Arguments for Messengership – Part 4

The Reasonings (page 120)

The Second Purpose

INTRODUCTION

You ask: You say that the second part of the Proclamation of Testimony – I bear witness that there is no deity but God; and I also bear witness that Muhammad is His servant and Messenger – is a witness for the truth of the first part, and the first part is a witness for the truth of the second part.  Is this really so?

Answer:  Yes, this is so.  The safest and the truest of the ways that lead to knowledge of God, which is the “Ka’ba” of perfections, is the soundest and most radiant one which was built by the holy resident of Madina al-Munawwara, upon him be peace and blessings.  That resident, Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, is the spirit of right guidance, his heart is the lamp that illuminates the unseen worlds.  His truthful tongue, which is the translator of his heart, is the most articulate and truest of the proofs of the Maker’s existence and Oneness.  His being and his words are both a light-diffusing proof.  Prophet Muhammad upon him be peace and blessings, is the most decisive and undeniable proof of the Maker, of the institution or mission of Prophethood, of the Resurrection and the afterlife, and of the truth.

What is “Knowledge of God”?

The universe must have a Creator is “belief in God” whereas “knowledge of God is a continuation of that belief.  In other words, what do you do with this belief?  It must be reasoned further.  We are endowed with endless human feelings and qualities and they are all given to us for a purpose because our cells cannot produce our feelings.

When one is able to make the connection between their human feelings and the Source of their existence, then that becomes “knowledge of God”.  Example: let us take the power of sight.  Just the mere fact that is given is an indication that the Maker is the Source of the Power of Sight.  This Maker is Absolute because it is not of the nature of this universe, although I interact with its creation.  With that, “knowledge of God” has to do with recognizing its Absoluteness through our own being.

Comment:  I need various means to conclude its Absoluteness.

The point is not to keep experiencing the qualities in various ways.  A mere glimpse of a quality is enough to conclude the “Absoluteness of the Source”.  Example: just eating one banana is enough evidence to conclude that its Maker is Absolute.  As long as you reach this conclusion, you can feel secure in your existence even though you do not get more bananas from now.

How can you love the Creator with one banana only?

Banana is a means to get to know its Source of existence.  Although, the banana is gone but the meaning that it carries pointing to its Creator which is Absolute remains with me.  This knowledge and awareness of the Creator is enough to have a trust in It and you feel closer to It.

• Feeling secure in your existence means that you have attached your overall being (all your qualities, feelings, expectations, emotions and heart) to the source of its Existence and as a result you are in acknowledgment within yourself that you belong to the Absolute One that manifests the qualities in the objects because you came to the conclusion that the Source of existence of a quality is Absolute.

Let us take another example.  A person is enjoying the power of sight for one day and is able to conclude that the Source of existence of the power of sight is an Absolute One.  The next day s/he loses the power of sight.  Is this person in agony?  Well, the person realizes that the Giver of the Power of sight must be Absolute and knows that the desire to want to see eternally is also given by the Absolute (even though it was experienced for one day) and so this desire must be fulfilled by an Absolute One who manifested His Absolute Qualities only once.  This person feels secures in his/her existence because s/he has found the Absolute Source of Power of sight.

Our sad reality is that we get disappointed when we do not get food for one day and we start criticizing God: “why did you not give me food?”  Our purpose is not to eat and receive food but to acknowledge the Source of hunger and food.  

We are mostly lost in quantity not quality which points to its Source.  Let us take two friends.  The first says that I want to eat, eat and die whereas the latter says that the Creator provides me with the need until I die and It knows that I gradually age and shows me not to make this world my ultimate purpose of my satisfaction. 

One day or a hundred days does not make any difference to my experiencing existence here.  It is the grace of the Creator that It repeats giving me life every day, which is not important.  That is why when a young person dies, we get disappointed whereas the death of an old person does not disappoint us.  This is the misuse of the purpose of our existence. 

• Experiencing a quality once as far as my connection with the Creator is concerned guarantees that my Creator is the Source of that quality and It must be Absolute.

