Is Polytheism a Demand of Human Nature?
In current times, every research in scholarly fields and the
arts is believed to have originated from the theory of
evolution. Whether it is history or law, economics or
politics, philosophy and religion or the knowledge of
civilizations and sociology – the desire to seek their origins
is so predominant among all that any field is considered
incomplete without it. Consequently, the compiled legacy of
all knowledge that is available in its complete form is not
only assumed to be inadequate to demonstrate its real value,
but is often declared to be wrong and misguided. Today,
research related to every aspect of human life is carried out
with respect to the phase when humans were in their earliest
evolutionary condition and of which no written history is
available to us. Obviously, this phase is a phase hidden under
darkness. Whatever is said about it should not have a value
above hazarding wild guesses about the unknown and casting
arrows by trial and error. Archaeologists and biologists are
considered to be the experts who guide us in this darkness.
They believe that the layers of the soil, strata of hills,
relics within caves, buried bones, instruments of earlier ages
and the crooked lines and grooves of early humans to be the
real legacy of knowledge and thus build their structures of
assessment and conclusions on the basis of these findings.
Everyone agrees that this is no more than guesswork. However,
it is given so much importance that whatever is found to be
aligned with this assumption is considered to be reality: that
which does not match it is assumed to be without substance and
to be an unnatural barrier in the process of evolution. It
does not exist and is not required.
The result of the dominance of this view is that all claims of
political and social change over the past years have had to
resort to connections with the evolution theory. The latter
has proved to be so accommodating that it has developed
relationships with all. Supporters of democracy have described
the initial phase of human evolution in such a way that
democracy itself is claimed to be a demand of human nature.
Those who sympathize with monarchy have formulated its
definition in their own colours. Anarchists fought with it,
hence its clever supporters segregated it as a separate
religion so that it would not be used in support of religions
that claim their individuality, that base their beliefs and
principles on revelation and are not willing to tolerate other
religions. Under the protection of this theory, atheists have
aimed to uproot Judaism, Christianity and Islam and to do this
they have shown the evolution of religion in a manner as to
destroy all fundamentals of heavenly religions.
Here we are not debating all aspects of the theory of
evolution but shall consider only those that are related to
polytheism (shirk) and monotheism (tawhid).
These people describe the evolution of religion as follows:
religion came into being with the first step of mankind, when
the latter began to feel that it was not merely a physical
being but that it also possessed a superior entity or soul
within. That was the time when the basic block of religion was
placed. Initially, it comprised of two elements: fear and
imagination. The fear was of the unknown forces which mankind
felt surrounded by and found them to be far superior to its
own power and strength. The imagination was of the idea that
this being should be respected and worshipped.
Just as the history of all things related to the physical
world are connected to the basic element that has provided
life to matter, similarly the history of all things related to
the soul and spiritual world is connected to the element of
the soul that has created religion as a result of the
combination of fear and imagination. When this religious
concept adopted religious forms and practices, religious
responsibilities and rituals came into existence. Hence,
religion is the result of an evolutionary process. That was
the evolution of life; this is an evolution of religion. Just
as it is known that life was hidden in the form of reptilians
and developed into the human form in slow stages, similarly
the soul was involved with animism, worship of material things
and magic and sorcery and slowly graduated into God worship.
The conclusions which are drawn by scholars of the evolution
theory as a result of this analysis are:
1. The
originating point of religion is fear. This fear began due to
demonstrations of natural phenomena: bursting of clouds,
thunder; noise of gales; horrific scenes of eruptions of
volcanoes frightened man and he began to worship these,
believing that they were living beings.
2. The claim of God worship being a demand of human nature
is erroneous. If this were so, mankind would not have started
religion by animism and worship of material things. Similarly,
idol worship and worship of the dead would not have been so
widespread in history.
3. The basis of all religions is the same. From this aspect,
there is no difference between Islam and Judaism and the
voodoo worship of cannibals in Africa. Hence, all religions
and beliefs should accept each other.
The above conclusions are so attractive that they have found
place in the books of many contemporary scholars, even though
they are totally wrong and baseless. Both wisdom and history
are against them.
