| The Creation of Adam (sws) and His Representative Status
The history of human beings began with the creation of the
first man, Adam (sws), on this earth. No one can claim to possess information on
where, when and how this ancestor of all mankind who have existed on the planet
ever was born; where he spent his life; how long did he live and how many
generations did he live to see. Some scholars of anthropology consider the
creation of Adam (sws) to be a result of the evolutionary process in the animal
kingdom, but they have not been able to produce conclusive scientific evidence
to support this claim. It is impossible for any species within the animal
species to reach even the minimum level of the skills and attributes possessed
by the dullest and least intelligent of human beings with the highest level of
training. Researchers in anthropology have so far been unable to present any
valid arguments for the unusual qualities, wisdom and capacity for gaining
knowledge and the distinctly superior intelligence that human beings posses over
animals.
The Religious Interpretation of the creation of Adam (sws)
In contrast to modern scholars and thinkers, all religions
that have been revealed through a divine message tell a different story. Its
most coherent, comprehensive and beautiful version has been presented in the
last divine Book, the Qur’ān. According to this, God created the earth before
Adam (sws), put plains and mountains into place, created water bodies, designed
a system of rainfall and wind circulation, prepared the soil and developed its
capacity to grow fruit and vegetables and made the earth suitable and convenient
to meet the requirements of human life.
Then He expressed His intentions to the angels of giving the responsibility of
representing Himself on earth to a new creation which would be created out of
the elements of dust. As His representative, it would have some authority which
it would be free to exercise. It would take decisions based on its free choice
and would have the opportunity to act on these decisions. On hearing this, the
angels raised some concerns. If the reason for creating such a being was to
praise God and pray to Him, the angels were fully engaged in this process
constantly. But if this being was to be given autonomy, and was allowed to
decide on its own prerogative, they were concerned that it may misuse its
independence and mess up the earth with anarchy, chaos, killings and bloodshed.
God told them that their doubts were misplaced and that they were not aware of
His great scheme. They did not know yet how He would prepare the new creation
for its role on earth. Therefore, when God would give shape and matter to it,
and infuse spirit into it, all angels were asked to be respectful and prostrate
themselves before it.
It is obvious that asking angels to prostrate themselves
before a species that was yet to be created and about whose performance the
angels were doubtful did not mean that the species was in any way as sacred as
God. The reason was to test the obedience of angels, and to ensure that they
accept the representative nature of the new creation so that they would be fully
cooperative in letting it use its authority and would not offer any resistance
to its purpose on earth.
The order for prostration was meant in principle for angels
who are responsible to carry out God’s instructions, but it was also valid for
all creations which had the ability to create problems for God’s scheme. The
earth was already inhabited by the jinn who have been created from fire. Since
they could have viewed man competitively, they were also included in this order.
When Adam (sws) was made to exist, and the Holy Spirit was
infused into him, all angels prostrated in front of him in obedience to God, but
Iblīs (Satan), one of the jinn, refrained from doing so. He claimed that the
matter he had been created from was superior to that of Adam’s. He had been
created from fire, whereas Adam (sws) was created from dust. He was clearly
superior to Adam (sws) so why should he bow to him? This attitude was based on
arrogance and pride, and God dislikes this quality more than any other, because
only He is the Superior One. Therefore, Satan was banished from being close to
God on account of his refusal to obey His instructions and displaying arrogance.
With the creation of Adam (sws), the spirits of all human
beings who were to be born later were also created. God presented the purpose of
their creation to them and took an oath from them, accepting Him as their one
and only Creator and Lord. All accepted this fact and were witness to it. This
was their agreement to what they would do in the situation that would arise when
they would be given material existence and sent to earth. They would then fulfil
their obligations as the representative of God on earth with full
responsibility, accepting God as their Lord and Master. On this occasion, Adam (sws)
was instructed to introduce all those exalted personalities who were going to
fulfil their responsibilities in the world in an excellent manner to the angels.
When Adam (sws) did so, the angels cried out: “Our Lord, we are conscious of our
error. We objected to the creation of Adam (sws) and did not know that within
this creation there would be men who would be obedient to You despite being
independent, and would dominate over us in expression of submission and
obedience to You.”
