Arguments for Messengership – Part 31
The Reasonings (page 132)-
“The third point is that there are many kinds of knowledge which are only of theoretical meaning and value for Bedouins, while being commonly known in the civilized world. Therefore, to study and know the states of the Bedouins, you need to go to the desert in your mind. If you like, you can consult in this matter the Second Premise located in the first part of this book.”
What is the main subject i.e. why are we reading this text for?
We are exploring the Messengership of Muhammad and how we can verify his Prophethood particularly. But first, do we really need Messengership? Is that true? Is there any need for an institution of Messengership?
If we conclude at the end of our readings thus far that there must be an institution of Messengers, i.e. if we are satisfied that there must be a Messenger, then the Creator who created this universe must answer my questions. To ask questions is human. We will ask questions within our human capacity. But to get the answers to human questions (existential questions) cannot be human.
- Questions are human and answers are Divine.
Human beings with their capacity can ask questions because we are in a close universe. We have consciousness and consciousness questions within human capacity. What is the Source of existence? What is the purpose of existence? Why are we here? What is expected of us in this universe? These questions are human questions and are legitimate questions. If someone does not ask these questions, then he is not a human being, rather just a living creature. Answers to these human questions cannot be produced by a human. That is, a human cannot provide the answers to these existential questions because existential questions ask about the Source of Existence and the reason of Existence, and the universe does not reveal it. The universe can only point to it with its physical being. The universe is quiet there. The universe shows that it is interesting: “I am wonderful, and I cannot be my source of existence by myself, someone is doing something on me.” Who is that one giving existence to you? The universe does not tell verbally anything.
Analogy: Food is ready here. You say: “What should I do?” Your hunger tells you eat it. That is not an existential question. Existential questions are: why is the food ready there? Why does the food exist? Why the One who prepared the food for me has prepared it, how and why did He do that? Food only says with its physical appearance that I am prepared by a Conscious being, nothing more.
Human beings ask existential questions. If human beings do not ask existential questions, they develop materialist mindset. This is what materialists do: “Here I am hungry, food is ready, and food is inviting me to eat it and I am eating it. That is it”. Materialist worldview is about acting in the universe just like an animal. Example: When the cat is hungry, and you put food in her container, does the cat ask why did you put the food there? No, the cat just instantly goes and eats food.
- Those people who do not question the purpose in existence and the source of existence are like cats.
Have you ever seen any materialist asking why is the food prepared for us? They are only concerned with how it is, not how it is prepared? They never ask is it possible to happen by chance? What is chance, anyways? They are conscious beings and they say that if we do not eat, then we cannot survive. Our instinct forces us to survive. Why? That is how it is. Don’t be misled by their big technical words! They are not thinking deeply. Their thinking is very shallow, so simple! If they do ask existential questions, then they say that is how we are with our instincts, and we must survive.
- If I do not eat, then I do not survive is an animalistic approach to existence. They say: “In this world, only the ones which fit the environment survive. So, that is why I eat: To survive.” Why do you want to survive? Where did you get this sense of “need to survive” is not the question for them.
We are free to ask all sorts of questions. We are here to ask all sort of questions. The answer to existential questions go beyond the limit of this universe, so the universe cannot provide the answers. Ask the tree: why do you exist? The tree will say that my existence is wonderful, exciting, and extraordinary. Here I am, but it does not utter anything verbally. Although, the existence of the tree urges us to ask the question, why does it exist?
The tree says that I am wonderful, and I do not exist by myself. You say: who made you, why do you exist? No answer. Any existential human question requires an answer which is beyond the limits of this universe. That is why the Maker of this universe must reveal the answers in various forms (verbal and written), otherwise He would have made a non-sense creation and stupid existence. Why? Because human beings would have been reduced to an animal life, like materialists live i.e. thinking and talking animals. Animals also get together, mate and communicate with each other. The difference is that human beings ask questions. If a human being can ask the question but does not search for the answer, then that question is pointless. Also, if there is no answer available, what is the point in being able to ask the question? Hence, there must be an answer. That is, the Maker who made me and gave me the capacity to ask the question must reveal the answer.