The point that religion was born out of fear of unseen forces
and that this emotion is the first and oldest of human
feelings is nonsensical. The fear within humans is the fear of
losing his blessings. A man loves his life, property, spouse
and children. Because of this, he is afraid that he might lose
these things. In other words, before the feeling of fear, he
feels that these things are dear to him and are a blessing. It
follows that if they are a blessing, there has to be someone
who has provided him with these blessings and he feels
gratitude and the desire to worship Him. Hence, the feelings
of being blessed and having a Provider before feeling afraid
are essential. Until we feel that life and its provisions are
a blessing, we are not afraid of anything related with life.
There are many people who become frustrated with life: they do
not fear death. Many jump into fire; they jump into the river
and sea. Many in Japan disappear when they jump into the
mouths of volcanoes.
Hence, if early man was afraid of thunder, lightning and
storms, and he wanted to protect himself from these dangers,
it follows that he was aware of the blessings of life and its
provisions, because until and unless something is held dear,
any worry to protect it is meaningless. No one locks an empty
house. It also means that early man must have been aware of a
Provider, because a provision must be connected to a provider.
If the point that he began to worship the phenomena of nature
due to fear of being deprived of life and its blessings is
deemed to be true, the point that awareness of these blessings
would have created within him love and gratitude for the
Provider seems to be more valid. Thus, this shows that
awareness of a Provider, feelings of love and gratitude and
the idea of His worship is superior to feelings of fear and
animism.
Nevertheless, ever since man has felt fear, he has felt life
to be a blessing and the presence of being and love for Him.
When he was incited to worship forces of nature, surely a
vision would have emerged from his feeling of love to thank
his Provider. The feeling of love and gratitude lays the
foundation of monotheism and pure God worship, not of
polytheism. اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰهِ رَبِّ
الْعٰلَمِيْنَ .الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ “Praise be to
Allah, the Cherisher and Sustainer of the worlds; Most
Gracious, Most Merciful.” (1:1-2).
Our view is also supported by the fact
that the things that cause fear within humans are not daily
routine in the world. Earthquakes do not occur daily;
volcanoes do not erupt daily; lightning does not strike every
day and the noise of storms too are not a daily occurrence. By
contrast, stars brighten up the sky daily; the sun shines
every day; the blue skies provide a sight for the eyes on a
daily basis; the moon spreads out the sheet of moonlight upon
deserts and mountains every night; rain provides sustenance
and trees bear fruit in every season. Then how astonishing is
that the scolding of nature and its threats would intimidate
mankind to the extent that he begins to worship them but the
unseen Provider’s generosities produce no result and do not
create any desire for thanksgiving and gratitude within the
human heart!
Scholars of biology have painted a horrible picture of those
times and attempted to show that the natural scenes of that
age could only have created fear. But this is a mere
supposition. If the world of that age was terrible, the man of
those times was also not the man of today. If the world of
those times was not as beautiful as it is now, man then was
also not as cognizant of beauty as he is now. If then the
earth was not as fertile and productive, neither was the human
fond of luxury and social life. If then there were dangers and
difficulties in abundance, the human too was not so delicate
and used to an easy life. He could run for miles away from
dangers; climb trees with the pace of squirrels and monkeys;
light fires and stitch leaves to protect his body from the
cold and heat; hide in caves from snow and attacks by beasts;
feed his hunger by hunting animals. It is not true to say that
the conditions existing at that time were conducive only to
feelings of fear. This assumption hides the overlapping of the
present over the past. The times are assumed to be the ancient
and centuries ago while the human is assumed to be belonging
to the 20th century.
Some scholars of evolution have deemed the elder man of the
family to be the source of fear and hence of man’s early
thoughts. In our view, the fear of elders is also based on
love. Children receive happiness and enjoyment from their
parents; they thus begin to love them and because of this
love, they are also afraid of them. This emotion therefore is
also one of love and it creates a feeling of respect for the
parents. However, the fact should not be ignored that while a
child remains a child, he thinks of his father as his whole
universe. But when he becomes a father himself or gains
adulthood, he realizes that the existence of the father can
satisfy his desires only up to a certain extent. When he steps
out of this sphere, what he has achieved has another source:
an unseen Being. The existence of the father is in itself one
of the blessings bestowed upon him by this unseen Being.
Hence, the feeling of love that had created affection, respect
and fear for his father must have done the same for the unseen
Being once he left his childhood behind. Had man remained a
child always, religion would have been confined to worship of
the father. But the child grows up and if religion can only be
the creation of sane adults, then, if adults can entertain
feelings of love, respect and fear for the favours of the
father, it is far more likely that the consequences of those
great favours that existed but in which the father was not
involved would be similar. These favours could only come from
a Being much higher than a father.