Satan given Allowance
Adam (sws) was the source of humiliation and deprivation for
Satan. He was also going to be God’s representative on earth, and many great
individuals were to be born as his progeny. Satan decided to take revenge from
Adam (sws) and presented a request to God. He suggested that since he had been
subjected to a hard test and had been banished from God’s presence on failing it
on account of Adam (sws), he should be freely allowed to tempt Adam (sws) and
his coming generations away from the true path. He was convinced that if he was
allowed to do so unhindered, he would be able to lead Adam’s progeny astray in
such a manner that they would forget their responsibilities and become
rebellious and disobedient. God accepted this request and provided him the
opportunity to corrupt mankind by false promises, creating fear and paranoia,
greed, evil temptations and unrealistic dreams for future, but not by using
force. Satan promised that now that his petition had been accepted, he would
employ all the skills and powers he possessed to put Adam (sws) and his children
on the wrong path, he would attack them from all sides; whatever guidance God
gives them, he would put a siege there such that they would not be able to adopt
it; not only would they not obey God, they would also not accept His Oneness.
Satan would involve them in polytheism in such a manner that they would deify
lowly animals rather than God, and give offerings from their wealth and
offspring to others they would consider as gods. God’s answer was to warn that
Satan could try his best and would be punished in Hell, along with all those who
succumbed to his temptations, but his ploys would have no effect on those who
recognized their responsibilities and who did not leave the path of obedience.
It would not matter to God if human beings in large numbers go to Hell, because
ultimately those who did good deeds and obeyed Him would enter His promised
heaven.
The Test of Adam’s Obedience
God created Adam’s wife Eve for companionship and asked them
to live in heaven. They were happy there as everything they could wish for was
available for them to use. No barriers had been put on them, except for the
eating of the fruit of one tree. They were told that they are free to move
around and to take benefit of everything that existed, but they should not even
go close to a particular tree, otherwise they would be harmed. Consumed by
enmity, Satan was looking for a way through which he could humiliate Adam (sws)
and Eve in God’s eyes. He had already declared to God his intentions, and
decided to start with them, since he wanted them to disobey God. He decided to
use God’s instruction of not eating this particular fruit and started talking to
Adam (sws) and Eve about its perceived advantages. They were told that whoever
ate the fruit would be raised in status, and become an angel. Additionally, he
would also achieve eternal life. These statements were vastly attractive to the
couple and they started thinking about their desire to be elevated to the status
of angels, but the fear of disobeying God would become a constraint each time
they thought about it and they desisted. Satan was not at all dejected by their
mental confusion, but continued his attempts to convince them through different
ways and means. When he was unsuccessful, he told them that he was their well
wisher and that he was giving this advice in this capacity. Ultimately, his
efforts came to fruition, and Adam (sws) and Eve gave in to his constant
temptation to becoming angels and living in eternity. They ate the fruit,
although late, but Satan was successful and Adam (sws) and Eve failed in their
first test.
The immediate result of disobeying God was that both human
beings were disrobed and had to cover themselves by leaves from the trees. Now
they realized that Satan had tricked them to disobey God and had deprived them
of their abode in Paradise. They were deeply ashamed and did not know how to
redeem themselves. As they turned to God with shame in their hearts, He put
these words in their mouths: “Our Lord, by disobeying You, we have been cruel to
ourselves. If You do not forgive us and have pity on us, we will be at a great
loss.” God appreciates the recognition of having committed a mistake and tears
of shame by human beings, and when man asks for forgiveness immediately after
committing a sin, He forgives him. Adam (sws) and Eve’s prayer was accepted and
they were forgiven, but they were sent to live on the earth.
In view of Adam’s weakness and lack of will and
determination, and the extreme cunning of Satan, God promised Adam (sws) that he
would send His guidance for his future generations from time to time. Each
individual would spend his life in light of this guidance so that he could
fulfill his responsibilities as a representative of God. Each individual would
also have a predetermined lifespan during which God would put him to a trial to
see how he performed and met his responsibilities. During this period, he would
fight Satanic forces and would prove his right to enter heaven through his
deeds, thus becoming successful in this test, with the grace of God and
receiving His bounty forever. But if he was not able to fend off Satan who
overcame him and tempted him to disobey God, then he would be deprived of God’s
blessings and would have to bear His assigned punishment. Thus with the settling
of Adam (sws) and Eve on earth, the scheme for which Adam (sws) was created was
put into practice and he began to implement his responsibilities as the
representative of God.