If someone says that I am a Muslim or Christian and I have my religious source, and if they do not realize the meaning of this religious source since they find themselves in a certain religious culture and they refer to a text which in their eyes is from God, then How much do they benefit from it? Only as much as they ask the questions.
If someone reads the religious text without asking existential questions, then they are bound to imitate the text. The text is not for this purpose. If you ask the question, then you will find the answer in the text if the text is provided by the One who created the universe and human beings with their capacity to ask and seek the answer. If the text is not the Speech of the Creator of the universe, then it would not provide satisfactory answers to human beings. Another capacity of human being is that consciousness is so wonderful (it is a miraculous creation). We ask the question; the universe and I cannot produce the answer to the questions. When there is an answer claiming to be from the Creator, how do we know that it is from the Creator? Consciousness tells you and lets you know whether it fits to your human capacity or not. You can tell this after receiving the answer. Although, you cannot produce the answer. When the answer is given and if it is correct, according to your capacity, you confirm it. If it is not correct, then according to your capacity, you reject it i.e. this is not from the Creator of the universe and me.
Analogy: Machine and the manual. If the manual is prepared by the producer of the machine, what do you expect from the manual? Whatever the manual says, when you apply it, it will work. You say: yes, this manual must have been prepared by the Maker of the machine because it works. Because the one who made the machine is giving you directions or letting you know how to use it. If the manual is distorted or not prepared by the Maker of the machine, would we know it, wouldn’t we? Well, it would not give the right answer because human beings cannot produce the right answer to existential questions.
How am I going to apply it to our reality?
The first premise must be correct, otherwise everything else fails. Questions are humans and answers must be Divine.
When you read the Quran, you find some information there telling you something. What are you going to do with it? If you have the question, then you will notice that this statement in the Quran is the answer to your existential question. It must fit to your existence. If you do not ask a question, then you get the answer, but you do not know if that is the right answer because it is not an answer to a question for you. You did not ask the question! If you do not have a question, then the answer does not make sense and you just memorize the answer and claim that it is Divine. A Buddhist also does the same thing, so does a Christian: “This is our sacred book, whatever it says is correct.” Without having the question to read any text which claims to be the Divine Speech, answers do not make sense.
Comment: The questions are also Divine, aren’t they because they are given?
No. You are created. How do you know that you are created? Maybe you developed by yourself. This comes from an assumption. You must question: “Am I really created? If so, what is the Source of my creation? From a creation point of view, you are taking for granted that my creation is Divine. How do you know? That is a biased question.
Questions are humans, that is how we are created, we must ask questions and wonder. Then, look for the answers. Only then, if we are satisfied with the answers, can we say, I know now that even the capacity to ask the question is given to me by the One who created me.
Comment: Do I have to poke myself to ask questions?
When cat is hungry, cat comes and eats if it finds food. You, on the other hand, you ask: who prepared the food and you ask for permission from the Owner of the food: How does the food exist? That is very human and your reality. Why is the food there? I am hungry. Why am I hungry? Why am I made in this way? Who made me in this way? We should not equate ourselves to animals. Materialist people behave like this saying that I must survive, and I must fit the environment i.e. when I am hungry I must eat. When they ask how come things are as they are, they produce their own answer that is how it is. That is not an answer! But how come it exists? Again, there is no answer because the answer to any human question cannot be obtained within the universe. The universe does not answer the question because the universe points only to the Necessary Existence of its Creator and Its qualities. “There must be something”. How and why? How did you come into existence? Universe is a silent sign post, pointing to a Necessary Existent One but does not speak. For a questioning human being, becoming aware of Its existence after investigating, may see that the universe itself is a demonstration of its Creator’s Speech.
We are concerned with existential questions: What is the Source of Existence? What is the purpose of Existence?
If you want to understand the Prophetic mission, then you must first understand this reality that there must be a mission for me here, there must be an answer provided by my Maker and I must receive it. To receive this message, the Creator must employ someone who has the questions and is given the answer. This messenger was employed by the Maker to disseminate answers to human beings, that is their mission. Some people accept/reject the messengers, human beings are free to do so.
