The Reasonings (page 120-121)
A REMINDER
It is not necessary to refer to the proofs of the existence and Unity of the Maker in order to prove the truth of that holy being, Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings.
An Establishment
Our Prophet is a proof for the Maker. So, we should analyze this proof from certain, essential viewpoints.
In the Name of God, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate
O God! Bestow blessings and peace upon Muhammad, who bears witness to the absolute necessity of Your existence.
O lover of truth! If you would like to look through the window of conscience or human conscious nature, first do not assume the attitude of intentional opposition, which causes the faculty of the heart to be polluted and rust. Also, do not lend an ear to your whims and fancies, nor expect something that should be given by a community to come from every member of that community. Expecting something from every member of a community causes the denial or rejection of the result. This is a point that requires close attention.
The author is listing various attitudes that we need to be watchful for ourselves:
Intentional Opposition: The idea that a person is going to make an argument against what I hold as truth. Be open AND do not assume this attitude of intentional opposition. Listen to the person. These rules are not valid only to people who oppose religion and are rigid in their viewpoint but also to people who listen only to those who support religion. If someone rejects or argues against what you deem to be truth, do not assume the attitude of intentional opposition i.e. whatever s/he tells me is going to be against my idea/understanding and so let me listen to him/her to oppose his/her idea.
- Everyone should avoid taking this intentional opposition attitude and we all need to be comfortable with various ideas presented to us.
Messengership is a witness to the Creator of the universe, just as the Creator of the universe is a witness to Messengership.
People who do not take religion seriously fall into two categories:
- I believe in the scriptures because our Prophet said so.
- I do not believe that there is an institution called “Messengership”.
Whatever reason the non-serious people deploy to base their argument on will be false because they are utilizing the “intentional opposition” attitude. If someone brings in the news from the Creator of the universe, listen to him/her.
“Do not lend an ear to your whims and fancies” means: Am I listening myself with pure reasoning or a reasoning mixed with my whims and fancies? If I develop an idea, does it come from my rational reasoning or does it come from my fancies?
- “I want to be like that rather than what the truth is”. It is not easy to catch that.
How can we make sure that we are not listening to our whims and fancies?
Generally, serious thinkers like Philosophers and Scientists adopt the attitude of “intentional opposition” that “any idea which refers to a point somewhere not within the universe, I will reject it from the very beginning”. Objects are in front of us and we must study how they are working. While studying how they are working, we should not give any reference to something outside of the objects that we are studying. That is their pre-conditioned mind.
Mostly, ordinary people say that I want to enjoy my life. Here are the opportunities given to me and I should make the most out of it. Enjoy my life and do not think about the purpose and end of my life. This is a typical attitude. This world seems to be mysterious, complicated and sophisticated and people say that it must be created and so I have no objection to it. It may be true but still it does not affect my life and understanding because I must entertain my life here and I have my own expectations here and I have to try to satisfy my expectations and my life. Belief in God may or may not be true, does not matter really.
How am I going to utilize my human qualities? Am I here just to entertain myself with no purpose until I die? Ordinary people do not question that. This notion of what to do with my human qualities is not supported by any institution, ideology and civilizations which tries to draw the attention of human being to only this world in terms of transactions i.e. what you give is what you get. Get your profession, work and get the payroll running and get the opportunities and use the money as you like. Why bother about anything else?
- Do you hear any institution encouraging people to think about: “What is the purpose in having all these so much complicated human qualities and why? These institutions do not touch upon a Source of existence and they do not even mention that human qualities are created by God because they cannot prove it. They do not mention that a Conscious Being created them. They ignore this aspect of human reality.
Do you hear any institution encouraging people to think about their own reality and why are the human qualities there?
- Whether the human qualities are created by God or accidentally, the fact of the matter is that they are there.
All these complicated human qualities why are they there?
I am a conscious being, I do not have to believe in God, but I know what to do with my human qualities. What I need to look into is for which purpose should I use these human qualities? Are these qualities really in me in order to just entertain my daily life by eating and neglecting them and their purpose?
- Human qualities ask: “why am I here?”, “what is going to happen tomorrow?” and “what has been happening to me so far and why?
Human qualities ask the following questions:
- How come that I have all these qualities?
- What am I going to do with these qualities?
We all know what makes a cat. Eat, sleep and run after mouse. However, as a conscious observer, we can feel that there are no signs letting us know that cats or animals are aware of their qualities. Again, we do not really know that because we are not cats.
