An Introduction To Qur’anic Theology

Sub Title:

This text presents an overview of Qur’anic theology, covering essential topics like the concept of God, human nature, prophethood, and the afterlife. It discusses monotheism, divine attributes, the role of prophets, and the stages of the journey to the hereafter.

From proofs of God's existence to the conditions of death and the Day of Judgment, each chapter explores fundamental aspects of Islamic belief and practice.

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Miscellaneous information:

An Introduction To Qur’anic Theology
 Author: Behrouz Foroutan
 Reviewers: Muhammad Rassafi, Ali
 Reza Maktabdar, Mohammd Hossein
 Khoddami, and Seyed Esmaeil
 Ghazanfari
 Language editors: Seyed Hossein
 Marashi, and Muzafar Essop
 ISBN: 978-600-8566-62-5
 Publisher: Athare-Sabz
 Print-Run: 1000
 1st Edition, 2018

Introduction

All praise be to God, the All-Sufficient, He who created man and all he needs. The Lord who blessed human being with guidance through His Book. The Qur’an is the main source of Islamic theology. Yet, it is upon humankind to utilize the blessing of thought and reason to understand the teachings of this Book.

Accordingly, the Qur’an has a systematic theology; this system is the main source and reference of the Muslims. In this book we tried to provide the reader with the theology of the Qur’an clearly and concisely, covering most of the necessary subjects.

Chapter one discusses God, because God, His existence and attributes, are the Qur’an’s main teaching. In addition, God is the source of the entire existence according to the Qur’an. We discuss the human being in chapter two, because the Qur’an has been sent to guide the humankind and the teachings of the Qur’an are for the humans. The third chapter discusses prophethood, and prophets are also human, by which God sent His message to mankind. Chapter four is about the Hereafter, a pillar of the teachings of the Qur’an. According to the Qur’an every person shall meet the Hereafter when his death comes.

Most of the theological issues of the Qur’an have been discussed here. We tried to bring the various subjects in a clear and concise way using the verses of the Qur’an. May it be beneficial for the readers.

I would like to offer my gratitude to the scholars who helped for this book, including Muhammad Rassafi, Ali Reza Maktabdar, Mohammd Hossein Khoddami, Seyed Esmaeil Ghazanfari, Muhammad Reza Farajian Shoushtari and many of our friends who studied this book and helped us with their beneficial comments. I would also like to thank Seyed Hossein Marashi, and Muzafar Essop who helped with their helpful comments and were the language editors.

Behrouz Foroutan

February, 2018

Email: bforotan60@gmail.com [9]

Chapter 1: God

Who Is God?

God is the only All- Sufficient and Eternal being who existed before everything and He will exist forever. No one has created Him and nothing is qualified to be His partner or child; the All- Creator who originated the heavens, the earth, and whatever exists between them1.

One of His creations is the human being2.

God is All- Infinite, non- physical, All- Perfect, etc. He is beyond our imagination, for nothing is similar to Him and He is not finite. Attempting to imagine God, is limiting He who is infinite to our finite minds.

He has created human beings and provided them with guidance through which human beings can know Him as much as possible, however, the human being does not know or honour Him as He truly deserves3. We should take into serious consideration that God is greater than what people describe or imagine4.

Proofs Of God’s Existence

So, God exists, but what’s the proof? Let’s take a look at the Qur’an which has provided us with various proofs for God’s existence. The pillar of these reasons is our God-given intellect, our power of ratiocination. Intellect has a crucial role in the teachings of the Qur’an and the Qur’an repeatedly praises the wise who use reason. Here are the proofs the Qur’an presents.

Demonstration Of Order In The Creation

Imagine being given a device which has a specific order and specific rules as to how it functions. Let’s say it’s a car, or a plane, or maybe something new that you haven’t seen before. What is your first idea? ‘Who’s created it’ because there must be a creator with a specific plan and an aim for any organized creation. Could it have been created with no intention, by nobody and for nothing; a complete coincidence by nothing? Did smartphones suddenly come into existence from nowhere?

If you see thousands of copies of something, does your reasoning lead you to think that they must have come to existence by sheer coincidence? Could all the complex and smallest parts that connect together to form a single complex unit have come to existence by coincidence? Is that how we have airplanes?

Obviously, there must be a creator. This is the demonstration of order which is classified as follows:

- Man and the universe are organized creations, following scientific laws.

- Every systematic and scientific creation should have creator(s).

Conclusion: There must be an incredibly intelligent creator for Man and the universe. This is an undeniable fact, no doubt about it.5

The Qur’an gives different examples about the signs of the scientific creation of the human being and the universe in order to guide human beings that there is indeed a creator behind this creation. But who is it? The Qur’an introduces Him: God, the All- Mighty and All- Wise who has created all this for a reason. There is wisdom behind our creation, and God invites us to discover it. 6

There are several verses in the Qur’an that talk about demonstrations of order, but we’ll suffice to mentioning only two:

“Indeed, there are (clear) signs in the creation of the Heavens and the earth and in the alternation of the day and night for the wise” (3:190).

We clarify the mentioned verses as follows:

The way the creation has been organized, the earth, the heavens, the alternation of day and night, are signs of an existing creator(s). The wise who use their reasoning will perceive that there must be a wise and powerful designer and creator for this.

“Do you not consider that the birds are kept in the sky! It is God who keeps them (there). Indeed, there are signs in it for the people who believe” (16:79).

How can birds fly? How can they stay in the air without falling? What system has been designed for them?

Hundreds of years after this verse, scientists took a good look at the bird and created the airplane. Airplanes have a wise creator, we all agree, but birds don’t?

We can find thousands of examples that show it is impossible to have such creations without a lasting, wise, and knowing creator.

This demonstration states that every systematic and scientific creation should have a creator or creators, so human beings and the universe, both of which are systematic and scientific, must have a creator too.

Demonstration Of Nature

God created the human being and He provided him with a Divine nature7.

This nature enables him to seek and find God in his heart if his heart is not covered with neglect, therefore, when he is in distress, without help and hope, he finds that there is someone, a powerful one who can help him.

This is because God has created this feature in the nature of human beings, however, if human beings are engaged in daily life, their natures are hindered by neglect, so they cannot see God in their hearts; this is why God sometimes strikes human being with calamity and disasters in order to uncover his heart from neglect that they may heed to truth and grow humble8.

Not only has God created human beings with Divine nature but also His religion has been designed in accordance with the Divine nature placed within human’s nature9 because of this fact, God invites human beings to follow the religion of God, which is in accordance with the nature of human beings and human beings’ ability to seek God within his heart.

imagine you are in a ship in the ocean, suddenly the ship is engulfed with the stormy water of the sea and you see that you will die, you lose your hope in all material means, however, a ray of hope rises within you that there is a Powerful One who is able to save you. It is because God, your creator, has created this nature in your soul that you feel His presence without seeing:

“And when they are on a ship (in the sea and see their death with their eyes) then they sincerely pray to God (for help) but when we save (and take) them to (safe) land they ascribe partner(s) to God” (29:65).

Even though the love for worshipping God is in the nature of the human being, he still needs knowledge and guidance to awaken this nature which is under the cover of neglect during the attractive daily life, otherwise, human being in spite of His nature can be lead astray or deceived. In addition to what we said, even though the Divine nature placed in the souls of human being seek God but human beings need guidance to recognize God as He deserves otherwise, they may make a mistake and worship false deity or deities instead of the One Real God, the All- infinite.

Demonstration Of Necessity And Possibility

This demonstration says that God is All- Sufficient while creation is needy, and the needy depend on the All- Sufficient in order to exist. The needy depend on the All- Sufficient for receiving existence; the following verses mention this fact:

“Oh People! You are in (great and real) need of God; and God is the All-Sufficient, the All- Praised.” (35:15).

“And it is He who makes you rich and gives you wealth.” (53:48).

In order to clarify this demonstration, we explain some points as follows:

Any being can either be dependent (needy) or independent (self-sufficient). The former depend on others for their needs and existence.

It’s like a chain. A depends on B, while B depends on C, and C depends on D. D will also depend on something else, say E, unless it is self- sufficient. So, our ratiocination judges that this chain must stop somewhere, we must reach a self- sufficient being, otherwise we have an infinite regress. For this chain to function, at the end there must be a self- sufficient being that emanates existence.

Unity Of God

Unity of God is the pillar of the teachings of the Qur’an and other Divine religions. In fact, God is One, infinite, non-physical, and simple10 existence. All of the attributes of God and His essence is one reality. His essence and attributes are equal. The Qur’an puts great emphasis on this. division between God’s essence and attributes is only a purely mental division; unity of God is mainly discussed in two parts:

- Monotheism in belief

- Monotheism in practice

Monotheism In Belief

Things a monotheist should believe:

Unity Of Divine Essence

God is one, simple and infinite in His essence; His essence has not been composed of subunits. To prove the unity of God, the Demonstration of Tamanu‘ is mentioned in the Qur’an:

This demonstration indicates that if there were more than one real God, they would have quarrelled and competed against each other, each trying to grab more power than his competitor, thus we would have corruption in the universe and lack of order, harmony, and coordination. Imagine the Greek and Egyptian Gods for instance.

Obviously, this is not the case. In fact, we have a very harmonious and organized creation. So, there must be one powerful and wise Lord who exercises power exclusively. Take a look at the world around you, at science, this harmony and coordination in the creation demonstrates a Single Lord who manages them. The Qur’an mentions this fact as follows:

“If there had been gods beside God in them 11 , they would have fallen into ruins, so God, the Lord of the throne, is glorified greater than what they say (and ascribe to Him)” (21:22).

Unity Of Divine Attributes

Although we attribute many traits to God, it does not mean that God is constituted of many attributes but rather He is one simple and infinite reality, the All- Perfect and the attributes of God are only our way of trying to fathom God’s reality. We want to introduce Him better to the human mind, because no word can describe Him as He deserves.

There is no difference between God’s attributes and His essence, they are equal, with no separation between them.

Unity Of Divine Deeds

All deeds in the creation go back to God, directly and indirectly, and nothing occurs without His permission.

God is the sole independent creator of the existence. He has created all things. Everyone else’s actions are dependent on God. It is He who has provided them with power, intellect, and free will, otherwise we would have been completely unable. Only God is All- Independent. He is the creator of existence and is needless of all. therefore, all events, are actually His deeds because they are done with his permission. In this sense, even evil deeds are attributed to God12, although He is displeased with it, yet He does not prevent His servants from revealing their evil intentions because this is a necessary factor for the Divine test.

It is worth mentioning that even though evil deeds are attributed to God however He never commits evil deeds Himself and is never pleased with it. God created us and gave us power and free will, but He commanded us to use that power for goodness, although some humans and jinns misuse their power and serve the evil. Usually, God doesn’t prevent the evildoers because He tests them. Had He prevented them from such deeds then testing would be meaningless. In order to clarify more, we divide Divine deeds in two parts:

There are some verses of the Qur’an in which God attributed the deeds and actions in the creation exclusively to Himself e.g. He says, “I created …”

In these types of verses God directly states that He is the All- Creator i.e. the Unique All- Independent creator; there is no one equal to Him, and all creation depends on Him. God has also designed intermediaries and scientific laws used in, and by creation, but He Himself has designed and created the different factors, elements, and intermediaries and given them their role.

All of being work with God’s power and permission directly or indirectly. In other words, all depend on Him and He is the only Independent Creator.

Where does that put the rest of the creators? Like the creators of electronic devices, or this book? Their creation is not spontaneous in its origin, they have sought and used other people’s help, and used materials that had existed before. They are working under God’s permission and power.

A question is raised here. Is it wrong to think that a particular doctor, for instance, has cured us with his drugs? This is a misunderstanding, so long as you know that neither the doctor nor his drugs are independent of God, it is neither wrong nor sinful, but if one imagines they are independent of God or equal to Him, that is a grave mistake, as the Qur’an says.

The following verse is an example of this type of performer or doer:

“You did not kill them but God killed them, and you did not throw when you threw but this is God who threw (for you, therefore, you only applied the power, will, and intellect etc. that God has granted you and you depend on Him,) that He may test the believers with a good test. Indeed, God is All-Hearing, All-Knowing” (8:17).