We first established that there must be a message and there must be messengers who are instructors of the message, explaining in the human terms to put belief system into practice, not religious rituals first (rituals are to follow secondarily). How can a person live in this world according to the fundamental teachings of the Quran? How do you see your existence in this world? All the examples in the Quran is about training human feelings and putting them on the right track.
How do we know that Muhammad as well is the instructor employed by God? To understand the claim of this person (Muhammad), a historical person to be one of the instructors, we must see him in terms of his historical context. That is why we must go back to his lifetime, which kind of teachings he introduced to people within the conditions of his lifetime. We are studying a historical person to understand what he really says is correct, we have to study in his historical context.
What is the text telling us?
The information side of it may be known to us such as moon, celestial bodies… but they were not known to the people around when Muhammad distributed the message. They are some information not known to Muhammad’s contemporary, but it is known to us for our interest. They did not know that time, but we know it now. Why is this important, this information side? It is an answer to human existential questions. Example: why don’t you look at the bird, how they fly in rows with the same species? (Qur’an (67): 19.) The birds are flying in rows. Who is making them? How do they communicate? By themselves? Do they have the capacity to do that? Instinct? Where did they get this instinct? Can the matter be the Source of existence of instinct? Ask yourself! Can the particles/substances be the Source of existence of instincts? Can the qualities of the birds be produced by matter itself? Being alive with a balance, symmetry and shape. Can the atoms be the architect of the shape of the beautiful designs on the birds where aerodynamics rule is applied? This is a question without limits of time. Every human being has this potentiality to ask these questions.
Since we are talking about the legitimacy of the claim of Muhammad to be employed by the Creator and transferred the Message (because we do not know Muhammad as a person), let me understand whether this is true or not. One side is existential question, very human and beyond time limit. Everyone is potentially able to ask this question: How does this universe exist? How did it come into existence? Why do we exist? These questions have no time limitations. There is some information known to you but during the life of Muhammad, they were not known. Muhammad gave these information to people and told them. Example: the message he brought tells that wind cause fertilization in plants. How? Do plants have male and female characteristics in their being? This is a very recent discovery. If at that time, the text said this clearly, I say, how would this man know it? This is an indication that this man’s message knew it. There are many other indications that prove that Muhammad was not producing anything, so the Speech must be coming from an Absolute Source.
In order to understand only the information side that we get from the scripture where this person says that this is from the Creator, not me, we have to look at the content of the information whether it was possible in his time to have this information. However, existential questions are timeless, and they cannot be argued from historical point of view. Only information side is considered in this third point. That is why the author says that you have to go to the desert in your mind and say: can the Bedouins know this?
We must make sure the difference between information and existential questions. Here, we are arguing about the information side. How about the answers to existential questions of his time? That is another subject. How did Muhammad make the change in the life of the people at his time? By providing them answers that satisfied their existential questions that made a radical change in these people’s lives. Why was Muhammad successful in his life? Not because he gave some strange information. If they did not know, then they would not appreciate it. Now that it is known, we appreciate it for other reasons. The contemporaries of Muhammad needed miracles, we need miracles which are valid for us now. I cannot say that I will believe in the Prophethood of Muhammad if he demonstrates in front of me a miracle. Can you say that? No, the man is dead. But you must have miracles as well. The information which was not available at his time but now is available for us may be considered as one type of the miracle for us. But the main miracle for us now is the answers provided in the Message, the Qur’an, to our existential questions and the confirmation of these answers by the universe.
Comment: what do we do with this information?
This person cannot be the source of what he was saying.
Comment: So, we do need to consider information from history?
At least to understand that this person cannot be the source of the message that he is introducing to me now within my life conditions in the Qur’an.
Comment: We can say that with any historical person.
We are not talking about source of existence of existential questions, we are just talking about information. Information in the Quran is different from the answers to human existential questions.
Comment: Answer to human existential questions in the form of information?
No. The information in the text that the Prophet brings to us is impossible to know in his lifetime.
Comment: So, some verses in the Quran is information.
