Miscellaneous Articles

After Islamic ideology has released human mind from the chains which capture it, its ends it out onwards directing its energies through drawing attention and pondering over the universe and life in order to establish a complete building religiously and for this world…

We can state some groups of the Qur’anic verses which direct the mind towards several vast horizons, some of them are as follows:

Firstly: pondering on the evidences of Allah (be exalted) in horizons and souls:

“Most surely in the creation of heavens and earth and the alternation of the night and the day there are signs for men who understand. Those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: Our Lord Thou hast not created this in vain! Glory is to Thee: save us then from the chastisement of the fire” 41

“And in the earth there are signs for those who are sure and in your own souls too will you not then see?” 42

“Say look what is there in heavens and earth ...” 43

“Let Man then think over of what he has been created” 44

“Let Man then look at his food” 45

“Will they not then consider the camels, how they are created and the heaven how it is reared aloft and the mountains how they are firmly fixed. And the earth how it is made vast expanse, therefore do remind for you are only a reminder” 46

What is noticeable here is Qur’an’s great attention to mention the scenes of the universe through repeating their show in more than one “Surah” i-e (chapter) in different ways and its call for the human being to ponder on and contemplate them, to mediate on the run of its happenings, the most important of that Qur’an made this universe as starting point to reach to Allah (i- e to deduce His existence and to know Him) the creator and originator.

It is narrated from the prophet (S.W.A.) that he was reciting “most surely in the creation of heavens and the earth and he alternation of the night and the day there are signs for men who understand, those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth: Our Lord! Thou hast not created this in vain Glory be to Thee, save us then from the chastisement of the fire” 47, he says “woe to him who reads it without contemplating it” and in another narration “woe to him who chewed it between his jaws without contemplating it”.

And it is related to Ameeral muamineen Ali (A.S.) that he said: “when the prophet (S.W.A.) wakes up at night he cleans his teeth then he looks at the sky then he says “most surely in the creation of heaven and the earth and the alternation of the night and the day there are signs for men who understand, those who remember Allah standing and sitting and lying on their sides and reflect on the creation of the heavens and the earth our Lord: Thou hast not created this in vain Glory be to Thee save us then from the chastisement of the fire” 48

The purified Imams (A.S.) used the way of setting the proofs of the existence of Allah through intellectual contemplation of the universe and what precise order and wonderful harmony it contains which is the proof called by scholars “the proof of order”.

Ameeral mu’amineen Ali (A.S.) said: Had they thought of the greatness of His power and the plentiness of benevolence they would have returned to the path and feared the chastisement of burning but minds are ill, hearts are disordered. Do they not see the small-created things He has created, how He had consolidated its creation, mastered its composition, opened to it hearing and sight and made to it bones and skins!

Look at the aunt in its small body, delicate form which is difficult to be seen by the eye and to be recognized by realizing mind, how it has crept on its land and stored its sustenance…if you think of the runs of her food, its upper and lower part, what its balley includes of epigastriums” its head of eye and ear you will be full of amazement at its creation and feel tired of its description…

So look at the sun and the moon… the burst out of these seas and the plentiness of these mountains, the length of these deserts and the diversity of these languages and tongues.

So woe to whom he denies the predeterminer and rejects the designer, they alleged that they are like plants without a planter and there is no maker for their different images while they didn’t give any proof of what they claimed and no inspection in what they adopt…

“And can there be a building without a builder or a crime without a criminal!” 49

From another side the Holy Qur’an draws forth in the minds the motives of sincere and fruitful thinking through what it displays of knowledge, one time it uses the interrogatory question, such as His saying (Be Glorified) “What! Did you then think that we had created you in vain” 50, and by disavowal of shallow conceptions another time such as His saying (be Glorified) “And we didn’t create the heavens and the earth and what is between them in vain* we didn’t create them both but with the truth but most of them do not know” 51

It is known that according to the school of “Ahlilbait” (A.S.) thinking of the kingdom of the heavens and earth is a kind of worship, rather the best degree of worship. Imam Alsaadiq says: “the best worship is the continuous thinking of Allah and His omnipotence” 52

The followers of this high school and its disciples were making much of this intellectual worship which plays a very important part in constructing the human being and enables him to reach very high Gnostic degrees. For example most of Abbizar’s (may Allah be mercy with him) worship was thinking and taking lessons, his mother was asked about Abbizar’s worship she said: “During his day time he was thinking away from people” 53

It must be known that the general view point about being to which the two “rare things” (Althaqalain) guide –The Qur’an and “Ahlilbait”- is the origin from which all intellectual behavioral view points stem and it is the foundation of the diversion of civilizations and cultures.

