power, Justice,
Self-Subsistence, Will, and Sovereignty.
Although this is the truth, certain
misguided people respond to these
universal signs of Divine Lordship and
Divine reprimands with obstinate denial,
saying, "Nature does this. It
results from a fault in the rock strata
and is just chance. It is the sun’s
heat clashing with electricity, which
brought all machinery in America to a
standstill for five hours, and caused
the atmosphere in Kastamonu Province of
Turkey to turn red and take on the
appearance of a conflagration."
Due
to boundless ignorance coming from
misguidance and an impertinence arising
from atheism, they do not know that
"natural causes" are only so
many occasions and veils. A huge pine
tree requires in effect as many
factories and looms as to fill a village
to grow from a seed. However, by
attributing the tree only to its tiny
seed and certain apparent causes, the
atheist denies the numerous miracles
which the Maker displays in the tree,
and reduces to nothing a comprehensive
act of the Creator’s Lordship
performed through Will and Wisdom.
Sometimes he attaches a scientific name
to a most profound, unknowable and
significant reality which has thousands
of purposes in a thousand respects, as
though by giving it that name the whole
nature of it had been explained and
understood. Whereas it is merely made
commonplace, without purpose, wisdom,
and meaning. Also, he attributes a
particular and purposeful act of the
Lord to one of the laws of nature, which
are only expressions of one aspect of
the Universal Will Encompassing Choice,
and the Universal Sovereignty and they
rightly are called Divine Laws. By doing
this and severing the connection between
an act of the Lord (an event) and Divine
Will and purpose, he limits it to chance
and nature. This is, in practice, like
attributing the victory on the
battlefield of an individual soldier or
battalion to military regulations and
discipline, and completely ignoring the
soldiers, the commander, the king, and
the government, and their purposeful,
intentional actions and practices. Or it
is like this: Like the creation of a
fruit-bearing tree from a seed, a
wonder-working craftsman produces a
hundred kilos of various foodstuffs and
a hundred meters of diverse cloths from
a chip of wood the size of a fingernail.
Someone appears, and pointing to the
chip of wood, declares, "These
things have come into being out of it
"naturally’ and "by chance,’"
thus reducing to nothing the craftsman’s
wonderful arts and skills.
Seventh
question
How
do we conclude that this event of the
earth was aimed at the Muslim people
of this country and why were areas of
Erzincan and Izmir affected most?
Answer:
The event took place during a hard
winter in the dark of night and severe
cold. It was restricted to the region
which was disrespectful of the month of
Ramadan, and it continued mildly in
order to arouse the neglectful. These
signs, together with some others, show
that this earthquake was aimed at the
believers. The earth was shaking them to
warn them to perform the prayers and
other acts of worship, and was itself
trembling.
There
are two reasons why it shook places like
Erzincan more than others:
One:
Since their faults were few and slight,
they were forgiven without being left to
the Supreme Tribunal in the Hereafter.
Two:
Taking the opportunity that the strong
and truthful defenders of the faith and
protectors of Islam were few or utterly
defeated in those places, the atheists
established an effective center of
activity. For this reason, punishment
must have been visited on them first.
None
save God knows the Unseen.
Glory
be to You, we have no knowledge save
what You have taught us; surely You
are the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
Is
there an aspect of true beauty in
everything, even in the things which
appear to be the ugliest?
This
is to explain one meaning of the verse,
(He)
has made good everything He has created.
In
everything, even in the things which
appear to be the ugliest, there is an
aspect of true beauty. Everything in the
universe, every occurrence, is either in
itself beautiful, which is called
"beautiful by itself," or it
is beautiful on account of its results,
which is called, "beautiful through
others." There are some occurrences
which are apparently ugly and confused
but, beneath that apparent veil, there
are most radiant instances of beauty and
order.