However, I am aware of my human qualities and the qualities of the cat. How did these abilities develop? Can I attribute it to the matter? Why am I aware of these qualities? Even if that is the result of accidents, how and why does the accident give result to this consciousness? Usually, we miss this point. We think that human attitude is black and white. Either you believe in a Creator or not and accordingly you live your life. No, it is not that simple!
- Even if you believe in a Creator, you still must think about your human qualities i.e. why they are there and what are you going to do with them?
- Even if you do not believe in a Creator, still your human consciousness urges you to question i.e. what are the reason of their existence and what are you going to do with them?
- You are aware of it and you have freewill to choose to investigate their purpose.
Now, we are in the world of pleasures. Enjoy your life and do not think deep. Make most of the opportunities that you have on a daily basis. What happens at the end? I do not know where I came from and what will happen at the end? Why should I bother about this? I just need to concentrate on daily enjoyment. This idea is very prevalent even among the communities of believers because their understanding of religion is not based on how to utilize their human qualities. Their understanding about the purpose of their existence is about carrying a package next to them that you must believe in God and follow the Prophetic teachings.
- The package has to be within you.
Being a believer does not put you on the right side. Rather than referring to religion, we must start the process from questioning our consciousness: Why am I aware of my own being? Why am I aware of my own qualities? Why am I given the option to choose between how to utilize my qualities? I have freewill and what am I going to do with the application of these qualities? This attitude does not require a person to be a believer. Just be a free human being. If someone does not want to use his/her human abilities, they take one of two options:
- Take a package, which is religion and follow it. As a result, enjoy your life in this world as you like. That is not religion!
Rather, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) teaches us how to use our human qualities and then people may include the package as well which is an extension of one’s understanding of one’s own existence.
- People who do not want to take religion into account, they have no serious questions. (General population in contrast to the Philosophers/Scientists mentioned earlier comprising of 1% of the population).
What am I going to do with my senses and why are they there?
Teachings of the Prophets are based on how are we going to use our human qualities? What is the purpose in the existence of our human qualities?
We do not think this: “What am I expecting from the Prophet to teach me?”
Let us assume that I am convinced that there must be a Creator. Let us assume that I am convinced that the Creator employs a Prophet. Let us assume that I am convinced that the Creator sends guidance in the form of a verbal speech. Now, ask yourself: “What am I expecting from this scripture and what am I expecting from the Prophet?”
No one encourages people in this material civilization to concentrate on how are you going to use your human qualities and for what purpose? We know that non-believers also do not question that “what am I going to do with my human qualities?”. Here I am, I found them, and they are created by God or it is the result of natural development? Does not matter because I have these qualities and I must satisfy them and enjoy my life.
- No one really thinks of what am I supposed to do in this world?
What am I expecting from the Quran to teach me?
Do not jump into the package (religion) which is external to you. As a conscious human being, what am I going to do with my own humanity? How am I going to use my human qualities? How am I going to benefit from them or utilize them? Followers of any religious traditions say to be a member of a community and help the community. In other words, do certain actions all of which are external.
How many institutions say: “Let us read the Quran to understand who we are?” Why am I like that as I am? Let us read the Quran from this perspective and get guidance from it without jumping into what to do and what not to do which makes the message into a black and white description which in reality is not.
- As long as you exist, human consciousness always questions, and you cannot stop it.
We have certain tendencies and we do not question the purpose of existence of these tendencies. If we follow these tendencies, we are happy. If we reject or do something against these human tendencies, we are unhappy. People say we found a way out: “Follow your feelings and do it”. Whatever your feelings urge you to do, do it. Whatever your feelings avoid you to do, avoid it. Example: Do not break anyone’s heart. When you break someone’s heart, do you feel comfortable? No. That is how we are made and that is how we are utilizing our human senses. But what is the purpose of these human qualities? Why are they there? Am I going to entertain my life and my being in this world by doing whatever my senses urge me to do?
- Should I do whatever my senses say to feel comfortable in this world?
Do you think that all these senses and qualities are given to us to be used only in this world and there is no purpose to it? Daily whims and fancies (per the author) refer to this that I have to satisfy myself i.e. whatever my senses tell me to do, I will do it. But they do not question the reason of existence of these whims/fancies and qualities: Where did I get them from? What are the reasons of existence of these qualities? Am I really expected to act according to my human tendencies with no purpose? Do whatever you want or do not want and enjoy yourself in this world only because it all boils down to satisfying your being here and now. But for what purpose?