The Reason for Adam’s Stay in Paradise
Here a question arises about the raison d’être of keeping
Adam (sws) and Eve in heaven if God’s scheme of His representation on earth
began with His instruction for Adam (sws) to live on earth. On reflection, one
realizes that the purpose in retaining Adam (sws) in heaven for some time was to
make him cognizant of certain realities. He was to go through an experience to
understand the nature of his responsibilities as God’s representative, the
effects of giving Satan the approval to tempt mankind and the extent of his
enmity with human beings and its consequences. This was a sort of training
programme for Adam (sws) and it clarified many points for him.
1. First, that as the ruler, he would be given some
instructions and some things would be forbidden for him. In obedience to his
Lord, he would be required to obey these strictly. He will not go near what has
been forbidden and will make all efforts to do what the Lord wills.
2. Second, Satan has obtained the allowance on the
basis of his enmity, bad will and desire to hurt mankind. His relationship with
human beings will not be based on any sort of friendship or cooperation.
Although he will temporarily assume a cloak of sympathy and being a well wisher,
and even advise and be full of kindness, but this would hide a deeply cunning
enemy. It would be Adam’s and his progeny’s responsibility to recognize and find
ways of escaping from this enemy.
3. Third, in all times, Satan and his stooges will
busy to deploy all possible tactics such as greed, temptations, doubts, false
promises, propaganda and unjustified fears to prevent Adam’s children from
acting on God given guidance. There will not be one single manner of their
attack on mankind, but they will do so in many ways. Therefore, Adam’s progeny
must remain cautious and on their guard always.
4. Fourth, if at any time, Adam’s children do become
caught in Satan’s nefarious web, and disobey God in their ignorance or
innocence, they must immediately seek refuge in forgiveness from God. Insisting
on their mistakes is a Satanic characteristic and they must desist from this at
all cost.
5. Fifth, to win the true legacy of Paradise, it will
be essential for every individual to fight Satan in his life and to defeat him.
If Satan wins, the individual would have failed in fulfilling his
responsibilities and would have to bear the consequences of failure.
The Requirements of the Status of Representation
It is absolutely clear that man can only fulfill his
obligations as the representative of God on this earth if he knows what God’s
wishes are, what He wants him to do, and what He dislikes and wants him to
refrain from doing, and how to obtain His approval. It was a basic requirement
of the status of representation that God should make preparations to guide man
in this knowledge, and in case this knowledge begins to disappear from his mind,
to arrange for him to remember it again and again. God made it so as to bestow
on man the capacity for natural knowledge and intuition that becomes the
criterion for him to distinguish between truth and falsehood, right and wrong,
good and evil. This is why every human being can listen to the voice of his
conscience and, guided by it, and choosing the right path he can lead his life
thus avoiding evil deeds. Due to this intuitive knowledge, he can do good deeds
and achieve internal satisfaction and peace. But if he selects a wrong path, he
is likely to feel ashamed and try as far as possible to hide his acts. God has
provided a wealth of arguments and evidence in support of this natural intuition
both outside and inside mankind, and enabled him to make use of such arguments
through his senses of sight, hearing, observation and reflection, and the
capacity to analyze and learn from various events and experiences. If man uses
these abilities to optimal capacity, they prove to be most valuable in guiding
him. However, they are useful up to a limit. Then God provided man with wisdom
that is yet another source of knowledge and has been very beneficial in analysis
and reflective processes. Wisdom is able to develop basic rules and principles
in case of partially observed matters, and provides guidance in the light of
such principles. However, the reach of wisdom is also limited since matters are
not fully understood or grasped through it. In addition, the decisions that are
taken through it are often clouded by emotions and doubts. At times these
decisions are wrong. Due to these reasons, God decided not to leave man only to
be guided through intuition and wisdom, but used a third means to communicate
His guidance to him. He used the means of wahī , or divine inspiration which is
free from the weaknesses that are inherent from those found in intuition and
wisdom.
