THE WORLD - IN THE LIGHT OF THE QUR’AN

 

 Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society

2.       IN THE LIGHT OF THE QUR’AN:

Turning to the Holy Qur’an, we find that the different requirements affirmed in the foregoing with regard to the realisation of the moral ideal are contained explicitly in the guidance it offers. It says:

1.       The world is not eternal but has been created by God:

“To Him is due the primal origin of the heavens and the earth: when He decrees a matter, He says to it: ‘Be’, and it is.” (2:117).

He (i.e., Prophet Abraham) said: ‘Nay, your Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth, He Who brought them into existence: and I am a witness to this (truth).” (21:56).

“Allah originates the creation (—nothing existing of its own accord or fortuitously) …” (30:11).^[1]

2.       The world has been created by the All-Wise, All-Powerful, All-Controlling God with exquisite Plan and Design:

“Blessed is He Who sent down the Criterion to His Servant (Muhammad), that he may be unto all nations a Warner— He to Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth: no son has He begotten, nor has He a partner in His dominion: It is He Who created every thing, and ordained for it a measure (establishing thereby exquisite Plan and Design).” (25:1-2).

“No want of proportion will you see in the Creation of (Allah) Most Gracious. So turn your vision again. See you any flaw?” (67:3).

3.       The world created for a serious and definite Purpose:

“We created not the heavens, the earth, and all between them, merely in (idle) sport: We created them not except for just ends, But most of them do not understand.” (44:3839).

4.       Creation of the world is for a moral end—the world is a Moral Order:

“And Allah has created the heavens and the earth with purpose (and for just ends) and in order that every soul may find the recompense of what it has earned, and none of them be wronged.” (45:22).

“Blessed is He in Whose hands (i.e., possession) is the Dominion, and He over all things has Power;—He Who created Death and Life, that He may try which of you is best in deeds: and He is the Exalted in Might, Oft-Forgiving.” (67:1-2).

5.       The world is real:

“And it is He Who has created the heavens and the earth in Truth (or, as real).” (6:73).

“Not falsely and without purpose did We create the heavens and the earth and all between! That were the thought of the Rejectors of Truth.” (38:27).

“Behold! in the constitution of the heavens and the earth, and the alternation of the Day and the Night, there are indeed Signs for those who possess and employ understanding. (They are those) who remember Allah standing, sitting and lying on their sides, and contemplate the (wonders of) Creation in the heavens and the earth (and say): ‘Our Lord! You have created not all this falsely (and in vain).^[2] Glory be to You! Preserve us from the doom of the Fire’.” (3:191).

Also, we have been told:

“(O Man!) pursue not that of which you have no knowledge (i.e., entertain no such opinion for which you have no sound reason to believe to be true). Verily, the hearing and the sight and the heart—each of these is accountable in respect of it.” (17:36).

It should be noted here that if the contents of sense experience be unreal, the accountability of the senses would become meaningless. Hence, the world, according to this verse also, is real.

6.       The world is essentially Good and it is the Best Possible World:

“… He Who has made every thing which He has created Most Good …” (33:7).

7.       Basis for struggle in the form of pairs of conflicting forces functioning under the Law of Opposites,^[3] is ingrained in the very constitution of the world:

“And in all things We have created pairs (—pairs of opposites and pairs of complimentaries—): that haply you may reflect (and obtain the guidance involved).” (51:49).

8.       Realisation of the Moral Ideal enshrined in the very Destiny  of the world:

This point has been discussed and affirmed in detail in the section on “Life-after-Death”. Here we may quote just two verses:

The following verse refers to the success of the forces of the Good and the defeat of the forces of Evil, both in the earthly career of humanity and the Life Hereafter:

“Yes, to Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and on the earth: so that He may recompense those who do evil according to their deeds, and He may reward those who do good with what is best.” (53:31).

The following verse speaks specially of the final and total triumph of the forces of the Good in the Life-Hereafter:

“Those who are god-fearing (i.e., cultivate and practise righteousness out of respect for Divine Pleasure) shall be (triumphant) above them (i.e., the Unbelievers in the principle of Submission to God—or, the unrighteous) on the Day of the Resurrection.” (2:212).

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[1] As to the words bada‘a, fatara, bada’a used for the act of creation in the above verses: Bada‘a stands for the very primal beginning; Fatara implies, like bada‘a, the creating of a thing out of nothing and after no pre-existing similitude, or, the creation of primeval matter to which further processes were applied later; Bada’a (without the ‘ain) denotes beginning the process of creation. (Ref: Lane’s Arabic English Lexicon).

