WHY RELIGION
By
Professor Dr. Syed
Zafar-ul-Hasan
M.A., D. Phil. (Oxon.); Dr. Phil. (Erl.);
LL.B. (Alig.)
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
نَحْمَدُہٗ
وَ نُصَلِّیْ وَ نُسَلِّمُ عَلٰی رَسُوْلِہِ النَّبِیِّ الْکَرِیم!
Life means
action and motion. To move about, to sit and stand, to eat and drink, to talk
and laugh, to read and write, and so on, all these are its manifestations. But
where there is action and motion, there arises also the question:
What ought I to
do and
What ought I to
become?
The question
arises on every occasion and at every step. There is no moment in our life when
this question does not arise. At times it comes clearly before the mind; at
others only vaguely. And not only this. We have also got to answer this
question in words and in deeds, and have to abide by the answer we give. This
question is the question of our life, and it persists throughout the whole of
our life. It confronts every one of us. A schoolboy asks this question, and so
does the teacher; a ruler is faced with it, and also an administrator. Every
one of us has a world of his own, in which he stands and asks: "What ought
I to do and what ought I to become?" The world of some of us is small,
while that of others is larger and that of still others still larger. But there
is a world largest of all, in which we all live and which comprehends the earth
and the sky, i.e., this Universe, which seems to have neither beginning nor
end. In north or in south, in east or in west, in up or in down, in past or in
future, go as far as you may, it does not end. Neither sight can cover it nor
imagination. Both must tire out without reaching its limits. Man stands in this
limitless cosmos. He is astounded at its dimensions, its greatness, its
immensity. He does not know where he came from. He does not know where to he is
going. He is bewildered. Yet he stands in it, and must ask: Yet he
What ought I to
do and What ought I to become?
The question is
inevitable. To-day or to-morrow must arise in a man's heart. One in whose heart
it does not arise, does not deserve the name of Man; and as long as he does not
get a reply to it his life remains vacant, nay, even useless and meaningless.
For, as long as he is alive and is a denizen of this world, he should do
something and he should become something. But he does not know what he ought to
do and what he ought to become.
Man as man is
in this fix. His heart is involved in this question. His salvation-the
salvation of his heart-lies in a satisfactory reply to this question. He would
regard that person as his true saviour and guide who could answer this
question: "I am a denizen of this limitless universe; what ought I to do
and what ought I to become?”
Undoubtedly I
ought to do that and I ought to become that which is in consonance with the
nature of this world and the nature of my own self.
But what is the
nature of this world? What is the nature of my own self? Who am I? From whence
did I come? Where am I going to? And, consequently, what ought I to become?
One question
begets the other. But as long as these questions remain unanswered, neither the
soul finds rest nor the heart peace. Life seems meaningless. Action and motion
appear in vain. The soul becomes benumbed and the heart listless.
Then, is there
anyone who could answer this question:
What ought I to
do and o
What ought I to
become?
There are two
claimants to giving an answer to this question. One is Reason, the other is
Revelation, i.e., one is Philosophy, the other Religion.
The claim of
Philosophy stands to reason. For, man ought to use his reason. He has been
gifted with reason so that he may use it. Reason guides us in all things, great
and small. It is our guiding light in life. It is our eye with which we see
things, and with which we penetrate their essence. The man who uses reason will
have superiority over the man who does not use it. Nations who made Reason
their guiding light are dominating other nations to-day. Hence the philosophers
say that reason, which answers all our queries, will answer this question also.
Consequently, by our reason and thought we can find out what is the real nature
of this Universe and what is the essence of the Self, its Origin and its
Destiny. We can, then, determine what is our place in this immense cosmos. That
will make it plain what we ought to do and what we ought to become.
The branch of
philosophy which deals with these questions and attempts to solve them by means
of Reason has for long been called Metaphysics or Ontology. Great philosophers
have spent their whole lives on struggling with these questions, and have
produced system after system of metaphysics. Amongst Greeks, Plato and
Aristotle; amongst Muslims, Ibn Sina and Ibn Rushd; amongst Europeans Leibnitz,
Spinoza and Hegel, are names too well known to need mention. Their greatness is
admitted by all and every philosopher bows before them with respect. Their
achievements in the domain of philosophy are simply great. If anyone were to
dilate on their influence in the world of today it would the invariably cover a
volume.