The second type of the verses attribute deeds to other performers in addition to God; He mentions the intermediaries in this type of verses through which His commands run, contrary to the first types of deed in which, He does not mention intermediaries and he only attributes deeds to Himself as the source of all things. In the second type He mentions the intermediaries and secondary performers, that is because, God desires to perform and manage His deeds through some intermediaries. This is why He mentions the intermediaries as dependent and secondary performers.

This does not mean that God needs them nor does it mean He has partners in the creation, but rather God gives roles to them and they are dependent on God in all aspects. All the things that people perform are in this group.

It is better that we add that even though human beings are dependent on God in all aspects, but God has given us free will to choose the path of our life.

Important aspects of unity of deeds are as follows.

Unity Of Governance

God has created the heavens and the earth and manages their affairs. So first there is creation, then governance. He leads the creation towards its goal. This fact is explicitly mentioned in the Qur’an. Some of these verses are:

“Say, who is the Lord of all the heavens and the earth? Say, God” (13:16).

“God is your Lord and the Lord of your fathers who lived before” (37:126).

Unity In Legislation

The right of legislation is exclusively for God. He, as the All- Creator and the All- Wise. He knows best what is needed and how the needs of the creation should have been fulfilled on the way to perfection and prosperity; His law is in accordance with the facts of creation, but the ignorant wrongfully interpret God’s law under the title of Islam or create false laws as they wish. They create a bad and deficient image of God’s law because they know God’s law prevents them from their illegitimate ways. God warns that whoever issues laws against what God has given has gone astray13.

Hence, the Messengers of God who were allowed to issue commands and judge with truth14, i.e. God’s law, did so according to the will of God. They were obedient to God, which is why they were chosen and why God commands the rest to be obedient to them.

Unity In Sovereignty

The Qur’an discloses that God is the All- Sovereign, any other sovereignty requires the permission of God15. These people are chosen and sent by God, they are the Messengers and those chosen by the Messengers. They are the vicegerents of God on earth and they have the right to exercise power on the basis of God’s law. They do not break God’s law. God says to David:

“O David! We chose you as a Caliph on the earth” (38:26).

Divine Will

God is able to perform whatever and whenever He desires, so when He desires to create something, all that is required is His will, and the being immediately comes into existence16.

You may raise a question that why some things take time then? Why does it take a child 9 months to be born, although God has built it, why did it take minutes or hours or years for the earth to be created after the big bang, although God had willed it?

It is worth mentioning that it is God who has willed that the world and all things in the world function through natural and systematic ways within specified times and conditions; He has done so in order to pave the way for ideal life of living beings and in order that He may test mankind in natural conditions.

Two Types Of Divine Will

In order to clarify the aforementioned issue we mention two types of Divine will, as follows:

Legislative Will

God created law and issues commands to His servants to observe the law. That is, they should perform the compulsory and recommended deeds and avoid the forbidden, such as oppression. It is worth mentioning that even though He wills, no one is forced, otherwise that would retard the aim of Divine tests. Those who practice His commands are following His (legislative) will, and if they disobey, they disobey His (legislative) will.

Generative Will

Generative will of God is His creation; when He desires to create something He only wills and it comes into existence without hesitation. In this case, no one can disobey God. e.g. God has willed that the earth orbits the sun, so no one can change it.

A point worth considering:

Those who lead people against God’s will are called Taghut. The believers are forbidden from following the Taghut, because they lead mankind astray. There may be some goodness in them, but their harms are greater; God strongly forbids believers to refer to them as leaders or judges:

“Have you not seen those who imagine that they believe in (the teachings) which has been sent down to you and in (the teachings) which has been sent down (to the prophets who lived) before you, (but) they ask the Taghut 17 to judge between them (when they have an argument) while they have been ordered to refuse obeying them? And Satan desires to lead them far astray” (4:60).

“Those who believe fight in God’s path, and those who disbelieve fight in the path of the Taghut” (4:76).

Monotheism In Practice

In this classification of unity: we introduce the deeds that the believers should do exclusively for God e.g. the believers should only worship God or trust only in Him.

Monotheists should consider the following aspects in their deeds:

Unity In Worship

Worshipping means becoming humble before someone or something, holding the belief that he/she/it is Lord, it is such because you consider that all things are in his/her/ its power and he/she/it can independently change your fate or solve your problems. Thus, God commands human beings to worship Him alone and avoid worshipping and following Taghut18; this is why He sent the Messengers to deliver His message and show the right way of worshipping God in order to enable human beings to prosper.

Thus, respecting people e.g. their parents19, teachers etc. holding belief that they are servants of God, dependent on Him or using different types of tools and means to reach one’s goals and objectives is recommended in life but the believers should take into consideration that it is God who created all things and all of them are in need of him and they cannot have any effect or do anything without His permission:

Therefore, we draw conclusion that if you hold the belief that someone is completely independent and he is able to cause harm or bring benefit without God’s permission it is forbidden because human beings should take into consideration that all things are in hands of God and if a human being exercises power it is God who has given power and life to him and other existents, whether he misuses power or uses it in accordance to God’s law. But if you become humble in front of someone like your parents as a sort of respect and obedience to God and hold the belief that they are the servants and creatures of God and dependent to Him and they are unable to do anything without His permission, it is not forbidden but rather in actual fact it is a way of worshipping God because you respect and show kindness to someone for the sake of God and in accordance to God’s law and commands. Like when God commanded the Satan to prostrate to Adam20; but Satan disobeyed God and neglected that it is God who commands to prostrate to Adam and if he had prostrated to Adam he would have obeyed and worshipped God rather than Adam.

Unity In Obedience

God is the All- Creator, the All-Wise, and the Only Eternal One who depends on nothing but Himself i.e. He is Self- Sufficient21. Therefore, only God and those who have received permission from God must be obeyed 22 e.g. the Messenger and his holy family, because they invite to whatever God commands23.

Our destiny is God. We cannot exist without Him. The All- Compassionate and All- Merciful designed laws and rules to guide us to salvation and prosperity, that is, the eternal heaven with its permanent pleasantness and serenity.

God loves His servants and wants all the best for them, but He never forces us. We have been given free will, intellect, and Divine guidance through the best teachers. God promises to help those who take to his path, which is why He and His Messengers should be obeyed:

“O Those Who Believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger and those who are in authority among you. If you get involved in an argument about any matter, refer it to God and the Messenger if you have belief in God and the Last Day” (4:59).

“Whoever obeys the Messenger, indeed, he has obeyed God” (4:80).

Hence, we come to these conclusions:

- God deserves to be obeyed alone. It means human beings should perform their actions according to His directions and commands and avoid obeying those who oppose God and His law (i.e the Taghut). The believers who have belief in God and His promises, if they desire to attain the good eternal life should obey God’s Law, which has been clarified by His Messenger along with those who are chosen by God and introduced by the Messenger, i.e. the Holy Household of the Messenger, otherwise they will fail to prosper.

- This obedience is not a blind following nor does it prevent human beings from improvement. Divine guidance directs us, lest we suffer from misguidance. Human beings lack knowledge in many aspects which God is fully aware of, e.g. the details about the soul and the Hereafter.

- Those who claim to accept God but refuse His Messenger have in fact disobeyed God Himself, because He commands us to be obedient to the Prophet.

- Divine laws do cause limits, but those limits do not deprive us from prosperity, rather they pave our way towards true felicitousness. We must refrain from harmful things otherwise we shall lose. When we accept this, it becomes clear that the limitations Divine law causes are the keys to prosperity.

Unity In Loving

The believers love God as He should be loved and they love nothing more than God. They prefer His pleasure over all things.

“The believers love God deeper” (2:165).

He is the All- Beautiful, the All-Sufficient, the All- Knowing, He loves His servants, so the true believers love Him too. Unity in love means the believers should prefer the love of God over the love of others and they should love God deeper than others. We should prefer God over ourselves. We also love ourselves, our children, family, and belongs, but this love should not prevent us from fulfilling our Divine duties, and we should prefer God and his messenger more.24

Hence the believers avoid sins because they love God, as Joseph who preferred to be imprisoned but he did not commit sins25.

This does not mean that we shouldn’t love our parents, spouses, children, friends, etc. In fact, God is Compassionate and He wants us to be compassionate too. What’s important is to have a deeper love for God than anything else.

Unity In Trusting

Trusting in God the All- Powerful is a quality of the true believers. The believers are certain that God is All- Powerful and nothing can exist without His permission. They are sure that all things are in God’s hands, so they do their best in all aspects but they are not anxious about the result:

“The believers put their trust in God” (3:122).

Trusting in God alone means that the believers are certain that all things are under the power of God, so they are not anxious about the result of their deeds so long as they perform their duty. Their hearts are at peace.

The hearts of the believers are at peace about God and His promises, and at the same time, they do their best and seek God’s help to perfect it. Thus, trusting in God does not mean laziness, because the Qur’an has taught that the value of human beings is only measured according to his strive and effort:

“Only whatever human being strives for belongs to him” (53:39).

“And whoever desires (to gain the permanent life of) the Hereafter and struggles (to achieve it), while he is a believer, then his efforts will be appreciated” (17:19).

This is a law in the world that those who give up working, struggling, and acquiring knowledge, will not be successful in the world or the Hereafter, because human beings take the fruit of their own deeds, so not only should he struggle for his life but should also do his best to achieve the rewards of the life to come. But if we fulfil our duty, then the result is with God:

“Put your trust in God, and (know that) God is enough for you as a guardian” (4:81).

Tawassul

Tawassul literally means using a means to achieve a goal. A believer can use different means to receive Divine mercy and forgiveness. These means are not independent from God, for they have been created by God Himself in order to help mankind to receive His mercy. God commands the pious to seek means for proximity to God26. These means can be Taqwa, prayer, reciting the Qur’an, or asking the Messenger to pray for forgiveness. As the children of Jacob asked him to pray to God for their forgiveness27.

We know that when people die, they are transferred to the Hereafter, so in fact, they are not dead in the sense of ceasing to exist, but they are living in the World of Unseen. Some of these people, such as martyrs and the Messenger and his holy family are near to God in the Hereafter, therefore, if the believers ask the Messenger 28 or his holy family or a martyr to pray to God it is not a sin, but a way which God has made to show His mercy on people. We can ask for anything, for instance, forgiveness, a blessing, or to salute the Prophet and his family. These are the methods and ways that God has created. Some disbelievers and polytheists pray to idols in the hope of achieving benefit. This is an unpermitted and wrong way 29.

Intercession

Intercession (Shafa‘at) means that the Messenger and the pious will intercede for some believers on the Day of Judgment so that they are forgiven by God.

Intercession is not nepotism or friendship. Unlike earthly life where nepotism and connections serve the disbelievers to get away with their crimes, the Hereafter accepts no such thing. Such connection will not serve the wrongdoers on the Day of Judgment.30

Believing that God will show mercy to some sinner on the Day of Judgment because of the prayers of His special servants, including the Messenger and his Holy Household, it is neither a sin nor forbidden. These special servants are introduced in the following verses:

“And only those who have made a covenant with God have (the right of) intercession” (19:87).

“He knows what is before and behind them, and they only intercede those whom God is pleased with and they stand in awe of Him” (21:28).

The aforementioned verses prove the existence of intercession on the Day of Judgment, however, intercession cannot cover for everything, for instance, cheating, mocking God, ignoring the truth. No! this group will not be saved or interceded for, as the Qur’an mentions31.

So, to sum up, intercession is a mercy from God for sinners who are qualified for it, as defined by God. Intercession does not violate God’s sovereignty, in fact it confirms it, for the Prophet prays to God for an intercession to be accepted. Intercession is not done independently from God. Believers must sincerely have faith in God’s Unity. Among our duties, we must refrain from wrong deeds such as mocking the Messenger and his family, or denying intercession.

Names And Attributes Of God

How To Know The Attributes Of God?

A: Book And Tradition

One of the reliable ways to know God’s attributes is His book along with the teachings and traditions of His Messenger. God as the All-Wise and All- Knowing, knows Himself best and He introduced Himself in His book, therefore, the Book and the teachings of the Messenger are the most reliable way to know God’s names and attributes.

B: Ratiocination

Intellect and reason are God’s favour bestowed on human beings. It paves the way for human beings to think, understand, and make judgment. Look and analyse the great signs of creation, the winds, clouds, suns, stars, Man’s physiology and that of the animals, and discover the qualities of our creator, such as power, knowledge, wisdom, and mercy.