Beneath
the veil of stormy rains and muddy
earth, in the season of spring, are
hidden the smiles of innumerable
beautiful flowers and well-ordered
plants. Also, behind the veils of the
harsh destruction and mournful
separations of autumn is the discharge
from the duties of their lives of the
amiable small animals, which are the
friends of the delicate, shy flowers.
This is so as to preserve them from the
blows and torments of the events of
winter, which are the manifestations of
Divine Majesty, and under the veil of
winter the way is prepared for the new
and beautiful spring.
Beneath
the veil of events like storms,
earthquakes, and plagues, is the
unfolding of numerous hidden
"immaterial flowers." The
seeds of many potentialities which have
not developed, sprout and flourish owing
to events apparently ugly. It is as if
upheavals, revolutions and general
changes function as
"immaterial" rain.
Nevertheless, being a superficial
observer who is inclined to judge by
outward appearances and moreover
self-centered, man considers only the
external and judges such events as ugly.
Since he is self-centered, he reasons
only according to the result with which
he is concerned and so judges them to be
evil. Whereas, if one among the aims
attached to things relates to man, there
are others directly connected with their
Maker’s Names.
For
example, man may regard as harmful and
meaningless thorny plants and trees,
which are among the great miracles of
the Creator’s Power, functioning as
"well-equipped, heroic guards"
of the plants and trees. Again, God’s
causing hawks to harry sparrows is
apparently incompatible with Mercy. But
through this harrying the sparrow’s
potentialities develop. Also man may
consider snow to be very cold and
unpleasant but under the veil of cold
and unpleasantness there are purposes so
warm and results so sweet that they are
indescribable. Further, since man judges
according to outward appearances and,
because of his egotism, according to
only those aspects with which he is
concerned, he supposes to be contrary to
good manners many things that are
perfectly polite and compatible with
well-manneredness. Some expressions of
the wise Qur’an, which is the source
of good manners and right conduct,
concerning man’s private parts and his
private affairs or relationships are
perfectly polite and correct on account
of the art of their creation and the
purposes intended thereby.
Likewise,
beneath the apparent faces of the
creatures and events which seem to us to
be ugly and worthy of disapproval, there
are so many beautiful and purposeful
instances of art and aspects of beauty
concerning their creation that they are
connected with their Maker. Also, there
are numerous beautiful veils which
conceal many instances of wisdom, and
many apparent instances of disorder and
confusion which are in reality most
well-arranged examples of sacred divine
composition..
Are
we victims of Destiny? Do
we have any part in the calamities
befalling us?
This
question has been discussed in different
places. However, here I will try to sum
up those discussions.
No
one is a victim of Destiny. God does not
destine our acts; rather, He creates
whatever we will to do. Destiny’s
decrees or verdicts are based on Its
consideration of our free will.
We
are directly responsible for whatever
happens to us. If we experience
misfortune, it is either because we have
misused our free will or because, as
with Prophets, God wills to promote us
to higher ranks. For example, the sun is
absolutely necessary for and
indispensable to life. If we stay
outside too long and die of sunstroke,
can we blame the sun? Of course not, for
we could have gone inside or taken
sufficient precautions. In the same way,
our own free will (not Destiny) is
responsible for any misfortune that
comes our way. Blaming Destiny only
causes the misfortune to worsen.
To
cite another example: God Almighty
created and endowed us with certain
faculties or powers, one of which is
lust. If we use this power improperly
and thus harm ourselves, it can only be
our fault. God gave us this power so
that we may reproduce the species in the
proper manner and be promoted to higher
spiritual ranks by resisting our carnal
self’s illicit suggestions. It is the
same with anger. God Almighty gave it to
us so that we can defend ourselves and
our religious and social values, not to
hurt others. Therefore, if an
uncontrolled burst of angers causes us
to kill someone, it is our fault, not
Destiny’s.
