The Perfect Man
Introduction
Our behavior towards ourselves, others and the world around in different situations is shaped by the way we define and think about a creature called “human being.” Human beings behave differently in the same situation, for example, they react differently to death, which is an inevitable part of life. This behavioral diversity in response to the same scenario suggests that everyone responds differently to the question of the “whatness of man and the universe.”
When we talk to different people about such decisive issues, we clearly see the majority of them either lack complete and accurate information or merely base their beliefs on personal guesswork. These beliefs, whether true or false, are engraved on people’s hearts and influence the way they interact with themselves or others. It is quite obvious if these diverse beliefs were true, there would not be widespread aggression, social/family conflicts, social isolation, and depression (whether individual or collective). In order to enhance his interaction and behavior with himself and others, contemporary man, regardless of social position, roles, beliefs or educational status, must admit that he urgently needs to evaluate and change his beliefs.
In this paper, we attempt to present pure spiritual and Islamic teachings in a clear, fluent, and practical manner, based on the most reliable religious sources; i.e., the healing words of the Holy Quran and of Allah’s vicegerents, that is, the Prophet Muhammad and his Progeny (PBUT). Our sincere hope is that the content presented in this paper will, Allah willing, help our dear readers live a better life and develop joyful and peaceful relationship with themselves, Allah, and people.
Part 1
This World Is Our Second Womb
Close Your Eyes
We have five senses that help us survive on this planet. Each sense has its own specific instrument, i.e. “eyes,” “ears,” “nose,” “tongue,” and “skin”, that give us the ability to “see,” “hear,” “smell,” “taste,” and “touch”. Without these senses, we would not be able to survive or would have a tough time surviving. To get to the root of the matter, tie your eyes with a strip of cloth when you are alone. Now imagine you can no longer see the faces of your loved ones whom you used to meet and connect with. Imagine how difficult it is to cross busy streets or walk on crowded sidewalks full of hasty pedestrians, or do many other things you usually do. Repeat the same experience with other senses or body parts as well!
Living without even one of these senses deprives you of a wide variety of pleasures and experiences. The point is you cannot blame the outer world for this deprivation. This means these joys exist in the outer world, and all that is required is a healthy instrument to enjoy them: healthy eyes to see the moon rise, healthy ears to hear the rain, and healthy skin to touch the trees. The moon, the rain, and the tree are almost available for everyone and can be found everywhere, yet you will need appropriate equipment to enjoy them. The weakness, loss, or lack of such instruments are not to be blamed on the moon, rain, or tree; in fact, the world has withheld its beauties from no one.
The children who are born with birth defects are an outstanding example of this sort of defect. Sometimes the defect may affect the person for the rest of his life, and the world with all its vastness and utilities, billions of times greater than the mother’s womb, cannot compensate for it. Moreover, you may also know someone who suffer from some kind of sensory loss caused by negligence or an accident. Of course, those who have lost one of their senses or limbs in an accident may suffer far more than those who are born with a defect since they have experienced the joy of using them before.
I Do not Have It, But I Would Like to Have It
A crucial factor to remember here is that sense impairment does not mean you do not want to have it. To clarify this point, imagine a person who is born with a nervous system defect and is not able to walk. Although his feet are disabled, he always has a strong desire to walk. This argument can be applied to any other sensory receptor. Eyes are the means of seeing and their incapability neither destroys the sights nor does it kill the desire to see. Taste receptors on the tongue and the sense of smell are instruments for perceiving different flavors. Disrupting these tools merely deprives the person of the pleasures as well as the signals sent to him by his sense of taste and smell but it does not eliminate the need for perception. While, therefore, a lack of tools prevents the person from enjoying some blessings, it never removes man’s innate desire to have them. In fact, it is the existence of this desire that motivates man to try his best to cure his physical disabilities.
Organ Formation Factory
Now, we are going to ask a question to raise a key issue: Have you ever wondered at what stage of human life these instruments were developed? The answer to this question gives us a better understanding of the problem we are going to address.
Every organ that we use as a tool throughout our lives develops in a stage that we do not consider to be a part of life, i.e., the “prenatal period” when the entire body and its vital systems are formed. Even though these systems are somehow reactive to external stimuli, none of them can be used in the womb. The embryo never stops growing in the womb. It develops the heart, brain, eyes, ears, tongue, digestive, respiratory and circulatory systems, as well as other instruments. These tools are made during one stage but put to full use in another; an extremely important stage full of events and pleasures that the embryo can neither imagine nor describe.