Reasoning is an exclusive feature of Man. We discover the realities through our reasoning. This is why the Qur’an repeatedly criticizes those who do not use reason32 and it clarifies the signs and teachings to the wise who use reason.33

The importance of using reason is undeniable in the Qur’an, thus the Qur’an condemns those who do not use reason and turn a blind eye to truth; the Qur’an introduces such people as those who are like the deaf, the dumb, and the blind, or like the animals or worse.34

God constantly invites us to study His creation, for it reveals some of the attributes of its creator, such as power and knowledge. Think about the greatness of the universe and the human body and is it possible not to say Subhana Allah35? God repeatedly mentions some of His signs in the creation in order to introduce Himself lest His servants go astray.

“We will show them Our signs in the universe 36 and in their soul 37 so it becomes evident to them that He is true” (41:53).

“There are (clear and convincing signs) for those who use reason in (studying) the creations of the heavens and earth, and alternation of nights and days, and the ships which run on the sea, by which people earn profit, and the water which God sends down from the sky, by which He revives the earth after it is dead, and dispersion of all creatures on earth, and in the movements of the winds and clouds, which are controlled between the sky and the earth” (2:164).

A point worth mentioning:

God, the Infinite, the Independent, the Self-sufficient, source of all goodness; the sole flawless existent. He has no components or ingredients. He is not physical and has not been constituted of anything. No one is equal to Him and all things depend on Him. He is All-Perfect; words cannot describe Him as He deserves. That is why many words, attributes and names are used to describe Him. The Qur’an uses different attributes and names to introduce God too; all of the names and attributes are different features of One infinite God. The Qur’an uses different attributes to say that God is flawless because words are too weak to introduce God, the All- Infinite.

Classification Of Divine Attributes

The attributes of God are discussed in two aspects:

Attributes Of Affirmation

Attributes of affirmation (Sifat al- Thubutiyah)

The qualities which are attributed to God e.g. the All- Independent, All- Mighty, All- Sufficient.

This can be classified in two parts:

- Attributes of essence; life of God, knowledge, and power of God.

- Attributes of deeds e.g. provider, creator.

Attributes Of Essence

We said that God’s essence and attributes are equal, they are one. So there is no difference between attributes and essence of God, but we use this type of defining to introduce God, so we can understand better38.

The attributes of essence are divided into three main attributes:

Knowledge

One of the main attributes of God is His infinite knowledge. He knows all things. He knows how to create and what to create. He knows the past, present, and future, for He is beyond time. His knowledge is incomparable with the knowledge of human beings, it is exclusive to Him and he can disclose some parts of it to whomever He wills 39, for instance His Messengers. The fact that God knows the future and the fate 40 does not contradict our free will, this special knowledge does not interfere with the freewill of human beings.

Might

God is All- Mighty. He can do all things as He created the heavens, the earth, and the human being. He is able to recreate, resurrect, or create their likes.

Question: Is God able to do impossible things?

Impossibility is discussed in two aspects: The event or thing which is naturally impossible to occur. For instance, can a dead person be alive?

Events which are rationally impossible for instance, passing a camel through a needle's eye without changing the size of the camel or needle's eye is rationally impossible; this is the perfect order that God has designed with His infinite knowledge and wisdom, therefore, when God grants the needed capacity to the subject, then performs it, because they are not qualified enough to receive God’s powers, so even though God is able to do all things, but they do not have the capacity to take it.

Life

God is primordial and eternal. All life emanates from Him. He is Self-Sufficient, while the rest of creation depends on Him, like the beams of light which depend on the source of light. If the source is cut, they will not exist anymore.

Attributes Of Negation

Attributes of negation (Sifat al-Salbiyah)

Contrary to the creation, God has no flaws or limits, indeed, no one is equal to Him. God’s knowledge is not limited like human being, His power is also unlimited, unlike Man, because He is infinite, Self- Sufficient, All- Independent, therefore, His attributes are infinite too, without any limits or flaws.

Attributes of negation mean that some attributes or qualities which degrade God’s Real Exalted position must not be attributed to God; thus, we negate all sorts of limitations, flaws, and weaknesses from God e.g. being physical, seeable, touchable.

So, when we read in the Qur’an about some attributes of God such as, hands of God, face of God, we should take into serious consideration that these are linguistic expressions used artistically for us to understand and they do not convey literal meanings. Some ignorant people in the past41 took these expressions literally, thus limiting God to the flaws of being a physical entity; the Qur’an says He is not like anything42 because all things except Him are mortal.

- 1. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 42:11.

- 2. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 23:12.

- 3. Tabrisi 1372 Sh, 7/152

- 4. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 6:100; 21:22; 23:91; 37:59; 43:80.

- 5. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 14:10.

- 6. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 6:102; 13:16; 40:62, …

- 7. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 30:30. Tabari 1412 A.H., 21/26, Bahrani 1995, 4/342, Fayd al-Kashani 1415 A.H., N. Makarim Shirazi 1373 Sh., 16/418, F.-D. Razi 1420 A.H., 25/99.

- 8. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 7:94.

- 9. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 30:30.

- 10. I.e. God has not been composed of other parts. He has no parts or ingredients; He is One, He is simple.

- 11. The heavens and the earth.

- 12. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 113:2.

- 13. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 5:44.

- 14. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 12:67.

- 15. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 12:67; 6:62.

- 16. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 16:40; 24:45. N. Makarim Shirazi 1374 Sh, 2/551, Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 3/197

- 17. . Those who do not judge according to God’s teachings.

- 18. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 16:36.

- 19. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 17:24.

- 20. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:34; 7:11; 17:61; 18:50; 22:77; 41:37.

- 21. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:263; 2:267; 27:40; 31:12; 39:7; 64:6.

- 22. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 3:50; 26:108; 71:3.

- 23. Tusi 1405 A.H., 10/132, Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 71/3, A. l.-F. Razi 1408 A.H., 19/423, Tabari 1412 A.H., Tabrisi 1372 Sh, 10/543, F.-D. Razi 1420 A.H., 30/649.

- 24. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 33:6; 5:38; 2:177; 9:24.

- 25. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 12:33.

- 26. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 5:35.

- 27. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 12:97.

- 28. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 12:95- 98.

- 29. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 17:57.

- 30. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:48; 2:254; 2:255.

- 31. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 74:48.

- 32. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:171; 5:58; 5:103; 8:22; 10:42; 10:100, etc.

- 33. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:269; 3:7; 13:19; 14:52; 38:29; 39:18; 2:164.

- 34. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 8:22; 10:42; 7:179; 25:44.

- 35. Ibn ʿAshur 1405 A.H., 2/75, N. Makarim Shirazi 1373 Sh., 1/551, A. l.-F. Razi 1408 A.H., 2/267, F.-D. Razi 1420 A.H., 4/162, Suyuti 1404 A.H, 1/163

- 36. E.g. earth and heavens.

- 37. In themselves, in their souls or spirit.

- 38. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 7:180.

- 39. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 72:27.

- 40. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 31:34; 57:4; 64:11; 3:29.

- 41. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 7:190; 9:31, …

- 42. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 42:11.

Chapter 2: Human Being

Nature Of Human Being‏

The Human being is the most valuable and respected creature in the creation. He has ‎an immeasurable value. God has honoured him and says:

“We honoured the children of Adam” (17:70).

Truly God respected and honoured human beings among all the creatures ‎1. To prosper, Man should first understand his position and value. He should know himself and what he ‎needs, hence acquiring knowledge is very important in order to know, who ‎he is? Where is he from? Why is he here? And where is he heading?

There are billions of humans, all having the same features generally, regardless of where they are. One medic can cure all. We all love goodness and hate evil. We despise annihilation. We all have generally the same physiology, could it be that so many beings, so similar, don’t have a knowing creator? 2

Two Parts Of Human Being

God, the creator of human beings, mentions in the Qur’an that Man has been created from two ‎parts: ‎

a) Spirit (soul). ‎

b) Physical body. ‎

God discloses that when human being is formed in the womb of his mother, his soul is given to him ‎and his hearing and sight is created.‎3

If a human knows that he has been created from two ‎spiritual and physical parts, it will be very helpful to him to manage his life. It will enable him to pave the ground for prosperity in the eternal life in as well as prosperity in his earthly life.4

God mentions that human beings did not exist before5 ‎and He created the human ‎being. The soul which has been given to the human being is eternal, but the physical ‎body is subject to changes through time. A child grows into his 70s and all parts of his body have changed, but he is the same ‎person. That is why it is rational to punish a criminal even if he has fled for decades. The cells have changed, but it’s still the same person. Even though it is not the same body he had decades ago but all people consider him the same person because the reality of ‎human being is his ego or his soul, which lasts forever, not his physical body.‎

When death comes, his soul will be removed from his physical body and ‎ taken to the world of unseen6. This soul is eternal.

Goal Of Life Of The Human Being

Love for life is a common demand of all the creatures including human beings. Mankind ‎hates annihilation because he considers it‏ ‏as an end to his life! Everyone desires prosperity and eternity. This desire is innate, placed by the All- Creator, because we have been created for eternity, not annihilation. We need guidance and the ‎best teachers in order to achieve prosperity in our eternal life7 ; however, God does not force human beings into good or evil, but rather He has shown the way 8 and loves His servants to achieve the best ‎life. It is up to us to choose. ‎

In addition to the Hereafter, the Qur’an does not neglect the importance of earthly life. God guides us towards a good earthly life too9 ‎because we build our afterlife with the deeds we commit here; this world and its life is ‎very valuable; Earth is a farm, and it crops deliver their products in the afterlife. So it’s not surprising that God insists we be watchful of our deeds and take good notice of His guidance.

God paves the way for our prosperity, yet earthly life is embedded with difficulties and troubles 10 as means of test. With guidance and intellect, we can overcome the challenges that life presents us with.

The value of Man is the things he does‎ 11, we shall have the fruits of our deeds and decisions12. Our decision may be to be neglectful or accept guidance 13. This is the framework of all Divine religions throughout history.‎ Hence, earthly life requires managing the difficulties, ‎performing good deeds, and avoiding sin even in difficult situations. Difficulties and hardships are in the nature of earthly life and we cannot get rid of ‎it, but we can manage it Turn it into an opportunity. If human beings follow Divine guidance in ‎spite of the difficulties, they can purify their souls and whoever purifies his soul will ‎prosper, otherwise he will fail.

God has not created human beings aimlessly. We shall return to God, the source of perfection, and see the fruits of our deeds:

“Have you imagined that We have created you aimlessly and you will not return to Us?” (23:115).

Therefore, human beings have not been created aimlessly and the main goal is to gain eternal perfection in the world to come; the life of the world does not have the capacity to meet this goal and it is only a temporary place where human beings prepare the eternal perfection. Don’t forget, we create our afterlife with our earthly life.

Role Of Knowledge In Life

God says:

“Are people who know equal to those who do not know?" ‎(39:9).

Thus, the Qur’an emphasizes acquiring knowledge and learning. This is the ‎knowledge which tells you what to do!‎‏ ‏When you are in problems and when you make a ‎decision, it is your understanding and knowledge which leads you towards the next ‎step. Hence having true, precise, and deep knowledge regarding the matter of the problem helps ‎human beings make the right decision.

Two Types Of Knowledge

Husuli (Acquired)

This type of knowledge should be learned and acquired, so teachers, books, experience ‎can be the sources of this knowledge. Human beings are invited and encouraged to ‎acquire knowledge even if difficulties plague the way. This ‎knowledge can be the knowledge regarding religion or whatever is necessary to have an honourable life.‎

Huzuri (Presented)

The presented knowledge is within one’s self, without any ‎intermediaries. We don’t doubt this kind of knowledge, because he finds it in ‎himself, as true as his feelings e.g. happiness, sadness, anger. Or like a person who burns in the fire and senses the burn.

The messengers of God ‎are certain about God. They have this type of knowledge, so they never doubt God and His teachings because they clearly find it within themselves, and God helps them lest they make a mistake.