The high level
of their thought, depth of their penetration, their profoundness, their
comprehensiveness and their grasp are beyond praise. The most valuable results
they arrive at and the logical and rigorous manner of their arguments set one
gasping. In them human reason seems to have reached its highest pinnacles. The
world of to-day has caught at their skirt as it were the surest anchor.
But over two
hundred years thinker greater than them all was born in Germany. His name was
Kant. Kant weighted the arguments of old philosophy impartially, and went deep
down to its bottom. He found after discussing them fully that the arguments
that had been advanced by old philosophers on these problems were, all of them,
defective and none cogent-none of them led to the goal they had in view. It
cannot be ascertained with certainty what the ultimate nature of the universe
is nor even what is our own ultimate nature. Neither can we know the origin nor
the destiny of these. Kant went still further, and he proved, by means of
rational logical argument itself, that the human reason is not capable of
answering these questions.
He who has
understood the philosophy of Kant knows for sure that philosophy has no answer
to our question: What ought I to do and what ought I to become?
Now the
position is this: Reason cannot answer this question. But the question is
there. The soul of man is hankering after an answer. Can it leave this question
alone? No, in no case. The soul will rather die than live without an answer to
this question.
Now, if our
reason and our senses cannot lead us to a solution of the problem, there must
be some other way of getting an answer. A way there is. A way there is. Its
name is 'inspiration' Somehow we don't know man gets question. There happen to
be some human beings who possess the capacity of hearing the answer to this
question from Above, and of appropriating it, and then they communicate it to
their fellow-beings. Such persons are called Revelation-bearers and Prophets.
They are human beings; but the springs of their hearts are opened. Other men
are not like them. That is why the Qur'an says: "Say I am only a mortal
like you; (but) it has been revealed to me that your God is only One God."
(xviii: 110).
Except for a
dark heart, it is hard to suspect them of untruth. To doubt the veracity of
these personages is very difficult, indeed hardly possible. Were Moses and
Christ and the other Prophets like them under a deception or could deceive others?
Look at their
sincerity and see how they effaced their selfhood in the search after Truth.
Look at their Faith in their mission. A mountain can be moved from its place,
but not they and their hearts. They can doubt what the bodily eyes see, but not
what is seen through the eyes of Revelation: "The eye turned not aside nor
was overbold." (Holy Qur'an, liii: 17).
Then look at
the grandeur and height of these personalities. Single-handed and alone they
rise with their mission, and, lo and behold, they over-turn the whole world. Nay,
their teachings were a flood which inundated the globe-and the earth was
thirsty, very thirsty indeed; it "Elixir of Life". There are millions
and quaffed it in like the millions of human beings who would stake their lives
and their wealth at these personages.
Other great men
of the world like Alexander and Plato, Napoleon and Goethe, look like tiny
nothings before them-like flickering lamps before the effulgent sun.
Then look at
the Message which the Prophets brought for Man-a reply to that great question which
was making his Soul restless and which Reason had failed to solve. An answer so
clear, so distinct, so satisfying-did it come from anywhere else than the great
Beyond? It was Revelation from which the world learnt what I am and from whence
I come and whereto I am going; and, consequently, what I ought to do and what I
ought to become. In other words, it was Revelation which told man that there is
a Being full of all perfections, and that He has brought me and the Universe
into being from nothing. It is His will that I should attain perfection. I
ought to act according to His will. I ought to become what He requires me to
become. I shall have to go in His Presence and I shall have to account for my
deeds. On that day if He looks at me with approval, what an attainment!
Otherwise, it would be the most patent failure.
This is what
every Prophet has taught. On principle there are no differences in their
teachings. That is why Islam teaches: "We make no distinction between any
of His Messengers." (ii: 285). Whatever differences there are in their
teachings, they are due to gradation-gradation in the individual positions of
these holy personages and the stages of the intellectual and moral development
of the people concerned.
We Muslims
believe that Muhammad-ur-Rasool-Allah is the last of the Prophets in both these
respects, for the guidance that humanity got through him was complete. There is
no need for any fresh guidance. That is why the Qur'an proclaimed: "This
day I have perfected your religion for you and completed my favour unto you and
have chosen for you as your religion Al-Islam." (V: 4).