In any case, religion did not begin with the emotion of fear,
but from the feeling of love. The above two views held by
scholars of evolution are both without basis. In the first
case, the feeling of gratitude and love for a Provider and His
worship is prominent. Fear and worship of anything other than
God is an unnatural malaise that has come upon man due to
misunderstanding and ignorance of his true inner self. In the
second case, he should reach God while holding his father’s
hand. The natural evolution of this feeling is that while he
is content with his father, he reaches his true Creator
through his worldly father and loves and respects him far
more. If he did not do so, this means that instead of marching
on the true path of evolution, he has fallen into a blind
alley. This is the example of an unnatural stagnancy in
spiritual evolution, just as we find examples of unnatural
stagnancy in the evolution of the material world.
There is no doubt about the fact that the oldest emotion is
that of love for parents and the oldest idea is one of respect
for them. But does this emotion take the child towards God
after childhood, or towards ancestor worship and tribal gods?
Hence, this is the reason behind instructions to love and do
good by parents come alongside worshipping God in both the
Qur’an and the Torah. This means that awareness of the rights
of God and parents is the oldest in man’s nature, and,
although the rights of parents come first in his nature, the
status of God’s rights becomes higher than that of the
parent’s. This is the same as when climbing up to the roof,
the stairs are on top, but once you get to the top, the stairs
are below you. When man reaches God, he realizes that parents
are, in reality, a blessing from God. Instead of worshipping
them, one should thank God for having this blessing. This is
the reason that while Islam has given parents all rights over
children, it has not given the former the right to have their
children do shirk.
وَاِنْ
جٰهَدٰكَ عَلٰي اَنْ تُشْرِكَ بِيْ مَا لَيْسَ لَكَ بِه عِلْمٌ
فَلَا تُطِعْهُمَا.
But if they strive to make thee join in worship with Me things
of which thou hast no knowledge, obey them not. (31:15).
The reason for this is that the invitation that exists within
nature for consideration for the rights of parents and their
love is weaker than that for consideration for God and His
rights and love for Him. How can then parents be granted the
right to ask their progeny to refute the force that has a much
higher demand for what they receive through the same feeling?
Here, some people may raise doubts about the fact that the
Qur’an and other heavenly books mention piety, fear of God and
terror and that this gives strength to the opinion of scholars
of evolution that fear is the original source of religion.
This doubt is baseless. Islam does not consider that fear and
dread that is based only on harming humans a legitimate view.
Fear of this kind may exist for Changez Khan, Taimur, lions,
elephants, snakes, scorpions etc. If such fear is for God,
what would be its value? The piety and fear required in
religion is totally different and is based on love. This does
not arise solely because of fear of punishment and anger of
God but develops as a result of thinking about His innumerable
blessings and mercies and remembrance of His beautiful names.
This is the reason that those who know His attributes well
love Him the most. And those who love Him the most also fear
Him the most.
اِنَّمَا
يَخْشَي اللّٰهَ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ الْعُلَمٰٓؤُا.
Those truly fear Allah, among His servants, who have
knowledge. (35:28)
It is clear from our discussion that the view of scholars of
evolution that religion began with the feeling of fear and
animism has been refuted. But one doubt still remains. If the
nature of man is pure God worship and this is the true
direction of evolution, what are the reasons for so much
evidence of worship of idols and the dead? Relics and signs
from the dark ages of history prove this and the compiled
heritage of the times that we have, also gives the same
evidence. Six centuries had barely passed for Christians when
they began to worship pictures, although the Torah had
strictly forbidden this. The first instruction in the Torah
was that of monotheism but Jews were involved in idol worship
many times. Abraham (sws) left his home for the sake of
monotheism and built a house to worship God in a remote place.
But not a long time afterward, his progeny filled this house
with idols. The Qur’an claims that monotheism is the nature of
humankind, but if incidents prove this otherwise, it is
necessary to address this. This answer will also refute the
second view of scholars of evolution that has been discussed
above.
