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WHY IS THE ASCENSION SPECIAL TO THE PROPHET
MUHAMMAD?
It has been
elaborated in many places in the previous Words. So here we
shall set out a brief list containing signs to demonstrate
Muhammad’s Prophethood, upon him be peace and blessings, and
his perfections, and why he is the most worthy to make the
Ascension.
Despite many
corruptions in the previous Scriptures like the Torah, the
Gospels and the Psalms, a discerning scholar like Husain al-Jisri,
still in this century, was able to find in them one hundred
and ten signs indicating the Prophethood of Muhammad, upon him
be peace and blessings, and quoted them in his Risala al-Hamidiya.
As authentically
recorded by history, many soothsayers such Shiq and Satih,
some time before his Prophethood, accurately foretold his
Prophethood, and even that he was the Last of the Prophets.
Before his
Prophethood, there were many extraordinary events, famous in
history, called irhasat that is, signs forewarning
people of a coming Prophet. For example, on the night of his
birth, the idols in the Ka‘ba were toppled over, and the
pinnacles of the famous palace of Chosroes, the Persian ruler,
broke.
He satisfied the
thirst of an army with water flowing from his fingers; he
split the moon, as confirmed by the Quranic verse, The
moon split (al-Qamar, 54.1), and the dry wooden
pole against which he leant while preaching his sermons in the
Mosque moaned like a camel in the presence of a large
congregation because of separation from him. With all his
miracles such as these numbering almost one thousand, related
by history and biography, he was distinguished and made
superior to all other Prophets.
Friend and foe
alike agree that all the good qualities were to be found to
the highest degree in his character, and that, as demonstrated
by his conduct, the attributes and character of the highest
excellence were apparent in the way he performed his mission,
and, in accordance with the moral principles prescribed by the
religion of Islam, praiseworthy virtues of the highest order
are to be found in the Law he brought.
It is a
requirement of wisdom that Divinity be manifested because of
Its perfections. It is the Prophet Muhammad, upon him be peace
and blessings, who manifested the Divinity of God at the
greatest level and in the most brilliant fashion through the
most perfect and comprehensive way of worship contained in his
religion.
The Creator of the
world wants, as a result of the wisdom in the creation of the
universe, to display His most perfect Beauty and Grace through
some appropriate means, and it is evidently Muhammad, upon him
be peace and blessings, who demonstrated and described His
Beauty and Grace in the most perfect fashion.
The Maker of the
world wants to exhibit and draw attentive gaze towards His
perfect art of infinite Beauty, and, again, it is evidently
Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who proclaimed that
art with the clearest voice.
Again, it is
necessarily Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who, in
response to the desire of the Lord of the worlds to proclaim
His Oneness in the realms of multiplicity, announced Unity
with all Its aspects in the most perfect way.
The Owner of the
world wants, as a consequence of His Wisdom, both to see and
to show in the mirrors of all beings, His infinite essential
Beauty and Grace, with all their manifestations, and again it
is evidently Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who
reflected them in the most brilliant fashion and made others
love them.
It is evidently
Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who, in response to
the desire of the Builder of the palace of the world to
describe His perfections by exhibiting His unseen treasuries
full of invaluable gems, displayed and described them in the
most perfect way.
The Maker of the
universe has decorated the universe with the most beautiful
and exquisite kinds of embellishments and included in it His
conscious creatures in order that they should travel therein
both to get enjoyment and to ponder over it and reflect. He
therefore wants, as a result of His Wisdom, to communicate to
people who observe and reflect, the meaning and value
expressed by the works of His art. Again, it is evidently
Muhammad, upon him be peace and blessings, who guided, in the
most comprehensive way, men and jinn, and even angels, in this
respect by means of the Quran.
Also, the All-Wise
Ruler of the universe wants, by means of an envoy, to reveal
to all conscious beings the purpose of the changes and
transformations in existence and the answer to these three
perplexing questions, Where do beings come from? Where are
they going? What are they? Again, it is evidently Muhammad,
upon him be peace and blessings, who revealed, by means of the
truths of the Qur’an, this purpose and provided the answer
in the clearest and most perfect way.
The Maker of this
world also wants to make Himself known to conscious beings
through His exquisite works and to be loved by them through
the precious bounties He bestows on them. As a result, He
desires to communicate to them by means of an envoy what He
wants them to do and how they may obtain His approval in
return for those bounties. It is evidently Muhammad, upon him
be peace and blessings, who communicated, by means of the Quran,
the things that please God in the most exalted and perfect
way.
The Lord of the
Worlds has endowed man, who is the fruit of the tree of
creation, with such a comprehensive disposition as will
encompass the whole universe, and with a corresponding
ability, and even need, to perform a universal worship. Man,
on the other hand, because of his feelings, is usually
inclined to the world with its varying attractions. So, God
wills, by means of a guide, to turn man’s attention from
worldly multiplicity to Divine Unity, from transience to
eternity. Again, it is evidently Muhammad, upon him be peace
and blessings, who, in response to this will, by means of the
Quran, guided man to this end in the most desirable fashion
and performed the duty of Messengership in the most perfect
way.
Thus, the most
superior among creation are living beings, and among living
beings the most superior are conscious beings. The most
superior of conscious beings are true human beings, and among
the human beings the one who carried out all the duties
mentioned in the most perfect and comprehensive way would, of
a certainty, rise through an all-embracing Ascension to the
nearness of ‘two bows’ length’, that is, to the station
nearest to God, knock at the door of eternal happiness, open
the treasury of Mercy, and become a direct witness of the
unseen truths of faith.
As observed in the
whole universe, everything displays the most pleasing
instances of beauty and utmost degree of adornment. This
beauty and adornment clearly demonstrate that their Maker
possesses a most vigorous will to make things beautiful and to
adorn them. This will in turn shows of a necessity that the
Maker has a strong inclination and sacred love towards His
art. Therefore, the one among beings who has the most
comprehensive disposition to display in himself all the
wonders of art, one who knows them and makes them known and
thus makes himself lovable, and who also deeply appreciates
the beauties manifested in other beings in full appreciation
of their having come from the Maker will evidently be the most
beloved in the sight of the Maker, Who greatly loves His art.
It is the same
being who, in full awareness of the exquisite qualities that
adorn all beings; and of perfections that illuminate them,
makes the heavens echo the words: Glory be to God! What
wonders God has willed, and All these are from God! God is the
greatest!, and who causes the universe to reverberate with the
sounds of the Quran, and enraptures land and sea with his
appreciative reflections and glorification, and his
proclamation and demonstration of Divine Unity. Such a being
is he that, according to the principle, The cause is like the
doer, he receives the reward equivalent to that of all the
good deeds performed by each member of his community; his
spiritual perfections draw strength from the blessings prayed
for him by each member of his community, and, as a result of
the duties he performed in his Messengership, receives
immaterial recompense and infinite emanations of Divine Mercy
and Love. It is, therefore, the certain result of pure truth
and absolute wisdom that this being should advance by means of
Ascension as far as Paradise, Sidra al-Muntaha (the
Lotus Tree), which is the farthest limit of contingency, the
Divine Throne, and to the nearness of two bows’ length. The
second: What do you mean by saying that he is the seed of the
universe? You also say that the universe was created from his
light, and also that he is its farthest and most enlightened
fruit. What does that mean?
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