SOME ANGLES OF THE MIGHTY WORLD OF CREATION

Man lives on the third planet of a small star located in a galaxy called the Inner Galaxy.

Man is so intelligent that he wishes to comprehend the amazing nature of the grandeur of the whole universe. The following statistics show how successful he has been in this regard:

The distances given here are based on the light year. To calculate this, let us know that light travels 186.000 miles or 300.000 kilometers each second. Then a light year equals 365x24x60x186.000 miles, or six trillion miles.

The distances among the stars in the Universe are so great that each space layer is considered a spot compared with other layers. For instance, the solar system which is called the first layer is considered a spot in the layer 2; the same applies to 2 compared with the layer 3 and so on.

The first layer or the solar system or the sun is 8 light minutes or 93 million miles away from the Earth.

The second layer or the nearest star: this star which is called Alfa century is 4.3 light years from the Earth. If a space-ship starts from the earth with the velocity of one million miles per hour, it will take three thousand years to reach to this very near star, very near indeed!

The third layer or the inner Galaxy: the galaxy which contains the Earth is similar to a bowl filled with stars, gases and dust which is 100.000 light year from us. Among its 100 million stars, the sun and the Alfa century are only a spot on the outer border of this spiral galaxy.

The fourth layer or the nearest galaxy: this galaxy is called Andromeda and is 2.2 light years away from the internal galaxy. In spite of this huge distance, astronomers consider it so close to us that they will call it a sister galaxy and assume it as a part of the internal galaxies.

Andromeda is spiral as well, on the borders of which young stars are dwelling and the old burned stars occupy inside it.

The fifth layer or the farthest galaxies: the kazars have been among the topics of the most astrological researches lately, the nearest one of which is indicated with the sign 3C-273 and is two million light years away from us.

Their farthest galaxy, which is shown by the sign 3C-147, is six billion light years from us.

Up to this point, astronomers contend that they have searched only half of the visible parts of the world and there are still more work to be done and more galaxies to be discovered.[1]

The galaxy which contains the solar system and the neighboring planets has a circumference of 950 katrillion meters. In this galaxy, which contains our solar system, there are many kinds of stars some of which called the blue suns, have light 50.000 times stronger than those of our sun. This galaxy is filled with stars, gases and dusts.

The galaxies, and systems and constellations rotate around other bigger galaxies, as the Earth, the Mars and the Venus go around our sun.

Some of these galaxies rotate around themselves or other infinite spaces with the speed of 200 kilometers in a second.

The number of the galaxies counted so far exceeds one milliard. Each one of these galaxies possesses some stars which are thousand times larger than our sun. The galaxy which contains the Earth contains one hundred thousand million stars.

Thus after different epochs of marvelous actions and reactions, the systematic and rule-governed creation occurred and in one corner of this gigantic universe life was created-in Imam sajjad’s words: these creatures included the things, the plants, the animals and man.

Of course, how sea and ocean water come into being and how the soil became ready for cultivation, and how the mines were constructed and finally how the earth became a place for life, are the topics of different books.

Upon its release from the sun, the earth gradually cooled down during centuries. On its outside first appeared a thin crust, and little by little it thickened. This outside layer became a curtain between the molten material inside the earth and the atmosphere.

Upon losing outward heat, the earth became contracted. The core of the earth, too, gradually lost its first gigantic volume; on the external portions of the earth there were huge ups and downs, creating the mountains and valleys.

In this way, lands and continents came into being. The gases in the earth atmosphere, upon losing their heat, liquefied and turned into rains, pouring down on the ground, and filling the holes of the earth, creating oceans, seas and lakes.

A comparision of the heights of the mountains with the depths of the oceans will reveal that the latter is longer than the former; the former being 8884 and the latter is 11521 meters, respectively.

God, the capable creator and the Great Prudent, prepared the soil for nurturing plants and for the preparation of food for beast and man alike. Inside the earth there were laid mines for his use. To use all this properly, God gave man wisdom.

He created rotation and movement for the earth; He created the air, the sun, the moon, the day and the night, the seasons, the mines the plants, the springs, the rivers, the deserts, the gardens, the nightingales and any pre-requisits of life and put man on this table of assets. God sent His Prophets and His Quran to man to educate him. He ordered man to use Divine laws in using these assets and abundance so that there would be justice on the face of the earth, and in order that corruption will not find the chance to originate.

The Mysterious Issue of Life

With the accumulation of means and factor for the creation of life on the earth, God decided to bring about a mysterious entity, the fact of which will never be revealed to anybody. Life, which is a ray of His commands and a reflection of His Being, caused the hustles and bustles of the living things.

Corsi Morrison, a well-known scientist of the western world, whose book called the “secrets of man’s creation” is actually based on the Islamic knowledge, has concisely put together the findings of the world’s famous scientists together with his own views conceming the creation of life:

Life is eternal. Countless centuries have gone by, different geological epochs are over, but life still goes on.[2]

The continents have come out of the depth of the ocean water and have submerged once again, but life still goes on. Life is everywhere: in the ocean depth, on the sea waves, and on the sands beside the oceans.[3]

Any time that the Ice Age was over and freed some lands, life appeared there immediately.

Whenever there was an Ice Age again, once again life started once more.

Mountains have erupted from the surface of the Earth; earthquakes have had their role in the destruction of the earth. Some continents have been washed away into the ocean and the earthly remnants are to be observed at the bottom of the oceans: but life still goes on.

The white rocks of Doover, which is composed of the layers of chalk, lime and flintstone, are a living history of the marine creatures, plants in the preceding centuries. The green forests, oil, and gas are the result of the activities of the earth centuries ago and are kept for our use today.

These precious heritages have progressed man beyond his imagination. Fuel and oil are the very bases of human civilization. All these marvelous accidents happened only because life absorbed the sun rays and then kept them.[4]

Life has defeated the changing conditions of water, earth and the air and has produced plants and animals in every corner of the earth.

In its different shapes, from the one-celled creatures to fishes, insects mammals, birds and from microbes and parasites and microscopic creatures up to plants, animals, mamutes, and man, life has defeated the natural elements and has forced them to take on new shapes.

Life creates animals of various forms on their ancestoral samples and gives them such a power as to reproduce off springs of their own, forever.

Life is over-productive to the point which consumes its own extra production. But it severely controls its reproduction so that not to let populations of creatures go out of the limits. For instance, if the reproduction of locusts were not controlled, they would devastate all plants within a short time, leaving the animal life demolished altogether.

Life is a skilful sculptor which designs the shapes and the forms of the living things; it is an artist which draws the format of each green leaf or tree stem and decorates the flowers, fruits, forests and the bird’s wings with wonderful colors.

Life is a musician which has taught the birds to sing for love and has put something in the feeble songs of insects so that they can communicate with one another.

All these songs and sounds which are produced by the larynx of life, from the sounds of frogs in the spring, to the cackles of the hens, to the roaring of the lions, and to the horn of the elephants, are its manifestations. Above all it is the human voice which is more charming than that of other creatures.

Life has made man capable of producing all sorts of sounds and pitches of sounds and using them properly.

Life is a skillful engineer which has designed the leg of the locust and fly and man’s muscles and joints and the automatic heart and the nervous systems of all animals and their blood circulations and lungs.

The same engineer has desined the lily of the valley and has scattered its seeds with the wind. This engineer has drawn the forms of the flowers and causes insects to carry their reproductive cells from one bush to the other to fertilize them.

Life is an amazing alchemist which provides fruits with flavor, spices with odor, and flowers with fragrance.

Life provides the butterflies and glowworms with a light and radiation which help them in their night love-making. The alchemy of life entails the prosperity of the world of being. It not only changes carbonic acid and water into wood and sugar with the help of the sunshine but also, during this process, provides man and other creatures with the life-giving element called oxygen.

Life is a wise historian who has written down for us every page of its evolution during the long periods of time and has told us its story in the heart of the granite. Only the smart eyes and hearts are needed to read it and interpret it.

Life has provided the beings with the excitement and eagerness to be alive.

The young lamb moves about happily and runs energetically without knowing why it is doing so.

The alchemist of life has colored the child’s cheeks, has made its eyes to glow and his thin lips to smile. Matter, however, will never smile without life.