Although the embryo’s eyes, ears, respiratory system, the ability to think, and other tools that are being built in its body are not quite functional in the small and limited space of its mother’s womb, its parents, who are aware of the embryo’s needs at other stages of life, take perfect care of it to the point where nothing causes the slightest disruption in its growth. They are so vigilant that if they see a limb deformity in the embryo, they try to correct it while it is still in the womb. Otherwise, they will have a baby who is frail, sick or born with a defect, which could have long-term consequences for the infant’s entire life.
That Place Is Similar to This Place
Now that the importance of the short prenatal period for a healthy birth into the world has become clear, it is time to discuss the central topic of man’s life after this life. In religious teachings, there is a great maxim that clearly states the importance of addressing the spiritual dimension of human beings to determine the course of his worldly life. That is, “the relationship between the womb and the world is the same as the relationship between the world and the Hereafter.”[1] The tight and limited space of a mother’s womb does not seem to be significant in comparison to the immensity of the universe containing the Earth, sky, and billions of galaxies.
Now compare the universe that is so vast that astronomers, with sophisticated astronomical instruments, have not yet been able to find its edge, to another world called the Hereafter, but keep in mind the relationship between the mother’s womb and the world. Now, it is certainly too hard, if not quite impossible, to visualize the vastness of the Hereafter. We can only get a glimpse of the concepts related to the Hereafter through worldly analogies and illustrations. Imagine that you are at the beach. Dip a finger in the water and then take it out. How much water is left on your finger? To quote Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), “What is the example of this worldly life in comparison to the Hereafter other than one of you dipping his finger in the sea? Let him see what he brings forth.”
Short but Constructive
Now that the world is nothing compared to the Hereafter, then why is this worldly life important? What is the point of this life when we depart it after several decades? The answer to this question lies in the above-mentioned relationship. Has anyone ever asked why it is necessary to spend several months in the mother’s womb before entering the world? The importance of a mother’s womb for our life in this world lies in the fact that the womb environment, which gets progressively tighter and puts the fetus under pressure, has “constructive power.” Basically, how will life be possible in the next stage without the body being made in the womb?
The ability to build is the outstanding feature of the womb. It receives the primary material, develops its potential and prepares it to live in the next stage. By fusing the sperm and the egg, which carry the physical qualities and character traits of parents, the mother’s womb produces all the organs and systems of the baby’s body. In the enormous world we live in, the ability to grow and develop is only possible in the small and dark space of a mother’s womb. If a human being is to enter the world, he or she must first go through these developmental stages in the womb.
The type of relationship that each person establishes with the world throughout his/her lifetime is directly related to the extent to which he or she uses the constructive potentials of the mother’s womb during his/her prenatal period. The universe, with all the vastness it has in our eyes, is the womb of the Hereafter, and what must be nurtured in the womb of the world is a divine spirit that has been breathed into man. This spirit, which is the true essence of man’s existence, contains countless divinely hidden traits. Each person prepares himself for the life after death depending on his/her ability to use the constructive power of the world and manifest those divine attributes.
As the required tools for earthly life are “necessarily” built in the mother’s womb, the required instruments for the Hereafter are also made in the stage prior to it, that is, the physical world. Neither does the material world have the potentials of the mother’s womb, nor does the Hereafter have the capability to make the necessary instruments. The slightest delay or stagnation in the process of fetal development results in a lifetime of suffering. The suffering is not caused by the conditions of the world or the Hereafter, but because the person is incompatible with them. It is in the womb where each and every one of the organs and systems needed for the next stage of life are formed. In the mother’s womb, the “body” develops for the worldly life while in the world, the “soul” grows for the life in the Hereafter. The difference lies in that the fetus’s growth is instinctive and involuntary, but in the material world, the person can develop his talents and spiritual gifts of his own free will.
Then, All of a Sudden…
A fetus is instinctively developing and moving towards earthly life in its mother’s womb. The fetus, which is covered by three veils of darkness[2] in the mother’s womb, advances to the next stage when it is ready. Then those veils, which serve as barriers to perceiving the material world, are removed at birth, and the newborn baby is suddenly confronted with a world billions of times bigger, more sophisticated and freer than the womb-world. Similarly, at the time of man’s second birth, that is, from the womb of this world to the Hereafter, all the veils that covered his perceptual powers are removed and he is faced with the Hereafter, which is billions of times bigger, freer and more advanced. There is no way to return to the previous stage after each birth. In fact, the human soul will live with everything he has prepared in advance for the next stage.