The fact that idol worship and polytheism have been widely
practiced from the beginning in the world and still is cannot
be proof of the point that it is in man’s nature. As long as a
human child remains a child, he tries to put everything in
front of him in his mouth, regardless of whether it is a
stone, brick, wood or iron, pure or impure. He thinks that it
is his mother’s breast and for a while, tries to suck it. Then
he picks up something else and then another thing. Drawing a
conclusion from this that all these things are his desire by
his nature is ridiculous. The natural nourishment of a child
is inside his mother’s breast. But because he is not yet fully
conscious of this fact, he considers everything to be his
mother’s breast. Hence, if man was engaged with the impurities
of idol worship and animism during his early stages of
evolution, this does not mean that this was a requirement of
his nature. In reality, this struggle and effort was his
search for the real Creator. This desire caused him to look
everywhere. A characteristic of a child is also that sometimes
his mother calls him but he keeps focused on what he has in
hand until his mother comes and picks him up and nurses him.
As soon as she moves him away from her body, he begins to pick
up things around him and put them in his mouth.
It is a rational point to suggest that even during the dark
ages there were people who were themselves aware and who also
made others aware, but the human interest in toys kept
emerging with gaps of time, as is normal with children. The
search of man kept losing his goal after achieving it again
and again.
At this point, some people are assailed by the doubt that if
something is in human nature, he should be born with it, live
with it and die on it. Why would he achieve and then lose it,
and then achieve it again? At the very least, when he obtains
it after a long struggle, he should retain it.
This doubt arises because many people do not understand the
difference between human nature and that of animals. Animals
have stringent rules of nature to which they adhere. If no
medical change occurs, their nature develops and reaches its
foremost stage according to these rules. Nature has not
provided animals with the capacity to adopt a different
approach, change it or make progress in it. They are bound
within the rules of their species and confined in its innate
system. If you put a dove inside a meat shop, it will die of
starvation, but will not be able to take benefit of the
abundance of meat. If you lock a cat in a cupboard of fruit,
it will also die of hunger, but will not be able to use the
fruit. However, the nature of man is completely different. To
explain human nature, we borrow here words from Imam Hamid
al-Din Farahi, which he has used in his exegesis of Surah
Ikhlas, and in light of verses 48-54 of Surah Rum, while
answering the above question. He says:
The signs of wisdom and mercy that man sees around him
everywhere in the universe and the pull that he feel towards
his Creator in times of trouble tells us that he is receiving
evidence of a Supreme Being from within and without himself.
Such evidence does not come for idols or the dead, if human
nature does not conform to that of animals. Animals are slaves
and humans have been given freedom, which necessitates that
they progress. Animals are driven along the path they were
destined to be driven, while humans have been left with the
light of rationality and the sustenance of ability: their
nature is their ability. The extent to which man has
progressed to date is proof of his ability and the fruits of
his efforts. The fact that ability is akin to nature is not
restricted to man alone. A baby peacock that is a blob of
flesh reaches adulthood and we consider the beauty of his
feathers a result of nature. Similarly, when a human child
that is physically weaker than most animals and is also
mentally weaker as well reaches adulthood, should we not
consider his strength and wisdom a result of his nature?
Hence, nature in man and other living beings carries the same
meaning. However, there is one characteristic in man that is
distinct from others. Man is initially weak and insignificant,
but at the end, he dominates them all. The depth of his
strength has still not been found. But all of this is between
two fragilities. If this were not so, the Pharaonic claim by
man would not have been unfounded. Thus, the fact that human
nature passes through extreme phases of development makes it
quite possible that he may take a wrong path. He was given
freedom of expression and then also freedom of choice of
pathways. In addition to these two problems, he faces a third
difficulty. That is, man was placed at the crossroad of good
and evil, without which freedom of opinion would have been
meaningless and freedom of progress limited. Thus, struggle
and difficulties are essential for human nature and it became
his obligation to move forward in his struggle between good
and evil and bring his wandering rationality to the straight
pathway.
God Almighty has placed man in these difficulties with the
promise to assist him. He has made available all means for his
guidance both within and outside him. Just as the weak baby
has been provided the protection of his mother’s lap, so has
man been given guidance through prophets. The God who enlivens
the dead earth with rain also gives life to hearts through His
word. Just as He makes high mountains the source of natural
springs, he also enables elevated hearts to speak His word.
Thus, even if after so much material being available to him,
man is forgetful of God, it is his ignorance and not his
nature. If history provides examples of idol worship, there
are more examples of its refutation. The grime of polytheism
accumulates on monotheism slowly, but just a sprinkle of
monotheism covers the darkness of polytheism completely. It
follows, therefore, that human nature responds to monotheism,
otherwise why would it run towards it and move slowly towards
the other.