When man is on the absolute right path, the three sources
of guidance: intuition, wisdom and inspiration are in complete harmony and
synchronization with each other. This multiple aspect of guidance for mankind is
the special arrangement that God had referred to when He had said to the angels
that when his subjects would want to act according to His wishes, there would be
no barriers for them and they would be able to protect themselves from the ploys
of Satan. Those who ignore this guidance would be overcome by Satan.
After providing sources of knowledge to mankind and
declaring life on this earth a trial for him, it is not a hidden fact that he
shall be questioned on his responsibilities. Just as the result of every
examination must come sometime, when an individual’s strengths and weaknesses
are made clear, and in light of his cumulative performance, his success or
failure is declared, it is only right that God must bring forth a day when each
person be made accountable for his obedience or disobedience, faith or
faithlessness, honesty or dishonesty. Thus, the status of representation also
necessitated that those who fulfilled their obligations in life properly, and
obeyed the instructions that have been revealed through the divine inspiration,
shall be given entry into heaven in the afterlife with respect and dignity, and
they shall live there in eternal peace and happiness with every blessing from
God. In contrast, those who had not paid attention to such responsibilities and
refused to obey God’s instructions shall be questioned and shall be thrown in
Hell for eternal punishment.
It is clear from the above detail that the life of human
beings in this world is really a life of trial and a fight between right and
wrong. In this, divine guidance carries major significance. Adam’s progeny has
the responsibility to accept this guidance, live life accordingly, and meet its
requirements. Satanic forces will try their utmost to keep Adam’s progeny
ignorant of this guidance. They will propagate against it, change or destroy it,
set up constraints and make life difficult for those why try to implement it,
and if anyone comes forward to claim its righteousness, they will make attempts
to prove him false and defeat him as far as possible.
The System of Prophethood and Apostleship
As discussed, the third element of God given sources of
guidance for mankind, as provided in the knowledge gained through wahī or divine
inspiration is a very special and faultless system. The factual meaning of wahī
is to put words into the heart, and to give a message through signs. But God has
not given every individual in Adam’s subsequent generations such direct form of
guidance. The real barrier for mankind in communicating with God is the former’s
frailties, failings and shortcomings. God’s light and luminosity is such that
man does not possess the capacity of coming face to face with Him. The history
of Jews relates that a clan among the Children of Israel (descendants of Prophet
Jacob) expressed the desire to have God speak with them directly. At this, God’s
radiance was revealed, the mountain trembled and the group of people assembled
there fainted.
Among all of God’s species, only the angels have been gifted
with the quality of taking instructions directly from God and implementing
these. In case they need additional guidance, they present their matters to God
and receive new directives. Because they are creations as any other, it is
possible for them to relate with other creations too. Since mankind possesses
the Holy Spirit infused into him by God, as well as being made of earthly
matter, it is possible for him to establish spiritual links with angels. God has
therefore used angels as the instrument to communicate His guidance, and at the
same time selected a few human beings who were spiritually strong, responsive to
calls from their pious nature and able to use their wisdom to distinguish
between right and wrong for communion with angels. These were the people who had
the ability to meet the obligations of their representative status merely
through their intuition, and were prominent by virtue of holding respect,
dignity, authority and higher status among all other members of their society
for their refined character, truthfulness and honesty, purity and piety,
kind-heartedness and generosity.
Whenever God wanted to send His message to mankind, He would
give it to an angel to be transmitted to one of the selected human beings among
the spiritually strong, as explained above. This would be done through a
spiritual transmittal or link, and the selected person, taking this as his
responsibility and obligation in life would pass on the message to his fellow
beings. Those who were selected for this responsibility were called God’s
apostles. They spent their lives in communicating God’s teachings to the people
of their times in their respective ages.
