Every system, an orderly creation, have rules that must be enforced to preserve the integrity of the system. When we plan to migrate to a well-established city, we must also prepare ourselves to follow its rules and regulations devised by its legislatures and implemented by its assigned officials.
The whole universe and the earth we all live in is an orderly creation of a one unique God. To maintain the integrity and safety of this world, there must be a global system of operation intact so all of its inhabitants live in peace and tranquility. One question naturally lands itself in the mind of a wise person; who should manage this global worldwide system of operation?
Serving the Human Needs
While independent in every respect, the Almighty Allah (God), with His immense power, has created the world of existence and its various creatures, allowing them to enjoy His countless blessings. Due to the fact that Allah creates everything, wisdom dictates that its fostering also depends upon Him.
Due to this divine fostering, every creatures of this earth, from inception to its birth and to its full growth endeavor for their survival, strives to remove its imperfections, eliminates its shortcomings one after another, makes itself independent and self-sufficient as much as possible, and moves in an orderly manner in its path of survival and existence.
They are each led toward a known and determined goal of perfection with a particular order and system. They proceed towards their ends while they derive countless benefits from His noteworthy blessings.
Reflecting on various stages of our lifetime, the period of infancy, childhood, youth, and old age, our conscience will testify Allah’s complete favors to us. Every new-born arrives in the world endowed with eyes to see, ears to hear, a nose to smell and breathe, hands to touch, feet to walk and a mind to think.
All those potentialities, powers and faculties that a man needs or can need are most carefully provided and marvelously set in his well-perfected tiny body. Every minute requirement is foreseen and provided for.
When we become more aware of this matter, our wisdom will undoubtedly judge that the Creator of the world is more compassionate to His creatures than anyone else is. Due to this compassion and favor, Allah always considers their interests and never consents to the corruption and defect of their affairs without wisdom and expediency.
It is the same with the world he lives in. Everything essential for his life is provided: air, light, heat, water and so on. A child on opening his eyes, finds his food in his mother’s breast. His parents love him instinctively and, in their hearts, has been implanted an irresistible urge to look after him, to bring him up and to sacrifice their all for his welfare.
Under the sheltering care of His system of sustenance the child grows to maturity and at every stage of his life obtains from nature all that he needs. All the material conditions of survival and growth are provided for, he finds that the whole Universe is at his service.
In summary, every reproduction and developmental phenomena of a living creature has a specific evolutionary process for its survival which is traversed by its special endeavors. In other words, in the path of their survival, worldly creatures of each particular group have a series of specific functions assigned to them by Allah.
As the Holy Qur’an, with reference to this fact, states:
“…Our Lord is He Who gave to everything its creation, then guided it (to its goal) (20:50).”
In general, a specific order and process applies to all types of creation without any exception. It includes the stars, the earth, and their components, compositions that generate primary phenomena, plants, and animals. Man’s condition is the same as others, in this universal guidance, but there is a difference between him and others.
The Need of True Guidance for Humanity
Due to dual dimensions of a man, namely soul and body, he needs to achieve perfection in both of these dimensions. There must be clear guidelines for man to prosper in both of these dimensions.
For the perfection of his soul, besides being sincere, realistic and benevolent; a man must possess true beliefs, praiseworthy ethics, and good deeds. For his bodily health, he must also know what foods are healthy and which ones are harmful.
One may say that with his God-granted wisdom, man can distinguish between good and bad, between harmless and dangerous, between helper and transgressor and can reach a destination from thinking and research.
However, it is important to observe that intellect and wisdom alone cannot lead man to ultimate salvation and benevolence. One can easily witness the absence of peace in this world, is in fact, due to aggressions of one group over the other and of one nation over the other in spite of all their well-developed educational institutions.
All the indecent characteristics and unjust actions witnessed in the human society are committed by those who possess intellect and discernment. However, as a result of selfishness, profit- seeking, and lushness, their intellect and wisdom has been overcome by their sentiments and they have bowed to their carnal desires, leading them astray.
Therefore, the Almighty Allah must lead and invite us to prosperity through some other ways and through means which can never be overcome by carnal desires and which never make blunders or mistakes in their guidance. This path is nothing but the path of Prophethood.
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References
The following sources are used to prepare the above article.
- Group of Scholars, Rationality of Islam (1978), under the auspices of Ayatullah Sayyid Abu’l Qasim al-Khu’i, Publisher: Islamic, Seminary Publications, Pakistan
- Mohamad Jawad Chirri, Inquiries About Islam (1986), Publisher: The Islamic Center of America, Dearborn Michigan, USA.