The
answer of the Prophets to the Illogical
Demands of the Polytheists
Without doubt, extreme
self-worship, going to extremes in self-worship and in distorting reality and ignoring it,
causes the human being's misguidance to increase, together with the dominance of personal,
arbitrary inclination over his mind. A true orientation to reality, a decisive entry onto
the path of truth, requires the human being to empty his inner being of all obstinate
tendencies, the negative consequences of which are irreparable. Everyone has the
individual duty of seeking the truth, and this can be attained only by following the path
of salvation.
The Quran recognizes as logical
that miracles be demanded of the Prophets as proofs of the veracity of their claim, and it
narrates in detail the practical and affirmative answer given by the Prophets to this
demand of mankind. Nonetheless, there were certain obstinate and illogical persons in each
age who were in effect unwilling to accept the truth and demanded from the Prophets
miracles of their own choosing. Sometimes they even demanded the performance of deeds that
were rationally impossible. Naturally enough, the Prophets who were in communication with
the source of revelation did not submit to their childish and obstinate demands. The
purpose of miracles is to bear witness to messengerhood, and this aim is accomplished by
any miraculous deed that gives assurance that a Prophet has indeed received a mission from
God.
Is it necessary that Prophets
should produce miracles corresponding to the particular taste and desire of everyone? Must
a Divine miracle be subordinate to the will of frivolous and aimless individuals?
The Prophets proclaimed to the
human beings that they were entrusted with the guidance and teaching of mankind, so the
occurrence of miracles had to be based on the will and desire of God and the necessities
of the situation; it was not a means for entertaining illogical and obstinate people. The
Noble Quran says: "No Messenger had the right to perform a miracle without God's
permission." (40:78)
One of the reasons for the
Prophets' refusal to submit to those who were demanding miracles of them may have been
that those persons imagined the Prophets to be claiming some kind of control over the
whole of the universe. The Quran therefore says: "Tell people I am a human
being like you, except that revelation comes to me. (41:6) Say: God is transcendent
and elevated. Am I more than a the human being whom God has chosen as His
Messenger?." (17:92)
However, when people were seeking
guidance and pursuing the truth, and the Prophets themselves wished to establish the truth
of their mission, miracles took place, as is evident from many such instances in the case
of Moses, upon whom be peace.
It is always possible for God to
draw the attention of the human beings to a miracle in some spectacular way. For example,
He can cause inanimate objects and plants to speak or do other remarkable things in order
to establish the veracity of His religion. However, such miracles would not be conducive
to the human being's freedom or his conscious choice and development. Therefore, God has
not acted in this fashion and He has not sought to guide the human being at the expense of
his intellectual freedom.
Those who turn their back on the
truth will naturally come to experience the result of their deeds and the consequence of
their behavior. It is thus that everything moves forward in this world in complete
harmony. If God were to punish all humans immediately because of their misdeeds, no one
would be able to endure it, for if every wrongdoer were to be killed, the human race would
inevitably come to an end.
If those opposing the Prophets
had no aim other than uncovering the truth, they would come to accept it both as a result
of their own extensive and comprehensive reflections and of the manifest miracles
displayed to them. However, the manner in which they demand miracles indicates an evil
intention on their part, and a tendency to make unjustifiable objections, not a real
search for the truth.
The basic concern of these
obstinate persons whose hearts had died within them was denial and turning away from the
truth, for considering the existence of clear miracles there was no need for them to be
repeated. Even if they had been repeated, those deniers would still not have believed. The
Quran says: "When the Messenger of Truth was sent to them by Us, they said,
'Why has he not been given what Moses was given?' But did they not disbelieve in what had
been given to Moses? (28:48)
Many of their demands did not
even accord with the conditions of a miracle. Thus, the Quran tells us that they
proposed the following to the Prophet of Islam: "... to prove your mission
you must bring God and the angels here to us." (25:24)
In another verse, their foolish
objections and expectations along the same lines are analyzed as follows: "They
said: 'We will not believe in you unless you make a spring gush forth for us from the
ground, or have a garden of date trees and vines with water flowing through it, or cause
the sky to fall in on our heads, or make God and His angels appear in front of us, or have
a house covered with gold, or ascend into the sky. But we will not believe in your
ascending into the sky unless you bring for us a book we can read.' Say: 'Glory be unto my
Lord! Am I anything more than a human being, sent by God with a mission?' (17:90-93)
It is evident from these verses
that the objectors were demanding from the Messenger of God that, in order to prove his
prophethood and his special relationship with the origin of all existence, he should
perform miracles such as causing a spring to gush out of the ground or possessing an
orchard overflowing with fruit or a palace of god, these being the marks of aristocratic
opulence in that age.
