The Prophet and the Qur'an
It was demanded of the Prophet, as it had been of other prophets, that he produce a miracle. The Prophet himself also confirmed the power of prophets to produce miracles as has been asserted clearly by the Qur'an. Many miracles by the Prophet have been recounted, the transmission of some of which is certain and can be accepted with confidence. But the enduring miracle of the Prophet, which is still alive, is the sacred book of Islam, the Holy Qur'an. The Holy Qur'an is a
sacred text consisting of six thousand and several hundred verses (ayah) divided into one hundred and fourteen large and small chapters (Sarah). The verses of the Holy Qur'an were revealed gradually during the twenty-three year period of prophecy and mission of the Prophet. From less than one verse to a whole and complete chapter were revealed under different circumstances, both at day and night, on journeys or at home, in war or peace, during days of hardship or moments of rest.
The Holy Qur'an in many of its verses introduces itself in unambiguous language as a miracle. It invited the Arabs of that day to rivalry and competition in composing writings of comparable truth and beauty. The Arabs, according to the testimony of history, had reached the highest stages of eloquence and elegance of language, and in the sweetness of language and flow of speech, they ranked foremost among all people. The Holy Qur'an claims that if it be thought of as human speech, created by the Prophet himself or learned through instruction from someone else, then the Arabs should be able to produce its like
1 or ten chapters like it,
2 or a single
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1 As He says, "Then let them procure speech the like thereof, if they are truthful." (Qur'an, LII, 34).
2 As He says, "Or they say: He [Muhammad] has invented it. Say: Then bring ten Surahs, the like thereof, invented, and call on everyone ye can beside Allah, if ye are truthful." (Queen, XI, 13).
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one of its Verses
1 making use of whatever means were at their disposal to achieve this end. The celebrated Arab men of eloquence claimed in answer to this request that the Qur'an was magic and it was thus impossible for them to produce its like.
2
Not only does the Qur'an challenge and invite people to compete with its eloquence and elegant language, but also it occasionally invites rivalry from the point of view of its meaning and thus challenges all the mental powers of men and jinn,
3 for the Qur'an, is a book containing the total program for human life.
4 If we investigate the matter carefully, we will discover that God has made this vast and extensive program which embraces every aspect of the countless beliefs, ethical forms and actions of mankind and takes into account all of their details and particularities, to be the "Truth" (haqq) and to be called the religion of the truth (Din al-haqq). Islam is a religion whose injunctions are based on the truth and the real welfare of mankind, not the desires and inclinations of the majority of men or the whims of a single, powerful ruler.
At the foundation of this vast program is placed the most cherished word of God which is belief in His Unity. All the principles of the sciences are deduced from the principle of
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1 As He says, "Or they say: He hath inven1ted it? Say: then bring a surah like unto it." (Qur'an, X, 39).
2 As He recounts from the saying of one of the Arab men of letters, "And said: This is naught else than magic from of old; this is naught else than speech of mortal man." (Qur'an, LXXIV, 24-25).
3 Editor's note: The jinn referred to in the Qur'an are interpreted traditionally as conscious, psychic forces that inhabited this world before the Fall of Adam and who still exist on the subtle plane. The terms jinn and ins (mankind) are thus often used together in Islamic sources to refer to the totality of conscious beings possessing mental faculties in this world. See Appendix IV.
4 As He says, "Say: Verily, though mankind and the Jinn should assemble to produce the like of this Qur'an, they could not produce the like thereof though they were helpers one of another." (Qur'an, XVII, 88).
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Unity (tawhid). After that, the most praiseworthy human ethical and moral virtues are deduced from the principles of the religious sciences and included in the program. Then, the countless principles and details of human action, and individual and social conditions of man are investigated, and the duties pertaining to them which originate from the worship of the One are elaborated and organized. In Islam, the relation and continuity between the principles (usul) and their applications (furu') are such that each particular application in whatever subject it may be, if it is brought back to its source, returns to the principle of Unity or tawhid, and Unity if applied and analysed becomes the basis for the particular injunction and rule in question.
Of course, the final elaboration of such an extensive religion with such unity and interconnection, or even the preparation of an elementary index for it, is beyond the normal powers of the best authorities on law in the world. But here we speak of a man who in a short span of time was placed amidst a thousand difficulties concerning his life and property, caught in bloody battles and faced with internal and external obstacles and furthermore placed alone before the whole world. Moreover, the Prophet had never received instruction nor learned how to read and writer.
