Arguments for Messengership – Part 2

The Reasonings (page 103)

While this elevated proclamation is the basis of Islam, it is also the loftiest and most luminous flag waving in the heavens.  The belief, which is a pledge we gave to God in pre-eternity and through which we are bound to God, is epitomized in this sacred proclamation.  And Islam, which is the pure water of life, has its source in this pure spring.  This proclamation is an eternal “royal decree” given into the hands of those who among humankind have been appointed to the palace of eternal happiness which they have been promised.  It is also the luminous map of the heart, which is the spiritual faculty given to humans by the Lord, the King of Eternity, to know and make Him known, and to believe in Him, and as a window that opens on the worlds of the Unseen.  Furthermore, it is a fluent orator, presenting the mysterious, eloquent oration of the conscience to the whole universe, and an eternal decree at the disposal.”

Human beings are created with the capacity to connect with the universe.  Human capacity is expected to work alongside with the universe.  If I am conscious of this creation and I am interacting with this creation, then there must be a reason for this experience.  According to the conditions of this world, my human feelings work alongside the universe.

How come I am fully aware of my human senses interacting with this world?

Conscience means to be honest to one’s own reality/being and not to deviate/distort one’s being.  When the Prophets come with messages, these messages speak to human conscience.  Human conscience represents all human faculties including the heart where feelings lie.  The message should be addressing to our conscience and one’s conscience cannot not reject it which means that there is no contradiction between one’s conscience, the universe and the message.

Human capacity and diversity of senses is so wide that it includes everything in the universe.  The universe means the material appearance of the world.  Example: I have my feelings, but the feelings operate with the universe i.e. in connection with the universe.   If this universe has a message in its existence i.e. the universe is a sign pointing to something, then human beings must be able to decipher these signs.  Otherwise if I am not able to detect the signs, then the universe means nothing to me.  In this case, I cannot interpret the signs and it is as if the universe does not exist for me if I have no sense of it or if I am not aware of it.  But I have a sense and the universe has a quality and I am in connection with the universe.  Through this connection, I am enabled to interpret and understand what these signs/things in the universe point to.  As far as my human capacity is concerned, the following are all meaningful.

• Human feelings + universe= have a meaning.

Through human qualities, we can interpret meanings.  If someone says: “I have got news from your Creator who is the Creator of the universe, what would you expect from this news?”

This news should not contradict with the meaning I extract from the universe and what I feel within myself.  In other words, this news, the universe and my human ability to interpret signs of creation and understanding the news from the universe is all in conjunction.

Human beings are given freedom to accept what conscience says or go against it.  We are not bound to follow what our conscience says.  Example:  In the story of Moses and Pharaoh, Moses represent human conscience and Pharaoh represent the ability to deny, not accept but reject one’s conscience.

• That is what human beings do. Reject and try to disprove what is true just to make himself or his choice look right.  Dangerous! 

Conscience speaks to human caprices which are prone to rejecting the truth and goes against his own conscience.  Although human feelings have truthfulness (yaqeen) of the message, human beings are free to reject the truth even when conscience speaks the truth.

• Lesson: Understand yourself and the psychology of people who deny (munkir/kaafir) i.e. denying or covering up the truth.

What is expected of you to deny something?

• You must know it.

The denying attitude is like a thief pleading non-guilty in front of a judge.  That is what denial (kufr) is when you know that you are a thief but in front of the judge you say that you have not stolen the goods.  In other words, you are denying/rejecting the reality.

If you do not know something, then you are not a denier but ignorant.  If you do not know something, then there is no way for you to accept/reject it either.

Therefore, in the narration of Moses, he spoke to the assembly of Pharaoh by demonstrating several signs which represent all your senses including egoistic desires.  The people of Pharaoh (i.e. your senses) are aware of the truthfulness of the signs but human freewill denied the message.

• This psychological analysis between Moses and Pharaoh is exactly what is going on within us.

Scenario: Bob makes everything clear to Joe who understands it, but this does not mean that Joe will confirm it and subsequently submit to it.

At the end of the day, everyone is free to confirm the truth or not.  That is why the Quran reminds us through the duty of the Prophets that one’s duty is to convey the reality to human beings.  “I understand does not really mean that I confirm it.”  I must constantly check myself.  This is a “subtle experience” of human beings where we think that if we understand something then we will confirm it and if we do not understand something then we will deny it.  As far as other people are concerned, we should let them be aware of the truth and nothing further.

• No one can control anyone’s freewill—under an emotional outburst, a person may adhere to the truth but as their practical life progresses, it is void of the confirmation of the truth.
• I must be careful about myself—am I using my freewill to deny something that I know as truth?

Conscience means to be honest to oneself.

• Our main responsibility is not to learn the truth but to be honest with ourselves.
• Check my freewill whether I am using it to confirm or deny what I already know.