Yes, some is presented in the form of knowledge. Example: if I tell you that I took the GW bridge to come here, then that is knowledge for you but if I tell you what you ate for breakfast, that would be a miracle to you because you would say how do I know? In his lifetime, Muhammad gave some information to us which was unknown to the people of his time, so it is a miracle for us. Whereas if he says that certain dates are fruits of Medina, that is knowledge that you would expect him to know because he was from Medina and the fruit was of that time. You would not treat this information as miracle because every mundane person knows that.
Comment: So, some verses revealed at that time for me become miracles if it is correct.
How those people were convinced for the verses unknown to them at that time? They were convinced through the performance of Muhammad’s personal miracles. Because we cannot have personal miracles now demonstrated in front of us, so we must have another miracle. That is why in Islamic tradition, it is said that the only miracle that we have left from the Prophet is the “Quran”. Why do they say this?
In fact, they should not and they were not able to deny what happened in the practical life of Muhammad in the form of demonstrating miracles. That is historical, and, it is not related to me. Example: They did not have enough water and that small amount became enough for a thousand people after Muhammad prayed on it… I did not see it, that is narration and you can dispute narration, but it does not mean that you must deny it since it is historical narration. What is real in front of you is what the Quran contains? Historically, you know that it was not possible to the people in his time to know how precisely the Qur’an answers to human questions, but it is known to everybody. That is a miracle for us. Miracles in both senses, information and existential, are demonstrating that this person cannot be the author of this book (historically) impossible. This is one aspect of certifying and making sure that Muhammad, what he claimed was not from him, he was appointed, a Messenger employed by God. When it comes to answer to existential questions, it must fit you now i.e. it must be convincing and satisfying for you now. But to understand that these answers are really fitting to my nature, what is required? You must have the questions. If you do not have questions, then you are obsessed by the miraculous information in the Quran, which is common among the practicing Muslims. You are admired by the information in miracles form, but you are not aware of the answers to your existential questions because you are not aware of your questions or you are not looking for it or as much as you should look for it, then you will be aware of it. Example: if you ask a simple question that this universe seems to be wonderful, can it happen by itself? No. The Quran says, a One who is the Source of existence of this universe can only be the Creator of this universe in its entirety and gave existence to this universe, who is called “God”. What happens now is that an existential question is answered at this level. How about what is the purpose of my life? I have to struggle, this is the worldly life. For those people who do not pay attention to the teachings of the Qur’an, there is no answer from it. What they do is that for them there is a Creator, but they live in this world like an animal who knows that the universe must be created by an Absolute being but living one stage above as an animal. It depends on how much questions you have (the level), then you will be sure that the answers provided in the Quran fits you and makes you feel confident in the fact that the Quran must be Divine answer to my questions. That is, the Quran must be the One which is provided by my Creator. So, then you can confirm that the Quran is the Divine answer. If someone does not have existential questions and take the present civilization for granted, then this person will be necessarily satisfied with information which is miraculous and they will say that the Quran has a lot of scientific interesting discoveries impossible to know in the time of Muhammad, there are important information in the Quran which is exciting and so it must be the word of God. Ok, if it is the word of God, what did you benefit from it? No question, no answer. What is the general trend among these majority of people? They jump into rituals. As a result, religion consists of rituals only, rather than intellectual satisfaction. Rituals are true, but it must be the result of intellectual satisfaction. Do you see the difference? If there is no intellectual satisfaction before the performance of rituals, then the rituals become very weak and a kind of habit, not harmful. Ok, you are not denying it, that is good but that is not the purpose of the Quran. The purpose of the Quran expects you to ask questions and provides you with the answers. That is the main function of the Speech of God. Then you organize your life according to your understandings of these answers. This is performed in the form of rituals, practical side of it. We have to make these distinctions and be aware of it, so we can benefit from the answers provided by my Creator as much as possible. Practically speaking, why don’t we study the Quran in general? How would the Quran answers our human questions, if we do not study that? Instead, what do we study? How to perform rituals. The main point is missing, and this author is telling us (not here) to establish the main point first, otherwise rituals become so artificial, unsatisfactory and lacks the real meaning and purpose. From one side, we must get the answer and be serious about studying the Quran. Afterwards, we can study the practical side of it which is usually demonstrated or presented to us through hadith narrations i.e. how the Prophet used to do/perform certain actions (which is an extension of one’s conviction in belief.) The fundamental side should not be missed.