It was possible for those demands
to be fulfilled, for certain individuals possessed one or all of the things mentioned;
however, they were not Prophets.
The possession of material
resources can never be a criterion for prophethood and the ability to perform miracles;
such things can never be accepted from anyone as a proof of prophethood . This shows how
short-sighted and banal they were in their thinking; they imagined illusory power, wealth,
and abundance, to constitute criteria for leadership.
Another demand of these
tricksters, who were interested in nothing more than enjoying the same kind of
entertainment that the deeds of an ascetic might have provided, was the immediate descent
of Divine punishment, bringing human life to an end. But the ultimate aim of the miracle
is something quite different: to guide the human beings and make them aware, to nurture
their capacities and to liberate them from attachments. It is for this reason that as a
result of his accepting the truth, the human being begins to act within a new system of
thought.
As for the demand that God and
the angels should descend, considering the fact that God is not a body and is not limited
with respect to time and space, He cannot have a material or relative manifestation. To
imagine the contrary is the result of childish and illogical thinking.
God's final answer to the
illegitimate objections of the miracle seekers is explicit and clear: "Say: 'Glory
be unto my Lord! Am I anything more than a human being, sent by God with a mission?'"
Through these words, the Prophet
fully absolves God from any weakness or inability, while, at the same time, emphasizing
his own utter powerlessness to produce miracles of himself. Miracles proceed from the will
of God's unlimited essence and the Prophet follows His will. Without God's permission, he
has no right to intervene in the workings of the universe, and under no circumstances can
he surrender to every demand made on him for the performance of miracles.
Another objection that was made
was that they considered the Prophet's belonging to the same human species as themselves a
point of weakness. They imagined that Prophets could not be raised up from within society,
from among the masses. This, too, the Prophet answers with the same words, condemning
thereby the narrow and erroneous view that was a result of their failure to understand the
meaning of a prophetic mission. With the lesson and message contained in these words, he
barred the path to any deviant interpretation of prophecy and messengerhood.
Still more amazing was that the
polytheists used to say: "We will not believe until we receive what was given to
the other Prophets." (6:124) For those who have no intention of changing and do
not wish to be liberated from bondage to their obstinate illusions in order to enter the
straight path of guidance, the repetition of a miracle would be entirely fruitless.
An Inadequate Analysis
Those whose thoughts lack a
foundation of religious belief attempt to explain the question of revelation and the
teachings of the Prophets as follows: those teachings did not have a heavenly origin, but
arose instead from the intellectual genius of those pure and outstanding humanitarians.
Since the peoples that lived in the time of the Prophets could not be convinced by the
logic of reason, in order to gain their support, the Prophets attributed to God the laws
and regulations they themselves had drawn up which were indeed useful for the reform of
corrupt societies.
This interpretation of the matter
is neither logical nor realistic, for however much abundant talent and innate genius an
individual possesses, his talents will remain buried and his genius unfulfilled unless he
receives instruction and education. By contrast, the knowledge of the Prophets was not
learned or acquired; they did not acquire learning from some masters with whom they were
contemporary. In addition, the work of geniuses unfolds in accordance with material and
natural principles, whereas the miracles of the Prophets are not based on natural and
conventional laws or formulae.
If they had no source other than
genius and perspicacious intelligence, unless they had discovered some entirely new
factor, the teachings they promulgated after claiming prophethood would have to have had
some antecedent, and they would have developed their thoughts and ideas gradually, not
suddenly and all at once.