Role Of Reason In Life

Reason and intellect are exclusive features of Mankind. The human being has been given the ability to understand and ratiocinate, so he can invent, plan, and decide. We can can accept or refuse an ideology through ‎ reasoning, this is why, we are not allowed to blindly follow a creed or make unfair ‎decisions. We are responsible for what we perform.14

The Qur’an invites the human being to use reason and think about the knowledge he ‎receives. If it is fair and reasonable, he is not allowed to deny it. The Qur’an gives many reasonable reasons and examples to show the truth and the straight path, ‎because human beings are able to use reason and choose the best path15. Thus, ‎the Qur’an strongly criticizes those who abandon reason and take the path like the ‎animals.16 It worth mentioning that the Qur’an expects the wise to ‎use reason, analyse, and think about the scientific creation of God in order that they may find out the truth.‎

Therefore, the human being is not allowed to neglect the truth once he finds it. He is not ‎allowed to legitimize his wrong deeds or to judge unfairly, ‎because he is able to use reason and discover the truth. This is Why the Qur’an strongly ‎criticizes those who turn blind eyes to the truth and make a false decision and judgment.17 When a human being hears that God has sent the Qur’an, he should not neglect it but he ‎should study and think about its teachings in order to have a firm reason for ‎accepting or refusing it. He should take in to consideration that he must be fair in his ‎decision and judgment, otherwise, he will not be able to give valid reasons if its ‎teachings turn out to be true. ‎

Value Of Ideology

Ideology is a key of life. The way you think shows you the way of your ‎life; human’s thoughts will shape his fate and ‎lifestyle. This is why the Qur’an puts great emphasis on ideology. The Qur’an repeatedly ‎invites human beings to study, think, and have belief in the teachings of the Qur’an18, in order to provide mankind with the correct ideology. The Qur’an directs ‎human being’s reasoning and thought in order to help him achieve safe eternal life, in ‎addition to a good life on earth.

Religion

Religion! A popular word. Many people of the world follow a religion and adhere to it, however, some may think that religion is just a bunch of tales or a package of limitations, however, religion in the Quran is not what many people may imagine.

Meaning Of Religion

Religion a perfect program designed for mankind by his creator, who is also the creator of all existence. It is clear that the creator of the human being and universe knows ‎best what they need and what is better for them. He has provided the human ‎being with a perfect program which guides towards a good earthly life and a good afterlife. Mundane laws, however, fail to recognize the eternal life, thus they are imperfect since they fail to understand Man as completely as God. ‎

This religion is the framework, style, and program of life that all messengers have ‎come with.19

The meaning of religion in different commentaries of the Qur’an:‎

- Religion is the message of revelation. It is One religion that all mankind should ‎follow as a path towards perfection and prosperity. This religion started ‎from Adam and was completed step by step by God. The most perfect ‎style of this religion was revealed to Muhammad (S).

It’s right to expect similarities, therefore, between different Godly religions, but refuting a religion simply because of its dissimilarities is wrong, for first one must search to see why the differences exist, and secondly, remember that these differences may be because of innovations imported from other religions during history.20

- Religion is a principle within the systematic framework of belief revealed to the ‎messengers of God, and God perfected it through His Messengers to meet the needs of ‎the societies.21

- Religion is a set of beliefs in God, His unity, His Messengers, books, and the Day of ‎Judgment. This religion does not reject nor deny the needs of mankind or that of their ‎societies.22

- Religion is an obligation, teaching us the dos and the don’ts.23

‎Main Features Of Divine Religion In The Qur’an

There are some main features in the teachings of the Qur’an, three features are ‎mentioned as follows:‎

- Obedience and submission: The Qur’an says that accepting a religion or program and obligation towards God is not ‎compulsory to mankind24, but those who neglect it, will fail to prosper. The Qur’an repeatedly mentions that ‎human beings cannot prosper in all aspects without God’s help and guidance, because ‎human intellect and understanding is limited and it cannot ‎analyse the realities of non-experimental subjects, so the teachings of God are divided ‎into two parts:‎

- ‎Directing the intellect: Human’s intellect understands right and wrong but sometimes, it needs Divine guidance to conclude in a fair and correct way otherwise man will go wrong.

- ‎Teachings: there are some facts that humans cannot ‎understand without receiving guidance from God, so the Qur’an discloses and teaches these aspects in detail. Such as the soul and the ‎details of prayer.

The Qur’an emphasizes that the human being should obey the teachings of God if he ‎desires to have a good eternal life. This obedience is not blind following of ‎religion, because blind following is criticized in the Qur’an 25. Mankind ‎should think and search before accepting a religion. Hence when he comes to know ‎that God is truth and His teachings are reasonable and absolutely correct, he should not ‎deny nor turn a blind eye to it.‎

Islam

Literally, Islam means being submissive to God. Islam is God’s chosen Divine religion which was introduced by His Messenger, so ‎ the accepted religion in the sight of God is Islam26. Thus, all the Messengers of God are Muslims i.e. submissive to ‎God. The Qur’an calls some of God’s messengers “Muslims”, for instance:

“Abraham was neither a Jew, nor a Christian, but a truthful and submissive [person] to God, and he was not an idolater” (3:67).‎

Jews and Christians each claimed that Abraham was of them, thus rejecting ‎each other. God declares that Abraham was sincerely submissive to Him, because ‎submission to God is His religion 27, so if Jews and ‎Christians become submissive to God, they are following God’s religion, otherwise they ‎have gone astray 28.

This is why God discloses in the Qur’an that if someone follows other religions instead of ‎Islam it causes losing the world to come 29, because adherence to other religions does not equate to submissiveness to God. Those who are submissive to God ‎follow and obey God through the religion He sent and the Messenger He chose.‎

Technically, Islam refers to the religion of the followers of Muhammad (S). Muslims are those ‎who believe in Muhammad as the last messenger of God and are obedient to him. ‎Muhammad is God’s last messenger 30.

It is worth mentioning that most Muslims are not true Muslims. They claim to be Muslims, but their actions suggest otherwise. Their deeds are against the merciful teachings of ‎Muhammad (S).‎

Evils, Calamities, And Disasters

God has created the human being and placed him in difficult conditions 31, so that those who honour themselves strive towards prosperity and those who lay back and neglect lose. Stress and vicissitudes enable proper testing, so those who are challenged in difficulties and follow Divine law in all conditions, they are making a good future for themselves.

If God is merciful and just, and if He has created the creation to give benefit to human beings, why does He let human beings suffer? Why is life full of evil deeds, calamities, and disasters? Why do earthquakes happen? Why is there famine, why so much destruction?

In order to find out the philosophies and true answers, we should take some points into consideration:

Human's Knowledge Is Limited

A thousand years ago, people may have thought they know almost everything and there isn’t much more to life. Fast forward a thousand years and our knowledge and technology is beyond their imagination. But we still don’t know everything.

We don’t correctly comprehend the benefits of hardships. We may hate something that is actually good for us (so many communities in history have hated the very person who was the most benevolent and useful to them!). Imagine the bitter medicine. It’s bitter, but it’s for our own good. A child will only understand the bitterness, complaining and refusing to take the drug. That child is unaware of the benefits of that bitter drug.

We shouldn’t be quick to dismiss the troubles of life as pure evil and make unfair judgments. There may be benefits we are unaware of. Take a look at the story of Moses and Khidr in the Qur’an 32.

Evils And Calamities Are The Outcomes Of Human's Mismanagement And Sins

Have you ever thought about our role in life’s troubles? Destruction going on somewhere; Who dropped the bomb? Who raged the war? Who executed a blue flag? A theft occurs; Who is the thief and which is the community that raised that thief?

A lot of our problems emanate from our own deeds. Our mismanagement and illiteracy, laziness, and our sins, are the reasons for so many of our problems. We cannot blame others. We should find the solution and strive to fix our mistakes. If you build your house on a dangerous place, it’s your fault if it is ruined. Those who decide without knowledge, make things worse.

Punishment

Some calamities are Divine punishments. God sometimes punishes the sinful with calamites, disease, poverty, and starvation. These come as warnings, but if they continue their disobedience, they may be given blessing in life and through the lack of personal worldly calamites or punishment forget God completely, but suffer from heavy eternal punishment in the afterlife 33.

Evils Are Useful In Their Own Place

Most of us can remember events in our life that seemed terrible, but later proved to be useful. You could say that later we feel that it was good that it happened.

Sometimes we consider some things as evil because it harms us or does not bring immediate benefits, but in fact when we consider them as a part of the creation, we see that not only are they not evil, but they are good for other things, although they may not be good for us. consider the snake for instance.

Growth

Even though human beings have been created within difficulties and hardships but if the human being faces the challenges properly and manages his life and its difficulties correctly, he grows and reaches perfection.

Test

Earthly life is a test. We take the test and we move on. Life is temporary. We shall leave the world someday. Therefore, since life is a test, it’s absolutely typical for it to have ups and downs, difficulties and challenges, successes and lucks. God has created this earthly life mixed in problems because it is in stressful situations that the value of each person is uncovered 34.

Turning To God

For Man to reach prosperity, he has to turn to God and follow His guidance, otherwise he will lose the permanent life to come. This is why God strikes human beings with calamity; to awaken him from the routines of life and neglectfulness, to make him humble that he may be prosperous 35.

Spiritual Rank

Successfully passing through life’s difficulties increases one’s spiritual rank. God strikes us with various difficult situations, if we manage to keep our belief and act according to the Divine law, God will increase our rank, as He did with his messengers and true believers 36.

Human’s Duty

God is just and fair. He has created mankind to lead him to perfection and help him receive Divine mercy. No one is given a burden beyond his ability. God never oppresses. If He has charged human beings with some duty or difficulty, they are the means of Divine test. Those who manage the difficulties according to God's law, patience, and Taqwa, will be helped by God to grow further in their spiritual journey; indeed, God does not charge the human being with a duty beyond his capacity37, so His commands are in accordance with Man’s nature and capability. Only those deeds are compulsory which God, as our creator, knows we can take.

God will judge us, but He will consider the capacity each of us has. Each of us are judged according to the situation we have, because God never oppresses anyone. God is All- Knowing, He knows those who slip for a moment, and those who eagerly decide to violate God’s commands.

Predestination

Man has the free will to change his fate, therefore, predestination, fatalism, and predetermination are not confirmed in the Qur’an. Thus, those who have belief that God has determined everything already and that nothing can be changed, are speaking against the teachings of the Qur’an; because if we have no choice, then why send prophets and books?!

Where do these thoughts originate from?

- Wrongdoers who want to legitimize their bad deeds. What better way then frame it as if you had no other choice. They hold this belief to freely perpetrate wrong deeds.

- Illegitimate rulers who said it was God’s order that they become King, and thus their injustice and crimes could not be opposed, because he who opposes a king chosen by God has opposed God’s command. They convinced their people that they are forced to accept their rule.

There are two groups of verses regarding our discussion:

- The first group of the verses directly and explicitly says that the fate of human being is in his own hands and he can change his fate, lifestyle, and so on; God helps those who make a decision and take steps to reach it. According to these verses, God's knowledge about the future and the fate of mankind does not prevent us from exercising free will. Like the knowledge of a teacher about his students, which does not force students to pass or fail.

The following verses explicitly says that man is responsible of his/her deeds:

“Indeed, God does not change a nation (’s condition) unless they change what is in themselves” (13:11).

“And whoever opposes the Messenger and follows a path of non- believers after he received clear guidance, We will take him to the path he has turned to 38 and We will throw him into Hell, which is an evil destination” (4:115).

“When they (decided to) deviate (from the straight path) God deviated their hearts (as they wanted themselves). Indeed, God does not guide the transgressing people” (61:5).

“God may show mercy on you; if you return, We will return (too)” (17:8).

- The second group of the verses conveys the meanings of monotheism in belief to show that it is God who is the All- Performer of all things; Nothing can happen without God’s help, because all things are under His power and will and it is He who has given free will and power to others; thus, all things are in need of Him 39 but it does not mean that human beings are not free to change the directions of their fate. None of these verses negate Man’s free will.

Destiny And Providence

Destiny and providence, Qada and Qadr: in Islamic terminology is usually translated as Destiny and Providence but we should know that in fact there is a substantial difference between the meaning of Qada and Qadr in the teachings of the Qur’an and their translations (: destiny and providence) because destiny and providence literally mean that there is a force which controls what happens in the life of human beings and that the human being is being forced, so he is not able to do anything regarding his own future; this meaning has been attributed to these two concepts (Qada and Qadr) by the dictators in the history in order to legitimize their dictatorship over the people,, that is, they claimed that God desires that they rule over people and people cannot change the conditions because it is what God wants; in actual fact, this is opposite to the teachings of the Qur’an, which teaches that the human being can change his fate.

If it was not such, he would be not punished for his evil deeds nor would he receive rewards for his good deeds.