Comment: Quran is a live speech.
Quran is an Eternal Speech, Divine Answer which has no time limitations (by definition). If it is a Divine answer, then it should not be treated within a certain time-period.
Comment: Where do I put in Messenger-ship in there?
The one who presents it to you and lives accordingly, not only action wise i.e. rituals. We must understand the education the Prophet has received through the Quran.
Comment: You must look at the Prophet from a historical context then?
Historical context about what?
Comment: His claim to be a Messenger.
That is only the claim to be one of the Messengers but how can I make sure that this person was a Messenger so that I can treat him with his message, what did he say and presented to humanity? If I do not understand what message he brought to me, then how can I understand his lifestyle. That is why people reduce Prophet to only teaching how to perform rituals because they don’t see foundations behind the rituals in the life of the Prophet because it is encapsulated in the Quran, not in the hadith narrations. Famous hadith says, his character was the Quran. Not the actions in terms of rituals. Example: Prophet was acting in a way that he will be saved because his Creator told him such, he does not own his life, and everything is decided by the Creator. These are the theoretical side, he must have been conscious of it, that is why he was sure that he will be saved, and he will be successful. On the way to Hudabiya, he said: “Definitely we will come back triumphant”. You are defeated now but how do you know that in 2 years’ time, you will be triumphant? How do you know?
- Because he was sure that his Creator was taking care of him, that is his worldview and understanding.
Comment: What do we do with this information?
Apply the principle to your life. These are the fundamental Quranic teachings: “Whatever happens to you, it is measured by a Knowing Wise Creator. See it.” That is, when something good happens to you, you say that is nice, I am happy. Whereas, when something bad happens, you say it is stupid, it should not be. This attitude means that you do not understand that the Creator is Wise.
Comment: Where do I put Messengership in all this?
Messengership applies it into his life and demonstrates it to you. We read hadith narrations only for one purpose i.e. how to perform the rituals. Example: if you ask a person, what is the sunnah of doing this? He will give you a hadith doing certain actions. Behind the hadith narration, we have to study, what was the motif that the Prophet has learned through the teachings of the Quran?
Comment: What is sunnah?
That is how the Prophet treated events when it happened? Did he get angry with what has been created at any moment? No. Do we do the same thing? How do we treat events in our lives? Sunnah is an attitude where you are connected with God.
Comment: So, we are taking him as a role model?
Role model for life, not rituals only.
Comment: That is why it makes the Quran a sacred book because this guy followed it.
If it fits your human capacity i.e. if you think about it, then sure. Example: everything is created and deliberately given existence by a Conscious Wise being (qadar), that is the claim of the Quran. Everything is deliberately measured and created. Go and look at the universe. Is there anything which exists without any measurement?
Comment: Check out the claim without going through where this claim came from i.e. without going through the concept of Messengership?
We are particularly studying Messengership of one person. Was Muhammad a messenger or a Wise man with his own authority? That is what we are trying to understand right now. We cannot grasp this because in general atmosphere, we do not really see these distinctions that we have been trying to make here.
Comment: I am walking in blank, who is Muhammad?
As he claims that he is a messenger, Muhammad, as a person is the one who puts the message in his practical life under the instructions of His Creator as a role model for you.
Comment: What comes first, messenger-ship or the speech of God?
Speech of God (message) comes first and then you understand that this person is the carrier of the message/practitioner of the message. In Islamic tradition, they say summary wise that one has to realize that there has to be a Creator, everything is meaningful in the universe (nothing non-sense), the Creator speaks and sends his message, this message is represented by a person for each people. Considering the message comes first i.e. you have to be satisfied with the message and go to the life of the messenger (how he practiced it in human terms), so get a role model from him. First, we must be satisfied with the message. If someone is not satisfied with the message because he does not know what the message is all about, then he cannot follow a person yet.