In order to nourish its creatures, life stores nutrient substances in the reproducing cells of the creatures. It has provided the mothers, breasts to feed their young. Life begets life. It satisfies new-borns with milk and anticipates their future needs. Life gives mother-love to mothers and love for family and their home land to men. This love makes men ready to fight for their country.

Life has provided all creatures with special means to defend themselves. Disguising by camouflage is one of these defense mechanisms. Feathers, horns and teeth, and claws are other mechanisms for the birds’ animal’s defense. Life strengthens their senses of smell, and sight to be used by animals at the moments of danger. Life sometimes gives the most innocent insect the ugliest form so that it would not be attacked by other creatures and thus may remain safe.

Matter would not do anything outside its specific laws. Particles and atoms are under the influence of such factors as the earth gravity, electricity, and the air actions and reactions. Matter has no initiative of its own; it is life only which brings about new forms of life at any moment. Without life the earth is nothing but a dead sea and an arid land and a desert. Matter with no life is motionless and stagnant. Matter houses life. That is the only function it may perform.

Man has been unable to understand the essence of life. Life has no weight, no dimension; neither does it have any geometrical form. But life has immense power. It gives the roots of the trees to burst the stones and go through them and protect the stem of the tree.

Life makes the tree roots to absorb tons of water daily and to change it into leaves and fruits. The oldest living thing on earth is a five-thousand year old tree. This length of time is only an instant compared with the life on the earth, however.

With a constant and infallible trial, life enlivens the corpse of the matter and in doing this it is impartial, showing no sympathy towards anything, and not feeling any satisfaction whatsoever. Yet, life is the very basis of any kind of thinking apparatus. It is only through life that we are able to realize the creation of God, the Almighty, and to worship Him. Life is a means to materialize the intentions of the Complete Wisdom. Life is eternal.[5]

Imam Zainol Abedin (s) states:

اِبتَدَعَ بِقُدْرَتِهِ الْخَلقَ ابْتِدَاعاً، وَاخْتَرَعَهْم على مَشِيَتِهِ اخْتِراعاً.

God’s inventions and novelties are innumerable. There is no power, except Him, who can perceive the qualities and quantities of all creatures. All the books written on the issue of creation are but one drop of God’s grandeur. Just look at yourself and see the strange aspects of His creation within yourself.

On the basis of the researches done, any normal person is able to keep ten million memories in his brain. In other words, if we were to publish the whole memories of a single person, we would need a whole library in which there are several million volumes of books.

The number of the recorded memories of a huge electronic calculator is round one upto four millions. For each one of these memories there is used a thin magnetic circular wire.

The most recent machine of this sort invented so far, is a machine which through adding some auxiliary units to its central section, can house up to sixteen million news-units.

This recent electronic brain has a volume of twenty five cubic meters; and compared with the earlier brand which was produced in 1946 and which could memorize only 600 units, is far more advanced. However, man’s capacity to memorize is not comparable with these electronic man-made devices. This is because one piece of man’s brain as large as the end of a pin could process more information than these devices. There are ten millard nerve cells in man’s brain, on the average, each one of which can process a thousand news-units.

Prior to the entry in the world of the foetus, did the womb, or zygote, or blood know what would the foetus, which for the time-being sat in a dark location, need in order to survive? Were they aware of the laws of light and sound so that they could provide the foetus with the strange mechanisms of sight and hearing?

Were the womb, the zygote and blood aware of the fact that the foetus could only survive through the blood circulation for which hundred big and small veins are scattered throughout the body with delicate length and diameter.

Did the womb, the zygote and blood know the significance of the brain and the heart so as to put the brain in the skull made up of hard bones, and to locate the heart in the chest encompassed with the ribs?

Had the womb, the zygote and blood recognized hundreds of bones equipped with all sorts of muscles and related nerves? Even eyes were equipped with eyelashes and hands were equipped with nails.

The blood circulation is one of the world’s most amazing ways of transportation. The length of the veins is longer than all the rail ways put together, which is estimated to be between one hundred and one hundred and fifty thousand kilometers.

This automatic apparatus works twenty four hours a day continually.

The blood circulation prepares the required blood for the dody tissues. This system feeds the body cells the number of which is more than hundred milliards. It rectifies the cell damages, builds up white and red globules. Each second, it provides one million red globules for the lost ones.

When the veins get hurt, the blood circulation repairs them. And if a needle sticks in the finger and makes a hole in the small veins, it quickly repairs the damage.

If there is a small cut on the skin, coagulation takes place immediately surrounding the red globules. If this process did not occur, the wound and bleeding would cause one’s death.

The blood circulation distributes five liters of blood every minute. It distributes more than seven thousand liters of blood every day and night.

Blood vessels are not ordinary pipes; rather they are live veins which are flexible and cause pulses.

The heart secretes blood piecemeal and sends it into the blood circulation. Then the veins make the blood flow regular so that a constant flow occurs in the blood vessels. At one’s death, the veins become empty of blood.

The blood circulation carries out two functions: the arteries carry amino acids for the repairment of the body cells and sugar, which is the source of the body power. They also carry vitamins, hormones, and oxygen.

The blood which returns back to the heart through veins carry with it the CO2, water and the decomposed cells and proteins.

Now let us see what happens to a piece of meat that we eat. The digestive system changes the proteins into amino acids. The walls of the small intestine are covered with hairy projections, the number of which exceeds five millions.

Each hairy projection rests on a blood vessel. The walls of the blood-vessels are porous. These pores refine the amino acids.

The kidneys control the amount of sugar required for the use of the muscles and amino acids which are required for the reconstruction of the cells.

A meal which contains lots of meat will include a lot of amino acides. The kidneys, however, store some of them and let the rest go out of the system. Blood, then, is ready to feed all cells proportional to their individual needs.

The sugar which we take with our tea, as well as the starch contained in bread and potato go the same way and change into glucose in the small intestine and then enter the liver. If the amount of sugar exceeds certain degree, the liver changes it into glicogene and stores it. When the muscles need fuels, the stored glicogene once again changes into glucose (the sugar contained in the grapes) and gradually leaves the liver. During heavy sports, the liver will make use of the stored glucose which will last between 12 to 24 hours.

The fats, too, are among the fuels of the body and upon passing the intestine walls change into fatty acids and enter the digestive system. If the storage of glicogene in the liver is finished, the liver may use its stores and provide us with fuels for a few weeks.

As it was mentioned earlier, the contents of the blood are significant: for instance, one of the proteins contains ioda which is good for the thyroid glands, a second one contains phosphorus which is good for the bones and a third contains calcium which is good for the strength of the bones and the teeth.

One liter of oxygen is also solved in the blood. This life-giving gas mixes with hemoglobine in the blood and prepares the good-looking red color of the blood. Although this action takes place in the lungs, the reverse action takes place in the cells, i.e., hemoglobine gives oxygen to the blood and receives CO2 from it.

The most fascinating part of the blood circulation is the capillary system through which the veins and arteries are connected. The capillaries are so narrow that the red globules have to pass through it in a queue. It is here that the blood system does its main job, giving the sells the necessary materials and taking away the decayed cells.

Each cell rests in a saline solution and multiplies constantly. That solution acts as a care-taker to nourish the cells which are floating in it.

The vein blood contains different sediments such as CO2, water, and the decayed proteins. The blood system carries these wastes into the kidneys and liver.

The kidneys are the refinery system which consist of very narrow pipes, the length of which is one hundred kilometers. They resemble two opposing beans and every 24 hours they purify and refine 200 liters of blood. The kidneys change the waste material, especially urea, ammonia and food wastes into urine which is then sent out from the body and they send back the 178 liters of the refined liquid into the blood system.

The liver controls the amino acids and sugar in the blood; the kidneys modify the amount of the mineral content of the blood.

The blood which enters the kidneys may contain great quantity of sodium, magnesium and phosphate. The kidneys control these minerals and modify the amount of each. When blood leaves the kidneys, it contains the exact amount of the necessary mineral for the function of the body.

Besides red globules, there are white globules the task of which is to defend the body against infection and blood decay. Some of these globules attack the microbes, eating them up.

There is a substance for the coagulation of the blood, the nature of which is still unknown to the chemists, however.