Universe demonstrates that the truth is clear with evidence.  The Quran also emphasizes that the truth is clear/Mubeen.  Nothing is ambiguous even within your feelings.  The only thing that remains for us is to be honest to ourselves by watching about my own usage and practice of freewill.  Example: there is a path that says wrong way and your conscience is aware that it is wrong, but you distort yourself by justifying the wrong way to be right because you want it that way.  Human beings can do that i.e. finding excuses not to submit to the truth fully.  In other words, truly understanding something and then go on round about it in order not to submit to the truth fully.

Verse: “They deny the truth knowingly” Quran (2: 146)

• If someone does not pay attention to the practice of his/her freewill, then this person can never get the truth regardless of whether s/he gets into the detail of knowing everything about the universe and the Quran.

IMPORTANT to QUESTION: Am I really getting myself ready to confirm the truth or not?

You do not have to struggle to see the truth because it is so clear and obvious, and anyone can see it.  No one says that I am not created unless they are mentally sick.  Similarly, people can accept that they are made and then not accept it for other material reasons.

Comment: If you are not searching for the truth, then you are in denial.

The truth is within us.  We just need to unravel it using the easiest means that requires no struggle.  The following three teachers are made accessible to us:

1. Message from the universe is clear.
2. Message from my human conscience is clear.
3. Message from the Creator (through Prophet) is clear.

According to our usage of freewill, we employ the above three teachers to help us unravel the truth.  No one teacher adds anything extra to what we are encoded with.  Each teacher is much needed and plays an equal role to discovering the truth.  Even if a person is blind and deaf of hearing, don’t you see that s/he has the ability to know that s/he exists and thus questions the Source of its Existence.

• Even if someone does not have an experience of the observational universe, the human conscience is within each one of us and that is what makes us a human being.

Again, we must watch out our practice of freewill.  My freewill is the pivot in my progress in understanding the truth.  According to the direction of my freewill, I am collecting more evidence to confirm my choice.  That is, I am getting ready to apply and confirm what the teacher is teaching as far as I can see.  We need to learn and collect more data to convince our feelings.

• If someone collects data just to get information about things and others, rather than applying it to himself/herself, then this person is wasting time and does not want to accept the understanding.

Comment:  Are we searching for a scripture (manual book) that makes sense?

What you know is that the One who has given you existence must explain to you why you are given existence.  If you reason in the right way, then you seek for guidance: “Since I am made here, I question the reason for everything i.e. why do things exist?  So, you search for a verbal explanation from the Maker of the universe explaining how to use the universe and yourself.  That is seeking guidance.

• BUT FIRST you must check your freewill: “Why are you doing that?”
• You cannot search for guidance without realizing who you are fully and what the universe points to.

People who do not search for guidance just go with the evidence that they see from the universe and their conscience.  That is their responsibility.  As far as I am concerned, I am aware that this universe is so meaningful, and this Maker must really explain why I am here and why is the universe here?

What is expected of me from the Maker?  I must search for it.

Why am I aware of this?  In order to progress in your awareness of the meaning of your existence, you get more conviction, not more information.  The verbal speech or the scripture is just a guide like a teacher helps us explain the purpose of the universe and human consciousness to making it easy for me to go in my journey.

Comment:  The scripture tells us that: “I am the One that is giving you this feeling and making you experience the universe” and so in a way it adds something extra to your belief.

Again, the scripture does not give anything extra, it just helps you unravel what is already in your being.  Analogy:  You are a tourist in Manhattan and you need to sit down at a park. (“Need to sit down” is innate to you.)  You can either look for a park on your own or you can ask a guide to direct you towards the park.  Similarly, the need for getting explanation to our existential human questions is within us (WHY AM I GIVEN EXISTENCE?)  and so, the choice of searching and reaching out for a verbal speech is one’s choice.

How am I aware that there must be a verbal explanation?

I look at myself, the universe and the reality out there.  There are some people who claim that they have verbal explanation for the purpose of the existence of this universe.  Why should then I turn blind to it?  Like we said, in order to deny, you must know.

Those people who have not heard about it, they are not responsible since they never heard about it.  However, it is innate in human beings that there must be a verbal speech, but it needs to come out through some news we hear.  But if there is no means which reminds me to look for a verbal explanation, then I do not know.

• THINK ABOUT YOURSELF NOT OTHER PEOPLE.

I am aware that the universe is so meaningful and there must be a verbal explanation for the purpose of this kind of existence and teaches me or guides me how to make things easy for me to follow.  YOUR CONSCIENCE is there.  You must search for it until you find a consistency with what the text and what your conscience approves without being biased.

• Let us speak about ourselves.
• We cannot speak about other people.

How do I become aware that there must be a verbal speech?  As a human being, you question: is it true? Do I follow this one or do I follow another one?  Some say that Buddhism is the answer to human inquiry.

Potentiality I can swim, and I need training.  Only after training in swimming does it become an ability.  After being trained, this potentiality becomes operating in practical life.  Does it add anything extra to my creation?  No.  But I needed to learn it in order to be able to practice it.

Quran says that belief in God is human nature “fitree”.  Abraham introduced belief which is one’s innate nature (30: 30) He just helps us to discover.  That is why the Quran regards itself as guide or teacher Quran (2: 2; 27: 77; 31: 3; 55: 2)