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Reflectionson Faith (1)

By Muhammad Mitwaly Ash-Sha’rawy

In the name of Allah, the MostGracious, the Most Merciful.

I praise you my Lord, and ask for your aid, and I praythat peace be upon the best of your creations, our prophet Mohammad.

Man has to know thereason behind the existence of the whole world. He has to understand who thatworld is serving so that he could figure out the reason behind his existenceand to know for whom he has been created. For no doubt, when man examines thewhole universe, using both what his senses can feel and what his mind candeduce, he will find himself the master of all genera.

If superiority inthe universe is defined by servanthood and mastership, then by looking atthe kingdom of Allah (SWT), man will find that he is the master of every thingelse in the universe. All genera serve him: the genus right beneath him, whichis the animals, and the genus beneath the animals, which is the plants, andwhat is beneath the plants, which is the inanimatebeings. Those genera are classified withgreat wisdom, such that the inferior genus would serve all genera superior toit.

Forexample, the inanimate beings that we see around us, such as the sun, the moon,the mountains, the elements of the earth and the water, they all serve thegenera above them. They serve the plants and provide it with food and all theelements required for its growth. They also serve animals providing it with theessential elements for its survival and continuance. The inanimate beings alsoserve man, providing him with all the necessary elements of life.

If weascend one level to the plants, we do not find it serving its inferior genus,which is the inanimate beings, but serving the superior genera to it which arethe animals and the human beings. If we ascend one more time to the animals, westill will not find it serving its inferiors, but again serving its superior genus,which is the human being. Then the circle of servanthood stops, and we do notfind any other genera that man would serve. So the servanthood in the wholeuniverse has stopped at the level of man and now man should look for hismission in this world.

Theinanimate beings have a mission to do in serving the plants, animals and humanbeings, and the plants have a mission to do in serving the animals and thehumans. Also the animals have a mission to do for the humans. And thenservanthood stops. So man, what is your mission as a human being? Andwho are you serving in this world? You have been deceived by your innovation ofa lot of the secrets of the universe. And as a rational being with the abilityto reason you ought to have understood your mission first, before you try tofigure out the mission of others serving you.

This is the first task for themind: man has to look for his mission in life. If he does not search for it,then he must consider himself lower than the inanimate beings, less significantthan the plants, and more trivial than the animals. But how would the master beless important than the servant? Therefore, man as a master ought to have amission appropriate to his mastership over the rest of the genera.

This is one stance that man oughtto stand.  There is yet another stance: You as a human being served by allother genera, when did those genera serve you? Did they serve you after youpossessed a mind, and after you have used that mind to control them and makethem serve you? Or did those genera serve you before you obtained your mind andbefore you had the ability to reason? Did they serve you because they are underyour control following your commands? Did you command the sun to shine, themoon to rise, the air to move and the sky to rain? Definitely, you did not havepower over any of this! You were not supposed to accept your existence in lifein such a passive attitude, where you only benefit from others. Your duty is tolook for your own mission in this world so that you would not be lesssignificant than those beneath you.

Everything elseserves you, and who do you serve? You ought to examine that and give it somethought. Suppose that you were alone at home with no one else around you andthen you woke up and found a table with a variety of food set for yourbreakfast. Is it not common sense to use your own mind and try to find out whoset up the table for you?

In this world, you are just likethat person who found things at his service, without having power over them andwithout even knowing about them. It is your duty as a human being to search forwhoever created those things and made them subservient to you, without youhaving any power over them and even before you got your own mind. Allah bestowsmercy on people to lead them out of their negligence by sending them messengersto solve those mysteries: Who provided you with those things that you have nopower over them? And who has made them subservient to you before even you canhave any power to control them? The messengers came to solve this mystery forus. So when Allah (SWT) sent His messenger, you ought to have listenedcarefully to them so that you can get the puzzle sorted out. By that you wouldregain your value in this world, instead of being a negligible person without afunction or a determined mission. You should have listened to the messenger andobeyed him better than deafening your ears and turning away from him. This isanother absolute foolishness.