Nature of this world is to have the opportunity to experience the quality of the Creator of your senses through your senses, which is called “knowledge of God”.  Our tools, feelings and emotions are given to us to make us realize that the Source of existence of them is Absolute.  As long as you realize and get to know the Absolute through one experience is all that matters because only then do you feel secure and satisfied in your existence that you belong to an Absolute Source.

Similarly, with the banana example above, as long as you conclude that the Creator is Absolute, one banana is enough to experience that.  “Not only does He take care of my needs but also everyone else which makes me understand that Its caring is for everyone”.

• The more experience I encounter with the qualities, the merrier I will be is not the point.
• Without using our human qualities/feelings, we cannot have “knowledge of the Creator”.
• We need to go through the following stages: belief in God –>knowledge of God–>Love of God

I need to understand that all my qualities are provided by It to get to know It better.  Then, I go further that God is being kind to me, compassionate to me…, as a result of which I start establishing a closer relationship with It.

• The more I exercise “knowledge of God”, the closer I start feeling and God does not become an alien being anymore.
• “It is my everything, my Owner, my Care Taker, the One who accomplishes all my needs and introduces Itself to me and makes me secure in my existence and the existence of all my feelings because whatever I want, and desire is from It because It is the Absolute One”.
• “If It has given me all the senses and needs, it means that It wants me to know It as the One who has these qualities and I understand that I belong to It.”

If someone takes care of your needs, do you love him/her?  Yes, you love this person not because they provide you with things, rather because they take care of you and make you feel loved and secure.

Comment: Lack of wealth or health creates a tension and forces you to search for the Creator.

You may or may not get lost in wealth depends on your attitude towards creation.  Human expectations are never met in this world and that is why we need to learn how to educate them and hence the need of teacher to provide training on how to deal with my human expectations.

Human expectations are endless, but we know that the nature of this creation has an end.  So how am I going to deal with my endless feelings desiring Eternity?  That is why the Messengers are needed to help us with how to use these unmet feelings.

Here I see the act of creation and deduce meaning from the act of creation inside of me and outside of me.

What does “Ka’ba of perfection” represent?

As per the author, it represents “knowledge of God” or “the Pinnacle of Perfection for human beings”.  If there is no knowledge of God or awareness of God, do we see any perfection in this world?  Existence seems perfect but as far as I am concerned, my existence does not seem perfect not because I am lacking something rather my human desires are not satisfied here and so I feel that my existence is not perfect here.  Hence, to answer the question that if there is no knowledge of God here, does my existence in this world seem perfect? The answer is “No”.

“Knowledge of God” makes our life perfect.   Let’s say that you are given illness.  You may be treating God according to what you are given here and “Knowledge of God”.  Even if you are given full satisfaction to fulfill your needs and you are happy with it, you know that at the end you will get old and die in this type of creation.  We have to utilize this type of creation in order to know its Source.  WE HAVE TO UNDERSTAND THIS.

The amount of what we receive is not important.  Just being aware of the existence of one of my manifested qualities or a quality manifested in the universe is important.  Just as by experiencing one banana, you become aware of the Creator of the banana and all the qualities you experience in that banana is given existence by its Creator and pointing to the qualities of its Creator and you become aware of God.

• Knowledge of God by itself is a pinnacle of perfection for human beings. Otherwise, we bargain with God saying if you give me this, then I shall be thankful. 
• With knowledge of God, I get to know who my Owner and Lord is and which kind of qualities this Creator has and as a result, I secure my existence eternally.

Problem arises when our expectations of getting a banana are not met.  If you conclude the Source of existence of any quality to be Absolute, then that is it!

How are we going to deal with our feelings that require endless satisfaction in the world? 

1. I am given the desire to want Eternal Satisfaction.
2. This world does not provide Eternal Satisfaction.
3. It means that the Creator of this desire is proving that by creating this desire, It will satisfy it. That is why human perfections lies in acknowledgment of God.

• We know the Creator only through our feelings and potentialities, nothing else.

How can I deal with the contradiction that my human satisfactions are not met here?

I want satisfaction and this satisfaction wants to be satisfied now and endlessly.  In this world, there is no endless satisfaction.  So, how am I going to deal with this desire that everything must be satisfied infinitely?  How am I going to do that here?  War, jealousy, wanting more never ends, so how am I going to deal with them? They all are created to teach human beings that this world is not the place of satisfaction. That needs training in the form of “knowledge of God” which is real human perfection.

