Divine Messengers are more worthy of following

O man! You should make your intelligence the criteria for your deeds. You must do according to the ways of wise people who are aware of the Truth. Foremost among them are the prophets of God. Only they are the persons who can give positive and proper answer to the above and other similar questions. They can enlighten all on what they have the knowledge.

قُلْ هَلْ مِن شُرَكَآئِكُم مَّن يَهْدِي إِلَى الْحَقِّ قُلِ اللّهُ يَهْدِي لِلْحَقِّ أَفَمَن يَهْدِي إِلَى الْحَقِّ أَحَقُّ أَن يُتَّبَعَ أَمَّن لاَّ يَهِدِّيَ إِلاَّ أَن يُهْدَى فَمَا لَكُمْ كَيْفَ تَحْكُمُونَ

“Then is the one who shows the path of religion more worthy of following or the one (let aside guiding others) who is unable to see the path unless someone else guides him? What has happened to you? How are you judging?”

(Surah Yunus 10:35)

Only that may is worth adopting which has been adopted and shown by the prophets, the wise, the God-worshippers, those who are devoted only to the everlasting successes and who have noble human virtues. The wise, rationalists and men of reason must follow then in the light of wisdom. But the attitude and path of the world lovers is bassed on worshipping their desires and gratifying their passions the end result of which is Hell. Of course, before entering Hell they do have to face restlessness, tensions, troubles and other calamities in this world too, in which today’s Europe and other ‘civilised’ countries are trapped.

O wise fellow! Just use you brain. Had the world-worship been the true path, the prophets of God and religious leaders would not have shown extreme disgust toward it. D not you see that all of them had kept the worldly love aside and had maintained their connection and relationship with God and the Hereafter.

An example worth pondering over

It is said there was an ugly woman. Whoever saw her once was turning away his face from her. No man was prepared to marry her. At last she was married off to a blind man. One day that woman was, praising her beauty, telling her blind husband: “Many men had proposed to me but you were the only man who got me. I am compelled to think that you are either a magician or a fellow whose prayers are always answered (Mustajaab ad daavaat) as you attained your ambitions.” Replying in a very wise way the blind man exposed to that lady the falsehood of her story. He said: if what you said was true, people having eyes would have never spared you nor would you have come to a blind man.

Had the attractions, pleasures and tastes of the world been real and pure, that is, had they not been accompanied by hundreds of defects, difficulties and troubles and were they not to be followed by the chastisement of the Hereafter, the truth-seeing eyes of people headed by Hader-e-Karraar, Wasiye Rasoole Mukhtaar, Amirul Momineen Ali (a.s.) would have surely accepted and preferred them for themselves.

This is why only those people become captives of the worldly love whose eyes and hearts are blind, whose heads are brainless and who are totally unaware of the Hereafter, who are misled by Muaaviyah and his son yazeed because they did not look with the inner eyes at the defects, downfall and unreliability of the world and who remained totally unaware of God and the Hereafter and therefore they imagined that their success was in persuing the world.

The world becomes enticed by Amirul Momineen (a.s.)

Shaid-e-Saani (a.r.), in his Kashfur Raibah renders a contuing narration from Amirul Mominin (a.s.) that: Onece I was doing field work with a spade in had in the Baag-e-Fadak which had been gifted to Janaabe Saiyidah (a.s.) when suddenly I saw a very beautiful woman whom I likened with ‘Bashinah’ (the name of a woman whose beauty had become exemplary in Arabia). She began to say: O son of Abu Taalib (a.s.)! Please take me as your wife so that I may open up all the treasures of the world to be owned by you. The, after you, your progeny will inherit it all. I asked her First tell me, who are you, so that a demand may be made to you guardians. She replied: I am Duniya (the world). Amirul Mominin (a.s.) said: Go back and find out somebody else for you. Saying this he restarted his fieldwork. At that time he made up poetry. Some of the couplets are like this: as preserved in history books:-

“The world came before me in the form of Bashinah. Her adoration too was just like that of Bashinah.