No other
Prophet was favoured with so complete, so detailed and so clear a revelation.
Nor was any other Prophet sent to the entire humanity.
These points
require detailed discussion, for which the present is not the proper occasion.
I have mentioned them here only to draw attention to the need of Revelation and
Religion. Religion is the answer to that great question:
"What
ought I to do and what ought I to become?" answer man gets through
Revelation.
The object of
Religion is to make my life in complete accord with the Will of the Ultimate
Reality of the Universe. And this is what Islam means. This is Lillahiat
(Godliness) which is the gist of the teachings of Islam and which is described
in the verse: "Say: Lo! My worship and my sacrifice and my living and my
dying are all for Allah, Lord of the Worlds." (vi: 162). The mystics of
Islam call it Rida (i.e., being pleased with God) and consider it to be the
highest stage of human development. The Qur'an says: "Allah is
well-pleased with them and they are well-pleased with Him. That is the great
achievement." (v: 122). And this it is that is called Uboodiat (Absolute
Submission to Allah). And, where this Uboodiat reaches its perfection, Religion
reaches its completion; and the man in whom Uboodiat reaches its perfection
will be the most perfect of men and the best of them and will be at the stage
of Mahboob (Beloved of God).
The phase of
Uboodiat reached its consummation in the person of our Holy Prophet to an
extent as is not be found in any other founder of Religion. That is why, in the
language of mystics, he is at the stage of Mahboob. Because he was just as God
wants man to be, he was God's beloved. It is the coming into being of such a
Personality which is the real purpose of this world. So it was said : "But
for thee (O Muhammad!), I would not have created the Universe." (Hadith
Qudsi). And as all his deeds were in complete accord with the will of God, they
were described by God Himself as His own deeds:-"And thou (Muhammad) threwest not when thou didst throw, but Allah
threw....." (Holy Qur'an, vii 17). (Holy Qur'an, vii 17). And it is because
of the same reason that he is Rahmat-ul-lil-Alameen (Mercy into the World):
"We sent thee (Muhammad) not save as a mercy for the worlds". (xxi:
107). For, the object of Creation is Uboodiat: "I created the jinn and
humankind only that they worship Me" (li: 56), and his person is the
pattern, nay, the embodiment of it. So his person is the source of guidance and
salvation for the whole creation; it is God's Rahmat (Mercy). And because of
his grand personality-his perfect Uboodiat-, his life, his deeds and acts are
the pattern for us. God says: "Verily in the Messenger of Allah ye have an
excellent Exemplar for him who looketh unto Allah and the Last Day, and
remembereth Allah much," (xxxiii: 21). These good ways and these high
morals are the purposes for which Prophets are sent: "We prophets are sent
to perfect morals." (Hadith). And the Holy Prophet was the mirror in which
these high morals and perfect Uboodiat found its undistorted reflection :
"And most surely thou conformeth to sublime morality". Qur'an Ixciii:
4). Guiboud J.
Now a word
about features of this perfect Uboodiat. One of them is his Humanity as opposed
to Divinity; the other is his Truthfulness.
In the person
of Prophets an element of divinity gets mixed up because of Revelation; and if
men are not fully warned in this behalf, it eats up the very roots of religion.
So it is binding that it should be kept clear as day that the Prophets are men;
they are mortal beings. For, only as such they can be patterns for us. We have
to follow in their foot- steps. They are the embodiment of the teachings
received by man in reply to that great question: What ought I to do and what
ought I to become? The Holy Prophet showed us the way by himself becoming what
we ought to become. He was the living picture of the virtues which the Qur'an
teaches. Hazrat Ayesha said: His character was the Qur'an itself." So the
negation of the aspect of divinity and the affirmation of the aspect of
humanity is of paramount importance. And it is present in the person of the
Holy Prophet with such completion as is hardly to be found in the person of any
other founder of Religion.
He has so
positively denied divinity in his person that it is difficult to find a
parallel in the history of religions.
Take first the
Kalimah Shahadah (Article of Faith), and there you will meet a most explicit
denial of divinity: "I bear witness that there is no deity but Allah and I
bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and Apostle." Then take the
Qur'an. You will find that the miracles of other Prophets are mentioned at
several places. But when a miracle is demanded of him, there comes the humble
reply that miracles are only with God, and that he himself was only a man to
whom the Truth had been revealed. This does not mean that he was not given
miracles. It only shows his intense anxiety to avoid all possible
misunderstanding regarding his divinity.