Comment: Look into the speech of God first.
Because you grasped the message, you will investigate the life of this person whether this person was grasping the message or not. Don’t say that the Messenger was practicing prayer, what you have to ask: why was he praying? What was the motif behind it? Where do I get the answer to this question because the Prophet is dead? You must go the message. Am I satisfied with the fact that I must do something in order to demonstrate my conviction about the purpose of my life from the teachings of the Quran? Then, you will understand why messenger was performing the prayer. It will be an example for you, a role model for you and for the same reason you have to perform the prayer.
Comment: Before doing all this, I must be convinced that I am going to hire this person as my role model.
Have you studied the message?
Have you asked the questions freely in your own personal life?
Have you looked at the answers to these questions and whether you are satisfied with the answer provided in the Quran?
Comment: No.
Let’s say that I have studied seriously, and I am satisfied with the answers, now how can I know that Muhammad was the Messenger?
Comment: How is Muhammad introduced to me?
As a historical person. When you study a historical person, you must look at the historical evidence. That is the principle.
Comment: In this case, there is something extra. It is not that the Message came from the top of a mountain and this person is external and started practicing the message. The Message and the Messenger are coming together in this case. To me, the message is introduced by a historical person, yet I was expecting the message without any historical context. Even if I have never heard of a person talking about the message to me, I would say that there must be a message not bound with time, the Creator must speak to me. I would expect this anyway. But then you hear that this person is coming up with verses and he says that this is the speech of God that you were expecting. You go and study the text and see that it starts making sense. Then you are puzzled that is it possible that this guy is making up these ideas? Is this guy trustworthy? How do I know that this is really the Speech of God? That is why you would need a miracle, people of that time also needed a miracle. But the man is dead and so you would not see the miracle that the first people saw and still for you there must be a miracle. The third point here about “information” is a miracle that is still available to you, there is some sort of information in there which was not possible for the people of his time to know, which means that it cannot be his knowledge. This revelation is a miracle still available to you, not only constrained to people of certain time. That is why you say that this man was trustworthy in what he was saying because “the message” itself is a miracle and it was not only possible for people of his time.
The message has 2 aspects as it provides evidence for you in terms of truthfulness of the message and truthfulness of the messenger. Even if you become secure about the truthfulness of the message, you still need security in terms of truthfulness of the messenger. How would you know that Muhammad was not the person as he claims to be? What if Muhamad was an impostor? I need some sort of evidence to say that this man was not lying and was truthful. That is why you need a miracle, example, a hand full of water sufficient for 2 or three people. If you feed 100 people, then Maker of the water is speaking to you by action, through the action. It does provide security about the truthfulness of the message and the messenger. So, you are in need of the messenger, after all, who is going to direct you to a satisfactory understanding of the meaning of existence?
When you concentrate on the life of this person who claims to be a Messenger, you understand that historical evidence demonstrates that he is employed by a Creator and he brought the message to us, historically it is also confirmed. How can I benefit from him as my role model? You have to look at the practical life of the Prophet through the lens of the teachings of the message.
Comment: That requires studying, it is better to have a live person do that just as you would hire a fitness trainer because he is walking you through the move and the steps. That is much better.
Combine everything. That is, historical evidence tells us some actions to undertake. His contemporaries only saw outward actions. Now, how are we going to decipher his understandings?
- Try to understand the meaning behind his actions
Because he is the messenger of the message. He is putting the message into practice. Without educating yourself in the fundamental teachings of the Quran, can you benefit from the Prophet’s lifestyle and take him as a role model? No.
Comment: Do you even need that the practice?
First, educate yourself in the message and accordingly you will try to interpret the actions he is doing in his life. Then combine these together and have this person as a role model for you.
Example: In the teachings of the Quran, what they say, don’t worship anyone but God, the Creator. What should I do? In the practical life of the Prophet, what we see is doing certain kind of actions.
Comment: What kind of actions?
He was praying, he was fasting…When you hear these actions, you have to merge them together with the teachings of the Quran and give a dimension to this action such as: “Ah, he was bowing, he was standing…
Comment: This is like deifying the person.