Our True Self
The above-mentioned concepts illustrate the importance of nurturing our spiritual dimension, in other words, the divine spirit that Allah blew into us.[3] The divine breath, known as the “true self,” is our very spiritual dimension. Its attributes and spiritual potentials are nurtured and its equipment to enjoy the next life develop as much as it is connected to its one true source, i.e. Allah. Right now, we are in the womb of the world for the sake of our spiritual dimension; therefore, it is our ultimate responsibility to nurture and prepare our true self for the Afterlife, which lasts forever, not just tens or hundreds of years.[4]
Part 2
Worldly Life Minus Afterlife
Now let us take a step back and look at ourselves, the world, and the Hereafter from a different angle, and discuss how we, the world and the Hereafter are related to one another. Are we speaking of a world in the future that has not yet been created when we speak of the Hereafter? Or does this world exist now? To deal with this topic, we should first closely examine the relationship between the world and the creatures that inhabit it.
The Beginning of the Universe
The sky, galaxies and the Earth with all it contains have all come together to form a collection known as the “universe.” If the “whole” did not exist, a fortiori its components would not exist either. That is, the existence of all natural and material components such as living organisms on the Earth and their reproduction are dependent on the existence of the world. That means the existence of any creature in the world is not independent of the world.
Paying attention to how different creatures are born makes it clear that there is an environment in this very world where different organs are prepared for the same world. For many creatures, including humans, this organ-building process occurs in the mother’s womb. The womb, which is located inside the world itself, receives reproductive cells from the world and, after a short time, returns the ready-to-live creature to the world.
A Managing World
In addition to the fact that the womb is a product of this world and cannot not exist without this world, the world itself meets all the needs of the womb and the fetus. All nutritional requirements for the fetus’s growth are provided for him in the world and transported to him via the mother and umbilical cord. A continuous connection between the world and the womb environment is a must for the fetus’s survival. In fact, it is the world which manages the mother’s womb and the fetus within it; therefore, if the world withdrew its attention from the womb, the fetus would be doomed to perish.
The Managing Hereafter
We quite understand the relationship between the mother’s womb and the world we live in because both environments are familiar to us and are part of our biological experience. As a result of this familiarity, many Humanological concepts are made easier to understand. As previously stated, the relationship between the mother’s womb and this world is similar to the relationship between this life and the Afterlife, but on a larger and more significant scale. This similarity sheds light on the existential relation between this world and the Hereafter, that is, the existence of the physical world depends on the Hereafter. The Hereafter existed long before the world we live in, thus our world has taken both its essence and attributes from the Hereafter. According to a narration by the Prophet of Islam, the world is surrounded by the Hereafter, and the world and the Hereafter are not two separate entities.[5] That is, all the mathematical laws and relations in the world, including the current rules governing winds, clouds, rain, rotation of the Earth, the moon and the sun are managed by the Hereafter all the time. If the Hereafter turns its attention away from the world, “the womb of this world” with all that it contains will be destroyed.
First the Hereafter
To summarize the existential relationship between the world and the Hereafter, it can be said that at first, the Hereafter existed as a “whole”, then the world was created and surrounded by it; a world which is “womb-like” and constructive for the divine spirit blown into the human flesh. The existence of the world without the Hereafter is as impossible as the existence of the mother’s womb without the world. Just as the mother’s womb is poor and needy, and depends on the world for its existence, the womb of the world derives its existence from another world, the Hereafter. The Hereafter that now surrounds us and we only need to open the eyes of the soul to see the unseen.
The Unveiled Look
At every stage of life, humans are covered in veils, preventing them from comprehending the next level. How can a fetus in the mother’s womb comprehend the vastness of the world he is about to enter willy-nilly? The baby grows in a dark and confined space, unable to perceive the infinitely larger universe which surrounds him and the womb. A world that can only be seen at birth, something that inevitably happened to all of us. The outside world is invisible to the fetus inside the womb and is “the unseen” to him. Only after birth, when the baby gets rid of the small environment and the veils he is in, he realizes that he was surrounded by a larger world all along, and that everything he grew in the womb is to be used in this world.
