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THE
QURAN ADDRESSES EACH LEVEL OF MANKIND IN
EVERY AGE
The
wise Quran addresses each level of
mankind in every age. It is essential
for the Quran-which calls all mankind of
varying intellectual and spiritual
capacities to faith, and instructs them
in faith, the highest and most subtle
science, and in knowledge of God, the
broadest and most enlightening branch of
learning, and which calls them to the
laws of Islam, the most important and
elaborate of sciences-it is essential
that the Quran should teach every group
and level appropriately. Whereas mankind
are many and diverse, the Quran is one
and teaches the same teaching.
Therefore, there must be different
levels within the same instruction, in
which each person will be able to find
his share. You may refer to the examples
given earlier. However, in order to
point out the share of understanding of
a few classes, I will point out a few
minor points briefly.
Examples:
He
begets not, nor was begotten. And
there is none comparable to Him .
(112:3-4)
The
share of understanding of the common
people, who form the majority of
mankind, in these verses, is this: ‘Almighty
God is absolutely free from having a
father, children, wives and equals.’
Those of relatively higher (more
informed) levels of understanding will
infer that the verses categorically
reject the Divine sonship and divinity
of Jesus and the divinity of angels and
all other beings who beget and are
begotten. Now, since the rejection of a
negation or of an impossibility is
evidently useless, the science of
eloquence demands the existence of a
conclusion from the words which is
useful. It is unquestionable that God
does not beget nor was begotten,
therefore there must be another purpose
in rejecting the attribution of sonship
and fatherhood to God, which is this:
Whoever has a father, children and
equals cannot be God and does not
deserve worship. It is for this reason
(among many others) that sura al-Ikhlas,
from which the verses above are quoted,
is of such great use for all persons at
all times.
Another
group of a higher degree of
understanding derive this meaning:
Almighty God is absolutely free of all
relationships with the creation which
will suggest begetting and being
begotten, and exempt from having
partners, helpers and fellow-deities.
His relationship with the creation is
that He is the Creator and everything
and everyone in existence is the
created. God creates with the command
‘Be! and it is’ and through His
eternal Will; He is absolutely free of
every quality which, suggesting
compulsion, obligation and unwilled,
unintended action, is therefore contrary
to His absolute perfection.
Still
another group of considerably higher
levels of understanding infer the
meaning that Almighty God is eternal,
with no beginning and end, and He is the
First and the Last. Neither in His
Being, nor Attributes, nor acts, has He
in any way equals, peers, likes, or
anything similar or analogous to Him.
However, in order to make His acts
understandable, the Quran (which also
says, God’s is the highest comparison)
allows us to have recourse to proper
comparisons.
You
may compare to these the share of
understanding of the verses quoted of
those who have perfect knowledge and
love of God, and most truthful,
painstaking scholars.
Muhammad
is not the father of anyone from
among your men .
(33:40)
The
share of the first group in this verse
is this: Zayd, the servant of God’s
Messenger, upon him be peace and
blessings, whom he called ‘son’,
divorced his wife Zaynab, because he
found her superior to him in virtues,
and by God’s command, God’s
Messenger married her. Therefore the
verse explains: If the Prophet calls you
‘son’, this is because of his
mission as the Messenger of God.
Biologically, he is not the father of
any man among you so that he may not
marry a widow of one among you.’
A
second group derives this meaning: A
superior treats his subjects with
fatherly care and compassion. If that
superior is both a worldly ruler and
spiritual guide, then his compassion
will be a hundred times greater than a
father’s. The subjects of that
superior consider him as if a real
father. Since this may cause people to
have difficulty in seeing the Prophet,
whom they consider more fatherly than a
father, as the husband of their
womenfolk, the Quran corrects the public
view, meaning: ‘The Prophet, upon him
be peace and blessings, considers you
with the view of Divine compassion and
treats you as if a father. You are like
his children from the viewpoint of his
mission. However, biologically, he is
not your father so that it would be
improper for him to marry a woman from
among you.’
A
third group understands from the verse
that because of their connection with
the Prophet, upon him be peace and
blessings, and reliance on his
perfections and his fatherly compassion
for them, the believers can not think
that they will be saved even if they
commit sins and errors. (There are many
people like certain of the Alawis, for
example, who do not perform the
prescribed prayers and say ‘Our
prayers have already been performed’,
and Christians who delude themselves
with the false belief that Jesus
sacrificed himself for their salvation,
who rely on the perfections of their
leader or guide and show laziness in
performing the religious commandments.
A
fourth group deduces a prediction from
the verse, which is this: The Prophet
will not, for some reason, have a son
through whom his line will be continued.
His male children will die at an early
age, and as expressed by the word ‘men’,
he will be the father of female, not
male, children, and therefore his line
will continue through his daughter.
All
praise be to God, the blessed
children of the Prophet’s
daughter Fatima, his two grandsons
Hasan and Husayn, the ‘light-giving
moons’ of the two illustrious
lines, continue the line of the
Sun of Prophethood both
biologically and spiritually. O
God, bestow blessings on him and
his family.
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