As we have already observed, the blood system and circulation and its web of arteries, veins and capillaries as well as the complicated structure of blood itself are all amazing phenomena, indeed. If we delve into the issue of creation, we will have to bend our heads in front of the Great Creator and we have to worship Him constantly.[6]

The world is amazing; the world of skies, of plants, of animals, of men all depend on the determination of Allah.

اِبْتَدَعَ بِقُدْرَتِهِ الْخَلْقَ ابْتِداعاً، وَاخْتَرَعَهُم على مِشِيّتِهِ اخْتِراعاً.

It is advisable for the Moslem nations to refer to the Holy Quran, Nahjolbalaqa, Sahifeh Sajjadieh and other sources on the Islamic knowledge in order to recognize Him and His commands. The recognition of Him causes prosperity both here and Hereafter and makes the man’s capabilities to blossom and permits justice reign all over the world.

In the narrations on the Prophet (s), we will read:

أعْرَفَكُم باللهِ أعْلَمَكُم بِكِتابِهِ.

“The most cognizant of you of Allah are the most cognizant of you of His book.”

In order to recognize the Great Creator, there are three ways:

The cognizance of God’s Nature;

2) The cognizance of His Attributes; and

3) The cognizance of His Actions.

God’s Book, the Holy Quran talks about God’s Nature, His Attributes and Names and His actions.

Nahjolbalaqa, Sahifeh, Invocations and the Islamic knowledge are all interpretations on the Holy Quran. These, together with the signs of God in the creation, will help us to recognize Him. All these sources will guide man to go through His path to reach Him.

But unfortunately today ninety percent of Moslems are ignorant of the Divine facts. Instead of preparing themselves for a journey towards Him, they are after their lusts. They are away from the world of light. All are proud and drunken. They do not realize that the source of these wars, struggles, and corruption all rests in our separation from Allah.

ثْمَّ سَلَكَ بِهِمْ طَرِيقَ إرادَتِهِ، وَبَعَثَهُم في سَبيلِ مَحَبَّتِهِ لا يَمْلِكُونَ تأخيراً عَمّا قَدَّمَهُم إلَيهِ، وَلا يَسْتَطِعُونَ تَقَدُّماً إلى ما أخَّرَهُم عنْهُ.

“When He created creatures, He guided them in the direction of His determination. He put them on the way of His Love and Affection. This is done in such a way that creatures will not procrastinate, nor can they advance beyond what is predetermined”.

The elements of universe and creatures, including the galaxies, stars, the suns and moons were put in the specific paths. Their exact movements and their actions and reactions over one another, so meticulously predetermined, has produced such an amazing and awesome system of creation. The Holy Quran says:

قَالَ رَبُّنَا الَّذِي أَعْطَى كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلْقَهُ ثُمَّ هَدَى.

“Our Lord is He Who gave to everything its creation, then guided it to its goal. 20:50”

The creation of all mines which have a crucial role in man’s life is based on the determination and the judicial decision of that unique Allah.

The issue of plants should also be under our scrutiny: what is the relation between seeds, soil and weather? What sort of energy changes the seed into a tree, flowers and plants? What is the source of all these vitamins contained in the fruits?

The answer to all these questions rests on one word: His Kindness and Benevolence.

Researchers, scientists and scholars have done a lot of work concerning plants, and trees. All these findings lead us to His guidance.

The following topics are among the researches of botanists: the structure of plants, the functions of the plant organs, the entry of material into the body of the plant, the mechanism of water entry into the plant, the mechanism of the absorption of materials by the plant, the mechanism of the absorption of liquids and gases by the plant, the movement of liquids and materials within the plant, the consumption of the soul-less material by the plant in its construction, the structure of glucides, the production of protides, lipids, the movement of the material produced by the plant metabolism, light energy, chemical energy, mechanical energy, and finally the electric and heat energies.[7]

Fifteen centuries ago, Imam Zainol Abedin (s) refered to these topics when he praised the Almighty God:

ثُمَّ سَلَكَ بِهِم طَرِقَ إرادَتِهِ وَبَعَثَهُم في سَبِيلِ مَحَبَّتِهِ...

With the guidance of Allah and with the cooperation of the sun, soil, weather and water, plants are decorated green so that the world will look charming and desireable.

Walking on the grass obliterates sadness; why? It is because plants are green. If they were red, they would be hazardous to our nerves.

If the plants were black, would they cause our depression or happiness?

If the plants were not green, would man have a place for excursion; wouldn’t man’s depression be continuous? What would man do if all the plants were yellow, and if it were fall for ever? Would the eyes be safe if plants were all white? If you look for a long time at a plain full of snow, your eyes would get hurt; that is why opticians recommend special eye-glasses for snow.

Isn’t the selection of green for plants a sign of the creator’s wisdom and knowledge?

If a machine worked automatically and not a thinker interfered with it, it would not produce various products, its products would be the same.

A driver-less car will go in the direction which the slope of the ground determines.

The variety of products in a factory leads us to think that there should be a manager for it. The movement of a car in its desirable direction indicates the existence of a wise driver.

Now let us look at the amazing factory of creation and its wonderful products. Let us look at man, at the plants with green leaves, every one of which has a different color of its own.

Even the green color is not the same in all these green plants.

The enumeration of the kinds of fruits is just an impossible task. The number of the types of flowers seems infinite, too.

Fruits, too, are different in kind. They say there are three hundred different types of mangoes in India.

An agricultural engineer used to say that in Paris grapes gardens there are five thousand types of grapes which are called by numbers: For instance, the grape No 1752.

Is anybody able to count all types of apples?

Isn’t this variety of produce and products a sign for the existence of a great thinker behind it?[8]

The story of the guidance of animals is one of the mysterious actions of Him: The Holy Quran says regarding this:

مَا مِنْ دَابَّةٍ إِلَّا هُوَ آخِذٌ بِنَاصِيَتِهَا إِنَّ رَبِّي عَلَى صِرَاطٍ مُسْتَقِيمٍ.

“There is no living creature but He holds it by its forelock; surely my Lord is on the right path. 11:56”

Corsi Morrison, in his book “The secret of Man’s creation”, has devoted one chapter on the intelligence of animals and reports the results of the researches of thousands of scientists:

Birds have an instinct for building nests: the swallow which builds up a nest in the root of your balcony goes to its winter resort in winter time and returns home when spring arrives.

Due to the cold weather, many birds, in the month of January, migrate to the warm locations in the southern part of Iran. They often travel hundreds of kilometers away from their nests; however, they will never lose their way.

Take a dove and put it in a sealed cage, taking it away for a long distance; then open up the cage. It will first circle the sky, but then moves towards its home.

The bee can find the direction of its nest even if it is caught in severe winds which easily root out trees.

Insects possess magnifying eyes, the power of which is not known to man. Eagles and vultures have got far-reaching eye-sights.

Most animals can find their ways at dark nights. They can feel the differences of temperature of the road and around it. They are even sensitive towards the very weak ultra-violet lights which are reflected from the road.

The owl’s piercing eyes at dark nights can see a small mouse moving in the grass.

Fishes have several beautiful eyes. Man lacks such eyes, however.

Animals’ eyes range from two to many. The bee may not see the colorful flowers the way we se them. It sees them with ultera-violet lights.

The worker-bees make different sizes of vestibules and labyrinths in their hives: the smaller vestibules are for the workers; the bigger ones are for the male bees. And the queens most probably live in special compartments.

The queen leaves her unproductive eggs in the male compartment, while she puts the fertilized eggs in the compartment of the female bees and the queen. The worker-bees wait for the arrival of the new generation of the bees and will prepare food, which is honey and wax, for the new-comers and will chew the food for them. But as soon as the male and female bees approach their maturity, they stop chewing and feed them natural honey. These female bees which are nourished in this way will change later into the worker-bees.

These bees chew food for the female bees which are in the queen’s compartment. These bees will later on turn into the queen who lay fertilized eggs.

Dogs, with their strong sense of smell can distinguish what animals have passed near them. All animals have strong sense of hearing which is very limited in man.