The Various Forms of Wahī
What is the form of wahī? No one has been able to understand
this to date. This is a matter that belongs to God alone. Only He who reveals it
knows of it, or the apostle on whom it was revealed and who had experienced may
have understood it. The form of wahī has varied from time to time. Different
forms have been used, depending on the nature and significance of the guidance
to be sent. The least significant form was that of dreams shown to the apostle
that would inform him of God’s instructions. Such dreams were as clear as the
light of dawn and left an indelible impact on the apostle’s heart. Another form
is to show the apostle the realities around the invisible world as well as
prescience through visions of future events. Sometimes apostles were given
instructions while they were awake and they heard voices of angels. The purest
form of wahī was for God to send His message to the heart of His messenger who
then preserved and kept it safe. This message was in the language and style that
the messenger and his addressees were familiar with. In one form of wahī, God
sent one of his angels to the apostle who placed the message in the latter’s
heart. The other form was one in which God addressed the apostle directly from
across a barrier. The apostle could hear God and His message, but could not see
Him. In yet another form, an angel came to the apostle as a human being, and
either questioned him, or showed him some actions that the apostle demonstrated
to and taught his people. The uses of these forms of wahī have been discussed in
historical records of the lives of various apostles.
Apostles have gained understanding of God’s religions through
wahī; the message of God was revealed to their hearts that they learned
themselves, taught their companions and preached to their people. The eternal
enemy of divine guidance, Satan and his descendants put obstacles in the efforts
of the apostles, and thus the conflict between truth and falsehood began. During
their struggle in this fight, apostles found guidance through the divine
inspiration. They planned their endeavours in the light of directions received
through wahī; sometimes getting a prediction and sometimes a warning of impeding
dangers. If they were about to make a mistake, God alerted them in time of their
error, and they were able to correct themselves.
The Basic Teachings of Wahī
The basic teachings that wahī had brought forward and that
were spread by God’s apostles amongst their people embodied the clarification
and articulation of the innate concepts and perceptions that have been entrusted
within the spirit of mankind. Human nature is cognizant of the oneness of God,
the need of accountability to Him and possesses the ability to differentiate
between right and wrong, good and bad. Wahī brought words to this awareness and
feeling, and gave it detail so that man should not remain in any doubt or
misconception. Apart from this, wahī also provided testimony and evidence so
that any sensible person might be able to reflect, analyse and be satisfied in
mind and heart. Wahī not only defined the oneness of God, but also elucidated
the attributes of God, spelling out the demands that these placed on mankind. It
removed confusions about the Day of Judgment, and painted a picture of what was
to happen on that Day. It related the ups and downs that man goes through in
this worldly life in their true perspective so that any deviant thought may not
take him to a wrong path. Wahī did not leave the decision to distinguish between
good and evil on man’s choice, but identified what was allowed and what was not,
and gave laws to be followed accordingly. It explained the demands of
representing God on His earth before mankind quite clearly, and required him to
establish religion on earth. This essentially means that he was being asked to
become a true believer in the matters mentioned in God’s religion, act on those
he was instructed to with honesty and truthfulness, watch over others so that
they do not deviate from the right path and do not change the teachings by
making new additions.
Since the creation of Adam (sws) to date, neither the facts
related to the oneness of God or His attributes, the inevitability of the Day of
Judgment, distinction between right and wrong or what is allowed or not allowed
have changed, nor has there been any shift in basic human nature. Hence the
teachings that came through wahī were as valid for the Stone Age man as they are
for today’s computer age. We also realize that all apostles brought the same
religion from God in their respective ages. They neither preached different
religions nor did they lay the foundations of different nations. What actually
transpired was that after the departure of one apostle, his followers distorted
the religion, changed the teachings of the wahī and then God sent other apostles
to correct the wrongdoings. Some people believed them but others resisted due to
their prejudice and short-sightedness. They insisted on their earlier point of
view and this created differences between various communities.
The Appointment of Prophets
In His kindness and graciousness, God made a special
provision for the teachings of wahī that He would always send the wahī in the
language of the people towards whom the guidance was to be sent, and the apostle
too would from among the same community. We observe that the language and living
styles of people belonging to one region vary from those of people living in
other areas. Foreigners are unable to understand the behavior of societies
living in a particular area, and they are also not aware of their rituals and
traditions. But an individual who belongs to the same nation, talks in the same
language and lives amongst them is aware of their character and has full
knowledge of their customs and practices, and what they consider to be good or
bad. Hence just as the language chosen for wahī was the language of the people
for whom it was revealed, similarly the apostles selected were from within the
nation who were to be corrected and brought back to the straight path.