• Civilization injects in our mind that if we achieve success in our careers or married life, then we will be perfect.
• As far as existential side of the matter is concerned, “knowledge of God” is the only way to reach human perfection and full satisfaction.

What is the Source of the knowledge of the self?

Through my own feelings, I understand what the banana represents.  If I did not feel the need to eat the banana, it would mean nothing for me.  Everything goes on within us.  If we were not given our qualities, then we would not be aware of the existence of the qualities of the other things.  If I did not have the sense of beauty, then how can I appreciate beauty manifested in the world?

Everything springs from “knowledge of the self” that is the starting point.  If I did not exist, then the existence of the universe would be nothing for me.  Because I exist, I understand the qualities manifested in the universe.

• I realize that I exist through my qualities and through my qualities, I see the qualities manifested out there.
• Take the self as the Source of recognition of the truth, for the reality of my existence exists in order to get to know who the Source of my existence is. As soon as I realize that the Source of my Existence is an Absolute One, I gain perfection.  Otherwise, if I do not attach myself to the Source, I become selfish.  Can I satisfy myself by myself?    This the beauty of creation—when we have endless desires and want, this type of creation does not satisfy the human expectations, then I search for a Permanent solution.

What are messengers?

They represent the Speech of God in human verbal form.  That is nothing but “you”.  In other words, you have the potentialities to be “the messenger of God”.  Messengers represent you and your human qualities.  Just as a teacher teaches you how to reach perfection in your humanity by using your human qualities.  Teacher teaches you what you do not know.  After learning it, you discover that it is in you.  Now that you learned and you discovered what the teacher taught you, you discovered ‘yourself” and your “potentialities”.

• If the messengers are teachers employed by the Creator, then they teach you nothing but what is in you.

They help you uncover your potentialities just like the Professors help you understand what you already potentially know.  Example: the ability to drive is in you, the instructor just helped you unleash your potential.  You did not discover it on your own.  That is why human beings need teachers, education and training, especially if we want to train our human qualities and reach perfections by using our human qualities.

• I need a teacher who is employed to teach me the purpose of the existence of my human qualities.

These instructors are only means to practice my reality.  Example: why do you fast?  I must fast to appreciate what is going on in me and my existence; and connect myself to the existence of things I am mindless about.  I normally do not think about the relationship between me and what I am consuming.  I am not aware of it and I need to be trained.

• Fasting in and of itself is not ultimately important but it is a means of training i.e. we need to acknowledge that I am in need of it and my need is provided and satisfied by a One who created me and these things.
• Fasting is training as far as the awareness of what is going on in my life is concerned. I have to be aware of what I am doing.  I need to make fasting from time to time as a means for acknowledging my reality.  It gives people the opportunity of acknowledging that I am hungry now, but I should not eat because I have to go through a training of acknowledging the Source and what I am.
• That is why the Prophet (pbuh) advised from time to time to fast and perform other rituals in order to establish the base of the belief system through acknowledgment.

Human heart represents all human faculties.  Only through the human feelings can you perceive the meaning of creation and what they point to i.e. ‘unseen world’.  Without reasoning, human feelings do not operate.

If someone does not have the power of reasoning, is he aware of his human feelings?  No.  S/he may just live like an animal with instinctual motives.  Example: when hungry, they eat.  If our human feelings are not reasoned, then we cannot understand our purpose of existence. 

We need to understand the mission of Prophethood as we go on with understanding ourselves.  “I know that I want to be satisfied eternally”, that is how every human being is.  “By looking at creation here, I find that there is no Eternal satisfaction here”.  What do I do?  I look for it.

• If there was no Eternal existence, what would your life be like, have you thought about it? Nothing would make sense then.  Eat and eat and then die.  What kind of life is that?

Analogy: you purchase a laptop and feel secure when the manufacturer says that there is a warranty with it.  What happens when the manufacturer extends it to a lifetime warranty?  You do not worry about anything.  Similarly, the One that gives you your existence lets you know that your existence is secure and guaranteed from It, if and only if you develop your knowledge of It.

• As a result, you feel secure in your existence and nothing bothers you anymore!