Our awareness of the Afterlife is similar to this. The moment we die, which is, in fact, our birth into the Hereafter, is the moment we will see the infinitely larger and more advanced world regulating us and the whole universe. Then we will realize the extent to which we have nurtured divine love in our hearts and obeyed Allah’s commands determines the quality of life in the Hereafter. We will realize that we have to live with what we have brought with us.
The Unseen Exists, but It Is Concealed
In the beginning verses of the second chapter of the Holy Quran, Allah considers the belief in “the unseen” as a characteristic of the pious.[6] The unseen refers to anything that is not objectively visible to us, such as Allah, angels, kingdom of the heavens, and the Hereafter. Even though we cannot see the Hereafter with our physical eyes, Allah has placed signs in the world to make us certain of the existence of the Hereafter and the need to prepare for it.
The Quran points out the greatness and hiddenness of the Hereafter, “No soul knows what joy is kept hidden in store for them.”[7] It’s not that it doesn’t exist, it’s just hidden. Just as the world is hidden from the fetus inside the womb while there is no distance between the world and the mother’s womb, the Hereafter is hidden from us while it is not separate from this world. Anyone who considers his earthly life to be a small part of an eternal life and believes that after this life, he will enter an infinite world will undoubtedly ask himself, “What are the requirements of this path?” “How and under whose guidance should this dangerous path be taken?”
Such an adventurous and fateful journey that ends in an afterlife full of excitement and peace, rather than darkness, anxiety, and sorrow, necessitates expert and accurate knowledge and information, with no room for errors. Information that illuminates the entire path of human life, including the three stages before, during, and after the material world, and instils confidence in the human heart to continue on this journey. This level of awareness is obviously much beyond human comprehension. Therefore, where and how can man gain this specialized knowledge to build the unavoidable future in the best and most beautiful way possible? The following sections of this series will address these issues.
Part 3
In Search of the Most Perfect Answer
The Attempt to Live Longer
In everyday life, most healthy people have a laid-back attitude and never believe that their health may be damaged someday. Human behavior indicates that he assumes he will stay healthy forever and that he never thinks his health may be ruined due to his individual behavior or unexpected events, which might, consequently, disrupt his life.However, once this person loses his health, feels unwell and realizes that his health is at risk, he starts the process of treatment, ranging from simple self-medication to consulting the experts. The more serious and complex the medical condition, the more sensitive the treatment; besides, it needs greater effort to regain health to the extent that he will travel to larger cities to obtain better medical treatment if he cannot find good medical care in his own city. He may even travel abroad if he does not find the right treatment in his own country, and of course, if he can afford it. He goes wherever can find a ray of hope and devotes all his time, energy, wealth, and even pledges his honor to treat his disease. Even when medical science is unable to treat him, that is, when doctors gave up on him, he won’t lose his hope and will seek help from higher spiritual powers, regardless of his beliefs. He makes all efforts to recover health, stay alive, and ensure survival. It is interesting that the process is the same whether that person is two or a hundred years old. At any age, there is always a desire to return to healthy and normal life. Even if a person’s lifespan increases from a few decades to a few hundred years, the desire to live longer will remain forever. This desire to escape death is actually “the desire for immortality.”
Immortality
Since ancient times, this longing for immortality, which is an innate desire and a defining feature of human nature, has revealed itself in various forms in human behavior. Mummification of the dead to keep the body intact for the afterlife, burial of the deceased with items of value or interest, the search for the fountain of youth or the elixir of life, the attempt to keep a good name among future generations and the creation of masterpieces to perpetuate one’s name are all examples of human behavior that arise from the desire for eternity and immortality. Although this desire plays a vital role in shaping human behavior and life plans, no one has ever been able to meet it in this world.
A Life without Limitations
The failure to fulfill an innate desire is not limited to this one. There are other innate desires which humans never stop craving, despite the fact that the world’s capacity is too limited to satisfy them. Assume that there are no limitations and you have as much wealth, power, and knowledge as you want. If you were not happy with your home, neighborhood, city, and the country you live in, would you still stay in the same place?
Would you continue to live your life as it is now? Or would you make use of unlimited and indestructible resources to build a life full of pleasure, beauty, security, peace, tranquility and happiness?
Obviously, if there is no limit or barrier to a person’s fulfillment of desires, his life will completely change. Although everyone wishes to live in such a perfect world and welcomes it with open arms if it is offered to him, the reality of human life shows that fulfilling this wish is beyond our reach and even impossible.