According to the Qur’an Qada and Qadr‎ are clarified as follows:

Qadr: literally means size, measure, amount, etc.

Qada: literally means becoming, accomplishment, carrying out.

In other words, measurements and achievement; if the measurements are right, the goal will be achieved. This is why God has provided human being with intellect, in order for him to learn what he needs to build, to improve his future and life, and to decide and thus direct his own fate; the fate of human beings is within the frame of his own power and decision and he is responsible for his decision; this is why God emphasizes in the Qur’an that human beings only get the outcome of their deeds:

“God never changes (or destroys) the favours which He has given to the people, unless they change themselves” (8:53).

“When your Lord declared that if you be grateful, I will increase you (in blessings), and if you abandon belief my punishment is severe” (14:7).

- 1. Bahrani 1995, 3/550.

- 2. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 38:65; 39:4; 13:16; 12:39.‎

- 3. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 9:32.

- 4. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 16:67.

- 5. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 76:1.

- 6. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 39:42.

- 7. Tabatabaʾi 1417 ‎A.H., 12/342

- 8. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 76:3.

- 9. N. Makarim Shirazi 1373 Sh., 11/390.

- 10. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 90:4.

- 11. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 53:39.

- 12. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 75:35.

- 13. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 76:3.

- 14. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 17:36.

- 15. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 45:5; 14:25.

- 16. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 36:18; 7:179; 25:44.

- 17. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 37:154; 18:36.

- 18. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 4:82; ‎‎47:24; 2:25; 5:9.

- 19. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 42:13.‎

- 20. Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 18/28.‎

- 21. N. Makarim Shirazi 1374 Sh, 20/378.‎

- 22. Zamakhshari 1986, 4/215.‎

- 23. Suyuti 1404 A.H, 6/4.‎

- 24. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:256.

- 25. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:170; 5:104; 43:22.

- 26. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 3:19.

- 27. A. I.-F. Razi 1408 A.H., 4/374.

- 28. Tusi 1405 A.H., 2/492.‎

- 29. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 3:85.

- 30. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 33:40.‎

- 31. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 90:4.

- 32. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 18:65-82.

- 33. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 42:30.

- 34. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 21:35; 2:155.

- 35. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 7:94; 32:21.

- 36. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:124; 20:40.

- 37. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:286.

- 38. Chosen.

- 39. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 81:29; 7:188; 10:100; 8:17…

Chapter 3: Prophethood

Who Is The Prophet?

God, the All- Mighty, the All- Wise, is the creator of human beings. There is a goal for the creation of mankind. God Himself is Self- Sufficient 1, so His goal for the creation of Mankind is benefiting mankind, not benefiting from it; thus, He wills to lead us to the summit of perfection which is an eternal good life, therefore, He sends guidance.

Divine guidance comes in the form of our own intellect that we acquire through ratiocination, and instructions sent to us through messengers. Generally, these instructions and teachings can be organized into two groups:

There are some issues that we simply cannot learn through experiments, such as the Hereafter and that of the human soul. We get such information from God. We cannot get this information without God. There are other issues though, that through experimental knowledge human’s intellect and understanding can perceive, understand and analyse; Divine guidance in the latter cases only directs human being’s intellect, although human beings can understand these facts without Divine guidance, God still guides and mentions them lest people go astray, e.g. God says: consume the blessings but do not be wasteful2 or do not corrupt3 or do not oppresses or do give thanks4 to God and so on.

How To Know The Prophet

The Messengers were the qualified persons who were chosen by God. Their main duties were to deliver the message of God to mankind. The messengers were human beings like other human beings but they were qualified in all aspects to shoulder their duty. The degree and ranks of the Divine messengers were different. The last and the most honoured messenger of God was Muhammad (S); he received the knowledge and message from God through revelation (Wahy). According to the Qur’an and the teachings of the Islam, Muhammad (S) is the last messenger of God because God has completed His teachings with Muhammad (S).

There are several ways to know the real messenger of God:

Miracles

Miracles are extraordinary deeds which only a messenger can perform with Divine permission to prove that he is the Messenger of God. The miracles of Divine messengers are different from the deeds of magicians because no one can learn or do the miracles of the Divine messenger, but the deeds of magicians can be taught and also no one can overcome the miracles of the Messengers because in fact, it is God who permit the Messengers to perform miracle. the following verse discloses some of the miracles of Jesus:

“O Jesus, son of Mary! Remember My favour (bestowed )on you and on your mother (including) when I (helped and) confirmed you through the Holy Spirit, so you spoke to the people from (your) cradle (to prove your truthfulness) and (I helped you ) in maturity (to deliver God’s message), and I taught you the Book, and wisdom, the Torah and Gospel, and (as I helped you) when you made (a statue) from clay in the form of the bird with My permission, then you blew on it and it became a (real) bird with My permission, and (remember when I helped you to) heal those who were born blind and the leper with My permission, and you could revive the dead with My permission” (5:110).

Introducing By The Previous Messengers

All of the Messengers were commanded to confirm the previous messengers and to introduce the following one. As Jesus introduced the Messenger after him:

“And when Jesus, son of Mary, said that O Children of Israel! I am God’s messenger sent to you to confirm the Torah which was sent before me, and to give the good news of a messenger who will come after me. His name is Ahmad” (61:6).

Valid Evidences

There are valid evidences that can prove the truthfulness of the Divine messengers as follows:

Character Of The Messenger

the qualities and character of the Messengers can be a sign of his truthfulness: if he has the good qualities and avoids wrong deeds when he struggles to achieve His goal, it can be a good piece of evidence that he has a holy goal. The Qur’an praises the good qualities of the Messenger:

“Indeed, you have a high standard of qualities” (68:4).

His Goal

The goal of a messenger can be a sign of his truthfulness. The goal of Divine messengers is God and His pleasure. They lead people to attain God's pleasure.5

Method Through Which He Reaches His Goal

The Divine messengers observe God's law and avoid achieving his goal through every means. He never commits evil deeds nor sins and he shows mercy on mankind including the children and the innocent.

His Message

The message and the teachings of the Messengers can be a sign of his truthfulness. His teachings are confirmed by intellect. This is why the Qur’an invites the wise to ponder over the teachings of the Qur’an6. Hence the wise should study all of their teachings to make a proper decision.

Duties Of The Prophets

Teachings And Providing Training

God sent the Messengers to teach people in order to enable them to move towards perfection and prosperity. These messengers were human beings and of the people. Their teachings and training are classified into three stages as follows:

- The messengers recited God’s signs and messages to people, therefore, people could understand what the messages of God are, so they were able to make a decision about their own fate.

- The messengers purify the people: they trained them in the correct ways of worshipping, self-purification and that of avoiding all evil deeds7.

- The messengers taught the people God’s book and taught them wisdom i.e. the teachings which help people to prosper e.g. tradition of the Messenger8

“We sent down from among you a messenger to you who recites Our signs to you, and purifies you, and teaches you the book, and wisdom, and what you did not know” (2:151).

Reminding

One of the main duties of the Messengers is reminding. They remind people about the Divine teachings, the Day of Judgment, and their duties concerning God in order to enable them to get ready for world to come, so the Qur’an also names itself as a reminder 9 and it says that Muhammad (S) is a reminder too.

“Remind! Indeed, you are of the reminders” (88:21).

Warning

The messengers were to warn people about the upcoming calamities when death comes and the events after Death this is why the Qur’an repeatedly says to Muhammad (S) that he is a warner10.

Giving Ultimatum

The messengers delivered God’s message and clarified His teachings to the people in order to disclose to them what will happen and how they can save themselves, this was a kind of ultimatum because after the Messengers clarified the facts i.e. Message and guidance for people, their pretext will not be acceptable if they fail to prosper because they knowingly choose the path of failure in the world to come:

“(We sent down) the Messengers who were givers of good news and warners lest people argue against God (or make excuses for their disobedience) after the Messengers” (4:165).

Justice

Justice is a demand of all mankind, however, they may interpret it according to their own understanding or benefit or even misuse it, so God, the All-Wise, the All- Merciful, provided the Messengers with a Criterion in order that they establish true justice for mankind and observe the rights of all mankind.

“Indeed, We provided Our messengers with clear (evidences) and We sent book and scales with them that people be just (in everything they do)” (57:25).

Law Maker

God who created mankind loves His servants and leads them towards perfection. He created mankind to live in the world, in order to get ready for the life of eternity; He provided them with law, This law has been sent by God and clarified with the Messenger. The messengers also in some cases were allowed to create law with God's permission. God's law are the Divine limits and are generally known in the Qur’an as Taqwa.

Conditions Of Law Maker

He should have comprehensive knowledge in all aspects about the human being, his needs and the universe, otherwise, his law will not fulfil the needs of all.

- Law maker should not benefit from the law otherwise his desires have effect on the law.

- Accordingly, human beings in most cases cannot create a perfect law for all of mankind because he does not have comprehensive and exact knowledge about them and their needs, but God has comprehensive knowledge11 and He is Self- Sufficient12.

Revelation

Revelation is the special and mysterious connection between God and the Messengers through which the Messengers receive God's messages13; this connection and conveying of the Divine message to the Messengers were done through a very secure process which was protected by God14, so nothing wrong could ever affect them or the message. The messengers were never mistaken when they received the Divine message or saw what God displayed to them, they understood the message correctly and completely 15 as such, it was not comparable with any other kind of connection which occurs between usual people. It was God who delivered the message to His Messenger:

“God only speaks to human beings through revelation, (producing sounds from) behind a curtain, or He sends (an angel as) a messenger to reveal, with His permission, what God desires. Indeed, He is All-Exalted, All-Wise” (42:51).

According to the aforementioned verse revelation occurred in following ways:

- A secret and direct talk between God and the Messengers through which messages are conveyed to the hearts of the Messengers16.

“Indeed, We will revealed you to a weighty word” (73:5).

- Revelation behind a curtain: Divine speaking to the Messenger without seeing the Messengers. Through which the Messengers did not see the one who speaks but rather he hears the voice through something such as a tree, as the case with prophet Moses (‘a) or during sleep. In this case God produces voices to convey the message to the Messenger or God speaks to the Messenger through a dream17. These kinds of dreams are exclusively for the Messengers and other people are not qualified to receive such messages:

“When he reached there, he was called from the right bank of the valley in the blessed part (which issued) from the tree, “O Moses! I am God, the Lord of all the worlds” (28:30).

- Revelation by an angel: the Divine message is conveyed to the Messengers by an angel:

“The powerful (angel, Gabriel) taught him.” (53:5).

Therefore, according to the Qur’an the reality of the revelation is delivering God's message to the Messenger of God thus there is no relationship between hypnotism, dreams of usual people and development of mind or souls in the usual people and the reality of revelation.

Revelation has occurred through different ways, as follows:

“God only speaks to human beings through revelation, (producing sounds from) behind a curtain, or He sends (an angel as) a messenger to reveal, with His permission, what God desires. Indeed, He is All-Exalted, All-Wise” (42:51).

- Conveying the meaning to the hearts of the Messenger:

“He sent it down through the Reliable Spirit (i.e. angel); to your heart that you may be a warner” (16:2).

God revealed the messages to the hearts of the Messenger and protected the Messenger, and the message from all aspect of deviations. This is the direct way of revelation. the other two ways are indirect ways of revelation or speech which can be from behind a curtain or an angel brings the message.

- Creating the voice: God creates a voice in order to convey the message to a messenger:

“When he reached there, he was called from the right bank of the valley in the blessed part (which issued) from the tree, “O Moses! I am God, the Lord of all the worlds” (28:30).

In this case, the Messenger does not see angels or the one who speaks but he only hears the voices and God provides him with convincing evidences to know that it is God who is giving the messages.

The third way of revelation to the Messengers are with an angel. e.g. when Gabriel came to Muhammad (S) in the Cave of Hara.

Revelation in its technical sense which was classified in the three aforementioned forms is exclusively for the Divine messengers, not for the others and according to the Qur’an, Muhammad was the last Divine messenger and God will not send any messenger after Muhammad (S)

Inspiration

Sometimes revelation is used in the meaning of inspiration. When the Qur’an says that He inspired to some type of animal or insect it means that God has created an exclusive nature for it; e.g. And your Lord inspired the bee,

“Make your home in the mountains, trees, and that which they erect” (16:68).