A kind of water-spiders builds up a sphere nest similar to a ball and by fastening something heavy sends it to the depth of the water. Then it comes up, fills the hairs under its stomach with air; then it goes to the ball-shaped nest, blowing air into it, till it becomes inflated with air. It then lays its eggs in this nest, raising its children and protecting them in this closed nest.

This activity of the spider involves a series of engineering feats.

The salmon which has been living in the sea for years may turn back towards the river which has taken it to the sea.

If the salmon which is swimming along the river is taken and put into another river, it will turn back to its homeland, swimming even opposite the original direction.

More complicated and stranger than the behavior of salmon is the issue of snake-fish. Upon reaching maturity, these strange animals will swim towards a location in the southern part of Bermuda Islands, no matter where they are, and start laying eggs there and then die there. Those snake-fishes which come from Europe have to swim thousands of miles to reach this location.

The babies of snake-fishes which do not know anything of the world, start going back to their homeland and after crossing the seas and struggling against storms, waves and tides, return to the places from where their parents had come earlier. That is why snake fish is found in all lakes, seas and oceans of the world. These young snake-fishes start living in their homeland and upon reaching maturity, start going towards the Bermuda Islands and start the cycle once again.

Where does this sense of navigation and returning to one’s homeland stem from? The snake-fish living on the shores of America, has never been seen in the waters of Europe; a snake-fish living in Europe has never been seen in the American shores, either. In order for the European snake-fish to reach the Bermuda Islands, it has increased its maturation time to one year or even longer. Do the cells which have constructed the snake-fish possess a sense of navigation and have possessed a determination of their own?

Animals seem to possess telepathy of some sort. If you put a female butterfly in the window of your room, she will emit some weak signs from her. After a few minutes a male butterfly will answer these signs. You could not believe it. But it happens and you can not create any disturbance on the way of this communication.

Do these weak creatures have some sort of special mechanisms for this communication?

A cricket, rubs its wings or feet together and makes an audible sound even upto one kilometer.

This male cricket moves six hundred tons of air in order to call his mate, and the female cricket has special mechanisms to warmly answer her lover’s call.

If you take away a chick bird from its nest and raise it in some other location, it will start making a nest like its parents when it reaches maturity. Are these behaviors accidental or is there a general intelligence behind them?

The answer to these questions are neatly dealt with in Sahifeh:

ثُمَّ سَلَكَ بِهِمْ طَرِيقَ إرادَتِهِ وَبَعَثَهُم في سَبِيلِ مَحَبّتِهِ ...

The story of the guiding of man which takes place through wisdom, nature, Prophethood, Imamate and the Holy Quran is a mysterious one, as well.

No school of thought has dealt with the definition of wisdom and its value as Islam has done through the Holy Quran and narrations. The value of each individual in front of God is measured by the amount of his use of wisdom. Wisdom is a means to arrive at the truth, and if it is used against one’s wishes and whims, it is a means for his prosperity here and hereafter. Of course, it is proved during centuries that if wisdom is not helped by prophethood, Imamate, the Holy Quran and God’s Benevolence, it will not bring about prosperity for man. Thus, there is a difference between those who rely on wisdom per se and those who rely on Allah’s assistance, as well.

Those schools which have relied soly on wisdom have never been able to produce a sample of men and women who are produced in the systems based on prophethood and velayat.

This is a proven fact that wisdom without prophethood has always been dominated by instincts and animal desires and tendencies. Wisdom in such cases has emited only weak glows. If wisdom lived side by side the prophethood, there would not be any sigh of injustice or discrimination.

The issues of strong versus weak, dominant versus dominated, the oppressor versus the oppressed, the exploiter versus the exploited, the free man versus the slave, all stem from man’s deprivation of innocent governors.

Now, concentrate for a moment on the Holy Quran and its sacred verses. If its commands had been justly carried out, would there have been on the earth anything except justice, truth, affection and love?

The world is replete with corruption, injustice, debauchery and libertinism, treason, crimes and tyranic discriminations. This has not been because of the lack of wisdom or thought or conscience or human nature. Rather, the real cause has been the separation of wisdom from Prophethood, guidance, revelation and Imamate. When wisdom is lonely nothing except disaster, injustice could be expected from human societies.

The radius for the brightness of wisdom is limited indeed. It could only deal with the discovery of material phenomena and a negligible amount of spiritual knowledge. And this little amount of glowing is not sufficient for man’s prosperity both here and in the Hereafter. Man’s extreme need to revelation can easily be observed in all aspects of life. And this fact is being confessed by the world scientific centers. Before long all nations will express their needs towards the center of Revelation and will take sanctuary in the Prophethood.

At any rate, the life-giving school of Islam has devoted a huge amount of the verses of the Holy Quran and narrations to introduce wisdom and to show its significance. Regardless of its true value, wisdom should not be accounted for without recourse to the complete Wisdom, i.e., the Creator of the world and man.

Islam sees man’s prosperity in his connection with wisdom, nature, Conscience, The Holy Quran, Prophethood and Imamate. Islam considers these factors as interacting one another.

Wisdom, together with material and spiritual science has a strange capacity to lead man towards growth. Wisdom with no Prophethood is an incomplete guidance and can never satisfy all man’s needs.

Wisdom and prophethood are two glowing lights on the way of out lives. If man walked beside these two lights, he would get anything he desired for.

With the power of wisdom, man realizes the facts and notices the sweetness of reasoning and wisdom; and through this strong Divine power he can yield to God’s determination and from there he will meet prosperity.

The love and affection to which prophets, God’s men, Imams and Gnostics refer is the result of the connection of wisdom with prophethood; it is the result of the unity of wisdom and revelation.

If wisdom were coupled with sciences and revelation and if the world dwellers became truly religious, the world here would be a sample of the paradise, and everybody would be satisfied with their rights and would not involve to trespass over other people’s rights. If wisdom is not coupled with religion and sciences however, this precious element which is the basis for man’s prosperity will not find a chance to improve. If it is deprived of religion issues, it will be like a bird which has got only one wing: in that case this world will be good for him, but he will lose the other world.

Now that our world is 1367 of the solar calendar, schools, universities and libraries are scattered all over the world and the light of sciences has illuminated most parts of the world; however, due to the fact that there is no faith in some hearts, and because of man’s separation from real Islam, life has been replete with all forms of corruption. For this reason, the world population are deprived of security, and as a result, injustice prevails every where.

Faith in God and attention to the Doomsday which is the basis for prophethood of Mohammad (s) causes man’s wisdom and capabilities to blossom and protects man against malice and corruption.

Wisdom coupled with faith causes the vigilance of man’s conscience and prepares him to love truth and leads him towards virtues.

Experience has shown that science is not powerful enough to surface these love and affection. However, faith can cause these truths to manifest themselves.

A true believer is a well-wisher; he is patient and reliant on God; he is virtuous; he is the source of benevolence; he is clean; he is insightful; and he is a lover and a Gnostic.

If wisdom did not ask prophethood to help it, firstly it would not succeed in realizing the spiritual truths; secondly, it would fall prey to lusts and whims; in this way it would remain deprived of a true picture of the truths. To prove this, we would not need any reasoning: man’s life has proved this in different eras.

As the great Gnostics have stated: wisdom together with velayat and prophethood is the position for affiliation with God; and wisdom minus prophethood equals separation from Allah.

The position of association with God is the position of possessing Divine features and morals; on the contrary, the position of separation from God is the position of possessing satanic characteristics.

Hafiz, the Iranian poet says:

The paradise’s pastures receive water from association with God and stay fresh;

And the hell fire will endure the extreme heat because of you.

Mohammad Ibn Mohammad Darabi, the great Gnostic, in interpreting this poem of Hafiz, says:

Be aware that by “association with God” is meant to gain the features of Allah; and by “lack of association” is meant viscious manners. Some verses of the Holy Quran depict this issue clearly:

يَوْمَ تَجِدُ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَا عَمِلَتْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ مُحْضَرًا.

“On the day that every soul shall find present what it has done of good. 3:30”

And also:

فَالْيَوْمَ لَا تُظْلَمُ نَفْسٌ شَيْئًا وَلَا تُجْزَوْنَ إِلَّا مَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ.