So I told her, deceive someone else except me, as I know the world very well. I am not ignorant.

What have I to do with the world when Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) has disappeared in your dust?

Even if the world presents to me all treasures and jewelry and wealth of Qaaroon and leadership of all the tribes.

Is it not true that every existing thing is to perish and the owners of treasures will have to give an account thereof?

So, o world! Deceive somebody else, as I am not lured by whatever is in you including honour and big name and fame

My soul is satisfied with whatever God has given to me. Be busy only with those who want to benefit from you.

I am afraid of God Almighty as I will have to face Him on the Day of Judgement and I fear the unavoidable chastisement.

How to wipe out the love for the world?

There are only two ways of getting rid of the worldly love:

Unflinching faith in the Last Day

Decrease in worldly desires.

We have had a detailed discussion about the ways of strengthening faith in the Day of Aakhirat in the chapter of beliefs. Here we present its summary in brief. What is needed is that more and more attention should be paid to those verses of the holy Quran and those narrations which describe features of the permanent and everlasting life after dath so that man way be affected by them and he may long for reaching the high world. The main aim of the Prophethood of the Messenger of Allah Muhammad (s.a.w.s.) and the revelation of the Holy Quran is that Muslims should hear that news and have trust in them thereby becoming hopeless about that world and become fond of God and the Last Day. In this way man should do those gooddeeds as recommended by the verses and narrations and thereby prepare himself for the evelasting world. But what is sorrowful is that, alas, the Muslim has detached himself from Quran. Majority of them does not care to read or hear even one Surah of the Holy Quran in months, even years. Yes, of course, he hears some of it on radion or in meetings of eesaale Sawaab or on the brinks of graves, as if the holy book was revealed only for the dead. The truth is that the holy Quran has been revealed to enlighten the living people and to awaken them from the slumber of carelessness, to free them from ignorance and to make them attain high ranks of perfection and nobility. Rather, it will not be improper to say that to read and hear in the current manner is like humiliating it.

(Abul Wafaa Hirvi says: Once I was reciting the Quran in the court of the king, when no one was paying any attention and all were busy talking with one another. During my sleep at night I saw the Holy Prophet (s.a.w.s.) who seemed very angry. He said: A taq raul Quran … Allah? “Are you reciting the Holy Quran before a group which is not listeing to it? Henceforth you will not be able to recite until Allah so wills.” When I woke up I had become dumb. Since the narration had ended with the words Maa Shaa Allah (God Willing) the experts of hadiths reassured me that some day my tongue might open up at last. I kept sleeping at the spot where I had seen that vision for the next four months. At last one night I visioned the Holy Prophet once again. He said: You have repented? I replied: Of course O Holy messenger of God. He said: Man taa ba … izzat “when you recite in front of such people, stop reciting till the time they are ready to listen to the Word of their Lord. When I woke up my tongue too had opened up.)

(Gulzaar-e-Akbari Gulshan 52)

Ahmad bin Toloon was ruling Egypt in the year 270 He H.E. Thereafter his kingdom spread upto Syria and Saghoor. The total length of his rule had been 17 or 26 years. It is said that he was very brave, humble and had learnt the holy Quran by heart (was a Haafiz0. Moreover he was also famous for his generosity and warrior ship. The number of people killed either by him or by his order were 18000. A Qaari (recitor of Quran) wqas appointed to recite Quran on his grave. After some days that Qari ran away from there. He was not prepared to come back. When asked about reason he replied: the man in the grave threatened me in my dream saying he did not want that Quran be recited on his grave because the verse you recite is being hit on my head in the form of a slash and I am being said that despite hearing this verse you did such and such things in the world.

(Hayaat ul Naivaan)

What is meant to being conveyed is that there is an element of selfishness in the way Quran is often heard being recited from mimbers. What is lacking in such recitation is that no pondering is being done in the words of Allah and it doe not create any effect because the motto of the recitor is either money or a show of his art of recitation. On the other hand the aim of the listener also is only to be engaged, especially when it is melodious.