1 He had spent two-thirds of his life before becoming a prophet among a people who possessed no learning and had had no taste of civilization. He passed his life in a land without water or vegetation and with burning air, among a people who lived in the lowest social conditions and were dominated by neighboring political powers.
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1 As He recounts from the tongue of the Holy Prophet, "I dwelt among you whole lifetime before it (came to me). Have ye then no sense?" (Qur'an, X 17). And He says, "And thou (0 Muhammad) was not a reader of any scripture before it, nor didst thou write it with thy right hand" (Qur'an, XXIX, 48). He also says, "And if ye are in doubt concerning that which We reveal unto Our slave (Muhammad), then produce a Stirah of the like thereof, and call your witnesses besides Allah if ye are truthful" (Qur'an, II, 23).
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Besides the above, the Holy Qur'an challenges men in another way.
1 This book was revealed gradually, during a period of twenty-three years, under totally different conditions in periods of difficulty or comfort, war or peace, power or weakness, and the like. If it had not come from God but had been composed and expounded by man, many contradictions and contrasts would be observed in it. Its ending would of necessity be more perfect than its beginning, as is necessary in the gradual perfection of the human individual. Instead, the first Meccan verses are of the same quality in the Medinan verses and there is no difference between the beginning and end of the Qur'an. The Qur'an is a book whose parts resemble each other and whose awe-inspiring power of expression is of the same style and quality throughout.
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1 As He says, "Will they not then ponder on the Qur'an? If it had been from other than Allah, they would have found herein much incongruity" (Qur'an, IV, 82).
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CHAPTER SIX
ESCHATOLOGY
Man is Composed of Spirit and Body
Those who are acquainted to a certain extent with the Islamic science know that within the teachings of the Holy Book and the traditions of the Prophet there are many references to spirit and corpus, or soul and body. Although it is relatively easy to conceive of the body and what is corporeal, or that which can be known through the senses, to conceive of spirit and soul is difficult and complicated.
People given to intellectual discussions, such as the theologians and philosophers, Shi'ite and Sunni alike, have presented different views concerning the reality of the spirit (ruh). Yet, what is to some extent certain is that Islam considers spirit and body to be two realities opposed to each other. The body through death loses the characteristics of life and gradually disintegrates, but it is not so with the spirit. Rather, life in its origin and principle belongs to the spirit. When the spirit is joined to the body, the body also derives life from it, and when the spirit separates from the body and cuts its bond to the body—the event that is called death—the body ceases to function while the spirit continues to live.
From what can be learned through deliberation upon the verses of the Holy Qur'an and the sayings of the Imams of the Household of the Prophet, the spirit of man is something immaterial which has some kind of relation and connection with the material body. God the Almighty in His Book says, "Verity We created man from a product of wet earth; Then
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placed him as a drop (of seed) in a safe lodging; Then fashioned We the drop a clot, then fashioned We the clot a little lump, then fashioned We the little lump bones, Then clothed the bones with flesh, and then produced it as another creation" (Qur'an, XXIII, 12 -14). From the order of these verses, it is clear that at the beginning the gradual creation of matter is described and then, when reference is made to the appearance of the spirit, consciousness and will, another kind of creation is mentioned which is different from the previous form of creation.
In another place it is said, in answer to skeptics who ask how it is possible for the body of man, which after death becomes disintegrated and whose elements become dispersed and lost, to have a new creation and become the original man, "Say: The angel of death, who hath charge concerning you, will gather you, and afterwards unto your Lord ye will be returned" (Qur'an, XXXII, This means that your bodies disintegrate after death and are lost amidst the particles of the earth, but you yourselves, namely, your spirits, have been taken from your bodies by the angel of death and remain protected with Us.
Besides such verses the Holy Qur'an in a comprehensive explanation expresses the immateriality of the spirit in itself when it asserts, "They will ask thee concerning the Spirit. Say: The Spirit is by command of my Lord" (Qur'an, XVII, 85).
In another place in explaining His command (aim) He says, "But His command, when He intendeth a thing, is only that He saith unto it: Be! And it is. Therefore glory be to Him in Whose hand is the dominion over all things!" (Qur'an, XXXVI, 81-82). The meaning of these verses is that the command of God in the creation of things is not gradual nor is it bound to the conditions of time and space. Therefore, the spirit which has no reality other than the command of God is not material and in its being does not have material characteristics; that is, it does not have the characteristics of divisibility, change and situation in time and space.