The first irrational act from youis ignoring your mission. And the second one is that you turned away from thosewho came to solve the mystery for you. However, Allah is merciful and Hecontinued to send his messengers to remind us because he is the All MercifulGod. He knows the negligence of the human being. He sent the messengers so thatno one could claim that he did not know. But did Allah (SWT) send themessengers to establish those matters of servanthood and mastership? Of coursenot, those rules have always been there, He (SWT) sent the messengers to remindthe people. So normally the concept of mans mission in life should be wellknown, and at a point in time man forgets his role and then Allah (SWT) wouldsend His messenger as a mere reminder to the people.

People who came muchlater than Adam are the ones who faced this dilemma. For the first man createdwho represents the first father to all of us has witnessed it all. Adamwitnessed Allah creating him with His glory hands. He witnessed the breathingof Allahs spirit into himself. He witnessed the angles prostrate to him. Hedirectly received form Allah every ruling that would lead to goodness in life.So Adam has received all of this and felt it directly. But the negligence wasfrom the generations that came after him. Do you know why? Because when Adamwas created he was not created as a newborn with two parents. Parents that hewould think are the reason behind his existence. He found himself a completemature man. He did not witness for himself either a youth or a childhood. Hewas amazed to find himself a man, with the ability to reason. He was spoken tofrom the heavens through a divine a law. He was created as a man with theangels prostrating to him.

Therefore, to Adam, this matteris solidly proven. But the doubt is all for the ones who came after Adam. Whenthe messengers came to solve the mystery of this world and to explain to manhis mission in life, they all agreed on one law represented by Allahs own wordsin the Holy Statement (Hadeeth Koddsi): Son of Adam, I have created thethings for you. This is a mere truthproven by matter-of-factness. Everything in this world is created for you manand Allahs words I have created the things for you. are a mere Truth. This is the given part of theequation and yet to know is the required part. So what is the required elementthat the mind is looking for in this world?  As Allah (SWT) says Ihave created the things for you, and I have created you for Me. So do notengage yourself with what is for you and forget what you are for. This is the philosophy of all religions!

Since Allah has madethe whole universe subservient to man, without man being able to make theuniverse submitted to his will, he should have realized the truth in Allahswords: I have created the things for you, and I have created you for Me. Sodont engage yourself with what is for you and forget what you are for. So in other words, do not let what serves youdistract you from who you are serving. Dont let your slave divert you from yourmaster. For as you benefit from the slavery of your slaves, you have to excelin being a slave to your creator. Otherwise, you would be unjust andinequitable. But in that case you would be unjust to whom?

Injustice normallyis taking away someones right, doing him harm for the benefit of the taker. Buttell me, if you diverted from your creator, who would you harm by doingthat?  You would do harm to yourself, and this is another sign ofstupidity. Because the wrong-doer does harm to others, but the disobedient orthe disbeliever does harm to himself. He is not doing any harm to Allah whocreated him, because The Creator (SWT) has all the attributes of perfection.Your worship to Him does not add anything to his holdings, and your disbeliefof Him does not lessen anything from his dominion. But He (SWT) would like for Hiscreation to live an eternal grace in the Hereafter in the same way that He(SWT) has bestowed Grace on them in this worldly life.

So the disbeliever or thedisobedient has done harm only to himself not to the creator, because thecreator with all the characteristics of perfection is Allah, The Creator.

Allah says in the Holy Statement(Hadeeth Koddsi):

And if your first and yourlast and your mankind and your jinn all have the heart of the most righteousman among you, it will not increase My holdings as much as a wing of amosquito. And if your first and your last and your mankind and your jinn allhave the heart of the most wicked man among you, it will not decrease Myholdings as much as a wing of a mosquito.  And if your first and your lastof your mankind and your jinn all gathered in one place each asking Me what hewants and I gave it to him, it would not decrease of what I have except as muchas what hold on to a needle if it was immersed in the sea. This is because I amMunificent, Originator and Laudable. My Bounties arewords and My Wrath is words: If I decree something I say to it: Be and it is.

Thus when mandisbelieves or disobeys his God, he is doing harm only to himself because manis the most eminent creation in the world, and is served by everything else inthis world. Have you ever seen between mankind a craftsperson who wants to ruinhis design? Not really because every creator improves his creation to be amasterpiece.

We ask Allah (SWT)to lead us to our mission in this life to be worthy of his grace on The Day wemeet Him.