“So this day no soul shall be dealt with unjustly in the least; and you shall not be rewarded aught but that which you did. 36:54”

And the narration:

الّذي يَشْرَبُ في آنيةِ الذَهَبِ وَالفِضّةِ إنّما يُجرْجَرُ في جَوفِهِ نارَ جَهَنّمَ.

“The sound of hell fire is heard in the stomach of the one who drinks in golden ware and in silverware”.

And the narration:

الظُّلْمُ ظُلماتُ يَومِ القِيَامةِ والنّاسُ يُحشَرونَ عَلى صُوَرِ أعْمَالِهِم.

“Injustice equals the darkness of the Doomsday; And people will be judged by what they had done”.

And also the Hadith:

أرْضُ الْجَنَّةِ قِيعانٌ وَغِراسُها لا إله إلا اللهُ.

The earth of the paradise is barren, and its trees are saying there is no god but Allah.

What we have discussed so far is included in the following sentences by Imam Sajjad (s):

ثُمَّ سَلَكَ بِهِم طَرِيقَ إرَادَتِهِ، وَبَعَثَهُم في سَبيلِ مَحَبَّتِهِ، لا يَمْلِكُونَ تأخيراً عَمّا قدّمَهُم إلَيهِ ولا يَسْتَطِعُونَ تَقَدُماً إلى ما أخّرَهُمْ عَنْهُ.

“After clothing them with the dress of life, Allah guided them all in His own manner and excited them on the way of His love; now the creatures are dominated by Him, having no way to oppose Him.

Of course, this is not in opposition with man’s free will. Free will is in relation with man’s actions.

Man’s free will can not change the course of actions. Allah has decided for most creatures to go their own way and for some others to have free will of their own. Neither one of these, however, has the power to interfere with His determination.

Anyway, all creatures are headed towards Him with love, some with evolutionary guidance, some with instinct guidance, and some with the guidance of wisdom, nature, conscience and prophethood. All these are just a reflection of His Determination, Decision, Love and Affection towards the creatures.

وَجَعَلَ لِكُلِّ رُوحٍ مِنْهُمْ قُوتاً مَقْسُوماً مِنْ رِزقِهِ، لا يَنقُصُ مَنْ زادَهُ ناقِصٌ، وَلا يَزِيدُ مَن نَقَصَ مِنْهُم زائِدٌ.

“In the distribution of sustenance, Allah out of His Great Generosity assigns each creature a definite portion. The amount of this sustenance is dependant upon His wisdom and Expedience, and nobody could change this plan”.

Concerning the sustenance of animals, there is no room for discussion since they are not bound by religious bonds. But in the case of man who is responsible towards Allah and has to earn his living in right ways, we have a lot to say.

On the basis of the Quranic verses. The acceptance of the injustice of the tyrants and aggressors is forbidden. Any body who accepts injustice is a criminal as well.

The Almighty God has bestowed upon al human beings different rights: the right to eat, the right to have a shelter, the right to wear dresses. It is not fair for a few to benefit from all privileges at the expense of the deprivation of the majority of population. It is upto people to rise against the aggressors in the east and in the west of the world and have control over them so that sustenance could be distributed equally among every body.

If by observing the status of the aggressors and tyrants of the world and comparing it with the position of the deprived and the oppressed, a man says this is the wish of God or this is what God has decided, he is definitely wrong and is contradicting the Quran, wisdom, logic and the sound reasoning. He has, as well, leveled an accusation against God and has delivered a satanic judgment.

Changing the amount of sustenance is one thing and the government of the aggressors and their free exploitation of the assets at the expense of the deprived is quite another issue.

The government of the tyrants and their extravagance in material issues is a pain which could only be cured by the rise of the deprived people of the world.

These greedy dogs and wolves should be frightened away from the God-given assets so that the deprived could attain what they deserve.

The amount of sustenance is assigned to each servant through God’s benevolence and he has to earn it in the right ways. An individual should not get involved in the multiplication of wealth, as it is forbidden by the Holy Quran. Little amount of sustenance does not imply one’s deprivation; such a person does not have to ask people for help. This kind of sustenance is in fact an examination for the individual to pass.

Any body who is given ample sustenance should spend his extra income for the needs of the society and should not be carried away by his income. One who does not enjoy ample sustenance should be content with what he has and should not get himself involved in sins. This scarcity is not for ever. It will last for a certain amount of time: it is the time of trial and examination set out by God. The Holy Quran says wealth, ornaments, government are not in the hand of one individual; they constantly change hands.

Thus the large amounts of wealth which is in the hands of the oppressors are gained through tyranny and injustice and is not given by God. This is because God will not approve such an accumulation of wealth. At Doomsday these tyrants are accountable and are penalized by chastisement. The deprivation of nations who are living in poverty beside mines of gold and valuable metals or oil is not approved by God, either, This is the product of the government of tyrants and has nothing to do with God.

The verses of the Holy Quran which deal with the sustenance, the right and wrong incomes, the amount of sustenance are divided into five classes:

1. There are those verses which absolutely relate sustenance to God. These verses declare that what is rightfully assigned to people is correct and good and is away from evil. This is because Allah is the source of benevolence, blessings, favor and glory. His might is infinite and He wishes every servant good. The health and welfare of man depends on his obedience towards God’s commands. Since the magor factor for prayer is the legal sustenance, God will assign people rightful means of subsistance:

الَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ وَيُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ.

“Those who believe in the unseen and keep up prayer and spend out of what we have given them. 2:3”

الَّذِينَ يُقِيمُونَ الصَّلَاةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ.

 “Those who keep up prayer and spend benevolently out of what we have given them. 8:3”

الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِرَ اللَّهُ وَجِلَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ وَالصَّابِرِينَ عَلَى مَا أَصَابَهُمْ وَالْمُقِيمِ الصَّلَاةِ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنْفِقُونَ.

“To those whose hearts tremble when Allah is mentioned, and those who are patient under that which afflicts them, and those who keep up prayer, and spend benevolently out of what we have given them. 22:35”

أُوْلَئِكَ يُؤْتَوْنَ أَجْرَهُمْ مَرَّتَيْنِ بِمَا صَبَرُوا وَيَدْرَءُونَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ السَّيِّئَةَ وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ.

“These shall be granted their reward twice, because they are steadfast and they repel evil with good and spend out of what we have given them. 28:54”

تَتَجَافَى جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنْ الْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفًا وَطَمَعًا وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنفِقُونَ.

“Their sides draw away from their beds, they call upon their Lord in fear and in hope and they spend benevolently out of what we have given them. 32:16”

In these verses reference is made to men of God and the lover-Gnostics who are in connection with the world of unknown and who establish prayers, whose heart are filled with God’s fear and awe as they remember Him, who are patient for their religion with oceans of hardships, who answer bad and evil with good and generosity, and who worship God at the dawn. As we see at the end of each one of the five verses we will read: “They spend benevolently out of what we have given them”.

The essence of sustenance rests on God’s knowledge and benevolence. Whatever stems from His names and Attributes is correct, genuine, and flawless. This meaning is deriven from the sentence:

وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ…

With regards to the above verses, nobody will ever dare to claim that there is any kind of sustenance except the clean one. This would be an utter accusation to the existence of Almighty God. God is free from any defect and flaw, and He has the features of perfection, wholesome, justice, rightousness, benevolence and magnanimity.

2. There are, as well, those verses which explicitly deem as good and clean those sustences which are allocated by God, and have exempted the Manager of the world from allocating any unlawful sustenance. They have considered unlawfully-gained bread as a satanic act:

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ كُلُوا مِمَّا فِي الْأَرْضِ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ.

“O Men! Eat the lawful and good things out of what is in the earth, and do not follow the footsteps of the shaitan; surely he is your open enemy. 2:168”

وَكُلُوا مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمْ اللَّهُ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ الَّذِي أَنْتُمْ بِهِ مُؤْمِنُونَ.

“And eat of the lawful and good things that Allah has given you, and be careful of your duty to Allah, in whom you believe. 5:58”

فَكُلُوا مِمَّا غَنِمْتُمْ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ.

“Eat, then, of the lawful and good things which you have acquired in war, and be careful of your duty to Allah; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful. 8:69”

فَكُلُوا مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمْ اللَّهُ حَلَالًا طَيِّبًا وَاشْكُرُوا نِعْمَةَ اللَّهِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ.