Destiny
relates to the cause and the effect
together at the same time. If we judge
only by considering the effect, usually
we make mistakes. For example, if we
accuse a father of abusing his daughter
while he is only trying to discipline
her because he likes her or so that she
may reform herself and learn how to
behave properly, we would be wronging
the father. While judging any event, we
should consider all related information.
If we will cannot see any good in it, we
should tell ourselves that whatever God
does is good either in itself or in its
consequences, and never accuse Destiny.
This is what is meant by the following
verse: It may be that you dislike a
thing although it is good for you, and
love a thing although it is bad for you.
God knows but you know not (2.216).
In
such calamities as earthquakes or
floods, God usually does not choose
between the good and the evil or the
innocent and the guilty. Such calamities
fall on everyone, for they are part of
the tests and trials prepared for us and
serve His purpose. However, in return
for undergoing such calamities, good and
innocent people will receive a great
reward in the Hereafter. Also, it should
be pointed out that sometimes God uses
such calamities to punish such people
because they do not try to enjoin what
is good and prevent what is evil.
Whatever
God does is the best and most proper.
So, we should try to see His wisdom
behind the good He bestows on us and the
suffering to which He subjects us.
How
can you explain why so insignificant a
thing as free will causes one to deserve
eternal Paradise or Hell?
Compared
with God’s acts and creation and
humanity’s function in existence, the
role of the free will is really
insignificant. It is because of this
that some have gone so far as to deny
it, and those who follow the “middle
path” in this matter have concluded
that the free will is an inclination or
something like inclination or, less than
being an inclination, it is humanity’s
preference between the inclinations they
feel in themselves and putting one of
them into effect. It is actually like
pressing the switch to light a house or
a city.
Before
asking about the reason why God Almighty
may condemn us to eternal Hellfire
because of our misuse of our free will
in so short a time as a life-span, we
should think about whether we can really
deserve eternal Paradise by using our
free will in the right way. Should we
not consider how we can ever adequately
perform the duty of giving thanks to God
for the bounties pouring down upon us?
If we worshipped Him incessantly during
our whole life-time, still we would not
be able to pay our debt of thanksgiving
for only our eyes. Again, as pointed out
earlier, a single pomegranate or a
cherry, costs the whole of the universe,
for its growth or production requires
the cooperation of air, water, earth,
and the sun, none of which, coming
together to cooperate, even the whole of
mankind could produce. Furthermore, God
Almighty asks us to assign only a small
portion of our time for worship. The
time we spend on daily prescribed
prayers hardly exceeds one hour, one
twenty-fourth part of a day. The amount
of the wealth which we are enjoined to
give as prescribed alms is, in most
cases, one fortieth. We are obliged, if
indeed we can afford it, to go on
pilgrimage only once in our whole
life-time. All the rest of our life and
wealth goes on worldly things. Despite
this, God, the All-Merciful, promises us
eternal Paradise, the blessings and
beauties of which are beyond
imagination. So, we should, first of
all, think about God’s infinite mercy
which enfolds us and invites us to
Paradise.
Now,
we can discuss how a human being
deserves eternal punishment in so small
a time as life-time, and why God admits
him/her in Paradise in return for
his/her meritorious acts.
Intention
Intention
has a prominent place in our actions.
The Messenger of God, upon him be peace
and blessings, says:
Actions
are judged according to intentions:
whatever someone intends to do, he
gets the reward thereof. So, whoever
emigrates for God and His Messenger,
has emigrated for God and His
Messenger; and whoever emigrates to
acquire something worldly or to
marry a woman, his emigration is to
what he intends. (Sahih al-Bukhari,
Bad’u l-Wahy, 1; Sahih al-Muslim,
‘Imara, 155.)
Intention
is the spirit of our actions, without
which any action will not be rewarded.
