Quranic Foundations And Structure Of Muslim Society
Chapter 3
THE GOD
Although morality may be regarded as conceivable, inspite of disbelief in God’s existence, moral consciousness is denuded of all enthusiasm for moral struggle without a dynamic faith in God.
Moreover, the appearance of incompatibility with the realisation of the moral ideal which the world gives, and the imperfections from which Man suffers, on the one hand, and Man’s state of dissatisfaction with the Actual and his yearning to transform it into the Ideal, on the other, form a source of agony for him; and the human soul yearns for an all-Perfect Being Who, through His interference, and out of sheer Grace, may guide him on the straight path to success in the realisation of his ideal, inspite of the internal and external obstacles.[1]
Also: Creation, which has been already proved to be the necessary requirement of the realisation of the moral ideal, implies necessarily the existence of an All-Powerful, All-Wise, All-Controlling Creator, Who is also the Moral Ruler of the universe.
Thus the affirmation of the existence of God from the point of view of moral consciousness is a necessity.
The question now arises: It being so, what are the Divine Attributes that are indispensable in respect of Man’s success in his moral struggle?
Such Attributes are:
1. God should be the Creator of everything in the world, in order that the world and everything belonging to it may be amenable to His interference.
2. He should be Eternal, in order to be capable of functioning and interfering at all stages in the life of the universe.
3. He should be Omnipotent (Almighty), and
4. Omnipresent, and
5. Omniscient, in order to have perfect control not only over the universe as a system but also over discreet events and objects.
6. He should be the Possessor of Perfect Wisdom, in order that He may be capable of acting unerringly in guiding Man in his struggles, including the moral struggle.
7. He should be the Guide, i.e., the possessor of the Will to guide human beings in their moral struggle.
8. He should be the Possessor of Mercy and Love, in order that help to human beings may be the inherent demand of His nature.
9. He should be Capable of Response, in order that human beings may approach Him with confidence in times of need and may commune with Him.
10. &
11. Since it is possible that Man may remain, at some stage of his life, indifferent to the demands of his moral nature and subsequently he may have the despair that the wrongs and the evil deeds committed by him cannot be undone, and that therefore their evil effects cannot be avoided—a despair that must kill the enthusiasm to lead a morally-good life,—God should be the Forgiver of sins and the Acceptor of Repentance; thereby ensuring the possibility of acquiring enthusiasm for participation in the moral struggle even for the worst evil-doer.
12. The duality of human nature and the conflict thereof form a hinderance in respect of Man’s rising to his full moral stature, and it is difficult for him to stick in his actions to the purest moral standard as regards the motive. Hence, God should be the possessor of the Will to remove the deficiencies in the consequences of the morally-good actions through His unbounded Grace. In other words, he should be the Possessor of Unbounded Grace.
13. He should be the Debaser of Evil and the Avenger of Wrongs in order to assist the righteous in their moral struggle.
14. Since the consequences of good and evil do not mature during the earthly life of the individual, He should be the Sovereign of the Day of Judgment, in order to act as the Judge Supreme for recompensing good and evil in the requisite measure, whereby alone the moral ideal can be realised.
15. He should be ‘Above-every-want’, i.e., independent of everyone else and everything, and, also, He should be capable of fulfilling every conceivable need of every one.
16. He should not suffer from any infirmities, in order that His relation with the world and Man remains immune from all deviational defects.
17. He should be al-Rabb (i.e., the Evolver and the Perfector), in order that human beings can be successful with certainty, through Him, in their struggle for moral and spiritual perfection.
18. He should be positively Righteous in all His actions, in order to be the Helper of the righteous unflinchingly.
19. He should be Perfectly Holy, i.e., Possessor of Absolute Good, in order that His relationship with His creatures may not be tainted with evil even in the smallest measure.
20. He should be the One and the Unique, with no compeer who may challenge His authority in any manner and in any respect whatsoever.
21. He should be the Perfect Being, in order that human beings may be able to attain perfection adequate to their nature, including moral perfection—through His Grace.
[1] Cf. The prayer that the Holy Qur’an has taught—a prayer for beseeching Divine Guidance, a prayer obligatory for a Muslim to recite in all the institutional Prayers that he has been commanded to offer: “Guide us (O Lord!) unto the Straight Path—the path of those on whom You have bestowed your Grace, not of those whose portion is Wrath nor of those who go astray” (1:6-7).
Through this prayer a Muslim aspires for guidance in order to bring about, preserve and promote the Islamic social order—a social order which is meant to be constituted of spiritually and morally integrated individuals. Such individuals, it may be emphasised, cannot be evolved except through intensive and extensive moral struggle, wherein success can be possible only through Divine Guidance and Grace: “And whosoever has faith in Allah, He guides his heart (to the path of success).” (64:11).
to be continued . . . . .
Quranic Foundation & Structure Of Muslim Society In The End Times