This is not deifying the person. He came with the message and you studied the message, and you are convinced that it is a Divine answer to your question, and this person who bought the message to you and also put it into practice. Outwardly, you find that he is doing certain actions. However, you have to say that “these actions are the physical representations of the teachings of the message”, give this dimension. When an athlete follows the instruction of her/his coach is s/he deifying the coach? No.
Comment: I do not understand this action part.
For example, you are speaking, you came here today, and you will go back…these are actions.
Comment: Everyone is an individual and they are free to do whatever they want.
This is the messenger, representative of the message he brought to you. You are supposed to be satisfied with the message.
Comment: Why are we putting him under the microscope? That is ridiculous!
He is the one who is performing the message for you, putting the message in human behavior.
Comment: How can I interpret someone’s actions from their physical actions? It is ridiculous! How do you know what is behind their mind?
You must do it i.e. combine them together i.e. the message that he is representing. Now, in his physical life, he is doing certain things, so you must understand that “because the actions teach this, and this action must be the representation of this message”.
Comment: That is imitations because everyone’s life conditions are different. If you know the message, you kind of do your thing and apply the message. Why do you have to study a person, put him under a microscope? Example: as a person, if you have guests over, you treat them nice, that is how you do?
Something is not clear here.
Comment: Let us take one scene in the Prophet’s life. He was going to Tā’if to invite people who are pagans to the truth i.e. enlighten their worldview i.e. heart because their world is dark. Those people start stoning him and of course as any human, Muhammad had some physical injuries but not inner reactions: He asked God in Whom he believed, to forgive them, “they do not know what I am calling them to”. Similarly, let’s say in your life, your siblings are leading a life where you think that they have a wrong perception towards things and you try to tell them the truth which is obvious to you, but they stone you, not physically. How are you going to respond?
Comment: Well, just with the Quranic message i.e. mind your own business, do your thing and let them be.
The Prophet did not say mind your own business, he consistently insisted in an exemplary way i.e. help others understand. So, you must follow the exemplary way.
Comment: Does not the Quran say, there is a verse that says along the lines: let them be, those people who reject the truth.
No. this is being very simplistic. It means do not exhort yourself that you are guaranteeing that they will follow you. But keep your duty which is continue teaching. Those people who are open will get it. Those people who are obstinate in their understanding will reject it. Those people who reject you should not put you off. You are getting the exemplar i.e. if in your environment, people rejected you, then you should keep giving the message that you understand as truth without forcing them or exhorting yourself. They should not prevent you from carrying your mission. At the same time, it is not you who is going to guarantee that they will follow your mission. That is the balance that we are learning from the life of the Prophet.
Comment: This balance part is important. Let’s take one part of the verse: if you tell them or do not tell them, they will not change. If I apply this to my case to myself, for example my siblings’ heart is already sealed, it does not matter whether I tell them or not. Hence, there is no point in telling them. This is what a verse of the Qur’an says. When the messenger is considered, he is a person who is balancing the verses of the Quran because the Quran tells one aspect in here and another aspect in there but for me, I am just seeing one part of it because I am a person who needs training to learn, I am in need of a person who can see the larger scale of the message and balancing the meaning/interpret the meaning through his life. I need this balance because I am not able to balance the meaning without being taught. So, I need how he was i.e. in this action, I am trying to see this man behave according to the message over here. So, I am seeing how he was studying the message so I am going to extract the message in balance. Otherwise, there are all sorts of “Muslims” out there and they are doing things in the name of Islam that they should not be doing.
Comment: So, you must look at narrations and derive meaning from it based on the Quranic interpretation if you can and extract lesson from it.
Comment: But who is going to be your teacher for interpreting it? Because you are seeing that this is how he interpreted it, this was the person appointed to interpret it in his life and I am trying to take practical lessons for myself. Practical meaning that this scripture is going to be a lesson for me on how to live life and this Muhammadan life was a life lived according to the scripture. So, I am going to look at his life and see how he interpreted the scripture practically and understood it. Hence, I will study the same text as he was studying.
