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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. |
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