We achieve satisfaction by obeying our human qualities and entertaining ourselves accordingly. Again “entertainment” because I do not want to hurt myself and my feelings which is called conscious (we know whether we are doing something right or wrong). If we are doing something right, we are happy. If we do something wrong according to our own understandings, we are unhappy. Let us do whatever is required from my human senses and be happy in this world without thinking about the purpose of existence i.e. whatever the Source is or why am I in this position?
With this “selfish individualist” attitude, one enjoys their life like there is no tomorrow, get whatever they want and forget about the rest. Just look for their own satisfaction because they do not see themselves as “human beings” rather as animals or bodies. These categories of people are worse than animals. At least animals are not selfish, they eat and follow their instinct by defending their owners.
These attitudes mentioned by the author are human attitudes and I have to question for myself: Am I doing the same thing?
When you have an argument with a friend, do you feel happy? No and so you want to arrange your life by staying out of trouble, so you can enjoy it. Why should I not get along with my friend nicely?
Messengers do not come in not to teach any of this, rather they teach you the purpose of your existence.
- We must look for a Messenger to tell me what is the purpose in the existence of my qualities? What am I going to do with them? Why are they there? We need guidance in terms of how to make the most of the human qualities given to us. It means how to benefit from these human qualities to fulfill the purpose of my existence.
People who do not pay attention to belief in God, (the majority worldwide trend) just entertain themselves and to just take care of their own pleasures. Make the most out of things and benefit yourself. Some people think that they believe in God and are not selfish; still the Prophet comes in and teaches you what the purpose of your existence is and the meaning behind not being selfish.
Who reads any narration from the Prophet to understand the purpose of their existence? Mostly people say to worship God and do certain things.
The Quran is an analysis of human psychology. “I am going to study the verses of the Quran just to understand the purpose of my existence.” This is a very extremely rare situation. That is why people who claim to believe or not to believe, their explanations are on the surface very superficial.
Moving forward with understanding the Necessity of Messengership, we will try to understand whether we need a Messenger employed by my Creator to teach me how to develop my understanding of the purpose of my existence. If you look for the explanation of the results of this purpose of existence (actions and rituals) and try to see and understand the Messengership accordingly, then you are bound to say that I do not need Messengership to guide me because I know from my own inner self what is right/wrong. In other words, I know what I do can hurt me or please me, rather than what is the purpose of this setting of the existence of all human qualities? That is why I need a Prophet or guidance from the One who creates me with these qualities to tell me the purpose in being given these senses of knowing what is right and what is wrong.
Even if nature did it or gave me these qualities, they are so meaningful that nature must provide me with explanations of the purpose of existence of my human qualities. Whoever made me like this, must explain it to me. My consciousness asks: why am I in this position? Either I am made by God or by nature?
- Still, I am asking this question: what is the purpose of all these complicated and finely tuned human qualities that are working in harmony with each other?
We need to have this question to understand the necessity of Messengership but what are we going to expect from Messengership to teach me? What am I going to expect from the scripture that Messengers come with that this is the direction or constitution sent by the Creator for you. For what purpose has it been sent? What are you expecting from it? We must be careful about this point. This is not a common analysis. That is why it is hard to grasp it because we never think the essence of our existence i.e. revelation and religion is based on the purpose of our existence.
Comment: Without a teacher i.e., Prophet you are stuck with human feelings alone. If something feels good, do it and if it feels bad, avoid it. That is not good enough.
Answer: The argument needs to start from yourself instead of the teacher. That is, I have human feelings and my consciousness urges me to concentrate on the purpose of their existence and I know that they exist, but I do not know the purpose of their existence. In other words, I do not know what I am going to do with them. Acting on the requirements of the feelings is not the point. What is the purpose in the existence of this sense that requires to act on the feeling? Use it on a daily basis, die and disappear? I need guidance, which is why I expect from the Creator to guide me. I have the ability to question and reason and that is why I need guidance in order to make me understand this ability to question and reason, what is their purpose and why are they there for?
- The line of reasoning must start from my own experience, not the other way around.
Question: How do we differentiate between observing our reality and understanding our universe and our Creator? How do we understand these concepts such as scriptures and Prophethood? There is a specific purpose to the messenger and scriptures to understand the purpose of our existence. The purpose of our existence and understanding of our Creator are intertwined.