By contrast, all the profound
transformations we see in the lives of the Prophets begin, without exception, at the
moment they proclaim themselves to be Prophets. Before that moment, putting aside their
abundant spirituality and inward purity, everything in the external circumstances of the
Prophets is entirely normal.
This abrupt transformation, this
sudden presentation of teachings that within a comprehensive theoretical and practical
framework orient the thoughts and actions of the human being toward a specific goal - his
liberation from domination by natural and social forces - is clear evidence and proof that
a new factor has entered the lives of the Prophets, that a new gushing source for the
discovery of truth has been placed at their disposal.
Nowhere in the course of human
history will we encounter persons the products of whose talent and the fruit of whose
genius make such a sudden, abrupt appearance. However, this was precisely the case with
the Prophets.
Any impartial researcher who
examines the history of the Prophets will realize that the entirety of their noble lives
was characterized by truthfulness, honesty, devotion to the truth, and love of humanity.
Particularly apparent in their lives were their spirit of self-sacrifice, their endurance
of pressure and overwhelming problems, and their constructive determination at all times
to advance toward fulfilling their goal. Even their hate-filled enemies were obliged to
credit them with all these virtues.
These qualities demonstrate well
what constituted the foundation on which the Prophets stood in their mission devoted to
truth and humanity, while confronting the inhumane and impure elements that always emerged
to confront the men of God.
Given this, can we attribute the
utterance of falsehood, for the sake of gaining greater influence in society, to persons
who represent an ideal model of freedom from all crookedness and deviousness? Is it
permissible to accuse of making false and unfounded statements personages in whose conduct
we see not the slightest trace of selfish desire?
It was precisely their lofty and
worthy conduct that accelerated their success in winning over a whole segment of mankind
that was drowning in the stagnant waters of ignorance. Furthermore, one of the principal
teachings put forward by those men of God, one of the hallmarks of their mission, was a
summons to honesty and truthfulness and a condemnation of hypocrisy and deviousness.
Specimens of Human Perfection According to Ali,
upon whom be peace
In one of his speeches, Ali, upon
whom be peace, discusses the lives of the Prophets, describing those most exalted
exemplars of human virtue as follows: "Let me speak of the characteristics of
Moses, to whom God spoke. When he raised his hands in prayer to the presence of his Lord,
he swore and affirmed, 'O God, I need nothing of all Your bounty save only a piece of
bread to relieve my hunger.' He asked for nothing more because in his indigence he used to
ward off hunger with the wild grasses of the desert, and so this was he that the greenness
of the grass he used to consume was visible through the diaphanous skin of his stomach.
"Let me mention David, the
Prophet who first introduced reed pipes. He would weave baskets from date fiber, and then
ask his companions, 'Which of you will buy this basket?' He would buy barley bread with
the money he earned from selling the baskets and eat it.
"Let me speak of Jesus, son
of Mary, upon whom be peace. He would place a stone beneath his head to sleep on at night;
he always wore coarse clothing and passed his days in hunger. The moon was his lamp in the
darkness of the night, and the azure roof of the heavens was his shelter in winter. He
prepared his food from the plants that grew in the ground; he had neither a spouse to draw
his attention to her nor a child on whom to lavish anxious care. He had no wealth calling
for his attention, nor greed and desire to abase him with the search for riches. His only
mount was his own two feet, and his two hands were always at work in the service of God's
creatures.
"Follow your own Prophet of
pure disposition, Muhammad, upon whom be peace and blessings. He was a perfect example of
all human virtues. God loves those who in the conduct of their lives follow His Messenger,
who place their feet in his footsteps, and who follow him in their choice of a way
of life. He took but a slight portion of the life of this world.
"His nurture was dry bread,
and he never ate to satiation. They offered him the world, and he did not accept it. He
disliked whatever God disliked, and he despised whatever God regarded as lowly.
"When he ate, he would sit
on the ground. He would sit and stand with the meekness of a slave. He would mend his own
clothes and stitch his own shoes. A simple curtain covered the door to his dwelling, and
he would tell his wives to remove it, because it reminded him of the worldly life and its
adornments.