Once the Holy
Prophet asked a Companion of his about a certain undertaking and its chances of
success. The Companion said in reply: "Yes, it will succeed if God and His
Prophet will." On hearing this the Holy Prophet turned pale, and in a
directly upset mood rejoined: "Say if God alone wills; the Prophet is
nobody." Great God! Look at this sense of humanity.
This was not
the aspect of divinity but of humanity that the fear of God was always
uppermost in his mind. He regarded himself only as a creature of God who, in
spite of his sinlessness, was accountable for his deeds before Him like other
creatures. Consequently, when he came to know from God that his last moments
had come, he felt great anxiety lest any rights of others may have been
transgressed by him. Because of this anxiety he got it announced to the beat of
drum, calling upon people to come forward and take from him anything that was
due from him, and take their revenge if he might have hurt anyone, or in the
alternative, forgive him in the name of God, so that he may not have to account
for it before Him. Thereupon a man appeared and said, "O Messenger of God!
Once you were riding a horse whom you struck with a whip and the whip struck
me." The Holy Prophet said: "O brother! I did that unknowingly by
mistake. Kindly forgive me for the sake of God." The Prophet was severely
ill at that time. The man said: "I will not forgive."
So the Holy
Prophet sent for a whip and said: "All right, you too give me a cut."
That man said: "O Messenger of God, when you hit me with the whip, my back
was bare." Hearing this the Prophet removed his shirt and bared his back,
so that he may hit him on his bare back and have his revenge.
Mark, please,
this intense sense of being human, this consciousness of human rights, and this
fear of account- ability before God! Consider the grand position with God and
man and the unlimited power wielded by Muhammad-ur-Rasool-Allah, think of his
physical frailty at that moment, imagine the scene when he bared his back so
that he may be struck with a whip because of the injury which the other man
happened to receive at his hand unintentionally, so that he may not be held
accountable before God before whom he had to go and to answer for all his
deeds.
The other
feature which is eminently prominent in the person of the Holy Prophet is his
Sincerity and Truthful- ness. This truthfulness is the characteristic of
Uboodiat- of being God's true servant. For God says about His beautiful
servants: "Lo the righteous will dwell among gardens and rivers, in the
seat of Truth, with the Mighty King." (liv: 54-55).
Truthfulness is
the highest moral quality; it is really the root of all moral virtues. Every
religion regards one of the virtues as fundamental and lays emphasis upon it.
For instance, in Christianity it is Humility, in Judaism it is Law, in
Zoroastriasm it is probably Cleanliness, in Buddhism Self-Effacement, in
Jainism Harmlessness, in Hinduism Dharma.sk
Islam has made
the virtue of Sidq-o-Safa (Truthfulness and Purity) its distinctive
characteristic.
The noble
personality of the Holy Prophet was the perfect exponent of this great virtue.
It is wonderful that he made such a tremendous, such a revolutionary, and for the
Arabs, such an upsetting claim; and the Arabs opposed him tooth and nail,
plotted against his life and waged wars against him. But no one ever had the
courage to aver that he was a liar or a fabricator. The Qur'an has described
all the charges which they laid against the Holy Prophet. They called him mad,
they called him poet, they called him sorcerer; but never did they call him a
liar or a fabricator. O Allah! Thy Blessings and Mercy and Peace be on
Muhammad! $10 M Dan to Show
So deep was the
impression of the truthfulness of the Holy Prophet upon their hearts that when
someone asked Abu Jahl-Abu Jahl, who was his bitterest enemy:-"Tell me
truly what dost thou think of Muhammad. Is he a liar?"
Abu Jahl said:
"By God! Muhammad is a truthful man. He never told a lie." This very
Abu Jahl said on another occasion: "O Muhammad! We do not hold that you
are a liar; but we only hold that your teachings are false". Similar is
the story of An-Nazr bin Haris. When the infidels of Mecca held a consultation
meeting for damaging the credit of the Holy Prophet and some suggested that the
Holy Prophet be defamed as a liar, An-Nazr got infuriated. He leapt up and
said: "No, by God no, liar he is not." Mind that An-Nazr was the man
in whose heart the enmity of the Holy Prophet was very deep-seated, so much so
that he was one of those selected ones who had come to assassinate him on the
night of Hijra!