If one remains hungry and thirsty from
daybreak to sunset without intending to
fast, he/she is not counted as having
fasted. If one fasts without intending
to obtain God’s good pleasure, he/she
does not get any reward for his/her
fasting. While one who is killed in a
war in which one has participated in
order that the Word of God may be
exalted or may have the upper hand, dies
a martyr and goes, by God’s will, to
Paradise, another who fights for another
cause like fame or wealth, does not die
a martyr and will most probably not be
admitted in Paradise. So, whatever one
intends, one gets the reward thereof.
One who has firm belief in God and other
pillars of faith and has the intention
to believe in them [as if one were to
live eternally] will be rewarded with
eternal felicity in Paradise. Another
one who, having already removed from
his/her heart the inborn tendency to
believe, is determined not to believe
even he/she were to live until eternity,
he/she will be the victim of his/her
eternal determination and deserve the
eternal punishment. About the people in
whose being unbelief is deeply ingrained
and who have lost the capacity to
believe, the Qur’an says:
As
for the unbelievers, it is the same
whether you warn them or warn them
not. They will not believe. God has
set a seal on their hearts and on
their hearing, and on their eyes
there is a covering. (al-Baqara,
2.6-7)
Punishment
is judged according to the nature of
the crime
Punishment
is judged according to the nature and
result of the crime and the intention of
the criminal in committing it, not to
how long it took the criminal to commit
the act.
The
punishment of murder, which in most
cases takes five minutes or even
seconds, ranges from imprisonment for
many years or for life to death. What is
considered here is the nature and result
of the crime, not the duration of its
committal. Unbelief is infinitely more
grave than murder. If you accuse a
truthful, innocent one of lying and
deception, he/she will be very angry
with you. Likewise, unbelief means the
denial of the true testimony of
innumerable creatures, from atoms to
huge galaxies, to the existence and
Unity of their Creator, and accusing
them of lying or false testimony. Again,
unbelief is the denial of God, Who is
the Unique Creator, Sustainer and
Administrator of the whole of existence,
and degradation of His innumerable works
of art. Unbelief is also an accusation
of more than one hundred thousand
Prophets, who, according to the
testimony of history and the people of
each, are the most truthful of
humankind, of the most abased form of
lying, deception and trickery. Again,
unbelief means accusing the followers of
the Prophets of following the greatest
tricksters of human history. It is also
an insult to and accusation of deception
and deviation against innumerable
believing men from the time of Adam. For
all these and other similar reasons, it
is pure justice to condemn unbelief to
the eternal punishment of Hell.
Unbelief
is an infinite destruction
However
insignificant the part of the free will
seems in our actions, and however slight
a sin unbelief may seem to some at first
sight, it is a denial and negation and
therefore destructive. Remember that we
likened the part of the free will in our
actions to turning on or off the switch
to illuminate or darken a room. So, by
turning off a switch you can reduce a
whole city to darkness. To cite other
examples, by lighting a match you may
burn to ashes in a few minutes a huge,
magnificent palace which hundreds of
workers constructed over several years.
Remember that it was a single bullet
fired by a Serbian which ignited the
fire of the First World War, and led to
millions of lives lost and massive
destruction.
Also,
suppose there is a garden with flowers
and trees of all kinds on the branches
of which birds sing, and in which all
kinds of animals live. All those plants
and animals subsist on the water
reaching them through canals, and a
person is in charge of irrigating the
garden by letting the water flow to the
canals from a big reservoir. What kind
of sentence do you think would be
appropriate if this person were to let
the garden with all the plants and
animals therein die of thirst by simply
turning off the flow of water? The act
of unbelief is equivalent to such an act
but on the scale of the creation as a
whole.
Unbelief
is an unforgivable ingratitude
Unbelief
is an unforgivable ingratitude. The one
who denies Him Who brought his/her into
existence from non-existence and endowed
him/her with many kinds of faculties
like reason, intellect, heart, memory,
and insight, and inner and outer senses,
and Who nourishes him/her with numerous
varieties of food and drink, has doomed
himself/herself to the punishment equal
to his/her action. As pointed out
earlier, if all the people in the world
came together to create a single fruit
or leaf or even a single blade of grass,
they could not do it. So, denial of the
One Who created this huge universe and
subjugated it to the use of humanity is
the severest and most abominable kind of
crime which deserves the most lasting
and severe kind of punishment. Also,
Satan always tries to deviate us and
invites us to unbelief and dissipation.