“Therefore, eat of what Allah has given you, lawful and good (things), and give thanks for Allah’s favor if Him do you serve. 16:114”

In the above verses our attention is drawn to the lawful nature of our daily bread and we are warned against unlawful sustenance and we are ordered to be careful of our duties towards Allah. We are also told to thank God for the lawful sustenance we receive from Him.

From the sentences مِمّا رَزَقَكُم الله ومِمّا غَنِمتُمْ (From what Allah has given you, and from what you have acquired in war) we could easily conclude that what Allah has given us is clean, lawful and good. It is not He who has opened up the unlawful way of gaining daily bread; rather, it is people who break the border of piety and follow the footsteps of Shaitan and the Aggression and sell their bright and prosperous tomorrow, when they could sit with Prophets, to the filthy things which they can get here in this world.

3. There are also those verses of the Holy Quran which exclusively relate the abundance or lack of it in sustenance to the expediency of life and warn us not to be quite satisfied or happy with this abundance and not to be depressed for the lack of it, either. These two states of affairs are transiet and temporary, however.

اللَّهُ يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَقْدِرُ وَفَرِحُوا بِالْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا فِي الْآخِرَةِ إِلَّا مَتَاعٌ.

“Allah amplifies and straitens the means of subsistence for whom He pleases; and they rejoice in this world’s life, and this world’s life is nothing compared with the hereafter, but a temporary enjoyment. 13:26”

إِنَّ رَبَّكَ يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَقْدِرُ إِنَّهُ كَانَ بِعِبَادِهِ خَبِيرًا بَصِيرًا.

“Surely your Lord makes plentiful the means of subsistence for whom He pleases and He straitens them; surely He is ever Aware of, Seeing, His servants. 17:30”

اللَّهُ يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَيَقْدِرُ لَهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ.

“Allah makes abundant the means of subsistence for whom He pleases of His servants, and straitens them for whom He pleases, surely Allah’s cognizant of all things. 29:62”

أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّ اللَّهَ يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَقْدِرُ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ.

“Do they not see that Allah makes ample provision for whom He pleases, or straitens? Most surely there are signs in this for a people who believe. 30:37”

قُلْ إِنَّ رَبِّي يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ وَيَقْدِرُ لَهُ وَمَا أَنفَقْتُمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ فَهُوَ يُخْلِفُهُ وَهُوَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ.

“Say: Surely my Lord amplifies the means of subsistence for whom He pleases of His servants and straitens them for whom He pleases, and whatever thing you spend, He exceeds it in reward, and He is the best of sustainers. 34:39”

Thus, the amplification of the means of subsistence or lack of it are two kinds of exams put on the believers. This exam will find out those who have ample should spend for others and those who are in strait should keep their faith and honesty and be patient.

Once again we will observe that the range of means of subsistence which is righteous is within the framework of Divine laws and commandments. It is delimited by Him, and those who enjoy such means amply should help other Moslems. This is because the accumulation of wealth, even lawfully gained, is forbidden and is used to destroy one’s prosperity. On the other hand, the strain in the means of subsistence of the form which befalls the believer due to a catastrophe, depends on Allah. But if this state of the affairs happens due to one’s living extravagantly or delving into sins, it is not related to God.

One who is able to discern the truth does not consider the range of subsistence as important. What is significant for him is to carry out his tasks. When he has abundant wealth, he will spend it freely on the needy, and when he is in dire poverty, he will be patient.

لَهُ مَقَالِيدُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ يَبْسُطُ الرِّزْقَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَيَقْدِرُ إِنَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ.

“His are the treasures of the heavens and the earth; He makes ample and straitens the means of subsistence for whom He pleases; surely He is cognizant of all things. 42:12”

The Holy Quran, in some verses, attributes the strain in the means of subsistence to the purifying factors to keep the believer away from sins. It considers this state of affairs as man’s savior and the connector of man to God.

وَلَوْ بَسَطَ اللَّهُ الرِّزْقَ لِعِبَادِهِ لَبَغَوْا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَكِنْ يُنَزِّلُ بِقَدَرٍ مَا يَشَاءُ إِنَّهُ بِعِبَادِهِ خَبِيرٌ بَصِيرٌ.

“And if Allah should amplify the provision for His servants, they would certainly revolt in the earth; but He sends it down according to a measure as He pleases; surely He is aware of, seeing, His servants. 42:27”

Thus, the ample amount of provision does not indicate God’s favor, or love towards anybody; neither does its absence show God’s lack of interest in anybody.

For those who lack human traits such as Abulahab, Qarun, Busofyan, wealth is a permanent and eternal curse. On the other hand for those whose traits are like those of Salman, Buzar, Meqdad, Meitham, Komeyl, and Balal, wealth is a means to mobilize others on the path of prosperity and to practice patience for God and to attain eternal prosperity.

Concerning those who employ their wealth for viscious lusts and corruption and for the transient wishes and whims, the Holy Quran says:

وَلَا يَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ يَبْخَلُونَ بِمَا آتَاهُمْ اللَّهُ مِنْ فَضْلِهِ هُوَ خَيْرًا لَهُمْ بَلْ هُوَ شَرٌّ لَهُمْ سَيُطَوَّقُونَ مَا بَخِلُوا بِهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَلِلَّهِ مِيرَاثُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ.

“And let not those deem, who are niggardly in giving away that which Allah has granted them out of His grace, that it is good for them; nay, it is worse for them; they shall have that whereof they were niggardly made to cleave to their necks on the resurrection day; and Allah’s is the heritage of the heavens and the earth; and Allah is aware of what you do. 3:180”

Regarding those who spend their wealth for God, who satisfy the needs of the oppressed and help them out, the Holy Quran says:

فَأَمَّا مَنْ أَعْطَى وَاتَّقَى وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ لِلْيُسْرَى.

“Then as for him who gives away and guards against evil, and accepts the best, we will facilitate for him the easy end. 92:5-7”

If we Islamically treat the mines, seas and forests, which belong to all, and all are equal in exploiting them, and the wealth which we gain legally due to our personal endeavors, the prosperity of the society will be safeguarded. But if we treat these sources of wealth foolishly, the community will suffer greatly and a few will carry on injustice and will demolish all.

Now let us discuss on one sacred verse and on interesting narration:

وَلَا تُؤْتُوا السُّفَهَاءَ أَمْوَالَكُمْ الَّتِي جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ قِيَامًا.

“And do not give away your property which Allah has made for you a means of support to those of the weak of understanding. 4:5”

اِنَّ مِن بَقاءِ الإسلامِ وَبَقاءِ المُسْلمِينَ أنْ تَصِيرَ الأموالُ عِنْدَ مَنْ يَعرِفُ فيها الحقَّ وَيَصنَعُ فِيها المعروفَ واِنَّ مِن فَناءِ الإسلامِ وَفَناءِ المُسْلِمِينَ اَن تَصِيرَ الأموالُ عِنْدَ مَن لا يَعْرِِفُ فِيها الحَقَّ ولا يَصْنَعُ فِيها المَعْرُوفَ.

One of the factors for the survival of Islamic culture and that of the Moslems is to entrust the financial affairs to somebody to recognize the Moslem’s rights and to invest the finance in good affairs. On the other hand, one of factors for the fall of the Moslems is for them to let their financial issues be guided by the ignorant.[9]

In one of his invocations, Imam Sajjad (s) says to God:

نَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنْ تَناولِ الإسرافِ، وَمِنْ فِقْدانِ الكفافِ ومِن مَعِيشَةٍ في شِدّةٍ.

“O God, at the time of abundance, I ask you to protect me from falling in the terrible well of extravagance, and when I lack the means of subsistence, I ask you to help me.”[10]

Concerning wealth, or in the words of the Holy Quran and narrations “the lawful means of subsistence”, there are precious narrations in the Islamic sources:

قال رَسُولُ اللهِ 7: الكاسِبُ حَبِيبُ اللهِ

The Prophet (s) has said: One who is busy in a lawful business is God’s friend.

قالَ الصَادقُ D: قالَ الله تعالى: الخَلْقُ كُلّهُمُ عيالي، فاحَبُّهُم اِليَّ الْطَفَهُم بِهِم وَاسعَاهُمْ في حوائِجِهُم.