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A Discussion of Spirit from Another Perspective
Intellectual investigation confirms the view of the Holy Qur'an about the spirit. Each of us is aware of a reality within himself which he interprets as "I" and this awareness exists continuously within man. Sometimes man even forgets his head, hands, feet and other members or the whole of the body. But as long as his self exists, the consciousness of "I" does not leave his awareness. This perception cannot be divided or analyzed. Although the body of man is continuously undergoing change and transformation and chooses different locations in space for itself and passes through different moments of time, the reality of "I" remains fixed. It does not undergo any change or transformation. It is clear that if the "I" were material, it would accept the characteristics of matter which are divisibility, change and situation in time and space.
The body accepts all the characteristics of matter and, because of the relation of the spirit and the body, these characteristics are also considered to belong to the spirit. But if we pay the least attention, it becomes evident to man that this moment in time and the next, this point in space or another, this shape or another shape, this direction of motion or any other, are all characteristics of the body. The spirit is free from them; rather each of these determinations reaches the spirit through the body. This same reasoning can be applied in reverse to the power of consciousness and apprehension or knowledge which is one of the characteristics of the spirit. Obviously if knowledge were a material quality, according to the conditions of matter, it would accept divisibility and analysis, and be determined by time and space.
Needless to say, this intellectual discussion could go on at length and there are many questions and answers related to it which cannot be considered in the present context. The brief discussion presented here is only an indication of the Islamic
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belief concerning body and spirit. A complete discussion will be found in works on Islamic philosophy.
1
Death from the Islamic Point of View
Although a superficial view would regard death as the annihilation of man and see human life as consisting of only the few days that stand between birth and death, Islam interprets death as the transfer of man from one stage of life to another. According to Islam, man possesses eternal life, which knows no end. Death, which is the separation of the spirit from the body, introduces man to another stage of life in which felicity or disappointment depends upon good or evil deeds in the stage of life before death. The Holy Prophet has said, "You have been created for subsistence, not annihilation. What havens is that you will be transferred from one house to another."
2
Purgatory
From what can be deduced from the Holy Book and prophetic traditions, it can be concluded that between death and general resurrection man possesses a limited and temporary life, which is the intermediate stage (barzakh), and link between the life of this world and eternal life. After death man is interrogated concerning the beliefs he has held and the good and evil deeds he has performed in this life. After a summary account and judgement, he is subjected to either a pleasant and felicitous life, or an unpleasant and wretched one, depending on the results of the account and judgment. With this newly acquired
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1 Editor's note: By this reference, the author means especially the writings of Sadr al-Din Shirazi (Mulla Sadra) and the later Islamic philosophers of Persia, who have discussed the question of the soul and its becoming much more thoroughly than the earlier philosophers. Yet, in the question of the immateriality of the spirit, substantial intellectual proofs are also offered in the writings of Ibn Sind (Avicenna).
2 Bihar al-Anwar, vol. III, pp. 161, from the I'tiqadat of Saduq.
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life, he continues in expectation until the day of general resurrection. The condition of man in the life of the intermediate state (purgatory) is very similar to the condition of a person who has been called before a judicial organization in order to have the acts he has committed investigated. He is questioned and investigated until his file is completed. Then he awaits trial.
The soul of man in the intermediate state possesses the same form as in his life in this world.
1 If he be a man of virtue, he lives in happiness and bounty in the proximity of those who are pure and close to the Divine Presence. If he be a man of evil, he lives in affliction and pain and in the company of daemonic forces and "leaders of those who have gone astray."
2
God, the Most Exalted, has said concerning the condition of a group of those in the state of felicity, "Think not of those who are slain in the way of Allah, as dead. Nay, they are living. With their Lord, they have provision. Jubilant (are they) because of that which Allah hath bestowed upon them of His bounty, rejoicing for the sake of those who have not joined them but are left behind: that there shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve. They rejoice because of favor from Allah and kindness, and that Allah wasteth not the wage of the believers" (Qur'an, III, 169-171). And in describing the condition of another group who in the life of this world do not make legitimate use of their wealth and possessions, He says, "Until, when death cometh onto one of them, he saith: My Lord! Send me back, that I may do right in that which I have left behind! But nay! It is but a word that he speaketh; and behind them is a barrier (barzakh) until the day when they are raised" (Qur'an, XXIII, 99-100).
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1 Bihar al-Anw?r vol. IV, Bab al-Barzakh.
