· Divine’s grace
· Delivering cogency
Anwar:These points are, in fact, essential for sending prophets, but would you briefly explain them for me, please?
Hasan:Yes, I will explain each of these points in a few words.
First is ‘the need of society for knowledge’; the Almighty Allah placed some instincts in mankind and as long as these instincts cannot get human beings to the desired goal, He bestowed reason upon people to enlighten them. In spite of that, mankind is still not protected from making mistakes and going astray.
So, there should be a weapon to maintain reason with, and it is nothing but the Divine Knowledge because it develops our mind and reason, refines our soul, defines the nature of relationship we should have with the members of our communities, and guides us to the right path and away from the wrong one. All of this can only be done through the Divine Knowledge God send to people through His Ambassador or Prophets.
Anwar:Please, present some reported evidence?
Hasan:Sure. Let’s start with Quranic evidence. The Almighty Allah say:(Mankind were one community, and Allah sent unto them Prophets as bearers of good tidings and as warners, and revealed therewith the Scripture with the truth that it might judge between mankind concerning that wherein they differed)2;213.
There are several Hadith referring to the impotence of human reason to comprehend all that is best for him, and there are also more Hadith on the benefits of prophethood (Bi’tha) and the necessity of sending messengers.
Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) said:“No prophet and no messenger were sent unless to complete the reason…”
Amir Al-Mu’menin Imam Ali (PBUH) Said:“The Almighty Allah sent Mohammad (PBUH) to release His slaves from worshiping idols to worshiping Him and from obeying the Devil to obeying Him.”
Imam Ali (PBUH) also said:“…until the Almighty Allah sent Mohammad as His Messenger to fulfill His promise and to realize His prophecy…and the people of
earth, at that time, were divided nations, scattered whims and separated communities all between figuring will His image among His creatures to atheism to taking others for Him instead, so He guided them through him from aberration …”
Imam Al-Kadim (PBUH) said once to his pupil, Hisham:“O Hisham, the Almighty Allah sent His Prophets and Messengers to His slaves so that they comprehend Allah; the best to follow this has the best reason and knowledge of Allah among all as well as the highest ranking in this life and the next life.”
Imam Al-Riza (PBUH), in this regard, said:“The Messenger of Allah (PBUH) had no equal among them; he passed His constructions, prohibitions and ethics to them so informed them on what gains benefits to them and what repels damages from them and other knowledge they need.”
Second benefit of prophethood is ‘protecting the nature and the innate character of human beings and restraining their instincts’; there are certain demands for the nature of human beings and their instincts that must be fulfilled, otherwise they will definitely die. As
for the instincts, human cells, for instance, need to be nourished and human body needs sleep and rest or they will suffer biological disorders.
Therefore, there should be a number of rules to control their instincts and to preserve the humanity in them. Now, regarding the nature of human being, we have, for instance, the tendency to comprehend the Almighty Allah, to do good and not to do bad. These are the pivots of human nature and there should also be law to protect this nature and fulfill its need for guidance. This is because reason does not have this full ability to encompass all the transcendental details of what surrounds us
Anwar:You look pretty exhausted. Let’s take a break.
Hasan:Yes, thank you. We’ll continue later, Inshallah.
Symposium 29
Is Prophethood Divine’s Grace?
Anwar:Salam ‘Alaykom!
Hasan:‘Alaykom As-Salam Wa Rahmatollah Wa Barakatoh!
Anwar:We got to the third point concerning the necessity of sending prophets, namely the Divine’s Grace.
Hasan:To reason out the necessity of Bi’tha, which is sending the Prophets and Messengers, we use the Divine’s Grace Rule. To highlight this rule, we first need to define Grace: it is what makes a person closer to being obedient and avoiding wrongdoings. Grace only brings nearer and closer and so, it does not force anything on anyone.
Anwar:Will you use an example?
Hasan:Yes, promising with good and warning with punishment or the principle of intimidating from doing bad deeds and motivating to do good deeds.
Anwar:Thank you for clarifying the rule. I understand now that sending prophets is a necessity.
Hasan:Thank you! In the Noble Quran, this is expressed as“bringer of glad tidings and warner”. There are other roles for Prophets, of course. They educate people, command them to do good and forbid them from doing bad. This comes as part of ‘resultant grace’.
Anwar:What is this?
Hasan:Grace is divided into two parts:
· Resultant grace
· Close grace
The first one means accomplishing the preparations and the basics with which this purpose can be served, that is, it is a possible grace.
The second means it is bringing close and not possible.
Bi’tha or sending the Prophets comes under the first type of grace, i.e. it is possible to perform but to bringing close.
Anwar:Is this grace part of the perfection and the justice of the Almighty Allah?
Hasan:Yes, exactly. It is essential for His Perfection and Justice.
Anwar:Will you delight our ears with some words from Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and his Ahl Al-Bait (PBUT)?
Hasan:Of course. Amir Al-Mu’menin (PBUH) in this regard says:
“O people! When the Most Exalted Allah created mankind, He wanted them to be of high morals and good manners, He had this knowledge that they could not be so unless He informs them about the dos and don’ts; this only comes through commanding and forbidding, and commanding and forbidding can come only with promising and warning; promising cannot be but through motivating and warning cannot be but through intimidating…”
Anwar:What is this grace with the slaves for?
Hasan:Excellent inquiry. My answer will be what the scholar Al-Hilli – God bless his soul – said:
“Allah knows that people will not be obedient without grace. Even if He commands man using no grace, this would be against His purpose. It is like inviting someone for food and knowing in advance that this person will not accept without a polite request; the inviter has to use such manners with the invitee or it will be in disagreement with the purpose. Thus, the necessity for grace results in fulfilling the purpose”.
Anwar:It is said that sending prophets is for demonstrating the proof to mankind. What do you say?
Hasan:This is self-evident, because we all know that the Glorious Allah does not charge His slaves with anything unless He first provides concrete evidence before them, otherwise this would be injustice, and the Glorious Allah is far above it.
Anwar:You are right. I just remembered that the Glorious Allah says:
(… and We never punish until We have sent a messenger.)17-15.