Human history has been witness to the fact that some nations
have left the instructions given by God, and taken up the path of anarchy and
chaos. The reason for this was the right of making choices that God has given to
man as His representative. To correct their behaviour, God sent His apostles who
fulfilled their mandate with sincerity, calling them to return to truth, and
warning them of the dire consequences of the advice they were being given by
their misguided leaders, and of the way they were heading if they did not change
direction. These apostles tried to explain to their people that God does not
like the rebellious ways of His subjects. He will not tolerate human beings
stomping on the surface of the earth in total negation of the purpose of their
creation. In defiance of this repeated advice, the rebellious elements of the
societies continued to regard the apostles as major constraints to their
benefits. Not only did they ignore their teachings, they also dared to belie
them. Some unfortunate nations were unwilling even to accept the existence of
apostles amongst them. History is replete with accounts of apostles and
reformers who had been murdered by their own people. In such situations some
apostles with exceptional qualities were given unique authority by God and sent
to these nations. These individuals communicated God’s message both politely as
well as openly and vehemently. They used all possible means to get through to
shake the consciousness of people who had become so insensitive. With the
sending of these apostles, God made it clear that obeying them was essential.
They would clarify each and every point to their people, remove doubts that
anyone may have and adopt all possible measures to ensure that the invitation to
truth is believed sincerely from the heart. The community will be given a
certain period of time to correct itself, and this shall neither be extended nor
reduced. If the people reject the invitation of the apostles and become a source
of danger for him, God will destroy them, but nothing shall happen to the
apostle. It is ordained that he shall prevail over his community. Such apostles
came to be called prophets.
Whenever a nation belied its prophet, and the time given to it for its course
correction ended, that nation was obliterated, but its prophet and those who had
believed in him were kept safe and sound. At times when the prophet’s followers
were in large numbers, they were victorious with Divine Help and they prevailed
over the enemy by the power of the sword.
The Struggle of Selected Apostles and Prophets
Human settlement on earth began with the family comprising
the couple Adam (sws) and Eve initially. Men and women born of them had limited
needs and resources were assigned to them. Adam (sws) was designated as God’s
apostle for this first civilization and he transmitted the knowledge of God’s
directives to his children. As the population increased, people expanded into
other areas, and families grew into tribes and clans. With the growth of the
society, there was need to guide human beings in matters relating to mutual
relationships, in the light of which they could address their problems and
resolve their issues with justice and fairness. Thus the apostles who came after
Adam (sws) possessed much more enlightenment that they had received through wahī
for their societies, and the scope of their practice was also wider.
The oldest nation that was annihilated from the earth as
punishment for the crime of belying their prophet was one to whom Noah was sent.
This community made several idols and began to worship these as partners of God,
instead of one God. When Noah (sws) was sent to guide them to the correct path,
, he invited them to worship one God, presented his views in a very convincing
manner and made all possible efforts to bring them towards truth. He spoke to
them in secret as well as in the open, and warned them of God’s punishment if
they continued to disbelieve him, but except for a few, others did not accept
his word. After a long struggle, when he expressed his helplessness to his
Creator, he was instructed to build a boat in which he was to carry only the
believers who would be saved from the divine punishment of stormy rains, whereas
those who had belied him would be drowned in the floods caused by the rains.
This is exactly what happened. The terrible floods sunk all the disbelievers,
and the followers of the prophet started a new life when the water receded.
After the destruction of the nation of Noah (sws), Hūd (sws)
was sent as prophet to his nation called ‘A%d that had become extremely arrogant
and rebellious against God’s teachings. He reminded his people of the
instructions that God had given and spent all his efforts in trying to help them
avoid the evils they had fallen into, but they ridiculed and threatened him.
They tortured those who had become his followers and made life unbearable for
them. This nation did not even take advantage of the time that God had allocated
to them to correct their ways, but demanded that Hūd (sws) bring God’s
punishment sooner rather than later, thinking that it was never going to come.
God ordered His prophet and his followers to migrate and sent sharp, cold and
cutting winds that eliminated the entire ‘A%d nation. Among the successors of
Hūd (sws) was the nation of Thamūd that followed its footsteps, belied the
prophet Sālih and was doomed to a similar fate.