2 Bihar al-Anwar, vol. IV, Bab al-Barzakh.
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The Day of Judgment—Resurrection
Among sacred texts the Qur'an is the only one to have spoken in detail about the Day of Judgment. Although the Torah has not mentioned this Day and the Gospels have only alluded to it, the Qur'an has mentioned the Day of Judgment in hundreds of places, using different names. It has described the fate awaiting mankind on this Day sometimes briefly and on other occasions in detail. It has reminded mankind many times that faith in the Day of Recompense (Day of Judgment) is on the same scale in its importance as faith in God and is one of the three principles of Islam. It has mentioned that he who lacks this faith, that is, who denies resurrection, is outside the pale of Islam and has no destiny other than eternal perdition.
And this is the truth of the matter because if there were to be no reckoning in God's actions and no reward or punishment, the religious message, which consists of an assemblage of God's decrees and what He has commanded and forbidden, would not have the least effect. Thus, the existence or nonexistence of prophecy and the religious mission would be the same. In fact, its nonexistence would be preferable to its existence, for to accept a religion and follow the regulations of a Divine Law is not possible without the acceptance of restrictions and loss of what appears as "freedom." If to submit to it were to have no effect, people would never accept it and would not give up their natural freedom of action for it. From this argument, it becomes clear that the importance of mentioning and recalling the Day of Judgment is equivalent to that of the principle of the religious call itself.
From this conclusion, it also becomes evident that faith in the Day of Recompense is the most effective factor which induces man to accept the necessity of virtue and abstention from unbecoming qualities and great sins, in the same way that to forget or lack faith in the Day of Judgment is the essential root of every evil act and sin. God the Almighty has said in His Book, "Lo! Those who wander from the way of Allah have an awful doom, forasmuch as they forgot the Day of Reckoning" (Qur'an, XXXVIII, 27). As can be seen in this sacred verse, the forgetting
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of the Day of Judgment is considered to be the root of every deviation. Meditation on the purpose of the creation of man and the Universe, or on the purpose and end of Divine Laws, makes it evident that there will he a Day of Judgment.
When we meditate on creation, we see that there is no action (which of necessity is also a kind of motion) without an immutable end and purpose. Never is the action, considered independently and in itself, the end. Rather, action is always the prelude to an end and exists by virtue of that end. Even in actions, which superficially appear to be without purpose such as instinctive actions or the play of children and the like, if we study them carefully, we will discover purposes in conformity with the kind of action in question. In instinctive actions, which are usually a form of motion, the end toward which the motion takes place is the purpose and aim of the action. And in the play of children there is an imaginary end, the attainment of which is the purpose of playing. The creation of man and the world is the action of God and God is above the possibility of performing a senseless and purposeless act such as creating, nourishing, taking away life and then again creating, nourishing and taking away life, that is, of making and destroying, without there being an immutable end and a permanent purpose which He pursues in these acts. There must of necessity be a permanent aim and purpose in the creation of the world and of man. Of course, its benefit does not accrue to God, who is above every need, but rather to the creatures themselves. Thus it must be said that the world and man are directed toward a permanent reality and a more perfect state of being which knows no annihilation and corruption.
Also, when we study with care the condition of men from the point of view of religious education and training, we see that as a result of Divine guidance and religious training people become divided into the two categories of the virtuous and the evil. Yet in this life, there is no distinction made between them. Rather, on the contrary, success usually belongs to those who are evil and unjust. To do good is combined with difficulty and hardship and every kind of privation and endurance of oppression. Since this is so, Divine Justice requires the
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existence of another world in which each individual receives the just reward his actions deserve, and lives a life in conformity with his merits.
Thus, it is seen that careful consideration of the purpose of creation and of the Divine Laws leads to the conclusion that the Day of Judgment will come for every person. God, the Exalted, makes this clear in His Book, saying, "And We created not the heavens and the earth, and all that is between them, in play. We created them not save with truth; but most of them know not" (Qur'an, XLIV, 38-39). Also, "And We created not the heavens and the earth and all that is between them in vain. That is the opinion of those who disbelieve. And woe unto those who disbelieve, from the fire! Shall We treat those who believe and do good works as those who spread corruption in the earth; or shall We treat the pious as the wicked?" (Qur'an, XXXVIII, 2829). In another place He says, "Or do those who commit ill-deeds suppose that We shall make them as those who believe and do good works, the same in life and death? Bad is their judgment! And Allah hath created the heavens and the earth with truth, and that every soul may be repaid what it hath earned. And they will not be wronged" (Qur'an, XLV, 21-22).