He did it in his historical context, you will take the pattern and put it into your conditions. Example: In a ballet class, every student is different, although there is one instructor. Everyone could do it according to their own capacity according to the instructions of the instructor. I have to benefit from this exemplary life of this role model and take it into my practical life. What makes the case difficult for us to understand is that when people imitate rituals or actions, they do not bring up the reason behind it which is explained in the Quranic message. Because in the practical life of the present-day community, this may be lacking, they say follow what Muhammad did as a Messenger (although you do not have any reason why he is the Messenger) is imitating him Imitation is nothing and has no value. Some people say that following the Messenger, doing what he is doing is a kind of imitating him if they do not see the Qur’anic base for that action. Example: While he was praying, he bowed down. You must understand why he (the messenger) was doing that? Go back to the message which tells you to express yourself, express your reality this way. The message says your reality as compared to the Creator i.e. you are subject to Him only and you have to practice it in your physical world like this as well. “I must understand that while I am bowing down, not only because the Prophet bowed down but he demonstrated to me how I should express my reality to my Creator within my life conditions. I need to have this understanding which is taught in the message”. If the messenger did not present it into a physical form, what would you do? For example, if a person says that if you want to be an athlete, you have to run every day 3 hours. Which kind of running you should do? The expert/instructor must teach you how to run, develop your muscles… While running, you understand the purpose in running according to the message/Quran. How to do it, the Instructor/Messenger shows it to you.
Message and Messengership is not practiced if the message is just read in the form of information. The messenger is imitated in the form of actions mostly and these two concepts are not merged. That is why it does not make sense to us. We have to merge it.
Comment: So, you need the Speech of God alongside with the narrations from the practical life of the prophet.
Yes. How can you separate the message from the Messenger or the Messenger from the message? That is why the Quran offers us to follow both: “we sent down the message and the representative, who is called “Rasool”, the one who receives and represents it. We employed “nabee” (the one who brings the message and instructs the people how to practice it in the physical life.) The messenger is the one who receives it in the same category, but we have to merge it.
Comment: This is a hard thing to do, first study the Speech and God and then merge the narrations?
When you study ballet, how many years do you take just to do some physical actions? You do it according to a theory. Similarly, how much seriously did you study the Quran? How many years did you have the questions and searched for the answers? What was my purpose in my reading the Quran? No answer! We read the Quran as a prayer book.
Comment: There is this notion as if it must be something to be studied and finished. But why? As long as you live, what is the purpose of your life? If the purpose of life is to get to know about my purpose of existence, so I should be working on it during the time that I am living. It should not be that in two years I am finished, now what am I going to do? It should be a lifelong process. It should not be something to finish in a couple of years and then do something else.
Also, we do not study the Quran, let alone finish. We usually just study hadith narrations and imitate the actions.
Comment: So, we need to have the lab manual and the textbook.
Yes, you cannot separate it. What we see is that everyone goes to the lab and imitates the instructor. They do not study and take the class. That is why we see that it does not make sense, i.e. you are doing something, and you do not know why you are doing it? That is why we think that going to the lab is pointless, people go to the lab and imitate the instructor without taking the class. That is why some people go to the extreme saying that we have to study the Quran, we do not need hadith narrations, these are not sure and do not mean anything. This is a reaction to the reality in the community in general. We have to take the class, learn the theory and then come to the lab and see how the instructor is putting it into practice.
Comment: Where do you see that? Where is it available?
Historical narrations are available in front of us, hadith books.
Comment: Oh, so get one of those hadiths books.
Well, without studying the Quran, how dare you study the hadith? Without taking the course, how do you imitate the instructor in the lab? First, study the Quran and then you will see the relationship with actions afterwards.
Comment: Are there any places that are teaching together the Quran and hadith?
You must do it yourself. You must study the Quran first. First, get the satisfactory answers to your existential questions from the Quran.
Comment: Can I see a hadith book?
Without taking the course, what are you going to do with the lab? Pointless!
Comment: I am interested to see how is the instructor presenting the stuff?
Go to the instructor and see what he is teaching you
Tags: Arguments for Messengership Series, Belief in Messengership of Muhammad, Institution of Messengership, Messengership