First, you find yourself with your human qualities and it is an automatic way to realize your existence. You can use your freewill by not paying attention to your human qualities. If you are comfortable and not following your whims/fancies, ask yourself, what are these human qualities for? You do not need to have any concept of God to question them. Don’t you question the reason of existence of anything? I question the reason of existence of my own being. First, we have to use our human qualities within ourselves, without going to an external source. Be honest and consistent within yourself. Don’t you ask: Why am I in this world? Why do I have all these qualities? Where did I get them from? For what purpose do I have them for? I have freewill and how can I operate my freewill when I use them? When you have these considerations within yourself, you will automatically end up with a need for guidance. Whatever source provided this for me (nature or a Conscious Will), since this source has given me the ability to question them, this source must provide the answers for me. Ask nature to tell you: why it has developed and evolved you in the form that you are and given you the ability to question the purpose in the existence of your qualities and get the answers if you can.
Starting point is very important. The line of reasoning is extremely important. If we use some pre-existing concepts which themselves need to be proven, then we distort the line of reasoning. Example: prophets are there, and we need to listen to them. How do you know that they are Prophets? Why do you need the Prophets? Here I am, and I do not see the Prophets.
Comment: I can take any book to get the meaning of my existence.
Scriptures do not directly teach us what the purpose of our existence is; rather it challenges us to see if it answers our human existential questions. I need guidance from the Source of existence of my human qualities, whatever it is. It must provide me with the information and guidance in terms of what to do with my human qualities. Do the teachings of any book satisfy me or not according to my own reality? Does it really conform with my human reality? Let me see, does it sound consistent with my own being i.e. does it makes sense, and can I confirm it? The One who represents this scripture must be the Message bearer employed by the One who gave me existence with all these human qualities.
The Source of your human qualities cannot be the matter itself. Everything must spring from existence. Think about your own being. Why am I here? What am I going to do with these senses? For what purpose should I use them? How can I explain the reason in their existence? I am asking the reason in their existence, start from here. Other scriptures say that they are Divine. Quran does not only claim that it is a Divine source, but it claims more i.e. “I am a Divine Source and by using your human qualities (reasoning, intellect and heart), read me with your human qualities”. Use your reasoning, whether what I say makes sense to you or not i.e. whether you find what I say consistent within your own being. I am the One who made this Speech and I challenge you that you will find the Speech consistent within your own being. That is what the Quran challenges; none of the other sources do that. The other sources say that I am a Divine Source, imitate me. But the Quran says that I am a Divine guidance but do not follow me blindly, use your human realities and analyze me, question me and see the congruence between what I say and what you are because I am your Maker. This method is unique to the Quran.
Quran says that I have two qualities: one is Divine and the other says to judge me. Christian tradition says to have faith and follow it. Quran says to use your reason, confirm it and if you confirm, then follow. The final point of reference is me.
How can I confirm or reject something because of something being out of me? This question is a limitation to the purpose of the Quran. Most of the arguments presented in the Quran are based on people’s rejections of the Prophets/Messengers representing the truth. Example: Those people who are the opponent of the Messengers said: “We have not heard what you say from our ancestors, we have not found this in our traditional ancestors and culture.” Their reason to reject the message is based on external source: “My ancestors never told about this.” Quran says don’t you have your own reason, use yourself. It is very simple and essential. It is amazing! That is why we prefer to study the Quran. When we study the Quran, we say: “Let’s see if it makes sense to me or not.” It means will I be able to confirm it or not? This way of thinking is a very radical change in the flow of the religious knowledge, tradition or education. That is why it is difficult to read more than a few sentences a week because we are not used to it. We have to unlearn what we know and then try to proceed in the new way of reasoning in whatever we want to be aware of. Without going out of yourself, it is difficult. It looks like a humanitarian attitude, but I am the first witness to the truth. Is there any other way that I can find a witness by not starting from myself?
Language such as “your Creator is the witness or God witnesses the truthfulness of this and this”. It means that “He has given me the ability to understand the truth within my own existence and I have to find out within me.” The Quran is very consistent in this regard.
In summary,
- Don’t assume the attitude of intentional opposition.
- Don’t listen to your whims and fancies—how can I not lend an ear to my whims? I may follow my whims even in the name of religion because we make religion into fancies and we feel comfortable about it thinking that I am obeying my religion by not eating bacon and by fasting or following the Quranic teachings.
These actions (in #2) are the results attained after going through various stages. Following caprices from culture or just by itself is equally true. Methodologically there is no difference between people who claim to believe in God and those who deny God. Bottom line, we should not follow our whims which are external to our human qualities and are made up with artificial reasoning either in the name of humanitarian, naturalism or religion.