The above shows that there are basic differences between human
nature and that of animals.
The first difference is that humans have received a noble
nature and character along with independence, due to which, if
they so desire, they can fall into the lowest regions of Hell
despite having the ability for reform.
The second difference is that man’s abilities and strengths
are bottomless. He has to cover a long path to progress. His
path is not merely a mile or so like that of animals that he
would begin his journey and reach his destination. With this
stretch of his path and with his independent thought, it is
but natural that he should fall and get up, drown and rise to
the surface repeatedly.
The third difference is that with his independence and
destination that is far off, he has also been placed within
trials. He has been offered the world as wealth; after life as
being useless; goodness as difficult; the forbidden as
delicious and plentiful and halal as tasteless and scarce; the
fruit of truth as being deferred and the result of falsehood
as readily available; reality as hidden and whims and lies as
beautiful and grand. This is so that he is tested to see
whether he runs toward goodness or toward evil; whether he
moves toward the real but concealed signs in his nature or
toward the false but attractive desires of his nature. Indeed,
this test is extremely difficult, but his voice of conscience
is also not weak. It develops the ability to peak into every
darkness and guides him through signs. However many veils of
feelings man places over himself; he does see and hear these
signs, even though he disobeys them while listening to their
calls and develops excuses for himself against their
reasoning. This is the reality that has been explained in the
verses of Surah Qiyamah.
وَ لَاۤ
اُقۡسِمُ بِالنَّفۡسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ.
And I do call to witness the self-reproaching soul. (75:2)
بَلْ
يُرِيْدُ الْاِنْسَانُ لِيَفْجُرَ اَمَامَه.
But man wishes to do wrong [even] in the time in front of him.
(75:5)
بَلِ
الۡاِنۡسَانُ عَلٰی نَفۡسِه بَصِیۡرَةٌ وَّلَوْ اَلْقٰي
مَعَاذِيْرَه.
Nay, man will be evidence against
himself, Even though he were to put up his excuses. (75:14-15)
The details of the above should be seen
in the tafsir of Surah Qiyamah by Farahi.
The difficulty of the challenge
necessitated that God send His messengers to guide man.
Although human nature’s inclination toward God was not weak,
the world and its attractions, human desire and its lures,
Satan and his whisperings, too, carried so much weight that
God’s mercy demanded this deficiency to be recompensed. The
weight on the scale of desire should be countered by placing a
counterweight in the scale of nature. Thus, the Quran says
that when God sent Adam (sws) and Satan down to the testing
place of the world, he also promised to send His guidance and
messengers:
فَاِمَّا
يَاْتِيَنَّكُمْ مِّنِّيْ هُدًی.
…..as is sure, there comes to you
Guidance from me (2:38)
So that man’s nature was not left alone
in this field of struggle, the help of God’s messengers, His
books and His angels were also included. This was an
additional force in support of God and after this arguments in
favour of humans came to completion and his guidance was not
left to coincidence or possibilities. Man did not have the
excuse left that it was so dark that he could not read the
signs of his own nature for the Day of Judgement. Indeed, it
was pitch dark, but pure light and the shining lamp were also
there, highlighting each and every aspect of nature.
Nature is never miserly in any of its
blessings. It was possible that man could have been given one
ear to listen or one eye to see. But nature gave him two ears
and two eyes. Similarly, it was possible that he was left to
be guided only by his nature. But God in His infinite mercy
did not leave this matter to possibilities and probabilities.
Instead, He provided the best of guidance through His
messengers and prophets. Equipped with so much strength,
within and outside himself, if man is not ready to fight Satan
for the sake of God, but seeks to ally himself with him, then
this is not the fault of his nature but this has other
reasons. These shall be explained in the next chapter,
Insha’Allah.
After this debate, it is no longer
necessary to refute the fact that the source of all religions
is the same. It is clear from the discussion above that the
point of origin of Islam and other heavenly religions is not
fear, but it is the feeling of love for God. The origin of
idol worship and polytheism is entirely something else and
this shall be discussed later. Hence, Islam and all religions
of truth are, in reality, Islam and this is the real faith of
God since the very beginning of humankind on earth. The
difference between this and polytheism and idol worship is one
of source and reality. Their natural connection is not one of
closeness and consideration, but of hatred and hostility. One
is the evolution of nature, the other regression of nature:
the direction of their journey and destination are different.