Our evil-commanding soul was given to us
so that we could rise to the highest of
the high by refining it. We have the
faculty of conscience which innately
feels the existence of God, the Creator
and Sustainer of beings, and feelings
which long for eternity and can be
satisfied only with eternity. An
unbeliever is he/she who, following in
the footsteps of Satan, has submitted to
the desires and seduction of his/her
evil-commanding self, closed the doors
of his/her conscience to innumerable
signs of God in both himself/herself and
the universe, extinguished his/her, and
more than all, blinded himself/herself
to the most manifest signs of the
Creator, namely the Quran and the
Prophet Muhammad and other Prophets,
upon them be peace.
Punishment
varies according to the one who
committed the crime
The
punishment for breaching a trust is
proportional to the significance of the
trust and its true owner. The punishment
given to a child who has broken the
window of an ordinary building is not
like that of the aide-de-camp of a king
who has lost or broken the crown of the
king. If, again, a private and an army
commander spent the capital that was
given to each according to his rank on
petty things and wasted it away, the
commander would certainly be tried at a
court-martial and sentenced to a much
greater punishment than the private.
Likewise, if a scientist responsible for
carrying out scientific investigations
behaved like a shepherd and spent the
resources assigned to his/her
investigations on trifling things,
certainly he/she would not be treated
the same as a shepherd who spent
resources assigned to him/her for
feeding sheep to meet his/her own needs.
Animals
spend the capital of life assigned for
them in the world without any misuse or
waste; they fulfill whatever they must:
some carry burdens, some give milk and
meat, and still some others produce
things like honey or silk for the use of
human beings. It is only a human being
that may spend whatever is given to
him/her in either the right or the wrong
way. So, despite being the most honored
of beings endowed with many faculties
like conscience, intellect,
consciousness, memory, and powers of
thinking and reasoning, as well as with
numerous inner and outer senses and
feelings, if a human being wastes all
these faculties, senses and feelings,
he/she will certainly deserve a severe
punishment. Particularly, if he/she lets
his/her evil-commanding self dominate
over his/her heart, which must overflow
with knowledge and love of the Creator,
he/she will undoubtedly be reduced to
being a kind of fuel for Hell.
The
Prophet says that at the sixth week of
the embryo’s development, God sends an
angel to write whether it will be
righteous and prosperous or wicked and
condemned. What does this mean, and how
can we reconcile it with human free
will?
In
addition to what has been said above, we
will make the few following comments.
Destiny
is a title of Divine Knowledge. It does
not cancel our free will or force us to
behave in a preordained way. Since God
knows beforehand what we will do and say
(as He is not constrained by our concept
of time), He has an angel to write down
our life-history. A human being behaves
according to the dictates of his or her
free will, not because God wrote down
his/her future life.
Destiny
is related both to the cause and effect.
There are not two separate destinies,
one for the cause, the other for the
effect. God knows beforehand how His
servant will behave in what
circumstances and His pre-knowledge does
not contradict a human being’s having
free will.
Only
God knows whether we will go to Paradise
or Hell. Although unbelief deserves
eternal punishment, we may not say that
unbelievers are going to Hell, for one
day they might accept belief and go to
Paradise. Many atheists have become
Muslims. Islam came to guide unbelievers
to faith and worship, and to eternal
happiness in Paradise.
What
does Islamic fitra (primordial nature)
mean?
In
an authentic hadith, the Prophet, upon
him be peace and blessings, says that
all infants are born with this Islamic
fitra, and then their parents cause them
to adopt another faith (or no faith at
all).
This
hadith means that everyone has the
innate potential to become a Muslim.