A most august and illustrious prophet of God, Abraham (sws)
was born within a nation that lived in Babylon which is now Iraq and was deeply
immersed in polytheism. After being blessed with prophet hood, he presented
God’s message to his father, his nation, the priests of the idol houses and even
the king. He argued for one God and gave such statements against their beliefs
that they had no counter arguments. But they belied him. To bring his arguments
to the finale, he smashed all the idols to prove to their worshippers that these
deities were neither possessed of any strength nor could they defend themselves.
But instead of being convinced of the truth of this evidence, his people
conspired to burn him alive. At this, God kept him safe from the fire, but
destroyed the disobedient people completely.
Another prophet of great resolve and determination from
within Abraham’s progeny was Moses (sws) who was sent to Egypt’s king Pharaoh.
Pharaoh was mighty and powerful, and considered himself the incarnation of God.
His statues were worshipped throughout the country and he was practically taken
to be God. Moses (sws) tried to bring him to the right path but did not succeed.
Through his propaganda, however, Pharaoh was able to influence his nation which
was caught in his net of deception and falsehood. At last, Moses (sws) gathered
his followers most of whom comprised the Israelites and migrated from Egypt.
Pharaoh and his army followed them. On the way they came across a strip of sea.
When Moses (sws) reached the place, the water receded, and a path was revealed
for them to cross over to the other side. When the Pharaoh and his army entered
the sea to do similarly, the two sides met together and they drowned. Moses (sws)
received God’s instructions in the form of written guidance for the first time
in the history of mankind. Wahī was sent to him in the form of the first Holy
Book, the Torah and remained the source of guidance centuries to come.
As time passed, Moses’ followers also began to put aside
God’s teachings aside, and God sent apostle after apostle to help people to mend
their ways, but their deterioration did not improve. Ultimately Jesus (sws) was
given the status of a prophet and sent to them to warn them of the consequences
of not believing in him. In spite of this, the Israelites refused to accept him,
and God sent His curse on them. However, the teachings of Jesus (sws) proved to
be a shining light for other nations and his followers ruled over a large region
and were successful in spreading their religion.
It will not be correct to state that all the names of
apostles and prophets have been recorded in the holy books or in history. These
individuals were, in fact, connected with humankind. Man has needed guidance
wherever he settled and God made arrangements when necessary according to His
promise. Apostles were appointed in every region and community, and when those
causing evil increased and did not obey their apostles, prophets were given the
responsibility. When nations belied them too, they were annihilated completely
from the face of the earth. Their ruins are still to be found among ancient
settlements of several countries. Upon excavation, it is observed that these
habitations had been subjected to sudden disasters such that the dwellers did
not even get a chance to leave their houses. It is quite possible that in
distant times, the people who had lived then may have been guilty of disbelief
of God’s prophets and thus were overcome by God’s retribution.
The Consequence of Belying Prophets is based on Justice
The end to which nations who belied prophets come to
apparently seems to be very painful. One could also think that such extreme
actions against His subjects may not be aligned with God’s mercy and dignity. If
some facts are kept in mind when reflecting on the matter, then it does not
appear to be against the principles of justice. For example, it is a fact that
man is not a wild plant which does not have a purpose in life. Instead, he has
been created with great care, the workers who carry out instructions of destiny
and death were ordered to prostate before him, he was given extraordinary
abilities and most other creations were brought within his control and authority
so that he would be able to execute his responsibilities as the representative
of God effectively. Then God did not leave him to grope in the dark but created
the light of awareness and perception in his heart and mind, made his
surroundings a source of learning for him, gave him the guidance from wahī to
keep him on the right track, sent apostles and prophets from time to time to
ensure that he was kept aware of the realities, and with them He sent Divine
Books. Even if after such exceptional arrangements, people filled the world with
badness and chaos, made fun of divine guidance, did what came to their mind and
negated the instructions of the apostles, if anyone attempted to stop them, they
did not hesitate to kill them, then the offences committed by these people were
not minor. Such people were guilty of publicly going against the purpose of the
creation of human beings, and becoming a barrier in letting God fulfil His
promise of providing guidance to mankind. This proved to be an effort to make
God’s scheme a failure. Hence the purpose of destroying these nations was to
ensure that such people did not continue to remain a trial for those who are
sincere and truthful to God, who were not rebels and who were desirous of living
this worldly life in accordance with His directives and guidance.
(Translated from Hayāt-i Rasūl-i Ummī by Nikhat Sattar)
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