There is no leeway for any compromise or tolerance between the
two.
Man has not come to the world to merely
exist. He is here so that he can develop the potential in his
nature to the highest level of evolution that is possible
while remaining in this world of materialism and attractions.
He has been given a period of time to live for this purpose.
If this objective is not being fulfilled, his life is useless
and without meaning. Nature that is so wise in every aspect
can never undertake a useless exercise. As explained above,
the point of origin of the spiritual evolution of man is
purely his love of God. When man treads on his path, he takes
the true road to his spiritual evolution. If he strays from
it, this means that he is going against the natural
evolutionary process. Since nature is merciful, it has made it
possible to send guidance to him in the form of prophets and
messengers along with the same guidance being present in his
nature. These messengers have herded humans towards the true
direction of their spiritual evolution, i.e, to true worship
of God.
The law of nature about messengers is
that they are the best fruit of the tree of nature of the
group in which they are sent. They possess the best character,
hold the best discourse, demonstrate the best of deeds and
provide an example of the highest level of nature for a long
time, thus developing an ideal community. This community
begins its journey on the road of true spiritual evolution.
If, after this, there still remain some foolish people whose
ears are deaf to the sounds of nature and calls of prophets,
what should nature retain them for? It is useless to keep them
as humans to merely live, eat and drink and reproduce. Animals
are sufficient for this purpose, for they are doing this as
well as moving forward on the path of evolution by serving
species that is superior to them. All efforts that could have
been made to guide humans have been carried out. All that
remains is that God should either raise the curtain from every
truth and show them the evidence of the unseen world, or force
them to be guided. But this compulsion and revelation of the
hidden is against the freedom and the law of trials that has
been discussed above. Why should then nature allow these
humans to exist? What will this man do, other than misguide
others: those who are under his influence and those who are
born to him, to walk on the path he has taken:
اِنَّکَ
اِنۡ تَذَرۡهُمۡ یُضِلُّوۡا عِبَادَكَ وَ لَا یَلِدُوۡا اِلَّا
فَاجِرًا کَفَّارًا.
For, if Thou dost leave (any of) them, they will but mislead
Thy devotees, and they will breed none but wicked ungrateful
ones. (71:27)
This is why the nations in which
messengers and prophets were sent were sorted into believers
and mischief makers and criminals after completion of
invitation and all arguments and the latter were either
destroyed through natural punishment from God or at the hands
of the people of faith. This is the requirement of the law of
survival of truth.
This Sunnah is specific to prophets and
it has certain rules that have been detailed in the Qur’an. A
brief explanation is given in the exegesis of Surah Kafirun by
Imam Farahi. People or groups other than prophets cannot carry
out completion of arguments to the extent that it is proven
that a particular nation no longer has the capacity to accept
guidance. Hence, none other than prophets have been given the
right to destroy their people even if a person becomes an
apostate after accepting guidance. This is evidence enough of
the fact that he did receive the light of guidance once.
Believers have been given the right of only taking leadership
away from non - believers and keeping control in their own
hands, so that they may take the opportunity to reform
themselves, if possible, by living under a righteous people
and enabling environment.
It is clear from all this detail that
religion originated through love that was created in the
nature of a child for his parents and in that of adults for
the real Benefactor. This love gave rise to gratitude and
praise for the Benefactor and kindness for parents. The desire
to praise the true Benefactor created the concept of prayer
and kindness for parents and motivated people to serve them
and spend for them. This developed into care for relatives and
payment of zakah. Thus the human soul evolved; the idea of
ensuring that rights of God are met constructed beliefs and
worship and that of meeting obligations towards relatives and
other humans developed morals and behaviour towards others.
This is the straight path of nature and God worship. This is
the real pathway of spiritual evolution. At one end of this
road is the father of humans: Adam (sws) and at the other end
is the seal of prophets, Muhammad (sws). In the middle are
millions of prophets and messengers of God and preachers of
truth who are standing at a little distance from each other.
They came in their time to invite man to take this road, but
the latter continued to stray and create anarchy in the world
after accepting their invitation again and again. Thus, every
messenger had to say:
وَلَا
تُفْسِدُوْا فِي الْاَرْضِ بَعْدَ اِصْلَاحِهَا. (56:7)
Do no mischief on the earth, after it hath been set in order.
(7:56)
(Translated by Nikhat Sattar)
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