Secondly: meditating on the laws of history: the Islamic ideology has called us to ponder on the incidents of history with a shrewd sight, an inspecting intellect in order to discover the reasons which had led societies to destruction, the flourishment or down fall of civilizations, Allah Has said: “indeed there have been examples before you, therefore travel in the earth and see what was the end of the rejecters” 54

Allah (be glorified) also said: “Do they don’t consider how many a generation we have destroyed before them, whom we have established in the earth as we haven’t established you and we sent the clouds pouring rain o them in abundance and we made the rivers to flow beneath them, then we destroyed them on account of their faults and we originated after them another generations” 55

Allah (be glorified) also said: “And certainly we did destroy generations before you when they were unjust, and their apostles had shown them clear argument and they wouldn’t believe; thus do we recompense the guilty people.” 56

It is a call which insists on people to move the wheel of their minds, to look in the history of their ancestors least they become like strayed herd that moves without a shepherd towards the unknown, it is a call with a drawn procedure in order to benefit from the practices of previous civilizations and to study the reasons of their down fall,

especially that history repeat its courses, Allah (be glorified) Has said: “Such has been the course of Allah with respect to those who have gone before and you shall not find any change in the course of Allah” 57 we have to state here that,

“The role of religion and its responsibility in Man’s life is to create the environment of appropriateness and harmony between Man’s thinking and behavior with the courses of Allah (i- e the laws Allah Has set in this universe to move with their course) and to direct the run of Man’s life to the current of these divine course which Allah Has set as an order for his creatures and creating in this universe.” 58

So religion directs Man’s thinking towards the deep aimful look. Certainly there is a big difference between the superficial unsophisticated look to life and history and the deep examining look which is not satisfied with noticing the thing or the incident but it penetrates into its depths and observes its necessities and evidences in order to deduce the historical law which is applied to it, for example a tourist may pass through the pyramids of Egypt so he feels astonished at the marvelousness of its construction, and its highness and enjoys the beauty of its outer appearance and every thing ends.

As to the conscious thinker who is armed with belief, when he passes through the pyramids so many questions rise into his mind: about Man’s abilities, the injustice which was prevailing during those days through the phyrons’ exploitation of a great number of people to work in building these pyramids and what they had suffered of tiredness, weariness and chastisements. He also deduced the phyroon’s wrong concept of death and resurrection. Rather the believer, after having those pieces of knowledge deduces the beneficent lesson as he looks to their wreckages so he wonders where are their inhabitants and what was their fate?!

Therefore Ahlilbait (A.S.) draw the attention to the importance of the aware note and the deep look which is not restricted to the external matters it penetrates through the depths and sizes the dimensions they include as well as and implicational or correlative significances.

It is narrated from Alhassan Alsaiqal that he said: I said to Abi abdulah (A.S.): thinking for an hour is better than worshipping for a night? He said: Yes, the prophet (S.W.A.) said: thinking for an hour is better than worshipping for a night.” 59

When Ameeralmu’amineen passed by the ruins of Almadaaen he gave his companions a lesson about the example of history in which, he (A.S.) said: those people had been heirs then they became testators, those people violated the immunities of Allah so they had been afflicted with His revenge, so do not violate Allah’s immunities so that you suffer His vengances” 60

Notes:

41. Aaliamraan 3: 190-191.

42. Alzaareyaat 51: 21-22.

43. Younus 10: 101.

44. Altaarek 86: 5-6.

45. Abasah 80: 24.

46. Alghasheia 88: 17-21.

47. A’al Imraan 3: 190-191.

48. Consult Alkeshshaaf Alzamakhshari 1: 453.

49. Nehjilbalaagha, Subhi alsaalih 270-271.

50. Almu’aminoon: 23: 115.

51. Aldukhaan 44: 38- 39. Aldukhaan 44: 38- 39.

52. Ausoul alkaafi 2: 55/ 3 the Book of faith infidelity.

53. Tenbeehil Khawaatir, the prince , Warraam ibnaabi farraas 1: 250, chapter of thinking, saaub pub.

54. Aali Aumraan 3:137.

55. Alan’aam 6: 6.

56. Younus 10: 13.

57. Alahzaab 33: 62.

58. The role of religion in Man’s life, Sheikh Ala’aseffi 121-122, Darel taa’aruf pub.2.

59. behaar elanwaar 71: 325, almahaasin: 26.

60. Kenzel aumaal 16:205.

Adapted from: "The Role of Ideology in Constructing The Human Being" by: "Ar-Risaleh Center"