Ibn Senan, the well-known narrator, says: Imam Sadiq (s) reports God having said: All people are my family members: the most beloved ones for Me are those who show affection towards people and make endeavors to resolve their problems.[11]

قالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ 7: نِعْمَ المالُ الصّالِحُ للعَبْدِ الصّالحِ.

The Prophet (s) has said: How nice it is for a worthy believer to possess lawful wealth.[12]

In other words, a worthy man recognizes the lawful subsistence and then spends it in donations.

A man came to see Imam Sadiq (s), saying: pray God to increase my means of subsistence. Imam Sadiq (s) replied: I will not do so; go and find daily-bread in the way God has prescribed:[13]

لَيْسَ مِنّا مَنْ تَرَكَ آخِرَتَهُ لِدُنياهُ، اَو تَرَكَ دُنياهُ لِآخِرَتِهِ.

One who sells his hereafter to this world or sells his world to his hereafter is not one of us.[14]

In explaining the following excellent narration:

نِعْمَ الَعونَ عَلَى الآخِرَةِ الدُّنيا.

“How excellent is this world to win the other.”[15]

 Jalaleddin says: One whose major objective is this world alone has lost his life in vain, because the circle of our wants and desires is endless and only spiritual desires could lead us on the right path.

One who employes this world to get the other is in the best condition.

It is useless to use all tricks in order to gain this world. It is better to use these tricks to stop worshipping this world.

It is more advisable for a prisoner who wants to escape the prison to cut an underway canal rather than try to close down the prison.

By world-worshipping I mean to forget God; I do not mean having wealth or a position. If an individual has a clear account of money and knows how to spend it wisely, he is a God-believer and in fact is carrying out worshiping.

If our possession of the worldly wealth is in accordance with the rules of the religious laws, then our action is harmonious with what the Prophet (s) has said: “How good it is for a true believer to have lawful wealth.”

If you let the love for money penetrate the depth of your heart, it is as though water had filled the inside of a ship. This concentrated water would make the ship sink. But if the love for money does not rest deep in our hearts, then it will be like the water outside and beneath the ship which will make it move smoothly.

This was the reason for Solomon (s) considering himself as poor and wretched in spite of this great wealth and possessions.

If an empty jug is sealed thoroughly, it will stay on the water surface. In the same way inside a true believer is empty of wishes, so he is above all in life; his jug of spirit is filled with Divine thoughts and reflections; however, he will consider himself as poor.

أَنْتُمْ الْفُقَرَاءُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَاللَّهُ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ.

“You are they who stand in need of Allah, and Allah is He Who is the Self-sufficient, the Praised One. 35:15”

There are precious narrations concerning the wealth and the lawful income:

قالَ رَسُولُ اللهِ 4: طَلَبُ الحَلالِ فَرِيْضَةٌ على كُلِّ مُسْلِمٍ وَمُسْلِمَةٍ.

The Prophet (s) has said: It is compulsory for every man-Moslem and woman-Moslem to go after a lawful income.[16]

وَعَنْهُ 4: العِبَادَةُ سَبْعُونَ جُزْءاً، أفْضَلُها طَلَبُ الحَلالِ.

The Prophet (s) has said: There are seventy portions to worship; the best part is to go after the lawful income.[17]

وَقالَ 4: مَنْ أكَلَ مِنْ كَدِّ يَدِهِ نَظَرَ اللهُ إلَيهِ بِالرَّحْمَةِ ثُمَّ لا يُعَذِبُهُ أبَداً.

The Prophet (s) has said, as well, “One who eats out of his trials will enjoy God’s benevolence and will never be punished by God.”[18]

وَقالَ 4: مَنْ أكَلَ مِنْ كَدِّ يَدِهِ حلالاً فُتِحَ لَهُ أبوابُ الجَنَّةِ يَدْخُلُ مِنْ أيّها شاءَ.

The Prophet (s) has also stated: All the doors of the paradise will open up to anybody who will eat out of his trial: he may enter hs position from any gate he wishes.[19]

وَعَنْهُ 4: مَنِ اكْتَسَبَ مالاً مِنْ غَيرِ حِلّهِ كَانَ زَادُهُ إلى النّارِ.

The Prophet (s) has said: Anybody who earns money through unlawful means has prepared for himself the fire of the Hell.[20]

قال النبي 4: مَنْ أكَلَ الحَلالَ قامَ على رأسِهِ مَلكٌ يَسْتَغْفِرُ لَهُ حَتّى يَفرُغَ مِنْ أكْلِهِ.

The Prophet (s) has said: there is an angel for anybody who eats lawfully and asks God to forgive him.[21]

وَقالَ 4: الكادُ على عِيالِهِ كَالمُجاهِدِ في سَبِيلِ اللهِ.

The Prophet (s) has stated: One who tries hard to earn lawfully for his family members is like a warrior, fighting for God.[22]

وَعَنْهُ 4: مَنْ أكَلَ الحَلالَ أرْبَعِينَ يَوماً نَوَّرَ اللهُ قَلبَهُ.

The Prophet (s) has also said: God will lighten anybody’s heart who eats legally earned daily-bread for forty days.[23]

From the sacred verses of the Holy Quran, narrations and Islamic news it could be understood that gaining one’s daily bread lawfully is a kind of worship. And any worship under this worship is accepted by God. Any worship or donation which is rooted in illegal and unlawful means is of no value or merit.

From the discussions we have had so far we could conclude that earning one’s income and spending it for God is a heavy duty for him.

4) There are also some Quranic verses which consider the means of subsistence as God’s way to test people. It is upto man to enter this exam and show his talents. If he is wealthy, through spending benevolently he may gain high positions in front of God and people. If he does not have abundance, he may engage in patience in the face of hardships and depressions.

Concerning the fact that wealth in this world is only to test the believers, the content of the verses 17 to 33 from Surah Qalam (The Pen) is very enlightening: The story goes like this:

A man from Yemen, in the territory called Sana’, who was true believer and always carried out God’s commands, started cultivating a piece of barren land. After going through a lot of unsurmountbel obstacles, he prepared a garden full of fruit trees. A good smell was around the garden; the garden was surrounded with tall trees. Sweet water filled the springs flowing in the garden.

The religious man used to walk around the garden, being amazed by this God-given asset. After his walk, he used to go to a corner and spend some time worshipping God.

In his supplications and invocations, he used to implore God to protect him against the temptations which wealth causes man to go astray.

He used to ask God to let him use that wealth modestly and spend the rest on the poor.

And he carried out this planning as he had wanted to. At the harvest time he used to allocate some of the income to his family and the rest to the poor. Whenever he sold some of the produce he then opened the door of the garden to the poor, asking them to take away the fruits proportional to their needs.

The man’s children, however, who were not as religious as he was and who were filled with material considerations and who had not taken lessons of generosity from their father, objected to their father’s behavior, telling him: “the way you are treating the garden, you are doing us injustice and you are making hurdles on the way of our daily-bread. If you continue this way, you will make us poor and miserable.”

The believing man told his children: I think you are mistaken. What is the use of accumulated wealth and how is it going to solve your problem? Let us suppose I had amassed lots of wealth since my youth in the form of bags of gold and silver and at the time of my death I had put it for your use. Then I would have to answer on the Doomsday where I had got that wealth.

My children! This garden is not mine, nor is it yours. It belongs to the Creator. We are obedient servants to Him. He has wanted us to use the amont we need and let the rest go to the needy ones. It is not fair to let a minority possess all the requirements of life and let the majority suffer among whom there are worthy believers who are honorable but who do not have enough to live on.

To thank God for his affluence, we have to feed the needy and to serve them well. I do not want to go any other way than this. My only love is God and I will not carry out any plan against Him. I endure in carrying out His objectives and I am happy that He has bestowed upon me all these assets.

My children: we are holding in trust what He has given us. We should not waste it. The needy, the sick, the wretched, the miserable, the orphans, even the animals all have to share in this wealth. Only in that case will God be content with us.

Only after these creatures were content with what they were after would we have the right to use our wealth. This has been my way of life since my youth and nothing may disturb my plan now.