This was the
condition of the foes. And what about the condition of friends? The distinctive
mark of a good man is that the more you know him the more you respect and trust
him. Let us keep this standard in mind and see what has actually happened. When
the Holy Prophet received the Revelation for the first time in the cave of
Mount Hira and Gabriel appeared in his full glory and addressing him said:
"Read: In the name of the Lord who createth, createth man from a clot.
Read: And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous, who teacheth by the pen, teacheth man
that which he knew not" (vcvi: 1-5), the Holy Prophet was simply stunned
to see it all. Awe filled his soul, and his body began to shiver.
When Gabriel
disappeared, he came home from Hira. still shivering because of what he had
experienced, sort of fever took hold of him. As he reached his he laid himself
down in bed and said to his wife Khadija : "Cover me with a blanket, cover
me with a blanket; I am feeling cold." So Khadija came and wrapped him in
a blanket and sat pressing him. He was a human being. All of a sudden the doors
of a new world were opened to him, the world of Power and Majesty, to see which
human eye is not fitted.
If the whole
thing was true, if he was truthful, his condition ought to have been exactly
this. After a while, when he felt a little easier and Khadija enquired about
his condition, he told her all the facts. His statement gave her the impression
that perhaps he was in doubt and thought that all this may have been a mere
illusion.
All this is so
human, so utterly human, that it makes his truthfulness brighter. You know what
that lady said to him-the lady more than whom none else knew him in this world.
She said: H "O husband, be happy; God has appointed you to the task of
prophethood. Your are always good to your kinsmen, you are always benevolent to
your neighbours, you are always kind to strangers, you are always benign to the
poor, you are truthful and you side with truth. Allah will never put you in a
delusion." And that lady was the first to believe in his prophethood. She
was a great personage-very wise, very sagacious, very clever in judging men,
highly discreet, capable of discriminating truth and falsehood, firmly
truthful, ripe in age and well-to-do. Islam has given her the title of Khadija
the Great (God be pleased with her!)
His Next in the
house was a young boy, whose bright intelligence, sparkling genius and
profoundity of judgment has taken the toll of recognition from the whole world,
and whose purity of soul has made him the Imam of spiritualists. The boy was a
cousin of the Prophet; he lived with the Prophet, and know his character
intimately. Second person who believed in his prophethood. His name is Ali
Murtaza, the King of Saints (God be pleased with him!).
The third
person was a servant, who fully knew the life, habits and character of the Holy
Prophet. He was out on an errand. When he returned and learnt the facts, he
accepted his prophethood without the least demur. His name was Zaid bin Haris
(God be pleased with him!).
All these
three, who knew him most, did not feel the slightest doubt in his truthfulness.
The fourth man
who knew him closely was an old dear friend. He was at the time away from Mecca
in connection with business. Someone told him: "Have you heard what your
friend Muhammad says? He says that he has been raised to prophethood and that
he has become the recipient of Divine Revelation." The friend, as soon as
he heard this, said without any hesitation: "True says Muhammad; he must
have received revelation; he cannot assert anything but truth." The name
of this friend was Abu Bakr (God be pleased with him!). He rose to the highest
stage of spiritual perfection and is called Siddiq-i-Akbar (the Great
Truthful).
It was not only
that those who knew him intimately believed in him without any doubt or
suspicion, but also the faith of these first believers kept increasing, and
they remained devoted to him and to his teachings to the end of their lives.
There came times of the greatest hardships, of the greatest trials, of the
greatest dangers, of the greatest setbacks; but never did their steps waver.
They never felt any doubt about his truthfulness-that is, they never felt And,
in truth, this has any doubt about his prophethood. been the case of all his
Companions. Once anyone accepted Islam, he never turned back upon it and never
doubted the truthfulness of the Holy Prophet. And mind, the number of
Companions amounted to hundreds of thousands; and only those were called
Companions who were in very close contact with him.
In the history
of Religion, this is a unique example of Sidq (Truthfulness). No better evidence
can be advanced in support of the Truth of a founder of religion.
O ALLAH! BESTOW
THY BLESSINGS, THY MERCY AND THY PEACE ON MUHAMMAD !
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