Sometimes the Qur’an refers to inspiration provided to some believers e.g. the mother of Moses, in these cases inspiration means that God guides him/her to a straight path to perform his/her duty. These are contrary to the cases in which Satan inspires someone and enjoins him/her to commit evil deeds; thus, when human beings are inspired, they should refer to the Qur’an and teachings of the Messenger and his Household to see whether that inspiration is Divine or non-Divine.

Infallibility Of The Messengers

What is the meaning of Infallibility with respect to the Messengers? Are they forced to give up sins? Do they not willingly refrain sinning? Do they not have power or free will to disobey God?

On one hand the Divine messengers had very profound insight and knowledge, so they could see the realities of the grave and the fatal and harmful consequences of Divine disobedience, on the other hand they had an iron will and felt a very deep and sincere love for God, therefore, they even did not think about disobedience and they never disobeyed God even though they had free will to do so. God knew this fact and He was fully aware of them, so He chose them as His Messengers

“Indeed, they are definitely among the elect of the best in Our sight” (38:47).

Thus, Satan understood that this group of servants i.e. the sincere, among which are the Messengers, will not follow him, so he confessed that he will not be able to deceive them18

The Divine messengers, including Muhammad (S), spoke only according to what God commanded and revealed to them. They never attributed anything from themselves to religion, and never acted against God’s pleasure 19.

Accordingly, Divine messengers never committed a sin, however, some texts talk of messengers committing a sin. Sin, in such cases, doesn’t mean disobedience as we know it, it simply means that they could have acted better.

Muhammad (S) used to put himself under supreme pressure, ignoring his own rights, to keep his wives pleased. The Qur’an, saying it’s a sin, tells him that he shouldn’t have neglected his own rights 20 because his wives were wrongfully displeased with him.

Hence, when we analyse such verses, we should seriously take the holy position of the Messengers into consideration. We may not compare them with usual people nor are we allowed to narrow-mindedly degrade their holy position. Their physical body was like the rest of us 21, but they and their deeds are our Criterion. God says Muhammad (S) is a good example for mankind 22, therefore, such a good example cannot be the one who sins, because God chose a perfect example with whom He is completely pleased.

The Messenger Of Islam

We mentioned that all Divine messengers have been sent by God and He confirms all of them. Hence, Muslims should respect all prophets, they are not allowed to accept some and reject others:

“The messenger believed in what his Lord has sent down to him, and all the believers (like the Messenger) believe in God, His angels, His books, and His Messengers. (The believers should say,) ‘We do not make distinction between any of His Messengers’” (2:285).

God sent many messengers and perfected His law step by step, since Man could not understand and practice the perfect law from the beginning. He finalized and completed His religion by Muhammad (S); this why Muhammad (S) is the last messenger of God, because he provided mankind with the complete formula for guidance.

“Muhammad is not the father of anyone among you, but he is a messenger of God and the final prophet (who has been chosen and sent by God, so respect and follow His commands); and (you should know that) God knows all things” (33:40).

Muhammad (S) was introduced in the words and books of previous prophets too. Although the People of Book completely knew him like they knew their sons 23, they denied him. They were given all sorts of evidences and signs, which they refuted as magic 24. In one instance, he even agreed to the disbelievers’ request to crack the moon, which he did with God’s permission 25. However, none of these were Muhammad’s (S) greatest sign. Muhammad’s (S) greatest sign is the Qur’an, which anyone skilled in Arabic would find that it cannot be the doing of a human. The Qur’an itself presents a very simple challenge, in attempting to disprove it and its entire message; bring a chapter like the Qur’an if you can.

Universal Religion Of Muhammad (S)

The Qur’an explicitly declares that Muhammad is a messenger for all the people of the world and anyone who receives his messages should take it into consideration.

“Glorified is He who sent down the Criterion to His servant that he may be a warner to all the people” (25:1).

“This Qur’an was revealed to me to warn you and whoever receives it” (6:19).

The Qur’an

The Qur’an is the main miracle of Muhammad (S), the unschooled Prophet, that was taught by God and given this unique book.

The Qur’an is a book of guidance which shows the straight path. According to the Messenger 26, the Qur’an and his Holy Household 27 are two valuable and inseparable treasures which Muslims should cling to in order to prosper and never lose the path of reality.

What are some of the features of this book?

News Of The Unseen

The Qur’an teaches us about the life we are yet to meet. It has also predicted the future. The Qur’an predicted Rome’s victory over Persia 28, although for nine years no sign that Rome would overcome Persia could be seen. After Muhammad (S) fled Mecca, God promised he would come back and liberate Mecca, and he did 29.

Harmony In The Qur’anic Verses

When we read great works that are the product of years of thinking and one or two years of writing, we can find inconsistencies throughout the work. Writers may contradict themselves or say things that doesn’t fit in with what they had claimed a few chapters before. That is human, imperfect.

The Qur’an was revealed over a period of 23 years, with more than 6000 verses, however, the verses of the Qur’an are in the highest level of accuracy and eloquence. There are no contradictions between the verses. There is no sign that a human being has written it or Muhammad (S) fabricating it. If the Qur’an was a human product, there would have been differences and contradictions among its verses (think about it, 23 years!); in addition, Muhammad (S) was uneducated and it was impossible to fabricate the Qur’an. This is what the Qur’an emphasizes:

“Will they not use reason about the Qur’an? If this Qur’an had been sent down from (someone) other than God, indeed, you would have found in it many contradictions” (4:82).

Differences Between Shi’as And Sunnis

Shi’as and Sunnis are Muslim with the same God, messenger, book, and Qiblah. The main difference between the two schools stems from the issue of Muhammad’s (S) successorship. The Sunni school believes the Islamic nation was trusted with choosing Muhammad’s (S) successor, since he left without declaring one. The Shi’a on the other hand believe that successorship is such an important issue in the continuation and integrity of religion, that only God Himself can determine who succeeds the Prophet. God must have done this and no other person or group has the authority to do so.

According to the Sunni school, it doesn’t matter which companion you follow. The qualities each have are irrelevant, whichever you follow will take you to prosperity. The Shi’a do not agree and consider competence and quality to be a vital issue, only determinable by God. Muhammad (S) announced his successor as decreed by God.

They refer to several very well-known hadiths by Muhammad (S) which were repeated by his companions. Hadith of Manzilat, Hadith of Thaqalayn, and Hadith of Ghadir Khumm are some of the examples that show that Muhammad (S) never forgot his people. He shed light on the path of his people before his demise. The Shi’a say that the matter of religion is a matter of the Divine, therefore, people must follow what God and his messenger say and they are not allowed to direct it as they wish. Human naturally desires effect his decisions, but his knowledge is finite, so he cannot know who is truly qualified to hold the position of successorship to the Messenger after his demise.

Therefore, the Shi’a 30 consider the matter of successorship a Divine theological issue, but Sunnis do not do so.

Imamah

Imamah31 ‎

God is qualified to be obeyed because He is All- Perfect, All- Wise, All- Knowing, and All- Compassionate, so He leads mankind to prosperity and has mercy on them. If we are to be correctly guided, then His Messengers should also be true obedient servants of God and act upon what God commands. They must not exercise their worldly desires over their decisions; they should do exactly what God desires, this is why they are God’s chosen successors.

God knows all. He knows what we truly are, who we really are deep down. He knows who is qualified to act as His Messenger. A messenger must be completely trusted for he shall lead the lives and the afterlife of the people. In addition, those who succeed the Messenger must be like the Messenger too because they too shall lead the lives and wealth of the people.

Such demands mean that it would serve against God’s goal if any ordinary person was to occupy this crucial position. Therefore, the successors of messengers should be as good as messengers and practice what God commands. It’s impossible for the mass of people to recognize such figures. You’ll need to know all about them and all about the creation, therefore it is God who should introduce them to the people. They are imams, or ‘Ul Al-’Amr as mentioned in the following verse:

“O Those Who Believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger, and ‘Ul Al-’Amr (who are in authority among you)” (4:59).

We see in the aforementioned verse that God says, “Obey God, the Messenger, and the ‘Ul Al-’Amr” that is, one must obey the ‘Ul Al-’Amr like he obeys God and His Messenger. Can people select and elect the ‘Ul Al-’Amr if God does not introduce him to mankind?

The aforementioned verse commands the believers to obey the ‘Ul Al-’Amr as they obey God and the Messenger, therefore, the ‘Ul Al-’Amr must have the same qualities, knowledge, and spirituality of the Messenger, otherwise, they cannot lead people towards the straight path! This is why God should choose the ‘Ul Al-’Amr; the ‘Ul Al-’Amr ‎ are the real successors of the Messengers whose commands hold the same authority as the commands of God and his messengers, because they only say and command to what God commands, otherwise they do not deserve to be followed.

The issue of Imamah (absolute leadership) is a very controversial and important issue of the Qur’an, because accepting or refusing it has crucial role in the belief of a Muslim.

The Shi’a believe that the successors of Muhammad (S) should be as knowledgeable and pious as Muhammad (S) himself, in order to be able to shoulder the duty of the last messenger. A normal companion obviously does not have those traits. This is why God commands the Messenger to introduce his successor and warned him that if he avoids from doing so, it’s as if he has not done his mission as a messenger:

“O Prophet! Deliver to them what has been sent down to you from your Lord, and if you do not do so (it is) as if you have not delivered His message (so far, and you have not done your duty as a prophet at all). And God will protect you against the people. Indeed, God does not guide disbelieving people” (5:67).

There are several points about this verse:

- This is no usual command, because God says if he fails to fulfil this, it will be as if he has done nothing at all throughout all these years. This message must be something very important that equates to all Muhammad’s (S) endeavours and is directly related to his mission.

- For some reason, the Prophet was delaying this announcement. The last part of the verse implies that there were people amongst the Muslims who would be a threat if this message was announced. God therefore promises to guard him against the people. These people aren’t the usual disbelievers or hypocrites, for they existed all throughout Muhammad’s (S) prophethood and Muhammad (S) has always been strong against them. 32

Level Of Imam’s Spirituality

Imamah is a very special level of qualification. Some of the Messengers were not only prophets but were also titled as Imam. This position is a very higher level of leadership and needs special qualifications. Abraham was a messenger of God, but when he passed a set of difficult Divine tests, God granted him the position of being an imam. He asked God to give this status to some of his progeny, to which God replied that his covenant is not given to the wrongdoers. 33

Divine Knowledge Of Imam

Messengers were connected to God through revelation; it is an exclusive method of receiving Divine message. Other methods are not exclusive to Prophets. They are a kind of inspiration through which the righteous servants of God perceive God’s guidance. The inspiration has been mentioned in some verses of the Qur’an as follows:

And when we inspired the disciples (saying), “Have belief in Me and in My messengers” they replied, “We believe, and be witness that we are certainly submissive (to you)” (5:111).

The aforementioned verse shows how God connected with the disciples of Jesus even though they were not messengers.

“And We inspired the mother of Moses that, “Suckle him and (place him in a box and) put him in the river when you fear for him, and do not fear nor grieve (for him, because) indeed We will give him back to you and We will appoint him (as one of Our) messengers” (28:7).

God commanded the mother of Moses as to what she had to do and thus He saved her child, Moses. Imams are not messengers, but they are Divine successors of the Messengers and God inspires them. This is in addition to the Divine knowledge they inherit from the Prophets.

Imams Are Infallible

We discussed the meaning of infallibility of messengers. The household of the final messenger are also infallible like the Messenger himself 34. It is God who confirms that the family of the Messenger are infallible and that He has purified them from all kinds of sins:

“Indeed, God wills to remove all kinds of impurity from you and completely purify you” (30:30).

God has purified them because they were to shoulder the duty of leading the Ummah after Muhammad (S) 35. When someone is an example to a nation, he should have very high standards and qualities.

- 1. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:267; 3:97; 31:12; 39:7; 64:6; 112:2.

- 2. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 7:31.

- 3. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:60.

- 4. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:172.

- 5. Divine pleasure is attainable through acquiring good qualities and by avoiding sinning.

- 6. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 14:52, 38:29.

- 7. Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 1/330, Ibn ʿAshur 1405 A.H., 2/48, N. Makarim Shirazi 1373 Sh., 1/511, F.-D. Razi 1420 A.H., 4/123.

- 8. F.-D. Razi 1420 A.H., 4/123, A. I.-F. Razi 1408 A.H., 2/228.

- 9. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 73:19; 74:54; 76:29; 80:11.

- 10. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 79:45; 13:7; 38:4; 38:65; 50:2.

