|
KNOWLEDGE
OF THE UNSEEN
The
concept of the Unseen pertains
to what is supra-sensory and
metaphysical or even
meta-cosmic. In this sense, the
past, as well as the future and
everything beyond ordinary human
senses are all included in the
concept of the Unseen, provided
that some concrete indications
have not been manifest. However,
in a narrower sense of the
concept, the Unseen pertains
only to the future and what I
intend here to concentrate on is
the tidings God’s Messenger
gave of certain future events.
The
knowledge of the Unseen is,
first of all, with God. This is
evident from some Quranic
verses, such as the following:
With
Him are the keys of the
Unseen, none knows them
but He. He knows whatever
is in the earth and in the
sea. Not a leaf falls but
He knows it. There is not
a grain in the darkness of
the earth nor anything
wet, fresh or dry but is
in a Manifest Record.
(6:59)
Say,
[O Muhammad]: ‘I do not
tell you that with me are
the treasures of God, nor
that I know the Unseen,
nor do I tell you that I
am an angel. I but follow
what is revealed to me’.
Say: ‘Are the blind and
the one who sees equal?
Will you not then reflect’?
(6:50)
Say:
‘I have no power over
any benefit or harm to
myself except as God
wills. If I had the
knowledge of the Unseen, I
should increase good for
myself and no evil should
have touched me. I am but
a warner and a bringer of
glad tidings unto people
who believe’. (7:188)
These
verses clearly state that the
knowledge of the Unseen is with
God. Does this, however, mean
that no one can, by God’s
leave, obtain any part of the
knowledge of the Unseen?
Can
no one obtain any part of the
knowledge of the Unseen?
Everything
man has, like health,
knowledge, and power,
essentially belongs to
God and is, accordingly,
from God. We have no
power except that with
which He has endowed us
. We have no knowledge
except what He has
taught us or what He has
enabled us to learn.
Likewise, we see through
His enabling us to see
and hear through His
enabling us to hear.
Since this is so, the
verses do not absolutely
exclude man from
possessing, by God’s
leave, some knowledge of
the Unseen.
The
concept of the Unseen
does not only relate to
the future, it also
relates to the past. The
Quran presents the
stories of past nations
as the stories of the
Unseen. Historical
researches make us
informed of the past.
Many
people can, by God’s
Will, get some glimpse
of the future, partly or
generally, in dreams or
through some other ways
which it is not proper
to explain here.
The
Quran, like the universe
and man, is an organic
entity, each verse being
interrelated to the
others. So, the first
and foremost interpreter
of the Quran is the
Quran itself. In which
case, the complete and
true understanding of a
verse depends on the
understanding of other
relevant verses. As a
principle of creed, and
as explicitly declared
in the verses mentioned
above, the knowledge of
the Unseen, like power,
seeing, and hearing,
belongs to God. However,
He reveals the knowledge
of some of the Unseen to
a Messenger whom He has
chosen, as declared in
the following verse:
[God
alone is] the knower
of the Unseen and He
does not disclose His
Unseen to anyone,
except a Messenger
whom He has chosen.
(72:26-7)
Normally,
no one can know exactly what
will take place in future, even
a few minutes later. Scientists
are not certain about even
natural events which take place
according to ‘deterministic’
laws; they state that they
cannot say with certainty that
the world will be in the same
state as it is in now.
Sociologists and historians have
spoken about historical laws
that they have claimed to be
based on historical events or
the flow of history but history
has contradicted almost all of
them including historians and
those who favor some notion of
continual progress in history
like Marx, Weber, Fichte, Hegel,
Herder and others.
The
knowledge of the future is only
with God Almighty. However, He
may favor whomever He pleases
with some part of this
knowledge. If a man is convinced
about the news he gives
concerning the future, he can
only be a Messenger of God.
The
Prophet Muhammad, upon him be
peace and blessings, made
numerous predictions about the
future, and history has not
contradicted them. Like the
information he gave about the
past, his predictions are also
to be found in the Quran and in
books of Tradition.
|
|