The More, the Better
However, no one wants to stop moving forward. Every person strives to make progress, improve his finances as well as standards of living and to enhance his beauty and looks. Similarly, every person, regardless of their occupational status, desires to get promoted.
In the hopes of acquiring knowledge in his field of interest, he enjoys studying and gaining experience, and strives to achieve the highest level of skill or knowledge. Regardless of how much money he has, he enjoys adding another zero to his bank account. Man hates limitations and is constantly in search of more power, fame, influence, greater knowledge and higher level of awareness. He seeks a more comfortable life, tastier food, and more interesting entertainments.
There is no one who will not be happy with growth, progress, and increased awareness and ability, at least in his areas of interest. If we consider wealth, power, fame, beauty, knowledge, mastery, pleasure, entertainment, and so on a kind of “perfection,” we come to the conclusion that man desires the best of each perfection in the greatest amount possible. This desire is called “perfectionism.”
Just Take a Moment
The crucial question that arises here is: when the world is incapable of responding to man’s desire for perfection and immortality, then what is the point of their existence in human life? Where should these desires be sought if they cannot be fulfilled in this world? Basically, how can these demands and desires be satisfied? In other words, does an eternal and infinite life exist? To find an answer which can convince a truth-seeking mind, we must reflect a bit on human desires. What are the characteristics of these demands? Where do they come from, or are they rule-governed?
The Heart Wants What the Eyes See
Perhaps the basic point is that man’s desires are confined to his knowledge and awareness. In fact, it is impossible for him to desire anything which is beyond his understanding. It means man cannot normally ask for something he does not know and has no information about. In other words, before he wants to desire something, he must necessarily have minimal knowledge about it. To make this point easier to understand, let us give an example.
If we crave for a cool, juicy, and sweet watermelon on a hot summer day, it is because we already know it and enjoyed eating such a delicious watermelon in the previous summers, or at least we saw others who enjoyed it or described it to us. We would never have sought it if we had not experienced it practically or mentally. On the other hand, there are many fruits, drinks, and meals in other parts of the world, which we have never even heard about; as a result, we do not show any interest in them.
However, tasting them only once or simply seeing their picture will awaken in us the desire to have them. The same goes for other desires that arise in us. In fact, it is impossible for us to ask for something we have never seen or heard of. For example, if we do not know about a place in our own country or abroad, we will never even thought of visiting it. Consequently, humans can only feel the desire for something of which they have at least minimum knowledge and awareness.
It Exists
Another point to mention is that something must exist before someone knows it. It means that we cannot possibly know about something that does not exist. Therefore, one of the prerequisites for gaining awareness, knowledge, and experience of something is that it should exist within the boundaries of existence. When a person is unable to be aware of something that does not exist, it is obvious that he cannot seek it out either.
According to the above-mentioned statements, knowing and desiring something that does not exist is logically impossible. These statements express two rational rules about every human desire, in all dimensions of our being (inanimate, plantal, animal, intellectual, and spiritual).
The first one is that “the desire for something is a sign of knowing that thing,” and the second one is that “the desire for something is a sign of the existence of that thing.” Therefore, when someone seeks eternal tranquility, lasting peace, eternal beauty and joy, pure happiness, infinite knowledge, and, in truth, desires true immortality, we can conclude that such things all exist and he has experienced them somehow.
A Spate of Questions
Considering the above-mentioned facts, human reason proves that not only do eternal life and absolute perfection exist, but also humans have already been familiar with them and have experienced them. These two facts alone make us think about what we should do now. Now that the desire for immortality and reaching infinite perfection can be satisfied, where should we look for it? If man is supposed to experience an infinite eternity after several decades of earthly life, can he spend his current life as he wishes?
Will there come a time when man’s infinite-seeking heart achieves its desire and reaches its true beloved to find true peace and happiness? Is there anyone who can guide man to that desired end-state? Is human intellect capable of responding to such inquiries and demands? If yes, then what can we learn from the fact that all these ideologies and isms eventually failed?
Why has the pursuit of happiness has failed to deliver on its promise? Why have theories with materialistic, sexual, ethnic, racial, hegemonic, capitalist, humanistic, etc. approaches failed to bring happiness? How can we achieve this common goal? Is there a connection between this love and human salvation? Is there a connection between this infinite-seeking faculty and other human faculties? Are they rule-governed?