"Even within his heart, he
would wage war against worship of the world, obliterating all consciousness of it from his
heart. He expelled all concern for worldly well-being from his mind and closed his eyes to
all adornment and luxury.
"Every possessor of
intelligence must ask himself whether God was honoring the Prophet through this way of
life or, on the contrary, humiliating and abasing him. If he says that God was abasing
him, he has spoken in error and accused God of a monstrosity.
"So follow the Prophet in
the conduct of your lives, for it is he who holds the banner of resurrection and who
provides the measure by which all humans deeds are to be measured. He entered the arena of
this world with a pure intelligence and conscience and passed through this world, closing
his eyes to the things of the world for the sake of God's message. He never placed one
stone on top of another in order to build himself a dwelling, and he never constructed a
palace.
"How grateful we should be
to God that in His kindness and favor sent us Muhammad, upon whom be peace, for us to
follow and take as our model, and to follow step by step the path he traced out with his
life."[8]
The way of recognizing Prophets
is not restricted to the miracles they performed. Indeed, the method prescribed by reason
and knowledge represents the most profound way of recognizing a Prophet, particularly in
an age when the intellect has developed and knowledge has advanced. Through careful
examination and objective analysis, by taking into consideration both individual and
social characteristics, as well as the content of the teachings being proclaimed, it is
possible to recognize the true Prophet, and to do so, in fact, at a more profound level
than do those who merely witness the miracles they perform.
A distinct school of thought can
present itself to researchers and investigators more effectively and convincingly than by
means of a miracle; it can demonstrate the veracity of the program it proposes.
The clearest, most evidential and
primary proof of a correct school of thought, in an age when knowledge and learning are
fully present, is its complete conformity with the criteria of science and the observable
realities of the universe. It should, therefore, be realized that if a school of thought
does not accord with the criteria of science, and if, from the point of view of its
content and regulations, it contradicts science and free thought, that school definitely
has no relation to the Creator.
It is thus that with the
advancement of knowledge and the intellectual development of society, the authentic
teachings of the Prophet - which ensure the perfection of the human being, provide for his
spiritual and material needs, and enable both the individual and society to grow and
advance, shine ever more strongly through the darkness of illusion and superstition and
display their brilliant visage ever more clearly. The heavenly nature of the Prophets,
which is clearly delineated in the Quran, is an indication of their lofty standing and
status before the Creator.
A whole separate surah was
revealed concerning the Prophet Noah. He has such an exalted status that God invokes peace
on him in the following terms: "Peace be upon Noah and greetings be unto
him! Thus do we reward the doers of good, for he was truly one of our believing
servants." (37:79-80) The Quran mentions Abraham, upon whom be peace, the
champion of Divine unity, as follows: "God chose Abraham as His friend."
(4:125) "It is fitting for the believers that they should follow Abraham."
(60:4) "He was a truthful bestower of counsel." (11:107)
Concerning Solomon, that just
ruler, He says: "We bestowed Solomon on David; he was a virtuous servant who
turned always to God." (38:30)
God granted him His favor and
generosity in both worlds, as is apparent from these two verses: "This is a
limitless bounty bestowed in this world." (38:39) "For Solomon there
shall be a goodly return in the next world, and a station of nearness in the presence of
his Lord." (38:40)
Concerning David, God says:
"Mention Our servant David. He was most powerful, and he constantly turned to Our
presence in repentance. We strengthened his kingdom and rule, and gave him the power to
perceive truths and to distinguish the true from the false." (38:17-18)
God mentions Joseph, that
veracious one who taught all seekers of virtue the lesson of struggle against sin, in the
following terms: "Joseph who had heard these words, raised up his hands in
supplication and said: 'O God, the torment of prison is more preferable to me than the
ugly deed the women demand of me.'" (12:33)
Finally, expressing the respect
that is due all of the Prophets, He says: "God's peace and blessings be upon His
cherished Messengers." (37:181)
References:
The Seal of the Prophets and His Message
By: Sayyid Mujtaba Musavi Lari
Translated by: Hamid Algar |