And try to understand that in this way your wealth will multiply and is protected against disasters and will bring about God’s blessings and is an interlude to future prosperity.

My children! Just give me time. You see that my hair has grown gray, my strength has deteriorated, my body has got a curve, I am suffering from different diseases, and I am going to die pretty soon. After my death you will be heirs to this possession. There are two ways open to you then: either you will follow my approach or you will choose the viscious way. If you give away to the poor freely, God will give you subsequent rewards. And if you go astray, God’s chastisement will be yours.

Some time later, the benevolent man passed away.

Time passed swiftly. The garden was ready to be harvested: the fruits were ripe and ready to be picked up. The poor were very delighted because they wished to get some of the harvest to solve their problems.

The benevolent man’s children started counseling. One of them said: there will not be any share for the poor from now on. We will sell the produce and become affluent. The other brother, who was like his father in manners, showed his dissatisfaction, saying: I will not agree with you. You think it is to your benefit not to give away the poor’s shares. You will, as a result, lose every thing you have. Let us follow our father’s way; then God’s blessings will be yours.

The answer he received was: Do not talk on something which does not belong to you. Your sermon is of no worth to us, anyway.

The brother who was a true believer told them: Let us now pray to God since your prayer will stop you to engage in evils. But they did not pay attention to him.

They decided to enter the garden early the next morning and sell the produce, depriving the poor of their shares.

They ate dinner and went to bed. During their sleep a cloud full of thunder and lightning, sent by Almighty God, destroyed any fruit they had.

Early in the morning they entered their garden. Nothing was left of it. They were perplexed, saying: yesterday we had everything, now, we have none; perhaps we have entered a garden which is not ours. But the believing brother replied: No; this is your own garden.

You wretched guys! You became deprived prior to making the poor deprived. At the end of this story God says:

كَذَلِكَ الْعَذَابُ وَلَعَذَابُ الْآخِرَةِ أَكْبَرُ لَوْ كَانُوا يَعْلَمُونَ.

“Such is the chastisement, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is greater, did they but know! 68:33”

His Holiness lets his servants enjoy His full affection in order to grow; now if these servants appreciate His generosity, they will receive their rewards. However, if they became aggressors, they would severely be punished in one way or another.

وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَأَوْلَادُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ عِنْدَهُ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ.

“And know that your property and your children are a temptation, and that Allah is He with whom there is a mighty reward. 8:28”

إِنَّمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَأَوْلَادُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ وَاللَّهُ عِنْدَهُ أَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ وَاسْمَعُوا وَأَطِيعُوا وَأَنفِقُوا خَيْرًا لِأَنْفُسِكُمْ وَمَنْ يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفْسِهِ فَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمْ الْمُفْلِحُونَ.

“Your possessions and your children are only a trial, and Allah it is with whom is a great reward. Therefore be careful of your duty to Allah as much as you can, and hear and obey and spend, it is better for your souls; and whoever is saved from the greediness of his soul, these it is that are the successful. 64:15-16”

وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُمْ بِشَيْءٍ مِنْ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِنْ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ وَبَشِّرْ الصَّابِرِينَ الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُمْ مُصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ أُوْلَئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ وَأُوْلَئِكَ هُمْ الْمُهْتَدُونَ.

“And we will most certainly try you with somewhat of fear and hunger and loss of property and lives and fruits and give good news to the patient. Who, when a misfortune befalls them, say: surely we are Allah’s and to Him we will return. Those are they on whom are blessings and mercy from their Lord, and those are the followers of the right course. 64:15-16”

5) There are some other verses in the Holy Quran which consider wealth, ornaments and treasures as worthless and fatal compared to the spiritual matters and God’s satisfaction which are eternal and everlasting. These sacred verses recommend that we should not be fond of transient goods and not be carried away and tempted by worldly affairs. They recommend that we change what we have here into good deeds and make our future with these worldly substances. This way of treating the world has been the way the Prophets (s) have always taken.

قُلْ مَتَاعُ الدُّنْيَا قَلِيلٌ وَالْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لِمَنْ اتَّقَى...

“Say: the provision of this world is short, and hereafter is better for him who guards against evil…4:77”

Those who guard against evil treat the provision of this world wisely. They use their time, energy, fame, honor, and knowledge to build up their hereafter. They would never sell truth to the untruth; neither will they sell their future prosperity to vices.

أَفَمَنْ وَعَدْنَاهُ وَعْدًا حَسَنًا فَهُوَ لَاقِيهِ كَمَنْ مَتَّعْنَاهُ مَتَاعَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ثُمَّ هُوَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مِنْ الْمُحْضَرِينَ.

“Is he to whom we have promised a goodly promise which he shall meet with like him whom we have provided with the provisions of this world’s life, then on the day of resurrection he shall be of those who are brought up? 28:61”

يَا قَوْمِ إِنَّمَا هَذِهِ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا مَتَاعٌ وَإِنَّ الْآخِرَةَ هِيَ دَارُ الْقَرَارِ.

“O my people! This life of the world is only a passing enjoyment, and surely the hereafter is the abode to settle. 40:39”

اِنْ كُلُّ ذَلِكَ لَمَّا مَتَاعُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةُ عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ.

“(And embellishment of gold); and all this is naught but provision of this world’s, and the hereafter is with your Lord only for those who guard against evil. 43:35”

مَتَاعٌ قَلِيلٌ ثُمَّ مَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ وَبِئْسَ الْمِهَادُ.

“A brief enjoyment! Then their abode is hell, and evil is the resting-place. 3:197”

الْمَالُ وَالْبَنُونَ زِينَةُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ خَيْرٌ عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابًا وَخَيْرٌ أَمَلًا.

“Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of this world; and the ever-abiding, the good works, are better with your Lord in reward and better in expectation. 18:46”

It is narrated from the Prophet (s):

ما الدُنيا في الآخِرَةِ إلاّ مِثْلُ ما يَجْعَلُ أحَدُكُمْ إصْبَعَهُ في الْيَمِّ، فَلْيَنظُرْ بِمَ يَرْجِعُ.

The Present world, compared with the hereafter, is like you enter one finger into the seawater: how much water can you absorb in this way?

It is also narrated from the Great Prophet (s):

مَا الدُّنيا في ما مَضى مِنْها إلاّ كَمِثْلِ ثَوْبٍ شُقَّ باثْنينِ وَبَقيَ خَيْطُهُ، إلا فكانَ ذلِكَ الخَيْطُ قَدِ انْقَطَعَ.

Compared with the past, the present is like a garment torn in two portions. Nothing is left except the thread which is also torn up.

The one who becomes proud of having this little world’s provision and this fatal and transient item is, in fact, deprived of all truth and of God’s blessings; as a result, he will indulge in all sorts of wishes and lusts and will sacrifice everything for his temporary whishes and whims. He will suffer severely, however.

From the above discussions, we will conclude the following:

1) Those verses which deal with the ample or meager means of subsistence will never impede our economic activities. According to the Holy Quran everybody has to carry out a business. It is forbidden to waste one’s time idly and be a parasite over others. However, it is a divine action to take care of one’s wealth in accordance with God’s rules.

2) If affluence or poverty is the result of exploitation, the oppressed ones should rise against the aggressors in order to attain their human and divine rights.

3) The affluence which is the result of committing sins and involvement in crimes is not related to God’s planning whatsoever.

4) The amount of means of subsistence is God’s way to test and try the servants in order for them to grow. That is to say, it is the result of God’s justice and wisdom towards man.

5) Through abundance, some of the believers will attain the paradise due to their helping the poor and spreading their wealth as alms and donations. It this way, they will insure their future. Through lack of abundance and little amount of means of subsistence, a second group of believers will enter the paradise due to their patience and because of their avoidance of getting involved in sins. This very struggle against evils is the best kind of reserves for their future. That is to say, the very lack of wealth is a stoppage against indulging in sins. It is also a factor for cleanliness.

The vigilant and seeing men are living only for the truth; they die for the truth; they do not ask for anything except the truth; they know nothing but the truth. Their business, eating habits, dwelling places, manners, wealth, positions are for the sake of the truth.

This world is for them just a ladder for the hereafter; their assets are for the needy ones and for the helping of the public in general.