We Cannot Tread the Unknown and Unseen Path
These are the key questions which might be answered fully and correctly, otherwise, it would be impossible to know all dimensions of our being. Besides, without proper knowledge, we can never attain true salvation because knowing the true human essence and his perfect qualities are the only pathway to our happiness and that of others. Therefore, first we have to find an answer to the following questions: What are the needs of this creature called human? Where did we come from? Where are we going? What are we doing in this world now? Who has the knowledge and ability to provide a proper answer to these basic questions that we have discussed since the beginning of this argument?
The knowledge required to properly answer these questions is much beyond human understanding. Although there seems to be many specialized branches of knowledge, it can neither claim to be omniscient even in one field nor say nothing is left unknown. Instead, as it progresses, it realizes that its scope is more limited now. It is exactly here that the need for a knowledgeable and trustworthy source to give proper answer to all these crucial questions is felt, someone who can answer these questions fully and correctly, without any doubt, and rescue us from all historical confusions.
Part 4
Leave It to the Experts!
Handle with Care
When confronted with an unfamiliar object, we must undoubtedly look for someone to explain to us what it is if we really want to know it. Then if the object is to be put to proper use, the next step is to have someone explain and set it up, at least for the first time. The more expensive, delicate, sophisticated, or rare a device appears to be, the more cautious we must be to avoid damaging it. This is a rational principle and a natural law that exist in human essence and cannot be denied because our entire lives are based on them.
Know the Ropes
Although the above-mentioned statements are so obvious that they need no proof and further explanation seems to underestimate our dear readers’ perception, we will cite the most obvious reason which proves this principle in order to avoid skipping the subject. Every person who is an expert in a particular field rightfully expects others to consult him or other specialists, rather than non-experts, if they face any problems in that particular area of activity. How would a skillful auto mechanic judge a person who tries to do engine repairs without having the required skill? Or what would a dentist think of someone who has referred to an otolaryngologist to diagnose and treat dental problems? Every wise person gives himself permission to warn the people who turn to non-experts to solve their problems, of their inefficient or even dangerous actions and unfortunate outcomes such as financial loss, health risks and wasting time, which never returns. Perhaps we too, due to our life experiences, have repeatedly warned naive people, who do not have enough knowledge or experience, of the rights and wrongs of something. This means we believe in the “Principle of Primacy of Expertise” and apply it in all aspects of our lives, especially in areas where we do not have enough knowledge and skill.
Only the Maker
Therefore, all of us deeply believe in this rational principle that in any field or area of activity only expert opinion is true and trusted. According to this principle, everything should be entrusted to the expert and nobody else. Without exception, we follow this unwritten rule in every field and in dealing with any system in the four following stages of definition, setup, implementation and, if necessary, maintenance and repair. Certainly, we consult the inventor and creator of that system in the first place and, if available, he is the only entitled to introduce the product. He is also the only one who can operate the device and use it. Certainly, if the device is out of order, he is still the only person who can find a solution and repair the device.
Which One?
We have already said that the more expensive, sophisticated, delicate, and special a device is, the more important and necessary it is to use this principle. Everything we do in life is to find peace, happiness and bliss; therefore, our “self” seems to be the most valuable asset we possess. Each individual is unique because there is nobody else like him and he has only once chance at life. He devotes all his time to achieve goals and gain qualities which he ascribes to himself: my house, my wealth, my beauty, my power, my family, my knowledge and so on. The crucial thing is that everyone conducts all his activities and makes plans according to his notion of “me.” This is exactly what causes most problems. This is exactly where he should know and define who he is and decide which school of thought has expressed the truest proposition about human beings. More importantly, considering limited human lifespan, does he have enough time and ability to test all the humanology theories proposed by different schools of thought? Schools that have often acknowledged the falsity of their theories over the years and misled countless people who sought happiness.
Can the definitions these schools offer about man and his life really relieve the burden from a person who is concerned about his happiness and bliss? Descriptions such as “Man is a tool-making animal,” “Man is an evolved animal,” “Man is a talking animal,” “Man is a creature with an upright posture creature and broad nails,” and “Man is a creature that creates culture and civilization.” There are some schools which consider man a material being; it means his life and happiness depends on money and economics. Still others believe Human beings are sexual beings, which means his animal traits and sexual needs determine all his activities. Is man really limited to these definitions? Doesn’t he have any other ability?