- 11. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:29.

- 12. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:263; 2:267.

- 13. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 15:9.

- 14. See what God discloses about Muhammad in 53:11.

- 15. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 53:11.

- 16. Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 18/73.

- 17. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 37:102.

- 18. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 38:83.

- 19. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 53:3-4.

- 20. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 66:1.

- 21. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 18:110.

- 22. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 33:21; 60:4.

- 23. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:146.

- 24. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:146.

- 25. Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 19/55, Tabrisi 1372 Sh, 9/281, Alusi 1415 A.H., 14:74, Tabari 1412 A.H., 27/50, Zamakhshari 1986, 4/430.

- 26. Refer to the Hadith of Thaqalayn.

- 27. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 42:23.

- 28. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 30:1-4.

- 29. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 29:85.

- 30. The Shi’a say that Muhammad (S), by the commands of God, introduced his ‎successors. They hold belief that his successors are not usual companions, but they are at a very high spiritual level ‎and that of divine knowledge. These successors were commanded to lead the ‎people as Muhammad (S) led them. Shi’a call these leaders Imams. The first Imam is Ali and the others are from the offspring of Ali and Fatimah, daughter of the Messenger. These 12 ‎Imams are known as Ahl al-Bayt the People of the House of Messenger. The Shi’a hold belief that according to the Quran, the Ahl al- Bayt are purified and infallible 30:30, However, while Ali was busy with the burial ceremony of the Prophet, a small group of ‎companions with a prior plan neglected the Prophet’s commands ‎and chose a successor from themselves.
This is why Fatimah strongly opposed them, ‎saying ‘why should they neglect the command of the Messenger and follow other groups ‎[other than Ahl al- Bayt]?’. Fatimah made strong critical remarks against them. Some‎ decided to kill her, therefore, they attacked her house and severely hit Fatimah. She died of the injuries. Before her ‎demise, Fatimah willed that none of these people are allowed to attend her burial ceremony ‎and she must be buried in an unknown grave as a sign of her disapproval. Hence, her grave remains unknown forever. In addition, the ‎son of Fatimah and Ali i.e. Husayn was also killed by some Muslims commanded by Yazid, son of Mu‘wiyah, who was a caliph. Husayn is buried in Karbala.

- 31. God commanded His Messenger to say that Muslims must honour his close relatives as a wage for being a messenger 42:23; while no messenger demanded a wage for himself and their wage is with God, but here God commanded him to do so! Why? Because the matter of leadership of the Ummah nation resides in his close relatives i.e. the holy members of his family i.e. imams. Obeying them is the continuation of obeying the Messenger.

- 32. After this verse was revealed, Muhammad (S) announced the leadership of his successor in a place called Ghadir Khumm and many companions of the Messenger narrated this event. For more information, refer to the book al- Ghadir by Sayyid Abd al- Husayn Amini who has gathered thousands of evidences in 10 volumes narrated by Sunnis scholars to prove this event.

- 33. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 2:124.

- 34. Infallibility has the same meaning concerning the Messenger and his household.

- 35. Various hadiths from Muhammad (S) declare that the Ahl al-Bayt are his divine successors and they are also specific members of his family, not all of them. They have been introduced by the Messenger: Ali, his two sons from Fatimah, Hasan and Husayn, and the progeny of Husayn. They are 12 imams chosen by God and introduced by Muhammad (S).

Chapter 4: The Hereafter

Having belief in Hereafter is a pillar of Divine teachings in all Divine religions, including Islam. Many verses of the Qur’ans mention this fact:

“As He created you, you will return (to the Hereafter)” (7:29).

“God created you from earth and He will again bring you back to earth” (71:17).

“And then He will bring you out (of it to question and judge you)” (71:18).

God mentions that He will bring human's death and they will be buried; after death, God will bring us out of the grave to question and judge us, as He gave life before 1.

The Stages Of Human's Journey To The Hereafter

- Death

- Grave

- Barzakh

Barzakh starts from death until the Day of Judgment. This stage is constituted of three main stages: Life in the Barzakh2, death of all living beings before the Day of Judgment, and resurrection 3 of all human beings being raised to attend the Day of Judgment.

- Day of Judgment.

- The final destination: paradise or Hell.

Death

Death is a realty that all living beings shall taste:

“All souls will taste (and meet) death, then you will be returned to us” (29:57).

We will finally meet our death; it cannot be avoided. The angels of death will take our soul to Barzakh. 4

The human being hates death because he considers death as an annihilation and destruction; he imagines that death is the end of all things, so he may raise a question that why human beings die? But if he comes to know what death is, his opinion will change.

Reality Of Death

We explained that human beings are constituted of two parts:

1) Body

2) Soul

Soul is eternal. God has placed the soul in the body until a specified time; what human beings learn, see, speak, hear and perform effects the soul. The body is like a vehicle which carries the soul. The soul is our true reality 5; it will be separated from the body with death, so death is a permanent and complete separation of souls from the body in the world. Death is the angels of God taking our soul of from the body to the world of unseen 6:

“When death comes to one of you, Our angels take the soul, and ‎they do not violate their duties” (6:61).

Similarities Between Death And Sleep

Death is not the only separation of soul from body. The verses of the Qur’an mention that sleep is also a separation of the soul, except that it is temporary, and unlike death, it is not a complete separation:

“God brings out the souls (of human beings from their physical body) in the time of their death, (the same as He does) with the soul which has not died in the sleep, so He keeps the soul which should die (, so it is not allowed to return to the world,) but He releases the rest of them (whose time of death has not arrived yet,) until a specified time” (39:42).

“He is the One who takes your soul during the nights and He knows what ‎you do during the day, then He awakens you therein until the specified time is ‎to be completed (, so you live until the specified certain time of your death), ‎then you will be returned to Him and He will inform you concerning that which ‎you used to perform” (6:60).

Conditions In The Time Of Death

The moment of death is a very crucial time in our lives. It can be the best experience or the worst. Those who disbelieve and wrong or the believers who sinned and have not repented will experience a difficult and horrifying death 7, while the believers who obeyed God and His Messenger and sincerely put their commands in practice will not suffer grief or fear 8.

“But when the angels will take the souls of the purified 9 (to the Hereafter) they say, ‘Peace be on you. Enter the paradise for what you used to perform’” (16:32).

The difficult conditions of the disbelievers when their death comes:

“And if (only) you (were able to) see (the bad condition of) the disbelievers when the angels take out their soul, beating their faces and backs saying, ‘Taste the burning punishment’” (8:50).

Time Of Death

God has specified two times for human's death 10:

A. Definite Time Of Death

It is the maximum time we have each been given. It will not be changed and cannot be avoided. If it is set at 102 years, 8 months, 5 days, and 7 seconds it will certainly occur:

“And every nation has its (specified) term, so when their time (of death) comes they will neither (be able ‎to) postpone it nor will they advance it”‎ (7:34).

B. Indefinite Time Of Death

Death may arrive before we have reached our maximum time, depending on our time and doing. Not living healthy, being careless of dangers, and various actions such as sins may bring death sooner than the maximum time. Fornication, misbehaving with parents and relative, oppression are some deeds that reduce life. Good deeds such as having a good relationship with our family extend the indefinite time of death 11:

“He forgives your sins and postpones (your death) until a specified time” (71:4).

The main difference between definite and indefinite time of death is that when the definite time of death comes it is not changed at all; it is not postponed or advanced. However, there are several indefinite times of death which can be postponed by good deeds, or reduced by bad deeds. Regardless, we cannot surpass our definite time of death.

Barzakh And Grave

When a human being dies, he meets the world of the unseen; a transitionary world between death and the Day of Judgment, called Barzakh:

“And ahead of them is a Barzakh until the Day of Resurrection‎” (23:100).

The first day when a human being is buried, he will be questioned about his beliefs. This stage of Barzakh is known as grave. It is not an easy night. The righteous believers will have good life until the Day of Judgment, the Hereafter, but the evildoers will suffer punishment until the Day of Judgment.

Day Of Judgment

After a human being dies and goes through Barzakh, his soul will live there until the Day of Judgment. Before the Day of Judgment people will experience two other events:

A special loud noise will have all living beings, including angels, die. It is called the first blow of the Trumpet.

With the second blow all dead beings shall be revived and rushed to the Day of Judgment.

The Qur’an discloses these events in the following verse:

“And the Trumpet will be blown, so all the creatures in the heavens and earth will die ‎except those whom God desires (to keep alive,) then it will be blown again, so they will ‎suddenly stand up, (worried and) looking” ‎(39:68).

Possibility Of The Occurrence Of The Day Of Judgment?

From a purely materialistic viewpoint the occurrence of the Day of Judgment may be doubted. Some may only take laboratory findings, that which they can see and touch, as reality. With death, Man becomes bone and dust, it is impossible to be revived 12. The Qur’an notices this:

“They (the disbelievers) say, ‘What (a surprising statement)! When we become bones and dust, will we really be resurrected and have a new creation?’” (17:49).

“Will we be revived when we die and become dust? It is an impossible return!” (50:3).

The Response Of The Qur’an

The Qur’an responds by inviting them to use their reason on two points:

God’s power:

First of all, it’s God we’re talking about. Our power is incomparable to His. We are limited and weak entities, while God is unlimited and All- Powerful. We are the created, He is the creator. For Him, such a task has no difficulty or complexity:

“Have they not considered that God is He who has created all the heavens and the earth ‎and He was not unable in their creation? (Indeed,) He is able to give life to the dead ‎‎(too). Yes! He is able to do all things” (46:33).

The first creation of human being:

Human beings should not neglect that God has created him the first time and He is able to recreate us again. God creates sperms, and then He creates and gives different forms and stages to it in the womb and finally makes it in the form of a full human being; why wouldn’t he be able to create us again?

“They will say, ‘Who will resurrect us? ‘Say, ‘(God) who created you the first time’” (17:51).

Length Of The Day Of Judgment

The Day of Judgment will be long and tiring. Wrongdoers will experience an unprecedented condition. The Qur’an mentions that each day in the Day of Judgment is like fifty thousand earthly years 13;

“The angels and the Spirit ascend to Him in a day is which is fifty thousand years” (70:4).

Reasons Of Day Of Resurrection

When human beings create a house, an airplane, a car etc., they have a goal, because they are wise and wise people do not act aimlessly.

When we consider the creation, human beings, the heavens, and the earth we see that their creation is more difficult and complicated than the creation of a car or an airplane. The creator must be wiser than the humans He has created. Is it possible for such a wise creator to create the heavens and the earth aimlessly?

The Qur’an emphasizes that the creation of the human being is not aimless and there is a useful purpose for it. However, there is major differences between human's aims and Divine aims:

While Man acts for his own benefit, God is All- Sufficient and All- Good, He creates to grant us His mercy. God desires to be bounteous and generous to the creation. So, the goal of our creation is to be benefitted by God’s blessings and mercy through His guidance. Miss that guidance, and you’re deprived of that Divine mercy.

Creation Is Not Aimless

The Qur’an explains that God has not created human beings aimlessly and they will be brought back to God; thus, the Day of Judgment i.e. returning to God, is the principle aim of creation. It is the day when we will see the fruit of our intentions, decisions, and efforts:

“Have you imagined that We created you aimlessly, therefore, you will not be returned to Us?” (23:115).

God has created the heavens, the earth, and whatever is between them, including human beings, and He has created them neither for pleasure nor for play 14. God has given value to mankind and desires to honour him 15 with a perfect permanent life:

“We truthfully created the heavens, the earth, and whatever is between them” (50:38).

“We did not create the heavens and the earth for pleasure” (21:16; 44:38).

Justice

God has created human beings and provided him with intellect, guidance, freedom, and power to make decisions for his lifestyle. Also, He has given Man many gifts and blessings and He has honoured human beings, so human beings should honour himself by using reason and following God’s guidance.

However, people are divided into different groups with respect to their intentions and deeds; some of them follow God’s guidance, perform good deeds, and spend their life helping others. Another group of people follow their worldly desires, some even perpetrating various kinds of crime and injustice.

In fact, the Earth is a limited place, it cannot truly fulfil the rewards and punishments each individual deserves. A criminal, murders a person and destroys decades of his and his family’s life, another criminal kills hundreds of people, can they get the repercussions they truly deserve? God has created the Day of Judgment in order to give everyone their share of reward or punishment, therefore, the Day of Judgment is a sign of Divine Justice. God is just and He will not treat everyone the same regardless of their actions and situations, but every individual will receive and see the outcome of his/her deeds to the full extent:

“Today everyone will receive what he has earned. There will not be injustice today. Indeed, God's reckoning is swift” (40:17).