[2] Here the Hindu doctrine of Maya, which regards the whole universe as an illusion, has been repudiated, affirming the reality of the world as we perceive it by our senses.

[3] This Law has been discussed in detail in the Author’s forthcoming book on the “Dynamics of Moral Revolution”.

Source

to be continued . . . . . 

Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times

COMPATIBILITY OF THE WORLD WITH SUCCESS IN THE REALISATION OF THE MORAL IDEAL

 

 Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society

Chapter 2

THE WORLD

1. COMPATIBILITY OF THE WORLD WITH SUCCESS IN THE REALISATION OF THE MORAL IDEAL

We have seen that the Holy Qur’an affirms Freedom of Will and Life-after-Death. But, along with the affirmation of these two verities, it is also necessary, for the realisation of the moral ideal, to affirm that the world is compatible in its origin, constitution and destiny with success in the moral struggle.

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1. BASIC QUESTIONS:

Now, the questions that emerge in that respect, and their implications, are:

A.  With regard to Origin:

a.     Did the world have an origin? Namely, is the existence of the world based on creation?

b.    If the world had an origin, did it originate essentially as a moral order?

 

It is a necessary requirement of the realisation of the moral ideal that the answers to both the above questions should be in the affirmative.

i.  Affirmation of creation is necessary, because:

1.      The concept of creation alone involves the necessary existence of an All-Wise, All-Powerful, All-Controlling Creator. And His Wisdom, Power and Control are also proved in respect of being evident in the very constitution of the world as it exists.

2.       The existence of an All-Wise, All-Powerfull, All-Controlling Creator involves, in its turn, the necessary existence of a Plan and a Purpose in the working of the world.

 

 In brief, affirmation of creation implies the existence of Plan and Purpose.

ii. Existence of Plan and Purpose is, however, not enough as such for ensuring the realisation of the moral ideal. What is needed is that, side by side with being a physical order, the world should also be in its Plan a moral order; and, as for its Purpose, it should refer directly to the realisation of the moral ideal. 

 

B.  With regard to Constitution :

i.     Is the world real?

ii.    Is the world essentially good, and is it the best possible world?

iii.     Is the basis for struggle ingrained in the very constitution of the world; and, if so, how?

 

It is a necessary condition of the realisation of the moral ideal that the answers to the above questions should be in the affirmative, because :

a.     The affirmation of the existence of the world independently of the percipient being, which is ingrained in the realistic consciousness of man, is indispensable for the idealistic attitude, because, unless the world exists, neither morality, nor the unification of knowledge under systematic categories, nor the possibility of turning the ugly into beautiful, nor the need for belief in the existence of God, can ever come into being, because dissatisfaction with what exists and the aspiration to transform it according to the demands of human yearnings will lose all validity. Hence it has to be affirmed, as the necessary requirement of the realisation of the moral ideal, that human beings, society and environment do exist with reference to which the moral agent has to adopt a particular attitude and has to wage a successful struggle within his domain.

b.    The essential goodness of the world implies that it is so constituted since its very origin that it is compatible with success in the struggle for the realisation of man’s ideals, including the moral ideal. That this world is the best possible world implies the highest degree of its goodness.

This is in contradistinction to the world-view entertained by pagan cultures, e.g., Hellenism, that the forces of nature are pitched in conspiracy against humanity for bringing about frustration in human struggles.

 

Thus, affirmation of the essential goodness of the world is a necessary condition for the realisation of the moral ideal.

c.     Affirmation of the existence of a basis for struggle in the very constitution of the world is a necessary requirement in that behalf, because, man being a part of the world, that alone will provide valid ground for the moral struggle. Again, that basis should be in the form of two opposing principles—one possessing positive character, the other possessing negative character; one representing the Good, the other representing Evil, existing in a state of perpetual conflict with one another—each one dominating the other by turns. 

 

C. With regard to Destiny:

Is it enshrined in the very destiny of the world, in that,  come what may, the realisation of the moral ideal—the final and total triumph of virtue over vice—is irrevocably assured?

The fact is that while the affirmative answers with respect to the previous questions envisage merely the possibility of the realisation of the moral ideal, that possibility is transformed into a guarantee through the affirmative answer to this last question—which thus forms a vital condition in that regard.

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Source

to be continued . . . . . 

Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times