Human intellect has long been engaged in knowing and making man happy. It has also offered thousands of definitions in the course of this long time; however, he is still unable to answer this question: “Who am I?” Will there ever come a time when man can define himself correctly only by relying on his intellect?
He is the All-Knowing
Man’s short lifespan is not the time of trial and error to find a correct self-definition. In fact, it is neither possible nor rational to put his most precious asset to test. The most rational thing to do is to turn to the same principle that we use in our normal daily routines, that is, the “Principle of Primacy of Expertise.” According to this principle, the creator of man is the only one who is qualified and authorized to say what man is, what his uses are, what the purpose of his creation is, and what he should do if he makes a mistake and goes astray. In fact, to provide a correct and comprehensive definition of something, first, we must know its origin. Secondly, we must know its current situation and needs. Finally, we must be aware of the ultimate goal of its existence. This means man should know where he comes from, where he is now, and what his final destination is. Having a thorough and accurate knowledge of these three phases makes one competent enough to comment on something and introduce it. Therefore, any definition offered by anyone except man’s creator is inadequate; it is either wrong or incomplete. That is because human knowledge and intellect cannot encompass all aspects of his existence from the beginning of his creation through his worldly life to what awaits him after death.
A University with No Instructors
Now that we acknowledge we should use this essential principle to lead man and his way of life, we come to this question, “How can we know about Allah’s definition of His creation, i.e. humankind?” Let us clarify this with an example. Imagine a university with a lot of classes and students, but with no instructors! If there is such a university, we should ask its founder, “What is the point of gathering students in a university that has no instructors?” Common sense tells us if there is a university, there should certainly be some instructors to share their specialized knowledge with the students, guide them on the path of learning, answer their questions and make them acquire skills.” A university without any instructors would be a place where some idle students have gathered together with no purpose!
Inalienable Human Rights
Now that the existence of an instructor and guide is necessary in such a small place as university, how is it possible that Allah, the Wise and the Merciful, has abandoned man and left him on his own? In a world where people such as mystics, anthropologists, economists, psychologists, doctors, professors, clergymen, theorists emerge every day or even every hour and claim they can guide man towards Allah and eternal bliss, it is our inalienable right that Allah send us a knowledgeable and infallible guide to constantly lead us in the difficult path towards salvation and righteousness. Allah as the only One who is authorized to provide information in the four stages of “definition”, “setup”, “implementation,” and, “maintenance and repair in case of failure”, has chosen some individuals to be the channel to deliver specialized information to human beings. Such individuals should necessarily be infallible so that they, first, perfectly receive Allah’s messages and second, do not stray from the right path in conveying messages to human beings and the momentous duty of guiding them.
Not Even for a Moment
God’s Wisdom and Mercy require Him not to leave man without a specialized and infallible guide, not even for a moment, so the creation of the first human being coincides with the mission of the first prophet of Allah; i.e. Adam. Throughout history, Allah the Almighty appointed thousands of prophets so that man would never be not deprived of the guidance of a specialist. These infallible leaders are connected to the source of divine knowledge and through long-term training, self-observation and chastity are adorned with divine morality. In other words, they are trained by God to be directly among people to guide them. Therefore, according to the principle of primacy of expertise, man is never needless of a master, guide and specialist in any of his undertakings and in finding the accurate answers to such crucial questions in life as what humans are, where they came from, why they came here, and what will become of them. Man needs a God-chosen infallible specialist more than anything else, and only this infallible specialist can give an accurate and perfect answer to these vital questions.
[1]. Prophet Muhammad, “: The believer in this world is like the fetus in his mother’s womb… (Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali. The Revival of Religious Sciences. vol. 15, page 187. Beirut, Lebanon: Dar Al-Kitab Al-Arabi)
[2]. “… He creates you in the wombs of your mothers ˹in stages˺, one development after another, in three layers of darkness… (Quran, 39:6).
[3]. “…blow in him of My spirit…” (Quran, 15:29)
[4]. “… and they will be there forever.” (Quran, 2:25, 39)
[5]. Prophet Muhammad: “The world is in the Hereafter and the Hereafter surrounds the world.” (Irshad al-Qulub, vol. 2, narration 293289)
[6]. a guidance for those conscious of Allah… who believe in the unseen (Quran, 2:2-3)
[7]. Quran, 32:17
