Arguments for Resurrection – Part 30

Seedbed of Light (continuation page 62)

• “Wisdom, Favor, Mercy, and Justice require the afterlife.

Consider how the Eternal Lord and Everlasting Sovereign displays the works and traces of His Wisdom, Favor, Justice and Mercy in this transient world. He does so to the degree that anyone with open eyes and an unsealed heart must conclude that there can be no wisdom more perfect than His, and no justice more glorified than His. All these works and traces may be the means for manifesting the truths of this Wisdom, Favor, Mercy and Justice.”

If I am not conscious in my existence now, what is the point of thinking about an afterlife?

• Think of your existence as much as you can by reminding yourself of “death”. Why are things brought to life and given death?

What does an “unsealed heart” refer to?

1. Someone who uses his human qualities to search for the purpose of his/her existence.
2. Someone who does not feel that s/he has attained the ultimate peak of seeking answers to his/her questions.

Aren’t we supposed to have a satisfied heart?

Yes, but with the quest to always be open to listening to our doubts (which are always there) and go on with the question and answer process. In other words, a satisfied heart without room for further investigation can become a “sealed heart” or a heart with biased pre-conceived conclusions.

• One’s ability to question further is accompanied with the evidences manifested in this world which are also continuous, we have to refresh, its non-stop.

Every moment we are given the opportunity to choose between options. That is how the order is set. For example, I may sow a seed or I may not sow a seed. Both are opportunities that are presented to me in the form of options which is part of the order and thus if I obey one of them, then I am obeying to the Order-er. It is the One who sets the order and decides what is happening but as far as I am concerned, it just gives me the opportunity to choose in between options.

God speaks from his perspective and expects me to understand the meaning or message from my perspective.

Verse: “God; has sealed their hearts and their hearing, and over their eyes is a veil; and awesome suffering awaits them.” Qur’an, 2: 7

Why doesn’t it say: “You sealed your heart”?

The above verse means that since I am put in a place where everything is already set as far as the order of the universe is concerned; my responsibility is only to choose what is out there for me. That is to say, if I choose not to use my human qualities, the result of that choice gets created by the Order-er. Everything is created by It and therefore, I set myself up for sealing my heart based on the order that I obey or follow. I do not seal my heart by myself because I do not create the result. Based on the order that I follow, the result gets created. The order in the universe is set such that if I choose to question and seek answers by being open to investigating alternative ideas, then I am following that particular order set in the universe. I am also free to follow the order which does not require any further investigation from my end. Whatever order one chooses to follow, the ultimate result is created by the One that sets this order.

• I am set free by my Creator and whatever I choose; I am responsible for the result that is created for me.
• My responsibility is just to follow the order by being conscious that whatever I choose, I am not creating the result because I am a created being.

Another verse to look into in terms of how to approach reading the Quran:

Verse: “I am Absolute (Ahad).”

For me it is saying: “O Reader! You have to find evidence in the world that I am Absolute.” This meaning that I got is guidance for me. But how do I know that it is God’s word?

• Only after investigation and checking for evidence in one’s existence and the universe can this claim becomes God’s word for you. As a result of which, you may say: “This is my investigation within my own existence and this message can only be from my Creator.”

The above is my subjective conclusion. Subjectivity is inevitable for everyone. Even the interpreters of the scriptures interpret the claim of “the word of God” with their own understandings which maybe plagued with their own personal preferences and conditions. Similarly, the narrations (known as “hadiths”) are also the narrator’s understandings. Human beings are fallible individuals. Therefore, narrations or interpretations are not considered “innocent”. Even the Messengers who conveyed them unto people are not “innocent” because they are human beings and again, men and women are fallible individuals. The Prophet (PBUH) also had to interpret the message for himself which he shared with people around him explicitly saying: “This is my understanding.” When he applied that understanding into his practical life, he must have made a lot of mistakes. Again, human beings are fallible individuals. However, in his transmission of the message, he is innocent but in the application of the message, if he makes a mistake, because he is employed by the Creator to represent His Message, he is corrected.

Therefore, the word of God and narrations cannot be deemed equal. However, in its content, the narration can be used to extract “meaning” or the message while reading the Scripture (Quran).

• The narrations from the Prophet (PBUH) is not the word of God.
• Word of God by its definition is Absolute.

What does Prophet-hood mean? We need to be seriously thinking about such question. Only after confirming the message as the word of my Creator can I confirm the truthfulness of Prophet-hood. “This guidance is from my Creator and so the one who transferred it to me must be employed by the Creator.”

As the universe keeps renewing itself, we need to keep renewing our evidences, reasoning and conclusions. That is the condition of the universe. Nothing is static here. No body’s mind is static, it is always entertained with various thoughts and ideas.