Meaning peace, salvation, and obedience,
Islam is the natural religion of all
creatures. Since everything obeys God
absolutely and functions according to
His laws, all creatures are muslim.
Every being’s bodily structure,
regardless of religion or lack thereof,
whether they are human or jinn, are
muslim, for all bodies operate according
to the laws God Almighty determined for
them. If an infant led a completely
monastic life free of environmental
effects, he or she would remain a “natural”
Muslim.
This
hadith also means that an infant’s
mind is like a tape on which anything
can be recorded, a lump of dough that
can be shaped in any way, a blank paper
on which anything can be written. If you
could protect yourself against any
external thing that would corrupt your
mind, you could receive anything related
to Islam easily and become a perfect
Muslim. But if your mind becomes impure,
or you inject into it the tenets,
beliefs, and conduct of another religion
(or of atheism), you either will adopt
another faith or encounter many problems
on your way to becoming a good Muslim.
Infants
are like seeds that can produce good
Muslims, for they are all seeds of
future Muslims. Adverse conditions cause
these seeds to be deformed or spoiled,
and these people eventually adopt
another faith or none at all. Therefore,
to grow good Muslims, we have to do our
best to improve our familial and
surrounding social conditions. After
children reach puberty, sins are a
primary cause of deformed seeds. As
every sin has the potential to lean
sinners to unbelief, we must protect
ourselves against sin. Family,
education, and social environment are
also of great importance.
What
does guidance mean, and can we guide
someone else?
Guidance
is a light that God kindles in you
because you use your own free will in
the way of belief. Only God guides one
to the truth, as pointed out repeatedly
in the Quran: If God willed, he could
have brought them all to the guidance
(6:35); If it had been your Lord’s
will, all who are on earth would have
believed, altogether (10:99); You do not
guide whom you like, but God guides whom
He wills (28:56); and For verily You
cannot make the dead to hear, nor can
you make the deaf to hear the call when
they have turned to flee. Nor can you
guide the blind out of their deviation.
You can make none to hear save those who
believe in Our Revelation so that they
surrender and become Muslims. (30:52-3).
Since
it is God Who guides, we implore Him in
every rak‘a of our daily prescribed
prayers, saying: Guide us to the
Straight Path (1:6). God’s Messenger,
upon him be peace and blessings, says: I
have been sent to call people to belief.
Only God guides them and places belief
in their hearts.
The
Quran also contains other verses
stating that God’s Messenger calls and
guides people to the Straight Path,
among them: Surely you call them to the
Straight Path (23:73); and Thus We have
revealed a Spirit to you from Our
Command. You did not know what was the
Scripture, nor what the Faith was, but
We have made it a light whereby We guide
whom We will of Our servants. You are
indeed guiding to a Straight Path
(42:52).
The
verses do not contradict each other. God
creates everyone with the potential to
accept belief; but the family, along
with existing educational and social
conditions, have a certain role in one’s
guidance or misguidance. To call people
to belief, God sent Messengers, some of
whom received Revealed Books, throughout
human history so that people could
reform themselves. Prophet Muhammad,
upon him be peace and blessings, is the
last Messenger, and the Quran that He
revealed to him is the last and only
uncorrupted Divine Book.
The
Quran contains the principles of
guidance. The Messenger provides
guidance, whether through the Book or
through his personality, conduct, and
good example. He recites the Divine
Revelations and shows the signs of God
to his people (or to humanity at large,
in the case of Prophet Muhammad), and
points out their misconceptions,
superstitions, and sins.
