Arguments for Messengership – Part 38

 THE REASONINGS (page 136)

Recap:  We are studying the Messengership of a particular man and I must understand his Messengership within his particular historical context first, and then apply it to my life.  Since I am talking about a historical man, I must talk about his historical context, but I do not have to stay there.  As far as the message he conveyed to me is concerned, I must come back to my own life conditions.  However, as far as his claim to be the Messenger of God is concerned, I must go back to his personal life to check whether he made up the message or not.  Usually, people confuse these two matters:

1. Nature of Messengership.
2. The claim of Muhammad to be the Messenger.

People usually use the argument that the message brought by Prophet Muhammad proves the necessary existence of the institution of Messengership in this universe.  Their argument is extended to look at the Quran as it has lots of miracles and it cannot be composed by some man who lived in 7^th century AD.  They usually miss the need for the institution of Messengership such as:

• Why do you believe that there must be a Messenger?
• Have you ever seen Noah, Muhammad, Jonah…?
• What is Messengership?
• Why do we need Messengers? Do we really?
• Why am I expected to follow a particular man who claims to receive a message from God?

Mostly people who follow humanitarian work say that the message is within me, I do not need a Messenger.  I am created with the ability to understand what is right and wrong.  They do not deny the Messengership of Muhammad, rather they deny the institution of Messengership because they do not feel the need for it. 

Do I need a message apart from my human feelings?

We must make the distinction between the Necessity of the Institution of Messengership and the validity of the claim of a person called Muhammad.

We must look at the conditions in which he lived and see if it is possible for a person to produce a message that Muhammad did by himself?  At this stage, the content of the message related to human society, is it universally valid? Or just valid for a person living in a certain time and geographical area?

The Fourth Way

“This is about the future page of time and particularly about the Shari‘a. You should not neglect the following four points in your considerations:

THE FIRST POINT: A person, no matter how intelligent, cannot be a specialist in more than two or three fields of science.

THE SECOND POINT: Two persons present a subject. One presents it on the most proper occasion with all its dimensions and in its relationships with other relevant subjects. This shows that person’s expertise in this subject. The other one presents it superficially and in imitation of others. Even if you cannot discern the difference between the two presentations with your mind, your spirit feels it.

THE THIRD POINT: As explained in the First Premise in the first part of this book, if a discovery regarded as extraordinary a few centuries ago had remained hidden up until today, a child could have made it, as all the preliminary knowledge and conditions were already present. Taking this into consideration, go to the Arabian Peninsula of thirteen (now fourteen) centuries ago, and look around. You will see that an unlettered person deprived of any material help established a high standard of justice based on the laws of true knowledge, such as could only be as well worked out many centuries later as a result of many centuries of research, development, and discoveries; you will see that the  Shari‘a, comprising the principles of that justice, has the capacity to meet all the needs of the future until the Last Day. It contains such basic principles that it can expand and deal with all the questions that will arise through time. It declares that it issues from the Eternal Divine.”

Sharia is mostly presented as a set of rules in the mainstream culture.  It is more of a Divine Law within the framework of the message which the Prophet Muhammad, a historical man applied in his life.  We must find the universal message in the content because the message claims that it is a universal message to all mankind.  As far as the action of Muhammad (pbuh) is concerned, we must see the practice of the message within his life conditions.

We cannot judge a man from 7^th century to practice the universal message (constitution) according to the conditions of the 21^st century while he is living in the 7^th century.  I cannot use the criteria that I am experiencing in the 21^st century in order to judge and evaluate what he did in his lifetime.  This is the application of Sharia or message of God by Muhammad in his life conditions but the nature of the message of God contains universality.

• If I refer to Muhammad as claiming the message of God, then I must go back to that historical context.
• If I refer to the universal message, then I must take the message not related to the live conditions of Muhammad but apply it to my life conditions and reframe the message to my life conditions and see if it fits or not. I need to be careful about making the difference between practical side of the actions and the universal message behind those action. The practical side of the message needs to be adjusted to my present-day life conditions while preserving the universal message in it. Accordingly, Sharia needs to be evaluated.

For a practical reason we take the following example: Sunnah is to use the most convenient mode of transportation according to the life conditions of my era, rather than camels, today airplane and tomorrow jet planes.

Without changing the nature of the message and radically changing the physical practice of the Prophet, we need to evaluate everything of ourselves and our time conditions.  Some narrations may have validity for Eternity and others the need for Messengership… Example: Belief in the Creator as Absolute One is universal, the need for Eternal Happiness, is universal, communicating with meaning in creation and the need for Messengership in the order of this universe.

What is the institution of Messengership?

• A message which tells me what to do with my human qualities.
• Some may claim that Prophecy is within me, however we need the institution of Messengership.

Human nature has always been the same throughout centuries (e.g. the need to be loved, the need to be appreciated, looking for a meaning for life…), sun and seasons have always been the same as far as human life is concerned.  These are universal rules.

The message is not in the physical form of the practices of the Prophet, rather in the meaning it refers to.

If one does not believe in the Quran, then the Divine rulings concerning practical side of the rules do not apply to them.

Are there any independent communities practicing the physical rules of Islam in a community sphere in the 21^st century?  No. Then, we cannot pass a judgment about the rules that Sharia introduces by looking at the present-day Muslim populations.

What are the objectives of the Quran as far as the Sharia rulings are concerned?

• Interpret rules of Sharia according to belief foundations.

With a free mind, you can make distinction between a fake and genuine person. (claim of a certain historical man to be a Prophet)

Muhammad was and still is triumphant about the fundamental teachings of the Qur’anic message. No-one can prove the invalidity of these fundamental belief matters introduced in the Qur’an. As a result, you understand that this man, Muhammad (pbuh) is genuine.