“Beware of a Day when you will be returned to God and everyone will receive what he has earned, and they will not be wronged” (2:281).

Why Do Disbelievers Knowingly Deny The Day Of Judgment?

- Some are afraid that acknowledging the Day of Judgment will deprive them of joys, mostly illegitimate ones. They think life becomes dull, not knowing that in fact earthly life is limited and religion sets us free from its limitations by giving us salvation; a permanent life with all the joys, beyond one’s imagination. They do not trust God and His teachings or promises, thus they sin to enjoy what they have of earthly life 16:

“Human beings (make a grave mistake and) want to (transgress and) corrupt in his coming (days of life)” (75:5).

- They do not assume that the Day of Judgment will arrive, so they prefer earthly life 17 and think they will be in the world forever:

“They prefer the life of the world” (79:38).

Process Of Judgment On The Day Of Judgment

Book Of Deeds

One of the stages of the Divine Reckoning on the Day of Judgment is that the people will see their deeds, and no one will be able to deny or reject it. The righteous will be in the right side in the Hereafter and their book will be given to their right hands. The evil-doers will be on the left side and their book of deeds will be given to their left hand. The verses of the Qur’an have disclosed information about the book of deeds in different verses:

“We have numerated and mentioned all things in a book.” (78:29).

Every detail is mentioned there. Nothing is missed. Everything is so clear that nothing can be denied:

“And the book (of deeds) will be set, so you will see the guilty fearful of what is in it; and they will say, “Woe to us, what a book! It enumerates (all details of my life, including) small and great” and they will find whatever they did in front of themselves and no one will be wronged” (18:49).

It seems from some verses that deeds will not be a separate entity, but rather a part of us, inseparable, as if attached to our neck:

“(Human being’s deeds is with him and) We attach the deeds of every human being to his ‎neck, and We will bring an opened book for him to face (the consequence of what he used ‎to do)” (17:13).

Criterion For Judging Human Deeds

Human beings’ deeds are measured according to the truth on the Day of Judgment. God and His promises are the Truth 18.The truth has been sent to us through holy books e.g. the Qur’an, His Messengers e.g. Muhammad (S) and his successors e.g. the Holy Household of Muhammad (S). If one’s deeds and intentions are in accordance with the truth they will be accepted, otherwise it will be a loss:

“On that day (the Criterion for) weighing (the value of your deeds) is truth, therefore, those whose scale is ‎heavy (and are more honest in their belief and deeds) they will be the successful” (7:8).

“But those whose scale is light have lost their soul because they used to wrong Our signs” (7:9).

Witnesses Of The Day Of Judgment

Day of Judgment is the most important day in the world to come. The Divine Court will be set and all deeds and witnesses will be revealed. The Qur’an introduces the witnesses on the Day of Judgment as follows:

God

God sees and hears all things. He sees what human beings perform in secret and in public:

“God is witness over what they do” (10:46).

In addition, when the Day of Judgment comes, He will testify while people have forgotten what they had done:

“When God will resurrect all of them and inform them about what they did; God will numerate their deeds while they have forgotten. Indeed God is witness over all thing” (58:6).

The Messenger And Those Who Are Close To God

The messenger of Islam and some of the special servants of God e.g. the Messenger of every nation, will be of the witnesses on the Day of Judgment who will testify against the wrongdoers and their deeds 19. Some of the verses of the Qur’an explicitly state this fact:

“When We will bring a witness against them, of their own people, from every nation, we will bring you (Muhammad) to act as a witness against them” (16:89).

“And thus We appointed you as a moderate nation till you become witness to the people, and the Messenger is a witness over you” (2:143).

The Angels

The angels are also witnesses. Some of them accompany human beings during their lives. When the Day of Judgment comes Man will be brought to the Divine court with angels who will testify against them.

“And there will come forth every soul: with each will be an (angel) to drive, and an (angel) to bear witness” (50:21).

Our Body Parts

God, the Messenger, and angels. In addition, our very own body parts will testify and say the truth. As the wrongdoer tries to hide his body parts for the sins he’s committed with them, they will speak and testify. The wrongdoer cannot deny anything anymore, he has to accept what he has done:

“When their tongues, hands, and feet will testify against them (on the Day of Judgment) about what they used to commit” (24:24).

Earth

Oh, the evil that man has done on earth. The bloodshed, the oppression, the vileness. The Earth has seen it all. One of the most important witnesses on the Day of Judgment is the earth. The earth was witnessing over all things in the world and it will testify against the wrongdoers on the Day of Judgment by God’s command 20.

“When the earth will narrate its news” (99:4).

Questioning Final Abode

Day of Judgment is a Promised Divine Day.

All the Divine messengers warned the people about that Day. When that day comes after resurrection human beings will be stopped to be questioned in details of his deeds, words and intention

“Stop them! They certainly will be questioned” (37:24).

“Indeed, you will certainly be questioned about the blessing.” (102:8).

After human being questioned and the windiness testified and the processes of Divine judgment passed, the people will face the absolute outcome of their deeds. Those whose deeds are good will admitted to the promised heavens with endless blessings and the evil doers will be forced to face and abide in Hell.

Final Destination

Paradise

Paradise, the destination of the righteous who observed God’s law. Paradise is the best destination, has infinite and abundant blessings and is beyond imagination. Paradise is filled with God’s satisfaction, and thus serenity. There are about three hundred verses in the holy Qur’an about paradise and its blessings. We mention some of them as follows:

“The dwellers of paradise will enjoy their involvement this Day” (36:55).

“They and their wives will recline on couches in the (welcoming) shade (of the trees)” (36:56).

“They will have fruits and what they desire there. (They will be greeted with)” (36:57).

“Peace (which is) a Word of the Compassionate Lord” (36:58).

“Enter the heaven, you and your wives, happily” (43:70).

“They will be served with trays and goblets of gold (full of the best drinks, food, and fruits) and there will be whatever the souls 21 desire and eyes enjoy, and you will be there forever” (43:71).

“And that is the heaven which you inherited for what you used to do” (43:72).

“There are plenty of fruits for you which you will eat from” (43:73).

Hell

Hell is the evil destination of the evildoers. The chastisement of Hell is only the outcome of their own deeds and decisions. Those who guarded themselves from this chastisement by observing God’s law will not go there.

The blessings of heaven are beyond imagination. So are the punishments of Hell. There is no death there to finish the punishment 22, rather everything is constantly renewed and fresh punishments start. There are different verses in the Qur’an which disclose information about Hell, its chastisement, and the qualities of its dwellers 23:

“And indeed, Hell is the promised gathering (place) for all of them” (15:43).

“It has seven gates and an appointed portion (of wrongdoers will enter) through each gate” (15:44).

“They see each other, (but they are unable to help). When the guilty (will even) desire to give his sons as ransom to save himself from the punishment of that Day” (70:11).

“And (he even desires to ransom himself at the price of) his spouse and brother” (70:12).

“His relatives who provided him with shelter” (70:13).

“And whatever exists on the earth in order to save himself” (70:14).

“No, it is impossible! It is a flaming fire (and they will definitely face it)” (70:15).

“It (is a very severe and heavy punishment which) strips away the skins (of the head and body)” (70:16).

“It 24 calls whoever turns his back and disregards” (70:17).

And he who amassed wealth (and refused to spend in the path of God)” (70:18).

- 1. Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 20/33, F.-D. Razi 1420 A.H., 30/655, Tusi 1405 A.H., 10/138, Balkhi 1423 A.H., 4/453.

- 2. Gap between death and Day of Judgment.

- 3. Resurrection in the Quran means God gives life to human being to be questioned and judged in the Day of Judgment.

- 4. Tabrisi 1372 Sh, 19/83, Tabari 1412 A.H., 21/8, Sadiqi, Al-Furqan fi tafsir al-Qur'an bi l-Qur'an wa l-sunna 1406 A.H., 23/96.

- 5. Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 7/130.

- 6. . Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 7/131, Zamakhshari 1986, 2/32

- 7. Suyuti 1404 A.H, 3/191, Baydawi 1418 A.H., 3/63, N. Makarim Shirazi 1374 Sh, 7/204

- 8. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 16:32.

- 9. Those who hold God in awe, observe God’s law, avoid committing sins, perform good deeds and follow guidance, thus they have purified their souls.
This guidance is sent down by God and clarified by the Messenger and his holy family.

- 10. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 6:2.Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 7/9.

- 11. N. Makarim Shirazi 1374 Sh, 25/58, Maybudi 1371 Sh, 10/238, A. l.-F. Razi 1408 A.H., 19/423.

- 12. FadlAllah 1419 A.H., 14/141, Fayd al-Kashani 1415 A.H., 3/196, F.-D. Razi 1420 A.H., 20/352.

- 13. . Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 20/7

- 14. Kashani 1336 Sh, 8/285, N. Makarim Shirazi 1374 Sh, 13/370, Suyuti 1404 A.H, 4/315

- 15. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 17:70.

- 16. Suyuti 1404 A.H, 6/288, Tusi 1405 A.H., Ibn ʿAshur 1405 A.H., 29/317, F.-D. Razi 1420 A.H., 30/722, Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 20/104, Zamakhshari 1986, 4/660.

- 17. Tusi 1405 A.H., 10/263, Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 20/192, F.-D. Razi 1420 A.H., 31/49, N. Makarim Shirazi 1374 Sh, 26/106.

- 18. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 10:53; 10:55…

- 19. Tusi 1405 A.H., 6/417, Tabatabaʾi 1417 A.H., 12/322, F.-D. Razi 1420 A.H., 20/257, Zamakhshari 1986, 2/628.

- 20. N. Makarim Shirazi 1374 Sh, 27/224, F.-D. Razi 1420 A.H., 32/255, Suyuti 1404 A.H, 6/380, Alusi 1415 A.H., 5/649.

- 21. Human being

- 22. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 87:13.

- 23. Refer to Holy Qur’an, 4:145; 15:43-44; 70:11-18; 87:11; 87:13.

- 24. The fire, the punishment which is mentioned.

A Final Word

God is bounteous and therefore He creates. He doesn’t need us, but He loves us and wants us to prosper. God is also just. He has given us all the facilities we need to live successfully through this system of life and attain everlasting pleasure in the Hereafter, which is what God intended.

This book is only a simple introduction into religion. It is an eye-opener for he who is too involved in earthly life. Earthly life is valuable, but only so much as it is a farm where we plant our deeds. We receive what we have planted in the afterlife. The message of the Qur’an is very simple; be curious, ask questions but don’t have predetermined answers, be unbiased and seek whatever the truth is. That is the logical way to live. The threats and the rewards that the Qur’an provides are only to provoke us to start thinking and asking questions. Nowhere in the Qur’an does God demand thoughtless obedience.

In fact, the Qur’an constantly invites us to use our own reasoning, unbiased. How much less could the Qur’an want? We are not plants, nor lifeless rocks. We have great abilities and of course with each ability comes an expectation, and yet all God has wanted from us is reasoning.

The threats in the Qur’an are true. Those who remain careless will really fall into the everlasting doom that the Qur’an describes. The rewards are just as real, and oh-so-easy to achieve. To attain salvation, seeking the truth is all that is needed.

We hope this book helps our reader. We don’t expect anything but the determination to search for the truth, whatever and wherever it may be, for you must not forget, this life will end and with it an eternal life will start. Should that life start with the serenity of light, or with the horror of evilness?

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Topic Tags:

- Theology [7]

- Beliefs and Doctrine [8]

Author(s):

- Behrouz Foroutan [2]

Publisher(s):

- Athare Sabz [3]

Source URL: https://www.al-islam.org/introduction-quranic-theology-behrouz-foroutan

Links
[1] https://www.addtoany.com/share
[2] https://www.al-islam.org/person/behrouz-foroutan
[3] https://www.al-islam.org/organization/athare-sabz
[4] https://www.al-islam.org/printpdf/book/export/html/178326
[5] https://www.al-islam.org/printepub/book/export/html/178326
[6] https://www.al-islam.org/printmobi/book/export/html/178326
[7] https://www.al-islam.org/tags/theology
[8] https://www.al-islam.org/tags/beliefs
[9] mailto:bforotan60@gmail.com