Every
thing, event, and phenomenon in the
universe is a sign pointing to God’s
Existence and Unity. Therefore, if we
believe sincerely and without prejudice,
and struggle against carnal desire and
the temptations of our evil-commanding
self and Satan, and if we use our free
will to find the truth, God will guide
us to one of the ways leading to Him. He
declares in the Qur’an: Fear God and
seek the means [of approach to and
knowledge of] Him, and strive in His way
in order that you may succeed and be
prosperous [in both worlds] (5:35); As
for those who strive in Us [in Our way
and for Our sake and to reach Us], We
surely guide them to Our paths; and
verily God is with the good (29:69); and
Whoever fears God [and keeps his duty to
Him], He will appoint a way out for him
(62:2).
In
order to find or deserve guidance, we
must sincerely strive for it and search
for the ways leading to it. Those whom
God blesses with guidance should first
show that they have received it by
setting a good example, and then call
others to it through every lawful
(Islamic) means. God repeatedly commands
His Messenger to do just that in these,
and other, verses:
Warn
your tribe of near kindred [of their
end and the consequences of their
deeds and of the punishment of
Hell]. (26:214)
Remind
and give advice, for you are one to
remind. (88:21)
Proclaim
openly and insistently what you are
commanded. (15: 94)
Call
to the path of your Lord with wisdom
and fair exhortation, and reason
with them in the most courteous
manner. (16:125)
Surely
in the Messenger of God you have a
good example for him who hopes for
God and the Last Day, and remembers
God oft. (33:21)
God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings, conveyed God’s Revelations
to people, called them to belief in the
best and most effective way, and endured
great difficulty and persecution for
doing so. He refused the most alluring
bribes designed to make him stop calling
people to belief in One God, and
continued his mission without expecting
any worldly reward. Since he sought only
God’s pleasure and the prosperity of
people in both worlds, when he conquered
Makka (with God’s help) and thus made
His Word prevail, he forgave the Makkans
who had persecuted him ruthlessly for 21
years, saying: “No reproach, this day,
shall be on you! God will forgive you,
He is the Most Merciful of the Merciful.
Go! You are freed.” (I. Sa‘d, al-Tabaqat
al-Kubra’, 2.142; I. Ishaq, al-Sirat
al-Nabawiyya, 2:402.)
God’s
Messenger once said to ‘Ali: If
someone finds guidance at your hand,
this is better for you than having red
camels. (Bukhari, Jihad, 102; Muslim,
Fada’il al-Sahaba, 35.) [“Red camels”
is a metaphor (used by the Arabs of
medieval ages) for the most precious
thing one can have in the world. (Tr.)]
According
to the rule The one who causes is like
the doer, one who leads someone else to
guidance receives whatever the latter
earns without any decrease in his or her
own reward. Similarly, God’s Messenger
says:
Whoever
establishes a good path receives the
same reward as those who follow that
path thereafter until the Last Day
without any decrease in their
reward; whoever establishes an evil
path is burdened with the same sins
as those who follow it thereafter
until the Last Day, without any
decrease in their burden. ( 6.
Muslim, Zakat, 69; I. Maja,
Muqaddima, 203.)
If
you lead other people to guidance, never
remind them by saying, for example: “You
found guidance only because of me.”
This is a grave sin and ingratitude to
God, for only God guides and causes you
to lead others to guidance. Similarly,
those who were led to guidance through
you should never say, for example: “Without
you, I would never have been guided.”
If
you lead others to guidance, you should
think something like: “Praise be to
God, for He has used such a poor and
needy one like me to achieve this
meritorious deed of leading someone else
to guidance. God is so powerful,
merciful, and munificent to His servants
that He creates clusters of grapes on
wood. As wood has no right to ascribe to
itself the grapes growing on it, I also
cannot attribute another’s guidance to
myself.” As for those who find
guidance, they should think something
like: “God, my Master, saw my need and
helplessness and allowed His servant to
lead me to guidance. All praise be to
Him.”
Nevertheless,
those who are led to guidance can feel
thankful to the one whom God used to
guide them. After all, since God created
us and our actions, He also creates the
means that enable guidance and
misguidance. But this does not negate or
diminish the part of our own free will
in our guidance or misguidance.
|
|
